The best picture you will see today

My friend Ken shared with me this wonderful photo from around 1980 I suspect. I wish more of our parents took photos like this. Ken grew up not far from me and we can't ascertain if this is a WH Smith store of the Dominion Playworld in the Scarborough Town Center.

Either way, it's just glorious and I love the Mego Micronaut cameo.

If you have photos like this and want to share, PLEASE send them on down.

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Get the expanded digital edition of Rack Toys here.

Dargon of the Sectaurs visits a Toy Store!

Ahhhhh the 1980s were a goldmine for costumed character appearances from toy lines weren't they?
Do you have photos like this in a drawer? Any fun memories of the experience?

This is the kind of thing I'm looking for in my next book "Mall of Justice".

How you can get involved: I'm looking for your photos and your recollections! Even if you've submitted them to the site before, I would likely need higher resolution and I'd want to talk to you.

What am i looking for: Appearances of costumed characters during the 1970s and 80s, be they from comic books (Batman, the Hulk) , cartoons (, toy lines (Masters of the Universe, GI Joe)  or movies (Planet of the Apes, Star Wars) , a date and place and a description of how you felt meeting these iconic characters. Did you think they were real? 

Does it have to specifically be in a mall: 
HECK NO! Car shows, county fairs, grocery stores, heck I'd even accept birthday party shots. It's all fair game.

Learn more here:

http://plaidstallions.blogspot.ca/2016/04/new-book-project-mall-of-justice.html

Or simply send me an email at Kid70s*at*gmail.com (replace the at with an @, i just don't want tons of spam from publishing my email(

The shop window of Mego Dreams.....

I debated whether to put this here or on the Mego Museum but considering it's a vintage photo of a toy store in Hong Kong (and let's face it, this site has an obsession with such things).

This display of Mego Superhero items and Micronauts is my happy place, I drove my mother crazy looking for the 9.5" Robin on the far left. It looked just like Dick Grayson in the comics, it had to be mine.

Speaking of Mego, the annual convention known as Mego Meet is this June 16-17 in Skokie, Illinois. It's our last year in the Chicago area before we move to a new state, so last call mid west! Strong chance the guy at the front desk will be me, don't let that deter you.

New Return of the Jedi toys at Toys R Us!

I wonder what Geoffrey's sith lord name is? Darth Exclusive?

Pod Stallions 43: Top Ten Things We Miss about the 1970s

Our website turns 10 this month so we begin by discussing it's origins and why it came to be. With the topic already being nostalgia, we thought it would be fun to talk about the top ten thing we miss about the 1970s.

This is not a "things were better in our day" type discussion (We like Ebay and YouTube just fine thank you very much) but more about the certain rituals, tastes, establishments and items that sadly, no longer have a place in our modern world.

Topics range from Saturday morning TV to local toy stores, full comic book racks everywhere you looked, ice cream men on bicycles, long gone fast foods, Jason's crush on Rhoda Morgensten (and her mom!), Network Stars Battling, Heroes World adverts, colorful home decor and of course, wish books. 

Be careful with episode 43 because the filling is hot!


Hit us up on our facebook page and tell us what you miss about the 1970s, 

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1980 JC Penny Toy Land Flyer

I am a complete junkie for toy store newspaper flyers, they are just such a wonderfully illustrated time capsule of our childhoods.

This beautiful piece from JC Penny in 1980 is a pretty terrific example of why I love these, so many old friends are here.

From bikes to big wheels, Barbie to Ms Piggy, Fisher Price Little People to Kenner Star Wars, it's a fantastic cross section of Childhood:1980.

Click Here to check out JC Penny Toy Land 1980

More JC Penny Toy Land

Vintage Toy Store Pictures Volume 18

For this year's last Friday feature, I bring you my favourite of all sections of PlaidStallions another volume of vintage toy store pictures!

Celebrating the time when we had unique independent retailers dotting our landscape and came up with colourful and and interesting ways of selling us toys.

Volume 18 is our biggest yet and loaded with shots across the USA dating from the 1970s to the 1990s. Maybe even your favourite childhood toy haunt is included in this mix!

Notable sites include Kenner Six Million Dollar Man, Barbie, Hot Wheels, Mego 2 XL, Muppets, Fisher Price Little People, Electronic Games, Atari Consoles,  Kenner Star Wars, Gabriel Lone Ranger and much, much more.

"Take my advice kids, keep one of these in the box!"

Vintage Toy Store Photos Volume 18

Don't forget to visit our archive of Vintage Toy Store Photos, it's a timewarp!

Beno's Toys Christmas book from 1979

Seeing as Christmas and shopping is all that on our minds right now, let's take a look at the specials offered 36 years ago with the Beno's Toy flyer.

I've never heard of this California based chain but I sure recognize the toys like Kenner Star Wars, Play-Doh and a metric ton of classic hand held electronic games!

Begin the tour of the Beno's Christmas Book right here!

Classic Toy Store Ads on PlaidStallions

Hagensick's Playroom 1975

1981 Toys R Us Flyer

Childworld 1975

Childworld 1981

1975 Toys R Us

Vintage Toy Store Photos Volume 17

Yes! A new installment of  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 17 covers the US and Canada this time and features appearances by Big Jim, Kenner Bionic Woman,  Barbie, Shogun Warriors, Mego Star Trek, Space:1999,  Ideal Star Team, Mattel Donnie and Marie and Kenner Star Wars.

I hope this edition brings back some powerful memories like it did for me.

And hey, check out volumes 1 through 16 when you're done.

A Japanese Toy Store Flyer from the 1970s

It's no secret I'm fond of vintage toy store flyers but getting them from foreign countries is even sweeter!

I can't read a lick of Japanese but I can spot fun classic 1970s toys like Jumbo Machinders (We called them Shogun Warriors), MicroMan (Micronauts here) and the amazing Henshin Cyborg,check out the 1970s Japanese Toy Store Flyer here.

mimics

More Japanese toys

1975 Christmas Toy Store Flyer

Newspaper circulars for toy stores are a tough thing to find, often thrown out immediately it's a shame when you realzie what a wonderful window into our world they truly are.

Take this one for a store called "Hagensick's Playroom" (great name) in Wisconsin, which features a veritible "who's who" of hot items for the era.

Lots of old friends in here, like the Sunshine Family, Atomic Man, Mego Wizard of Oz, the Adventure People, Barbie and much, much more..

Dig into the 1975 Toy Store Flyer right here!

More Toy Store Flyers:

1981 Toys R Us Flyer

Childworld 1975

Childworld 1981

1975 Toys R Us

Starlog stores in Japan

(click on any photo for an enlargement)

Like a lot of 70s kids, I cut my nerdy teeth on Starlog magazine. It was basically my window into a world of wonder that wasn't available where I grew up.

As a struggling student in the 90s, I used to visit the Starlog store in New Jersey twice a year and stare at the toys I couldn't afford. That's why I loved finding these shots and ads for the Starlog store in Japan in the late 1970s, I'd have killed to visit them.

Lots of cool vintage shots after the jump!

Vintage Toy Store Photos Volume 16

In an effort to combat the end of summer blues, I've dig deep to the days of Pegboard and regional toy stores to bring the 16th edition of our vintage toy stores feature.

Installment 16 features old favorites such as the Bionic Woman and Six Million Dollar Man, Barbie, the Osmonds, Atari, Fisher Price, Mego Diana Ross and much more.

We explore such long forgotten chains such as Bambergers, Two Guys as well as local toy emporiums such as The Toy Shoppes and Youngtown.

Check out Vintage Toy Store Photos Volume 16 here.

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.

Ultra Seven crashes into a toy store

Oh my goodness, where to begin? One, this is not only a mall appearance of one of my favourite characters but it's in a 70s toy store setting. 

On top of that it's in a 70s JAPANESE toy store. Adding to this frenzy is one of my holy grails just sitting on a shelf, the Popy Godzilla.

Come to Brian, you look so lonely....

I need to go lie down.

Send me your mall appearance photos!