Toy-Ventures: 1985 Child World Catalog: He-Man, She-Ra, Zybots and more

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Toy-Ventures this week digs into another vintage toy catalog. This week we explore the 1985 Child World Catalog which is jam packed with the hottest 80s toys like He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Remco Zybots Tonka GoBots She-Ra: Princess of Power Cabbage Patch Kids Knight Rider Rainbow Brite My Little Pony Robotix My […]
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[PNGwynne]

Lol I was going to type a comment about 1985 MOTU before your recap and then discovered it was almost exactly your commentary. I loved the lined at that point, I was 17!

It's great to see those Blackstone magic kits, I missed a chance to see him in high school.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Man, that was a fun bit of time travel. We had a Children's Palace in nearby Lexington. I didn't get to go there too often, but I actually preferred it to TRU, which was also in Lexington. They seemed to have better prices and more in stock.

I actually found an AHI Spider-Man Stunt Cycle clearanced when the store went out of business in the early 90s. I can't imagine what else may have been in that store room that I missed!

Chris

[Werewolf]

My Little Pony was huge in the mid 80s. Both Remco and Lanard made My Little Pony knock offs.

I remember the She-Ra launch. Some stores had them mixed in with the action figures and some put them in the pink aisle. She-Ra was a massive hit in 85 and MOTU was boosted by the success of the Evil Horde figures.. It still irritates me a bit some people still push the myth that POP brought down MOTU.

[monitor_ep]

I still have my original She-Ra figures, horses and castle, but my Mom got rid of my MOTU (go figure).

[Falstaff13]

I remember the She-Ra launch. Some stores had them mixed in with the action figures and some put them in the pink aisle.

The Roses in my small town (which had the biggest toy department of any store in the area) devoted an aisle to He-Man and She-Ra, so they shared that space.

[Earth 2 Chris]

I think She-Ra was in the action figure aisle at our local Howard's, where I bought most of my MOTU figures. I had the entire first wave of figures, feeling it was just an extension of the MOTU line, of which I had EVERYTHING. But I'll be honest, and you can judge me if you like, I got kind of self-conscious about owning them pretty quickly. Hey, it was the 80s, a less enlightened time in many ways.

Chris

[Werewolf]

But I'll be honest, and you can judge me if you like, I got kind of self-conscious about owning them pretty quickly.

I just think it's cool you wanted them in the first place and I do get the stigma that still unfortunately exists between that fine societal line of what is considered an acceptable toy for a boy or a girl. That's a lot of pressure to put on kids. I do think it kind of weird how society has changed on what colors are acceptable for kids. In the 70s it was perfectly normal for the Bionic Man, Bigfoot, Mego Batman, etc. to be in pink packaging. In the 80s hot pink and other bright neon colors were everywhere. If a Batman figure came in pink packaging today people would have a hemorrhage.

[RonnyG]

Sort of the same topic, but this reminds me that my mom would NOT allow me to buy the Princess Leia action figure. She did not want her son to have a girl doll! LOL I had all the other Star Wars figures, but her. Finally, my best friend gave her to me as a birthday present. My mom didn't say anything, but I could tell by the look of disgust on her face that she wasn't happy, but what could she do? It's a brilliant idea actually. Get your friends to buy you something your parent won't. My mom has lightened up a lot since then. It was just a different generation.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Thankfully, my parents never seemed to have that problem, at least with super heroic figures. I got the 12" Mego Wonder Woman doll for my birthday one year. I was very young, but recalled not really knowing what to do with it, because I don't think I had the 12" Superman or Spider-Man yet. I got female GI Joe figures, Super Powers Wonder Woman, Teela, Evil-Lyn, etc, with no problem. Now, if I had wanted to start buying Barbie...I bet my Dad would have stepped in and put the kibosh on that. The adventure aspect made the other ladies okay.

Chris

[Robert_Anthony]

There used to be a Child World in Westport, CT I remember going to. With my dad I got a Shazam figure in the early 80's as Mego's first run was ending. Eventually, it became a Toys R Us. It's now a Home Goods.