Lone Ranger Ready to Ride Again

One of the things I love most about this vintage article about the launch of the gorgeous line of Lone Ranger action figures by Hubely/Gabriel.

 The point made by the president about how parents would recognize these characters and buy them totally works. One Halloween I was told I was going to be the Lone Ranger by my mother and I think it's because she saw the costume, geeked out and bought it for me....

Check out our comprehensive Lone Ranger Toy Gallery

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The First issue of PlaidStallion's Toy-Ventures Magazine is coming this July, the premier issue will be a salute to Azrak-Hamway international and features articles about Star Trek, Space:1999, World Famous Super Monsters, KISS and of course parachuting Superheroes. Learn more here:

Show 'N Tell: Phono-Viewer

A record player that shows images? Man, this is a game changer unfortunately the VCR was a bigger one.

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Gabriel Roto-Cast Monster Machine

This is the greatest toy I never owned, I wish I could send it back to myself in 1979.

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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!

The Lone Ranger Rides Again

As much as the gorgeous Gabriel Lone Ranger action figure line was popular here, it was a massive success in Europe, where cowboy lore held a special fascination.

Never had a single figure as a kid and still don't own any but man, do i love looking at these.

(Thanks to Eddy for this scan!)

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Show 'N" Tell

Gabriel's Show N Tell came out when I was ten years old, so I'm not surprised I didn't notice it back then, I was all about action figures at that point.

A really novel approach to the "Book and Record" format I loved, I can't imagine it had a long life at retail with affordable VCRs looming closer and closer....

Frontier Fun

I never got any Best of the West or Gabriel Lone Ranger but I certainly remember their presence in the early 1970s wish books and i miss seeing them.

1977 Gabriel Toys Lone Ranger Catalog

The Lone Ranger toyline is easily one of the nicest action figure lines of the 1970s if not all time and Gabriel Toys had some real long running success with it.

This 1977 Catalog is the third year for the line and shows that it was still going strong, Gabriel put a lot of effort into this catalog and it truly showcases how nice this line really was.

Visit the 1977 Gabriel Lone Ranger Catalog here.

And once you're finished, we've got the most Gabriel Lone Ranger content on teh interwebs!

Lone Ranger Figure Archive

 

1977 Gabriel Toys Hal Needham: Stuntman Catalog

1977 saw Gabriel Toys try an interesting experiment in action figures.

Instead of licensing a hollywood movie, they sought to captilize on the making of a movie by creating a set based on then legendary stuntman Hal Needham. 



The unique concept had a child filming a stunt sequence in a movie and was actually one of the more inspired (and sadly forgotten)  toy concepts of the 1970s.

Check out all the action of the Hal Needham Stunt Set here.

More Gabriel Toys on PlaidStallions

   

1975 Lone Ranger UK Catalog

The brilliant Gabriel Toys Lone Ranger action figure line was a big hit in North America but it was also a smash in the UK, where is was sold by Marx Toys.

Today, we've got the 1975 catalog for the British Lone Ranger series which includes some sweet photos of store displays like this:

Visit the 1975 Marx Lone Ranger Catalog here.

And once you're finished, we've got the most Gabriel Lone Ranger content on teh interwebs!

Lone Ranger Figure Archive

The Old West by Gabriel

In 2013, we got a pretty disappointing Lone Ranger movie, just like we did in 1981.

In 1981, we got a killer action figure line for that Lone Ranger movie that was so good, most kids loved them anyway.

Advantage 1981....

Gabriel Legend of the Lone Ranger Catalog.

Vintage Toy Store Photos Volume 15

 

Seeing as it's the site's birthday, it's no better time to drop a new installment in what is one of my favorites, vintage toy store photos. A journey back to the days of oddly named department stores and independent mall toy stores and chains that are fondly remembered but sadly mostly gone. 

Vintage Toy Store Photos Volume 15 gets all Bionic up in here with some smashing shots of Kenner Six Million Dollar man and Bionic Woman displays, joining them will be Godzilla, The Sunshine Family, Barbie and the Lone Ranger. All in the late 1970s/early 1980s glory.

Check out Vintage Toy Stores Volume 15 here

And if you haven't already, Volumes 1-14 are a pile of happiness, click the image for the full gallery.

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:

Chutes Away!

Gabriel's Chutes Away was one of those games I often requested but never received. It's pre video game functionality is something we don't see much anymore.