In the decades before the new millennium began, our toys were a *bit* simpler than they are today. No tablets or brain-implanted tracking chips for us! Instead, we were left to play with cold, hard iron trucks and tractors, dolls made out of rocks, Dad’s discarded pipes and beer cans, Mom’s empty lard buckets. Against that bleak background, the Colorforms of the 1970s were veritable vinyl rainbows, and they still make us all teary-eyed nostalgic today.
Welcome Back Kotter
This set featured the famed Kotter classroom, with a chalkboard as its focal point and all the familiar Colorforms characters as well, like Horshack, Washington, and Barbarino. There’s also a flagpole in the corner and stick-on pennants to help you recreate the hit show’s soundstage version of Brooklyn.
Holly Hobbie
Sure, Holly Hobbie might seem a little creepy to adults today, especially if you’re a male-flavored adult, but it had plenty of swagger with kids in 70s. And, talking a look at this box cover, with it’s penny candy, it’s not hard to see why.
The setting for this one was the Holly Hobbie general store and featured a colorful version of the store’s facade along with Colorforms stick-ons for various items for sale in the shop.
Kiss
This wild and colorful set features the Kiss recording studio, looking out a window high above a city skyline and with a laser beam shooting out at the metropolis.
Not surprisingly, the Colorforms pieces themselves feature Kiss band members, including Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss. We’re gonna rock ‘n’ roll — and stick plastic cutouts on stuff — all night!
The Partridge Family
This set commemorated one of 1970s TV’s favorite family bands and featured all their must-have pieces: a colorfully decorated bus, an animated bird (a colorized Franny), two colorized versions of Keith with his guitar, Laurie with her tambourine, colorized versions of Danny with his drums, and David with the saxophone.
I think I love you, Partridge Family Colorforms set!
Miss Weather Dress Up Set
This set was a smelly plastic version of the Miss Weather Dress Up Set. It had colorforms for her dress, hat and bag (and also a Colorforms sticker book), plus Colorforms to show what she looks like in different outfits – including one with an umbrella!
The intent of this set was to help children learn about color combinations and how to dress for the day’s weather. Nothing like a tiny piece of sticky vinyl to protect you from that hailstorm, right?
Space Warriors
This set had Colorforms representations of the warriors’ space suits as well as color forms stickers for additional armaments. The color forms stick-ons also came with a tank and an alien to battle! Which freakazoid was your favorite?
Planet of the Apes
This set features a jungle setting from Planet of the Apes, along with Colorforms versions of characters like Cheetah, Cornelius, and Nova. The Colorforms were cut out in various places so that they could be used to act out the movie’s storyline on a table or placemat — or, you know, on the board that came with the set.
The set also included color forms stickers for other scenes from Planet of the Apes – like Alpha Centauri!
Castle Dracula Fun House
This just may have been the king of all 70s Colorforms!
This set was actually a two-tiered Colorform, with the top being the mansion itself and the bottom representing its cavernous basement. There were all sorts of hidey-holes to slip your Colorforms figures through as well as a trap door that would send them plunging down into the depths of Castle Dracula!
Raggedy Ann and Andy
This Colorforms set is for all the Raggedy Ann and Andy fans–and there are a lot of them. The Colorform version featured many “rag” dolls, as well as items from their adventures like trolls, fairy godmothers, and more.
Donnie and Marie
This set came with a stage setting showing Donnie and Marie in the middle of a show. It featured several outfits for them to change into, along with musical instruments that fit the theme of each of the outfits.
(Like Colorforms of the 1970s? Then you might like our article on Colorforms from the 1960s, click here.)
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