Archive for April, 2015

The Lord of the Rings Action Figures Ads, 1979

Published April 30, 2015 Ads , Lord of the Rings, The Leave a Comment

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Great ad dug up by Phil Reed at BattleGrip. New Jersey’s Heroes World was a king of mail-order marketing in the 1970s, and their catalogs, now collector’s items, featured art by the nearby Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art.

I found another Heroes World ad below, courtesy of Tom Heroes. These are the only two I’ve seen. As I said in my original post about the ill-fated Knickerbocker line, it had almost no advertising push in a very crowded action figure market. The figures themselves appear to be pretty high quality, however.

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T-Shirt Designs in the Wild, 1976

Published April 30, 2015 '70s Decor/Design/Fashion , '70s Movies/TV , Iron-on Transfers , Photography 5 Comments

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See more at the Billings Gazette. I totally forgot about the CB radio craze from about 1975 to 1981, although I loved Smokey and the Bandit and The Dukes of Hazzard. The Wikipedia article doesn’t mention it, but Glen A. Larson’s B.J. and the Bear was another popular series spotlighting the CB.

Alien Jigsaw Puzzle (HG Toys, 1979)

Published April 29, 2015 Alien Trilogy , Earl Norem , HG Toys , Jigsaw Puzzles 9 Comments

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One in a series of the bleakest jigsaw puzzles ever produced on planet Earth. Others in this format included the Space Jockey and the Nostromo in flight, but the real prize is the 250-piece, 36″ tall beauty featuring art by Earl Norem, who also illustrated the unforgettable Alien “target” from the Alien Blaster Giant Target Set (see it here on an episode of Toy Hunters).

The marketing of Alien was one of the strangest, most decadent moments in the history of toy licensing, and one of the greatest kid moments in the history of kid-dom. 20th Century Fox foolishly sold the license across the board expecting the film to come back with a PG rating, and ended up having to sell parents on one of the most violent movies ever made, and arguably the most terrifying.

I found a blurb in Starlog (below) detailing the scope (but not the extent) of the merchandising campaign. The only products I haven’t seen are the Don Post mask and the pajamas (!). One of the Roach t-shirt transfers is here, the Ben Cooper costume is here, and you can see the Kenner-produced “world’s ugliest doll” (a.k.a. the greatest action figure ever made) here.

Alien Merch Starlog July 1979

Dodge ‘Alien’ Custom Van, 1981

Published April 29, 2015 Alien Trilogy , Custom Autos , Sci-Fi/Space Art Leave a Comment

Alien Van 1981

How am I expected to quit my custom van obsession when I keep finding specimens like this one? It’s like it emerged from a slimy, leathery egg and attached itself to my face.

(Image via Cosmo Lutz/Flickr)

Fortress of the Wizard King, Castle of the Three Headed Dragon, and Demon Mountain Fantasy Action Playsets (Helm Toy, 1983)

Published April 28, 2015 Fantasy Toys/Playsets 7 Comments

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Very cool looking (but not very sturdy, I’m guessing) sets that followed in the wake of DFC’s popular Dragonriders of the Styx set and its many copycats. The pics are courtesy of Shaun Christensen’s definitive Fantasy Toy Soldiers blog, where you can see a lot more, including close-ups of the better than expected minis.

Dungeons & Dragons gave the traditional playset format one last push—players could use the sets as role-playing aids—before its final demise.

Kid Art (Circa 1980 – 1985): Dungeons & Dragons

Published April 27, 2015 D&D , D&D Art , Kid Art 3 Comments

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I’m going to go ahead and call these drawings masterpieces on par with the Orvis’s illustrations of Disney’s The Black Hole. They’re from Stefan’s Flickr, and there are 91 glorious pieces, all of them perfectly captioned, in his D&D Pencil Art album.

Note the soda machine that has fallen through a “dimensional rift” into D&D world, as well as the bank robbery (“we were low on GP,” says Stefan). Other art not featured here includes a decapitating ninja, a “giant robot warrior machine” shooting down an X-Wing Fighter, an “Apocalypse Arena,” an arm-wrestling dragon, a Sumo warrior, a wizard on a magic carpet dueling a giant eagle, and a bitch-slapping grizzly bear.

The set belongs in a museum.

Kid Art (1981): Dungeons & Dragons ‘Knight’

Published April 27, 2015 D&D Art , Fantasy Art , Kid Art 2 Comments

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Beautiful D&D-inspired piece artist Joe Linton did when he was in high school. Saved by mom, naturally. I found it on his blog, Homemade Ransom Notes.

Fantasy and Sci-Fi Van Art, Circa 1981

Published April 24, 2015 Custom Autos , Sci-Fi/Space Art 9 Comments
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“Close Encounter” van art by Shelby Goode, scanned from from Air-brushing Techniques for Custom Painting Vol. II, by Badger Air Brush Co. and Carl Caiati, Franklin Park, IL, 1981.

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“Lost in Space” van art by Shelby Goode, scanned from from Air-brushing Techniques for Custom Painting Vol. II, by Badger Air Brush Co. and Carl Caiati, Franklin Park, IL, 1981.

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Van art by Carl Caiati, scanned from from Air-brushing Techniques for Custom Painting Vol. II, by Badger Air Brush Co. and Carl Caiati, Franklin Park, IL, 1981.

I found these bedazzling specimens (and captions) at an amazing Tumblr called Public Collectors. It’s maintained by Marc Fisher, who also runs the main Public Collectors site, publiccollectors.org:

Public Collectors is founded upon the concern that there are many types of cultural artifacts that public libraries, museums and other institutions and archives either do not collect or do not make freely accessible…

The purpose of this project is for large collections of materials to become accessible so that knowledge, ideas and expertise can be freely shared and exchanged. Public Collectors is not intended to be used for buying and selling objects.

Fisher also has a Flickr dedicated to intriguing arcana such as MS Paint Album Covers and Anti-Car Barriers in Chicago.

You can also follow Public Collectors on Facebook.

Model Kits: `The Wizard’ Ford Custom Street Van (MPC, 1981)

Published April 24, 2015 Custom Autos , Model Kits 4 Comments

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The decals were designed by California-born Harry Bradley, who created 11 of the 16 molds for the first line of Hot Wheels.

File under: best place ever to keep your dice bag and minis.

Chevy `Warlock’ Custom Van, Circa 1975

Published April 23, 2015 '70s Decor/Design/Fashion , Custom Autos , Fantasy Art 9 Comments

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The van was built by Gene Gamet, Terry Dodge, and Gary Glenn in Michigan in 1975, and Glenn, an airbrush legend, handled the paint job. Soon thereafter Gary took the van to Southern California, where it became a car show hero and one of the most famous custom vans in the country. Here it is in Rock ‘n’ Roll High School (1979):

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And here’s the little addition Gary made after the movie: “Twinkie Patrol” – ‘We’re coming for your daughters’.

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There’s a long conversation about the van and its creators and history at Michael Poulin’s Flickr.

Gary Glenn passed away in 2013.

(Images via Cosmo Lutz/Flickr and the Gary Glenn Memorial Page)

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