Piforak with his Herculopoing

Piforak Robot, PIF Gadget Magazine
France, 1979

Goldorak being such a success story in France, it was not long before everyone wanted to surf the Super Robot wave. This one here is a build-yourself kit that was given with the purchase of the PIF Gadget magazine, a publication for kids that saw daylight in 1969, but got a lot of hype during the 70ies and 80ies, especially because they were one of the first magazines that came with a "gadget" (little plastic toy or other gizmo) that kids could build themselfves and put in a backpack to bring to school and show their friends during recess.

PIF Gadget nº554, Sep.1979

Announcement in PIF nº553

 The relationship with Goldorak (=PiforaK) and his detachable fists, the Fulgoropoing (here "Herculopoing") cannot be more obvious.

Yatterman - a robot dog with a kepi !

This one is again from an obscure Japanese cartoon that did not air in the French speaking side of the world. But it sure looks interesting !

Yatter Bull Gokin, Takatoku, Japan, 1977, Japan

Put some paper clothes on girl !

Heidi, the girl of the Alps,
 wood and paper, 1970's, ?

Buzzer

Swirl the plane and hear it buzz... that's how kid's kept busy... with a red plane / spaceship with pink wings. Groovy !

Airplane Buzzer, Hong Kong, 1950's-60's

The Sound of Music !

Japan, 1980's

Musical ROBOMARU, Popy, 

 

Just pop 2 batteries and hear the tune of the serie !

Before the Rolex...

Robot 8-chan (Hacchan) kid's watch, ?, Japan, 1981

I would have been the most popular kid on the block if i had a watch like this one back then...

Just thinking that only a few years later, Japan would enter the digital age and sell LCD screened Casio's and Seiko's watches that were as accurate as anything Switzerland could offer...

Marv, Marv...

Marvin the Martian, 1996 Warner Bros., China ?

The war to end all wars

 

Poilu, ? France ?

For me, soldiers of the first WW will always link me to Tardi, one of the great cartoonists that wrote a number of books on the subject... all of them showing there is no one victorious at the end.

Read more about Jacques Tardi here.

Tell me the truth

Princes Diana of Themiscyra,
Burger King, China, 2020

Wooden rocket ?

1960 CAA "rocket"

wood w/metal fins

No idea where this thing came from - (found at the flea market) - seller said it might be linked to Angola ? If so not so much a rocket then some type of artillery shell ?

All I know is these would make excellent futuristic bowling pins !

A Skye Terrier with an accent ?

Pollux (Dougal) Delacoste, France, 1965

In Portugal, the series was known as "Carrossel Mágico" (spelled as "Carrocel Mágico"), and aired on RTP in 1966. The dub was based on the original French version (with the characters having their own voices), and several of the characters were renamed, with Pollux/Dougal being called "Franjinhas". It was also the first foreign children's series to be dubbed into European Portuguese. 

Freedom !!!

Here is a strange rubber toy found at the feira...  made in Czechoslovakia. It is strange how babies in these countries are completely strapped down before being put in their craddles. The word cocoon comes to mind, but is there really a scientific reason to do this ?

Wrapped baby, Czechoslovakia, 1970's ?

Astro, you're full of air...

A bootleg, of course. But I found this one at the "loja do Chinês" for under 5 EUR. And it works ! B/O with spinning fan on top and light in head. Since you don't see a lot of Astroboys in Portugal, this one was a no brainer...

Astroboy, fan, China, 2010's

Why the black nose ?

Anyone has seen these around on Hoth ?

No idea who made these figurines but they are pretty detailed for monochrome plastic ... Maybe part of a board game ?

Snowtrooper and Snowspeeder pilot ?

When all you have is a piece of a moviestill...

Alien Trash Monster (Dianoga), Kenner, USA, 1977

This baby came from the US-version of the (vintage) Death Star Space Station (not the UK / Palitoy cardboard one, but the plastic version by Kenner.

You have to admit Kenner product-designers did a great job when all the source-material they had were some movie stills of only the eye-part of the beast...

Computacar, the amazing car with the memory you control ! or Amaze-A-Matics, The Car with a Brain ?

Computers were all the rage in 1970. Well, a year earlier it helped us land a man on the moon.

So no wonder that the toy business hooked in on that wave. Anything futuristic had to be run by computers, with computers... right ? This red sleek car had a programable chassis based on pre-cut cards and was sold with a bunch of cones to organize wild slalom competitions !

Computacar, Mettoy, Hong Kong, 1970

Chevrolet Astrovette !

To be relevant with the real world, most of the astronauts were seen driving Corvettes too - read more of it here...

Scooby ?

Scooby-Doo on bobsleigh, Corgi, 1981, Singapore

The Daltons !

The Daltons, Quick Hamburger Restaurants,
China, 1996

 

Lucky Luke, Jolly Jumper and Rantanplan,
Quick, China, 1996

The mighty Yamato

Yamato, 1/850, Nomura, Japan, 1970's

Boy this thing is heavy ! Pure diecast

for navigating the sea of stars...

Red Zark ?

Robot, Ferrero ? Italy ?, 1980's ?

 

No markings on this one. Comes from France and seller claims it is a Ferrero Kinder Surprise toy.

Has the size of a Lego minifig.

And the design is obviously based on The Battle of the Planets 7 Zark 7...

French non-E-bikes of the past ?

Motor bicycle, maker ?, 1970's

... is this green thing where you put gasoline ?

At least he wears a helmet !

The real thing was quite popular in France ...

It's the Man of Action in Space ?

In the USA you had GI JOE, here in Europe he was redubbed ACTION MAN. Not a doll... an action figurine ! Most of the early ones wore military outfits, but this astronaut is pretty much up to specs with the first spacesuits of the Gemini and Mercury missions at NASA. (see more about Action Man here).

The original suits were made by the (now defunct) tire company B.F. GOODRICH and were at the time as critical as any of the other equipment developped for NASA to get people in space. See more about this here.

Action Man Astronaut Set, Palitoy, 1967

The real right stuff - original NASA
picture of Mercury Astronauts

Iberian ray of destruction

Visible gears !!!

This kid sure loves shooting at things... 
Check his smile !

Spacial-6 raygun, Monteplast, Spain, 1970's

O robot full of air...

Robocon, Popy, Japan, 1970's

I wished I had this one in the swimming pool when I was a kid, instead of the usual ducky floating devices... but then, with all of the circuits in his belly, maybe not a good idea after all 😁...

This is one of the toys that makes me smile, and a perfect addition to the other Robocons in the collection.