TENTE… interlocking bricks from Spain

Posted on April 30, 2011 by The Vintage Toy Advertiser

Tenté was a construction brick toy similar to LEGO, and was created in 1972 in Spain by Exin-Lines Bros S.A. Tenté sets differed from their competitor in that their sets were mainly commercial and military vehicles of various scales. The Tenté bricks were also unique in that they had central holes in each “stud” to allow for additional connection points. The sets were manafactured in the USA, Japan and Europe. The product, although very similar to LEGO, is not compatible with its Danish counterpart.

France. Pif Gadget. 1979.

France. PIf Gadget. 1981.

France. Pif Gadget. 1980.

France. PIf Gadget. 1981.

France. Pif gadget. 1981.

BRITAINS

Posted on April 29, 2011 by The Vintage Toy Advertiser

In 1893, William Britain perfected the metal hollow casting process that led to the production of hollow ‘cost effective’ lead toy soldiers. This method had already been utilised to some degree by German manufacturers, but it was William Britain that led the way in creating affordable lead toy figures.

In 1959, William Britain purchased the Herald Miniatures toy company which had been successfully manufacturing plastic toy soldiers. William Britain embraced this new method and began producing a wide range of toy soldiers in plastic. By the 1970s, the company became widely known as ‘Britains’. Toys appearing on the market under this name included farm sets and animals, military vehicles and play sets, a space series, and the hugely popular range of military and Wild West ‘Deetail figures’ with their instantly recognisable metal bases. Today, the company specialises in die cast toy soldiers and accessories, featuring armies from numerous time periods.

TVTA is pleased to present a number of print adverts and catalogue pages featuring the Britains range across the years.

Britains Fort Apache. Arbois toy catalogue. France C1978.

Britains armies of the world. Arbois toy catalogue. France C1978.

Britains farm and zoo toys. Arbois toy catalogue. France C1978.

Britains Wild West. US. FAO Schwarz catalogue 1980/1981

Britains Farm. Denmark. 1970.

Britains toys. UK. Hamleys Christmas Book. 1983.

Britains farm. France. PIf Gadget. 1983.

Anders. 46. 1984. Britains farm and Deetails.jpg

Britains farm and knights. Denmark. Anders And & Co. 1984.

Britains farm. France. Pif Gadget. 1979.

Britains Power Farm. De Speelboom. 1987. Netherlands.

Britains Catalogue. 1979.

Thanks for looking 😊 Post updated with new images December 2022.

TCR… Total Control Racing

Posted on April 26, 2011 by The Vintage Toy Advertiser

TCR (Total Control Racing) was a popular brand from the Ideal toy company in the late 1970s up to the mid 1980s. TCR used small ‘Matchbox’ scale racing vehicles on a slotless track. Vehicle sets included Formula 1, Super Trucks, vans, and a cool The Dukes of Hazzard set plus others. Often there was a ‘drone’ vehicle included in sets known as a ‘jam vehicle’ which served as an obstacle for the racing vehicles to overtake.

TCR. France. Pif Gadget. 1983.

TCR. France. Pif Gadget. 1982.

TCR Super Camions. France. 1980s.

TCR ‘Dukes of Hazzard’ error ‘Starsky and Hutch’ set. France. 1980s.

Detail. TCR Dukes of Hazzard / Starsky and Hutch error.

TCR. France. Pif Gadget. 1981.

TCR Mountain Hazard advertised along with a non TCR slot car set The Professionals. UK. Hamleys Catalogue. 1983.

TCR. US. Weird War Tales. 1979.

TCR. France. Pif Gadget. 1979.

TCR. Denmark. Anders. 1979.

TCR. Ets De Neuter catalogue page. 1995. France.

ATARI

Posted on April 26, 2011 by The Vintage Toy Advertiser

TVTA is pleased to present a selection of international adverts for Atari products.

Atari video games. France. 1984.

Atari. France. 1983.

Atari Pole Position. UK. 1983.

Solar Fox by CBS Electronics. US. 1983.

Atarisoft. 1984. US.

Atari 7800. 1990. US.

Atari Advantage. US. 1989.

Atari Moon Patrol. US. 1984.

Atari Moon Patrol. 1984. UK.

Atari Colgate toothpaste promotion. UK. 1983.

Atari 2600. France. 1988.

Atari River Raid. France. 1983.

Atari Phoenix. France. 1983.

Atari Centipede. France. 1983.

Atari Centipede. 1983. UK.

Q*bert. US. 1983. Classic arcade game from 1982 developed by Warren Davis and Jeff Lee. Can you help Q*bert to alter the colours of the pyramid by making him hop from square to square and avoiding enemies along the way?

Frogger. US. 1982. “Frogger’s first challenge is to cross a highway where reckless hot rods hurtle by, and huge trucks go thundering in his path. Every safe jump in this maze of motor and metal is a crucial step home.”

Atari Super Cobra. US. 1983.

Atari Star Wars. US. 1983.

Atrai Star Wars. US. 1982.

Atari Tron. US. 1983. Tron arcade game based on the 1982 sci-fi film written and directed by Steven Lisberger, starring Jeff Bridges who plays a computer programmer trapped inside the software of a mainframe computer.

Atari M Network. US. 1983.

Burger Time. US. 1983. This MATTELL ELECTRONICS arcade game was originally titled “Hamburger” and was renamed Burger Time for the USA market. The game featured PETER PEPPER as the busy chef, and was available to play on systems such as the ATARI 2600, COMMODORE 64, INTELLIVISION and others.

Atari Bump ‘n Jump. US. 1984.

Parker Brothers titles. France. 1984.

Pitfall II. France.

Parker Brothers titles. US. 1984.

Atari Imagic. US. 1983.

Imagic. UK. 1983.

Atari presents Mario Bros. US. 1984.

Atari Spider-Man. US. 1983.

Atari promotion. France. 1984.

Atari Ploc promotion. Brazil. 1984.

CBS Electronics for the Atari 5200. US. 1983.

Post updated with new images April 2020.

MAJORETTE

Posted on April 26, 2011 by The Vintage Toy Advertiser

Majorette is a French toy company that specialises in die cast toy cars that were introduced in the mid 1960s.

Majorette die cast vehicles. Denmark. Anders And & Co. 1979.

Majorette Ford Capri. C1980s. France.

Majorette Ford Escort XR3. C1980s. France.

Majorette Motor. C1980s. France.

Majokit

Majokit comprised of vehicles, figurines, accessories and snap-together parts to form town and city play sets.

Majorette Majokit. France. Pif Gadget. 1986.

SHOGUN

Posted on April 16, 2011 by The Vintage Toy Advertiser

Shogun action figures came in various scales made from both plastic and die-cast metal. Licensed by Mattel in the late 1970s the figures were based on the Japanese anime show of the same period.

France. Pif Gadget. 1979.

France. Pif Gadget. 1979.

Italy. Topolino. 1979.

France. Goldorak 12″ vinyl record. Saban Records & Music. 1982.

US. Creepy Mag. 1980.

Castors 14. 1979.

PEZ… candy-popping themed dispensers

Posted on April 15, 2011 by The Vintage Toy Advertiser

Pez was invented by Austrian Eduard Haas III in 1927 and marketed as a breath mint. The name ‘Pez’ derives from the German word for peppermint ‘pfefferminz’. Oscar Uxa invented the first dispensper in 1948 – based on cigarette lighters of the time, the aim was to try and discourage people from smoking. In the early to mid fifties the first novelty dispensers were marketed and aimed at children. This was followed by Popeye and Disney character novelty heads which featured on top of the dispenser. Pez is still sold today and remains popular around the world .

Read more Pez history at the official site pez.com