(Images via Casa Gargantua/eBay and Esquire Comics)
Archive Page 113
Boy Reading Comic Book, 1944
Published April 5, 2013 Comic Books , Kids Reading Comics Leave a CommentRoger Ebert and Gene Siskel Defend Star Wars Against Uptight Douchebag (1983)
Published April 4, 2013 In Memoriam 2 CommentsRoger Ebert deeply appreciated and celebrated both high culture and pop culture, and he did so with great wit and honesty. I watched him on TV, and I’ve been reading his reviews (and only his reviews) for more than 20 years. His words and his unrehearsed demeanor are part of my life, and I’ll miss him.
Video Arcade Footage, 1981
Published April 4, 2013 '80s Decor/Design/Fashion , Video Arcades , Video Games 13 CommentsVery cool stuff via The Retroist via atarigames1/YouTube. Watch the kid put his quarter on the Defender machine (1:04), say something to the kid playing (i.e. “Are you any good?”), then take the quarter down again. Intimidation was a foundational ingredient of early arcade culture.
The game sights and sounds (especially Defender), the wall art close-ups, the braces, the Nikes, the bemused mom handing out quarters—it’s a complete, high quality time capsule. I found another video at the same channel that’s shorter but equally fascinating.
It’s a 7-11 in the same year, 1981. Those dudes are us.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Instant Rub-Down Picture Transfers (1981)
Published April 3, 2013 D&D , D&D Art , D&D Non-Gaming Merchandise , David C. Sutherland III , David Trampier , Presto Magix/Dry Transfers 4 Comments
Wicked. These appear to be Trampier’s and Sutherland’s illustrations from the original Monster Manual (1977). And they’ve been marked down to 25 cents each!
Images are via the brilliant Monster Brains. Go there to see all of the transfers and other killer stuff.
‘I Remain Now and Will Always Be… A Duckman’
Published April 2, 2013 '80s Decor/Design/Fashion , High School 1 Comment
Coral Gables High School, Florida, 1986. (Photo: Erica Berger/Miami Herald)
This stylish gentleman is asking a question of Vice President George Bush during the latter’s visit to the former’s high school. That night, filled with newfound confidence, he (the stylish gentleman, not the VP) surprised Molly Ringwald at the prom.
(Photo via the Boston Archive/eBay)
Marx Toys: Captain Blood and the Buccaneers Play Set
Published April 1, 2013 Marx Toys/Playsets 3 Comments
That alligator has a working jaw, mateys. And thar be a treasure chest as big as a pirate ship!
Toy Aisle Zen (1983): Atari
Published March 29, 2013 Atari , Toy Stores/Toy Aisles/Toy Departments Leave a Comment
Toys “R” Us, Miami, 1983. I don’t have any background, but the young lady is obviously the winner of a shopping spree, and she is damn well making the most of it. If you look on the right side of the top box, you’ll see that it’s an Atari 800 home computer system. I think the bottom box is an Atari 400. The look on her face tells all: this is the dream of every kid who has ever been in a toy store.
(Photo via the Seattle Washington Archive/eBay)
Northglenn Mall, Colorado, March, 1971. (Photo: Denver Post)
Partial caption:
Mall Offers Easy Access to Stores. Shoppers can walk right into stores at the air-conditioned Northglenn Mall.
As opposed to traveling through a wormhole?
Northglenn Mall, Colorado, March, 1971. (Photo: Denver Post)
Caption:
Pedestrians Also Get Break at Mall. A pedestrian walkway at the Northglenn Mall is separated from the huge parking lot. This gives customers a chance to walk by stores with ease and in quiet surroundings.
Parking lots very quickly assumed priority over pedestrians and “quiet surroundings,” as the suburbs and tract housing sprawled. Today’s aseptic strip malls are the result.
See if you can spot it.
The tasty overlay images are from our friend WEBmikey’s Flickr. (You might remember Mikey from this killer shot.) The tasty box images are from The Old Computer, with the exception of Masters of the Universe, which I got from Moby Games.
I had no idea that Intellivision developed the very first MOTU video game. It came out in 1983 and was released in the 2600 format as well. See a demo here.
Intellivision released three Tron games in 1982: Tron: Deadly Discs, Tron: Maze-a-Tron, and Tron: Solar Sailor. Only Deadly Discs was adapted for the 2600, and it’s the only one I’ve played.
My first installment on overlays/boxes is here.
2 Warps to Neptune 