The 15 Greatest Toys of the 70′s

If you were a kid in the 1970′s then you might have some fun remembering some of the games and toys you had. Of course, some of them are still around today, even if in a more modern format. For us “old folks”, this article will allow us to reminisce a bit.

As the 2nd oldest here on Geekcentricity, it pretty much comes down to only Darren and I who can remember these great toys – as we grew up in the era of plaid pants and wide collars. But I hope that for even the youngest of our readers, you’ll see that we had some really cool toys back then.

BIG TRACK

BIG TRAK was a programmable electric vehicle created by Milton Bradley in 1979. It was a six-wheeled tank with a front-mounted blue photon beam headlamp, and a keypad on top. The toy could remember up to 16 commands which it then executed in sequence such as “go forward 5 lengths”, “pause”, “turn 15 minutes right (90 Degrees)”, “fire phaser” and so on. There was a “repeat” instruction allowing simple loop to be performed.

The US and GB/European versions were noticeably different. The US version was moulded in gray plastic and labelled “BIG TRAK” whereas the GB version was white and labelled “bigtrak” with a different keypad.

Bigtrak also included an optional trailer accessory. Once hooked to Bigtrak, this trailer could be programmed to dump its payload.

Stretch Armstrong

Stretch Armstrong was a large, gel-filled action figure first introduced in 1976 by Kenner. Stretch was in the shape of a well-muscled blond man wearing a pair of swimming trunks. Its most notable feature was that the doll could be stretched from its original size (about 15 inches) to four or five feet. However, if a tear did develop it could be fixed with an adhesive bandage. information on how to repair Stretch can be found inside the instruction booklet that was originally inside his box, the original Armstrong figure was held in-place inside his box by two polystyrene inserts he could be placed back inside the box for storage.

Other similar releases were Stretch Monster, a reptilian green nemesis released by Kenner in 1978, Stretch Ollie and Stretch Olivia, male and female octopuses (colored blue and pink, respectively) and, finally Stretch X-Ray from 1977 who had an over-sized exposed brain, alien creature looking face with a transparent form that shows his internal organs.

Battlestar Galactica

The Battlestar Galactica action figure line was released by Mattel in 1978.

There were several types of toys released, the most popular and notorious were the missile-launching toys. Using a similar spring-loaded mechanism of their Shogun Warrior line, Battlestar Galactica’s ships fired tiny red missiles that, as it turns out, tend to get launched into the throats of children.

On December 31, 1978 a four year old boy in Atlanta aimed a Colonial Viper toy into his mouth and launched one of the projectile missiles, inadvertently choking himself to death. On January 11, Mattel issued a recall order for the Viper and three other vehicles. It also issued a missile mail-in for those who had had already purchased a missile-firing version of the toys. In exchange for the little red missiles, Mattel provided a Hot Wheels toys, “for the loss in play value.” Mattel redesigned the vehicle line to have non-firing missiles.

The boy’s death triggered a national outcry to remove projectiles from all toys. On March 23, the boy’s parents sued Mattel. The judge presiding over the case singled out Star Wars space toys as the culprit (which upset Lucas very much.) The controversy had an impact on Kenner’s Star Wars’ toy line, as it delayed the shipment of its Boba Fett figures.

Evel Knievel

In 1973, New York-based Ideal Toys created toys based on Robert “Evel” Knievel – hero to all males of that era.

The Evel Knievel toys started at the entry level Stunt Cycle set which was the bendable Evel Knievel figure (wire framed and bendable) on the stunt cycle (which came with various stickers) and a red revvable device (the energizer) which charged up the friction wheel on the cycle (and other toys) so they zoomed off at a pretty decent speed. It was great for doing jumps over ramps (and other people!). Now, not only could you get the stunt cycle, but there were also other special vehicles available including the dragster, a Strato cycle, and there was also an Evel Knievel Scramble van (which could house a stunt cycle and came with lots of furniture etc.).

If you were between 1-14 in 1974 then you had to have an Evel Knievel toy and this is why they are so collectable today. Ideal also did a range of high quality diecast toys as well, all of which were part of the original Evel Knievel range.

Star Wars

The Kenner toy company produced a line of Star Wars action figures based on characters in the original Star Wars movie trilogy. Over 90 unique action figures were produced and sold from 1978 to 1985, during which time over 300 million Star Wars action figures were sold. Although the original Star Wars film had been released in May 1977, Kenner were unprepared for the unprecedented response to the film and the high demand for toys. Therefore, they missed the lucrative Christmas market, but instead sold an “Early Bird Certificate Package” (informally known as the Empty Box promotion) which included a certificate which could be mailed to Kenner and redeemed for four Star Wars action figures as soon as they were released in early 1978.

Mego

Starting in 1971, under the direction of  Martin “Marty” Abrams, Mego began purchasing license rights to a variety of successful motion pictures, television programs, and comic books, and started producing lines for Planet of the Apes, Star Trek, and the Wizard of Oz. Mego used various licensed Marvel and DC superhero characters to create their World’s Greatest Superhero line, which became their most successful toy line. They also produced an original character, Action Jackson, an unsuccessful competitor of Hasbro’s G.I. Joe.

The secret of Mego’s success was that their action figures were constructed with interchangeable heads. Generic bodies could be mass produced and different figures created by interposing different heads and costumes on them. Mego also constructed their figures primarily in an 8-inch (200 mm) scale – setting an industry standard in the 1970s.

Micronauts

Micronauts is the North American name for the Microman toy line created by Japanese toy company Takara (later absorbed by TOMY). First released in Japan in 1974, Microman toys were imported to the United States by the Mego Corporation in 1976 under the “Micronauts” name. The line consisted of 3.75-inch tall action figures, vehicles, robots, play sets, and accessories which used a universal, five millimeter inter-connective design.

The Micronauts also had an extremely popular and long-running comic that was based on the toyline.

Although deemed a success, Mego cancelled the Micronauts line in 1980.

Rom

Rom The Space Knight was a toy co-created by Bing McCoy and Richard Levy. It was sold to Parker Brothers, and was the inspiration for the comic book series. The toy was originally called COBOL (after the programming language), which was later changed to “Rom” (after ROM, read-only memory) by Parker Brothers executives.The toy set a precedent for the game publishing company, which up until that time had only ever produced board games. As this was a new venture for the company and given that electronic toys were still very new, a decision was made to produce the figure as cheaply as possible. As a result, the final product had very few points of articulation, and twin red LEDs served as Rom’s eyes instead of the originally envisioned green, which were more expensive to produce. Not long after its debut, Rom appeared in the corner box of the cover of Time magazine’s December 10, 1979 issue. It was also featured in the interior article, “Those Beeping, Thinking Toys”, which decried Rom’s lack of articulation and predicted it would “end up among the dust balls under the playroom sofa.”

To build interest in the toy, Parker Brothers licensed the character to Marvel Comics which created a comic book featuring Rom. The comic expanded on the premise that Rom was a cyborg and gave him an origin, personality, set of supporting characters and villains, as well as interaction within the Marvel Universe. The comic was written by Bill Mantlo and initially illustrated by artist Sal Buscema.

Ultimately, the toy failed and only sold 200,000 to 300,000 units in the US, with creator McCoy blaming the failure on poor packaging and marketing. Parker Brothers subsequently abandoned the line and returned to manufacturing board games.

Regardless and with some irony, the comic book outlasted the toy which it was created to support. The series lasted for 75 issues over a seven year period, with Rom’s regular encounters with mainstream heroes and villains establishing him as part of Marvel continuity.

Shogun Warriors

The Shogun Warriors were the central characters of a line of toys licensed by Mattel Inc. during the late 1970s that consisted of a series of imported Japanese robots based on the then popular anime shows featuring giant robots. Originally manufactured in three sizes: the 24-inch plastic versions, the 3.5-inch diecast metal versions and the slightly taller but much more detailed and articulated 5″ diecast versions, several vehicles were also offered as well as a set that could be put together to form the super robot Combattra.

Like certain other toy lines of the 1970s, the Shogun Warriors came under pressure over safety concerns regarding their spring-loaded weapons. It was feared that children might launch the weapons and hit other children or pets in the eye. There was also a risk that children might swallow the small plastic missiles and other parts. Toy manufacturers then faced new regulations due to reported injuries received as a result of playing with these toys. Consequently, many toy companies were forced to remodel existing toy lines with child-safe variations (such as spring loaded “action” missiles that would remain attached to the toy). For this reason, as well as declining sales, the Shogun Warrior line had disappeared by 1980.

The Six Million Dollar Man

The 12-inch tall Steve Austin action figure marketed by Kenner in the mid-1970s was particularly popular and intact Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman toys continue to attract premium prices on the collector’s market. Besides the lead characters, 12-inch scale action figures were also produced of Oscar Goldman, equipped with an “exploding” briefcase similar to the type used by James Bond in From Russia with Love, “Maskatron,” an android character based upon a robot duplicate of one of Austin’s friends, a Major Fred Sloan (both Sloan and his robot double were played by John Saxon in several episodes), aFembot (from a Bionic Woman episode) and the recurring character of Bigfoot (the Bigfoot doll was more than 12 inches high). Associated merchandise for use with the action figures included a rocketship that could transform into a bionic repair station, an inflatable command base, auxiliary bionic arms (critical assignment arms) with different features (such as one that included a flashlight), auxiliary bionic legs (critical assignment legs) with different features.

Fully intact Steve Austin action figures are rare. The bionic right arms of the dolls/action figures were covered in an elastic, skin-like material that was intended to be rolled back to reveal bionic modules underneath, and this material tended to deteriorate over time. Early versions of the arms also included removable bionic modules that could be easily lost; later versions of the action figured included modules that could not be removed.

Star Bird

Star Bird is a plastic-bodied, electronic handheld toy that was produced by MB Electronics from 1979 until ca. 1981. It was developed by Bing McCoy (who designed a number of successful toys in the late 70′s including Electronic Battleship and Rom).

The Star Bird manual describes it as “THE AMAZING SPACESHIP with realistic engine sounds and flashing laser blasts”. The toy was constructed in three main pieces: the front inner hull which held the electronics and front lasers, the front outer hull (a thin plastic shell over the inner hull), the main body consisting of the center stalk like section and wings. A molded plastic engine piece fitted into the rear of the main body and was removable. The toy is only used in three configurations: the Star Bird which consists of all available pieces, the Star Bird Fighter which is mostly only the front hull attached to the bare engine piece, and the Star Bird Orbiter which is the main body without the front outer hull. When turned on the Star Bird mimics an engine sound. If the toy is pointed upwards the sound would be altered by a ball bearing switch to imply a doppler effect acceleration or taking-off, while a nose down orientation gives the sound of decelerating engines. A button at the rear of the cockpit activates the LEDs at the front of the toy, along with a blast noise, to simulate the firing of its lasers. The button was designed to be pressed by the thumb while the ship was held by the main body or engine piece (in “dragster” configuration). Two simple, detachable drone-like “Interceptors” are provided at the end of each wing. Star Bird also had a rotating laser turret which doubled as an escape-pod/orbiter-type ship.

Suckerman

Mattel released this odd little toy known as Suckerman in the late ’70s. He was basically an 11-inch picce of rubber with the face of a devil and long arms covered in suction cups.You played with Suckerman by throwing him against smooth surfaces and watching him stick. That was it, nothing else.

Suckerman was available in 3 colors (red,black and green) as well as a glow in the dark version. He was packaged in boxes and on cards.

Super Jock

Super Jock was a notable toy released by Schaper in 1976. It featured various action figures playing sports of the day including basketball, hockey, baseball, football and soccer. Slamming (yes – slamming – toys from the 70′s were sturdy) down on the toy’s head caused it to either kick/throw/hit a ball or puck.

He was released in Europe under the name Super Toe – and we had very impressive soccer sets with country-specific uniforms!

VertiBird

VertiBird was the name of a line of toy helicopter products made by Mattel from 1971 and continuing into the early 1980s.

The VertiBird helicopter flies around a central base containing an electric motor, spring lift assist, pitch control, batteries, and a throttle. A 21-inch arm with pitch control rod and thespindle that transfers the power to helicopter via drive springs and drive rod, is connected from the central base to the helicopter.

The original VertiBird playset has a space theme appropriate for the space age attitude of the 1970s. The first set was reminiscent of the Project Mercury program. Later versions of the VertiBird would continue to revisit the space theme as well as other popular television and movie themes of the 1970s and early 1980s time frames.

Weebles

Weebles is a trademark for several lines of children’s roly-poly toys originating in Hasbro’s Playskool division on July 23, 1971. Shaped like eggs with a weight at the fat, or bottom end, they wobble when pushed, but never fall completely over, hence the name and the slogan “weebles wobble, but they don’t fall down.”

Numerous playsets were made and marketed in the USA throughout the 1970′s including a Haunted House (which was the greatest thing ever), Western Theme Set, Weekender, Circus, Mickey Mouse Playset and others. Playsets did come with certain figures. Figures could also be purchased separately.

In closing – if you liked this article, you may also enjoy The 25 Greatest Action Figures of the 80′s article I wrote last month.