Vintage Australian Toys & Ephemera
Bionic Blast Ice Creams – Better. Stronger. Faster. The latest installment in my continuing story of licensed Australian Ice Creams (Part 1, Part 2) features the rebuilt Colonel himself – the Six Million Dollar Man. SMDM was as big in Australia as anywhere else through the mid-70’s, we had the Kenner toys distributed by Toltoys, … Read More “Streets Six Million Dollar Man Bionic Blast Ice Creams” »
Licensed Australian Ice Creams Part Two – Comic Heroes Last year I carried on a bit about the wonderful licensed ice-creams and icy poles we had in Australia in the late 70’s and early 80’s. It seemed for a time that any film or television show, character or concept that could be licensed as an … Read More “Licensed Australian Ice Cream Super Heroes” »
LEGO Keychains Part 2 Some of you long time readers who have been following this site since the olden days back in ’06 will remember my excitement at finding an Aussie 80’s LEGO Fabuland mini-figure keychain in a random lot of LEGO. Well Toltoys.com reader Craig had fond memories of these little guys too, and … Read More “LEGO Birkenhead Point Keychains Part 2” »
Toltoys Special Offer Items Some of the most sought after pieces in the Kenner US Star Wars line are the “Special Offer” (SO) vehicles. To help move old product and keep large department chains happy Kenner would include one or more free items (usually figures) inside the box, advertising the fact with a flashy sticker … Read More “Toltoys Special Offer Items” »
…And still more Star Wars! This week: The Toltoys ROTJ 65 Back The difficulty and frustration in tracking down Toltoys logo 12 and 20 back carded figures in my opinion has led to an appreciation of the other Aussie issued cardbacks, primarily the Return of the Jedi 65 Back card with the “Nien Nunb” free … Read More “Toltoys ROTJ 65 Backs Nien Nunb Offer” »
Star Wars Month The Death Star playset Play-value. Great toy-makers have always known it’s the secret of a successful toy. In my opinion the best example of play value in the vintage Star Wars line is the Death Star playset created by UK company Palitoy, and adapted around the world by Kenner Canada, Meccano France, … Read More “Toltoys Death Star Playset” »
Star Wars Month The Australian POTF Coin Offer The transition from Return of Jedi carded figures to the Power of The Force (POTF) line in 1985 produced an interesting variation here in Australia. The POTF figures included a collector coin blister packed above the figure, a new idea to help revive sales of the long … Read More “Australian Star Wars POTF Coin Offer” »
Star Wars Week* Cardbacks Update *Might actually be a couple of weeks. I love talking with people who are more knowledgeable than me, and when it comes to Toltoys Star Wars collecting there are a whole bunch! One such collector is my mate Dax, who happens to have the finest collection of Star Wars cardbacks … Read More “Star Wars Toltoys Card Backs” »
Star Wars Week Part Three: Board Games & Puzzles Due to their relatively short production turnaround time, board games have always been a great movie tie-in option. Print a new board, design some pieces and a play format and stick it all in a standard size box, voila! I believe that Kenner managed to get … Read More “Toltoys Board Games and Puzzles” »