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Big Jim 1984 Catalog from Italy

He may have faded from our toy shelves in the 1970s but in Europe, Big Jim was still kind of a big deal. How big a deal? In this 1984 Mattel Italy catalog, Big Jim has as many pages as Masters of the Universe. By this time, the Big Jim line is firmly set in […]

Pod Stallions Mini Sode 1: Movies We Watched

Due to all the nice requests about making more Pod Casts and our desire to talk, we’ve started a new concept here. Presenting the first Mini-Sode, an extra half hour show each month on a variety of topics that are perhaps not long enough for our standard format. For our inaugural mini-show we decided to […]

Colouring Book Theatre: Dune Activity Book

Dune Activity Book (1984), Grosset & Dunlop.          A local half price book chain just added piles of these to their inventory,  meaning they found a stash of unsold Dune merchandise 30 years later.            I’ve already looked at the (wrongheaded) Dune colouring books before but they’re so freaking […]

1984 LJN Toys Dune Catalog

It’s hard to believe that toy makers thought the next merchandising blitz would come from a David Lynch film but that’s exactly what happened in 1984. Dune got the full treatment with colouring books, bed sheets and of course a selection of action figures produced by LJN. The movie wasn’t particularly kid (or for that […]

Colouring BooK Theatre: Spiderman’s Christmas

Spider-Man’s Christmas: Giant Story Colouring Book by Marvel Books I found this book at a flea market the other and seeing how it’s Christmas, I spent the money and nabbed this gigantic book from 1984. It’s done in ’84 by the Marvel Bullpen so it’s nicely done rip of the Parkes Run books from the […]

1984 Remco Toys Catalog

By 1984, all of the toy lines Remco had called staples in the 1970s like utility belts and helicopters were long gone as the company dove  head first into the crowded marketplace of 1980s Action Figures Batman and Superman had been replaced by less known DC characters like Warlord and Sgt Rock, the company experimented […]

Blue Thunder Prototypes

While I remember the Multi Toys Blue Thunder Helicopter from the Toys R Us clearance center, I didn’t lnow how far they planned to take the series. This page from their 1984 catalog shows (kind of crude) prototypes for Bubba Smith, Dick Butkus, James Farentino and even Dana Carvey. There was even plans for non […]

Nightmare Warriors

Nightmare warriors are toys that I remember but was slightly too old to buy at the time. The idea of Skeleton action figures was done in the 1970s and for some unknown reason the dollar stores aren’t full of these guys now. That’s a crying shame, Skeleton action figures are an ever green. Oh and […]

1984 Ideal Toys Robo Force Catalog

  Robo Force was a nicely designed series of Robot Action Figures that seemed to be largely influenced by Star Wars. The line, despite an animated special was not a commercial success, this may have been due to Hasbro’s Transformers launching the same year, really making Maxx Steele and his “Daleky” crew looking a bit […]

The 1984 Fleetwood Toy Catalog

Fleetwood Toys was a Rack Toy manufacturer famous for nabbing the hottest licenses from TV and pop culture. For their 1984 catalog, there were a lot of new faces replacing previous characters “CHiPs” was now replaced with “TJ Hooker”, instead of “The Fall Guy” we’ve got the antics of the “A Team”, the Marvel Comics […]