Grin 'n' Barris

I'm celebrating my return with a Halloween appropriate entry that involves my last weekend's finds, an original unbuilt in box AMT Munster Koach & a Drag-u-la built-up with box. These are both mid-sixties originals, and the original design was by George Barris. George is of course the father of television & pop culture cars (King of Kustomizers), with so many iconic designs that this whole blog and every post before and after could be about him, but I don't have time for that...so here are the two biggies, the Batmobile & the Munster Koach, and the Batmobile can wait for another time.

I was going through Craiglist last week and noticed a simple ad that read somebody was going to be having a model kit garage sale. I sometimes like to take the road less traveled, so on Saturday I made my way to it. It turns out the gentleman having the sale had worked for Revell for many years as a builder, and built many of the kits you see on the box covers. He built cars, trucks, planes, even sci-fi (like Robotech), mainly stuff throughout the '80s. He also had a few vintage kits at his sale, and these two Munster's classics caught my eye. He told me back in his Revell days, there was a sale at the Barris estate. It sounded like maybe not so much an estate sale, but a thinning of the thousands of items George had stored away, so he bought some stuff there. So to make all that a short story, these two original kits came from George Barris himself...and to quote Caddyshack "So I got that goin' for me, which is nice."

I don't have to tell you how awesome the Munster Koach is, and this one is pristine, complete with instructions and decals. The art on both boxes is killer,
and from what I understand the Drag-u-la is a tough kit to find (original Koaches aren't exactly easy either). At first I was sorta bummed he had built the Drag-u-la but he is a master builder...and it shows. It is completely unlike most 60's built-ups, no crappy gloss paint, no smeared glue, really nice. I'm not complaining about it now, it looks fantastic.

To celebrate Halloween, The Munsters, Hot Rods, and all things Ghoulish...here's Rob Zombie with Dragula...

Vari-Vue & Kohner

I found these cool little Kohner "Color T.V." flicker toys over the weekend. One is Yogi Bear, the other Huckleberry Hound. Kohner Brothers made some great stuff in the '60s, although they started much earlier with wooden toys. I like the later plastics because they did a lot of Hanna Barbera (which is what these are), and also Disney and other famous licenses. Kohner's push-puppets are the most common find, and some of them are highly sought after. I really dig these little TVs and didn't have either one of them yet. They use the Vari-View technology, which basically makes a 2D image move (most people call it "flicker"). If you like Hanna-Barbera stuff, Kohner is a great place to start if you want to collect. Fun, bright, movement, and great characters...what more could you ask?

Santa Catcher, Naughty or Nice?

When I was young, Santa was held in awe. A respected, slightly feared, mysterious man that knew all, saw all, and rewarded the good while reminding the bad that there were consequences for their actions. Would I have ever considered trapping him? I don't think so.

That's why this vintage "Santa Claus Catcher" and last week's Cul De Sac Sunday comic strip are a bit surprising to me. They both involve catching (trapping) Santa with some sort of device. It must be some sideline Christmas thing that a fringe element of children want to do. It's downright crazy...or is it? I mean, getting his current bag of toys is obvious, but are there other unknown benefits? Does trapping Santa give you ultimate power over him? Do you get anything you'd ever want, all year long? Does Santa have to do your bidding, like a Genie, or to a lesser degree, a Zombie? Perhaps there is more to this "Catching Santa" thing than I care to admit. It is intriguing, but walks the naughty line dangerously close. Santa might not take to kindly to an attempt to trap him, or the greed it implies

This trap (most likely from the '60s) is great, it's like a toothed bear style, you set it, and then place it in hopes to catch big red. I guess Santa doesn't feel any pain, or you better hope he doesn't. You'd need to open your own Coal store if he does. But lets be honest, the odds of it working...zip. This is Santa we're talking about, you don't even see him, let alone trap him. There are also a couple of sheets of paper on North Pole stationary, they basically say "...better luck next time." and then a secret parent's envelope with a small piece of red cloth they're supposed to put in the trap. Kind of a "Shucks! Just missed him!" thing.

I just don't want to know if Santa ever has to chew his own leg off because of one of these traps. Ahhh heck, what am I saying, nobody will ever catch him...I hope. I guess I still hold him in awe.

Merry Christmas!!

Cool Finds: Santa Claus Funnies

Last weekend I ran across a stack of old comics at a show, lots of great Dell, Gold Key, and some '60s Marvel. This one is perfect for this week's cool finds, a 1957 Santa Claus Funnies. Santa is no different than any other hero, maybe better. He has "seeing" powers, only is needed one night a year, and he gives you stuff instead of just saving you...well that last one's a toss-up. Anyway, it makes sense that he gets his own comic. I can't wait until there's a Ghost Rider, Santa Claus crossover.

The cover art is pretty impressive...fun stuff.




Happy Holidays!!

I'm still...

... in the process of moving my office. So here's a YOUNG Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross. Don't ask why, just watch...

A Pause for Fall

Worst Game Ever

Oh Milton Bradley, what were you thinking? I mean the title alone is snooze worthy, "Conserving Natural Resources Game and Poster Cards". You could have at least tricked us with "Eco Eco Dinosaurs" and just not had any dinosaurs involved, or "Don't Break the World" with a cartoon guy balancing the earth on a stick...and then make the boring contents be the same. But you made the title a warning, which I suppose is a good thing. Because no kid (nor adult) in their right mind would consider playing this game. Was this some sort of community service in game form, did some kids choke on the small plastic pieces from one of your fun games, so the government punished you into making this? That's gotta be it, because this is like cardboard Ambien.

Now, I'm all for conservation, and I love the earth, but I don't like to be tricked. Educational stuff that's disguised as "fun" bothers me, in fact it even bothered me when I was young, and I didn't fall for it then either. Oh, word games...lame, flash cards...lame, conserving natural resources game and poster cards...lame squared. See, I just squared "lame", and it was somewhat educational...that was lame. School's supposed to be boring, and toys/games are supposed to be fun. We go through one...to get to the other. I'm not sure which one didn't get the memo, Milton or Bradley, but they both needed to be fired.


"Who wants to play Conserving Natural Resources Game and Poster Cards??"

"I wanna be Stripmining!" "I'm Clearcutting!"

It's not lost on me that this game is for schools, and since it's from 1971, this ecology theme was popular (Hippies). But even back then, if I saw the teacher grabbing this down from a shelf, I'd be like "Ohhhh crap!", and my mind would think about Scooby Doo.

When I first got this, I thought the cover was sun faded, but no. It's monochromatic blue, like the printer ran out of the other two pigments needed to make the full spectrum. "Ehhh, no big deal. Nobody's gonna play it anyway. Ship em out!". It sucks, and the game board, conservation cards, spinner, all of the game parts, they all suck too. I know that's a generalization, but what do you expect from me...I didn't pay attention in school!

Here's the scene, a large cave-like room, flames, distant screams, and a devil guy sitting at a desk. There are all these tattered, soot covered lost souls wandering around and sitting at tables. A fresh guy walks in, suit is still clean, hair all combed. Devil guy looks up. "Hello, Mr Jones. Welcome to Hell. You'll be spending eternity in this room, but the good news is, the game closet is right over there." He points his pitchfork toward the closet doors. Mr. Jones walks over. "Oh, well...this isn't so bad." He opens both doors wide, and all he sees are dusty bare shelves, except for one thing...Conserving Natural Resourses Game and Poster Cards. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"


Fin