Colouring Book Theatre: Shazam!

In searching for the now mythis Superman colouring book, I found this oversized Shazam Book. Cover image borrowed from Treasury Comics.com.

Shazam was one of my favourite characters as a kid, it probably didn't hurt that I was like 3 years old when he made his return/merchandising blitz.

I got this in a lot of Treasury Comics, it had been used somewhat so I gave it to my son and from what I can see, he coloured two pages and it got put away.

The book is very well done, trying to emulate that classic C.C. Beck art style and tone, which was always a shock for a kid who got introduced to the character via the popular Filmation TV series.

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The book opens with Captain Marvel beating the snot out of some bank robbers, one escapes but is found by Cap's evil nemesis, Dr. Sivana. Sivana puts "Bummy" in a device (that no doubt shaves uni-brows) and he's a dead ringer for cap. Great nickname, "Bummy" I'd be thrilled with that title.

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So Sivana kidnaps a girl with the help of his Bummy Marvel and the real Cap investigates. Budget concious Sivana has made use of the discarded Eye brow hair from earlier.

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Cap is now a wanted man so he consults the Wizard for advice, note that somebody has decided to add a little hilarity to the situation.

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Out of no where an orphan boy shows up but wrong, he's a midget looking to cut himself in. I have met many a little person in my life and none have ever fooled me into thinking they were a ten year old.

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Cap shows up finally and to prove who the real Cap is, he lays a royal beating on Bummy. It goes on for three pages! I would have never suspected Captain Marvel had anger issues.

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Cap then turns into Billy, who then takes on the bad guy midget for two pages, what the hell? This is more violent than the Batman book. Billy then comments how easy it was and turns into Captain Marvel to bring his carcass back to the authorities.

Got a colouring book you'd like to guest review? Drop me a line!

Previous Colouring Book Theatre Entries can be found here.

Coming Next Week: Superman! (I ain't promising)

R2-D2 makes an appearance

Chuck sent in this picture of him and brother Chris with R2D2 in front a wonderful Star Wars painting. This was at a
HyVee grocery store around 79-80. Chuck
remembers Chewie and Vader also being at this store (he would not go near Vader and
cried because he was a bad guy) and promises more shots in the future. Thanks Chuck!

Wanna See More? Check out our Mall Appearance Gallery and the Marvel Comics: Live and In Person Gallery.

Got a mall appearance photo from the 70's/80's to Share? Drop me a line!

Pulsar, Sweathogs, Space:1999 and Shogun Warriors

The feature this friday is the boys action figure lines in the 1977 Mattel Catalog. It would be a great year for the toy giant, with the release of homegrown organic Superhero Pulsar and the imported Shogun Warriors line. Mattel also continued with TV licensing including the Sweathogs of Welcome Back Kotter and a second season of Space:1999 toys.

As a bonus, we've got exclusive shots of the original Mattel prototypes for the Space:1999 line including a never before seen 12" commander Koenig. Check out the 1977 Mattel Catalog Here (Expect a Girl's Version to follow in the coming months)

Some time this morning, World's Greatest Toys Blog is asking you, where did you buy your toys? A blog about Vintage Toy Stores, you can't be surprised I'd be interested in that.

L'il Sales Managers

The kid in the red jacket looks like he's firing somebody, I bet his nickname is "Dutch".

Given my well documented love of Mall Appearances , it would be an injustice not to mention two blogs today. First Please Save Me Robots has some wonderful newspaper clippings promoting not only Darth Vader but a David Hasselhoff Toy store appearance, hopefully he wasn't eating a burger. If that wasn't enough Dr. Geektarded (what a great name for an arch enemy!) has a totally cool bunch of toystore ads from the 80's including one for a He-Man/Skeletor appearance.

Embarassing Confession: I actually went to a He-Man store appearance as a teen, it was unintentional (i just wanted to look at action figures) and it sadly made the paper....

Emergency!

Thanks to the wonderful folks at the Johnny Gage Shrine O' Worship (a page devoted to Randy Mantooth, whose name inspired Brick) we have some new Rack Toys or as Peter Griffen called them on last week's Family Guy, "Terrible Pharmacy Toys". These Emergency inspired items were created by larami, one of the true kings of impulse merchandising.

Of all of these, the little helicopter is probably my favourite, mostly because it comes with figures.

Emergency was crazy popular in the 70's, I've even heard that the show was unjustly cancelled because it was cut with high ratings.

Larami sold that stamp set concept more than once, there is a marvel superheroes version.

More on the subject of me: Anther piece I wrote for VVM's Topless Robot popped up today it's titled "The 8 Classic Toys Parents Classicly Hated" and it covers everything from Slime to well, toys filled with Corn Syrup.

Sad News: World's Greatest Toys Blog has reported the death of Danton Burroughs, grandson of Edgar Rice Burroughs has passed away. Danton was instramental in providing great information for Ben's book about Mego Superheroes and being a giant fan of Tarzan, it saddens me to hear this news.

Who invited the Cowboy?

"I thought he was a friend of yours...."

Contest Time: I'm ripping off Rob at the Aquaman Shrine and having my first contest. This one's a little different as everyone can win and it never ends (in theory). Here it is, send me a vintage picture or picture of something vintage and I'll send you the first two Plaidstallions Trading cards. It can be anything related to the site, a vintage Christmas Morning Shot, a Mall Appearance photo, you in your most 70's outfit, a picture of your favourite 70's toy, your 70's collection, an AHI Monster doll we could use for the gallery. It doesn't really matter, send them on down!

You have to provide your own Bionic Sound FX

I am totally in love with this ad for the Fun Stuf Electro Genic Arm, obviously a toy made to cash in on the popularity of Steve Austin, it's just piece of plastic with a circuit sticker on it that a child uses to simulate that they're bionic

That is what's so incredibly cool about this toy, I can imagine spending hours with this thing pretending to be a cyborg until I broke it and well, moved on to the next thing.

(Note the mention of "He" in this ad, guess Funstuf never heard of the Bionic Woman, back to your easy bake ovens girls, Funstuf doesn't want your money. )

More Bionic Stuff: 1976 Bionic Man/Woman Catalog

Colouring Book Theatre: Krofft Supershow Wonderbug

Turning over the reins to Sharry again this week (as I still can't find that Superman Coloring Book) and she's got a doozy based on the Krofft Supershow it's WonderBug but it also has an intro by the long forgotten Kaptain Kool and the Kongs.

Whitman also handled the Krofft Supershow comic (which had Bigfoot and Wildboy and Magic Mongo as well) the art in this book is pretty stylised and cartoony, I think it suits the subject matter well.

As I kid, I thought WonderBug was the bomb maybe because it was a live action version of Speed Buggy ( My fave as a kid) combined with a little bit of Shazam!

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The book opens as the show did with Kaptain Kool and the Kongs, Sharry pointed out that this book is based on the second season as they are wearing their toned down outfits. In the first season, the group had a more glammed out look. Kaptain Kool BTW went on to direct, most notably a lot of episodes of "Friends".

The mention of Flatbush was something Sharry also wanted to point out, he was dropped by season 2. So why was he mentioned here?

The single most important colouring book page ever made. Breathtaking isn't it?

Even though it's impossible to top the "Turkey eats his lunch" page, we trudge on to the Wonderbug adventure. Wonderbug was the only show to survive season 1 of the Krofft Supershow, both Dr.Shrinker and Electra Woman were dropped.

The gang arrives in Mexico and C.C. gets recruited to help lift some pottery.

Barry and CC soon discover this is part of a smuggling ring (there is always a smuggling ring).

Dun-dun-duuuuun! The magic horn is parped and Schlep Car becomes Wonderbug, why they wouldn't always drive in a car that can fly is beyond me.

Eventhough it's a colouring book page it totally serves as a reminder on how fake Wonderbug was. I remember most of the time the car was a puppet in front a blue screen or a really unconvinving model, still, that's part of the charm isn't it.

The bad guys are sent to Mexican prison and the gang is off to get all the bootleg star wars figures they can carry. Sharry also mentioned to me that David Levy, Barry from Wonderbug is a psychology professor
at Pepperdine University in CA. If you go on their website, anyone can
easily find him and contact him. She's living proof as she has his autograph and the news that he still has one of those double zero shirts in his closet.

Got a colouring book you'd like to guest review? Drop me a line!

Previous Colouring Book Theatre Entries can be found here.

Coming Next Week: Superman! (perhaps?)

More Waterskiing Superhero Antics

New to our page about the Superheroes Waterski show at Sea World are these awesome shots from Betsy who attended this show in January of 1976. I can't tell you how much I love these!

Robin, Batgirl, Batman, Supergirl and Superman giving their bows, I honestly love how you can see the audience in this picture. Anybody got any more shots from Sea World? Bring 'em on!

Superheroes go Waterskiing

Marvel Superheroes Live and In Person

Kenner Alien Catalog

It's hard to imagine with all the decapitated looking McFarlane monstrosities currently at Toys R Us but it was downright crazy of Kenner to make toys based on the R Rated Ridely Scott film "Alien'.

It's obvious that Kenner, high off the fumes from the model glue that is the Star Wars franchise decided to not let any other Fox Science Fiction film escape their clutches. The results were vaired, Alien toys weren't appreciated and sold poorly but now they are coveted secondary market pieces.


Check out the Kenner Toys Alien Merchandise

New Rack Toys From Azrak Hamway

Some nice new additions to our Gallery of Rack Toys today, the concentration being on Azarak Hamway or AHI (which I find surprising how many folks call it "Ahheee"). Above is an amazing dual branded package for Star Trek/Space:1999 Jet Disks. You wouldn't see stuff like this today. This is courtesy of Will Frost.

Also by AHI is this too cool Creature from the Black Lagoon doll from their super monsters series, more pics from this line in the future. These 8" Mego-esque characters are fully licensed Universal Monsters product. After playing with Charlie's for these photos, I totally want one, anybody selling?

Always looking for Rack Toy Submissions, drop us an email if you have a photo to share.

Mego Knock Offs: The Azrak Hamway Creature is one of the better known Mego knockoffs of the 70's but there are two fun pages that go into even more detail on this subject. Firstly, the Megomuseum has a page called Mego-Esque which chronicles some of the more prolific knock offs such as Martian Chronicles, Lincoln and AHI monsters etc. 

As a bonus, cruise on over to Topless Robot to read a piece I wrote entitle the Top 5 Best and Worst Comics Blantantly Designed to Sell Toys. I pulled all the stops here, possibly the most fart and groin jokes I've written all week.

A Very Brady Day

The tall one gives me a serious Greg Brady/Johnny Bravo vibe. The other kid looks like every kid who ever attended one of my birthday parties.

Cool Toys I Saw on the Weekend

This past Sunday, I was publicly outed as a toy collector twice. The first time was when Airport security X Ray'd my carry on baggage. The officer yelled "who's this Captain Hero doll you got?" I told her it was Batman, her question of "and the little fella?" was met with "Robin!". She burst out laughing and said" Oh, I should have known". T

he second experience was when Canada customs searched my car with a fine tooth comb, no doubt looking for all the guns and cigarettes I obviously hid inside the dollies and dunkin donuts coffee. "What are you some kind of toy collector?" the security guard asked me with the disgust of a father whose son has just told him that instead of football, he's going to take "LARPing" this semester.

Toy collecting is still, well, weird to the outside world. I guess that's why I hop a (budget) flight every once in a while and hook up with pals to do toy shows. It's a feeling of normalcy, the same kind that my friend gets when he drives 14 hours to put a block of cheese on his head and watch football. So, rather than show you pictures of my pasty face on "nerdcation", here is a run down of some of the cool things I saw this weekend, because I know you'll likely dig it:

This is the first thing that really caught my eye, a super duper sweet Remco Monsterizer. I don't even collect the 9" Monster dolls and I wanted this badly. From what I hear it went to a very good home.

My buddy Will mugs for the camera with what was probably the best pick up of the day, a boxed Kenner Stretch X Ray.

Stretch people are tough to find in good condition, either the box looks like junk or the doll has just gone and exploded (seriously this happens), it's tough to find a nice figure in a nice box.

I didn't pick up anything of merit at the show, unless you're one of my kids, they made out like bandits. We headed back to my friend Charlie's place (of the Charlie's basement series) and I did what I always doo, take random pictures of things I think are cool.

Marvel comics Freezies! "Mmmmm Captain America tastes like patriotism"

A whole unbroke box of Creature Feature cards, I can't tell you how much I loved these as a kid. Going to Charlie's gives me inspiration to spend tons of money.

7-11 Slurpee cups, I love how obscure the characters get.

I mean really, Triton? I would not have known who that was as a kid, despite the fact that I loved FF.

Boxed Bionic Bigfoot, I doubt I've really looked at this since Christmas of 1978, it set off sparks in my head.

That's it for now, hope you've enjoyed it, I'll likely post the rest in a couple of weeks. Thanks for making me feel normal.

Circus World: The Toy Store in the Mall

I spent the weekend with friends cruising the Chicago toy show (expect photos from that tomorrow) and one of the cooler things I got came from my pal Charlie's basement (which has been subject to a couple of blog posts) and not the show itself.

This clipping from June 4th 1980 (Click here for a bigger view) has a lot of cool toy memories packed in there such as energized Spider-Man, 12' boba Fett, the Fisher Price Ferry Boat and all the two dollar Empire Strickes Back figures you can carry. Sigh, can somebody go back in time and get me a Bossk?

BTW, thanks again Charlie!

Links of Interest: Woolco Toy Land Ad

1975 Toys R Us Newspaper Circular

Saturday Morning 1977

Recently I came across a TV Guide I'd saved since I was a kid, I don't know why I saved it. It has a Quincy on the cover and while I enjoyed that show (and now love comedian Jim Norton's "Jimcy" rants on the radio)it doesn't explained why I kept it. I am glad I did however because it gives me the ability to show what a six year old in Toronto was faced with on Saturday morning.

I cut off the 5am - 6am part, it's mostly "farm report" programming with the only kid like thing being "Hilarious House of Frightenstein" on Channel 11 (who actually made that series)

No wonder Monster Squad got cancelled, it was up against the Krofft Supershow, I'm surprised I watched it at all.

There is some Canadian content that some might not recognize, Circle Square was a christian show where everybody lip synched poorly. C.u.c.u.m.b.e.r (Children's Underground Club of United Moose and Beaver for Enthueastic Reporters) featuring two people wearing a Moose and Beaver costumes who encouraged kids to write, John Candy once appeared in spandex as a superhero and Martin Short played a rabbit. Harrigan was a Leprechaun who sang songs or something, I never watched it.

Shazam/Isis and Superfriends are the three big reasons I'm such a junkie for comic book movies today. By noon, my parents would either throw me outside or my older sister would have to get her Shatner fix (she was going to marry him) and turn it to Star Trek. Either way, I constantly got screwed out of Fat Albert and Ark 2.

I've said it before but now my children have three channels of cartoons to choose from, 24/7, I'd have killed for that as a kid bt now, I kind of wish they could experience a time like our Saturday morning...

G.I. Joe in Germany: Action Team Catalog

While we were busy playing with our Mike Power Atomic Man figures, German kids were enjoying the Action Team, a variation on G.I. Joe but with more of a paramilitary flavour.

Characters like Tom Stone and John Steel seemed like soldiers of fortune and while they had a lot of the same items North Americans enjoyed, there were a few surprises in their line.

What's wonderful about this catalog is the terrific action scenes the Germans created to sell the line, a great deal of effort went into marketing Action Team.

Check out the Action Team Catalog.

Related Links: 1976 Hasbro G.I. Joe Catalog

1978 Super Joe Catalog