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 happy kid is Bo Nash. Competition among toy lines, particularly lines geared to boys, was never fiercer than in the ’80s. Despite the shrinking middle class, parents continued to save up and shell out to make their kids happy. My mom would often put toys and other Christmas gifts on layaway in the middle of the year, or even earlier, so that they would be paid off by Christmas. M.A.S.K. is after my time, and clearly derivative of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, but Kenner didn’t disappoint: the toys and package design are excellent.
Nice loot, Kris Klinge. I dig those sofas, too.
P.S. The art on the Hyve box is incredible. I’m not sure who painted it, but I’ll look into it.
According to Vintage Richmond, the shot is from a Circuit City store circa 1981. I think the year is likely 1980, because I don’t see Asteroids, Missile Command, or Yar’s Revenge, all of which were released for the 2600 in 1981. I do see Space Invaders and Warlords, both released in 1980.
There are two 2600 consoles in the photo, as well as a Magnavox Odyssey² and an Intellivision. I keep thinking two things: first, who was the poor bastard who had to get those TVs onto that shelf? And second, those TVs look very precariously perched on that shelf.
Note that customers had to “limit video game play to 5 minutes only”. I’m sure the kids minded the warning.
Christmas shoppers in Sears waiting for a turn at the “arcade,” via the Billings Gazette. That was a big TV in ’77. See more demo units here and here. Watch a Tele-Games (Atari 2600 clone) commercial from the same year here.
Demo units were extremely important to the early console industry. Many of us were introduced to various games and systems while dad was shopping for tools. The real arcade was usually not too far away, but it wasn’t portable, and it didn’t allow for endless play.
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)
(Via Atari Mania)
John Keel’s The Mothman Prophecies (1975) popularized what several witnesses described as a man-sized, winged creature with glowing red eyes sighted in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, during 1966 and 1967. As far as I know, this is the only Mothman illustration Frazetta did, so I’m not sure what the “Exclusive Frazetta Inside!” refers to.
A 12-foot tall Mothman statue was unveiled in Point Pleasant in 2002, and appears to be based on Frazetta’s dramatic rendering more than actual eyewitness accounts.
High Times, as you might have guessed, is “the definitive resource for all things marijuana.”
2 Warps to Neptune 