Willy Wonka’s Magic Jumping Disc and other curiosities

Posted on August 30, 2019 by The Vintage Toy Advertiser

Willy Wonka’s Magic Jumping Disc. US. 1982. I remember some jumping toys that were sold in the 80s and 90s – they were spring-loaded and you had to moisten a rubber suction cap then press it down onto its base. A few seconds later, the force of the spring would release the cap and the toy would jump. There were multiple variations of these toys featuring novelty animals and things, and I’m wondering if the Willy Wonka Magic Jumping Disc employed a similar method… or was it really Wonka magic at work?

Cube Lube

Cube Lube. US. 1982. Cleverly marketed on the back of the Rubik’s Cube craze yet not once mentioning the word ‘Rubik’ – possibly for fear of legal action. Cube Lube was deployed into being as a lubricant to increase your time at solving puzzles like… Rubik’s cube. The ad states the product’s greatness for other toys with moving parts, as well as the benefits for bikes and cycles.

Triple-Flips by Takara

Takara Triple-Flips. US. 1982. Japanese toy company Takara had a number of successful toy hits it was proud to put its name to such as the Japanese license to sell Kenner Star Wars toys for the first Star Wars film; Microman (Transformers); Micronauts; Battle Beasts and Beyblade. Therefore I was surprised to see today’s Takara advert in all its low-tech and simple gadgetry – Triple-Flips – a humble travelling 3-in-1 pocket board game with magnetic playing pieces.

Hostess Cup Cakes – The Flash

Hostess Cup Cakes. The Flash. US. 1982. I’m always pleased to discover a Hostess advert I haven’t added to my collection yet, and this is my first ad for The Flash! Cup Cakes, Twinkies, and Fruit Pies products were advertised by Hostess in the pages of DC and Marvel comics in single page strips that starred famous superheroes allied with Hostess cakes to take down evil villains. There are hundreds of these quirky, bizarre and sometimes plain weird adverts to be found inside comics throughout the 1970s and 1980s. To date I have 44 in my collection, thanks to The Flash!

The Jorvik Viking Centre, York

Jorvik Viking Centre Eagle comic competition. 1985. UK. Early print advert featuring the Jorvik Viking Centre in York, England. The advert is a prize-winning promotion in conjunction with Eagle comic in 1985. The Jorvik Viking Centre was opened in 1984 as a museum and visitor attraction on the excavated site of what was once the Viking city of Jorvik in the 10th century. The centre is still open to date and is one of the regions most popular visitor attractions.

Peter Pan Playthings Stunt Man Hang Glider

Stunt Man Hang Glider by Peter Pan Playthings. UK. 1983. Another promotion for the readers of Eagle comic with the chance to win a Stunt Man Hang Glider toy.

Worzel Gummidge – Scatterbrook Farm’s resident scarecrow since 1936

Worzel Gummidge. Look-In N°15. 1979. UK. Worzel Gummidge was a massive TV show hit for children back in the 1980s. The title character was played by ex-Doctor Who actor Jon Pertwee. Worzel Gummidge was first featured in children’s books in the 1930s and was written by author Barabara Euphan Todd. In 2018 it was announced that the BBC is planning to make a new TV series based on the Barbara Euphan Todd books, with Pirates of the Caribbean actor Mackenzie Crook playing the Scatterbrook Farm scarecrow.

Capsela Construction Action Vehicles

Capsela construction. US. 1982. Snap-together interchangeable parts for building motorised land and water action vehicles.

Four Monogram models adverts

: Monogram Tornado Radio Control. US. 1987.

: Monogram Lightning Radio Control. US. 1985.

: Monogram Snap Tite. US. 1976.

: Monogram 1:8 scale cars. US. 1982.

Magnum 440 by Tyco

Tyco Magnum 440. US. 1982. Slot-car racing for use on Tyco and AFX racing tracks.

Bubble Yum Sweepstakes

Bubble Yum Sweepstakes. US. 1982. Some superb prizes on offer in this Bubble Yum bubble gum sweepstakes promotion.

Thanks for looking 🙂

Art Gowns does Schiaparelli on Barbie

Gallery

Posted on August 27, 2019 by The Vintage Toy Advertiser

This gallery contains 16 photos.

Originally posted on Art Gowns:
Did you ever notice how one thing can lead to another? Yes! Well, that’s exactly how my old Barbie got an Art gown. In Art Gowns spirit, nothing new was purchased for this project. Barbie’s…

The art of children’s storybooks and vinyl records, 1960s -1980s

Posted on August 23, 2019 by The Vintage Toy Advertiser

Agathe Tran Quang My and Biosca art for Anne Sylvestre – “Fabulettes” 1969.

The storybook and vinyl record was an opportunity for children to fully immerse themselves in their favourite fairy tale, nursery ryhme, song or film. As Disney proclaimed: children can “see the pictures” “hear the record” and “read the book”. Disney Records and its Buena Vista label, along with Peter Pan Records and its derivative Power Records, were among the first companies to explore this multi-media approach to entertaining children by releasing storybooks with a vinyl record. Later would come cassettes – adding a new dimension of ‘mobility’ to the experience, when children could listen on a Walkman and be free to move from room to room or even go outside.

In today’s post we take a look at some French storybooks and vinyl records aimed at the younger children’s market, featuring fairy tales, nursery rhymes and traditional songs. Especially, we take the opportunity to look at some of the artwork involved, and here we see wonderful illustrations from the likes of Biosca, Denise Chabot, Agathe Tran Quang My, Annette Moch and JP Huster who each contributed delightful art for many record sleeves and booklets aimed at children throughout 1960s and 1980s France.

The art of Denise Chabot from “Rondes Enfantines” storybook and record

The art of Annette Moch and JP Huster – “Fabulettes” 1964.

Anne Silvestre. “FABULETTES”. Dessins par Annette Moch and JP Huster. 1964.

The art of Biosca – “Fabulettes en Couleurs” and “L’école”

Anne Sylvestre “FABULETTES EN COULEURS”. Dessins par Biosca. 1983.

Anne Silvestre “L’ECOLE” Dessins par Biosca.

Anne Silvestre “L’ECOLE”. Dessins par Biosca.

The art of Agathe Tran Quang My and Biosca – “Fabulettes” 1969

Agathe Tran Quang My and Biosca art for Anne Sylvestre – “Fabulettes” 1969.

Walt Disney storybooks and records

Walt Disney Jungle Book. Storybook and record. 1983. France.

Waly Disney The Fox and the Hound. Storybook and record. 1983.

Walt Disney The Three Little Pigs. Storybook and record. 1968. France.

Little Red Ridng Hood

Little Red Riding Hood story and record with colouring pages. Le Petit Chaperon Rouge. Disque à Colorier. Artist and date unknown.

Thank you for “seeing, hearing and reading” with us 🙂

DAN DARE – Pilot of the Future (Disembark here for EAGLE comics 1982-1985)

Posted on August 22, 2019 by The Vintage Toy Advertiser

Eagle Cover 10 July 1982. Art confirmed by @IanKennedyArt1 as done by Ian Kennedy.

This post will take a look at a short period in the history of British comic book Eagle and one of its most famous characters Dan Dare. Eagle was founded by the Reverend Marcus Morris and was first published in 1950 to 1969. The character Dan Dare was created by Frank Hampson and made regular appearances until 1969 when Eagle, struggling by then, was merged with Lion comics, thus bringing an end to the sky heroics of ‘Pilot of the Future’ Dan Dare.

But fast forward to 1982… and a secret project team at IPC Magazines led by Barrie Tomlinson, David Hunt and Gil Page was putting together the final touches of its plans for the relaunch of Eagle and its greatest hero Dan Dare! The new format had already been decided: a shift from traditional art stories to photo-stories – a format that had proved itself a hit with pop magazines like JACKIE.

Daring to dabble

Dan Dare was to escape the new photo-story format and remain rendered as he had always been – in quality lines and ink drawn by quality artists. Not that Dan escaped change entirely! The original 1950s Dan as created by Frank Hampson was completely removed from the relaunched storyline and replaced with Dan’s Great-Great Grandson who took on the name ‘Dan Dare’ and his mantle ‘Pilot of the Future’, with adventures now being set 200 years into the future of the original storyline.

Below: Operation Eagle. From the 1983 Eagle Annual

Just some of the steps taken in relaunching a comic and one of its legends.

Not plain sailing

What began as an exciting relaunch for Eagle in 1982 quickly gave way to choppy waters. Dan Dare lost its lead artist Gerry Embleton just four months into the relaunch. The following year in 1983 the title made the transition from the photo-stories back to traditional comic art. This was followed by the change to a new size format and cheaper newsprint – and all against the background of the 1980s British printer’s strikes when Eagle saw the mergers of fellow IPC comics Scream! which integrated into Eagle in 1984, and then Tiger which merged with Eagle in 1985.

The creative team for the Dan Dare strips during this topsy-turvy ’82 – ’85 period included the writers Pat Mills and John Wagner, with intial artwork coming from Gerry Embelton and Oliver Frey (Frey also did the work on the ’84 and ’85 Annuals). Then came the prolific art of Ian Kennedy (announced as the new artist in the July 31 issue, 1982), and finally the art of Carlos Cruz from the period 1984/5. Writer and artist credits are seldom printed in many of the later issues I own, so if I’ve missed or miscredited anyone let me know in the comments.

Final flight

Although I’m only covering the period ’82 – ’85, it’s worth concluding the history of that relaunch to say that Eagle, and all of its fellow IPC comic titles, was eventually purchased by the publisher Robert Maxwell in 1987. Five-hundred issues of this later Eagle were published until dwindling sales forced a change from weekly release to monthly. Later issues contained reprints – although new Dan Dare stories did appear written by Tom Tully and drawn by David Pugh. Eagle flew on for a while longer up to 1994 when it, and its famous pilot Dan Dare, once again disappeared from the sky.

Onto the images then. 1982 – 1985. And what a treat! TVTA is pleased to present a stellar selection of artwork and covers related to this exciting relaunch period for Eagle and Dan Dare!

Enjoy.

Dan Dare and the Return of the Mekon by Wagner / Mills /Embleton. Eagle 10 July 1982.

Dan Dare and the Return of the Mekon by Wagner / Mills/ Frey. Eagle 17 July 1982.

Dan Dare and the Return of the Mekon by Mills / Wagner / Kennedy. Eagle 31 July 1982.

Page mixing traditional comic art with model photography. Mills / Kennedy / models by J. Baum. Eagle 28 May 1983.

Cover artwork 1982 – 1985

: Eagle 31 July 1982. Artist uncredited.

: Eagle 10 July 1982. Cover by Ian Kennedy.

: Eagle 8 jan 1983. Cover by Ian Kennedy.

: Eagle 12 Feb 1983. Cover by Ian Kennedy.

: Eagle 5 March 1983. Cover Ian Kennedy.

: Eagle 12 March 1983. Cover by Ian Kennedy.

: Eagle 19 March 1983. Cover by Ian Kennedy.

: Eagle 26 March 1983. Cover by Ian Kennedy.

: Eagle 14 May 1983. Cover by Kennedy.

: Eagle 28 May 1983. Cover by Ian Kennedy.

: Eagle 4 June 1983. Cover by Ian Kennedy.

: Eagle 11 June 1983. Cover by Ian Kennedy.

: Eagle 18 June 1983. Cover by Ian Kennedy.

: Eagle 25 June 1983. Cover by Ian Kennedy.

: Eagle 2 July 1983. Cover by Ian Kennedy.

: Eagle 16 July 1983. Cover by Ian Kennedy.

: Eagle 23 July 1983. Cover by Ian Kennedy.

: Eagle 6 Aug 1983. Cover by Ian Kennedy.

: Eagle 13 Aug 1983. Cover by Ian Kennedy.

: Eagle 27 Aug 1983. Cover by Ian Kennedy.

: Eagle 3 Sept 1983. Cover by Ian Kennedy.

: Eagle 10 Sept 1983. Cover by Ian Kennedy.

: New size format. Eagle 24 Sept 1983.

: Eagle 18 Feb. 1984.

: Eagle 7 July 1984.

: Eagle 14 July 1984

: Eagle 21 July 1984.

: Eagle 28 July 1984. Cover by Carlos Cruz

: Eagle 25 Aug 1984.

: Eagle and Scream! 10 Nov 1984 138.

: Eagle and Scream! 2 Feb 1985 150.

: Eagle and Scream! 16 Feb 152 1985.

: Eagle and Scream! 23 Feb 153 1985.

: Eagle. 2 March 1985 154.

: Eagle. 9 March 1985 155.

: Eagle. 16 March 1985 156.

Title mergers

Eagle and Scream!, 1984

Eagle and Scream! 9 Feb 151 1985.

The stories ‘Monster’ and ‘The Thirteenth Floor’ from SCREAM! merger announcements with Eagle. 25 Aug 1984.

Eagle and Tiger, 1985

Eagle and Tiger. 14 Sept 1985 182.

Eagle Annual 1983

Dan Dare print advert. Eagle. 1983.

TVTA Fun Bonus!

While going through the dozens of Eagle issues I own from this period, I managed to put togther the four-part double-page series ‘Doomlord’s Alien Datafile Poster’

Pheww!! What a monster when all put togther…

Doomlord’s Alien Datafile. Four-part double-page poster collection in Eagle comic, 1985.

And lastly…

A Mekon and Treen target simulator to use with the free potato gun as given away in the September 24 issue of EAGLE, 1983, ‘Mash Up The Mekon’

Space Fleet Target Simulator. Eagle 24 Sept 1983.

That’s all folks. Thank you for flying into the future with us 🙂

Resources: 1983 Eagle Annual, Fleetway. Various Eagle comics, IPC, 1982 – 1985. Wikipedia entries for Eagle and Dan Dare. Images copyright belong to the current owners of Eagle and Dan Dare and are used here for information purposes. Image scans made by TVTA from personal comic collection.

Further reading: excellent Dan Dare article from Down The Tubes

Clash of the Titans: the official illustrated adaptation of the 1981 film

Posted on August 20, 2019 by The Vintage Toy Advertiser

“And to make certain that Argos is destroyed, let loose the last of the Titans! Release the Kraken!” Zeus. Clash of the Titans by Beverley Cross.

TVTA takes a glance at the 1981 Look-In Film Special for the official illustrated adaptation of the film Clash of the Titans, adapted from the Beverley Cross script by Mary Carey with art by Dan Spiegle.

ITV Books, 1981, Great Britain.

Thanks for looking 🙂

British Comics 1970s and 1980s – as promoted in print advertising

Posted on August 16, 2019 by The Vintage Toy Advertiser

2000 AD advert. 1988.

A TVTA Special

TVTA is pleased to present a selection of 1970s and 1980s British comic book titles as seen in print adverts found in… 1970s and 1980s British comic book titles 🙂

My memories of British comics.

Many of the titles featured in this post I grew with up. I have fond memories of saving up my pocket money for the weekly visit to the newsagent, and then the Sunday visit to our Grandparents’ house where there would always be a bag of sweets and a pile of comics waiting for us kids as treats. My parents split up when I was young, so when Dad visited this was yet another occasion to receive a pile of comics. As a supplement to the weekly and monthly comic books, Mom always bought us a number of hard cover annuals each Christmas.

Free Gift in this Week’s Issue !!

The kids in the grove where we lived were just as comic-mad, and we had regular get-togethers to share our comics and marvel at the free gifts we had received. Indeed, many of the adverts in today’s post are promotional adverts for free gifts included with the title. Gifts ranged from stickers to toys, badges to posters, and special offers made in conjunction with many popular sweets, crisps and chocolate brands of the day.

One good memory I have regarding comics is the day I accompanied my mom to the weekly launderette run. Completely bored, I was mooching about the premises when I found a Fifty Pence pence piece sticking out from under one of the machines. To a kid in the late 1970s 50p was not to be sniffed at. My mom was a good sport and allowed me to keep it, so I popped next door to the newsagents and came back with comics. Another good memory is of a friend having a clear-out of his stuff, and he gave me about a hundred issues of his old Beano and Dandy comics which kept me in happy reading spirits for months. Another good memory is of rainy days at school when at breaktime we stayed indoors and played toys and games or… read comics. Looking back there was many a good time spent with comics, and it’s been fun browsing some of those old titles again in search of adverts.

So, onto the ads, and there’s a little bit of everything here from Star Wars to Buster to Victor to Dan Dare, Spider-Man and Hulk, Tiger, Roy of the Rovers, 2000 AD and Doctor Who!

Enjoy.