How awesome is this? A ride-on bike for a one-year-old, with superfat tires so it doesn't tip over? Also, it has a badass set of ape hanger chrome handlebars?

Naturally, it's from Samsonite. That's right, they were doing more in the 1970's than filming a gorilla jumping on their suitcase. After almost a decade producing Lego sets under license, Samsonite expanded their toy and kid's furniture business in 1972 to include a whole slew of preschool toys.

And even 35 years later, the instant association of the name Samsonite with "awesome plastic toys" is a testament to the line's success. [Uh...] I just got a wholesaler catalogue debuting the 1972 collection, which I'm slowly scanning in. I'll post some highlights first, though.

Meanwhile, I hope someone with a pipe bender and some giant rollers lying around is working on a way to knock off this Mini-Bike.