HALLOWEEN COUNTDOWN EVE

I think this little girl is talking about October and if she is, that means tomorrow is the big day when Neato Coolville transforms into Neato Ghoulville for a month long Halloween celebration!


We have each day filled up with lots of fun treats that’s guaranteed not to rot out your teeth.

Neato Coolville the Blog - Halloween related goodies from old mag scans to fun seasonal food packaging.

Weird Hollow - Monster headquarters with Vlad videos, Monster Head Races contest and movie monster stuff.

Twitter - Get the daily report from the imaginary town of Neato Coolville as it celebrates Halloween.

Facebook - Follow along with links to both blogs and get special Halloween profile icons.

Check back at midnight for the start of the fifth Neato Ghoulville Halloween countdown!

Now here’s a word from Timothy Grimm -

CATCH THE NEW ISSUE OF PLANET-Q: THE SUGAR-CHARGED 'ZINE

The newest issue of Robb Zenner’s fantastic cereal and pop culture magazine, Planet-Q is out and is ready for purchase! Just like the past four issues, number five packs a mean pop culture punch in the classic fanzine fashion.


Thirty-eight pages in glorious black & white will entertain and educate the reader about a fun variety of topics. As shown on the color cover, the ‘zine’s main feature is a ten-page history behind the short lived 1970's Ralston cereal, Grins & Smiles & Giggles & Laughs. (One of my favorite cereals from childhood!) Plus you get an interview with animator Dean Yeagle talking about his involvement with Ralston’s animated cereal commercials including Freakies and G&S&G&L.

7-11 Slurpee cup collectors will be happy to know that there’s a three-page checklist gallery of Rock musical performers cups from 1976!

Yours truly has an article about good ol’ Stretch Armstrong and Stretch Monster.

Big time collector Gregg Koenig is interviewed about his cereal and pop culture collection.

As a cereal box & prize collector myself - I really enjoy hearing about other collector’s finds and success stories. Robb devotes a few pages to some amazing discoveries in the cereal collecting hobby, picturing many never before seen boxes.

Mikal Vollmer, of Topher’s Castle fame returns with his Magic Q Ball article predicting which current cereal boxes in grocery store shelves will remain collectible years later.

The ‘zine ends with a letters page and Q’s News.

For information how to get your very own copy, click here. Robb also sells excellent reproduction cereal boxes with hundreds of classic boxes to choose from. Info can be found here or in this current issue of Planet-Q.

For more info on the cereal collecting hobby, please check out these websites -
CerealBits.com
The Boxtop
Topher's Breakfast Cereal Character Guide
The Imaginary World Cereal Box Archive
Sugar Frosted Cereal Museum
Honey Frosted Cereal Museum

MARS NEEDS ‘62 STUDEBAKER LARKS

Dig this crazy brochure for the 1962 Studebaker Lark. It’s out of this world!

WE BOUGHT A CANNON FROM PAWN STARS

FLEA MARKET FRIDAYS #52

Today’s flea market find took me many miles away from the comfy confounds of Neato Coolville to the bright lights of Las Vegas. Last week the first lady and I enjoyed a simple vacation in Sin City and one of our stops was the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop.


Yep, this pawn shop is the home to History Channel’s popular reality show, Pawn Stars. If you haven’t seen the show, it’s kinda a lowbrow Antiques Roadshow filled with goofy characters, zany humor and interesting junk. I’m not a reality TV fan, but I do enjoy all the “antique collectors” shows, including this one.

We didn’t know what to expect when we entered the shop.


The main guys were MIA., supposedly out shooting some scenes for the show. Chumlee, the store's court jester was at the shop, but mostly stayed hidden in the back. The few times he popped his head out, you would have thought Elvis had been resurrected from the dead. The crowd went nuts when they glimpsed Chumlee.

The fun part for me was viewing all the cool items in the shop.

I didn't think I would actually find anything to buy until I found a cannon.

No that's not the cannon. Instead, I purchased this 18-Pounder Field Gun toy in the original box.

This little cap gun cannon was made by Crescent Toys from 1958 to 1979. I believe this one is from the 1960's. I’ve never collected cap guns or military toys, but for fifteen bucks I decided this was a much better Pawn Stars souvenir than a magnet or shot glass.

Check out this snapshot that my friend Allen Sandquist co-author of the book Las Vegas 1905-1965 uploaded to his flickr site. It's the Gold & Silver Pawn building before it was a pawn shop.

If you find yourself in Las Vegas, make sure you visit the Gold & Silver Pawn!

STUFF WE SAW IN VEGAS: PART TWO

Go ahead and feel free to make ZZZZT ZZZZT sounds with your mouth as you view some Vegas neon.


The neon at the El Cortez looks the same as it did in 1941.


The horse and rider from the extinct Hacienda Casino keeps on riding thanks to the work by the Neon Museum.


Sign abstract of the Golden Gate Casino. Did you know this casino used to be named Sal Sagev in the 1930's? Yeah, that’s Las Vegas backwards.


Hunka hunka burnin’ love! This is one of the oldest wedding chapels in Vegas.


This might be a bird’s eye view of how a drunk sees Las Vegas. I kinda like how this “mistake” of a photo turned out.


The first lady snapped this awesome sign abstract of the martini shaped Red Barn sign.


Looks like Strickfaden could have designed this neon spiral that sits atop the Imperial Palace. “It’s alive, it’s alive, IT’S ALIVE!”


Detail of a giant neon martini glass that could easily be from the world of Tron.


Neon milk does the body good! Sign abstract from the Anderson Dairy mascot sign. You can view Andy Anderson on the sidebar.


A poor showgirl frozen forever in a block of neon ice!


A Silver Slipper sign clone. I'm afraid we didn't have time to visit the real one. Click here to view a Silver Slipper from Branson, MO.

The more I look at this slipper, it looks like the head of a Tyrannosaurs Rex with a major underbite. Kinda like one of those dinosaur heads on a stick toy.


Binion’s is so bright, you gotta wear shades!


Another look at the historic El Cortez.



We finish with a close-up view of good ol' Vegas Vic.

If you enjoyed these last two posts, you might take a gander at my two Las Vegas flickr sets - Modern Las Vegas Photos and Vintage Vegas (old stuff we’ve collected).

STUFF WE SAW IN VEGAS: PART ONE

My favorite thing in Las Vegas is the famous Welcome sign. Designed by Betty Willis in 1959.


I think the World’s Largest Gift Shop has the World’s Largest Gift Shop sign. We actually spent some time in here and didn’t buy one souvenir. I guess the quality of tacky souvenirs just isn’t as good as it used to be.


Hey, it's Yellow, the Peanut M&M mascot! M&Ms might not melt in your hand, but I felt sorry for the person inside this suit ‘cause he/she probably melted once they got outside. The M&M mascots stand in front of M&M World taking photos with crazed M&M fans.


Walking at the new City Center made me feel like I was in the movie Inception.




Of course, I’ve seen a lot of giant objects along the roadside, but I believe this is the first giant typewriter eraser that I’ve ever seen. Located at the City Center.


Also located at the City Center is Crystals, the “shopping mall from the future”(that’s what we called it). I was much more interested in the cool glass tubes with the water tornadoes spinning inside instead of the designer stores.


It was like some artsy designer teamed up with a 7th grade science teacher for this twister of a mall decoration.


Sad to see the Mario Brothers down and out and living on the streets after they lost all their money at the blackjack tables.


The Tropicana is getting a complete make over. Hope these guys don’t forget a letter and accidently rename the casino Troicana.


Visited the home of Pawn Stars and bought a cannon! Catch this week's Flea Market Fridays post for the scoop.


Because of Disneyland, I’m forever a fan of Monorails and after seeing this cute Monorail Girl, I’m forever a fan of Monorail Girls! Btw, thanks for the coupons, Monorail Girl!


We didn’t win a million bucks, but at least we can say we saw a million bucks.


A Las Vegas tradition is enjoying a shrimp cocktail at the Golden Gate Casino. The treat was born here back in 1959.


Saw this leftover space suit from the extinct Star Trek: The Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton.


So cool that Bellagio is honoring the classic 1950's horror movie Them! in their conservatory and botanical garden.


Um... the first lady just informed me that this display is supposed to be a simple summer scene in the backyard. Sorry for the confusion.


At the Liberace Museum is this Volks Royce created by George Barris in the 1970's. This car would make a great Pinky Tuscaderomobile!


The coolest thing we did in Las Vegas was hang out at the Pinball Museum. It was a much better investment putting quarters in these machines than the casino's slot machines.


Visit tomorrow as we’ll have part two - Stuff We Saw In Vegas At Night.