Toltoys Kid

Kenbrite Playmobil / Pocket People Update

I’ve been remiss in not posting about the wonderful new third edition of Axel Hennel’s Playmobil Collector book. This great book is an extraordinarily comprehensive reference guide to Playmobil worldwide, containing 4500 images over 650 pages. This edition has an expanded Australian Kenbrite section, as well as increased coverage of promotional items and catalogs from all eras and locations. There is even a nifty limited edition available with an exclusive Klicky (single figure)!

Indispensible to any Playmobil collector, order one today!

I posted a scan some time ago of a 1977 promotional tie-in between Kellogg’s and Kenbrite, the Australian distributor of Pocket People / Playmobil. At the time I speculated whether it had actually occurred, since an example of the box or other supporting material had not surfaced.

I’m delighted to report the recent appearance of the back and side panel of this box, finally proving that the promotion did indeed go ahead. By sending away a 50c money-order (!) and nominating your choice of theme (Cowboy, Knight, Workman or Nurse) you could receive one Klicky (with accessories) from Kenbrite. I was more of a Coco Pops kid so I guess that’s why this one passed me by! The expiry date on the order form is December 31, 1977.

It’s pretty cool to know that stuff like this is still popping up more than 30 years after the fact! I presume the figures were sent bagged, I’d love to hear from anyone who might have sent away for this offer.

Cheers!

Will

Star Wars Update

We recently featured a rare example of the Toltoys Free 4-LOM promotion on a Yoda card, and now we have been spoilt again with this 41 Back Jawa above featuring the same front and back sticker combination.

Thanks to Martin Lacy and Jason West for bring this example to Toltoys.com

Local contributor Aussie James has also come through with the goods, providing us with a great image of the super tough New Zealand issue Toltoys Death Star playset.

The most obvious point of difference to the Australian version is the box, which has a two piece ‘board-game’ style lift off lid, as opposed to the one piece Australian issue which opens at the ends. The paperwork is also marked Toltoys New Zealand.

Will

Treasures from the 1967 Lincoln International Toy Catalogue

The New Zealand toy company Lincoln International were responsible for some of the coolest licensed (and unlicensed) toys of the 60’s and 70’s. Best known for their 1966 licensed Batman range of ray guns, water pistols, friction toys and battery operated plastic vehicles, or perhaps for their goofy but highly desirable 1970’s range of Mego-Like 8″ Monster action figures, Lincoln went in hard with Gerry Anderson licences in 1967.

Captain Scarlet promised great things for those toy companies hoping to match the success of Dinky and their Thunderbird die-cast vehicles, unfortunately whilst popular the Captain never had the impact of his Anderson stable-mates.

Lincoln released three friction vehicles for Scarlet; The Angel Interceptor, Spectrum Patrol Car and Maximum Security Vehicle. Each was blister carded to a colourful but fairly flimsy card along with a plastic Spectrum Badge. The vehicles were packed flat on the cards, and the blisters were attached to the cards with staples. They are a tough find today loose or carded, I’ve never seen an Angel Interceptor in person but thanks to the diligent work of the Australian Powerhouse Museum there is at least one example stored away in perpetuity.

Much more common to find today are examples of Lincoln’s Thunderbirds motorized kits. These must have been big sellers since they turn up quite regularly on eBay and at auction houses such as Vectis. The vehicles are OK, but it is the box art that steals the show on these, nicely rendered images with the designated number on the right front of the box.

There would be many Anderson Thunderbird collectors out there who would dream of finding a full counter display pack like the one above, to my knowledge though none have ever surfaced.

Cheers!

Will

PS – This catalogue is actually undated, I have surmised the 1967 date from the the lack of Batman items combined with the inclusion of Capt Scarlet and the Thunderbird kits, so it could be 1968. I’d love to hear about any other Lincoln material that may be out there, I’ll post some of the toys mentioned above in a future post here at Toltoys.com