Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Toy Chest Tuesday! Wee Wild Things

Hello everyone! Welcome to the first Toy Chest Tuesday! This should be a fun treat. Every Tuesday I will pull something out of the archives and take a look back to a certain toy or other cool artifact from the past! It's like fashionable archaeology! Today we are looking at a blast from Mattel's past.

Here are a few pictures to get started:




As you can tell the toyline we are looking at today is called Wee Wild Things. The description of this toy is "Totally Tiny... Incredibly Cool!" And cool they were! Each toy came with a wee wild thing with wild hair and some sort of vehicle or tiny playset. This wee thing was named Ritzy Mitzy. Her slogan was "I'm a star in my ultra-cool car!" Well la-dee-da Ritzy! Only in the 80's would it ever be ultra-cool to drive a loud pink car with a painted dinosaur on the door. It is almost as if Ritzy Mitzy was driving to her own special Jurassic Park, full of neon dinosaurs and parachute pants. I love her!

Let's check out the back of the toy, because this is where things get really good. The names of these wild things are something else:




Here is the full back



In this picture we see that rich bitch Ritzy Mitzy zooming around in her car, Prancy Nancy on a pony, and Ruby Doobie in a sail boat (can I just ask why the hell is her last name Doobie? What exactly is she doing on that boat?) I mean seriously!


On the top floor is Rita Bonita, a vain wee wild thing if I ever saw one. Down below is Suzie Cutie, apparently Suzie likes her pants to match her bedspread.


Zaney Janey wrecklessly drives around in her jeep waving at people as if the rest of the road isn't important. I'm sure she'd be texting while driving if this was a current toy. I mean seriously, don't wave at the other wee wild things Janey! Those other girls aren't even paying attention! Standing next to her ultra-cool scooter is Kicky Nicky, her pose just says, "You best come prepared." And sitting at the booth ready to jump into a caloric buffet of neon triangles and matte squiggly lines is Rhoda Soda.

What were we thinking as kids? This is why I love my childhood. Because you just don't find cheesy fun toys like this anymore. I mean Ruby Doobie, really? Someone actually thought that would be a great name for a toy? I just can't get over it. Kicky Nicky was my first Wee Wild Thing. I still have her, though her scooter seems to have gotten away from her. Who knows where it is now. Maybe Zaney Janey took off with it? When the word Zaney precedes your name, let's be real, you might be a lil crazy.

And I'm crazy for loving this toyline and trying to collect vintage sets on Ebay. There is just something fun about a tiny wee thing with a shock of bright hair and fun shapes painted on everything. So here is one last photo of Mitzy Ritzy and her ultra-cool car. I only hope she never lets Ruby Doobie drive. Or leave anything behind in the car glove compartment.  


What do you think? Anyone else remember these?


2 comments:

  1. I had Rita Bonita, Lucy Watussi with a cake slice playset and one other, either the one with the horse or the boat and my sister had the other. A friend of mine had a couple more and the 3 of us would play together. I really enjoy the bright cartoony colorfulness of 80s and early 90s toys.

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  2. I know there was something fun about the colorful toys from that time. Everything from the toy to the packaging was just really great!

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