Colorful packaging hanging from your pharmacists or grocer s shelves, designed to entice you while you sat in your parents shopping cart. 
Often terribly made, these strange playthings were low priced enough to wear down even the most frugal adult and were most likely forgotten or broken by the time you left the parking lot. 
Rack Toys is a love letter to re purposed illogically licensed toys that were not meant to be remembered. 
Rack Toys: Cheap, Crazed Playthings is the new book from PlaidStallions Press and it celebrates decades of funs that broke really easy. 
Shipping December 2012, Rack Toys is a 144 page, full colour softbound book by Brian Heiler. Rack Toys features literally hundreds of colour photos of toys from every decade and genre from the perfectly logical to the thoughtlessly odd, it is a love letter to an industry our parents called junk. 
Rack Toys will include an introduction essay by Jason Lenzi (Bif Bang Pow! Toys), seven chapters covering topics such as Superheroes, Saturday Morning Cartoons, Monsters, Science Fiction, TV and Movie characters, Generic Joy and Knock Offs. Manufacturers from all over the world will be covered including notable industry leaders like Imperial Toy Corporation, Azrak Hamway International (AHI), Mego, Gordy International, Fleetwood Toys, Larami and much more.

Rack Toys: Cheap, Crazed Playthings

Brian Heiler

Plaid Stallions Press

PlaidStallions Toy-Ventures Issue 1 AHI Tribute

PlaidStallions Press

PlaidStallions Toy-Ventures magazine is an old school print magazine about vintage toys from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s covering topics and items that don t get the respect they deserve. Each issue will feature collector guides, rare photographs, interviews, and articles by some of the toy experts in the Collector Field. Headed up by Brian Heiler, the creator of PlaidStallions, author of Rack Toys and the host of the Brick Mantooth YouTube Channel. BONUS ITEM: ORDER TODAY AND GET THREE MONSTER SQUAD TRADING CARDS, AVAILABLE FOR A LIMITED TIME. Issue 2 covers a number of genres and has some exciting new voices from the hobby. H.R. Puppet Stuff! By Kroffty This colorful piece tracks the careers of the legendary Sid and Marty Krofft through puppet merchandise, it will make you smile. The Lost Outer Space Men Contributor Steve Fink returns with another tale of tracking down an impossible grail or in this case, six, the legendary second series of Colorforms Outer Space Men. Godzilla s Gang Ray Miller does a deep dive into the 1978 Mattel Godzilla s Gang toyline, highlighting their origins. This is a lot of fun. The Toy-Ventures Guide to Denys Fisher Doctor Who One of my passions, the Mego produced Doctor Who toy line is explored in great detail with prototype shots, variations and never before seen reveals. A figure called Sloane Chris G blew us away when he discovered the abandoned Kenner Toy Line to the obscure 1970s TV series A Man Called Sloane . Did I mention that I love that show? Oscillating Vibrations A love letter to the Saturday morning series Monster Squad with a complete merchandise guide featuring never before seen items such as the Ideal Toys prototype figures..

PlaidStallions Toy-Ventures Issue 2 Mego Doctor Who

Ray Miller

Corey LeChat

Steve Fink

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Toy-Venutres Magazine is back! Our striking Captain Zargon cover this month is by our first guest artist, Tim Baron, I sincerely hope you’ll seek out Tim’s other work, I’ll put the link in the description. Of course, the first article in issue three is called Beware His Stingray Eyes- Tony Roberts host of the analog toys channel on YouTube tells the story behind the development of Action Man’s greatest Foe Captain Zargon. Megobase Alpha – We take a detailed look at Mego and Palitoy’s wonderful Space:1999 range with a complete collector guide including the line’s history and development, all known variations, knock offs and it’s resurrection in the 2000s. The Challenge Machines, Leave it to Popy of Japan to take the Evel Knievel toy concept and some home grown tv heroes to the mix. Corey LeChat gives a beautiful look at these winning toys, you’ll want to play with them! The Art of Mego Superheroes - Chris Franklin has created a knockout piece sourcing the iconic origins of Mego’s World’s Greatest Superheroes brand. Collector Spotlight – Our first interviewee is pop culture author John “Toyzilla” Marshall as we talk about the hobby and show examples from his incredible, eclectic collection. Toy-Ventures Guide to Lincoln International Monsters The centerpiece of issue 3 is an exhaustively researched guide to this incredible and highly collectible line of Monster Toys, including company history and a visual guide to every known figure and packaging variation.

PlaidStallions Toy-Ventures Issue 3 evel knievel

Tony Roberts

Chris Franklin

John T. Marshall

The Munster Mash– We’re visiting 1313 Mocking Bird Lane when Corey LeChat gives us a tour of one of the greatest collections of Munster merchandise ever assembled. Many of these items have never been featured in print before.\nApemen down under– William Wilson has written a wonderful piece about this Australian line of Planet of the Apes knock off figures called “The Action Apemen”\nThe Expandable ones\- David Lockwood explores the stretchable superheroes and villains made by Funstuff in the early 1980s.\nHe\x27s Glump! He\x27s Glump!\- We talk about the weird world of dime\-store action heroes created by Durham from Yung Kung Fu to Glump the Caveman, it’s a comprehensive guide.\nSuper Amicis– A fun pictorial guide to this cheeky line of figures based on the Mego World’s Greatest Superheroes.\nThe Toy\-Ventures Guide to the Mego Mad Monsters– This issue we take an exhaustive look at this wonderful glow in the dark figure line by Mego with input and anecdotes by Mego’s own Marty Abrams.

PlaidStallions Toy-Ventures Issue 4 Munsters Mego

William Wilson

David Lockwood

Vincent Cerbone

PlaidStallions Toy-Ventures Issue 5 Planet of the Apes

From the mind that brought you Rack Toys: Cheap, Crazed Playthings comes Knock-Offs! Knock-Offs: Totally Unauthorized Action Figures is a celebration of the dimestore bootleg figure, the copyright-infringing silliness meant to fool our grand people. The subjects range from toys of the 1960s to the 2000s and include every popular genre. Chapters will include Superheroes, Science Fiction, Horror, TV/Movies, and you’d better believe 80s toy lines. So many discount Darth Vaders and Skid Row Skeletors. Over 100 pages of toy lines look slightly familiar with names like Galaxy Warriors, Turly Gang, Battle Man, Supper Warrior, Nightmare Feddy and Big Fella. Knock-Offs will also celebrate the fantastic bootleg toys art scene and the infectious work of SuckLord, Killer Bootlegs, Magoob Toys and many more.

Knock-Offs : Totally Unauthorized Action Figures

What it is: Toy-Ventures is an old skool print toy magazine featuring toys and action figures from the 1960s, 70s, and 80s in a comprehensive manner. Each issue of Toy-Ventures Magazine will feature collector guides, rare photographs, interviews, and articles by some of the toy experts in the Collector Field. it's a quarterly celebration of our childhood friends! Issue 6 continues our deep dives into the toy industry with some amazing and fun articles: Ultra Mask - Corey LeChat Unmasking the 70s Ultraman College Halloween costume series. S.T.A.R Wars - David Lockwood The Knock-Offs that defeated The Empire, the Ideal Toys Star Team. It's hard to defeat the Knight of Darkness. S’up Riches - Jonathan Sternfield Exploring the short-lived toy company Dimensions for Children and their line of Richie Rich Toys. Mego Planet of the Apes Part 2 - Variations of the Apes! We continue our ongoing coverage of the Mego Planet of the Apes line with this look at the wave one figure variations. Lost Land of the Lost - Brian Heiler Aw man, we could have had Sleestaks! A showcase of the 1976 LJN toy line that never was. Mall of Justice Moment - Alan Kaplan Spider-Man and Alan in Child World with a pile of cool Remco toys.

PlaidStallions Toy-Ventures Issue 6 Star Team

Steve Moore

Johnathan Sternfield

Mike Armes

Mike Jimenez

Humor & Entertainment

Toy-Ventures Issue 7- Super Joe Marine Boy

Steve Stovall

Michael Grifka

Eric Gibeau

Toy-Ventures Magazine Issue 8 Shogun Warriors, Telco Monsters

Heath Smith

Raymond Castile

Chance Priest

Dave Keymont

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Books by Brian Heiler