Archives

Big Jim 1984 Catalog from Italy

He may have faded from our toy shelves in the 1970s but in Europe, Big Jim was still kind of a big deal. How big a deal? In this 1984 Mattel Italy catalog, Big Jim has as many pages as Masters of the Universe. By this time, the Big Jim line is firmly set in […]

Le Big Jim

I truly am in awe of how much cool Big Jim stuff they got in Europe in the late 70s/early 80s. One of these days I’m going to track down all these pirates…. More Big Jim than you can handle!

Vintage Toy Store Photos Volume 17

Yes! A new installment of  one of my favorites, vintage toy store photos. A journey back to the days of oddly named department stores and independent mall toy stores and chains that are fondly remembered but sadly mostly gone. Vintage Toy Store Photos Volume 17 covers the US and Canada this time and features appearances […]

Mattel Big Jim Repro Art Book

Reproduction is was a series of black and white line drawings of toy products provided to vendors for newspaper advertisements. It is something of a lost artform in this digital age and something I both admire and collect. I’ve compiled a gallery of repro art for Mattel’s 1975 Big Jim line, as I’m pretty fond […]

PodStallions 21: Bionic Man-ia

It was bound to happen, episode 21 talks of the Six Million Dollar Man television series which slow motion ran across our television screens (and our collective hearts) during the Polyester decade. In this we discuss the series itself, the spin offs and the crazy/wonderful merchandise that made Christmas more memorable. We go through the […]

1975 German Toy Catalog

I found this wonderful catalog from a German company called Spielzug, I remember my grandmother bringing me back some of these and how enthralled I was. It’s a really great slice of what lucky kids in Germany got, their own versions of GI Joe and Big Jim, as well as Barbie, Sindy, Lego, Playmobil and Steiff. Check […]

76 Superheroes

This page from Simpsons is pretty much all I thought about in 1976, Big Jim P.A.C.K, GI Joe Super Adventure Team and Mego Superheroes, throw in monsters and sandwiches and that’s the brain patterns of six year old me. I think it’s ironic that the Mego heroes are so small on this page, their popularity […]

The Incredible Dr Steel Commercial

Today is an epic day for Plaidstallions.  I finally tracked down the film reel to a commercial that has haunted me since 1975 and I get to share it with all of you.  I remember it vividly, watching Space:1999 on my parent’s black and white TV when this commercial aired. Already a fan of the […]

New PS Trading Cards!

It’s been a long while since i printed up some new PS trading cards, mostly because of spending my time with Rack Toys (still available!) but this month I resolved to make some new entries.  The first is card #40, the Whip from the Big Jim’s Wolfpack line of toys. I had been doing the […]