by Yasmin | Dec 6, 2012 | 1970s, Christmas, Toys
The Mighty Mo was brought to us by the Ideal Toy Company which was founded as Ideal Novelty and Toy Company in New York in 1907 by Morris and Rose Michtom after they had invented the Teddy bear in 1903. The company changed its name to Ideal Toy Company in 1938. In 1982, the company was sold to CBS Toy Company, which in turn sold Ideal to Viewmaster International in 1987, which renamed itself to View-Master Ideal in the process. View-Master Ideal was later bought by Tyco Toys, Inc. of Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, upon its purchase of View-Master Ideal. The Ideal line remained part of Tyco until Tyco’s merger with Mattel, Inc., in 1997.
Info gleaned from Wikipedia
by Yasmin | Sep 18, 2012 | 1970s, Toys
Baby Alive is a baby doll made by Hasbro that eats, drinks, wets and in some cases messes. Its mouth moves and is supposed to be lifelike, as the brand name suggests. It was originally made and introduced byKenner in 1973, and reintroduced by Hasbro in 2006. Today, Baby Alive is offered in Caucasian, African-American, and Hispanic varieties. The newest versions include Wets & Wiggles (male or female), Sip ‘N Slurp, Sip N Snooze, Pat N Burp, Baby Alive learns to potty, and baby go bye-bye.
Info gleaned from Wikipedia
by Yasmin | Jul 11, 2012 | 1980s, Toys
Total Control Racing (TCR) was a toy brand from Ideal which debuted in the late 1970s, similar to slot car sets, with approximately HO scale cars (and smaller scale semi-trailer trucks) that operated on a slotless track.
Info gleaned from Wikipedia
by Yasmin | Jul 11, 2012 | 1980s, Christmas, Electrical, Toys
The Speak & Spell line is a series of electronic handheld educational toys created by Texas Instruments that consist of a speech synthesizer, a keyboard, and a receptor slot to receive one of a collection of ROM game library modules (collectively covered under patent US 3934233). The first Speak & Spell was introduced at the summer Consumer Electronics Show in June 1978, making it one of the earliest handheld electronic devices with a visual display to use interchangeable game cartridges.
Info gleaned from Wikipedia
by Yasmin | Jul 5, 2012 | 1980s, Christmas, Toys
Eddie Kidd OBE (born 22 June 1959, Islington, London) is an English stunt performer best known for his motorcycle jumps. On 15 June 2012, it was announced that Eddie Kidd had been made an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.
Kidd started his career at the age of fourteen. He is the holder of many world records for jumping over cars and buses. He has worked as a stunt double in many films notably for Timothy Dalton in The Living Daylights, Roger Moore and Michael Caine in Bullseye!, and Pierce Brosnan in GoldenEye. One of his most famous motorcycle stunts was in the 1979 film Hanover Street starring Harrison Ford. Doubling for Ford on a motorbike, he jumped a 120 feet (37 m) railway cutting at 90 miles per hour (140 km/h) in Shepton Mallet, Somerset.
In his role as stunt biker Dave Munday in the 1979 film Riding High, Kidd performed a motorcycle jump across an 80 feet gap in a disused viaduct across the Blackwater River in Essex.
In 1993 Kidd jumped over the Great Wall of China on a motorcycle.
Despite performing over 10,000 jumps in his career, he did not have a UK motorcycle licence until 1995.
Info gleaned from Wikipedia
by Yasmin | Jul 5, 2012 | 1980s, Toys
Action Man is an action figure boys’ toy launched in Britain in 1966 by Palitoy as a licensed copy of Hasbro’s American “moveable fighting man”: G.I. Joe.
Action Man was originally produced and sold in the United Kingdom and Australia by Palitoy Ltd of Coalville, Leicestershire from 1966 until 1984 (Palitoy also offered sub-licenses to various toy manufacturers in various markets).
The figure and accessories were originally based on the Hasbro (US) 1964 G.I. Joe figure (for 1966–1969 production). Hasbro’s G.I. Joe figure was patented in 1966[1] Even the specific method of attaching the appendages was patented as a “Connection For Use In Toy Figures” [2] The first Action Man figures were Action Soldier, Action Sailor and Action Pilot. All were available in the four original hair colours: Blonde, Auburn, Brown and Black. They were accompanied by outfits depicting United States Forces of WWII and the Korean War. In later years, the figures and accompanying uniforms and accessories would more accurately reflect the forces of the United Kingdom. Action Man was subsequently reintroduced in 1993, based on the G.I. Joe Hall of Fame figure of that time.
Info gleaned from Wikipedia
