The world changed in 1977 when Star Wars became a cultural phenomenon that broke records and remolded multiple industries. While the entertainment industry would spend years chasing after the success of George Lucas’s space epic, the foundations of the toy industry were uprooted by Kenner’s success. Few movies had become commercially viable for merchandise, especially […]
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.
The Top Ten Most Expensive Dino-Riders Toys
In an era where most companies were creating mutant teams and soldiers, Tyco decided to introduce a team of warriors that rode on top of armored dinosaurs. They took note of a rising surge of dinosaur interest in the 1980s when they decided to make them the focal point. However, they knew that they could […]
The Ten Most Expensive Chogokin Toys
At a time when most companies were turning toward economically sound plastics, a company from Japan decided to take a chance with die-cast zinc alloys. Bandai formed Popy to specialize in producing products that would appear outside of the toy aisle in 1971. Even though their earliest products appeared in candy stores and the like, […]
The Ten Most Expensive Captain Action Toys
Introduced in 1966, Ideal released Captain Action on criminals across the toy shelf. With the assistance of the inventor that helped create G.I. Joe, Stan Weston, Captain Action shared many of the same features as Hasbro’s action soldiers. These articulated action figures stood 12” tall and could easily don a variety of outfits. However, Captain […]
The Ten Most Expensive Centurions Toys
Kenner introduced many new and imaginative toys in the latter half of the 1980s, including the Centurions. Presenting a world where men could fuse with machines to gain power, the Centurions had a memorable series of action figures along with power suit accessories. Unlike most toy lines, the vehicles combined with the action figures as […]
The Ten Most Expensive Bone Age Toys
While Kenner entered the 1980s as the top toy manufacturer in the market, their position slipped in the second half of the decade. The Star Wars excitement that propelled them to success trickled off with the finalization of the trilogy in 1983. Moreover, toy companies that they had initially surpassed returned with a vengeance as […]
The Ten Most Expensive Battlestar Galactica Toys
In the wake of Star Wars, both the entertainment industry and the toy industry raced to become the next smash hit. Believing that the space battles and science fiction setting were crucial to the film’s success, a wave of new science fiction stories hit film and television. At Univeral Studios, they gave Glen A. Larson […]
Understanding the AFA/CGA Temporary Suspension of Loose Toy Grading
Many toy collectors love to see their favorite toys receive a high grade from services like the Action Figure Authority (AFA). While these grades have helped sellers and collectors easily tier the mint condition of packaged figures, not every vintage toy is in a box. Many, like the original Star Wars figures from the Early […]
The Ten Most Expensive ALIEN toys
Ridley Scott awed and shocked audiences as he introduced them to the perfect predator in the science fiction horror film ALIEN. While he did not know it as he crafted the film, his work sparked a franchise that has remained strong for decades. Likewise, one company took a gamble to create one of the most […]
Improving the Value of Your Collectibles: Grading and Authenticating Services
For as long as human civilization has existed, there have been those that love to gather collections. The contents of these collections have ranged from valuable trinkets to sentimental belongings. As the years progressed, the nature of collecting changed with the rise of new hobbies and obsessions. As pop culture became a driving force, new […]