VINTAGE TOY GUIDE BOOK REVIEW - Wham-O Super-Book: Celebrating 60 Years Inside the Fun Factory!

As both a vintage toy collector ( & dealer ) I am always looking for good reference material to learn more about my favorite vintage toys & collectibles. One such book is a brand-new one published by Chronicle Books titled, "Wham-O Super-Book: Celebrating 60 Years Inside the Fun Factory". Written by Tim Walsh, this baby is packed with tons of great information, color photos, vintage ads, illustrations, & much more all about the super-classic toy company, Wham-O! We have all at one time had a favorite Wham-O Toy. I mean, they have been around for over 60 years! They're famous for making the Frisbee, Hula Hoop, Super Ball, Slip 'N Slide, Silly String, Hacky Sack, Monster Magnet, Superelasticbubbleplastic, & much much more! Shown here are just a few of the many photos seen inside this wonderful book. I also found a YouTube video of the author explaining the book. Overall it's 192 well-written pages that will totally bring back the good memories. As a toy collector I found that it reminded me of many toys I used to love but sadly forgot, like "Magic Window"! My sister & I used to play with that thing all the time, ha ha! As a toy dealer the book is also a great reference for time lines, different issues of packaging for the same toy, when they came out, etc...it's just loaded with tons of great photos too! So, it's seriously a great book that I can reccommend to everybody who loves vintage toy history.

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WALLPAPER BACKGROUND: Vintage 1950's GRAN'PA FROG Fisher Price Pull Toy #464

Here's a wallpaper I made for Vintage Toy Collectors to decorate their desktop or use in a MySpace layout. It's the ultra-classic Vintage 1950's GRAN'PA FROG Fisher Price Pull Toy #464. He's made of wood with a few plastic parts. The design graphics were applied with paper litho art. Beautiful!!

Vintage 1970's SSP SMASH-UP DERBY SET By Kenner

Here's a classic retro toy I fondly remember having as a kid. It's the SSP SMASH-UP DERBY SET made by Kenner in the 70's. First I remember having a simple SSP Race Car. It had a rip-cord you could pull to make a gyro-wheel spin, you set it down & away it goes. These have become extremely collectible for a few reasons: They're hard-to-find, they made many different versions, everybody has great memories of playing with them, & they're cool! Later, Kenner made a toy set that consisted of 2 Smash-Up Derby Cars & some accessories. Usually a set of ramps. The goal was to get the car to fly off the ramps & hit in mid-air...awesome! Kenner made many different variations with just a few shown up above. Also, down below, is a really cool retro 70's TV Toy Commercial for this toy, check it out!!

Vintage 1970's BARBIE COUNTRY CAMPER By Mattel ©1970

This should bring back a lot of fond memories for Vintage Barbie Doll Collectors. Here's the BARBIE COUNTRY CAMPER! Made by Mattel ©1970. This was one of Barbie's most popular vehicles. It came with outdoor furniture so you pretend you were camping, Yyyee HHaaaww!! These are starting to get pretty hard-to-find in MINT condition but I think the best thing about it is the original box with the cool vintage graphics, great for display! Below is a cool YouTube video of the famous 1971 TV Commercial, enjoy!

This Year Please Donate Some Toys To TOYS FOR TOTS!

"Let's Show Everyone That Toy Collectors Are The Most Generous People You Can Meet!"

I never "Get Political" or anything like that but I want to remind everybody about an incredible charity called TOYS FOR TOTS.
I know many of you have heard of it. Every year the US Marine Corp starts a drive to help bring toys to under-privledged children everywhere.
I think as toy collectors we really need to think about how we are blessed with this freedom & we need to think about others.
Since 1989 this organization has helped bring joy & happiness to many children who's parents can hardly afford food!
Think about being a little kid & the sheer joy a gift of a toy brings. You can help others who can't help themselves.

All they ask for is a very easy thing we can all do. Either donate money ( ANY amount helps ) or
donate a sealed MINT IN PACKAGE Toy to one of their drop-off locations. Their "Donation Boxes" are everywhere!
I know they have them at ALL Toys-R-Us stores, that's the one I use.
But, if you check out their website they can tell you all of the many spots in your own hometown.
I hope everyone who reads this not only thinks about it but does it. Thank You, I appreciate you reading this far.

You can find all the information you need at their official website:
http://www.toysfortots.org/

Vintage 1970's Hasbro INCHWORM Riding Toy

I know that lately this Vintage Toy Blog has been on sort-of a "riding toy" kick but I swear I don't mean to be, it just happened like that. I promise I'm gonna be covering a lot more variety than this so please bear with me, ha ha! I just had to do this one because it's kinda special to me. I remember as a little kid my Sister had this, now classic, riding toy by Hasbro Romper Room called The INCHWORM. She loved that toy dearly & rode it every single day. Now, 30 or so years later, these are actually very very hard-to-find, at least the vintage ones anyway. As a Vintage Toy Dealer I found one a few years back. I sold it on eBay & it did very well. I sold it around Christmas & I guess 2 or 3 people wanted it real bad. Ya know, as a perfect xmas gift idea! Anyway, this was a ride-on toy by Hasbro Romper Room that is now super-classic. Right here I'm showing you the Original Box ( wonderful graphics ), the Actual INCHWORM Toy, a Vintage Magazine Toy Ad, & a very cool YouTube video of the Retro 70's TV Toy Commercial, enjoy!

FREE DESKTOP WALLPAPERS: Toy Ride Car MARX-MOBILE ELECTRIC-DRIVE!

Here's a nice set of 2 Wallpapers you can use to brighten your desktop or place in a MySpace Layout. This is an extremely cool Vintage Toy, The MARX-MOBILE ELECTRIC-DRIVE Toy Car Ride. It's Electra-Matic!!

THE BIG WHEEL Riding Toy By LOUIS MARX and COMPANY

Anyone who grew-up in the 1970's has to remember this classic toy, It's the BIG WHEEL by Marx! I remember that, as kids, we all learned that if you got a lot of speed, sort of went into a slight turn & hit the hand brake then WHOOOSSSHH! You would spin-out like crazy, ha ha! Ahhhh, good times. This was a really great ride-on toy. The Big Wheel was created by Louis Marx Toys and unveiled to the public at the 1969 New York City Toy Fair. The Big Wheel immediately became a national success! One of their early sales brochures reads as follows, "The Big Wheel by Marx. Adjustable seat. Easy-reach handbrake for quick stop/start action. Large plastic front wheel for lots of pedal power. New extra-wide rear racing slicks for "drift-action" turns. Modified long-horn handlebars. "Engine roar" can be turned on and off. Flashy decals and detailing on fork. Hot red, blue, and yellow plastic and steel construction. 38 in. long x 201/2 in. high. For ages 4 to 9." Here's some photos to enjoy ( I love the classic Vintage Ads, especially the one with Cap'n Crunch ) & remember to watch the YouTube Vintage Toy Commercial at the end. Also, the large picture of the BIG WHEEL, with the bright-white background, is actually a HUGE Desktop Wallpaper. Click on it, then add this Classic Vintage Toy to your PC Desktop or put it in a MySpace layout!

Vintage Cereal Box Collectibles: BOO BERRY By General Mills

One of the many things I personally collect are Vintage Cereal Boxes. I even buy new ones that come out but my favorites are the ones from my childhood, mainly the 1970's. My favorite cereals as a kid were Quisp, Cap'n Crunch, Pink Panther Flakes, & Freakies! One character I really love is BOO BERRY! He was a part of the monster cereal group that also included Frankenberry, Count Chocula, Yummy Mummy, & Fruit Brute. Shown here are a few examples of older BOO BERRY Cereal Boxes & some premiums. I've even included a few brand-new items to show that people still really love this character. One item that's pretty cool is a Boo Berry in Car Bobble-Head Nodder made by Funko, enjoy!

2 RARE Vintage BICHI Batman Toys of Batmobile & Batboat

We have another vintage toy blog called The BAT-BLOG & this was a post from there done about a year ago. Included in the pictures above are 2 extremely RARE Batman Toys both made by a foreign toy company called BICHI. They make toys in Argentina! One is a very cool 1960's style Batmobile ( like the one designed by George Barris for the 1966 TV Series starring Adam West), shown with original box. The other is an extremely cool Batboat that is a battery operated bump-n-go vehicle, also with original box. I love the graphics on the boxes but the Bat-Boat's box is my favorite, see the explosion & there's a dead person in it....awesome! Both vehicles feature Robin The Boy Wonder ( Burt Ward ) riding shotgun. Ya gotta love that! Remember to click on the small pics for larger photos. Be sure to visit the Bat-Blog today!! CLICK HERE To Visit The BAT-BLOG BATMAN FAN SITE!

PHOTO: Vintage 1960's UNIVERSIAL MONSTERS Soaky Bubble Bath Bottles

In the early 1960's the Colgate Palmolive Company came up with the idea to put children's bubble bath in plastic bottles shaped like favorite cartoon characters. They made quite a bit of them & I have collected them for years. I'm not sure why I started to collect them but I bet it's because I loved them as a child. At my grandmother's house she still has the Mr. Magoo one that I used to play with. They have done many characters including, Felix The Cat, Superman, Tweety Bird, Mickey Mouse, & even the Beatles. I have about 65 of them that I will share later but right now I wanted to focus on these four, The Universial Monsters. This complete set of 4 bottles are quite RARE. They made Frankenstein, Wolfman, Mummy, & The Creature From The Lost Lagoon! The Creature Soaky, in this picture above, is shown with it's original "packaging", a RARE cardboard sleeve that it fit into.

VIDEO: Vintage DR. SEUSS SUPER SEE AND SAY Mattel Toy TV Commercial

Here's a blast from the past! This is a Vintage Toy TV Commercial for the DR. SEUSS SUPER SEE AND SAY Toy made by Mattel. As a small child the Cat in The Hat Seuss Books created a true joy of reading for me & I'll always love them for that...Enjoy.

Welcome To My VINTAGE TOYS AND MEMORABILIA Blog Page

Greetings & Welcome! Thank you for checking out my new blog. My real name is Tommy but I am known as Tomstoyz. I just started this baby but I'll have it jam-packed with tons of fun stuff very soon so stay tuned. I have been a Vintage Toy Dealer for over 20+ years & a very serious collector for even longer. With this blog I plan to share the experience I have learned & spread the joy of collecting. One day about 20+ years ago I drove by an antique store in my hometown of Oklahoma City named THE ANTIQUE STOP. I had driven by it a few times thinking how neat the place looked. One day I stopped & went inside. While there I found an old metal lunch box, the Incredible Hulk ©1978. I also found a Vintage 1960's Fisher Price Bumble Bee Pull Toy that is kind of common but I used to have one as a kid & it brought back a lot of fond memories. I ended up buying both items & this was the start of something big. I then spent the next 20+ years going to garage sales, thrift stores, flea markets, estate sales, etc...I have set-up at toy shows, indoor/outdoor flea markets, & was even an eBay slave for 11 years. I guess I've seen it all but even if you're in this business for hundreds of years I don't think you can, ha ha. That's one of the things I like best about this hobby. It never ends.