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Mr. Action and Karate Joe!

I’m officially changing my name to “Karate Joe” this morning to reap all the rewards I assume are associated with it…. More Explosive goodness. Like our Facebook Page Check out our Instagram Get the expanded digital edition of Rack Toys here.

McActionfigures : More Fun than Burgers

My local Eaton’s growing up had a huge McDonaldland display that looked just like this in a cube in the middle of their toy department. I recall being kind of in awe of the diorama but it couldn’t compete with Big Jim, Bulletman or the Mego Superheroes in my five year old brain. I was later […]

1971 Hasbro GI Joe Adventure Team Catalog

 My earliest memories of action figures are Hasbro’s GI Joe Adventure team, I would spend hours staring at those wishbook pages, drooling at those fuzzy faced guys having adventures.  The sights of these toys are so hard-wired in my brain, they’re pure happiness. That’s why I’m excited to be showcasing the 1971 Hasbro GI Joe […]

A world of Fisher Price Adventure

By ’81 I had moved on from the wholesome (and awesome) Fisher Price Adventure People line but it was such a happy memory that I can honestly remember pouring over the new sets in every wish book. I especially recall being kind of miffed about the submarine complete with octopus “Oh sure, now they come […]

Durham Kung Fu!

The Durham Kung Fu figure seemed to be everywhere in the early 1970s, not based on the David Carradine series it simply captured the culture’s then obsession with martial arts. I really wanted one of these as a kid but they’re pretty cheaply made and I’ve heard no end of stories about how his hands […]

Bendy Buck Rogers and Twiki

This past weekend I was grateful to recieve a surprising package from Jason, my podcast partner. If you had asked me to guess, I’d have never gotten it right but somehow it’s the perfect gift. More after the jump: So, it may be obvious to listeners and readers here that Brain loves hisself some Buck […]

Pod Stallions 58: The Star Wars Holiday Special

We’re back with a look at a much maligned (and let’s face it, it’s not great) chunk of our childhood, the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special. Look, we’re not going to take such low hanging fruit, the truth is, it’s not any worse than most of what was called “entertainment” in 1978. In fact, it’s […]

El Squadron Lobo Big Jim Gallery Updated

It’s been ten years since I updated my little tribute page to the Kid Acero line of toys and it was long overdue.  Known to us as Big Jim, Mexican toy maker Cipsa infused the line with a heavy dose of creativity. The result is a Big Jim’s wolfpack with a rich science fiction flavour. […]

Japanese versions of US toys

I thought it may be fun to look at a few (but not all) examples of how some American favourites looked like over in Japan, the land of amazing toys and cartoons. We’ll start with the Mickey Mouse Snowcone machine, a take on the Snoopy Sno-Cone machine. This one confuses me because SNOOPY IS REALLY […]