With all of the new fall shows premiering this week,I'm starting to get alittle misty eyed for some of the dolls that they used to have when I was a kid that were based on hit shows of the day.
Yes,they still have TV tie-in action figures today but most of them are targeted directly at the adult market(Maybe it's just me but I find it hard to believe that some little kid wants a Jack Bauer doll for Christmas),which is fine but some of the best stuff was always intended for the young ones. Let's look at some of those old school commercials to show you what I mean:
YOU'RE A WONDER,WONDER WOMAN!
This is an ad for not only Wonder Woman,but a Major Steve Trevor doll along with a villianess named Nubia(not sure if she was ever on either version of the WW show). Notice the very scripted role playing here-has anyone under the age of ten really been this sophisticated in their make believe time?:
ANGELS,I HAVE AN ASSIGNMENT FOR YOU!
Here are the original Angels,in doll form with some major league hair helmet action. You notice that most of the play encouraged with these dolls is all about dress up rather than kicking some butt,not to mention what is up with the skateboard? I don't remember any episode where Jill went all Skater Girl to save the day!:
CAPTAIN KIRK RULES!
This I remember actually getting as a kid-my brother and I loved watching Star Trek with my dad and this playset was either a birthday or a Christmas present. We never played with it outdoors,like they show you in the ad,but it was a simple,easy to store item. Too bad neither of us has this anymore,it's probaly worth a sweet penny or two on Ebay these days:
HOLY SUGARY CEREALS,BATMAN!
I found this one randomly but I wouldn't be surpised if I had actually seen it one Saturday morning while slurping down one of the Post cereal being hawked here. This SuperFriends "Create a Villian" contest sounds like something I really would've enjoyed-makes you who actually won and if that kid was pleased or ultimately as disappointed as Ralphie was with his Orphan Annie decoder pin:
COME ON,KITT! DON'T HASSLE THE HOFF!
I will fully confess to being a Knight Rider fan back in the day but the pickings were slim for entertainment value on TV during most of the 1980's(hey,let me have my lame defense there,will you please?)and no one could predict that there would be a time when David Hasslehoff would actually dare to sing in public and wind up on Broadway for it. This Knight Rider mini car track ad is worth watching for the Hoff's facial expressions alone:
IT'S WRASSLING TIME!
Ahhh,the good old days when professional wrestling wasn't tainted by steriod abuse and sad family tragedies,how sweet they were! Back then,the WWF was like a hokey traveling circus of lovable lunkheads who romped around a ring for our amusement. I do wish they had been some GLOW action figures-would've been cool to have had a Hollywood and Vine tag team or a Dementia doll:
BEWARE OF CYLONS BLOWING BUBBLES
Finally,fans of the original Battlestar Galactica may well recall this fun summertime toy that turns the evil robot villians into harmless dispensers of suds. I never had this bad boy,much to my chagrin,but I bet that new fangled version doesn't have a tie-in as nifty as this!:
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