Toy-Ventures: Tomland PVC Monsters

Time to talk about the quirky series of PVC monster figures that are based on other Tomland series like the Star Raiders, Famous Monsters of Legends and Creatures from other worlds.

Special thanks to Andrew Williams for the photos

For More information visit:
www.tomlandmonsters.com

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Toy-Ventures 3- The Sonic Man and Sonic Woman by Tomland

 This week's episode examines the Tomland toys Sonic Man and Sonic, who look suspiciously like a certain Bionic Couple we all know and love. We also delve into Tomland's history of ripping off some of the 1970s most popular tv and movie properties. 

 You can see more Tomland toy merchandise at this site: www.tomlandmonsters.com

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Tomland Monsters Catalog

This picture from the 1980 Combex catalog is something I've been searching for years for, evidence of who distributed these darn things.  

It's kind of joyous to see the Creatures from Other Worlds mingling with the Star Raiders and Famous Monsters of Legend. Now I've just got to find the catalog from the next couple of years.

More Mini Monsters

Since I originally posted about these little guys three years back, I haven't added anything to the collection. In fact, I'm kind of the belief I may not be able to complete the set for the price I'm willing to pay.

Fortunately, I have a pal in Bill, who has some of the characters I don't and is willing to share.  Above is the Tomland Hunchback, who resembles the Lincoln International Hunchback and is one of the characters Tomland didn't do in 8" format.

And this is mini AH, one of the Star Raiders characters. Ah is a tough cookie to find as a regular figure, let alone this little guy.
Fun stuff! Thanks Bill!

More Tomland Toys:



Tomland Famous Monsters Gallery

Tomland Star Raiders Gallery

Star Raiders Updates

It's been over a year since I launched the Tomland Star Raiders gallery on the site and I've had some good luck with regards to new images and information thanks to some lovely people who like to share.

For those not in the know, the Star Raiders were a brazen and rather kooky attempt to cash in on Star Wars without paying for it. These crude 8" figures are just so full of joy and a childish amount of creativity (that's a compliment)

So, many galleries have been updated with new photographs and information, although there is still a lot of gaps, so if you are a collector and would like to help, please drop me a line.

Visit the revised Star Raiders Gallery here.

More 8" Mayhem:

1979 Tomland Toys Catalog

 

Tomland Toys are kind of a mystery to many toy collectors, a member of the Marx family of companies, they were known for producing cheap but fun toys that sometimes kind of skirted copyright laws.

They are perhaps most famous for their 1978 line of action figures called "Star Raiders" and it's follow up line "Star Command: Starroid Raiders" both of which seemed to have been inspired by a certain George Lucas film (hint it's not American Grafitti). In 1979, Tomlands lines seem to have been carried in the United States by a company called Calfax, here is their spacey 1979 selection:

Other Space Toy Links

Rocket Soaring Sales Builders

The Starroid Raiders look like the love child of Kenner Star Wars and Play Mobile figures, which totally rocks!

Look for more Retro Toy Fair Coverage all Day...

Starroid Raiders

When it comes to Star Wars rip off figures, there is no more blatant than the wonderful Tomland's Starroid Raiders. These guys usually sold for a buck (far less than a SW figure) and had GREAT names, from left to right we have Zang, Tango, Wahh, Zbu, Aton and Dado. Like a lot of their stuff, these little fellas came on a multitude of different cards sometimes they were "Space Fighters" or "Space Raiders", it all adds to their cheap charm.

Tomlands/Combex did all sorts of fun figures that blatantly skirt licensing and are now highly collectible. The UK based company used others to do their distribution in the states and were actually in the Marx family of companies. According to some UK trades I have, they were doing quite well.

Expect more on this stuff in the near future.

If you're into Starroid Raiders or almost any figure line that is 3 3/4" inches tall then you should really check out the Kevin Lentz's 3 3/4" Archive sometime. He's compiled a ton of child hood favourites from the 70's and 80's into a one fun web site, there are even a few foreign figures that might surprise you.

A double shot of generic Star Wars goodness

I can't get enough Star Wars rip offs and the page above has one of the best, Starroid Raiders action figures by Tomland. The Space Case is another cool "Me too" type product.

Star Raiders were a Mego type varaiation on the theme, also by Tomlands, many of the characters had vaguely familiar looking faces. For more info on them, check out this site.