Big Jim PACK Attack

I love everything about this early Big Jim PACK page from the 1975 Wards catalog, note the rough logo, and the description that lists the P.A.C.K members as reformed bad guys. Both of those things would disappear when the toys hit shelves.




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Toy Ventures Magazine Indie Go-Go is live!

Toy-Ventures: Top Ten 70s Peg Warmers

Somebody has to be last picked. No matter how cool the toyline is, there is likely at least one that kids didn’t want and was forced to get that dreaded big red sticker one. This week’s Toy Ventures takes a look at some beloved properties (that we love, I swear!) and looks at the “last picked” figure from every assortment counting down to the #1 least popular action figure of the 1970s. Agree with me? Disagree with me? It’s all good, I want to hear your thoughts.



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The Cheerful Family

The Cheerful family is a rip off of Mattel's "Sunshine Family" by Lincoln International. Not to be outdone by the overall creepiness of the originals, Lincoln somehow made them even more terrifying. I won't sleep tonight.

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Toy-Ventures: Torpedo Fist from Big Jim's Wolfpack!

Our focus this week is one of the top agents in the Professional Agents Crime Killers (or P.A.C.K) , the amazing Torpedo Fist.

We talk about the evolution of Mattel's Big Jim, the birth of the PACK, Jack Kirby, the launch of "Double Trouble", Torpedo Fist's origin story and even touch how the character ended up on the Masters of the Universe (sorta kinda?) .

It's a jam-packed Toy-Ventures and one I'm certain you'll enjoy!

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Toy-Ventures: The Zython from Mattel's Space:1999 line

This week we talk about one of the rarest action figures I've ever come across, the highly elusive Zython from the Mattel Space:1999 action figure collection. I don't own this incredibly rare carded example but thankfully, I do know someone that has one and I examine it and give it's interesting back story. Please subscribe to our channel for a weekly toy venture: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwYta3nz_7FAzPvP8FPSgpg PlaidStallions Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/Plaidstallionsdotcom/ Plaidstallions facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/2226244254053126/

Review: Big Jim : A World of Adventures

As a kid of the early 1970s, Big Jim rocked my world. I'm also happy I have video evidence of me receiving a Big Jim for Christmas in 1974.

As you can see, I'm pretty happy with the guy. As a lover of collector books, i've always felt Big Jim was kind of ....underserved. (more after the jump)

Mattel's Heroes in Action

Mattel's Heroes in Action is easily in the top 3 PlaidStallions "Hey I had this toy as a kid" emails we get. The line's military flavour is unique during a time when war toys weren't quite in vogue.

I remember them mainly from the gorgeous comic book ads but I never saw them as a kid, quite a beautifully designed series.

You can the 1975 Mattel Heroes in Action Catalog and the 1976 Mattel Heroes in Action Catalog here.

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The Zython from Mattel's Space:1999 line.

The Zython was offered in the 1977 Mattel Catalog as an alien character to go alongside with Mattel's Space:1999 action figure line. It never appeared in the series but was a rather welcome addition to the line which desperately needed more flair.

However, sales on Space:1999 merch weren't strong enough to warrant a wide release and the Zython seems to have only been offered via this contest for a German comic book above (Thanks Eddy for the scan). It's speculated that less than 300 of these were made, we'll probably never know for sure but a few have trickled out of Deutschland over the years.

But of course, this is Mattel we're talking about here, they'd never let a good toy mold go unused, so Zython would later appear in the amazing Mexican version of Big Jim (known as Kid Acero), which was produced under license by a company called CIPSA, who would dub him Nocton an alien enemy of Kid Acero.

So, while I'll probably never own a Zython (the last one went for just under a grand), I was able to buy a Nocton in the 1990s and still have him to this day. One day I hope to track down his scepter. 

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Barbie's Friend Ship

After showing Big Jim's Sky Commander earlier in the week, it seems fitting to show the Barbie Equivalent.  During this particular segment, Ken had the fish, so Barbie had to land the plane.

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Your 1977 Robot Selection

Tomy's Mighty Max is a really neat toy that often gets mistaken for a Micronaut or a Shogun Warrior.




I wish more records were included with playsets, I think it adds a neat quality. 

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Sweathogs Classroom

I wish more records were included with playsets, I think it adds a neat quality. 

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Creepy Crawler Thingmaker 2

When this set came out, I begged for it but my folks, they were impossible to talk into this sort of item, they wore me out. 

Flash forward to me being 16 and finding a dusty, unsold one in the back of a Toronto variety store. Money left my wallet pretty fast and I raced home and did...absolutely nothing with it. 

I had no real desire at that age to sit and make rubber bugs, so I ended up selling it at a flea market. This experience has not deterred me in any way to repeat this behavior for the past 30 years...

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Spider-Man's Web of Terror

For Superhero who can't drive and is sorta poor, Spider-Man has some killer cars.

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Bee Gees Rhythm Machine

Even at nine, I'm not sure my voice could go that high..

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I Love Action Figures in Karate Outfits

(Many thanks to my friend Eddie for this awesome image above) 

The Martial Arts explosion of the early 1970s was not lost on action figures, growing up in this time, it gave me a lifelong obsession with the culture.

 It also turned out to be a real positive influence in my life, so I've decided to start collecting all the various 70s action figures I can find in Karate Gis and compiled a list of ones that i have and would like to have after the jump:

Snoopy's Flying Doghouse

This is one of those times where marrying an established toy concept with a license made total and complete sense. Which cannot be said for 99% of "Incredible Hulk" toys.....

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BIG Toys Week: Rodan by Mattel

I cap off this theme week with one of my absolute favorite BIG toys of all time, Rodan! Toho movies were a treat for me growing up, rarely playing on TV, I can vividly remember watching each one I did catch.

The weekly Godzilla cartoon and monthly Marvel comic were also enabling my love for Japanese Kaiju cinema. My single attempt to get a Mattel Godzilla toy was begging my parents to buy me one at Woolco.

It didn't go over great.

Rodan was not released in Canada, so I was blissfully unaware of it. When I began toy collecting in high school, Godzilla and the Shogun Warriors were on my short list, basically I was fixing Santa's mistakes.

 I started by visiting kids I grew up with and asking if they still had their toys, I got a lot of weird looks, I also got a lot of cool old toys. I eventually graduated to late night calls to the shadow network of dealers and collectors in the United States.

Everybody knew somebody and you'd get off the phone with one guy and have a new contact to call. One of them mentioned he had a Mattel Rodan, I probably swallowed my gum, I'd never heard of this toy, I NEEDED it.

So after some negotiation, at 17 years old, I had a Mattel Rodan hanging over my dresser mirror complete with a cigarette in his mouth and a pair of tiny sunglasses. I wish I had a picture of this.

He would be the first thing I saw every morning until college when I sold him for car money. It kind of stung to see him leave at that toy show...

Flash forward to 2007 when I encountered a great deal on a boxed Rodan, I snapped it up and put it on display. It was pretty magnificent, I'd hate to think what it would sell for now.

 But for some reason, it brought me little to no joy. I eventually sold it to a friend for a friend price, he still mentions it.

Later on, it dawned on me that sometimes "Mint in Box" isn't as fun as loose. The Rodan I had as a teen didn't have a box, heck he was missing his feet! So if I wanted a Rodan, it would have to be loose.

And here he is, my 3rd Rodan toy hanging with some of my childhood toys,  hung over my workspace, he's often one of the first things I see every day (after my dog). He never fails to bring me joy.

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Sweathogs Vs Fonzie

Even as a kid, I knew the Sweathogs bike really belonged to Big Jim, they clearly stole it.

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