JUST IMAGINE

Just imagine a sci-fi movie that has spectacular special effects, futuristic sets, scantily clad women and a few song and dance numbers.

In 1930 a movie with all of those elements hit movie theaters. The film was called Just Imagine and it is considered the first sci-fi talkie. Really it should have been called Metropolis the Musical since it has a similar look of Metropolis.


The 1930 hero is blasted by lightning into the far-flung future of 1980 where people drive flying cars, take pills for food and purchase their babies from a machine. The film was Oscar nominated for Best Art Direction and Frankenstein’s Kenneth Strickfaden, designed the laboratory.



You can read and excellent write up about the film over at moviediva


I’m fortunate to have this rare piece of movie ephemera in my collection and thought others might enjoy seeing it. Love that snazzy art deco space cover!

NEATO COOLVILLE HAS BEEN INVADED!!!

Zoinks! The blog has been invaded and these kooky vein headed aliens have thrown out the space background and changed it to a pea green color!

I think the color might grow on me, so I guess I'll keep it! Also these weirdo aliens say they’re going to hang around and watch old reruns of Hazel and eat Boo Berry cereal. That doesn’t sound all that bad. Actually that sounds like fun, so see ya around!

WITCH DR. HEAD SHRINKERS KIT

I’ve never seen this toy before, but this old commercial is voodolicious!

MUSIC MACHINE RECORD WITH ROBBY THE ROBOT

Robby the Robot, the Music Machine, has his groove on and he hopes with this 1977 compilation record from K-tel that you’ll get your groove thing going too!

This album has it all with the original stars with their original top 10 hits. You’ll hear songs from Andy Gibb, K.C. & The Sunshine Band, Sylvers, Marvin Gaye, Wild Cherry, Kenny Rogers, Kiss, Alice Cooper, Abba, and Bill Conti! Wow, all that on one record and it’s been advertised on TV!

Hey, there’s a bonus, ‘cause free inside is a far-out poster of K.C.& The Sunshine Band with a Fan Club order form.


On the back old Robby is turning up the disco space funk so we can all get down or up or whatever!

CAPTURE OF THE CREATURE

My entry for Illustration Friday. The theme this week is Capture.

ATARI PENCILS

“Check out the new pencils from the pencil machine. They have Atari games on ‘em!” That’s what my friend told me as he leaned over and handed me a Warlords Atari pencil during Pre-Algebra class back in Junior High. I sat daydreaming about those Atari pencils as the teacher rambled on about adding and subtracting letters that supposed to equal a different letter, or something like that. When that class was over I bolted out of the room and ran over to the school library to buy some Atari goodness out of the pencil machine.

After I put my dime in the machine a Battlezone pencil rolled out and after that a Missile Command, then a Super Breakout and on my last dime I got another Super Breakout. For the rest of the week I brought dimes to school trying to get the whole set. I sacrificed my lunch money so I could get more Atari pencils. I wanted them all, and I did, except for the elusive Yar’s Revenge. Dime after dime I kept trying to get a Yar’s, but instead I kept getting that blasted Super Breakout. I finally traded four or five pencils for the one Yar’s pencil. Mission completed, I had the whole set.

These came out in 1983 and there are 10 in the set. Asteroids, Battlezone, Centipede, Haunted House, Missile Command, Star Raiders, Super Breakout, Tempest, Yar’s Revenge and Warlords. (I have unfortunately lost the Tempest pencil and I think it was pink.)

A few months after the first series, a second series of 10 pencils was released and again I had to have them all. In this set you’ll find Bentley Bear, Dig Dug, Joust, Jungle Hunt, Kangaroo, Moon Patrol, Pengo, Space Dungeon, Swordquest, and Vanguard.

I guess I better hide these away before a pencil sharpener finds them!

DEAN MARTIN FRENCH STYLE

This record cover is a fine example why Dean Martin was one of the coolest cats on the planet!!!

THE SHADOW MATCHBOOK COVER

Matchbooks have always been miniature billboards for advertising and during the 1930's and 40's some of these little art masterpieces were just amazing.

This matchbook is advertising The Shadow radio show and has to rank as one of the best matchbook covers ever! I love the graphics on this little piece of cardboard of the prowling Shadow and the sinister skeleton that happens to be holding a bloody knife.

CLICK ON THE PIC FOR A LARGER VIEW

When you turn it over you’ll find another Shadow image with his famous slogan “The Shadow Knows.”

Once you flip the Shadow down you’ll see that he’s captured the bad guys and thrown them behind bars with the words “Crime Does Not Pay!” printed above them.

This matchbook was called a “feature” matchbook because originally the matches themselves had printed imagery. Of course this one is missing all of the matches, but at least the cover remains.

Just for fun I reassembled some of the graphics from the front cover.