1977 - Whistling Mr. Machine by Ideal

[Joe K.]

Preproduction toy and box and generic / Mail Order box:

As seen in this Ideal Toy Corporation Annual Report for the year ending February 3, 1977

Note the yellow wind-up key on both the toy and the box. This was changed to red when the box went into production, however the key on the toy itself was always blue. Oddly enough, the photographs on the production box appear to use the same preproduction toy as seen in the Annual Report.

 

There was also a generic / Mail Order box as seen here:

The BIN listing:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/262899615864?rmvSB=true

The recently ended Annual Report listing:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/IDEAL-1977-Toy-Fair-Catalog-Annual-Report-Jaws-Evel-Knievel-King-Kong-/322591622780?hash=item4b1bf5867c%3Ag%3AWL4AAOSwAO9ZWuLs&nma=true&si=WkS%2Bh%2FVZu5X0JhSL%2FD4TZG%2FFwOM%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557