Friday, August 24, 2018
Buddy L Pop Art Buggies: Tony the Tiger
I recently found one (of six) fun Buddy L Pop Art Buggies from Japan, (1971), and lucky for me it was the Tony the Tiger Frosted Flakes ride which is easily the best of the bunch --the others being Bazooka Joe Gum, Coca Cola, Skippy Peanut Butter, a lightbulb, and Heinz Tomato Ketchup-- click HERE for tons more info about them and to see 'em all! Aside from one slightly mangled tiger ear, overall condition of our favorite cereal cat is grrrrreat!
Awww man! That’s so cute. The Tony Tiger is def the best but I wouldn’t mind having that ketchup bottle
ReplyDelete—and I’d be hip to the Bazooka Joe car if the driver actually looked like Bazooka Joe!
ReplyDeleteHa ha. I was just coming to say that while Tony's the clear winner here, I'd love to have the Coke Can and the Light Bulb. Between the three of us, we'll have a whole set.
ReplyDeleteI am a little surprised Frosted Flakes is the only selected package for the set that comes with its own spokescharacter. I guess that's the real reason the rest of those drivers are generic Marios? Too bad. I wish the drivers were a little more varied. The soapbox cars are nicely varied though: The chrome details on that Coke Can are totally rockin.
And I think Tony looks pretty bad ass with that alley cat ear. Been singin the blues while the lady-cats cry....
Tony Tiger really is the best of the bunch. The generic driver with the helmet reminds me a lot of Super Mario - more than a decade before Mario was invented. (Just a fun coincidence, as in both cases a large mustache was used as a simple means to give a bit more definition and individuality to a character constructed from basic shapes - balls for one, pixels for the other. Foul play unlikely :).)
ReplyDeleteThe place I bought this from actually had the coke can car too, but it was missing the driver... an unfortunate deal breaker despite the slashed price
ReplyDeleteYeah, I can get a Coke Can without a driver in pretty much any gas station.
ReplyDeleteBuddy L! Haven't thought of them in years. They were competition to Tonka toys since both were built to take the abuse from any normal kid from the 60's and 70's.
ReplyDeleteMaybe that's why so many kids today have a chip on their shoulder, they don't have a toy they can beat up and have it come back for more punishment such as knockem sockem robots. Better to let kids get their destructive urge out as youngsters than for it to be bottled up and have society deal with a destructive young adult later on in life, or at least that's my half baked theory.
Half baked but probably half true as well!
ReplyDeleteHad a weird Buddy L coincidence happen this week. The day after find the Tony car, I was at another antique mall and spotted yet another early 70’s Buddy L toy, and this time it was one I did have and just totally forgot about— the Superdog Biplane!
Dig: http://www.museumofplay.org/online-collections/1/25/112.5430
Followup, I don't watch the news much since it is usually all bad and I missed the terrible news from Florida.
ReplyDeleteMy previous post wasn't meant to sound insensitive, just my take on how maybe if at a young age kids can get their aggression out and eventually learn to control said aggression youth violence might not spiral out of control.
We live in some violent times and I wish I knew the answer to diffuse the violence and anger.
That's pretty cool. And how could they not make the Bazooka Joe head that kid with the eye patch. Well, I guess that IS Bazooka Joe.
ReplyDelete