Catalogs

1983 Mattel Wish List

I previously wrote about the 1982 Mattel Wish List, in the context of juxtaposing some early MOTU product imagery and the presence of rare early variants and unfinished prototypes in those photographs.

The 1983 Wish List doesn’t seem to feature any prototypes or rare variants, but it’s still fun to flip through the pages and see 1983 through a child’s eyes again. To that end, here is the entire mini catalog, which features Barbie, Poochie, the Smurfs, Tuff Stuff, Hot Wheels and of course Masters of the Universe. Happy holidays!

6 thoughts on “1983 Mattel Wish List

  1. Only notable things I can see if missing pieces, some which KINDA make sense or could be slightly hidden. He-man and Skeletor are both missing their half’s of the power sword, Trap Jaw is missing his Belt and accessories for that but otherwise, just standard production run. Fair enough and nice to catalogue this things, but nothing of any special interest.

    1. “Missing” parts aren’t so uncommon in old commercial photos – often because they weren’t packed in with the promo figures for photographers, or because they made the figures look too over-loaded, or sometimes because they were simply lost or used on a wrong item. 🙂
      But yes, little of real interest, and mostly ‘standard production run’ issues (not even a nicely painted Grayskull as seen in very early promo photos, but still enjoyable to see authentic “back in the day” original photos nonetheless – and fairly rare to see Evil-Lyn and Panthor featured in such relatively early advertising. Photographers would often show the flag right on top of the castle like that – ironic as in reality, it wouldn’t stay there, without something additional to hold it in place.

      Only other thing I noticed is the shot of the Attak Trak is reversed – evident by He-Man’s hair… but that’s just beyond trivial! 😀

    1. Stratos was several times shown or illustrated as such, which I always thought was rather ironic.

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