GI Joe Adventure Team Newsletter

Hasbro was pretty adept at marketing the G.I. Joe line to kids as evidenced by this 1974 newsletter sent to members of "The Adventure Team". For a $1.50 you got all kinds of cool swag plus this newsletter, which was filled with stories and a pile of material lifted from the Hasbro catalog.

Seeing this stuff blows my mind and makes me wish I wasn't so darn lazy as a child. This newsletter (complete with letter from Commander Mike Triumph) is a wonderful window into a time when Kung Fu Grip was king...

Click Here to see the 1974 GI Joe Adventure Team Newsletter

Other G.I. Joe Related Links

Also be sure to stick around this weekend for a vintage visit with a cylon and the worst colouring book I've ever seen.

Steel Gym Centre

I can totally still feel the fat lips I got from this kind of stuff.

Biddy Biddy Cool

I love Buck Rogers, I watched it faithfully as a kid every week and as an adult I've worn out my boxed set. It's the perfect 70s entertainment for me, cheese, sci fi and sexy all sloppily tucked into an ill fitting spandex jumpsuit.

As a kid however, the closest I ever got to the toys were when my pal Jason visited and I got to borrow his figures for the day. For some reason, my mom truly drew the line with Buck toys, it was a complete no go, which was weird considering I watched "Battlestar Galactica" maybe five times as kid and had the whole first wave. I'll never get parents, maybe she just didn't like Gil Gerard.

Check out the Mego Museum's Buck Rogers Gallery.

Also, A scrappy company called ZICA toys is set to release Mego like 8" versions of Buck Rogers, Tigerman and Hawk this summer and they've even promised a Twiki in wave 2! Check out the awesomeness of the headsculpts here.

The Pants Suit of Insanity

I can see through time....

Son of AHI Monsters

A few more variations added to the Azrak Hamway Monster Toy Galleries, cataloging these seems to be kind of endless, which I kind of liks.

Above is another one of these end of the line cupped hand versions, this time it's of Frankenstein. I think it's funny these versions come wearing cleats, I guess Franky just came from Soccer practice.

And this Mummy complete our section on the wrist jointed versions of the figures, as you can see the Mummy has himself a big hairy "Sean Conneryesque" chest going on. That's because all the figures share a torso..

I've spent a little time upgrading and organizing the growing AHI Monsters section of the site, check it out.

Darth Vader hits the Waterpark

Matt sent in this fun shot of him and Darth Vader in the Wisconsin Dells circa 1978, note the signed 8" by 10" glossy in his hands. Matt gets bonus points for the cool Starsky and Hutch shirt but I'm not sure why Darth Vader is wearing the buzzer from my grandmother's apartment building lobby on his chest...

Send me your mall appearance photos!

1976 Multiple Toymakers Catalog

Multiple Toys doesn't immediately spring to mind when you think of childhood favourites but they certainly should seeing as they did create an incredible amount of childhood staples like plastic dinosaurs and green plastic army men.

Add to that Multiples hot licenses like Planet of the Apes, M*A*S*H, Kung Fu and the DC Comics superheroes and you have the irresistable combination of fun and excitement.

Click Here to Visit the 1976 Multiple Toys Catalog

More Planet of the Apes Merchandise

The Ready Gang

File this toy line under "Can't remember the name" Marx's Ready Gang line didn't get a lot of recognition and kind of got swept away with all the Western Action figures released in the 1970s. It's hard to imagine but at one point almost every major toy company had a series of Cowboy action figures on the market. Heck even Marx was still pumping out Johnny West figures.

I wonder if I could even find one at retail right now and no I don't count Vigilante from JLU...

Bikini Wednesday

A little vintage gggrrrroooowwwl from '74.

Godzilla VS Me

I got a new member to my expanding "toy family" a few weeks back and I couldn't be happier. This is the HG toys Godzilla figure from their awesome "Godzilla Vs the Tricephalon" playset released in 1979. I saw it in the back of Famous Monsters magazine as a kid and knew one day I would own it, this Zilla is the closest I have come to that goal.

My first surprise is that he's "HUGE", I was expecting him to be in "Green Army man" type scale and he sort of is, as he towers over them just like Godzilla should.

See? He's awesome, the plane and frightened person are also from the set, I won those in another auction.

Just for scale, that's a Mexican Mego Superman next to him. This guy is one serious lump of plastic (and old school toy love).

One of these days boy....

Baron Von Awesome

I wonder if he keeps balloons in that pocket in case he has to make some animals?

Spidey in the Great White North

Mike sent in this neat picture of him and his sister at a Windsor Ontario mall circa 1974, why is Mike a little freaked out looking in the picture. Mike tells me the other costumed character making an appearance was MAN THING! I'd love to see photos of that although it's not exactly the ideal character for children to see at Woolco. What's also interesting (to me at least) is this another appearance of the "Medallion Spider-Man" that my pal T.J. met at the CNE and is likely the one I saw as a kid as well. What's up with the bling Spidey?

Send me your mall appearance photos!

Galoob Mr. T Catalog

In the early 1980s, a gentle, gold chained covered giant came into our households and told us to read the bible and drink our milk and in doing so, captured our hearts. Mr. T was exactly what Reagan era America was looking for, a straight laced tough guy whose look hinted at rebellion.

The ensuing "T Mania" storm was hard and fast with merchandise pouring out everywhere, riding the crest of this was Galoob, who made one of their smarter decisions in captilizing on America's unlikely sweetheart:

America was never the same.

Click Here to Check out the 1984 Galoob Mr. T Catalog

And don't worry, it's completely hack joke free, no mentions of "Pity" or "Fool", that's a promise I stand by.

Another Man of Action:

Yester Flooring

I'd prefer some more choices that involve gold but right now, I'm leaning towards brick rust..

More Love For MAC

I forgot to add this to "Toy Questions" segment I did a month back, this is easily in my top ten of solvable toy mysteries for people. Matchbox MAC were really unique, compact and perfect to me as a six year old but even when I was buying them, I had absolutely no idea what they were called. They were just "those little guys"..

Below is the link to the 1977 MAC catalog, enjoy!

Smooth Knits

If you get real close to your screen you can smell the Hai Karate and confidence.

Empire Toys Helicopters

I get a lot of confused emails about the Empire Toys brand of Helicopter, for those not in the know Empire made licensed helicopters and vans for properties like CHiPs and Spiderman. It was all kind "wink, wink put your Mego dolls in here" or in the case of the Six Million Dollar man, they didn't even get the licensing but the guy on one of the boxs looked a lot like Lee Majors.

I've got the 1979 Empire Catalog on the site, where you can see the silly Hulk Helicopter and Megolike has a great gallery of Empire's vehicles.

Spider-Man in the UK

Today's mall appearance comes from the UK where Spider-Man was used on a bus tour to promote the Palitoy Superheroes line (which were repackaged Mego Superheroes). I don't know about you but this is more Spider-Man than I ever hoped to see.....

Send me your mall appearance photos!

Kenner Sea Wees Catalog

I don't do enough girl's toys features and that's a mistake cause I've got a great female readership and well, there's some really funky cool stuff out there.

Take for example Kenner Sea Wees, a bath centered toy line featured little mermaids who of course had long hair you could style (the play value of this evades me but it appears to be a long running standard).

Kenner ran Sea Wees for five years and it retains a cult following today. Heck I even have a male friend who collects them but I won't reveal his name, unless he stops paying me...

Click Here to Visit the 1980 Kenner Sea Wees Catalog

Pant Suits for all!

The eldest daughter is just barely masking her rage, she's a powder keg.