In honour of the release of Furiosa, Toy-Ventures looks at the most excellent 1980s Post-Apocalyptic Toy Line: Tonka’s Steel Monsters. It was all things “Mad Max” except for the name. How did such a gorgeous toy line fail? What didn’t get made? We get the scoop from the creators.
#toyventures #tonka #MadMax
Mad Max, The Road Warrior, Tonka, Tonka Steel Monsters, 80s toys, 1986, Tonka Trucks, Post Nuke movies, Mad Mad Rip-Offs, Tonka Supernaturals, Tonka Spiral Zone, Ray Zera, Metal Face, Plaid Stallions, Toy-Ventures, Toy-Ventures Magazine, 80s post-apocalyptic films, George Miller, Ben Cooper, Go-Bots, Play People, Italian Mad Max movies, The Highwayman, Dreadknocks, Weird Science,
This little guy magically arrived yesterday and it became my first toy opening of 2024.
Behold the mini Godaiken of Leopardon, the giant robot from the Amazing Japanese television adaptation of Spider-Man. These appeared when I was in high school, and I immediately recognized them as Shogun Warriors. Shoguns were an unrequited toy love of my childhood, meaning I never got many but adored the comic. So, I bought a bunch throughout high school.
Shogun Warriors- Mattel Diecast
Leopardon got special meaning in the 80s when I got a bootleg tape of the Japanese Spider-Man series (I was the “bootleg tape” guy in high school/college/now) and it was like knowing an incredible secret.
I remember finding this exact figure in 1991 at a Toys R Us store outside of Toronto and immediately buying it. Sadly, all of them were lost to time, and these figures went from sitting gathering dust at Toys R Us to just OUTRIGHT disappearing.
Seriously, I’m always on the hunt; I’ve found 2 of these things, and that’s it. The bubbles are likely the most significant issue; they are “rack toy”, although the figure is still high quality.
Happy 2024, everyone; let’s fill it with good stories.
The Super Collector Newsletter combines all the news from Mego Museum and Plaid Stallions and a lot of other fun stuff across the Interwebs. It’s got customs, new action figures, vintage finds and a lot of pop culture. Sign Up Here!
Toy-Ventures Magazine Issue 11 is here!
Do you miss print toy magazines? I sure did; that’s why I created Toy Ventures. A full-colour print magazine that celebrates toys from the 1960s to the 1980s. It features collector guides, interviews and even some satire. We’re on issue 10 now but still have a limited supply of our back issues; please visit our Shop for more information.
We co-produced this amazing action figure with White Elephant Toyz; it’s an 8″ Mego Style Officially Licensed Tura Satana figure with a beautiful box by Joeseph Linsner! Get yours while supplies last.
Toy-Ventures: 17th Anniversary Spectacular plus contest
It’s PlaidStallions 17th Anniversary Spectacular with some cool collection updates featuring Mego Knock Offs, Adventure Team GI Joe, Ninjas and wind-up Super Monsters. Plus a contest where you can win big prizes!
Toy-Ventures Collectible Pins including the Lincoln Monsters
Do you miss toy collector magazines?
That’s why we created Toy-Ventures magazine, an old-school print publication dedicated to vintage toys from the 1960s to the 1990s. Each issue is packed with never before seen images and information written by some of the top collectors. We’ve got nine issues and climbing; please check our page here or visit our store.
Pod Stallions is based on our podcast and is one of the most fun groups on Facebook. Toys, Comics, Movies, TV, it’s all up for grabs, and remember, folks, you keep the glass! If you like our show, then you have found your tribe.
Mego Knock Off Headquarters– The leading group discussing 70s Dime store knock-offs and bootleg action figures, we talk vintage toys and not others. We know the difference between Astro Apes and Action Apeman. It’s a fun group where we talk about Lincoln Monsters, AHI, Mighty Gary, Tomland, Bogi, Demo Man, Mortoys, and other generic greats.
Bootleg Star Wars
Topics discussed, Mego Knock-Offs, Batman, Italian Batman, Godzilla, Rack Toys, Gi Joe Adventure Team, Superman, Fighting Yank, Ninjas, Menudo, Space:1999, Mattel, Eagle, Microman, Micronauts, Canadian toys, Palitoy, Mego Superheroes,
The Lincoln International Monsters are one of my favourite childhood memories, and I always want to find ways to work with them. I designed each pin based on the original packaging art I’m utterly infatuated with.
The idea came because I wanted to make a set of Lincoln Monster pins for myself, and it spiralled from there. The factory I used for this was quite excellent. I’m elated with their quality and look. Sometimes you make things for yourself, but you also want to share. You can get the Lincoln Monsters individually or as a unique carded set while supplies last.
It was also really fun laying out that card. I wanted to make it like a gumball machine card as much as possible, but my Rack Toy biases ultimately won.
The Lincoln Monsters pins are available at our store or on eBay.
Lincoln Monsters Collector Pin Series
I’ve also made a few other collectible pins based on knockoffs and characters from this website. Look for a few more designs coming very soon.
Toy-Ventures Collectible Pins including the Lincoln Monsters
Do you miss toy collector magazines?
That’s why we created Toy-Ventures magazine, an old-school print publication dedicated to vintage toys from the 1960s to the 1990s. Each issue is packed with never before seen images and information written by some of the top collectors. We’ve got nine issues and climbing; please check our page here or visit our store.
Pod Stallions is based on our podcast and is one of the most fun groups on Facebook. Toys, Comics, Movies, TV, it’s all up for grabs, and remember, folks, you keep the glass! If you like our show, then you have found your tribe.
Mego Knock Off Headquarters– The leading group discussing 70s Dime store knock-offs and bootleg action figures, we talk vintage toys and not others. We know the difference between Astro Apes and Action Apeman. It’s a fun group where we talk about Lincoln Monsters, AHI, Mighty Gary, Tomland, Bogi, Demo Man, Mortoys, and other generic greats.
Lili Ledy was a Mexico-based toy maker with a 30-year run until its closure in 1985.
Due to trade restrictions, the company would manufacture it’s toys on Mexican soil. Even popular Hong Kong-made American toys like GI Joe, Star Wars and Mego Superheroes had to have their Mexican-made equivalent.
This restriction resulted in some fantastic and imaginative-looking variations on what we’re familiar with.
1975 was an excellent year for Lili Ledy with several hot toys and licenses:
Hey folks, if you didn’t catch my Livestream this Saturday, I’m doing my follow-up to Rack Toys with a book I’ve titled Knock-Offs: Totally Unauthorized Action Figures. This is a piece I’ve been working on since 2012 but stuff got in the way and I had to put it on hold. I’m glad I did because it just made the whole thing better.
Knock-Offs is a celebration of the dimestore bootleg figure, the copyright-infringing silliness meant to fool our grandpeople. The subjects range from toys of the 1960’s to the 2000s and include every popular genre you can think of.
Knock-Offs Book
Knock-Offs Book- Nightmare Feddy
Chapters will include Superheroes, Science Fiction, Horror, TV/Movies and you’d better believe 80s toys. So many discount Darth Vaders and Skid Row Skeletors…
Knock-Offs Book- Robocops
Knock-Offs will also celebrate the amazing bootleg toy art scene and I have to say, the work these folks create is pretty darn infectious.
Toy-Ventures Magazine is our newest creation, an old-school print magazine about vintage toys! Professionally laid out and written, each issue is brimming with obscure and rare toys from companies such as Mego, Kenner, Remco, AHI, and much more. Monsters, Superheroes, Adventurers, Knock Offs, Apes, and so much more, it’s in Toy-Ventures.
Mego Knock Off Headquarters– The leading group discussing 70s Dime store knock-offs of Mego action figures, we talk vintage toys and not others. We know the difference between Astro Apes and Action Apeman! It’s a really fun group where we talk about Lincoln International, AHI, Tomland, Bogi, Demo Man, Mortoy, and other generic greats.
Been spending a lot of time updating the Plaid Stallions Action Figure Archive and have a few fun updates thanks to some awesome people helping me out.
Let’s dig in shall we?
Our newest page to the Action Figure Archive is the Krazy Kreeps.Krazy Kreeps are a unique find, they are essentially a knock-off of a knock-off! The figures mainly use the bodies and heads from the AHI World Famous Super Monsters brand, which was already a Mego Knock Off. There is a morbid little detail with the Krazy Kreeps that would not fly today.
Croner Buck Rogers Gallery now has Twiki thanks to Clam’s ToyBox. These weird Australian figures have stymied me for years and now I have to wonder if there is a fourth figure. It’s just great to see all of them in one place.
Speaking of Croner, my friend Will (@toltoyskid) turned me on to the Footy Heroes, figures of Australian Rugby players. I don’t normally have much to do with sports figures but I need to know what else they made. Also, I have no idea who these guys are.
New update to the Bugmen of Insecta page, thanks to Clam’s Toybox. These vehicles are super rare, I wasn’t sure they ever got made. A truly obscure 80s toy line that deserves more attention.
I have a real fondness for this short-lived but unique toy line by Hasbro, most people at the time didn’t even realize it was supposed to be G.I. Joe, this is mainly because he’s eight inches tall.
G.I. Joe was getting killed by smaller competitors like Big Jim and the Mego World’s Greatest Superheroes, so they shrunk him down to Mego size and sent him to space. What resulted was a fun toy line that just sold well for the first year thanks to Star Wars but laid an egg in the second, thanks to Star Wars toys finally landing on shelves.
