strange, weird toy

Do you ever remember toys you had when you were really small?

I grew up in the late sixties, and had a set of plastic space aliens...one in particular I rememeber: He was purple and had an elephant's trunk instead of a nose, and he was wearing a space suit and bubble helmet...

Does this ring a bell with anyone? Anyone know if it was from a TV show?

And, one more trivial question: There was a sci-fi series that ran in the 70's, about some people trapped in a giant spaceship that had "habitats"..each room or section was wierder then the next, and the show seemed to be about these people's exploration of this endlessley huge space ship...trying to find a way out....

I have discussed this with several people, and no one seems to know....I bet there is a TC person who can solve this puzzle for me!

[ Edited by: martiki on 2004-07-20 10:55 ]

That sounds like the science fiction movie "Cube" but the inhabitants were kind of abducted into an alien or government experiment and maze.

Good luck with your search! Someone is bound to know.

Hey Mick,

Do you think you might have owned one or more of these?:
http://members.cox.net/colorformsouterspacemen/

The Colorforms "Outer Space Men" were bendable plastic figures that came with removable helmets, wings, and weapons. Although the one with a tentacle nose never came with a helmet - that's why I'm not sure these are correct.

These are some of the most highly collectible toys out there, and the holy-grail for us garage-salers. I once found the tiny "Alpha 7" martian figure, with no helmet or weapon, and with broken wires in his arms and legs, yet still managed to sell him on E-bay for near a hundred dollars.

There are even people making replacement parts for these rare figures:
http://home.interhop.net/grwalker/cgi-bin/cfamain.htm

What do ya think? Do they look familiar?

Sabu

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy on 2004-07-15 17:23 ]

Speaking of favorite lost toys from childhood...

This was my favorite toy in the world - The Red Raven "Movie Records".
http://www.shellac.org/wams/wraven1.html

A set of these records and the mirrored carousel which sets on top were given to me by my grandmother in the 1960s. I forgot the name of the manufacturer long ago and it took me years to discover them again on E-bay and the internet. I'm saving up to buy a set again.

When you placed the mirror device on the record, the tiny pictures seemed to animate right before your eyes in time with the music. A little red raven would always appear somewhere in the animation. I would play these for hours and hours.

What other favorite toys do TC members remember from childhood?

Sabu

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy on 2004-07-15 18:11 ]

I loved the optical toys, like Viewmaster. I still collect the reels whenever the opportunity comes along.

I would also like to find one of them Fisher Price Movie Viewers. You know the ones right? You'd put a big yellow cartridge in 'em?

Okay, as far as I know, I was delusional, because noone remembers this cartoon; "Dodo the Kid from Outerspace."

Can anyone back me up here?

Okay, as far as I know, I was delusional, because noone remembers this cartoon; "Dodo the Kid from Outerspace."

Can anyone back me up here?

Tiki Mick, you're outta the fuc*#^ band dude... This thread is lame!

Raffertiki,

I personally don't remember "Dodo, The Kid From Outerspace", but here's a website devoted to him:
http://www.toontracker.com/dodo/dodo.htm

Personally, I remember "Tom Terrific"

Sabu

Mick, I remember that series, I thought I was the only person who did! I remember watching with my father & he denies ever knowing what it was, let alone seeing it!

I seem to remember that there were 2 boys or very young men & a girl, that there was some kind of (three lensed?) device watching them, and they were seeking the control room? I remember that each week they'd escape the habitat they were in, solving some problem or riddle, or just escaping some danger, only to find themselves in another dangerous situation in the next habitat and you'd have to wait 'til the next show to find out what happened.

My Favorite '60s SciFi toy was the Major Matt Mason toy set. I Had Matt, Sgt. Storm, & Callisto:

I dreamed of being able to own the Space Crawler & the Space Station.

Oh man, I remember having all these toys, with the exception of that animation record thing.

Sabu, Slacks, and Freddie, thanks for postin the pics, I took a pleasant little trip to kidsville. I played with all those dolls, er I mean action figures, for hours.

Dr. Freddie- That squeezie ray gun the alien fella had in the Matt Mason toy set was too cool. His transparent green butt head was a nice touch too.
As I recall the helmets never stayed on.

Not as cool as the sci-fi toys but fun nonetheless, Who remembers:

Chongolio

On 2004-07-15 20:00, Slacks Ferret wrote:
Fisher Price Movie Viewers. You know the ones right? You'd put a big yellow cartridge in 'em?

I just dug mine outta storage! I only had the one cart that came with it, but it was strange because it had the wrong label on the cart. Mickey and the Giant, instead of Mickey meets the Ghosts, or something like that.

I always loveD the Micronauts toys from the 70's. I even have a very lame, 5-year-old website devoted to them...full of broken links, "under construction" messages and overcompressed jpegs. Don't laugh too hard!

Patrick McNeal,
Lurker Extraordinaire

[ Edited by: Biotron2000 on 2004-07-16 23:48 ]

On 2004-07-15 16:43, tiki mick wrote:

And, one more trivial question: There was a sci-fi series that ran in the 70's, about some people trapped in a giant spaceship that had "habitats"..each room or section was wierder then the next, and the show seemed to be about these people's exploration of this endlessley huge space ship...trying to find a way out....

this is answered by my husband: who had all but one of the toys that Sabu posted

The TV series was (I suspect) "The Starlost", created by Harlan Ellison (who disowned it and made them use the pseudonym "Cordwainer Bird" for his credit, as I recall), produced by Douglas Trumball and starring Keir Dullea. Produced in Canada on a shoestring budget and lasted only one season, fall '73 to spring '74. It was a clever idea but very quickly fell victim to repetitivenes even in the short time it was on the air.

Man Sabu,
That picture has like a hypnotizing effect to it.
No wonder you were trippin on that toy.

Oh ya, one more thing.
Ya got this babes number?

Here ya go, Unga. A few more records to hypnotize you:


http://archive.wfmu.org/ramgen/archive/FL/tug.ra

And remember what I said about those Colorforms Outer Space Men being super collectible? Check out this entire mint set on Ebay right now, with over 2 days left to the auction:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=733&item=5909488680&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

As far as the babe... I'll explain more about her on Monday.

'Night, Unga.

Fantastic! Why did I KNOW that you people would solve the mystery for me!

My memory was a bit wrong Sabu..the space bubble was one of the other ones, but those ARE them! I had the entire set!!!!!

And the TV series was only one season..that's the one!

Thanks guys!!!

The Starlost
The incredible adventure of a giant spacecraft carrying the survivors of a dead planet Earth on the most critical mission ever launched by man. An endless journey across the universe in serach of a new world. Earthship Ark -- hundreds of miles long. A mammoth cluster of metal domes...each a separate community isolated from the others. In the countless generations that have lived and died since the launching of the Ark, everyone has forgotten the Earth ever existed, forgotten the reason for their journey. Unaware that they are streaking through the heavens in a man-made world. 1973. 16 color episodes

Getting dizzy... sleeeepy.... must rest..... head spinning.

Does anyone remember:
*Hugo Man of Disguise Puppet
*Ding-a-ling robots
*Creepy people maker
*Shrunkin apple heads
*Upsy Downsy’s

The fun of dangerous toys…

Ok - some great stuff here!
Since I was born in 1970 - my stuff is a little beyond what you guys are talking about (although my brother & I inherited a really nice collection of Matt Mason toys - all the figures, accessories, the space station, crawler, etc - even had the original boxes! What did my brother do? Set 'em on fire in the backyard, of course...)

So - in no particular order....

This thing was the king of the neighborhood - it kicked the Big Wheels ass! We'd take it to the top of the hill on my street & do "burn-outs/donuts" when we hit the bottom by locking the brakes... My shitty neighbor tried to steal it from me by painting his name on the back of it... I'd love to have this (the original one - not the reissue) again in it's box...

I love this cruddy toy! A glorified 8-track tape player that tells you awful jokes, and takes you on time-travelling adventures. Kinda like an electronic Choose-your-own-adventure!

Still want this one - a friend of mine had it & I was pretty damn jealous. I still love that "ewwwwwwwwww" noise it made.


Oh man - this thing takes like 8 D batteries. Attacks the smaller sized '70s G.I. Joe, until he points the flashlight on his chest at it.... Noisy as all get out!

We'd get these at the local market - Squirmel! A cheesy little "magic worm" on a piece of fishing wire. Always tried to make it look alive - still looking for an old example of this guy too!

I know I have more - but that's enough for now...

Anyone else have a sibling destroy their toys once they got their grubby little mitts on them?

"Oh mystic powers - hear my call...
From my limbs, let new life fall..."
http://www.christophermerritt.com

[ Edited by: Tangaroa on 2004-07-20 09:12 ]

Oh man, The Green Machine!

I had a Big Wheel, which I can assure you was no slouch at donuts and hard braking, but it's true, the kid down the street with The Green Machine was the neighborhood god. Those things were cool as hell!

I think i still have my Squirmy-worm on a string thing somewhere. I'll have to look. I thought it was pretty hip.

Best story of toy destruction: My parents installed a huge new deck out back in 1984. Me and my friend Devin were bored one day, and thought "Let's get the axe from the woodshed and chop up the deck!" (what can I say? not too bright) So we took a few whacks at the deck, just made little notches in it really, when my mom came out and found us. I have never before or since seen her so angry. It was a kind of quiet quivering, with veins popping out in her forehead. She quietly walked up to Devin, who was 10 or 11 and said, "You need to go home right now before I hurt you." He ran out of the yard in tears. I was sent to my room to await my punishment. I clutched my pillow and shook in terror waiting for her to come in. Suddenly the door flew open and she stormed in brandishing the axe. I thought for sure she was going to cut me to pieces. But she said, in total Mommie Dearest fashion, "How would you like it if I did that to some thing of yours?!?!?" And she then went into my toy box, started throwing things around, and re-emerged with my good friend, legendary bounty hunter IG-88 from The Empire Strikes Back. And yes, before my very eyes, she put him on the floor and chopped him into about 20 pieces with the axe.

That was good for about five or six sessions of therapy right there. Anyway, we laugh about it now, but when I got married in 2001, she went out to buy my a replacement IG-88 as a wedding present and was floored by how much they cost, so she didn't. I'd told her for years that she cut up just about the most collectable SW figure out there, but she didn't believe me until she saw it for herself.

This reminds me...she just got a new deck. Hmm... :wink:

Oh man! That soooooo beats my Mom threatening to shred in the garbage disposal any more "Dungeons and Dragons" books we brought home.
The reason? They're satantic, obviously. But hey - when your parents think the T.V. show Bewitched is satanic, that's not too far to go...

"Oh mystic powers - hear my call...
From my limbs, let new life fall..."
http://www.christophermerritt.com

[ Edited by: Tangaroa on 2004-07-20 12:15 ]

Martiki - That's a pretty horrifying story! But it's your own damn fault, bonehead! (taking an axe to your mom's new deck. he-he).

Tangaroa - My mom threatened to do the same to my Dungeons and Dragons books for the same reasons. I'm glad I wasn't the only one. Thanks for the pic of the Squirmel! I forgot about those.

Here are a few more of my favorite childhood toys:

This train set was amazing! You would build a song with different colored metal xylophone tracks. Each color was a different note. The battery-operated train had a small hammer underneath that would strike the notes as it rode over the track, playing a song. This toy wouldn't fly nowadays, as the metal xylophone pieces were sharp and would cut your feet if you stepped on them, (I know from experience). Too bad. They don't make as many intelligent toys anymore.

One of my all-time favorites was my Mattel Thingmaker and my hundreds of molds. We had a friend who was a VP at Mattel and would bring me boxes of brand new plastigoop bottles for free whenever I ran out.

Fisher Price Junior Circus Set:

Cardboard Bricks - Hours of safe fun. Build fortresses and knock-em-down. I probably had 50 or more of these stacked in a corner of my room.

Does anyone remember the "SSP" racers with their "T-stick" pull-cords?


And the SSP Smash-up-Derby?

The Wheelo:

And Pop-Beads (These were my sisters', but I thought they were kind of cool too).

Sabu

Chongolio - I had a Shaker Maker set as well, but the Disney characters, not the Bugglies.

Mick - Do you think you can dig up any of your old Colorforms Outer Space Men? Look what the set on Ebay just sold for:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=733&item=5909488680&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

Sabu

Unga - As far as the babe on my logo goes:

I tried to buy this vintage magazine from the 1920s on Ebay, but the price got obscene, (I think it sold between $100 and $200). So to console myself, I stole the Ebay photo and doctored it.

I'd still love to frame the whole cover, though and hang it in my bar.

Sabu

OK - you've all opened up a can of worms...! (then when your back is turned, all those worms climb on up on top of each other & form one big worm! And kill you with it's worm-like voracity...)
Sorry - a little David Cross joke there...

Sabu - The Wheelo! Holy crap - I haven't seen that in years...

Winnie-the-Pooh "Weebles" Treehouse... That damn tree always got stuck...

Also had the Fisher Price "Little People" Sesame Street playset...

My brother had Stretch Armstrong - eventually we got bored with him, and cut him open. Bright red jelly oozed out, which turned rock hard the next day.

We ALL had these on our bikes (along with the obligatory playing cards in the spokes) - made a great obnoxious motorcycle sound...

But the toy I wanted worst of all, was the Evil Knievel "Skull Canyon" Playset, to go along with my Stunt Cycle. I was given enough money from a relative to buy it for my birthday. But once we got to JC Penney, I was talked out of it by my parents (because the skulls were - you guessed it, satanic), and forced to instead buy...

this.

Damn.

"Oh mystic powers - hear my call...
From my limbs, let new life fall..."
http://www.christophermerritt.com

[ Edited by: Tangaroa on 2004-07-20 13:47 ]

Tangaroa, Martiki and Sabu....I am totally in awe from you guys!!!!

Looking at these things was like a rare but real glimpse into my own past!!! Toys I either had or badly wanted!!!!

The circus train I still have, as well as the sesame street "street scene"..saving them for my own kids if I ever hatch them...

I can't thank you enough for making me smile like a 5 year old again!!!

Actually, I do wish I still had the Circus Train. All perished in the great parental cleansing of 1990 (the year I went away to college)....

I had the sesame street playset as well. I loved the trash can with the built-in Oscar The Grouch.

On 2004-07-20 13:03, Sabu The Coconut Boy wrote:
Unga - As far as the babe on my logo goes:

I tried to buy this vintage magazine from the 1920s on Ebay, but the price got obscene, (I think it sold between $100 and $200). So to console myself, I stole the Ebay photo and doctored it.
I'd still love to frame the whole cover, though and hang it in my bar.
Sabu

Thanks for the story Sabu.
She is a cutie.