Classic Creepy Commercials, Volume 30!
There are some heavy hitters in this edition of Classic Creepy Commercials, and then also stuff that you definitely won’t remember. I prefer my articles to have polar extremes. Kick back with exactly 150 seconds’ worth of spooky old TV spots, yanked from my tape collection:
Real Ghostbusters Proton Pack! (1986)
Way back when, me and the neighborhood kids loved pretending that we were Ghostbusters. Kenner made it easy, since virtually every gadget seen in the film and cartoon got a toy version. Even so, I think there was more to it than that.
See, pretending to be Ghostbusters did not also require us to pretend we had bulging muscles, or super strength, or the ability to transform into semi-trucks. The Ghostbusters had brains, but they were also just like… regular dudes. I wasn’t writing a check that my doughy ass couldn’t cash.
Plus, “ghosts” were the perfect enemy because they didn’t actually need to be there. We just pretended they were invisible, because ghosts so often are. Making that plastic PKE meter click was all the proof we needed, and zapping unseen ghosts with a big yellow pool noodle was probably the highlight of my first ten years on this planet. Read More…
2021’s Best Halloween Junk Food, Part 1!
It’s a banner year for Halloween junk food. I know I say that every year, but I really mean it this time. There’s just so much out there.
What strikes me about this season is that while we’re getting big swings like Monster Mash cereal, we’re also getting tons of “little things” that don’t quite pass muster for social media buzz, but are worth picking up all the same.
There are enough new goodies to make cataloging ‘em all a tall order, but I’m gonna do my best. Here’s the first edition of 2021’s Best Halloween Junk Food. I’m usually good for three of these articles during the Countdown, but this year, I wouldn’t be shocked if we made it to five. There’s that much new stuff!
Mountain Dew VooDew III!
(Found at 7-Eleven)
Okay, so a spooky soda getting a goddamned threequel was gonna be a win no matter what the stuff tasted like. Even so, I was apprehensive about taking my first sip, as I was last in line and I’d already read soooo many negative reviews of this year’s mystery flavor.
Happy to report that I disagree with the naysayers. This is my favorite of the three VooDews, and I’m frankly shocked that folks seem lukewarm about it. To me, the mystery flavor is pretty obviously Starburst. Specifically red or pink Starburst, which are some of my favorite candies, so it’s no surprise that I married that bottle and we’re now Facebook Official.
As you’ll recall, the first VooDew was supposed to taste like candy corn, while VooDew II’s mystery flavor was generic Skittles. Going from Skittles to Starburst is a pretty “undramatic” change, so I don’t doubt that when Mtn Dew spills the beans, they’ll say it was something different. Doesn’t matter. I know Starburst when I taste it, and this is Starburst.
GRADE: A. Please keep this series going, Mtn Dew! A new VooDew every Halloween until the day I die. Only then can you stop. Read More…
I spent $92 at a horror convention.
I visited the New Jersey Horror Con in Atlantic City over the weekend. Specifically at the old Showboat hotel, where I used to bowl while my parents gambled. Good times as always! There’s nothing quite like seeing horror celebs and retired pro-wrestlers wander over AC’s patented gaudy carpets.
Course, my big focus at any horror convention is finding treasures in the dealers’ room. That’s the whole reason I go, and everything else is just a bonus. Which brings me to tonight’s video!
Wondering what $92 can buy you at a horror convention? Check out my haul! I got everything from a bootleg DVD to a cool shirt to an awesomely nightmarish action figure. Won’t spoil the surprises, but I was satisfied!
Click here to check out the vid on YouTube!
Thanks so much for watching. Really enjoying doing videos again! I’m gonna let this one have some room to breathe, but I’ll be back on Thursday with the next chapter of Dino Drac’s 2021 Halloween Countdown!
Classic Creepy Commercials, Volume 29!
Time for a new edition of Classic Creepy Commercials, a series that’s been part of every Halloween Countdown on Dino Drac!
Throughout the year, I rescue spooky old TV commercials from my collection of VHS tapes. As tempting as it is to show them off as soon as they’re uncovered, I force myself to wait until the Halloween season. For the 2021 Countdown, I’ve amassed enough spots to cover at least three articles, so after today, there’s still more to come!
Mattel’s Boglins Collection! (1987)
Here’s the first-ever TV commercial for Mattel’s Boglins collection. The creepily cute rubber puppets were part of the “gross-out toy fad” of the mid ‘80s, when things like Madballs, My Pet Monster and Mad Scientist ruled over Kay-Bee with a mix of gnarly faces and toxic slime.
I’ve owned many Boglins as a collector, but I only had one as a kid, which technically wasn’t even mine. When my older brother graduated college, he received a Boglin as a gag gift. At least, I’m pretty sure it was a gag gift, as I don’t think my brother played with toys even when he was appropriately aged for them.
It sat untouched in his bedroom for several weeks. One day, it somehow ended up in my bedroom, and the official story is that I have no idea how that happened. I swear! My brother probably would’ve given it to me had I asked, but since I didn’t, I knew better than to parade that Boglin around.
For a while, he lived in a drawer, ostensibly so my brother wouldn’t see him, but really because I loved pulling that drawer open to tuck my Boglin into his makeshift pillowcase bed. I treated that thing like the frog version of Gizmo.
PS: If you weren’t aware, the original creator and designer of Boglins, Tim Clarke, snagged the rights and is now selling them again. They’re extremely faithful to the originals, too. Same “cage boxes” and everything. Looks like Tim is having success with the relaunch, as you can even find the new ones at Walmart. He’s even brought back the beloved Halloween editions! Read More…