Mattel Clash of the Titans Zeus figure

My friend Jason (not the one I do podcasts with, I know two guys named Jason, perhaps more) surprised me with this extremely rare find. A prototype head sculpt from Mattel's very short-lived Clash of the Titans toy line, more after the jump:

Colorforms:1981

I'm gonna be honest, as much as I loved Buck Rogers, I probably would have went with the Popeye set when I was ten. I still love that movie and well, I have a thing for Shelly Duval...

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Dungeons and Dragons Mania

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I  remember that "Mazes and Monsters" TV Movie really wrecked Dungeons and Dragons for more than one friend of mine. Thanks a lot, Tom Hanks!

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1981 Lone Ranger Catalog by Gabriel Toys

http://plaidstallions.com/gabriel/81.html

The Lone Ranger was riding high in 1981 thanks to a popular Saturday morning Cartoon series (by my favourite company Filmation) and the promise of a big budget film (that didn't work out so good).

So, Gabriel Toys blasted the toy shelves with two distinct toy lines, a relaunch of their popular 1970s 9" Toy line and a 3 3/4" line so you could have Tonto get a sasparilla in the Creature Cantina!

Visit THE 1981 Gabriel Toys Lone Ranger Catalog here!

Muppet Big Wheels

Shouldn't Kermit's ride be an "It's not easy being Green" Machine?

Oh, it was too early for that, I'm going to lay down now....

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A New Dimenstion in Time!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have truly entered the space age!

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Christmas Wishlist 1981

This past summer, my family sold the home that belonged to my grandparents, a place I spent some very happy Christmases in. I even wrote a blog post about it back in the fall.

While it was obviously a sad time, it also had it's bright spots. One of them was discovering the woman kept everything I ever drew or wrote in her home. It was a really warm feeling to be honest.

Seeing as it's Christmas, I thought I'd share my  wishlist from I'm guessing 1981. Every year I'd cut out pictures from catalogs and present it to her so she'd know what I'm on about. I had posted one from 1979  but  I totally forgot about this one.

As you can see Star Wars was my big thing that year. 

Smurfs? That was total peer pressure, every kid in my class was into them that year and I felt kind of like the odd man out for not having any on my desk.

I did get the At-At from my folks (and it was EPIC!) but I'm not sure I got any of the other stuff, I certainly didn't get any Smurfs.

Fond memories like this is why I started this site and I really wanted to share it. Thank you.

Entex Space Invader

If i had even minimum wage for every hour i played this in 1981, I'd likely have a paid for home right now.

PS Holy cow this was expensive.

GI Joe Returns

This rather mysterious trade ad from December 1981 is the first thing I can find that heralds the return of the GI Joe brand to toy stores. I don't recall seeing the figures much before March of '82, where 11 year old me pined for Kung Fu grip but still fell in love with the comic book.

Crime-Busting Pays!

As ridiculous as the Hulk Jeep is, I think the Spider-Man copter is always the weirdest vehicle in the room.

Cash in with Kenner '81

Here's a fun toy industry promo from Kenner, who was riding high on toy lines such as Star Wars, Play Doh, Glamour Gals, Star Wars, Strawberry Shortcake and oh yeah, Star Wars.

More on this promotion after the jump!

Atari just added another new game

For the brief time after Star Wars and before the discovery of girls and punk rock, Atari dominated my thoughts. 

1981 Parkes Run Colouring Book Catalog

Hey remember those big colouring books you got on birthdays and Christmas? They were done by a company called Parkes Run and they made a lot of cool licensed stuff using licenses like Superman the movie, Popeye, Peanuts and the Marvel comics characters!

Adult Colouring books are the all rage right now but I'd settle for this one, which was given to me by my aunt Cathy in 1978!



Oh Man Wolf, where's your movie? 

 Anyway, check out the 1981 Parkes Run Catalog here!

Remco Monsters Glow in the Dark Haunted House

One of the reasons I love October is I get to talk about Monster toys, in my top five are the Remco monsters and their awesome, wonderful haunted house playset. More on these guys next week.

More Remco Monsters on PlaidStallions:

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Larami Toys 1981 Catalog

In 1981, Larami was celebrating it's 20th year of bringing low cost licensed "Rack Toys" to children around the world.

This year was no exception with licenses like the DC and Marvel comics Superheroes, Barbie, Fat Albert, Flash Gordon, Dick Tracy, Mighty Mouse and the ever present Popeye, Larami had something for any kid to beg their parents for while they shopped.

Visit the 1981 Larami Toys Catalog here

And more Larami here:

Clash of the Titans Inflatable Pegasus

 

Thanks to my new pal Uzay Bluestar, I have another entry in "never seen it before" category. 

Inflatable toys are sometimes the wild west in terms of information(not unlike rack toys) so it's not surprising that I didn't know this existed but I'm happy it does.

Does anyone recognize that logo?

Pegasus has the film's title on his chest, just like he did in the film.

Bubu on one side of the saddle.

Kraken on the other, nary a Harry Hamlin to be found on this thing.

More Clash of the Titans Merch

Dukes Mania

Dukes of Hazzard was the first time as a kid where there was a show that I watched and enjoyed but when that avalanche of merchandise arrived, I had no desire to own any of it.

Boy though in 1981, if you could think of it, you could buy it with the General Lee on it...

1981 Toys R Us Flyer

Toys R Us is one of the last toy chains we have left and the only one featured on this site that is actually still around. This flyer from December 1981 is a time capsule of what we could have expected under the tree, Barbies, Glamour gals, Atari games, Remco Monsters and Mego Superheroes.

It'll make you want to go shopping!

More Toy Store Flyers:

Childworld 1975

Childworld 1981

1975 Toys R Us

1981 Ben Cooper Costume Catalog

Halloween around here wouldn't be the same without the store bought goodness that is Ben Cooper. If you were a child of the 70s or 80s, then you certainly knew their product.

Cooper held some of the great licenses in 1981 including the Disney characters, both the DC and Marvel comics Superheroes, Clash of the Titans and of course, Star Wars. The only thing they were missing were the Universal Monsters (who had jumped ship to rival Collegeville).

In addition the store bought costumes, Cooper had a mountain of other fun Halloween related items like rubber masks, fake blood, rubber bats and bugs and tons of Jigglers to suck your wallet dry like a vacuum baby!

Scan through the 1981 Ben Cooper Catalog here.

For more Superhero and Monster related items, Check out these fabulous links:

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Space Lego Love!

True Confession time: As much as I go on and on about vintage Space Lego sets, I a) never had any as a kid (save for one small set I bought with my own money) and b) don't have any now.

 However, I am luckily married to a Space Lego collector and with the help of my daughter, I now have this scene to look at every day while I work on this blog.

I honestly remember going to the house of the biggest wiener on my block just to play with that ship pictured above. He was a year my junior and often slapped my fingers if i played too rough with it. I took this abuse, mostly because of the Lego and that even at nine, I knew life was going to be hard for him.



What I love about these sets is the spacemen are just so happy with their toils, everybody is smiling!

This is not the first Lego display my wife has set up in my office but it's been three long years since I stumbled in the dark and knocked over the castle. I still feel bad about that...