Review : Too much horror business

 

I can`t think of a better way to kick off a month of celebrating Halloween than a review of the new book `Too Much Horror Business`by Metallica s Kirk Hammet. For those not in the know, Hammet is known to be a voracious collector of all things horror and comic books. More after the jump...

Nikita and Spidey BBFs!

Nikita sent in this cool image of her and her folks meeting Spider-Man,  It was taken on the Wildwood, NJ boardwalk in 1979. She wants us to note her dad's manly beard and mustache. I have a beard too but his totally beats mine..

I've never seen a Spidey quite like this one before, I wonder what it's origins are ?

Thanks Nikita for sharing this, it's wonderful.

Send me your mall appearance photos!

Alien Attack

I was rummaging around preparing for our annual month of Halloween and this popped up, it's an awesome sell sheet for the Syndicated TV movie "Alien Attack" which actually was just two episodes of "Space:1999" glued together and sold as a feature film.

I cannot tell you how addicted to these things I was as a kid, I watched every single "film" that ITC cranked out in the early 1980s including stuff like "Cosmic Princess" (two more episodes of 1999), "Invasion UFO" (a real jumbled mess of "UFO" episodes stapled together) and really rare stuff like "The Champions".

Note how they try to sell this as a new concept, there is no mention of the series. I think Alien Attack even added newly filmed scenes (that stick out like a sore thumb) to try to frame it differently, it's not even set in 1999. After all that work I doubt a single person who watched this didn't know it was just two episodes of a show that had been cancelled five years before.

These types of things were a late night staple and I've got the bags under my eyes to prove it baby....

AHI Mysteries #3: Super Klobbers

Here's another one I hope is real, Super Klobbers. Basically, they're just Centsable Socker Boppers with Super Hero dressing. The kick of these is they seemed to have used classic stock art (including swipes from the Mego Superman box) and added boxing gloves to them. Look at that lovely Neal Adams Batman ready to go into the ring.

If you remember these as a kid, drop me a line.

Nipple Kings

The concept of nipple rings got off to a shaky start in 1977.

Super 7 Find

 

This "Manta and Moray" watch is my first find of merchandise from childhood favourite show "Tarzan and the Super 7". Somebody actually offered this for sale at the Megomuseum forums where I'm known to be, so it was rather serendipitous It's pretty well documented that DC comics felt Manta was a little too close to Aquaman for them, so not a lot of toys get out there.

What it really gives me is hope that this other stuff is out there....

 

 

Check out our upcoming book!

Chaperones for hire

Have your next prom looked after by our licensed professionals, at the Tommy Gibbs Chaperone Service we guarantee absolutely nothing will occur while we are on the job, no spiked punch, no unplanned pregnancies, hell, there is no dancing unless we say so.

Sixth annual Halloween beg

It's almost my favourite time of year again and that means PS will convert to full time monster mode as in accordance with the Countdown to Halloween consortium of blogs. As always I'd love to see your vintage Halloween pictures and monster toy collections.

 

 

So send me your 70s Halloween love big or small!

 

 

 

 

Presto Magix Store Display

I thought I'd spend this Friday showing you one of my more impulsive moves in recent history. I set up at the Burlington Toy Con two weeks back to clear up space, I brought three bins of stuff from Rack Toys photo shoots and hoped to come home with none.

Two tables down was this, this wonderful, triggered memory and worst of all, the dealer was a friend. Yeah, I stared at it all day and  at the end it went home with me.

Presto Magix had a power over me as a kid, they were cheap, creative and I loved them. As an adult, I even worked for a company that made similiar sets, my sickness runs deep.


This thing is loaded with many of my favourites and...Scrappy Doo. I don't have the space for this absolutely fantastic piece, so if there is anyone interested please drop me a line.

Eventually when the dust settles, I'll put together a compendium of all the Presto Magix designs I have and try to track them all.

Mr Peanut Butter

 

 

Every time I make a sandwich I think "I wish this was harder with a bigger mess!".

Tiger and JJ

"Hurry! We've only got seconds to save the roller disco!"

To the (Junior) Bat Boat!

Honestly I could write an entire book at Batman Rack Toys at this point, that bat logo is a license to print money. It's amazing how much of it is inspired by the 1966 television series, this wonderful little item from AHI was created and released some 11 years after the TV series was cancelled.

Check out our upcoming book!

Suburban Safari

 

In tonights episode, Gail and Mitch venture to the wilds of Kenmore NY and sample a beverage the natives call "Loganberry".

Marvel Michigan Team-Up

I haven't had a mall appearance sent to me in so long that I started to get worried. However, long time PS contributor (and collector of such wonderful things) Lynch  came to my rescue yet again with this brilliant promotional photo.

The setting is the 1974 Michigan state fair, the boy is unknown, the photo only states he's 9 years old. Lynch tells me that the Cap suit is a rental from Marvel (I wonder if this is the same Cap I saw at Woolco in '75) but Spider-man's outfit is there courtesy of Hallmark coins. 

Thanks Lynch for this utterly cool update!

Send me your mall appearance photos!

Cool Collections: Kip of the Apes

Been really under pressure to put the final touch on Rack Toys this month so i was coming up short with a Friday feature.

 Enter Kip and his amazing, newly displayed Ape collection to the rescue! I've seen plenty of Planet of the Apes and King Kong collections in my time but Kip seems to be a big fan of Apes in general.

Apes are such a part of the 1970s, it makes perfect sense to feature it here. See how many famous Simians you can see after the jump:

Hail to the King Baby...

 

There is a man who gets $@#! done, son.

We have famous faces.....and butts

 

 

Ahhhh "Love is" the transister radio choice of overly happy housewives and creepy uncles since 1972!

Blake's 7 Cosmic Strike Force

This one blew my mind, UK Toy distributor Jotastar (who sold a lot of AHI stuff in the UK) plastered the Blake's Seven logo on some unrelated friction space ships in the early 1980s.

They have no relation to the program but I must admit I want them. For those not in the know, Blake's Seven was a series produced by the BBC and created by Terry Nation who also spawned the Daleks. 

While it had lower production values than Doctor Who, it was kind of a dark show and really ahead of it's time. Which makes the concept of cheapy rack toys even more sublime...

Sleep Uniforms

Can't tell if they're going to bed or guarding the wicked witch's castle...

Timelord toy joy

 

Ryan sent in this amazing bit of UK toy love from 1978.

 

A Doctor Who fan at an early age (and admittedly still is), here we see a four year old Ryan completely in a state of joy with his new Denys Fisher Doctor Who toys. he's clutching the Giant Robot and a Marx Dalek, behind him is the awesome  Tardis play set. Growing up on the series in Canada, I can honestly say I would have killed for these toys in '78. Thanks Ryan!

 

 

 

 

Vintage Toy Store Pictures: Part 13

It's time once again to be whisked back to a simplier time, one that was dominated by "Mom and Pop" toy chains and the wonderful, almost chaotic way toys were distributed. 

Vintage Toy Store Shots thirteen features images from a former Mattel employee, who seemed to in charge of taking shots of retail displays and while Mattel stuff is in the fore ground, there is a lot of neat stuff going on in these like a whole display of Mego Cher dolls....

Check out Vintage Toy Store pictures Volume 13 and be sure to peruse parts 1 through 12, they'll bring back some happy memories.

Speaking of vintage toys:

I'll be setting up this Sunday at Burlington Toy Con (just outside of Toronto) selling old toys, giving away trading cards and showing a preview of my book Rack Toys. If you're around, it's a great show, come check it out!

The Classingtons

"Only the king of beers is good enough to cover mine lady love's back side"

Trek Doodles

I really miss poster art sets, I'm sure they still exist but I'm more or less referring to the days of doing them. These Star Trek sets by Open Door Enterprises bring back some strong happy memories, below are the two sets that they offered for much of the 1970s.

Man, that "Star Trek lives" mantra got around in the 1970s.

The art on these seems pretty impressive, a nice bit of work. In my travels I haven't seen many of these kicking around.

AHI Mysteries #2 : Parachuting Fantastic Four

Another l'il mystery I found in doing research for "Rack Toys" this one is from the 1979 catalog, a time when AHI seemed to renewing their interest in superhero items.

These Fantastic Four parachute figures appeared in the 1979 catalog along with new characters like the Incredible Hulk and Captain America.

It's pretty logical that AHI would pick those characters seeing as all of them had tv deals in one way or another. In the FF's case, it was an NBC TV cartoon series (the one with H.E.R.B.I.E) that was a pretty big deal.

Seeing these mocked up figures makes me wonder if they ever saw any sort of release? I kind of hope so as it would give me more reason to hit the flea markets....
 

Check out our upcoming book!

Mantique must be destroyed

leftover "Gigolo bots" from future world, do not use in tub!

Things I'm excited about..

I thought I'd spend this Sunday blogging about a few things I'm excited about. More after the jump:

A bounty on his head

This vintage toy shot means a lot because well, it's me. I found this picture while cleaning my garage last weekend and it's one that's very special. 12" IG-88 was not easily found in Canada (and purists will note that's an American box beside me) and I remember being really happy with this.

Sadly, I sold hin during lean times in college, it's a long shot but if you purchased a 12" IG-88 at the Toronto toy show circa 1990-91 from a tall, possibly hung over man please drop me a line. I'd love to have him back.

Before you say it, I'm totally aware my fly is open. Also, happy to add that my grandmother's living room is exactly the same 32 years later. No wonder I like going there.