Fleetwood toys was one of the biggest and most prolific manufacturers of Rack Toys during the 1970s and 80s.
In 1977, they were truly on top of their game as evidenced by the massive amount of licenses they had this year including the Marvel Comics Superheroes, Welcome Back Kotter, Starsky and Hutch, The Rookies, SWAT, Tarzan, the Space Sentinels even Ba-Ba Blacksheep!
It's so jam packed with cool rack toys, there is no way you can't find something you like.
Ben Cooper was the leading manufacturer of Halloween costumes and Novelties in the United States during the 1970s.
This extensive 1976 catalog really demonstrates the power house licenses they had from the Universal Monsters and Mickey Mouse, the Superheroes of both Marvel and DC to TV sensations like the Six Million Dollar Man and the Sleestaks, Ben Cooper had almost a stranglehold on what kids liked .
Founded in 1970 by Jack Friedman, LJN was one of the 1970s more successful toy companies, offering a mix of nicely made licensed products and some lower cost "house brand" items.
1975 saw the company in full swing with hot TV licenses such as "The Rookies" and "Emergency!" as well as Petite, their attempt to capture the fashion doll market and "Mr. Action", their version of G.I. Joe.
These TV licensed gun sets were likely made by HG Toys, who never missed the opportunity to put TV show logos on weapons. Getting a S.W.A.T rifle in my neighbourhood made you a kind of royalty back in 1977.
I personally used a stick combined with the "an-an-an-an-an-an" sound effect, which totally bit....
Great that theme song ain't leaving my head anytime soon. Eventhough I'm not even sure I've ever seen an episode of this series, I will admit to thinking that playset of theirs is one of the coolest vinyl sets the 70s had to offer. I'm a sucker for anything that has those old giant reel to reel computers on it.
While I never had the figures (which are made by LJN and not Mego), I have fond memories of running around my neighbours backyard, M16 in hand, going "Duna-na-nuh-na-nuh-na-nuh-Duna-na-nuh-nuh" for what seemed like hours. Now I have the theme song stuck in my brain again, great.
Accurate toy guns are pretty much a thing of the past now but there was nothing I wanted more when I was 7 than one of those M-16 replicas that made a firing sound (kind of clacker on the inside) . It must have been the popularity of SWAT that influenced my decision. I had to settel for a revolver that fired Caps, which really wasn't that bad. The type of caps I used are banned now too....