Toys Archives : Page 5 of 10 : The Retro Network

Time Capsule: 1981 Mattel Electronics Catalog

Most of us grew up in the glory days of catalogs. While we mainly remember the Sears Wish Books at Christmas, there were numerous other catalogs as well. The thing they all had in common

The LED Revolution: How Mattel Electronics Football Invented Mobile Gaming

The Retro Network

For a lot of people, their first experience with any kind of video game football was the classic Mattel Electronics Football.

LEGO Has Announced a Gameboy Set Coming in October

Walter King

LEGO and Nintendo have unexpectedly announced a special new set on social media! Although there is not a lot of information, or any images, they revealed in a short teaser video that a model of the 1989

Super7 is Adding Silverhawks To It’s Reaction Figures Line

Walter King

Super7’s ’80s-inspired line of ReAction Figures expands with the SilverHawks team. SilverHawks Wave 1 includes Bluegrass with Hot Licks, Mon*Star (Pre-Transformation), Quicksilver with Tally Hawk, and Steelheart with Rayzor. Standing at 3.75 inches tall, these

Cobra Commander – Super7 vs. Classified

Brian Cave

I love collecting Ultimates-style figures of my favorite cartoon bad guys. I share pictures of them all over my Instagram and I’ve even posted an article here about which figures I want to be released

Looking Back at Creepy Crawlers

The Retro Network

Before flowers from the neighbor’s yard and boxes of melty chocolate, little boys were known to give Creepy Crawlers to the girls they had crushes on. Oh, don’t wrinkle your nose…nothing says “maybe we can

Toy Collector’s Wishlist: Ultimate Figures I Yearn For

Brian Cave

In the last few years, my collecting has shifted from Transformers (specifically Megatron) to collecting up-scaled villain figures from all my favorite cartoons of the 80s and 90s. Along with the Masterpiece Megatrons I previously

Wrestling at the Arcade: 1991’s WWF Wrestlefest

Jeff Sheldon

Every spring, I look forward to WWE’s Wrestlemania with all of its pomp and circumstance. Unfortunately this year, with recent CDC guidelines that restrict public gatherings to under 50 people, it looks like for the

Nickelodeon’s Super Toy Run

Jeff Sheldon

Like a lot of kids who grew up before the creation of the internet, I spent a lot of my free time daydreaming. One of my recurring daydreams involved myself, a shopping cart, and 5

LEGO Launches The Nightmare Before Christmas Set

Walter King

The LEGO Ideas Disney Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas set is 2,193 pieces and features three models of different locations found in the film: Spiral Hill, Jack Skellington’s house, and the Halloween Town Hall. The set

Battle Beasts: Small Figures and Big Battles

The Retro Network

“Fire burns Wood! Wood floats on Water! Water puts out Fire!” Battle Beasts finally gave us the answer to a question that has plagued mankind since the dawn of time: If animals were bred into

TMNT/MotU Crossover Review – Skeletor, Shredder, and Krang

Brian Cave

For the past few years, Transformers has the king of crossovers, creating new figures as they collaborate with Ghostbusters, Top Gun, Back to the Future, and most recently Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with the aptly

Shrinky Dinks: The Oven‑Baked Toy We’ll Never Forget

The Retro Network

Gather ye ‘round, gather ye ‘round! Shoulder yourself in amongst the crowd that’s growing around the oven and take a gander through that glass…magic baked goods are transforming before your very eyes! We’re not talking

View‑Master: How a Simple Viewer Became a Window to the World

The Retro Network

If you took any pride at all in your toy chest—and we hope you did—it surely contained a View-Master. When the action figure war simulation wound down and you needed a short intermission before you

The Big Fun That Came From the Little GUTS Action Figures

The Retro Network

Toy soldiers have allowed kids all over the world to be the generals of their own armies for many decades. These enduringly popular toys have seen many variations from the basic green plastic soldiers that

M.U.S.C.L.E: The Pink Wrestler Army That Took Over the 80s

The Retro Network

You thought the WWF had some bizarre characters? Please. Anybody who wanted to see some real oddball wrestling action in the mid-80s took a visit down to the M.U.S.C.L.E. arena. Those brawny battlers on television may have

Super Looney Tunes Return!

Walter King

In 1991, I was 9 years old and the novelty of Happy Meal toys at McDonald’s was starting to wear thin. We had gone from Changeables and Super Mario Bros to Barbie, Hot Wheels and