Toy-Ventures: The Saga of Tonka's STEEL MONSTERS
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- Опубліковано 15 жов 2024
- In honour of the release of Furiosa, Toy-Ventures looks at the most excellent 1980s Post-Apocalyptic Toy Line: Tonka's Steel Monsters. It was all things "Mad Max" except for the name. How did such a gorgeous toy line fail? What didn't get made?
We get the scoop from the creators.
#toyventures #tonka #MadMax
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I remember seeing these in K-Mart when I was a kid and I wanted them so badly. I imagined how I would play with them. I never got them, unfortunately. Thanks for making this video and good luck on your collecting.
Such an obscure but awesome line. I remember a kid I knew getting destroyer for his birthday in 1986 and being fascinated by these somewhat GI Joe scaled vehicles that lacked finer detail but made up for it by being robust. My little brother and I who were 8 and 5 respectively scouted around for a few of these and were able to pick up in enforcer and bomber when they went in clearance bins for very cheap by ‘87. They ended up being used in conjunction with our Joe collection with a real emphasis on post apocalyptic wasteland themes. We had a sizable backyard complete with the sandpit and small pond, so these vehicles were well suited for that rugged play that they all plastic Joe vehicles weren’t.
They were donated to my younger cousins in the early to mid 90’s and were still in decent condition by that point, owing to that solid Tonka construction. I actually found enforcer in a storage box of toys at my aunts house when I was housesitting for them around 2017… Still in 8 out of 10 condition!
Man this line rocks. I would’ve loved these as a kid.
These were plagued by shoplifters in my experience. I wanted these badly but every time I found them in a store the figure had been stolen. My folks were not going to buy me something with a missing part so I never got one. When I saw the carded figures later, I thought it was to allow people who bought a vehicle with a missing figure to finally get the driver.
I remember. When it was the figure that came with the vehicle, some poor slob would take the liberty of taking out the action figure.
Just like Hasblo's modern "environmentally friendly" packaging. Can't be as_ed to bother to use plastic, so their stuff is constantly getting stolen. 😑😐🙄🤦♂️
I got the half track destroyer for Christmas in 86, I loved it then, used it with gi joe and star wars. I'm 45 now and still have it! Great video
My brother bought me Bomber for Christmas and I loved that thing. Chased after it switching the gears on it. I may still have it stashed away at my parents house somewhere.
As a kid, had the Masher and Blaster, they were the perfect complement to GI Joe collection, really worked well as Dreadnok vehicles. Used to also keep my eyes open for Star Wars and Fisher Price toys that could be used with the Joes, also had a Sesame Street playset (Hooper's store/Tenement) which worked well as 'Springfield' Cobra base, if you are familiar with the comics storyline. Even used a He-Man as the barbarian Cobra prisoner that Duke fought in the original cartoon series. There was a lot of mixing and matching, but results were lots of fun. Ah, memories.
Thank you for re-igniting a core memory.
Damn i legit never heard of this line but it looks dope
It's great to see these again. I have been trying to get my original childhood Enforcer jeep back from up top my parents attic in the barn. I know it's still up there waiting on me to reclaim it for my collection. Great video that unlocks memories!!!
Right on, I hope you go get it!
Let us know when you find it
Nice! Got some of these for a birthday when I was a kid. They were great.
That is the coolest line I've ever seen I wish I would have collected it when I was a kid if I have a new about it cuz we used to play Mad Max with our bikes and make some of the weapons that we saw in the movie. Damn our childhood was wicked.
Same here bud! We used to cut up cardboard boxes and put them on our bikes trying to make the motorcycle Wez rode
Great video! Loved this line.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you! I got Destroyer from a yardsale in the early 90s, and I've always loved the look of it. I've been wanting to know what the hell toy line it went to for around 30 years. Solved a childhood mystery for me.
Thanks for making the video! Road Warrior has been my favorite film since I saw it first run at the drive-in when I was 9 - and I’d never heard of these until now! 🚗🚙🚓🚛🚑🚚
What a fascinating toy line! When these came out, I was 20 and not into action figures. A shame, because the vehicles in this line are very impressive. The half track and road grader look extremely awesome.
The smaller vehicles and the Hot Wheels sized vehicles do a great job of continuing the excellent design job. If I’d been into this toy line, I’d probably be frantically trying to complete it all.
A side note for the huge Winnebago. The one that my ex and her brother had came with not figures but two actual dolls from the Topper Dawn doll line (one gal, one guy). Several of her friends in the collector’s community for Dawn dolls also had the Winnebago, and many of them also came with Dawn dolls. As that line was going under, leftover dolls were bagged as knockoffs left and right, and used in other things (just like the Lincoln Monster victim); the main boyfriend doll (different than the one in the Winnebago) wound up as a ‘French’ boyfriend in the Pippa line from Palitoy. (Thanks to the ex, I got rather into 6.5 fashion dolls myself… that’s why I know a lot about them lol)
Thanks again for another cool video. A shame this line can’t be revived; it would also be awesome as customized Mego figures!
I've been a certified Mad Max enjoyer for decades but I've never heard of these. Very cool toys and I wish I had them as a kid.
Me and my brother both got Blaster Trucks for Christmas in 86, always enjoy the failed toys that we used to have like Sectaurs, or Bravestarr, Dino Riders
I still have my childhood Masher !
I had everything from this line. It was one of my favorite series especially as it came out not long after Beyond Thunderdome and I was obsessed with the whole Mad Max series up to that point. I miss these toys.
This episode was amazing! Thank you so much, Brian!
had all of these in my younger years. kept the figures cause the vehicles got busted up too much from play. i used the figs in my displays for star wars,they fit in perfectly. #CONGRATS20K
I wanted these so bad when I was a kid. I kinda want them now as an adult to be honest.
Great stuff, I was always curious about this line.
Hope you like it!
That opening was AWESOME!
Thanks!
These were so rad! I had the Jeep Wrangler, my step brother had the half-track and the road grader.
I loved my Mad Max Jeep, and ised it with my GI Joes, even though it was a bit large.
Yeah I could see them being fun Joe toys.
I had Metal Face. I never had any of the vehicles. My Mom must have bought the figure by itself.
Awsome video. Takes me back. I got mine at the Smitty’s department store. It was on clearance, but it didn’t matter great find. I was probably six or seven at the time, but I still have it. I still have Metalface and I still have bomber.
Mom would not budge on this line. "Nope!!!" Hopefully I can add some of these figures to my collection soon.
I remember seeing these on clearance in Kmart. I grew up in Minnesota, and did, in fact, have nearly every toy you mentioned other than these. I think that at this time, I was really in to Robotix. They had a cartoon that I only managed to watch a few times, but you could build them and then control them with a remote. Good old days.
Yeah you're exactly right 💯% , Shit ain't made the way they used to do it 😢
Great video. I had been collecting these for a while now and it’s good to come across this history and breakdown of the line and story behind it.
Glad you enjoyed! They're a real challenge to find, I'm sure you've noticed.
Wow... memory clarified. I had the Bomber and Metalface but totally forgot the name of the line.
I got Enforcer for Christmas in 1986. I absolutely LOVED the vehicle, and I got tons of play value from it. I still have the Wheel Boss figure; couldn't remember his name for the life of me!
I got Blaster and Destroyer for Christmas when I was around 7 or 8 years old. I was a Road Warrior junkie and flipped out when I got these knock off rigs 😂
Funny how I just watched Mad Max 2 yesterday with my daughter.
did she like the rape and murder scene?
I had those, the destroyer and blaster, they really were well made, great memory's, nice episode.
Don't forget SCTVs Mad Mel. My favorite Mad Max spoof. I remember these. Cool stuff.
Ah, SCTV...😁
@@CanadianPale RIP Joe Flaherty 🧛♂️
It should have been Mild Mel...remember, it's Canadian.
@@Chris-dz3rs the sequel starring the Howie Meeker Hockey School.
Thank you so much for sharing this! Sadly, I was born in 1984, and when this came out I would have been too young for them, but if I'd seen these at garage sales later (garage sales in the 90s were where I got like half of my toys) they would have become my favorites. I was /obsessed/ with unconventional fighting vehicles as a kid and would set up huge dioramas of garage sale bought/trashpicked vehicles and figures all over the house, much to my parents discontent. Seeing as an old Tonka dump truck served as an improvised "Megaweapon" (though I wouldn't see Warrior of the Lost World until college) I'm sure these would have gotten a lot of play and more than a few dents, scrapes, and battle damage.
So cool to see them, so sad we'll never see their like again!
A lot of us more imaginative kids loved stuff like this as crossover options for GI Joe. Blue Thunder, Adventure People, etc. I had Enforcer and my brother got Destroyer as gifts and wanted some “bad guy” vehicles but never saw them on the shelves. These were so well built that my son is now using them with his 4” Retro Joes. That era of Tonka will outlive us all
oh no!! the secret is out 🤣 Awesome video Brian, thanks for sharing the love for this excellent underrated toyline 😍
Don't remember seeing these in England, I think they where paranoid about "Video nastys" back then and prob thought Traditional Tonka stuff [Construction vehicles] more deserved the shelf space
I don't remember ever seeing these as a kid. I would have loved the concept. You have no idea how often my GIJoes and other like sized figures went on Road Warrior like adventures across my family kitchen in a verity of different toy line vehicles. Mind you, I do find the figures themselves lacking. They likely would have been mixed into the lot attacking the people driving for their freedom.
They’re good rocket fodder 😄
I had a few of these. I ended up messing them up in 89 when Batman came out and I repainted them in batman villain paints
It was a fun and educational video. Thank you!!!! You would think that the Mad Max people would have lowered their demands.
Great video! Love these more obscure toy lines.
Fantastic vid! I love Steel Monsters! I do remember seeing them on the shelves in 86. But it was BRIEF. Poof and they were gone. I don't own any of the figures or trucks. They usually go OUT of my price range. I've determined it will be easier to buy old Tonka trucks and customize them into Steel Monsters. Keep up the good work!
It would be amazing if they brought back this line in a 6-inch scale. I would want the vehicles in a lightweight plastic however, as I remember having some of those yellow metal Tonka trucks as a kid...and they were super deadly. You could seriously hurt yourself or others, not to mention the rust aspect. But can you imagine would a modernized 6-inch scale Steel Monsters set would look like? It would be so cool.
Thanks Brian for this video especially since Furiosa is coming out this week, excellent job!. Unfortunately in 1986 I was 16 and was more interested in girls, music and parties rather than toys and completely missed out on this. Had I known I think I would have bought at least Masher and Metal Face since I am a HUGE Mad Max fan. As for any of my Tonka Toy trucks back in the 70's I made them look post apocalyptic the natural way...I left them out in the backyard to rust during cold Ohio winters...WITNESS!
Yeah, girls, music and vintage stuff were all I thought about as well.
In an actual post-apocalyptic future there wouldn't be a lot of vehicles driving around because the gasoline reserves would be depleted pretty quickly, but I get that showing characters walking around on foot isn't very interesting.
Super awesome review I never knew of this toy-line or the Dead End Drive In movie you displayed at the end, Just watched, what an awesome flick, thanks for the inspiration.
I had The Destroyer dumptruck, it was a great add to my GI Joe vehicle line up, made a great Dreadnok rig.
I miss those action figures. I had them all at one point. I. Hoping with all this retro action figure resurgence, that these action figures make a comeback. Doesn't seem likely, but I can always still hope.
Had a few of these - classic!
I had these as a kids it was one of my favorite toys too.
More vehicles than figures! Madness!
I'd never heard of these. Never saw them as a kid in Australia ... a very intriguing toyline, and a wonderful survey video. Thank you!
Not-Hugh Mongus looking good in figure form.
Absolutely awesome video❤
thanks!
Great video and great memories!
I remember these. I wanted a couple of them, but I don’t remember telling anyone that’d have bank rolled it when I was 8-10.
And my allowance probably went to GI JOE figures instead. This video is actually the first I knew there had single figure cards, because frankly I kinda forgot about this line aside from brief conversations with friends once in a while…
Good Video, Thank You
Great video! I always thought it was odd that R rated movies like Rambo and Robocop got cartoons and toy lines in the 80s but poor Mad Max didn’t. I could easily imagine a cartoon and action figure line with slightly more Scfi elements like mutants and robots but Max still being Max trying to survive in the Wasteland.
Especially after the release of Thunderdome which was the entry point for a lot of 80s kids like me
I remember having Metal Face with Masher, he fought my G.I. Joes.
I had him also with his truck he could've easily been a cobra
Ive forgotten about this toyline but fortunately you made this video that jogged my memory. Lol yea these were pretty cool and its too bad we didn't really get a second wave of toys.
Wish I had seen these when they came out. Great toys. I was 16 at that point, other priorities…
Well, you took me back to the past with this one. My Neighbor had the halftrack. I remember G.I. Joes getting into chases with it, hand to hand fights going on in the back as it got ever closer the cliff that was the edge of the couch and the hero escaping death while the bad guys took a detour to their doom.
I have never seen or heard of this line.
I never had any of these but I remember them, man I totally forgot about these.
It's a cool line. I mean its easy for us to look back & say a company should've did this or should've did that but we must remember that at the time companies were mostly just guessing & hoping it'd work out. Lol
Oh yeah, even with all the money in the world this might have flopped.
Wish I had seen these as a kid.
I had to make my own mad max vehicles by chopping and combining vehicles and weapons from various toy lines. I still have a rust patina rc monster truck with the double gattling gun on the hood (from the GI Joe mad max clone car) various Rambo and ninja turtle arms and fuel tanks in the back. Topped off with my heavily battle-damaged T-800 terminator at the wheel.
I had 2 of the figures back then, never knew where they came from but yes
I only found out about this line a few years ago. I don't believe that it was ever sold here in the UK. Had it been - I'd have bought them, despite being well into my 20's then. They look ridiculously cool. I have both Wheel Boss and Talon figures that came in a job lot of action figures I bought. They look less 'Mad Max' and more '1930's Buck Rogers' to me.
Thank you, Brian, that was a lot of fun.
Nice one. 👍👍👍
I had the Masher and the Blaster, my nephews grew up playing with them, I wish I had saved them after the kids grew up.
Tonka forever! Sadly my mother wouldn't get me one destroyer since it looked "violent".
Being from Minnesota I swear some of those wave 2 vehicles were released.
I sincerely don't remember these from back in the day, although it could be that I saw 'em once or twice and forgotten about them altogether. In any case, thanks for doing this quite informative video and bringing attention back to these; most certainly there were very interesting ideas at play here, but, sadly, not very well thought out and executed in the end 🤷♂️😕
I had a tonka truck i could ride on. It was in the 70s. It was a yellow dump truck. No im not kidding, a child of 7 to 12 yrs could actually sit on its cab roof and roll. It was big. And sturdy. Tonka boasted how tough its trucks were. And they were!
Neato' review job. I remember these on the toys r' us shelves 😂❤
As a Gaslands player this gives me some build inspiration 👍👍
I remember seeing these one time as a kid, then they disappeared and I never managed to get any of them!
i had some of these figures from Flea Markets...and had no idea what they were, and forgot all about them until now. wow.
Made a great addition to my Dreadnoks
now i was born in the late 90s, but this honestly would of been the perfect toy line for me as a kid, i loved the mad max movies, i loved deathrace, i loved twisted metal.
these would of been perfect, big chunky metal vehicles to play with in the garden or at the beach, if they get rusty or scraped up then it just adds to the aesthetic. hell i would of played with them with my kenner aliens as survivor vehicles. i might have to track one or two down
Love the mad max movies and this line is awesome to bad i don't have room for this vehicles
I had the masher and enforcer when I was a kid. they were missing some parts and I never saw the figures, I believe they were my older brothers.I had alot of fun with them.
Wow.... I've never heard of these. wish I did. I would have used the vehicles with my GI Joe's. Awesome toy line. 86.... I would have been 8 years old. Sweet video. You have a new sub.❤️🤙
Never saw them until this video,amazing I want some,remind of Matchbox Road blasters.
Great presentation
Back in the 80's, these were all the rage. I'm looking hard at them on Fee Bay.
These guys are perfect for support figures and added members. Going to add them to Sgt Rock's "The Bad Guys".
They're 5 point, but they are pretty cool.
Well that was interesting. Ta, Brian!
Thanks for watching!
Forgot about these until I watched this video! I remember I definitely had the enforcer and the big truck.. And some bald dude without the mustache.. Kinda look like you might’ve been a member of the ‘village people’ if you know what I’m saying
Never heard of this toy line, thanks!
I remember seeing them in the stores but it seems they came and went in one Xmas season. I'm just realizing now, given the compatible scale, that these are perfect Dreadnok vehicles!
I don't really remember it, but it looks cool.
Hey I remember that toy line well I have one I used to have metal face and his vehicle masher I like that toy it was fun I pretend metal face is Jason he very cool
The figures looked cool, but compared to the much more articulated GI Joe figures, these would have been a tough sell
I have the smaller scale set still to this day. They scaled great with my transformers as a kid
Come on Tonka. These need a Retro collection
Maybe one day!
Great video! I totally agree that this is an under appreciated toy line. I remember seeing it on shelves and thinking it was kind of cool, but also derivative in comparison to the GI Joe toys that dominated my play interest at the time. I think limited articulation and the lack of accessories for the figures (weapons) were some of the main factors influencing purchase choices.
And love the Gobots line i am seriously fan of the Transformers but my transforming robots of my youth was the Gobots