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.

Captain Power Retrospective

Travel through time with us to the 22nd century through this Retrospective of Captain Power. The franchise first began in 1987 through the television series, Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future. This series starred Tim Dunigan, Peter Macneill, and Sven-Ole Thorsen and featured 22 episodes of 20 minutes each. The story begins in […]

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Top 10 BraveStarr Toys

The epic space western franchise, BraveStarr, debuted through a toy line by Mattel in 1986. Following the toy line, a movie, video game, comics, and books released to expand the franchise. Read our BraveStarr Retrospective to learn more about the franchise and the epic characters. Mattel released over 15 million dollars worth of action figures, […]

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BraveStarr Retrospective

Travel through time with us to the 24th century in this Retrospective of the BraveStarr franchise. The space western franchise, BraveStarr, released through many forms of media from the mid to late 1980s. The franchise includes toys, comics, books, a television series, movie, and video game. BraveStarr stands to be unique in genre, mixing both […]

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The Difference Between Zorro and The Lone Ranger

In 1919, the superhero western character, Zorro, made an appearance. First, in a folktale and later in many movies, series, toys, and comics. Then, in 1933, The Lone Ranger first aired as a radio program but is most widely known for the television series with the same name. The Lone Ranger also told the story […]

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Top 10 Most Expensive Computer Warriors Toys

With the trend of transforming toys in the 1980s and 90s, Mattel toy company released these Computer Warrior action figures and playsets. From 1989 to 1990, Mattel’s transforming virus and anti-virus toys hit store shelves. These toys preceded an animated pilot episode titled Computer Warriors: The Adventure Begins. Since the toys only released for 2 […]

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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 Captain Planet Toys

In 1990 the animated action environmentalist series, Captain Planet and the Planeteers, came out. This series lasted for six seasons and told the story of the Planeteers group and the superhero, Captain Planet. The story began with character Gaia sending out five powerful rings to chosen kids around the world, each representing an earthly element. […]

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The Top 10 Rarest Jurassic Park Toys from Kenner

Even before Michael Crichton’s book, Jurassic Park, became a bestseller in 1990, Steven Spielberg believed in the potential of the fictional park. As he read Crichton’s unpublished drafts, he honestly believed the story told the most realistic way for humans to bring back dinosaurs. Understanding that he had a winning idea, Crichton quickly moved to […]

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Captain Planet Retrospective

The Captain Planet and the Planeteers animated action series released in 1990. The series broadcasted on TBS from September 15, 1990 to December 5, 1992. This series’ sequel, The New Adventures of Captain Planet, began airing the next year from September 11, 1993 to May 11, 1996. Since this long running popular series, toys, comics, […]

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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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