Say what you will about Warren Ellis and Frank Miller and Alan Moore redefining the genre of superhero storytelling with their expert and unusual scripts and characterizations, but I’m still a huge fan of an awkwardly written, completely illogical criminal caper. Capers involving time-travel gases and mind-control fluids, uncharacteristic feats of agility and intellect, and rocket boots. Everything is made fifty times crazier with rocket boots. I wish I had rocket boots.

The only thing better than reading these tales on yellowed, old pulp is hearing them. Hearkening back to the pre-television days of radio serials and imagination, I’ve found myself collecting superhero related records, beginning with a dusty old tag sale find of a Batman LP containing four tales. How can you resist ANYTHING that says ‘If Music Be the Food of Death’ and a picture of The Riddler on it? You’d have to be dead inside. I had to know - WAS music being the food of death? And what’s with the grammar on that? Contained therein were a classic set of sound effects, exhortations and stilted voice acting the likes of which I’d never heard. And it was all about Batman.

When I had a radio show in my college days, I made sure to get the turntables in the studio operational so that I could share the wonders of ‘The Scarecrow’s Mirages’ over the airwaves. I didn’t expect the listeners to dissolve into a sea of nostalgia as much as I expected them to giggle at Bruce Wayne’s incessant referral to his boy sidekick Robin as ‘Dick’. It makes for some suggestive and awkward sentences, not at all helped by some of the pre-existing assumptions about the relationship between the Dark Knight and the Boy Wonder.

The thrill of this record became the discovery of more. As far as I know, your friendly turntable is the only place you’ll be able to hear such wondrous tales as ‘Gorilla City’ and ‘Robin Meets Man-Bat’, as there’s been no concerted effort to make official transfers of these recordings, which mainly focus on DC Comics’ holy trinity of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Marvel comics also got in on the action, releasing recorded stories of Spider-Man and the Hulk, among others.

The classic of all of these records, though, is the Justice League of America album. The second you start hearing the shrill, nasally declarations Hyrdo the Dehydrator from the planet Exadoom, you know that you’ve found something very special. Something that will either reinforce your love of comic mythology or destroy your already tenuous connection with it. Among the collection of stories on the album are songs written for a variety of characters by the late Arthur Korb, a man who had also written music performed by greats such as Louis Armstrong. What’s he doing writing songs about Metamorpho and Plastic Man? Blowing my mind is what. Just try and describe The Flash to me using the phrase ‘The Wizard of Whizzle, yes indeed!’ and not steal my heart. I’ll be all yours.

Collecting superhero records has also expanded into collecting records that are even remotely tangentially related to the comics, such as the disco-fied ‘Wonder Woman’ by the Wonderland Band, with such classics as ‘Thrill Me (With Your Super Love)’ and complete with a cover depicting a woman wearing a costume that looks nothing like Wonder Woman’s favored attire or weaponry.

The most recent addition to my collection is ‘The Batman Theme Played by The Marketts’. Now, there are a lot of records out there that feature the 60’s Batman theme song as interpreted by any number of bands, but this one is a boisterous, surf-rock exploration into many themes present in the Bat-iverse, like the Bat Cave, The Joker (which sounds rather a lot like ‘Wipe Out’) and even the Bat Signal, all interpreted musically. It’s kind of like watching an interpretive dance rendition of The Godfather. To your benefit, check out this amazingly funky rendition of ‘The Penguin’.

To the benefit of the super-LP collector, most of these albums can still be found for under ten dollars, the rare exception being a set of four Batman 45s with shaped sleeves released in 1966, each of which include two Batman-related songs. Beyond that, it’s not easy to ascertain a complete list of superhero vinyl, as many different records containing similar stories spanned more than one record label.

Regardless, if you have an operational turntable, there’s nothing like sending one of these for a spin. Grant Morrison ain’t got ’ on this.

When I was in college my mother decided she wanted me to have a full set of china when I married and figured she’d spread the cost out over several years. We spent several weeks browsing through the china sections of department stores until at last I settled on the Hancock pattern by Lenox. Since then my Lenox collection has grown to include vases, a coffeepot and some fun ornaments for the Christmas tree, including one in the shape of a bone in honor of our spoiled dog.

Lenox has been around since 1889. It began as the Ceramic Art Company and was founded in New Jersey by Walter Lenox and a partner, Jonathon Coxon. In 1894 Walter Lenox bought out Coxon and became the sole owner of the Ceramic Art Company. The company name was changed to Lenox, Inc. in 1906. The company’s early focus was on cream colored vases, tea sets and dinnerware. At the time, the china market was dominated by overseas companies, whose products were considered far superior to American-made china and Lenox strove to prove that American fine china was just as good as its foreign competitors’. He knew he had succeeded at that goal when in 1918 Woodrow Wilson asked Lenox to create a china pattern for the White House, the first time such a request had been made of an American china producer. Today the Lenox company markets the brands Lenox, Department 56, Dansk and Gorham. In 2005 Lenox was purchased by Department 56 and became the The Lenox Group.

Over the decades Lenox’s lines have expanded from just dinnerware to include glass, crystal and an array of collectible objects, including figurines, spice jars, decorative eggs, holiday ornaments, candleholders, lamps, vases, photo frames and trinket boxes.

For more information about Lenox, visit:

http://www.lenox.com/cs/index.cfm?fuseaction=history

Looking to replace a piece from a discontinued Lenox pattern? Try

http://www.replacements.com/china/L.htm

Many collectors like to show off their collections, and find that an eclectic home decor is the style most willing to accommodate such a display.While an eclectic decor is a mix of styles, materials, periods and even some whimsy or humor, the look is not random. If you want to mix it up, or at least relax a more traditional decor, but not look like the sales floor at the Salvation Army Thrift Shop, here are a few simple tips.

The true style is achieved when you select a theme.

Themes may not be like other interior design themes, such as King Louis or Traditional, but you must still have a plan. The easiest way for me to do this, is to select a color, as I fall in love with trinkets, fabric, furnishings, pillows, etc. on a daily basis, and it is much easier to stay in budget with a color than a time…

(After all, you wouldn’t put that retro poly print top with that vintage peasant skirt unless the colors worked, would you?)

Rachel Ashwell of Shabby Chic fame, believes ‘less is more’ and sticks with basic pastel colors. I personally am more of a vibrant gal, and probably own more trinkets & collectibles in my one home than she had in all of hers combined, but her approach is easily adaptable. She uses slip covers (made her millions, yes they did!) for easy care. (I prefer to drape rather than sew, then I always have a cover too!) She knows that a coat of paint or a box of dye can change virtually anything. So you needn’t buy replacements for many things.

Let’s say you want to mix cultured objects (the global trend is still very hot). It is easy to keep natural wood tones &/or black as your color theme, making that the constant backdrop for your collections.

If you are drawn to a time period, look at the dominant colors in the home decor of that time, or select a few of the largest or most expensive pieces & keep those colors in mind in selecting the rest.

One of the signature marks of eclectic looks, is the unexpected or whimsical touches.

This can be a color contrast, a featured collection, or a wall treatment. (Just like vintage dressing, you may wear a rather simple outfit, but throw on an outrageous colored scarf, or bright pin!)

Something a tad unconventional works too. I know a friend who has an old stove in her living room as a coffee table, which really made her vintage rooster & Pyrex collection look at home, yet stand out in a fun way. She can display her collectibles in a larger room and show them off more, as not too many people visit her kitchen!

This is also where that ‘trash-to-treasure’ creativity comes in to play… Take old items you already have, or ones you can find cheap at rummage sales, or store closeouts, and turn them into something different.

The last important tip I can give you is to remember that decorating is a creative process.

Like any other creative process, it is not likely to be completed in one weekend! Give yourself time to come up with your ideas. And even more importantly, give yourself time to put it all together.

Finding the right piece, or choosing the perfect wall treatment will take time. Live with the items you have for a bit, and let them inspire you with the way to go… Sometimes, knowing what you want & finding it may be months apart!

Realize that you do not need to create perfection in one easy step — and frankly, where is the fun in that, anyway?

I doubt that anyone remembers a little toy called Zolo. I mean, how does a toy based on the idea of rearranging shapes into creative creatures survive in a world where you can run around in a virtual robot world as Mega Man? A blue, kidney-shaped chunk of plastic that you could stick eyes on didn’t really compare to fighting giant space dragons with rayguns. Then again, nothing really compares to space dragons.

Nevertheless, when I wasn’t in front of the TV, being bathed in a slow cathode-ray death, I made a few fun Zolo creatures. Every shape was bright and completely ultra-lounge styled, like something that crawled out of Esquivel’s fantasies and took up residence in the backalleys behind Pee Wee’s Playhouse. Stick some legs on this piece, the curly bit over here and that giant cyclops eye in the middle and you had a neat little monster. There were a few different Zolo sets to collect, each with additional pieces and different additions, but they were prohibitively expensive at the time. So, I made due with a single set, cruelly taking apart one creature to make another, and I was content. Zolo is still going strong many years later, and it’s responsible for igniting my appreciation for toy design in all of its bizarre forms.

So when I came across Pontiki, shades of Zolo returned to me. Originally a toy exclusive to Japan, I recently found the Pontiki at my local Barnes and Noble. They’re based on the same concept of giving the builder a handful of 3-D parts and letting them go to town, sticking pegs into holes until a unique creature emerges. The tiny pieces probably prohibit these from being used by smaller children, instead aiming for the ‘bored executive’ and the ‘collector of useless, colorful things to brighten up an otherwise bleak existence’ markets. I fall into the latter group.

Each five dollar Pontiki comes with a basic body of two or three parts, some eyes and a mouth or nose. Inside the Pontiki itself are four or five extra parts to customize the outside with, and of course, if you get more than one Pontiki, all parts are interchangeable between all Pontiki. Within the store display, I found that none of the 24 different figures were the same, each with different parts and colors, so I’d like to think that collecting these is a task based solely upon which colors and shapes you enjoy. Collecting such as this can go on indefinitely. Say you want a red cube-creature entirely covered with eyes. You know, something to personify your secret hopes and dreams, your most private fantasies and aspirations. Just buy more Pontiki! Your Pontiki’s secret guts may, on rare occasions, contain special parts to make a humanoid or dog-like creature, unwelcome and bizarre visitors to this jovial world of Pontiki.

They’re fun, easy to assemble & excellent additions to the endless array of crazy trinkets that you probably keep around your computer. Each box also contains a folded up game map, involving rolling dice (which are super-tiny and included in each set also) and trying to reach the end of a path, adding and subtracting body parts along the way for no apparent reason. Of course, you’re not buying these for the generic game inside. You’re getting them because that purple sphere with the protruding nose looks like your boss and can function as a secret effigy between you and your disgruntled cubicle-mates.

Add the interactivity factor of an online gallery where people showcase their creations and you have the makings for a neat little subculture of Pontiki-thusiasts, with the makings to rival even that of the eerily huge cult of Lego-maniacs. Watch out for those guys. They have pointy edges.

Not only did the Germans raise beer making to an art form, but they invented the beer stein, a container so unique and attractive that it has become a popular collectible.

A stein is a type of mug specifically made to hold ale or beer. Designs are typically etched or painted onto the sides of the steins, making steins colorful and decorative as well as functional. The first beer steins were made in the 1500s in Germany, where beer was considered a staple. In an effort to prevent diseases like the plague from spreading, officials passed laws requiring steins to have covers, which were often made from pewter. Clay was common in Germany, and when fired became stoneware. Steins made of stoneware were the most common, but collectors also come across steins made from glass, pewter, silver and porcelain.

There are a number of different styles of steins that are highly sought by collectors.

-Mettlach steins are popular collectibles known for their elaborate hand-painted scenes. They were created in the 1800s by Villeroy and Boch in the German town of Mettlach.

-Character steins are shaped like people, animals, plants and other objects and gained popularity in the mid 1800s. These are fun steins that never fail to draw comments when they’re on display.

-Regimental steins were presented to servicemen at the completion of their duty and usually had military themes. Original regimental steins were made between 1870 and 1914.

Steins are still produced today and many collect these modern steins. Most of these steins do not include a lid, though some models still do. Some enjoy collecting steins bearing the names of popular brands like Budweiser or Coors, while others build a collection of steins glorifying their favorite sports teams or hobbies and still others go after character steins in the form of superheroes or movie characters.

Some collectors find their taste in steins evolving. As they learn more about steins and are drawn further into the hobby, they begin to appreciate different styles. There are so many different types of steins that have been created over the years, that any stein collector is sure to find a style to love!To find out more, click on these links:

Stein Collectors International

Beer Stein Library