Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Godzilla Shogun Warrior Mattel 1979

Here is another toy that was snagged at our local flea market, Godzilla. The Shogun Warriors were the central characters of a line of toys licensed by Mattel Inc. during the late 1970s that included Godzilla. The Godzilla figure stood at 19 1/2" tall, had wheels on his feet, a flashing tongue with pretend "flame" and claw that could be launched.


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Frankenstein Halloween Costume By Ben Cooper

Ben Cooper, Inc. manufactured Halloween costumes from the late 1930s to the late 1980s. It was one of the three largest Halloween costume manufacturers in the U.S. from the 1950s through the mid-1980s. The company's inexpensive plastic masks and vinyl smocks were an iconic American symbol of Halloween from the 1950s to the 1970s.

I remember having a new one of these each year. I remember the Frankenstein the most out of all the costumes. I remember looking back through all the costumes online while researching all the 70's style Halloween costumes. I also remembering how hot these masks were back then. It was visit a house and lift the mask, visit a house, lift the mask. I also remember how fun it was to see your friends and not be able to recongize who they were. Halloween used to be pure and simple. I used to love Halloween when I was a kid.

Funstuf Frankenstein 1978-79

I bought this one from the flea market. It did not come with the box or the labortory table, just Frankenstein. His head and arms glowed in the dark. I do not recall what ever happened to him.

Funstuf Dracula 1979

So, when I was growing up, things were so much different. There were all sorts of stores back then that were borderline thrift stores. Some were called 5 & 10 stores, meaning you could get stuff for 5 cents or 10 cents in certain areas of the store, some called them clearance items. I remember the neighbor across the street opened one in the old store beside his house. It was called the 5 & 10 store, it looked like a collection of junk pulled from their house next door.

But it was a neat because we would wrangle up change, all the neighborhood kids and run across the street to see what treasures we could find. I remember collecting a few rare odds and ends. The first one was a Dracula figure, it was missing in his cape, his face and hand would glow in the dark. I lost it out until many years later, my father was cleaning up under the house and discovered it buried in the dirt. One or two things could have happened to it, a friend threw it under there or one of our many dogs did it. But it was a great treasure to see again.

I did research on it and came up with the company name and year it was made. The company was called Funstuf and the year it came out was 1979. Mine was missing the cape and coffin when I bought it and it was only dime.



This is the original Dracula with the actual box when it was new, this is not a picture from the one I own.

The Six Million Dollar Man Vs The Bionic Woman (The Toys)



The Six Million Dollar Man Vs The Bionic Woman

The Six Million Dollar Man is an American television series about a former astronaut with bionic implants working for the OSI (which was usually referred to as the Office of Scientific Intelligence, the Office of Scientific Investigation or the Office of Strategic Intelligence  It aired on the ABC network as a regular series from 1974 to 1978, following three television movies aired in 1973. The title role of Steve Austin was played by Lee Majors, who subsequently became a pop culture icon of the 1970s. A spin-off of the show was produced, The Bionic Woman, as well as several television movies featuring both eponymous characters.


Jaime Sommers played by Lindsay Wagner became "The Bionic Woman", Jaime was critically injured in a skydiving accident and, at Steve's request due to his love for her, was equipped with bionic implants similar to his own (with the exception of his bionic eye, as Jaime was equipped with a bionic ear instead). Unfortunately, Jaime's body rejected her new bionics which ultimately lead to her death.


I watched both of these shows. There was even action figures of both of these characters. I remember not buying them new but from a flea market. I even owned the Bigfoot character, from "The Secret of Bigfoot" episodes. I barely recall the bigfoot character from the show but I do recall owning the figure.