One More, #FlashbackFriday! Go To TURBO!

Not since SIDEWINDER have you felt this kind of excitement!

Yesterday, we took our souped-up Big Wheel (already quite the souped-up vehicle) for a high speed (well, as high speed as foot power from a kid can be) adventure of epic proportions.  Today, we’re staying in the early 1980s (1983, to be specific) and moving into Big Wheels of the licensed property variety.

By 1983, Coleco had begun to see their fortunes improve when they released the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls on a a public that went crazy for the adoptable dolls.  This, of course, came on the heels of the ColecoVision and the disastrous Coleco Adam computer release (they withdrew from electronics in 1985), but it was the other products they sold at this time that gave them their success.  This also meant breaking into that lucrative Big Wheel business, which had been a thing since Louis Marx and Company introduced them in 1969, and taking it in the licensed property direction.

The result, you ask?

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Oh yes, KITT became a Big Wheel, utilizing Sidewinder Cycle ingenuity and slapping the KITT dashboard on the handlebars.

Go TURBO, and pretend to be Michael Knight on a pretend Knight Rider-inspired cross between a tricycle and Big Wheel, catching pretend enemies, while Pretend KITT “talks” to you!

Check out all the dramatic action of owning a Knight Rider Power Cycle, when you click play!

I love how this commercial (and the running theme of 80s toy commercials in general) emphasize that parents put it together (the demanding “your parents put it together!”), and also that this bike doesn’t actually have the KITT talking feature.  Come on Coleco, I’m sure you wanted to keep this inexpensive, but why not market something that involved KITT talking so this toy can go to a whole other level?  Make it exciting!

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Gather ’round, friends, and hear KITT…not talk.

The Knight Rider Power Cycle was first produced in 1983, and was still available in 1985.  It was one of several power cycles made by Coleco.  This was a collection that included popular 1980s kiddie licensed properties such as M.A.S.K., Rambo, Thundercats, G.I. Joe, Ghostbusters, and Dungeons and Dragons.  There was even a Dukes of Hazzard one.

Check out this related article about the Coleco Big Wheels!

And on that note, we pull into our driveways, safely stow away the Big Wheel for the day, and plot our next adventure. Here’s to having a great adventure of your kind this weekend!

Have a fantastic Flashback Friday, and a great weekend!

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