Polaris Nuclear Sub, just $6.98

Here is a great 70's ad from inside a comic book. It's for the Polaris Nuclear Sub... for only $6.98. It's over 7 feet long, seats 2 kids, has controls that work, rockets that fire, real periscope, firing torpedoes, and an electrically lit instrument panel. This sub does everything but get wet!
This is one of those items that I remember seeing all the time in comics and wishing I could buy. Now as an adult, I wish I could buy one for two reasons; 1) it would be really cool to have this item in my collection - I'm sure the packaging is very retro cool looking. 2) I would love to see what it actually looked like. As a kid, I thought it was an actual sub that you could go into the ocean with and shoot rockets and torpedoes etc. I'm sure I never read the ad closely enough to actually read the fact that it was made of fiberboard - hardly something that was going to be seaworthy! Like so many of the items from comic ads, I would absolutely love to see the actual items today, just to confirm all of the thoughts I had as I got older, about how hokey these items really were, and to see how accurate the ad text of these ads really were!
Here is what the small print on the ad had to say about the Polaris Nuclear Sub. How proud you will be as commander of your own Polaris Sub - the most powerful weapon in the world! What hours of imaginative play and fun as you and your friends dive, surface, maneuver, watch the enemy though the periscope and fire your nuclear missiles and torpedoes! What thrills as you play at hunting sunken treasures in pirate waters and exploring the strange and mysterious bottom of the deep ocean floor!
Hours and hours of adventure. Sturdily constructed of 200 lb. test fiberboard. Comes complete with easy assembly instructions. Costs only $6.98 for this giant of fun, adventure and science. (Because of the Polaris Sub's giant size we must ask for 75 cents shipping charges.)
Money back guarantee. Order today and we will rush your Polaris Nuclear Sub to you. use it for 10 full days. If you don't think it is the greatest ever - the best toy you ever had - just send it back for full purchase price refund.
Luckily this item came with a 10 day free trail, so it had to be good, right!?

[since posting this, I found this great post over at the Secret Fun Blog. It includes a photo and description of the actual sub!]

Little Golden Book Monday #18

Today's Little Golden Book is The Amazing Mumford Forgets the Magic Words! featuring Jim Henson's Muppets (1979). This book combines three of my favorite things; Little Golden Books, the Muppets, and magic! And I love the artwork in this one. Check out this two page spread from the book, which shows The Amazing Mumford standing outside the theater where he is about to preform. Luckily it looks like Santa Claus is going to be able to see the show as it is only ALMOST Sold Out.

I don't want to give the whole book away, but that "D" on the marquee is going to fall and hit poor Mumford on the head, and cause him to forget who he is and where he is. That sure is going to make things tough for him to put on a good show.

Happy Birthday Big Pile Of Stuff!

Today is the first birthday for my blog, Ronn's Big Pile of Stuff, which I posted the first entry to on July 30th, 2006. When I started, I thought it would be an interesting experiment to see if I could post an entry a day for a full year (or more). My experiment lasted 75 days, until on October 13th I forgot to post an entry, and my streak was over. Since then, I have not been posting daily, but I have been posting a few entries a week. I even started a weekly feature called "Little Golden Book Monday" where I post one Little Golden Book each Monday, and I have been thinking of adding a few more daily features. We'll see if I get around to it.
This blog has been a fun way to write about and show things that I am interested in, and I plan to continue posting stuff to the Big Pile Of Stuff for a long time to come.
Hopefully in our second year someone else besides myself will find the blog and enjoy it as much as I do!

Who Framed Rick Flint?

Yesterday while visiting some new thrift stores, I picked up some great records, games, and lots of books! I am a big fan of the 1988 classic Disney film "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" and always love adding something new to my Roger Rabbit collection. I found these two great items;
1) Disney Adventures issue from April 1992 with Jessica Rabbit on the cover along with Daisy Duck and Minnie Mouse. Although Jessica is on the cover, there is nothing to do with Roger Rabbit in side this one. I also have another issue of Disney Adventures with Jessica on the cover - if I remember correctly she with standing with a bunch of Disney female characters and someone from one of the Star Trek series.
2) Roger Rabbit: Who Framed Rick Flink? from 1991 is a graphic novel style reprint of issues #10 and #11 of the Roger Rabbit Disney Comics. The title of this graphic novel comes from the title of issue #11, which is printed first in this collection. If you never saw the Roger Rabbit comics from Disney Comics in the 90's, they are well worth checking out. Being a big comic book and Disney fan, I bought all the comics that Disney put out in this line of comics including Roger Rabbit and Roger Rabbit's Toontown.

Little Golden Book Monday #17

Today's Little Golden Book is Cartoon Network's The Powerpuff Girls, Special collector's edition from 1999.
I remember seeing the first Powerpuff Girls cartoon "The Powerpuff Girls in: Meat Fuzzy Lumkins" as part of the Cartoon Networks World Premiere Toons show. Soon after, Powerpuff mania hit North America and Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup hit the big screen in 2002 with "The Powerpuff Girls Movie".
Craig McCracken, a student of California Institute of the Arts, created The Whoopass Girls in 1992 in his short film The Whoopass Girls in A Sticky Situation. Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation selected the short in 1994; McCracken submitted it to Cartoon Network while working on Dexter's Laboratory.[2] As the word "whoopass" was deemed inappropriate for younger audiences, the word was replaced by "powerpuff".
This book titled "Big, Terrible Trouble?" is illustrated by Craig McCraken and Lou Romano. On the inside title page is states: Craig McCraken is the creator of the Emmy-nominated animated series, The Powerpuff girls. he wrote and illustrated this special collector's edition exclusively for Golden Books.

Goofy Card Tricks

I have loved magic ever since I was a young child. I even wanted to be a magician when I was younger and performed for kids parties etc. I had piles of magic tricks, was subscribed to the British "Magic Magazine", I used to get up early on the weekend to watch the Magic Castle TV show and I had two identical black gerbils which were a part of my act. I also loved to collect any books on magic I could find.
I remember that any trip to Disneyland (also Knott's Berry Farm) was a great chance to visit a magic shop.
This weekend I found a great used book shop where I ended up finding all kinds of treasures including this great 66 page, 1977 Walt Disney's Goofy Card Tricks book, which I image was sold in the magic shop on the Main street of Disneyland back in the 70's.
I can't pass along any of the tricks in the book, a magician never revels his secrets, but here is the introduction from the book:
Magic is fun... for the magician and for the audience. Magic can make people laugh [as a kid magician, my audiences seemed to laugh a lot!], it can make them wonder, it can make them marvel. The magical card tricks in this book are mystifying but easy and fun to do. Here are some tips from Goofy on giving a good magic show:
1. Never tell anyone your secrets-not even your best friend or your mother! [Ronn: go ahead and tell your dad though!] If you do, all the mystery will be gone!
2. Never perform the same trick twice in front of the same audience. The second time, your audience will notice much more, because they will know what to expect.
3. Practice, practice, practice! Learn to perform your tricks smoothly and with ease. If you can, practice in front of a mirror; this way, you will be able to see yourself as your audience sees you.
Good luck, and good magic!

Disney offers new CD format CDVU+

This week Walt Disney Co. music label Hollywood Records is offering a
new CD format with extra features to encourage compact-disc purchases
in a bid to reverse declining CD sales.
Hollywood Records on Wednesday unveiled its new CDVU+ (CD View Plus)
format with digital magazine extras, song lyrics, band photos and
other extras to boost fan loyalty. The new format also replaces the
traditional CD booklet and plastic jewel case with recyclable
packaging. Teen punk band Jonas Brothers will be the first act to use
the technology when they release their self-titled album on August
7.Disney executives hope to hold the interest of fans by offering
content similar to the extras on movie DVDs and convince them that
pure music products still offer good value. The content on a CDVU+ can
be downloaded and accessed online and off. The label said the extra
content had been produced for the new format rather than using the
band's outtakes or widely available material, such as existing music
videos.

Black Hole Collectables

"A journey that begins where everything ends!"
The other day while searching though some local thrift shops I found two great Walt Disney "the Black Hole" items. The first is the Walt Disney Productions' "the Black Hole" coloring book from Whitman, and dated 1979. Amazingly, this coloring book is in mint condition and completely uncolored, which is not something you see very often from coloring books you find at thrift shops! I'm not sure what the original price of this item was, but I paid a whopping 25 cents.
The second item is the 1979 novel written by Alan Dean Foster, from Del Rey Books, with a cover price of $1.95. This one cost me 50 cents.
Strange that I found both items at the same shop. I wonder if they both came from the same home, perhaps belonging originally to another "the Black Hole" fan.

Happy Birthday Disneyland

Happy Birthday to Disneyland park which is celebrating its 52nd birthday today. The park opened to guests on July 17, 1955. I have had the opportunity to spend many July 17th's at the park, and I must say I wish I was there today! I'm going to watch my copy of "Dateline Disneyland" the opening day live special that is part of the Walt Disney Treasures DVD set titled Disneyland USA. Happy Birthday to you Disneyland!

Little Golden Book Monday #16

Today's Little Golden book is "Quick Draw McGraw" and is copyright 1960 by H-B Enterprises. As always, this one is filled with wonderful artwork, and who doesn't love Quick Draw and his sidekick Baba Looey.
On the first inside page it says, "This is a brand-new book, illustrated especially for Golden Books".
Something a little unusual for me is the back page of this one. Instead of the familiar Little Golden Books characters and story of Little Golden Books, this one has an ad for Golden Capitol Adventure Kids - These handsomely boxed kits (15 x 10 x 1 1/2") contain all the equipment and information the junior natural scientist needs to begin his hobby. $2.95 each." Titles include; Rocks, Sea Shells, Insects, Birds, Stars, Weather, and Plants.

Coming July 15 to a theatre near you

Back in 1937 Walt Disney released the first full length feature film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" which went on to be rereleased many times over its 70 years. Here is an ad for its July 15th, 1983 theatrical rerelease in North America.

Walt Disney's New characters in his first full-length production!

The Happiest, Dopiest, Grumpiest, Sneeziest movie of the year.

The Best Loved Musical Of All Time

The Show Sensation Of The Generation!

Walt Disney's First Full Length Feature Production

Behold - The Miracle Of The Movies! - Coming To Amaze You, Charm You, Thrill You!

The One That Started It All

Still the fairest of them all!

Little Golden Book Monday #15

Today's Little Golden book was picked out by my 2 year old son Kaden. It's called "Make Way for the Highway" (edition 310-55, 1961) and is all about the construction of a brand new highway using lots of big vehicles.
When I saw the cover I immediately thought of Kaden as he is always pointing out diggers and other assorted large vehicles while we drive around town. He loves construction vehicles.
I also got a kick out of the title which seemed to say, "the highway is important, and everything else better get out of the way!" As I read though the book, it certainly delivered on it's title.
On page 4, we see Mike and his bulldozer pushing a rock out of the way, which displaces a family of foxes, "Under the rock lived a mother fox and her four babies. When the rock began to move, they got scared. The mother fox and her babies dashed off toward the woods."
On the next page we again see Mike, this time, "turning his bulldozer toward a clump of bushes. A cottontail rabbit who had his home in those bushes shook with fear when he saw the great machine coming. Away dashed the rabbit as fast as he could."
Then, "Mike steered the bulldozer toward a tall elm tree. The tree had been there for a hundred years. But now it had to go. Away flew a pair of robins whose nest was in the tree. 'Sorry,' called Mike, 'but the highway must go though!'"
Four pages later, "All at once Mike stopped his bulldozer. Right in the path of the highway stood a little old house. Tall trees grew around it. Yellow roses climbed over the front door. 'I Guess we'll have to take that house down,' said Mike. Mike's bulldozer could knock a house down in a half hour."
"No you don't," said the little old lady who lived there.
"You'll be paid for your land," said Mike. "Money isn't everything," said the little old lady. Mike scratched his head. "I'll have to talk to the Big Boss," he said.
Next day, the Big Boss came to the little old house. "I'm sorry, ma'am," he said, "This house must come down."
"Young man," said the little old lady "I've lived in this house for seventy years. I watched these trees grow. I planted that rose bush. I'm not leaving."
"But the highway must go though," said the Big Boss. "People want the shortest, quickest way these days."
"What's their hurry?" asked the little old lady.
The Big Boss shook his head. He didn't know.
[Sarcastic mode on] Luckily for everyone involved, Mike and his crew were able to save the little old ladies house by directing the highway around the old house. Now the little old lady is able to enjoy all the sights and sounds of the highway right outside her front door [sarcastic mode off].

Lakeside's Demolition Derby

This weekend I found a few new thrift stores and I ended up finding some great stuff! Among my finds were 10 Whitman "Tell-A-Tale Books", 12 Little Golden books, another 15 assorted books including a Walt Disney "Black Hole" novel, 7 Disney records, and a very cool Demolition Derby game from Lakeside games.
From the box: "You do the steering - smash the pop-up cars - race the closing gate"
"On your make! Get set! Open the gate! 12 pop up cars are on the field! Demolition Demon is moving out! He pops one in the air! CRASH! The Demon bounces off the wall! He fishtales across the field! BAM SMASH! Two more pop out, they're flying high! 10 seconds to go. The pit stop is closing up! Get back! Hurry up! 3 more gone! As he slides home safe! What a champ!"
The plastic gameboard, which is about 13" square, has a series of two-dimensional colored plastic target cars set on it which are triggered by rubber bands located beneath the board. A small area of the board is sectioned off (the Pits) behind a gate which serves as the timing mechanism for each person's turn. A small car (the 'Demon') that relies on a ball bearing for mobility is placed behind the gate which is released by an opponent when all the targets are in position.
The instructions describe several variations of the game but all basically involve bumping into as many of the target cars with the Demon as possible and returning to the Pits before the timing gate closes.
As soon as I saw this on the shelve I knew I had to have it! The great artwork on the box first drew my attention, and when I saw it was a demolition derby game, I snapped it up! As soon as I got home I had to try it out and luckily almost everything was still in the box. It is missing two of the plastic target cars and the two handles for moving the board are missing - but it is easy enough to more without the handles. I popped in the target cars and proceeded to move the board up and down to direct the Demon car to fly around the board bumping into the other cars, sending them flying into the air!
Ahh, what fun to be had for a buck!

Flake Magazine

I have previously posted about my cereal box addiction, but here is some proof of how addicted to cereal box collecting I was. Back in 1993, I had a subscription to Flake Magazine, the Breakfast Nostalgia Magazine. That's right, an entire magazine dedicated to cereal and the boxes they come in!
For me, cereal box collecting started innocently enough. I was buying many breakfast cereals with cartoon characters on the boxes, and I started keeping the ones I especially liked the looks of. Some time in the late 80's the cereal manufacturers started going crazy creating new cereals to tie in with new movies, TV shows etc. A trip to the supper market cereal isle and you would be inundated with all kinds of amazing boxes filled with some pretty amazing looking stuff - not good tasting most of the time, just amazing looking!
I used to pick up all the new and cool looking cereal boxes and when I got them home, I would carefully open the bottom of the boxes and take out the bag of cereal to give to my mom who would give them to the food bank. I wasn't gonna eat that stuff, and I figured that some poor kid might be thrilled to get the chance to eat some florescent blue and pink cereal filled with crunchy marshmellows. Better them than me!
Two of the silliest cereal boxes I own are: Urkelos (Steve "Did I do that?" Urkel from the 1991 TV sitcom Family Matters) which was basically a two colour Froot Loops, and Mr. T Cereal which was pretty much Cap'n Crunch.
My favorite tasting kids cereals of all time were 1984's Strawberry Shortcake Cereal and Cap'n Crunch Peanut Butter... mmmm, my mouth is salivating just thing about them!

Pizza Hut Pete

On June 15, 1958, brothers Frank and Dan Carney took advantage of the "pizza craze" sweeping the country by opening the first Pizza Hut in Wichita. A year later the first Pizza Hut franchise opened in Topeka, and the move to become a national chain was on.
One of the first symbols of the company was "Pizza Hut Pete," shown here in the form of a plastic sign that was part of Pizza Hut oven toy for children. I found this one at a local thrift shop. Too bad they didn't have the toy oven to go with it. I'm sure my son would have loved it, as we love going to Pizza Hut every Friday afternoon for the "All You Can Eat" pizza buffet. Pizza Hut was one of the first things Kaden learned to say!
"Pete" was used by the company into the mid-1970s, when the familiar red roof logo began to appear. "Pete" might simply have outlived his usefulness, or perhaps he was seen as too much of an Italian stereotype to be an effective image for the company.

Little Golden Book Monday #14

Today's Little Golden Book is Disney's Home on the Range.
Home on the Range is a 2004 animated feature produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures on April 2, 2004. The film is the forty-fourth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon.
Prior to the film's release, Disney stated that it would be their last film in their animated features canon to use traditional animation. Although Disney animated films have featured some computer-generated effects for many years, Disney announced plans to move entirely to computer animation after Home on the Range, beginning with 2005's Chicken Little, and laid off most of its animation department. However, after the company's acquisition of Pixar in early 2006, new leaders John Lasseter and Ed Catmull decided to revive traditional animation, and announced the upcoming 2-D film, The Princess and the Frog. Still, Home on the Range is the final feature in the canon to use the CAPS system, which was first fully used in The Rescuers Down Under.
As you can see from the cover drawing, the characters in this book are drawn in a "cute", "cartoony", "little kids" style unlike the actual movie characters. It would seem they were trying to appeal to a young toddler crowd with this release. It does make for a fun read.

Some Great Magazine Ads

Here are a couple of the great ads that were in the 1983 issue of Muppet Magazaine. The first is for Disney videocassettes in collectors packages with video and hat. The second ad is introducing Disney RCA VideoDiscs. "A world of Wald Disney, Mr. Rogers, the Muppets, Charlie Brown, "Annie," Star Trek," great educational shows and more. All on your own TV. What's more, the RCA VideoDisc player is so simple to operate, a child can do it. Basic players start at $299. Discs as low as $14.98. And for your kids, the magic goes on and on."
I remember having one of those VideoDisc players. It was great, as when be bought the player, it came with a one year unlimited VideoDisc rental plan. I was able to take as many movies as I wanted, so I would take out 2 or 3 movies a night. I must have watch hundreds of movies that year... some, over and over again!
Funny enough, our family had VideoDisc and Beta. We didn't get VHS until both Beta and VideoDisc had faded into obscurity. When the VideoDisc systems were being dumped by video stores, we bought a bunch of the movies on Disc for next to nothing. I have some great VideoDisc titles in my collection including: The Pirate Movie, Friday the 13th, The Pink Panther, Pink Panther Strikes Again, Gold Finger and A Night at the Opera.

Muppet Magazine

While digging in the basement looking for something the other night, I found these two issues of Muppet Magazine from 1983 and 1984. I was a huge Muppets fan back in the70's and 80's and I am sure I pretty excited when I found these magazine on the local news stand. I do remember that at the time I thought they were pretty expensive at the high price of $1.50 an issue! Here were have two great covers; first is Battle of the space heroes (aka Star Wars), featuring Kermit, Gonzo and Piggy in Luke, Vader and Leia. The second cover features a young Ricky Schroder of of the TV sitcom Silver Spoons.

Also being a collector of ads, I was thrilled to see how many great full page ads there were in these two magazines. I will post a few of them once I have the time to scan them all.

589-ROAR #2

Here is the second in a series of BC Lions print ads. This one shows a Hamilton Tigercats fan sitting amongst a stadium full of Lions fans. I am going to guess that there will be ads featuring each of the other 7 CFL teams, so hopefully I can find the other 5 ads to display here on my blog!

Little Golden Book Monday #13

Statler: "I like this movie so far"
Waldorf: "It hasn't started yet"
Statler: "That's what I like about it!"

Today's Little Golden Book is Muppet Treasure Island. This wasn't their best movie, but I love the Muppets and was thrilled to find this fun adaptation of the movie. This book came out in 1995 (the movie was released in 1996). If you have not seen the movie yet, it is worth seeing just for the song "Cabin Fever", a song that will get stuck in your head for days!

"Cabin Fever"

I got cabin fever it's burning in my brain
I've got cabin fever it's driving me insane
We got cabin fever, we're flipping our bandanas
Been stuck at sea so long we have simply gone bananas

Ariba!
Chica chica boom
A chica chica boom boom chic
Chica chica boom
A chica chica boom boom chic

We got cabin fever we've lost what sense we had
We got cabin fever, we're all going mad

*** [does not appear in movie, but is on the soundtrack]

My sanity is hanging by a thread
Since we're going nowhere I've gone out of my head
We were sailing sailing over the bounding main
(Lew Zealand:) And now we're not! Ha ha heh!
***

Grab your partner by the ears
Lash him to the wheel
Do-si-do step on his toe
Listen to him squeal
Allemande left, allemande right
It's time to sail or sink
Swing your partner over the side
Drop him in the drink

We got cabin fever
No if's, and's, or but's
We're disoriented
And demented
And a little nuts

Ach du lieber Volswagen car
(Yodel-lay-ee-hoo)
Saur braten viener schnitzel
Und a vunder bar
(Yodel-lay-ee-hoo)

We were sailing, sailing the wind was on our side
And then it died

I've got cabin fever
I think I've lost my grip
I'd like to get my hands on
Whoever wrote this script
Si!

I was floating 'neath a tropic moon
And dreaming of a blue lagoon
Now I'm crazy as a loon

Cabin fever has ravaged all aboard
This once proud vessel has become a floating psycho ward
We were sailing, sailing headed who knows where
And now though we're all here
We're not all there

Cabin fever!

The International Hockey League is back... sort of!?!

I had today marked on my iCal as the day that the UHL would be announcing the changes for the upcoming 2007/08 hockey season. I knew that a bunch of the teams that payed last season would be gone for next season, as two teams are moving to other leagues and a few others are folding. But what I saw when I visited the UHL site tonight was pretty surprising!
The first thing I noticed when I clicked on my UHL bookmark was the the url quickly changed from theuhl.com to ihl-hockey.com. Then as the site showed up in my browser I saw that the UHL had indeed shrunk in teams from 10 last season down to 6 for the upcoming season. But more interestingly, the league had also changed its name from the UHL (United Hockey League) to the IHL International Hockey League).
My immediate reaction was that of excitement, after all, the IHL was my favorite hockey league until its demise in 2001. I was very disappointed when IHL folded.
Happily six of the IHL teams (including my favorites: Manitoba Moose & Grand Rapids Griffins), moved over to the AHL. I have a great T-shirt with those logos and the slogan, "the Original Six", as a homage to the original six of the NHL.
I always wished that IHL had not gone away, or at least that after a season or two they could have come back to play another season.
So here it is 2007, and we once again have the IHL, albeit a very different IHL.
Part of me thinks its wrong to change the name of the UHL to a name that already existed, but, at least 3 of the 6 teams playing in the new IHL were teams that played in the original IHL, so I guess that make this seem just a little 'less wrong', and possibly even OK.
I'll be very anxious to see the new IHL season begin this coming October. Once the season get going, I'll make up my mind if this is the greatest hockey move ever, or the worst move ever. Lets just hope they don't make a mockery of the IHL name.

Little Golden Book Monday #12

Today's Little Golden Book is not actually a Little Golden Book at all. Rather, it is a LGB that I WISH had been released. You see, Atlantis The Lost Empire is my favorite modern Disney animated movie, and I love collecting anything to do with Atlantis. The problem is that when it came out in 2001, there was some sort of falling out between Disney and Little Golden Books. So, at the time when they should have been releasing an Atlantis the Lost Empire Little Golden Book edition, they were instead re releasing titles such as Poky Little Puppy, Shy Little Kitten and Saggy Baggy Elephant. Happily, only a couple of years later Little Golden Books was once again releasing Disney titles. It's my guess that Little Golden Books saw a huge decrease in sales with the absence of Disney titles, and I'm sure Disney missed the easy profits to be made from licensing their properties - not to mention the added benefit of putting their characters on book selves and in toy stores all across North America in front of young impressionable children who would then grown up reading their favorite Disney titles.
That's all well and good, except that Atlantis came out during the time when Little Golden Books was not releasing Disney titles, and once they started releasing Disney titles again, they did go back and release a few tiles such as a book based on the Incredibles, but unfortunately, Atlantis had not preformed well enough at the box office to warrant a book release long after the movies theatrical release. If only they had been doing Disney titles when the movie came out, they would have released an Atlantis book at the time of the movies release, then even though the movie tanked at the box office, it would not matter, as I would already have a copy of the book in my collection.
So, what you see above is what I have created for myself. A digital (cover only) version of the Little Golden Book Atlantis the Lost Empire edition as I've imagined it. Sigh...

Bloops Cereal

To go along with my last post about Kellogg's looking to cut down on their animated cereal pitch men (characters), I thought I would share this really neat creation with you. Its over at the Beehive blog. This guy has created his own cereal character Cap'n Bloop, and even made a mock up of the Bloops cereal box. You can follow along on the web site with the creation and evolution of Cap'n Bloop. If you are an animation/cereal box junkie like I am, you will want to check it out!

Kellogg's sends Tony the Tiger Packing

As reported in the Globe and Mail: Facing threats of lawsuits and dire warnings about childhood obesity, Kellogg Co. has decided to put itself on a diet.
The Company, maker of Pop Tarts and Fruit Loops, said yesterday it's getting out of the business of marketing these and other foods of dubious health value to children.
It also plans to cut the amount of fat, sugar and salt in many of its snacks and cereals.
The decision could mark the beginning of the end of a Saturday morning tradition - cartoon-like ads pitching sugar-laced treats to kids.
Kellogg, along with its Canadian subsidiary, said that by the end of next year all of its products will be reformulated to meet new, tougher health standards or they won't be advertised to children under the age of 12.
The company also vowed to stop ;using cartoon characters, such as Shrek or Tony the Tiger, for products that fall short of the new standard.
Last year, 10 major food and beverage companies promised that at least half their advertising aimed at children under the age of 12 would promote healthier foods and exercise. The companies, including McDonald's and General Mills, also pledged to stop advertising in elementary schools and to cut back on the use of cartoon characters to pitch products. Yesterday's announcement comes in the wake of negotiations with two groups that had threatened to sue Kellogg over its advertising to children.

Little Golden Book Monday #11

Todays Little Golden Book is Disney/Pixar's Ratatouille (rat.a.too.ee). Being a big fan of Disney and Pixar, I was really hoping to find a Ratatouille Little Golden Book, and was thrilled when I found it at our local Zellers last night amongst a large assortment of Ratatouille picture books, coloring books, novelizations, sticker books etc, all in a large Ratatouille display. Its always a little strange to see Little Golden Books such as this one illustrated with watercolor style drawings when the movie is actually a CGI animated film.

589-ROAR #1

I saw this ad in the local newspaper at work this past week and had to yank it out and bring it home for my collection. The CFL football league started pre season this past week and our local BC Lions have started their new promotional campaign. This ad shows a Saskatchewan Roughriders fan sitting amongst a hoard of Lions fans... and he looks a little scared! Funny stuff.

Little Golden Book Monday #10

This weekend I went to my local Talize (a super sized thrift store) because they were having a special 50% off everything sale! It took me over an hour to go though all the bookshelves full of kids book and by then I was ready to go, as was my 2 year old son, so we didn't even get a chance to look at anything else in the store! I ended up spending $12.23 for 46 book including a hard cover Bill Peet book, some Disneyland Records song books, a bunch of Little Golden Books and many other assorted treasures. Todays book is one of those books. Its called "Welcome to Little Golden Book Land" and is from 1989. It is not a Little Golden Book, but rather a "Big Golden Book", as it is a larger size (8 1/2" x 11") and does not have the traditional gold stripe down the left hand side that the Little Golden Books have. I especially liked this one as its front cover shows a picture of Tootle the Train on the front cover with the familiar characters riding in the train cars trailing behind him, much like the drawing on the back of many of the Little Golden Books.
The back of the book explains, "Little Golden Book characters have been children's favorites for generation. Now join Poky Little Puppy, Shy Little Kitten, tootle, Scruffy, Tawny Scrawny Lion, Saggy Baggy Elephant, and others as they come together to share excitement, adventures, and dreams in their wondrous new home - Little Golden Book Land!"

1953-54 Ft Wayne Komets Spinning Schedule

I have been collecting pocket schedules for over 10 years now and have seen many different size schedules, team schedules with multiple (different) covers, odd shaped schedules, schedules on bookmarks & coasters, etc. But today I found a team schedule unlike any I have ever seen before. Its a home schedule for the 1953-54 Fort Wayne Komets of the International Hockey League. This unique schedule has a spinning front ring that allows you to chose the team or the month, and then it displays the game dates for the team or month you have chosen. As well as teams and months, it also has the category "Special"... not sure that that is for?
As a big fan of hockey radio broadcasts and a some time listener of Koemts games over the internet, I found it interesting that one of the sponsors on this schedule is Wowo radio. Pretty amazing that more than 50 years later they are still broadcasting Komets games on the same radio station in Ft. Wayne!

2007 Stanley Cup Fianls

It's finally happened! My two favorite NHL teams, the Anaheim Ducks and Ottawa Senators have made it to the Stanley Cup Finals this year. It almost happened a few seasons ago when the Ducks made it in, but the sens lost game 7 of the semi finals to the Devils to miss the big dance. So this year, the Sens made it in, and I was waiting for the Ducks to make it in. I figured that this year it would be the Ducks who would make it to the 7th game of the semi finals before losing to the Red Wings to once again deprive me of my dream Stanley Cup Final! In tonights match up (game 6), the Ducks would move on to the the Final with a win. At one point in the game they were up 4 to 1. Then Detroit scored two goals to get me worried... was it going to happen again this year? The Ducks even spotted the Red Wings a power play, with just a couple of minutes left to go in the 3rd, with only a one goal deficit. The Ducks managed to hang on and defeat the Red Wings 4 to 3 to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. At that point I was doing somersaults around the living room. The 2007 NHL Stanley Cup Finals this season will be the Anaheim Ducks vs the Ottawa Senators. Now, if only I had gone to Vegas and put some cash on these two teams meeting in the Finals at the beginning of the season.

Save Net Radio

I don't know about you, but one of the things I like about the internet the most is internet radio! During the hockey season, I listen to at least 1 hockey game a night via internet radio. I have been listening to internet radio stations like Kingdom of Swing and Hard Rockin' 80's for years. I for one hope that internet Radio is here to stay! If you agree, click the link above to find out what is happening with internet radio.

Little Golden Book Monday #9

Today's Little Golden Book is a new addition to my collection. I picked this one up for 49¢ at my local thrift store. Its called "Doctor Dan, The Bandage Man" and on the cover it states; "Inside you will wind two real Band-Aid adhesive bandages". Inside it says "Reissued on the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of Little Golden Books" and is dated 1977. Inside there is also A Note from the Publishers:
"For a long, long time, the publishers have been ardent admirers of BAND-AID Adhesive Bandages – not only for themselves (publishers seem to cut themselves more than other people) but because of their effect on children. We've noted that BAND-AID Adhesive Bandages not only cheer and comfort small boys and girls who ban themselves up, but they make wonderful playthings as well. No one quite knows how many millions of dolls and stuffed toys and live pets have been patched up in this manner.
Consequently, when the idea for this book came to us, we promptly went to Johnson & Johnson and asked them if they would be willing to help us. They were very nice abut it and asked that we point out that BAND-AID is Johnson & Johnson's trade-mark for its band of adhesive bandages and for several other products in its line."
The story goes on to show Doctor Dan patching up his finger, a little girls leg, a dolly, a pooch, and even old pop!
The text on the final page of the story reads "Some day, perhaps, you or one of your toys may get bumped or cut or scratched. When that happens, you can really use one of the BAND-AID Adhesive Bandages in the front of this book."
Unfortunately for me, some kid, probably 30 years ago, already patched up somebody or something, as those two "free" BAND-AIDs are missing from my book.

Idaho Steelheads Crunch

Ok, I love hockey, I love cereal, and I love advertising. So when I received this from a friend in Idaho, I was thrilled with this great new addition to my collection. Its perhaps the coolest looking season ticket holder brochure ever produced! The team is the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL. They have gone with a cereal theme here with a box of Idaho Steeleads Crunch cereal on the front of the brochure. It looks to me like the cereal is Rice Crispies type cereal with little chocolate cookie "pucks" tossed in. I love all the marketing slogans used throughout the brochure: "New and improved ticket plans!", "Tasty offers inside!", "2 scoops of fun per bite!", "23 essential vitamins & benefits!", "Wait... there's more!" and "Part of a complete & balanced entertainment diet!". I absolutely love the "fake" Steelheads Crunch cereal box on the front of this brochure. I once made my own "fake" KISS (the rock band) cereal box... but that's a story for another day.

Little Golden Book Monday #8

Today's Little Golden book is Walt Disney's Once Upon a Wintertime. The story is adapted by Tom Oreb from the Walt Disney motion picture "Melody Time", and is copyright 1948 and 1950. It tells the story of a young couple who take a sleigh ride and go ice skating on thin ice before being saved by some helpful woodland creatures. It is told in verse and adorned with wonderful artwork by the Walt Disney Studio. The inscription on the inside front page reads "This book belongs to Carol-Ann Cob, 1950, From unknown". I am not sure why they would bother to write From unknown... maybe it was their old aunt Mable Unknown from Oshkosh.

The New Pet Sensation... Crazy Crabs

Everyone loves a great comic book cover, but what about the back cover? You can find the most interesting things in the world back there!
Today we have a look at "The new live pet sensation that's sweeping America" Apparently the Transcience Corporation of New York, NY was hoping to cash in on the popularity of Sea Monkeys with this twist on the much loved Sea Monkeys--Crazy Crabs!
This ad comes from the back cover of a 1978 Yosemite Sam comic book.
Here is some of the sales pitch from the ad: "A Crab of AMAZING INTELLIGENCE! A truly INTELLIGENT pet, give it a name such as L'il Caesar, Leapin' Linda, Happy Henry, Sandy Claws, Tippytoes, Sexy Snooky, Merry Mimi, Tiny Tim, etc., and see how well it responds when you call it! It loves to be touched and petted, and enjoys running from hand to hand, swinging from your fingers or just cuddling on your shoulder like an adorable tame parrot. But that's just the STAR of the FUN that awaits you! You get instructions for paying FOUR "Crazy Crab" Races and Games including a BAFFLING new magic trick called "The Haunted Coffee Cup", that uses a "Crazy Crab" as your "Assistant"!"
I also like the text that reads "Actual "Crazy Crab" photos which is placed beside the obvious drawings!
Then there is the promise of a "Free carrying crate". Yes that's right, they give you a free cardboard box with each Crazy Crab you order!
Lastly, the ad says: "And to create some REAL EXCITEMENT, you can even "customize" it! Because it is a hermit crab, its shell is not its own and can be painted, covered with dazzling rhinestone jewels or decorated any other way without harm! It looks SO SPECTACULAR, you can proudly "shot it off", give as a "personalized" gift or, it you wish, even SELL for profit!"
That's right, you can Bedazzle your Crazy Crabs and sell them for profit! What a great idea for a home based business!
And don't forget, they come with a Money Back Guarantee!

Free Comic Book Day 2007

It's almost here... The 6th Annual Free Comic Book Day Saturday, May 5th, 2007. Don't miss your chance to get FREE comic books, simply by stopping by your local comic store! What is Free Comic Book Day? As the name implies, Free Comic Book Day is a single day when participating comic book shops across North America and around the world are giving away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their stores. That's right, just walk into your local comic shop and you can walk away with a pile of cool comics books. That's right, you can walk out of the store with free comics... you won't have to leave the store running!

Little Golden Book Monday #7

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Gerald McBoing-Boing is a 1950 animated short film produced by UPA and given wide release by Colombia Pictures on January 25, 1951. The winner of the 1950 Academy Award for Best Animated Short, Gerald McBoing-Boing is the story of a little boy who speaks through sound effects instead of spoken words. It was adapted by Phil Eastman and Bill Scott from a story by Dr. Seuss, and directed by Robert Cannon. The film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. In 1994, it was voted #9 of The 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field.
Today I present the 2004 "Gerald McBoing Boing" Little Golden Book. I remember seeing the cartoon for this title many times as a young kid and as soon as I saw the cover of this one, I immediately remembered the story and wanted to add this to my collection. I absolutely love the retro style of artwork throughout the book!

Some Cool Comic Book Finds

The other day at the local comic shop, I picked up some great comics from the junk bins. A lot of times I pick up comics just because I like the cover artwork. I have a comic book spinner/rack that they used to have at local convince stores etc to sell comics. These new additions will look great displayed on my comic book spinner. three of the comics pictured are: Fox and the Crow, DC Comics, 1964. Dennis the Menace, CBS Consumer Publishing / Fawcett, 1979. Night Rider, Marvel Comics, 1975.