I intended to run this post back in October as part of my Halloween celebration, but personally, this post works just as well for Christmas. These rubber monsters weren't as fancy as the stuff Santa would bring, but they were still some of my favorite childhood toys.
My Grandfather bought these creatures for me when we'd visit the novelty store at the local mall. At least I think it was a novelty store, these were purchased when I was preschool age, and therefor it was before I could read. If it was a toy store I think I would remember it a lot better. All I can remember is the box of rubber monsters that sat on the counter near the register at the front of the store. I'd pick one, my Grandfather paid for it, and we left the store.
About a year ago I learned these monsters were officially called Rubber Uglies, and was spun off of Topps' Ugly Stickers which were mostly illustrated by Norman Saunders. Although sometimes the display box called them Teacher's Pets (supposedly in the UK from what I've read)...
Each of the "Uglies" has a name taken from the original Topps sticker. For example this is Al, and his twin Al...
As you can see the Al on the right has lost an arm. One thing I don't understand are the different sculpts of the same creature. Did the molds become worn, and entirely new molds were created from a new sculpture? Or is one a knockoff?
Through the magic of Photshop I've fixed "Al #2's" missing arm. Here's the rest of my collection...
The "Melvin" above is missing its two front pincher arms. The arms of these rubber monsters were easily torn during vigorous play. I think when one arm came off this creature I intentionally removed the other to keep its symmetry.
I once had a few other Rubber Uglies, but I think they've been permanently lost. I'm kinda impressed I was able to scrounge up this many actually. I'm very impressed with this collection and how it's displayed. It's classy...
Here's a quick look at a couple iconic 70's dolls, and when I say "iconic 70's" I mean something distinctly 1970's, not necessarily famous.
First it's the vaguely hippy-ish Sunshine Family from Mattel in 1976...
The Sunshine Family supposedly ran a craft store, and the ad copy says the dolls come with "its own things-to-make Idea Book" so you too could become a craftier just like the dolls. This crafting spirit is still alive in Sunshine Family owners. For example while searching for a Sunshine Family commercial I stumbled across YouTuber Marianna Mitchek and her snappily crafted video "Childhood friends." Check it out...
Mattel strikes again in 1976 with what might be the most contrversal doll of the 70's - the anatomically correct baby doll Baby Brother Tender Love...
Although there was another anatomically correct baby doll released in 1976 called Archie Bunker’s Grandson - Joey Stivic from Ideal. This doll was billed as the "first anatomically correct male doll." Since it was based the popular All In The Family TV show it most certainly got more publicity, and probably took most of the heat off Baby Brother Tender Love.
Wow, two anatomically correct baby dolls are released by two major toy manufactures in 1976. Is this just a coincidence, or was one company attempting to cash in on the others idea? I can't believe there was ever a great demand for such a anatomically correct doll to begin with.
Since I posted the Flintstones Vitamin poster earlier this month I thought I'd finish the month with some more of the 'Stones.'
Above are three rubber Flintstones figures I got as a kid around 1977 (I'd guess). I remember they were purchased at Sears. They were sold individually out of a container (like a plastic fish bowl if I remember correctly) sitting by a cash register near their cafeteria. The Flintstones weren't the only characters available either. Mixed in the same container were a bunch of Warner Bros. characters too. For a while there whenever I was shopping at Sears with my Mother I'd ask if I could get a new figure.
The characters are made of a strange rubber. They almost seem to be made of a pencil eraser-like material, but they do not work as an eraser. If you're wondering about the scale, Dino is approximately 2 ¾ inches tall.
That's about all I know about these things. An image search on Flintstones toys didn't really turn up any more of these figures. If anyone reading this knows who manufactured these things please leave a comment.
I know I had Fred too, but he's currently MIA. So for now Wilma and Barney will have to make do alone (I always thought Wilma and Barney should get together anyways. They both have the same eyes). Along with Dino, and that strange stone-age cat sitting by Wilma's feet.
In 1990 the now defunct toy store chain Child World / Children's Palace presented a "Video Toy Chest " or "A Toy Catalog on Videotape." More accurately it was basically a bunch of toy commercials with short entertainment bits performed by a mostly child cast stitched in between each ad.
If you have fond childhood memories of this rarity, and wished you could see it again you're in luck. Just in time for Christmas I've uploaded it to YouTube, and embedded it below. The whole "show" runs about 37 minutes. I don't expect many people would want to sit through the entire program, so as a courtesy I thought I should list all the commercials in the "Toy Chest" so you can try and skip to your favorite toy (or skip it all together).
Here's are a list of the commercials you'll see in part 1: Children's Palace, Dance Magic Barbie, Disney Huglight Mickey, Disney Activity Gym, Hot Wheels Sto 'N Go, Lil Miss Magic Hair, Magic Nursery Baby, McGruff the Crime Dog PSA, Lanky Doodle, Motor Mouth, Bo Jackson Electronic Baseball/Football, Double Dragon II Electronic Game, Noteability, Game Talk Tiger's Baseball All Stars, Bubble Bears
Still with me? Here's the ads in part 2: Huffy Sonic 6, Fisher-Price Magic Vac, Fisher-Price Rocker Pony, Fisher-Price Post Office, Fisher-Price Pop-Up Playhouse, Fisher-Price Kitchen, Fisher-Price Super Wagon, Fisher-Price Fire Pumper, Tyco Typhoon Hovercraft, Quints, Bongo Congo, My Pretty Ballerina, Spy Tech, Bases Loaded II Second Season Nintendo Game, Playskool Flat Folks, Playskool Express, Mall Madness
We're almost done, here are the commercials in part 3: Captain Skyhawk Nintendo Game, Cabal Nintendo Game, Matchbox Carousel Collection, Matchbox Motorcity Sounds of Service Garage, Play-Doh Dinner, Acclaim Double Player Wireless Controllers, Double Dragon II Nintendo Game, Back to the Future II & III Nintendo Game, 90 Second Shoot Out, Teddy Ruxpin, Disney Little Boppers, Hush Little Baby, Girl Talk, Crayola Kits
So without any further delay, let's take a look back at the toys of 1990...
Alright I admit it, when it comes to cool commercial collections what we have here is quantity over quality.
Although maybe you're not into the whole retro commercial deal. I can dig it. So how about that Toy Television Network? The production while a bit cheesy and dated is pretty well done don't you think? The writing could be a lot sharper, and some of the stuff the cast has to do is a little cringe worthy today (and probability back in the day too).
Speaking of the cast let's take a look at where some of them are now...
Jerry Lobozzo in 1990 and today
Besides the poor woman trapped in that storybook costume, the only other adult actor is Jerry Lobozzo. Time as been very kind to Jerry. He still looks basically the same, and still has that hair! I wonder if Jerry ever wakes up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat with nightmares of playing Robo-T. (Robo-T? Was he supposed to be an an actual robot?) Anyway besides acting, Jerry is a very talented voice actor who has worked on many television cartoons. Jerry has an official site of his own right here.
J.D. Daniels in 1990, and in B&W today
J.D. Daniels played the part of the director who was conveniently named J.D. too. J.D. is remembered for his work in The Mighty Ducks in 1992, but you can see he already had that bossy tough guy act down pat here. I'm happy to report J.D. seems to be a well adjusted adult, who is still acting, and can take a handsome B&W headshot. Check out his FaceBook page for more on what he's been up to.
Joey Shea in 1990, and today
Thankfully at the start of "Video Toy Chest" J.D. turned to a fellow child actor and said, "Ready Joey?" This made it easy to I.D. Joey Shea. Over the years Joey has worked on a couple of soap operas, but checking the IMDb there hasn't been anything listed since 2007. Also Joey has a MySpace page that's currently looking sorta abandoned. I assume he's doing OK, and with looks like that life can't be treating Joey too badly. Actually it's interesting to note that Joey had a reoccurring role on the PBS kids show Ghostwriter because...
Sheldon Turnipseed in 1990, and on Ghostwriter in 1995
In 1995 Sheldon Turnipseed became a lead actor on Ghostwriter. Two people from this "Video Toy Chest" thing became actors on Ghostwriter - what are the chances? It looks like Sheldon left acting after working on Ghostwriter. Today he is supposedly a naval officer and has changed his name. I don't understand the name change. I think Sheldon Turnipseed was an awesome name.
A cute Lacey Chabert in 1990, and a extremely hot Lacey on the cover of Maxim in 2007
Arguably the most famous person from the "Video Toy Chest" is Lacey Chabert. She might still be best know for her work on FOX's Party of Five, but she has kept herself very busy with an extensive list of credits on her IMDb page. Yes Lacey certainly has grown up. Good lord, has she ever grown up.
Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) is notorious for the uproar it caused when released. Groups like the PTA were a appalled at the notion of a killer dressed as Santa Claus.
Actually the idea of a killer Santa Claus wasn't new. More than a decade earlier a segment of Tales From The Crypt (1972) features a psycho Santa terrorizing Joan Collins, and nobody freaked out. Well maybe someone did, but it wasn't the stink that Silent Night, Deadly Night created.
Anyway, I'm not here to talk about killer Santas, I'm here to talk about the most messed up toy store ever filmed. A major section of Silent Night, Deadly Night takes place at a quaint little store named IRA'S TOYS...
That's one depressing looking toy store
The reported budget for Silent Night, Deadly Night is well under one million dollars. It's obvious the set decorator had little money to work with, and no doubt they were on a very tight time schedule too. So under these difficult circumstances how successful were they at creating a convincing toy store? Let's take a look around, and see what we find.
As first glance I think the above pic might look like the toy store's storage room with all those random brown cardboard boxes (and throughout the store too), but it's not. Just for the record this is the stock room...
Now back to the retail space...
At Ira's they conveniently pre-inflate the inflatable pool toys for you. Also it helps to fill all that shelf space. Although it's Christmas time, at Ira's they still have the Halloween costumes on display. Actually I assume they keep them up year-around.
There's some famous characters here. I can see Batman, Spider-Man, a couple of Mickey Mouse masks...
... and G.I. Joe - who gets a prominent shot.
It's also Easter time at Ira's Toys, or at least I always associate these insane looking inflatable rabbits with Easter.
It's Poochi! You know, for girls.
They pre-assemble the Mr. and Mrs. Potato Heads at Ira's. That's unique customer service.
If you're looking for Jabba the Hutt you're in luck. Ira's is well stocked on this item, but you better hurry if you want that Patrol Dewback. Hey where are the Star Wars action figures?
If you look closely, you can see the figures tucked away on the right.
Want to purchase the game Twister? Try checking behind the Smurf puzzle. Also note the partially hidden Popeye the Movie board game.
This is an interesting shot for the curious way this store is organized. There's the Mouse Trap games on the top self, assorted preschool toys below, and a Habitrail set for your pet hamster on the upper left . Please forgive the actor's awkward pose, but this is the bottom shelf of where the Star Wars toys are located. Here you'll find the Monroe Dollhouse Kit and the Motorific Torture Track which is a toy from the 1960's...
I thought I noticed something else in that last shot, it's the Krull board game on the lower left.
For such a small and disorganized store Ira's has its own Santa Claus "meet 'n greet" that's reasonably elaborate. This is something only malls and big city department stores usually have.
Well I could go on and on, but why beat a dead reindeer. I'll conclude this post with this wide shot of Ira's Toys. See if you can spot your favorite toy among the clutter, or feel free to make your own snarky comment.
Oh wait, it's a He-Man and Battle Cat kite! And a possible spoiler, sorry if you looked.
For Halloween let's have a "Horror Double Feature" with a couple of movies by some hometown boys (well, my hometown) who made good.
Here's an article about Evil Dead (1983) by the Detroit Free Press from May 3, 1983...
Please click to enlarge if you wish to read (I probably didn't need to say that)
... now let's jump to April 10, 1987 for another Detroit Free Press article, but this time it's about Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn (1987). As an added bonus the movie review is also included...
If you were some of those lucky collectors out there maybe you picked up one of these cute, but rare Evil Dead Haunted Cabin toys back in the day...
So that was a fun summer... let's see if I can get this blog back on track now.
In the late 60's the mighty Mattel toy company introduced the "Strange Change Machine" which was a fun little toy that was basically an electric hot plate with a plastic dome on top. You could heat up special little plastic cubes which unfolded into monsters and dinosaurs.
Check out the awesome commercial...
Man, I love that narrator and groovy science fictiony music. Indulge me while we watch the "extended dance mix" of the same commercial (but unfortunately worse video quality)...
Anyway, there are a lot of sites out on the vast interweb if you wish to know more about this toy, but what those sites don't have are big clear scans of Strange Change Machine instructions...
... and on the flip-side of the instructions, a full-color "landscape map" of The Lost World.
Here's something I picked up from somewhere - it's the American version (but printed in England) of the Dinky catalog for 1976. I never owned a Dinky toy, but I did admire some of their very well-made die cast toys.
Above are the first two pages of the Dinky catalog. I think it's interesting they're featuring the science fiction toys so prominently in 1976. This was a full year before Star Wars made its debut.
The next two pages are sci-fi vehicles from TV shows I had never heard of. I assume British kids where much more familiar with Gerry Anderson's work.
Heck, I only recently heard about Gerry's live-action series UFO...
