Even as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics from Mirage Comics became a booming hit followed by a successful cartoon, few companies wanted to produce the movie. By the late eighties, the Superman films had run themselves to the ground with their fourth movie. Meanwhile, other comic book properties, like Howard the Duck, left a […]
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.
Top Ten Toys Based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movies
As the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles gained popularity with their comic books and cartoon series, Gary Propper obsessively sought to turn them into a movie. This surfer saw the potential in Kevin Eastman’s and Peter Laird’s independent comic series. So, he brought in Kim Dawson to help fund his cinematic ambitions as a producer. They […]
A Look Back on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movies
Forty years ago, no one thought of let alone heard of the phrase Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. However, that all changed in 1983 when Kevin Eastman drew a single image. This image was a bipedal turtle with nunchaku attached to its arms. His partner-in-crime, Peter Laird, cracked up at the image along with the included […]
Top Ten Pokémon Toys from Hasbro, Jakks Pacific, and More
As the release of the latest Pokémon games, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, nears, now is a perfect time to look back at their greatest toys. With each generation, companies like Hasbro and Jakks Pacific have stepped out to create the toys that reflected the popular pocket monsters. In many ways, these companies looked to […]
The Top Ten Themes for LEGO Brick Sets
Ever since LEGO first introduced its Automatic Binding Bricks in 1949, the company invited fans to create impressive builds. However, they quickly realized that they needed to invite new builders by creating sets with instructions. So, by 1963, they introduced boxed and bagged sets that included instructions on how to build objects out of their […]
The Top Ten LEGO System Sets
Through the decades, LEGO has inspired the creativity and ingenuity of children and adults across the world. Even before they patented their revolutionary binding bricks in 1958, they dedicated themselves to innovative play. As their bricks gained popularity, LEGO saw that their fans embraced the endless possibilities that these bricks provided. Sculptors and engineers alike […]
Retrospective on LEGO Through the Decades
Over the decades, one company has become synonymous with imagination and ingenuity, the LEGO Group. For near to 90 years, the LEGO Group has fascinated children across the world with toys that sparked creativity. The company came from humble beginnings before it exploded with the one invention with which they are now synonymous. From the […]
The Top Ten Characters from Indiana Jones
As George Lucas ventured to Maui after the release of Star Wars in 1977, he had a fateful meeting with Steven Spielberg where the two began dreaming of Indiana Jones. For years, Lucas had dreamed of reviving the old serial films of the 1930s and 40s with a modern twist. He loved the action and […]
The Top Ten Indiana Jones Toys from Kenner’s Raiders of the Lost Ark
A year after George Lucas and Steven Spielberg joined forces to create the first Indiana Jones movie, Kenner released the first toys based on the movies. Even during the early eighties, the push to market movies with toys had not hit the instant urgency that we see today. Furthermore, no company had signed on to […]
Retrospective on Indiana Jones: From Raiders to the Crystal Skull
As early as 1973, George Lucas dreamed of a man who would tour the world in search of unique and valuable artifacts, who transformed into Indiana Jones. In the initial stages, there were only the Adventures of Indiana Smith. This version had the general ideas that would later transform into Jones with the help of […]