Surveying the Gen X landscape and the origins of geek
Another shot starring the Death Star and the Daredevil Sports Van, not to mention all the major Battlestar Galactica vehicles, via Darrick Bachman. I also see a Tie Fighter, a die-cast X-Wing Fighter package, a Spider-Man Mobile Crime Lab (below, via Jon Knutson), and a Nylint Trail Blazer (below, via eBay).
The kid fondling the Death Star, as his brothers look on a little enviously, is Stephen Fry. That’s Kenner’s Stretch Octopus in the pink and orange box, and you can also see the Adventure People Daredevil Sports Van, first released in 1978. Fisher-Price’s Adventure People may be the greatest action figure line of all time. There, I said it.
The store is a K-Mart in Billings, Montana, and I’m only going to name one of the toys I see, other than the gorgeous, underrated Crystar figures the kid is holding: there are Dragonriders of the Styx figures hanging on the rack in front of him. You guys name the rest.
‘Tis the season. Visit posts of Christmas past here.
(Photo via the Billings Gazette)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mg3U3rjoGW4
The dewback was in one shot of the original movie? Kenner missed nothing. That’s Ricky Schroder in the commercial, right after he starred in The Champ (1979), his film debut, and right before he starred with William Holden in The Earthling (July, 1980).
Says the poster, via the Rebelscum Forums:
Homemade costumes, put together by my mom. I’m the relatively tall jawa, my lil brother was the relatively short stormtrooper. The stormtrooper costume was basically made up of a plastic mixing bowl (top of helmet) and white garbage bags.
There’s a Chewbacca costume made out of garbage bags here.
A group of University of Washington college students made their own Star Wars costumes for a Halloween party in 1977 and staged a skit at the party. Andrew Siguenza was R2-D2, and the highlight of your day is his Flickr album of the party and costume prep.
Every time I think I’m too tired to go on with the blog, I find something like this.
That’s a box of raisins in Skeletor’s bag. God, I hated getting raisins for Halloween. You can see the He-Man costume (Ben Cooper) better below. That’s Tenderheart Bear next to the big guy.
(Images via thepeachmartini and Shane Woodall)
Via King Max/Flickr. The second greatest Star Wars costume I’ve ever seen, next to this one.
It’s October, people. We’re just getting started. If you’re new-ish, take a stroll through my Halloween archive.
Above: The lobby of an unnamed theater, probably the Avco Westwood. That helmet is part of the “Astro Explorer Play Set” seen here (worn by the kid in the catalog).
Below: Moviegoers line up at the Alabama Theatre in Houston, Texas, on May 21, 1980. Many engagements of the first run of Empire were shown in 70mm, as opposed to the more standard 35mm. There were minor changes in the two versions.
(Images via Pinterest and The Houston Chronicle)
Just a kid among kids. The venue is the 1977 Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Con, which ran from April 8 to April 10 at the LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) Marriott. The Star Wars premiere was less than two months away. More shots from the con are at lfics’ Flickr.
2 Warps to Neptune 