On holiday our daughter put on a documentary called The Toys That Made Us, possibly on You Tube or Netflix.
The episode we watched was on Masters of the Universe, its origins and history. Quite fascinating stuff I must say and there were lots of things in there I didn't know.
One thing that stuck in my mind was how Mattel re-used earlier toys for the MOTU line.
Stand-out was Big Jim's tiger, which the company repainted as He-Man's Battle Cat. I for one will see this in a new light from now on. Unlike me, proper keen MOTU fans will know all about the Big Jim links. Did you readers?
You can read about loads of Mattel's Big Jim recycling here at Retro Junk https://www.retrojunk.com/article/show/1247/masters-of-the-universe
The Toys That Made Us is a series with each episode about a different toy line; Star Wars, Barbie and so on. I certainly enjoyed the Masters of the Universe one.
Have you seen the show?
The MOTU Battle Cat case is interesting. The copyright year on the tiger is usually 1983, however Battle Cats with copyright year 1976 - Big Jim's that is - exist. I've got a couple of these (transitional) examples.
ReplyDeleteFascinating Arto. I love transitional pieces. The whole Big Jim connection is a revelation to me.
Deleteif you watch the Kenner Star Wars episode, you can see employees talking about this recycling - fue to the dearth of star wars toys ready for the films launch, Kenner resorted to 'label slapping' which basically took older toys and added a star wars label or colour scheme for a quick fix. Hong Kong toy makers did exactly the same thing, but on a more involved basis, copying toys wholesale and selling them in generic packaging
ReplyDeleteI must watch that episode Wote. Sounds really interesting. Label Slapping eh. A new one on me that.
DeleteAnd could Big Jim be named after the famous wild cat person Jim Corbett? (for example, see my blog on one of his many fascinating books)
ReplyDeleteYou never know Norman. Thanks for the link. I've spent a happy 15 minutes browsing your two blogs and checklist. Fascinating stuff and congrats on the Illustrators Special magazine. Looks great!
DeleteOnly 15 minutes! Seriously thanks for the congrats. It's out there now instead of on my PC and in my head. There's a lot more I could say about Bellamy, but hey, with the attention span of 15 minutes...! :-)
ReplyDeleteYep, as I get older I can concentrate less and less Norman! Your site is quite remarkable by the way. Do you think Frank Bellamy is as famous as he should be? His mastery reminds me of Frank Frazetta in the US.
DeleteThanks for the compliment. Is FB as famous as he should be? Well, there are loads of contemporary artists who cite him as an influence (keep watching my mini "Fans of Frank" series) and the fact we are still talking about him 45 years after his death, is not bad!
ReplyDelete