Battle Merchandise in the 1970s

[The Other Jason]

Hi all,

I was talking with some friends the other night and the subject of Battle merchandise in America came up. How many of you who grew up in the US or Canada in the late 70s, actually saw Battle merchandise in your areas? What did you see? Were you able to buy it, or convince someone else to buy it for you? Did you look for more? Did you special order anything?

The only items I remember in my area were early issues of the comic books. I loved comics, so I kept a close eye on what was available at every location I knew carried them. The only place I ever saw the Battle issues was our Kroger supermarket. They kept a spinner rack of books at the front in the bakery area. Even before I knew about Battle comics, guess where I went first every time we visited? I got the first three issues there and then I never saw any more. I wasn't aware of any other merchandise at the time, or I'm sure I would have bothered my parents and relatives for it. I was a bit young and it never really occurred to me to write to Western Publishing, or Sandy Frank to find out about more. So I lived with the three issues and that one photo on the cover of issue one for years.

[tatsunokofan]

I'm probably more fortunate that most, since I did see a decent amount of the U.S. merchandise when it originally came out.

Like you, I found the comics on the racks -- either on the standard comic spinner rack or in the comic multi-packs that Western Publishing put out. For the last few issues, I ended up writing to Western and got them directly from the publisher.

As for other merchandise, I found the coloring book, the puzzle, the magic slate, the board game, and the lunch box on store shelves. I bought all of the coloring books, magic slates, and puzzles that I could, and helped to supply them to other fans who couldn't find them. The board game came and went so fast that I only got one for myself before they disappeared entirely. I helped a few people get the lunch boxes before those sold out, and ended up using the thermos from that lunch box for my school lunches for a few years.

I special ordered the five Entex model kits through a local hobby shop, and ordered the poster and the poster pen set directly from the manufacturers. I wrote to Sullcraft about the pajamas, and while I didn't get the PJs themselves, they did send me one of the iron-on transfers.

Thanks to fans in other parts of the country, I was able to obtain the Projector Gun, the Signal Ray Gun, the Spaceball Game, and the Space Water Gun. Of those, I really liked the Projector Gun, since, unlike the others, it actually did something related to the show by projecting images of the characters.

During this same time, I was able to get a few random bits of the non-U.S. merchandise (The French Marc magnetic figure sticker labels, and the LP record, the British taffies, and one of the Arabic language comics), but had no idea at the time how much more there really was around the world.

[Bobkat]

I remember seeing the comics at the front of a grocery store. I didn't buy it though (like, duh!).

Also saw the lunch box used by a girl who was a couple years younger than me at school. She had an Emergency! one too

I didn't track down a Phoenix model until 1993/94. That was the first thing I picked up in my collection. On another note, it survived the 7.1 earthquake in November, 2018. (Fell off the shelf and landed upside down in its display case with the smaller vehicles scattered about in the case).

[The Other Jason]

Hi Tatsunokofan,

I'm probably more fortunate that most, since I did see a decent amount of the U.S. merchandise when it originally came out.

Like you, I found the comics on the racks -- either on the standard comic spinner rack or in the comic multi-packs that Western Publishing put out. For the last few issues, I ended up writing to Western and got them directly from the publisher.

As for other merchandise, I found the coloring book, the puzzle, the magic slate, the board game, and the lunch box on store shelves. I bought all of the coloring books, magic slates, and puzzles that I could, and helped to supply them to other fans who couldn't find them. The board game came and went so fast that I only got one for myself before they disappeared entirely. I helped a few people get the lunch boxes before those sold out, and ended up using the thermos from that lunch box for my school lunches for a few years.

I special ordered the five Entex model kits through a local hobby shop, and ordered the poster and the poster pen set directly from the manufacturers. I wrote to Sullcraft about the pajamas, and while I didn't get the PJs themselves, they did send me one of the iron-on transfers.

Thanks to fans in other parts of the country, I was able to obtain the Projector Gun, the Signal Ray Gun, the Spaceball Game, and the Space Water Gun. Of those, I really liked the Projector Gun, since, unlike the others, it actually did something related to the show by projecting images of the characters.

During this same time, I was able to get a few random bits of the non-U.S. merchandise (The French Marc magnetic figure sticker labels, and the LP record, the British taffies, and one of the Arabic language comics), but had no idea at the time how much more there really was around the world.

Yes, you were definitely more lucky and more outgoing in finding merchandise. You rounded up a pretty good portion of what was out there for US fans (and beyond)!

That's where a single US TV or comic book ad to say there were products other than the comic would have helped. Anything to let kids know "Hey, there's a few more things you might be interested in!" With my age and location, I wasn't able to just go out to find things - even if other items appeared in my area. None of my other friends who were fans ever said they found anything else. But I have to thank Kroger at least.

Thanks for sharing!

[The Other Jason]

Hi Bobkat,

I remember seeing the comics at the front of a grocery store. I didn't buy it though (like, duh!).

Also saw the lunch box used by a girl who was a couple years younger than me at school. She had an Emergency! one too

I didn't track down a Phoenix model until 1993/94. That was the first thing I picked up in my collection. On another note, it survived the 7.1 earthquake in November, 2018. (Fell off the shelf and landed upside down in its display case with the smaller vehicles scattered about in the case).

Interesting that you saw the comics at your grocery store too.

Wow, your Phoenix is one tough bird! Did you have Zark check it for problems afterward?

Thanks for sharing!