#retro toys

Toy problems: Sewing on a button on a vintage doll coat.

Quick break for one of the big boxes I found while cleaning up.. Sky Lynx!

Man, IO remember that Metroplex artwork.

Time for a bigger Classic Space set - 1985′s Gamma V Laser Craft. This has a lot of the hallmarks that the big spaceships would expand upon going forward - modular design where the cockpit snaps off the rear portion, translucent highlights, some flexible tubing, and a cargo compartment.

A couple wheeled Classic Space sets today - first is the little Surface Transport from 1983. Pretty simple and definitely in the “NASA collecting moon rocks” aesthetic. Next is 1987′s more complex Terrestrial Rover, with a neat hinged enclosure holding a little satellite. Never could find that fourth blue hinge and had to sub in a black one…

Have a whole batch of tiny Classic Space sets…

6809: XT-5 and Droid (’87) - An extremely simply hover-chair deal, but the droid is super cute

1557: Scooter (’86) - Probably one of the simplest recognizable spaceship designs you could make. Not sure if the hinged nose-cone had a purpose, or it was just the best way they had at the time to do the horizontal turn it needed.

6801: Moon Buggy (’81) - Odd name as I’d expect a buggy to have wheels, but the downward dish design is pretty cool.

6822: Space Digger (’81) - The neat claw on this will show up on a bigger set later…

Not the droids you’re looking for…

As a prelude to more actual kits, here’s some space-theme home made bits and bobs I had to disassemble to complete other sets. Pretty sure several were fully intended as affronts to god and man. (Though, the tiny guy in the first pic turned out to be a legit part of a set that’ll go up next.) The mobile launcher vehicle at the end was pretty cool, though, had a lot of flat-top bricks making a cradle the ship could slide out of easily.

Okay, kicking off the Lego sets with one of my oldest big ones, the Beta I Command Base from 1980. This is pretty representative of the early Classic Space aesthetic, which just has NASA style retro-future all over it. The boxy base, tiny rover, booster rockets - all classic designs that seem inspired by NASA equipment and concept art. And of course the Classic Space logo is somewhat reminiscent of NASA’s as well.

The builds from this era tend to be a bit more clunky and simple than modern stuff (most ships are based heavily on flat wing plates, lots of right angles, etc), but you can’t beat the attention to detail in this set. The guys chilling in the base have their own coffee mug, posts to hang their unused oxygen tanks, a unique big monitor screen, equipment racks, seats, and beds. The simple straight monorail track leading to the launchpad is pretty cool for a set this size. And the base windows even tilt open, which seems like a questionable choice on the moon, but hey.

Also included are a couple promo pics from the manuals giving a good overview of this era in Space Lego.

Consider this a teaser and a warning - I’m currently back at my parents’ house finishing one last round of cleaning, and this is what I’m mostly sorting and photographing right now. So while this has mostly been a G1 Transformers and retro game blog lately, in the near future it’s gonna be at least 80% Legos for a while. Hope you enjoy!

The bottom of the box holds a treat - the entire Constructicon team, combining to form the classic Devastator. Predating the more standardized “Scramble City” style combiners which are all 5-bot teams with a larger one forming the torso and four others forming interchangeable limbs, Devastator (who was originally the Diaclone “Construction Vehicle Robo” team) is made of six parts, all of which are unique and have some very weird ad-hoc connection methods. To make it all work they come with a bunch of extra parts, most of which can be repurposed to change the vehicles into “Attack Modes” with oversized weaponry or wings.

The individual Constructicons (L-R: Bonecrusher, Scavenger, Scrapper, Hook, Long Haul, and Mixmaster) are a mixed bag with some having simple, stiff transformations and other being more complex. Putting them all together can be a bit fiddly, but they hold up pretty well once combined (though a few joints on mine are a little loose after 30 years).

It’s time for TECHNOBOTS, combining to form the mighty COMPUTRON!

Led by the previously-profiled Scattershot, L-R at the top we have Nosecone, Strafe, Afterburner, and Lightspeed. As usual for G1 “scramble city” style combiners, the four smaller bots look great in vehicle mode and a bit clunky as bots, and each can be used as any limb of the combined form. The first pic of Computron is done as per the instruction booklet, while the second is more like a pic found on tfwiki, with the leg bots flipped around and extended for a slightly taller stance, and a few more weapons attached. Bonus pic of Computron and our previous combiner Abominus mugging in bad lighting.

Smokescreen, one of my oldest Transformers and my only one of the original G1 cars. He’s adapted from the same Diaclone base as Bluestreak and Prowl, and transforms into a Datsun 280ZX, aka Nissan Fairlady Z in Japan. Smokescreen’s deco is based on  Don Devendorf’s Electramotive team racer. (Thanks for tfwiki and transformerland for that trivia.)

Like some other Diaclone originals, his transformation is more fiddly than other G1 bots and some parts are a little fragile. He also has a bunch of die-cast metal, though, which gives him some heft, and his arms are way better articulated than most.

Some sources claim only the Japanese release had spring-loaded missiles in the shoulder cannons, but mine has ‘em, so maybe they were in an early US release too before Hasbro removed them for safety reasons.

The Decoys were a bonus pack-in that came with a bunch of 1987 card-pack Transformers like the Throttlebots and several sets of combiners. Tiny, unarticulated, mono-color figures, they were originally “keshigomu” eraser-gum toys in Japan, sold as gachas, with candy, and even in game sets. In Hasbro Transformers continuity they came with a little comic explaining that they represent drone replicas sent out as a distraction.

These guys were basically a direct response to the Kinnikuman toys, which came to the US as Ultimate M.U.S.C.L.E. and were popular in both the regions for a few years. Some other toy lines also tried to get in on the tiny figure action, like these Gundam guys I also found:

Brainstorm and his partner Arcana; together they form an Autobot Headmaster that I skipped over earlier because I’m missing his instructions. Fortunately the transformation is totally straightforward, so it was easy to guess.

One of the shorter-lived Transformers gimmicks, Flywheels here is a Duocon, consisting of two vehicles that automatically transform into a single robot via spring-loaded mechanisms when the plane is pressed down on top of the tank. Only one other Duocon, Battletrap, exists.

Tailgate is the last G1 mini I have on hand (I know I owned more once, but they maaay have been sold for middle school pocket money back in the day). Like several of the 1986 last wave of minis, he’s a retool, in this case of Windcharger - both transform into Pontiac Firebird Trans Ams.

Continuing with the G1 minis, here’s Seaspray. A hovercraft is a pretty cool vehicle mode, if you ask me. The free-spinning propellers are a nice touch.

Autobot Wheelie’s fame and crime

is that he only talks in rhyme.

I think he’s the only new movie design

in the minis format of the time.

Cosmos always feels like one of the most unique of the penny-racer scale G1 bots because his vehicle mode is a freakin’ UFO!

You may also notice I found the backing cards for these guys… 

Blitzwing! This guy was evidently the only Triple-Changer taken directly from the Diaclone toy line (thanks TFwiki), and it kind of shows in his different construction. He’s considerably smaller than later Triples, resulting in a very stiff robot form and some other compromises. But he also has a bunch of tab-and-slot connections not seen much on other transformers, which make his various parts stay latched into different positions very well even though the joints are loose and easy to move.

I said I was about down to small format Transformers, but I found a few more medium size ones like Targetmaster Pointblank here, with his partner Peacemaker. He looks pretty snazzy in both race car and robot forms, and while he has the common G1 issue of fused feet his arms are pretty poseable.

enki2:

— view on Instagram https://bit.ly/3kiGZcF

Oh wow that’s something I’ve not thought about in years. We had a couple of these fans when I was a child.

The eyes were red incandescent bulbs and were like the creepiest nightlight ever. The arms and head could be moved, and of course the fan body itself would oscillate.

This is a particularly yellowed unit. Originally it would have been silver-grey.

Mmmmm

(pretty sure it’s TRICK or TREAT)

G.I. Joe Extreme: Iron Claw

Toy’s from my childhood and from the 90′s. I’ll be honest. I got this toy in the 3rd grade but would you believe that I just recently found out that these were actually G.I. Joe figures?. All of the kids in my 3rd grade class had these. I remember it as clear as day. They were cool yet no one could ever tell me the names of these toys. Not that I cared at the time because my father would later buy me the only 2 that would ever own. The 2 that I got came in a 2pack. The other toy was a soldier which I no longer have. As a matter of fact, I lost the toy very early on. So “The Skull” as I and many of the kids in my class used to call him, is the only physical memory I have that these things ever existed.

2 years ago I decided to do some research and I discovered that these were from a short lived line called “G.I. Joe Extreme” The name was correct. Most of the toys I had seen were just that. They were cool, big and looked very intimidating for the time. They had cool weapons and their face were always pissed off. Apparently G.I. Joe Extreme also featured comic books and a cartoon that ran for 2 seasons!. Again, no one I ever knew had seen or heard of the cartoon nor were they aware that comic books existed. The toy in the photos is actually a character called “Iron Claw” who supposedly, was brutal and quite the bad ass as well. In other words he was the main villain of the series. The soldier I mentioned earlier was actually a character named “Stone”who looked a lot like Duke but was much bigger physically which brings me to my next point. These things were 5 inches and some were even bigger. They also maxed out with 3 points of articulation which is nothing compared to their smaller G.I. Joe counter parts and down right pathetic for 2016.

The photos don’t lie. He’s beat up. This is one of the oldest toys to survive my childhood. Although I didn’t know it at the time, he was my top villain. Playing with him against some of my other toys would often result in tough battles which explains his now deformed appearance. I guess subconsciously I knew that he was a villain and his boots always reminded me of the wrestler Triple H when he was “Hunter Hearst Helmsly” in 1996. I even gave him the pedigree move to. The missing fingers that came from all of the pokes to the eyes of my other toys. The fist, which has been caved in and filed down from all of the constant punches thrown looks like an ugly tumor. Did I mention that the fist once had claw like features as well? Look closely enough and you’ll see traces of it still. The rope on his left hand used to have a loop that dangled down is gone from all of the illegal chokes that was associated with it. I could go on and on but he survived which is something I can’t say for today’s figures as they wouldn’t last 5 minutes in a child’s hands today.

TheRare Books and Special Collections isn’t all books.  We are using the Lunar New Year to take a closer look at some Chinese treasures and a retro gadget.  The four volume work, Chinese Art in three-dimensional colour, comes with a View-Master and reels with 1200 images.  The art works captured on the reels are from both public and private collections and have examples of art works from the Neolithic period to the twentieth century.  The photographs were taken by William Gruber, with Rupert Leach taking over after Gruber’s death in 1965.  

The View Master is probably best known to most people as a children’s toy, but was originally intended as an educational tool.  In addition to reels with images of popular film characters for children, reels were released with scenes of tourist attractions, an atlas of human anatomy and even training materials for US military personnel in WWII.

The Library’s collection of eresources have some interesting articles about the invention and re-invention of the View Master.  Use your library card to access these articles.

Fattig, P. (2013, Aug 22). Oregon caves meeting led to invention of the view-master. McClatchy - Tribune Business News 

Walker, R. (2007, May 13). Toy story. New York Times (1923-Current File)

Hochfelder, B. (2007). Viewing excellence in all dimensions: No rose-colored glasses required. Advanced Imaging, 22(5), 6.