Tag Archives: toys

Happy Star Wars Day! May the Black Series be with you!

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Back in Black!

In 2013, Hasbro began releasing their highly anticipated line of Star Wars action figures known as the “Black Series”. The first wave of 6 inch figures proved highly poseable due to their large number of articulation points. Great attention was made to detail and paint applications, both in the figures and the accessories, along with the stylish window boxes which housed each figure, giving the brand a unique style that differed from previous incarnations of Star Wars packaging.

Indeed, the Black Series was firmly aimed at the adult collector rather than children, and with its no-nonsense, no thrills, black is black identity, many of the range sold out shortly after their appearance.

TVTA is pleased to present its thus far collection of Black Series 6 inch figures. Enjoy the pics. Happy Star Wars Day!

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

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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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Live long and prosper… with Playmobil Star Trek

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Playmobil 71155 Star Trek the original series. Box front.

Never Mind The Adverts! Part 19.

Greetings vintage mates, and a happy New Year to you all. TVTA kicks off 2023 with this wonderful Playmobil homage to the original Star Trek series, featuring the figures of James T. Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy and Lieutenant Uhura. Nothing else to say here except that I’m very pleased to add this cool toy to my collection. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves! Enjoy.

Playmobil 71155 Star Trek the original series. Box reverse.

Playmobil 71155 Star Trek the original series. Box detail.

Playmobil 71155 Star Trek the original series. Figures x4.

Thanks for looking 😊

Latest ads – 1970s to 1990s

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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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STS 4×4 – Super Track System by Exin

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STS (Super Track System) 4×4 was an electric slot-car racing system made by Exin Lines Brothers of Spain. The track and vehicle operating systems were similar to Scalextric and other brands of the time, using a motor-driven chassis with pick-ups to make contact to an electrical current flowing inside the track.

STS 4×4 tried to do something a little different from its competitors by focusing on 4×4 vehicles and making their tracks a terrain-coloured brown as opposed to the typical black surface tracks of other brands. Extra track pieces were available to buy to expand the basic sets, along with a range of accessories such as obstacles, bridges and jumps.

TVTA is pleased to present catalogue images from the 1988 Spanish Exin catalogue and the 1988 French STS 4×4 catalogue. The images feature the main sets available at the time along with many accessories.

Cover. 1988 STS 4×4 catalogue. France.

Cover. Exin STS 4×4 segment from the Exin Catalogue. 1988. Spain.

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TENTE Construction Toys

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TVTA is pleased to present further images from the 1988 Exin catalogue featuring TENTE construction toys.

Today we look at the lines Elephant (a range of pre-school bricks similar to Duplo and Mega-Bloks), Variant, Compact and Combi (for early school ages), and then sets for the more advanced young builder featuring typical Tenté themes of helicopters, boats, military vehicles and space craft.

To round off the post we have some examples from the Titanium line… and here there can be no doubt that some of its space vehicles were inspired by certain craft from the early Star Wars franchise (X-Wing and Tie Fighters immediately come to mind). 

Enjoy the images!

Selection of Tenté construction toy lines. Composition by TVTA.

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Roblock – transforming robots you build!

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Roblock was introduced around 1984 as part of the TENTE construction toy range by Exin-Lines Bros S.A., probably as a cash-in on the trend for transforming toys such as Go-Bots, Transformers and the like. The difference was that Roblock robots had to be built first – brick by brick, with special hinges enabling the vehicle parts to become robots.

Roblocks might appear as simplistic and cartoonish for a transforming toy robot, but for me they add a special cool factor with their bold colour schemes, striking decals and fun element… I mean, who can resist a sci-fi, earth-moving machine on caterpillar treads, which can transform into a frog? That’s the kooky joy that is Frogster. See pic below…

Tente Roblock featuring the models Defender, Dark Warrior and Frogster. Exin catalogue, 1988, Spain.
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