At Flashbak: Kenner's Stretch Armstrong

This week at Flashbak, I also remembered a second famous toy from the seventies: Kenner’s Stretch Armstrong.

Here’s a snippet and the url (http://flashbak.com/grab-hold-pull-remembering-kenners-stretch-armstrong-1976-1980-57801/ )

“Stretch Armstrong is a strange but beloved toy from the mid-1970s. Stretch is a blond-haired hero who looks like a wrestler, and who wears only a black speedo. 

Designed by Bill Armasmith, this Kenner action figure had a special power, however. He was made with latex rubber and filled inside with corn syrup so he could be pulled – or stretched – to inhuman proportions.

“Stretch him long…stretch him thin.  Watch him return to shape again,” the toy box promised.

Designed for ages 5 and up, Stretch Armstrong quickly proved an incredibly popular toy.  Coloring books were produced.  And the character spawned knock-offs in other country including Italy’s Mister Muscolo, Japan’s Mr. X, and El Hombre Elastico in Mexico.

Soon, Kenner expanded Stretch’s universe with a supporting cast.  These characters included a lizard-man villain, the Stretch Monster, a Stretch Serpent, and a weird X-Ray Stretch Armstrong (with a transparent brain).

Although Stretch Armstrong went out of production in 1980, he was resurrected in the 1990s with a new friend; a stretch dog companion. 

For the last several years, production companies have sought to make a Stretch Armstrong movie, but without success.  The latest news is that Netflix is planning to unleash Stretch on audiences in cartoon form in 2017….”

Continue reading at Flashbak.