How were "Boys" and "Girls" toys racked/displayed in the 70's?

[samurainoir]

Back in the 70's, it appeared there was not the huge gulf between the "Pink" section and Boys toys aisles there are today at TRU and other retailers. Particularly since Lego and other toys were considered ungendered/unisex. In fact they seemed to encourage inter-gender play. I know I had female cousins my age who had Bionic Woman and Wonder Woman 12" that I would play with using my Six Million Dollar Man and 12" Superman/Batman/Spider-man.

The Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman were seemingly part of the same toyline, to the point where they were shown in the catalogue together and had the same bundled deals as seen in the ad posted in another Plaid Stallions thread. I can't remember, but they would have to be racked together right? or were they separated from each other in the boys aisles and girls aisles?

Were the 8" Mego females were racked with the male figures? Was 12" Wonder Woman displayed alongside the other 12" superheroes, or was she put in with Barbies/fashion dolls? They were put in the catalogue together with the male superheroes.

Where were seemingly "unisex" toylines like Happy Days, Waltons, and Wizard of Oz displayed? Since Laverne and Shirley were originally supposed to be 8" figures, would they have been racked with Happy Days? Or am I mistaken and Waltons and Wizard of Oz were aimed and sold to primarily girls?

Is seems like after the death of the 12" Star Wars line at the end of the 70's (where Princess Leia has rooted hair and a comb), the lines were much more firmly drawn between "Girls" and "Boys" toys in the 80's with the decline of cloth outfit figures for boys in favour of fully sculpted figures.

[Actorman]

It was probably up to the discretion of the individual stores, but I have seen several photos of joint SMDM/BW store displays from back in the day. I know Kenner had "Bionic Headquarters" signage that they made available to retailers for the purposes of creating an all inclusive "Bionic" toy section. Since it was a hot item for a couple of years, smart retailers would likely have put a few Jaimes and Fembots both in the Barbie aisle and alongside Steve and company.

I remember the female 8" Mego heroes being displayed in the same place as the male heroes (usually in the "action" section with GI Joe, Planet of the Apes, etc.) but the 12" Wonder Woman line being exclusively in the Barbie section along with Cher, Farrah Fawcett and Donny & Marie. I also remember the Mego Wizard of Oz line being in the "girl's section" of the toy department. (I remember this stuff specifically because I always had to "sneak" over to the girl's section to look at them quickly and get out before my dad caught me.)

[Brue]

The girl megos were in the girl doll aisle. The boy megos were in the boy action figure aisle.

[Falstaff13]

The girl megos were in the girl doll aisle. The boy megos were in the boy action figure aisle.

That's interesting. I am a little young to remember Megos in the stores, but once the action figure lines hit big in the 1980s, I know the female figures in those lines (Teela and Evil-Lyn for MOTU, for example) were with the "boy toys." I'm trying to remember if there were a "Barbie Pink" aisle in the early 80s.

[Falstaff13]

The girl megos were in the girl doll aisle. The boy megos were in the boy action figure aisle.

That's interesting. I am a little young to remember Megos in the stores, but once the action figure lines hit big in the 1980s, I know the female figures in those lines (Teela and Evil-Lyn for MOTU, for example) were with the "boy toys." I'm trying to remember if there were a "Barbie Pink" aisle in the early 80s.

[EmergencyIan]

I recall that when the Mego KISS figures came out, I wanted them, but didn't see them at the stores. I knew where to find the WGSH, Dukes, CHiPs and pocket heroes, but not KISS. I'm sure that they were there, somewhere.

- Ian

[johnnystorm]

I worked in the toy dept at Penneys back in the 70s, and they racked toys like 6mil & BW together as a line, in the boys area. Jaime was considered an "accessory" to the Six Million Dollar Man (Sorry ladies, it was a different time!). Stuff like Dukes or CHIPS were probably in with the cars. If there were pegged figures then the accessories or vehicles usually were merchandised underneath them, or on shelves next to them. And remember, most toys were boxed, pegged figures weren't a big thing until Star Wars...or in dime stores like Kresge or Murphy's. "Better" stores carried the boxed assortments.
Dolls were an aisle unto themselves, as were cars, preschool, books, and seasonal toys. Back walls and corners were for book racks, rack items, bike parts, and clearance.
Back in the day there were no planograms or uniform store mandates for display from corporate. Our store dept manager ordered from the available JCP warehouse stock, plus a certain amount of local "jobber" or salesman items. Salesmen were the ones who brought in the hot items first, because the warehouse might not update only quarterly or so. If a fad hit (for example, Clackers) the dm scrambled to buy what he could get from the jobbers. The dm also had the power to adjust prices at the local store level, since nothing was programmed into the register. So depending on supply & demand, the price changed. Cabbage Patch Dolls were a good example. They started at (I think) $14.99 and eventually they were close to fifty bucks!
There was a 3 person display team that did the store and windows, or a big dept setup. Even the signs back then were printed in store on an old school printing press (you literally had to wait for the ink to dry!).
Endcaps, runs, and displays in the dept were pretty much up to the discretion of the manager or dept. manager. Anything went as long as it looked good and made sense.

[cjefferys]

I remember the female 8" Mego heroes being displayed in the same place as the male heroes (usually in the "action" section with GI Joe, Planet of the Apes, etc.) but the 12" Wonder Woman line being exclusively in the Barbie section along with Cher, Farrah Fawcett and Donny & Marie. I also remember the Mego Wizard of Oz line being in the "girl's section" of the toy department.

This is what I clearly remember too. Plus Waltons in the girls section along with Oz. And Happy Days, Dukes, pirates, Robin Hood, etc being in the boys section.

I recall that when the Mego KISS figures came out, I wanted them, but didn't see them at the stores. I knew where to find the WGSH, Dukes, CHiPs and pocket heroes, but not KISS. I'm sure that they were there, somewhere.

I only remember seeing the KISS figures in one store (now defunct Canadian department store Zellers) but they were smack dab in the middle of the boys section.

[TrekStar]

I honestly do not remember seeing the Mego Waltons line or the WOZ in the boys section,
but do remember seeing the female WGSH along with Lt. Uhura and Zira, so I wonder how
many (boys) actual did by the female figures?

I didn't venture into the girls section but pretty much knew they had Barbie and other stuff,
I wonder if the Waltons and WOZ line was sold there as well?

[samurainoir]

as a kid, I remember boxed invisible girl was included on the shelves with the other FF members. It was at Towers or K-Mart. It was the only time I saw the FF as a kid. I honestly don't really recall seeing Batgirl or Supergirl on the shelves, but I wasn't really interested in them as a kid so maybe they just didn't register if I did see them.

It's just interesting to me that Bionic Woman and the female superheroes were almost always on the same catalogue pages as their male counterparts, so it would make sense if they were placed there in the stores.

[MIB41]

I have such vivid memories of 70's toy stores and isles, I can close my eyes and virtually shop them. Back in those days, product was often displayed according to theme so it if they were selling Mego superheroes, it didn't matter if the figure was male or female, they were typically lumped in as superheroes. Where you got into separation is when the subject became less about adventure and more about who could relate better . I never saw a Donnie and Marie doll in boy isles anymore than I saw Sonny without Cher. Those were considered more fashion conscious dolls and not really a boy toy. You're typical boy toy isle was filled with things a young boy would play with in his back yard - GI Joes, Big Jim, Even Knievel, Mego Superheroes, Rookies and Swat figures, Stretch Armstrong, and Universal monsters. You have to remember too that not only did you have the figures, but their enormous vehicles and play sets nearby. Most things did not hang from pegboards like they do today. That became more prevalent in the late 70's after Star Wars hit. Until then much of what you saw was boxed except for the AHI monsters and carded Megos that became more the norm around '76/'77.

Now the bionic line became a little more difficult to blend in because Jamie Sommers was marketed directly to girls. She had the beauty salon and bust for girls to do her hair, so she very much played to a girl's sensibilities ( like Barbie) and so I seldom saw her mixed in with Steve Austin because of the accessories and play sets that invariably were stocked directly below those figures. She was typically in the girl isle.