I'm enjoying browsing mags on holiday like an old US Baby Boomer Collectables one.
Seeing M&J Variety's ad again took me right back to reading the American Toy Shop newspaper pre-Ebay days. I adored that big newspaper crammed with amazing vintage stuff.
M&J were - are? - a vintage merchandise wholesalers. Everything could be bought by the dozen or by the case. I was always in awe of what they had and mused endlessly how they got hold of this stuff!
It was based in Elizabeth, NJ. Anyone know if it still is?
Another ad that brought back memories was Toy Scouts Inc. I always loved there ace line drawing logo including The Impossibles, who I adored as a kid. I sent off for their catalogue and amazingly got one sent to me in the UK. That was the Nineties. I still have it.
Toy Scouts Inc. was run by the great Bill Breugman, a vintage toy collecting pioneer in the States. His 1989 book Toys of the Sixties is for me still the collecting bible and I still have my copy I got in 1992. I also have his book on Aurora models I think, both out of print now.
Do you have Bill's books or maybe bought something off Toy Scouts Inc.?
Those Monogram Luminators kits are interesting. After Aurora went out of business, Monogram acquired their moulds, and these kits are re-issues of the Aurora movie monsters in Glow in the Dark plastic. There were other Luminators kits as well, including cars.
ReplyDeleteYes, I recall seeing them advertised in magazines for a good while. A take in Aurororas Frightening Lightening gimmick. M&J Variety sold all 4 as lots. How did they get hold of all these discontinued lines? I suppose Holdsons in NZ are the same, are they?
DeleteHoldsons is a local NZ manufacturer and importer/distributor of various lines, but are best known for their board games and jig-saw puzzles. The only discontinued items they would have would be items that they carried. They do not buy in and sell discontinued lines. They do have a factory/warehouse sale two or three times a year, which is open to the public. As they carry Airfix kits, I am very keen on this.
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