Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer was born in 1939 as a marketing gimmick. This may surprise you, but the amazing thing is, Rudolph still draws ‘em in.

Rudolph began 67 years ago when the Montgomery Ward company asked one of their writers to come up with a little Christmas story they could give away to shoppers. The department store chain had been buying and giving away coloring books every year, but this year they wanted to save money by creating their own books.

The writer, Robert L. May, created the story of Rudolph inspired in no small part by the story The Ugly Duckling. Because May had been teased as a child for being a small and shy, he was drawn to this type of underdog story and believed other children would be as well.

He was right. In 1939, 2.4 million copies of the Rudolph booklet were given out. Rudolph was very popular; despite wartime paper shortages affecting printing, a total of 6 million copies of Montgomery Ward’s Rudolph were given away by the end of 1946.

After the war there was a great deal of interest in licensing the Rudolph character. Since May had created Rudolph as an employee of the department store chain, Montgomery Ward held the copyright and May saw no royalties.

In 1944 an animated Rudolph was made. This is the short cartoon that was endlessly shown on TV in the 50’s and 60’s. In a rare commercial credit, Max Fleischer (post the closure of his studio) produced this animation for The Jam Handy Organization. (Unlike most Rudolph products this animated film’s copyright wasn’t protected and it fell into the public domain. This is why it is included on many ‘cheap’ videos and DVDs.) This cartoon strictly adhered to May’s original story.

In order to receive any financial gain from his creation, May would need to secure the copyrights to Rudolph. In 1947 May did get those rights and that next year “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (created in 1944 by Max Fleischer) was finally shown in theaters.

However, the biggest success with Rudolph was when songwriter Johnny Marks, May’s brother in law, created the lyrics and melody that we now hear when we think of Rudolph. Mark’s lyrics tell a bit different tale of Rudolph (if you watch the original Fleischer cartoon, you’ll notice the differences).

Originally Mark’s song was turned down by many performers who didn’t want to mess with the long established Santa story. But in 1949 it was recorded by Gene Autry who sold two million copies that year. The song went on to become one of the best-selling songs of all time (second only to “White Christmas”).

It is interesting to note that Mark’s song is the reason we all list Santa’s reindeers’ names incorrectly. In 1822, Clement Clarke Moore gave us Santa’s reindeers’ names. He wrote them in his “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas” which is more commonly known today by its opening line, “‘Twas the night before Christmas”. The lines read:

“Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now, dash away! dash away! dash away all!”

Notice, the reindeer’s name is Donder, not Donner as Mark’s wrote it. (Now poor Donder is the maligned deer!)

Anyway, back to Rudolph…

In 1964 NBC ran the now traditional holiday TV special that most of us know and love. This stop motion animation with those now-familiar puppets and narrated by Burl Ives was created by Rankin/Bass. Even though it’s been available on video for years, CBS airs it every single year — making it the longest running TV special.

Generation after generation knows this version of Rudolph, which is based on the Mark’s song version of May’s story. This production by Rankin/Bass is now a part of our collective childhoods.

In 1976, a sequel to the Rankin-Bass original special, entitled Rudolph’s Shiny New Year, was produced. And a third, Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July, came in 1979. In 2001, a fourth in the series, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and The Island of Misfit Toys, was made. This last one was created entirely by computer animation as opposed to traditional stop-motion animation — however, care was taken to make the computer-generated characters resemble their original stop-motion counterparts as much as possible. Will more follow? Perhaps… We do love our Rudolph.

So many of us collect Rudolph items. Some of us focus on the vintage originals, as we preserve the history. A few collect items for their connections — to the author, to music or animation history. Others want any reindeer, any reindeer song. Many of us want all the original items from that 1964 TV special as well as the new theme games, ornaments & village & chacter pieces because we remember drinking cocoa with our sister as we both sat in our jammies and we want to hand that tradition down to our own children.

Or maybe it has nothing to do with Christmas. Maybe we just want all the Rudolphs we can get because we too felt like ugly ducklings and hope to become swans in our own right. But whatever our reindeer games, we collect them just the same.

So that’s it. The last few remnants of Marvel stock are leaving the ToyBiz warehouses, the dying whisper of a once-mighty franchise. There’s nothing left to see. The short-eared Wolverines are on the pegs, to turn a phrase. That I just made up. But I fully expect you to use and credit me for.

The dying sputter of ToyBiz and Marvel is a phlegmy, rattly and confusing one. Let’s get a few things straight. Last rites, so to speak.

For everyone looking for the rare Blue Wasp variant from the final wave of Marvel Legends, ToyBiz has personally assured me that it should be appearing ‘as we speak’, even though only one has ever been reported (and subsequently sold for a ridiculous amount), and the frenzy for her has reached such a pitch that people are bidding large amounts of money on auctions for hints about where to possibly find her. Yes, hints. Surely if more existed, collectors who have found her would happily set phasers to ‘gloat’ and let us all know by now. There’s really no way to resist the thrill of the ‘Look What I Just Found’ post-shopping internet gloat. For those of us who have no possibility of ever scoring a touchdown, or a slam dunk, or a woman, this is what we’ve got. This is our end zone dance, riddled with emoticons.

The Wasp figure from this final series has not one variety but THREE, the most common being a modern yellow and black costume. This is followed by an older red costume, and finally, by the impossible-to-find blue costume. As far as variants go, this makes sense enough, since Janet van Dyne is (at times) a fashion designer and socialite. Surely she’d be making herself all kinds of crazy superhero costumes, especially when her only other power is shrinking, kinda stinging people a little and staying in abusive relationships. Even if these figures prove too difficult to find, you can always go for the Bowen mini-busts that feature her in two different classic fashion choices, one of them being her spacegirl-chic first appearance costume. I think I’ll be going to Bowen for my obscure character fix, should Marvel Legends die in the hands of Hasbro. Ignore their horrible website - they make great stuff.

That’s another thing - we’ve been given some very distinctly different pictures of the post-ToyBiz Marvel Legends from Hasbro and various press sources. Some of the images of the future Legends are exciting and promising, and some come across as overtly insulting. Here, compare these two shots of the Jean Grey figure and see where it goes wrong. Which is just about everywhere. It’s like getting invited to an awesome costume party only to discover that it’s actually, like, a baptism. They really shouldn’t have printed those notices on Halloween letterhead. I was never more embarrassed.

Which set of images do we trust? Time for a little more disambiguation, this time from statements on the Fwooshnet message boards by Jesse Falcon, developer of the boys’ lines of ToyBiz products. According to Mr. Falcon, who has been involved with the transition of the Legends between the two companies, the first photographs were from very early mock-ups of the figures, and not at all meant to represent the final products, or even released by ToyFare Magazine (which is where the first image was snatched from). So, we ARE going to get a Famke Janssen X3 figure, and not the generic ug-face in the first image. Probably. We’ll see.

The final wave of ToyBiz figures couldn’t have been more finely produced. They’re all interesting characters, and they all look great. Except for Mandarin, from the Face-Offs offshoot series. Anytime you give a character a full rubber sheet for a robe, you’re asking for trouble. Have you learned nothing, ToyBiz? Now we can’t move the arms or legs! And what’s with the paint applications on this figure? Have you hired the restless spirit of Jackson Pollack to make these figures for you? I can still smell the anger and booze!

ToyBiz will continue to work with Diamond Select Toys to release the Marvel Select line of figures, which are released at a rate of one high-end figure every few months. Each one is still expertly sculpted, but has far less articulation and comes with a large diorama base or accessory, in most cases.

So, it’s a bittersweet farewell to Marvel Legends, and a bittersweet rebirth will be found through Hasbro. If I know Hasbro like I think I know Hasbro, they’ll soon be forcing Spider-Man to fight Luke Skywalker and Optimus Prime in one enormous crossover battle royale / marketing strategy. My money’s on The Incredible Hulk.

Rhinestones always make me think of movies from the fifties and sixties, with chic women attending swanky cocktail parties sporting rhinestone earrings, necklaces, tiaras and even rhinestone studded glasses.

Glittery rhinestones have long been used to simulate diamonds in jewelry. They take their name from the river Rhine, where the shiny rock crystals were collected from the river. It wasn’t until the late 1700s, however, that they started appearing in jewelry, when a jeweler found that by applying a metal backing to the river crystals, they could be made to look much like diamonds. Even so, the amount of labor that went into cutting the rhinestones made them expensive. It was in the 1890s that Daniel Swarovski created a gem cutting machine that made the production of rhinestones inexpensive and opened the door to their widespread use in costume jewelry. In 1955 the “Aurora Borealis” coating, which gives rhinestones an iridescent quality, was developed for use on rhinestones. In addition to jewelry, rhinestones are often used in performers’ costumes, where they glitter in the stage lights and draw attention to the performer.

Sparkling rhinestone jewelry is fun for those who like to wear their collections. Take care when storing rhinestone jewelry because the stones can be easily scratched. Rhinestone jewelry can be cleaned by dabbing it with alcohol. Take care not to get the jewelry wet, since that can tarnish the foil backing on the stones and can loosen the glue that holds them in their settings.

To learn more about rhinestones, please visit http://www.rhinestonz.co.nz/faq.htm

Women and their vanity — err, vanity items. Yeah, that’s what I meant.

Vanity Collectibles is a wide category. It spills with as many beautiful and odd items as any woman’s bedroom bureau and bathroom combined. It’s the clutter that makes many a man wonder, “Why does she need such junk?”, “What’s that for?” and “Does she ever even use it?”

Because both the questions and the objects themselves are easy to relate to (and often beautiful too), it’s a fascinating area of collecting.

There’s not much more telling about a woman’s life than the inhabitants of her handbag, her medicine cabinet, her boudoir dresser… These are the objects which make up Vanity Collectibles. These are the objects which speak directly about the lives of women. Were they vain, or merely living female lives as expected? Have women’s roles, their lives, changed? The standards of beauty may change, but what about the tools?

Women (and men) have been primping since at least ancient Egyptian times, and other than a brief stint in Victorian times when ‘painted women’ were seen as ‘professionals’ (of the street variety), cosmetics and beauty products have existed. The 1920’s flapper girl ushered in more than short hemlines, the bra (as we know it), and fooling ’round in cars — she brought her cosmetics with her too. But it wasn’t until WWII, when women began earning & spending their own money, that the beauty business began it’s big boom.

Prior to 1915, beauty had a standard (several really), but now the tools were more mass-marketed. It is the items from the 1920’s through the 1950’s and early 60’s which are most coveted by collectors. But these are not the only items collectors seek.

While some collectors are passionate about the sub-sets, such as perfume bottles or powder compacts, many of us find ourselves being much more general in acquisitions. There are fancy vanity sets, linens for vanities, bobby pins and other hair care items, and so much more.
Anything, and I mean any thing that would go on a vintage vanity, inside a purse, or be used for beauty, hygiene or general girly maintenance is acceptable to us.
I have a (pricey) vintage Lucite purse with built-in compact, yes, but I also have a kitschy (free) Lander’s Spice Stick Cologne too. I have fancy powder compacts, paper powder boxes and even powder mitts. But I also have facial cleansers and eyebrow tints.

Each is desired by me for their representation of practical needs. Yeah, sure, they are also more practical (cheaper) for me to get, but they do tell their stories as well. Stories of middle class citizens who, like me, had limited budgets. These are the products I would have owned had I lived then.

I also go for more modern items too. I’ll coo over the retro plastic hand mirrors as well as swoon over the vintage silver ones. (Little girls in the 60’s needed their mirrors too.) I’ll be as giddy as a school girl over a retro Cutex Junior Manicure Set, even if I faint over an exquisite Art Deco Manicure Compact. (Hey, both these women were as committed to their nails as their means allowed. I can respect that.)

It’s easy to fall in love with vanity items. These intimate, everyday objects paint a vivid story of private lives as surely as the red contents of the vintage lipstick tube painted the mouth of the previous owner.

Here’s another trip into the Realm of the Patently Ridiculous.

I was casually browsing the aisles at the local toy store last week, having expanded my travels beyond the lax selection of the superhero and Star Wars aisles and into the unfamiliar terrain of the wrestling figures. I’ve always been a bit interested in having a Captain Lou Albano action figure, since he played the coveted, nigh-Shakespearean role of Mario on The Super Mario Brothers Super Show, which was a pivotal point in my emotional and social development. Which explains a lot. My admiration of Captain Lou grew when my grandparents would come back from a local restaurant and claim to have seen him eating there, since he lived nearby, and my admiration would wane two decades later when I saw him screaming into a cellphone on a public access TV commercial for tires. How the mighty have fallen. One day you’re fighting piranha flowers in the Mushroom Kingdom, and the next, you’re in a parking lot shilling automobile parts.

I didn’t find a Captain Lou, and I barely know the names of any wrestlers that came into being since 1990, but in my browsing, I came across what is probably the best action figure ever, and from here on into the future. Simply, it was called The Meat.

Upon closer inspection, The Meat was part of the new Rocky line of action figures made by Jakks (who are also responsible for creating a large portion of the wrestling figures). I’ve never seen any of the 62 Rocky films, and I have a pretty serious rule about not buying action figures from movies that I haven’t seen, but I also have a serious love of meat. In the hierarchal chain of Carnivores Throughout the Universe, I’m somewhere between ‘lion’ and ‘flesh eating fleshbeast of Fleshulon 9’. It’s become a recurring theme in paintings, been thwarted by dating various vegetarians, and has become this weird identifier of me among my friends, in which I’ve become synonymous with cephalopods, Batman, and meat products. I aspire to taste every edible animal on the planet someday, so I couldn’t pass up on a figure of The Meat.

The role of The Meat in the movie is a fairly important one, becoming a training tool for Rocky previous to his prizefights, punching the living daylights out of it to increase endurance. I’ve taken this technique and adapted it to my own means and daily routine, regularly walking along the back counter of the supermarket and punching the prepackaged hamburger patties while loudly singing ‘Eye of the Tiger’. I feel stronger already, and no one messes with me. The fact that The Meat would warrant its very own labeling and action figure package instead of being packaged as a accessory with another figure was a glorious thing indeed.

The first wave of Rocky figures is pretty comprehensive - Rocky in three different training and fighting outfits, regular and battle-damaged boxes, Adrian, and even Mick and Paulie, each one with great likenesses and real fabric outfits. The line is impressive enough to convince me to but a Rocky and an Adrian also, and I’m half-tempted to go back and pick up a Mickey, just so I can have Burgess Meredith in action figure form. Jakks plans on following up this line of figures with figures from every Rocky movie, which means that we’ll be getting a Mr. T before too long. Everyone from boxers to loan sharks and ring announcers will be represented in the line. As far as I’m concerned, they can’t get any better than The Meat.