Godzilla Puzzle "Air Attack" (HG Toys #458-04, 1978)

And, lastly, here is the third 150-piece Godzilla jigsaw puzzle in the series made by HG Toys in 1978.  Called (somewhere) by the name of "Air Attack," if we take these puzzles to be chronological scenes, then it means that Godzilla has rampaged the city (first puzzle), fought his way to the harbor (second puzzle), and is now on a mountain above it all, being pestered by planes.  It's all in a day's work.

Even though the hues here show the effects of a waning sunset and the purple of the approaching night, there's a pleasant psychedelic backlash to the color scheme, with Godzilla grounding the whole thing, standing out starkly in the forefront.  (Wow, my Fine Arts professor would have been proud of that one.) As he looks back to torch an oncoming plane, he also looks at the viewer, as if to say, "See what I go through??" (Okay, maybe that was a bridge too far, there. I got carried away.)

Once again, for completeness, here is the Canadian version, put out by "Frolic":

 

Godzilla Puzzle "Harbor Havoc" (HG Toys #458-03, 1978)

Here is the second HG Godzilla puzzle from 1978.  Again, the title isn't on the box, but it's called "Harbor Havoc."  Here we see a very angry Godzilla being attacked by battleships.  There is so much action in this painting; there's a lot to take in.  

What's sort of obscured by the banner on the box is Godzilla lifting the front end of a ship out of the water, while SIMULTANEOUSLY flinging one into the air with his tail.  And check out the poor displaced people:

All done, of course, as various missiles fill the air.  

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a photo of a Canadian specimen to show you, but occasionally they do turn up on Ebay.  All in all, a lovely set of puzzles that no vintage Godzilla collection should be without!

Godzilla Puzzle "City Rampage" (HG Toys #458-02, 1978)

As promised, here is a bit closer look at the three 150-piece HG Godzilla puzzles from 1978.  The first one is the "red" one, also known as "City Rampage" (although you won't find the name on the box, if I remember correctly, and mine is out of reach at the moment).  The name may have come from HG Toy catalogs, but who knows.  The most we can be sure of is that they gave it the number of #458-02.

 The art is lovely, and again, my opinion is that they were going for a "realistic" depiction, as if they were fleshing out the (then-current) H-B cartoon.  It has everything you'd want from a scene of Godzilla in the city:  buildings being destroyed, citizens fleeing in panic, the pavement cracking open...although, if this were an American poster for a Godzilla film, the running woman would be in a red dress, which is more common than you might think.  We need to look at that one of these days.

And then there's this poor guy, who is behind one of Godzilla's humongous toes:

Did he narrowly missed a very flat fate? Either way, it's a nice touch, and a good start to a unique series of American Godzilla puzzles.

In the "equal time" category, here is the Canadian version of the puzzle, put out by a company called "Frolic":

Godzilla Puzzle Boxed Set (HG Toys, Mail-Order, 1979)

In 1978, HG Toys made 3 lovely Godzilla jigsaw puzzles that were each 150 pieces.  We haven't covered these very well--they are listed on my sub-page, VINTAGE AMERICAN GODZILLA, but we need to look at each one separately.

As it turns out, there was an order form in many of HG's boxed puzzles (they also held many other licenses for TV shows, like The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Vegas, and more) that allowed you to order a boxed set of all three puzzles, in "a lovely gift box!"

Now, you have to remember that, in 1979, this was considered a "lovely" gift box, and mine is even brown and marbled, instead of blue like the photo (and completely un-labeled).  Inside are three bagged puzzles, each with a little tag showing you which was which, and a set of posters of the box art from each.

 The posters are rolled, and contained in the carboard sleeve behind the puzzles.  They measure 11x14" and are unfortunately too big to scan.  The good news is, they feature the box art paintings without any titles or lettering imposed, just like the finished puzzle would be.  And, they are suitable for framing:

The beauty of these puzzles is that they depict a realistic, "dinosaur" iteration of the Hanna-Barbera Godzilla, which of course is what the puzzles are indirectly promoting.  That's my opinion, anyhow.

These amazing sets have been leaking out to Ebay one at a time, as the seller obviously has a supply of them (as well as some of the other TV-show puzzles), so if you are looking for one, now's your chance.

HG Toys, of course, also were makers of the legendary GODZILLA vs THE TRICEPHALON MONSTER playset, for which they also issued a puzzle!

A Star Wars Meme

Fisher-Price #943 "Lift & Load Railroad" (1978) Complete in box!

Here's a great find I made a couple of weeks ago, from 1978, it's the "Lift & Load" Little People playset! Amazingly, not only was it in the box, but complete as well!

Not enough great things can be said about the "Little People" series.  If this was a Tumblr blog, this post would say "Only 70's Kids Remember" at the top.

FP made great stuff for years, and they are still doing it to this good day.  (The Imaginext Super Friends DC comics line has been huge for several years now.)  I still have my great Sesame Street vintage LP playset, as well as the wonderful Circus Train, and I need to do a post on them one of these days.

The playset includes a wind-up train that can go in two directions, complete with a second car that has a movable ramp to dump cargo.  It's driven by the same engineer that comes with the classic Circus Train.

And he ALWAYS sees you.

The playset even includes barrels, crates, and pallettes, and you can haul your cargo to the central building, which has a winch-scale, and a conveyor platform at top, which is operated by turning the crank!

If you've read this blog before, then you probably know I am going to say that they don't make toys like this anymore, so:  they don't make toys like this anymore.  They just don't.

The latest NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL MUSIC is delivered.

Also included is a working forklift, and two construction/railroad worker guys to make sure the cargo gets through.

Of course, in reality, it's just going around the track...but FP also sold other playsets that connected with this one, so it didn't have to.

"One load of something called RADIOACTIVE WASTE coming through!"

The Sphinx is jammed-full of toys (and a very cool & understanding wife), but even I have a short list of items that were lost over the years, and one of them is the Little People Castle, complete with trapdoor, moving staircase, and pink dragon.  That one will be re-acquired; I swear on the blood of my ancestors! Stay tuned.

Godzilla Large Puffy Stickers (#949) Store Display, 1979

It's been slow around The Sphinx, but things are still happening.  I just acquired this large (and full) store display for the large version of the 1979 puffy stickers!

To see a good-quality scan of the sticker set (Item #949), check out this previous post, or, it's easier to just click on the side page, Vintage American Godzilla, where other sizes of the puffy stickers store displays can be seen!

Godzilla Minimates SERIES 3 At Last!

For a series that was originally supposed to stop at 1, we are extremely lucky to see Series 3 arrive! Thank you, Art Asylum.  Now let's take a closer look at the figures that make up what is really a 5-pack!

Burning Godzilla is not my favorite incarnation of the Big G, but as the first two Godzilla Minimates they gave us were pretty similar, this one is iconic enough to be different.  Plus, I understand that you have to include a Godzilla with each series, or they probably wouldn't sell as well.

Also, his flaming breath is removable, like the one from Series 2.  If you have a Lego-sized book, he can do an impression of the Statue of Liberty.

Next up is Rodan, and I am sort of split on this figure.  He's good, but clearly hearkens to later incarnations of Rodan.  Not that that's a bad thing, he just turns out sort of bulky.  

Also the wings are a bit wonky, but how do you make a Minimate with wings, and still have him be posable? As I recall, the Vulture's wings are single pieces, but Rodan's are bigger, so I'm sure it was a matter of playability.

You end up with unnatural poses, such as the one above, but then again, Rodan's hands are, honestly, not very useful to him, in actuality. (I started to put "in reality" there, which is a field day for you psychology students out there, I'm sure...let's move on!)

Before I forget, they do give you one of the standard Minimate "flight stands," so that Rodan can fly, which was a nice touch!

Megalon is next, and I think that this Minimate is a work of art.  It may be because he's an under-represented character, or it may be because his movie is much maligned, but I'll defend him to the end.  After all, he's my favorite giant bug kaiju that spits flaming poo-balls.

Plus, they nail the decoration on his back.  Just an all-around perfect Minimate.

Ah, but there is still more.  We had previously gotten an adult Mothra, and Art Asylum now regales us with not one, but TWO of the Mothra larvae!  What's more, instead of phoning it in, and making them completely identical, one torso bends upward, while the other is ground level.  It's small touches like that one that make me happy.

I have to say though, I was confused from the initial photographs about the footprint-looking spaces on their sides.  I wondered if it was a lever to make the heads extend or move, but I was wrong.  One of the apparent tennants of the Minimates line is to make them interchangable, so that kids can combine parts in a way they want to.  I mentioned "playability" earlier, and I know that there will be some grumbling about these spaces (and each larva has two, one on each side), and that's when their true purpose hit me.

Just wrong, on so many levels.

All in all, a very welcome and solid Series 3.  No further series have been announced, but we can always hold out hope.  If we could just have a Series 4 with Angilas, King Ghidorah (which would be tough, admittedly), and Baragon...or a DESTROY ALL MONSTERS box set...I can dream.

Lego 30603 - Classic TV Mr. Freeze Polybag!

Since we covered the amazing 1966 Batcave set, we'd be remiss if we didn't mention this late addition.  A polybag from Lego--one of those deals where you get it if you order $75 or more--it can be found for reasonable prices through dealers. (For now.)

Played on the show by three actors, this one to me looks like the Otto Preminger Mr. Freeze, mostly because of the eyebrows.  But they nailed it either way.  If I remember my trivia correctly, the show popularized the character name, as there had only been a "Mr. Zero" in the Golden Age comics.  I'm just freewheeling here, without looking it up, mind you.

The wind-up key on the backpack is a nice Lego touch!  Since they were able to issue Mr. Freeze by himself, it makes me wonder about any other potential future releases.  A Batgirl with her motorcycle would be a nice addition!

Star Wars "Darth Vader Card Game" Fun Meal (Burger Chef/Coca-Cola, 1978)

While not really Star Wars TRADING cards, this item does include vintage Star Wars cards, of a sort.  You may know that fast food chain Burger Chef had a Star Wars promotion that included a whole slew of their "Fun Meal" boxes, with punch-out models of spaceships and droids.  (As well as a set of four famous posters that were offered.) Also included in that promotion was this particular "Fun Meal" box, which featured the Darth Vader card game.

Before we look at that, check out the cool art for the main section of the box.  As you can see, each section would have been punched out, because the assembled box held the food and drink.  But what a shame it would be to interrupt this artwork!

When assembled, the box had a 2-sided back panel that stood up vertically, and this was where the FUN was located.  In this case, we get a punch-out game of tiny cards, about half the size of a standard trading card.  What's more, many of the images are promotional; official reference images instead of just screenshots.

When the 23 cards are punched out, kids could play a matching game, apparently similar to "Old Maid," except that Darth Vader is the Old Maid (there's a sentence).

It's really a clever concept, and the boxes are a smart design.  I never had a Burger Chef in my area, so I couldn't really tell you how long these boxes were used.  McDonald's, on the other hand, maintained their Happy Meal box design for years.  Here's a better look at the instructions:

Luckily, a lot of these boxes were preserved, and are still out there.  I know if I had gotten one of these as a kid, I would have punched the cards out and used them, so I'm glad to have everything in one place.  Storing it carefully is going to be an issue, because it's bigger than a magazine-sized comic bag, and a tiny bit wider than a "treasury"-sized comic bag.  I guess I'm going to have to use an LP-sized bag to protect it.

As you can see, we are quickly running out of vintage SW card sets, but I have one more honorable mention to save for next time.

Scalpers Can SUCK IT (part three)

[ENGAGE RANT]

I haven't reported on this in a while, because of general disgust.  BUT.  This is becoming an almost weekly event in my life.  I have photographed two recent instances, but trust me, there have been more.

As I have pointed out in two previous articles, Walgreen's and Target are being ripped off quite a bit in my area, and losing all kinds of money (by the way, Walgreen's is the largest retail recipient of shoplifting losses in the nation, did you know that?).  And, what's more, if you've read my previous articles, then you know they completely deserve it.

Which doesn't make any of this right:  just because stupid people exist, doesn't mean that theft is okay (despite what politicians do).  I call them "scalpers" because it strikes a chord, but that isn't accurate.  Scalpers are people who (pretty much) legally buy items and resell them.  It's bad form, but it's capitalism.  Thieves are people who, well, steal things.  Because they want them "more" than you, and think that they "deserve" them more than you, or your children, who (pretty much) plan on buying the items with hard-earned money, or allowance.

Ranting aside, here are the two examples I have run across in the last few days.  Far be it from me to waste my energy showing them to the store manager.  I've tried it, nobly, and failed, ignobly, so somebody else can take over on that failed crusade.

 On the left, what I believe to be the new "Venom" figure, which has been replaced, crudely, with some sort of X-Men figure that is so lame, I have no idea who or what it is.  On the right, a Carnage head that's been stolen from another new Spider-Man (which almost seems tame to me, lately, in the wake of some of the bolder things I've seen):

Again, the figure is correct (although lame: Blizzard), but the two pieces of the Hulk-Buster Build-A-Figure have been lifted, and replaced with...a Happy Meal toy keychain thing and an action figure stand....I mean, not even trying.  And, keep in mind, Zippy the wonder-retail-employee let this pass, and gave the guy his refund!   

You could say that this is what happens when action figures become $22, but that doesn't help anything, and losses definitely won't lower manufacturer prices.  Lego used to have a similar problem, (in-store theft) which is why minifigures are scattered in various bags today, and harder to quickly find.  So what is the outcome here? That retailers stop allowing toy returns? Which of course, punishes the rest of us!

[TERMINATE RANT]

We now return you to your normal Internet day...

Vintage Star Wars Cards: Random Foreign & Bootleg Cards!

In the early days of Star Wars collecting, you were lucky if you had a book, or a friend with knowledge, to help you to know what was out there.  These days, of course, we have the Internets, so we are much better off.  In my Star Wars card collecting, I picked up some interesting oddities along the way:

Here is card #64A from the UK Topps Star Wars set.  I have read that the first (Blue) series was identical to their American counterparts, but for the second series, the photos were scrambled, and the numbering was always followed by an "A."  As far as I know, the backs were unchanged.  For example, this card features the photo and slogan from American card #78.

The Topps cards were also issued in Mexico, but apparently the actual release was done by another company.  Here are the front and backs of card #13:

And here are both sides of card #45, with the lightsabers still uncolored, just as in the American cards:

The back includes something else you don't see anymore:  the stain where the piece of gum used to be!

In Japan, the cards were better, because of course they were.  Yamakatsu (who also issued more than one set of wonderful, small Godzilla cards) issued a set that was almost postcard-sized (no doubt because of the Japanese fondness for bromide cards) and glossy.  It was a smaller set, with only 33 in the entire series.  Strangely, they don't appear to be numbered; at least I can't find any clue on this one that I have.  The back gives the collector a couple of spaceship diagrams, too:

I don't know much about this card, other than what's on the back.  It's more of a slip of glossy paper than a trading card, and it's about 50% of the size of a standard trading card.

It's #76, and came from Costa Rica, as you can see.  I was lucky enough to get the wrapper that it came in:

And as you can see, definitely made in Costa Rica.  No idea how many came in a pack, or how many there were in the whole set.

The Greek bootleg set is a very famous, and very notorious, set among collectors.  It apparently showed up in 1980, and it's supposed to be a very large set, and a very difficult one to assemble, if that's even possible, due to limited availability, and being a bootleg and all that.  If I remember right, there are even cards in the set that have nothing to do with Star Wars (once again, bootleg). Here is the front of card #136, and here is the back:

As you can see, it's extremely un-fancy, but what did you expect?  I was also lucky enough to get the wrapper, which is even cruder:

I'd love to see more of these, but I've honestly never run into any more in all my years of collecting.

In Canada, the Return of the Jedi Topps cards were issued by Opee-Chee, and otherwise identical to their American counterparts (except for being bilingual).  Here is the front of card #24, and below is the back:

These days, we are used to seeing extra languages on our products, but back then, you never saw that in the US.

The above card is #250 from a series of small cards that were issued in Sweden.  That's all I know.  Apparently the set was big enough to include some unique pictures and artwork.  The cards also had plain backs with no printing.

Similarly, in the Netherlands, a small-sized card set was made for Return of the Jedi.  The Darth Vader card is #2, and the Boba Fett one is #61.  They also had plain backs.