View-Master Show Beam Cartridge (GAF, 1982)

I spoke too soon when I was listing out all the View-Master products, and now this one has been added.  It's the "Godzilla-Godzooky" cartridge from the Show Beam series.  the Show Beam was a 2D flashlight-shaped projector that View-Master made.  

I have a couple of problems with this one.  Firstly, if this is simply a "port" of the regular View-Master reels (as the other Godzilla View-Master products were), that's fine, but those reels had nothing to do with Godzooky whatsoever, and featured Godzilla rampaging through Seattle, as in the second Marvel Comics issue.

Secondly, you know how it goes when dating items like this:  you have to go with the latest date printed on the card, which, even though the Toho copyright is 1980, says 1982 (for both the Marvel and DC characters).  That's also fine, but is pretty late to be trying to utilize Godzooky to sell View-Master products, as even the many reruns of the animated show had ceased in 1981. 

It also occurs to me (because I spend waaaaay too much time thinking about stuff like this) that no other View-Master products tried to use Godzooky's name to sell merchandise, so clearly this was somebody's bright idea in the packaging department, or something.

Still, you have to hand it to the View-Master folks.  They were able to get maximum mileage out of their products without having to come up with new material.  I would make the obligatory Hollywood joke here, but as we are about to get a new Godzilla movie that may be the first actual American Godzilla film, I don't want anyone to misconstrue that as a slight.  I'm going to give Legendary a fair shake and see what they come up with, although I must say, in terms of this new Anglozilla, that Fiat commercial is stupid.