Brilliant marketing, but not a reflection of reality. Kay Bee was the go-to mall toy store, yes, but it was overpriced and rarely had the hot items in stock. And it was always a mess.
Archive Page 75
Kay Bee Toy Store Ads (1984 – 1987)
Published June 11, 2014 Ads , Toy Stores/Toy Aisles/Toy Departments 1 CommentKids at Party, Circa 1975
Published June 10, 2014 '70s Decor/Design/Fashion , Found Photos 2 Comments
The young lady’s pose pretty much sums up my perception of girls when I was a boy: effortlessly precocious, defiant, untouchable. Feminism seemed to be something they demanded by virtue of being alive, by candidly commanding a room or a conversation or the task at hand. It was an emanation, not a hollow phrase parroted about on Twitter.
The “shesmidas” on the cup is a watermark referring to the eBay store where I found the shot.
See another great found photo of the period here.
Kid Scores Dungeons & Dragons Computer Labyrinth Game for Birthday, Circa 1981
Published June 9, 2014 Birthdays/Birthday Parties , Board Games/Tabletop Games , D&D , D&D Computer Labyrinth Game (Mattel) , D&D Portraits , D&D Toys 5 Comments
Mom, can I go over to Danielle’s house?
See the game stacked up in a 1980 toy store here.
(Photo via Brutal Chaos)
Troubador Press: San Francisco Scenes (1972)
Published June 2, 2014 Coloring/Activity Books , Troubador Press Leave a Comment
1973 Troubador Press Catalog: ‘Presenting a Colorful World for Creative People!’
Published June 2, 2014 Catalogs , Troubador Press 2 Comments
Malcolm Whyte has very graciously sent me a number of Troubador catalogs that I’ll be scanning and posting. Here’s the first. You’ll spot Monster Gallery, the first in Troubador’s “fantasy trilogy,” first published in 1973. Paper Airplanes and The Dinosaur Coloring Book were always reliable sellers. I’ve yet to nab copies of either.
I do have the outstanding Zodiac Coloring Book, and I have some pages from San Francisco Scenes that I’ll put up next. After that, I’m on break for a week.
LJN’s Dune Toys: Fremen Tarpel Gun (1984)
Published May 30, 2014 Dune (Movie) , LJN Toys , Toy Guns/Weapons 3 Comments
No, LJN. No. Possibly the most ill-conceived toy line ever, so of course I’ll be posting more later.
Dungeons & Dragons Sweatshirt and Sweatpants, Circa 1985
Published May 29, 2014 D&D , D&D Non-Gaming Merchandise , TSR 5 Comments
The Dungeons & Dragons animated series was released in Spain in 1985, and didn’t debut in France and the U.K. until 1987. Spain also released some rather strange PVC figures of all the major characters in the cartoon.
Has anyone else seen a D&D sweatsuit before?
Playing with Yourself: The Official Video Game Handbook (1982)
Published May 28, 2014 Books , Video Arcades , Video Games 3 Comments
Author Ira Alterman also wrote Games You Can Play With Your Pussy: And Lots of Other Stuff Cat Owners Should Know (1985). In case you were interested.
(Images via Design by Decade/eBay)
American Soldier Reading Comic Book, 1941
Published May 27, 2014 Big Kids Reading Comics , Comic Books 1 Comment
Pac-Man in the News, 1982
Published May 27, 2014 Arcade Cabinets/Coin-Ops , Video Arcades , Video Games Leave a CommentMost of the video, via Patrick Scott Patterson, is from a PM Magazine feature on the youngest kid competing in the “world’s largest Pac-Man tournament” at Milwaukee County Stadium, but there’s also some rare footage of workers assembling Pac-Man cabs at the Midway manufacturing plant. (It’s not actually the largest Pac-Man tournament; the “largest” refers to the size of the stadium screen on which onlookers watched the games.)
The kid qualifies for the tournament by beating his brother on the Atari 400/800 version of Pac-Man at the local computer/game shop. His dad makes an interesting point about early video games: not even the best players could beat them. You just saw how far you could get and how many points you could rack up. The save game feature, as I’ve said before, changed games and gamers forever.
2 Warps to Neptune 