Do you remember Scholastic Book orders? If you don't, they were book order forms that elementary school kids would take home. They would then choose items, beg their parents for those items, and order them. One of the joys of elementary school was the day that your Scholastic Book orders came in. Scholastic had a regular magazine called DYNAMITE that you could get this way. It ran for several years, and covered all sorts of entertainment (and more) stories that a young kid would be interested in. Occasionally, it included a pull-out poster, which is where we find ourselves today.
From a 1976 issue, this poster occasionally appears on Ebay, and I'd wondered if I needed to add it to my collection of vintage American Godzilla items....until I looked at it a little closer:
Okay, we've got the Incredible Shrinking Man, the cabbage-headed aliens from INVASION OF THE SAUCER-MEN, The Fly, the monster from IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA, something from THE REPTILE, what I assume is King Kong, and...yeah, that's not even Godzilla at all!
In fact, it's another old friend. Take a look at this photo:
Poor Gorgo. It's not the first time he has been mistaken for Godzilla...but keep in mind, somebody purposefully airbrushed out his fins, and added a "beam" coming out of his mouth. That's a little devious, DYNAMITE!
It's no more Godzilla than this....oddity. Take a look at this photo of a monster-themed deck of 1970's "Top Trumps" cards from the UK:
I know, the whole thing is pretty dodgy, but all I can compare the "Godzilla" to is Reptilicus...and that still doesn't explain why he is wearing a purple bow tie!
That Godzilla imposter looks to me like the marine dinosaur from "The Land that Time Forgot".I also notice the King Kong is actually Konga and the Man Eating Plant is from "I Married a Monster from Outer Space".
ReplyDeleteThose are good calls...for the Man Eating Plant, I was leaning toward Silurian from Doctor Who, as this is a British card game (which is why Konga makes good sense too)!
ReplyDelete