The seventeenth seal of the Roboplastic Apocalypse snaps like so many people's limbs on the day after Thanksgiving as they get trampled by rabid mobs of toy robots seeking shoppers! Thrill to the adventures of the Nostrodomatron as I travel back in time to black Friday 198X in my insatiable quest to expose shopping season mysteries like why advertising Transformers in December of '84 was a recipe for broken bones and whether or not GoBots controlled the media. Plus a trip to a local comic book store to look at old toy robots (but not buy them) and discussion of the two greatest toy robots newspaper ads ever. It's DARK OF THE SATURDAY in the Kingdom Roboplastico and you're invited! (All you have to do is wake up early 26 years ago.)
Or download it directly
Circus World 28 November-The best ad of '84... | ...because of the back page! |
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SHOW NOTES OF THE PODCASTALYPSE
Toys R Us 06 November 1985-The best ad ever!
- Opening poem-"The Roboplastic Podcastalypse" (Fort Lauderdaliens version)
- Toy Planet is the coolest store IN THE UNIVEEEEEERSE
- Some guys go to Tate's
- Somewhere a Snarf fan wonders why nobody's buying Grendizers
- The seven pound Luchadoratron
- Some guys talk about Shogun Warriors
- Mr. Big's Toyland
- Salute to Katherine Van Hart
- No toystores for old robots
- OH GOD IT WAS A PLAYWORLD ROBOTRONS COMMERCIAL (pause it at 1:47 and look under the He-Mans)
- Plus the greatest toy robots newspaper ads runners up ever...
- Honorable mention #1-Robinsons 30 November 1984
- Honorable mention #2-Zayre 14 October 1984
4 comments:
Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like a few dozen mechanoids who want nothing more than to tear your face off. Ah, sweet memories.
There is no greater love than to die for a 20% off toy robots sale in 1984.
I can't even begin to count the number of times that I've driven the 25 miles out of town to the Mega Flea Market so that I could go to this one shop there that has a ton of 80s toys. None of my comic shops in the area have old toys (or really any toys except for some stray 90s era McFarlane Spawn stuff). I agree that a reason is probably to feel like it's 86 or 84 again. Just seeing a shelf full of Bravestarr stuff int eh package or Go Bots on the pegs does some crazy stuff to my brain.
It's why I went bonkers for those recent G.I. Joe revamp figures in the past few years, because the packaging was so similar to the original stuff it made me want to walk down the toy aisles of my local Target because I felt like a kid again.
It's funny, when I make the trek out to the Flea Market store they have a bunch of vintage carded/boxed Star Wars, G.I. Joe, Transformers, and He-Man stuff, but every time I finally pull the trigger and put some hard earned bucks on the counter it's to pick up the off Starriors or Robo Force figure. The nice proprietor just gives me the strangest looks like I'm an vintage toy moron who doesn't realize that those aren't the "valuable toys", but I digress (and I'm getting off topic.)
It might be futile to make the trek to just ogle the vintage robos hoping it'll put you back in time, but it sure feels good for a bit. As for drooling over stuff you don't care for, it reminds me that until listening to your auction commentary episode I hadn't thought about Air Raiders for roughly 23 years. But yesterday I was looking 'em up on the ebays hopeing for some cheap Air Raider love (though much like you I only had one AR toy back in the day and quickly rid myself of it on the neighborhood black market.) Hell, the thought of getting a chance to read that script for the un-aired pilot episode is making me drool. Sigh. What a life...
Yeah, I agree. Life is pretty awesome when you can appreciate things outside of the mainstream, but it's always a double edged sword. On one hand when what you like is mostly ignored by the masses, supply and demand economics don't apply so you can score stuff that you know is special on the cheap. But on the other hand, since nobody cares about what you like, it is harder to find because of the perceived lack of mainstream interest. Rare are the sellers who put up items they know don't have massive mainstream appeal. But I guess that's our job as fans of Robo Force and the other forgotten lines to show flea market vendors and comic book shops that there is indeed a demand for non-Hasbro robots.
How great it must have been to be a die hard Air Raider fan and see that Ron Friedman stuff come up. It's like winning the cosmic Air Raider fan lottery. Not only were the items incredible from that fandom's perspective but knowing that you wouldn't have to blow several thousands of dollars to own it like the Transformers items muct have been great, too.
It is nice to have a little oasis of 80s toys in your own backyard. Stores with a selection of obscure toy robots from 25 years ago are one of the benefits of living in large metropolitan areas. I've always felt that I'm not living in America if I can't walk into a retail store and buy a Darth Vader or find a comic shop selling old GoBots. Stuff like that is as much of a quality of life issue to me as low taxes and clean water.
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