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.

Zoids Retrospective

Posted on January 10, 2025January 10, 2025 by Chris Ingledue
1980s Toys, Uncategorized, comics, manga, model kits, The 1980s, The 1990s, The 2000s, The 2010s, Video Games, Zoids

Jump into the world of Zoids with us in our Retrospective of Zoids. Short for Zoic Androids, these Zoid bio-mechanical creatures began an incredible, widespread franchise. The Zoids franchise began in 1982 when the Japanese company, Tomy (now Takara-Tomy), made multiple series of plastic model kits. These models resemble many different species such as reptiles, […]

What’s the Difference Between Robo Force Galoob and Ideal?

Posted on January 2, 2025January 2, 2025 by Chris Ingledue
1980s Toys, 1990s Toys, Uncategorized, action figures, Ideal, The 1980s, The 1990s, toys

The awesome world of robot and humanoid toys sparked immense popularity from the 1950s to present day. These toys especially showed popularity in the 1980s with many versions of humanoid toys hitting the store shelves. Of these, the Robo Force toy lines, brought humanoid robotic characters to kids all around the world once again. Ideal […]

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure Retrospective

Posted on December 27, 2024December 27, 2024 by Chris Ingledue
1990s Toys, Uncategorized, action figures, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures, comic books, Movies, television series, television seris, The 1980s, The 1990s, toys, Video Games

Travel through time with us as we go through a Retrospective of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures. The rock & roll, time traveling franchise begins in 1989 and continues to present day. With years of adventures, characters Bill and Ted not only appear in films. The iconic duo also appears in an animated series, video […]

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves Retrospective

Posted on August 14, 2024August 14, 2024 by Chris Ingledue
1990s Toys, Uncategorized, action figures, Movies, playsets, Robin Hood, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, The 1990s, toys

The English folklore character, Robin Hood, has appeared in stories, movies, and theatre for hundreds of years. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, one of the many stories featuring this sneaky heroic outlaw, came out in 1991. Along with the movie released, a video game, and toys also came out for the Prince of Thieves franchise. […]

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 […]

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 Captain Planet Toys

Posted on July 19, 2024July 31, 2024 by Chris Ingledue
1990s Toys, Uncategorized, action figures, animated series, Captain Planet, playsets, The 1990s, 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. […]

Captain Planet Retrospective

Posted on July 18, 2024July 18, 2024 by Chris Ingledue
1990s Toys, Uncategorized, action figures, animated series, Captain Planet, The 1990s, toys

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, […]

Street Sharks Retrospective

Posted on July 12, 2024July 12, 2024 by Chris Ingledue
1990s Toys, Uncategorized, action figures, animated series, comics, Street Sharks, The 1990s, The 2020s, toys

This 90s animated series about four half-human half-shark teenagers aired from 1994 to 1997. Street Sharks tells the story of these four boys whose father was kidnapped and turned into a monster by the evil scientist, Dr. Paradigm. Then, when the boys try to rescue him, Dr. Paradigm turns them into anthropomorphic sharks. The story […]