In 1991, Tyco joined forces with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to turn their successful PSA campaign into the Incredible Crash Dummies toys. Beginning in 1985, the NHTSA began running PSAs to encourage people to buckle up while riding in cars. These PSAs starred two crash test dummies, Vince and Larry. They also featured […]
Wheeljack’s Lab – Vintage Toy Blog
Follow this blog for the new, the unusual, the rare and cool Generation 1 G1 Transformers toys. Reviews, news, toy resources, galleries, unboxing, opinions and personal reflections on vintage toys.
Retrospective on The Incredible Crash Dummies
Pop culture icons have appeared from the strangest of sources, as in the case of the Incredible Crash Dummies. Back in the 1980s, no one would have predicted that children would want to play with a group of crash test dummies. While these dummies had taken on a doll-like humanoid appearance, few people thought of […]
The 10 Most Unusual Monsters from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Beyond the colorful spandex sets that the Rangers wore, the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers made waves with its set of quirky and unusual monsters. In the first three seasons, either Rita Repulsa or Lord Zedd, or both, summoned these creatures into battle. However, on a few rare exceptions, their minions released these beasts. Each of […]
The Top Ten Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Toys
Before 1993, few in the United States knew of the Super Sentai shows that had been going strong in Japan for decades. However, one man made it his mission to bring the team of colorfully spandex-clad martial-arts-based superheroes to America. Haim Saban originally fell in love with the Super Sentai while he was on a […]
Retrospective on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Believe it or not, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers is nearing its 30th anniversary since it debuted on American screens in 1993. However, its main source material and influence, Super Sentai, is even older. Super Sentai came onto the scene in 1975. However, over the first dozen series did not become part of the Power Rangers […]
Grading Toys with the AFA: Worth It in 2021?
Have you been considering sending in your old and vintage toys for grading with the AFA in 2021? We here at Wheeljack’s Lab aim to honestly guide our customers. We understand that many are curious about the Action Figure Authority and the services they offer. For instance, many want to protect and ensure the price […]
The Top Ten AFA-Graded Toys That Have Come Through Our Doors
Since we here at Wheeljack’s Lab have bought and sold toys for decades, we have seen many rare toys, like those that are AFA-Graded. It always excites us when we see one of these toys with professional grading pass through our doors. While finding a mint thirty-five-year-old toy is rare, these are even rarer. For, […]
How AFA-Grading Affects the Value of Old Toys
As collectors of Transformers Toys, we often consider how a service, like AFA-Grading, affects the value of our old and used toys. There are several reasons to consider having toys sent off for professional grading services, such as securing the value. When you have a sealed toy with an official grade, you know that it […]
The Top Ten Veritech Fighters and Other Mechas from Robotech
In 1985, Harmony Gold set about to introduce the world to a new franchise with the blended localization of three anime series. They had their hands on the rights to three anime with a similar visual appearance, Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber MOSPEADA. So, they felt these anime […]
The Top Ten Robotech Toys and Action Figures
Robotech is an action, adventure, science fiction media franchise that started as an 85 episode-long animated series. Harmony Gold in the United States collaborated with Tatsunoko Production in Japan to localize and combine three different anime series. Since audiences widely accepted the Robotech series, it began to spawn other media such as books, comic books, […]