Archive for December, 2012

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Christmas Morning, 1982: D&D and Lego Space

Published December 6, 2012 Atari , Christmas , Christmas Morning , D&D , Lego , Lego Space 4 Comments

Christmas Morning D&D 1982

Via thinking.blissful/Flickr.

Okay, first off, he’s holding the Tomb of Horrors module, written by the great Gary Gygax. (I’ll post it in my module series next year.)

Next, we’ve got two Lego Space sets: the Mobile Rocket Transport (6950) and the Surface Explorer (6880). (Images are via Brickipedia.)

https://i0.wp.com/images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100509190339/lego/images/5/5c/6950_Box.jpg

https://i0.wp.com/images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100509184015/lego/images/5/5f/6880_Box.jpg

Top Secret was a spy vs. spy RPG released by TSR in 1980. Rubik’s Revenge was a more difficult version of the Rubik’s Cube (I so hated those cubes). And of course that Pitfall is the original Atari 2600 version, released in 1982.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas TV Guide Ad (1966)

Published December 5, 2012 Ads , TV Guide Leave a Comment

The Grinch premiered on Sunday, December 18, 1966.

I’d completely forgotten about the TV Guide layout itself, and check out the shows listed on just these pages—Mission: Impossible, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Walt Disney’s World (full title: Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color), Wild Kingdom, and the always invaluable Your Astrology Guide. You will never see a description like the following for any TV show ever again:

The Seaview becomes a den of terror when a virus again transforms Admiral Nelson into a werewolf.

Instead we get shit like this:

The murder of a local military academy’s first female cadet is investigated after her body is discovered in a buried foot locker.

Kiss my ass, 21st century television programming.

(Image via Randy Rodman. Click to enlarge)

Christmas Toy Aisle Zen: Fisher-Price Gas & Go Service Center

Published December 4, 2012 Fisher-Price , Toy Stores/Toy Aisles/Toy Departments Leave a Comment
Toy Aisle 1983

Target, December 20, 1983. (Lyn Alweis/Denver Post)

Fisher Price Gas & Go Ad

(Image sources: Big Ole Photos and Frankensmith’s Castle)

And You Shall Know the Atari 400 by the Awkwardness of Its Keyboard: Special Christmas Home Video Edition

Published December 4, 2012 Atari , Home Consoles , Video Games Leave a Comment

Christmas, 1980. Short but classic video via Earl J. Woods/YouTube. Watch for the stuffed E.T. at the end.

Christmas Morning, Circa 1975: Operation and The Game of Jaws

Published December 3, 2012 '70s Decor/Design/Fashion , Board Games/Tabletop Games , Christmas , Christmas Morning , Jaws 1 Comment

Christmas Morning Sweet Ass Chair

Operation needs no introduction, obviously, but how about that plastic shark poking out from the right side of the photo? That’s The Game of Jaws. As John Kenneth Muir reflects, many of us were too young to see Jaws when it first came out, so the only way we could participate in the phenomenon/hysteria was through merchandise like this.

The object of the game is similar to Operation. The box (image via Muir) about sums it up.

The Game of Jaws

And how sweet is that red velvet and leather chair/throne upon which our presumptive dad is scratching his crotch? If someone could wrap that bad boy up and drag it under (or near) my tree, I’d be much obliged.

This is the first of a series of Christmas morning shots. Stick around.

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