Surveying the Gen X landscape and the origins of geek
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).
The kid fondling the Death Star, as his brothers look on a little enviously, is Stephen Fry. That’s Kenner’s Stretch Octopus in the pink and orange box, and you can also see the Adventure People Daredevil Sports Van, first released in 1978. Fisher-Price’s Adventure People may be the greatest action figure line of all time. There, I said it.
That’s Darth Vader’s Star Destroyer Playset under the Land of the Jawas Playset. Among the figures you can see the Hoth Stormtrooper, my third favorite ESB figure after the AT-AT Driver and Hoth Han. Hoth Luke is also there.
Two items I’d forgotten about are Star Snoopy Colorforms (1979) and Tomy’s Mr. Mouth (1976).
There were a couple of different versions of Mr. Mouth, one featuring a green frog as the centerpiece, the other featuring a dopey yellow guy. The dopey yellow guy is the one I remember, but I could only find a commercial for the frog version. The yellow figure was later repurposed as a Pac-Man bank, seen below via the 1982 Tomy catalog. I got Pocket Pac-Man as a stocking stuffer in ’81 or ’82, but I never did get Mr. Mouth.
I also had the Fisher-Price Play Family Fun Jet, seen at the far left of the original photo.
(Christmas morning photo via the Rebel Scum forums)
I used to put my Star Wars and G.I. Joe prisoners in that safari cage! What a great line, and we’re talking top three of all time: totally original, beautifully designed and accessorized, durable as hell, and they’re just regular people doing exciting (to kids in the ’70s) things.
(Images via the Adventure People Flickr Group)
Gorgeous. And I like how Fisher-Price gets us to assemble our own toy—very Tom Sawyer. There were four Adventure Kits, three of which are seen on the back of the box. The fourth was the 4×4 Trail Boss. All of them are part of the superior Adventure People line.
(Images via The Shiplomats/eBay)
Target, December 20, 1983. (Lyn Alweis/Denver Post)
(Image sources: Big Ole Photos and Frankensmith’s Castle)
2 Warps to Neptune 