Highlights From the 1984 Montgomery Ward Catalog

As I’ve said before, nothing reminds me of Christmases gone by more than browsing through old catalogs. As a kid, I could sit for hours looking through the many pages of possible gifts, circling the things I wanted in hopes Santa Claus would make my dreams come true. As we’ve already done with the 1988 Sears Catalog, and the 1991 Sears Catalog, we’re going to uncover some highlights from an old catalog, and this time we’re looking at the 1984 Montgomery Ward catalog!


Bed Tent

I had one of these bed tents, but I didn’t have it by 1984, so I would have been asking for one I’m sure. I’m not really sure what the intent was with these bed tents, but I can tell you that I used mine in a multitude of ways. First off, it made for a great fort in my bedroom. And when I wasn’t using it for defensive measures, I was using it to imagine I was camping out under the stars. And sometimes, I liked to imagine I was sleeping in some fancy bed. You know, the old four-posters that you could draw the sides on.

GoBots Power Cycle

I probably had at least a dozen different power cycles through the years. My cousin Tim and I would just wear them out going up and down the hill at my house. We’d do down the hill at top speeds, and then lock up the front wheel for a sliding stop. All of those sliding stops would wear flat spots on the front wheel, and before long, they would be un-rideable. But I never had this GoBots cycle. That kind of surprises me as I was a big GoBots fan, and this looks like a cycle I would have been asking for.

Books on Tape

I was also big into books on tape, and books on records, especially when they featured properties like these G.I. Joe and Masters of the Universe ones. I don’t remember having any of the ones shown here, so I’m adding them to my list.

Rocky III Rock ’em Sock ’em Robots

Oh man, I always thought that Rock ’em Sock ’em Robots were pretty damn cool when it was Red Rocker vs. Blue Bomber, but this set featuring Rocky Balboa vs. Clubber Lang is so much cooler! You could replay the fight of the century over and over again, and if you were really feeling your oats, you can dare your friend’s sister to come over and find out what a real man was like, just like CLubber Lang!

Crayola Designer Kit

The designer kit on the left is the one that my brother had, and I was always so jealous. Mainly because he loved the damn thing so much that he would never let me touch it. He designed so many cool cars on that drafting table, that he developed a lifelong love for stuff like that and ended up pursuing a career in blueprinting. But since he never once let me have a turn at trying my hand, I’m adding it to my list now.

G.I. Joe Toys

So at this time, my two main toys were G.I. Joe and Masters of the Universe. When it came to G.I. Joe, I had several figures pictured in the above scene, but none of the playsets featured. My brother had the Sky Striker, but like a lot of his things, I wasn’t allowed to even touch it, let alone put it through its paces. But it’s the Hovercraft that really catches my eye. Of all the toys to be produced for the line, it’s the one I always wanted the most, with the notable exception of the USS Flagg Aircraft Carrier. So I’m definitely putting the hovercraft on my list from this catalog.

Snake Mountain

As mentioned above, MOTU was one of my two favorite toy lines. I don’t know what year I got my Castle Grayskull for Christmas, but Snake Mountain came the year after that. I want to say I got Grayskull in ’84, and would have gotten this Snake Mountain in ’85. But memories are funny, so I can’t say that with any certainty. Regardless, it was an awesome addition to the MOTU line and a toy that I would go on to play with for hours and hours after getting it. We had a fireplace in our den where I played, and I would set this thing up in front of it, and the fire behind it became kind of like a Mount Doom before I knew what that was.

I also had the Fisto figure pictured here, and he was one of my favorites. I want to say that I had the dragon walker as well, but my memory is a little fuzzy on that, so don’t quote me. But for shits and grins, let’s add everything seen here to my list.

Construx

Construx was another big toy for me. I had several of the sets through the years. Whenever I got a set, I would build it the way it was supposed to be, but then quickly take it apart and incorporate the pieces into my larger collection and make my own creations. I had the big set pictured on the left, as well as the truck and helicopter at the top. I know I had several space sets, but can’t remember exactly which ones. Let’s assume I had one or both of the ones pictured here. Again, let’s just everything seen here to my list.

The Fall Guy Remote Control Truck

The Fall Guy was a kick-ass show, and I never had a remote control car as cool as Colt Seaver’s truck. I would have taken this thing everywhere and run it up and down my long driveway. It probably wouldn’t have lasted long as I can see myself wearing it out quickly, but that’s not going to stop me from adding it to my list!


I don’t want to be too greedy, so we’re going to stop this list right here. Getting even some of these things would have made for an awesome Christmas back in ’84. Hell, it would make an awesome CHristmas this year. C’mon Santa, work your magic and bring me some of this stuff this year!

Highlights From the 1991 Sears Wishbook

Now that we’re past Thanksgiving, I’m all in on Christmas, and that means features like this. We’re going to look at a few things that really caught my eye while browsing through the 1991 Sears Christmas Wishbook.


Super Nintendo Entertainment System

I’m going to kick things off with the main event…the SNES! As I’ll be describing in an upcoming feature, the SNES was all I wanted for Christmas in 1991. Being a Nintendo kid, seeing that an upgraded system with better graphics was coming out just kept me on the edge of excitement all through the fall. The 1991 Sears catalog didn’t have a very big spread for the SNES but I guess that was because it was so close to press time when it came out. At the bottom of the listing, it listed just a few games with a note that said more games would be available on Nov. 1st, but you had to call and inquire about those.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Action Figures

TMNT was the hot property in 1991. The catalog had a couple of pages of just the toys, but the book was filled from front to back with licensed Turtle merchandise. Pajamas, clocks, roller skates, skateboards, and just about anything else you could think of were available with the Turtles emblazoned on them. But I like these action figures. I had a couple of the main Turtles roster, but I was at that age where I was transitioning from playing with action figures to more “grown-up” toys, so I didn’t go all in on the line. Looking back now, I wish I had. The figures were just so vibrant, and the well was deep when it came to unique characters.

Nintendo Game Watches

As I said above, in 1991 I was in a transition period when it came to the things I was buying. These game watches are a great example of the kinds of things I was spending my money on at the time. A watch is a “grown up” thing, but being a game watch, they were also fun enough to still be a toy in a way. I don’t know how fun the Super Mario 3 watch could have been with the limited graphics and gameplay ability, but Tetris is a game that is perfectly suited to this kind of offering. Being the big fan of Tetris that I’ve always been, I’m surprised I never had the watch.

Baseball Card Collector Kit

1991 would have been right near the beginning of my obsession with trading cards. My friends and I spent every afternoon trading cards, and whole summer days were taken up with the hobby amongst us. A set like this would have been something I probably actually circled in the catalog back in the day. I mean, it comes with random cards, sleeves, 9-card pages, an album, and a price guide. What more could a budding collector ask for?

Canyon of Doom Slot Car Track

I was bin into slot car tracks from an early age. My older brother had them, and he and my dad used to race them as a way of spending time together. I had several tracks of my own through the years, but nothing quite like this Canyon of Doom track. It’s pretty much just a basic track with a corkscrew in it, but it’s the theme elements that make this one stand out. Racing across the rickety bridge and through the volcano is pretty badass. Not to mention racing behind the waterfall. My cousin Tim and I could have killed many an afternoon with this track.

Robin Hood Prince of Thieves Toys

I was all in on the Robin Hood movie back in 1991. Hell, I’ve always loved the stories of Robin Hood in all their forms. So when these toys came out, I was almost compelled to revert back to the childhood ways that I was desperately trying to shake at this point in life just to play with these things. And it’s not really the action figures themselves that I salivate over today, it’s the playsets. The re-purposed Ewok village that is the “base” for the Merry Men, and the net launcher and boulder slinger really grab my attention. Especially since the net launcher and boulder thrower were re-purposed from the Bone Age toy line that I never had but always wanted.

Mini Golf Set

Oh man, this set of mini golf toys may look cheesy, but let me set the stage for you. Back in the late ’80s and early ’90s, I was doing all kinds of stuff to mimic things I was seeing on TV. Like, I would see bowling on Wide World of Sports, and I would then go and make a “ball” out of Construx, set up empty soda bottles as pins in the hallways, and I would spend the rest of the afternoon bowling. Stuff like that. So to get a set like this that I could set up a 9-hole course through the house and play some mini golf would have been right up my alley.

Nerf Bow

As I mentioned earlier, I was overly into Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves at this time in life, and as I just mentioned above, I was usually into re-creating stuff I was watching. So here comes this bow and arrow from Nerf that would just have made my playtime a whole lot easier. This Bow could easily make one of my lists of toys I always wanted but never had because I never did get my hands on one.

Days of Thunder Go Kart

Besides the Super Nintendo, this Days of Thunder Go Kart is the best thing I found browsing through the catalog. Days of Thunder was another movie that I was overly into back in the day, and I had a lot of merchandise surrounding the movie but I never had something as cool as this. While I would rather have a replica of the green and yellow City Chevrolet, I would still take this pink and white Superflo car. Do you realize how cool it would have been to cruise this thing up and down the road to trade cards with my friends instead of riding my bike? I would have been able to dazzle them so much I could have talked them into any trade I wanted.


Those are just a small snippet of highlights from the 1991 Sears Wish Book. Considering there are over 700 pages in that book, I could easily do a list of a hundred things I want from it, but we’re stopping at these nine. You can check out the full catalog, and many more, over at WishBookWeb.com. And if this kind of post is your thing, check out these other highlights posts here on Retro Ramblings:

Five of My Favorite Old Hot Wheels Cars

Friday Five is a quick list of five things with a common theme, and instead of doing a big write-up, I’m doing it in pictures (or videos) with just a couple of sentences to give context to the picks. You can play along by adding some of your own in the comments.


I spent a lot of time when I was younger playing with Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars. Just like with any other toy line, you always have a favorite few that you gravitate to. I was no different when it came to Hot Wheels. I had a ton of them, but there were a few that I would call my favorites. So for this Friday FIve, I’m sharing five of my favorites with you.

Fire Eater Fire Truck

My Dad was a fireman and the Fire Eater looked identical to one of the trucks at the local station where he served. Even though I had most of the Code Red fire trucks produced by Matchbox (which I covered here), the Fire Eater was still my go-to for imaginary fire fighting. That’s a big statement for me since I was such a big fan of the TV show. I had almost every fire truck that was available on store shelves back then, but this one was always the lead truck in the garage. It’s a beautiful representation of a fire truck, except for the blue light. But to be honest, the blue light and the blue accents in the back of the truck are part of what makes it such a great-looking Hot Wheel.

Dixie Challenger

You know by now that The Dukes of Hazzard was my favorite TV show when I was young. I had a lot of merchandise based on the show, but for a while, I lacked a 1:64 scale General Lee to play with. That’s where the Dixie Challenger came in. Up until the point I got my first true General Lee to play with, this filled the role pretty well. It kinda looked like the General Lee, and had a fast enough look that there were never any problems imagining it could outrun whatever police cars were in my collection. Once I got my General Lee, the Dixie Challenger was relegated to being the car driven by Bo & Luke’s cousins, Coy & Vance. I still can’t believe I subjected such a beautiful car to that kind of fate.

Cat Bulldozer

When I wasn’t fighting imaginary fires or running from Roscoe and Enos, I was playing in the dirt with construction vehicles. Well, not dirt. Coal dust actually. Which is a really fine black powder that gets into every possible crevice and can create a huge mess. But it was also the best substance on earth for playing with toys like these. I had a whole fleet of construction-type cars. I had regular dozers, cement mixers, scrapers, front-end loaders, and more. But this Cat Bulldozer seemed special because it had actual treads, and those two extra wheels to extend the tread just seemed so cool. It moved a lot of coal dust in its day for sure.

Rambling Wrecker

One of the earlier Hot Wheels cars I can remember being fascinated by was this Rambling Wrecker..or as I used to call it…Larry’s tow truck. I mean it’s emblazoned right there on the side of the thing. As a kid, what else would you call it? This was a must-have for someone like me who “wrecked” a lot of cars. I took the whole “wrecked car” thing farther than a lot of kids did though, as I would take some of the older cars I had gotten as hand-me-downs from my brother that I didn’t like very much and beat the snot out of them with hammers. That gave them that realistic feel. Of course, this was before Hot Wheels came out with their “Crack-Ups” line (which I covered here) and did the job for me in a much better manner than I ever could. And I would be failing you all if I did not include the fact that this Rambling Wrecker made a great stand-in for Cooter’s tow truck when playing with the Dixie Challenger as the General Lee.

Fun Fact: The original version of this tow truck had a phone number printed on the side of it. One of the folks at Mattel used their own phone number and ended up getting so many calls at their home they had to change their number.

Masters of the Universe Snake Mountain Challenge Car

So this beautiful work of art came included in the Masters of the Universe Snake Mountain Challenge playset that came out in ’85 or ’86. It was the car with which you attempted to run the course and escape Snake Mountain. I got the playset for Christmas in 1986, and as I’ve detailed before, my brother, my dad, and I spent a significant portion of the afternoon attempting the challenge. Beyond those fond memories though, they couldn’t have done a better job making this car seem like it came from Eternia…if Eternia actually had cars. But the look of it with its color scheme and all, makes it seem like it would have a home among the many various vehicles that inhabited Eternia. Maybe if it had treads instead of tires.


More toy nostalgia…

Five Highlights From the 1989 Lego Catalog

You probably remember from past posts that I’ve always loved LEGO. In fact, I’d put LEGO at a solid number three right behind G.I. Joe and Masters of the Universe as far as favorite toys of all-time goes. I was pretty fortunate back in the day that my mom was supportive of my love of LEGO, and would buy me small sets on a fairly regular basis. Every once in a while, I would get a big set, but those times were mostly like birthdays and Christmas.

A while back, I got my hands on some of the old LEGO Shop at Home catalogs. As a matter of fact, one of the first Time Capsule posts I did here on Retro Ramblings featured the 1987 LEGO catalog. Being how it was a Time Capsule, I refrained from adding any context or memories to those pages. But today, I want to highlight some of the offerings in the 1989 catalog. Let’s check out some of my favorite things from the line in ’89!


Big Rig Truck Stop

I’ve covered this one before in the Highlights From the 1988 Sears Wishbook post, but I’ve salivated over it for so many years, that it’s worth covering again here. I grew up fascinated by big rigs since my dad had to drive them on occasion for his business. Beyond that, they were always around because there was a trucking company across the road. So I had a lot of exposure to them.

And being as how I was a big fan of LEGO and had numerous other vehicles, wanting these rigs and the truck stop just came naturally. It looks like the set comes with one tractor and trailer, one tractor without a trailer, and a big rig wrecker. Not to mention the truck stop itself, and several minifigures.

I could have certainly put this set to good use with my other LEGO city sets.

Victory Lap Raceway

Here’s another one from the city section of the catalog…the Victory Lap Raceway. I had the smaller version of this once upon a time. My dad had come home from a trip, and we took mom out on that Friday night for her weekly shopping trip. While killing time just walking through the store while mom shopped, we found ourselves in the toy section. It didn’t take much of an ask, and my old man said I could get it. But that set only had two cars and not much else with it.

This set features four racecars, two pit stalls, numerous figures, a press box, a walkway above the track, a car hauler, and two base plates! That’s an incredible amount of play time built into this set. And what cityscape would be complete without a raceway on the outskirts? Not a city I would want to live in.

Black Monarch’s Castle

The Castle System for LEGO always fascinated me, but I never had enough of it to do much with. On an episode of the old TRN Podcast, I told the tale of my cousin, Stevie the Tyrant, having the King’s Castle set at my grandmother’s house. I told how he would never let me help put it together. Instead, he would give me a knight on a horse and have me go into another room and pretend to hunt while he built the castle. A-hole.

This castle wasn’t the largest one offered in the line, but it is the largest one in this catalog so it’s going on my list of highlights. I count twelve figures, and four horses. That’s an impressive lot to go along with the castle. Especiall if you had other sets from the castle system to enjoy with this one. Just imagine the many scenarios that could be played out with this set. I know I would using it to create some of my own scenes from Willow or stuff like that with it.

Futuron Monorail Transport System

From the golden age of castles to the futuristic age of space travel. Now while I never really fancied the space sets from LEGO, this monorail always interested me. Back then, I had these dreams of building a whole LEGO city, and wanted this monorail to run through the city.

I don’t know any of my friends who had it, so I have no point of reference as to how big it was, but if it had any size to it at all, it would probably have been pretty cool to surround other space sets with it.

LEGO Pirates

This was the introduction year for the Pirates sets in the world of LEGO. THey first came to my attention in and ad in the back of an issue of Brick Kicks magazine before their release, and when I saw that ad, I was instantly hooked without ever laying hands on them. I dreamed about them so much, I featured one of the ships as a gift under my virtual Christmas tree in an old post.

After the castle system sets, it should have been a no-brainer to go with a pirate theme. That or a western theme (which would come later) would have been logical choices. They went with Pirates, and the sets they produced to back up the idea were great. I mean, just look at these two sets. Let’s start with the Caribbean Clipper on the right. A pirate ship makes a great playset as theres plenty of adventures to be had just with it. From “sailing” it around to waging battles on it’s deck, I can think of numerous things to do with it.

And then the Eldorado Fortress on the left looks like a perfect island based playset. Just think about how much fun could be had by combining the two sets. With the Clipper trying ti raid the fortress, and the fortess having to fight off the pirates…damn, I can still think of numerous adventures to be had with these things. And what you’re not seeing here is another ship that was available, and several, smaller, playsets.

I never did end up with a single piece from the Pirates system, but that never stopped my imagination from running wild everytime I saw them featured in ads or in box art.

Accessories

While this entry may seem a little mundane, remember that I said I had dreams of building a LEGO city. To have done that would have required accessories just like the ones featured here. The roadway plates, the trees, and the minifigure sets all would have been necessary to pull it off. And I can’t forget to mention the train accessories at the top. I know I wanted to incorporate the monorail system, but a train system would have been awesome as well.


There were plenty of more sets I could have highlighted in this post, but those were the big ones for me. At some point in the near future, I’ll get the entire catalog loaded to the site as a Time Capsule, so keep your eyes open for that.

Highlights From a 1989 KayBee Toys Ad

I love sifting through old catalogs and sale papers from the ’80s and early ’90s. They’re filled with so much nostalgia with so many toys I had, and those I didn’t have but wanted gracing every page. For this Retro Ramblings entry, I’m going to highlight a few cool things I found in a KayBee Toys sale paper from 1989.


Nintendo Games!

I’ve already documented my love for all things Nintendo here on the blog, and this ad for games is certainly in line with my love for all things Nintendo. Featured in the top left is my favorite game for the system, Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest. I also see some of my other favorites including Bionic Commando and WWF Wrestlemania. I could sit and look through old game ads all day and continue to drool over just how awesome we had it with our game systems back in the day.

Play-Doh Make-a-Meal Spaghetti Factory!

Play-Doh was never really a top toy in my book unless I had a cool playset like this for it. There was just so much you could do with sets like these with all the various presses and cutting tools. Besides making plates of spaghetti and meatballs like the set intended, you could do other things with them. Like make your own cool monsters with long stringy hair. The various playsets offered almost limited play that other toys couldn’t.

Micro Machines Super City Tool Box Playset!

In the past, I chronicled my fascination with the Super City Tool Box in a Classic Commercials post. While I never actually had the toy, I always wanted it. I had more than my fair share of Micro Machines, and several playsets, but this one always eluded me. I’m going to have to track one down on eBay now I think.

1989 Baseball Cards!

1988 was the zenith of baseball card collecting, well, until Covid-19 hit in 2020 and the hobby exploded all over again. But with 1988 being such a banner year for the business, it was no surprise that a ton of cards were also produced in 1989. Not all of them were good. Like these Bowman cards featured here in the paper. I had some Bowman ’89 cards in my collection back in the early ’90s, and they just weren’t good. They were slightly larger than other cards and were troublesome to get to fit into card pages. Plus they just seemed to be of cheaper quality. But all of that said, that would have been a good price to pick up a complete set of anything back then since finding all 492 cards in single packs would have cost a fortune.

Domino Rally Basic Set!

So in the early ’90s, I thought Domino Rally was just so cool. Forget the fact that I could have just taken all the sets of old school dominos that were scattered around our house and accomplished the same thing, I had to have the brightly colored, thin plastic dominos that came in these sets to set up and then knock over. Plus, Domino Rally sets came with cool pieces like bridges and loops that had dominos attached that you could add to your falling masterpiece. These things really upped the falling dominos game to new heights.

Sega Genesis!

Being 1989, I’m thinking this is in the early days of the release of the system. That and I don’t see Sonic the Hedgehog’s mug plastered all over the ad. I do see Altered Beast though, and I know that was an early hit for the system. I was always a Super Nintendo guy, and I always will be. But even in saying that, I would be a fool to not want to highlight this from the ad. Any old game system is worth a mention in posts like these.

Well, there’s six highlights from an old KayBee Toys sale paper from 1989. I encourage you to check out our full scan of the entire thing in the Time Capsules section of the site and pick out your own highlights. If you do, drop them in the comments below so I can check out what you thought the top picks were. I always get excited about stuff like that.