1976 Dino de Laurentis "a Colorforms Toy" "King Kong Panorama Play Set" MIB

Description

Vintage
1976 Dino de Laurentis Corporation "a Colorforms Toy" in Norwood N.J.  "King Kong Panorama Play Set" No. 4095.
"A Super Colossal, KONG SIZE Colorforms Set-With Spectacular, GIANT PANARAMA of New York and Skull Island."
MIB mint in box (Box is not mint) appears
never been out of the box and as originally packed. See condition regarding the box.
Condition:
Box complete mostly solid. Issue with one of the box top corners visible in several of the photos.  Please view photos for actual condition. The set itself appears to have never been removed from the box appearing to be just as it was packed. Very Nice!
Please view photos for actual condition
Email if you need more photos
Will combine shipping when possible,
wait for my invoices if
you purchased more than one item (shipping may vary.)
Colorforms
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Colorforms
Gumby Colorforms
Inventor(s)
Harry and Patricia Kislevitz
Company
Colorforms Brand, LLC
Country
United States
Availability
1951–present
Materials
Vinyl
sheet, glossy
paperboard
Slogan
It's more fun to play the Colorforms way
Official website
Colorforms
is a creative
toy
named for the simple shapes and forms cut from colored vinyl sheeting that cling to a smooth backing surface without adhesives. These pieces are used to create picture graphics and designs, which can then be changed countless times by repositioning the removable color forms. The name also refers to the specific
registered
trademark
brand these products are produced under, as well as the company that manufactures the toys,
Colorforms Brand, LLC.
Sets initially featured basic geometric shapes and bright primary colors on black or white backgrounds. Eventually, however, the Colorforms line evolved to include full-color illustrated play sets, games and puzzles, interactive books and creative activity sets for children of all ages. The licensing of media properties related to contemporary
pop culture
became integral to the product and company's success. Since its inception, more than a billion Colorforms play sets have been produced and sold.
[
citation needed
]
Contents
1
Design
2
History
3
Company timeline
4
Products
5
Licensed characters
6
Other products
7
9 Story Ownership (2018-present)
8
References
9
External links
Design
[
edit
]
Colorforms are sheet-thin, die-cut
vinyl
pieces, in colorful geometric "forms" and abstract shapes (figural or object), often with over-printed images that are to be attached to a smooth plastic laminated
paperboard
background, much like placing
paper dolls
against a paper backdrop. The pieces stick to the background without chemical or static
adhesion
, and in a secure, but non-permanent manner when a
vacuum
is created between the two polished surfaces, holding the piece in place. The Colorforms vinyl pieces can then be repositioned on the board a virtually unlimited number of times to create new designs and scenarios. The sets aid in promoting creative expression, concentration skills, comprehension of spatial relationships, and manual dexterity in young children.
History
[
edit
]
The Colorforms concept was developed by Harry and Patricia Kislevitz in 1951,
[1]
firmly rooted in the
Modernist
design ethos and reflecting the
Color Field
abstract style prevalent at the time.
The basic concept behind Colorforms is the ability to adhere and reposition abstract and geometric color form shapes on random surfaces to create art. Both recent art students, the couple discovered the idea when they acquired several rolls of flexible paper-thin colored vinyl used to manufacture plastic pocketbooks, and found that it would stick to the glossy paint in their bathroom and allow them to reposition it at will without affecting either surface. Simply cutting shapes out of the material and sticking them to the wall turned out to be amusing enough that they left extra vinyl with a pair of scissors for guests to add to their creation. The positive reactions they got to the project led Harry to believe there was market potential for a product.
The original Colorforms sets were spiral-bound booklets hand-assembled by the husband and wife team in their New York city apartment. The first 1,000 sets were sold '
on concept
' to the
FAO Schwarz
toy store.
[2]
Shallow boxed sets containing screen-printed, die-cut pieces, and illustrated backgrounds began appearing soon after. The company used the slogan
"It's More Fun To Play The Colorforms Way!"
in print ads and television commercials to promote their products. Prominent graphic designer
Paul Rand
was commissioned to create the company logo that remains in use today;
[3]
he also gave input for a 'signature' edition play set.
The company rarely employed an in-house creative staff, relying instead on the Kislevitz' own artistic direction provided to top freelance illustrators for layouts and finished work. Indeed, even the company's
creative director
from 1965 until 1986, toy designer and inventor
Mel Birnkrant
, was not a formal Colorforms employee, working instead for a
royalty
percentage.
The defining feature of most Colorforms play sets is their signature plastic ‘Stick-Ons™’ that can be placed and repositioned on top of graphic backgrounds to create endless scenes and scenarios at a child's whim.
Company timeline
[
edit
]
1951 - Harry and Patricia Kislevitz experiment with new flexibly vinyl sheeting material to decorate their apartment by cutting out shapes and affixing them to smooth surfaces; they realize that this could be applied to an activity toy set, thus beginning of the Colorforms concept.
1957 -
Popeye
becomes Colorforms' first licensed character applied to its products.
1959 - Graphic designer Paul Rand creates the Colorforms logo.
1968 - The Outer Space Men carded action figures are released.
1962 - Miss Weather, a Colorforms character featuring a wardrobe that changed with the weather, makes her debut.
1981 - Colorforms acquires licensing rights to Shrinky Dinks kits; during its licensing period, Colorforms created and marketed more than 50 different Shrinky Dinks toy activity and creativity kits.
1997 - Toy Biz acquires Colorforms.
1998 -
University Games
acquires Toy Biz.
2000 - Colorforms listed among the Top 10 Toys of the Century by the Toy Industry of America (TIA).
2011 - Colorforms named one of the Top 100 Toys of All Time by
Time
magazine
.
2014 - Out of the Blue Enterprises acquires Colorforms
2018 -
9 Story Media Group
acquires Out of the Blue Enterprises
Products
[
edit
]
Original character sets focused on household themes such as Miss Weather, a girl whose wardrobe changed with the weather, and Miss Cookie's Kitchen, a woman with a variety of kitchen tools and utensils. Later sets relied on the use of licensed cartoon characters such as Mickey Mouse, and Gumby. Colorforms products have expanded beyond the simple "paper doll" concept to more than 75 Colorforms toy products currently in distribution, with more added every year.
Licensed characters
[
edit
]
The first Colorforms product to utilize a licensed character property featured
Popeye
, the
King Features Syndicate
cartoon character, released as a boxed set in 1957. Since then, licensed products have remained critically important to the Colorforms marketing strategy, with hundreds of brands connected to Colorforms. Later Colorforms licensed various properties, producing sets supporting varied cartoons, TV series, movie releases, and popular musical artists, like
The Beatles
,
Peanuts
,
Gumby
*
,
Tarzan
,
The Three Stooges
,
Doctor Do little
,
Star Trek
,
Batman
and
Superman
(along with a whole pantheon of comic book super heroes), and
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
,
Michael Jackson
,
The Smurfs
, and even
Steve Urkel
.
In a licensing twist, Colorforms developed their own character property,
Sugar & Spice
to compete with
Strawberry Shortcake
(1979) when master license holder,
Kenner Products
would not allow wide usage of character rights throughout the toy industry. Colorforms turned around and sold their character concept to other companies that got shut out of the 'Shortcake' craze. Another property that Colorforms was never able to translate into their own form was the lucrative
Star Wars
franchise, again because Kenner held the toy products master license very tightly.
Other products
[
edit
]
In 1968, saw an interesting diversion from the typical 2-dimensional toy lines that Colorforms specialized in, when they released The
Outer Space Men
(a.k.a. Colorform Aliens) bendy
action figures
. This group of aliens, hailing from other planets in our
Solar System
were designed to tie into the popularity of
Mattel's
Major Matt Mason
astronaut line (1966); Colorforms nicely complemented the larger manufacturer's line due to Mattel's dearth of
alien
adversaries. Colorforms also offered a respectable
'knockoff'
of the
Silly Putty
concept—the pliable rubbery clay-like substance that picked up newspaper-ink images when pressed upon them, with
Moon Putty
and
Monster Print Putty.
The former packaged in a hard plastic moon container, and the latter, packed in a little plastic human skull for heightened "monster" effect.
The Colorforms company was the major licensee of the
Plasticine
brand of modeling clay in the United States from 1979 until at least 1984; Plasticine is a non-drying putty-like modeling material made from a proprietary mix chalk and vasoline. This provided Colorforms with a viable competing product against
Hasbro
's
Play-Doh
.
Colorforms acquired the rights to license and distribute
Shrinky Dinks
in 1981, and continued creating and promoting their products until the brand was sold to Milton Bradley in 1988.
The company has also, at times, carried a wide range of children's board games, and both child-targeted, and high-end jigsaw puzzles.
9 Story Ownership (2018-present)
[
edit
]
In 1997, Colorforms was acquired by
Toy Biz
.
[4]
A year later, Colorforms was sold off to
University Games Corporation
. In September 2014, it became a new division of
Out of the Blue Enterprises
, as Colorforms Brand, LLC. In January 2018, Toronto-based
9 Story Media Group
acquired Out of the Blue also inheriting Colorforms. In 2019, both companies teamed up with DHX Media to make Netflix's
Charlie's Colorforms City