Archives

Toy Talk Show: Tim Baron (Timbaron.com)

Episode 3 of Toy Talk Show is here, and this time around, we’re chatting with the artist and toy designer Tim Baron. We talk about influential toy packaging, Tim’s work with Super 7 and Tony Hawk, Star Wars and the joys of skateboarding after 40. It’s a great conversation! Find Tim Baron at www.TimBaron.com   […]

Toy-Ventures: Top Ten Mego Knock-Offs

This week we look at the fun and interesting toy lines put out to catch some sales heat from the popular Mego Superheroes line of toys from Kooky Aliens to Biblical Heroes to some just plain blatant copyright infringement, it’s a fun ride. Get Toy-Ventures Magazine here: PlaidStallions Toy-Ventures Issue One (September 2020) Tell us […]

Toy-Ventures 3- The Sonic Man and Sonic Woman by Tomland

 This week’s episode examines the Tomland toys Sonic Man and Sonic, who look suspiciously like a certain Bionic Couple we all know and love. We also delve into Tomland’s history of ripping off some of the 1970s most popular tv and movie properties.   You can see more Tomland toy merchandise at this site: www.tomlandmonsters.com  Visit […]

Tomland Monsters Catalog

This picture from the 1980 Combex catalog is something I’ve been searching for years for, evidence of who distributed these darn things.   It’s kind of joyous to see the Creatures from Other Worlds mingling with the Star Raiders and Famous Monsters of Legend. Now I’ve just got to find the catalog from the next […]

More Mini Monsters

Since I originally posted about these little guys three years back, I haven’t added anything to the collection. In fact, I’m kind of the belief I may not be able to complete the set for the price I’m willing to pay. Fortunately, I have a pal in Bill, who has some of the characters I […]

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 […]

1979 Tomland Toys Catalog

  Tomland Toys are kind of a mystery to many toy collectors, a member of the Marx family of companies, they were known for producing cheap but fun toys that sometimes kind of skirted copyright laws. They are perhaps most famous for their 1978 line of action figures called “Star Raiders” and it’s follow up […]

Starroid Raiders

When it comes to Star Wars rip off figures, there is no more blatant than the wonderful Tomland’s Starroid Raiders. These guys usually sold for a buck (far less than a SW figure) and had GREAT names, from left to right we have Zang, Tango, Wahh, Zbu, Aton and Dado. Like a lot of their […]

A double shot of generic Star Wars goodness

I can’t get enough Star Wars rip offs and the page above has one of the best, Starroid Raiders action figures by Tomland. The Space Case is another cool “Me too” type product.Star Raiders were a Mego type varaiation on the theme, also by Tomlands, many of the characters had vaguely familiar looking faces. For […]