In honour of the release of Furiosa, Toy-Ventures looks at the most excellent 1980s Post-Apocalyptic Toy Line: Tonka’s Steel Monsters. It was all things “Mad Max” except for the name. How did such a gorgeous toy line fail? What didn’t get made? We get the scoop from the creators.
#toyventures #tonka #MadMax

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Mad Max, The Road Warrior, Tonka, Tonka Steel Monsters, 80s toys, 1986, Tonka Trucks, Post Nuke movies, Mad Mad Rip-Offs, Tonka Supernaturals, Tonka Spiral Zone, Ray Zera, Metal Face, Plaid Stallions, Toy-Ventures, Toy-Ventures Magazine, 80s post-apocalyptic films, George Miller, Ben Cooper, Go-Bots, Play People, Italian Mad Max movies, The Highwayman, Dreadknocks, Weird Science,

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Imperial Toys was one of America’s premier producers of lower-cost Rack Toys for over 50 years. The company sadly folded a few years ago, but in the 1980s, they were everywhere with their in-house IP and hot licenses. This supplement catalogue from 1986 is a neat little time capsule of hot toy trends.

Karate Defenders became all about Ninjas in the middle of “80s Ninja-Mania” on every cartoon and video store.

Imperial toys catalog 1986 Ninja toys

I spent the entire seventh year trying to figure out how to get some nunchucks and throwing stars.

The big license for that year was the Canon Films “The Delta Force” and Imperial unleashed every toy weapon mold they could find. Also a bop bag so you could rain kicks on it’s star.

That Delta Force Paratrooper was also used in the James Bond line from “A View to a Kill” just two years earlier.

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

Poop-a-Troopers were still a staple as was Old West merchandise.

I was disappointed to discover that the Uzi is considered a terrible gun.

The Imperials PVC Dinosaur game was strong.

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Replica Animals were another big category for Imperial.

Madballs was another hot license for 1986.

You can still find all of this stuff at dollar stores and arcades.

Yeah a lot of Rock bands use Kazoos and Slide Whistles, it’s all the rage!

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

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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)

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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.

Imperial Toys Catalog 1986 rack toys

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Another fun discovery in the ’86 Sears Canada catalogue is a page dedicated to Dragon Force. A generic line of Martial Arts heroes by Lanard Toys. Despite my lifelong obsession with Martial Arts, I have no memory of this line. Probably because at the time, I was trying to buy actual ninja weapons (I was a far less dorky Napolean Dynamite at this age).

Dragon Force looks like a fun toy line which includes Ninjas, Kung Fu and Karate Masters, and even female characters. They even have their own assault vehicle and a machine gun? Ok, that one seems counterintuitive.

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Our newest book “Knock-Offs: Totally, Unauthorized Action Figures,” is now available. It’s 130 pages of bootleg goodness.
You can get this new book via the PlaidStallions Shop , On Amazon (Affiliate Link) or on eBay (eBay Link)

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

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

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, 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.

Tek Force

The post Dragon Force by Lanard appeared first on PS.

One of my favourite thing about collecting wishbooks are entries like this one from the 1986 Sears Canada Catalog. This is the Tek Force Robo Jumbo, a toy that is meant to be used with other people’s action figures. 

In this shot we’ve got some random Star Wars figures and some early RAH GI Joes, none of these figures are available for sale in this catalogue. This happened a great deal with play sets, carry cases and vehicles being sold alongside some of my favourite toys. I really miss seeing silly stuff like this..

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You can now subscribe to Toy-Ventures magazine, never miss an issue and be insured a pre-order premium every time. 

Our newest book “Knock-Offs: Totally, Unauthorized Action Figures,” is now available. It’s 130 pages of bootleg goodness.
You can get this new book via the PlaidStallions Shop , On Amazon (Affiliate Link) or on eBay (eBay Link)

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

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

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, 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.

Tek Force

The post Tek Force Robo Jumbo by Catec appeared first on PS.

Collegeville was one of the leading Halloween costume manufacturers of the late twentieth century. 


 This extensive 1968 catalog really demonstrates the powerhouse licenses they were rocking in the 60s, including Labyrinth, The Transformers and the Go-Bots, WWF Wrasslers, Wuzzles, Rainbow Bright and the Peanuts, it’s a good group and some solid 1980s nostalgia.

1986 Collegeville Halloween Costume Catalog

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It’s pretty hard to find an 80s property that isn’t represented here, I mean seriously this thing is chock full of cartoon and toy characters.

Check out the 1986 Ben Cooper Catalog here!

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Send me your mall appearance photos!

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