While this is the August 1978 issue of "Stalpojken," which I presume translates to "Superboy," the cover art here is at least based on Teen Titans #46, although not from the cover art, anyway... probably from the splash page of the story.
Jon
Jon's Random Acts of Geekery is your five days a week destination for old-school geekery!
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Comic Book Cover of the Day!
While this is the August 1978 issue of "Stalpojken," which I presume translates to "Superboy," the cover art here is at least based on Teen Titans #46, although not from the cover art, anyway... probably from the splash page of the story.
Jon
Genre Movie Image of the Day!
From Bride of Frankenstein, here's Karloff as the Monster. Note that the makeup has been altered to reflect the fact that the monster had been in a fire at the end of the first movie!
Sadly, from this point on, there wouldn't be all that much in movie-to-movie makeup continuity, from what I recall.
Jon
Comic Book Ad of the Day!
So, let's say you're a Charlton comics reader in 1978, and you're thinking, "Wow, if only there were some products advertised in this comic book that could help me achieve my goals in life somehow."
And let's say that, for starters, getting the back issues of Charlton's black-and-white Space:1999 comic isn't going to do it, and the lucky charms and magic sayings (or whatever they were) previously posted just don't seem right, either.
What do you do?
Well, buy some of these wrist weights, wear them, and magically bulk your muscles up, of course!
Although, really, for 55 cents postage, even in 1978, how heavy could these wrist weights be, anyway?
Jon
And let's say that, for starters, getting the back issues of Charlton's black-and-white Space:1999 comic isn't going to do it, and the lucky charms and magic sayings (or whatever they were) previously posted just don't seem right, either.
What do you do?
Well, buy some of these wrist weights, wear them, and magically bulk your muscles up, of course!
Although, really, for 55 cents postage, even in 1978, how heavy could these wrist weights be, anyway?
Jon
Classic Collectible of the Day!
Here's a "first" in the Robot Carnival...
...at least, I think it is. This is the first toy robot I've featured here that's not intended to be a robot, but rather a human! True, the toy itself is a robot, but it's... hmmm... wow, I'm really stating this badly, eh? Let's start again.
The Rosko Astronaut, pictured above, while mechanically a robot, it doesn't appear to be marketed as a robot toy, but rather a toy that happens to be a robot.
Nope, that wasn't much better, either, was it?
Jon
...at least, I think it is. This is the first toy robot I've featured here that's not intended to be a robot, but rather a human! True, the toy itself is a robot, but it's... hmmm... wow, I'm really stating this badly, eh? Let's start again.
The Rosko Astronaut, pictured above, while mechanically a robot, it doesn't appear to be marketed as a robot toy, but rather a toy that happens to be a robot.
Nope, that wasn't much better, either, was it?
Jon
Friday, August 17, 2007
Thirty Years Ago This Week...
...the world lost two of my favorite entertainers of all time; Elvis Presley and Groucho Marx.
Elvis I was a huge fan of even before his passing. I remember the family going on vacation trips to the Dakotas each summer, and one summer, we'd bought this Elvis 8-track tape (remember those?) from a TV offer, and we listened to that thing from Washington State to the Dakotas and back again. I must've had every song on the thing memorized.
And I remember... well, I don't remember where I was when I heard Elvis died for sure, but I know very shortly afterwards, the junior high bible study group I was in took a bicycling ride to Point Defiance Park, and on the way back, I just couldn't keep riding anymore, so I caught a ride with one of the adult supervisors. Several of the other kids were in the truck, too, and when I mentioned Elvis dying, the reaction I got was, "Who cares?"
Groucho, on the other hand... while I was probably aware of him (more through the references to him in Looney Tunes cartoons than anything else, I'm sure) before his passing, it would be probably another five years or longer after he passed away before I became a Groucho fan... and my admiration for the man grows more and more each year.
Groucho and Elvis, aside from being pop culture icons known for a distinctive look, had pretty much nothing in common that I can tell. And yet, they are, as I said, two of my favorite entertainers of all time (and the Beatles are on that list, too, in case there's any doubt... the rest of that list can fluctuate from week to week).
Jon
Elvis I was a huge fan of even before his passing. I remember the family going on vacation trips to the Dakotas each summer, and one summer, we'd bought this Elvis 8-track tape (remember those?) from a TV offer, and we listened to that thing from Washington State to the Dakotas and back again. I must've had every song on the thing memorized.
And I remember... well, I don't remember where I was when I heard Elvis died for sure, but I know very shortly afterwards, the junior high bible study group I was in took a bicycling ride to Point Defiance Park, and on the way back, I just couldn't keep riding anymore, so I caught a ride with one of the adult supervisors. Several of the other kids were in the truck, too, and when I mentioned Elvis dying, the reaction I got was, "Who cares?"
Groucho, on the other hand... while I was probably aware of him (more through the references to him in Looney Tunes cartoons than anything else, I'm sure) before his passing, it would be probably another five years or longer after he passed away before I became a Groucho fan... and my admiration for the man grows more and more each year.
Groucho and Elvis, aside from being pop culture icons known for a distinctive look, had pretty much nothing in common that I can tell. And yet, they are, as I said, two of my favorite entertainers of all time (and the Beatles are on that list, too, in case there's any doubt... the rest of that list can fluctuate from week to week).
Jon
Comic Book Cover of the Day!
This is Superboy Comic 103, and I'd guess it was published in Great Britain. I have no idea if the cover art had been used in an American comic book... but I do find it interesting that not only was the Superman logo redrawn for this book, but the Superboy logo used here doesn't resemble any that we've seen in the States, either!
And no, I won't go on my usual rant about the Kryptonian Thought-Beast here.
Jon
Genre Image of the Day!
I think that's Tom Tyler playing the Mummy there in Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy... but I could be way, way off!
Jon
Comic Book Ad of the Day!
It's interesting, looking at the kinds of ads that you'd find in older comics... especially the kinds of ads that would run in one company's books, but which you wouldn't find in a different company's books.
For example... most of the ads I've previously posted (except for house ads) that were published in Marvel books would've been just as likely to appear in DC books, and vice versa. Gold Key, on the other hand, would usually have some very different advertisers who would've never run in a DC or Marvel book.
And then there's Charlton. The above ad is from a December 1978 cover-dated Charlton title, and as you can see, it's an ad from the lunatic fringe to be certain! You'd expect to see something like that sold in a supermarket tabloid, but not in a comic book, eh?
Jon
Classic Collectible of the Name!
Here's Robotank Z... don't some of these robot toys have the most bizarre names? I mean, it's not like they previously produced Robotank A through Robotank Y, right?
Jon
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Genre Movie Image of the Day!
That's Glenn Strange as the Frankenstein Monster in "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein"!
Jon
Comic Book Ad of the Day!
From the December 1978 Charlton books, here's an ad selling back issues of Charlton's magazine-sized black-and-white Space: 1999 comics.
You know, the funny thing about those books (as well as the Six Million Dollar Man and Emergency! black and white books produced at the same time), at least from my memory, is where I remember seeing them when they first came out.
I'm going to digress a bit here, mind you... just bear with me.
Growing up, the two places I'd go to more often than not for comic books were the corner drugstore (which was on a corner, just not on the corner of my street) or the 7-Eleven. Those, at least, were the two places I could go within walking distance of the third and fourth houses my family lived in since moving to Washington (which pretty much covers the gradeschool years for me). I remember seeing all the color comics there... DCs, Marvels, Charltons, Gold Key... I even remember the Atlas books there!
We moved away from there in the summer of 1977, and I think I recall seeing some of the tabloid books in the drug store, but of course they were never at 7-Eleven.
After moving, there were no stores in walking distance that sold comics that I can recall. However, my mother would go to the local Fred Meyer on a regular basis (a variety store, in case you're not familiar with them... kind of like Meijers in the midwest, or a Super Target, but not as big as a Super Target by any means). Anyway, the best thing about Fred Meyer was that in a "strip mall" kind of set up along one side of the building was Book King, which was great for comics and magazines.
But I never saw the black and white Charltons there that I recall.
Where do I remember seeing them? At a truck stop my family stopped at en route to South Dakota for vacation one year. And that's it.
Jon
Classic Collectible of the Day!
Yes, it's one of the many, many Robby the Robot toys produced! Robby is still one of my favorite movie robots of all time (although, really, what competition does he have, outside of R2-D2, C-3P0, and Huey, Dewey and Louie [of Silent Running]? Note that I don't include androids in the definition of robots).
Jon
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
America's Got Talent Finale Show...
When is a finale show not a finale show?
When it's the America's Got Talent finale. This week's episode featured two performances each by the top four vote-getters chosen by America, and I'm glad to say that Terry Fator made the top four (naturally, both Jessi and I put all our votes for this week's performance in for him).
The other three were the 14-year-old girl (who sings well, but I don't think she's quite earned the top position... she should sign some kind of deal with Disney Channel, if you ask me, which would probably get her a million faster than she'd get the 40 installments from AGT), the guy with the goatee who signs reggae style (my second-favorite of the top three), and Butterscotch, the girl who does "beatbox" while singing... which was interesting the first two or three times I heard it, but I'm so tired of the gimmick now.
I hope those of you who watched and voted put your votes in for Terry! Next week, the results show will be two hours long, and I'm sure at least half of that will be recap... thank goodness for DVRs!
I still hope that next season, they can try to get more of a variety of acts into the finals. I'd love to see the judges forced to get the top ten acts broken down as follows, representing the best of each performance type
1 - Juggling act
1 - Magic act
1 - Ventriloquist act
1 - Comedy act (that doesn't fit a different type on this list)
1 - Musical group
1 - Uncategorizable act
2 - Singers who play their own instrument
2 - Singers who don't accompany themselves
That's ten, right? I just think it would make for more variety once we get to the top ten, and then they can do some eliminations. Heck, once they get to ten, I think we should get three performance shows out of them, with two acts being eliminated by votes each week, to get the final four... and then let the final four get a major spotlight; give then ten full minutes to perform, all at once.
Of course, given that ratings on AGT have been amazing, I don't see why they'd consider using any of my ideas....
Jon
When it's the America's Got Talent finale. This week's episode featured two performances each by the top four vote-getters chosen by America, and I'm glad to say that Terry Fator made the top four (naturally, both Jessi and I put all our votes for this week's performance in for him).
The other three were the 14-year-old girl (who sings well, but I don't think she's quite earned the top position... she should sign some kind of deal with Disney Channel, if you ask me, which would probably get her a million faster than she'd get the 40 installments from AGT), the guy with the goatee who signs reggae style (my second-favorite of the top three), and Butterscotch, the girl who does "beatbox" while singing... which was interesting the first two or three times I heard it, but I'm so tired of the gimmick now.
I hope those of you who watched and voted put your votes in for Terry! Next week, the results show will be two hours long, and I'm sure at least half of that will be recap... thank goodness for DVRs!
I still hope that next season, they can try to get more of a variety of acts into the finals. I'd love to see the judges forced to get the top ten acts broken down as follows, representing the best of each performance type
1 - Juggling act
1 - Magic act
1 - Ventriloquist act
1 - Comedy act (that doesn't fit a different type on this list)
1 - Musical group
1 - Uncategorizable act
2 - Singers who play their own instrument
2 - Singers who don't accompany themselves
That's ten, right? I just think it would make for more variety once we get to the top ten, and then they can do some eliminations. Heck, once they get to ten, I think we should get three performance shows out of them, with two acts being eliminated by votes each week, to get the final four... and then let the final four get a major spotlight; give then ten full minutes to perform, all at once.
Of course, given that ratings on AGT have been amazing, I don't see why they'd consider using any of my ideas....
Jon
Comic Book Ad of the Day!
Alert the media! Flash the Bat-Signal! Let the clarion cry of battle be trumpeted! Fire a Fantasti-Flare! The Comic Book Ad of the Day has returned to the Random Acts!
This first one in the triumphant return was scanned from an August, 1979 Marvel title, from the inside front cover, if I'm not mistaken, but the same ad appeared in DC books, too, appropriately!
Corgi, as you probably know, was a major manufacturer of die-cast cars and other vehicles, and their heyday was probably in the 1960s and 1970s, with their licensed stuff. They did Batmobiles and Bat-Boats, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the Beatles Yellow Submarine, vehicles from Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds... even a Starship Enterprise and Space: 1999 Eagle Spaceships!
Of course, they're still in business to this day... when we visited the Museum of Flight in Seattle last month, I saw the original USS Enterprise as well as the Enterprise D in Corgi form (and I would've bought 'em, too, if they weren't $30 each), and I see that on the Official Corgi Website that they're even doing Harry Potter stuff these days! If you want to check our their entire line, they've got downloadable catalogs in PDF format.
But I doubt that any of the vehicles pictured above are part of their current offerings.
Jon
This first one in the triumphant return was scanned from an August, 1979 Marvel title, from the inside front cover, if I'm not mistaken, but the same ad appeared in DC books, too, appropriately!
Corgi, as you probably know, was a major manufacturer of die-cast cars and other vehicles, and their heyday was probably in the 1960s and 1970s, with their licensed stuff. They did Batmobiles and Bat-Boats, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the Beatles Yellow Submarine, vehicles from Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds... even a Starship Enterprise and Space: 1999 Eagle Spaceships!
Of course, they're still in business to this day... when we visited the Museum of Flight in Seattle last month, I saw the original USS Enterprise as well as the Enterprise D in Corgi form (and I would've bought 'em, too, if they weren't $30 each), and I see that on the Official Corgi Website that they're even doing Harry Potter stuff these days! If you want to check our their entire line, they've got downloadable catalogs in PDF format.
But I doubt that any of the vehicles pictured above are part of their current offerings.
Jon
A Missing GI Joe Page?
Did I ever post this image back when I was doing the Sears catalogs?
It's from the 1964 Sears Wish Book, and it's all Joe all the way! I think I didn't, but one never knows...
Jon
It's from the 1964 Sears Wish Book, and it's all Joe all the way! I think I didn't, but one never knows...
Jon
Genre Movie Image of the Day!
Good news, everyone! I discovered that I had some Genre Movie photos in Flickr that I hadn't put into the Genre Movie set, and so they aren't posted yet!
That means 27 more Genre Movie images, starting with this one:
That is, of course, Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula, and Lou Costello, from that classic movie, "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein," which it's really been way too long since I've seen...
Jon
That means 27 more Genre Movie images, starting with this one:
That is, of course, Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula, and Lou Costello, from that classic movie, "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein," which it's really been way too long since I've seen...
Jon
Comic Book Cover of the Day!
It's the August, 1976 edition of this overseas Superboy comic! The art appears to be by Grell, and it's a reprint of Superboy (and the Legion of Super-Heroes) 214.
The kid's saying, "Robot Army... Forward! Destroy the Legion!"
And Superboy replies, "The kid we tried to save... betrayed us!"
Of course, given how many Legion covers showed one of the Legionaires betraying the rest, I can't say I'm surprised.
Jon
Classic Collectible of the Day!
Yes, it's another Robot! This one is called "Ratchet Robot," and it appears that the hands might turn as this wind-up toy walks.
I've got some good news, by the way... I was organizing my Flickr photos, and discovered there's a few more non-Robot classic collectible scans I haven't posted! So there's going to be at least 30 more days of classic collectibles, including the rest of the robots!
Jon
Popeye at Big Lots
Well, I'm sure none of these are available anymore, but some of you who have been reading the Random Acts for a while will recall my mentioning some Popeye framed artwork I purchased at Big Lots. Here's what the pieces look like.
This first one seems more influenced by the style of the color Famous Studios Popeye cartoons:
While the second is definitely more "classic" style, like the Fleischer cartoons:
I only wish they'd had some other Popeye pieces available. They did have some Betty Boop ones, too, but those are also long gone.
Jon
This first one seems more influenced by the style of the color Famous Studios Popeye cartoons:
While the second is definitely more "classic" style, like the Fleischer cartoons:
I only wish they'd had some other Popeye pieces available. They did have some Betty Boop ones, too, but those are also long gone.
Jon
Monday, August 13, 2007
Since I Always Like to Acknowledge It...
...a big "Thank You!" to Mag of the Comic Treadmill, for adding the Random Acts of Geekery to his links list, as well as mentioning it in today's post!
Jon
Jon
Comic Book Cover of the Day!
From September, 1975... I have no idea where this image came from, nor do I know what issue it would've reprinted.
Jon
Classic Collectible of the Day!
This one's called the Moon Explorer.
And I really should've mixed up the collectibles pictures before starting to post 'em! Even I'm already starting to get bored with the toy robots!
Jon
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Comic Book Cover of the Day!
Going back to an earlier era of the Legion's published history, here's the foreign edition Superboy from September of 1976.
I have no idea which comic this reprints... I suspect it's from a story in Adventure Comics, but this wasn't the cover art (the rather thick lines on the art seem to indicate it's an enlargement of interior art).
Jon
Classic Collectibles of the Day!
Here's two more members of the robot parade... and I'm not sure what they were called, but it does appear they're variations on the same model.
Jon
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