3XY Coca Cola Easy Roller / Freedom Machine Vans

tol11toys — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 14:33:12 +0000

For a while there in the late 70′s it was every boy’s dream to cruise the streets and highways in a tricked-out Beford Van or Sandman Shaggin’ Wagon. The Hardy Boys, Hot Wheels and even Star Wars joined the rush to cash in on the craze, but the most memorable for me was the Radio 3xy / Coca Cola summer promotion that featured a customised Bedford van as the main prize, known variously as the Freedom Machine or Easy Roller.

The promotional stickers were ominipresent in Milk Bars and Service Stations, and I must have stuck down a hundred as a kid, so it was pretty cool to be able to score a couple of unused originals recently.

A quick Google turned up the original Freedom Machine as it is today, awaiting a restoration in the back-lot of a car-yard. Would love to see the final result gents!

There was a third vehicle called the Denim Machine, it was a panel van, but I don’t have that sticker yet…

3XY Coca Cola Easy Roller / Freedom Machine Vans is a post from: Toltoys Kid

Action Man, Masters of the Universe and Hot Wheels 1982

tol11toys — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 13:39:00 +0000

Action Man, Masters of the Universe and Hot Wheels 1982

The next page from the 1982 Waltons Wishbook sees some of the final incarnations of Toltoys Action Man. This late version figure came with eagle eyes and the ability to pose in a sniper position, popular with all budding assassins. That chopper was bloody expensive at $39.99, especially when compared with the Castle Greyskull below at the same price.

The appearance of Masters of the Universe (MOTU) heralded the dawn of a new era in action figure scale, the 5 inch, later to become the standard. I heard somewhere that MOTU was a direct result of the Reagan administration’s overturning of a law that prevented children’s cartoons from being essentially extended toy advertisements. I can imagine that being correct as the toy companies quickly churned out MOTU, Transformers, Thundercats and a bunch more to cash in while the political breeze blew their way.

More 80′s TV classics the Duke’s of Hazzard and CHiPs were represented in toy form too, I believe that Duke’s Barn Buster set is pretty sought after today.

Finally we have Mattel’s 1982 Hot Wheels offerings, including the short lived Scorchers (Pull backs, as opposed to the ‘frictionless’ other cars lol ) and the Redline-era concept ‘Loop and Chute’ set. The Service Centre was another winner for Mattel, that mold was re-liveried time and again and gave great service to the company, bad pun intended.

Right down near the bottom left is a sad remnant of the once great Corgi diecast model company, who admittedly have done well just to make it to 1982 after jumping the shark sometime around 1974.

More pages coming soon…

Cheers,

Will

Action Man, Masters of the Universe and Hot Wheels 1982 is a post from: Toltoys Kid

Toltoys Kid » Hot Wheels

3XY Coca Cola Easy Roller / Freedom Machine Vans

Action Man, Masters of the Universe and Hot Wheels 1982