Wheeljack’s Lab Vintage Toy Blog

One of the greatest science fiction franchises of our time began with a simple fever-dream in Rome, Italy. While rumor states that James Cameron flew to Rome to break into the editing room for Piranha II: The Spawning, he has denied such claims.

Years after James Cameron enthralled audiences with the first Terminator film, Kenner Toys became the first company to create toys for the franchise.

Over thirty years ago, James Cameron made his mark on cinema when The Terminator became a massive hit, spawning a franchise. Even though the film has become a staple of science fiction entertainment, it began with humble beginnings.

As Franklin J. Schaffner toiled to adapt Pierre Boulle’s novel into the hit Planet of the Apes film, he trusted writers Rod Sterling then Michael Wilson.

When Planet of the Apes hit theaters in 1968, the reveal that Taylor landed on a post-apocalyptic Earth shocked the audience. Even before the final twist, they fell in love with the expressive performances from the various apes, especially Cornelius and Zira.

Even before Pierre Boulle entertained the world with his novel, La Planète des singes, Arthur P. Jacobs scooped up the rights to create the Planet of the Apes franchise.

Before The Karate Kid hit movie theaters in 1984, martial arts films remained a niche genre. Only a few exceptions, like Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon ever caught the public’s attention.

Years after Daniel LaRusso proved that he was the best around, the first Karate Kid toys hit store shelves. During the production of the first movie, which debuted in 1984, none expected the film to become a cultural phenomenon.

As audiences exited the theaters in 1984, they dreamed of becoming the best like Daniel LaRusso in The Karate Kid. The film spoke to both adults and children, for it happily presented the self-empowering nature of martial arts.

Combining the charm of the Lone Rider with ultramodern technology, Knight Rider enraptured audiences in the 1980s. Its showrunner, Glen A. Larson felt that audiences needed a new series that presented the tales of a lone vigilante moved from town to town.

As Knight Rider hit television screens in 1982, audiences fell in love with the shadowy flight of Michael Knight and his car, K.I.T.T. As Glen A. Larson hoped, America fell in love with his show that fused the dynamics of Lone Rider with cars.

In the 1980s, audiences loved to see two things on their television screens: fast cars and the Hoff. First appearing on television in The Young and The Restless, David Hasselhoff quickly became the heartthrob of women across America.

Even as “extreme” defined the 90s, Christmas brought things down to life as we all longed for the toys of our dreams under the tree. This decade saw the emergence of more and more electronic toys in the market.

With Christmas in the air, our minds drift back to our dreams of toys under our trees in the 1980s. During this decade, the toy industry quickly moved to release some of the most defining toy lines.

Now that Spider-Man has found himself with No Way Home, it is an excellent time to look back at the villains that have threatened to bring New York City to its knees.

With Marvel Studios’ latest film, Spider-Man: No Way Home, arriving in theaters soon, it is the perfect time to look over his most amazing toys.

After decades of reigning as one of Marvel’s most popular superheroes, Spider-Man successfully transitioned to many media, including movies, cartoons, and many others.

Few who grew up in the 1970s never heard of the Six Million Dollar Man as the show dominated the airwaves for five years.

Following the success of Martin Caidin’s sci-fi novel, ABC began production of an adaption for network television. Originally, they aired three made-for-television movies that introduced Steve Austin to the viewing public in 1973.

Taking notes from the recently released novel, Cyborg, the Six Million Dollar Man entertained audiences from 1974 to 1978. In his 1972 book, Martin Caidin dreamed up a world where a US test pilot, Steve Austin, could receive bionics to survive a crash.

With the rousing success of Jurassic Park’s latest entries, Jurassic World and Fallen Kingdom, Universal Studios became determined to turn the franchise into a multimedia success.

Even before Isla Nublar became a Fallen Kingdom, plans to create an animated series, which would later become Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous began floating around.

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.

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.