Aladdin Industries
From Transformers Wiki
Aladdin Industries was a manufacturer of lunchboxes, vacuum bottles, and kerosene stoves based in Nashville, Tennessee. Under license from Hasbro, Aladdin produced Transformers branded lunchbox sets during the early heyday of Generation 1, as well as producing lunchboxes for other Hasbro lines like G.I. Joe and Jem.
Interestingly enough, Aladdin Industries created the very first licensed character lunchbox, when they simply applied a sticker of cowboy actor "Hopalong" Cassidy to a pile of surplus metal lunchboxes. The sets were a hit, and created an entire market. Aladdin was also directly responsible for the Thermos company losing their trademark status in an early case of trademark genericization.
Aladdin Industries was later bought out by Pacific Market International, and closed its last factory in 2002.
Contents |
Products
1984
- Lunchbox set
- One of the more memorable pieces of merchandise from the initial Transformers mania, this red plastic lunchbox featured the 1984 back-of-the-box package art on the front, and included a vacuum bottle (or thermos, if you will) which featured the package art for Optimus Prime, Jazz, and Prowl facing off against Megatron, Ravage and Laserbeak on a rocky plain.
1986
- Lunchbox set (plastic)
- Similar to the 1984 version, this red plastic lunchbox featured the 1986 back-of-the-box art on the front. It was available with or without the earlier vacuum bottle.
- Lunchbox set (metal)
- This metal lunchbox featured a raised bas-relief style version of the 1986 back-of-the-box art on both the front and the back. The front featured the Autobot portion of the art, with Metroplex and Hot Rod front and center, while the back featured Trypticon prominently. The side panels of the box featured other box art from the era.
1988
- Lunchbox set (plastic)
- As before, a red plastic lunchbox, this time with the 1988 battle scene on the front (Powermaster Optimus Prime and the Pretenders). This set came with a different vacuum bottle, featuring Powermaster Optimus Prime's packaging art prominently.
