Archive Page 81

Godzilla Fan Club Newsletters, 1977

Published April 2, 2014 DIY , Fan Clubs , Godzilla , Kid Art 13 Comments

Godzilla NL 1977-3

Godzilla NL 1977-1

Godzilla NL 1977-2

In Famous Monsters of Filmland #132 (March, 1977), an advertisement appeared for a Godzilla Fan Club. The ad was placed by a gentleman named Richard Campbell.

Nathan Fox, a young Godzilla nut who saw the ad and immediately subscribed, saved all five newsletters (called “fan letters”) produced by Campbell and his team. The detail I left out is that Campbell was 17 or 18 at the time he placed the ad and produced, by hand, the fan letters, all of which have been scanned by Fox in various formats. Read the amazing story and see the letters at Fox’s site.

Could this have been the first American Godzilla fan club? It’s unlikely, but if there had been others in plain sight, I doubt Campbell would have placed his ad (you can see that on Fox’s site as well).

As I’ve said many times before, we were a generation of fans when being a fan meant more than compulsively advertising the fact to the world. It meant building working monuments and monographs to our sources of inspiration.

UPDATE: Japanese film and pop culture scholar August Ragone (Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters: Defending the Earth with Ultraman, Godzilla, and Friends in the Golden Age of Japanese Science Fiction Film) weighs in on Godzilla fan clubs in the U.S.:

Yep, I had one. The “Godzilla Fan Club” was promoted on both “Creature Features” and “Captain Cosmic” on KTVU-2, since I was serving as their teenaged “Godzilla/Japanese Film Expert.” The beloved host, Bob Wilkins, set it up for me and we ran with it…

The first kit was printed in blue and included a fan club member’s certificate (with artwork by Dennis Lancaster), a newsletter with a cut-out membership card, and a photo of Godzilla. The second wave included a new certificate (with all new artwork by Lancaster), a new newsletter and new cut-out membership card, and a new photo of Godzilla…

And I do recall seeing another “Godzilla Fan Club” in an earlier issue of “Famous Monsters” — possibly in the early-to-mid 1970s (perhaps between 1974-1976). There may also have been one or two advertised in the Want Ad section of “The Monster Times.”

Thanks again, August!

 

TV Guide Ads for `Godzilla Week’ (1978 – 1980)

Published April 1, 2014 Godzilla , Kaiju , TV Guide 7 Comments

Godzilla 2-24 3-2 1979

Godzilla 1978-1979

Godzilla 1978-1979-2

The first ad shows the schedule for February 24th through March 2nd, 1979. The second two ran sometime between 1978 and 1980. Notice the emphasis on “free movie,” indicating the rise of subscription cable at the time. Also, that’s Gamera in the promo for Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster (Godzilla vs. Hedorah, 1971), not the Smog Monster.

KPLR is a St. Louis station. XETV is in San Diego.

(Images via Garage Sale Finds and Xenorama)

TV Guide Ads for ABC’s `Monster Week’ (1974): ‘Bet He Can’t Eat Just One’

Published April 1, 2014 Godzilla , Kaiju , TV Guide 2 Comments

MW 1974-1

MW 1974-2

MW 1974-3

MW 1974-4

MW 1974-5

The promos are for the week of January 5th through January 11th, 1974. (Thank you ever so much, My Monster Memories.) ABC’s The 4:30 Movie (the 3:30 movie in Los Angeles) was hugely influential, along with horror showcases like Chiller Thriller and Creature Double Feature, in the horror and monster renaissance of the 1970s, and a major reason American kids became obsessed with Godzilla (and kaiju) in particular.

Return of the Giant Monsters is the American release of Gamera vs. Gaos (1967); Godzilla vs. the Thing is Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964); Monster from the Prehistoric Planet is Gappa, The Colossal Beast (1967); Frankenstein Conquers the World is Frankenstein vs. Baragon (1965); and War of the Monsters is Gamera vs. Barugon (1966). All of the films were released in the U.S. by American International Pictures.

The 4:30 Movie featured several recurring themes over the course of its long run (1968 – 1981), including Superhero Week and Planet of the Apes Week. You can see a whole bunch of the promos, and read more about the history of the show, at DVD Drive-In.

 * * *

I’m hosting my very own monster week here, focusing on Godzilla and friends, and it’s leading up to something really cool on Thursday.

HG Toys: Godzilla Battles the Tricephalon Monster Play Set (1979)

Published March 31, 2014 Earl Norem , Fantasy Toys/Playsets , Godzilla , HG Toys , Jigsaw Puzzles 6 Comments

HG Godzilla 1979-3

HG Godzilla 1979-2

HG Godzilla 1979

As far as I know, this is the only traditional playset featuring Godzilla produced by an American toy company in the ’70s and ’80s, and it’s interesting for a number of reasons (other than the one just stated).

First, it marks the only appearance of Tricephalon, an obvious attempt to mimic King Ghidorah without paying for the license. The box art depicts a mecha-hydra, anticipating both Mecha-King Ghidorah from Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991) and Hyper Mecha-King Ghidorah from a 1997 Japanese TV series called Godzilla Island. (There was also a three-headed robotic dragon in the NES game Magmax, first released in 1986)

Second, the destroyer in the set is “missile-firing” (see warning on box) at a time when toys firing projectiles were being hastily recalled.

Third, the box artist is likely Earl Norem, who painted the cover for HG’s Buck Rogers Galactic Play Set from the same year. It looks very much like Norem’s color scheme and style. An expanded version of the playset art was used for a large Godzilla jigsaw puzzle, also issued by HG, also from 1979. The detailed human faces on the lower panel further convince me that Norem is the artist.

HG Godzilla Puzzle 1979

Check out The Sphinx (who makes the same point about Tricephalon anticipating Mecha-King Ghidorah) for close-ups of the Godzilla and Tricephalon molds, and for a listing of the set’s full contents.

(Images via Materialist Zen and The Sphinx)

 

Star Trek Action Toy Book (1976)

Published March 28, 2014 Coloring/Activity Books , Star Trek 2 Comments

ST Book 1976-4

ST Book 1976-3

ST Book 1976-2

ST Book 1976

Cardboard Vulcan ears, anyone? Are we sure those those aren’t Vulcan sexual organs? It is a book of action toys.

Various parts of the models moved. From Memory Alpha:

  • Ray gun, with a trigger that can be pushed
  • Klingon cruiser, with a swiveling forward section
  • Tricorder, with a top that swivels open and closed
  • Phaser, with a trigger that opens the front of the phaser into position
  • Communicator, flips open
  • USS Enterprise, with sensor array that moves forward and back
  • Universal translator, with an on/off switch
  • Vulcan ears

There’s also a Kirk with a “spring” arm. (Insert William Shatner overacting to the max joke/scene here.)

ST 1976-2

 

Space Raiders Notebooks, 1978/1979

Published March 27, 2014 Diener Erasers , School Supplies 8 Comments

Space Raiders 1978-3

Space Raiders 1978

Space Raiders 1978-2

You remember Diener’s popular Space Raiders and Space Creatures erasers. What we’ve got here are a couple of notebooks in a series of 12 based on the Raiders designs. There were only eight Raiders, so I’m not sure what the other four notebooks covered. I can’t wait to find out.

What’s interesting about the notebooks is that (1) they provide a backstory for each Raider, (2) they tell us that “many models” of the erasers were sold individually at the time, and (3) the company that produced them bought the license from Diener the same year Diener unveiled their sci-fi line at the 1978 toy fair.

Thanks to James Agee for the reminder about these beauties. Please let me know if you remember having any, or if you see photos of others.

(Images via Etsy; both items sold)

Pool Hall with Pong Cabinet, 1973

Published March 26, 2014 Atari , Pinball , Sci-Fi/Space Art , Video Arcades 9 Comments

Pool Pong 1973

SS Billiards in Hopkins, Minnesota. The gentleman on the right is playing Gottlieb’s 2001, released in 1971. Like Atari’s Middle Earth, the title cashes in on a popular cultural event, but the game itself slyly avoids any direct allusion to that event—and any resulting copyright infringement.

The 2001 artist is prolific Gordon Morison, who also worked on the Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1978) machine, Orbit (1971), and The Incredible Hulk (1979), among many others.

UPDATE: I’m pretty sure the sign on the wall reads: “Any games on machines at closing time will be forfeited”.

2001 BG 1971

2001 PF 1971-3

2001 PF 1971-2

(Original photo via pinrepair.com; 2001 photos via pinrepair.com and The Internet Pinball Database)

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Pinball Game (Larami, 1983): ‘Dragon Duel’

Published March 26, 2014 D&D , TSR 1 Comment

DD 1983

DD 1983-2

DD 1983-3

I realize that the D&D name is not on the product, but it’s a TSR license and the art is from Larry Elmore’s cover for Pillars of Pentegarn (1982). A partial license would have cost less than a full, hence Dragon Duel. Made in Hong Kong. A product of your imagination.

UPDATE (5/28/14): I stand corrected. The AD&D name is on the box, per the pictures below:

AD&D Pinball

AD&D Pinball-2

AD&D Pinball-3

(Images via Gene and Troy’s Toys/eBay)

Heavy Metal Kids on Skateboards, Circa 1986

Published March 25, 2014 '80s Decor/Design/Fashion , '80s Music , Hard Rock/Heavy Metal , Skateboarding 3 Comments

Kids Skateboards 1986

The Iron Maiden shirt on the left shows the cover from “Stranger in a Strange Land,” a single from Somewhere in Time (September, 1986). See both covers here. The artist is Derek Riggs, whose killer art nudged a lot of kids toward metal.

Another good portrait of a blossoming subculture, from the hair styles to the dark clothes—even the pose on the right. Tucking the pants into the tongue of the basketball shoes wasn’t just a metal thing, if I recall. Speaking of which, I can’t identify those shoes, and it’s bothering me. They’re not Jordan’s, they don’t look like Pony’s, and this kid wouldn’t have been wearing Reebok. Any other ideas?

The skateboards are generic deals. The one on the right might even be partially homemade.

(Photo via The Kat’s Meow Antiques)

The Black Hole Japanese Theater Program (1979)

Published March 24, 2014 Black Hole, The , Sci-Fi/Space Art 4 Comments
BH Max 1979

BH Vincent 1979

BH Cygnus 1979

Gorgeous cutaway views courtesy of ByYourCommand.net. Zoom in to inspect the incredible detail. Our good friend Mikey Walters, who’s been studying Japanese for years, says that “Most of the descriptions are in katakana, a special Japanese alphabet used for `loan words,’ which means they are English in this case.” Here are some random translations:

Maximilian: Image Processor, Drill, Sub-computer, Memory, Main Computer, Rocket Engine (that’s interesting), Rocket Blaster, Block Condenser, Compressor, Motor, Computer Interface, Main Stabilizer, Sub-stabilizer, Balance Sensor

Vincent: Magnetic Head Protector, Computer, Image Processor, Drill Arm, System Indicator, Laser Gun, Graphic Display, Main Manipulator Computer Interface, Battery, Sensor

Cygnus: Transporter Terminal, Transporter Tube, Docking Port, Laser Dome, Main Engine, Charging Room, Shuttle Ship, Shuttle Ship Docking Port, Main Computer Tower, Control Center

This isn’t the whole program, obviously, but it’s the most unique section by far.

Thanks again, Mikey!

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