Defenders of the Earth Toys For Tots Poster

The Toys for Tots poster was produced by the US Marine Corps Reserve in USA in 1986. The poster is fully licensed by King Features Syndicate, themed around the Defenders of the Earth cartoon series released in 1986.

Toys for Tots is a charitable organization established by Major Bill Hendricks in Los Angeles, California, USA in 1947. The initiative is run by the United States Marine Corps Reserve, with an aim to collect and distribute toys to children whose parents can’t afford to buy them gifts for Christmas.

In 1948, following Major Bill Hendricks and a group of local Marine reservists initial initiative in 1947 of collecting over 5,000, a feasible study was carried out by the US Marines, who established that the program would serve as a positive public relations and recruitment tool, launching the program as a yearly official national campaign.

Up to 1979, Marines would collect both new and used toys, which would be refurbished and issued to children. In 1980, used toys could no longer be donated, with children provided only with new toys for Christmas.

A year round program was established by Toys for Tots in 2008 titled ‘Toys for Tots Literacy Program’, with a focus on providing literacy assistance, by collecting and distributing books to children living in low-income neighborhoods, with an aim of breaking the cycle of poverty.

The program continued to grow over the years on a national level. In 2009, the program received support from First Lady Michelle Obama, who placed the first toy collection box at the White House. As of 2016, the organization had collected and provided in excess of 512 million toys, still operating to this day.

The Toys for Tots poster released in 1986 features the Defenders of the Earth characters in a Christmas setting, which includes the Phantom, used to promote the US Marine Corps Reserve toy collection initiative for that year. The one sided poster is printed in full color with a gloss finish measuring 30″ x 18.5″. The poster can be seen below.

The poster was displayed alongside toy collection boxes, with the top of the poster reading ‘A Message From Defenders of the Earth – Give Toys For Tots’.

At the base of the poster in the lower right, we find both King Features Entertainment and King Features Syndicate copyright wording, plus also within the posters illustration on the right hand side. A year of 1986 is also printed.