M is for Micro Toy Box

I know one or two other people have covered these either on Blogger or elsewhere, and, to a certain extent, that is the nature of covering new or current production, but that doesn't mean they don't need to go here, if only as a box-ticker!

I only became aware of these when they were on clearance at Aldi, about a year-and-a-half ago, and bought these three, at about a fiver each, as they all had at least one figure! And I had intended to leave it there; a fun sample.

 

This is the Rock'Em Sock'Em Robot (originally a Marx toy, but for many years owned by Mattel), reduced to about 25mm! The green one being a 'common' item in the set, the red adversary was also available as a 'rare', and I think I did end-up with one, but we'll get on to that!

 

Under the card you get four more 'blind' toys, each actually in a blind bag, so no cheating, but a mountain of waste on a dying planet? I'm guessing the line didn't do that well, as in some jurisdictions, window sets of 10, 15 or 20 items were issued, where most (6,10 or 14) were unpacked and visible, with only a few (4, 5 or 6) 'blinded' behind a graphics card.

 

The three top/visible items in that first purchase. about a dozen of the items in the first series were figural, and most had a balance or 'oppo', but I guess the original idea was not to get them out and add them to your Airfix soldiers, but keep them as minis!

One of the weirder aspects of the Aldi ones was that the insert card contained instructions on how to reverse the card so you could use the tubs as a unitary display system; a stack of little clear cabinets!

This being on the outside of the insert. But, "Hold on?" I hear the brighter of you asking, there's a side missing anyway, why would you need to turn in, to hide the artwork? But then you'd be displaying the instructions for the display faff, on the two wings, so you'd need to fold them out of the way too, and . . . and . . . it really doesn't make much sense? Not only that, but I think the point was that the blank side was supposed to have a sticker on it, hence 'turn' and 'reverse'?

 

In the event, they put stickers on all four sides, not only that but A) on the inside faces of the tub, and B) the type of paper stickers which will be a bugger to remove without a lot of effort, mess and the intervention of a solvent? The whole thing was a nonsensical daftness which clearly hadn't been thought through, or executed properly, by anyone in design, marketing or the art department?

 

The blind bags themselves give no clue as to the contents.

 

As it happened, they were then - in the run-up to Christmas '22 - further reduced to something like £2.50, to clear the stillage for the next bargain, and sorting through them to remove those which had been raided, I bought the lot! As a result, I had a fair few duplicates, not least these Hot Wheel cars (also a Mattel brand), so I 'unboxed' some!

 

Which revealed also, another odd aspect of the 'stacking' instructions - three different box designs which didn't stack between designs, and with no lids, didn't really stack at all, with or without reversed card inserts, or removed stickers??? Actually 'stacking' like empty yogurt-pots - inside each-other!

Barbies, board-games, bears and other recognisable brands of our childhood were included in the series, and this is the contents of another tub. The board-games and other - originally closed-box - toys were represented by simple stickers around small polymer tiles.

 

A couple of the tubs went on the scanner, with dubious results in the 'success' field!

Contents of another tub, stacking hoops from Little Tikes (now MGA Entertainment), a bucket & spade, a Barrel of Monkeys (Lakeside-Milton Bradley-Hasbro), a rocking horse and an early Nerf gun. The monkeys are no more than about 8mm at the longest line.

 

The full line of the first series, I think, in the end, I managed to get everything except a Magic 8-Ball, but I ended up with a lot of tat, and while I meant to take more shots of the mini toys, they ended-up going to storage, and will have to wait for another day, but there's plenty on the Internet for those whose 'research' consists of hoovering up other peoples efforts.

 

And while I was relieved to get one or two Skeletors for my dozen-or-so He-Men, I was gutted when friend of the Blog, Tom Clague, posted his trio (with Teela) on Faceplant and alerted me to a second series!

And - of course - now I have to get the 'army men', who look to be marginally larger than the monkeys!

This second series, like the Horrible History figures from Worlds Apart, seem to have gone straight to a few dealers, suggesting that you need to know where the good trade-auctions are, if you want to get this stuff as a year-round earner, in your evilBay or Etsy shop! And with another Nerf and a Pepper Pig, some more modern brands are in there.

 

Branded to Super Impulse USA, but, with both Hasbro and Mattel to the fore as representations, licensing must have been a nightmare!