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.

Computer Warriors Retrospective

In 1989, Mattel toy company released a transforming toy line representing the storyline of the Computer Warriors. These toys released from 1989 to 1990 when an animated pilot episode of the characters also released. The pilot episode unfortunately never picked up but later came out as just one 22 minute film on VHS. These toys […]

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Top 10 Most Expensive Crystar Toys

Crystar, Crystal Warrior, a fantasy-based comic book series published by Marvel in the early 1980s began the inspiration for Crystar toys. These toys first debuted throughout stores in 1982 and captivated fans all over the world. The toys’ multiple crystal transformations and posable possibilities took the interest of many fans. The toy company, Remco, created […]

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Top 10 Most Expensive Tron Collectibles

Jump into this Top 10 Expensive Tron Collectibles list with us. We will dive into the expansive technological world of Tron and look into the collectibles’ valuable history. The epic story of Tron first came out as a movie on July 9, 1982 distributed by Walt Disney. It sparked popularity being one of the first […]

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All About Diaclone

The Diaclone toy line first released in 1980 and is the series that started the widely popular Transformers toys. Although toy companies released changing robots previously, Diaclone made this feature it’s central purpose. This line of toys, released by Takara Toys in Japan, include robots and vehicles that transform. The Hasbro toy company then licensed […]

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Top 10 Musician Toys

For many of us, music has been a throughline throughout our youth, adolescence, and into adulthood. We’ve experienced many flavors of music, likely ranging from the 1960s and beyond! Considering this, we wanted to explore the toys of many of our beloved musicians, with a focus on those from the ‘70s to the ‘90s. Join […]

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The Top Ten Most Rare Thundercats Toys

Step into a time capsule of nostalgia as we dive into the captivating world of vintage Thundercats toys. These iconic action figures, originating from the 1980s animated television series, have become cherished relics for collectors and enthusiasts alike. Thundercats, the intergalactic feline warriors, leaped from the small screen to toy shelves, bringing a roaring adventure […]

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Dukes of Hazzard Retrospective

In January 1979, the popular American action comedy series, The Dukes of Hazzard, first aired. This series, consistently among top-rated television shows from the late 70s to the mid 80s, drew in millions of fans. This series quickly became a big hit which spiked the launch of toys (1980), video games (1984-2004), movies (1997-2007), and […]

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Dragonriders of the Styx Retrospective

The Dragonriders of the Styx toy line was a rather obscure series created by Dimensions for Children. Debuting in 1983, the line capitalized on the popularity of Dungeons & Dragons with a variety of unique and imaginative toys. The Dragonriders of the Styx line featured six action figures, five Duelin’ Devils, five Riding Creatures, several […]

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Top 10 Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Figures

In 1974, the popular game, Dungeons and Dragons, was released. Earnest Gary Gygax and David Arneson created this role playing game and published it through Tactical Studies Rules (TSR). An updated version of this role playing game (RPG) was later released between 1977 and 1979 with three revised hardcover rulebooks. Then, in 1983, LJN teamed […]

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The Top 10 1970s to 1990s Horror Movies

You probably already know that the three decades under consideration here were phenomenal. Let’s start with the ’70s, which bore some rarity for horror movies. The decade brought about the industry’s rebirth. It was marked with mixed creativity and emotional sensitivity. All this helped to produce vividly descriptive and excruciating horror that mirrored what the […]

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