2 Warps to Neptune

Archive Page 33

Magic Moon Rocks: An Outer Space Garden (Hasbro, 1959)

Published June 18, 2015 Space Toys/Playsets 3 Comments

Star Wars: Escape from Death Star Game Cards (Kenner, 1977)

I’ve included all of the original illustrations, though obviously not all the cards. Once again you can thank Mikey Walters for the great scans.

The artist is uncredited, but some of the illustrations look like Howard Chaykin’s work. Chaykin penciled the first ten issues of the Marvel comic adaptation and also did some very early character concept sketches, as seen here.

The game tokens are below, via Board Game Geek.

Chuck E. Cheese’s Birthday Party, 1983

Published June 17, 2015 '80s Decor/Design/Fashion , Birthdays/Birthday Parties , Chuck E. Cheese's , Family Entertainment Centers 3 Comments

The birthday boy is Marshall Matlock. Wish I could see what’s in those presents.

Was there a room underneath the stage that had strobe lights you could turn off and on, or am I dreaming that?

TV Guide Promo for Town Hall (1982): ‘Johnny Has a 25¢ Habit’

Published June 17, 2015 Moral Panic , TV Guide , Video Games Leave a Comment

KATU is a Portland, Oregon station, and Town Hall was a public affairs show that aired between 1980 to 1993.

The irony is that the promo appeared in the Fall 1982 edition of TV Guide, which featured a cover story on the best video games of 1982.

Arcade Zen, 1983: Dragon’s Lair

Published June 16, 2015 Video Arcades , Video Games 3 Comments

Press photo from September 13, 1983. Caption reads:

Morro Bay High School Student William Krause at the controls of Dragon’s Lair game in the Morro Bay Arcade. Krause is the current champion, and has his name posted on the machine.

Dragon’s Lair always, always had a crowd (you can see a couple of quarters on the marquee in the photo). One, it was super hard and turns were short—I was lucky if I got past the first fire ropes. Two, the Don Bluth animation, surely influenced by Dungeons & Dragons, is a sight to behold. It still ranks as some of the finest ever done. The clunky game play, in retrospect, is actually a huge drag on the overall aesthetic. You can watch the whole thing—less than 13 minutes!—here. My favorite parts are the rapids and the giant marbles.

(Image via San Luis Obispo Tribune)

Only Nerds GOTO Computer Camp (1983)

Published June 16, 2015 '80s Decor/Design/Fashion , Computer Camp , Personal Computers Leave a Comment

The kid is Stewart Butterfield. From what I’ve read, “camp” was a room in the back of select stores. The younger kids (8 to 11) learned Logo, and the older kids (12 to 15) learned BASIC.

RadioShack filed for bankruptcy in February of this year.

James Bond’s Moonraker to Color, Cut Out and Fly (Price/Stern/Sloane, 1979)

Published June 15, 2015 Coloring/Activity Books , James Bond , Moonraker , Troubador Press 1 Comment

A rare piece of US-made Moonraker merchandise that I want to get a better look at. The “color, cut out and fly” design was lifted from Malcolm Whyte’s Troubador Press, whose Paper Airplanes to Color, Fold & Fly by Marc Arceneaux was published in 1974. Space-themed titles followed in the wake of Star Wars.

I think these bad photos came from a long finished auction, but can’t quite remember.

Moonraker Space Gun (Lone Star, 1979)

Published June 15, 2015 James Bond , Moonraker , Toy Guns/Weapons 3 Comments

Moonraker, though considerably less hyped than The Black Hole and Star Trek: The Motion Picture, actually did better at the box office. I saw all three in ’79, and also remember seeing The Black Stallion (a gorgeous, unforgettable movie I didn’t fully appreciate as a kid: watch it again). I was dying to see Alien, especially after repeated exposure to one of the greatest trailers ever made, but that wouldn’t happen for a few more years.

Lone Star, a strange name for a UK company, specialized in die cast toys, like Corgi, another UK company that released some memorable Moonraker toys. Lone Star also made the neat “Golden Gun” seen below in 1975. The man who played the man with the golden gun was, of course, Christopher Lee, whose movies meant so much to me then and now that I haven’t been able to put anything into words yet.