Yeah, it might seem pretty weird to feature a school supplies catalog, except this is Mead, who made all the cool licensed stuff you wished you had.
The big launch for 1976 were the Marvel Comics Superheroes school supplies, while I never recieved any of these personally, I must have sat across from a kid who did as they are permanently etched into my brain. Big props to my pal Tim Arnold for getting me these scans.
Check out the 1976 Mead Catalog Here
The Lawrence Welk show, repulsive to me as a child, downright hypnotic to me now.....
The zenith of electronic toys for 1979 was at Milton Bradley.More 1979 Toyfair coverage all day.
I see these guys at every single toy show I attend, so they must have sold well. The Superman always looks like he has bed head.More Retro Toyfair coverage all day.
The Starroid Raiders look like the love child of Kenner Star Wars and Play Mobile figures, which totally rocks!
Superman was heavily merchandised this year. Remember when every kid you knew had viewmasters?
If you put a pistol in this guy's hand, you would have the cover to just about every crappy spy novel I read in college when I should have been studying...
Wonder Woman Magic Lasso jump rope. How awesome is this? It gets better...
Yeah, that's right even Oliver Queen gets some well deserved respect with his own archery set, somebody had their thinking cap on at HG toys, could this get better?
Um well, no it doesn't. This one is a bit of a reach and honestly it's a terrible pun. Hey, three out of four ain't bad right? It has lovely Neal Adams artwork, that counts for something?
I shouldn't have ended the segment with this one.....
Life on Mars- Don't forget about Life on Mars tonight on ABC, the show is "on the bubble" to get renewed and it would be great to see this wonderful retro series back for another season.
" Activate your belt buckle and warm up the Mod Mobile Chad, it looks like we're need once again!"
Behold the HG Toys Fat Albert "Fat Kite" (was the extra fat really needed here?) The site of a flying Fat Albert reminds me of something the great Joel Hodgson once said "Funnnnyy..... but impossible"
Paul Novak sent in these amazing shots from Chicago in 1975. As superhero appearances go, this is the top of the food chain. Adam West and Burt Ward live and in costume as Batman and Robin. Even though both mean still tour, you'll never see them in their bat duds again.
Other Rack Toy Links
Check out the 1977 Matchbox MAC catalog Gallery for more info.
I'm pretty sure these guys were on an episode of "Vega$" or perhaps "Quincy" I don't know...Ever since I first saw it in the 1976 Remco Catalog, I've been a little fascinated by the Earth Quake Tower Playset, which obviously was inspired by the many works of Irwin Allen and the disaster craze of the early seventies. It's kind of morbid but if I had seen it as a kid, i'd have been all over it.
It's weird but when I look at what a generation before me considered essential travel equipment, I can't help but feel like less of a man. I spend my business travel drinking two generic beers (actually liquor makes my tummy sad) before falling asleep with a documentary on TV.
