Surveying the Gen X landscape and the origins of geek
A K.I.T.T. replica was at Universal Studios from 1984 to 1996. A Universal employee, somewhere off screen, would act as the car’s voice, greeting visitors, cattily responding to questions, and so on.
You may remember the Diff’rent Strokes two-parter “Hooray for Hollywood” (1984), where Arnold and Dudley sneak out of the Universal tour to track down David Hasselhoff, who’s shooting a Knight Rider episode at the studio. They get stuck in a car set for demolition, and The Hoff and K.I.T.T. have to save them.
(Images via therpf.com, efholtmann1/Flickr, Nathan King/Flickr)
Interesting piece on the revolutionary effects of Tron, and the inevitable movement of film to a digital format. Says Richard Taylor, co-supervisor of special effects:
Computers can’t replace the uniqueness of actors. If a motion picture does not connect to your heart, it doesn’t matter how it looks. You cannot save a film by making it look good…
I don’t want people to believe that computers are a threat to society. They’re a creative tool that will allow people to express themselves more clearly, more uniquely. They are only going to make our lives easier.
I guess it’s kind of like a disc. And it looks like it will emanate from your fingers in a web of ghostlike, video energy. String is for Users!
We called them ghetto blasters in 4th grade, which is probably when I got mine. We would all strut around blasting Devo’s Oh, No! It’s Devo. Because we were so urban.
Kid’s wearing a classic Izod design. And my God, the couch.
(Image via new2vulcan/eBay)
The gravitational singularity’s so bright, I gotta wear shades…
More good stuff from byyourcommand.net: Disney employees dressed up in The Black Hole sentry and humanoid costumes for the premiere gala at the Century Plaza Hotel, now the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel, in Los Angeles. See more photos at the link.
Special thanks to Stingray for the heads up.
There were two Six Packs. The second set had a red background and included Rebel Soldier, Stormtrooper (Hoth Battle Gear), Han Solo (Hoth Battle Gear), Darth Vader, C-3PO, and R2-D2.
Note the markdown in the first photo from $13.97 to $5.00. The last photo shows a different set with a markdown from $17.95 to $14.96 ($2.50/figure, about the average when sold separately). The copyright date on the box is 1981, and the ESB figures first appeared in 1980, so the only thing I can think of to justify the $5.00 price is that everyone already had the individual figures by 1981.
DAS, still around today, had many licenses at the time, including the Smurfs. The D&D licensing boom of ’82-’83 was aimed at the younger kids who didn’t really understand role-playing yet, but who knew the brand from the older kids, from placement, and, in 1983, from the cartoon and action figures.
The clay figures here were not meant as a game supplement, in other words, like the hundreds of metal miniatures found in every hobby shop. The back of the box makes it very clear: “These kits depicting Advanced Dungeons & Dragons characters are a fun, colorful way to visualize the popular role-playing games’ [sic] adventures.”
And again: “The timeless adventures of powerful wizards, firebreathing dragons and fairy princesses are recreated in these clay modelling kits…”
Not a supplement, but a replacement.
DAS put out at least one more AD&D modelling clay kit, with a pink box, featuring “Goblins and Dragons.”
(Images via Vintage Odds N Ends/eBay)
2 Warps to Neptune 