Vlog: Popeye Shredded Bubble Gum!
A new feature is up, covering ten more old comic book ads. Good ones, too. Everything from Game Genies to Brach’s Rocks. Read it.
…or read it after you watch today’s video, in which I examine Popeye Shredded Bubble Gum.
Made in 1981 and likely inspired by Big League Chew, Popeye’s gum has not aged well. The video will prove this. 🙁
Five Random ’80s Action Figures, Part 2!
Okay, so there’s this huge indoor/outdoor flea market in Englishtown that I’ve been going to for like, twenty years now. It’d been a long time since my previous visit, so yesterday afternoon, we drove out to see what treasures awaited.
Turned out, not many treasures awaited. It’s the off season, and we arrived too close to closing time. Most of the outside vendors had already packed up and gone home. The remaning wares were limited. All I remember seeing were screen protectors for iPads in nonexistent sizes, and bootleg Power Ranger figures with nonfunctioning buttons on their groins.
The inside vendors were pretty hit or miss, too. It’s hard to explain, but picture a bunch of horse stables, filled with tiny shops instead of horses. They’re kind of like mini-malls, and the flea market has a bunch of them. We appreciated the heat, but most of the shops were already closed.
Then, just when hope seemed lost, we found this:
The Toy Room. I wasn’t terribly excited at first, because these sorts of shops typically take eBay’s dregs and present them as high value antiques. But, HOLY SHIT, this SO wasn’t that kind of place. It was the most amazing “old toy store” I’ve ever seen, with wares that pushed every single nostalgia button I have. Even the Captain Power button!
You name it, they had it. Star Wars, Transformers and Ninja Turtles were only the tip of the iceberg. It’d be a stretch to say that they had every old toy that ever meant anything to me, but goddamn, they came close.
Here, see for yourselves: Read More…
Vintage Vending #8: Small Parts A’Plenty!
This is a special video edition of Vintage Vending, because I am just so tired of writing.
…though I guess I should write a little, for the sake of Google hits from people searching for “fuzzy bear brooches” and “birds with tools for heads.”
This time, the prize assortment is completely random, and for the most part, yucky. There are some chasers in play, but it’s mostly as if someone raided a kitchen junk drawer and filled a vending machine with its contents. I can’t be the only guy with sea shells and two inch plastic dogs in his junk drawer.
See it all, in video form:
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Below are a few close-ups of the better prizes, because I couldn’t justify standing in the freezing cold for just one photo. Read More…
Crazy Good Multi Movie Horror DVD.
Omigawd. This is the best DVD set ever, or close to it. You’ve seen those “multi movie” horror packs before, and while this is thematically no different, the included movies are JUST SO INCREDIBLY GREAT. This is total instant party material – a cavalcade of cult classics with a heavy lean on cheesy/gory ‘80s slasher fests.
The movies:
1) Waxwork
2) 976-Evil 2
3) Ghoulies III (!!!!!!)
4) The Unholy
5) C.H.U.D. II
6) Chopping Mall
7) Slaughter High
8) Class of 1999
There are a few duds, but there’s also serious, crazy treasure. I only paid eight bucks for this, and there are at least four movies that I would’ve bought alone for that price. Waxwork? Chopping Mall? Slaughter High? If you’ve never seen these movies, put them on your must-watch list. They are somehow just as perfect for lazy Sunday afternoons as late Friday nights. That’s about as high a compliment as you can pay a horror movie. Read More…