After four days of wrestling with one of the most horrible courier companies known to man, my advance copies of Rack Toys are here.
This is the first time I've ever actually held my book and I admit I was shaking. Mostly because I was really worried that there would be something, anything in there that would make me want to not release it.
There are little things in here I'd like to do again, but I think that's an author's prerogative I doubt the majority of folks would notice these things but take pleasure in knowing that they make me crazy.
Anyway, these samples will go to family and friends, distributors and the crew that helped make this book a reality. The rest of the copies are already on their way set to arrive in December.
This play suit hails from the UK and is most likely the product of Berwick, it's almost like a larger version of the Kenner Steve Austin doll's outfit. I'd have loved it to pieces as a kid, imagine combining it with the Funstuf Electrogenic arm?
I think this figure from Durham wonderfully illustrates the true joy and cheap chicanery often involved with Rack Toys. The packaging is enticing and vibrant, not to mention well done. It promises action with a slightly "Evel Knievely" setting.
The figure however, is a chubby guy with a flag, who looks like he might wear that helmet everywhere he goes.
As the star-burst proudly announces, he's got "Waving Flag" action! Hunh?
This was the kind of toy that clouded your mind long enough for you to get five miles away from the Zayres or the Big K, until you began to realize just exactly what you've gotten yourself into.
My earliest memory in this life, other than eating delicious
Play Doh on Christmas morning 1971, was watching a Batman cartoon with my
sister in the TV room one random morning in 1972.
The Penguin was stealing a tank and gassed a soldier, the whole thing just intrigued
me and I think started me on my love affair with Batgirl but that's another story.
I guess what I’m trying to say is, Filmation hooked me at an
early age. So much so that I even identified the name “Scheimer” (I dopily mispronounced
it as “Schemer” until adulthood) with joy in the mid 1970s.
I cherish this Ark 2 Halloween costume.
Sure, I have love in my heart for the
Kroffts and Hanna Barbera’s of this world but Filmation always remained my
favourite. I never missed a Shazam!, Ark 2 or Tarzan as a kid, hell, I even
regularly watched (but clearly did not grasp) Uncle Croc’s Block when it aired.
So it was pretty much a given that I’d invest in this new
tome. Actually, I bought it twice by accident. What I worried about though, was
how much of this was going to be new to me.
As the images in this piece suggest, I’m an ardent
filmation collector and fan. I’ve bought every DVD set near and dear to me and watched
the resulting documentaries many times (coincidentally, those great extras also
included Scheimer and Mangels) and I even asked Mr Scheimer questions in person
(he’s a nice man btw). I worried it would
just be a rehash of stuff I’ve heard ad nauseum, I like to call that the “Stan
Lee Situation”.
Lou signed this for me in 2006, I can't find it now. Grrr.
Fortunately, my worries were put to rest the minute the book
arrived. I lost nearly an hour pouring through the information, I’m not even
done reading it but I’ve seen enough to say this book is exhaustive and absolutely
captivating.
Scheimer has an incredible memory of the events that shaped
Filmation starting from the beginning in landing the Superman contract to the hey days of the 70s and 80s. Everything is
there, from the successes, to the flops laid out in riveting detail.
Included are fun anecdotes like Charles Nelson Reily
wandering the set of “Uncle Croc’s Block” in leopard print short shorts,
replacement Shazam John Davie showing up for work with a moustache and a story that will never make you look at
Schneider from “One Day at a Time” in the same light again.
If describing things like the creation of the animated Star
Trek series weren’t enough Scheimer goes into detail on what didn’t get made,
stuff like a 60s Godzilla cartoon, Metamorpho, a Marx Brothers caroon, Dracula
in Space, the list goes on and on and makes you wish you grow up with those
shows as well.
Also unapologetically is all the lawsuits, the acrimonious
split with original Captain Marvel Jackson Bostwick, the long running suit
between DC comics and Filmation that occurred over (my personal favourite) the
Super 7 cartoon characters.
Honestly if you were a child between the years 1966 and
1987, you’ll find something of an interest in this book.
The later chapters delve of course into the 1980s and the
huge success of programs like Fat Albert, He-Man and the Masters of the
Universe and Bravestarr. My one quibble of the book is that it's sole
colour chapter is spent on He-Man, however that’s just me and I admit it is a pretty bright marketing move
as He-Man will help sell a lot of these.
In summation, I couldn't be happier with this book, it is jam
packed with interesting new information on one of my favourite subjects. As a bonus, it's written in a snappy style that makes you feel that Scheimer is talking directly to you. I buy a
lot of informational books such as this but I rarely read them cover to cover,
Lou Scheimer: Creating the Filmation Generation is one I have trouble putting
down and will likely read more than once.
As I mentioned, I accidentally ordered two copies of this
book for myself. I don’t plan on taking one in the tub with me so there is no need for a double. That means the second copy is up for grabs, here is the skill testing
question:
What was your favourite Filmation
series?
Send the answer to Brick@plaidstallions.com
and I’ll draw one lucky winner out of my hat next Sunday.
I am elated to be posting the results from the Rack Toys
memories contest.
Let me begin by
saying, you people rock. I was floored by the amount of entries and the fact
that so many of you took the time to craft such well written ones. It also gave
me a renewed sense of purpose with regards to printing this book because the
subject is so relatable. Pharmacy toys are our common bond it seems. Also, we all seemed to lose our AHI parachute figures, seriously they were the #1 cause of childhood heartbreak here. We should form a support group.
As a former child, I see the inherit coolness of pajamas that look like a Judo uniform. As a current parent, I fail to see the joy in something that encourages even more wrestling around before bedtime...
I had honestly forgotten that the correct spelling of this toy isn't "Karate Men" but "Kar-a-a-ate Men" which is infinitely cooler. As much as I see this fun toy in the wild, I rarely see them in the box. The box gives me goosebumps, it really connects into Christmas morning 1975, where I really could have used a brother....
From left to right it goes from logical to odd to downright sublime. I don't know who ever stumbled out of a Rocky film and said "bubble fun!" but clearly it occurred and they made it happen.
Kenner Sea Wees were a yearly staple during the late 1970s/early 1980s, poart fashion doll, part bath toy, these figures had a lasting popularity. In 1982, the theme was "Tropigals" and well, I'm not sure what the difference is..
Popeye merchandise is a sea (i'm hilarious) of weird, re purposed stuff that has nothing to do with the character. It's always nice to see something that while absolutely re purposed, kinda, sorta relates to the character.
Fleetwood Toys was a Rack Toy manufacturer famous for nabbing the hottest licenses from TV and pop culture.
For their 1984 catalog, there were a lot of new faces replacing previous characters "CHiPs" was now replaced with "TJ Hooker", instead of "The Fall Guy" we've got the antics of the "A Team", the Marvel Comics Superheroes are still there but now under the "Secret Wars" banner. Then there are the surprises, "The Sword and the Sorcerer" was an R rated film but Fleetwood liked the brand so much they offered two pages of toys as well as "Manimal". Sure the critics destroyed it but to Fleetwood, it was worth the gamble that kids would like it.
Click on the images below to see larger pages with descriptions:
The A Team was obviously a license to print money.
One assumes the popularity of He-Man combined with childrens' ability to see R Rated movies on cable/home video influenced the decision to make toys based on "The Sword and the Sorcerer". Fleetwood 1984 Catalog And just a reminder, deadline for entry in our Rack Toy contest is tonight at 11pm EST. I've gotten some great ones thus far and now I'm addicted so please join in.
The mobile Bat Lab by Mego is one of those "I missed a meeting as a kid moments" as I have virtually no memory of this item. As far as I know, I never saw it in a store, nor on television, despite friends telling me they had it growing up and it definitely was sold in Canada. When I first saw this, it was through the eyes of a cynical pr- teen, who immediately thought it esoteric and goofy. While the image of Batman rolling around in a VW Bus, getting high and catching criminals like some sort of vigilante Jeff Spicoli is infectious, I bet I would have loved this as a kid. Of course, I own one now....
"Word on the playground is, Sally is about to drop the dime on Jimmy after recess in retribution for the "paste incident" but you didn't hear that from me, dig?"
I've postulated on the oddness of Kojak toys to the point where I'm tired of it. I will say that this set by Harmony is one of the more logical sets, except for the whistle, but I'll forgive that because the mental image of Telly Savalas running after a perp with a whistle in his mouth amuses me no end.
Jodi sent in the wonderful store display that she spied in an antique mall. It's sadly not for sale, which is too bad because i'd be tempted to get it despite the marital strife it would (understandably) cause. Can't explain why magically being whisked to the Sears Men's department in 1974 gives me goose bumps (didn't like clothes shopping then and surprise, still don't) but it does and these Mantoothian images make me happy.
The month of Halloween combined with getting the book to press has really done a number on me creatively. So, instead of a catalog update this Friday, I’m just going to run a contest and lay down on this love seat for a while.
It’s a fun one and anybody can join, so check it out after the jump.
If I wore that shirt in my twenties, I think every male friend I knew (and likely a few female ones) would just be unable to see it as anything but a target for a gut punch.
