Archives

Dukes Mania

Dukes of Hazzard was the first time as a kid where there was a show that I watched and enjoyed but when that avalanche of merchandise arrived, I had no desire to own any of it. Boy though in 1981, if you could think of it, you could buy it with the General Lee on […]

1981 Toys R Us Flyer

Toys R Us is one of the last toy chains we have left and the only one featured on this site that is actually still around. This flyer from December 1981 is a time capsule of what we could have expected under the tree, Barbies, Glamour gals, Atari games, Remco Monsters and Mego Superheroes. It’ll […]

1981 Ben Cooper Costume Catalog

Halloween around here wouldn’t be the same without the store bought goodness that is Ben Cooper. If you were a child of the 70s or 80s, then you certainly knew their product. Cooper held some of the great licenses in 1981 including the Disney characters, both the DC and Marvel comics Superheroes, Clash of the […]

Space Lego Love!

True Confession time: As much as I go on and on about vintage Space Lego sets, I a) never had any as a kid (save for one small set I bought with my own money) and b) don’t have any now.  However, I am luckily married to a Space Lego collector and with the help […]

Release the birthday Kraken!

Christopher Elam of the great blog OWARI submitted this great bit of 1981, this being his ninth birthday he has received the Mattel Kraken. Being of a similiar age, I wax fondly at those blockbusters that diverted our attention from Star Wars, albeit briefly…

The Muppet Show 1981 Catalog

1981 and the world wide phenom known as the Muppet Show was still going strong buoyed mainly by it’s second feature film “The Great Muppet Caper” that summer. Fisher Price, was still popping out the merchandise and made several new editions to line including Piggy in her Pigs in Space Uniform. Click the pics or […]

Child World Toy Sale from 30 years ago

Seeing that it’s close to Christmas, let’s take a trip back 30 years and see what toys were on special with the 1981 Child World Flyer, celebrating the best playthings that 1981 had to offer.  You’ll find a lot of familiar faces in this one including Star Wars figures, Mego Superheroes, Intellivision, Jordache dolls, Fisher […]

1981 Collegeville Costume Catalog

Followers of this site and blog will know that Collegeville is a favourite subject around here, that’s likely because I got a ton of these as a kid combined with the fact that they got some really cool licenses. This is a Canadian version of the Catalog (by a company called Norbin) and I highly […]

Mattel Starr and her high school friends

Mattel’s Starr seemed to be a teenaged version of the Barbie concept, the look and feel of the line seemed to really embody that late 70s/early 80s style. Starr had a short tenure at Mattel but was very popular, in 1982 they expanded her line to include new friends, more fashions and a familiar automobile.Check […]

Colouring Book Theatre: Raiders of the Lost Ark

Today we have another great segment with our guest reviewer , Jason Lenzi from Bif Bang Pow! who does a far better job than me, so take it away Jason!‘RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK’ Coloring/Activity Book by Happy House, illustrations by Ken Barr, 1981Ok, some years back, I had a massive Indiana Jones collection, one […]