QUAKE CAVE CAT STICKER

Looks like Quake found himself a Cave Cat on this old sticker.

Look, it even glows!

1980 SPACE INVADERS MUSIC VIDEO

I usually post videos on Friday but when I discovered this one I just couldn’t wait that long.

The song is called Space Invaders by Player One from their 1980 album Game Over.



Now I can’t get it this catchy old new wave tune out of my head.

THE BLACK PHANTOM PAPER AIRPLANE

Going through an old box of stuff from my childhood I discovered an old friend that was trapped under piles of old book reports, newspaper clippings, and greeting cards. Memories came rushing back as I pulled it out from the bottom of the box.

I had just found the great Black Phantom known as the flyer of fear, the sky demon of the air and the master of all paper airplanes.

My older brother and I went through a paper airplane making phase. We even made up fleets and had airplane battles. One night after my fleet had suffered significant losses I decided to create a plane that would send fear into my enemies fleet. Using black and red markers and a sheet of regular notebook paper, I was able to build the best of the best. After he was folded and colored he looked as if he needed something else, something that would make him stronger. I found a bottle of shellac in my Dad’s workshop and brushed it over the airplane for the finishing touch. Now he would be invincible!

Over the next few weeks with The Black Phantom leading my fleet into battle, the great paper air war turned to favor my side. I think I was winning!

I guess after a few months of building and destroying hundreds of paper airplanes we finally got bored and moved onto something else. (I think we got our Atari that winter.)

Now the Black Phantom might be yellow and brittle, but at least he has survived as an artifact from childhood.

Yippee! I think I’ll put off work and make paper airplanes for the rest of the day!

JESSE JAMES HIDEOUT

Wow I just found Jesse James Hideout and Jesse and Frank are there with all of their old west pals!

Well I guess I’ve known about it all of my life, but really only remember taking the tour a couple of times when I was a kid. You see this tourist trap has been part of my local area, Lake of the Ozarks, MO, before I was born. I need to do some research and find out when it first opened, but I do know it’s been in a couple of different locations along the Bagnell Dam strip on Hwy 54. About ten years ago it was next door to the Haunted Hotel and now it’s in a building where the Legend of Bigfoot exhibit was at one time. (More on these lost tourist traps later)

I paid my two bucks and got a brass token, my ticket to see some of the greatest western outlaws created in wax!

There’s even a Boot Hill with funny tombstones to read.

A 1997 newspaper article about the wax sculptor who created and reworked the wax figures.

Click here if you would like to read the article!

Mr. Yuck

I remember slapping these Mr. Yuck stickers on everything. I was on a mission when I got home from school with a sheet of these anti smiley faces to mark everything that was hazardous to my health!

HorrorShow Magazine

I discovered a gruesomely good new monster mag called HorrorShow. This high quality mag with full color photos has nothing more than monsters, horror flicks, special f/x make-up, latex masks, models, and even collector profiles. Issue #3 is dreadfully fun with the focus on everyone’s favorite lagoon dweller, the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

I really enjoyed the article called Return to the Black Lagoon where Ben Chapman revisits the original lagoon on Universal’s backlot. There’s an article about Mark Alfrey, who makes the amazing lifesize Creature statues. Also, you’ll drool all over the pages looking at the photos from Johnny Gilbert’s incredible collection of Creature memorabilia.

So next time you find yourself at a bookstore look to see if they have HorrorShow or you can go to their official site http://www.horrorshowmagazine.com/
and order one.

1954 SUPERMAN STEREO-PIX

One morning in 1954 some kid finally finished his first box of Kellogg’s Sugar Frosted Flakes and carefully cut a masterpiece off the back of the box.

I’m sure as he added his new acquisition, a Superman Stereo-Pix, to his bedroom wall he was thinking of the second cutout still on a new box sitting in the pantry.

He probably even wondered if his Mom would notice a big square hole cut from the back of the box.

I know if I was him, I’m sure I would’ve been tempted to cut the back of the box up to get this beautiful Superman battling tanks picture.

I like how the first one has the caption, Best wishes from your friend Superman.

SKULL TOSS

I did this for Illustration Friday's topic Play.

FRANKENSTEIN, MISSOURI

I visited the small town of Frankenstein, Missouri yesterday, the only town in America named Frankenstein. It is located in Osage County just outside of Jefferson City.

No, Dr. Frankenstein didn’t settle here to get away from the bad press over in the old country. The town was founded by Gottfried Franken who in 1890 donated land for a church to be built.

I was hoping to find a Frankenstein Motel or a Frankenstein Diner, but the town is way too small for those types of establishments. There’s not even a gas station and the only thing there is the old church and a baseball field.

In 1999 the town was invaded by 25 skydiving Peter Boyle style Frankenstein monsters in honor of the 25th anniversary of Mel Brooks’ funny movie Young Frankenstein. As they jumped from the plane they yelled “Putting on the Ritz” and landed in the Frankenstein Community Ball Field. The monsters handed out Young Frankenstein DVD’s and the Mayor even renamed the town Young Frankenstein.

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.