I missed my Anniversary / State of the Blog Address !!!!

Yep. Missed my anniversary. 1 year of bloggin on April 3rd.....just a little late. Oh well, you may have noticed that the posts have been sparse as of late. Currently I am preparing to move myself, my family and the enormous amount of stuff we've accumulated to our new home. As most of the collection is packed up, it is difficult to post. I have a few pics left over and maybe I'll revisit some old posts if I have time.

 

So for now I'll be reading everyone else's posts and try to get a few in occasionally but rest assured I shall return ....

 

 

 

 

 

Vintage 1975 Deka Star Trek Cup and Bowl Set !!!

This set brings back some serious memories for me.

 

This cup and bowl set was made by Deka Plastics circa 1975. Both the cup and bowl are marked "C 1975 Paramount Pictures Corporation". The cup is marked on the bottom "DEKA Elizabeth N.J. 14 269 Made in U.S.A."; the bowl is marked on the bottom "Deka Plastic Inc. Elizabeth New Jersey 07208 Made in U.S.A.".

 

The detail and art on these pieces are great. Well made, great likenesses and detailed art are the showcases of these beauties. The only question I have is why does Spock have a purple shirt ....

and Kirk have an orange shirt .....

For some time I thought it had to do with the Star Trek Animated series; I have seen some pictures of Kirk with a darker shirt but no purple Spock ....

My Grandmother bought these for me some time when I was really young and kept them at her house until she passed a few years back. They were in the same spot, in a cupboard above the fridge all those years. I can still picture them up there any time the cupboards were opened, and still remember using them as a kid. I always wondered why they were so detailed yet the colors were off. They were thrown away when my Mother cleaned out her house but I tracked down these samples to add to my collection. That's some of the fun about this addiction, reliving memories when you can track down a piece that spurs the memories. Its like taking a time machine back to when life was simple and a plastic cup and bowl can stay with you forever.

 

Got something to add ? All are welcome to leave a comment !

Vintage Matchbox Car Erasers !!

The memories of these guys !! Matchbox erasers !! Back in the 80's there were so many cool things to steer our attention from schoolwork. A pile of car shaped erasers in the Matchbox Car scale sure did the trick !!

I remember the weird stamping on the bottoms of these guys.

The next two look they were hand etched into the eraser after they were molded. 

I had tons of these things in school. WAY more fun racing these around than schoolwork :) Setting up roads and courses with our books and supplies. Taking pencils and making bullet hole divots in them when they got shot up .... what fun !

 

I remember airplanes and all sorts of different styles of erasers, and they never were used for erasing ! Why use these wonderful toy like pieces of art for the purpose they were designed for ?!?!

 

Got something to add ? All are welcome to leave a comment !

The Many Uses of Fleer Candy Lockers !! (Besides the Candy)

Back in the 70's / 80's candy was bountiful. Sugary candy came in all shapes and packages.

It was great to be a kid.

Fleer packaged candy in many different packages; coffins, fire hydrants, peanuts, lunch boxes ...

One of the most useful were the lockers !!

After devouring the candy, they became storage for GI Joe equipment !!

One of the cooler features were the tabs on the sides (red arrows).

Snap them together and .....

Ya got a whole row of lockers !! Having them linked together made them less vulnerable to toppling over, and created a whole bank of them ! To top it off, they are very detailed, with opening doors and shelving on the inside. 

 

I am a big fan of sugary candy (PEZ, Smarties, etc) and all these little "boxes" of candy were, and still are, my absolute favorites. These lockers were plentiful. When I got the GI Joe Headquarters they were a fixture of the rear where the storage was:

I made a locker room back there for extra weapon storage. Its amazing the kind of things that kids think of. You have these plastic candy lockers and what do you do with them ? Put the Joe's weapons in them and include them into your play !

 

Got something to add ? All are welcome to leave a comment !

Dreadnok Buzzer takes the Fisher Price Adventure People Motorcycle for a Ride !!

In the late 70's and early 80's, Fisher Price was producing one of the iconic action figure lines of our time: "The Adventure People." The Motorcycle Racing Team (#356) is perhaps one of the best items they managed.

The set comes with the driver, a passenger, the motorcycle and sidecar. Each piece is tremendous. These figures are well made and durable so putting them to serious play was always an option. The figures could always be incorporated into other 3 3/4 play, as they are generic enough to fit any option. The motorcycle is awesomely detailed, but it is difficult for figures with no leg articulation to ride it. The sidecar is perfect and the footrest at the bottom does a good job of keeping the passenger intact through serious riding.

One of the coolest features of this set is the driver. His knees are articulated and he is in a bit of a saddle pose to allow a perfect fit on the bike. Both hands are posed palms down to allow him to grip the steering wheel, which pivots and directs the motion of the motorcycle.

Of course once I got Dreadnoks, the motorcycle was transferred to Buzzer, who was my favorite of the pack. The motorcycle is a perfect fit and allows him to wreak havoc with his chainsaw !

If you can't tell I am a big fan of the Adventure People. They were my main toys before Star Wars, and then GI Joe. The best thing about them is how they were so easily incorporated into my GI Joe universe. These guys were used as cannon fodder, smugglers, couriers, assassins .... all kinds of roles ! The bike got used along with the RAM and the C.H.i.P.s 3 3/4 motorcycle as the Dreadnoks main rides.

 

I remember setting up a dirt track in the garden (the one where I lost my "Mickey" Cobra Commander) and riding this sucker all over it, doing tricks and jumps and whatnot. The figures and motorcycle were built so you could just hose em of and had no problems. Even the Joes would start to rust around their screws if you kept getting them wet. These figures are perfect for outright play or in tandem with any other line, which is one of the reasons why it is truly an Icon of the Action Figure legacy.

 

Got something to add ? All are welcome to leave a comment !

Hasbro hits a Grand Slam for GI Joe all the way to the Hall Of Fame !!!

In 1983, Hasbro re-released the original GI Joe figures and incorporated one of the greatest running changes ever into them, The Swivel Arm Battle Grip !! Grand Slam was included in that group of iconic figures that could not only swivel at the bicep,  but also had slimmer torsos to relieve pressure off of the O-Ring (but introduced the "Crotch Blowout" that the new waists were susceptible to).

 

The "driver" of the HAL - Heavy Artillery Laser - Grand Slam !!

The original figure (shown on the right) has straight arms and the original thick waist.

  The reissued figure now has a slimmer torso and swivel arms at the bicep. The strange thing is the pad on the straight arm figure was removed and now is replaced by a paint app. Upon closer look, you can see the swivel arm feature would cut right through the pad. Hasbro must have made the decision to not modify the original bicep (probably a cost issue). Instead, the reissue of Grand Slam has the same bicep and elbow combination that was included with most of the other figures. A paint app instead of retooling the bicep for 2 figures (Grand Slam and Flash) that probably didn't sell well was probably cheaper. Personally, I would have not put on the app and left the arm bare. The paint makes it look like something is out of place.

 

This year I have an agenda for my collecting habits: to immortalize the origins of the 3 3/4 G.I. Joe line. I will put together a "Hall of Fame" combining every original Joe and Cobra in both Straight and Swivel Arm versions. Click the link at the top bar to see the current state !

The newest inductee into the Toymorrow GI Joe Hall of Fame: Grand Slam !

 

Grand Slam, in both the Straight and Swivel Arm versions occupy an area of the Hall of Fame as the newest complete inductee !

To view the Current State of the Hall of Fame and see the other inductees CLICK HERE !!!

Got something to add ? All are welcome to leave a comment !

GI Joe hits a Grand Slam in 1982 !!

 In 1982's initial offering of Joes from Hasbro, there were four "vehicle" drivers produced. While only two were really vehicles, and the other two were really mobile units that were hauled by the vehicles ... but I digress.

 

The "driver" of the HAL - Heavy Artillery Laser - Grand Slam !!

 

 

Clad in Helmet, visor and lead lined uniform, Grand Slam is ready for battle !!

The original figure has straight arms and the original thick waist.

  I always thought the shade of green in his uniform is cool looking.

 

I always like Grand Slam. His weird outfit is kinda cool looking, if not useful. I just assumed that since his vehicle was a massive laser cannon, the red padding was actually lead lined protection. Knowing that, it was usually his fate to get shot in the chest. The padding was like a bullet proof (mostly) vest.

 

The HAL itself didn't get a lot of use. I was a bit biased against "lasers" in use, I would have liked a traditional artillery weapon. Also, since there were no Cobra weapons that needed artillery guarding against, I did not have a viable role for it to play. It got dragged around by the VAMP a lot !