This one haunts me. I got it for Christmas and it was destroyed within a day. There are probably one or two other toys i can't find any existence of that I had. One is a metal Tonka Type Ice Cream truck (Left it in a sandbox) and a plastic Jalopy that the doors and parts moved when you push it.(Broke it to bits to see how it worked) It was crazy.
The sea devils box artwork is awesome! Did the expectations that came from the packaging exceed the reality of the toy?
That seahorse is really haunting me now. I'm going to ask my parents if I had one of those (with or without King Neptune). I remember those TV commercials for Squirmles. They're still out there: https://www.amazon.com/Nowstalgic-Toys-Squirmles-World-Magical/dp/B01ACIENQQ/
It really was cool. Zark had a pull string to power it, but the tabs that held in Kretor were pretty flimsy and fragile and broke off rendering the team-up pretty worthless. Kretor's eyes were big animetic looking eyes. I remember him being painted pretty nicely.
Crossbows and Catapults (by Tomy) from 1983. This one was a hit in my house growing up ... Players build a wall of plastic bricks to protect their 'castle', then take turns shooting the walls down using your Ballista (Crossbows) and plastic discs, or by lobbing discs with the Catapult. Top tip: if you double-up the elastic bands on the weapons it makes the firing power way more destructive (but it certainly increases the risk of eye injury.)
[/QUOTE] Holy crap those sea devils are amazing! And..incredibly expensive on ebay. Holy crap! Something to look out for at flea markets.
This is likely a bit off topic, as these aren't a real toy collection, but some pages still feel so deeply burned into my brain. Feels like you could draw a straight line between Space Grizzlies, and still collecting monsters: I still want that Cloud Castle playset. Like, I get they were likely attempting to reference stuff more like MotU, but they perhaps inadvertently created an alternate Berenstain-universe kaiju soft vinyl collection?
I remember this book! Someone put a lot of work into what were essentially throwaway illustrations for a kids book. Maybe MotU, but I definitely see some super robot influences in those designs as well. They remind me a lot of Z-Bots, which is odd given that those came out years later.
Personally, I think that's exactly what used to make kid's books so engrossing. I'd study every single item on a page while my mom was reading the words to me. Maybe that was more understood by publishers/illustrators back then? It may not have been as throwaway as stuff sadly ends up today. Like, comics for instance, seem to have lots of people mostly reading and just halfway absorbing the extremely detailed art! Even I need to remind myself to slow down sometimes. Totally, it was striking to me how much they felt like Tokusatsu stuff. Z-Bots as well, now that you mention it. Guess it sorta makes sense with some of the other toy localizations going on in the '80s.
There is a local antique/coin/old record shop that had a Big Trak in the window. I went inside and asked how much he wanted for it and he said 200 bucks. I went on eBay later that day and it looks like you can pick them up from 50 to 100 bucks. Lol. It looks like that thing will be sitting in the window of that shop for a long long time.
I may have shared this elsewhere here but BigTrak fans will appreciate this: https://hackhitchin.org.uk/bighak/
Man I fucking LOVED my Ridal figure as a kid... maybe one of my most played-with guys. I tended to treat my SW figures (my main collection as a kid, natch) really carefully, rarely enjoyed taking them outside... but Ridal and others of this line, they were my rough and ready crew...
Great toy. Such a great time for space toys. I'll never forget the smell of the plastic. The face part is sofubi. I had no idea as a kid this was a Japan joint. Another childhood favorite. You could program the direction by the dial on top. It was my stand in for Proteus from Fantastic Voyage. I have found a mini friction version.
Holy cow @The Moog I had this game growing up and completely forgot about it. We had a good time with this one.
