I didn't hear tell of the Sears exclusive Cantina playset until my adult years and I think the first time I've ever heard of "action figure variants" was this blue suited Snaggle Tooth.
Today we have another great segment with our guest reviewer , Jason Lenzi from Bif Bang Pow! who does a far better job than me, so take it away Jason!
‘RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK’ Coloring/Activity Book by Happy House, illustrations by Ken Barr, 1981
Ok, some years back, I had a massive Indiana Jones collection, one of the biggest in the US, I’d venture to say. I had games, toys, lobby cards and one sheets from all over the world. And then, one day, I decided to sell it all, including the entire Kenner range of toys. ‘Why’ is a story for another day, but two of the few items I hung onto were coloring and activity books for ‘Raiders’.
They’re pretty odd items you don’t see often, and easy enough to store, so I still got ‘em. What’s most interesting about them, to me, is the slightly adult and suspect nature to some of the pages. Looking back, ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ is a pretty dark and adult flick, that doesn’t necessarily lend itself to coloring books. (editor's note: kind of like Dune?) Let me explain
Not a bad opening shot of our hero, and decent artwork. The first thing I think of looking at this again is how many drab crayon colors you’d need to use to make this accurate.
Are those native butt cheeks peeking through? Why I do believe they are. That may be a first in a coloring book. For kids, anyway.
How good is THIS depiction of Harrison Ford? It never gets this good again in the book, but I’d say this is one of the best renderings of him in any collectible. Well done, Ken Barr!
4. What would a coloring book be without a little torture scene? Boring, that’s what! “Pass the orange, Joey, I wanna make this poker HOT!”
Now, I’m no authority, but I’d bet that Hitler’s never made an appearance in a coloring book. Well, the ‘Raiders’ monkey is as close as you’re gonna get then. What I especially love is that Barr took it further than the infamous scene in the film, and had our monkey friend do the Hitler ‘tache as well. That trick deserves a fresh date.
Slightly inappropriate scene in a kid’s coloring book #4: Indy getting hammered. Again, I don’t own every coloring book ever made, but whiskey drinking pages must be a rarity, right?
And now the money shot. Every Indiana Jones fan knows there was originally a 3 or 4 page scripted fight scene between Indy and the Cairo Swordsman that Harrison Ford opted out of because of dysentery. He subsequently came up with the genius idea (Spielberg says he had the same idea as well) of just shooting the guy and getting on with his business. There ARE some few seconds of raw footage of the scene on the ‘net, but this page gives another tasty little glimpse of what might have been.
Many thanks to Jason for doing these excellent guest reviews.
Previously reviewed Colouring Books
If you have a colouring book you'd like to guest review, I'd like to hear from you!
My pal Ray Miller sent over these cool shots of his new display of Aurora Prehistoric Scenes model kits at the Kruger St Toy and Train Museum in Wheeling West Virginia.
As featured here before, Ray has one of the premiere collections of these kits including rare prototypes like this beauftiul build up of the giant bird.
As an aside, I highly recommend the Kruger St. Toy and Train Museum as a family outing, I visit there each year for the Mego Meet Con and it really is a fun place to explore. Ray's cool prehistoric scenes display runs for the next three months.
Big Wheels were the Rolls freaking Royce of children's transportation in the 1970s, there seemed to be at least two on every block. The Big Wheel however was only one part of the Marx "Ride 'Ems" line which included some fun and strange vehicles, check out the 1975 Marx Ride Ems Catalog here.
Related Linkage:
If you replaced the words "The Force" with "Pillow" Star Wars would be a very different movie...
Todd used to enjoy watching the game with the boys and the occasional night at the bars but since Debbie entered his life, he's changed, never answering his phone and when seen at social functions, he has a glassy stare and an unsettling smile. Don't be like Todd, always check under her bed for a seed pod.
Stretch Serpent, yet another creature to combat Stretch Armstrong with (Geez Kenner, couldn't you have made him a girlfriend or something?) is way too obviously inspired by the Land of the Lost Sleestaks. That's probably the reason I want one so bad, sadly these things are tough as nails to find and usually go for "Houseboat" money.
Colouring Book Theatre is back and I'm happy to announce that for the next two segments we have a guest reviewer (which means I'm still snug in my Sunday morning bed) , here to take us to the world of Mongo is a man who knows the terrain, Jason Lenzi from Bif Bang Pow! will show us the highlights from this classic colouring book:
‘ADVENTURES OF FLASH GORDON’ Coloring and Activity Book, by Rand McNally, 1979.
Filmation’s ‘Flash Gordon’ animated series from 1979 has a special place in my heart. It was a Saturday morning addiction, and as a kid I collected all the action figures and ships that Mattel put out, and anything else I could get my hands on. When the live action movie came out in 1980 I nearly burst with excitement, only to be profoundly disappointed there were no toys released from it. (It took over 25 years, but I’m proud to say I finally got my ‘Flash Gordon’ movie toys).
I remember walking to the drug store up the street from where I lived, thumbing through this coloring book for about 3 weeks, until I finally got the 60 cents needed to buy the thing. I treasured it, and colored every page and did every activity. Many years later I found a mint version of the book and grabbed it, along with two others I never knew existed. All the artwork is based on the Filmation series, and the ‘activities’ are super cool. Check it out: Look, we all know one of our formative crushes as kids was Ornella Muti as Princess Aura from the FG film. But for my money, THIS is the version of her that got my 9 year old loins burning with desire. And to be frank, isn’t that the most risque’ outfit to make it into the world of children’s animation? (Editor's Note: Just wanted to butt in and totally agree with Jason RE: Cartoon Aura, virtual high five) Look, when you’re trapped on a strange planet being hunted by an evil despot, you want to make friends and alliances as quickly as possible. Please don’t judge, we have no idea what led up to this scene Ok, come on, now how wicked is this? The other side of this page had four more panels, and when put together, presto! Your very own Big Little book. (Well, with a little help from mom. I couldn’t sew as a kid, could YOU?) I must have had the collecting bug even at nine, because I remember holding off on cutting this out and making it for the longest time, thinking I should buy a SECOND coloring book to keep safe! Ha! The Big Finish: The Make a Scene-A-Rama. Man, this was the most awesome thing ever. Again, I took my time, but dammit I made this and displayed it for ages. The background also doubled for use with the Mattel figures. This book only confirmed for me that ‘Flash Gordon’ was the greatest show on television, bar none. I always liked the books that gave you more for your money. Punch Out and Make It books, activity books, Cut Out and Make It’s , etc…, and the ‘Adventures of FG’ didn’t disappoint. The others in the series are more standard coloring books, but this baby is the Holy Grail. And it’s as fresh to me today as it was all those years ago sitting on the rack at Payne Ivy Drug Store.
Wow! What a Page One shot of Zarkov’s ship, right from the show opening, blasting right out of the book.
Yes, they ARE good friends. Which is why Flash and Dale can share clothes whenever they want.
A Metal Man! How cool is THIS design? I loved these guys, and was always mad they never made them as action figures. Can someone out there please make me a custom?
Ok, here’s where the activities begin. A game! I mean, no one actually ever released a game for the series, so this had to do. Ok, it’s not exactly RISK, but for a nine year old, it was more challenging than Mahjong.
Thanks Jason for the epic review, check back next week when Jason is going to take a look at the Raiders of the Lost Ark Colouring Book!
Previously reviewed Colouring Books
If you have a colouring book you'd like to guest review, I'd like to hear from you!
Seeing as the film was released on Blue Ray and DVD this week, I thought it would be fun/sad to take a look at the action figures we got screwed out of when the film was in theatres.
Click Here to Visit the PlaidStallions Last Starfighter Gallery
More Space Action Figures:
It's an epic day in toyland, while it's not neccesarily a retro property, Venture Brothers sure as heck feels like one and in addition, I consider it to be one of the best shows on TV currently:
About Bif Bang Pow!Bif Bang Pow! (bifbangpow.com) produces first-rate collectibles for such popular properties as Dexter, Lost, Californication, The Venture Bros., The Twilight Zone, The Big Lebowski, and Flash Gordon. Founder Jason Lenzi is a seasoned television producer and the ultimate fan of cultish pop culture. So when he created his company in 2005, he took the fan's perspective. His idea was to bring items to the marketplace that he himself would want to own. Cultivated from TV, movies, books, comics, music, and more, Bif Bang Pow!’s mission is to provide high-quality action figures, toys, and collectibles to the massive cult audience (and kids of all ages) that wishes these toys were already in their collection. Bif Bang Pow! is a unit of JLA Direct, LLC.
About Cartoon Network EnterprisesCartoon Network Enterprises (CNE) is responsible for building consumer products and merchandising programs for a wide range of brands by securing and supporting long-term licensing partnerships across all categories. As the global branding and merchandising arm of Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, the division manages the consumer product programs for the networks’ award-winning original programming, brands and characters including Ben 10, The Secret Saturdays, Chowder, The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, Adult Swim and more. CNE also serves as a third party licensing agent through strategic partnerships with Nelvana Enterprises and Spin Master for the award-winning Bakugan brand, CAKE Entertainment and Fresh TV for the hit Total Drama franchise and the PGA of America for the youth marketplace.Adult Swim (AdultSwim.com), launched in 2001, is Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.’s network offering original and acquired animated and live action series for young adults. Airing nightly from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. (ET, PT), Adult Swim shares channel space with Cartoon Network, home to the best in original, classic and acquired programming for children and families, and is seen in 97 million U.S. homes.Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.
I love stuff like this, in the mid seventies Sears marketed this "Beyond Tomorrow Lunar Space Station" play set with three handpainted "alien" figures that were clearly supposed to be Kirk, Spock and Uhura. What's more weird is this seems to be originally an MPC playset based on the Gerry Anderson Puppet series "Fireball XL5" and the listing even goes as far as to call it an XL5. Crazy stuff like this is what makes toy collecting fun.
To win the hand of the lovely Irene, these gentlmen will need to settle their differences with Backgammon!
I still have a few of these Little People vehicles kicking around, this display is more awesome because it's filled.
And of course, FP was all about the Muppet Show for a good long while, I do remember this header card from department stores back in the day.
FP's Muppet show action figures are just killer, I had the Gonzo but I honestly never used the little puppet stick it came with.
I vaguely remember these, not something I was into mind you.
Brian has a lot more store displays up for grabs today including later Little People and Disney's Gummi Bears line. So check out his Ebay Store sometime today for all of the listings.
