Vintage Australian Toys & Ephemera
The MYER LEGO National Building Competition 1984 By 1984 LEGO had already cemented it’s place in the psyche of kids all over the world with fantastic products, lead by the now-classic Space series. The time was right for the company to move in for the kill by staging building competitions in major department stores. I remember well the excitement and … Read More “MYER LEGO National Building Competition 1984” »
Superman at Safeway The Aussie Safeway catalogue from Christmas 1978 (I think!) features all the usual specials one would expect from a large grocery store; nappies, bananas and … …the Man of Steel and his big green mate The Hulk. Yes sitting there among the no-name brand trikes, bikes and ray-guns were the beautifully crafted 12-inch MEGO … Read More “Safeway catalogue from Christmas 1978” »
Willy Water Bug If you look closely underneath the “1982” text on the Walton’s Wishbook cover below you’ll see a strange little yellow creature. He’s the one sitting innocuously next to the cool Tomy / Toltoys Air-Jammer motorcycle. Who or what is this thing you ask? Meet Willy Water Bug, one of Wham-O’s contributions to the summer-toy craze of … Read More “Willy Water Bug” »
An unusual Star Wars Toltoys find! To most Star Wars collectors that item above appears to be your run-of-the-mill Kenner Star Wars C3PO 12 Back figure. The keen eyed collectors will note that the blister has been reattached to the card-back for use as a display item, but that is not of consequence here. Flipping the card … Read More “Kenner Toltoys 12 Back” »
More Star Wars from the 1982 Waltons Wishbook $60 was a lot for a toy in 1982, hell it’s a lot for a toy today. Just as well then that you received one of the all-time great play-sets for your cash back in ’82, the Kenner Millennium Falcon. Walton’s caption writers went off the deep end … Read More “Star Wars in the 1982 Waltons Wishbook” »
Kenbrite GI Joe Adventure Team Commercial Check out this super cool GI Joe Australian TV spot from the early 1970’s, before colour TV was common in Australia! The vintage 12 Inch GI Joes were distributed in Australia by Kenbrite, later famed for the Australian release of Playmobil, known here as Pocket People. Interestingly the old store stock Joes I’ve … Read More “Kenbrite Australia GI Joe Adventure Team Commercial” »
Two more Special Offer mysteries solved… A couple of years ago on Toltoys.com we presented a feature on all the known Star Wars Special Offer boxed toys that had surfaced in Australia during the 1978 – 85 period. In the post below we were able to confirm that the Attack Base was a Waltons Department Store special offer and … Read More “Waltons Special Offer Star Wars” »
Toltoys Star Wars Special Offer origins revealed! A couple of years ago I was lucky enough (thanks to the eagle eyes of fellow Toltoys collector Dax) to pick up a very cool Imperial Attack Base featuring a huge “Special Offer” sticker across the front, indicating that four figures were included. As featured in a previous post on … Read More “Toltoys Star Wars Special Offer Origins” »
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 … Read More “Action Man, Masters of the Universe and Hot Wheels 1982” »
Treasures from the Waltons Wishbook Not to be confused with the American Waltons of Walmart fame, Waltons Department store in Australia was a retail institution during the 70’s and early 80’s, especially at Christmas time. Over many years they offered a Christmas “Wishbook”, an idea most likely borrowed from Sears in the USA, with whom they had … Read More “Waltons Free Spirit BMX” »