Toy-Ventures: Top Ten 1980s Peg Warmers

This is our follow up to our 70s peg warmers list. The 1980s were an incredible time for action figures, an era we'll never see again but like anything, some items didn't really sell. Let's count down some toys that hung around.

This list is meant in jest and not to be taken seriously. Tell me what i missed in the comments.

http://www.megomuseum.com/odeon/store/products/

BUY TOY-VENTURES MAGAZINE ISSUE ONE HERE:

Pod-Stallions FB Group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/podstallions/

 

The Top Ten Coolest 1970s Wonder Woman Merchandise

The Top Ten Coolest 1970s Wonder Woman Merchandise

The 1970s were a good time for female heroes, between Jaime Sommers, The Angels, Police Woman and Diana Prince, sisters were kicking butt like never before.

Wonder Woman was not only on prime time but a Saturday morning fixture with "The Super Friends", this combined with her comic title made her very popular with licensors in the 1970s.

Here are ten of our favorite pieces of Wonder Woman merchandise.

More PlaidStallions top tens:

The Top Ten Fisher Price Little People sets

If you're a kid of the 1970s, chances are the sight of the limbless cherubic Fisher Price Little people will bring a smile to your face.

These simple (and indestructable!) toys were the deserved kings of the preschool aisle during the polyester decade

Here are the top ten Fisher Price Little People Sets:

10) Sesame Street Clubhouse

Ok, so there was never a clubhouse on Sesame Street, nobody cared because this set was jam packed with features like a trap door, revolving door and a tire swing. Not to mention interesting graffiti professing David's love for Maria, which must make Luis crazy to this day!

Read the top ten Fisher Price Adventure People Sets here

More Top Ten Fun

Top Ten Fisher Price Adventure People Sets

The Fisher Price Adventure people were truly the game changers when it came to action figures in the 1970s. Their infectiously fun combination of vehicle and figure were an instant hit with kids when they hit shelves in 1975. Parents liked their non violent play structure and the fact that they appeared to be indestructible.

What's more important was the Adventure people didn't go unnoticed by other toy manufacturers and by the end of the Polyester decade we were literally awash in 3 3/4" goodness.

Here are the top ten Fisher Price Adventure People Sets:

10) Dare Devil Skydiver

This set was minimalist but it actually worked and unlike poop-a-troopers wouldn't completely crap out after an hour of play. I got mine stuck in many a tree but I still have him to this day. Good Times.

Read the top ten Fisher Price Adventure People Sets here

More Top Ten Fun

The Six Greatest Bionic Man Knock Off Toys

I gave up writing a weekly list for Topless Robot, in order to finish writing Rack Toys. I will admit to missing it from time to time, so I’m going to keep fresh by churning out the odd one for PlaidStallions.

The Kenner Six Million Dollar Man toy line is one of the most memorable and successful toy lines of the 1970s.

With the bright light of big sales, you attract a few bugs. A lot of competitors come and try to "cut your grass" as a former boss of mine would say, as the list goes on we'll see it gets more and more blatant.

6: PULSAR (MATTEL) 

 When faced with the overwhelming popularity of Steve Austin, Mattel decided not to play in the Cyborg sandbox at all but went sideways and made an all organic superhero. 

 That's pretty clever, combating steak with a vegan alternative, as a bonus, Pulsar was super gross to look at which is a bonus for young boys. 

Mattel sold the character for two years and didn't pay anybody a dime in licensing.



Come see the Greatest Bionic Man Rip Offs here

More Top Ten Fun

The Top Ten cancelled toys of the 70s/80s

As much as I enjoyed my childhood, it sometimes pains me to think of the stuff we didn't get, for whatever boring grown up decision. Sure, some of these licensed wouldn't have sold and could have forced the companies into risky financial positions but baby Brian wants his toys dammit!
Here are the top ten cancelled toy lines that I personally weep for at every occasion:
Disclaimer: There may be some figure lines not included, this probably intentional as like all of my lists, it's a little biased. I try to be fair.,

10: V LJN planned to make action figures based on the television series V but somehow it stalled and never totally happened.

Why it Hurts It may just be my teenage crush on Jane Badler and her red spandex talking but "V" is just so seriously under-serviced in merchandise, especially when you consider the impact it had.

9) Galoob The Last Starfighter line In the race to find the next Star Wars Starfighter was probably the closest to the concept (well at least when you look at stuff like Krull or Dune), the movie did good but not great at the box office (which is still a mystery to me) so Galoob chose not to go forward with these beautiful items.


Why it Hurts Not only are the figures nice but Galoob wasn't stingy with the character selection, this movie deserved these toys.


Read the whole list here The Top Ten cancelled toys of the 70s/80s

Top Ten Coolest 3 3/4" Action Figure Lines of the 1970s

I gave up writing a weekly list for Topless Robot, in order to finish writing Rack Toys. I will admit to missing it from time to time, so I’m going to keep fresh by churning out the odd one for PlaidStallions. 

 One of the things children of the 1970s were witness to was the birth of the 3 ¾” action figure, this was something that was entirely ours as a generation. The 3 ¾” action figure was to us, what the Slinky or Mr Potato-head were to  baby boomers. 

 The explosion happened so quickly and so many companies followed suit that it’s easy to over look who did some of the best jobs.

Disclaimer: Your favorites might not be here, sorry about that but this list is merely meant as a fun distraction and doesn't serve in any sort of "official capacity". I don't really consider myself any bigger an expert than you, trust me. I'll probably do an 80s one in the coming months. .

#10- Butch and Sundance Kenner

Kenner’s Butch and Sundance line wasn’t based on the Paul Newman/Robert Redford classic from the early 1970s but on the prequel William Katt/Tom Berenger film “Butch and Sundance The Early Years” yeah that happened.

Kenner went all out on this line making figures of other characters played by Peter Weller and Brian Dennehy. The figures had better articulation than Star Wars figures, their legs moved they could ride horses and pull their guns with quick draw action.

All the bells and whistles couldn’t save the line from the fact that cowboys had fallen out of vogue and the movie it was based on wasn’t a big hit. Frugal Kenner recycled some of this line for their “Adventures of Indiana Jones” line in 1982, which filled it with additional win.

Click here to read the Top Ten 3 3/4" Action Figure Lines of the 1970s.

More Top Ten Fun

The Top Ten Coolest Star Trek Toys of the 1970s

With the J.J. Abram's helmed film poised to be a block buster, I thought it only fitting to do a top ten list of some of the better 23rd century items we got in the 1970s. Many might seem crude by todays standards but most have never been topped in the fun department.

The 1970s were truly the golden age of Star Trek merchandise, prior to that companies just lazily put the words "Star Trek" on recycled space guns and "Astro trains"(?) but the 1970s saw the biggest merchandising spree this side of Planet of the Apes.

Click Here to Read the Top Ten Coolest 70s Star Trek Toys

More Top Ten Rants:

The Top Coolest Monster Toys of the 1970's

With October 31st a day away, it's prime time to launch another Top Ten List, this time it's (in my humble opinion of course) the top ten coolest Monster Toys of the 1970s.

Being undead seems to be a big boon in the toy world.

Even though the seventies were a far cry from the Monster merchandising boom of the mid sixties (which really was a golden age except for the lack of action figures), it wasn't exactly a drought either.

Classic monsters such as Frankenstein and Godzilla were still flourishing on late night TV and on Saturday morning with shows like "The Monster Squad", "Hilarious House of Frightenstein" and "The Groovie Ghoulies", it was still a great time to be a monster kid. Here are ten of the best reasons to be a monster kid in the 1970's:

Click Here to read the Article

Did I miss your favorite? Rest assured that one was #11. [/lie]