Monday, June 21, 2021

Rare Treats: A pitch reel for Aurora toys (1969)

 After having done commercials for Winston cigarettes, Busch beer, Welch's grape drink, and launching Flintstones vitamins, Hanna-Barbera was commissioned by Aurora in 1969 to help sell a new line of toys, which, unfortunately, save for Skittle Bowl, didn't last very long.

Fred Flintstone & Barney Rubble (Alan Reed & Mel Blanc) host, and introduce the one-off toon band, the New Generation (likely the Mike Curb Congregation or Curb & The Curbstones, since Curb worked on Cattanooga Cats for H-B that same year).


Of those toys, I only remember Skittle Bowl, which I remember having one year. What about the rest of y'all?

2 comments:

Silverstar said...

1969 was the year I was born, so I don't remember much about that year, but today's the first I've ever heard of Aurora Toys, which I guess tells me how successful they were. I *might've* seen Skittle Bowl somewhere, either in a toy store or at someone's house, but again, my memories of that time are really hazy.

I've got to say, though, that pitch reel was one of the most Hanna-Barbera-est things I've seen recently.

hobbyfan said...

And they went with Fred & Barney because:

1. The Flintstones was in syndication.
2. It'd been a year since the vitamins came out.
3. They were the most recognizable characters on the roster.