Vintage Toy Ads – Poe Ghostal's Points of Articulation

Masters of the Universe The Power of He-Man Video Game

On May 29, 2012

While reading through the entire run of the 1980s Vigilante comic (don’t ask…), I came across the ad below on a back cover. Now, as I kid my family actually owned an Intellivision, so given my love of He-Man it’s unclear to me why we never owned this particular title. I’ll have to have a talk with the Parents Poe.

The video contains what appears to be an entire playthrough of the game. You repeatedly switch between shooting stuff in the Wind Raider and fighting walking fireballs thrown by Skeletor until you reach him and have a brief sword fight. He runs away and you hop back into the Wind Raider. Repeat ad nauseam and you have Masters of the Universe The Power of He-Man Video Game.

Vintage Toy Ads > Spawn (1994)

By Poe

On November 17, 2011

In Videos, Vintage Toy Ads

Funny to think that Spawn, which never had a kids’ cartoon* and was a very adult-oriented comic book featuring lots of murder, death, and dark religious imagery, had ads for toys on daytime kids’ television. Loving the Malebolgia cameo.

* But of course it did have an adult-oriented HBO animated series.

Vintage Toy Ads > Talking Pee-Wee

By Poe

On November 3, 2011

In Videos, Vintage Toy Ads

After watching this ad, I realized I must have seen it a hundred times as a kid because the insipid theme song was way too familiar.

Notice how the ad says “For you and your kid” at the end there? A tribute to Pee-Wee’s generation-crossing appeal? Or a warning that any kid given this toy should be supervised at all times lest the doll drive the child into madness?

Vintage Toy Ads > Tales from the Cryptkeeper

By Poe

On October 28, 2011

In Vintage Toy Ads

Vintage Toy Ads > My Buddy & Kid Sister

By Poe

On March 31, 2011

In Videos, Vintage Toy Ads

Here’s my story about My Buddy. As a young kid I always wanted one of these–not sure why, I wasn’t lonely or anything, never had a desire for a brother. I wanted this mostly until I saw a My Pet Monster, and then I wanted that. But I digress–when I was five or six, my parents found a forgotten My Buddy just laying on the street somewhere. It was in decent condition except the head was a bit loose. My mom fixed it up and, despite my protests, gave it to Goodwill. I think it was intended to be some sort of lesson to me at the time, I don’t know. Anyway, I never did get a My Buddy.

Honestly, my favorite part of this ad is the ABC bumper at the beginning…I must have seen that a thousand times over the years. I miss those Saturday morning cartoon blocks. They seem to have gone the way of the dodo, thanks largely to the rise of all-day kids’ programming on cable channels like Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network.

Vintage Toy Ads > Mr. Bucket wants your balls

By Poe

On March 24, 2011

In Humor, Videos, Vintage Toy Ads

“The first to get their balls into Mr. Bucket wins.”

This one’s a classic.

Vintage Toy Ads > Balzac

By Poe

On March 17, 2011

In Videos, Vintage Toy Ads

I remember my cousin Mike and I laughing about this ad every single time we saw it. “Us two Balzacs are where it’s at!” *Cue missed high-five*

Vintage Toy Ads > Robocop & the Ultra Police

By Poe

On February 3, 2011

In Vintage Toy Ads

Man, did I love this toy line as a kid. This is one of those toy lines that I keep meaning to go back and pick up a complete collection of, for display in my future home someday.

I wish they’d release the first Marvel-produced Robocop cartoon on DVD here in the U.S. I’d like to see how bad it is. Fond memories of some fun afternoons with the Marvel Action Universe, though.

Vintage Toy Ads > Aliens by Kenner

By Poe

On January 27, 2011

In Vintage Toy Ads

For the most part, I think Kenner’s Aliens & Predator toys were pretty cool, even if they weren’t all that faithful to the movies. The various animal-based Aliens were great–I still have my Scorpion and Gorilla Aliens.

The only thing that bummed me out was that they came out a few years after I was really, really into Aliens and Predator. At that time, there were no toys at all–nothing but a few tiny plastic resin figures. I remember gluing on of those sad little things together with my dad’s help, and then trying to play with it. Four years too late, Kenner.

In my humble opinion, the highlight of Kenner’s Aliens line was this two-figure set, featuring a “regular” Alien and a “regular” Predator. This idea would be repeated years later by McFarlane Toys, and just this past month, by NECA (review forthcoming).

Vintage Toy Ads > Robo-Force

By Poe

On January 20, 2011

In Vintage Toy Ads

Man, did I love these toys as a kid. Maxx Steele and Hun-Dred were my favorites, but there were lots of other great ones. I wrote an article about these for ToyFare way back in issue #132.

Category: Vintage Toy Ads Page 1 of 2