Godzilla & King Kong Aurora Model Kits Retailer Order Form! (Aurora, 1964)

A quick one today, but the image speaks for itself. Here is an original retailer order form (measuring 8.5 x 11 inches) that is announcing the 1964 King Kong and Godzilla Aurora model kits, which will run you the princely sum of a buck-forty-nine apiece!

This piece has an even cooler story in its provenance.  I purchased this from one of the top Aurora model collectors in the world, and it actually came from the personal collection and estate of Andy Yanchus (1944-2021).  Yanchus was a colorist at Marvel Comics for 17 years (he even colored the AMAZING SPIDER-MAN issue that was the Hobgoblin's first appearance!), but before that, he actually worked for Aurora for over 10 years, designing kits and rising to the rank of Aurora Project Manager.  As you would expect, he left Aurora with a huge collection of artifacts and artwork.

This is an awesome piece with its connection to Godzilla history already, but knowing the "rest of the story" makes it even better!

Godzilla DOOM ISLAND Spacegodzilla (and carded figures) Trendmasters, 1997

 

I recently added this beauty to my collection, completing my set of carded DOOM ISLAND action figures (which is what Trendmasters referred to as "6-inch action figures," even though they are really closer to 5).  

If you don't know the story, DOOM ISLAND was the third and final Godzilla line made by Trendmasters, which unfortunately was cancelled before it could be completely realized. What was finished was never officially sold in the United States, as retailers like Wal-Mart simply passed on the line, signaling that the Trendmasters Godzilla line had run its course.  It's too bad, because the premise of the line was incredible: Godzilla and friends fighting dinosaurs!

Six carded figures were produced and packaged, which was good and bad--on the one hand, they were the sculpts we had seen previously,  in the KING OF THE MONSTERS and GODZILLA WARS lines...and now with no option for sound...but on the other, all of them were now improved with different paint, and accentuated by a dark wash, which made them look super-cool. (The two Godzillas still retained their battery-powered "Atomic Plasma Eyes," though.)

Here is a high-resolution scan of the backing card, which shows lots of amazing entries in this line, both made and unmade (some of these exist only as prototypes):

We have taken in-depth looks at the four "Battle Armor" figures on this site before, which you can view here:

Battle Armor Godzilla

Battle Armor Kumonga

Battle Armor Mecha King Ghidorah

Battle Armor Anguirus

Back to the six carded figures, they were: Godzilla, Supercharged Godzilla, Baragon, Megalon, Varan, and Spacegodzilla.  For some reason, you will see an occasional Doom Island Godzilla appear for sale, but the others are very hard to come by--especially Varan and SpaceG!

I had custom acrylic cases built for mine, so I could hang them on the wall:

If you want to know lots more about the DOOM ISLAND line, check out our Guide to Trendmasters Godzilla Products 1994-97, where you can see concept art, prototypes, and much more!

Promotional Calendar (Hanna-Barbera Productions, 1978) Godzilla! Super Friends! ........Godzooky.

 

Who knew, but in December of 1978, Hanna-Barbera sent out promotional calendars as gifts, which were printed on 11 x 14 glossy paper, and bound at the top with a green comb, the type of which is still used today. We can obviously spot our favorite kaiju right there on the front, inside of a giant stocking (I mean a GIANT stocking) with everyone else!

Oh, and Godzooky is also there.

Let's jump in, and take a look at the contents!

January shows us YOGI'S SPACE RACE, a short-lived attempt to space-ify some HB characters in the wake of Star Wars, which is what everyone else was doing too.  It was also one of those Saturday-morning shows that was part of a "programming block," (in this case, 90 minutes) that included some other features we are going to see shortly.

February's subject might be unknown to you, but JANA OF THE JUNGLE was 1/2 of the original GODZILLA POWER HOUR, and did not go over at all. It's pretty obscure, but episodes are on the YouTubes.

March and April are even more obscure, if that's even possible! GALLOPING GHOST was originally a segment of YOGI'S SPACE RACE, and was later given half of a show, combined with THE BUFORD FILES (hold on for that one).

May is the main attraction, of course. This is a pretty well-used piece of promotional artwork for the series, but the composition is sort of odd, the more you look at it.  It almost seems like a paste-up. Godzilla's image is at a weird angle, and then Godzooky is just sort of tucked into the back.

For June, we have DINKY DOG, and I have no memory of this one whatsoever.  Wikipedia tells me it was part of THE ALL-NEW POPEYE HOUR, and later spun off to its own show.  It was also Hanna-Barbera's first show produced in Australia.

As previously mentioned, THE BUFORD FILES (which I don't remember either) was part of YOGI'S SPACE RACE.

August, however, is pretty special, and my second-favorite page in this calendar.  Not only was Saturday morning my introduction to Godzilla, but Super Friends was very important to me, and I didn't miss it. The 1979 season of the show would've been WORLD'S GREATEST SUPERFRIENDS, which was a good year!

September is SCOOBY-DOO, and if you can sort out the million permutations and combinations of Scooby-Doo shows that have aired over the decades, you are a better man than I.  I will point out that for the 1977-78 season, CAPTAIN CAVEMAN AND THE TEEN ANGELS was shown in the same 2-hour block, which brings us to October.  Do you remember kids running around the playground yelling "Captaaaaaain Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaavemaaannnnnnn!"???

We wrap up the year with two more easy ones.  Huckleberry Hound would've been seen on LAFF-A-LYMPICS about this time, and A FLINTSTONE CHRISTMAS was a prime-time TV special in 1977.

As a bonus, here is the original outer envelope that the calendar was mailed in!

Note the extra artwork up by the postage--9 years old by this time, Scooby-Doo was already the ambassador and symbol of Hanna-Barbera:

You may be interested to know, just in case you save and printout these calendar pages, they will be perfectly good to use again in the years 2029, 2035, 2046...and so on! Enjoy!

A Journey To The Center Of The Earth (Leo The Lion Records, 19xx) Rare LP!

 

Here is A JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, with no Rick Wakeman to be found anywhere.  This is another classic from Leo the Lion Records, which was MGM's kid record label from the mid-60's until the mid-70's.  Among the usual kiddie fare in their library are some real gems, including "The Official Adventures Of..." records, which include Superman, Batman (x2), The Green Hornet, Flash Gordon, and more, as well as the super-cool DINOSAURS! LP with Basil Rathbone that you can enjoy at this post. 

This LP is actually much more than the title implies, containing dramatic condensations of 4 different classics, rounded out with THE TIME MACHINE, THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON, and WAR OF THE WORLDS....oddly enough, despite Jules Verne getting the title of the entire record, 75 percent of the stories were by H.G. Wells! All four of the books had been turned into movies by this point, too, so why elevate one above the others? You'd think the LP would've had a generic title like "THE GREATEST STORIES OF SCI-FI" or something...well, it was the 60's, so maybe THE GROOVIEST STORIES OF SCI-FI? ...No? Okay.

Apparently this is a rare one, because it's not on the YouTubes, or even on Ebay in the last seeable months.  I found this while out of state at a flea market, and luckily picked it up.  Enjoy!

LINK:  A JOURNEY TO THE (not Rick Wakeman) CENTER OF THE EARTH

Battlestar Galactica I.D. SET Rack Toy (Larami Corp, c. 1978)

 

Well, this is weird! This came from the very same Game Xchange store that the first Battlestar rack toy we looked at (back in October) did, so it must've been from the same owner! Well, either way, keep them coming, mysterious benefactor, and I will keep buying them.

If you are familiar with rack toys, then you know that the "I.D. Wallet" was one of the perennial staples of the genre, along with "shaving set," "flash light," "rubber band gun," and "flying disc (or launching flying disc)." Basically, you took whatever cheap toy was being produced, and slapped the sticker of the week on it, be it LAND OF THE LOST or LOVE BOAT. It mattered not!

Here is a better look at the included card (which helpfully pictures.....the Earth. Thanks!)  This type of toy actually had a longer lifespan than many of the other rack toys, in that it had some ongoing play-value, and probably outlasted its cousins.  I definitely would've run around the playground flashing this thing!

One other interesting point about this one:  when you first look at it, it appears the "CAPTAIN" insignia is stuck to the wallet, but it dawned on me that it makes no sense, because if you folded the wallet, it would be on the inside.  Then I took a closer look:

Upon closer inspection, you can see that it's actually a clip-on badge, stuck inside the package with clear tape! Well, duh! I guess I should have known that.  

Maybe I can continue to get lucky! If any Battlestar Galactica Shaving Kits or handcuffs show up, you can be sure they will turn up here!

Playskool American Bricks #848 SPIDER-MAN Playset (1977)

 

Here is a super-cool playset that was unknown to me, but BOY would I have loved this as a kid.  It immediately struck me as a miniature "Marvel World," which was a 1975 playset made by AMSCO:

Marvel World was advertised in comics of the day, and for the first time ever, it gave you a PLAYSET featuring 34 Marvel characters, the Daily Bugle, the Baxter Building, Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum, Peter Parker's apartment building, and much, much more. Today this playset is super rare and commands high prices, because, hey, it was cardboard, after all.

Little did I know, I was right about today's playset being a mini-Marvel World!  Turns out, both Amsco AND American Bricks, maker of today's playset, were bought out by Milton Bradley in the late 1960's, and as a result, our Spider-Man playset actually shares quite a bit of artwork (and character designs) with Marvel World! Sweet!

Included here are the Baxter Building, the Daily Bugle, an airport, laboratory (in reality the INSIDE of the Baxter Building), etc....but the catch is that you can't build them all at once, necessarily. Unless your mom goes and gets you more American Bricks!

Here are the contents of the box.  The only thing I am missing is an "axle brick" to hold the wheels, and as the vehicles they want you to make are real dumb, I don't think it's a problem.  

What even is this?

Before we go any farther, I should explain the construction method a little.  The "wall segment" bricks have slots inside of them, which allow you to insert heavy cardstock panels into them.  There are nine panels, but they are double-sided (another reason you can't build everything at once, as you have to plan ahead to portion them out correctly).  The obvious problem with this, of course, is that no matter how heavy the cardstock is, eventually it's going to break down and start to shred from use....and then there is the age group involved with this building toy, which means their survival is tenuous at best.

Luckily, mine are in really good shape! Here is the box insert, which is as much instructions as you are going to get:

So, now the cool part.  Here is what I was able to build!

AIR CONTROL? "You fools! Doom will Control all of the Air!"

This is as tall as the set allows for the Baxter Building. Interestingly, some of this plastic tends to warp over time, especially the white-pigmented pieces for some reason, so they don't always sit flush.  But close enough.

By being creative with the parts supply, I was able to build a Daily Bugle, apartment building, and another smaller structure, which gives us a city scene.

This playset gives you 12 characters--about a third of Marvel World.  The bigger playset actually has an awesome Green Goblin that has Harry Osborne on the reverse side! I wish that had been included here.  Speaking of, here they all are:

They all have little stands like board game pawns.  The problem with this is, it's quite difficult to balance these on the spiky tops of the bricks! If the stands had been interlocking with the "stud" surface of the bricks, it would've been much better.  As it is, there is lots of toppling over.

And finally, here is the artwork with the included 9 panels:

First group: front

First group: back

Second group: front

Second group: back

You can see a problem by looking at these panels.  For example, there are two "laboratory" artworks on the same piece of cardboard...plus, if you want an "Airport" door (which looks like the front of the Baxter Building, actually), then you have "laboratory" artwork on the other side. In other words, you are expected to be happy with your building looking correct from the front only.

All of this doesn't matter, anyway, because you may be shocked to know that the characters do not actually fit inside of the buildings. Nope, they can't stand inside of the pre-determined wall heights.  I mean, good grief, with Lego, we could just add another layer of bricks.  Oh well. It doesn't matter, I have something I thought I'd never have: my own mini-Marvel World!

Believe it or not, this appears to be the only Marvel set that American Bricks made.  (Also note that, although it is very much a general Marvel Comics set, it is titled as SPIDER-MAN!) Isn't it mind-blowing to think about, from today's perspective, that this wasn't just part of a wave of 15 different sets at one time? No matter what anybody ever tells you, things really WERE much simpler back then.

The Lufkin Home Recordings (1942-51) A Trove of Cardboard Record Treasures!

 

You know what we haven't done in a long time around here? Some--as one reader so aptly named it--"left field archaeology!" So here is an end-of-year-holiday-of-your-choice gift that I have been sitting on!

In 2024, I was exploring a record store that had taken up shop in the labyrinthine basement of an historic old hotel, and buying an armload of records, when I suddenly dug up a cache of dusty old cardboard records (which we have covered every so often on this site. most notably in this post of "Self-Recorded 78s") in a bag...14 in all! I knew right away that it was my mission to restore them, and offered the guy 20 bucks for the stack.

You can read more about this in the post I just linked, but in short, companies like Wilcox-Gay actually made portable, suitcase-style recorders that allowed you to cut a (in this case, plastic-coated cardboard) record! More common were the vending machine-style kiosks, which allowed you to speak into a receiver, make a 1-minute or so record, and instantly drop it into the mail!

I doubt many people had access to the portable models, especially in the mid-40s, but I am sure businesses purchased them (later models cut shellac-covered metal discs, and were used for dictation and auditions). Somehow, the main characters in our story, John and Storrie (?) Lufkin, had access to one, and it looks like John got it out every time there was a gathering in his home, for at least seven or so years. 

The blanks varied in size, were made by tons of manufacturers, were cut at 78 rpm, and were never made to stand up to repeated playing with heavy steel needles of the day.  All the ones in this group are 6.5 inches, except for one 8-inch recording, but they came in all sizes.  The 6.5 inch size allowed for roughly 2 minutes of recording, and you could stop and start, which would create a new band each time.

So, what exactly was ON these 14 discs? Someone's family history, is what....as well as a few surprises that I wasn't ready for.  You will notice in the photo above that model pictured that it included an AM radio, and now I know how Lufkin recorded several partial songs of the day.  This blew my mind, that somebody in the 1940's was sitting listening to the radio, and racing to record it, the way I used to have a cassette tape ready as a kid when a song I wanted came on! 

These records are in the order they were in as I restored them, so they aren't in chronological order, but as you listen, you will piece together elements of the family's lives.  Particularly interesting is the "Graduation Night" disc from 1944, where the Lufkin daughter and her cousin prepare to go out on the town, and John Lufkin is excited about the D-Day Invasion just occurring! 

Unfortunately, I have had to leave a few of these out--some are just two scratchy excerpts of popular songs, and there is no point in sharing them here, when you could retrieve the actual full recordings with a couple of clicks if you cared.  The OTHER reason is...well, I chickened out at sharing a couple of discs where they are drinking with friends and decide it's a good idea to tell bawdy (and even racist) jokes! It's your grandparents, "after dark." Hide the children!

So, here are the contents of these amazing discs:

DISC #01 : Tommy Dorsey - Black Magic / Moonlight Becomes You (sourced from AM radio) excluded from download

DISC #02: "Time Waits Frank M?n" / Post-D-Day Message to the people of France (perhaps General Eisenhower speaking?) [sourced from AM radio]

DISC #03: "Graduation June 1944" (Date is given as June 13, 1944.  A family celebration of graduation night for two cousins, Ruthie (Ruth Virginia Zimmerman) and Barbara (Lufkin), including members of the Zimmerman and Lufkin families (the mothers are sisters). The father encourages the girls to speak, and we hear well-wishes from mothers ("Mrs. Zimmerman, from Riverside"), grandmother, and aunts. The father mentions being proud, and that the June 6th D-Day Invasion had just occurred the previous week.  The girls leave to go out on the town. One of the mothers advises them: "don't cut too many capers."

DISC #04: "STORIES" (No date given; the parents (Lufkins?) from the other discs host several friends for drinking and poker, and decide to take turns telling bawdy (and even quite racist!) jokes on both sides.) excluded from download for obvious reasons

DISC #05: "October 22, 1944" (A married couple drop by to visit the Lufkins, who were already hosting another couple for dinner.  Side 2 is made up of one of the women singing "Embracable You," a capella for 3 different bands.)

DISC #06: "FROSSELLS & LUFKINS NOV. 14 1942" / "PRESIDENT'S SPEECH" (November 14, 1942. The Frossells visit the (John & Story/Storrie) Lufkin home.  Side 2 is an excerpt of an FDR speech from a radio source.

DISC #07: December 31, 1950, New Year's Eve for 1951.  Another party at the Lufkin house ("Johnny & Story/Storrie").  Side 1 begins with the group singing "Auld Lang Syne" and sharing well-wishes for the New Year.  Side 2 continues their comments. The latest recording in the group, chronologically.

DISC #08: Bing Crosby - Dearly Beloved / White Christmas (AM radio source) excluded from download (you are welcome!)

DISC #09: Both sides sourced from radio broadcast of a war correspondent giving an account of the June 6, 1944 D-Day invasion of Normandy.

DISC #10: Bing Crosby - I Walk Alone / unknown - Cool Water (AM radio broadcast) excluded from download, extremely dull

DISC #11: "Fred Waring / NELL Jan. 27" (The "Fred Waring" side is from a radio broadcast of a choral performance of a wartime song about going home, briefly concluding with announcer.  The "Nell" side is what's interesting here:  a gathering at the Lufkin home ("from the Lufkin residence on L Avenue"), where Nell (who calls it "Radio Station NELL") tries to get Mrs. Lufkin to talk.  She isn't interested; "that's all.")

DISC #12: "People Say We're In Love / How Sweet You Are" sourced from AM radio and boring.  excluded from download

DISC #13: "Southern Moon / Night Before Christmas" sourced from AM radio excluded from download (yeccchhh)

DISC #14: (Couples partying at the Lufkin home, singing "How Dry I Am" and "Wedding Bells Are Breaking Up That Old Gang Of Mine." The reverse (unnumbered) side had a damaged beginning, but the side is almost completely silent (even though it has grooves), as if the microphone was disconnected.  At the extreme end of this side, some voices are heard, but time has run out and it ends in the normal locked groove.

And there you have it.  Each disc required some careful cleaning, and lots of work to deal with damage, remove as much surface noise as possible, and bring out the best possible sound (remember too, these things were recorded with a pretty lackluster built-in microphone.) There are scans of both sides of each disc included with the download so you can see the labels, and as much information is included as possible.

And now, the shot in the dark--are you related to the Lufkin family, or anyone else included here? My guess is that nobody has known of the existence of these recordings for decades. They obviously languished in storage for many years, until they were sold as a part of a record collection.  It would be  huge thrill if I could reunite these with the actual family (I can't imagine somebody giving me recordings of my own grandparents!), but until then, here is a private look directly into a family's lives!

LINK:  The Lufkin Recordings

Spider-Man (Atari 2600, Parker Bros., 1982)

 

Maybe it's because the holidays are approaching, but suddenly the other day I started thinking about one of the most exciting moments of 1982, and that was this:

There was going to be a SPIDER-MAN VIDEO GAME, and I could play it at home.  And actually own it!

And own it I did (and do once again).  Now, first thing's first--this box art is completely awesome, and would make an incredible T-shirt:

There is only one tiny flaw:

Notice anything missing? YOU HAD ONE JOB, ARTIST.  Never mind, it really doesn't take away any of the enjoyment for me at all.

And so, for those of us who weren't there, how was the gameplay?

Are you expecting a joke here? Because the punchline is: it was mind-blowing.  No, not from the perspective of sitting comfortably in Current Year, where games are super-sophisticated (perhaps too much so), and where there have been like 200 Spider-Man games...but try to imagine a time when there hadn't yet even BEEN a Spider-Man video game, and you finally had the chance to go up against the Green Goblin (which was a masterstroke of a choice) and you will understand how gobsmacked all of us kids were.  Back then, it was about the sheer amazingness of being able to play it, and not so much about comparing it to anything.  The only thing we had to reference were actual arcade games, and everyone knew you couldn't do anything like that at home........yet.

But of course, early home video games were based on points, and involved doing the same thing over and over, due to the limitations and constraints of the technology...so let's take a look at the instruction book, which was where the plot was usually fleshed out!

And hey, we get some more incredible artwork too (I also like the full shot of the building...which should be the back of the T-shirt I have in mind, come to think of it).

Remember, too, that this entire game was programmed by one person, Laura Nikolich, which was also how it was done back then!