Darth Vader wants to put you in a new Chevrolet!

Thomas Berry sent me this wonderful flashback to add to the Superhero Mall Appearance Gallery. It's the Lord of the Sith himself at Joe Romania Cherolet Dealership in Eugene, Oregon back in October 1978. Thomas also mentions a Jawa but he seems to be camera shy.

Thomas tells me he keeps these photos in a 1978 edition Vol 1 of the Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia. Which he bought for $.09, at the old Safeway in Springfield OR, the same day he saw Darth.

Love the cardboard stand ups! Thanks Thomas!

Got a Vintage Mall Appearance Shot you want to share? Whether it's from the seventies to the mid eighties. We want to see it! Drop me an email!

If you want more people in costumes check out the Marvel Superheroes : Live and In Person brochure on our site. It's chock full of early eighties characters such as Rom: Space Knight, G.I. Joe, heck even Crystar is in here

Speaking of Superheroes: The awesome site that is Spider-Man Collector has moved. So if you're a fan of all things Spidey, check out the new home Spidermancollector.net you'll be overwhelmed at the amount of stuff there!

More Retro Playgrounds

Time to pay tribute again to those wonderful bits of metal pipe that gave us thousands of hours of joy and are likely rusting in a scrap yard by now.

The past I've focused on specific themes like the ever popular Spaceship or Story books but this one is just plain old funky playground equipment, a lot of fun things can be found.

For more Playgrounds, check out these fabulous links:

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OK, I'm a New Guy Now!

Accurate toy guns are pretty much a thing of the past now but there was nothing I wanted more when I was 7 than one of those M-16 replicas that made a firing sound (kind of clacker on the inside) . It must have been the popularity of SWAT that influenced my decision. I had to settel for a revolver that fired Caps, which really wasn't that bad. The type of caps I used are banned now too....

RIchly Masculine Corduroy Sportcoat

So Richly Masculine, it comes with a tiny Burt Reynolds and optional wingman.

More Parachuting Superheroes and Apes

My pal Bill sent these images on a few weeks ago and I forgot all about them, here is a parachuting Planet of the Apes Doctor Zaius and notice he's packing heat. Zaius is dropping and this time it's personal....

Parachuting Robin from the Batman series of toys is logical but damn, he's a tough one to find MOC.

This stun gun from the AHI Space:1999 series of toys really hits home, I had it as a kid and I seriously miss that thing. I can do a pretty good Stun Gun sound too, wanna hear it?

Check out the Plaidstallions Gallery of Rack Toys for more.

DVD Day:

This is the BIG event for me this week, the final legitimate release of the Filmation DC Superhero Cartoons. We've happily seen various releases of the Superman/Aquaman series but dammit stuff like the Flash and Green Lantern I thought would never come. This set also includes the two Justice League cartoons. I had to go to the house of a kid i didn't like just to watch these because my parents didn't get the channel (grumble!).

I'm seriously tempted to purchase this Season One DVD of the Love Boat, I watched this show a whole bunch as a kid. Between it and Fantasy Island (which is a pile of campy fun BTW) I was always tuned into ABC on Saturdays nights as a kid (which is really, really sad upon reflection)

I've also watched more That Girl than I care to mention, I went through a Marlo Thomas phase in my late teens. This fourth season DVD is probably not the show at it's best, in 1970 it's likely looking pretty dated and out of steam. I do enjoy seeing the many whacky outfits Ted Bessell wore however.....

Celebrity Sighting

Last week in the comments section, Blogger Agent Morris mentioned he had the same catalog as me and a pre Buck Buck Rogers Erin Grey was easily found. The search took me about four minutes to find TV's Wilma Deering in her early twenties, looking as fabulous as ever. I had a crush on her as a kid, which from what I understand is a pretty common bond with 70's kids.

Bullet Man Commercial from the UK

Well, the gods have decided they don't want me to do coloring book threatre today, it's complicated but I haven't had power for much of the day. So in it's place I offer this 1976 British commercial for Action man (the UK name for G.I. Joe)

While stateside, G.I. Joe was going into "Super Adventure", Action Man was always close to the military roots. Even integrating goofy characters such as Intruder seemed a little more plausible somehow. Plus Mike Power Atomic Man has a bitching fro!

More on this: 1976 Hasbro G.I. Joe Catalog

Spider-Man in Minnesota

Dave aka Kinostadt at the MegoMuseum Forums sent in these awesome additions to the Superhero Mall Appearance Gallery. This is Spiderman from a 1979 mall appearance in Minnesota. Dave is holding a piece of paper top get Spidey to sign.

Got a Vintage Mall Appearance Shot you want to share? Whether it's from the seventies to the mid eighties. We want to see it! Drop me an email!

If you want more people in costumes check out the Marvel Superheroes : Live and In Person brochure on our site. It's chock full of early eighties characters such as Rom: Space Knight, G.I. Joe, heck even Crystar is in here!

The 1979 AHI Catalog means more Rack Toys!

Another fabulous voyage into the world of Rack Toys with the 1979 Azrak Hamway International catalog. Gone are the cool Universal Monster and Planet of the Apes toys of a few years eariler but AHI has continued to expand on it's comic book offerings mostly inspired by the Incredible Hulk and Fantastic Four television series.

All the staples are there, bop bags, parachuting figures, batmobiles and more weird licensed water pistols than anyone will ever need.

Hungry for More? Check out our never ending supply of Remco/AHI related links!

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Glamourous and Tiny

Glamour Gals seemed to be Kenner trying to mix the popularity of the Star Wars format with the fashion doll. Even though I wasn't in the demographic, I recall these being heavily TV advertised during "Battle of the Planets" reruns. I'm not sure how well they did however, I seem to recall seeing a massive display of these next to the Mego Eagle Force figures at a "Bi-Way" close out store in the early eighties.

Slumber Bags

Wow! Slumber bags are much nicer than those crappy sleeping bags they sell at Woolco. I feel all classy saying it that way.

Dirt Bikes!

Looking through a Western Auto Catalog today, I was reminded of how important a dirt bike was when I was growing up. It seemed to give you street cred, although in my case that "small town middle class suburbs" street cred.. The kids with the dirtbikes were the ones people flocked to, an early version of the muscle car, I guess.

I had a conservative model from Sears for much of my childhood, it was yellow and I often worried it would be branded a "Girl's Bike", a shame that I could not recover from. One kid in my school called me on it but he wore pajama shirts to class and wasn't exactly a big threat to my name.

I eventually bought a BMX when I was 13. I still sometimes hit the same trails I did as a kid, I find the "Monkey trails" a lot harder now.

The Infamous Sears 1975 Peek-a-Boo Catalog Controversey

Recently while searching Ebay for catalogs (which I do way too much) I discovered an auction stating it was the "Infamous Sears Peek-A-Boo Catalog" from 1975. Curious, I checked it out and apparently it was pulled because on page 602, you could clearly see a man-part in an underwear ad.

Well, I had to have this catalog but I probably would have bid anyway. So without further delay is page 602.

Now of course, it's our spokes person Brick Mantooth in the picture, it just had to be. So instead of just showing his potato, people claim that you can see his loin tip (I'll stop with the food/wang jokes now). In case this isn't the sort of thing you want to view on a Monday morn, I've left it up to you to click the pic and see for yourself.

What I discovered while writing about this is it's actually been well written about previously and this article from the Straight Dope dismisses that it's actually Brick's Junk but more of a printer error. I'd be inclined to agree but this whole thing amuses me way more than it should....

Super Joe VS Terron Trading Card

This is the final Plaid Stallions trading card for the summer, I'm not sure why I didn't reveal it earlier but here it is, ta-dah! I have a soft spot for Super Joe and when I found this image, I rushed it to press. I've already laid out my next two cards and they will be a departure, one will be for the ladies and the other isn't a doll or an action figure! Stay tuned!

colouring book theatre will return next weekend.

Encounters with Batman, Robin, Apes and Flash Gordon

Fantastic new images for the Superhero Mall Appearance Gallery this week starting with Lou's contribution. This is from a "Meet the Superheroes" review show like the one featured here. Lou promises more photos soon, I personally cannot wait.

Jason from BifBangPow! who provided last week's cool Darth Vader Signing at B Dalton feature is back this week with some more modern shots of himself with some cool 70's icons at last week's San Diego Comic Con. Here he is about to get clonked by Solider Apes.

Here's Jason with man himself, Sam J Jones during a signing of his new action figure (from BifBangPow! ) hanging with Flash Gordon, I'm jealous. Sam is in a lot of my favourite things and I regret not meeting him last time I was at SDCC, in addition to me watching every episode of "Code Red!" back in the day, I loved him as the Spirit and the Highwayman!

Thanks Lou and Jason! If you have a mall appearance photo from back in the day you'd like to share, please drop me a line!

1977 JC Penney Toy Flyer

Department stores used to have proud toy sections, so much so that they were a preferred destination when you had a few bucks to spend. You tagged along when your mom needed to visit the credit department, just so you could possibly swing by toys.

One of the biggest back in the day was JC Penney, who while still in business today aren't quite as fun as they once were. I can't remember the last time I saw a toy section in one honestly.

That's why it was exciting to find this cool newspaper circular from 1977 solely advertising all the cool toys available in December of 1977, in case you were wondering this is a Seattle area flyer.

This piece is a wonderful time capsule to when Farrah was hot, her husband was bionic, hand held games were crude and Fisher Price made the Sesame Street come alive

Check out the 1977 JC Penney Toy Flyer Here

Links of Interest Pertaining to the subject:

1975 Toys R Us Flyer

1974 True Value Toy Catalog

1976 True Value Toy Catalog

1979 Eaton's Toyland Catalog

Electroman VS Zogg

I found this great ad for Ideal ElectroMan in the back of a give away comic (more on that later) and thought it would be fun to showcase here. I find Electroman a pretty dorky looking figure, his whole concept is like ROM mixed with a really primitive version of laser tag. That headpiece would give a guy neck problems for sure.

Getting back to the ad, the question is asked regarding Zogg, "Will Electroman's Powers of Light and Sound Be enough?"

The answer is a resounding yes, Zogg appears to be have put on this earth solely to fall down and even a slight breeze can fell him. Electroman must have had a real false sense of superiority...

1978 Ideal Catalog featuring Electroman and Zogg

Oh and be sure to check out Topless Robot today for a goofy piece I wrote called The 9 Most Illogical Pieces of Star Trek Merchandise. It'll be worth it, I promise.

Space: 1999 Contest Winners

I forgot to mention the winners to our Space:1999 toy contest, for those who didn't get it the answer to the question: "Who Created Space:1999"? was Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, I also accepted simply Gerry Anderson.

The 3 runners up who get a set of PS trading cards (that's 1 through 8 plus a slmie sticker) are:

Chuck Soileau

John T Hilliard

Joe Stanley

And the grand prize winner of the two CTVT figures is:

Steve Shelley

If you didn't include your address please send it to me otherwise, I'll ship these out. Look for more contests in the very near future.

The Dacron Boys

The Dacron boys laugh at danger! Ha Ha! Life is just one big McDonald's birthday party to this group.

Evel Knievel Stunt World

This is something I've never seen before but it makes a tremendous amount of sense. A play case complete with diecast vehicles, allowing you to reenact some of Evel's more famous stunts. The world could use more playcases now.

What's on DVD:

Space Angel- I spent hours watching this cartoon on City TV back in the day, it wasn't the story or the wonderful Alex Toth design, I was fascinated (and creeped out) by the "Synchro Vox" process. Meaning, real human lips were superimposed on all the characters. The animation is super limited but I'm glad to see this getting a DVD release.

Dark Shadows Volume 5- I've never been able to get into this gothic soap opera but I've always admired it. Since it was a daily show, being a fan means a huge investment in DVDs, perhaps it's for the best....