I was such a trading card junkie as a kid and spent a good share of my allowance on Raiders cards. Here's my top ten favorite cards from the 1981 series.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
TOPPS RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK TRADING CARDS
SOME COOL INDY LINKS
The Raider.net - This is probably the best Indy related website.
Indiana Jones.com - The official site.
Prop Replicas by Indiana Magnoli - This guy has made some cool looking replica props. I dig the old faux snapshots.
Melting Toht by Jeff Victor - I love this painting of a melting Toht. (Thanks Steve for letting me know about this one)
SNL skit - Speaking of melting Toht, check out the SNL skit!
Mad's Suggested Titles for new Indy movies - I would see some of these!
Giant Indy Lego Boulder YouTube video - This is funny.
Indiana and the Song of Theme - Indy dude puts words to the Indy theme.
agent5,s Flicker Raiders set - He has some cool Raiders photos.
1981 KC Star Raiders Theater Ad
1984 KC Star Temple of Doom Theater Ad
Movieland Wax Museum - It's a wax Indy!
Friday, May 23, 2008
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK INDEPENDENCE CENTER CINEMA MARQUEE
Mike (Aparofan) Middleton sent me this photo from the 1982 Raytown Year Book of the Independence Center Cinema in the Kansas City area of Missouri. This was the theater Mike first saw Raiders.
Thanks Mike!
KENNER'S RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK FIGURES - MAP ROOM INDY & BELLOQ CEREMONIAL ROBES
Sorry, but I'm missing the Monkey Man figure. If I ever find one on the cheap, I'll be sure to post a photo of him.
For fun here's an old commercial for the Kenner action figures from 1982. Originally uploaded by Raiderstoys.
KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
SPOILER ALERT - DON'T READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE
A few days ago I mentioned that Raiders is a perfect film and now that I’ve seen Crystal Skull I can say that this one is far from perfect. After saying that, I still enjoyed the film and had a lot of fun, even though I’m getting too old for midnight showings.
I can say this is my least favorite of the four movies. I’m not able to put my finger on one specific reason why this one didn’t work as well as the last movies. My guess, is that the movie had way too many cooks in the kitchen. Before filming ever started this movie had a revolving door of writers coming and going. After filming started, I can only imagine how many ideas were being thrown at Spielberg from Lucas, Marshall and Ford. Also, this movie had too many characters on the screen at the same time. Were they worried that Ford wasn’t able to hold a scene together by himself? It’s hard to care for a character when they’re all bunched up together.
Ok I’m trying not to be nitpicky, but it’s kind of hard not too. So here’s my nitpicks - Indy blabbed way too much. Marion’s only purpose was to tell Indy about Mutt and to get hitched (I felt like it was the last episode of Happy Days). Just say no to forced humor. The fridge, waterfalls (sing the theme from Land of the Lost next time you see it), Tarzan and of course Indy’s encounter of the third kind. I think Indy is best suited with artifacts based in legend and historical facts. What’s wrong with the real crystal skulls like the Mitchell-Hedges one? (Of course the Phantom found some back in 1996)
After all that said, I still enjoyed it! I was with the first lady and friends watching one of my favorite characters from my youth back on the big screen. There were many scenes that I did like. Ants are cool! For the most part I liked it and I look forward to seeing it again. I would really like to see it at a drive-in, as this movie would be fun at the drive-in.
I know there’s talk about Indy 5 with Indy taking a back seat to Mutt. Instead, how about another adventure? One last adventure. One that only focuses on Indy by himself in some far away jungle fighting the bad guys and looking for fortune and glory!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
PHOTOGRAPHIC PROOF - INDIANA JONES EXISTED AFTER ALL
I about flipped at the auction where I found this vintage snapshot. Click on and look closely at the photo!
Doesn’t that guy look like Indiana Jones? You bet he does! He’s wearing the trademarked fedora, the leather jacket and even his pants look like the ones worn by Indy. The kicker is the year 1938 scribbled on the back of the photo.
- UPDATE - A savvy eagle-eyed reader just emailed that she noticed the face of Indy on the back side of the snapshot. She’s right! If you look at the pattern made by black album paper stuck on the back, it resembles Indy. You can see his profile - his hat, nose, chin and maybe some sun glasses. Weird! - UPDATE -
This is not a photoshoped photo, nor did I write the date on the back. It’s exactly how I found it mixed in with hundreds of old snapshots from many different families from all over. We do know that the photo was taken in Colorado on the Arkansas River thanks to the inscriptions on the backs of some of these photos. The Indy photo was with this group of photos and they also have the year 1938 written on them.
I wonder what Indy was searching for in Colorado? In the photo we can see that he spots something with his binoculars. Was Indy on the trail of the Legend of La Caverna del Oro the Cave of Gold? Maybe he was looking for Dead Man’s Cave or was he in search of the Twelve Chests of Gold?
THE LAST CRUSADE
I was about to turn nineteen when Last Crusade came out nineteen years ago in the summer of 1989. It had been five years in between Indy movies and this was the first movie when I experienced nostalgia. I thought nostalgia was something for older people. Maybe it was because I knew this was the last Indiana Jones movie (at least we thought), more than likely it was the time when the movie experience changed for me.
Before, I watched movies with kid eyes soaking up every scene and enjoying every frame. For me it was the experience of being transported into another place. It didn’t matter if it was a well made gem of a film or low-budget piece of junk movie, I just loved all of ‘em. Mark it down as childhood innocense. During that summer of ‘89, I found myself less entertained and more critical watching movies. I started playing Monday night quarterback or in this case director, thinking of different and better ways the film should be. I couldn’t help myself, it just happened and it happened with Last Crusade.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved this movie then and still do. The Young Indy stuff with River Phoenix was amazing and for the most part I liked Sean Connery as Indiana’s father. The stuff that bugged me then and still does today are the scenes with Marcus and Sallah. It was great seeing them again, but not as comic relief. Also, that Zeppelin scene was not good, the effects were terrible. (At least ILM would redeem themselves with the Zep in The Rocketeer).
I did love the cliche riding off into the sunset scene. It was a great way to end the series and for me it really felt like it represented the true end of my childhood.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
GOING TO SEE IT TONIGHT
We got our tickets for a midnight showing for this evening. It should be fun! Don't worry I won't give anything away in tomorrow's posts.
UPDATE - UPDATE - I saw the movie, but I'll wait until Friday to talk about it. My only advice is to watch this latest Indy without a critical mind. Just go and have fun at your local movie theater or better yet a drive-in movie theater!
RAIDERS OF THE LOST NERD
Raiders of the Lost Nerd from Todd Franklin on Vimeo.
My Junior High had some type of costume day. I don’t remember, but I don’t think it was for Halloween. I do remember that I wanted to go as Indiana Jones or a zombie. I should’ve gone as a zombie instead.
As always with anything school related I waited until the last minute to put my costume together. I just assumed that making myself look like Indy would be easy. After all, I had my trusty bullwhip that I bought at Six Flags right after Raiders came out. I practiced with this bullwhip all the time, until it stung me right underneath my eye. I almost whipped my eye out of its socket!
Anyway, I knew my dad had an old fedora hat and I had some rugged old boots. No sweat, this costume would be easy to put together, or at least that’s what I thought.
My heart sank when dad dug out his fedora that had been buried in the closet for years. I had forgotten that dad stretched and beat the fedora into a classic hillbilly hat a few years back. (We do live in the Ozarks) This would’ve been perfect if I’d gone as Jed Clampett.
My grandma worked feverishly trying reshape the hat. The next thing was that I didn’t have any Indy type of pants. I suggested roughing up my church going tan slacks, but mom didn’t go for that. Parachute pants wouldn’t work. So, I went with what I wore every day in school, Levi jeans. Another problem was that I was surprised that my only pair of boots I had out grown. How did that happen as I wore them the just the year before? Again I just went with my every day bright white Nikes. (Boy, the Nazis and Thuggees would’ve spotted me a mile away!) At least dad found a cool old hunting bag that sort of looked like Indiana’s artifact bag.
The next morning after drawing on my facial scruff and putting on my gear I felt pretty good. All the kids on the bus thought I looked kind of like my hero and even the bus driver gave me props as he whistled the Indy theme. When I got to school and roamed the halls with my pals, I was felt kind of on top of things, just like I was the real Indy ready for adventure.
Then after first period my buddy Jason told me there’s another Indy at school and that he was wearing a leather jacket, had a better looking hat and to top it off - he had a gun. Oh man, I felt like the girl at the prom, who shows up wearing the same thing that the prom queen has on. Ug, this was bad. I ran into the kid and we both stared each other up and down and both said nice costume and walked on. We both knew he had the better costume. (Heck, he even made the year book) I should’ve gone as a zombie! 
Finally the day was over and I survived as a poor man’s Indiana Jones amongst kids dressed as Ghostbusters, Magnums, Buckwheats, both Blues and McKensie Brothers and one other Indy.
All day everyone bugged me to untie my bullwhip off of my belt. I kept it on so no one would hurt it or even worse have it taken away. Naturally on the bus ride home, a friend grabbed the end of it and pulled off the handle. My bullwhip was ruined! Thanks a lot Marcia!!! (In the video you can see me picking up the handle after it falls on the ground)
As I get off the bus there’s my own mom wanting to document my misery from a tough and grueling adventure in Junior High. As embarrassing as this video is, a big thanks to my mom for filming it!! So thanks mom for documenting an awkward moment in my teenage life!
THE OFFICIAL INDIANA JONES HAT
I wanted the hat like the “MAN WITH THE HAT.” I was kind of like Ralphie from A Christmas Story, but instead of an official Red Ryder carbine-action 200 Shot range model BB gun. I wanted the official Indiana Jones Stetson 100% wool fedora hat. It was better than a BB gun since I wouldn’t shoot my eye out, like I almost did with my bullwhip. (See the above Raiders of the Lost Nerd post)
Stetson put out the hat sometime after Temple of Doom came out in 1984 and I think I finally got mine sometime in 1985. In my area they were hard to find. Stetson made a bunch of other fedora hats with the Indiana Jones label that were different colors and styles. They even made a Panama Jack style. I don’t think Indiana would be caught dead in a Panama Jack hat!
The hat came with a nifty brass logo pin, which resembles an old radio premium that a kid in the 1930's might’ve sent away some cereal boxtops for. 
Guess I wasn’t much of an adventurer as I didn’t wear my Indy hat that much and kept it displayed on my bookshelf most of the time.
PREVIEWS VIDEO MAG W/ JACK DAVIS INDY COVER
This video store freebee mag is from 1986 during the release of the Temple Doom on video. Dig that Jack Davis cover!!
TEMPLE OF DOOM
Temple of Doom has always had its share of criticism, and for the most part I’ve always disagreed. No, it’s definitely not up there with Raiders, but it does stand alone as a roller coaster of a movie that grabs you and doesn’t let go until the credits roll.
When I first saw Temple back on opening day in 1984 I loved it and still do. The whole experience going to see it was exciting. I remember my mom dropped me and a friend off at the Lake Twin and after a few games of Tempest in the lobby we took our seats with high anticipation for the return of Indiana Jones.
(I snapped this sad photo of the Lake Cinema/Lake Twin sometime in the 90's)
Temple of Doom really captured some of those schmaltzy movies from the 30's and 40's and mixed it with good old scary horror from the 1930's pulps. I remember back then thinking it was funny how adults were complaining that the movie was too violent for their kids. ( “What do you not understand about PG, better known as PARENTAL GUIDANCE?”) The worst thing to come out of Temple of Doom was the dreaded PG-13 rating.
Probably the most complaint I hear now, is that Kate Capshaw’s Willie character along with Jonathan Ke Quan’s Short Round character are too annoying and silly. I say no way! Willie represents the audience in this movie. Like Willie, we’re thrown into this crazy adventure not knowing where we’ll end up. True, most of her scenes are over the top, but it works as a nice contrast from all the darkness in the film. Besides, Willie is a Missouri girl and that’s another reason I like her. Now to defend Short Round. It’s kind of the same reason Robin exists with Batman, so kids will have someone to relate too. And if it wasn’t for Short Round in this movie we wouldn’t have had Jonathan Ke Quan playing Data in Goonies!
Of course, when Last Crusade came out I was like most people and agreed that this film was better than Temple of Doom. In recent years watching both of these films again, I now think Temple is the better film and holds up much better than Crusade does.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK - A PERFECT FILM
There is only a handful of films that I consider perfect and Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of them. It’s rare to see a film that is working on all cylinders like Raiders does. From the beginning scene with the Paramount logo fading into a Peruvian mountain to the crated Ark becoming lost again inside a government warehouse. All 115 minutes are perfect. Story and screenplay - perfect. Casting and acting - perfect. Music and sound - perfect. Special effects - perfect. Directing and producing - perfect. I tell you this movie is perfect!
“Ok, Mr. Mayor, if it’s so perfect why didn’t it win best picture at the 1982 Academy Awards?” One big problem was that the film was way too successful at the box office and second it was up against a good crop of strong movies. Movies that appealed much more to the aging Academy voters of the time. Chariots of Fire won best picture that year, which was an upset since most thought On Golden Pond or Reds would win. Even though it was a good film, I think the Chariots main theme was what pushed this film over for the win. (Back in Junior High P.E. our uniforms consisted of white shorts and a white shirt. Many times as we were running laps I would act stupid and hum the theme to Chariots. No wonder I was never on the Coach’s A-List)
Raiders still holds up after almost thirty years later and I bet that it always will. The advantage of a well-made period movie is that it will always be timeless. Have you ever watched Raiders in black & white? If you haven’t its almost a new movie or should I say an old movie as it gives it more of that old movie serial feel. Adjust your color setting on the TV and zowie, it’s monochrome magic!
The herald that I posted at the top of the page came from a school friend whose parents owned the local movie theater called the Lake Cinema (Later the Lake Twin) here at the Lake of the Ozarks. When the Lake Twin finally got Raiders, this flimsy herald was stuck inside. You’ll notice that it says Coming Soon...To Your AAFES Theater at the bottom. So before it showed up at my local theater, the film print must’ve been played at a theater on a military base. AAFES stands for Army and Air Force Exchange Service.
This is a photo from a 1978 school yearbook of the Lake Twin and was the theater where I saw Raiders for the second time.
KENNER'S RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK FIGURES - MARION & TOHT
When I was a kid I didn’t think that the Marion figure existed as I never found one on the toy shelves. I finally found her many years later when I traded some Star Wars figures to a guy.
Since I don’t have a card for her here’s a scan out of the 1982 JC Penney Christmas catalog for the Raiders toys.
Too bad the Raiders figures didn’t go over like the Star Wars figures did. If they would have we might’ve had a melting face Toht! How great would that be? Anyway here’s Toht with a non-melted face.
You're probably noticing a green blob on the back over the map room playset. No that's not a rare card variation, that's left over Christmas wrapping paper still stuck there since 1982.
Monday, May 19, 2008
MY INTRO INTO THE ADVENTURES OF INDIANA JONES
At age ten I was a Hollywood insider, or at leat that's what I thought. I felt special being in the big-time know because of a simple brochure on Raiders of the Lost Ark. Sometime in May of ‘81 this cool brochure showed up in the mail to let me know about a new adventure movie. I was the only kid on the block who got this brochure. (I was also the only kid on the block who was a member of the Star Wars Fan Club and that's why I got the brochure) 
I had read small snippets of a new movie being made by my idols Lucas and Spielberg about finding Noah’s lost Ark. (I had no clue at the time what the Ark of the Covenant was) So, I was already excited that a team-up of these film titans was going to take place. It wasn’t until I saw this brochure that the WOW factor hit me like a ton of bricks and it was a big bummer that I had to wait until June.
It was a slow couple of weeks, but my chance finally showed up in the big metropolis of Columbia, Missouri at the Biscayne III Theatre. The Biscayne III was located in the Biscayne Shopping Mall and was originally part of the Jerry Lewis chain of theaters. (I must have a thing for seeing my my favorite movies in one of Jerry’s theaters)
Luck would have it that I was spending a couple of weeks with my grandfather and Lucile (step grandmother) who lived in Columbia. My grandfather wasn’t to keen about seeing movies, but Lucille was more than happy to entertain me and take me to a matinee showing of Raiders. Her speed of movie was more on the romantic side of things, so she bought a Raiders ticket for me and some romance movie ticket for herself. This didn’t bother me one bit as I was an old pro at seeing movies by myself. I saw Flash Gordon by myself just the year before.
After buying my popcorn and an orange soda I made my way down to the fifth or sixth row and planted myself, ready for an amazing adventure promised in the brochure. The brochure didn’t lie as this remains the second-best movie experience I’ve ever had. The movie was better than any amusement ride I had ever been on and after seeing Star Wars and Empire I was once again hooked on another Lucasfilm franchise. You know the famous movie tag-line “on the edge of your seat,” well this was completely true for myself and everyone else in that theater. I remember the lady next to me screamed during the part when the snake slithered out of the mummy’s mouth. I loved every minute of it!
Afterwards, I met up with Lucille in the lobby and I have no clue how her movie was, as I wouldn’t shut-up about seeing my movie. For sale at the concession stand was a nifty collector’s album all about the movie, which Lucille bought for me. Along with the brochure I still have my collector’s album always reminding me of the first time I was introduced to Indiana Jones and the fun that I had while visiting my grandfather and Lucille.
KENNER'S RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK FIGURES - INDY & BELLOQ
By the time the Raiders action figures came out in late 1982 I had moved on from playing with figures to just “displaying” them on my shelf. Of course I still wanted them, but they seemed to be impossible to find in my area. They eventually showed up at a Kay-Bee toy store and that’s where I picked up my Indy figure.
I almost kept the figures in the package, but I just couldn’t keep that figure sealed under the bubble. At least I kept the card. It's funny to look at this card now because on the back I circled the ones that I wanted for Christmas on the back. I eventually would get them all except for Marion and Belloq in ceremonial robe.
These photos were taken today of my original figures that I kept since I was twelve.
WELCOME TO INDY WEEK
Here in Neato Coolville we’ll be celebrating the adventures of Indiana Jones every day this week. Just in time for the fourth Indiana Jones movie. The Mayor has been busy digging thru his own unorganized warehouse looking for Indy artifacts from years past and plans to share some memories, magazine scans, action figure photos and hopefully a few surprises along the way.
WILL ELDER, GENE COLAN & INDIANA JONES WEEK
Gosh, I’ve been out of the loop this past week and really haven’t been online much. I see the sad news of the passing of MAD Magazine artist Will Elder and more sad news about the health problems of one of my favorite artists Gene Colan.
First - condolences go out to Will Elder’s family and friends, as he was really a swell guy and for me a super nice person to meet. I only met him briefly in an autograph line, but he greeted everyone with a big smile and a nice hello.
Second - I hate to hear that comic artist and premier Iron Man artist Gene Colan is having some serious health problems. My prayers go out to Gene and his family. I first read this on Mark Evanier’s site and he has this link for people to visit for updates about Gene.
Third - I was planning on doing an Indiana Jones week of posts, but time has again got me on the run. Still, I'm going to try and string some posts together by digging in the "tub" archives. Check back this evening to see if I beat the clock and actually get something posted.
Friday, May 16, 2008
LAST WEEK OF AD CHARACTERS FROM SUPER SERVICE STATION MAGS
I was surprised that I only found three ad characters in the last group of Super Service Station mags. Oh well, here they are -
Super Service Station Ad Characters Week 1
Super Service Station Ad Characters Week 2
Super Service Station Ad Characters Week 3
Super Service Station Ad Characters Week 4
1968 Otto Checkup Ad
1968 Zero Star Penquin Pak Ad
1968 Fort Howard Paper Company Ad
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