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Rack Toys full circle

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    Museum Robot
    • May 9, 2007
    • 5952

    Rack Toys full circle

    One of the things I really wanted to do to promote the book was to recreate a vintage rack toy aisle, complete with the original orange peg board so common in my area. While that wasn't a realistic goal, it's amazing what is right under your nose.



    Above is M&S convience, which I've jokingly called "S&M" since before I really I even knew what that meant. I first set foot in this store in 1979 looking for Whacky Packages, since then I've likely been there 3,000 times looking for everything from glue to cigarettes sadly. It really hasn't changed since 1979, there is stuff in there that I remember from high school.

    However, it wasn't until my son showed desire to own some green plastic army men that I realized that M&S still had the original orange pegboard! I've walked by it so many times that




    It was foruntate for me that the owners are very sweet people and that my potato chip purchases likely put their children through college and graduate school with enough to make a nice house down payment (get it? I like junk food), as they had no problem letting me do an impromptu photoshoot.



    The book is actually hard to see in this display.

    I can only imagine the collectibles that went through these slots. I vividly remember looking at the Street Hawk and A Team stuff back in the day. In '84 when Transformers were all the rage, this wall was littered with weird knock offs that are now likely highly sought after. I'm so glad that there are still Meccas like this to inspire future toy geeks and it just felt right doing this.



    Rack Toys is available!
    For more Fashion Mockery and 70's toy love visit us at Plaid Stallions.com


    More...
  • sauce
    Removed
    • Jun 24, 2007
    • 3491

    #2
    This is beyond words!!!!

    Comment

    • Earth 2 Chris
      Verbose Member
      • Mar 7, 2004
      • 32966

      #3
      That is awesome. Army Men, Knights and Cap Guns. Sounds like standard Rack Toy procedure to me!

      And if you hadn't told me, I would have thought the first wide shot came from our local Thrift convenience store, which has been here since I was a wee pup. The EXACT same layout, mirrors, freezer units, wood grain paneling and all! Unfortunately, I don't think they have Rack Toys anymore. Sigh.

      Chris
      sigpic

      Comment

      • cjefferys
        Duke of Gloat
        • Apr 23, 2006
        • 10180

        #4
        Originally posted by Earth 2 Chris

        And if you hadn't told me, I would have thought the first wide shot came from our local Thrift convenience store, which has been here since I was a wee pup. The EXACT same layout, mirrors, freezer units, wood grain paneling and all! Unfortunately, I don't think they have Rack Toys anymore. Sigh.

        Chris
        But the Canadian chocolate (Aero, Coffee Crisp, Smarties) in the foreground probably isn't in your store.

        Great pics, it's nice to see that you can go to a convenience store that hasn't changed much since your youth. Mine are either long gone, or massively changed.

        Comment

        • HardyGirl
          Mego Museum's Poster Girl
          • Apr 3, 2007
          • 13950

          #5
          Rack Toys! Rack Toys! Hot off the rack!

          It's nice you got to do that, Brian. I learned at a very early age that my mom didn't believe in Rack Toys. If she was going to spend her money on toys, it had to be Christmas or my birthday, and it had to be a toy that would last, not break in a day. That said, the only rack toy I had that I can remember was a ping-pong gun. Not the kind that shoots balls, (I had one of those too), but a 2 man gun w/ a player on each side w/ a paddle and a ball on long stick in the middle. Two people pulled the trigger on his side to make the players move the paddles and play ping pong. I've been looking for one of these for years.
          "Do you believe, you believe in magic?
          'Cos I believe, I believe that I do,
          Yes, I can see I believe that it's magic
          If your mission is magic your love will shine true."

          Comment

          • Godzilla
            Permanent Member
            • Nov 3, 2002
            • 3009

            #6
            And a Trek figure! That really rocks.
            Mortui Vivos Docent
            The Dead Teach the Living

            Comment

            • Werewolf
              Inhuman
              • Jul 14, 2003
              • 14974

              #7
              That's wicked cool. That's also one heck of a toy section for a convenience store. Seriously, that's really impressive. The ones I've been in don't have any toys at all.
              You are a bold and courageous person, afraid of nothing. High on a hill top near your home, there stands a dilapidated old mansion. Some say the place is haunted, but you don't believe in such myths. One dark and stormy night, a light appears in the topmost window in the tower of the old house. You decide to investigate... and you never return...

              Comment

              • ScottA
                Original Member
                • Jun 25, 2001
                • 12264

                #8
                How cool.
                sigpic WANTED: Boxed, Carded and Kresge Carded WGSH

                Comment

                • Spawn67
                  Career Member
                  • Aug 14, 2009
                  • 816

                  #9
                  That is way cool!
                  Sadly those places I used to go to are long gone. Believe it or not when I was wee lad the 7 11's in our area had huge rack toy displays as well as comics. I still have some civil war men that I got there. Those 711's are long gone as well as the mom and pop stores in my area.
                  It must really take you back when you go there!

                  Comment

                  • Earth 2 Chris
                    Verbose Member
                    • Mar 7, 2004
                    • 32966

                    #10
                    The drugstore up the street from my childhood home is still there, and largely looks the same, but all of the "fun" stuff is long gone. No comics, very few magazines, and absolutely NO rack toys. It's like it had a lobotomy and they took out all the good stuff...

                    Chris
                    sigpic

                    Comment

                    • UnderdogDJLSW
                      To Fear is Not Logical...
                      • Feb 17, 2008
                      • 4895

                      #11
                      The books looks right a home in those photos.

                      (I like Aero and Smarties-My wife and her brother lived in England as little kids, so for awhile we used to go to specialty stores and get Smarties for her brother's Xmas stocking).
                      It's all good!

                      Comment

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