70's, Kenner, Six Million Dollar Man

Toltoys Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman Action Figures

Being the consummate promoters that Toltoys were in the 70’s, it should be no surprise that Lee Majors and his glamorous wife of the time Farrah Fawcett-Majors were bought out to Australia for the launch of his Col. Steve Austin character action figures. There must be some images or video of their visit floating around, I’d love to add them here if anyone has some!

The figures were released in Australia in regular US Kenner boxes with Toltoys stickers applied as in the examples below.

70's, Ice Cream, Icy Poles, Store Displays, Streets

Streets Mountie Ice Creams – Bullwinkle the Moose?

The 5c price point on this Australian Milk Bar store display for Streets Mountie ice creams suggests it is from the early 70’s. That also happens to be when I remember watching a lot of Rocky & Bullwinkle on Saturday morning TV. A Canadian moose in a Mountie uniform – what a coincidence!

Anyone remember these? As kids I would presume that we’d never have known we were eating bootleg character confectionary, nor would we have cared!

Batman, Comics, Spiderman

Australia’s Newest Comic Store Experience – All Star Comics Melbourne

Last Friday I was lucky enough to attend the opening of our latest pop culture destination, All Star Comics Melbourne.

The brainchild of a couple of old mates of mine – Mitch and Troy – ASCM has been lovingly crafted using the combined wisdom of 28 years in the comics-trade.

Ascending in an ultra-modern lift from the inconspicuos Lonsdale St entrance, your smile will be unhidable when the doors open up onto a red, black and white themed fit-out designed (and mostly built) by the guys themselves, with cool fixtures influenced by comic book staples including a gothic-tower bookstand and a huge art-deco counter. Apart from the latest weekly new-release comics, the guys pride themselves on their huge range of graphic novels and trade paperbacks, as well as three glass cabinets filled with vintage toys for sale including Star Wars, MEGO, Hot Wheels and LEGO, some from your author *insert hard sell here*

Like happy Mitch above, All Star is friendly, clean, fresh and welcoming so drop in next time you’re in town and tell’em the Toltoys Kid sent you.

All Star update on facebook, twitter & blogger daily.

80's, Competitions, Futuretronics, Ice Cream, Icy Poles, Licensed, Pauls, Store Displays

Donkey Kong Icey Poles and Futuretronics G&W

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?

 

70's, Board Games, Catalogues, Mattel, Toltoys, Weird Toys

Toltoys in the 1975 Toyworld Catalogue

And finally we have the Toltoys pages from the Toyworld 1975 Christmas Sale catalogue!

The 6 Million Dollar Man heralded the arrival of Kenner as a licensing force in toys, cemented a couple of years later by their securing of the Star Wars license. Toltoys would come to profit greatly by this relationship, coming under Kenner owners General Mills group of companies themselves around this time. The Bug Catcher is the only toy still produced today under the Toltoys brand, essentially unchanged from this 1975 model. Colourful Child Guidance branded toys were a multitude of plastic toy designs for younger kids, and included the wonderful railway system that everyone had, but whose name was remembered by no-one!

The Toltoys Jenny doll was based on the Kenner Dusty doll, and featured a Qantas hostess outfit, with other outfits sold separately. (Of course!) Jenny was modelled on real hostess Jenny Tregaskis, and the 1974 launch was held on a 747 Jumbo above Sydney Harbour during Toy Fair, with a video featuring Bert Newton as the pilot introducing Jenny the hostess and Jenny the doll to a captive audience of toy buyers. The launch was a huge success, as was the doll, outselling even Barbie in Australia that year.

The Puffing Billy train set is a new one to me, based as it though on one of Melbourne’s most famous tourist attractions, Puffing Billy. Toltoys produced most of the Play Doh sets of this era in their own livery (including the individual cans) I have a Fuzzy Pumper Barber set somewhere that I’ll add to this post when located. The less said about the dishwasher set the better I think!

Wrapping up the catalogue is great page of Tonka toys, my brother still has his “Mighty Dump”, trying but failing to destroy it over a childhood of sandpits and school yards. They really were “Tonka Tough”!

70's, Batman, Catalogues, Corgi, Croner, Weird Toys

More from the Toyworld 1975 Catalogue

A few more pages from the 1975 Toyworld Christmas catalogue…

 

Croner Toys had an eclectic mix of international brands including the popular Janex talking alarm clocks, I’m still looking for a mint boxed Batman version! The Holly Hobbie sewing machines seemed to grace every girl’s dresser for a time, including my sister’s. I can’t recall seeing the Sesame Street radios, but that Bugs Bunny camera is very familiar. Digging the LEGO knock-off Pedlo bricks, rubbish name though.

 

Intertoy landed some of the biggest names in international toys, including Hornby trains, Sindy dolls, Scalextric slot cars and the highly detailed Lone Ranger line of action figures by Gabriel. Combex kept mums and kids happy with a great line of inexpensive plastic toys.

 

No prizes for guessing the stand-out item on this page, the legendary Corgi Batmobile is one of the most successful and iconic toys of all time. Interesting to note that the loose triple pack illustrated above still includes the earlier issue tin-fin Batboat. The Rustler Ace 100-shot cap rifle would have been a lot of fun, 1975 seems quite late for a western style toy rifle but I’m sure I would have been happy holding up the local stage-coach with it! I also note that the Electrolux Battery Operated Toy Vacuum cleaner is “for girls” aged 3-8. It has “real suction” too, a refreshingly honest statement for a toy that really did suck.

70's, Catalogues, Kenbrite, Mattel, MEGO, Smash-Up Derby, Toltoys, Tonka

1975 Toyworld Catalogue

I remember Toyworld stores of the 70’s as the quintessential local toy destination, a medium sized store on the local strip, jam packed with toys of all descriptions.  They had the latest TV backed hits, along with the wonderful cheapie rack-toys for the after-school run.

This great catalogue showcases the range available for Christmas 1975, including the Toltoys distributed Six Million Dollar Man, a pointer to the licensed film and TV toy tsunami on the horizon.

 

Tonka, Kenbrite’s AFX, Mattel Baby-That-A-Way and Toltoy’s version of Kenner’s wonderful Super Sonic Power “Smash-Up Derby”, one of the best toys of all time in my opinion.

 

The Kenbrite page featuring some of the great brands distributed in Australia by Kenbrite including Cox gas planes, TYCO electric trains and the awesome MEGO Muhammad Ali boxing ring and figures set.

 

80's, Kenner, Star Wars, Toltoys

Toltoys Return of the Jedi Speederbike

The iconic Speederbike was one of the most loved toys from the Kenner USA Star Wars range, and they were also sold here in Australia in Kenner boxes during the ROTJ era. Recently though the keen eyes of Aussie super-collector Pat O’Brien noticed that some local versions were issued in a slightly larger box than the US version, and backed up the claim to a local variation with the famous “PO Box 72 Alexandria NSW” Toltoys mailing address being present on the included instructions.

The Toltoys box overlapping the Kenner example.

The Alexandria address.

Small differences but significant to Toltoys variation hunters! Is your a Toltoys version? Let me know below…

Thanks again to Pat O’Brien for the find and photos.

Will