Monday, December 31, 2007

Bugs Bunny Meets the Superheroes

bugs bunny meets batman
This has been a recent topic on the Megomuseum forums and I thought it would be perfect to discuss. A lot of people seemed to remember something about this and then enter Craig Crane with this amazing UK version of the program to this very surreal show. Craig also has a blog where he plans to animate Palitoy Action Man dolls, should be fun to watch.

bugs bunny meets batman

Actually the marriage of the live action batman series with the looney toons characters makes sense if you consider they were afternoon staples in syndication. If you saw this as a kid and have pictures I would love to feature them here.

Have a safe and Happy New Year!

Previous links:

Marvel Superheroes: Live and in Person

Superhero Mall Appearance Gallery

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Star Trek : The Comic Strip Chapter 8

Continuing the slow moving syndicated adventures of the Starship Enterprise, I'll be keeping the previous entries on the site in the archive.



Star trek the comic strip

Friday, December 28, 2007

Retro Playgrounds Part 1 : Space Themes


Our final catalog of the year is kind of fitting as it's a retro look into the future. This is the first in our series of retro playground equipment, when galvanised pipe and concrete could be made to form rockets, giants bugs or tee pees. Click here to check out Space Themed Play Grounds.


Thursday, December 27, 2007

Introducing the Mixables


The Mixables! Three wild and crazy guys who are always up for a good time. I'm going back to bed.....

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Start Peddling Boy Wonder!

empire toys bat cycle
Another vintage toy industry ad, this time for the Empire Toys Bat Cycle. Think it has enough bats on it?
For more check out the 1979 Empire Toys Catalog.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Christmas Wishlist 1979


This is one of my more cherised items, a Christmas wish list I created in 1979 clipping items out of the Sears catalog. As you can see the Mego collecting bug was strong even then and I still can't spell millenium. As I recall it was a pretty great haul and yes, I got a new Cat Calendar, I obviously liked kitty cats when was nine.

This is from the back, I needed to show my grandmother what green Goblin looked like, believe it or not, she found it!

Have a Happy Holidays everyone, talk to you on boxing day.

Superheroes or Monsters?


Technical issues still prevent Forgotten TV from happening today (It will return next Sunday) so I thought I'd show a page from something I'm working on, the 1980 Ben Cooper halloween costume catalog. While Hulk and Red Skull work as masks, the Batman and Spider-Man are somewhat creepy thanks to the materials used. How old is Batman supposed to be, it looks like an octogenarian under that cowl!

More of this in the very near future.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Star Trek :The Comic Strip Chapter 7

Continuing the slow moving syndicated adventures of the Starship Enterprise, I'll be keeping the previous entries on the site in the archive.



Star trek the comic strip


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Friday, December 21, 2007

More Vintage Toy Store Shots

click here to see vintage toy stores

With the holiday season almost here it seemed like an appropriate time to once again look at the toy departments of long ago, Vintage Toy Stores Part Four offers more shots of forgotten retailers and their shelves packed with memories. Look for appearances by Mego Superheroes, the Shogun Warriors, AMT model kits, Fisher Price Little People and much, much more.....


Be sure to visit Part One, Part Two and Part 3 in this series as well.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

To Boldly Doodle Where No Marker Has Before

star trek doodles

I'm going to start bringing in some more vintage toy industry ads once again and what better way to start than this cool Star Trek poster set. I'm pretty sure I had one of these for Star Wars back in the day. Here is a close up of the art.


star trek doodles

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Moonbase Alpha Sleepwear


Somebody asked me recently if I'd ever seen these and at that point I hadn't, so I hope he's reading. Space:1999 was a big influence on me as a kid but I can't imagine my kids watching a serious one hour long space drama. I guess that's why you don't see "Stargate SG1" pajama's today.

Links of Interest: Mattel 1976 Space:1999 catalog

Monday, December 17, 2007

It's the JLA!


That's right the Junior Lotharios of America are springing into action! Gentleman, Lock up your daughters.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

The top three worst female action figures of the 1970's

Technical difficulties prevent me from doing a forgotten TV segment today, so I bring you some truly useless knowledge and opinion in it's place:

Top three worst Female Action Figures of the 1970's

#3- Ilia (Star Trek the Motion Picture by Mego)

I want to preface by saying I like the Motion Picture and I think this figure is actually a nice sculpt. Ilia makes this list because she got a figure before Uhura, Sulu, Checkov or even Spock in his cool hippie duds at the start of the film.

Also, this figure was the worst seller in the line, I bought two at a major department store in 1987, on the shelf for 8 years, that's gotta be some sort of peg warmer record.




#2 First Version Wonder Woman (Comic Action Heroes by Mego)

Ever wondered what Alan Alda would look like as a hippie? Well now you know. I'm not sure what Mego had in mind with the figure on the right but that's a man, baby!

Somebody at DC must have been ticked because Mego quickly corrected the figure with the much cuter version on the left. Nobody seemed to notice that both figures have removable tops!

#1 Dr Russel (Mattel Space:1999)




The head is nicely sculpted but the combination of a tiny unpainted head, a mannish body with elongated arms make this a figure that creeps my kids out. Best to keep the helmet on folks.


raaaaaaaaarrrrrr!


Thanks for reading, I promise to keep the VH1 stuff to a minimum..

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Star Trek The Comic Strip: Chapter 6

Continuing the slow moving syndicated adventures of the Starship Enterprise, I'll be keeping the previous entries on the site in the archive.



Star trek the comic strip


Judging by the panel of recap in the top corner, I'm missing the Sunday installments of this strip.

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Friday, December 14, 2007

Mattel 1976 Superstar Christmas Fun Book

mattel 1976 christmas fun book

These great little colour digests were likely distributed in newspapers and at retail locations, hoping to load children's Christmas wishlists with Mattel products. It's a great smattering of hot toys of the day from the classic Barbie and Hot Wheels to 70's phenoms Pulsar and the Sweathogs, this booklet is a nice cruise down memory lane. Click here to see inside.


I still want a Pulsar for Christmas.....


Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Your New Matching Family!


I think if I was greeted with this, it would be referred to as "The day daddy drank an entire box of wine"

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Snap Together Superheroes

models by aurora, addar and amt

These kits by Aurora, Addar and AMT pretty much sum up the early seventies for me, Superheroes, Planet of the Apes and Star Trek. I had a lot of these even though I really couldn't build or paint them worth a damn. The Aurora Superhero kits became impromptu action figures when I didn't have the mego figure.


In fact, my dad sold the Aurora Superhero kits, the picture below is a shot from his showroom circa 1975. Click here to see more.

models by aurora, addar and amt

Monday, December 10, 2007

Comic Books are Higly Illogical Gentlemen



It seems like the Star Fleet cadet doesn't approve of his comic fan companions. I guess "Spock" doesn't recognize how cool that DC stock art is. If I'm not mistaken that's Infantino and Adams.

Past links: More Star Trek Pajamas

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Forgotten TV: Monster Squad

Monster Squad was a 1976 NBC saturday morning series that married the classic monsters with the 60's Batman series ( Stanley Ralph Ross who developed Monster Squad wrote 17 episodes of Batman).

In a nutshell, Museum night watchman Walter (a pre Love Boat Fred Grandy) is an aspiring criminologist, his crime computer brings to life the figures of Dracula (Henry Polic 2), Frank N Stein ( Mike Lane) and Bruce W Wolf (Buck Kartalian) who decide to be crime fighters.

Below is an episode in 3 parts, this originally aired on December 4 1976.



Part 1



Part 2



Part 3

Despite it being a very memorable series, Monster Squad only aired for one year. Ideal Toys also cancelled their line of Monster Squad action figures, double whammy....



Saturday, December 08, 2007

Star Trek : The Comic Strip Chapter 5

Continuing the slow moving syndicated adventures of the Starship Enterprise, I'll be keeping the previous entries on the site in the archive.



Star trek the comic strip


Dr. McCoy goes "night night"

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Friday, December 07, 2007

Fisher Price Adventure People Catalog

fisher price adventure people

One of the most influential Action toy lines of the 1970's, the Fisher Price Adventure people were North America's first 3 3/4" line of action figures and vehicles. These durable toys had great play value and lasted for nearly a decade, here we have a glimpse at the 1983 catalog where the adventure has more of a sci fi slant than ever before.

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Men of Action for 1975

gi joe meets six million dollar man

G.I. Joe meets the Six Million Dollar Man, that's a cross over that happened more than once in my house. This page comes from Simpsons, a long gone Canadian retailer.

Speaking of cross overs, you can see the other side to this beautiful double page spread (which features Big Jim and Mego) at the Megomuseum. It's not quite a cool a crossover as "JLA/JSA" more of a "Diff'rent Strokes" meets "Hello Larry" kind of thing.

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Poolmobiles exist!

pool mobile

I was going through a 70's playground equipment catalog (more on that later) and was amazed to discover this, the "Swim Mobile" a portable pool that you drove into places and events to provide comfort on a hot day. I always thought it was just something imagined by the writers of the Simpsons.

The "Swim Mobile" is much nicer than it's companion piece The "Boxing Mobile" which is a portable pugilism display system.

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Holy Bed Head Batman!


After doing a bit about the Superman Talking Alarm click it seemed fitting to discuss this one, probably the most memorable of all Janex talking clocks. I seem to remember TV commercials for this although I could be wrong. I wanted one as a kid but the more I go through old catalogues, the more I realize, I wanted everything as a kid....

Monday, December 03, 2007

Looking for that perfect holiday party dress?


Look no further than the "Holiday Hostess" line, this may come as a shock but number 3 is my favourite....

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Forgotten TV: Cliffhangers

I'm going to devote a couple of times a month to obscure stuff in my video collection, mostly forgotten or short lived TV from the 70's/80's. The first show I chose to highlight is Cliffhangers.
Cliffhangers was produced by Kenneth Johnson (V, The Incredible Hulk) and it's concept was throwback to the movie serials of the 30's and 40's, each show would contain 3 separate adventures, each week it they would end with a "cliffhanger" (hence the title).



Cliffhangers opening

The three segments were:

1) The Curse of Dracula: which depicted the count as a handsome University professor in modern day San Francisco.

2) The Secret Empire: A homage to the Gene Autrey Serial "The Phantom Empire" this story featured a US Marshal who uncovers an underground society of technologically advanced aliens run by the evil Mark (Star Trek) Lenard

3) Stop Susan Williams: international adventure starring Susan Anton as a jet setting reporter who manages to get herself into some deadly situations.

As a child, the Secret Empire was my favourite, so I leave you with an episode.




Part One



Part Two

Saturday, December 01, 2007

Star Trek : The Comic Strip Chapter 4

Continuing the slow moving syndicated adventures of the Starship Enterprise, I'll be keeping the previous entries on the site in the archive.



Star trek the comic strip



I like Dr McCoy's inner monologue here.

Friday, November 30, 2007

Evel Knievel RIP



CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) -- Evel Knievel, the hard-living motorcycle daredevil whose exploits made him an international icon in the 1970s, died Friday. He was 69.

Knievel’s death was confirmed by his granddaughter, Krysten Knievel. He had been in failing health for years, suffering from diabetes and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable condition that scarred his lungs.

Knievel had undergone a liver transplant in 1999 after nearly dying of hepatitis C, likely contracted through a blood transfusion after one of his bone-shattering spills.

RIP Evel.

1975 Evel Knievel Catalog



Ideal's Evel Knievel was one of the most popular toy lines of the early 1970's, by 1975 Ideal hoped to expand the line by adding adventure to it and of course bringing the girls in with Derry Daring. Click here to see the catalog.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Da-Dun Da-Dun Da-Dun

ideal jaws game

I got the Ideal Jaws game one year for Christmas, the movie itself made me to timid swim in the ocean, lakes and even pools. I never said I was a bright kid.

It was a pretty inventive game but I really only remember playing it once or twice before Jaws became a supervillain for my Mego Superheroes to fight. Great game but an even better action figure.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Do you want to be Gage or Desoto?


With all the nonsensical toys running about like Hulk Utility belts, it's nice to see logical roll play items like this Emergency set. Although I doubt the guys from Rampart wore pictures of themselves on their helmets. That's a weird thing that would always bother me as a kid.....

Monday, November 26, 2007

Plaidstallions at Detour Magazine

plaidstallions gets some attention

Detour Magazine (which is an awesome read BTW) published a cool little piece on yours truly today, as an added bonus they didn't use the picture of me I regretted sending in the first place. Life is good! Check out the piece here.

Under What?


Not even your knickers were safe from 70's funk.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Star Trek : The Comic Strip Chapter 3

Continuing the slow moving syndicated adventures of the Starship Enterprise, I'll be keeping the previous entries on the site in a new archive.



Star trek the comic strip

Friday, November 23, 2007

Kenner 1978 Spring Catalog

1978 kenner spring catalog

Spring Supplement Catalogs usually include things that didn't make it into the February Toyfair in a bid to make it out in time for the Christmas season. The 1978 Kenner Catalog is a prime example featuring some classic goodies and a few that just didn't make it under anybody's tree that year.

Bionic Woman, Play Doh, Star Wars, Finger Pops and much more.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Pick Up Joint : The Playset


This disco playset probably looked a whole heck of a lot more innocent back in the day, now the guy figure looks a lot like Eric Roberts in "Star 80". I cut it off but you can see his "Mid life crisis mobile" which was sold separately.

Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Greens!


This isn't just green, it's GREEN! The kind that holds you down and beats you until you magically become Irish. The checked number in the middle is so bad, it's kind of cool.


Source: Sears 1977

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Superman Talking Alarm Clock

hurry or you will miss sunday school!

Janex is probably best known for their Batman and Robin talking alarm clock which was a big hit. Their Superman clock is lesser known and no wonder, while Batman and Robin started your day with their snappy " Hey Chum and Holy This!" banter, Superman seemed to just nag you. I mean "Better get up or you'll be late"? This is the man of steel!

This paints Superman as the sort of guy who buys kids "slacks" for Christmas.

Still, I kind of want one of these....

Monday, November 19, 2007

Heading off into the sunset....

no i wuv you more

Dressing alike continues to boggle my mind, one stumbled upon reviewer claims it had to do with the rise of the liberated woman and that men would be forced to do such things in order to get with a girl.

It's not a stretch for me to believe, heck i could see a young version of myself going for that but I still think dressing up like a clock you'd find at a flea market hurts both of you.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Star Trek : The Comic Strip Chapter 2

Continuing the syndicated adventures of the Starship Enterprise, I'll be keeping the previous entries on the site in a new archive.



Star trek the comic strip

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