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.

MAS*H Retrospective

Posted on December 20, 2024December 20, 2024 by Chris Ingledue
1960s Toys, 1970s Toys, 1980s Toys, Uncategorized, action ifgures, books, M*A*S*H, MASH, movie, playsets, sitcom, spin-off, television series, The 1960s, The 1970s, The 1980s, toys, video game

The widely loved franchise, M*A*S*H, began in 1968 with Richard Hooker’s (H. Richard Hornberger) book series. The books, inspired by Hornberger’s own experiences as a military surgeon during the Korean War, told of great stories. Hornberger’s books told of inspired stories during his time serving as a captain in the 8055th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital […]

Top 10 Army Ants Toys

Posted on September 13, 2024September 13, 2024 by Chris Ingledue
1980s Toys, Uncategorized, action figures, Army Ants, The 1980s, toys

In 1987, these tiny toy Army Ants marched into stores. These two inch scale figures released by Hasbro toy company featured two different armies. The two armies separated by color: blue and orange. The blue army, led by General McAnther, included five different squads and eight members. The orange army, led by General Patant, also […]

Captain Power Retrospective

Posted on August 13, 2024August 13, 2024 by Chris Ingledue
1980s Toys, Uncategorized, action figures, Captain Power, comics, Movies, playsets, series, The 1980s, The 1990s, toys, Video Games

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 […]

Top 10 BraveStarr Toys

Posted on August 9, 2024August 9, 2024 by Chris Ingledue
1980s Toys, Uncategorized, action figures, Bravestarr, playsets, The 1980s, toys, vehicles

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, […]

BraveStarr Retrospective

Posted on August 6, 2024August 6, 2024 by Chris Ingledue
1980s Toys, Uncategorized, action figures, animated series, books, Bravestarr, comics, Movies, playsets, The 1980s, toys, Video Games

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 […]

Computer Warriors Retrospective

Posted on July 23, 2024July 31, 2024 by Chris Ingledue
1980s Toys, 1990s Toys, Uncategorized, action figures, animated series, Computer Warriors, The 1980s, The 1990s, toys

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 […]

Top 10 Most Expensive Computer Warriors Toys

Posted on July 29, 2024July 31, 2024 by Chris Ingledue
1980s Toys, 1990s Toys, Uncategorized, action figures, playsets, The 1980s, The 1990s, toys, transforming 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 […]

Top 10 Most Expensive Crystar Toys

Posted on July 17, 2024July 22, 2024 by Chris Ingledue
1980s Toys, Uncategorized, comics, Crystar, figures, playsets, The 1980s, 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 […]

Top 10 Most Expensive Tron Collectibles

Posted on July 15, 2024July 15, 2024 by Chris Ingledue
1980s Toys, Uncategorized, collectibles, costumes, figures, The 1980s, The 2010s, toys, Tron

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 […]

All About Diaclone

Posted on July 10, 2024July 15, 2024 by Chris Ingledue
1980s Toys, 1990s Toys, 2000s Toys, Transformers, Uncategorized, action figures, catalogs, Diaclone, robots, The 1980s, The 2010s, toys, Transformers

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 […]