I've taken a couple of passes at finding information on a series of toys very similar to the Mighty Max sets that Lalo posted last week - I swear I remember buying a couple of head-that-opens-up-to-become-a-diarama-playset toys with a Godzilla theme - but I haven't been able to hit on the right set of words for Google to spit back gold for me. Sound familiar to any of you? My recollection of them is so cloudy I don't remember if I picked them up in '89 or '99!
I loved this awesome rollercoaster set even though it was so fuckin complicated. Can't wait till I have some spare funds, definitely picking up a set soon.
I think you are talking about the Trendmasters Micro playsets circa 1994: Anyways, now that you got the name you can score the interweb for more images. There is a write up on by Bob Schneider on CT as well here They also did some pretty sweet Tarzan sets along the same line
^^^^^^^^^ I HAD THIS. It was so good because I was sooo into micro toys as a kid. Mighty Max unappreciated? Certainly not by me. I had every set and played with them 'til I gradually lost everything to small crevices. Damn that couch.
Indeed I was. Thanks! It was driving me crazy not being able to remember it. Makes sense that it was '94 - I was haunting Toys R Us around then for the first time in a long time because of those awful American Ultraman toys. Muscles. Ha!
Great, now I'm scouring eBay for Fisher Price Adventure people for the boy. Already got him some tub toys, now need to find jeeps and what not for outside. Loved the Matchbox M.A.C. toys as a kid. I loved all the accessories.
This is the curse that haunts those of us haunted with Meglophobia... Always loosing our favorite things in the couch...
I've found so many amazing things inside all the various used couches I've had over the years - Hands wash, y'know? Beautiful pipes, weird Mexican tarot cards, many varieties of plastic jewels, family photos, toy bits, wrist watches... and so much more, including of course the requisite $9,000 in loose change from several countries. I'm wishing now that I'd taken pictures of it all as it was discovered!
A long needed bump for my old pals Pulsar and Hypnos: Mattel's cash-grab for some of that sweet, sweet Six Million Dollar Man monies. Pardon the lazy reportage. Have some ads!
Were you wearing a ghost costume while Haunting Toys R Us? Lmao Also if it were not for that Ultraman series and toys there would have been an entire generation that wouldn't have even been exposed to that Kaiju franchise. So it does deserve some credit at least. Hopefully the licensing gets freed up so us Americans can experience more of it.
You've seen the Big Trak, but have you ever seen the Big Hak? I am a huge fan of the Star Bird, too. I have one that I bought for $10 at a show a few years ago and cleaned up, will post pics.
Also, the Star Bird design resurfaced a while back as a Transformers toy: https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Ark_(G1)#Merchandise
I remember Big Trak. My Friend, his cousin, and I took one to the beach doused it in model glue and set it on fire. It produced a thick, black, smoke.
The UK version of Big Trak was in white, the US was in grey. When I was a kid our Math teacher brought one in with the trailer. He taught us how to program-in the commands and when it reached its destination, it would dump the load (I think we used apples).
if I had a dollar for every childhood toy that met it’s end by being burned, melted or exploded… I’d have at least $10-20 I think my most under appreciated toy was I had one “Centurian” figure… the Blue airplane themed hero. I remember it being such a cool idea, the modular weaponry/armor/transportation aspect, but I didn’t have much beyond the base figure, which after losing a wing or two left it as a pretty lame toy. The other big one now that I think about it would be the fisher price “PXL 2000” camcorder my grandparents bought me in 1987. It recorded b&w video on audio cassette tapes. I was too young to grasp how to fully utilize it. It needed bright bright lighting to get a decent image quality and a steady hand. And I’m sure I didn’t use the best cassette tapes to record.
Pulsar and Hypnos were so great. So was Gre-Gory! I had too many toys, but these haunt me. I don't think they could be marketed anywhere (in the West?) today: I've tracked down the Pet Ghost, and could probably seek out a Squirmle, but I think I prefer the memory. Also, this: (not my pic/not my mulch) (Evenflo King Neptune) Hard to describe the allure I have to this one, but a whiff of any vintage Bullmark reminds me of it. The magical soapy smell.
@Roger I always thought it was Avon, but it's Evenflo, the car seat/stroller company. It's possible Eddie Vedder and Raven, the wrestler, had this seahorse too.
Besides my Shogun Warriors fascination, Big Jim was the hugest deal for me. Right before Star Wars turned the world upside down!
One toy that I had alot of fun with was the scuba diving Frogman with windup flippers that would dive when you put the baking powder disks in him. Bath time fun!
