"Terror Monster" Trading Cards (Rosan, 1963)

Well, crap, I was going to bring in some extra stuff to scan for the blog; I'll have to do it next week.  For now, here are two treasures that came in the mail this week.  These are from a rare series of trading cards that used stills from vintage monster movies.  What I like about these cards is, they are respectful to the subject matter, and don't try to put a "funny" caption on them...I'm sure that being a child in the early 60's was very innocent and great and all that, and, while I'd buy any Godzilla-related "comedy" card in a heartbeat, they still sort of make me irate.

Like this.

Anywho, let's get to the subject at hand.  Here's the first one:

By the time these cards came out, KING KONG VS GODZILLA had already happened, and Godzilla was "Godzilla" again...but this card still acknowledges that, at least in America, there was a "fire monster." 

Oh, by the way, these cards aren't without lame humor, either...they just save it for the BACK of the card:

 Next is another from the same series:

 Aww, Baby Rodan, hatching from his egg! They grow up so fast! (Oh hell's bells, I just realized I just made my own stupid caption for this card! A thousand apologies! I take it all back.)

Anyone willing to translate this into real, actual humor that makes sense, write me.

Unfortunately, that's all for now...there are more of these, even more from different series, and they are quite in the "not cheap" category, so I'll have to keep digging for affordable ones!

I do actually own one of the "funny" ones that I've had since I was a kid...it's hard to tell, but my assumption was that it was from "The Land Unknown," but who knows:

Photo Miscellany Continued: Lego, Microscopic Photos, James Mason reads Browning LP

Here is another random sampling of things that piled up during the week:

Lego Minifigures Series 9, AT LAST! 60 packets of potential.

And here, also at last, are the newest 16 minifigs. That makes 144 in the series so far!

I don't know what my favorite is, but it's hard not to love "Chicken Suit Guy"!!

I also stumbled onto the new Batman set, but it seems there's a typo in the title! Poor Danes; don't worry, we will give you a break.  I can't spell ANY of your words...

Thusly, Aquaman arrives! Instead of reminding you of how useless Aquaman is, I will say this: Ironically, Lego has now completed the line-up for the first season of Super Friends!

I was looking at this version of the Godzilla handheld game on Ebay, and noticed something weird...

...um, okay, I think I see how that could...well, "medallions" are popular with kids these days of course...wait, they aren't at all...playground beatings are up, though...so the purpose of this is....wait, um, what, and why?

And, you know how I love Godzilla movie-poster-hyperbole.  Just read this text from the American half-sheet for "King of the Monsters" out loud, in your best John Carradine impression.  Go on.

As promised, 60x Iphone Microscope photos.  This is bathtub crank.  Not really; it's table salt.

And this is ground black pepper, which looks disgusting, like something you would clean out of a comb.

Sugar, which looks pretty much exactly like salt...

The Planet Jupiter.  Actually, it's the next closest thing: a barbecue potato chip.

Do you ever find a dead wolf spider on the carpet and take microscopic photos of him and...oh, you don't? Nevermind then.

I discovered this week I am beginning a library of photo responses to text messages, which is more convenient than typing.  This is for when I don't particularly like something...

And this is more fun than typing "dodged a bullet"...

This LP rather sucks.  It's not so much that, but it's going to be a let-down after hearing him read Jules Verne and H.G. Wells; this is more like the U.S. Tax Code.  You see, I used to be an English major in one of my educational careers, and I had to put up with things like this all the time.  Now I only read books with pictures, and lots of comics, so there you go.

 

THE TERROR OF GODZILLA (1975 Ad Slick)

Freshly arrived in the mail, and scanned to include here! The end of the original run, the "Golden Age" of Godzilla films, and the last Godzilla movie for a decade.  We will come back to this film in the near future; I want to do a series of posts on "hidden" or subtle details in Godzilla poster artwork that are quite entertaining!

Boris Karloff Reads....Poetry?

This is another post to file under "This Is Not Here." 

Since this isn't here, instead, let's talk about voles.  Wikipedia says:

"A vole is a small rodent resembling a mouse but with a stouter body, a shorter, hairy tail, a slightly rounder head, smaller ears and eyes, and differently formed molars (high-crowned and with angular cusps instead of low-crowned and with rounded cusps). There are approximately 155 species of voles. They are sometimes known as meadow mice or field mice in North America. Vole species form the subfamily Arvicolinae with the lemmings and the muskrats."

London Philharmonic Orchestra - "Music From Star Wars" (Stereo Gold Award, 1977)

As you can see, the actual title for this album, on the cover, is "Music From the Sci-Fi Film Composed By John Williams For Star Wars," but I went with the shorter version that is on the label! This is yet another in a long line of Star Wars LP's that were cranked out in 1977.  That year was jam-packed with Star Wars LP's...I suspect no other film has resulted in so many records, spanning the spectrum from "cover versions" to what can only be called rip-offs.

The good news here, though, is that you get a "real" orchestra.  One side of this album is devoted to a condensed A NEW HOPE soundtrack (which is what you get here, though strangely out of order), and the other side has the obligatory "2001 Theme" of "Also Sprach Zarathustra" and some other items that are either original, or interpolations of Holst's "Planets" tracks....anyway, if you have a personal collection of Star Wars theme covers, here's an addition for you.

Photo Miscellany

If you want to see more random (and sometimes interesting) photos, follow The Sphinx Pinterest Page, where there is lots of stuff I will never have room for here...

Got the new Lego Daily Bugle set yet? Did you notice something missing from ol' JJJ? Well, I'm sure we can't EXPECT Lego to include a cigar, after all, but here's a simple fix. This is one of those brown (lightsaber blade/cane) rods, cut down, taped off, and painted. Viola! (Yes, I know I said "viola" there.) Cello!

I was looking at my framed 1956 KOTM handbill thingy, which hangs in my main bathroom, and the hype was really cracking me up. I suppose in 1956 it made perfect sense to refer to Godzilla as "IT"...the "death-defying underwater photography" was also very amusing.

The robot family that lives on my fireplace mantel...I swear I can't get my brain around the spelling of "mantel." It just doesn't LOOK right. But of course "mantle" is something else entirely. You wouldn't have a robot family living on your MANTLE.

I had some Apple store credit, and I used it toward a set of lenses that fit the Iphone.  One of them is a "macro" lens that's 10x, and you can take some fun photos with it. They are like these (but not red) and work very well.  I have noticed some reviewers on Amazon who received the wrong product when they ordered these, but I can vouch that the real Olloclip ones work very well.

I liked these so much, I recently ordered a 60x MICROSCOPE attachment for the IPhone, which is currently on the way. Expect photos of dust mites and pictures of the micro-dimension where the Fantastic Four first finds Psycho Man to be posted soon...

A Musical Mystery! (Can You Solve It?)

Many of the albums I've been discussing here recently came from the contents of a storage building belonging to my late uncle.  Among the 1,000 or so albums I went through was  this one oddity:  a ten-inch, one-sided "acetate" of sorts that was in a torn paper sleeve (from a 12" album).  It was sitting on the lowest shelf, against the floor, and had accumulated years of dirt and dust.  

Upon initially examining it, I decided it must be a vanity record, made by a vacationer in one of those types of studios that used to exist in decades past (some were booths, where you would pay money, go into the booth, record a track, and leave with a one-of-a-kind record to take home or give as a gift).  It was only days later that I got a really good look at it.  One side is completely smooth; the other, where the grooves are, has a typed paper label.  The disc itself is apparently made out of shellac, over a metal plate.  The metal plate is bent slightly, and (especially on the underside) the shellac is cracked pretty seriously.

The amazing thing is, none of this affects the playing of the record at all! After I washed it, I realized that the damage ended before the grooves began, and that it may not destroy my stylus after all to play it!

But before we get to that, a word about the label itself, and what I was able to find out.

As you can see, the only information that is given are two lines.  First, the title of "This Is The Place," and second, "Samous Island Music." That's it.  No artist name, no writer, no running time, no year.  It doesn't even tell you whether the recording is 33 1/3 or 45 rpm (I believe it was 45). I learned quickly that even though the name "Music City Recorders" sounds a little generic, it was actually a recording studio in Nashville that was founded by Elvis' guitarist, Scotty Moore, in 1964.  Several big names have recorded there, including Ringo Starr, who did his whole "Beaucoups of Blues" album there in 1970.  In 1975, the studio changed hands, and later, it became "Studio 19," as it exists today. In fact, I emailed Larry Rogers, a nice fellow who runs the studio, and sent him the photo and mp3.  Unfortunately, he wasn't able to supply any further information, so the mystery continues.  Also, he agreed with my assumption that "Samous  Island Music" must be a typo.  I've searched everywhere I can think of:  ASCAP, Discogs, even commercial sites like Amazon, YouTube, and that sort of thing, and I can't find any further information on either line of type.  (By the way, there is a Greek island called SAMOS ISLAND that Internet searches keep defaulting to, which is quite frustrating!) There were several songs entitled "This Is The Place" that simply didn't fit, either because of the date or some other such reason.

So, to recap...we have a mystery record that is most certainly not a home-made recording, but a professional demo of some sort, done in a professional studio, sung and played professionally, and probably between 1964 and 1975.  The publisher is probably "Famous Island Music," and besides the song title, that's all we know.  

The record did indeed play.  I was able to clean it up to an extent, but any further filtering took away from the sound, and there's quite a bit of surface noise present, but what should we expect, for a record stored in this manner for so long?!

So how did it end up in my uncle's storage building? I know that he frequented record conventions, and from all the albums I went through, I doubt he really knew exactly what he had, so who knows.

With all of that said, I leave any further revelations up to Sphinx patrons.  If you are holding any secrets about this disc, the song, the writer, or the singer, please contact me, and they will be shared here. Thanks! In the meantime, simply enjoy the mystery...

Godzilla Lobby Cards (part five), Revoltech Baragon, Mothra, & Rodan, and more!

This is going to be a miscellaneous one.

Firstly, I sculpted a Mothra larva to keep my Superdeformed Godzilla company, and it turned out like this:

So now I had two figures, and it just made sense that they needed a home.  So, another diorama project was born.  It turned out like this:

I used Sculpy and a pack of model railroad trees...it was supposed to be Monster Island, but I didn't know when to stop, and I added a cardboard backdrop that was featured inside of the Godzilla Chess Pieces made by X-Plus, thusly:

And, with Mount Fuji in place, it's done.

Next up is a lovely lobby card for GHIDRAH THE THREE-HEADED MONSTER that I just acquired.  I love the artwork of Rodan carrying Godzilla!

When going through kitchen cabinets recently, I rediscovered two collectibles from my youth: 

"Castle Dracula" mug from defunct Universal Studios attraction, that my parents brought me from their 1980 trip to Los Angeles.

When they returned to Universal, they took us along, and I think that's where I got this (slightly dodgy and off-model) Bullwinkle mug.  Note the yellow gloves!

Next on the agenda are some super-detailed, super-articulated Japanese figures that I discovered.  I'd like to say I got these for Christmas, but I actually just bought these for myself.  These are "Revoltech" figures, made by Kaiyodo.  They did a handful of kaiju, but apparently their popularity caused Bandai to jerk back the license from them (?) to start making their OWN super-articulated kaiju, which is the recent "SH Monsterarts" line (from which one of my Christmas presents actually DID come, the '94 Godzilla).

This Baragon is completely amazing, and includes everything you need to make your own diorama of one of his FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD scenes, horse included!

With regard to paint and sculpt, this is the greatest figure of adult Mothra that I have ever seen. 

And here we have a splendid Rodan, complete with building to crush.  Having such an amazing sculpt of the classic Rodan suddenly makes me realize how little I like the "Fire Rodan" redesign!

These Revoltech kaiju figures began to come out around 2010, and are still relatively affordable.  I think all three of these were around $40 each.  There's also a "Mysterians" Mogera, as well as an Angilas and Gigan, but unfortunately those last two are pretty pricey...the Gigan alone is often around $100 on Ebay currently (see future post for these)! They also had a super-detailed Maser Cannon, but as you'd expect, it's way out of scale with their other releases...or else it wouldn't be as super-detailed, I guess. Oh, and also a classic Gamera and Gayos that are worth checking out.

Now that we are all caught up around here, and as we prepare to ring in another New Year!

Singing Science Records Sampler (Motivation Records, 1961)

Here's another gem I recently rescued from an old storage building, cleaned, washed, and converted for your enjoyment.  There are a couple of good samples to be found here, my favorite being "How much would I weigh on the Moon?" from the middle of side one.

Also, you may be familiar with the first track; there was an excellent cover done by They Might Be Giants.

The Birchwood Pops Orchestra - Theme from "Star Wars" (Pickwick, 1977)

If you were alive in 1977, you remember these records.  In fact, there were dozens of renditions of the STAR WARS theme done that year (with Meco being the biggest success, after the official soundtrack, I suppose).  Well, here is another one.  A concept disc of nothing but interpretations of this theme would be interesting....but maybe dull, I may have just talked myself out of that one.  

GODZILLA vs BIOLLANTE and ULTRASEVEN come to DVD!

In case you haven't noticed, we are now down to ONE Godzilla film of the twenty-eight that lacks an official release in the U.S.A., and that is GODZILLA 1985.  I was happy that BIOLLANTE came out first--and shocked--but it's too bad that the legalities of it didn't allow for a 2-pack or mini box-set of both films in one go.

Now, onto the disc itself.  As with most official releases, there's good and bad news, and really the bad news will be received differently, depending on how "particular" the collector is.  Firstly, if you are the least bit interested, this release is a must-own.  Secondly, the price--$8 for the Blu-Ray and $5 for the DVD on Amazon? Are you kidding me? That's amazing.

After the excitement of DESTROY ALL MONSTERS and MEGALON, I went with the Blu-Ray, but honestly, after viewing it, I concluded that it really didn't matter, and I almost wish I had gotten the DVD version.  The picture quality is fine, but it has that 1989 softness to it, and I doubt one format would be any better than the other.  Another problem is the English dub, which is always a problem with these releases, because if there is a source available at all (and often there isn't), it's a reel-to-reel tape that's sat in a janitor closet for decades, and usually in bad shape.  Here, the word is "muffled."  So much so that, after watching the film, I switched over to the two Japanese audio tracks available (stereo and 5.1), and was shocked at the clarity.  Also, this is one of those lackluster "International" dubs that Toho is famous for, where English-speakers were pulled off the street and offered a Big Mac for their time, and contains the term (as has been noted elsewhere) "Godziller" which kept cracking us up.  (This is the same dub as what was on cable and home video, by the way.)  But, if you don't want to have to continuously read subtitles to the younger Children in the room, this is the choice for you--although I will warn you, I had forgotten that there was as much swearing in the film as there was...and it's also comical in its over-the-top delivery.

As to the film itself, you gotta give them credit for the plot, which is pretty ingenious, though a bit convoluted, and difficult to follow for the kids in the room, since there are two different factions of enemy agents involved, and the action jumps all over the place.  The "new" Godzilla design is debuted here, which would continue through the 90's to "Destroyah," and thank goodness for that, because the GODZILLA 1985 suit was just comical (indeed, when they use stock footage during the opening credits, linking the film to "1985," they keep using angles that don't show the face).  Also, the longest-running continual character of Miki Segusa is introduced, and she also stayed around for the duration of the Heisei series.  So, it's important to view the film as a launch into new territory, with a new generation of filmmakers.  Also, don't throw away your old BIOLLANTE VHS, because this is a Japanese print--no English titles or credits here. I understand this, but I wish that both could have been included on the disc; at least the titles sequences, because I think the old-fashioned font of the "GODZILLA vs. BIOLLANTE" title screen is pretty necessary.

But the biggest problem with BIOLLANTE is that there simply isn't enough Biollante in it.  What there is, is masterfully done, and holds up well; better than the rest of the effects in the film, even.  It's just a long journey to get to the ending payoff, and that fight is waaaay too short.

That said, the MAKING OF BIOLLANTE documentary is the best item on the disc, and it's worth the price of admission by itself.  This 50-minute special is fully subtitled, and contains every deleted scene you have seen or read about, and one brief one that isn't even listed at Toho Kingdom's website.  The documentary glosses over nothing, and shows you the successes AND failures of making the film.  Just to see the famous "big pool" at Toho (now long gone) being used about got me choked up.

Buy it!

I almost hate to make this a footnote, because this may even be a bigger deal! Never in my lifetime did I think we would get ULTRASEVEN released on DVD, in any format.  I'm not even going to ask what mystical forces the DVD gods had to use to align the planets on this one; I'm just going to take it and run.

Yes, the greatest of the classic Ultra series has been officially released, in its six discs of uncut glory, with Japanese audio and newly-created subtitles.  Supposedly, the Canadian TNT-dub was not completely available, and has been partially lost.....but who cares.  That's the sort of thing to get from third-party fan-DVD sellers anyway. This is the real thing.

Now, it doesn't mean you don't need both--the infamous "banned" episode isn't on this official set, and was included in the TNT run, so go figure. (It's called "Crystallized Corpuscles" there, by the way.)

So, this isn't a totally "perfect" set--in fact, I was watching one episode last night where, near the end, the action suddenly skipped back about ten seconds, and then caught up with itself, which was bizarre (perhaps a film break)--but it's the one that we are going to get in our lifetimes, and I am thankful for it.  The booklet by August Ragone is excellent reading, too.  There are no extras, and no Blu-Ray, and we need neither! It's also available at Amazon, and could be the greatest Christmas present you receive this year.