70's, Action Man, Gi Joe, Hasbro, Kenbrite, Palitoy, Toltoys

Kenbrite GI Joe / Action Man / Man of Action

Things were getting a little wacky for ole’ GI Joe by 1975. Hasbro USA had ended his military duties in 1970 and enlisted him in the boy scouts as an Adventurer instead of a soldier. His English cousin, Palitoy’s Action Man, had stayed in (increasingly elaborate) uniform but added adventure sets to the line.

Here in Oz we enjoyed Hasbro’s GI Joe (Albeit with Canadian produced bodies for a time) all the way through his military career and into his adventure days. Concurrently Toltoys offered re-badged “Action Man by Palitoy” figures and sets from the early 70’s to 1980-81. Into this mix came Melbourne firm Kenbrite, who in the middle of the 70’s began reproducing the old GI Joe “Soldiers of the World” military outfits and marketing them under the dual banner of GI Joe and Action Man (And even “Man of Action”). Confused? Me too.

I hope to sort out all the timings of these concurrent releases one day, if any of you Aussie Joe / AM collectors have info I’d like to add it here.

Anyway I’m sure you’ve stopped reading by now and have skipped down to the pics, so I’ll shut up now…

Kenbrite Action Man / GI Joe French Foreign Legion set

Kenbrite Action Man / GI Joe German Staff Officer

Kenbrite Man of Action / GI Joe British Infantryman

Note the change from “Action Man” to “Man of Action”, or was it vica versa?

The list of available Kenbrite sets.

Kenbrite GI Joe / Man of Action German Stormtrooper Window Box

Another intriguing piece of the puzzle, a panel from a Hasbro Adventurer Box (Hunt for the White Tiger?) with Kenbrite copyright info. I know, it contradicts stuff I just wrote 10 minutes ago, clearly more to the story here!

Will

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

Streets Whammy Stix

You know those memories from childhood that flood through your mind when you hear an old tune or smell a long lost aroma? Well that’s what it was like when I saw this early 70’s Streets Whammy Stix Milk Bar display. It wasn’t so much the ice cream, it was those great little construction sticks. While I can’t recall constructing anything as exciting as the rocket featured, I’m sure I made many three sided boomerangs that may or may not have come back…

Will

70's, Competitions, Hot Wheels, Premiums, Promotional, Stickers

3XY Coca Cola Easy Roller / Freedom Machine Vans

For a while there in the late 70’s it was every boy’s dream to cruise the streets and highways in a tricked-out Beford Van or Sandman Shaggin’ Wagon. The Hardy Boys, Hot Wheels and even Star Wars joined the rush to cash in on the craze, but the most memorable for me was the Radio 3xy / Coca Cola summer promotion that featured a customised Bedford van as the main prize, known variously as the Freedom Machine or Easy Roller.

Promo sticker for 3XY / Coca Cola Easy Roller

The promotional stickers were ominipresent in Milk Bars and Service Stations, and I must have stuck down a hundred as a kid, so it was pretty cool to be able to score a couple of unused originals recently.

Freedom Machine promo sticker

A quick Google turned up the original Freedom Machine as it is today, awaiting a restoration in the back-lot of a car-yard. Would love to see the final result gents!

There was a third vehicle called the Denim Machine, it was a panel van, but I don’t have that sticker yet…

Toltoys

Blogger to WordPress and The Toltoys Kid

Well here we are over at WordPress, after Blogger in their wisdom decided to stop servicing FTP users after many years of smooth service.

I must thank the migration team lead by Harsh Agarwal over at http://bloggertowp.org/ who did all the fiddly stuff for me, thanks guys!

I’m still learning how to WordPress properly so if stuff goes a bit wonky give it a day or two for Mr Interweb here to fix it. See in the new header, how the text is white and quite hard to read? Well it should be red. I tried to make it red, but I failed. Looks like I’ll have to email Harsh again shortly, sorry buddy!

The other thing that is new is the name of the blog. I’ve decided to go with “Toltoys Kid” instead of just Toltoys.com, since I’ve ended up showcasing so many different sorts of items from many different companies, not just Toltoys. The title is a new term that I feel encompasses the experience of being a kid in Australia in the 70’s. Most of the best stuff was made or sold by Toltoys, but I remember just about everything that caught my eye back then, and this blog is about all of it.

So what’s coming up? Too much to tell, but here’ s a little peek at some of what has been posted before and some of what is to come…

Seen and unseen on Toltoys Kid

Will

70's, Batman, Catalogues, Cyclops, Pedal Cars, Waltons

Bat Vehicles in the 1977 Waltons Wish Book

Bat Vehicles in the 1977 Waltons Wish Book

Some Bat-goodness from the cover of the ’77 Waltons Wish Book. It mentions that the Bat Cycle was a Cyclops (Australia) exclusive for Waltons, there are some passionate Cyclops collectors out there that might be have an example in their collection, I’d love a pic if you’d care to share.
I can recall seeing the pedal car, in fact I vaguely remember my younger brother sitting in one. What a beauty! The pedal car brigade are some of the most serious collectors out there, someone must have preserved one of these, send a pic if you have.
The costume is ultra-goofy but probably sold like hot donuts at the footy, but the Mr Tenuous Link award today goes to the Mic and Amp, for young Batman / Batgirl to “Hail their friends”. You can still tell today who got one of these in ’77, you pass them everyday in the city as you walk by discount jewellery stores…
Will
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70's, Catalogues, Imperial Toys, Rack Toys, Safeway, Store Displays, Weird Toys

Imperial Toy Catalogue for 1973

Cheap and Cheerful – Imperial Toy 1973 Catalogue

No 70’s childhood is complete without at least one Imperial Toy memory, I bet you all have one, you just may not know it…

Remember those little plastic parachute guys that you hurled skyward or chucked off the Grade 5 balcony, and then stood entranced as his little chute magically popped open and floated the crazy commando safely back to Earth? PoopaTroopers they were, just one of Imperial’s little plastic delights. Imperial made many of those wonderful pocket-money plastic and rubber novelty toys that clogged pharmacies and supermarket checkouts from Melbourne to Montreal. “Rack Toys” as they are officially known were often great little earners for the shop keeper and excellent sanity-preservers for Mum.

I couldn’t begin to calculate how many Teeny Bouncers disappeared in my schoolyard back then, I wonder where they all went?

In one of the greatest moments of serendipity the toy world has ever known, Imperial where able to pull of a visual slight of hand with the naming of their Hong Kong Gorilla (below), clearly aping the original Kong but wrapping themselves in the legitimacy of the manufacturing state of origin of their rubber gorilla! What a triumph! Beers all round on that day I’m sure.

The visual merchandising of Imperial was a lesson in how it’s done. From full colour printed counter display boxes to self-supporting Toy Fun Centers like the example below, the products popped from the displays like a comic-book novelty page come to life. Kids could not resist nagging Mum for one on every visit to the shop.

In Australia Imperial Toy debuted in Safeway Supermarkets with bubbles and blister-carded novelties, thanks to the work of John Hunter of Len Hunter Toys, who secured the Imperial agency on a trip to the New York Toy Fair in the early 1970’s.
Good one John, the kids of the 70’s owe you a 21 Party Popper salute.
Will
PS – Check out my mate Brian’s Imperial Toy page on his uber-blog Plaid Stallions
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70's, LEGO, Premiums, Stickers

1978 Legoland Town Promotional Sticker

Another Classic LEGO Sticker
A while ago I showcased a very cool vintage Lego Classic Space promotional item, a large sticker with a couple of space mini-figs and a great space scene. It seems there was a sister piece to that item, a large Legoland Town sticker promoting the various Lego Collector Packs available at the time, 1978 judging by the Shell Gas Pump and Rally Repair Crew sets featured.
The stickers are all individually cut and are close to actual size, they would no doubt have graced the bunk beds, desks and school bags of thousands of Aussie kids obsessed with the recently launched ‘movable’ minifigures.

Were these stickers unique to Australia? Hopefully one of our international readers can enlighten me.

While we are on Lego I’d like to give a plug to Brickvention 2010, the national Lego convention and exhibition for adult fans of Lego in Australia, to be held over January 23 and 24 in Melbourne.
I literally stumbled upon Brickvention One back in 2006, it was held in my office building and I just happened to walk into the main display room before I left for the day. I was blown away by the creations I saw, including a diorama of Swanston St that had to be seen to be believed. Nice bunch of people too, serious about their Lego mind you, but possessing the regular number of heads and happy to answer inane questions from less expereinced AFOLs like your author.

Cheers!
Will
Read the full post on Toltoys.com!