Cartoon Blow Ups, Only 25 Cents a Pop!

 Now here is a lovely little oddity I found on Facebook several weeks back. Ever wanted blow-up versions of The Flintstones, Jetsons, Yogi Bear, and more? I imagine most of you will say "no", but if you said yes, you could get just that for 25 cents in 1972! Below is a display card for these toys, which were produced in Taiwan, and sold through vending machines. But the main reason I want to showcase these is because of just how off-model the characters look here. Earlier Hanna-Barbera merch was known for not being completely faithful to the source material, but these ones might be among the most egregious examples of that in action. Why does Quick Draw McGraw look like that? Since when did Top Cat wear a t-shirt? And why is Pebbles taller than Bamm-Bamm? I have no clue, but given that these were only 25 cents, I guess I can't whine too much.

So what did these blow-ups look like? Luckily for you, I managed to find photos of the Flintstones and George Jetson ones. The Flintstones ones don't look too bad (except for the look on Fred's face), but George looks rather sickly if you ask me. He looks less like a blow-up, and more like he's about to throw up!