This may appear an odd post for a natural history blog, but bear with me and the tenuous links will be revealed! We are well and truly into the Christmas season and I couldn't help but grace our blog with a bit of nostalgia.
Back in the 80s toys were just better, come on they were. There were some really innovative models on the market - Big Trak (see pic below) was iconic and, although we didn't own one ourselves, plenty of friends had examples kicking around the house (sometimes literally being kicked) or being programmed to fall down the stairs. Great days!
Every Saturday morning (in the ad breaks for shows like The Gummi Bears) my face would be a picture of pure joy, as a welter of tantalizing objects were set before my innocent gaze and carefully filmed to make them appear much better than the reality!
Nothing summed up 80s innovation quite like Toy maker Galoob, however, and their flagship range was The Power Machines (see pic below). This was a set of all terrain vehicles, designed to go where no normal 4x4 could venture. We had cars with auto-expanding tyres, claws ejecting from wheels and caterpillar-esque monster trucks with 32 wheels! This was about as good as it gets......for a boy aged 6 - 11!
I mean come on people - claws that can automatically burst from tyres when the going gets tough! There was a genius at work in the Galoob design department, and they knew exactly what would sell and sell fast. My personal favourite was the mighty Flex(TM). This car rolled around on wide, low tyres and if it hit an obstacle, well don't you worry about that, oh no!, Flex had a trick up its sleeve in the form of tyres that would react to the trouble and grow five times the size.
This miraculous event was made possible by means of a piston that retracted towards the vehicle body and, in so doing, caused the tyres to grow and reveal huge grips that laughed in the face of rocks and stones....sometimes!
The Animal (note link to Natural History theme)was another classic - if the going got tough then the Animal whipped out a set of claws and damn well pulled itself out of grief........sometimes! But hey you can't expect to beat every crazy blockade that a 9 year old child can dream up, and to be fair to the range they did have decent motors with a fair amount of power. Galoob also came up with the idea of facilitating a free wheeling mode when the power was turned off. This was really useful because most kids like to drive the vehicles around themselves whilst going 'brrrrrroooooommmmm', and here it was possible to do so without damaging the mechanics.
Ah the times my brother/friends and I spent outside setting up obstacle courses for Flex, only to be disappointed when it fell over or sailed off towards the pond, instead of the intended target. In truth Flex was all bark and little bite - the mechanism was amazing but it lacked The Animal's pull and power. They had the same six volt motor, but the claw traction helped the latter extract more from it. The Animal's design was not without flaw, however, because the auto traction would invariable cause it to topple over when climbing steep inclines. Galoob recognised this weakness and released an upgrade called The Animal Xtendor. This beast had an extra axle at the rear, which automatically extended when the vehicle began to tilt upwards. This altered the centre of gravity and made a big difference but this version is very hard to come by.
Anyway it was one more excuse to get outside and be at one with nature (note second link to natural history) and allow us to flip rocks, build things, tear up grass and generally get muddy and have fun. There are too many R/C vehicles these days and there was something different and special about setting up a course, unleashing a vehicle, and sitting back to see what happens. Most of the typical toy shop R/C cars and trucks are so uninspiring.
That is the best thing about toys like this, they were fantastic at expanding imaginations (for about two weeks until we grew bored and moved on to something else), but those brief moments in time have etched themselves permanently into my psyche and are completely flush with the other wonderful memories I have about strolling through the woods, putting up a tent in the back garden or fishing frogs out of ponds.
Galoob called one of Their Power Machines The Animal and marketed it amidst a cacophony of roars and snarls, as it ventured up a treacherous slope. In doing so they appreciated the fascination most young kids hold re the power of creatures and nature. We wanted to be there in the jungle, with our backpacks on and our crazy 4x4 all terrain vehicles ready to go.
For some reason they just do not make toys like this any more and I made the mistake of showing my kids The Power Machine adverts from the 80s. You can imagine what happened next - both kids allocated them first place on this year's Christmas list. I had to explain that Father Christmas struggles to source toys that are no longer in production and a very disappointed eldest son stated he would, in the future, establish a toy company and get Flex back into production!
Well I couldn't leave it there and so, after a lot of research, comparisons and general internet hunting, I managed to secure boxed mint versions of Flex and The Animal Swamper in time for Christmas - incredibly lucky and very expensive! The latter is basically an amphibious version of the Animal, and possesses wide flotation tyres that mean you can use it in the bath. Does it get any better than that?
It probably does get a bit better than that, to be fair, in the form of Giant Command but this monster seems to be as rare as hens teeth, and believe me there are not many decent examples of the others around. You can see a pic of Giant Command in the range advert near the top of this post. It is really hard to find decent pics of this vehicle series and Google searches suggest people are not looking for them, which is remarkable.
The Giant could be purchased in two forms - Leader 16 and Command 32, which was formed from Leader 16 and two other sections called GripIron and TurboJet.
This was a well made toy but most parents considered the 32 wheeled version too expensive. Both options could climb well and, being geared extremely low, were able to crawl over all manner of obstacles. There was a roller at the front which was supposed to facilitate easier vertical climbing but could sometimes prove a hindrance. This was less of a problem for Command 32 because it had two motors - front and rear - and was so long that there wasn't much that would stop it powering onwards and upwards. The 3 in 1 design was not without limitations, however, because the two motors were powered independently. This meant someone could put both motorised sections in gear then forget to turn on one of them. Worse still they could put one section in reverse while the other powers forward, which puts a significant strain on both.
Tomy released a rival in the form of Mad Masher and their Monster Machines series. It was built along the same lines - flexible chassis and 16 wheels - but I don't think it could reverse or be taken out of gear (someone correct me if I am wrong). Certainly it was a very poor relation of Giant Command, which is the greatest toy ever made in my humble opinion. Another strange aspect surrounding the marketing of Tomy's Mad Masher is that they claimed it had three 'power mad' motors. That is simply not true - it had one motor and two plastic ones that were only for show! I am not sure that would meet modern advertising standards :).
I must not forget to include a mention on possibly the most innovative Power Machine - none other than The Cross Boss. This car carries its own bridge, yes I didn't make that up. If it hits an obstacle it lays a bridge on the ground and uses it to overcome the problem and carry on its merry way. It then hoists the bridge back into position and away we go....to the next load of books, stones or whatever has been laid twixt vehicle and final destination. It is an interesting toy but only has a 3 volt motor and low ground clearance. It can't handle tough terrain in the same way as The Animal or Giant Command. If you want proper outdoor capability then you are better off sticking with the bigger models.
Finally does anyone remember this creation? It wasn't made by Galoob but it was one powerful machine. Bigfoot (see pic below), by Playskool, was a very handy 4x4 replica of the real monster truck and worthily tackled all manner of obstacles in the garden. This toy had real fire in its belly and was very well made. I showed my kids some footage but its lack of vehicle super powers rendered it second best to Galoob's offerings. It is probably more capable on certain terrain but the absence of expanding tyres, claws or bridges means it just doesn't score enough to make it special - not in the eyes of a child. It chewed through batteries at the rate of knots but if you are after a toy truck that can be set loose in the woods and care very little about any ditch, puddle or miniature quarry in its path, then Bigfoot is your man. That is all part of the fun, turning them loose and seeing which one is still standing at the end. I think I have just talked myself into buying one!
It was the same with most boys' toys - set them up against each other, then sit back and marvel. My brother and I did the same with our Tomy Zoids - you turned them on and they would battle away until one had lost all its bolts and limbs. Sadly my brother's Zoidzilla was virtually indestructible and it didn't matter if I unleashed Red Horn The Terrible, Mammoth The Destroyer or Giant Zerk - they all ended up sprawled on the ground, requiring a near total rebuild. Top times!!!!
On Christmas day myself and the kids will doubtless be wrapped up warm and designing some sort of outdoor adventure for the new additions (with me ensuring the boxes are opened really carefully and then stored in the loft!). We will probably take them out to the woods and really see what they are made of, it is just another excuse to be at one with the living world around us. So you see where I am coming from - get the Power Machines in, get into the garden or out into the woods and watch those 4x4s tear into the undergrowth and open pathways for young imaginations.
