Archive for the 'Mattel Toys' Category

‘Space Toys’ Ads (1978)

Space Toys Ad 10-78

Space Toys Ad 12-78

Space Toys Ad 1980

The ads are via Roboplastic Apocalypse, the most comprehensive robot toy site on the internet. Notice that Santa is riding the Viper in the first ad, followed by his other outer space reindeer. Very clever.

The last ad features Combatra, the priciest item on the Shogun Warriors menu, selling mostly at high end department stores for $49.99 or more. There’s a great entry on the toy at CollectionDX, where I got the pictures below. Click on the link to see all five vehicles combine into a giant robot, long before Matchbox’s Voltron entered the fray.

Combatra 1978

Combatra 1978-2

Combatra 1978-3

Mattel’s Unproduced Battlestar Galactica Toys (1979)

BSG Cylon Helmet

BSG Command Ship-2

BSG Command Ship

I did not know about either of these. Per the Starlog #27 blurb below, Mattel “scrapped” the Command Ship because production cost was too high, specifically the chip required to emulate the Star Bird-like acceleration and laser sounds.

The helmet was supposed to transform a kid’s voice into the voice of a Cylon! Just think: we could have all been talking like Cylons.

Top images are courtesy of By Your Command.

Starlog #27 1979

Christmas Morning, 1978: Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, and Adventure People

Christmas 1978-2

Another shot starring the Death Star and the Daredevil Sports Van, not to mention all the major Battlestar Galactica vehicles, via Darrick Bachman. I also see a Tie Fighter, a die-cast X-Wing Fighter package, a Spider-Man Mobile Crime Lab (below, via Jon Knutson), and a Nylint Trail Blazer (below, via eBay).

Spidey Crime Lab 1978

Nylint Trailblazer

Nylint Trailblazer-2

Halloween, 1978: Battlestar Galactica

Battlestar Galactica, 1978

Shawn Smith, Colonial Warrior. Not sure how he’s going to fit into that Viper, though.

Mattel’s Battlestar Galactica Action Figures (Series Two) (1978)

BSG Baltar 1978

BSG Boray 1978

BSG Cylon 1978

BSG Daggit 1978

BSG Lucifer 1978

BSG Boray 1978-2

Series one is here. The “gold-colored” Cylon Commander was also offered via mail-away with four proof of purchase seals. The Daggit in series two is tan; the original is brown. See Battlestar Galactica Memorabilia, a comprehensive collectors site, for all the details.

Mattel’s Battlestar Galactica Action Figures (Series One) (1978)

BSG Cylon 1978-2

BSG Imperious Leader

BSG Ovion 1978

BSG Adama 1978-2

BSG Daggit 1978

BSG Starbuck 1978-3

BSG Starbuck 1978-2

BSG 4 Pack 1979

BSG 4 Pack 1979-2

BSG 4 Pack 1979-3

All of the series one figures (click to enlarge), including the hard to find 4 pack released in ’79. More BSG here.

Mattel’s Battlestar Galactica Lasermatic Pistol (1978)

BSG Lasermatic 1978

BSG Lasermatic 1978-2

BSG Lasermatic 1978-3

Pulsating “Laser Flash!” No luck finding a demo.

Christmas Morning, 1978: Battlestar Galactica and the Old Chair

Christmas 1978 2W2N

Yours truly, aged six, holding the triple-missile-firing Colonial Scarab. I had the original Viper and Cylon Raider too, before they were reissued with non-firing missiles.

The weird thing about the BSG line is that the vehicles came with 2-inch figures that fit into the cockpits, so you couldn’t actually use—not without awkwardness, anyway—the official 3¾” figures with the vehicles.

BSG Scarab 1978

BSG Scarab 1978-2

There’s a race track on my left, possibly the Hot Wheels Double Scare Speedway. Wish I knew what was in those other presents. I’m assuming Star Wars. The green one right in front of me looks tasty, right? Is that a Micronaut next to my right knee? A jigsaw puzzle next to my left knee?

Let me tell you about that chair. It rocked and swiveled, and when my parents weren’t around I beat the everliving crap out of it. I flung myself into it at full speed, rode it like a bucking bronco, rolled off the top when it bent all the way back and slammed against the ground. I put one knee on it and spun myself around like it was a cheap playground merry-go-round. I hid unwanted food items in its crevices.

It was Tatooine, G.I. Joe Headquarters, an obstacle in the Danger Room, a rock that hid me from the Ringwraiths, a starfighter.

I curled up on it every morning and watched cartoons on the only TV in the house.

That damn chair was hideous-looking, dirtier than a dump, and dangerous as a box of rattlers.

How I miss it.

* * *

One more post on Monday, and that’s it for me until 2014. I’ve got a nasty cold, and my plan this weekend is to stay in bed and watch Christmas movies. It’s time for the kid to meet Santa and the Three Bears


Pages

Archives

Categories

Donate Button

Join 1,109 other subscribers