I mean, the only thing missing from this is macrame and a fresh pot of Chicory brewing.

However, the more curious thing is the selection of toys for a 1978 catalog, a weird mix of stuff from 1977 and years earlier and a couple of glaring omissions.

The top toys here would be Pulsar and Electroman, and Zogg; both toys debuted in 1977 and were actively available so it’s no surprise to see them. The lack of Pulsar’s nemesis Hypnos is a bit strange but not the strangest thing in this toy catalog.

Six Million Dollar Man was kind of a fixture in toy catalogs even in it’s last year so that’s not surprising, Shindana’s Dr. J was also fairly current but Mego’s Muhammad Ali toys came out in 1976 and were discontinued by 1978.

Mego Micronauts were a hot toy in 1978, so it’s no surprise to see Biotron, although it’s weird he’s all alone. The Mattel Welcome Back Kotter series is another line that was discontinued by then. This deluxe classroom was likely a way of closing out unsold figures.

Both Evel Knievel and Fonzie were available but were in the last years of production. Most of these toys made their debut 2-4 years previously.

Finally, we have Stretch Monster (1977) and Stretch Armstrong (1976) which were staples of this kind of Service Merchandise/Consumers Distributing type store.

What’s interesting about this catalogue is what isn’t there, no Kenner Star Wars, No Mego Superheroes, No Mego KISS, Kenner Bionic Woman. It’s weird.

If you had a Monroe store in your area, please let me know what kind of store it was. Was it a closeout store? I need closure on this weird toy catalog.

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weird toy catalog

The post 1978 toy catalog with oddball action figure assortment appeared first on PS.

Hypnos was actually a pretty decent concept, unlike Pulsar it’s easy to find one in good shape. He was not a great seller however.

Pulsar didn’t go through any changes for 1978, he was the same standard issue. His life center was a tough thing to find on the collector market for some time.

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

The post 1978 Mattel Pulsar Catalog appeared first on PS.

According to Mattel, Pulsar was the “Ultimate Man of Adventure”. I still want to know what his back story is, is he some sort of cyborg? a Mutant? None of this mattered as a kid, I really wanted him!

The Pulsar Life Systems Center Playset is actually quite hard to find.

The post Mattel 1977 Pulsar The Ultimate Man of Adventure Catalog appeared first on PS.