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Rise, Mall Vader

Another winner from Sean  (follow him on twitter) taken at the same time as this classic. I never bore of home made Vader appearances. I always wonder how these guys got past the whole breathing thing? Send me your vintage mall appearance photos! Send me your mall appearance photos!

Micro Jamas

Finding weird bits of Micronauts merchandise in a catalog is to me, like finding buried treasure. Also note Pajamas featuring some guy called “The Hulk”.

Star. Team Day

I found this great promotional piece for Ideal’s Star Team relaunch in the 1970s, I really haven’t written much about these in years so I think they deserve some fanfare. While Kenner was running around selling empty boxes and promises to kids for Christmas, Ideal resurrected an old brand used to market roll play space toys in […]

1978 Janex Toys Catalog

Janex Toys is largely known to children of the 1970s for their talking alarm clocks featuring Raggedy Anne, Batman and Bugs Bunny. However the company put out a lot of different toys and concepts (most of them centering around talking) during their tenure and held a good deal of popular licenses. 1978 saw Janex release […]

1978 Shindana Toys Catalog

Formed in 1968 (with some no obligation assistance from Mattel), Shindana Toys was a Los Angeles based company that wanted to create unique toys for black children. This catalog, from the company’s tenth anniversary sees them branching out into a toy company that now provides a diverse selection of ethnic characters. Speaking of characters, Shindana […]

Super Joe meets Godzilla

Seeing as it’s Christmas eve, I’m going to hurry up and do a few of my favourites before I shut down for the year. This piece featuring Hasbro Super Joe (an underrated line IMHO) features Shogun Warriors Godzilla, for no good reason but it totally works. This is what I miss about catalogs…. More on […]

The Outer Space Man Conspiracy

Despite the fact that the toy line ended before I ever gulped oxygen, the Colorforms Outer Space Men are strong childhood memory for me. Not because I ever played with them but quite the contrary, I’m not even sure if I’ve ever held one. You see around the time of Star Wars (perhaps you’ve heard […]

1978 Mattel Flying Aces Catalog

Mattel’s Flying Aces were an elaborate take on the paper airplane, the planes were made of soft foam and the flight deck served as a launcher. Those who had it or the Battlestar Galactica version have mentioned that the planes had a short life but were fun nonetheless. In 1978, the line was three years […]

Deluxe Kiss Guitar

While I can’t say I’m a giant KISS fan these days, I was also in third grade when the merchandise explosion hit and am not made of stone.  KISS stuff always stops me in my tracks, not unlike my dog when it sees a squirrel. Neither of us need it, wouldn’t know what to do with […]

Darth and Chewie in Texas

I got an email from Mark this week who actually apologized for “adding to my pile of Darth Vader appearances” (he did get around) and then opened the photos. What Mark doesn’t realize is there is few things I like better in this life than….  Weird, homemade Star Wars costume appearances! Oh, I could hug […]