Archives

More Trading Cards

I’m unveiling two more PlaidStallions Trading Cards today at Megomeet so I thought I’d share, I opened the series with bad guys, both by Kenner, that was totally unintentional. So I decided the next two would be good guys and by coincidence, they’re both Mattel Toys. Pulsar seemed like a natural, this image is mind […]

Barbie Envy

While not born a girl and being fortunate enough that my parents didn’t try to raise me as one regardless, I find it odd how nostalgic this page makes me. I think as a kid I was envious that Barbie got that cool boat and Big Jim didn’t. Barbie and Jim shared campers, planes, cars […]

P.A.C.K Attack

Big Jim’s P.A.C.K has always been a grand obsession of mine although space issues forced me to part with much of my collection years ago. The carded outfits (like the SWAT set pictured here) are especially large and hard to display. The Swamp Boat pictured here is difficult to find especially boxed, there is also […]

Pulsar, Sweathogs, Space:1999 and Shogun Warriors

The feature this friday is the boys action figure lines in the 1977 Mattel Catalog. It would be a great year for the toy giant, with the release of homegrown organic Superhero Pulsar and the imported Shogun Warriors line. Mattel also continued with TV licensing including the Sweathogs of Welcome Back Kotter and a second […]

Mattel Donny and Marie Catalog

Donny and Marie were TV superstars in 1977 thanks to their Sid and Marty Krofft (yes, the Land of the Lost guys) produced variety show which I watched an awful lot as a kid. Girls loved Donny and looked up to Marie so it only made sense when Mattel Toys snapped up the merchandising rights […]

The SunShine Family

I’m surprised I’m doing this update because these figures kind of gave me the creeps as a kid. The Sunshine Family were devised by Mattel as grown up hippies now starting their families in the middle of the “Me Decade”. These extremely large eyed figures had a real folk art scene going on and remained […]

Mattel’s Heroes in Action

After the Vietnam war, toy soldiers sure weren’t such a hot item. G.I. Joe retired to beome an adventurer and the only soldier type toys were usually knock offs, many major companies shyed away from anything too military.Mattel’s Heroes in Action were an interesting throwback to the 60’s, a 3 3/4″ action figure line that […]

Never Been Slimed

I’m currently working on the 1977 Mattel Catalog and came across the introduction blurb for Slime, which surprised me at how small the picture was. Slime was a pretty big deal, everyone I knew was aware of it and wanted it.My parents relented on the purchase of said Slime, they most likely saw it as […]

Shogun Warrior Memories

Although I never had them as a kid, the Shogun Warriors played a big part in my current dementia. My neighbor and then best pal Willie had Mazinga and I played with it every time I visited. Flash forward to 1983 when Willie was having a yard sale, I cruised by on my bmx and […]

Mattel Welcomes Kotter

Toy Fair 1977 : Mattel put a lot of time into developing a Welcome Back Kotter line of action figures in 1977 but they had bigger success with the Shogun Warriors also making a debut in 1977. The Space:1999 Zython figure mentioned here never saw release in North America but is occasionally available through German […]