Hasbro’s awesome line of G.I. Joe 3.75 inch action figures, vehicles and playsets as seen in this 1986 mini catalogue. Click images to enlarge.
G.I. Joe 1986 Catalogue
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Monthly Archives: November 2017
Power Mite from Ideal
Launched by Ideal in 1969 as the toy that is “safe for little hands”, Power Mite gave kids the chance to create their own workshops with sets of miniature power tools. The die cast metal and plastic made tools were plugged into battery-operated ‘electrical’ terminals, and were powerful enough to work through soft materials like balsa wood and styrofoam blocks, which Ideal supplied as ‘building materials’ with the range.
The following Ideal catalogue pages from 1972 are clearly pitched at boys, with descriptions such as: “Bring a man-sized thrill to a kid-sized worker”, and “Boys can play ‘craftsman’ with tools that look exactly like Dad’s”.
Die-cast elegance from Eligor
Presenting catalogue scans from the French model car manufacturer Eligor.
In the 1970s Eligor specialised in small 1:43 scale models of past and present vehicles found in Europe, Britain and America. The range was produced with the more adult collector in mind, and noteworthy is the dedication to working vehicles featuring the liveries of many well known brands.
Out demon, out!
In occult circles, the name Eligor belongs to a powerful demon, so why the company chose this as their name is anyone’s guess. The catalogue I acquired is elegantly presented with a gold and black cover depicting the Eligor ‘Pac-man’ style logo with an extended hand holding out a toy car.
Artwork
The pages found inside are packed with beautiful drawings from the artists employed as product illustrators, with only a handful of vehicles represented by actual photos. The artists not only had to capture the look of the vehicle but had to replicate a multitude of brand logos.
Below are the page scans. How many company brands can you recognise?
Limos, taxis, fire engines, police cars, sports cars and more!
There is no date printed inside the catalogue. Based on online images I found of some of the featured models in their packaging, I estimate the catalogue was published in 1982.
sources and sites:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eligor_Models
http://www.eligor.com/en/index.asp
Thankyou for die-cast driving with us 🙂
Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy in Chirashi
The Lord of the Rings trilogy trilogy is considered one of the most ambitious film projects ever undertaken, with a budget somewhere in the region of $281 million and a filming schedule of eight years. The trilogy received overwhelming praise and won 17 out of 30 Academy Award nominations. TVTA is pleased to present Chirashi poster versions of all three films as advertised and made available in Japan at the time.
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
The Return of the King
The Motion Picture Trilogy
Thankyou for simply walking into Mordor with us 🙂
Marvel’s Empire Strikes Back First Issue
I was happy to add this first issue of Marvel’s The Empire Strikes Back from 1980. The UK copy came with a free sheet of Kraft Dairylea action transfers – which was unused and included with the issue I picked up.
Dagobah Bog Planet. Check out the odd-looking Yoda… what’s he pointing at? Why is Luke flying through the air with his back to us? Why so feisty Artoo, has the Dagobah bog water got into your circuits? And what are all those other weird images about? All becomes one with the Force when you take a look at the “How to use your Dairylea action transfers” page inside the comic…
The issue included a page upon which you could rub down your transfers onto a handy Dagobah Bog scene. You could then use ‘crayons’ to colour the rest of the scene. Our family was quite poor, but even we could afford fine-tipped felts. The cumbersome Crayola crayons we owned would surely have destroyed that page in seconds! And… I’m still trying to figure out where ‘flying Luke’ should go in the scene… Perhaps Yoda is ‘finger-Force-pointing’ at him and making him fly? Dammit, being an adult sucks, because I know I wouldn’t have hesitated to Crayola the crap out of that pic after rubbing off every last transfer image from the free sheet with a two-pence piece and sticking them wherever I chose. Take that adult comic collectors (including free gifts) 40 years later!!
Back page advert for Kraft Dairylea action transfers offer. Is the hunt on next for the bumper transfer pack?
Thanks for rubbing down transfers and spreading soft cheese with us! Until next time, mtfbwy! 🙂
Vintage NASA Space Set Made In West Germany
A TVTA mystery toy special! NASA formed in 1958 and West Germany ceased to be in 1990 – so this toy set which I picked up for under a tenner at my local vintage toy shop was produced anywhere between those two dates, likely the 1970s following NASA’s successful lunar missions.
The figurines are approx 1 inch tall, and like the lunar module and rocket vehicle have ‘W GERMANY’ stamped on them as COO (Country Of Origin). The red pilot figure has no COO stamp but has the same uniform as the others, and was likely meant for a vehicle that’s missing from the set? I made this quick dio using card, rocks and sand.
Edit: 20/11/17. Thanks to TVTA agent Arohk over on the TIG forum I’ve found out the origins of these toys. Fast forward to the end of this post to find out!
Mystery solved! The figurines and “Luna Station play set” were originally made by Jean Höfler in the early 1970s, with the figurines eventually being licensed out to Plong bubblegum in North America. The following images are all courtesy of the excellent site: blechroboter.de
image by blechroboter.de
image by blechroboter.de
Thanks for looking 🙂
Tammy, the doll you love to dress
Advertised as “The Doll You Love To Dress”, Tammy was a 12″ teenage fashion doll produced by Ideal between 1962 and 1966. Tammy was produced in three versions: a straight legs version, a bendable legs version, and a “Grown Up Tammy” version which featured an African American doll. Tammy inspired the UK’s bestselling teenage doll, Sindy, which was released in 1963, one year after Tammy. Pedigree Toys, who owned the license for Sindy, also obtained permission to use Tammy’s tag line, “The Doll You Love To Dress”.
The selected pages below have been scanned from an early Ideal Toys catalogue. The drawings are quite a charm, and the catalogue includes a checklist of what accessories were available at the time and also a price list.
In other Tammy news…
Tammy. 1960s. France.
Thanks for looking 🙂
The Vintage Toy Advertiser 