ABC Transcription Disc: "Philco Television Spot for 11/24/48" & Bizarre Extras

This is a weird one, so stay with me!

This record is exactly the sort of thing that I can't resist, because usually, things like this are completely unique, historical in some way, and often bizarre on some level.  However, in this case, it was a lot stranger than I even guessed.

First off, this is a 12-inch, one-sided disc.  It's a covered aluminum plate, and has three spindle-holes rather than one (you can see where the other holes are, on the label).  This is the kind of "recordable" disc that was used in transcription machines.  It came in a torn-up manilla sleeve with the Soundcraft logo on it:

At this site, you can see scans of a Soundcraft brochure from this time period, that even shows all the equipment it took to actually cut such records, which is pretty fascinating in itself.  (The same sorts of machines were installed in some department stores, allowing customers to pay to cut their own smaller records in booths.  A recording restored for the Beatles Anthology was one of these types--in fact, I have one such record that is speech-only that we will get to in the near future.)

And now, on to the content of this record.  From this disc, we know that this process was used to distribute some radio ads.  But wait, there's more! This record contains three distinct bands, each locked from the other.

The first band is the content described on the label.  It's a 58-second ad for the Philco television sets, recorded at 33 and 1/3 speed, and it's interesting on its own.  What is bugging the life out of me, though, is who the announcer is.  It's a voice that's familiar to me, and my brain is telling me that it's an announcer from some OTR (Old Time Radio) show that I've heard quite a bit of.  I even went back and tried to sample episodes of several shows, but announcers tended to come and go, and I couldn't find him.  To quote Rocky the Flying Squirrel, "That voice! Where have I heard that voice?!" If anyone can solve this mystery for me, I'd be forever indebted!

At this point, the record comes to a dead stop at a locked band.  It was evident there was more content, and I lifted the needle to allow it to travel to the next section.  It was increeeeeeedibly slow, so it dawned on me that we were in 78 rpm territory, which I corrected.  The DJ announces an episode of "Challenge of the Yukon," (which was about the famous Sgt. Preston of the Yukon, and his dog, Yukon King).  The episode begins, but we hear only the introduction, which sounds off-line.  Then, the record hits another locked band.

Jumping the needle to the third and last section, still at 78 speed, everything gets even weirder.  The same DJ seems to be messing around [I made a full transcript, and it is included with the file], doing time-checks, random announcements, and.......barking like a dog (who he then begins talking to).  It's quite bizarre.  The whole disc is over in just under five minutes.  

My theory on all of this is that, in this case, the radio spots that a station received (in this case, purporting to be WENR in Chicago) were delivered on partially-used recording discs, and some supervisor told a young, potential radio announcer to use the remaining space to practice at his own leisure.  That's the only thing that really makes sense for all of this!

Anyway, it's an interesting curio that probably shouldn't even exist, and that is just the sort of thing we will spotlight around here!

LINK:  ABC Transcription Disc 11/24/48

UPDATE (Nov. 2022): The amateur [and interesting] part of the above has been further improved with Audacity, and sounds better than before.  Ain't technology grand? Also, a companion disc has been located, with more of the same person messing around, and it's equally nutty.  See it HERE.

GODZILLA ATTACKS LOS ANGELES "Transforming Head Playset" Watch (Nelsonic, 1995)

 

Sometimes I look to see what the most-read posts are on this site, and it never fails that one or more of my articles on the Trendmasters "Transforming Head" Godzilla playsets from the 1990's are in the top ten.  These seven playsets are among the greatest of Trendmasters' Godzilla accomplishments. [There is a post spotlighting each one; just search "Micro Playset" and you'll find them--the first one is here!] Made during the heyday of "Micro Machines," I always thought Trendmasters outdid their competition with this line.  In fact, some of them are quite rare, and I've been amazed to watch the prices rise on Ebay over the last few years.  

What you may not have known was that there was one additional "transforming head" playset out there...and the bad news is, it's just about as rare as some of the later playsets.  It exists in the form of a digital wristwatch from the Nelsonic company, from 1995, bearing the title "Godzilla Attacks Los Angeles."

Now, before we go any farther, you'll notice that this is packaged to fit in with Trendmasters' then-current KING OF THE MONSTERS line.  Outside, you'll also notice that the Godzilla head is a scaled-down replica of the other playsets, that matches completely. Inside, it's actually a shrunken-down version of the "Mechagodzilla in Los Angeles" playset from Trendmasters' first wave [you can compare the full-size one in this post!], down to the Hollywood sign and the stripey camouflage on the storage tank! Because of all of these things, I have no doubt that Trendmasters did the actual manufacturing on the "toy" part of this watch for Nelsonic.  

This is, without a doubt, the tiniest Godzilla in my entire collection.  You can see that he sticks into a peg on the playset, but you can imagine that he would be easily lost (by the way, that's the actual digital watch screen, to the right of the little G)!

So there you have it; this little cousin is the unofficial 8th in the great series of Godzilla micro-playsets.  It's endearing, ingenious, and completely impractical, all at the same time.  They very rarely come up on Ebay, but if you're desperate to have one, there is a foreign-packaged version from Italy (with identical contents) that does pop up from time to time!

EDIT: Here are some opened images that I found in my archive (from an old Ebay auction):

DINOSAURS! (Leo the Lion, 1966)

I suppose the actual title of this record is:  "DINOSAURS! A Dramatic Version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's THE LOST WORLD Featuring Basil Rathbone....." but where do you stop?

It doesn't matter, because mark my words, my friends, this is great stuff.  This record is so well-made, it would seemingly belittle it to classify it as a children's record.  However, to be fair, it comes from an era where solid entertainment could be made for kids without feeling the need to completely dumb everything down to levels of absurdity.

Featuring a delightfully over-the-top performance by the great Basil Rathbone, as well as the also-great Peter Fernandez (whose name should be familiar to you from Speed Racer, let alone the great American dubs of Godzilla/Toho movies done at Titra/Titan studios), this is a top-notch effort that will impress you.  It even stays overwhelmingly faithful to the book, although simplifying the plot (also there is one minor change that surprised me--without spoiling the story, it has to do with the proof that the group brings back from the Lost World) somewhat, which is obviously required when you reduce a novel to a 38-minute audio story.   The script, sound effects, and performances are all enthralling.  Even when brief educational factoids are thrown in about a specific dinosaur, it doesn't hinder the plot (if you can believe that)! I enjoyed it immensely, and I think any kaiju and/or dinosaur fan will too!

LINK:  Dinosaurs! (not the Jim Henson sitcom with the baby)

Play-Doh Star Wars Action Set (Kenner, 1979)

From 1979, here is the great Play-Doh Star Wars Action Set.  If you are like me, you have many fond memories of this set.  It's complete, apparently unused, and it only took me four different auctions to finish (vintage Play-Doh cans take some time to find, these days)!

I cleaned the box, repaired one tear with acid-free glue, and also ironed some of it.  This is a trick I learned from a board game collector, using a regular steam iron (with no water in it).  You can achieve some pretty amazing results, especially for the thinner cardboard.  I've certainly never tried corrugated or super-heavy cardboard, but I doubt that would be very effective.

The set from my childhood "lived" at my grandparents' house, so I only got to play with it when I was over there.  Along with an X-Wing fighter, three molds are included, allowing the user to make Darth Vader, R2-D2, Princess Leia, and Luke Skywalker.  There has been some debate over exactly what Darth Vader's weapon is.  It looks like a laser rifle (which Luke also has), but on the box, he is made to hold it like his lightsaber.  I vote for "gun" because, if not, it's the worst lightsaber I've ever seen.

Play-Doh sets usually (and wisely) included a plastic play-mat, and the one for this set is pretty ingenious.  You get a three-quarter, cutaway Death Star to play around in, as well as some space to fly your X-Wing.  Bonus points for including the Dianoga!

The set also includes the famous yellow Play-Doh knife (the other famous tool was the wooden rolling pin, not included in this set).  As I mentioned, the hardest parts to find in completing this set were the vintage cans from the same year.  If you recall, the cans of this era had steel bottoms, and you can hardly find any that aren't rusted to some degree.  I was pretty lucky, but one of the three had a bit of light rust, which I sanded off (NOTE: If you do so, be extremely careful, as the metal is extremely THIN here).  Afterwards, I coated the bottoms of the cans with a rust inhibitor, which is made for treating tools, and which you can buy in any hardware store.  (Another tip, if you go this route, do NOT over-apply, and allow plenty of time to dry, especially if it's cold outside).  After all of this, the cans were ready to be stored safely!

As you can see, I was REALLY excited about this piece, and even had a custom acrylic case made for it! Collectors always make a huge deal about having the original inserts, but the truth is, they can actually do the most damage to your items. When storing old toys like this, the important thing is to make sure that nothing touches the cardboard for long-term storage.  I wrapped each part in acid-free tissue paper (which, if you don't want to order it, can be easily obtained at Container Store).  I didn't mention the original Star Wars booklet, or the small Play-Doh catalog, but these, along with the playmat, were put into comic bags with acid-free boards.  And speaking of the Play-Doh catalog...

If you've never seen this Kenner...product, then you are in for a teat.  (A thousand apologies for that one.  I got carried away.) This was a real thing...somehow...and there was actually a TV commercial for it (see below).  I don't know who thought of this, but it's just weird, no matter how you look at it.  I mean, look at the photo.  The girl is ecstatic, and she's not even getting to do anything.  The boy...is having some sort of moment; I don't even want to know.  

To top it off, it came with powder to make "pretend milk." I have no idea what "pretend milk" is made of, but I assume it was non-toxic, because you know all the little paste-eaters who received this toy were drinking it. Observe in bewilderment:

Introducing THE GODZILLA FILES (Leaping Fox)

 

Happy New Year.  Let's force this to be a better year, right out of the chute.  After just bestowing 22 discs of superhero goodness on you the other day...here are more than 8 of Godzilla perfection!

At the left side of this page is a list of the blog's sub-pages, and the godzilla files is the last one listed.  I'd tell you all the details about this project, but why repeat myself? They are all on the page.  Just click the thing, and enjoy!

This one will probably absolutely be a limited-time offer, so as they say on TV, act now, operators are standing by!

GOJIRA Advertising Balloon from 1954 Discovered!

The original Ebay seller's photo.

Some days, you don't know exactly what you are looking at*.

That was me, earlier this week.  One of my myriad saved Ebay searches yielded the above washed-out photo, which I thought was cool.  The caption stated "Kodachrome Slide, Godzilla Balloon, Osaka, 1950's," which was all the information available.  

Right away I noticed a couple of easy things:  first, the red characters on the banner obviously said "Gojira."  Second, there was a giant Toho logo on top of the building at the left, so it must be a theater.  Therefore, I concluded that this was an advertising campaign for GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN, the 1955 sequel to the original film.  After all, that film has a lot to do with Osaka, so it all just made sense, right?

Nope!  I forwarded the link to Sean Linkenback, author of AN UNAUTHORIZED GUIDE TO GODZILLA COLLECTIBLES (among many others), and good friend to this blog.  He was able to quickly add more information to the investigation.  First, he found another photo of the same theater from the seller's other slides:

After I did a little contrast correction to it, we can see that the name of the theater is the "Umeda Koma Stadium," and it was quite large (this page says the theater is no longer there, having relocated in 2005).  Secondly, and back to the original slide, Sean immediately suspected that the figure in the lower-right was Audrey Hepburn (more on that in a moment).  Next, he was able to find out what the text on the hanging banner said:  "Great Toho proudly announces the science fiction movie of the century GODZILLA."  

Suddenly, we were in completely different territory.  

We know that Toho released GOJIRA, nationwide, in November of 1954...so, why Audrey Hepburn? Because of the hit film SABRINA, which a little research showed, was released in Japan in mid-September! What we were looking at was a hitherto-unknown promotion for the original GOJIRA, and one that as far as I can tell, had never been discussed anywhere! Heck, it's entirely possible that the film hadn't even premiered yet, and the balloon and banner were part of building up hype! And there it was, hidden in a cache of old travel slides, no doubt snapped quickly by a traveling American businessman who was taking in the sights of Osaka and photographing whatever caught his eye.

By the time we'd deduced all these things, the auction was gone (actually ended by the seller as "no longer in stock," so the slide's fate is unknown).  It would've been great to own this piece of history, and it would be equally exciting to know whatever became of the Godzilla balloon itself!  

One silver lining to the whole thing is that I was able to clean up the image quite a bit, remove the watermark, and adjust the contrast and color, restoring it to what it most likely would have looked like originally.  I can't do anything about the slight blur to the photo, but I improved it quite a bit:

It makes me feel a bit like a UFO researcher, blowing up grainy old photos:

Enhanced image of strange object seen flying over the skies of Osaka, Japan, 1954.

_____________________________________________

(*Apologies to English teachers of the past.  I ended a sentence with a preposition, there, but it was for dramatic effect, so it's okay.)

Journey to the Moon (Buddah, 1969)

Here is a fun record that I found this week, and transferred for your enjoyment.  On the (lunar) surface, it appears to be a moon landing documentary, of which there were several issued in 1969.  This is true, but it's the only one that I know of that presents the story interspersed with some interesting rock music, here credited to a group called "Sound of Genesis," (no, nothing to do with Genesis).  In reality, I'm sure this was a conglomerate of studio musicians, but being 1969, there is plenty of electric sitar and synthesizer action to keep you entertained.  

You could make the argument that this record has something of an identity crisis; there is narrative, audio clips, instrumental music, and, sometimes, everything all at once.  However, as someone who has sat through most all of these Moon Fever albums, I have to say this was the most enjoyable of them all.

A couple of trivial factoids for your enjoyment:  

1) The track entitled "Lunar Landing: Moon Plaque" is presented on the front cover as "Moon Plague"! That would have been an interesting direction, indeed!

2) The track "Nineteen Ninety-Nine" was co-written by a young Daryll Hall.

3) The opening track was released as a single, but was credited only to "Genesis" (The more famous Genesis did of course exist at this time, and issued their first album that same year.) Enjoy!

LINK:  Journey to the MOON

The Things That I See (continued)

 We haven't done one of these in quite a while, and, well, even in Virus World, I keep seeing things.  So, let's jump right in.

First off, here is a cool dollhouse-scale miniature of the vintage Ideal Godzilla board game, which I bought from an Ebay seller who crafts these things.  It's very well-detailed, down to the tiny playing pieces in the opening. [Note that, when you start buying the same collectibles that you already own in a different scale, you are then in need of two things:  1)more storage space, and 2)therapy.]

Some gold old thrift-store Engrish.  What strikes me about this photo now is the weird and slightly cool globe thingy in front of the, er, lamp.  Now I wish I'd picked it up and examined it further.

Here is a cool sticker that was actually on a Kingston Trio album that I saw somewhere.  The fortune teller amuses me. "Wait, I see...regret.  No--you'll actually hate this; save your money!"

While we are talking about thrift-store LPs, here is one of those Stereo demonstration records.  These were really popular in the early 1960's, when hi-fi systems were being pushed on the hipsters of the day.  The pseudo-art deco-ness of the cover caught me eye.  I figured it would be fun to experience jet planes and thunderstorms indoors in my own home.  It wasn't.  At all.  The record was completely fried, which, as it turns out, really interferes with your enjoyment of horses randomly neighing.  I was about to toss it, when I saw the listing for side two, which contained disappointing horrors:

Firstly, track one was pigeons.  "In A Hayloft," but whatever, it's pigeons.  That's your lead track. You can open a widow in any large city and hear that.

Now, let your eye drop to track #6.  What was wrong with people back then? "Hey, you know what would be fun for all the groovy hep hi-fi bachelor pad swingin' sound systems? Pigs being massacred." (If you're morbidly curious, like I was:  it's a short track, that sounds exactly like a barn full of pigs, with some voices calling out numbers, followed by one or two ear-piercing squealing shrieks.)

And, for the youth of America, Amazon wants to sell you a wig that commemorates President Ben Franklin.  I mean, he's on money, so that's how you get the title, right?

Here's a sign that was in the restroom at my own work.  Okay, fine, I made this...

This is a colorfully-labeled package of hardware from a furniture kit.  I should've give you some sense of scale, but it was about the size of a burrito.  It's not just that the label looked like it was yelling at me...it's just that I don't like being told what to do.

A photo from an Ebay auction for vintage Mego dolls.  So, it strikes me that this was a, I don't know, mischievous way to pose them, by the seller?  Maybe it's just the nature of my own depraved mind, but it certainly doesn't help Batman's image any. 

So, you know those cheap portable video game systems, that they sell in drugstores, that are made to look like smaller versions of an old Game Gear, or a Wii U gamepad? They advertise hundreds of full-color games, and show photos of delightful clones of early NES games on their packaging.

  

News flash: they are terrible.  I got so desperate and bored on a trip last year, that I bought one, and I figured hey, at the very least, it would be good for a laugh.  Turns out, the laughing was done at my expense, because everything included was mind-numbingly stupid.  

Nothing pictured was included, and, to give you a critical review:  the gameplay fell slightly short of "LED watch game," while game design was slightly worse than that of, oh, "Nokia phone." Most were really weak shooting-type or matching games, but there were one or two fake platformers, such as this gem:  MAGIC JONY (no, it's not "Magic Tony;" that's the guy in the alley behind the drugstore.)  JONY was a flawed, wonky not-quite-platformer...but, why am I trying to describe it to you, when you can just read its gripping story?

Really, though...still better than the Sequel Trilogy.

Finally, in this age of ubiquitous and unrelenting video-conferencing, I leave you with one that will resonate with many of us.  I present to you, Thanos' most embarrassing moment, where he didn't quite end the meeting in time:

GODZILLA'S GANG Hi-Res Logo (Mattel, 1978)

 

For a personal project, I scanned the backing card of an unopened GODZILLA'S GANG figure at high resolution, then meticulously cleaned it up and completely cropped it out in Photoshop. (It killed an evening, let me tell you.)

I figured, this might be useful to somebody around here, so why not add it to the blog? By the way, this is a PNG file with transparency, so it isn't rectangular. (I may or may not have a couple of cool T-Shirts on the way, but you didn't hear that from me.) Enjoy!

Vintage Kenner DAGOBAH ACTION PLAYSET box (1981)

 

Take a look at this Dagobah Playset box, which I acquired recently.  It has an original mailing label from Kenner, who sent it to the purchaser.  As cool as this is, this strikes me as a real Amazon sort of move.  Of course, today, it's even more important to disguise the item you are mailing, so it doesn't get stolen...which is what they make brown paper for.

The big takeaway here, though, is the postal label: $1.86! This would cost, what, like $25 to mail today?!

Monster Zero and Biollante VCD's (Video CD's)

 

Around here, we talk quite a bit about the formats that Godzilla movies have been released on.  My primary interest is in releases from the USA, but today we have a couple of examples of Video CD's (commonly just called VCD's), a format which really didn't take off in the United States.  

VCD's were really what they sounded like.  Without getting too technical, they were CD's that utilized MPEG-1 encoding to present video and audio.  They were playable on computers and DVD players alike, and tended to match their audio cousins in capacity:  the old 74-minute blanks held 74 minutes of VCD content, and 80 minutes for the, well, 80-minute discs.  The main draw was that they were easy to record/encode and could be copied as easily as an audio disc. They were huge in Asian countries, and were quickly eclipsed by the higher quality (and, for the manufacturers, copy protection restraints) of DVD.

Here we have Video CD releases for GODZILLA vs. MONSTER ZERO and GODZILLA vs. BIOLLANTE.  The former is interesting because it utilizes the title, artwork, and design of the 1998 Simitar release here in the USA, which here was obviously licensed to Progress Video for the release in Hong Kong.  Interestingly enough, while this item wasn't sold in America, a very similar one still was (though very sparsely):

There isn't much difference between a VCD and a "DVD-ROM."  Other than that the PC version comes with a launcher or program of some kind.  (If you are keeping score at home, it's not even clear that Simitar released all five of their Godzilla titles this way.  I personally have found DVD-ROM releases for KING OF THE MONSTERS, MONSTER ZERO and GODZILLA vs. THE THING only.)

This BIOLLANTE disc is completely unique, though, and made by the Mei Ah Laser Disc company in Hong Kong. (Apologies for the slight blur--these came to me sealed, and the shrink plus the slight distance from the scanner glass causes some fuzziness.)

On the back, we have the moment that resulted in what was recently called "Biollante Bile" Godzilla in a NECA action figure release.  

VCD's were/are an interesting part of the history of video technology.   For completeness, I should include mention of the Phillips CD-I (which survives in infamy among game historians, since it gave us HOTEL MARIO and a couple of meme-tastic Zelda games) because VCD movies were available for that system...but like their larger relative, the laserdiscs, long movies still meant multiple discs, and interruptions.

For the record, I will admit that around 2001-2002, I dove into the format with full force.  I even purchased a recorder called a "Terapin" and began dumping VHS onto discs by the score, determined this was the successor to tapes.   Bad move.

GODZILLA 2000 Original Ending Card (Tristar VHS Demo, 2000)

 

Say, remember GODZILLA 2000? No, it's not one that I go back to and watch either, really.  It was fun to get another Godzilla movie to appear in American theaters (woah, that was 20 years ago...it wouldn't happen again until SHIN GODZILLA!), but even at the time, the CGI seemed behind the curve.  I'm sure it hasn't aged too well, but it gave us a great Godzilla design, as well as an interesting and fun villain monster in Orga.  I remember really liking the battles, and the part where Orga attempts to swallow Godzilla is unforgettable.

If you were like me, and got to see the film in theaters, you would remember a completely different thing happening at the ending, other than what you can see on VHS/DVD/Blu-Ray/TV airings.  In fact, here is a commenter from IMDB explaining it better than I could:

A year or so ago, I lucked into a demo copy of the U.S. VHS version of the film, made by VDI Multimedia.  The entire demo is time-coded, as below:

Years ago, there had been a YouTube video (not sure if it's still up***) showing the original ending card of the film, and I remembered that it, too, was time-coded. This video was just somebody filming their TV, so it wasn't great quality, but it struck me suddenly that they must have also had a similar demo tape...so, it was time to dig out the VCR that I keep in my garage for emergency purposes, such as this!

And there it was.  Obviously, Toho's request to remove the ending card came after some sample VHS tapes had been made, but there was still time to remove it for the finished product. 

So there you have it.  Not a crucial part of Godzilla history, but an interesting footnote, nonetheless!

***NOTE:  The video is gone, but now there is a much better one, by the great SpaceHunterM (I should've known):