Action Figures 1982

1982 gave you your choice of Lucasfilm action figures, Spielberg action figures, or if you were feeling particularly adventurous Lucasfilm/Spielberg action figures. Such variety!

Toy-Ventures Magazine Can be Ordered Right here!

Lego: 1982

I'd like to spend a rainy afternoon with all that Space Lego with cartoons blaring, I imagine that would be restorative...

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Confessions of a 1982 video game junkie

When I think about 1982, my mind drifts to three things, action figures, Doctor Who novels (mostly written by Terrance Dicks) and VIDEO GAMES.

My then eleven year old brain had Pac-Man fever bad, I was a total junkie. I bought terrible magazines about video games where even i could point out the grammatical errors, drew pictures of them, pretty sure I even bought that weird "Atari Force" comic book that DC comics made.

My parents were not shelling out for a home system and they forbade Grandma to help in anyway but my dad knew of a job opportunity in printing that only a kid would take.

So, the winter of 1982 was the year i toiled for weeks tearing misprinted sheets out of 35,000 Ottawa tourism booklets for exactly one penny each.

 Nights, weekends, I spent the entire March break tearing watching day time TV and tearing out that same page out of that damn booklet.

The above page was my spirit animal, I stared at it during this period so much i probably bore holes into it.

Eventually, I raised $300 from my endeavor and my dad took me to Pinocchio's toys in the midtown mall to purchase a system. He would also help me buy a game as well. I remember pressing my face against that Jeweler's case and picking out Activision's Kaboom!

All was right with the world, I was so proud about owning this thing and played combat until 2am with my dad (who was also a big arcade enabler to be honest). 

However, i would encounter one little problem the following Monday, a problem by the name of George Plimpton.

Mattel had launched a competing system called Intellivision and used Plimpton to snobbily tout it's superiority to Atari. This ad campaign was especially effective at my grade school where kids would quote the man (who probably never visited an arcade in his life) to mock the 2600 and my choice.

Me, filled with incredible pride of ownership (after all, i earned the money) took it all too personal and often challenged the other kid to a fight, this was despite my 40/60 success rate in playground scraps, never tell me the odds or the stats. 

BTW I attribute my prodigious ability to snore as an adult to these pointless donnybrooks.

Happily, this lead me to my tribe of the other Atari 2600 kids and we would happily swap games, occasionally, I would get a cartridge that totally reeked of cigarettes, causing my mum to have kittens but how else was I going to play Atlantis?

While the rivalry existed between 2600 and Intellivision kids remained, we both looked our noses down at the Odyessy 2. This weird disdain totally disappeared if I was a kid's house who had it though, mostly because I wanted to play it of course....

And then there was Leisure Vision,  the system that you get when you send your dad to the store but don't come along to supervise. It's low priced and looks like the Intellivision and Atari had a baby, so you can't blame frugral parents and grandpeople for surrendering to it's siren song.

My obsession with video games would last until about 1984 until I got caught up in the world of Home Computers (more on that later) and well, girls but i always think fondly of this weird little era where I had the fever...

BrAiN

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Revell invades action figure market with Power Lords

While I had (briefly) "grown out" of action figures by 1983, I still liked to shove my face up against the bakery window so to speak. Revell's Power Lords were probably the most intriguing to me as they were so....uncommercial in their designs.

To be honest, their designs looked almost frightening and appealed to my 12 year old sensibilities.  This article from 1982 (part of a larger piece I'll reveal at a later date) reveals the big plans Revell had for the Power Lords.

The Lost Dark Crystal Toys

This toy trade ad from Spring 1982 showed a rather ambitious merchandise campaign for the Dark Crystal including Hasbro (actually their subsidiary Aviva) tapped for an action figure line.

Like many Science Fiction and fantasy properties of the early 1980s, like Krull, V and the Last Star Fighter the action figures got left on the run way.

How buyers waffled on such a property yet bought Dune action figures with both hands i'll never clearly understand.

More cancelled toy lines.

Pod Stallions 54: Movies of 1982

For our 54th show, we start with a brief (well for us) discussion about our thoughts on the newest actor to take the mantle of Doctor Who. 

Then we dig deep into the movies released the summer of 1982. Some call it the greatest summer for movies and hey, a lot of these movies went from flops to being revered, so it's worth discussing.

Topics include spirited debate on Blade Runner, Poltergeist, Beast Master, The Wrath of Khan, Tron, Dark Crystal, The Thing, Conan the Barbarian, Swamp Thing among others.

As always we get sidetracked into talking about merchandise, carnivals, Harrison Ford, Marvel comics, Brian's love for the work of Jim Wynorski and how freaking expensive it was to buy VHS movies back in the day.....

Join us won't you and as always we want to you to tell us your opinion on our facebook page.

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Kenner Indiana Jones on Sale

This piece literally fell out of a drawer this morning, I find it wonderful that some kid kept this clipping for 30 years until it landed on my desk.

For More Kenner Indiana Jones stuff, check out this page.

Sgt Rock by Remco

I've never read more than one Sgt. Rock comic and I missed the toys when they were new but I really think they're neat....

Hairy, Scary Monsters from Collegeville

1982 saw the Universal monsters depart Ben Cooper and move over to Collegeville for a glorious rebranding. The monster were all given weaves, gorgeous new packaging and Collegeville even added the Metaluna Mutant to the mix.

This Friday's Pod Stallions is all about Store Bought Costumes of yore, hope you'll check it out.

For more on the Collegeville Universal Monsters, check out the 1983 Collegeville Catalog here.

Slumber Fun!

I love that this page from 1982 still has some of the more solid 70s designs like that DC comics Super heroines design with the more trendy characters like Pac-Man and the Dukes. 
Wish I could collect these but they are space killers!

The Last Shogun

Click on the image for a larger view

I found this single page in the back of a 1982 Mattel Germany catalog and for some reason it kind of made me sad. The catalog (which I'll get to) is loaded with pages of cool European Big Jim stuff, Barbie and newcomer He-Man. 

These two Goldorak toys (an animated series that seemed to only air in non English speaking parts of the world) are the last memories of the once great Shogun Warriors line, which were no where to be found in the US catalogs. 

Speaking of toys (which I always am):

I'll be setting up at this weekend's Burlington Toy Show for something called "Mego North" a Canadian celebration of the toys made by Mego corporation. It's going to be fun, if you can, you should make the trek!
I'll be selling copies of Rack Toys, Brick Mantooth man-dolls and many, many vintage goodies so I can live under the lie that I'm not a hoarder.

Burlington Toy Show information

If you can't make the show, check me out on twitter, where I'll be showing off some of the goodies available.

More Shogun Warriors

1982 Kenner Sea Wees Catalog

 

Kenner Sea Wees were a yearly staple during the late 1970s/early 1980s, poart fashion doll, part bath toy, these figures had a lasting popularity. In 1982, the theme was "Tropigals" and well, I'm not sure what the difference is..

 

Oh it's probably the grass skirts, look I'm not awesome with Girl's toys but I do love this stuff.

Check out the 1982 Sea Wees Catalog.

 

More Girls Toys

1982 Meccano Action Man Catalog

Meccanno Action Man 1982



Palitoy Action Man wasn't just marketed to children in the UK it also spread to countries such as France, where Miro-Meccano brought the fuzzy haired, eagle eyed soldiers to market.


In addition to 12" figures, Meccano also brought in the popular 3 3/4" Action Force line that was very popular at the time..

1982 Meccanno Action Man Action Force Catalog


More Action Man:

 

1982 Knickerbocker World of Annie Catalog

Annie was a film based on the hit 1977 broadway musical which in itself was based on the classic syndicated comic strip "Little Orphan Annie". Thankfully the movie didn't remove everyone's pupils for authenticity.

The film was expected to be a blockbuster smash and companies such as Knickerbocker hedged their bets by preparing a slew of merchandising. I certainly remember haunting Dominion Playworld looking for new Star Wars figures and getting shocked by all the red hair. The film was not a success but in 1982 it was impossible to ignore "Annie-mania".

 

You can click on the images below but don't expect much by the way of commentary by me, I'm just unprepared for the subject. I saw the film once at my buddy Will Park's house when I was 12 and we really were just waiting for his folks to go to bed to pop in "American Werewolf in London" which scared the hell out of me.

1982 Knickerbocker Annie Catalog

More Fun Retro Girl's Toys

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Wacky Trucks

Fleetwood Toys introduced the "Wacky Truck" in 1982, combining the Wacky Pack to a toy? Perfection! My only problem with it is I don't own one.

1982 Gabriel Legend of the Lone Ranger Catalog

The big budget film "Legend of the Lone Ranger" saw a triumphant return to the license by toy company Gabriel (who had made some pretty epic Long Ranger toys in the 1970s). While the movie was a big disappointment, Gabriel once again brought their "A Game" and made some kicking toys and action figures for the 3 3/4" set. Lone Ranger toys) picked up the license to the Filmation Zorro television series and worked their usual magic with a series of awesome 3 3/4" action figures.

In addition to having the catalog, we've got some promotional material for the Western Town Playset offer that Gabriel was doing in 1982, it's neat-o!

Click here to visit the 1982 Gabriel Legend of the Lone Ranger Catalog

And if you're still in a "Kemosabe" kind of mood, do check out our gallery devoted to the 1970s Lone Ranger Toy Line and these other western wonders: