Courtesy of Stargazer95050/Flickr. Thanks to Lefty Limbo for the link.
Archive for October, 2012
Toys ‘R’ Us and Woolworth Halloween Commercials (1980, 1978)
Published October 31, 2012 Comic Books , Commercials , Halloween , Star Wars (Original Trilogy) , Toy Stores/Toy Aisles/Toy Departments Leave a Comment
Okay, those Big Bird and Yoda costumes are seriously creepy, and I don’t think they’re supposed to be.
The Wonder Woman mask with horse teeth and drug addict eyes is not very flattering, kids. And the “popular characters from Star Wars” are all the bad guys, naturally.
(Video sources: William Presley and tk421maul)
All-Time Best Halloween Costume: Special Star Wars Edition
Published October 31, 2012 DIY , Halloween , Halloween Costumes , Star Wars (Original Trilogy) 4 Comments
Let’s stick with the Star Wars theme, shall we? The photo is from The Trek BBS, a Star Trek forum. It’s Halloween, 1977. The poster says she took sketches in the movie theater and made the whole costume herself.
Show me a sixteen-year-old who cared this much about The Phantom Menace. Are you listening, Disney?
Disney to Release New Star Wars Movie in 2015
Published October 30, 2012 Star Wars (Original Trilogy) 3 CommentsDisney just bought Lucasfilm for $4 billion. Says George Lucas, about 12 years too late, “It’s now time for me to pass ‘Star Wars’ on to a new generation of filmmakers.”
I wish I could be optimistic about Episode 7, but, as the song says, I won’t get fooled again. If there’s an entity more corporatized and bereft of originality than Lucas, it’s Disney.
Boy’s Room, Circa 1982
Published October 30, 2012 Atari , Lego , Lego Space , Star Wars (Original Trilogy) , What Our Rooms Looked Like 5 Comments
Via Sam Howzit/Flickr. There’s an awful lot of awesome here. Let’s make a list.
1. Donkey Kong on the Atari 2600
2. Righteous Empire Strikes Back wallpaper
3. Snowspeeder and Slave I under the bookshelf
4. Lego Space on the table, and Lego Space (one box and a bowl of loose bricks) under the TV
5. I think that’s a picture of Catherine Bach (Daisy Duke) next to the Legos under the TV
5. Hand embroidered Pittsburgh Steelers pillow on the bed
Do yourself a favor and click pic to enlarge.
Bad Trailers for Good Movies: Star Wars (1977)
Published October 30, 2012 '70s Movies/TV , Movie Trailers , Sci-Fi Movies/TV , Star Wars (Original Trilogy) Leave a Comment“The story of a boy, a girl, and a universe”? What the shit does that mean? Just because the story takes place in the universe doesn’t mean the universe is part of the story. Unless the story is about the Big Bang, which it’s not. Maybe I’m being overly philosophical. My point is, what’s with all these creepy narrators ruining trailers for classic ’70s movies?
I do kind of dig the ambient strings in the background, but it’s way more Star Trek than Star Wars. Was the pompously awesome John Williams score not ready yet? Here’s a later trailer with the original music.
This is better. “No legendary adventure of the past could be as exciting as this romance of the future” is pretty lame, but the narrator is not as invasive, and there’s nothing about a boy-girl-universe love triangle.
Friend J. sent me the first clip. He’s hunting down more as we speak.
Arcade Cabinets: Satan’s Hollow (1982)
Published October 29, 2012 Arcade Cabinets/Coin-Ops , Video Games 2 Comments
(Image sources, from top to bottom: Emdkay, Killer List of Video Games (KLOV), KLOV forums, Games Database, Video Games Masters Club)
A downright iconic shot via traffic sounds/Flickr. The photo’s (non-cardboard) subject says this was taken in the West Covina Fashion Plaza (now a Westfield) in 1987, but it looks like the Puente Hills Mall to me.
Here’s a bus promotion at Puente Hills Mall from 1984 (from a previous post). Note the Florsheim behind the tree. Also, in the first shot, you can make out a disco ball pillar in the background. I think those were too hip (insert KLOS bumper sticker graphic) for Fashion Plaza.
The Magnavox Odyssey was “the world’s first commercial home video game console. It was first demonstrated in April 1972 and released in August of that year, predating the Atari Pong home consoles by three years.”
This thing is a trip. There was no sound whatsoever, and the only graphics to speak of were plastic overlays you put over your TV screen. Check out the commercial.
I like how every game is essentially the same. It’s also interesting that there are no kids in this spot.
(Image source: Kyma Labs)
(Video source: ohbutyes/YouTube)
The difference between “Bee Kind Rewind” and “Be Kind Rewind” is that the first one is fucking awesome and the second one is lame.
You get points if you worked at a video store in the ’80s and put these stickers on all the tapes. You get bonus points if you watched Enter the Ninja on Betamax.
P.S. If you were not kind and did not rewind your tapes before returning them, either you gave money to Reagan, or your parents gave money to Reagan, or both.
(Image source: murder_by_phone_1982/Flickr)
2 Warps to Neptune 