#49 REAL GHOSBUSTERS – H2 GHOST, BUG EYE GHOST and BAD-TO-THE-BONE GHOST (1987)

These three ghosts are copyrighted in 1984. The first two are very similar to the Marshmallow Man and the Green Ghost: they are made of the same plastic and are approximately the same size. It seems as if Kenner would have produced all of them very quickly to be part of the Ghostbusters first wave. Unlike the two ghosts in the previous review, these one never appeared in the movie or the TV series, they were invented by Kenner.

This last point (invented characters) is what most toy collectors dislike from these figures, some people even exclude them from their collections. If you don’t care about this fact, and you look closely, you’ll find three great action figures.

H2 Ghost is made of the same plastic, in which most baby toys are made. The ghost feature is that it has two parts, that can be played together or separately. Additionally, both figures have holes in the eyes or the nose, and can be used to play in the bath. Water from inside their bodies can be shot by pushing the bodies of the ghosts. This was for sure an amazing feature for children… if their parents allowed them to take the ghost to the bath.

Bug Eye Ghost has an enormous eye in the forehead, that can be launched as a projectile by pushing hard and fast the body of the ghost. I’ve read many stories of owners who hit themselves with that eye when playing… and it hurts! The eye is tied with a thread to the body, to reduce danger and to avoid it getting lost.

And finally, the Bad-to-the-bone Ghost is somehow a little different from its 4 back card colleagues, because it is made of hard plastic, very similar to the one employed in the following waves to create ghosts, monsters and even some heroes. It is also copyrighted in 1984, and it feature is that it can trap up to two figures (one with the ribs, one with the strange “feet”, and additionally, opens its mouth and its eyes pop. This last feature would be used in the second wave in the heroes, although in a more subtle way, see #21.

UPDATE: Although they do not appear in the film or the cartoons, they do appear in the comics, for example in german Bastei comicbooks. In the image below, for example we find Marshmallow Man, Full Speed Ahead Ghost, H2 Ghost, Bug Eye Ghost and Bad-to-the-Bone Ghost.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: H2 GHOST, BUG EYE GHOST and BAD-TO-THE-BONE GHOST
• Toy Line: The Real Ghostbusters (Wave 1)
• Year: 1986
• Company: Kenner (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: Around 11 cm all three

#48 REAL GHOSTBUSTERS – STAY PUFT MARSHMALLOW MAN and GREEN GHOST (1986)

This will be the first entry (of two) presenting all ghosts made for the first wave of this popular series by Kenner.

The Marshmallow man is the greatest villain that the Ghostbusters fight in the movies. In spite of its appearance, he can be very dangerous and even destroy a whole city. It is one of the more recognisable characters in the history of cinema.

According to imdb, the Green Ghost was dubbed “Onionhead”, because of its horrid smell. The scene in which the ghost shows this characteristic bad smell was cut from the film and no name was given to this ghost, so when the animators created the cartoons, they called it Slimer. He was intended to be a bad, nasty ghost, not the friendly ghost that later was.

It is very interesting that both figures were copyrighted in 1984, probably intended to be sold as movie merchandising. They were probably never released, but two years later with the animated series “The Real Ghostbusters”, from 1986. Additionally, we also know that the figures came (or were ready and packaged) before the series, because the Green Ghost has this name, and not Slimer. It’s also interesting that these ghost are made of a different type of plastic than the other figures, personally, I think they look very much like a cheap toy you buy for dogs or little children to bite them.

A great disadvantage is that the Marshmallow Man was made too small, while the Green Ghost is much bigger than in the movie. This is an unimportant detail for children, but something that annoys adult collectors. If they were made in the correct scale, the Marshmallow Man would be too big, (and the green Ghost to small) to be sold in a normal card with the rest of the figures. This may be a big problem, specially in a first wave, in which the creators do not know if the line will sell or not.

And finally, a picture from a carded Green Ghost, that I have found on the internet, that shows the back catalogue, with these two ghosts, plus three more that will be shown in the next article: H2 Ghost, Bug Eye Ghost and Bad-to-the-Bone Ghost. The creatures right of the Ecto-1 car were sold in boxes, and I do not have them, so they won't be subject of any entry (at this moment).

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: STAY PUFT MARSHMALLOW MAN and GREEN GHOST
• Toy Line: The Real Ghostbusters (Wave 1)
• Year: 1986
• Company: Kenner (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: 17 cm / 13 cm

#47 NOREV – VOLKSWAGEN 1500, FORD ANGLIA and RENAULT DAUPHINE (Around 1963)

Norev was founded by the Veron family in 1946 not very far from Lyon (France). This family has already appeared in this blog (#10) because they are the same that later founded Majorette.

In 1946, the production started with a small garage with a few 1:87 plastic cars, as well as other plastic toys. Joseph Veron worked at that time for the plastic industry (firm Rhône Poulenc/ Rhodia). This company had developed a plastic composition called Rhodialite, ideal to produce cheap toys in the post-war days.

The scale car production starts much later, in 1954 and after the great commercial success that Dinky Cars were having, Norev manufactures the first 1:43 scale cars, made all of them of plastic. The first model was a Simca Aronde. This first model had a plastic chassis and a sticker informing about the Rhodialite. Plastic was a great advantage, as it was very cheap to produce, much cheaper than Dinky models. Norev tried to point out the pros of plastic compared to metal: the car is not painted, so it will remain always that colour and good looking. This was not true, since the plastic could decolorate if it was left if contact with plastic of other colour. It is a coincidence that these two cars are light blue, there were more colours available.

Those first models were mostly French cars that were very common those years, and all of them could be found with friction motor, or without it. From 1957 onwards, a collection in 1:87 scale (“500 series”) was included in the catalogue

In 1961, the Veron family created Majorette, to compete in the 1:64 scale market with other brands like Matchbox or Siku.

The models shown in this entry were made around 1963. The range had scalated quickly (from 12 models in 1956 to 96 in 1964), and Norev was now able to offer almost any French car in the market, plus a wide variety of foreign cars. The cars with red hubs are a few years older (from the early to mid 50s) than the one with black or silver hubs. Those more modern cars were also equipped with windows. Gradually the colour of the tyres changed from white (older models) to black.

The production of plastic cars would still continue a few years. In 1971, Norev launched a new series of die-cast cars known as Jet-car, although in the first years of existence of this series, some plastic models were still being produced. The history of this new die-cast series will be told in another entry sometime.

Also interesting to mention, is that the numbering of Norev cars in 1:43 scale was never stopped, from the first Simca Aronde (Nr. 1) to the Volkswagen Golf Rally (Nr. 899), regardless of the scale or type. These two are numbered Nr. 63 (Volkswagen 1500) and Nr. 67 (Ford Anglia). Note in the following picture, that not every model was numbered in the chassis (Ford Anglia is not numbered)

UPDATE (2023/Oct): These models are difficult to find in flea markets at good prices. After more than 10 years, I found this Dauphine (Nr. 13) and bought it. It was a bit dirty, but I cleaned it the best I could. Now it looks acceptably good, although the windows are a bit opaque.

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: VOLKSWAGEN 1500 and FORD ANGLIA (Ref. Nrs. 63 and 67) / RENAULT DAUPHINE (Nr. 13)
  
• Scale: 1:43
• Year: Around 1963
• Company: Norev (France)
• Size: approx. approx. 9-10 cm

#46 G.I. JOE – FAN CLUB MEMBERSHIP PACK (1987)

Action Force’s fan pack is a promotional item that Hasbro made and released in the United Kingdom during the years 1987 and 1988. It is possible that this pack once belonged to the official British Action Force club, although this is not proved.

Thanks to sf1378 who commented in this entry, we know something more about this particular set:

Hi,
I can confirm the WAS for the official Action Force Club in the UK. In 1987 Hasbro / Milton - Bradley UK took control of all Action Force product in the UK when Palitoy ceased making toys in 1986. As Hasbro owned G.I.JOE and Palitoy had been paying royalties to them to make / distribute their A.F. toyline in the UK it was logical that Hasbro / MB UK would simply take control of all UK toy distribution / marketing, comic off - shoots etc. Hence this product being made for children to send off for. I own one myself from 1987. The mail in club pack was indeed available in 1987 and 1988 as it was featured with all Hasbro A.F. small, medium and large vehicle / figure and vehicle combinations. In 1987, it was featured in a separate paper printed and line drawn illustrated leaflet which was a 3 or 4 panel document in A6 size - inside it were illustrations and descriptions of: the club pack, an A.F. t - shirt with the new G.I.JOE based logo, dog tags, a digital watch and the Whirlwind Cannon which had previously been available in different colours fitting in with Palitoy's A.F. for their Z - FORCE team, Hasbro's mail - in Whirlwind was simply the same as the original G.I.JOE version, perhaps a slightly different tone to the dark green plastic and the only difference was it came in a plain box and the 'G.I.JOE' stickers were replaced with 'ACTION FORCE' ones to match the new UK branding. In 1988, the A.F. club pack was featured overleaf on the large poster style catalogue for the then 'new' 1988 range - if you have a catalogue from 1988 or can view one online you'll see what I mean. I think the club cost my Father between £3.95 or £4.95 for postage and packaging to send it to me. My codename was 'PURPLE LEOPARD'...so, all in all, it WAS the official ACTION FORCE CLUB PACK for 1987 - 88.

The pack consist of several elements that are included in a dark green plastic wallet. The plastic is very thin, so it’s almost sure that only the uncirculated fan packs are still complete and in good conditions, like the one in the picture. This is an extremely rare item.

This wallet can be folded twice, and then closed with a snap button. On the front side, you can see the Action Force logo in silver colour.

The interior of the pack, is a source of surprises… let’s analyse the contents of this great collector’s item.

1.- Membership Card: Just a glossy paper card, in orange colour with the Action Force logo, and place to write down your name, code name and code number

2.- Special Pass: The special pass has two parts, the external part is a blue glossy paper sheet, printed on one side and folded in the middle, to make it look like a real passport. The logo is present, again, in the front, and it presents a little “window” through which you can see the same three lines of the membership card. These three lines are printed in the first side (out of 5). When folded it fits the passport perfectly, but unfolded is obviously 5 times larger. Left to right, the contents of this passport inlay are:

1- ID Details

2- Fotograph

3- Description

4- Combat Skills

5- Service Records

The service records must be used later with the audio-game and the book.

3.- Operation Shut Down (Game): Opeeration Shut Down is a “choose your own adventure” book, but somehow a very sophisticated one. The game consists of:

1- Briefing Cassette:

2- “Choose your own adventure” Book

3- Adventure Game Map

4- Status Sheet and Game Markers

The briefing cassette has the introduction to the story in the book: A communications satellite has fallen in Oxford, destroying many houses and buildings. During the TV news, Cobra Commander interrupts the programme to explain that this catastrophe has been an attack by Cobra, and that they are planning to let fall other satellites in other cities around the world. Flint and his men meet inmediatly and they conclude, that Cobra has a very powerful decoding system, that has allowed them to crack and control all those satellites. Sending them towards the Earth. With this system, they have also unlocked the nukes of the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R. Destro is allied with Cobra Commander. They send two satellites more: the first satellite destroys an island in the Pacific Ocean, but the second one is intercepted by Jady Jaye and Ace in the Skystriker before it hits the ground of Chicago. This upsets the cobra leaders, and they use their supercomputer to follow all the movements of the G.I.Joe team. All G.I.Joe vehicles are shot down, or put out of action. Only Snake Eyes gets to the Cobra Headquarters and stops Cobra Commander before he launches the definitive dooms attack.

Although the plan has been aborted, Destro has robbed one copy of the decoder that may allow him to intercept all secret messages… cool, isn’t it?

Destro must, however, wait 2 or 3 days until he meets Cobra Commander again (he managed to escape, as he always do), that’s the time we have to complete our mission, and so is told by Flint. In the briefing room, Flint shows a recording by Ace describing how is the Cobra fortress he has seen from his Skystriker. Even thought you’re just a new recruit, Flint trusts you and gives you the order to save the planet.

The voices of the different characters are all different, as a curiosity, Snake Eyes does speak! With oriental accent! There’re a lot of sound effects as well, it’s much better than I could have expected.

Note the copyright in the bottom right corner.

The book represents the “mission log”, as stated in its cover. That cover is made of a very thick, matt paper. The book contains 78 pages, and starts at the point in which the cassette ends. As a curiosity, in the book appear many different G.I.Joe vehicles, but only a few heroes and cobra terrorists. Although it’s a game for kids, it is relatively difficult to go through it, because there is only one end in which the mission is accomplished. All the alternative ends are negative, in which your men die from exposure or your jet is down by friendly fire… quite dramatic for 10 year old boys.

To play the game, a little bit of memory is needed. The way through which the story goes depends on what you have done before. Some decisions are not so, but: “if you’re wearing an uniform go to … otherwise …” or “If Alpine is with you, go to … if not, go to…”

As specified in the briefing, the map represents the battlefield, but now is winter and everything is covered by snow. The action starts in Mount Elgon, at the bottom side of the map, and the goal is to reach the Cobra fortress at the upper side of the map. The map is needed to play the game. As if it was a role play, the reader/player receives the status sheet, with markers for the map and for your pass. You may need these objects in your adventure…

4.- Sample Filecards: In the pack are 4 filecards included: Airtight, Alpine, Bazooka and Snake Eyes. These four heroes are the ones that appear in the book, so maybe it’s important to read them and to know which are their skills, in order to accomplish your mission. They have the same size than ordinary filecards, but they are made of glossy paper, just like almost everything else in this pack. The back of these cards is white (not printed). The text in the file cards in exactly the same as in the European cards (not the American). Airtight for example was born in Munich, Alpine in Grenoble and Bazooka in “Minnesota, USA” (instead of “Hibbing, Minnesota”).

5.- Code Breaker MK III: Again a glossy paper sheet with several holes in it, that you can use to write coded messages for your friends, or read those that they have written for you. To make it even more reliable, it can be oriented in four different position to make it more difficult to crack.

6.- Pens and notebook: The marker pens are made by “Platignum”(Made in U.K.). One of them is orange, but when you write over it with the other one (“magic wand”, the ink turns purple. The markers are of good quality.

NOTE: This document was originally written for the G.I.Joe community "Casa Slaughter" by myself, and now traslated to english. Sorry for the bad quality of the pictures. They are retrieved from a pdf, as I did not keep a copy when I wrote this text for the first time.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: Fan Pack
• Toy Line: G.I.Joe (Action Force)
• Year: 1987-1988
• Company: Hasbro (U.S.A.)
• Size: 26x12 cm (26x36 when open)

#45 PILEN – INDRA Ref. M343 (1975)

 SHORT HISTORY OF PILEN

This model was released many times with different reference numbers and decorations. From the Pilen catalogue, I guess it should be one of the most popular, because of its coupé design and pop-up headlamps (as a kid, I always thought this is what makes a car a sports car). There was even a black version, which intended to be Kitt, the Knight Rider, although that version was made many years after this one. Note that the tyres are made of plastic, while body, chassis are made of metal. It has practicable doors, bonnet and trunk.
 

Although the car has been played with, the jewel case is still the original one.
 

By the way, Indra is a model made by the italian car manufacturer Intermechanica in 1973. This company specializes in sport cars and replicas.
 

Pilen is another Spanish toy company from Ibi (Alicante) that was born in the late 60s. The founder was already a toy-maker, and had together with his three male brothers a very successful company, called Clim. Clim is the short form of the surname Climent, and the names of the brothers were José, Ramón, Rafael and Enrique.
 

Enrique was the one who chose to start this new business together with his wife Pilar. He sold all his interest to his brothers, and founded Pilen in 1967. The name of the company comes from the first letters of their names: PIL-EN.
 

Pilen (later also Auto-Pilen) would be one of the best scale cars manufacturers in Spain. Their production quickly oriented to 1:43 scale, a size in which the level of detail is much higher than in 1:64. Their cars are very similar to the ones made by Joal, Guiloy or Mira, and there is evidence, that in some cases, some of these companies shared casts to produce the same models. It is also said about Pilen, that they copied models from Corgi, Politoys and other international companies, which is very probable. I cannot confirm it, because I never had the chance to compare them. 

Curious: most Pilen models have the date of their design in the chassis. This model: 4/75.

It is also said that Pilen purchased a license to produce Dinky models in Spain, although what really happened is that Dinky ceased its production in France in 1972, and the Pilen factory was selected to manufacture Dinky models for the French (and European) markets. Pilen made 26 models between 1976 and 1980, but without any reference to Pilen, except the “Made in Spain” on the chassis, or the “Fabriqué en Espagne” in the boxes.
 

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: INDRA (Ref. M343)
• Scale: 1:43
• Year: 1975
• Company: Pilen (Spain)
• Size: approx. approx. 9-10 cm

#44 HOT WHEELS! PICTURE MAKER /ZEICHENMEISTER (1969)

Although this product was intended for the german and dutch markets, I guess it was also commercialized in many other countries. This kind of drawing sets was very popular before and along the 70s. During the 80s there were some tries, but as far as I can remember, that sets were mostly intended for girls, as they allowed to draw fashionable dresses by combining three parts of a model (head, chest and arms, legs) creating a “unique” look.

This one is intended for boys, as it allows drawing Hot Wheels! cars. Up to 216 models can be drawn by combining 6 patterns. In this next picture, we can see the contents of the box, and a detailed view of the six patterns. These contents are: the Mattel-o-Graf, a set of four crayons, a pen, the six patterns, plus instructions. I guess it was very cheap to produce.

The patterns have three slots in each side to be attached firmly to the Mattel-o-Graf. One of the slots is placed in the middle of the drawing frame, depending if you want to use the upper, central or lower pattern. Previously, you have inserted a sheet of paper under it. Then you can draw the lines with a pencil, and repeat this operation three times. To complete a car, you have to superimpose three patterns: a red, a black and a green one.

To my surprise, the paintigns are great. I tried myself drawing (randomly) a couple of cars, and I was astounded to recognise real Hot Wheels models. I don't know who designed this toy or how, but, it's a great work.

The last page of the instructions show another "Picture Makers" / "Zeichemeister" that were also available at the time: one to design dresses for Barbie (which is also a Mattel product), and another one to make caricatures (see last picture). Unfortunately, these toys are now very rare to see. With the internet there are many possibilities to find images to colour (this tool seems very primitive in comparison to web applications in which you can design virtually an infinite number of figures, changing heads, chests, arms, hands....) I guess children nowadays don't find entertaining to draw using this kind of invention. Or maybe they haven't tried yet...

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: HOTWHEELS! ZEICHENMEISTER 
• Alternate Names: HOTWHEELS! PICTURE MAKER CAR DESIGNER SET
• Year: 1969
• Company: Mattel (U.S.A.)

#43 GOOD TIMES - KULT! Nr. 4 (2/2011)

I discovered this magazine during my holidays last summer. I had to change the flight in Berlin's airport and I visited the newspaper kiosk as usual. There was a magazine that fully captured my attention; I had never seen something like that before, a magazine about pop culture in the 60s, 70s and 80s? I couldn't help but buy it!

I read the magazine during the following week, and I liked it very much. There are articles about toys (that was what captured my attention at the first place), but also about old comic books, cars, TV series and movies, and of course music (the same guys who make this magazine also publish a rock magazine with artist from the past decades). Each article is completely different from the previous one, so it's very amusing to read.

I definitely wished there was more about toys on it, but since it's the only "professional" magazine that dares to talk about toys, I felt I had to write this article. If you're interested in vintage toys, and if you read this blog, you'll probably be interested in vintage cars, or sci-fi characters that come from comics, or even in movies that got to release their main characters as action figures. Everything is in, this is the definitive pop-culture magazine for german speaking countries.

So, if you live in Germany, go and get the last number of this wonder. It costs 6,50 Eur and includes an article about the slot cars Carrera, The Muppets show, Jaguar E-Type, Westerns (movies), Donald Duck comic books and many more. Also worth mentioning, there's a very interesting news section called "news from the past".

If you live in Austria or in Switzerland, you can possible order it in a good book store. I did it like that with the last number, and this one came by itself (in these countries it costs 7,50 Eur and 12,70 CHF).

Some excerpts of the magazine can be read on their website, where you can also order it: http://www.goodtimes-magazin.de/kult.php

Remember: the magazine is written in German and the full name is: "Good Times - Kult!" (blogger does not allow "!" on the title of the entry).

#42 BIG JIM – BOAT ‘N BUGGY SET (1973)

Entry #6 dealt with the motocross Honda, so this is the second time that we deal with this toy line from Mattel. This time, another “sports” vehicle: the Boat ‘n Buggy set.

Released in 1973, this set is a huge blue buggy (it was also released in other sets in yellow), with two seats, steering wheel, and very nice stickers. The car is equipped with a tow-ball (a “tow-bar” actually) in which the boat trailer can be towed.

This trailer is nothing special, is white and has the same wheels that are present in the buggy. It doesn’t have any feature apart from being towed and carrying the boat.

The boat is more interesting, because it’s made of plastic and it floats. It consists of several parts: two seats (thwarts), the engine and two rows that fit two holes at the sides. Although it’s a bit unstable, it can carry up to two figures. The main problem is that the plastic is relatively thin, and it breaks easily.

To complete the set, there are three more accessories: a box to carry fishing apparel, a fishing rod with a rather long thread and a hook, and a big fish. The box can be placed at the back of the buggy, and the rod seems to be missing the handle (I have it somewhere, just didn’t know it was from here, until I saw other pictures today). The fish can also be played in water, because it’s made of the same plastic than those inflatable mattresses we take to the beach.

The box is enormous. The front is printed in colours and presents a very nice illustration in which Big Jim fishes while Big Josh drives the buggy. The back of the box is printed in black and red, and shows a child playing with the figures. One of the sides shows the contents of the box. Unfortunately mine is not in its best shape, but it still looks very nice.

The figure in the pictures is Big Jeff, one of the friends of Big Jim. He’s blond and fits somehow the image that people have of Australians. In the first wave of Big Jim figures (1972) there are surprisingly no villains, just Big Jim and his friends Big Jack, Big Josh and Big Jeff. Chief Tankua was a native American character, that was also friends with Big Jim, and then there was Dr. Steel. He doesn’t seem like a friendly guy, so most children chose him to play villain. In the second wave, it was released as a part of the P.A.C.K., what proves him to be a good guy.

It’s curious, that when it comes to toy figures, children always prefer heroes better than villains. Some collections like this one, started without a villain, to introduce in the second wave of figures Zorak (1976). Zorak did not look like a man, but some green-faced creature.

I recently read, that Hasbro also had that marketing politics in mind when they designed the G.I.Joe: ARAH line. They didn’t want to include any villains on it!. M.A.S.K. (Kenner) is another toy line in which the good guys are much more numerous than the bad guys. Other companies that tried to be fair and made so many villains like heroes, had to correct their politics, and include more heroes in following waves, see for example Dino-Riders (Tyco). It’s an interesting topic to discuss, but this article ends here. Maybe some other time?

Leave me a comment if you wish!

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: Boat & Buggy Set (Ref. 8890)
• Toy Line: Big Jim
• Year: 1973
• Company: Mattel (U.S.A.)
• Size: Buggy approx. 30 cm. Boat approx 35 cm.
• Scale: 1:8