Doctor Who has enjoyed a close relationship with Australia since the very beginning, with several key writers, a popular companion (Tegan) and even the composer of the famous theme music being Aussies. The show enjoyed a loyal following on the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) from 1964 until the end of the original series in 1989.

As a child of the 70′s my Doctor of choice is and always will be Tom Baker. He was beatified in 1981 by the Australian licensing gods with his own Streets ice cream, which as you know by now (if you’ve read my blog before anyway) is a sure sign that you have officially arrived Down Under. The TV ad for these ice creams has also turned up, with a grainy VHS copy uploaded to You Tube in 2011 by some kind soul.

The ice cream box and wrapper are extremely tough to find, I believe only one example of each has appeaered on Oz Ebay in 13 years. While I wasn’t able to win them I did manage to swipe the pics, they are poor quality but what can you do? If you were the lucky purchaser (or seller) of either of these items I’d like to both apologise for my use of your pics and plead for new ones!

Above is the landscape side of the box, here is the portrait…

And from a seperate auction, the wrapper (flattened)…

Another exclusive-to-Australia piece of Whomabilia is the rare “Showbag”, a plastic bag of cheap toys and ephemera sold at local agricultural and royal society exhibitions throughout the country, notably the Royal Melbourne Show. I sold the example below on ebay many years ago, and it is now one of the very few items I regret parting with. Another couple have turned up over the years, I cant find any references to what was inside but if any of the Whomaniacs out there know drop me a line and I’ll update this post.

The Showbag (Yes I should have used any background other than white)…

Doctor Down Under – Doctor Who Ice Cream & Showbag is a post from: Toltoys Kid

Thanks to Toltoys Kid reader “robspromos” I’m delighted to present the complete set of shrinkie premiums from the 1979 Nabisco Weeties Australia cereal tie-in.

A small set of five that were issued in these boxes, and very tough to find. A bit of a strange mix of characters and ships, but kids weren’t complaining when V.I.N.CENT, Maximillian, Charles Pizer, The Cygnus or Palomino fell into their bowls! Well maybe a few complaints about Charles.

Disney’s 1979 “The Black Hole” Weeties Shrinkies is a post from: Toltoys Kid

In the wake of Star Wars came a slew of wannabe space epics, but Disney did quite a respectable job with it’s 1979 production of “The Black Hole” . The robots had jerky actions and the actors were robotic, and let’s not mention the tinny sound and special effects, but as a nine year old I still ate it all up.

I was able to eat it up at the breakfast table too thanks to the Weeties Black Hole promotional tie-in. Each pack featured a “shrinking badge”, which I suppose was a type of shrinky – You remember those little plastic pictures your Mum put in the oven until the whole house smelt like burnt drinking straws? Yep those.

I’m sure I had the Vincent one but can’t find a pic, if any Aussies out there can contribute pics of the shrinkies I’ll add them here. I’m sorry about the quality of the images, the box appeared on ebay Australia in 2010 and as often happens these days I was the under-bidder. Didn’t get the box, but I did get the pics! Er, hooray.

Disney’s 1979 The Black Hole Weeties Cereal Promotion is a post from: Toltoys Kid

If you’re a fan of the classic Universal Monsters (and who isn’t?) you’ll enjoy seeing this licensed tie-in with Nabisco Australia’s Weeties brand of cereal from 1982.

The “Doublies” refers to the fact that instead of printing one sticker with a plain backing piece, doublies use the backing piece as a swap card featuring the same image as the sticker.  The set is very tough to assemble, I’ve chased them the few times they’ve appeared on ebay without much success, if you have a full set of 12 I’d love to add the images here. The box is featured below.

Classic Franky on the back!

The cards feature comedy along the lines of the Creature from the Black Lagoon examples above; “Teacher from the Black Lagoon” and ‘I got this way from Swimming”.  Haw!

Below: Lon Chaney as the Phantom of the Opera, AKA The Babysitter…

Boris Karloff’s monster at school…

1982 Weeties Universal Monster “Doublies” is a post from: Toltoys Kid

In 2007 I showcased the take-home box for Paul’s Buck Rogers ice creams, featuring the Star Stick competition for MEGO Buck Rogers action figures. Since then I’ve been lucky enough to track down both the Milk Bar store dislay and an example of the wrapper, so I’m going to call that a complete set and move on!

Here is the box, the display, and the wrapper…

Vintage Buck Rogers Australian Ice Creams is a post from: Toltoys Kid

A few years ago I posted the Milk Bar store display for “Smurfee” Smurf ice creams, now here are three wrappers from that same 1979 release.

I’m not sure why the wrapper above is in landscape while the two below are portrait. Possibly the difference was between those purchased in Milk Bars and those purchased in take home packs.

Either way, I love ‘em!

Peters Smurfee Ice Cream Wrappers is a post from: Toltoys Kid

Here’s a ripping piece that escaped my clutches on Aussie Ebay a few years ago, an early 80′s Milk Bar Store Display for Pauls Donkey Kong Icey Poles (Orange and Pineapple Treats). It features a competition for Futuretronics (The Australian Nintendo distributor) Game and Watch electronic hand helds. Did they come in take home packs I wonder. Anyone remember them?

Donkey Kong Icey Poles and Futuretronics G&W is a post from: Toltoys Kid

I blogged way back in June 2007 about the TV spot for the Kelloggs ROTJ Decoder Disc competition, and I’m delighted to present the full set of Decoder Discs below, still sealed in their cellophane baggies…

Thanks again to the Naylor Collection for the pic.

Full Set of Kelloggs Return of the Jedi Decoder Discs is a post from: Toltoys Kid

This short run of stickers (6 in total) was produced by Scanlens Australia during the peak of The Incredible Hulk mania, 1979.

The big green guy never goes out of fashion does he?

Cheers,

Will

Scanlens 1979 Incredible Hulk Stickers is a post from: Toltoys Kid

ALF and Agro Ice Creams is a post from: Toltoys Kid