1978 Berwick Toys Catalog

Most North Americans have probably never heard of UK based Berwick toys before but that should change because they created a lot of fun and inspired toys  for the English market.

Berwick's main items seem to be role play such as their line of play suits and games. 1978 saw the introduction of a toy called "Mudd" which seems similiar to slime and some really oddball Batman items.

 

Click Here to Visit the 1978 Berwick Toys Catalog



More Toy Anarchy in the UK

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Black Beauty by Marx

Kind of ingenious item, take an existing horse mold (most likely from Johnny West) paint it black and use the public domain good will of Anna Sewell. I'm surprised more companies didn't offer Black Beauty toys aimed at girls.

As an aside, my sister loved horses and every birthday party she got two copies of the book minimum. It was kind of a running gag.

Couch of the day

Today's pattern is called "floral excrement"

Creators of Zorak

This fun little ad is the kind of stuff I love to find, meet Ed and Bonnie Fogarty inventors of 70s childhood friends like the Nerf Glider, Weebles Fun House and Double Trouble Big Jim and Zorak. This ad is from 1978 where they seem to have had a string of items produced, it would be fun to see what else they made during their careers.

An underwear treat

Oh, you're welcome ladies...

This guy looks like all the seniors did when I first entered high school,  like they were 38 years of age. Some guys had full beards in the tenth grade. When I got to senior year, I still looked like a giant 13 year old.

He is Coming!

It's real as in real soon peeps, Happy Holidays!

The PlaidStallions Fashion Mockery Contest

After years of blogging about them, I'm finally giving one away! Thanks to my sponsor (my first sponsor in five years I might add) halloween costumes.com I am giving away either a men's or woman's disco outfit in the winner's size. It's truly the most appropriate grand prize I've ever given. (This prize is only open to folks in Canada or the US sorry)

HalloweenCostumes.com has an extensive collection of retro costumes, including these 70s costumes. Whether you need a traditional Halloween costume or a disco or hippie costume for a party, you can find what you need at HalloweenCostumes.com.

Runners up get a variety of PlaidStallions goodies, DVDs, copies of the Megomuseum's 1978 and trading cards.

The Contest? Caption the Pic





Most of you do a better job than me anyway so merely send me your thoughts on the gem above and the winners will be announced on the blog next Saturday.

Vintage Toy Store Pictures Part Ten

I cannot think of a better update for our fifth anniversary other than doing another vintage toy store update. When I set out to create  the original vintage toy store gallery for the site, I never imagined I'd get to part 2 let alone roman numeral X!

 Being a toy nerd this is my favourite section of the site and I love that I've unearthed this much goodness and that it's touched so many of you.

As sequels go, Part ten does not disappoint with plenty of iconic toys spotted on the shelves, We've got Micronauts, Star Wars, Mego 2XL and Star Trek, Tonka Trucks, Janex talking alarm clocks, Dinky cars, Dancerella and a few more suprises!

Click Here to visit Toy Stores Part Ten

And if you haven't already check out parts 1-9: 

PlaidStallions Fifth Birthday Bash!

As if my pants inching up higher and the growing need to get those damn kids off my lawn weren't enough signs I'm getting older, this impulsive idea of mine hits another milestone.

Yes, we're five and I can't believe how far this has gone and that I've stuck to something this long. Seriously, I don't even finish sandwiches sometimes*. Originally I thought the site was a "five year mission" tops but I have so much I still want to do, that I simply have to keep going.

I've got a couple of treats in store today including a contest, an announcement and a way cool feature.

Thanks to all of you for the kind words and support over the years and especially for making me laugh, there are so many times I've logged on and wish I'd thought of the some of the comments you folks write.

Sometimes, with my weird little obsessions you can feel a like you're the only person who gives a crap, it's really nice to know I'm not alone.



(* That was BS, I not only finish sandwiches, I often finish other peoples as well)

L'il Marie and the Freakout Bunch!

Their mod adventures will be coming to CBS Saturday mornings this fall!

Scenes from Toyfair 78 Part Two

The Fisher Price Sky Surfer was a rare dud for the Adventure People, it was recalled that year for being defective.

A teeny tiny glimpse of the amazing onslaught Kenner had prepared to meet ravenous Star Wars demand in 1978. You can kind of see a whole mess of 12 back figures back there, excuse me I need to lie down.

See Also:

Kitchen Pride

I love pictures like this, the proud couple, elegantly dressed in their modern kitchen which looks almost exactly like the one I tore out of my house eight years ago. The irony is not lost BTW, I know what I think is cool will look like trash to somebody in diapers currently.

Scenes from Toy Fair '78 Part One

It was all about Space and science fiction at Toyfair '78 and Zee Toys was way ahead of the curve with their groovy 3 3/4" Metal Men figures, this display has me absolutely drooling. I have lazily collected Metal Men for over ten years, I think I have four figures...

Tobor is Robot spelled backwards, that blew my seven year old mind...

See Also:

More stuff I saw at a toyshow

Went in early to the Spring Canadian Toy collectors show on Saturday and snapped a few shots of what's waiting for folks tomorrow in Toronto. This by no means represents this metric ton of cool stuff there, just some of the more oddball things that caught my eye.

Fonzie Pencil case with it's creepy caricature almost went home with me...

More after the jump:

Savvy sites for a Saturday

This past week I was sent links to two sites that promptly took a couple of hours out of my day, any site that does that deserves accolade.  It's cold and raining where I am and maybe it is where you are so let's showcase them in the hopes of brightening your day. It's all about toy aliens and cartoon bird people after the jump:

1978 Time Life Doctor Who Catalog

In the late 1970s a British Phenomen made it's way stateside via syndicated package from Time Life, originally offering the first seasons of Fourth Doctor Tom Baker and the rest is cult TV history.

This beautiful piece not only has to sell the long running series to an American market but also explain it, which actually was a bit of a chore in 1978.

The Doctor's American invasion built steadily over time until today when the series has become something of a household world in North America.

Click Here to check out the 1978 Doctor Who Catalog, I promise there will be no pledge drives...

Pressman Space Creatures

This cool promotional shot of the heads of the Pressman toy company wearing their cool Star Wars inspired masks was a recent fun find. Lots of companies jumped on the space wagon pretty quick and managed to beat Kenner to the stores. These masks weren't simple knock offs though, they were designed by Dick Smith, the Oscar winning make up artist who influenced a generation of special effects people.

 I'm pretty sure I've seen that Zordius mask as a background alien on several 70s sci fi shows.

Jeanoflague

Developed by the military in the late 1960s as a way to move undetected in hippie gatherings, Jeanoflauge was marketed to the public in the 1970s, where it also failed to catch on.

UFO Commander Series

I'm guessing this picture might solve a lot of mysteries for folks here. Released in 1976, these wonderful diecast spaceships were readily available when Star Wars hit theatres.

As a kid, I had the Jeek Tunnelin vehicle, still have it here in the office. I knew even at 8 that this was some funky toy from Asia and wanted to know more about it. It doubled as the Argo when I played "Starblazers" in the back yard, good times...

Sleep over hijinx

"Come on Vince, it's truth or dare!"

DVD Review: Planet Earth

It’s been a while since I did a DVD review, mostly because I’m lazy but also because I usually only get motivated to talk about obscure things people might miss. Planet Earth is one of those things. I saw this film on CFTO one Saturday afternoon in the 70s and it never quite left me. In fact, I went outside and pretended to be Dylan Hunt for several years after that.

How does the Warner Archive release hold up, check it out after the jump...

Giganta is alive and well in Texas

I got a happy email this week in the form of this photo from Cory, who showed me that a vintage Giganta is still in good condition and being enjoyed in Benbrook Texas. I featured Giganta on the site a couple of years ago and it's awesome to see one survived the polyester decade.

Occasionally folks  do send me shots of vintage playground equipment still in use but they're usually sad shells of their former selves or about to be dozed, so it's really great to see one still providing smiles. Rock on Giganta!

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1978 Mattel Shogun Warriors Catalog

Today's Friday feature puts us in  1978 and the Mattel Shgoun Warriors line is in full swing with new additions such as the king of all monsters Godzilla! Which in terms of additions to teams, is pretty spectacular.

 

It's a Jumbo Machinder goodtime with the 1978 Mattel Shogun Warriors Catalog.

More Shogun Warriors

UK packaging win

My pal Will sent me these great shots of the UK version of the Remco/AHI Space:1999 utility belt, which shows a cool illustration of second in command Paul Morrow being rescued by an Eagle. It's such nice art you don't even question the big honkin' "Space:1999" logo on the buckle.

The guts are exactly the same, the highlight being the screen accurate tracer gun, the lowlights being the obvious Batman communicator, complete with bat ears....