The Not Quite as Dark, Dark Knight
 Jumping on the "Bat Bandwagon" this weekend with a new list. Batman has been a merchandising phenom for over 40 years now and not surprisingly, we've decided to focus on the Coolest Batman Toys of the 1970's. All your favourites including Mego, Remco and Corgi...
Heavy Metal
 Zee Toys Metal Men were in many of our toyboxes growing up but few us remembered who or what they were. These well made diecast figures had no back story, so they were pure imagination baby! Be sure to check out the 1978 Zee Toys Metal Man Catalog
Dimestore Monsters!
 The Lincoln Monsters can often be dismissed as "Mego Knockoffs" which is true but they are also a charming line to collect.I;m fond of them mainly because my dad sold them back in the day! Check out the new Lincoln Monsters Gallery
Go West Little Man
 Marx's Johnny West was one of the few hold over action figure lines from the 1960's still on the shelf in the mid seventies, although he was starting to look strange next to all the Superheroes, Aliens and Talking Apes. Check out the 1975 Marx Johnny West Catalog Pardner!
Tiny Atomic Batteries to Power!
 Superheroes and TV Superstars vehicles are the main focus with these pages from the 1978 Corgi Catalog which features, Supermobiles, Ford Torino's and of course every vehicle you could stick a Batman symbol on. Read all about it hereRack Toys Update
Four Colour Knievel!
 This week's update is none other than the Marvel Comics/Ideal Toys co-production of "Evel Knievel in The Perilous Traps of Mr. Danger", a giveaway comic from the mid seventies that manges to sneak in every bit of Knievel merchandise into it's 20 pages.Bionic People of 1977!
 1977 was the biggest year ever in terms of Kenner toys and the Two Bionic Television series "The Six Million Dollar Man" and sister series "The Bionic Woman" with a ton of fabulous releases for both. Check out the 1977 Six Million Dollar Man Catalog.Made From The Strangest Stuff on Earth!
 Manglors were an interesting concept from Ideal toys, they were monster action figures that encouraged children to tear them apart. The cool packaging was done by the same artist who did many album covers for KISS and ManoWar. Please to be visiting the 1984 IDEAL MANGLORS CATALOG. Jeez, two weeks of Monster toys, I'd better lighten up.Azrak Hamway Explosion
Butch and Sundance: Each Sold Separately
 In 1980, Kenner tried to repackage their wonderfully made but commercially unsuccessful line of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid figures and playsets as the "Real West" by expanding the figure line to include more legendary (public domain) characters. Sadly it was not to be and what would have been a cool line to collect never materialized. Check out what Kenner had in store with the Kenner Real West CollectionPulsar and the Shogun Warriors visit Moonbase Alpha
 Put together a gallery of all the boys action figure lines Mattel had for 1977, this included the debut of Pulsar, The Shogun Warriors, Welcome Back Kotter and the second offering of Space:1999 which had some new offerings. As a bonus, there are shots of never before seen Space:1999 action figure prototypes. Check out the 1977 Mattel Catalog here
G.I. Joe in Germany
 We begin our "Third Season" of Plaid Stallions with this awesome foreign find. While we played with G.I. Joe Adventure Team in North America, kids in Germany called it Action Team and had members named Tom Stone and John Steel. This catalog is fun not only for the little variations available abroad but the amazing photograpy, it's some of the nicest imagery ever produced for a toy catalog. Click here to see the G.I. Joe Action Team Catalog. Watch for more additions in the future.
PlaidStallions Revamp!
 As you may have noticed, the site has been revamped to celebrate our second anniversary, all of the content is still available in the Archive and we've moved all the Video to it's new gallery. Watch for more retro commercials and forgotten TV in the coming months.
More Space Playgrounds
 Our last piece on retro playground equipment was a big hit so I unearthered a few more robots, rocket ships and flying saucers made of "pipe n' concrete" for your enjoyment. You really have to check out Retro Space Playgrounds Part 2
Vintage Toy Store Pictures Part 5
 This has to be one of my favourite obsessions, finding pictures of toy stores and aisles past. So I'm really pleased to be coming out with Vintage Toy Stores Part Five with a collection of images that feature classic toys of the seventies including Mego Superheroes, Adventure Team G.I. Joes, Aurora Monster Models, View Masters, Tonka Trucks and of course, Star Wars action figures.If you're digging this then please check out Part One, Part Two and Part 3 and Part 4 in this series. I hope to bring Part 6 in the next few months, wish me luck! |
