A little bit of Barbie, Action Man, Playmobil and Doc Justice!

Barbie Birthday. Pif Gadget 627. 1981. Artwork by Mezza. If anyone knows any information on the illustrator Mezza please let me know!

Greetings vintage mates! Presenting: eight vintage adverts from French comic Pif Gadget. I was particularly pleased to get my hands on the Barbie ‘Birthday’ advert with art by the illustrator Mezza who designed a good deal of late 70s and early 80s Barbie adverts, and, despite my online searches, I still can’t find any info about.

The Action Man advert was also a treat to discover (known as Action Joe in France, and GI Joe in the US where the toy originated in 1964). Eagle-eyed readers will spot the popular ‘Eagle-Eye Action Man’ features on the below advert – quite an innovation for those of us who lovingly played with these toys back in the day.

Action Joe. Pif Gadget 529. 1979. France.

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Latest ads – 1970s to 1990s

Greetings vintage mates! TVTA is pleased to present an international selection of print advertising featuring toys, games, bicycles and other goodies, as seen in the pages of comics and catalogues between 1977 and 1998.


Ricochet Racers and superhero shields. The Superhero Book Of Goodies. 1977. US.


Lotte / Petra dolls. Anders 20. 1978. Denmark.


The Bridgenorth Stamp Company. Anders 20. 1978. Denmark.


Raleigh Ultra Burner BMX. Autumn Bargains 1986. UK.

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When you next go shopping, don’t forget to pick up…

Greetings vintage mates!

Whether you are a high street shopper, a mega-store moocher, a mail-order junkie, a catalogue queen or a flea-market freak… make sure you pick up these items* the next time you go shopping!

*time-travel to the 1960s may be required for certain items subject to availability.

Shopping list: Ajax cleaner, Pax washing powder, Palmolive washing-up liquid, Mir washing powder, Orlane and Juvena cosmetics, Banga orange juice, Gayelord Hauser Vitamin Pills.


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Latest ads – Action Man, Dream Girl USA, Buffy, Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! trading cards, and a Hellboy Zippo lighter!

Greetings vintage mates! Welcome to another roundup of various print adverts featuring toy and pop culture goodness, this time from the 1970s all the way up to 2007! Let’s get the action going with…

1996. ACTION MAN (Hasbro) US.

Action Man Power Arm Ninja. 1996. US.

I was pleased to get hold of the above Action Man double-page ad, even though I prefer the original Action Man line from Palitoy which I played with as a kid. The Hasbro line has already been around for more than 25 years now (how time flies!) and is starting to tingle the TVTA vintage sensors! I remember my eldest son when he was a child having lots of Action Man toys, and we would mix up what he had with some of the accessories I still had from the 70s.

The rest of the ads below you might remember if you were a 70s, 80s, 90s or even a 2000s kid! The ads come from publications as seen in the UK, US, France, Netherlands and Denmark at the time.

Enjoy 🙂

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Dinky TV toys, Capitaine Flam, 90s movies

From the Dinky Toys 1971 French catalogue – Gerry and Sylvia Anderson TV show toys; Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, UFO.


Thunderbirds

Lady Penelope’s FAB 1 car from Thunderbirds.


Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons

Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle (SPV) from Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons.


UFO

SHADO UFO Interceptor vehicle from UFO.


Cover. Dinky Toys catalogue. 1971. France.

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Dungeons & Dragons and Tasting the Rainbow

Dungeons and Dragons. 1995. US.

Dungeons and Dragons. 1996. US.

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Ad campaigns of the 1990s – Milk, GAP, JNCO, and a little quiz…

“Milk. Where’s your mustache?”

Slogan from the National Fluid Milk Processor Promotion Board. Later, “Got milk?” and “Milk. What a surprise!” This clever ad campaign had a fair few celebrities and stars signed up: Conan O’Brien, David Copperfield, Dennis Rodman, Melanie Griffith, Isabella Rossellini, Lauren Bacall, Van Halen, KISS, Britney Spears, Spike Lee, and a whole lot more. I’m very pleased to report I got Sarah Michelle Gellar and Tony Hawk!


IYDKYDG … 

IYDKYDG. 1999.

Woah, what the blink is this? “IYDKYDG” ??

Quiz: see if you can you identify this 1999 “IYDKYDG” campaign and the product being promoted from the curious print ads. Clue: it’s a major brand. Award yourself 100 vintage points for the correct answer! Answers at bottom of post.

Is the product…

  1. sports clothing
  2. hi-fi equipment
  3. soft drinks
  4. mobile phones

IYDKYDG. 1999.

IYDKYDG. 1999.


Mind the GAP

Clothing brand GAP was founded in California in 1969 by Donald Fisher and Doris F. Fisher. Gap originally targeted the younger generation when it opened, with its name referring to the “generation gap” of the time (merci, our good mates Wiskeypedia).

Below is a selection of late 1990s GAP adverts.

GAP Technofied. 1999.


JNCO

JNCO Autopilot. 1998.

JNCO (Judge None Choose One) is a California-based clothing company founded in 1985 by Moroccan-born, French-raised brothers Jacques Yaakov Revah and Haim Milo Revah. The brand was popular in the 1990s for its ultra-baggy denim jeans featuring oversize pockets with street-style art, and with a logo designed by local LA graffiti artist Joseph Montalvo, aka Nuke. JNCO’s street look was popular with skateboarding and BMX, as seen on some of the featured adverts below.

JNCO 50 inch bottoms. 1998.

JNCO Futures footwear. 1998.


That’s all for now 90s lovers! Thanks for wearing oversize jeans and drinking milk with us 🙂

Answer to quiz: 

The featured product is soft drinks by Coca-Cola. IYDKYDG stands for: If You Don’t Know You Don’t Go. This was one of Coke’s most bizarre and intriguing ad campaigns over the years.