BatMug

It would be cool if I could say I use to drink apple juice out of this cup when I was four, but alas only recently has this cool cup come into my possession. My friend Chris Lockwood saw this at saw this at an antique shop and knew I would dig it.

Space:1999 Eagle

Here is the Dinky Toy metal Eagle from Space:1999. I bought this at FAO Schwartz in the 70's in NYC. I was really into that show and this toy sent me over the edge. The landing pads are spring loaded and the passenger compartment is removable, but I'm not sure why part of it is painted green (that always bugged me a bit). My brother got the other version with the little radioactive canisters and the winch assembly, but his was all white like the series. I need to see if he still has it. I also am trying to "fancy up" my photos a little.

Batman Animated Christmas

Before I dive once again into the distant past I thought I would post my nerdiest Christmas gift from this year, hard to find figure sets with Batman Animated characters. First a never released Penguin figure that came with a common Batgirl and a new pose mullet Nightwing, and another set with a Batman Beyond, Old Bruce Wayne and Warhawk (future Justice League member that is the offspring of Green Lantern John Stewart and Shayera Hol also known as Hawkgirl). The Bruce Wayne and Batman Beyond are the biggest scores from this set! Ok, now I'm resetting the time machine for 1972. See you next month and have a great new year!

Robot World of the Future!

Fast forward ten years to the mid 80's. After Gundam hit it big the creators of that show next tried a show called "Fang of the Sun Dougram", with similar giant robot designs. The funny thing is the show was never shown in the US, but these awesome die-cast and irresistible toys where available at the now defunct KB Toys. These started my lifelong love of giant robots.

Apollo Snoopy

This goes way back to the Apollo Program's early days. Charles Shultz did a run of Peanuts strips with Snoopy as an astronaut to coincide with the first Moon landing, and these cool figures were a cool special promotion that wasn't available in stores. He did sustain a little helmet damage when he fell off my shelf, and he's a little faded, but I still think it's pretty cool.

The Trouble With Keeping Everything

This little beauty is a Tribble that my mom made for me probably around the mid 70's. I'm holding it for a sense of scale, but mostly so it doesn't escape and overpopulate the earth. Boy am I geeking up this entry.

YAAAA!!

First off I'd need to apologize for my extended absence. I started teaching art to High School kids, and then our good camera was dropped by my little girl and we just now replaced it with one good enough the continue shooting my junk..er I mean, my prized possessions.

So to start this off again we have Star Trek comic No. 55 from 1978 (I noticed that this actually has a UPC on it, not sure when that started). Once again I think I was so impressed by this cover illustration it's something I'm always drawn back to. And I can't help but think how all those little aliens look like the Great Gazoo from the Flintstones. I don't think that can be much of an accident.

Star Trek LP

Since the new movie is a big hit I thought this should be next up. The copyright puts this album a good ten years after the show ended, but I don't really remember how I got it. There's not even any info on the outside besides the track listings, I don't even know if it's the original actors or not. I really need to find a way to listen to this thing again. I really like the illustrations though, but no credit this time.

Drag N' Wheels

Here's another Charlton comic from 1971. It's funny how I have a lot of single issues of comics from back then. I think it's because I bought them while visiting my grandparents and I didn't have easy access to buy them outside of those trips. But I do remember studying these ad nauseam. This was drawn by the great Jack Keller who worked on all the racing titles for Charlton.

The Watergate Comedy Hour

Only people that are old enough to remember Watergate would also remember how it was skewered by comedians, and as an 11 year old I might not of really understood the importance of it all, but I did like a good comedy album (and being two years before SNL had premiered there wasn't a lot of this ensemble skit parody comedy to be found on TV yet). Of course I was probably drawn to the amazing illustration by Drew Struzan, (the now famous movie poster artist) and the album design just as much. Even at that early age I could appreciate a great illustration. And check out the back! The record label was also "Hidden Records"! Great stuff!

Me & Sparky

In 1995 the 45th anniversary of Peanuts was marked by the exhibit “Around the Moon and Home Again: A Tribute to the Art of Charles M. Schulz” at Space Center Houston. At that time I was doing a ton of exhibit design for them and was invited to a private gathering for the opening. I was pretty starstruck and didn't really have a meaningful exchange, but at least I have a photo!

Flying Sub

Fans of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea will immediately recognize the iconic Flying Sub. Another model this time from Aurora, this little baby gave me all sorts of problems when I was 9, it didn't want to fit together at all. I seem to remember this being a pretty common problem with Aurora. It's about ten inches long with a detailed interior, and I seem to have lost the stand too.

Demon Star

I knew I once had an issue of Space:1999 comic but thought it was long gone. I was pretty stoked to find it! I never did find any other issues of this back then (although the interweb would make that pretty easy now). This issue was also drawn by the the great John Byrne, although he obviously spent a lot more time on the cover than the inside. I have a few more Space:1999 goodies I'll share later.

And almost as entertaining is this questionnaire I filled out, but never mailed in. What is that dune buggy thing anyway?

And So It Begins...With the Distant Past!

Well kids this is a new blog that I've been ruminating about for some time. I reserved this name last summer but didn't really know what I wanted to do with it until I was helping my Dad clean out his attic and found a treasure trove of stuff from my nerdy and (almost) forgotten past. So at least a few times a month I'll be posting old and sometimes newer nerdy pursuits, for mostly my amusement I'm sure. Hopefully others will get a chuckle sometimes too.

So to kick it off here is my AMT Enterprise Bridge built by me, probably around seventh grade or so (1976). I wasn't satisfied with the decals for the buttons on the consoles so I actually hand painted them using my Starfleet Technical Manual for reference. I even built the viewer and other 3D elements at Spocks station out of balsa since they weren't molded into the model. I know, I know...but that's what this blog is all about!