Author Posts

Stunt Doll

Gabriel Toys broke the “fourth wall” of TV and movies with the Hal Needham stunt set. This fabulous toy allowed you to reenact the filming of a Saloon fight complete with break away chairs, windows and of course, a set of stairs to send our hero down. This may be one of the few incidents […]

Captain Fancy Pants and his Electric Merry Men

“There’s trouble at the macrame store! Boys I can’t promise we’ll all come out of this one alive!” We have another reader submission to the “Christmas in the 1970s” contest we’re running all December. John has sent in tale of both joy and woe from 1977 revolving around a certain Mr. Armstrong, I call it […]

Cool Thing: Popy Spider-Man

I’m currently out of colouring books to review (although expect some great stuff in January) so I thought it was high time to take a look at some of the more interesting toys to cross my path.Our initial entry comes from Japan, land of wonderful playthings and pornography that gives me nightmares.This doll is not […]

How Do You Do Lord Vader?

David after getting chomped on by Cookie Monster also sent in this fun shot of him shaking hands with the dark lord of the Sith in ’77. We have another reader submission to the “Christmas in the 1970s” contest we’re running all December. Adam has sent in tale from 1978 which deals with the important […]

Viva Zorro!

In the early 1980s Gabriel Toys, (known mostly for their fan-freaking-tastic line of Lone Ranger toys) picked up the license to the Filmation Zorro television series and worked their usual magic with a series of awesome 3 3/4″ action figures. Click on any of the images to explore the 1980 Gabriel Zorro Catalog. More Western […]

Triple Shot of Star Trek Model KIts

This amazing three pack of Star Trek model kits featuring The Enterprise (no clue as to why it’s silver), Shuttle Galeilo (A kit I ruined twice, thank you) and the incredibly awesome Mr Spock kit was only $8 back in 1974. I’m buying my son the Spock reissue this Christmas, I imagine it’ll cost me […]

Glamour Dressing for Memorable Holidays

Memorable in the context of “Remember when mom got dressed up like a gigantic red ornament and drank an entire box of wine?” Speaking of the Holidays we have the first reader submission to the “Christmas in the 1970s” contest we’re running all December. Derek from the UK has sent us in a vintage picture […]

Holy Marconi Batman

William Dozier should have gotten royalties for all the “holy” gags used in toy catalogs over the years. These 3-d Walkie Talkies are neat to display but I can’t imagine that they were much fun to use, I could see myself dropping them.

Toys & Games by Variety Product Sales

I had an epic day last Wednesday, what I thought would be a boring trip to a storage unit turned out to be an amazing discovery! When I found the records and remnants of my father’s 1970s toy distribution business including these funky signs he used to use. I have been looking for one of […]