Hello? Fisher-Price toys customer services department? Yes, can I get a sniffer dog please?

The Fisher-Price Chatter telephone. 1963 catalogue detail.

Greetings, vintage mates. TVTA is pleased to add to its archives a selection of scans for Fisher-Price Toys. Who among us, as children, didn’t own or have a friend who owned the Fisher-Price Chatter Telephone? Or how about the Snoopy Sniffer dog? Or the Little People (formerly known as Play Family People)?

Little Snoopy and Snoopy Sniffer dogs. Fisher Price. 1968.

Fisher-Price is an American company founded in 1930 during the Great Depression by Herman Fisher, Irving Price, Helen Schelle, and Margaret Evans-Price. The company can proudly claim a long tradition of producing delightful preschool and early-years toys made from durable materials, and designed to last throughout generations of family members as the perfect hand-me-down toy.

Presenting: complete scans from the 1963, 1965, 1968 and 1970 Fisher-Price catalogues, each featuring toys a good deal of us will remember all too fondly.

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FAO Schwarz – the unique toy store, 1974/1975 catalogue

Cover. FAO Schwarz Fall/Winter catalogue. 1974/1975. US

FAO Schwarz was established in 1862 in New York and is one of the oldest toy stores in the world, in a spirit similar to that of the UK’s Hamleys.

FAO Schwarz (FAO = Frederick August Otto) offers children and parents a choice of quality and long-lasting toys, games, hobbies, books and crafts. The company continues to operate to date.

Thanks to a very kind donation by our friend Anna (thank you Anna), TVTA is pleased to acquire a number of vintage FAO Schwarz catalogues spanning the 1960s to early 1980s.

Today we present selected scans from the 1974/75 fall/winter catalogue.

Enjoy the toy goodness!

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Pocketeers… mechanical handheld retro gaming

Pocketeers Pitfall game. UK. 1979.

Pocketeers mechanical games were produced by the Palitoy company in the UK from 1975. Based on the original Japanese Tomy Pocket Games, each Pocketeer was a themed puzzle or challenge contained within a sturdy plastic casing. The games functioned by operating a variety of levers, springs, cogs, ball bearings and trapdoors.

These pocket-size fun games were rather like mechanical precursors to electronic handheld games like the Nintendo Game and Watch, and later the Gameboy. At our school, Pocketeers were popular because of the “Three Ts” – portabiliTy, collectabiliTy and swappabiliTy 😁

UK. Star Wars Weekly. 1979.

Pocketeers Big Match. UK. 1979.

UK. Star Wars Weekly. 1979.

Pocketeers Casino and Letterbox. UK. 1979.

UK. Marvel Comic April 1979.

Pocketeers Rat-a-Tat. UK. 1979.


Pocketeers France. In France the games were known collectively as Mini-jeux and were distributed by the Meccano company.

France. Pif Gadget. 1979.

French Mini-Jeux Pocketeers. France. 1979.

France. Castors Juniors. 1979.

French Mini-Jeux Pocketeers. France. 1979.


Pocketeers Germany. This 1982 German advert shows the Tomy license. The advert also shows Tomy’s ‘Funny Bowling’ game.

Pocketeers. Germany. 1982.

As always, thanks for looking 😊

MPC model kits

The Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote MPC model kits. 1972. US.

MPC was established in 1963 by George A. Toteff Jr. and Dick Branstner. As well as producing high-quality, detailed versions of road cars, MPC produced many TV tie-in vehicles from shows such as The Monkees, Happy Days, Space: 1999, The Fall Guy, Knight Rider and The Dukes of Hazzard. Some notable film tie-ins include Star Wars, Alien, The Black Hole and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

TVTA is pleased to present a selection of print adverts as featured in comic books during the 1970s and 1980s. Enjoy!

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TVTA Christmas selection box 2022 – the marvelous universe of toys!

Cover detail. Arbois toy catalogue. France. C1978.

Greetings vintage mates! It’s that time of year again when your humble TVTA editor and his intrepid office cat, Wooof, search high and yo-ho-ho low for some seasonal scans to warm the cockles of your Christmas heart!

So, sit back, slip on your Ewok slippers, grab a mince pie, and allow us to mull your wine and get figgy with your pudding, as TVTA presents you with some delightful toys and games from yesteryear courtesy of the French Arbois catalogue (no date printed on this catalogue, alas, but I’m staking the Christmas raffle on it being 1978! Wooof says it’s 1980… but I think he’s had one too many sherries and is meowing up the wrong Christmas tree. Furballs ahoy!). This Arbois catalogue features toys and games from the CEJI imports company.

Enjoy the scans. Have a very merry Christmas and a fruitful and creative New Year!

Ford


Below images: Action Joe figures. Action Joe (or Group Action Joe) is the French version of the UK’s Palitoy Action Man and the US’s Hasbro G.I. Joe. Alongside Lego and die cast cars, Action Man was the toy I had ‘the most of’. The below adverts bring back happy memories as I had almost all of the uniforms featured.

Action Joe parachute. Arbois toy catalogue. France C1978.

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Dinky Toys 1971 Die Cast Vehicles

SHADO UFO Interceptor vehicle from UFO.

TVTA is pleased to present scans from the 1971 Dinky Toys catalogue as produced for the French market. As well as featuring vehicles ranging from road and sports cars to military and emergency vehicles, the catalogue shows three famous pop culture TV series vehicles: the SHADO Interceptor from UFO; Lady Penelope’s FAB 1 from Thunderbirds; and the Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle (SPV) from Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons.

Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle (SPV) from Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons.
Lady Penelope’s FAB 1 car from Thunderbirds.

Click the below images and gallery to see full size.

Dinky Land Rover Pony Club 1971.
Dinky Land Rover Safari 1971.
Citroen Presidential car Dinky Toys 1971.
Dinky 1971 catalogue rear and front cover.

International Star Wars toy and merchandise images 1977 – 1997

TVTA is proud to present a gallery of some of the best vintage Star Wars print images you will see this side of the galaxy!

From the vaults of TVTA we share more than 250 images showing international adverts and catalogue pages for the Star Wars Original Trilogy films, toys, merchandise, and promotional offers.

Covering the period between 1977 and 1997… this incredible post shows exactly how the Star Wars brand was sold around the world!

Thanks for looking, and MTFBWY!


Star Wars as seen in the US

Star Wars Jedi Arena video game. US.,1983.

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