Toys, TV Commercials, the 1960s Quiz

Answer: Major

In late 1966, Major Matt Mason debuted as "Mattel's man in space". Major Matt Mason was an astronaut who worked and lived on the moon. The action figure came with a space helmet, a white space suit, a heavier protective lunar exploration suit, and a jet propulsion space pack.
Within a year, three other astronaut characters were manufactured and assisted Major Mason on his moon mission. Lt. Jeff Long (in a blue space suit). Sgt. Storm (clad in a red space suit) and civilian astronaut Doug Davis (in a yellow space suit) all worked together on the lunar surface.

Sold separately were a wide array of accessories including a three-story moon base station, various lunar surface vehicles, and smaller flying spacecraft.
The interest in the American space race added to the popularity of the Major Matt Mason collection.
Television commercials enticing young viewers to "enter the space world of Major Matt Mason" ended with the the manufacturer's product slogan, "This world is swell .. it's made by Mattel".

Answer: the yo-yo

In an 1962 TV advertising blitz, viewers were introduced to Barney Acres, who according to the Duncan Toy Company, was a National yo-yo champion. Acres demonstrated several of his award winning yo-yo tricks as an off camera announcer explained to viewers what he was doing. Acres, who performed his tricks while wearing a suit, tie, and fedora hat, demonstrated such tricks as "The Sleeper", "Around the World", "The Four Leaf Clover", and "Over the Waterfall".
At the conclusion of each commercial, the announcer would remind the viewers, "Remember kids, if it isn't a Duncan, it isn't a yo-yo."

The Duncan Toy Company, considered as the largest U.S. manufacturer of the yoyo, was created in 1929, when ambitious businessman Donald F. Duncan Sr., saw the great potential of the toy and purchased a small company (The Flores Yoyo Manufacturing Company) and started to mass produce the product.

Throughout the years, "The Imperial" and "The Butterfly" have remained the companies most popular and best selling lines of yoyos. Other popular models in the Duncan line included "The Bumblebee", "The Dragonfly", "The Ballistic", and "The Avenger".

Answer: spy attache case

The Secret Sam Spy Attache Case was a must have for every junior secret agent.
Secret Sam appeared to be a regular briefcase, but was in reality a sophisticated weapons and surveillance system.
The innocent looking case contained contained a hand gun, a barrel extension and rifle stock the allowed the pistol to become a rifle. It also came with a silencer that fit over the barrel of the weapon. A periscope in the case could be fitted on the back of the weapon allowing the agent to peer over walls or around corners. The case included a working camera that, along with the pistol, could be activated while the case was closed. The system also came equipped with a message missile, a bullet shaped canister that could hold a piece of paper, allowing the operative to write a message, load it into the gun, and fire it to his partner. All of the items in the Secret Sam case neatly fit into Styrofoams cutouts in the case.

The great fascination and interest with spy movies and television programs of the 1960's ("James Bond", "Our Man Flint", "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.", and "Get Smart!") undoubtedly helped Secret Sam to be one of the most popular toys manufactured by the Topper Toy Company.

Answer: Lionel

The first commercial miniature slot cars were produced by the Lionel Corporation and offered for sale in 1912.

Miniature Slot Car racing hit its highpoint during the 1960s when product sales averaged about 500 million dollars (USD) annually throughout the decade. More than 3000 public race tracks opened in the United States attracting millions or miniature car enthusiasts.

Television commercials flooded the airwaves with products manufactured by dozens of toy companies including the A.C. Gilbert Company, Aurora, Cox Models, the Ideal Toy Company, Mattel Inc., and the Matchbox Company.

Basic sets came with a length of snap together track that could be fashioned into either an oval or figure eight design. More elaborate and longer track configurations were also available. The racing or "slot" cares usually came in two scale sizes (1:24, and 1:32) and were fashioned after everything from standard cars of the time to super sleek racing models.

The tracks were charged usually with a 14 volt electric or battery power system and metal strips located near the front wheels of the cars received power when they came into contact with the track, which activated the motors in the cars. Power to the cars could be controlled by each player through the use of a hand held remote control unit.

Miniature slot car racing and slot car sets were the rage of the 1960s and remained as a favorite toy well into the 1990s.

Answer: Sindy

The "Sindy" fashion doll was created by the British company Pedigree Dolls & Toys in 1963. Sindy was developed as a rival to Barbie in the United Kingdom. Sindy featured the "girl next door" look, a popular feature which made the Sindy doll the best selling toy in the United Kingdom in both 1968 and 1970.
When introduced in September of 1963, Sindy was touted as being "The Doll you love to dress". As an introduction, a promotional 45 rpm record was distributed to London retailers and media outlets describing the Sindy doll:

"Sindy is the free style swinging girl that every little girl longs to be. Sindy has sports clothes, glamour clothes, everyday clothes - a dog, skates, a gramophone - everything. Every genuine Sindy outfit is a child's dream come true. Each one is designed for today's fashionable young woman by today's leading women designers. They are authentic miniature replicas of the latest adult clothes".

The Ideal Toy Corporation, a leader in manufacturing fashion dolls in the United Kingdom, in addition to the three dolls previous listed, also created and released "Dina Doll" in 1972, "Ideal Tressy Doll" in 1970, "Kerry Doll" in 1971, "Mia Doll" in 1971, and "Velvet Doll" in 1970.

Answer: Johnny Action

Johnny Action may sound like an "action figure doll" but it never existed. The closest toys to that name were the "Johnny West Action Figure", from the "Best of the West Action Figure Series" which featured Western cowboy figures, manufactured in 1965 by the Louis Marx & Company, and the "Action Jackson" series of adventure oriented figures by The Mego Corporation in 1971.

"Johnny Reb" was produced and advertised in 1961, as a toy replica of an American Civil War army field cannon. The spring action cannon could be loaded with round plastic cannonballs and fired. The harmless cannonballs traveled about six feet, more than enough distance to destroy the enemy fortress constructed of cardboard.
The commercial ended with the announcer reminding viewers, "Every boy want a Remco toy ... and girl" The TV commercial also advertised the price of "Johnny Reb by Remco" as $11.98.

In 1964, the Topper Toy Company produced "Johnny 7 OMA", which through a heavy television advertising campaign, became the best selling toy (for boys) in 1964.
Johnny 7 OMA (One Man Army) was a toy weapon, similar in appearance to a rifle, that featured seven fire power options. With quick adjustments, the weapon could be converted to 1) a grenade launcher, 2) an anti-tank rocket, 3) a weapon capable of firing armour-piercing shells, 4) able to fire anti-bunker missiles, 5) a repeating rifle 6) a Tommy gun, and 7) an automatic pistol.

"Johnny Hero" was a sports action figure manufactured by Rosko Industries, specifically for the Sears retain chain. The 13 inch tall action figure came packaged wearing an athletic jogging suit with the number "16" printed across the chest of the shirt worm by the action figure.
Sold separately was a colorful assortment of authentic looking team uniforms representing most of the popular Major League Baseball and football teams. The separate accessories included the appropriate gear for each team (hats, bats, balls, gloves, shoulder pads, etc.) required for the sports.

During their respective television advertising spots, both "Johnny Reb" and "Johnny Hero" used specially worded versions of the American Civil War anthem "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" as the musical signature for their products.

Answer: a motorized atomic aircraft carrier

Mighty Matilda was a creation of the Remco toy company in 1961.
Mighty Matilda was a giant (33 inches long) replica of an atomic aircraft carrier. The battery operated ship could roll on the ground, and featured a wide array of play actions.
The ship came complete with a crew of 100 Naval officers, crewmen, and frog men. The ship featured two working elevators to move aircraft from deck to deck, a working catapult that launched aircraft from the flight deck of the carrier, rockets, jets, helicopters, deck vehicles, a "battle stations" alarm, and was topped with a rotating radar tower.

The action packed 30 second television commercial advertising the toy was accompanied by a version of the Australian folk song "Waltzing Matilda"

Answer: Midge

Midge Hadley was introduced to the toy market as Barbie's best friend in 1963.

The Mattel Inc. toy company received some criticism regarding the image Barbie projected as being unrealistic to young girls. Based on her 1/6 size scale, Barbie would be 5'9" tall with the measurements of 36-18-33.

The Midge doll shared the same size (11.5 inches) as Barbie, which conveniently allowed the two to share wardrobe, but Midge presented a softer image in physical appearance with slightly fuller features making her appearance a little more realistic than her sex symbol best friend.
The Midge dolls could be purchased with the buyer's choice of red, blonde, or brunette colored hair.

The "Skipper Doll" often referred to as just "Skipper" was manufactured in 1961 and introduced as Barbie's younger sister. The original Skipper dolls stood only 9.25 inches tall.

Todd and Tutti Roberts were Barbie's twin grade school siblings. Todd and Tutti had the appearance of being about 7 years old. Both dolls were manufactured and distributed by Mattel Inc. in 1966.

The original Barbie was created by Ruth Handler, and manufactured by the Mattel Inc. toy company in 1959.
Barbie's full name was Barbie Millicent Roberts

The Barbie product line was one of the first toys to use television advertisements as a primary means of promoting a product.

Answer: red and blue

The actions of the two robots were controlled to the two players (managers) each using a joystick control with two plungers. Depressing the plungers would cause the robot to throw a punch. The joystick controllers were attached to each of the respective robots and could me manipulated back and forward and from side to side, which allowed the robot to move around the ring to avoid and throw punches.
If one robot was able to throw a perfectly placed punch striking his opponent under the chin, it caused the spring operated mechanism of the robot's neck to activate, separating the head from the body of the robot, causing the head to pop up with a "growling" sound, or as the kid in the commercial would proclaim, "You knocked his block off".
The head could be easily pushed back into the body or the robot, and the next round or match was ready to begin.

The toy was first released for sale in 1964, and was a product of the Marx toy company.
The dueling robots were known as The "Red Rocker" and The "Blue Bomber".

Answer: Chatty Cathy

Introduced by the Mattel Inc. through a massive television advertising blitz, "Chatty Cathy" was unveiled in 1960.
Considered a new concept at the time, the Chatty Cathy doll could actually speak full sentences - eleven of them.
The Chatty Cathy doll came complete with a small round plastic ring that was attached to a string on her tummy. When you pulled the string, it would activate a low fidelity phonograph recording. Chatty Cathy would randomly speak (in a sweet innocent voice) one of eleven programmed phrases. Chatty Cathy uttered phrases like, "I love you" or "Please take me with you". Later versions of the doll contained added comments like, "May I have a cookie" and "Let's play school".
Sold separately was a wide assortment of cute outfits and accessories, created especially for the Chatty Cathy doll.

Chatty Cathy was manufactured for only six years, but became the second best selling toy of the decade.

The technology used to make Chatty Cathy speak was later incorporated in a number of Mattel toys, including the companies very successful and popular "See 'n Say" educational toy series.