Surveying the Gen X landscape and the origins of geek
Fight for Speed (1952)
To Other Planets (1962)
To Other Planets (1962)
To Other Planets (1962)
Home in Orbit (1975)
Home in Orbit (1975)
Home in Orbit (1975)
Home in Orbit (1975)
Just a few unmissable selections from various Russian children’s books from one of my favorite websites, Dreams of Space.
Dimmerswitch, the lucky recipient of this awesome certificate, says it was awarded in 1981. Pascal was serious business! I couldn’t even hack BASIC.
The Everglades, April 6, 1986. (Photo: Miami Herald)
Hiking? What’s that?
(Image via Vintage Photos 2012)
Fascinating West German cards from about 1980. I’ve seen them on eBay/UK before, and I’m assuming they were big with the Star Wars kids across the pond. The spacecraft represented are an odd mix of sci-fi and sci-almost-fact, and the descriptions are priceless.
The speed of the Yavin Interceptor, to be in service by the year 4000, is 25 km/sec, but the speed of the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle, in service as of 1972 (how about 1969, when it actually landed on the moon), is “unknown.”
The Cyclon [sic] Raider is “super-fast,” the Colonial Viper can “change direction without turning around,” the Death Star “consists of metal that has been melted to weightlessness,” etc.
See the entire 32-card set at The Pointless Museum, where I grabbed the images above.
I was dying to hear this soundtrack after my last post, and voila, here it is.
Thanks, NorskTorsk!
Oh yeah. Rogue Synapse is working on a “functioning Starfighter cabinet” that will play like the one in the nerdtastic ’80s classic, The Last Starfighter. You can actually download and play the final version of the game here. I’ll be all over this when the kid goes to sleep tonight.
Thanks to Wil Wheaton for the heads up.
Happy Friday.
The front cover painting is by Bill Willingham, and it’s one of my favorites. The action rides the lightning, so to speak. The spell cast by our beautiful, crimson-clad sorcerer ties her, the hero, to the undead villain. The book and the broken staff, framed in the flash, tell us that our magic user was hurriedly memorizing her spell when attacked by the skeleton. That’s my interpretation, anyway.
The castle is parallel to the book and the staff, menaced by lightning of a more natural kind—or maybe not, as the bolts seem weirdly focused on the mysterious edifice. At the same time, the purple clouds on the horizon contrast the town with the bright blue of Bone Hill.
Back cover art is by Erol Otus, a master of atmosphere. The colors here are subterranean, dank. As the dragon drags out of the cave its colors shift from green to an unhealthy pallid blue.
You’ll find Grognardia’s positive review of the module here.
They’re not Masters of the Universe. They’re Super Team of the Universe. There’s a big difference. I don’t see a Marty Toy label, but the figures, weapons, logo, and bullet-pointed printing match the Warriors of the Galaxy set.
It seems Marty Toy made a living, though probably not a very good one, sucking after the popular toys of the day. Bend-A-Bots, anyone?
Dude’s name is BONGG, with two G’s. I do enjoy the cloud of fire in the background, and what looks to be splashing lava, and the encroaching (but not the least bit menacing) UFOs. This is the toy equivalent of a B movie, and B movies are one of my special obsessions.
Oh, and allow me to introduce my good friend, Mr. H2O.
He’s got “pump action hand shooting moveable arms,” and his “turnable” head shoots water “to the left, right and straight forward.” I simply can’t abide robots who shoot water only to the left, or only to the right, or only straight forward. Any water-shooting robot worth his H2O is able to fire in all three directions.
Marty Toy, now that I’ve found you, I’m never going to let you go.
(Images via Action Figure Archive and Toy Nerds)
Who needs Masters of the Universe when you can have the much cooler knock-off, Warriors of the Galaxy? The playset format was nearly obsolete by ’83, and that’s probably why I’ve never seen this thing before or heard of Marty Toy. In 2013, however, the set is a real beauty, and I badly want to hear the “6 electronic battle sounds.”
I don’t know why our golden heroes and galactic demons would want to swing a mace when laser cannons are available, but I find it endearing. The figures have a unique design, too, and they’re super detailed. I love it all.
(Images via eBay and Action Figure Archive)
2 Warps to Neptune 