Surveying the Gen X landscape and the origins of geek
Above all else, the paper bags in their built-to-fit paper bag compartments!
There’s a Wildlife Encyclopedia display (knowledge at your fingertips, only 49¢/month) behind the lady who’s, wait for it, writing a check. (My mom used to get so pissed at the idiots who wouldn’t take out their checkbooks until they got to the front of the line.)
And don’t forget to grab some sunglasses on your way back from the Cosmetics department—they’re 15% off.
(Photos via Gregg Koenig/Flickr)
Luke Skywalker “comes charging across the starlanes to do battle for the comely Princess Leia…” Comely?
Death Squad Commander “made every effort to capture Luke, R2D2, and C3PO as they tried to rescue Princess Leia from prison on Death Star…” There are no points for second place, Death Squad Commander. Your “laser rifle which will punch through metals” be damned.
Princess Leia: “Her neck moves! She is a true princess!” Among my criteria for Princesses is, in fact, that the prospective candidate be able to move her neck.
“Golden brown” Chewbacca “charmed half the galaxy with his cute and cuddly-deadly ways. He wouldn’t harm a fly, only a stormtrooper!”
You’ll find another hilariously written Kenner ad here.
(Image via kenyatabks/eBay)
Hey, Michael Hyland, the Eastern seaboard called: they’re running out of MOTU.
Actually, let’s make a deal. You keep the toys and your studly A-Team pajamas. I’ll take that righteous carpet, the matching tablecloth, and the boss wood paneling.
You’ll see Stinkor in the last photo (top left), and that red spider thing is—yet another winner from Mattel’s Clever Name Department—Spydor.
No, you’re not mistaken. The dude sitting furthest back really is wearing a unicorn shirt with a rolled-brim Busch Beer hat. Got a problem?
And that’s the original 1978 Player’s Handbook with the David Trampier cover that scared the shit out of all the people who believed Satan was taking over the Earth one polyhedral die roll at a time.
If you haven’t already, check out my D&D Portrait series.
(Photo via Mojo Yugen/Flickr)
A few thoughts:
I’ve become slightly obsessed with the Robotech toys, as you can tell. More later.
(Video via PetiteOzma/YouTube)
According to Hero Complex, 34-year-old David Gonzalez paid just over $10,000 for a broken down home in rural Minnesota, intending to renovate and flip it. As the guy is tearing out the walls, he finds the first appearance of Superman among the newspapers used as insulation.
For some reason, Gonzalez then took his in-laws to see the house. Bad Idea Jeans. His aunt grabbed the book (was it just laying there?), and when he yanked it back (say what?), the cover tore. ComicConnect, the auction house selling the comic, estimates that the additional damage reduced the book’s value by $75,000. The current bid is $137,000.
In 1973, as the press photo below shows, Action Comics #1—in better condition than Gonzalez’s copy—sold for a measly $1,800. The teen who bought it (I wish I’d had his allowance) said he would sell for “nothing less” than $10,000.
A really interesting early example of the arguments for and against video games, and some good arcade footage to go with it.
Ronnie Lamm, President of the Middle Country PTA Council in Long Island, received national attention at the time for convincing the residents of Brookhaven to issue a 6-month moratorium on the issuance of game permits. If she’d had her way, video games would have been banned completely.
I found some good stories on her “crusade” at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (July 22, 1982) and two issues of the Spokesman-Review (January 16, 1982 and June 8, 1982). She calls the games “definitely addictive” and “not wholesome,” and says the proliferation of arcades leads to an increase in robbery and drug trafficking.
In the video, she laments that when kids go to the store to pick up something for school, they drop the leftover change into a game instead of bringing it home. Her solution: get rid of the games.
Another parent complains that his son took money in advance from his paper route to play games. His solution: take away the kid’s paper route.
One of the managers and part owners of Foosball World, soft-spoken Diane Lacicero, dispatches them easily with a small dose of common sense: “You can’t expect the game room to be at fault because they [parents] don’t have the control that they should have.”
I’m not all that convinced that arcades kept kids away from drugs and other nasty habits, or that they “discharge” violent feelings, but they sure did give us a place to be with others our own age in a non-school environment. They were little communities, with a special set of rules, and we had to learn how to function within them.
Kids have nowhere to go anymore partly because of people like Ronnie Lam. As a society, we no longer raise our children as adults-in-training, giving them the independence they need to learn how to act independently and handle tough situations. Instead, we’re raising them to be codependent, inflated, and entitled.
(Video via kamenliter/YouTube)
A sailor reads a comic book aboard the USS Doran in 1942
Private Ernest Dandou reads a comic book at paratrooper camp, Georgia, 1944.
Lieutenant Frank Hensley reads a comic book after loading cargo on plane, 1950
American troops read comic books during the Korean War, 1951
All of the photos above are from a Life retrospective called Life with the Comics: In Praise of a Classic American Art Form.
Way back in November of 2012, I sent my Atari 7800 packing. The idea was to give old folks like me a chance to relive some classic games, introduce their kids (if applicable) to some classic games, write about the experience, and then pass on the prestigious unit to the next nerd in the rotation.
First stop: Lefty Limbo. We anxiously await Lefty’s official report, but I know that he and his boy had a blast playing it together. It was tough for the little guy to say goodbye. It wasn’t easy for the kid, either!
Second stop: Lithicbee, also called Andy. Lithicbee/Andy has written two great posts about old school gaming with his girls: 80s Flashback: Atari 7800 (Part One), and 80s Flashback: Atari 7800 (Part Two). I won’t ruin it for you, but below is what happened when Andy tried to play Tron Deadly Discs.
By the way, Andy is currently working on a sci-fi adventure serial called The Only City Left. Click on the link and start reading, because it’s really good.
I received a few other requests from people who wanted the Atari but couldn’t be bothered to read the relay requirements. One email contained an address only! Needless to say, those people will not be getting the prize.
For those interested in participating, I’m repeating the Relay Eligibility Requirements below.
That’s about it. Read the original post to find out what games and hardware you get with the Atari. Andy confirms that everything still works fine. Let’s keep ‘er moving if we can.
From Zombikaze:
This is the program from the first convention I ever went to. I had the pleasure to meet and get signatures from the late Carl Macek and also Reba West.
Carl Macek was Robotech‘s producer and story editor, and Reba West voiced Lynn Minmei.
Coolness.
2 Warps to Neptune 