Thursday, September 15, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
The Pac Man Riddle & Joke Book!
This post is for our good friend Jboy Pac Man (for obvious reasons)!
Today's odd little tome of yesteryear is a prime example of '80s absurdity, craze mentality and the joy of scoring a previously unknown gem.
I scored this book, The Pac Man Riddle and Joke Book, the same day that I found my copy of the Batman Which Way book (from my previous post). Now, I have never seen this book before, but considering my lust for all things Pac Man in the 4th grade, I promise you that if I had seen this treasure when it first came out in 1982 (perhaps at a school book fair) I would have been on it like Pac Man on a blue ghost.
One of my favorite things about buying used books is the fact that you occasionally find a hand-written inscription on the inside front cover. These always make me a little sad, since the book is now clearly a forgotten gift, but then I quickly cheer up when I remember that I'm bringing it home to take care of it and that for one more brief moment, albeit by a total stranger, the inscriber is remembered once again.
This book looks like it was a gift to someone named "Resi", which if you simply switch around the "i" and the "s", spells my name! I also love how "Mike" has drawn his own rendition of Pac Man (much better than the author, but more on that in a bit), and even thought to add the immortal words R. Crumb rip-off t-shirts so prevalent in the '70s; Keep on truckin'!
The book is basically a onslaught of puns disguised as riddles, usually employing the words "pac" or "dot". In 4th grade, these jokes wouldn't have been funny, but my friends and I would have had a blast on the playground groaning over them, which is sometimes just as fun as a good chuckle.
Now, not to pick on a guy that wrote a Pac Man joke book 30 years ago, but this guy's artistic skills are seriously lacking. Of course, maybe the drawings don't need to be that great in a joke book about a video game character, and for that matter, he's published at least one more book than I have so I should probably just shut up.
I love the authors detail choices, such as making Pac Man a very simple round shape with a pie piece taken out, yet drawing the ghosts with detailed pixelated features. Weird.
Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't share a pic of a mash-up of two of may favorite '80s things; Pac Man and The Dukes of Hazzard...
And just to one-up that last pic...
Over all, books like this, despite their crudeness, their silliness and their lack of conventional cultural significance, are, to me, and instant snapshot of where we were back then in the pop-culture arena, plunking quarters into these new massive bleeping cabinets, basking in the glow of the rapidly racing pixels only to walk away, craving more, even if that means groaning at a couple of puns in a little book from your uncle "Mike".
Man... I miss the early '80s.
Today's odd little tome of yesteryear is a prime example of '80s absurdity, craze mentality and the joy of scoring a previously unknown gem.
I scored this book, The Pac Man Riddle and Joke Book, the same day that I found my copy of the Batman Which Way book (from my previous post). Now, I have never seen this book before, but considering my lust for all things Pac Man in the 4th grade, I promise you that if I had seen this treasure when it first came out in 1982 (perhaps at a school book fair) I would have been on it like Pac Man on a blue ghost.
One of my favorite things about buying used books is the fact that you occasionally find a hand-written inscription on the inside front cover. These always make me a little sad, since the book is now clearly a forgotten gift, but then I quickly cheer up when I remember that I'm bringing it home to take care of it and that for one more brief moment, albeit by a total stranger, the inscriber is remembered once again.
This book looks like it was a gift to someone named "Resi", which if you simply switch around the "i" and the "s", spells my name! I also love how "Mike" has drawn his own rendition of Pac Man (much better than the author, but more on that in a bit), and even thought to add the immortal words R. Crumb rip-off t-shirts so prevalent in the '70s; Keep on truckin'!
The book is basically a onslaught of puns disguised as riddles, usually employing the words "pac" or "dot". In 4th grade, these jokes wouldn't have been funny, but my friends and I would have had a blast on the playground groaning over them, which is sometimes just as fun as a good chuckle.
Now, not to pick on a guy that wrote a Pac Man joke book 30 years ago, but this guy's artistic skills are seriously lacking. Of course, maybe the drawings don't need to be that great in a joke book about a video game character, and for that matter, he's published at least one more book than I have so I should probably just shut up.
I love the authors detail choices, such as making Pac Man a very simple round shape with a pie piece taken out, yet drawing the ghosts with detailed pixelated features. Weird.
Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't share a pic of a mash-up of two of may favorite '80s things; Pac Man and The Dukes of Hazzard...
And just to one-up that last pic...
Over all, books like this, despite their crudeness, their silliness and their lack of conventional cultural significance, are, to me, and instant snapshot of where we were back then in the pop-culture arena, plunking quarters into these new massive bleeping cabinets, basking in the glow of the rapidly racing pixels only to walk away, craving more, even if that means groaning at a couple of puns in a little book from your uncle "Mike".
Man... I miss the early '80s.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
VROOOM! - Get 'em, Flash! Roscoe's Patrol Car!
I just tried to type out Roscoe's iconic laugh, but almost destroyed my brain trying to figure out how to spell it.
(click to view ten gallon hat size)
(click to view ten gallon hat size)
VROOOM! - Lost Sheep to Bo Peep! It's Daisy's Jeep!
I'm seriously going to make an effort to finish off all of the dukes of Hazzard vehicles this week. Stay tuned for Boss Hogg's Caddy, Roscoe's patrol car, Jessie's truck and Cooter's tow truck!
(Click to view Lulu Hogg size)
(Click to view Lulu Hogg size)
Monday, September 12, 2011
New Mixo DC Concepts!
I made some new concepts for series 2 & 3 of our DC Superheroes Mixo Kookycans and since we already posted the sneak peeks on our Facebook page, i thought it would be cool to post them here as well.
These are just concepts and have not been approved, but we are trying to keep our burgeoning collector base excited about upcoming releases.
Dig 'em...
Let me know what you all think! Cool? Not cool? Any other characters you'd rather see?
And for the record, the fist series of DC heroes will be in stores in about two weeks! Just $9.99 filled with candy and papercraft accessories inside! (Pluggity plug plug)
These are just concepts and have not been approved, but we are trying to keep our burgeoning collector base excited about upcoming releases.
Dig 'em...
Let me know what you all think! Cool? Not cool? Any other characters you'd rather see?
And for the record, the fist series of DC heroes will be in stores in about two weeks! Just $9.99 filled with candy and papercraft accessories inside! (Pluggity plug plug)
Batman Which Way Book!
Anyone who knows me knows that I have a passion for what I call "adventure books", which is any of those classic books that have the reader make decisions in order to navigate through the story without coming to a horrible and untimely end. I have amassed an impressive collection of various adventure books such as the Lone Wolf, Endless Quest and Zork series along with several other (mostly short-lived) series.
But one I have never even seen before, at least until I spotted this yesterday at my favorite used book store, is this Batman Which Way book from a series of Superpowers adventure books from 1984...
Had I found this book in 1984, I would have been 11 years old, at the dawn of my adventure book lust, and would have absolutely eaten this book alive! I mean, it's Batman combined with a choice-giving tale of adventure. What more could I want? Other than my beloved Conan Endless Quest books, what book could have been more perfect for an 11-year-old me?
I haven't read the story yet, but I just had to show it off here on the book blog, but I promise you that there's a rainy Sunday afternoon with this book's name written all over it.
Looking at the back cover, it appears that there were at least two other books in this series, a Superman and a Supergirl tale that I will now be scouring eBay for as soon as I finish typing this.
Anyway, just wanted to show this off, and if anyone knows of any other books in this series (Did they make a Green Lantern one? Or a Wonder Woman one?) please let me know!
But one I have never even seen before, at least until I spotted this yesterday at my favorite used book store, is this Batman Which Way book from a series of Superpowers adventure books from 1984...
Had I found this book in 1984, I would have been 11 years old, at the dawn of my adventure book lust, and would have absolutely eaten this book alive! I mean, it's Batman combined with a choice-giving tale of adventure. What more could I want? Other than my beloved Conan Endless Quest books, what book could have been more perfect for an 11-year-old me?
I haven't read the story yet, but I just had to show it off here on the book blog, but I promise you that there's a rainy Sunday afternoon with this book's name written all over it.
Looking at the back cover, it appears that there were at least two other books in this series, a Superman and a Supergirl tale that I will now be scouring eBay for as soon as I finish typing this.
Anyway, just wanted to show this off, and if anyone knows of any other books in this series (Did they make a Green Lantern one? Or a Wonder Woman one?) please let me know!
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Friday, September 2, 2011
Trading Cards! Empire Strikes Back Edition!
Oh god... These classic trading cards really take me back. The Empire Strikes Back trading cards (and the movie and comics and toys) hit stores at the perfect age for me, during my deepest throes of Star Wars lust, and I collected these cards like a maniac. I scored these cards in the same lot as the Raiders of the Lost Ark cards that I posted a few days ago. Just wanted to share...
(click to view AT-AT size)
(click to view AT-AT size)
I Never Thought I'd Type the Words, "Fizzy Bat Squatz"...
But that's exactly what I'm going to be writing about today. So...
Last week, I went on a quick overnight trip with my wife (work for her, tag-along fun for me) and usually when we take these trips, I try to sneak in some visits to various toy stares and whatnot, hoping that they'll have something I can't find in my area (damn you elusive 8" Lion-o!), and every now and then, I stumble onto something new.
Such was the case when I found these new collectible figures called Squatz. Actually, I don't think they're that new, but I've never seen their DC licensed toys before so I had to get one. Actually two, since they come in two packs. Lucmkily, they let you know about one of the figures you're getting (I picked Batman, natch) and the other one is a "mystery villain". Ooooohhhh! I hope it's The Joker!
You then peel the wrapping off, and you now have a grainy, crumbling mess in your hands. Basically, these are like those fizzy "bath bombs" that I send to my Mom every Christmas and have no idea if she uses them or not. Except that these allegedly have toys inside. We'll see...
So I plopped the bath bombs into the hotel bathroom sick, filled with warm water and they began to fizz...
I waited a little while and then like dead fish floating up to the surface of a polluted lake, I found these...
ZOMG! How adorable is that Batman?! And I got a Gorilla Grod! Crap... Not joker. Oh well.
It was at this point that I discovered two things: 1. I could have just easily broken open the fizzy pod and took the toys out and 2. The fizzy pods seriously deceive you on how big these toys are. I mean, look. They're friggin tiny...
Oh well. The Batman is still cute and will look great on the Bat shelf (what number is that?). And my joy was quickly reinstated when I realized that you could switch out their heads (which I now see that it says so on the back of the card). Look! It's Gorilla Man and Bat Grod!
Thanks for reading kiddies! I'll be back the week after next!
Last week, I went on a quick overnight trip with my wife (work for her, tag-along fun for me) and usually when we take these trips, I try to sneak in some visits to various toy stares and whatnot, hoping that they'll have something I can't find in my area (damn you elusive 8" Lion-o!), and every now and then, I stumble onto something new.
Such was the case when I found these new collectible figures called Squatz. Actually, I don't think they're that new, but I've never seen their DC licensed toys before so I had to get one. Actually two, since they come in two packs. Lucmkily, they let you know about one of the figures you're getting (I picked Batman, natch) and the other one is a "mystery villain". Ooooohhhh! I hope it's The Joker!
Sorry about the crappy pics. All I had was my iPhone in dim, hotel room lighting. Anyhoo, I hope these are cool, because at $8 (which I thought was a little steep), I'm expecting nothing short of pure awesomeness.
Oh look! You can collect them all!
So, basically, you open it up and there are these two little oddly-shaped, plastic-coated pods...
You then peel the wrapping off, and you now have a grainy, crumbling mess in your hands. Basically, these are like those fizzy "bath bombs" that I send to my Mom every Christmas and have no idea if she uses them or not. Except that these allegedly have toys inside. We'll see...
So I plopped the bath bombs into the hotel bathroom sick, filled with warm water and they began to fizz...
I waited a little while and then like dead fish floating up to the surface of a polluted lake, I found these...
ZOMG! How adorable is that Batman?! And I got a Gorilla Grod! Crap... Not joker. Oh well.
It was at this point that I discovered two things: 1. I could have just easily broken open the fizzy pod and took the toys out and 2. The fizzy pods seriously deceive you on how big these toys are. I mean, look. They're friggin tiny...
Oh well. The Batman is still cute and will look great on the Bat shelf (what number is that?). And my joy was quickly reinstated when I realized that you could switch out their heads (which I now see that it says so on the back of the card). Look! It's Gorilla Man and Bat Grod!
Thanks for reading kiddies! I'll be back the week after next!
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Trading Cards! Raiders of the Lost Ark Edition!
I'm not a huge trading card collector, but it is fun to jump on eBay and snatch up some cheap lots of cards that I collected when I was a wee little nerd. One series that I collected obsessively back then was the Raiders of the Lost Ark cards (and then later, Temple of Doom), so when I got these babies in the mail from a larger lot of '80s cards that I scored, the nostalgia bomb hit hard.
(click to view super huge)
(click to view super huge)
Monday, August 29, 2011
Tales from the 25¢ Bin! Spidey Edition!
It's that time, once again, kiddies, where we dive into the glorious 25¢ bin and come back out with comic book gold! Here's my latest haul of killer Spider-Man books!
Spidey has always been my second favorite super hero, and there was even a time, when I was 12 and 13, where I may have even considered him number one. And it was issues like the one below that would send me into fits of comic book rapture. I mean, look at all those guns!
And it was pretty much a rule for me back then to buy any issue that had Black Cat on the cover. Huh... Looks like that rule still stands.
I used to love the Marvel Team-up issues, especially if it had a really cool co-star, like this issue featuring Ghost Rider...
Of course, sometimes you got stuck with a lame team-up partner, like Ant-Man. Squish him, Taskmaster!
And let me tell you, very few comic book gals had such an impact on my as much as Tigra did. I guess that's why I still have a penchant for chicks with stripes. Not that I see a lot of them.
So, that does it for this installment of Tales from the 25¢ Bin! Tune in next time for more exciting quarter-of-a-dollar adventure!
Spidey has always been my second favorite super hero, and there was even a time, when I was 12 and 13, where I may have even considered him number one. And it was issues like the one below that would send me into fits of comic book rapture. I mean, look at all those guns!
And it was pretty much a rule for me back then to buy any issue that had Black Cat on the cover. Huh... Looks like that rule still stands.
I used to love the Marvel Team-up issues, especially if it had a really cool co-star, like this issue featuring Ghost Rider...
Of course, sometimes you got stuck with a lame team-up partner, like Ant-Man. Squish him, Taskmaster!
And let me tell you, very few comic book gals had such an impact on my as much as Tigra did. I guess that's why I still have a penchant for chicks with stripes. Not that I see a lot of them.
So, that does it for this installment of Tales from the 25¢ Bin! Tune in next time for more exciting quarter-of-a-dollar adventure!
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Starlog's Science Fiction Heroes!
I just picked this book up at an awesome used book store in Richland, WA called Adventures Underground, which is possibly the signle-most geeky (and glorious) place I have ever been. I go there once a year when my wife has to travel out that way for work (and I tag along) and I always walk out of there with something awesome. This trip was no exception. Imagine this supplement to Starlog Magazine being released in 1980 (possibly even late in '79) at the height of the Star Wars inspired Sci-Fi boom. I was just going to do my usual gloss over of this book, showing off a few highlights, but due to its sheer rarity and awesomeness, I decided to do a full scan. Enjoy...
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