Vintage Australian Toys & Ephemera
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” »
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” »
The Toltoys Stretch Armstrong If you don’t remember this guy from the 70’s then you’re either not trying or your parents owe you an apology. His heavy-as-hell corn-syrup filled body could stretch several feet before slowly reverting to his original form upon release. A fun toy and lethal weapon when swung in contained spaces. Stretch … Read More “Toltoys Stretch Armstrong” »
Classic LEGO Space promotional sticker I stuck my fair share of these stickers on school books in 1979, so finding a mint unused one on ebay recently was a real joy. I have foggy memories of stacks of these sitting on the counter at Griselda’s toy store in Brighton, or at the annual LEGO display … Read More “LEGO Classic Space promotional sticker” »
A great Australian Big Jim collection Check out this fantastic collection of Mattel Big Jim figures, vehicles and outfits from Aussie collector Willem Bos. Willem started out with just his two remaining childhood figures five years ago, and has now built an enviable collection of over 60 figures, vehicles, outfits and ephemera. There are so … Read More “Great Australian Big Jim Collection” »
Kellogg’s Corn Flakes Playmobil Promotion I found an interesting photo showing a 1977 box of Kellogg’s Australia Corn Flakes, with a Kenbrite Pocket People (Playmobil) mail-in offer. It appears that you could send in the coupon (and 50c) to receive a Playmobil figure. Does anyone have an example of this box? I know there are … Read More “Kellogg’s Corn Flakes Playmobil Promotion” »
Missed an important birthday… Yes I didn’t notice that Toltoys.com turned 2 a couple of weeks ago. They grow up so fast *wipes tear* But it’s not too late to celebrate, so I’ve called up the lads and they’ve rocked around with a a few cases of frosty Lowenbraus! It’s not possible for me to … Read More “Kenbrite Pocket People” »
Mattel’s Big Jim Contest In 1973 Mattel was having some success with it’s new Big Jim action figures, a smaller scale competitor to Hasbro’s GI Joe. Launched the previous year, sales in Australia were given a little push with an “Action Drawing Contest”, promoted through retailers with large entry forms that had space on the … Read More “Mattel Australia Big Jim Action Drawing Contest 1973” »
Licensed Australian Ice-Creams Smack bang in the middle of the golden age of Aussie Ice Creams came the double barreled inventively titled Smurfee, courtesy of Peters / Pauls. This is the store display / advertising card from the 18c treat from 1979. I’ve heard that there are no naturally occurring blue foods, and that blue is colour most likely … Read More “Peters Smurfee Ice Creams” »