Archives

Sungold Wolfman

I’m not a big dabbler in 80s toys but these cheap knock offs from a company called Sungold do intrigue me. They did the usual suspects (Frankenstein, Dracula, Mummy, Hunchback) with Freddy Kruger thrown in to keep it topical. The thing I liked about this Wolfman is it’s pretty obviously Lon Chaney and whats more, it’s […]

Pod Stallions Episode 7: Battle Beyond the Star Wars

Originally we were going to do our Empire Strikes Back show but then realized that discussion of all the other Sci Fi properties of the late 1970s would have left us with a four hour show. So, Episode 7 lovingly talks about all those “other” SF movies of the disco era from the feety pajamas […]

To the space pole!

It’s weird but quite common that in the late sixties, a lot of Batman knock offs in the late 1960s simply replaced “Bat” with “Space”, which is far less lazy than “Catman” I guess… Rack Toys: Cheap, Crazed Playthings is a limited edition 144 page book from the creator of Plaid Stallions. Order from us […]

Space Shield

It pays to advertise, for those that listen to the pod cast, you may recall me whining about my precious Space Sword and Shield. Happy relics from my childhood that were whisked off the “Goodwillland” along with my Stretch Armstrong, Bulletman and most of Big Jim’s P.A.C.K one tragic evening. Well, it appears that I […]

Toy Sharks

My buddy Julian sent this in, total love at first sight for me (the toy, not Julian although I’m sure he’s swell too). Jaws was of course, a massive pop culture phenomenon the likes of which we rarely see. The greatest thing to toy makers is, you can’t copyright a shark! So even though there […]

Lincoln Monster Mystery

I’ve been been pretty much under the assumption that I’d seen it all when it came to Lincoln Monsters. Well, that fell apart this weekend when I got this photo emailed me to me. These are the four perfect as the day they were made Monster figures shrunk wrapped to a card. To me, it […]

Star Raiders Updates

It’s been over a year since I launched the Tomland Star Raiders gallery on the site and I’ve had some good luck with regards to new images and information thanks to some lovely people who like to share. For those not in the know, the Star Raiders were a brazen and rather kooky attempt to […]

Dare Devil Rider?

   I think this figure from Durham wonderfully illustrates the true joy and cheap chicanery often involved with Rack Toys. The packaging is enticing and vibrant, not to mention well done. It promises action with a slightly “Evel Knievely” setting.  The figure however,  is a chubby guy with a flag, who looks like he might […]

Revenge of the Lincoln Monsters!

Life is strange, if you had asked me 30 days ago if there was going to be a Lincoln Monster update in the Halloween blog posts this year, I’d have answered no.  Truth was, there wasn’t much by the way of things to update. Then all hell broke loose and I’ve got more than I […]

1974 Centsable Halloween Catalog

  Centsable, the people behind Socker Boppers also did a good business in Halloween costumes, who knew? This 1974 catalog shows that while they did in fact have several decent licenses like the Hanna Barbera clan , they were not above creating some of the ballsiest knock offs of the decade nor did the seem […]