Mego Bend 'n Flex Planet of the Apes Astronaut

Quick post. This is Mego's Astronaut from their Bend 'n Flex bendy series from 1975.

I picked this guy up last year from a Mego Marketplace seller. I'm keeping him carded as I love the cheesy, vintage artwork and, in this case, the packaging feels as much a part of the toy as the toy, itself. I especially love the illustration on the back of the package that shows all the characters in the series.

I only had two of these Planet of the Apes bendies as a kid...the astronaut and a soldier ape. I got the Astronaut first and he accompanied me on a road trip from Minnesota to Montana to find a new house when I was about 8 years old. While visiting Montana, we stopped by a Kmart and I was allowed to buy a soldier ape. So, my strongest memory of these Ape bendies has to do with playing with them in the car for hours and hours while riding from state to state.

Better than a Gameboy or Ipod for passing time? Eh, probably not... but there wasn't a whole lot for a kid to do on long road trips back then.

I've said it before, but I love how Mego got away with making their astronaut toys look NOTHING like the astronaut characters from the films.

Gotta love the 70's.

Kenner Six Million Dollar Man Critical Assignment Legs

This is the Six Million Dollar Man Criitcal Assignment Legs set from Kenner, produced in 1977. This was another add-on set for the Bionic Man figure... similar to the Critical Assignment Arms set that I've reviewed previously.

Despite Steve Austin's legs being bionic (robotic) in the television show, the Kenner 12" action figure only featured bionics in his right arm. With this set, kids playing with Bionic Man figures everywhere could finally have bionic features in their figures' legs, as well.


This set features two legs (naturally) that both perform unique bionic "actions."

The left leg is an "exploding leg." It features flesh-colored panels that hide the true nature of Steve Austin's powerful appendages. When the appropriate button is pressed, "Pow!!!" the panels explode off the leg. According to the back of the box, this function is to simulate a "bionic malfunction." Ouch.


The right leg features two opening panels. The panel in Steve's thigh opens to reveal wires and bionic circuitry. The panel in his shin provides the necessary tool to perform bionic surgery on Steve's leg, should he need it. It features a small blue hook that aids in pulling the wired panels from Steve's thigh... kind of like a mini Operation game without the lights and buzzer.



This set also features a pair of white shorts. In his regular, red standard-issue pants, it would be difficult to play with the features in Steve's new legs. The shorts allow adequate access to the various parts and panels in the legs. Cool beans.

I didn't have this set, as a kid. I picked this one up close to this past Christmas on Ebay. However, I did have the Critical Assignment Arms as a kid and did always want to add this set to my Six Million Dollar Man. So, it was great to finally add this set to my collection. I still think it's pretty neat that Kenner would produce add-on sets like this that would allow kids to add new features to their figures without having to buy an all-new figure. I guess Kenner really did care. After all, that WAS their slogan.

Kenner Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back Toy Brochure #2

This is another pack-in toy brochure from 1981. These usually came with the bigger toys like vehicles, playsets, and larger figures. I was always excited to find a new one of these in the box. I used to pour over these little brochures as it was almost the only way to know what other toys were available or were being released soon. Notice the upside-down Tie Fighter.

More vintage 12" Star Wars and other vintage toy reviews coming soon.

Kenner Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back Toy Brochure

This is another one of Kenner's pack-in brochures for their line of Star Wars toys. In 1980, Kenner released the first 10 figures and several vehicles and playsets for the new movie, The Empire Strikes Back. I like how Kenner kept the older Star Wars toys in release as they continued to add to the line. I'm also very partial to the spread that showcases all the large sized figures. Cool beans....and who knew Ben Kenobi was the father of the mystical "FORCE?" I sure didn't.

Enjoy. There will be more classic toy reviews coming soon.

Kenner The Six Million Dollar Man Critical Assignment Arms

This is Kenner's Six Million Dollar Man Critical Assignment Arms set from 1976. That title's a mouthful...but deservedly so. The SMDM toys were some of the best toys ever created. This set again demonstrates the great playability that Kenner injected into this line.

The set came with three different bionic arms to equip your Bionic Man (sold separately) with new bionic features. Each arm popped on and off easily and had a roll of rubber skin to cover the bionics to keep Steve's bionic-ness covert. It also came with a white short-sleeved t-shirt (complete with SMDM logo on the chest) to provide easy access to Steve's new arms.

The set features a "Laser" arm that lights up when Steve's hand is bent back at the wrist, a Neutralizer Arm with spring-loaded karate chop and neutralizer gun behind a door in the bicep, and the Oxygen Supply arm with oxygen mask.

A more thorough explanation of each arm's features can be seen in the instructions below.

I had this set as a kid but managed to lose every arm over time despite still having my original Steve Austin figure. I love the concept of this set and the opportunity it provided kids to add brand-new play features to a toy they already owned...vs. selling a whole new figure with new arm features (although Kenner did that from time to time, as well).

Am I just getting old or do they not make toys like they used to? I'm probably just not paying as much attention to newer licenses and toys.

Included instructions (front and back)

What My Dad Kept

My Mom and Dad have always been good at saving my brother and I's childhood things. Anything that survived after we were through with it got tucked away in storage to be found as treasure at a later date. I know I'm extremely lucky as I often hear story after story about how someone's toys were either thrown away or sold in a garage sale by parents. Luckily, over the years, I've been able to find the majority of the things I played with as a kid.

This past week, I spent several days helping my folks sort through things in their garage to either be organized or given to a place like Goodwill (furniture, clothing, etc.). To my surprise there were still quite a few childhood things that belonged to my brother and I that I hadn't somehow come across in earlier "toy recovery missions." So, this is kind of a "down and dirty" post to show some of the things I came across this past week in boxes that were in my parent's garage. These are all items from the mid to late 70s with just a couple of exceptions.

Toy Guns - The above shot is a couple of toy guns from the 70s. The Space Astro gun is one of those light and sound jobs that drive parents crazy. The other is a gun that would shoot little plastic colored disks. I believe that this one may have come on a card and been Star Trek branded, despite it's generic appearance. We also had a Star Trek phaser that shot the same disks. I'm not sure what happened to that one.


Spiderman and Hulk Silly Putty Containers - Spiderman had red putty and Hulk had green. The putty is still inside.

Paperback books from the 70s - I had no idea that I had a Welcome Back Kotter book, at some point. I'm sure I got it through one of those Scholastic school book orders. For those of you a bit younger, Welcome Back Kotter was a popular TV sitcom (remember those?) that ushered a very young John Travolta to stardom (he's on the cover at the far left).


Kiss puzzle and book - The Kiss book is another school order book. I don't remember having the puzzle...but there it is.


Six Million Dollar Man record and books - I had always wondered what happened to these over the years. I used to love to listen to the adventures on this record. It's great to have the books back again, as well.



Superman pop-up book - This is a pop-up book from 1979. It has some pretty cool actions that the pages do when you slide a lever or turn a door.


Star Trek children's books - I love the illustrations in these and they are illustrated throughout. Good stuff.


Fisher Price Adventure people - I don't know a whole lot about these guys. They belonged to my brother. I'm sure there are quite a few pieces missing.


The Lone Ranger and Silver - The Lone Ranger still had a bit of residual clout in the 70s and early 80s from previous decades. This is a 3 3/4 scale set from the 1981 movie, The Legend of Lone Ranger. So, not quite a 70s toy but close.


Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica - This is a 3 3/4 inch figure from Mattel. They created these in the wake of the tremendous popularity of Kenner's Star Wars figures. I always hated the fact that they didn't bother to paint the eyes on any of the characters.


Clash of the Titans - These are a couple of 3 3/4 scale figures from the movie. Nice likeness of Harry Hamlin as Perseus...especially at this scale.


Micronaut - This was a very cool 3 3/4 scale (noticing a trend?) line of figures from Mego. I believe the concept was licensed from Takara's Microman line from Japan. Love these guys!! Although, I have no idea who this character is. He comes with an Egyptian style tomb to store him in.


Mego Pocket Heroes - Mego made a complete line of 3 3/4 size heroes and villains. This is what's left of my brother's collection.


Tron - These are figures from the 1982 Tron movie (close but not quite 70s, again). They are also in 3 3/4 scale. They are made of a semi-translucent plastic. Cool.


Star Wars Han Solo pistol - This, to me, is the coolest thing I found. My Dad made this for me out of a couple of other toy guns in 1977 before Star Wars toys started hitting toy shelves. He chopped pieces off, used part of a scope from another gun, glued things together, and painted everything black. Sure, it's not 100% accurate but it was close enough for me. I still think he did a great job, all things considered. This was at the bottom of a box that was headed to Goodwill. I almost didn't even look through the box...and I've been looking for this thing for years. Close call.

I hope you've enjoyed this smattering of stuff I found in my folk's garage... a little something for everyone, I hope. There are still a couple of other things I found that I will probably do a more in-depth look at in the future.

What a fun week I've had!