My Dog Has Fleas! Ideal toy shop catalogue, 1980s, France

My Dog Has Fleas (Sacapuce) game from Ideal.

Featured are some instantly recognisable toys and games which were available worldwide throughout the 1980s, as sold by the Ideal company. Some of the toys had already been around for a while – like Buckaroo (1970) and KerPlunk (1967). I had both of these, plus a Rubik’s Cube, and one of my brothers had the TCR ‘Super Trucks’ racing track set.

The images are from an Ideal company catalogue which would have originally been distributed to toy shops throughout France, then handed out to customers by the shop owner. Exact date is unknown.

Cover. Ideal toy shop catalogue. 1980s. France. Rubiks Master Cube.

1980s Rubik’s Cube puzzles from Ideal.

Buckaroo ‘Bourico’ from Ideal.

KerPlunk ‘Plunk’ or ‘Crash Plunk’ from Ideal.

: Mademoiselle Beauty Box by Ideal.

: Guzzlers cars by Ideal.

: Zoé spider game by Ideal.

: Droles de Dragons game by Ideal.

: Electronic Detective and Piles et Face games by Ideal.

: Stompers motorbikes by Ideal.

TCR – Total Control Racing!

TCR Super Camions. Ideal.

TCR – The Dukes of Hazzard / Starsky and Hutch ball of confusion!

Question:

What is strange about the following The Dukes of Hazzard TCR advert?

TCR ‘Starsky and Hutch’. Ideal.

Answer:

Oops, they made an error in listing The Dukes of Hazzard as Starsky and Hutch…

Sharp-eyed readers will also notice an alternative roof design of the General Lee vehicle, as well as the incorrect appearance of the number ’11’ instead of the correct ’01’.

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

This mishap wasn’t just limited to a French Ideal catalogue entry…

… an actual box version was released in France with the same errors!

Starsky and Hutch / The Dukes Of Hazzard error production box. Image courtesy of Lulu-Berlu.

That’s all for now vintage mates...

Thank you for mixing up your franchises and de-flea-ing the dog with us 🙂

Coming soon… toy products from the Ertl company, plus more TVTA Halloween party teasers! 🎃🎃🎃

14 thoughts on “My Dog Has Fleas! Ideal toy shop catalogue, 1980s, France”

Another great post, thank you!. I have some odd figures from Ideal – may send you a photo, as the company that took them over hasn’t been able to help.

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The Vintage Toy Advertiser on December 11, 2019 at 11:05 said:

Thanks, Wibi. Ah yes, I would be curious to see those Ideal figures you mention.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓

The only toy here I know about is Rubik’s Cube (not the master cube, just regular).
I do however, know the difference between Dukes of Hazard & Starsky and Hutch cars.
Interesting post, and the Sacapuce is a very different idea for a toy!

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓

The Vintage Toy Advertiser on October 22, 2019 at 22:22 said:

I had the regular cube too, but I was completely rubbish at solving it. Yes, the Sacapuce is a good concept for a game and quite a nice toy dog too, despite looking grumpy for having all those fleas!

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Reply ↓

Hi TVTA, I have quite a few of Rubik’s fiendish puzzles and I owned a TCR World Rally Peugeot 205 set but I would have loved a Starsky & Hutch Generally Wrong set (sorry I meant Duke of Hazzard General Lee set)
The TCR sets were so cool being able to change lanes at any time instead of just on “Crossover” lane sections of Scalextric. As I had limited space in my home TCR were also better for me duet to them being slightly smaller scale. But you could still modify them sets and get “Jammer” drone cars.
But I would have liked a Batmobile. On a side note did either of you have a Ferrari F! car for Scalextric with the cotton wool plume of smoke attached to the back? Somebody jokingly created a set of accessories with smoke plumes and Pit Crew Members holding fire extinguishers when Ferraris kept breaking down!

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓

The Vintage Toy Advertiser on October 21, 2019 at 21:05 said:

Hi FT. Yes, definitely one of the bonuses of TCR was its smaller scale to fill the floor space. Ha, that would be funny to see some Scalextric smoking Ferraris. I remember my Le Mans had working front and rear lights, and I think some sets came with ‘revving’ sound effects on the hand controler.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- For Tyeth on October 21, 2019 at 21:11 said:
  
  Hello again, I’m not sure the Ferrari Flame kits were official (I even think there was talk of lawsuits as the kits showed Ferrari in a bad light!) But they did look funny whizzing round the track .Now, here’s the question…did you ever do a 24 hour race? (I have on Playstation’s Gran Turismo game)
  
  LikeLiked by 2 people
- The Vintage Toy Advertiser on October 21, 2019 at 21:20 said:
  
  On the PS2 yes! The very same game you mention. That was cleverly done by the makers, with pit stops, tyre changes etc. Spent hours on those GT games. I loved it when they introduced the snow challenges for the rally races too.
  
  LikeLiked by 2 people
- For Tyeth on October 21, 2019 at 21:35 said:
  
  Ah so you like sliding! I really liked the Rally stage races too…Tahiti was a great stage with all those hairpin downhill bends. I was a Subaru Imprezza fan (much more balanced than the Mitsubishi Evo). Having said that though, there’s nothing like doing 200mph+ in an Audi prototype down the Mulsanne Straight (why’d they have to put in those chicanes though?)
  
  LikeLiked by 2 people

A veritable blast from the past as far as TCR is concerned my friend, hadn’t thought about that in a while. That said I never personally owned any TCR sets but I do still have my Batman/Joker Scalextric set somewhere, always remember fighting with my brother over who’d be the one to use Keaton’s Batmobile! 🙂

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓

The Vintage Toy Advertiser on October 21, 2019 at 17:38 said:

The Batman Scalextric sets looked brilliant. Would love to have had a go at those. The slotless TCR sets were a lot of fun with lane changing switch overs and stunt jumps I remember, but I think I preferred Scalextric overall.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- ArcaneHalloween on October 21, 2019 at 17:42 said:
  
  Yeah those TCR sets were amazing back then, the whole slotless thing was rather bewildering and magical to any Scalextric fan! It definitely was a game changer, but I loved my Batman and F1 Scalextric sets nevertheless. 🙂
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
- The Vintage Toy Advertiser on October 21, 2019 at 18:04 said:
  
  I had a F1 set as a boy and later a 24 hour Le Mans with my eldest son. Is the Batman set you have this one, pic taken from my 1991 Scalextric catalogue: https://thevintagetoyadvertiser.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/scalextric-cat-1991-32-ed-batman-chase-leap.jpg
  and another from my 2006 catalogue: https://thevintagetoyadvertiser.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/scalextric-cat-2006-47-ed-batman-begins.jpg
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
- ArcaneHalloween on October 21, 2019 at 19:28 said:
  
  Yes indeed it is that set from your link, I really must dig it out! That Batman Begins one is rather bat-tacular too mind. 🙂
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply to this blog post Cancel reply

wibiwonder on December 9, 2019 at 20:15 said:

Another great post, thank you!. I have some odd figures from Ideal – may send you a photo, as the company that took them over hasn’t been able to help.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- The Vintage Toy Advertiser on December 11, 2019 at 11:05 said:
  
  Thanks, Wibi. Ah yes, I would be curious to see those Ideal figures you mention.
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply ↓
Resa on October 22, 2019 at 17:49 said:

The only toy here I know about is Rubik’s Cube (not the master cube, just regular).
I do however, know the difference between Dukes of Hazard & Starsky and Hutch cars.
Interesting post, and the Sacapuce is a very different idea for a toy!

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- The Vintage Toy Advertiser on October 22, 2019 at 22:22 said:
  
  I had the regular cube too, but I was completely rubbish at solving it. Yes, the Sacapuce is a good concept for a game and quite a nice toy dog too, despite looking grumpy for having all those fleas!
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply ↓
For Tyeth on October 21, 2019 at 18:49 said:

Hi TVTA, I have quite a few of Rubik’s fiendish puzzles and I owned a TCR World Rally Peugeot 205 set but I would have loved a Starsky & Hutch Generally Wrong set (sorry I meant Duke of Hazzard General Lee set)
The TCR sets were so cool being able to change lanes at any time instead of just on “Crossover” lane sections of Scalextric. As I had limited space in my home TCR were also better for me duet to them being slightly smaller scale. But you could still modify them sets and get “Jammer” drone cars.
But I would have liked a Batmobile. On a side note did either of you have a Ferrari F! car for Scalextric with the cotton wool plume of smoke attached to the back? Somebody jokingly created a set of accessories with smoke plumes and Pit Crew Members holding fire extinguishers when Ferraris kept breaking down!

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- The Vintage Toy Advertiser on October 21, 2019 at 21:05 said:
  
  Hi FT. Yes, definitely one of the bonuses of TCR was its smaller scale to fill the floor space. Ha, that would be funny to see some Scalextric smoking Ferraris. I remember my Le Mans had working front and rear lights, and I think some sets came with ‘revving’ sound effects on the hand controler.
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply ↓
  - For Tyeth on October 21, 2019 at 21:11 said:
    
    Hello again, I’m not sure the Ferrari Flame kits were official (I even think there was talk of lawsuits as the kits showed Ferrari in a bad light!) But they did look funny whizzing round the track .Now, here’s the question…did you ever do a 24 hour race? (I have on Playstation’s Gran Turismo game)
    
    LikeLiked by 2 people
  - The Vintage Toy Advertiser on October 21, 2019 at 21:20 said:
    
    On the PS2 yes! The very same game you mention. That was cleverly done by the makers, with pit stops, tyre changes etc. Spent hours on those GT games. I loved it when they introduced the snow challenges for the rally races too.
    
    LikeLiked by 2 people
  - For Tyeth on October 21, 2019 at 21:35 said:
    
    Ah so you like sliding! I really liked the Rally stage races too…Tahiti was a great stage with all those hairpin downhill bends. I was a Subaru Imprezza fan (much more balanced than the Mitsubishi Evo). Having said that though, there’s nothing like doing 200mph+ in an Audi prototype down the Mulsanne Straight (why’d they have to put in those chicanes though?)
    
    LikeLiked by 2 people
ArcaneHalloween on October 21, 2019 at 17:16 said:

A veritable blast from the past as far as TCR is concerned my friend, hadn’t thought about that in a while. That said I never personally owned any TCR sets but I do still have my Batman/Joker Scalextric set somewhere, always remember fighting with my brother over who’d be the one to use Keaton’s Batmobile! 🙂

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- The Vintage Toy Advertiser on October 21, 2019 at 17:38 said:
  
  The Batman Scalextric sets looked brilliant. Would love to have had a go at those. The slotless TCR sets were a lot of fun with lane changing switch overs and stunt jumps I remember, but I think I preferred Scalextric overall.
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply ↓
  - ArcaneHalloween on October 21, 2019 at 17:42 said:
    
    Yeah those TCR sets were amazing back then, the whole slotless thing was rather bewildering and magical to any Scalextric fan! It definitely was a game changer, but I loved my Batman and F1 Scalextric sets nevertheless. 🙂
    
    LikeLiked by 1 person
  - The Vintage Toy Advertiser on October 21, 2019 at 18:04 said:
    
    I had a F1 set as a boy and later a 24 hour Le Mans with my eldest son. Is the Batman set you have this one, pic taken from my 1991 Scalextric catalogue: https://thevintagetoyadvertiser.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/scalextric-cat-1991-32-ed-batman-chase-leap.jpg
    and another from my 2006 catalogue: https://thevintagetoyadvertiser.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/scalextric-cat-2006-47-ed-batman-begins.jpg
    
    LikeLiked by 1 person
  - ArcaneHalloween on October 21, 2019 at 19:28 said:
    
    Yes indeed it is that set from your link, I really must dig it out! That Batman Begins one is rather bat-tacular too mind. 🙂
    
    LikeLiked by 1 person

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TCR – Total Control Racing!

TCR – The Dukes of Hazzard / Starsky and Hutch ball of confusion!

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14 thoughts on “My Dog Has Fleas! Ideal toy shop catalogue, 1980s, France”

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