(Images via eBay)
Archive for February, 2016
Roach Studios Iron-On Transfers (Circa 1975 – 1981)
Published February 29, 2016 '70s Decor/Design/Fashion , Iron-on Transfers , Roach Studios 3 CommentsEarl Norem’s Giant Alien Illustration—Restored!
Published February 25, 2016 Alien Trilogy , Earl Norem , HG Toys , Jigsaw Puzzles 7 Comments
As I’ve said before, Earl Norem’s work on HG’s Alien license, including the target from the Alien Blaster Giant Target Set and this, the 36″ tall jigsaw puzzle, is some of the finest in pop culture illustration. Artist Stephen Kick recently bought a copy of the puzzle, scanned every single piece into Photoshop, assembled the pieces, cleaned and restored them, and gave us a big, beautiful poster. The before and after images are above.
Go to Steve’s post to see more, including some GIFs of the entire process—it took him eight hours. And maybe drop him a line of thanks. The puzzle is not easy to come by, and, because of the size, it’s almost impossible to see quality images of the whole thing. Now, everyone gets to enjoy Norem’s work up close without spending a small fortune.
While you’re at it, check out Steve’s many other incredible designs, like this custom Boba Fett blaster, for instance.
Dungeons & Dragons Puffy Stickers (Larami, 1984)
Published February 24, 2016 D&D , D&D Non-Gaming Merchandise , Stickers 4 Comments
LJN released several sets (6 total, I believe) of D&D puffy stickers in 1983 that are still pretty easy to find. The Larami releases, however, are extremely rare. I’m missing at least one of the sets. These sold on eBay some time ago for hundreds of dollars.
All of the characters and monsters seen here appear in the Dungeons & Dragons animated series. I know because my four-and-a-half-year-old daughter has been watching the show obsessively for the last several weeks. My youngest (19 months) much prefers Thundarr the Barbarian. Elmo is a close second.
Portrait of a Young Geek Playing Dungeons & Dragons, 1982
Published February 23, 2016 D&D , D&D Character Sheets , D&D Portraits , Newspapers 1 Comment
The geek and “Dragon Master” is Michael Hughes, a writer, teacher, performer, and occultist. Hughes founded the D&D Club at Andover High in 1981-1982, and, as luck (or fate) would have it, one of his homemade adventure modules appears in a compendium I wrote about a couple of years ago, The Habitation of the Stone Giant Lord and Other Adventures from Our Shared Youth. Mike talks a bit about D&D and The Habitation of the Stone Giant Lord here.
At the link you’ll also see an old school character sheet for “Grey Wanderer,” a half-elf ranger/cleric who possesses suspiciously high ability scores—though not so much in the way of looks, poor fellow. You’ll notice “Chaotic Good” listed under languages. That’s not a mistake. “Alignment languages” were a thing in the early versions of D&D and AD&D.
If you’re into Lovecraftian horror, do check out Mike’s novels Blackwater Lights and Witch Lights, published by Random House.
The location is DeSoto Square Mall in Bradenton, Florida. The big stack of games on the left is Ideal’s Battling Spaceships (1977). I also see Kenner’s Super Shift 600 and a Coleco CB-40 Transceiver Base. There’s a Welcome Back, Kotter toy of some sort underneath the boy’s head, and it doesn’t look like the classroom playset. Anyone know what it is?
(Photo via Malls of America)
The San Francisco Comic Book Company in Nightmare in Blood (1978)
Published February 19, 2016 Comic Book Stores , Comic Books , Horror Movies/TV , Spinner Racks , Underground Comix Leave a CommentNightmare in Blood (spoilers ahead) is a cult film directed by John Stanley, who was writing for the San Francisco Chronicle at the time and went on to host Creature Features (replacing Bob Wilkins) at KTVU from 1979 to 1984. The plot surrounds a series of murders at a horror convention and the event’s guest of honor, a famous vampire actor named Malakai, who turns out to be a real vampire. And Malakai’s “public-relations men,” B.B. and Harris, are actually William Burke and William Hare, the famous 19th century serial killers. The film is loaded with winks and nods to early horror fandom and classic horror films.
When Malakai arrives at the convention, filmed at Oakland’s Fox Theater, he’s greeted with cheers by his young fans, many of whom are—oddly—wearing ape masks. The kids were members of a Planet of the Apes fan club, and one of them was a teenage Fred Dekker, soon-to-be writer-director of Night of the Creeps (1986) and The Monster Squad (1987), two wildly fun films that are now cult classics.
The film features, in a way, Gary Arlington’s The San Francisco Comic Book Company, the first comics-only store in the U.S. The store opened in 1968 and was a nexus of the underground comix scene throughout the ’70s and ’80s. Robert Crumb was a frequent presence, and Simon Deitch, Rory Hayes, and Flo Steinberg all reportedly worked at the store at various times. The hippie character in the clip is not just based on Gary Arlington, he’s named Gary Arlington. Arlington himself, with his own stock, tried to recreate his Mission District store at a bigger location for the scene Stanley wanted. (The San Francisco Comic Book Company was notoriously small, some 200 square feet.) Arlington died at the age of 75 in 2014.
Compare the Nightmare in Blood clip to the absurd scene in Shyamalan’s Unbreakable, when Samuel Jackson’s character dotes on a vintage comic book illustration in his comic book “art gallery,” and then berates the man who wants to buy it for his boy because “art” is not for children. What makes it absurd is that the scene is played straight—entirely devoid of humor. A comparison of both films, in fact, explains quite a bit about the transformation of sci-fi/fantasy/horror fandom from a bookish, establishment-wary subculture into a mainstream, corporate phenomenon.
Read more about Nightmare in Blood at San Francisco Weekly and John Stanley’s site.
The Black Hole `Maximillian’ T-Shirt, 1979
Published February 18, 2016 '70s Decor/Design/Fashion , Black Hole, The 4 Comments
Wuxtry Records and Comics, Circa 1975
Published February 17, 2016 Comic Book Stores , Comic Books , Newsstands/Comic Book Stands Leave a Comment
The original Wuxtry Records is in Athens, Georgia, and still sells comics. Yes, that’s Peter Buck of R.E.M. before R.EM. formed. Buck and Michael Stipe met at this very store in 1980.
(Photo via Cable and Tweed)
The Scrambler Reading Series: Panic and More Disaster Stories (Xerox, 1977)
Published February 17, 2016 Comic Books , Educational Comics Leave a Comment
Published at the height of the disaster film boom, this “educational” comic, illustrated by Frank Bolle and Tony DiPreta, takes on a “poisonous smoke cloud,” an earthquake, and, for some reason, a tidal wave. You can read all of the stories at the impeccably named Stupid Comics, where I got the images above. I’m not sure what exactly we’re learning here. Hold on to the roof of your house and surf the wave? The earthquake story is nearly as good, as it pits folk-rocking teens against some ornery geezers in a resting home—not to worry; the generational rancor is assuaged in the end by a… tambourine?
Other volumes in the Scrambler Reading Series include Space Trucker and Other Science Fiction Stories (1978), Shark!: Stories About Fighting to Win (1976), The Baron: Stories About Law and Order (1978), and The Nightwalker and More Scary Tall Tales (1976). I really would like to get my hands on these, especially the one with the shark.
Motel Postcards, Circa 1969 – 1980
Published February 16, 2016 '70s Decor/Design/Fashion , Hotels/Motels , Postcards 2 Comments
Amenities include “bath and shower combination,” “direct dial phones,” “custom designed furnishings,” “ceramic tiled baths,” “meeting rooms,” and “shuffleboard.”
2 Warps to Neptune 