No, LJN. No. Possibly the most ill-conceived toy line ever, so of course I’ll be posting more later.
Archive for May, 2014
LJN’s Dune Toys: Fremen Tarpel Gun (1984)
Published May 30, 2014 Dune (Movie) , LJN Toys , Toy Guns/Weapons 3 CommentsDungeons & Dragons Sweatshirt and Sweatpants, Circa 1985
Published May 29, 2014 D&D , D&D Non-Gaming Merchandise , TSR 5 Comments
The Dungeons & Dragons animated series was released in Spain in 1985, and didn’t debut in France and the U.K. until 1987. Spain also released some rather strange PVC figures of all the major characters in the cartoon.
Has anyone else seen a D&D sweatsuit before?
Playing with Yourself: The Official Video Game Handbook (1982)
Published May 28, 2014 Books , Video Arcades , Video Games 3 Comments
Author Ira Alterman also wrote Games You Can Play With Your Pussy: And Lots of Other Stuff Cat Owners Should Know (1985). In case you were interested.
(Images via Design by Decade/eBay)
American Soldier Reading Comic Book, 1941
Published May 27, 2014 Big Kids Reading Comics , Comic Books 1 Comment
Pac-Man in the News, 1982
Published May 27, 2014 Arcade Cabinets/Coin-Ops , Video Arcades , Video Games Leave a CommentMost of the video, via Patrick Scott Patterson, is from a PM Magazine feature on the youngest kid competing in the “world’s largest Pac-Man tournament” at Milwaukee County Stadium, but there’s also some rare footage of workers assembling Pac-Man cabs at the Midway manufacturing plant. (It’s not actually the largest Pac-Man tournament; the “largest” refers to the size of the stadium screen on which onlookers watched the games.)
The kid qualifies for the tournament by beating his brother on the Atari 400/800 version of Pac-Man at the local computer/game shop. His dad makes an interesting point about early video games: not even the best players could beat them. You just saw how far you could get and how many points you could rack up. The save game feature, as I’ve said before, changed games and gamers forever.
Saturne Inflatable Mystery Action Robot (Amico, 1980)
Published May 23, 2014 Robots , Space Toys/Playsets Leave a Comment
- I’ve got something that’s over 30 inches tall with bump and go action. If you know what I’m talking about.
- Every time I look at this thing I’m reminded of the inflatable automatic pilot Elaine was blowing in Airplane!.
- What precisely is the “mystery action”? Maybe I don’t want to know.
- Why is there an ‘e’ at the end of Saturn? The names of planets can’t be copyrighted, guys.
Kids Posing with K.I.T.T., 1984 – 1985
Published May 22, 2014 '80s Movies/TV , Amusement Parks/Theme Parks , Knight Rider 2 Comments
A K.I.T.T. replica was at Universal Studios from 1984 to 1996. A Universal employee, somewhere off screen, would act as the car’s voice, greeting visitors, cattily responding to questions, and so on.
You may remember the Diff’rent Strokes two-parter “Hooray for Hollywood” (1984), where Arnold and Dudley sneak out of the Universal tour to track down David Hasselhoff, who’s shooting a Knight Rider episode at the studio. They get stuck in a car set for demolition, and The Hoff and K.I.T.T. have to save them.
(Images via therpf.com, efholtmann1/Flickr, Nathan King/Flickr)
Cinefantastique Volume 12, Number 4 (1982): Tron Article
Published May 21, 2014 Cinefantastique , Disney , Disney Movies , Magazines/Zines , Tron 2 Comments
Interesting piece on the revolutionary effects of Tron, and the inevitable movement of film to a digital format. Says Richard Taylor, co-supervisor of special effects:
Computers can’t replace the uniqueness of actors. If a motion picture does not connect to your heart, it doesn’t matter how it looks. You cannot save a film by making it look good…
I don’t want people to believe that computers are a threat to society. They’re a creative tool that will allow people to express themselves more clearly, more uniquely. They are only going to make our lives easier.
I guess it’s kind of like a disc. And it looks like it will emanate from your fingers in a web of ghostlike, video energy. String is for Users!
Kid Gets First Boombox, Circa 1982
Published May 20, 2014 '80s Decor/Design/Fashion , Obsolete Tech 3 Comments
We called them ghetto blasters in 4th grade, which is probably when I got mine. We would all strut around blasting Devo’s Oh, No! It’s Devo. Because we were so urban.
Kid’s wearing a classic Izod design. And my God, the couch.
(Image via new2vulcan/eBay)
2 Warps to Neptune 