Archive Page 125

The Life and Death of the Video Arcade

Published November 20, 2012 Moral Panic , Video Arcades , Video Games Leave a Comment

Big Daddy’s Amusement Center, Pinellas Park, Florida, 1983. (Weaver Tripp/St. Petersburg Times)

Once upon a time, Big Daddy’s “set no particular hours” and was often found open at 3:00am, thank you very much.

But in 1983 the wicked City Council, “upset about youngsters who loitered and caused trouble near the game arcade,” cast a surly spell over all the neighborhood kids in the form of an 11:00pm curfew.

Then, in 1986, a judge threw out 21 counts of curfew violation because prosecutors could not prove owner Bruce Houghton was in “direct control of the premises” when the citations were issued. Houghton, exiting the courthouse with a smirk, declared the curfew unconstitutional and vowed to continue breaking it.

Skip to 1998. Upon spying what was once Big Daddy’s, entrepreneur Ken Schwartz exclaimed, “The building is really a dump.” But he knew the area was ripe for redevelopment, so he bought the dump and “gutted Big Daddy’s to create the futuristically styled headquarters for his food service consulting company.”

Skip to 2006. What was once “a rather tacky strip that sported rundown mobile home parks, used-car dealerships and pawnshops with stuffed, costumed gorillas out front”—not to mention video arcades driven to extinction—is now “a throughway featuring national chains and upgraded commercial properties with high-end condominiums tucked behind.”

The End

(Image via Coots Imagery)

Mattel’s ‘Missile Toy’ Recall, 1979

Published November 19, 2012 Battlestar Galactica 8 Comments

March 17, 1979. (Lyn Atwels/The Denver Post)

The photo caption reads:

Tom Rosinski holds in his left hand the toy part that went down his windpipe. Surgeons removed the Battlestar Galactica space toy from his lung during a 30-minute operation.

The toy part is a missile from the Colonial Stellar Probe. The missiles were spring-loaded into the nose of the ship and released by pressing that little white button on top of the nose.

A few days after Christmas, 1978, another boy, 4-year-old Robert Jeffrey Warren, died from complications after choking on a missile from the Cylon Raider. I found a pretty comprehensive story about the incident and the resulting fallout in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune (story begins mid-page).

Mattel initiated a recall of the missiles shortly after Warren’s death and offered a free Hot Wheels car to everyone who returned them. Read about the recall and Mattel’s mail-in offer at the Palm Beach Post.

In March of 1979, Jeffrey’s parents sued Mattel. An excerpt from what appears to be a different legal suit is below, courtesy of the Star Wars Collectors Archive.

It’s certainly true that the firing mechanism should not have been so close to the loading area, but I don’t understand how the toy being “shaped… very similar to a penis… almost beckons small children to put the toy in their mouth.” Were penises that readily available when we were kids, just dangling from crotches like bananas on a tree? And, if so, were we encouraged to put them in our mouths?

The bottom line: Even though I had many hours of fun shooting these missiles around, they were a terrible idea and should never have been allowed.

(First image source: Big Ole Photos)

Micronauts: Stratastation (Mego, 1976)

Published November 19, 2012 Mego , Micronauts Leave a Comment

Yes, I’m going to collect and post large scans (click to enlarge) of as many Micronauts toy boxes as I can find. It’ll be like browsing a toy aisle in the late ’70s. You’ll love it.

For a comprehensive description of the 1976 Stratastation play set, check out the excellent entry at Innerspace Online.

1977 J.C. Penney Christmas Catalog: Space: 1999, Micronauts, and Shogun Warriors

Published November 16, 2012 Catalogs , Micronauts , Shogun Warriors , Space: 1999 1 Comment

The Eagle 1 has landed yet again. It was the space toy to have pre-Star Wars, clearly, and it’s still one of the coolest spaceships ever. I suspect many of the Eagle kids didn’t even watch Space: 1999, a frigid British series that moved about as fast as an ice shelf, but we dug anything that happened in space, and if we had some imagery and a prop or two, well, that was all we needed to riff on—for days, months, years.

The more I see the Micronauts line, the more I realize how influential and exceptional it was. I’ve talked before about the lack of a back story making them more exotic and attractive. In fact, they’re downright strange, as translucent beings from “the endless frontier” should be. The catalog describes them as “fanciful galactic travelers… fully jointed so they can cope with situations in any dimension.” I love it.

I had the Astro Station. These missiles, and Micronauts missiles in general, were the best (i.e. fastest, truest, heaviest) in the toy universe, and the launchers were detachable, so you could mix and match with other toys.

The Shogun Warriors never did much for me, but they were tall and their fists shot off. I guess that’s something.

(Catalog images via WishbookWeb)

D&D Erratum on Freaks and Geeks

Published November 16, 2012 D&D , D&D Art , David C. Sutherland III , Jeff Easley 1 Comment

I hate to nitpick at Freaks and Geeks, a brilliant, short-lived (why do the two always seem to go together?) show about the travails of teenagers in 1980, but the lads we see above would do no less. Here we see zen master Harris Trinsky holding a copy of the Dungeon Master’s Guide. The DMG first appeared in 1979, with cover art by David C. Sutherland III.

The version in Trinsky’s paws, however, with cover art by Jeff Easley, came out in 1983.

That’s 3 years after the scene takes place. Unless, of course, Harris traveled into the future and back again, which is well within his powers.

Later in the same episode, right before Harris tells Daniel he’d be a good DM, we see the first edition Monster Manual (1977). This cover is also by Sutherland. The Easley cover edition came out in 1983.

Marx Toys: Star Station Seven Play Set (1978)

Published November 14, 2012 Marx Toys/Playsets , Space Toys/Playsets 3 Comments

star station seven instructions

These moon rocks don’t stand a chance.

UPDATE (3/6/13): I’m adding an instruction sheet I just found. It’s dated 1978.

Only Nerds GOTO Computer Camp (1983/1984)

Published November 13, 2012 Computer Camp , Personal Computers Leave a Comment

Via debbykratky/Flickr. I do believe that’s my dream computer, the IBM PC XT, which came out in 1983.

Couchboat

Published November 13, 2012 '70s Decor/Design/Fashion Leave a Comment

This is the most beautiful piece of furniture I’ve ever seen. If it floated, I would put it in the ocean and live on it.

(Via Jeremy Jae’s gnarly Retro Vintage Architecture Set on Flickr)

Movie Theater Marquees

Published November 12, 2012 '80s Movies/TV , Movie Theaters/Marquees , Star Wars (Original Trilogy) Leave a Comment

The Joy Theater, New Orleans, LA, 1981. Via JoyTheater/Flickr.

I guess it was too much trouble to write out The Empire Strikes Back. They could have added Han at least.

I remember watching Nighthawks on VHS. It’s standard cop movie fare, if I recall, and Rutger Hauer’s first American film (his second one was Blade Runner).

D&D Cover Art: Dwellers of the Forbidden City (1981)

Published November 12, 2012 D&D , D&D Art , D&D Modules , Erol Otus , Jim Roslof Leave a Comment

Dwellers of the Forbidden City 1981

Dwellers of the Forbidden City 1981-2

Front cover by Erol Otus, another legend of early D&D. Otus did the definitive covers of the revised 1981 Basic and Expert Sets, seen here and here via Tome of Treasures. I’ll be posting more of his distinctive module covers as well.

The back cover is unsigned, but it has to be Jim Roslof. (Frustratingly, the front and back covers are often uncredited in the early modules. Only the art team is listed.) Compare the style with The Ghost Tower of Inverness.

The module is available at dndclassics.com. Grognardia reviews it here.

Pages

Archives

Categories

Donate Button

Join 1,118 other subscribers