Category: Toys

Happy Birthday, Daddy-Oh!

Happy (would be) birthday to the late, great Ed “Big Daddy” Roth.

Big Daddy Ed Roth

He was interested in cars and motorcycles as a teen, and began working on custom fiberglass body modifications shortly after leaving the Air Force.

He dove headfirst into the hot-rod culture. He made cartoon character illustrations for handmade t-shirts that he airbrushed at car shows. His wacky illustrations and hot-rod designs helped spark the iconic Kustom Kulture of the late 50’s through the early 70’s. Ed was one of several illustrators who were regularly featured in CARtoons Magazine.

CARtoons magazine

Among his most well-known characters are Rat Fink and Mr. Gasser. They were usually depicted driving souped-up cars or surfing (another 60s sub-culture that resonated with his odd brand of humor.)

That epitome of class, the noble Rat Fink

Although not necessarily created by Ed Roth, several toys and model kits took “inspiration” from his style.

Aurora Models used their hugely successful monster kits to mash up with crazy car models (such as “Frankenstein’s Flivver “ and “Mummy’s Chariot.”) Louis Marx Toys created a line of “Nutty Mad” toys that featured goofy Roth-esque characters, as well as Hawk Models series of “Weird Ohs.”

Marx Toys Nutty Mad “Thinker.”

My personal memory of Roth’s creativity is limited to a handful of hand-me-downs from older cousins and neighbors. I came across several of those toys when going through our parents’ house.  Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to build some of those Hawk model kits that were re-released in 2005.

Big Daddy would have been 93 today.

-Toph

A Christmas Exclusive

We’re officially into Christmas Season. Black Friday is past, I’ve attended my first Christmas choral concert, and later this week, I’ll be digging into the shed for the boxes of ornaments.

JCPenny, 1973

 

As a kid, I fondly remember laying on the floor, looking at the store catalogs pictures for Santa’s wish list. And the toy pages in the Sears, JC Penney, and Montgomery Ward were the mother load.

Although most stores had GI Joe figures or a selection of playsets, the big 3 had store exclusives. One year in particular, I got a huge box that contained both the Secret of the Mummy’s Tomb AND Search for the Stolen Idol (complete with both the all terrain vehicle and helicopter.) I later learned that it was a Sears exclusive set that year.

Those amazing offerings only lasted until the mid 1970s, when the Adventure Team began its decline. Eventually, Hasbro’s premier toy line was jumping the proverbial shark with “Bullet Man” and “The Intruders.” It would be another 25 years until we saw a new Golden Age of action figures.

The turn around began when Formative International started making individual 1/6 scale figures. The articulation was limited, the face sculpts were a bit off, and the clothing and accessories were lower quality, but it was the beginning of a new era. Soon, the GI Joe “Hall of Fame” appeared, with its chonky bodies and (figuratively and literally) ham-handed articulation. We all have to learn to crawl before we can teleport.

The Classic Collection upped Hasbro’s game, and ran into stiff competition from 21st Century Toys “Ultimate Soldier” (informally known as “GI Sam”). Before long, a dozen other companies were throwing their hats into the ring. Each line brought something unique to the table, be it Dragon’s attention to detail, BBI’s moving facial features (think Eagle Eyes, but with a grimacing mouth,) to several versions of metal weapons with moving parts. Add the growing world of The Internet, and the sky was the limit for choices.

But my absolute favorite part of this new ear was a return of the store exclusives. Many major retail stores offered a unique exclusive. Target, Kmart, Walmart, Toys R Us and KB Toys all had store exclusives.  FAO Schwarz always had an exclusive, too. It was always little more elite, even more exclusive, and usually triple the cost.

FAO’s EXCLUSIVE exclusive from 1995.

 

 

The era came to a close in the mid to late 2000s. There seems to be a pattern here – the initial boon was the mid 1960s to the late 1970s. Then the resurgence from the mid 1990s until the late 2000s. If my calculations are correct, we should be seeing a new series soon. Maybe the next couple of years will present a new opportunity for us middle aged kids.

We’re looking at the first layer here…
Kunk Fu grip
A few 1960s style guys

Until then, I still have a couple unopened toys laying around here somewhere. (Really? A COUPLE?) I can sit on the floor later this month and open some “new” toys.

 

-Toph