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| 1985 Masters Of The Universe Competition found in an Australian Magazine (not 100% sure which one, but it has been narrowed down to either TV WEEK, WOMAN'S WEEKLY or NEW IDEA) I wonder who won the Masters Of The Universe SUPER 550 Competition? Was it YOU? |
Greetings Hoard Worlders!
Earlier this week, one of your fellow Hoard Worlders (Mr. Brendan Ryan) approached me with some rare scans from his personal archives!
Many of them, I have never seen before (in real life or online) but a lot I do vaguely recall from my own childhood.
Nevertheless, I couldn't possibly keep them to myself and with Brendan's blessing they have been released back into the loving eyes of the viewing public.
This is all very exciting and a little bit of a Hoard World Exclusive since I have had difficulty locating ANY of these elsewhere.
Never-before-seen Toy Catalogues? Well, not quite. But it's been a long time since anyone's seen these.
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| Inspector Gadget Toys from TOYWORLD Catalogue - June 1987. |
WOWSERS!
Would you look at those? And they're ON SPECIAL!
That Inspector Gadget Figure really was one of the greatest toys ever made. It was truly amazing.
I would tell you that I was blessed enough to have one as a child-like Hoardax and it was absolutely magnificient but I'd be afraid that'd be a very unpopular response and you'd stop liking me. Nobody likes a bragger.
Let's move on.
That 14" Gadget Plush Doll is looking pretty seedy. It's as if Gadget has let himself go. His hair is a mess and he can barely dress himself any more. It looks more like a Worzel Gummidge Plush Doll. I bet he's rare as hell. What kind of sadist would buy that for a kid? That Gadget Plush is a bad role model.
Those Gadget Gyros were pretty cool. I totally had one of those. Had I known they were only 99c I would have bought TWO! (Mind you, 99c in the 80s translates to at least $5 now, right?)
But for me, the real toys that I lament here are those Inspector Gadget vehicles. I don't think there's anything I wouldn't have given as a kid to have owned a Dr. Claw's Car or a Gadget Car.
I remember being obsessed with finding out what Dr. Claw really looked like. You'd always get close....but no cigar (or face, as it were).
All that would've changed if I were the owner of that Dr. Claw Car! I could've just looked inside!
And THIS doesn't count. Don't even mention that. Forget you even saw it!
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| Australian TOYWORLD Christmas Catalogue 1985 |
I love how these are all set-up. And you know what? $7.50 a figure? $8.98 a figure? That seems pretty reasonable to me. I'm sure the equivalent prices in US Dollars at the time was probably half of that.
So here we are almost thirty years later and Masters Of The Universe figures not only still exist BUT they're about $25 each. That's only three times as much. Did I mention it was almost thirty years later?
I still think that seems pretty reasonable.
Please note all prices in these catalogues are in 1980s/90s Australian Dollars.
(Not that you could buy them for that now anyway!)
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| Here's the actual toy catalogue that previous picture was from. That purple bear and Santa sure do seem to be good pals. Awwww. Bless. |
International Hoard Worlders - Did you have TOYWORLD? Have you ever seen that Purple Bear before? He's still around you know. You can always visit him whenever you want. (I never met him. I'm starting to think he's mythical.) Despite the fact he might not actually exist, he still manages to run a thriving business in the 21st century.
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Some of you may not know this. In Australia, GOBOTS were called MACHINE MEN. They even changed the theme song for the cartoon. For serious. Remind me to transfer my VHS episodes of Machine Men taped off TV onto The Internet if Hoard Tube ever gets up and running. You need to see this different intro.
This is from a TOYWORLD catalogue from June 1987
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I can not tell you how much I wanted the Renegade Machine Men Headquarters THRUSTER. And ZOD. Who doesn't want ZOD? He's a Fearsome Motorised Eating Machine that only you can stop! These massively discounted Machine Men prices are making it pretty obvious that the line was dying.
Badly.
So, why didn't I have a THRUSTER or a ZOD then? Screw you Santy Claus!
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| WE REGRET THESE LINES ARE NOT AVAILABLE AT ALL STORES DUE TO LIMITED SUPPLY..... ......If you want Transformers. But if you want Machine Men or uh.....Magic Mike* ....WE HAVE HEAPS! |
*this was clearly before Magic Mike hit hard times and became a Stripper.
Let's skip a few years now to a Zig Zag (like TOYWORLD except without the Purple Bear - it didn't last) Catalogue from August 1992.
How about we take a look at how the Machine Men are going?
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Hmmmmm.
No Machine Men on this page. Oooooh. Graffic Traffic! The idea behind Graffic Traffic was that you could colour in the cars however you liked, wipe them clean and draw all over them again! I used to use the Graffic Traffic pens to fill in missing paint on worn action figures. The Riddler has a bald spot? Not anymore! Thanks Graffic Traffic! Or for special effects. He-man just got hit by a tree branch and now he's bleeding from the mouth? Where's that red pen? Thanks Graffic Traffic! I didn't find any Machine Men so far. Maybe they'll turn up later on. |
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| Zig Zag Catalogue October 1992 NOPE! |
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| Zig Zag Catalogue December 1992. NOPE! |
Look, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that by 1992, MACHINE MEN are done (and/or already bought out by Hasbro).
It's very sad, I was quite fond of Leader-1, Cy-Kill and the gang. I would like to see them again one day.
That's some nice G.I. JOEs you got there, Zig Zag catalogue from December 1992.
Let's take a look at an earlier TOYWORLD catalogue for some more G.I. JOE ogling.
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| TOYWORLD Catalogue - November 1987 |
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Yikes. That Sword and Sheath is EXCLUSIVE to TOYWORLD. Where do they get all these wonderful toys? Also pictured: The Real Ghostbusters. Ectoplasm. The Staypuft Marshmallow Man.
And CARGANTUA - MONSTER OF THE FREEWAY!
You weren't lying TOYWORLD Catalogue November 1987, you really are delivering "HOLIDAY MAGIC."
Nobody could sue you guys for false advertising.
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| Another TOYWORLD Christmas Catalogue Masterpiece.
I can honestly say that I never heard of TEK FORCE. Have you? Maybe you had some? I didn't.
What I adore about these photos however is that the TEK FORCE vehicles have been displayed with other figures from no less than four different toy lines! And "Masters" are mentioned.
The TEK FORCE "Ro-bo Jumbo" has Star Wars figures, Machine Men (Go-Bots) and Transformer all peacefully co-existing. This would NEVER happen today. It was a simpler time - that or not enough people were looking in Australian Toy Catalogues to care.
The size difference for the vehicles is also interesting. The "Ro-bo Jumbo" is clearly designed for 3 3/4" figures while the TEK FORCE Chariot Warriors and Super Vehicles are displayed with (and clearly more suited to) 5 1/2" Figures like BLACKSTAR.
I love the names of the TEK FORCE Chariot Warriors: Lepo and Horsgo.
I also really like that Blackstar and The Palace Guard (also from Blackstar - and seemingly quite relaxed in holiday mode because he doesn't have his helmet) are riding these vehicles.
This TEK FORCE ad just makes me happy. Is that alright?
I have a thing for Space Westerns, so I gots lots o' time for BRAVESTARR.
Considering they were pretty big figures for the era, I think $11.88 sounds like a good deal. I should like the entire set please. But wait, it gets better.
And bigger.
Man, I would've loved both of those goodies. And given that Bravestarr's house and his gun were, the low low prices of $29.99 and $14.99 respectively, it's a no brainer!
That blonde mullet kid's facial expression is priceless. I don't blame him. That photo shoot was the best day of his life. But let's not forget about those nifty DINO-RIDERS on the bottom right hand corner of the page! Oooooooooooooooooooooh-weeeeeeeeeeeee! I had Hammerhead and that little dinosaur next to him! Oh, Nostalgia. This has been quite a trip down Toy Catalogue Memory Lane. Hopefully we can do this again some time.
Thanks for joining me.
yr pal,
Hoardax.
SPECIAL THANKS TO BRENDAN RYAN FOR ALL THESE WONDERFUL SCANS!
Below are a few more pics from the catalogues! CLICK ON THE PICS TO ENLARGE.  JEM! (TOYWORLD - August 1987)  Masters Of The Universe - Battle For Eternia Board Game Barbie Charms The World Board Game ASK MR. DOOBEE Game! (TOYWORLD - August 1987)  Crystal Swiftwind? Enchata! (When are Mattel making Classics of these beasts?) (TOYWORLD - June 1987)  (She-Ra, Glimmer and Catra and Assorted Horses) (TOYWORLD - June 1987) There are also a few more photos over here on Facey B. And CLICK HERE for Brendan's photos of MOTU Coloring & Activity Books. |
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