Video World of Sports

An open message to all children of the 1990s, this is what we had and we liked it dammit! Sure, Super Mario was cool but did his console have a wood grain finish? I didn't think so...

If you should die before you wake...

From the "Attention Kindertrauma" Dept : There is no way you could go to sleep with that staring back at you every night and not grow up just a little bit broken.

Shag Your Toilet

Oh Bathroom Carpet, you never fail to send shivers down my soul..

To the Batmobile Larry!

Larry sent in this cool shot of him and Batman from a Columbus car show circa 1981. It's weird but this is how I kind of picture Batman. I'd also like to know where Larry got that killer Flash T Shirt!

I have more vintage shots of Larry from next week and it should come as no surprise he grew up to love comics, check out his site for classic comic cover re-creations.

Send me your mall appearance photos!

The Adventures of Don, Bill and Jac!

"Don Bill Jac" sounds a bit like an obscure early 70s film you'd catch at 4 am, there's good reason for this as it's the name of a toyline that could only exist in the 1970s. Don, Bill and Jac consisted of the titular heroes and their "each sold seperately" outfits and accessories.

If you've never heard of these toys but find it oddly familiar to you at the same time, it's because Don Bill Jac was only sold in Italy but it is a clever repackaging of a toy line known to North American kids as "Mr Action" (more on him soon).

The results are really quirky and fun, enjoy the 1975 Baravelli "Bill Jac Don" catalog:

Other Foriegn Market Toys

Fun on Wheels

I've talked about the "Swim Mobile" in the past, growing up semi rural I had no idea such thing existed, I was even more surprised to see what other roving entertainment centers were available to those in the inner city.

The teen canteen provided entertainment, hot dogs, soft drinks and a possible place to score pot from a friendly musician!

Aw yeah, it's time for neighbours to let out their frustrations on each other with the roving "Boxing Mobile". They should totally bring this back, I'd go all MMA on my neighbour Doug for his noisy ass mower.

It's a big truck full of Roller Skates and they just hand them out to any kid! Imagine the sadness you'd feel as you see the Skate Mobile pull away while you're tending to your numerous cuts and scraps.

It's a roving playground complete with slides, a functional basketball net and swings. I'd feel weird living in a place where the park drove away at night...

Finally there's the most logical and functional of them all. Not as flashy as the others but my goodness, an idea that will never go out of style..

A celebration of Lanny

This dude whom I've dubbed "Lanny" (no doubt for his resemblance to Lanny McDonald from the Calgary Flames) is one of my favourite catalog models of all time. Not only is his look wonderfully stuck in the era but he just seems to be the king of the awkward catalog pose. I present to you his wonderful history:

This classic spread looks like the poster for some Dinner theatre show that runs 2 nights.

Lanny will however be best known for his incredible debut photo, this shot was taken just minutes before he was beaten and mocked by a pack of third graders.

Welcome Back?

I'm always amused/horrified at some of the leaps that manufacturers took to capitilize on "Sweathog mania" in the mid seventies. Much of this stuff was on clearance until the early 1990s until it became collectible and washed up at toyshows all of a sudden.

Take into consideration this desk set created by Azrak Hamway (AHI) one of my favourite Rack Toy manufacturers, I'm not sure if the smiling faces of 27 year old high school students is adequate incentive to study hard.

I am however in love with this weird-o Sweathogs typewriter, mostly because it looks more like a piece of pop art than it does a functional typing device. I wonder how much typing one can do with a tiny Gabe Kaplan staring at you, telling you to start small fires..

One to Grow On

Never tell an elderly relative that you like flowers..

Toys I saw at MegoMeet

This past weekend's Mego Meet convention was another wallet draining explosion of 70s toy goodness combined with a comraderie (translation: I got drunk). While devoted solely to toys made by Mego corporation, there were a lot of other gems there that were interesting, dare i say weird, so I decided to share.

The Korg thermos, every child's dream. I can no longer look at Korg merchandise without thinking of Evil Meatball VS Cat.

Assorted dresses for Action Jose, the Kung Fu man. you can't really make stuff like this up.

Wonderful old school Monster Puzzles..

When M*A*S*H was whacky, this doll has "golf club lifting action", why? It's also priced at $2.33 and may be the only thing ever that has been.

My friend Charlie picked up this vintage roll of Spiderman and Hulk Toilet Paper because nothing says "I'm a fan" quite like cleaning your sphincter with your heroes.

It's just page after page of the Hulk saying "Agh! What Hulk ever do to you?"

The King of the Terrons didn't go home with me this year but it was awfully tempting.

Everyone remembers Tim Conway's "Dorf on Safari" right?

The guys at Cast A Way toys gifted me with this flocked beauty, their rendition of Brick Mantooth.

And I was also given this custom Animal Man doll from Scott AKA Random Axe on the museum boards, who knew it was my favourite character. There is no way in hell I'd ever able to make something this professional looking in a million years, I was very humbled by this generous act to say the least.

Tim and Spidey

Tim sent in the great picture of him and Spider-Man at a Boscov's in 1977, he's got more pictures and a wonderful story surrounding that day at his blog . Click here to check out Tim's blog and "The day he met Spider-Man (sort of)"

1982 Kenner Indiana Jones Line

Despite it's parentage of Lucas and Spielberg, Indiana Jones has never been the merchandising success like it's cousins Star Wars and E.T. Although one could blame that on it's historical surrounds or it's lack of wookies, it's really never been established why.

One of the best attempts at merchandising Indy was Kenner's 1982 "Adventures of Indiana Jones" line, released in 1982, a year after the film made it's debut, it was a nicely made if not sparse toy line that ran for two years. What little did come out was actually quite nice and now very collectible.:

Click Here to Visit the 1982 Kenner Indiana Jones Catalog

More Kenner Deliciousness:

Doctor Who Auditions

An incredible simulation of the BBC circa 1974 upon the announcement of Jon Pertwee leaving the role...

She's Got No Water Captain!

The above Enterprise water pistol pretty much epitomizes why I love rack toys in the first place. The first thing is it's fragility, there was no way these things should have survived a trip to the car let alone being kept mint in package for 35 years. The other is, well, look at this thing, it's a strange combination of goofy and awesome. I don't know whether to laugh or be in awe of it.

Nerdy DVD Day!

While I don't regularly talk about DVDs here, there are just some things I cannot ignore and today there are three of them.

Firstly, the good folks at Cinematic Titanic (who used to be the good folks at Mystery Science Theatre 3000) have a new release in the form of "Danger On Tiki Island".

Not only are the CT Live DVDs absolutely hilarious but the film itself is one of those Eddie Romero "Blood Island" movies retitled. I really enjoy those movies on their own, getting them riffed is like getting free french fries in your onion rings.

You can be environmentally friendly and download the whole affair for $9.99, it's well worth it.



I really have to mention the "Sleazy Sci Fi of the 1970s" compliation DVD available today as well.

Not only does th set include "2069: A Sex Oddysey" (the infamous movie I got busted with as a young lad) but also the camp classic "Invasion of the Bee Girls" .

There is a third film included that I have not seen. It's too bad this set didn't include the (terrible) British sexy sci fi romp "Spaced Out" as it would truly be a trifecta of my puberty movie watching.





Finally, the 1980 cult classic Flash Gordon is out on Blue Ray today. I don't own a player but if there was ever a film to watch in high definition, I'd imagine this would be the one.

The thing is such an explosion of colour and sound, it makes perfect sense. Plus, the bigger and louder the Brian Blessed, the better I say.