The Concerto

At this risk of going too nerdy, is anyone else getting a 6th Doctor vibe from this. A "far cooler, probably would have worked better" 6th Doctor vibe?

Beginning tomorrow, PlaidStallions will swap over into full on Halloween mode with weekly posts about all things Orange 'n Black until the end of the month.,It's gonna get spooky.  

The Outer Space Man Conspiracy

Despite the fact that the toy line ended before I ever gulped oxygen, the Colorforms Outer Space Men are strong childhood memory for me. Not because I ever played with them but quite the contrary, I'm not even sure if I've ever held one.

You see around the time of Star Wars (perhaps you've heard of it) the good folks at Colorforms dusted off images of the OSM for a series of puzzles (pictured here)

These puzzles hit my radar when they showed up at Dominion Playworld in 1978 but the item  below completely broke my young brain.


I've mentioned before that I wasn't a super bright child,  so it's no surprise that I was convinced that all the figures were in this box. I wasn't sure how but it had to be right? I  marched the set to the counter with my mum in tow. My mother mentioned to me " I don't think the figures are in there, it's just some sort of game", I replied "No, i'm sure they're in there" but the clerk deflated my balloon with "that's a colorforms set, there are no figures in there".

This drove me crazy, what kind of company would make these amazing toys then choose to not release them? Were they just torturing us? Don't they realize how awesome they are?

Fortunately as an adult, I got all the answers from the man himself, Mel Birnkrant  whose annotated archive of the Outer Space Men is exhaustive and wonderful (and sometimes heart breaking). His website is really worth a visit, see you in a few hours.


More Alien Action Figures:

To boldly wear (part 2)

Yet another neato Star Trek shirt I saw at last June's  MegoMeet, thanks to my pal Corey and his awesome collection of shirt rarities.

Oddly enough, just like the last shirt, this one is also a swipe of artwork from another source. This time however, it's not Amazing Spider-Man annual #1 but from the AMT  Galileo 7 model kit. So at least it's kept in the family....

Again, if this was an XL, I'd wear it around the house and occasionally to Tim Hortons.

The Big Diamond Walking Suit

The big diamond walking suit is ideal whether you're out for a stroll, having a day at the park or minding your property at the street corner.

On a side note: Moustache and Uni-brow are quickly becoming my favourite models ever.

Mantooth Mandolls  available!

Electra-Wow!

I got this image sent to me this week and well, I instantly had a new grail as it's something I've never seen. Like many young boys my interest in Electra Woman and Dyna Girl wasn't exactly understood at the time (don't worry, I figured it out!) but I was a fan of the show, still am.

This puzzle toy from Harmony (a company I need to find more about) is something I didn't know I wanted last week and now can't stop thinking about. This is the first piece in a long time that I'm sorry didn't make into the book. 

Rack Toys: Cheap, Crazed Playthings is a limited edition 144 page book from the creator of Plaid Stallions. Order from us and get three free promotional post cards.

Electric Generations

Now available at participating "Dad 'n Lad" locations

1978 Popy Toys Catalog

Oh Japan, how i love thee.  The Popy Toy Corporation is not terribly well known to North Americans but their influence definitely had an impact on us.

In 1978, they had a tremendouse amount of cool licenses such as Gatchaman (Known to us as Battle of the Planets), Starzinger (which we called Spaceketeers) and your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man, who suddenly had a cool car and giant robot.

There is a lot of goodness in here from the crew of the Bacchus 3 to the whacky ships from "Message from Space" and some Shogun Warriors thrown in for good measure.

The 1978 Popy Toys Catalog will make you wish you were born in Tokyo, unless you were, then I guess then it would make you thankful. I don't know...

More Japanese Influenced Toy Lines:

The Bacchus 3

As much as I've tried to convince folks in the toy industry that action figures based on Mystery Science Theater 3000 would be a good thing, I'm pretty sure it ain't happening.

That's why I was pretty elated to discover this toy ship in an old catalog recently, it's the Bacchus 3 from a Japanese tv series called Star Wolf. But more importantly, it's from known to MST3K fans as "Fugitive Alien 1 and 2", a classic riffing experience if there ever was one.

As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to have it but the world of Japanese toys can be pricey.



Fortune smiled on me because Star Wolf toys are pretty easy to find and cheap, the Bacchus 3 was on it's way to me within a half hour.

Popy made some other really cool vehicles (like Spider-Man's car the GP 7 pictured above) but that is a story for another day...

The Cat's pucker

Yes, in case you didn't notice, there is a cat on the front of the pants. I repeat CAT ON THE FRONT. 

Why? Shut up, that's why!

Official Space:1999 Moon Car

This toy by AHI is pretty topical considering last week's Gerry Anderson centric pod cast.  I don't own it but I am lucky enough to know the owner, so I had the opportunity to photograph it at this year's MegoMeet.

Turns out this piece is crazy rare, even rarer then the Superfriends buggy I drool over once in a while. It seems that AHI produced less numbers on items that went outside their usual low cost price point.

An item like this would be a few bucks more than a parachuting figure or a water pistol, so I imagine it didn't get produced in the same volume. This may be the rarest item AHI produced for Space:1999, known boxed versions can be counted on your hand.

More AHI Space:1999

Rack Toys: Cheap, Crazed Playthings is a limited edition 144 page book from the creator of Plaid Stallions. Order from us and get three free promotional post cards.

Welcome to Palm Springs

Come see what the NEW Palm Springs has in store for you!

Spider-Man- Ambassador to Uruguay?

Magnus sent over this great piece  circa 1986-1987 with Spider-Man at the Rural Association Expo in Uruguay, at the US Embassy Pavillion, at a Polaroid promo booth. I've never had a South American mall appearance and honestly, I'm not sure I'm gonna get more, so I'm thrilled to have this!

Send me your mall appearance photos!

Pod Stallions Episode 8: Anderson is FAB

Seeing as it's September 13th, there is no better time to talk about the creative force that was Gerry Anderson.

Eventhough much of the man's output was done before Jason and Brain were even an idea, their timeless quality has fans talking about them to this day. 

The guys show the evolution in puppets from Supercar to Captain Scarlet and the jump to live action with UFO and Space:1999. Mixed in with some discussions about Bond, Gold Key Star Trek comics, nerdy moments and of course, all the merchandise we could cram into a single show.

Anderson is FAB is 

Download the Show Here

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Show Links:

• The unsold TV pilot for the Solarnauts produced by former Anderson partner Roberta Leigh is retro sci fi gold.
• The Mattel Space:1999 Eagle is easily one of the coolest toys in the 1970s
• Some very cool Thunderbirds toys from 1960s.
• The Trailer for Alien Attack, two episodes of  repackaged Space:1999 episodes.
• The Joe 90 Dossier you had to eat a lotta meat spread to get.
• One of those amazing Captain Scarlet paintings survived and in the hands of a collector.
• Some VHS covers from ITC's Super Space Theater.
• Just some of the Space:1999 rack toys made by AHI.
• Klingons hawking Happy Meals, this happened.
• The Gerry Anderson Memorabilia Guide is out of print but a must have.
• The After School Special Into Infinity borrowed sets and cast members from Space:1999 
• The German/UK co-produced series Star Maidens also feels like a low budget episode of Space:1999.
• This figure of Gay Ellis by Product Enterprise was in Brain's top five favorites.
• The guys are lukewarm to the Terrahawks but both agree the ships look really cool.

Plenty more content on the PodStallions Facebook page!

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The Mego Wiz

Wizard of Oz merchandise seems commonplace today but in 1975, when Mego nabbed the toy license it was a huge, hairy deal. The company actually put one of the film's producers on their board of directors and for Toy fair reunited the living cast members, the orders flowed like melted butter.




The remaining cast of the Wizard of Oz with Mego president Marty Abrams.

For more info on the Mego Oz line, check out the Mego Museum.

Surprize indeed

The Unibrow is a lesser known Dick Tracy villain introduced in 1976 in an attempt to update the strip, his counterfeit hot pants ring was squashed by Tracy in a hail of gunfire.

Super Sharp

This past weekend while I set up at Canadian Toycon, my son made a comment about what he hoped to find and how I'll probably go home with nothing, as usual. This is usually the case, as I'm pretty much into oddball things while he loves that unsold Star Wars prequel merchandise, toy shows are pretty much his oyster.

So, I was elated to turn a corner and run into these wonderful carded pencil sharpeners by Alco. I have been quietly trying to piece together a set of their Superhero school supplies for years, not by ebay searches but merely by finding them at shows and antique malls.

Above is Batman and below is Wonder Woman in although that's pretty obvious,  I don't know how many they made in this set as they're made later than the ones I remember but I look forward to finding out....

The Alco sharpeners are in my book:

Rack Toys: Cheap, Crazed Playthings is a limited edition 144 page book from the creator of Plaid Stallions. Order from us and get three free promotional post cards.

Electrical banana

If you have more than 2% body fat Mellow Yellow may not be the look for you. Consult a mirror before purchasing.

1978 Mattel Flying Aces Catalog

Mattel's Flying Aces were an elaborate take on the paper airplane, the planes were made of soft foam and the flight deck served as a launcher. Those who had it or the Battlestar Galactica version have mentioned that the planes had a short life but were fun nonetheless.

In 1978, the line was three years old and appeared to be going strong.

You can see it all at the 1978 Mattel Flying Aces Page

More Mattel

Our new book Rack Toys: Cheap, Crazed Playthings covers Fleetwood and much more.

Dinky Trek

Sometimes you find little gems in odd places, this shot from a German Toy Fair in the 70s shows two Dinky employees relieving boredom by having a Star Trek war. I love the sci fi stuff Dinky made in the 70s and should I ever get that money from my many frivolous lawsuits, I'm recreating the two bottom shelves of this picture.

The Top Ten Coolest 70s Star Trek Toys