Saturday, July 09, 2005

DC February 1972 Ad #3!


dc_02_73_3
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Here's Corgi Boy, one of a series of full-page ads that appeared in at least the DC Comics of the 70s!

Unfortunately, this one, despite all my work cleaning it up, is pretty much unreadable. But then, it was almost unreadable in the original comics, too!

Jon

DC February 1973 Ad #2!


dc_02_73_2
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Here's a kind of unusual record ad for the comics of the 1970s... mainly because most record ads were for stuff like the Columbia House Record & Tape Club (and those ads tend to scan very badly, so chances are you won't see any of these here).

Jon

Friday, July 08, 2005

Weekend Update!

So, here's my plans for this weekend...

Firstly, I'm going to be heading in to work early... just how early I haven't determined quite yet. One of the sub-departments within my department needs some extra help, so by getting in early, I should be able to assist there.

Tonight, we have a special guest coming for an overnight visit: Tia the White Boxer, who's just a few weeks older than Krypto, and could be his twin sister! We're hoping to find a new home for her, as she was rescued from a neglectful family, and has been in "foster care."

Tomorrow, of course, will be our weekly Weight Watchers meeting... and to be honest, I'm not sure what to expect. Hopefully I'll at least have lost what I gained last week! After that, we pick up all three dogs (KO, Krypto and Tia) for our regular walk. Then it's home for breakfast, and hopefully some relaxation time while the dogs play some more.

Then, sometime Saturday afternoon, we'll be bringing Tia back to her foster family in Yelm, and then we're going to see the Fantastic Four movie! I'll probably post my thoughts on it sometime either late Saturday night or during the day or evening Sunday.

Of course, there's new Teen Titans and JLU cartoons on Saturday night that I may or may not get a chance to watch this weekend on tape... and I should be able to get the mini-reviews posted of the comics I bought yesterday by Sunday night.

Coming up next week for me is another full week at work, with a birthday party for my mom and my brother Jeff's wife, Kristi, a week from this Sunday... and then Monday, Jessi and I go on our vacation! The birthday party kind of caught me by surprise, as they usually do (I'm terrible at remembering family birthdays). Here I was so excited that yesterday, I found all six sets of the 2nd release of JLU figures, and now I'll have to bring them back to Target and exchange them for a couple of gift cards to give Mom and Kristi. Sheesh! Oh, well, I should be able to find those JLU figures again after that... it will just take some time and luck!

I've already started collecting a few things to post next Sunday so there'll be plenty of new stuff for you guys (just don't read it all on Monday, y'hear?). For starters, there's the first part of my years-old interview with Tony Isabella, a very much abridged version of which originally appeared in Comic Book Artist #13. This covers Tony's start in comics, as well as his work on Marvel horror books. The rest of the interview, covering stuff like his work on Daredevil, Power Man, the Champions, Black Lightning, and so on, seems to be lost or misplaced (but hopefully is on a backup disc somewhere). The published version of this interview was just a few pages, and the portion I'll have for you will be much longer!

Also being prepared is the first several chapters of "Doc Kent," which I alluded to in a previous post... checking what I'd written, I found I left off writing it in mid-sentence! Didn't even finish the one chapter! So I'll have to find the time to at least finish that chapter and then post what I'd written so far.

And of course, there'll be the usual scans of comics ads of the late 60s/early 70s... and I will get that list of links put together that I promised, too!

Jon

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Human Torch Mego Action Figure!


torch
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
OK, this is the last post I'm making in this group, but it'll be the first most of you see... so anyway, it's an all-FF set of posts in honor of the release of the movie!

Jon

Thing Mego Action Figure!


thing
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.

Superman and the Fantastic Four!


SupermanFF
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
I just recently sold a copy of this poster, based on the Superman/FF graphic novel!

Jon

Invisible Girl Mego Figure!


sue
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.

Fantastic Four T-Shirt!


STAR07515
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Here's a classic FF T-shirt design that's been re-issued!

Jon

Fantastic Four 1960s Cartoon!


rocket
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Here's a nice collection of scenes from the 1960s FF cartoon that you could use for your desktop picture!

Jon

Mr. Fantastic Mego Figure!


reed
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Classic action figure!

Bootleg Thing Action Figure!


lossuperheroes1
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Here's a bootleg Thing action figure!

Jon

Fantastic Four Lancer Paperback!


Lancer2
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Here's a Lancer paperback reprinting black and white adventures of the FF!

Jon

Jack "King" Kirby Bust!


kirby
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Where would the FF have been without Jack Kirby's artwork in the first 100 issues? I hesitate to even consider it.

Jon

Fantastic Four Action Figures!


fftoys
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
These FF figures were released to coincide with the last FF animated series (which you can catch on Family Channel either Saturday or Sunday morning, I forget which).

Jon

Fantastic Four Give-A-Show Projector Slides!


ffslide
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Kenner introduced their Give-A-Show Projector in the late 70s or so... it was basically a slide projector for kids, and probably intended to compete with View-Master!

Jon

1994 FF Movie!


ffmovie1994
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Here's an image from the unreleased 1994 FF movie... and yes, it's pretty bad.

Jon

Fantastic Four Big Little Book!


FFBigLittle
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
I used to have this... art by Herb Trimpe, or so I've heard... the story was pretty abysmal, though.

Jon

Fantastic Four Movie!


ff3-large
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Naturally, if I'm posting FF images, I have to include one from the movie premiering this weekend!

Jon

Fantastic Four 1960s Cartoon!


ff
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Here's an image from the 1960s Hanna-Barbera Fantastic Four cartoon!

Jon

Fantastic Four T-Shirt!


ff t-shirt
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
I've got to get me one of these someday...

Jon

Fantastic Four #50!


fantastic-four-50-fine
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Couldn't post a bunch of FF images without at least one Kirby cover, now, could I?

Jon

Fantastic Four Power Record!


BRFF
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
In the 1970s, Power Records did a whole slew of book and record sets... and I wish they were released on CD with TPB reprints of the stories included! I used to have a lot of these... although not this one.

Jon

Fantastic Four Golden Record!


76_1_b
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Here's an item that I used to have... and that I wish would be re-released in CD! It's a full-length record album that has the entirety of Fantastic Four #1, performed more or less like a radio program... except that where there were sound effects in the original comic, someone was reading them out loud! That's right, the crew encounter the cosmic rays, and someone intones, "Rac-Tac-Tac!"

You've got to hear it to believe it!

Jon

The Fantastic Four Return!


67book
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Here's the second Lancer paperback book, reprinting FF stories in black and white!

Jon

Fantastic Four: The Secret Story!


10748_4_001
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Well, maybe not so secret... this was part of a line of trade paperbacks (which I used to have) that reprinted a number of key stories, along with some text telling you about the characters.

One of these days, I'll latch on to another copy of this one!

Jon

Fantastic Four!


10276_4_001
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
The Fantastic Four movie premieres this weekend, so to mark the occasion, I'm presenting a whole bunch of FF-related images!

Of course, since you'll see this last, you already know that, don't you?

This paperback book reprinted issues 1 through 6... and I believe, in color!

Jon

Norm Prescott, R.I.P.

Saw on Mark Evanier's News From Me and Cartoon Brew that Norm Prescott, one of the founders of Filmation, has just passed away. Unfortunately, Norm wasn't one of the people interviewed for the He-Man DVD that I did a transcript for... but still, I couldn't go without at least mentioning his passing.

Jon

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Coming Distractions...

OK, chances are, you're reading this first... and if you're not, you may as well scroll down to the comics ads below... or read this and find out what I didn't end up doing...

Anyway... Thursday morning, I'll probably not post anything... in fact, it'll be Thursday night before I post anything here again. As I alluded to before, Thursday is payday, and I have a bunch of stuff to do both before and after work!

But Thursday night, I begin a series of Fantastic Four-related posts, due to the release of the new movie, which I hope to get a chance to see this weekend and offer my thoughts on it.

Once the FF posts are done, it'll be business as usual here... although I should be able to resume the mini-reviews of the comics I'll buy Thursday!

My eBay auctions are beginning to wind down... there were several that never sold, and I won't be relisting them again. There are still nine items closing over the weekend, and most of them are bid and win auctions. So what am I going to do with the stuff that didn't sell? Well, I'll probably save them for the time being, and maybe offer them as prizes for a contest of some kind in my Cover Stories column at WF Comics.

It doesn't look as though I'll be able to arrange to pre-create posts to appear during my vacation later this month, so the weekend before I'll just post stuff like crazy, I guess!

Jon

DC February 1973 Ad #1!


dc_02_73_1
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
It's most passing strange to me to see this ad for the Easy-Bake oven in DC comics... I mean, I could buy Kenner advertising them in, say, Gold Key or Archie Comics (let's face it, they were more girl-friendly, for the most part).

Still and all, it's interesting to see the comics format used to hawk this stuff!

Jon

DC July 1973 Ad #5!


dc_07_73_05
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Here's an ad for a model series that I was interested in getting... the Imposters!

I guess these were kind of the next evolution in moving models, and I suppose in some ways, can be looked at as the genesis towards the Transformers!

Jon

DC July 1973 Ad #4!


dc_07_73_04
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Here's a house ad for Prez, created by Joe Simon.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that I've metaphorically busted Simon's chops for the Green Team, as well as the original Outsiders (both from 1st Issue Special)... but Prez I dug, and still dig.

It was delightfully goofy, and I wish that it had lasted much longer than it did.

Jon

DC July 1973 Ad #1!


dc_07_73_01
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Time for a tryptich (geez, did I even spell that right?) of ads... because, you see, this ad for MPC's Pirates of the Caribbean model kits was actually the middle four pages of the comics it appeared in! So here's the first page, and the second and third pages were a spread, so they'll be a single image, followed by the last page.

Of course, because the most recent posts appear first, this would appear last as you read it... unless I get sneaky and post them backwards... which I'm doing!

Jon

DC July 1973 Ad #2!


dc_07_73_02
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Here's the centerspread... and I still think these are very cool kits, with the Zap!Action and all!

Jon

DC July 1973 Ad #3


dc_07_73_03
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
And here's the last page of the Pirates of the Caribbean ad!

Jon

DC March 1973 Ad #3!


dc_03_71_3
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
I can't help but think that I've posted at least the top half of this page before, with the monster size monsters... but at least you shouldn't have seen all the stuff in the Johnson-Smith ad below that.

Jon

The Day Before Payday...

...always feels like a long one.

Yeah, like so many Americans, I have an unfortunate tendency to live from paycheck to paycheck. It's not always the case... there've been more than a few times when I had a hundred dollars or more left over from the last paycheck when the new paycheck came in... as well as other times I had money saved up (such as when I was in Wisconsin, working full time, doing auctions online, and also doing transcription work... all the transcription and auction money went to a separate bank account to be saved for vacations or emergencies).

It does suck, however, when your bank balance online says you have plenty of money, but you know a check just hasn't gone through yet... like the rent check. My habit had always been that when I got paid and the rent was due during the next two weeks, I'd go ahead and pay the rent immediately, instead of waiting for the first of the month.

However, since Jessi gets paid on the last day of the month, and we each pay half of the rent, I was waiting on her check to get the rent paid (which we do by her writing me a check for her half, I deposit it, and then pay the full rent). As of this morning, the rent check hasn't gone through yet... and checking my account online, Banfield Wellness (the monthly fee for Krypto's wellness program that covers the majority of his medical care) has started the pre-authorization process. So while it seems there's plenty in the bank, I know there isn't... at least, not until my direct deposit goes through sometime between midnight tonight and eight tomorrow morning.

Ridiculous, isn't it? And yet I know that the majority of Americans go through the same thing all the time... even going so far as to float checks that they don't have the available funds for (and at least I don't do that).

To be honest, though, the most frustrating thing about the current situation is that, looked at logically, Jessi and I moving in together should be saving money! After all, the rent on this house is quite a bit less than we were each paying combined, and our grocery expenses should be down, too (to be honest, we were both throwing out food that went bad from our respective fridges). Other bills are smaller than they were individually, too... of course, there's the added expense for water and garbage, but that doesn't really make that kind of difference.

I think that it all boils down to the fact that for most of us, if we have money, we tend to spend it. And if we get a little extra money, we find other stuff to spend it on.

Of course, I'll exemplify this whole thing tomorrow morning, by leaving the house early and going off to spend my newly-deposited paycheck on the last two weeks' comic books, and the aforementioned half-birthday present for Jessi. And maybe one or two other things I've been thinking about getting.

And then after work tomorrow, it's grocery shopping time! But at least tonight, I can at least take stock of what we have here already and start to figure out what we need to make what we already have, and put some cash aside for the vacation.

Jon

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

DC March 1971 Ad #2!


dc_03_71_2
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Last one of these tonight... I should be able to pump out a few more entries in the morning, however!

Anyway, here's a bunch of Woodstock jewelry... and to be honest, as big a fan as I am of 60s music, I've never felt that big a connection to Woodstock. Never watched the movie of it, don't even recall for sure who performed there and who didn't!

Jon

DC March 1971 Ad #1!


dc_03_71_1
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Here's an ad from Aurora, whom I've probably mentioned before as being the king of slot-car racing... or at least the king of ads based on slot-car racing!

No personal memories of Powerslicks, though!

Jon

Marvel August 1976 Ad #2


mravel_08_76_02
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Here's a side-by-side pair of Marvel house ads... now, Captain America's Bicentennial Battles was one that I fondly remember, because I actually bought that one off the newsstand! I still can picture Mr. Buda (later renamed the Contemplator, and designated as one of the Elders of the Universe) sending Cap throughout American history... presumably to teach him something, but I don't recall what that was (hey, it's been decades since I read it).

Crazy... well, you'll be seeing a lot of house ads for Crazy in the near future, but not a lot of comments from me, because so far as I remember, I never bought an issue! Mad, I sometimes bought... Cracked I also picked up... Crazy? Probably never.

Jon

Marvel August 1976 Ad #1!


marvel_08_76_01
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Here's a cool ad for Marvel t-shirts, courtesy (if I'm not mistaken) of the people behind Heroes World!

Jon

This 'n That: The Phantom Menace

Just a few bits and pieces here...

My final week of eBay sales is going on now... actually, less than a week, with the last items going for a little over five days from the time I'm writing this. Nothing new with these listings, just some relists of items that didn't sell the first time -- you can see the list by clicking here. It's mostly posters... some comics posters, some Beatles posters, a Daffy Duck "Duxorcist" poster, and a few sets of Godzilla import keychains. With only a few exceptions, these have reduced starting bids, plus the first bidder will win them thanks to "Buy It Now!"

Plans are proceeding apace for Jessi and my vacation in Seaside. Naturally, we're taking Krypto and KO with us! Hopefully, we won't end up with a third dog for the trip, which might be a bit unmanageable...

Why a third dog? Well, Sunday was our latest Boxer Meet-Up (you can read about the Olympia Boxers Yahoo group here), and a woman who has five boxers of her own who lives in Yelm had a sixth boxer, which was the only one she brought with her, an eight-month-old white female boxer named Tia who could be Krypto's twin, save that her nose is completely black (we are expecting Krypto's nose will lose what white it has by the time he's full grown). Well, Tia was just delightful... she was a rescued dog that had been woefully neglected, but she's recovered from that just fine, and got along great with the other boxers there. Jessi's arranging for her to spend Friday night and all day Saturday with us, so we can see how she interacts with our two, and we're hoping we can find someone in the Olympia area who will want her and take proper care of here, and who will also bring her to our future meet-ups! If we don't... well... I'm afraid that Jessi will become very attached to her, and want to keep her for ourselves. Tia is adorable, I must admit... I'm just not sure if we're ready for three boxers charging around the house!

Fourth of July here was noisy as heck... but our dogs managed to deal with it, for the most part... Krypto was entirely unaffected by all the explosions, while KO was fine so long as one of us were present. Our neighbors, Ned and Jane, have six dogs, and their dogs (except for their newest arrival) seemed to have a problem with it, though... but it's over for another year now, and things are getting back to normal around the neighborhood!

Friday will be Jessi's "half-birthday." That's an idea I came up with because our regular birthdays are so close to the major winter holidays (mine is in November, only a few weeks before Thanksgiving, and hers is just after New Year's), and we tend to have our budgets stretched a bit tightly then anyway. Since Jessi paid half the cost of getting Krypto, I told her she needn't worry about my half-birthday present... but now as the day of her half-birthday approaches... I find myself stumped as to what to get her. Thanks to my budget being so tight lately, I wasn't able to do any shopping in advance, so whatever I get will have to be found Thursday or Friday morning before going to work.

Oh, a minor correction on the earlier post about the Energized Spider-Man... apparently the arms aren't poseable at all... for all intents and purposes, it was a statue! I realized this while looking at photos on other sites of the actual toy (of course, now one of you will read this and say, "Nope, the arms *could* move... everybody just poses theirs the same way for photos!").

I'll be starting to prepare a post in advance for putting up on my vacation, which will be comprised of links to various sites which may be of interest to you guys. I'll have to see if Blogger will let me schedule posts in advance!

Jon

Monday, July 04, 2005

Marvel Comics August 1971 Ad #4!


marvel_08_71_04
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Hey, it's a surprise! At least, it was to me...

Take a good look at this ad... yep, it's Ah-Nold, the governor of California!

But that isn't the most bizarre thing about this ad... look at it closely... it seems that it's Arnold's head, but it was pasted onto a different body! Remember, this was decades before PhotoShop!

Jon

Marvel Comics August 1971 Ad #3


marvel_08_71_03
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
OK, I think I've been remiss in not posting any ads like these before... considering how many ads like these there've been in the comics...

Not that I have much to say about 'em...

Nor that I will likely post many more.

Jon

Marvel Comics August 1971 Ad #2!


marvel_08_71_02
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Of all the early 70s comic book ads, this is one that I probably wish I'd been able to take advantage of the most.

Just looking at these two sample pictures makes me wish I had 'em both... Romita and Trimpe... great stuff!

Trimpe, of course, is best known as one of the greatest artists to draw the Hulk, so far as I'm concerned... and Romita is one of my favorite Spider-Man artists!

Anyone know of a web site that shows these?

Jon

Marvel August 1971 Ad #1!


marvel_08_71_01
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Here's an ad for the Johnson Smith Company again... and it gives me another excuse to plug them via this link (and if you use it and buy something, I earn a small commission, for which I thank you in advance).
Things You Never Knew Existed Online Catalog

Mego Cap with Fly-Away Action!


WGSHmvCapFlyAwayAction
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Nope, I'm not sure what Fly-Away Action is, either... but if you go to Mego Central, I'd imagine you can find out!

Jon

Carded Mego Cap!


WGSHmvCapCarded
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Thanks again to Mego Central, here's a picture of the Mego Captain America on the blister card!

Jon

Boxed Mego Cap!


WGSHmvCapBoxed
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Thanks to Mego Central, here's a pic of the 8" Mego Cap in the box!

Mego produced a lot of their original figures in a box, as well as blister-carded.

Jon

Marvel Super-Heroes RPG Cap Module!


msh_capamer
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Here's something bizarre... a French edition of a Marvel Super-Heroes Role-Playing Game module for Captain America!

Jon

Palitoys Mego Cap!


FFFRONT
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Thanks to the Mego Museum, here's a variation of the Mego Captain America, produced overseas by Palitoys!

Jon

Captain America Serial!


Captain_America_serial
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Here's a lobby card for Chapter 10 of the Captain America Republic serial... which has little to do with the Cap we all know and love!

Jon

Captain America Movie Poster!


captainamericamovie
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Here's the poster for the Captain America movie that was never theatrically released, but went straight to video (and that only after the bootleggers sold thousands of copies on tape).

Yes, it's pretty bad.

Jon

Captain America Costume!


7571_20488_1
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Here's the packaging for the Capt. Action Captain America costume!

Captain Action as Captain America


5450_14312_23
Originally uploaded by waffyjon.
Here's a photo of a Captain Action figure dressed in the Captain America costume... and if you don't know who Captain Action is, Google it for yourself!

Jon