Brian Heiler’s Rack Toys: Cheap, Crazed Playthings, Gets a Re-Release via the Nacelle Company as their first published book.
Toy collector, father and author, Brian Heiler’s Rack Toys: Cheap, Crazed Playthings, gets a re-release via the Nacelle Company as their first published book.
Originally self-published nearly a decade ago, Brian Heiler’s Rack Toys: Cheap, Crazed Playthings, takes us on an adventure when licensed properties were the wild, wild west and virtually anything from the 1960s through even the 1990s were LOOSELY affiliated with some of your favorite popular culture entites, knowing full well that most of these impulse items would not last the afternoon.
Now, through The Nacelle Company, the people responsible for Netflix’s The Movies That Made Us, The Toys That Made Us, Down To Earth with Zac Efron and Behind The Attraction for Disney+ have re-released this novel-ty book for our reading enjoyment.
Heiler, who’s father sold these types of toys all over Canada has fantastic sense of humor when it comes to the irony of items like Superman with a parachute or James Bond dog tags, and those sensibilities have not been lost on him in adulthood as an avid collector or as someone who just loves the hunt of collecting toys.
Official Press Release:
The Nacelle Company, the people behind Netflix’s The Movies That Made Us, The Toys That Made Us, Down To Earth with Zac Efron and Behind The Attraction for Disney+ have announced they’re publishing the definitive edition of Brian Heiler’s Rack Toys, and will release it through their new publishing department on September 10, 2021.
Brian Heiler’s 2012 book, Rack Toys is a love-letter to the fun toys that broke really easy. Chronicling decades of cheaply made toys found on the rack of discount stores, drug stores and anywhere in-between, what these toys lacked in quality, they made up for in charm and kitsch. A beautiful and comprehensive (and updated!) account of all these weird and wonderful toys and where they came from, with new afterwards by Brian Volk-Weiss.
If you’re asking yourself “What are rack toys?”, we’re glad you asked! They’re colorfully packaged toys hanging from your pharmacists’ or grocer’s shelves, designed to entice you while you sit in your parent’s shopping cart. Often terribly made, these strange playthings were low priced enough to wear down even the most frugal adult and were most likely forgotten or broken by the time you left the parking lot. Rack Toys is a lesson that re-purposed illogically licensed toys were not always meant to be remembered.
This new definitive edition of the popular collector’s book includes expanded chapters and even deeper dives into the world of Comic Action Heroes, TV & Movie Superstars, Saturday Morning, Spooky Fun Page, World Famous Super Monsters, Mighty Crusaders, Sonic Woman, Space Master and much more. Even the nostalgic Santa Putty makes an appearance! Fans can enjoy over 30% new information and material in this Nacelle Company approved definitive edition of Brian Heiler’s Rack Toys.
As a freelance pop culture writer and photographer, Brian Heiler and his work have been featured in Toy Shop, Lee’s Action Figure News, Toyfare Magazine, Famous Monsters of Filmland and Model & Collector Mart. His website, PlaidStallions is a repository for his childhood obsessions including toys, 70s clothing, superheroes making mall appearances and pictures of long defunct toy retailers. Brian is a brand manager for MapArt publishing, who resides outside of Toronto with two wonderful children, an all too understanding wife and more stuff than he probably should have.
“I am very grateful and excited that Nacelle reached out to me about producing this new edition of Rack Toys. The book was a love letter to my childhood and to find that it resonated with the folks at such an awesome company was especially validating,” said Brian Heiler.
“I’ve been buying Rack Toys Becket General Store since I was 5 years old, and to be able to publish a book about one of my favorite pastimes feels almost too good to be true,” said Brian Volk-Weiss, Founder and CEO of The Nacelle Company.
For more information on how to pick up Rack Toys: Cheap, Crazed Playthings, and listen to Brian Heiler’s podcast, visit his official website at www.plaidstallions.com.
Follow Brian Heiler on Twitter @Plaidstallions, on Instagram @plaidstallions, Facebook at Plaid Stallions and his YouTube page at Brick Mantooth.
