Retro Toy Commercial Goodness

A Vibrant Nostalgic look at some Retro toy commercials of the 1980's.
On
August 15, 2011
The 1980's was the silver age of color cartoons. The brilliance of television stations across America reflected off juvenile retinas every morning before school, every weekday after school and every Saturday morning. During and in between these highly entertaining yet slightly informative animated works of art, set highly targeted advertisements for amazing adolescent must haves. Like jewels encrusted in a barbarian's sword their shine provoked envy and wonder before inflecting massive hurt. Let us look at a few of those commercial gems and reminisce as their vibrant colors and shallow writing bring tears to our slightly older eyes while returning simple joy to our hearts.

GI Joe always had amazing commercials with the highest of production values. I remember my brother and I would make mud pits in the backyard trying to duplicate the terrain. I even took one of my GI Joes (Balboa) encased him in cement-so he could be like Han Solo before I buried him in the back yard. I never found him; he is still in my parents' backyard to this day. Here are two GI Joe toy commercials I dug up.


G.I. JOE Sgt. Slaughter 1980s Commercial
Sgt. Slaughter would bring the butt kicking to ya.


Cobra Terrordome Commercial
The envy of every junior mad-scientist or future internet pirate.
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I specifically recall not liking Thundercats very much but I thought the toys were awesome. The live action mixed with animation in the commercials thrilled us all. Mumm-Ra almost made me wet my tiny little britches. I also remember that Cheetarah was naked in the first episode of ThunderCats and that made me feel kind of funny. Here are two of my favorite Thundercats toy commercials.

Thundercats Toy Commercial 1 Lion-o and Mumm-Ra


80's Thundercats Toy Commercial 2
My brother got that arctic gorilla for Christmas, yup he was sad.



Where I lived Voltron came on late in the afternoons. The Voltron toys blew our minds because transforming robots were one thing but freaking lions uniting oh too much to bear. The Voltron toy commercials stand the test of time as true retro classics.
Voltron Toy Commercial 1
I can still feel the galactic power emanating from this commercial.


Voltron Commercial 2
Loved Voltron, but only got one single black lion . . .roar.
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During the summer of 1989 only one movie existed . . . "Batman". Unfortunately when the toys came out they looked like cheap crap even back then but the toy commercials rocked. I will even throw in a little something extra since it was my first VHS. The first one I borrowed that is. Tony if you are reading this sorry man I still have your copy.

"Batman" Toy Commercial
Chicks love the car.


Now Available on Videocassette 1989
"This town needs an enema"_Joker



The Real Ghostbusters ruled the cartoon viewing hours of the early to mid nineties. Matter of fact Kenner recently released retro Real Ghostbusters figures with MEGO styling. You might want to check that out after you check out these cool toy commercials. The Ghostbusters toys were awesome because of two things proton packs and slime.


Real Ghostbusters Toys - First Commercial
Kind of fuzzy but still has that flare.
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Ghostbusters Bug-Eye and; Squisher Toys 1986 Commercial
I had the Ghostbusters toys but I know my brother played with them behind my back.

Did you ever have a cool toy you loved to play with but were not sure what cartoon series it came from? This is part one because there are so many more vibrant retro toy commercials we must share. Next time the Superpowers toys He-Dude and more! Maybe you can place your toy then.
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