So I'm 45 Now...

...actually, I've been 45 all day (Friday), to be honest.

As far as birthdays go, this one was pretty decent. I had the day off of work, but I still got up at my usual time so that I could go to work with Jessi and our son to the Head Start she works at, and I volunteered there for the morning (it helps with the funding).

After that, we all headed to the local casino for their buffet, which was great. Then, my son and I headed back for home. I was hoping that there'd be some packages there from my eBay purchases, but alas, there were none. So, we let the dogs out for a bit while I wrote a check to deposit in Jessi's account for bill paying and a check for cash for this Sunday's Portland show.

After stopping at the two banks, my son and I headed downtown to the Hands-On Children's Museum, which is his favorite place to go. Unfortunately, I didn't have any singles on me, and all the parking in the area requires dollar bills to pay for parking... and I was starting to feel a bit frustrated by this point, so we headed for home.

Shortly after getting home, I won another eBay auction for Give-A-Show stuff, and paid for it. Setting up our son with a DVD of Go, Diego, Go! episodes (his favorite show), I figured I could lie down on the couch for a bit to rest, and maybe nap.

The nap was not to be, but that's okay, I still felt rested. Jessi came home from work early as a surprise for me, with birthday cards from her and our son -- our son's came with the current Hallmark Superman ornament, while hers came with cash for Sunday's comics show! After a bit, we decided we'd all go to Capital Mall to check out this indoor miniature golf course.

Let me tell you... three-year-olds and miniature golf don't mix real well. Especially when the three-year-old has no clue what golf is about, that you only hit your ball, that you get out of the way of other players' balls, and you don't pick up any ball that isn't yours.

After that, we wandered the mall for a bit, and then Jessi treated us to dinner at Red Robin (I had the Whiskey River BBQ Burger with garlic-parmesean fries -- which were excellent, but after the first six or seven fries I lost the garlic flavor), and then we headed back for home. Putting our son to bed, we watched this week's Biggest Loser, and then Jessi was ready for bed.

And since I wasn't sleepy enough to fall asleep yet, once she was out, I headed into my home office to write this up!

Jon

Give-A-Show Friday: Checklist (In Progress)!

1960 Red Slides
1-Popeye-Popeye To The Rescue
2-Three Stooges-Moon Man Moe
3-Yogi Bear-All At Sea
4-Woody Woodpecker-Go, Go, Goat!
5-Huckleberry Hound-Jinks' Surprise
6-Quick Draw McGraw-Two Heads are Better Than One
7-Oswald-Bug Game Hunter
8-Buffalo Bill-Sknis the Thieves
9-Wild Bill Hickock-Deadly Ambush
10-Kit Carson-Indian Attack
11-Maverick-Take a Gamble
12-Wyatt Earp-Gunman's Choice
13-Annie Oakley-Shoot-Out
14-Classics-Hansel & Gretel
15-Classics-Pinocchio
16-Classics-Cinderella

1961 Blue Slides
2-Popeye-A Day at the Seashore
5-Rocky and Bullwinkle-A Ball for Boris
6-Lassie-Urgent Message
7-Mighty Mouse-Canaveral Capers
10-Heckle and Jeckle-Rough Stuff
12-Baby Huey-Wreckless Driver
13-Kenner Kids-The Haunted Mine
14-Roy Rogers-Trigger Has a Close Call
15-Captain Kangaroo-Bunny's Crazy Crop
16-Bozo-Bozo Booms a Bum
17-Classics-The Wizard of Oz
19-Classics-Tom Sawyer & Huck Finn
20-Classics-William Tell
21-N/A-Stowaway in Space
22-Aesop's Fable-The Lion and the Mouse
23-N/A-Deadly Boomerang
24-N/A-Union Drummer Boy
26-Popeye-Big Top Bullseye
27-Woody Woodpecker-Whew!
28-Three Stooges-Where There's Smoke… There's Fire?
30-Rocky and Bullwinkle-Bully for Bullwinkle
31-Roy Rogers-Headache for the Horse Thieves
32-Bozo-Joy Ride for Jumbo

1961 Green Slides
1-Huckleberry Hound-Huck's Magic Show
2-Yogi Bear-Flying High
3-Quick Draw McGraw-The Cannoneer
4-Pixie & Dixie-Painting the Town
5-Ruff & Reddy-Ruff Gets Rough
6-Snooper & Blabber-The Bear Facts
7-Auggie Doggie-Daddy Rings the Bell
8-Flintstones-A New Twist
9-Snagglepuss-Soars to New Heights
10-Flintstones-Fred Bowls a Boomerang
11-Aggie Doggie-Daddy Builds a Beauty
12-Huckleberry Hound-Huck Uses His Head
13-Yogi Bear-Unfunny Honey
14-Quick Draw McGraw-Mirror, Mirror on the Wall…
15-Ruff & Reddy-Whale of a Time
16-Flintstones-Double Trouble

1962 Green Slides
Green-1-Huckleberry Hound-Huck's Magic Show
Green-2-Yogi Bear -Flying High
Green-3-Quick Draw McGraw-The Cannoneer
Green-4-Pixie and Dixie-Painting the Town
Green-5-Ruff & Reddy-Ruff Gets Rough
Green-6-Snooper and Blabber-The Bear Facts
Green-7-Auggie Doggie-Daddy Rings the Bell
Green-9-Snagglepuss-Soars to New Heights
Green-10-Flintstones-Fred Bowls a Boomerang
Green-11-Auggie Doggie-Daddy Builds a Beauty
Green-12-Huckleberry Hound-Huck Uses His Head
Green-13-Yogi Bear-Unfunny Honey
Green-14-Quick Draw McGraw-Mirror, Mirror on theWall…
Green-15-Ruff & Reddy-Whale of a Time
Green-16-Flintstones-Double Trouble

1962 Red Slides
1-Popeye and Olive Oyl-Victory at Sea
2-Three Stooges-Monster Monkey Business
3-Kenner Kids-Dive into Danger
4-Rocky and Bullwinkle-The Astronut
5-Woody Woodpecker-Jetty Propulsion
6-Roy Rogers-Mark of the Big Cat
8-Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear-Poor Picnic Pickin's
9-Mr. Magoo-Magoo Gets a Checkup
10-Classics-Aladdin's Lamp
11--
12-Mr. Ed-A Hitchin' Ed's Plans
13-Fury-Adventure With an Outlaw Stallion
14-Deputy Dawg-Bait From Outer Space
15-Mighty Mouse-A Whale of a Job
16-Classics-The Boy Who Cried Wolf

1962 Silver Slides
2-Rocky and Bullwinkle-Misguided Moosile

1963 Green Slides
1-The Flintstones-All'sWell That Ends Well
2-Huckleberry Hound-Smile, You're on TV!
3-Yogi Bear-Woodsman, Spare That Tree!
4-Jetsons-Rosie Gets Repaired
5-Quick Draw McGraw-Fastest Guitar in the West
6-Hokey Wolf-An Actor's Life
7-Touche Turtle-Blast Off For Balloon
8-Wally Gator-Wally Saves His Skin
9-Lippy Lion-The Dragon's Shadow
10-Auggie Doggie-Daddy Tries His Wings
11-Flintstones-Fred Thinks Big
12-Huckleberry Hound-The Right Caliber
13-Yogi Bear-His Kind of Hat
14-Jetsons-Elroy's Secret Weapon
15-Quick Draw McGraw-Gold Fever
16-The Flintstones-A Record Catch

1964 Red Slides
2-Dick Tracy-A Real Pepper-Upper
3-Mr. Magoo-Out of Step
4-Alvin and the Chipmunks-Fractured Football
9-Fury-Firey Rescue

1965 Red Slides
1-Flintstones-A Sneeze to Please
2-Yogi Bear-Rocket Riding Ranger
3-Huckleberry Hound-Barrel Peril
4-Magilla Gorilla-Hare Raising Robber
5-Peter Potamus-Brainless Buccaneer
6-Jetsons-Supersonic Sissy
7-Jonny Quest-Warehouse Rescue
8-Quick Draw McGraw-Clobbers a Robber
9-Yogi Bear-A Punch for a Lunch
10-Huckleberry Hound-BarnStorming
11-Flintstones and Hoppy-Mammoth Dilemma
12-Quick Draw McGraw-Out of the Frying Pan
13-Magilla Gorilla-Sled Snack
14-Peter Potamus-Watta Melon
15-Flintstones and Hoppy-Kitchen Concert
16-Yogi Bear-Yogi's Buzz Bomb

1966 Blue Slides
1-Superman-Race Against Danger
2-Three Stooges-Aqua-Nuts
3-Popeye-One Track Mind
4-Mighty Mouse-Good Noose
5-Lassie-Lassie the Game Warden
6-Secret Squirrel-Shrink in the Drink
7-Mr. Magoo-Abused Car Lot
8-Fury-Fireman Fury
9-Alvin and the Chipmunks-Moon Munks
10-Captain Kangaroo-Acrobunny
11-Roy Rogers-Nellybelle to the Rescue
12-Rocky and Bullwinkle-Alley Antics
13-Bozy-Shoe In
14-Casper the Friendly Ghost-A Frosty Friend
15-Heckle and Jeckle-Double Play
16-Stingray-Stingray's Secret Weapon

1967 Blue Slides
1-Frankenstein Jr-Frankie, Jr Saves a Satellite

Jon

Give-A-Show Friday Bonus Pic!

Chad Valley was the distributor and manufacturer of Give-A-Show Projectors in the United Kingdom, and I'll tell you, they did some great sets! Look at this very, very cool Batman Give-A-Show Projector set! Heck, I haven't even seen any evidence that they did a Batman slide at all for the USA!

Jon

Give-A-Show Friday!

Cover Gallery: Jimmy Olsen Transformations!

Jon

Hey! It's a This 'n That Post!

For those of you relatively new to this blog, "This 'n That" is a periodic feature here in which I write in brief about a number of different topics, most of which relate to my personal life, which I don't want to write individual posts about!

Give-A-Show News From Me

So, I think you guys probably know that I've been buying Give-A-Show Projectors and Slides on eBay over the past few weeks, and I'm really getting into it. Frankly, I've been amazed I've won as many auctions as I have already!

I'll have an update to my work-in-progress checklist posted very late tonight as part of my "Give-A-Show Fridays" postings (which will also include, natch, one of the features from the 1960 set), I'm just waiting to see what arrives in the mail today that I can add to the list.

Buying assorted sets of slides has managed to get me some duplicate slides already - in fact, some duplicate sets entirely! Right now I'm considering offering any complete sets as a single item on eBay for sale, and incomplete sets in groups of six for collectors who just need to fill holes in their collections.

Speaking of eBay

My own sales of children's books was pretty much a bust... 21 books offered, sold three the first time around, relisted the rest, sold four that time. Of the seven, only 1 had more than 1 bid on them, the rest sold at their 99 cent opening price. The unsold ones? They've been added to my son's books for storytime.

Bizarrely, one of the items that I was asked if I had more than one of didn't sell either time I listed it.

Long Weekend to Convention!

As you might have guessed from the time stamp on this post, I've got the day off of work today, and tomorrow as well (tomorrow being my 45th birthday, and you can imagine I'll have a post about how that feels before the weekend's out). Today's main goals are to get the oil changed on the car, stop at the library to drop off some stuff and pick up other stuff, do some laundry, and get some scanning done for future blog posts.

Tomorrow I'll head down to my wife Jessi's work, which is at the Chehalis Tribe Head Start, to volunteer there for the morning. Our son is enrolled there, and after the morning class is done, I'll take him for the rest of the day, and perhaps Jessi will join us for lunch before we head back to town to do... something. I'm not sure what!

Saturday is an open day so far, but I'd imagine something will come up! And then Sunday is the Portland Comics Convention, which I'm going to, and so is my son and my brother Jeff!

Adoption News

So I think I'd written that we'd been pencilled in for Nov. 15 to adopt our son... but that had been dependent on my fingerprints coming back from the FBI cleared (this is a standard procedure for adoption... and it's my second set of prints set, because the first ones were illegible). Since they hadn't come back (and as of this writing, still haven't come back), that date's been cancelled. As it stands now, once my prints come back okay, we'll adopt two weeks from then.

And at that point, I'll be able to actually start referring to him by name!

Building Our Family Blog

Because of concerns that certain persons from our son's past might come across our "Building Our Family" blog (like his former foster mom, and his bio-family members, in particular his grandmother), Jessi's changed the blog to be invitation-only for reading. If you've been following it, and want to keep reading updates (which have been few and far between lately), email me and I'll get you added to the list.

Jon

Found on eBay! Mostly 8mm box art

So, having realized just how many pics I've collected already for the "Found on eBay" feature, I figured I'd start posting them at least every other day!

Standard stuff applies here... I'm not the one selling these, I don't know the person who was selling them, I make no promises these are even still available!



If you collect movie posters, eBay's a great place for them... movie posters, lobby card, press kits, etc.



As well as, naturally, non-US posters and lobby cards -- and it's the non-US stuff that often looks the most interesting! Not that it's the case for sure with the above 2001 items!



Obviously, you can find pretty much anything on eBay! Want to track down an 8mm version of Disney's "The Black Hole"?



Or perhaps 8mm chapters from the greatest movie serial of all time? (I really dig that all three of these have completely different box art)



It really is amazing how much 8mm and super 8mm stuff shows up... heck, I'm only showing you the sci-fi and monster stuff, for the most part! There's loads of 8mm cartoons and some really bizarre stuff being offered every day!



I understand that many of these 8mm versions have been showing up on YouTube lately, and I really should do some searching for them, and get them on the old blog, eh?





And as many of these photos as I've collected, I know that's got to be the tip of the iceberg compared to what was originally released!



Even if you take into account the generic box formats that were used... for example, this Volume 2 Hercules box is probably not much different than the Volume 1 box (who knows if there was a volume 3?).



These Popeyes appear to be Famous Studios/Paramount cartoons... I wonder if the Fleischer stuff was ever released on 8mm?



Some of these movies I'm just dying to see the 8mm version of, just to see how condensed these got!



I know there were at least a half-dozen different Spider-Man 8mm releases, but this is the only one I've found on eBay so far!



This one may have never been released in the USA! I have been surprised at how many tv shows I've seen on 8mm offered on ebay...



Could they have made the box art for "This Island Earth" look any more boring?



Here's another one that may not have ever been released outside the UK!



Can you imagine just how much this was cut for the 8mm release?

Next time on "Found on eBay" - A bigger variety of stuff, but probably mostly Beatles!

Jon

Ad Gallery: DC January 1977 Ads!

Here's some interesting ads from the January, 1977 cover-dated DC comics!



I remember Ideal's Evel Knievel line was pretty popular for a while there! Keep an eye open for some future "Found on eBay" posts featuring some of these toys!



I'd forgotten, until I came across this ad, that DC had their own comic convention, at least for one year! I know Marvel did two or three of them already...



Big Jim and the later P.A.C.K. line will be coming up in "Found on eBay", too, I promise!



Not too many Matchboxes coming up, though -- more Corgi cars, though!



Hey, I should've saved this ad for a Christmas countdown, eh?





There'll be quite a few Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman items coming up, too!

You know, I really should just organize stuff and ads together one of these days, eh?

Jon

Found on eBay!

OK, let's get a whole bunch of non-monster "Found on eBay" photos shared, eh?



As I've mentioned before, coloring books and the like are fairly inexpensive to collect... and you can find stuff featuring characters like Gumby above that most collectors wouldn't think to look for!



It's also a good source if you're a graphic designer and you're looking for reference on older cartoon characters, I'd imagine! Certainly a better on-model representation than the Give-A-Show slides I've been collecting.



Even the sidekicks would get their own coloring book, as you can see!



And you also get a glimpse at Saturday mornings of the past... I think "Dastardly and Muttley and Their Flying Machines" was only on for one season!



I do seem to recall Flintstones coloring books tended to get more bids, but there were also more of them to choose from, too!



This is probably the most unusual of the Flintstones coloring books I've seen... I think the Gruesomes only appeared in one episode of the original series, didn't they?



Pretty cool that this one features photos of Hanna and Barbera there!



You know, I barely have any memory of Hokey Wolf at all!



I don't think any comic book or coloring book illustrator has ever had a handle on how juggling actually happens!



You know... here's a sign that I've been watching too many cartoons with my 3-year-old... I just found myself wondering if Huckleberry Hound is any relation to Blue, of Blue's Clues, because they're both dogs who are blue! Sheesh..



Loopy De Loop was actually a series of cartoons H-B produced for the movie theaters, but they were on the same budget (and same limited animation) as their TV productions!



This Magilla Gorilla coloring book looks way off-model to my eye!



Hmmm... I'd intended to adjust the lighting and colors on this photo before sharing it...



It would be nice if some of the pop culture Big Little Books were reprinted... although this one, like the Fantastic Four one, is fairly easy to come by inexpensively!



Funny, I didn't remember Cindy being blue... do you?



Maybe I should've saved this one for a Christmas countdown, eh?

Jon