Scooore!

The Chilliwack Bruins franchise started off with a bang by winning in its Western Hockey League debut. Stephane Lenoski scored the winner and Alex Archibald stopped 17 shots as the Bruins defeated the Kelowna Rockets 3-1 Thursday for their first victory in franchise history to send a raucous sold-out crowd of 5,100 home happy.
The Bruins gave ways Inaugural game pucks, and souvenir tickets to all fans attending the game. I managed to score a few of each! I also bought one of the inaugural season pucks as well as an inaugural game program. I also scored a handfull of pocket schedules to trade with with my sked trading pals.
I have been to a number of inaugural games including the Vancouver Giants, Everett Silvertips, Burnaby Bulldogs, Burnaby Express, Coquitlam Express and the Vancouver Ravens NLL lacrosse team. As far as spectacle, there was not that much to be had at the Bruins game, although the sold out crowd seemed to be pleased with what they got. And unlike many of the other inaugural games I have attended, the home team actually won at this one which was a great way to get things started!

Home Opener Sold Out

The Chilliwack Bruins of the WHL announced today that Thursday's (September 21, 2006) inaugural game vs the Kelowna Rockets at Prospera Centre is sold out. Luckily this time I have my ticket and I am ready to go!

Prospera Centre opened its doors on September 10, 2004, and was the home to the Chilliwack Chiefs of the BCHL. The Chiefs have moved to Langley this season to make way for the Bruins. As well as seeing a few Chiefs games at Prospera Centre, I also got to see a pre season Idaho Steelheads game there, and most recently, saw Alice Cooper perform there.

I love attending inaugural hockey games, and always look forward to all the festivities and exclusive souvenirs. I'll be sure to give a report after the game.

Rare Disneyland Photo found in Attic

Here is an old photo I recently discovered in a shoebox in the attic*. It clearly shows Monkey's grandpappy exploring the jungles of Africa in the area that is now the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland.
*OK, I can't lie, I don't have an attic.

My Friend Patty

My friend patty sent me two great photos that I thought I would share, along with a few notes she sent with each shot.

This is the hockey picture of my dad. This was the team that was supposed to be in the '40 Olympics; the war changed all that. My brother coloured my dad blue, just like Kaden's light saber, so that I'd recognize him. As if I wouldn't. He looked the same all his life, and I have his face.
Check out the guy on the far right. That's what happened when there were no helmet rules. My dad was lucky. The only disfigurement he ever got was a chipped tooth.

Here are some thoughts of the Christmas '53 photo. I was younger than two by a couple of months. I think I must have been teaching my older brother, Tom, to print and read; ever the schoolteacher. Look at me checking out the shiny new trike. It was Tom's; he was just under three. I would have liked to switch; I could have turned out to be a race car driver. A contender. I also received the doll in the highchair and the pram. The programming began early in those days. I must admit I was cute in a sulky kind of way.

Mandrake the Magician

Mandrake the Magician is a U.S. comic strip created in 1934 by Lee Falk (also creator of The Phantom) and mainly appearing in syndication in newspapers. Mandrake was an illusionist whose work was based on an impossibly fast hypnotic technique. As the narrator informed us: "Mandrake gestured hypnotically" and the subject or subjects of this hypnosis would suddenly see a cane transformed in a bouquet of flowers or a cat into a tiger. Mandrake also worked against crooks and other bad guys in his spare time. This would include common gangsters, mad scientists and aliens from space. In their case, he would gesture hypnotically and they would see their guns change into snakes or red hot irons. Leon Mandrake the stage magician, who was known for his top hat, pencil line moustache and scarlet-lined cape, bears a strong resemblance to the comic strip character. In fact, Leon Mandrake had been performing for well over ten years before Lee Falk introduced the comic strip character and today most people would acknowledge the striking resemblance between them. Many diverse sources assert that the comic character was drawn to resemble Leon. Davis did meet Leon Mandrake, they became good friends and corresponded for years afterwards. I loved magic at an early age. I loved watching magic shows on TV, and decided I wanted to learn magic. I became a member of the Magic Guild of England, and even performed magic at parties etc into my early teens. In August 1992 I had the privilege of meeting the real life Mandrake at the Robson Square Theatre, at possibly his last ever public performance. I was thrilled to get a signed picture of Mandrake, one of the most famous magicians of all time!

My Pal Pluto

I am a big Disney fan and Pluto is my favorite Disney character. Back in 2000, Sara and I decided to write to our favorite characters, Pluto & Tinkerbell, care of Disneyland to see what would happen.
Two weeks latter, we received a large white envelope with a letter from Pluto and signed character 8 x 10's from Pluto and Mickey Mouse. Apparently, according to the letter, they were not able to get a photo of Tinkerbell as she is "shy and flies to fast".
I love the paw print in Pluto's signature!

Playland at the PNE

I have been collecting promotional flyers and brochures for as long as I can remember. I'm always happy to add a new promo brochure to my collection. Today I picked up the new 2006 Playland brochure. Playland is the amusement area at the PNE (Pacific National Exhibition).

Playland is your basic exhibition midway with the usual assortment of rides, with one exception. Playland's signature attraction the large wooden coaster named "The Coaster" was designed by Carl Phare and built in 1958, is an ACE Coaster Classic. If you are a fan of coasters, this is a 'must ride'.
As a child, I would always visit the PNE during the summer. It was worth the admission price for 3 things; The Coaster, The Smash Up Derby, and "Those Mini Donuts". The PNE has undergone many changes over the years, which for me have made the experience less appealing. The number one being the elimination of the smash up derby - I'm guessing because of environmental concerns (watching the smoke belch out of those cars was half the fun!). Nowadays, I wait until the last few weeks of Playland sometime at the end of September, and I go first thing in the morning on a Sunday. I usually have the place to myself and am able to ride most of the rides as many times in a row as I like before moving on to the next. Last time I went, I spent about 1 hour on the bumper cars, having fun as they brought me a fresh batch of victims every 5 minutes!

Remember any of these shows?

Here are the covers from last seasons TV Guide Fall Preview special issues.

I thought it would be fun to have a look at the new shows issue from last year and see how many of the shows made it past the first few episodes before being taken off the air, never to be seen from again (until they show up on DVD of course).
How many of these new shows from last season do you remember: Just Legal, Surface, Kitchen Confidential, Close to Home, Commander-In-Chief, Sex, Love & Secrets, Wanted, The Closer, Invasion, E-Ring, Freddie, Head Cases, Related, The Night Stalker, Young Blades, Three Wishes, Twins, Inconceivable, Killer Instinct, Threshold, Hot Properties, 8 Stories About Love, and Out of Practice.

TV Guide Fall Preview Issues

If you are a TV junkie, then September is an exciting time, as the networks roll out their new & returning shows. I always look forward to the TV Guide Fall Preview issues. This year there were 3 issues, the first (Sept. 2-8) listed 57 specialty shows new for fall. Next was the September -15 issue with 38 new shows, and third was the Sept. 16-22 issue with 76 returning shows. That's a lot of shows and a lot of time in front of the TV!!

Here are a few of the shows I am excited about.
Returning shows: CORNER GAS - this is my current favorite. Its like a small town Canadian version of Seinfeld. MONK - a show that I never watched until I started taping it for my mom. After watching an episode, I was hooked. I kind of reminds me of shows I liked as a kid (Dukes of Hazzard or BJ & The Bear). Its not real deep, but its a fun way to sit and giggle for an hour. THE RICK MERCER REPORT - its been on for a few seasons, but I only started watching it at the end of last season. Its the Canadian version of the John Stewart Show. HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER - an odd premise for a show, but a real fun show. SUPERNATURAL - my favorite suspense/horror of last season. Like the X Files, each hour long episode is a self contained story, but they all link together. MY NAME IS EARL - another great comedy. NBC gave Earl Seinfeld's old time slot, so they have high hopes for it. THE OFFICE - I didn't like this show at first, but it grew on my over last season. THE WAR AT HOME - my new Sunday night favorite. It files the gap left by Married With Children and Unhappily Ever After which were both a big part of my Sunday night TV viewing. BATTLESTAR GLACTICA - Not only for nerds. Even my wife got hooked on this updated version of the 70's cult classic.
New shows: HEROS, a show about everyday people who gain super Powers. TIL DEATH - I saw the first episode and its was pretty good. A newly wed couple moves in next door to a couple who have been married for years. They drive each other nuts! GENE SIMMONS FAMILY JEWELS - a show I didn't think I would watch, but have become addicted to. As a long time KISS fan, I love seeing them poke fun at Gene at home. And lastly, LIFE ON MARS, a show about a sharp-witted detective who is seemingly transported back to 1973 after a near fatal wreck.
So, the tally this year is 9 returning shows and 4 new shows that I am interested in. The number of new shows this season is probably as high as in past years, but most are dramas and reality shows which I don't watch, so there isn't as many shows I want to check out as in previous years. Hopefully there will be some great mid season replacement shows again this year to keep my going once all these new dramas and reality shows fail.

Dragonforce Sold Out!

Apparently I underestimated the popularity of Dragonforce. Last night Euro metal band Dragonforce played here in Vancouver at the Croatian Cultural Centre. I was excited about going to the show, but had to work until 9 pm and didn't think I would be able to make the show. The night before the show, I was on the bands web page forums and read that there would be 2 opening bands at the Dragonforce would not be onstage until about 9:30 pm. It takes about 45 minutes t get downtown, so if I left work right on time, I could make it to the show by about 9:45 pm. I left work and raced downtown, only to find that the show was sold out! Luckily for me, the front doors were all glass, and from the front door, I could see into the front lobby and right into the hall where the band was playing. This is how I watched the show. Not the best view or sound, but I did get to see and hear the show. And as it turns out, there were sooo many people at the show that the temperature was unbelievably hot and all during the show I saw people leaving due to heat exhaustion. I myself was standing outside in the beautiful evening air! So, I didn't have to bear the heat, I saved the $30 ticket cost AND I got to see and hear the show. I guess it worked out OK. Although, if they ever come back, I am getting my ticket early!

The above photo has been Photoshopped to help as a visual aide to go along with the story above - for those of you who were having a hard time visualizing what a Sold Out show might look like! The actual photo was taken of myself at Disneyland, standing at the ticket window after closing.

Why Paint When You Can Poster

Ok, so I think we have established that I collect just about everything. While going though some old photos, I found this shot of the basement of my old house. As you can see the basement walls were plastered with concert hand bills, flyers and posters. I am a huge metal fan, and in the mid to late 80's I used to go to a few concerts a week. At every show, I would try to come home with an advert for the show. It didn't take long to completely cover the wall(s) of the basement. Seen here are posters promoting song great local Vancouver metals bands; Nitevigil, Pretty Boy Floyd (Later Tommy Floyd), Iron Gypsy, Harlots Webb, Unchained, Nasty, Young Gun, Rival, Genghis Khan as well as some national acts; Ratt, Poison, Jetboy, Iron Maiden, Holy Soldier, Tuff, Precious Metal, Helix, Ramones and more.

The One That Got Away... Almost

Last Saturday night I read over on The Cult of Mac Blog about a great 14 page Mac OS X ad insert in several prominent magazines, including the current issue of Entertainment Weekly.

I planned on going to my local magazine shop to pick it up on Sunday. As luck would have it, I was out with my wife and son all day, and we didn't make it to the magazine shop until just a few minutes before it closed. When I asked the shop owner for a copy of Entertainment Weekly, he told me he did not carry E. W. magazine. So then I planned on going after work today (Monday) to my local Chapters book store to pick it up. Again it was another busy day, and by the time I got there, it was around 9 pm. I quickly perused the magazines looking for the issue in question. To my disappointment, I found the next weeks issue had been put out earlier today and the issue I wanted had been returned. I talked with one of the bookstore staff and she told me that they usually just rip off the covers to send them back and then the magazines are recycled. I told her I was only looking for the ad in the magazine, and she said she would have a look in the back to see if she might be able to find it and pull the ad out for me. She returned to let me know that unfortunately everything was already gone. Undaunted, I returned home tonight and visited eBay, the place where you can always find IT! and sure enough, there were a few copies of last weeks Entertainment Weekly magazine up for auction.
Kind of a long story for an ad in a magazine, but I have been collecting Mac ads for about 18 years now and when I saw this 14 page ad, I knew I just had to have it!
Now I have to keep my fingers crossed that in 14 hours and 13 minutes, I am the proud owner of Entertainment Weekly issue 895/896 with the prized 14 page Mac OS X insert.

THE WHA Returns... Sort of

Durring the 2003/04 season, as a NHL strike loomed, the World Hockey Association (WHA) decided it would be a great time to make their big comeback.
The plan was to start the 03/04 season with a minor developmental league, the WHA2, and then in 2004/05 when the NHL was in their lockout year, they would start up the rival WHA. The thought was that with hockey starved NHL fans looking for a hockey fix, the WHA was a sure thing!
It was projected that the league would begin operation in the 2004-2005 season with teams in Dallas, Detroit, Halifax, Hamilton, Miami, Toronto, Vancouver and Quebec City. Most hockey writers and many fans felt that the leagues best hope was to operate while the NHL plays were locked out and try to develop enough of a following to survive once the NHL labour problems were resolved. Their big chance was squandered as they didn't ice any teams for the 2004/05 lockout season. The following year the WHA Super Junior League was created in the Florida area with just a few teams. This version of the league was a fry cry from the original grand plans of the WHA.
When all plans failed to materialize, the rights to the organization's name and logo were sold to a British Columbia investor.
Current plans have the WHA working on two leagues. One league plans on being the main WHA and beginning play in 2007-2008 with the eight teams: Bay City Bulls, Columbus Stingers, Dearborn Sharks, Jamestown Jets, Lansing Racers, Long Island Cougars, Philadelphia Blazers, Pittsburgh Fighting Saints.
The other circuit is a developmental league called the WHA Junior West Hockey League. Their inaugural season begins in September 2006 with the following teams: Armstrong Crusaders, Bellingham Bulls, Lumby Fighting Saints, New Westminster Whalers, Osoyoos Spurs, Pierce County (Tacoma/Spanaway) Sharks, Squamish Cougars.
Sound confusing? Well, I am a huge minor league hockey fan, and I have had trouble following this all. I had seen on the WHA web site that they planned a new junior league in my area, but the web site was, and is, very poorly updated, and info is next to impossible to find.

Then, yesterday, as I was in New West shopping, I saw a poster for the WHA New Westminster Whalers in the window of an old run down convenience store. I went in with hopes of getting the shop owner to give me the poster to take home for my collection. The woman behind the counter said he had not even noticed the poster and would have to call the shop owner to ask about it. She then told me that they could not give it away, as the guy who dropped off the poster would be back to drop off some tickets for them to sell for the upcomming games. I then decided to stop by the Queens Park Arena to see if I could talk to someone in the Whalers office, or pick up some pocket schedules etc. When I got to the arena, all I found was the same poster, hung on the bulletin board along with ads for garage sales etc. To their credit, I did notice that they had painted the teams logo at centre ice.
As a huge minor league hockey fan, I am looking forward to the home opener of the New Westminster Whalers. Especially since they will be playing at the historic old Queens Park Arena, which has been hockeyless for a few seasons now.
As much as I am looking forward to the home opener and perhaps attending a few of their other Sunday afternoon games throughout the season, I don't think this league has a snowballs chance in hell.
The WHA has a pretty impressive history (Wayne Gretzky & the Edmonton Oilers came from the WHA after all!), but their only window of opportunity was 2004/05 when there would have been no competing national level hockey league on the ice. At this point, they might as well leave the name WHA to the history books, because it's never going to rival the likes of the NHL or any other league for that matter.
I'll be sure to give you a full report of the Whalers home opener on September 24, 2006.

Kaden Vs the Alien

I visited my local comic shop today to pick up the latest comics etc. I have been going to Talkin' Illustrations for about 20 years now, and have become good friends with Terry the owner. While we were in the shop a few months back, I took a few photos of Kaden with the full size Alien he has on display in the shop. For fun I took one of the photos and played around in Photoshop and added a funny thought ballon to Kaden. I then sent it off to Terry via email. To my surprise, Terry asked if he could ues it in the poster for his upcoming sale. Of couse I said yes! Terry added a second tought ballon, and his current sale poster was ready. Today, while I was at the shop, Terry gave me a couple of the postcards he is giving out to promote the sale, and once the sale is over, we are getting a couple of large posters with the same image. So this is officially Kaden's first print work. He's on his way to fame and fortune!

Virtual Kaden Action Figure

I am a big fan of Disney's 2001 animated feature, Atlantis, and I recently found a few Atlantis action figures on the discount table of a local department store. The summer that Atlantis came out, they had just opened a cheap theater across the street from my house, and that summer I went to see the movie at least 10 times. A few of those times I went, just to beat the heat, and enjoy the soundtrack. I enjoyed the movie so much, that I started collecting Atlantis stuff, and now have a large glass case full of Atlantis memorabilia.

I needed one of the action figures for my display, so I bough it, along with a few others, and brought them home. When it came time to pop one of the "Milo" action figures open to add to my display case, my son Kaden came to see what I was doing. Once I had opened the package, Kaden asked for the packaging to play with. When he held the package up to his face and looked though it, I thought it looked pretty funny, so I grabbed my camera and took a few photos. Then with a little work in Photoshop, we added his name to the packaging, and voila I had a virtual Kaden action figure.

Abandoned Amusement Parks

I love amusement parks, and I also love seeing old abandoned things such as Drive Ins and old buildings etc. So the other night when I stumbled upon a web site full of photos of old abandoned amusement parks, I was thrilled to say the least! I have no recollection of how I found this site, and as you will see if you click the link for yourself, the site is in a foreign language (perhaps Japanese). But if you are like me and love seeing photos of old rusty roller coasters and overgrown fields with amusement rides in them, then this is a site you will want to check out, even without being able to read whats on the pages.
I am not sure of the web sites name, but check out all the great photos of abandoned amusement parks and other stuff.
Here are just a few of the amazing photos you will find on the site.

Pocket Schedules

As I said last post, I love collecting pocket schedules. And since I am a huge fan of minor league hockey, my favorites are hockey skeds. I have been collecting them for about 10 years now. I started collecting them because I liked the artwork on them, but then when I found there were others who also collected them, I got hooked on collecting & trading them! Each hockey season, I attempt to get 1 sked from each team in each league; NHL, AHL, ECHL, CHL, UHL, SPHL, WHL, OHL, QMJHL etc. For those of you who collected hockey cards as a kid, this is kinda like that, except that these are free and hockey cards are now $6+ for a package miscellaneous cards.
Here are a few pocket schedules from my collection:

First we have the Lubbock Cotton Kings of the CHL. It's hard to see their logo on this one, but it's a giant angry cotton ball chewing on a hockey stick! Gotta love the graphic of a hockey player pressed up against the glass. Next we have the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL. I'm not sure what their logo/mascot is supposed to be, but it looks like a crazed white monkey to me. Next up we have the Fayetteville Fire Antz of the SPHL. I like the use of fire in a logo for a hockey team. Next we have the Louisiana Ice Gators of the ECHL. I was a big fan of this team until they folded a season ago. I liked their name and logo. Something kinda funny about a hockey team playing in the bayou don't you think?

Here we have the Winston Salem Polar Twins of the SPHL. An OK logo, but Polar Twins... what kind of a name for a hockey team is that? Another favorite of mine, is the Muskegon Fury of the UHL. I liked this logo so much I bough a Fury jersey. While I was wearing it at a local hockey game someone came up to me and asked, "is that supposed to be an angry toilet bowl?" Ever since then, I have a hard time seeing anything else. Next up is the Danbury Trashers also of the UHL. Their name and logo are a hockey playing trash can. Is that Oscar the Grouch I see in there? Turns out the team is owned by a guy who owns the largest trash removal company in the Danbury area. Lastly in this bunch we have the ECHL Idaho Steelheads. Another logo I always liked. It is a goalie mask with a puck rebounding off of it. And check out those hockey players on the front of their sked. What's up with the guy second to the left? Apparently he wasn't wearing a goalie mask when a puck rebounded off his head.

There are the AHL Texas Wildcatters. I always found their name sort of funny. Nice logo though. There is the Indianapolis Ice of the CHL. I love their 03/04 promotional campain "Are You Tough Enough?" with a grandma in her pink hat and shawl, with two black eyes and a few missing teeth. And going with the same theme, we have the Roanoke Express of the ECHL with a tough looking guy on the front, who looks like he could use a doctor. Lastly we have the Prince George Spruce Kings of the BCHL. This is by far my favorite logo of all time. What's not to love about an angry Christmas tree holding a hockey stick and being chased by a giant saw blade!
Check out my web site Ronn's Minor League Hockey Blog to see many more pocket schedules and other minor league hockey memorabilia.

CFL Memorial Day Classic

Yesterday was Labour Day in Canada, and that means the CFL Labour Day Classic on CBC. The First game was Edmonton Eskimos @ Calgary Stampeders, and the second game was the Toronto Argonauts @ Hamilton Tigercats. Unfortunately this year, neither game was truly a classic, as the Eskimos won 44 to 23 and the Argos won 40 to 6.
As well as watching the Canadian Football League, I also collect CFL pocket schedules. You know, those little fold out schedules you can pick up for your local teams at info booths, gas stations etc. Here is the complete CFL sked collection for the 2006 season.

Robert's Motors Oldsmobile

Here is a neat sign I found on my Drive In trip to Auburn, WA, back in 1998 when we visited the Auburn 6 Drive In. I love the rocket ship with the tail of lights behind. If it still works, I'm sure the sign looks great in the dark. We didn't get to find out though as we didn't pass by this sign after dark.

Buster's Texas Style Barbecue

If you're looking for a genuine taste of Texas you've found it! Buster's makes the best barbecue this side of the Rio Grande, dry-rubbed with spices and slow cooked for six to twelve hours in Texas style smoke pits stoked with real Hickory. It's a labor and time-intensive process, but you won't find better barbecue anywhere! Made you hungry yet? For some reason I started thinking about Buster's the other day and can't get that mouth watering grub outta my mind!
I have visited the Tigard, Organ location of Buster's Texas Style Barbecue on two separate Drive In mini vacations, and both times I left with a huge smile on my face! I was drawn in the neat old neon sign outside. Once inside, I was surrounded with the great Texas outdoors. That is to say they have done some nice theming to make it look like a chuck wagon line outside, with a camp fire, trees, etc. The kind of thing you would expect to find at a Disney park.
Then there was the food. As their web site into says "we make the best barbecue this side of the Rio Grande" and they aren't kidding!
Now if only they would add a few new locations in Washington State that we could drive to in a few hours, instead of an all day drive to the state of Oregon, then we would be all set!

Seeing Double... Dragons

I love hockey, and I love hockey logos. One of my favorite logos was the San Antonio Dragons. They played in the IHL from 1996-99. Then in 2000/01 the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL introduced a brand new team logo. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had seen it before. The colour had been changed from green to blue, the horns were now shorter, the wings were traded in for spikes, gloves had been added and the flame had been extinguished. But you can't fool me, I know that blue dragon is really a San Antonio Dragon in disguise!

I Got Gremlins!

I picked up my copy of "The Gremlins" hardcover yesterday. Published in 1943 and long unavailable, Dark Horse Books is proud to present this landmark book from Roald Dahl, the author of such beloved tales as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, and Matilda. Digitally restored, this remarkable presentation of Dahl's classic story, lavishly illustrated by the artists of the Walt Disney Studios!
The Gremlins is the story of Gus, a British World War II fighter pilot, who during the Battle of Britain turned to look out on the wing of his plane only to see an amazing sight: a little man, no more than six inches tall with horns growing from his head, drilling a hole in the plane's wing. Gus was the first man to ever see a Gremlin, and what happened after that would change the war, and the world, forever.
Bought by Walt Disney to be produced as an animated motion picture (and considered to be the first story featuring the mythical airplane-sabotaging creatures known as Gremlins), the project was ultimately shelved and is reprinted here for the first time in over sixty years. The book was first published in 1943 and has been unavailable since that time.
Dark Horse Deluxe is producing a a Gremlins Comic book series and a line of toys to tie in with the project, the first time Gremlins toys have been made available in decades!

I am especially excited to add this book to my collection, as I have been kicking myself for years, ever since I passed up buying an original copy of this book at the Lincoln Antique Mall in Fullerton, California. We always set aside a half a day to spend shopping at the Lincoln Antique Mall (unfortunately it is now closed), as it was the largest collection of Disney memorabilia we had ever seen in once place - and all for sale! This particular trip I picked up many great items, including a framed photo of Walt Disney which looked exactly like the one on Walt's office wall. We even heard a story about how the Disney company had been cracking down on stolen Disney Company items that were ending up in collectors shops. On one of their visits to this mall, they actually asked to open up the framed picture to look for the Disney stamp on the back of the Walt's photo. Luckily for me they didn't find one, and I was able to purchase this very cool item! Because I was already spending so much cash, I decided to put The Gremilins book back to save the $250 price tag. Now thanks to Dark Horse, I am finally able to add this book to my collection, and for a measly $12.99 US!

My Race Set Mania

Recently I found a great old photo from December 25th, 1967. It's a photo of my father and myself with a super neato racing set! I was just two months old at the time. I wonder if the race set was for me, or for dad?
Then, if you go back to yesterdays blog and click to enlarge the photo of me with my train set you can see on the left is a smaller table with a racing set on it. So that was race set number two, some time in early to mid 70's.

Then in 1979, I got my third and final racing set, the Ideal TCR Total Control Racing, Lighted Blazers Jam Car Special. This set came with two cars that two players could control, and a third card, a slotless jam car that would drive around by itself and get in your way. The race track did not have slots like the average set, so you could flip a switch on the controller to change lanes to pass your competition. And to make things even more exciting, the cars had working headlights and glowed in the dark! It didn't get much better than that for a 12 year old!

Much like the train set, I am sure that at some point, Kaden and I will drag this out of the basement and set it up for some "Slotless track-real passing" racing action!

Train Scale HO

One of the coolest Christmas presents I ever remember receiving was my first train set. I don't remember the exact year, but I would guess it was some time in the mid 70's. It had a green engine, about 3 box cars, a flat bed with 3 removable tractors, an oil tanker, a caboose, and enough track to make an oval, and of course an electic power pack to make the thing run. I remember going out to a lumber yard somewhere to buy a large piece of plywood to nail the track to and setting it up on a table in my room (see photo below).

I remember a Christmas or two later, I received a second train set. This one was the ultra cool "US Army" edition which was all camo green and came with a flatbed with a removable tank on it, a car with a large cannon, a box car with doors that flipped down to revel two swiveling guns, etc. In 1980 we moved into a townhouse which had a basement, and I decided to set up my train in a large way. By this time I have collected all sorts of engines, cars, lots of track, buildings etc. My friend Lew and I started working on building the layout, including sculpted mountains and a complete town (see the accompanying colour photos of the layout as it was being dismantled). When we moved 3 years ago, I had to tear down my train diorama, as there was no way to move it. I took a few photos of the set up before I began dismantling it. I thought a few of the photos looked kinda cool in black and white.




The entire train set now sits in boxes in the basement of our new house, waiting the day my son Kaden asks about it and we can dig it out once again.