Archive for October, 2013

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Tom Savini on Livewire, 1982

Published October 23, 2013 Children's/Teen Programming , Horror Movies/TV , Tom Savini Leave a Comment

Nickelodeon’s Livewire was a talk show for kids that ran from 1980 to 1985. I haven’t seen it before, and unfortunately I can’t find an episode list online (not even on IMDb). But I’ve been going through the clips available on YouTube, and I’m impressed.

Savini is charming and giddy as he talks about “splatter films” being “on the way out” and demonstrates some of his special makeup effects. Creepshow was about to hit theaters, and he names “fluffy,” the nickname for the crate monster, his masterpiece. He also says that, among the films he’s been involved with, the controversial Maniac (1980) is his least favorite, and generally tries to separate himself from the ultra-violent genre he pioneered. (Read a 1980 interview with Savini here.)

Even if you’re not a horror fan, listen to the intelligent, searching questions the kids ask him, and ask yourself if it would be possible to produce a talk show for teens and preteens today in which kids are trusted to ask maverick adult guests articulate questions on live TV. (The Ramones, R.E.M., and The Psychedelic Furs all performed on the show and answered audience questions.) Not to mention the fact that every movie Savini had done to this point was rated R or unrated (now NC-17).

The level of respect kids got during this time—a level of respect we demanded—will not be seen again.

Imperial Toys: The Fall Guy Rub-A-Doos (1982)

Published October 22, 2013 '80s Movies/TV , Imperial Toy Corporation , Knockoff Toys , Presto Magix/Dry Transfers 1 Comment

Fall Guy Rub-A-Doos

Fall Guy Rub-A-Doos-2

That’s got to be the worst likeness of Lee Majors I’ve ever seen. And why is an astronaut on fire on the top of the package?

TV Guide Ad: `Elvira Meets The Fall Guy’ (1984)

Published October 22, 2013 '80s Movies/TV , Ads , TV Guide 9 Comments

Halloween TV Guide Elvira 1984

It’s not false advertising, believe it or not. Elvira (Cassandra Peterson) played herself in a Fall Guy episode called “October the 31st,” which premiered on Halloween, 1984. From what I remember, she and Colt are doing a Halloween special in a haunted mansion owned by a demented old man played by John Carradine. Will they survive the night?

Speaking of Carradine, I just watched him ham it up in another winner called Billy the Kid vs. Dracula (1966). Think you know the best way to knock down a vampire? Think again.

(Image via Nostalgic Collections/eBay)

Micronauts: Antron, Membros, and Repto (Mego, 1979)

Published October 21, 2013 Ken Kelly , Mego , Micronauts 10 Comments

Antron 1979

Membros 1979

Repto 1979

Membros 1979-2

More (glow-in-the-dark) brains!

Check out the original Ken Kelly Micronauts art here.

Halloween, 1983: Tron

Published October 18, 2013 '80s Movies/TV , Halloween , Halloween Costumes , Tron 2 Comments

Halloween Tron 1983

The place is Charlotte, North Carolina. The kid with impeccable taste is Bryan Bowden, who very kindly gave me the background on the photo:

I had never seen the movie Tron, but I had all of those promotional read-along books that kids could get at Burger King or McDonald’s (I forget which). So my knowledge of the movie was based off of the abridged, kid-afied version of Tron. I just loved the idea of being a computer person who threw a frisbee weapon and rode cool laser motorcycles.

[…] ROTJ costumes cost money, and my mom never spent money on costumes because she was smart. Tron was my second choice. I found the mask first. It was at a dollar store and was just a simple shiny blue “robot” mask. I told my mom I wanted to be Tron. She had no idea what that was but used the pictures from the books to sew together a costume. The costume is a sleeveless vest she made and some Dallas Cowboys pants with reflective tape down the side. For good measure, she wrote “Tron” on the chest with the reflective tape, and put more reflective tape on the back in an angular pattern. She wanted me to be super reflective because 5-year-olds used to go trick or treating at night.

I was obsessed with sci-fi, robots, space, NASA, computers, etc. My family encouraged it, but they did not understand technology so we didn’t have a computer till the late ’80s and it was a used Apple IIe.

All of this tech love didn’t manifest itself in my future career. Currently, I’m a teacher and a comedian. I teach comedy at The Second City Training Center to ages 11 – adult. High School did an amazing job in killing my love of science. However, my demand for tech stuff in our luddite household encouraged my brother to explore and interact with newer technology. He’s now an engineer for HP (Hewlett Packard, not Lovecraft).

Ben Cooper did release a Tron costume in 1981, but I’ve never seen it outside of the box. It doesn’t matter. This one is better.

Thanks again, Bryan.

Groovy Wall Graphics, Circa 1976

Published October 17, 2013 '70s Decor/Design/Fashion , Found Photos , What Our Rooms Looked Like 4 Comments

Bedroom 1970s

I never thought paper clips could look this cool. I don’t know where he’s going with his tiny suitcase and his pack of smokes, but I bet he slept in a van and had a killer time.

Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Ideas (1960) (Part One)

Published October 17, 2013 '60s Decor/Design/Fashion , Suburban Living 1 Comment

BH&G 1960 FC

BH&G 1960

BH&G 1960-2

BH&G 1960-3

BH&G 1960-4

BH&G 1960-5

BH&G 1960-6

BH&G 1960-7

BH&G 1960-8

BH&G 1960-9

KISS in the Bedroom, 1977

Published October 16, 2013 '70s Decor/Design/Fashion , '70s Music , What Our Rooms Looked Like 6 Comments

KISS Bedroom 1978

It was such a pain in the ass keeping sheets on the bed. The solution was one of our defining gestures.

Rock and Roll Over is a KISS album from 1976, and KISS Army is the name of the official KISS fan club started in 1975 (it survives online today). Here’s a patch from around the same time sporting the logo.

KISS patch

Can anyone tell (1) who’s in the article on the wall, and (2) who’s on the magazine on the bed?

UPDATE: Eagle-eyed Sam Staley pegged the magazine as Circus #165 (October, 1977), with Hall & Oates on the cover. Put on a shirt, Oates!

Circus #165

(Photo via Pacific Coast Trade/eBay)

DFC Toys: Dragonriders of the Styx Fantasy Playset (1981)

Published October 15, 2013 Dimensions for Children (DFC) , Fantasy Toys/Playsets 11 Comments

Dragonriders 1981

Dragonriders 1981-2

Dragonriders-2 1981

Dragonriders-3 1981

Dragonriders-4 1981

The coolest, and maybe the earliest, D&D-inspired fantasy playset I’ve seen so far. (I don’t count Warriors of the Galaxy, which is more of a MOTU-chasing spacy-fantasy.) The set is huge, first of all: it’s almost as big as the kid laying next to it on the box cover. Second, the figures are a good, creative mix, even if the dragon mount looks kind of like a Tauntaun. Third, I dig the maze with the gold prize in the middle, the obvious place for the green dragon to crouch.

UPDATE (4/6/14): As I said here, my assumption now is that Dragonriders is the first playset to be packaged and produced in response to the popularity of D&D.

‘Dragonriders’ was likely taken from Anne McCaffrey’s popular Dragonriders of Pern trilogy, released under that name in a collected edition in 1978. The Styx is a river in Greek Mythology running into the underworld. It’s also the name of a rock band—you’ll remember them from the 1983 hit single “Mr. Roboto.” Paradise Theater, the band’s only album to hit #1 on the US charts, came out in January, 1981.

Here’s the set—pretty expensive, compared to Castle Greyskull—in the 1982 J.C. Penney catalog.

Dragonriders Catalog 1982

Read a firsthand account of someone who owned it at Two-Bit Nonsense.

DFC also released an action figure line of the same name starting in 1983. I’ll talk about that in a future post.

(Images via eBay and Wishbook/Flickr)

Halloween, 1984: Ghostbusters

Published October 14, 2013 '80s Movies/TV , Ghostbusters , Halloween , Halloween Costumes , Sci-Fi Movies/TV 1 Comment

Halloween Ghostbusters 1984

Very clever. I can’t tell what the backpacks are made of, but the proton guns are Uzis. The kids’ names are sewn on the uniforms.

UPDATE (10/23/13): Nick sent me details regarding the costumes:

The costumes were built with a pattern that had come out during that year for costumes. The backpacks were simply spray-painted cardboard boxes with shoulder straps. However, a special opening at the top allowed people to drop candy inside, so we could have theoretically mopped up some serious candy because the boxes could hold a lot. While we never got a photo of the rear of the backpacks, my brother designed the outside with all sorts of hoses and accouterments so it would have a “wow” factor that made it look very fancy and techie. The Uzis were just the standard toy gun from K-Mart that you could buy at the time. Through standard rubber hoses, they were then attached to the backpack.

(Photo via nick_cw1861/Flickr)

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