Sep 13, 2013

League Post - Blue


It’s been a while since we've had a photo assignment for the weekly League of Extraordinary Blogger’s challenge. We've done green, and we've done red, so how about this time we do:

Blue

And once again, I'm taking a little creative leeway with the topic to line it up with something I was going to blog about anyway. Thanks to Tom Berges and the Facebook group I Grew Up Star Wars, I won a pack of vintage Star Wars trading cards!
It's not much, but it's the little things, right?

If you grew up during the Original Trilogy time, or you just want to see the first generation of Star Wars kids, you should check out the full website for a blast down memory lane.

star wars 1997 trading cards series 5 orange topps

So, this would have been a lot better had it been a pack of Series 1 trading cards because those were the blue cards. This is where I'm kinda stretching things, the wrapper is blue. I'm also using a blue background for bonus points! Although the gum was broken, it was in otherwise decent looking shape. Not moldy like the pieces in the Dinosaurs Attack! packs I got awhile back. Unlike Monica Lewinsky (blue dress!), I did not put it in my mouth. Heeeeyyy-o!

star wars 1997 trading cards series 5 orange topps

Oh, hey, look at that! The cards have a blue star burst in the corner! Series 5 had a lot of behind the scenes type stuff. Probably because they'd already cranked out four other 66 card sets in the same year and needed more material. But that's why this kid loved these cards. Between these and magazines, that was you're only way of getting that kind of info at the time. Card backs are how I learned who the main actors were.

One thing I always found interesting was that they kept the numbering of cards and stickers across the five series instead of starting over at 1 every new series, so these are all up in the 200-300 range.

star wars 1997 trading cards series 5 orange topps

Luke is in a weird pose there (middle) like he's gotta go right now and is trying to hold it. Come to think of it, I don't remember seeing anything that resembled a toilet in Leia's cell on the Death Star. Maybe it's one of those kinda things where it retracts into the wall when you're not using it. File under: things you shouldn't think about.

I tell ya, if the tactile memory of opening a wax pack and the aromatic memory of the gum didn't already take me back to 1977, the feel of the sticker card (right) in my hand really did the trick. Why, the sticker more than the cards themselves? I couldn't say, just something about how the sticker is a different card stock.

See what other League Members are Blue about
The Monster Cafe has a blue Topps connection
A barrage of retro blue-ness waits at Neato Coolville
The Goodwill Geek breaks out a bevy of blue baubles

Sep 11, 2013

My Top 5 Toons: Retro Sci-Fi Edition


The September Loot Crate theme was recently announced as "Animate" so we can be sure they'll deliver some cartoon related goodies this month. It might be too much to hope to get a little something from all the franchises on the TV screens above but if it's as good as the
Arcade Crate from April, I'll be a happy camper.

Other members in the community are doing "Top 5 Animated" lists so I thought I'd join in with my own spin. Doing a general Top 5 animated series of all time would be a daunting task to say the least so I narrowed the focus to sci-fi toons from my childhood.

Sep 9, 2013

Monday Miscellany

Sometimes you spend your free brain time over the weekend racking it for something to blog about. I'm prodding myself in the direction of coming up with something occasionally that doesn't involve me trying to setup and photograph small things. I love taking photos but it can be a pain to set up the "studio", and I use that word very loosely.

What did I come up with? Truthfully, nothing very original, just some cool stuff I found around the web. But I figure if you're reading this, we probably share some brain waves and I'll at least allow you to waste some of your day in a fun way. 

Clue the movie cult classic

Buzzfeed has an amazing article about the cult classic Clue. While I love the movie, I've never delved deeply into the behind the scenes or trivia. Two of the things I learned:
  • Carrie Fisher was originally cast as Miss Scarlet
  • Kahn's "flames" speech was only in one of the endings so 2/3 of the people that saw it in the theater didn't see it!
Tommy Day Boxsome trading card sale

Pal of the blog and keeper of Tophat Sasquatch, Tommy Day, is running a 50% off sale on his trading card site Boxsome from now until Wednesday the 11th. Not only can you buy packs of trading cards from the 80s/90s for just $1.50 each but he always throws in some extras like single cards, pogs and stickers. Who doesn't love getting nostalgia-y goodness?

If you need to be taken back to those childhood days of opening a pack of cards and inhaling that unforgettable scent of the included stick of gum, this is worth every penny! Personally, I would not recommend eating the gum. In one of the packs I opened, it was a little moldy...or something. Maybe it was mutating, I'm not sure. It was from a Dinosaurs Attack! pack so maybe it picked something up from the Timescanning process.


If you love Star Wars but just don't have the time to watch it, check out this video which nicely summarizes the film in 60 seconds. Although you may have to go back and watch it a few times to catch everything because it moves so fast and there's a lot going on!

Wizard of Oz 75th anniversary

Lastly, Warner Brothers has all sorts of things brewing for the 75th Anniversary celebration of The Wizard of Oz (Happy Meals!). When you ask me to list favorite movies I probably won't site this one and I really should! I saw it in a DLP theater a few years ago when it was released on BluRay and really, there's no home system that can compare to seeing it in a theater with kids and their parents. When you look at some of the pure eye-candy junk that Hollywood turns out these days, you still forget this was made in 1939.
Just goes to show, story matters!

It's coming to IMAX 3D for one week starting September 20th (we've already got our tickets) before the 75th Anniv. Limited Collector's Edition BluRay/DVD set is released. I hate double dipping on movies as much as the next flying monkey but this thing is PACKED!
It's worth it just for that thumb drive (bottom right). Ok, maybe not $80...

There's also a companion book that will have a lot never seen before stuff like Technicolor test frames and costume designs stills as well as some pull out items.
I'm a sucker for those kind of books!