Godzilla Puzzle "Air Attack" (HG Toys #458-04, 1978)

And, lastly, here is the third 150-piece Godzilla jigsaw puzzle in the series made by HG Toys in 1978.  Called (somewhere) by the name of "Air Attack," if we take these puzzles to be chronological scenes, then it means that Godzilla has rampaged the city (first puzzle), fought his way to the harbor (second puzzle), and is now on a mountain above it all, being pestered by planes.  It's all in a day's work.

Even though the hues here show the effects of a waning sunset and the purple of the approaching night, there's a pleasant psychedelic backlash to the color scheme, with Godzilla grounding the whole thing, standing out starkly in the forefront.  (Wow, my Fine Arts professor would have been proud of that one.) As he looks back to torch an oncoming plane, he also looks at the viewer, as if to say, "See what I go through??" (Okay, maybe that was a bridge too far, there. I got carried away.)

Once again, for completeness, here is the Canadian version, put out by "Frolic":

 

Godzilla Puzzle "Harbor Havoc" (HG Toys #458-03, 1978)

Here is the second HG Godzilla puzzle from 1978.  Again, the title isn't on the box, but it's called "Harbor Havoc."  Here we see a very angry Godzilla being attacked by battleships.  There is so much action in this painting; there's a lot to take in.  

What's sort of obscured by the banner on the box is Godzilla lifting the front end of a ship out of the water, while SIMULTANEOUSLY flinging one into the air with his tail.  And check out the poor displaced people:

All done, of course, as various missiles fill the air.  

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a photo of a Canadian specimen to show you, but occasionally they do turn up on Ebay.  All in all, a lovely set of puzzles that no vintage Godzilla collection should be without!

Godzilla Puzzle "City Rampage" (HG Toys #458-02, 1978)

As promised, here is a bit closer look at the three 150-piece HG Godzilla puzzles from 1978.  The first one is the "red" one, also known as "City Rampage" (although you won't find the name on the box, if I remember correctly, and mine is out of reach at the moment).  The name may have come from HG Toy catalogs, but who knows.  The most we can be sure of is that they gave it the number of #458-02.

 The art is lovely, and again, my opinion is that they were going for a "realistic" depiction, as if they were fleshing out the (then-current) H-B cartoon.  It has everything you'd want from a scene of Godzilla in the city:  buildings being destroyed, citizens fleeing in panic, the pavement cracking open...although, if this were an American poster for a Godzilla film, the running woman would be in a red dress, which is more common than you might think.  We need to look at that one of these days.

And then there's this poor guy, who is behind one of Godzilla's humongous toes:

Did he narrowly missed a very flat fate? Either way, it's a nice touch, and a good start to a unique series of American Godzilla puzzles.

In the "equal time" category, here is the Canadian version of the puzzle, put out by a company called "Frolic":

Godzilla Puzzle Boxed Set (HG Toys, Mail-Order, 1979)

In 1978, HG Toys made 3 lovely Godzilla jigsaw puzzles that were each 150 pieces.  We haven't covered these very well--they are listed on my sub-page, VINTAGE AMERICAN GODZILLA, but we need to look at each one separately.

As it turns out, there was an order form in many of HG's boxed puzzles (they also held many other licenses for TV shows, like The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Vegas, and more) that allowed you to order a boxed set of all three puzzles, in "a lovely gift box!"

Now, you have to remember that, in 1979, this was considered a "lovely" gift box, and mine is even brown and marbled, instead of blue like the photo (and completely un-labeled).  Inside are three bagged puzzles, each with a little tag showing you which was which, and a set of posters of the box art from each.

 The posters are rolled, and contained in the carboard sleeve behind the puzzles.  They measure 11x14" and are unfortunately too big to scan.  The good news is, they feature the box art paintings without any titles or lettering imposed, just like the finished puzzle would be.  And, they are suitable for framing:

The beauty of these puzzles is that they depict a realistic, "dinosaur" iteration of the Hanna-Barbera Godzilla, which of course is what the puzzles are indirectly promoting.  That's my opinion, anyhow.

These amazing sets have been leaking out to Ebay one at a time, as the seller obviously has a supply of them (as well as some of the other TV-show puzzles), so if you are looking for one, now's your chance.

HG Toys, of course, also were makers of the legendary GODZILLA vs THE TRICEPHALON MONSTER playset, for which they also issued a puzzle!

A Star Wars Meme

Fisher-Price #943 "Lift & Load Railroad" (1978) Complete in box!

Here's a great find I made a couple of weeks ago, from 1978, it's the "Lift & Load" Little People playset! Amazingly, not only was it in the box, but complete as well!

Not enough great things can be said about the "Little People" series.  If this was a Tumblr blog, this post would say "Only 70's Kids Remember" at the top.

FP made great stuff for years, and they are still doing it to this good day.  (The Imaginext Super Friends DC comics line has been huge for several years now.)  I still have my great Sesame Street vintage LP playset, as well as the wonderful Circus Train, and I need to do a post on them one of these days.

The playset includes a wind-up train that can go in two directions, complete with a second car that has a movable ramp to dump cargo.  It's driven by the same engineer that comes with the classic Circus Train.

And he ALWAYS sees you.

The playset even includes barrels, crates, and pallettes, and you can haul your cargo to the central building, which has a winch-scale, and a conveyor platform at top, which is operated by turning the crank!

If you've read this blog before, then you probably know I am going to say that they don't make toys like this anymore, so:  they don't make toys like this anymore.  They just don't.

The latest NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL MUSIC is delivered.

Also included is a working forklift, and two construction/railroad worker guys to make sure the cargo gets through.

Of course, in reality, it's just going around the track...but FP also sold other playsets that connected with this one, so it didn't have to.

"One load of something called RADIOACTIVE WASTE coming through!"

The Sphinx is jammed-full of toys (and a very cool & understanding wife), but even I have a short list of items that were lost over the years, and one of them is the Little People Castle, complete with trapdoor, moving staircase, and pink dragon.  That one will be re-acquired; I swear on the blood of my ancestors! Stay tuned.

Godzilla Large Puffy Stickers (#949) Store Display, 1979

It's been slow around The Sphinx, but things are still happening.  I just acquired this large (and full) store display for the large version of the 1979 puffy stickers!

To see a good-quality scan of the sticker set (Item #949), check out this previous post, or, it's easier to just click on the side page, Vintage American Godzilla, where other sizes of the puffy stickers store displays can be seen!