retro

The Hammer Vault is a must own for Hammer Film fans. The book consists mostly of various publicity material for Hammer films from as far back as “The Quatermass Xperiment” (1954) to to as recently as “Let Me In.” (2009) Many of the Hammer’s films from this era get coverage with a page or two of photos, memos, and posters, along with a couple of paragraphs talking about the production and giving some fun to read trivia.

The pictures and writing are great — Marcus Hearn really knows what he is talking about and writes about Hammer in a way that makes it accessible even to those who are not deeply immersed the the mythology of the studio and its works. In other words he is concise and informational, while at the same time not “dry”.

The quality of the book (photos, paper and binding) is high like most Titan books I have picked up. With its brightly illustrated cover it is suitable for the bookcase or the coffee table.

After finishing this book, I can walk away saying I certainly learned a lot about Hammer. I am not sure I would or can label myself an expert on Hammer studios yet, but I am happy to report that “The Hammer Vault” has gotten me one step closer to that label. If you want to get that label yourself, pick up The Hammer Vault today.

This gem was put together by Arist Abraham Lopez as a commission. According to Lopez here was the summary of the commission:

Egon and Janine from the Ghostbusters cartoon flirting with each other, set in the 80′s with them being in high school.

A brilliant idea for a commission and the results are perfect.

Some might laugh, but how many of you have spent a lonely Saturday Evening contemplating this very thing? I could never muster the skill to pull it off myself. Maybe I needed better controllers? I think it requires more coordination than I can bring to the table. So I will just stick to one player Axis and Allies.

[via] MeFi

With the odd combination of Bugs Bunny and the Monkees, how can you not buy some Kool-Aid?

The Voyager missions started sending back amazing photos of our solar system right about the time I was old enough to understand what they were. Previously, cameras had given us somewhat grainy views of our neighbors in space, so it’s hard to imagine a time when most of what everyone saw of the heavens (in any detail) were left up to an artist’s interpretations. Some stunning examples of this can be seen in this collection of chromo-lithographs that depict planets, comets, the moon and sun.

All are based on astronomical observations, and the results are stunning. It’s pretty amazing how detailed and accurate many of them are, given that we now have hi-res photos of many of the same subjects to compare them to.I’d love to have a framed set of these.

View the whole set at LiveScience.com.

maraid posted a photo:

I was obsessed with “The Feud” as a kid and I plant myself on the couch whenever I can catch it in reruns on GSN. Sadly the timing of those showings are not always good for my schedule, so I decided to pick up a treat for myself with All-Star Family Feud on DVD.

This compilation, while not of the highest quality visually, is extremely entertaining. It takes all the shows where they had the casts of other shows face off against one another and puts them into one highly watchable collection. In addition to host Richard Dawson, a star in his own right, you will see on this DVD:

• Petticoat Junction vs. Leave it to Beaver
• Real People vs. WKRP in Cincinnati
• Love Boat vs. WKRP in Cincinnati
• Soap vs. Real People
• Hollywood Walk of Fame Special, Part 1
• Your Hit Parade vs. The Brady Bunch
• Petticoat Junction vs. The Brady Bunch, Part 2
• The Jeffersons vs. Dallas
• The Jeffersons vs. Dukes of Hazzard
• Dallas vs. It’s a Living
• Eight is Enough vs. Soap
• Richard’s Rosebuds vs. Debbie’s Dudes
• Eight is Enough vs. General Hospital
• Soap vs. All My Children
• Dallas vs. One Day at a Time
• Dallas vs. Eight Is Enough
• Welcome Back Kotter vs. Barney Miller
• Welcome Back Kotter vs. Soap
• Barney Miller vs. Eight is Enough
• Soap vs. Three’s Company, Part 2
• Soap vs. Three’s Company, Part 1
• Love Boat vs. Eight is Enough
• Dukes of Hazzard vs. Angie
• Dukes of Hazzard vs. the Waltons
• The Ropers vs. Angie
• Petticoat Junction vs. The Brady Bunch, Part 1
• Adventure Heroines vs. Adventure Heroes, Part 2
• Adventure Heroines vs. Adventure Heroes, Part 1
• Richard’s Rosebuds vs. Phyllis’ Fighters
• Wilt’s Wows vs. Debbie’s Dudes
• Gilligan’s Island vs. Hawaiian Eye
• Family vs. Welcome Back Kotter
• Welcome Back Kotter vs. The Love Boat
• Eight is Enough vs. Family
• One Day at a Time vs. Benson
• Heroes vs. Villains, Part 3
• Heroes vs. Villains, Part 2
• Heroes vs. Villains, Part 1
• Family vs. Eight is Enough
• Family vs. What’s Happening
• Love Boat vs. Eight is Enough
• Hollywood Walk of Fame Special, Part 2
• Your Hit Parade vs. Leave it to Beaver

What a walk down memory lane! If your a fan of The Feud or just like classic TV, this is a must own disc and for under 10 bucks a great way to bass an evening. So pick up All-Star Family Feud on DVD today.

When this ad ran in the Toronto Star in 1984, the VIC-20 had already been out for almost 4 years. While other computers were more powerful, 60 bucks Canadian for this machine was a bargain in my opinion. Especially when you could load up on carts fro $7 a piece.

[via] reinap

I’m not sure if this NYC lobby from back in the 1980s looks more like a location from Soylent Green or Logan’s Run! I am sure though that Steven Siegel captured a beautiful moment in time.

[Via] io9

I’ll be honest with you, I love the design of the original Trek’s USS Enterprise. Love it. I would spend most of my time in my classes in Elementary school doodling images of the Enterprise blowing Klingon ships to fiery bits of space debris.

Then Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan hit the Silver Screen…and suddenly I found I was obsessed with the USS Reliant, and that obsession continues today. I can look to my right and and see the miniature version of that Miranda class vessel that I have resting atop my PC tower.

What I do not have however is this awesome 10 – 15,000 Lego brick piece of art by Christer Nyberg! Check out these awesome shots from his Flickr Page.

For those of you who enjoyed The Lethal Ladies Collection, I have great news. Shout! Factory has released another triple feature of adult themed b-movie action with Lethal Ladies 2. That’s right you get more “lethal” over the top late night movie action served up not once, not twice but three times.

If you think you got your fill with the first set, you are wrong, the films contained in this set are just as good as the first. The are…

The Arena Kidnapped by Roman soldiers, four beautiful women must battle for their lives in The Arena . . . while attempting to beat the Romans at their own game. Starring Pam Grier and Margaret Markov (The Hot Box and Black Mama, White Mama with Grier). Directed by Steve Carver (Big Bad Mama and Capone).

Cover Girl Models They’re fast. They’re beautiful. They’re deadly . . . they have to be. A fashion photography assignment teams three American models and inadvertently plunges them into the mystery and danger of international espionage in Cover Girl Models. When an invaluable roll of microfilm is sewed into one of the girls’ fashion gowns, they are drawn into the violence and intrigue of a spy-vs.-counterspy conspiracy. Starring Tara Strohmeier (The Great Texas Dynamite Chase), Pat Anderson (TNT Jackson), Lindsay Bloom (H.O.T.S.) and Vic Diaz.

Fly Me A group of martial arts assassins board a passenger plane. Once in the air, the group terrorizes the passengers and insists that the plane be rerouted to another destination. But they picked the wrong plane to hijack, as these stewardesses don’t just serve meals and beverages — their hands and feet are lethal weapons! Starring Pat Anderson (Cover Girl Models), Lenore Kasdorf (Missing In Action) and Vic Diaz.

As I mentioned with the first Lethal Ladies collection, these movies are very “adult” (again, in content not story), so I would not pick these up for the kids.

Any of the three would be worth owning on their own, but Shout! Factory has wisely packaged them together, for a cheesy action packed triple feature. Order your copy from either Amazon or Shout! Factory.

Ted Parker is an international man of mystery, whose work exhibits extreme joy in the most strange and comical of situations. This illustration, titled Jungle Coffee, was created to promote The Village Coffee and Music in Utrecht, Netherlands. Regardless of the subject matter, whether it be dogs smoking, lions dancing, or people and animals engaging in pure rowdiness together, one thing is for sure - Ted’s work is sure to put a big smile on your face.

Tim Lahan Sac Magique Brecht Vandenbroucke

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I was 15 years old and hanging out on the “Nerd” rung of the high-school social ladder. I could run a computer, played D&D and had an unhealthy obsession with toys, especially Star Wars action figures. Lets set the record straight, I have no regrets about how I spent one minute of my high-school years. I loved them all and would do it again, I’m sure most would call me a lucky one.

In grade 9 I met the tortured soul of my story, a guy I called “Speedy”. Speedy was a good dude, loved comics, music, toys, but Speedy was a Dun!.Dun.!.Dun! “JOCK”. He was a master basketball player. So many of his social interests mixed like oil and water. I got to know Speedy goofing around in Math class, then started secretly hanging out with him. We never hung out except for secret runs to the comic shop or checking Walmart for toys. Did I hold this secret friend ship against him? No, not in the slightest.

We just had a great time hanging out doing stuff he never got to do his jock friends. One day we were talking comics and action figures that we wish mom hadn’t sold at garage sales, or been desecrated by younger siblings. I said to Speedy that one thing I wish I still had was my Jabba the Hutt.

I know you know what I’m talking about. It was awesome! A big plastic Jabba with sitting stone, pit door action, ornamental hooka and small salacious crumb action figure. It might have had less or more accessories, my memory is not perfect, but I am sure it was one of my fave toys and I had sadly lost it over the years.

Days back then passed like they tended to do except for this one amazing day. Speedy corners me at my Locker and says “Bro, this is for you.” I take the plastic bag he is eagerly jabbing at me and look inside and to my amazement I pull out a Jabba the Hutt figurine. Now, no stone base with pitt door action or other accessories but the big green slug himself. Of course I am in shock but then ask the obvious first question, where he had gotten this, and secondly why was it caked in dirt?

Turns out when Speedy was 8 he had and his friends had buried Jabba under his friend’s house porch and as kids do, forgot where he had left it, but us talking about it had jogged his memory! That Jabba the Hutt figure had been in the ground for 7 years! Not only did he dig it up, but his friend hadn’t lived there in years, so he had to get the new owners permission to dig under the porch.

Speedy, thanks for the Jabba and proof the Hutts can live at least 7 years underground.

It’s about time we played through the venerable Italian platformer. Not only do we hop & stomp through the original NES classic, but we also pop in the 16-bit remake from Super Mario All Stars.

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Okay, I know this thing is not an official “fry caddy”, but could you imagine? You show up in the lunchroom, this bag in tow, you unzip and french fry steam wafts across the table. You co-workers scratch their head and jealously watch as you dive into 5 pounds of warm crisp french fries.

But wait, oh no! You forgot your “ketchup caddy!”

[via] bluwmongoose

Herself the Elf was a short-lived 1980s toyline created by American Greetings/Mattel and targeted at young girls. If your not familiar with the line, it was similar to Strawberry Shortcake or Rainbow Brite. It was a fairly well thought out release. In addition to a series of high quality dolls, they also released animated cartoons, books and records.

I spot the toys at flea markets and online from time to time and even in box they are pretty reasonable. The books on the other hand are a complete bargain. I have seen them online in decent shape available for just about the cost of shipping. The animated adventures of Herself have not been released on DVD yet, but if you have a trusted VCR still laying around, you can pick up a copy on VHS (although because of rarity, the price continues to climb).

Herself is oddly forgotten by people who grew up in the 1980s, which is a shame. It was a decently crafted toyline and in my opinion was certainly at least the equal of its contemporaries. I guess it just comes down to numbers and Herself was just one toy too many. Still some people like potato farm girl are helping to keep the memory of Herself alive.

I love looking at collections of toys, TV, video game and movie memorabilia, but I also have a soft spot for the colorful cookware made by Pyrex. Not only is it wonderful to look at, but it is also useful. Which is why whenever I get the opportunity to pick up some for my kitchen at a reasonable price, I do. A great thing about this type of collecting, especially for new collectors or people who are not hardcore chefs is that you might already have the appropriate space for showcasing your collection still available, you kitchen cupboards (although some of us may have already filled them with action figures). Now my collection is small, but the web is filled with people who are living with large collections of this miracle of the modern age. Here are a few of my favorite online collections.

[via] tylersaunt

[via] Julie Le Venhagen!

[via] Elizabeth Ellis

[via] sockmonkeyrevolt

[via] Tuttibelle

[via] The Retro Rescuer

[via] Gracie’s Pyrex

[via] tomahawk_sugarboots