To my surprise, I now am the proud owner of this, a Canadian “The Legend of the Lone Ranger” set of the Ranger and Silver by Gabriel Toys but distributed by Irwin Toys. Irwin was known as Kenner Canada and was a big deal around these parts.

I don’t collect the Lone Ranger lines, but I can’t remember when I’ve seen such an item in Canadian Packaging.  While the found “The Legend of the Lone Ranger” somewhat forgettable, I also have massive affection for this well-made toy line. 

However, what truly sold me on this piece was the back.

I will admit that I was unaware that the free Western Town Promotion was valid in Canada, but that it was that rather off sticker that clinched it for me.

The sticker indicates that this came from Consumer’s Distributing, a chain of “Catalog Showroom” shops that dotted the Canadian landscape until the late 1990s. I have a lot of fond memories of that store, especially giving the clerks fake names they had to yell out as a kid. I’m pretty sure they knew my name wasn’t Zaius.

Sadly I do not own the 1981 Consumers Distributing catalogue (#lifegoals) but I do have one from it’s another Canadian catalog firm (and equally fondly remembered) Shoprite.

It’s crazy how a simple price sticker can push nostalgia buttons like this…

Our long running Pod Cast, Pod Stallions is now available on Spotify.

The PlaidStallions Polyester Pals have arrived and come in green and orange. Be the first kid in the sandbox with our Podcast mascots!

Do you miss toy collector magazines?

That’s why we created Toy-Ventures magazine, an old-school print publication dedicated to vintage toys from the 1960s to the 1990s. Each issue is packed with never before seen images and information written by some of the top collectors. We’ve got 7 issues and climbing; please check our page here or visit our store.

Our latest book is “Knock-Offs: Totally Unauthorized Action Figures” a love letter to cheeky copyright-infringing toys. You can get this new book via the PlaidStallions Shop, On Amazon (Affiliate Link) or eBay (eBay Link)

FACEBOOK GROUPS FROM PLAIDSTALLIONS

Pod Stallions is based on our podcast and is one of the most fun groups on Facebook. Toys, Comics, Movies, TV, it’s all up for grabs and remember folks, you keep the glass! If you like our show, then you have found your tribe.

Mego Knock Off Headquarters– The leading group discussing 70s Dime store knock-offs and bootleg action figures, we talk vintage toys and not others. We know the difference between Astro Apes and Action Apeman.  It’s a fun group where we talk about Lincoln International, AHI, Mighty Gary, Tomland, Bogi, Demo Man, Mortoys, and other generic greats.

Gabriel Toys The Legend of the Lone Ranger
#toyventures #loneranger #actionfigures

The post Canadian Legend of the Lone Ranger two pack appeared first on PS.

One of the pages that I drooled over in the 1980 Consumer’s Distributing catalogue would be this spread of Mego (Well here in Canada, Grand Toys), Star Trek the Motion Picture and Buck Rogers toys.

I was that kid who loved the Motion Picture merchandise mainly because of the Marvel comic. Buck Rogers was also “must-see TV” in my household.

Consumers had a great assortment of Mego Star Trek merchandise, including four of the Aliens. All of the Aliens were sold in Canada because Grand Toys paid upfront for merchandise with a letter of credit, so even though Star Trek was a dud for Mego, the second wave hit Canadian shores regardless.

For Buck Rogers, I vividly remember clipping out the figure sets (which came in little brown catalogue boxes that I wish I could find) and pasting them to my Christmas list that year.

However, the Mego Buck Rogers line was not to be. My parents decided I had too many figure lines. They had a good case, citing the whole “Battlestar Galactica” debacle (had to have the figures, never gelled with the show). I really couldn’t find a loophole, so despite my love for the series (I still love it!), I had to settle for playing with my friend’s Buck figures when he visited.

The one odd thing about the Mego Buck Rogers assortment in the consumers’ catalogue is the omission of the Star Fighter, quickly the most popular vehicle in the line. Instead, however, the Land Rover is pretty darn swell.

We’ve got a new book coming! Knock-Offs Totally Unauthorized Action Figures is our follow-up to Rack Toys, click here for more info.

Our book Rack Toys, Cheap, Crazed Playthings is now available again! Order through our Affiliate Link

Order Rack Toys 2.0 Here through out Affiliate Link►https://amzn.to/3Bkm9z1

Toy-Ventures Magazine is our newest creation, an old-school print magazine about vintage toys! Professionally laid out and written, each issue is brimming with obscure and rare toys from companies such as Mego, Kenner, Remco, AHI, and much more. Monsters, Superheroes, Adventurers, Knock Offs, Apes, and so much more, it’s in Toy-Ventures.

Toy-Ventures Issue 5 is available now:
Ebay: https://ebay.us/XSS1X7
Plaid Stallions Store: https://plaidstallions.com/reboot/shop/
Amazon Affilitate Link:https://amzn.to/3d9Q0AS

FACEBOOK GROUPS FROM PLAIDSTALLIONS

Pod Stallions is one of the most fun groups on Facebook. Toys, Comics, Movies, TV, it’s all up for grabs and remember, you keep the glass!

Mego Knock Off Headquarters– The leading group discussing 70s Dime store knock-offs of Mego action figures, we talk vintage toys and not others. We know the difference between Astro Apes and Action Apeman! It’s a really fun group where we talk about Lincoln International, AHI, Tomland, Bogi, Demo Man, Mortoy, and other generic greats.

Get Toy-Ventures Issue 3 here with a comprehensive look at the Lincoln Monster line:
https://plaidstallions.com/reboot/shop/

Join Mego Knock Off Head Quarters Here;
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Megoknockoff

Order our book Rack Toys 2.0 Here through our Amazon Affiliate Link►https://amzn.to/3Bkm9z1

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The post Mego Star Trek and Buck Rogers – 1980 Consumer’s Distributing Catalog appeared first on PS.

If there is any testament to the power of Fisher-Price toys, it’s the fact that many of the items featured here had serious longevity. I had the three bottom items from the Fisher-Price play family series, namely the Farm, the parking garage and the ferry boat before I went to kindergarten and they’re still available for sale when I’m in the fifth grade. That my friends represent some serious staying power in the toy aisle.

The Fisher-Price Adventure People really hit their stride by this time. I had just about outgrown the series by then but I remember really wanting that submarine and squid. However, the siren call of sci-fi-related toys had won me over. 

Here is our video on the Top 10 Fisher Price Adventure People Sets.

The 1980 assortment of Lego shows the early days of the mini-figure with the apple of my eye, Space Lego.

Another shot of the dreamy Space Lego boxes. My folks, for some reason just drew the line with this range. I had too much Lego according to them, so I had to settle for playing with the sets the weiner kid down the block had. 

We’ve got a new book coming! Knock-Offs Totally Unauthorized Action Figures is our follow-up to Rack Toys, click here for more info.

Our book Rack Toys, Cheap, Crazed Playthings is now available again! Order through our Affiliate Link

Order Rack Toys 2.0 Here through out Affiliate Link►https://amzn.to/3Bkm9z1

Toy-Ventures Magazine is our newest creation, an old-school print magazine about vintage toys! Professionally laid out and written, each issue is brimming with obscure and rare toys from companies such as Mego, Kenner, Remco, AHI, and much more. Monsters, Superheroes, Adventurers, Knock Offs, Apes, and so much more, it’s in Toy-Ventures.

Toy-Ventures Issue 5 is available now:
Ebay: https://ebay.us/XSS1X7
Plaid Stallions Store: https://plaidstallions.com/reboot/shop/
Amazon Affilitate Link:https://amzn.to/3d9Q0AS

FACEBOOK GROUPS FROM PLAIDSTALLIONS

Pod Stallions is one of the most fun groups on Facebook. Toys, Comics, Movies, TV, it’s all up for grabs and remember, you keep the glass!

Mego Knock Off Headquarters– The leading group discussing 70s Dime store knock-offs of Mego action figures, we talk vintage toys and not others. We know the difference between Astro Apes and Action Apeman! It’s a really fun group where we talk about Lincoln International, AHI, Tomland, Bogi, Demo Man, Mortoy, and other generic greats.

Get Toy-Ventures Issue 3 here with a comprehensive look at the Lincoln Monster line:
https://plaidstallions.com/reboot/shop/

Join Mego Knock Off Head Quarters Here;
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Megoknockoff

Order our book Rack Toys 2.0 Here through our Amazon Affiliate Link►https://amzn.to/3Bkm9z1

PS Store: https://plaidstallions.com/reboot/shop/
Follow PlaidStallions on Social Media:
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The post Fisher-Price and Lego- 1980 Consumer’s Distributing Catalog appeared first on PS.

1980 Consumer’s Distributing Catalog

1980 Consumer’s Distributing Catalog

Hello and welcome to Consumer’s Distributing week on PlaidStallions. I recently picked up a grail catalogue in the form of the 1980/81 Consumer’s Distributing catalogue. For those not in the know, Consumer’s was a popular Canadian chain of catalogue showroom shops that ran from the 1950s until about 1995. At their peak, they had over 400 stores in Canada and many Northern US states.

It was not uncommon to see a Consumer’s Distributing catalogue in a Canadian home, especially in my grandmother’s place because she never threw them away. I seriously found the final CD catalogue in her house in 2013.

So, I often correlate this catalogue to spending Sunday afternoons at my grandparent’s house, burning holes into the many toy pages. So, all this week I’ll add scans of my favourites to the blog.

Click the image to enlarge

The release of Empire Strikes Back really renewed my at the time, somewhat languishing interest in all things Star Wars.  There was something of a slump for a lot of us by 1979.

It’s funny that by 1980, the Star Wars toy page was mainly Kenner items with very few “Space Imitators” being involved save for Kusan’s Sonic Fazer and that laser gun that was everywhere.

Now, the figures in this catalogue would come in sets and usually, they came in brown cardboard boxes. I never went this route as a kid, one because I couldn’t afford it and 2 because it was fun to look at those card backs. However, I don’t want to think of what collectors would pay for those cardboard boxes these days. Oi vey.

I got the Falcon for Christmas this year and loved it very much. 

We’ve got a new book coming! Knock-Offs Totally Unauthorized Action Figures is our follow-up to Rack Toys, click here for more info.

Our book Rack Toys, Cheap, Crazed Playthings is now available again! Order through our Affiliate Link

Order Rack Toys 2.0 Here through out Affiliate Link►https://amzn.to/3Bkm9z1

Toy-Ventures Magazine is our newest creation, an old-school print magazine about vintage toys! Professionally laid out and written, each issue is brimming with obscure and rare toys from companies such as Mego, Kenner, Remco, AHI, and much more. Monsters, Superheroes, Adventurers, Knock Offs, Apes, and so much more, it’s in Toy-Ventures.

Toy-Ventures Issue 5 is available now:
Ebay: https://ebay.us/XSS1X7
Plaid Stallions Store: https://plaidstallions.com/reboot/shop/
Amazon Affilitate Link:https://amzn.to/3d9Q0AS

FACEBOOK GROUPS FROM PLAIDSTALLIONS

Pod Stallions is one of the most fun groups on Facebook. Toys, Comics, Movies, TV, it’s all up for grabs and remember, you keep the glass!

Mego Knock Off Headquarters– The leading group discussing 70s Dime store knock-offs of Mego action figures, we talk vintage toys and not others. We know the difference between Astro Apes and Action Apeman! It’s a really fun group where we talk about Lincoln International, AHI, Tomland, Bogi, Demo Man, Mortoy, and other generic greats.

Get Toy-Ventures Issue 3 here with a comprehensive look at the Lincoln Monster line:
https://plaidstallions.com/reboot/shop/

Join Mego Knock Off Head Quarters Here;
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Megoknockoff

Order our book Rack Toys 2.0 Here through our Amazon Affiliate Link►https://amzn.to/3Bkm9z1

PS Store: https://plaidstallions.com/reboot/shop/
Follow PlaidStallions on Social Media:
Twitter ► https://bit.ly/2UzxQ5q
Facebook ► https://bit.ly/3mfY73R
Instagram ►https://bit.ly/3yZ3kAV
Website ► https://bit.ly/3yZ3kAV

The post Kenner Empire Strikes Back – 1980 Consumer’s Distributing Catalog appeared first on PS.

I recently acquired the 1979 Consumer’s Distributing catalog, a Canadian chain, Consumers was one of those stores where you filled out a slip of paper (I tended to use fake names), it went down one of those cool tubes and then 20 minutes later your purchase rolled up a conveyer belt (or a substitution item, which happened an awful lot). Consumer’s Distributing is special to me, especially around the late 1970s. My grandmother would get these in and like a lot of grandpeople, she would keep them around, for years. Seriously, I found some in her house after she passed.

I never usually win the late 70s catalogs because of Star Wars collectors coveting them and driving up the price but I lucked out and got the 1979 and I will be sharing it through a series of blog posts.

I begin with this…glorious page that I totally burned holes into as a wee lad (click to enlarge)

My main love for this page was Micronauts, which were totally my jam in 1979, although that figure set always confused, why Antron by himself? Without Repto and Membros, this set didn’t make much sense, however, as an adult collector, I would love to find this three-pack in the consumer’s distributing box. If You have it for sale please email me.

 Get Toy-Ventures Issue 2 now!

The true highlight of this page however is the appearance of the Battlestar Galactica Landram, a vehicle that was only sold in Canada and goes now for thousands in the box. I can’t begin to tell you how many of these I found when I was first starting out as a collector, probably a half dozen in the box and I found a few loose ones at yard sales. No, I did not buy all of them or keep them but as you can imagine, I wish I had.

Much more catalog madness all this week!

PlaidStallions Toy-Ventures Magazine #2 is now available and it’s been called “not only an entertaining read, but it’s also an impeccable work of reference” by PopCult.

FACEBOOK GROUPS FROM PLAIDSTALLIONS

Pod Stallions is one of the most fun groups on Facebook.

Mego Knock Off Headquarters– The leading group discussing 70s dimestore goodness, we talk vintage toys, not others!

The post Rare Battlestar Galactica toy in CD Catalog (Plus Mego Micronauts) appeared first on PS.