While slides are entertaining — as Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players prove in their fun way — they were once one of the few ways a person could bring home a record of their trip, without having to take and develop dozens of pictures. Roadside attractions and theme parks alike would hire professional photographers to take pictures, give them free reign to get the best angle (and probably when no tourists were around to wander in the shot), so that when tourists visited their attraction, they didn’t have to be distracted by taking photos…the gift shop had plenty to take home, and the tourist can just enjoy themselves. I buy lots slides whenever I find them, mostly for the personal photos of slight historical value, and I have yet to find a slide collection that doesn’t have a large stretch of store-bought slides. I’ve got Knott’s Berry Farm, Washington DC, Disneyland from numerous angles, but today I’ll share with you something a bit more timely: The Tournament of Roses Parade.

The Tournament of Roses parade started in 1890, making the 1964 parade the 75th diamond anniversary for the parade. From looking at the content of the pictures, I believe that this collection is also interspersed with photos of the 1960 parade as well, but the slide frames don’t give much info on their origins. The Parade was first televised in 1947, and color TV had a pretty good foothold by 1964, but these slides would still be a step above anything a person could get without actually going to the parade themselves. Over the years the slides have gone red, a common problem with color negatives of the time (see example at right), but thanks to the magic of a transparency scanner and Photoshop, I got them pretty close to their original colors. Looking back, compared to the modern day Rose parade, there’s things they had back then that we don’t anymore:

Celebration of Nuclear Weapons: So soon we forget that the West Coast is home to much of our military-industrial complex, but today that phrase has a dark shadow over it. In the 60s, though, it was shining proof of the US’ world superiority, it was a source of jobs, community-building, and the bread-and-butter for many baby-boomer’s households growing up. The float on the left celebrates the Polaris missile, a sea-launched nuclear ICBM — the float’s name is the terrifying “Out Of The Blue.”

Ernest Borgnine: Promoting what appears to be McHale’s Navy, Borgnine was the only person listed on this slide, upstaging his fellow star, um, that whats-his-name guy that was always saying, “McHale!” Anyhow, the world is always better with a little Borgnine in it, and I’m sure any parade organizer would agree that Ernest Borgnine can make even a half-hearted parade a winner. Because there was both a TV series and a film, I’m not sure which one this might be for, but this slide is definitely not from the 1960 set.

Mermaids: Oh, I know there’s usually an Ariel somewhere on something Disneified, but women with full-body mermaid tails were quite common back in the day. They didn’t have to be any particular mermaid; they were just an average, everyday mythical creature participating in our festivities. Those were the days.
This is just my humble opinion, though — the Rose Bowl Parade has been the king of decorated floats for decades, and I can’t be one to complain about how it turned out. If you’d like to see more, click here to go view my collection in the Collector’s Quest Community. I’ll be uploading more as I scan, so check back — there’s a lot of them.

Is an action figure better if it looks more like a real person when it’s standing still, or is it better when you can position it into a ton of fightin’ action poses? Action figure geeks will debate the point until their fingers are sore and they get called for dinner, but there’s no correct answer. It’s like deciding if their imaginary Canadian girlfriends would be preferable if they were smart OR pretty. Can’t we have both? Or just a little bit of each? At the very least, can we make sure that this next one doesn’t try to stab me?

DC Universe Classics by Mattel answers the call of figure geeks everywhere by finally, at long last, providing collectors with fan favorite characters (instead of a million iterations of Batman and Superman), beautifully sculpted, and stuffed with poseability. Until now, we’ve had the attractive but static figures by DC Direct (owned by DC themselves), and the Batman / Superman centric figures from Mattel. With licensing possibilities opened up for 2008, Mattel now has the rights to do almost any DC character that they want, and they’re re-revolutionizing the superhero figure world. Since Hasbro took over the once-amazing Marvel Legends lines with mediocre results, I’ve very much needed some inspiration to keep on caring - and Mattel has provided it.

The first wave of these figures, due for release in early 2008 but arriving early, includes a classic Batman and The Penguin, along with other characters that the average person with a life wouldn’t recognize : Red Tornado, Etrigan the Demon, and Orion (the latter two being Jack Kirby creations). All five contain pieces of a sixth figure and if you collect them all, you can build Metamorpho, who happens to be one of my favorite characters ever. It’s like getting a figure for free. Even in figure lines as vast as this, the company needs to include one or two very recognizable, anchor figures in each wave, ergo the new Batman.

All of these characters have been made by DC Direct before, and while DC did a pretty good job at creating iconic, statuesque figures, Mattel manages to do that but ALSO make them posable. While some collectors think that these are replacing the older versions entirely, there are enough differences for both versions to remain appealing, and this newer version very much worth collecting.

The line is billed as ‘Classics’ because Mattel’s focus isn’t on the newest appearance of the character, or a very artist-specific vision of the character (which DC Direct has recently placed a strong focus on), but instead they’re going for the most ‘classic’ appearance possible - with the exception of Metamorpho, who is also billed as ‘Rex Mason’ on the figure packaging. This isn’t to be confused as making the character ‘generic’ as possible, but instead ‘iconic’ and ‘timeless’. To these ends, Mattel is releasing two versions of Red Tornado, both with slight costume variations, so as to address two of his most common appearances (and no clear answer as to which one is less common). Mattel has also hinted at another variation among these figures, though they’ve left it a mystery for the fans to discover. It has something to do with a variation of a face, it’s very slight, and it’s not on the Batman figure. This leaves fans to conjecture that it might be an alternate Metamorpho head, or possibly an angry Orion head, though not enough figures have been found just yet to confirm anything.

The very broad array of characters in the first few waves means that we’re probably not going to be able to assemble a basic Justice League for a few years, but the lineup includes some interesting choices : Red and Blue Superman from the late 90s, Aquaman and his archenemy Black Manta, Harley Quinn, Firestorm (both modern and classic versions), Batman sidekicks Nightwing and Robin, Green Lantern (the much desired Hal Jordan version) and his enemy Sinestro, Deathstroke, and finally, two figures that you can assemble from parts included in the other figures : Gorilla Grodd and Solomon Grundy. Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Flash and Green Arrow, Hawkman and Hawkgirl are all unannounced, but surely somewhere in Mattel’s plans.

Removing these from the packages was very easy, with minimal twist ties, and I didn’t encounter any serious paint problems, nor did any joint stick or break. Quality control gets an A+. These retail about about $12 each, but can also be bought by the case from various online retailers. Be aware that current cases of 6 include two identical Batman figures.

Take a look through the gallery I’ve provided in our Collectors Community for a deeper view into the excellent sculpting and articulation on these figures, and consider me completely psyched. I don’t say this often, but this is the best thing to happen to figures in a long time. While it can’t be said that this is something completely new, the return to a winning formula like this is long past due. Keep it up, Mattel!

Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night and thought, “I can’t live in a world without more Jaleel White! I refuse to continue my life on this cruel, cold planet unless the universe delivers unto me a greater quantity of Jaleel White!”…?

Yes, there was a time when Mr. White, aka Steve Urkel, was considered the pinnacle of nerd-chic, and a much desired guest star on various programs of low quality, and those are days that are best left forgotten - but when Urkel-mania was in full swing, he was everywhere. The Sonic Underground DVD collection is no exception, with Mr. White providing the voices for Sonic the Hedgehog, his sister Sonia, and his brother Manic, all of whom spout obnoxious catchphrases throughout the series, and never shut the damn hell up. Also, they’re in a band, and also, they’re royalty. If you don’t remember any of this from the video game, you’re right.

If you’re keeping track, just about every other voice in the series is done by the notable Maurice LaMarche. Guest starring Sean Connery. No, I’m not kidding.

This is the third cartoon series based on the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series, albeit loosely. While the evil Dr. Robotnik remains, we’re lacking the endless search for rings, and we’re also burdened with what seems like a gross under-use of Sonic’s notable super-speed. Of course, this series re-imagines Sonic from infancy, born into a strangely dystopian world that completely lacks the green, spiraling vistas that made the games so unique.

Since the cartoon was made in the late 1990s, the reason for this grey, dead world is the Dreaded Technology, which destroys all things invariably and completely, as clearly evidenced by every cartoon made within this time period. With brainwashing like that, it’s a wonder that we have advanced any technologies at all, or haven’t regressed to the ol’ reliable horse and buggy. These cartoons, bless them, never taught the value of industrial revolution with responsibility and moderation - just that machines do nothing but billow black smoke and destroy lives, create deep chasms between social classes, and must ultimately be destroyed at all costs. Show me a cartoon with a robot and a mammal of some sort, and I’ll tell you which one is the bad guy.

I have to approach the whole cartoon in the same context as Captain N and the Super Mario Brothers shows, reviewed here previously. They were all cartoon contemporaries, and were all loosely based on the popular video games of the time. While Captain N and Super Mario often had self-contained episodes along a general theme of conquering this or that, Sonic Underground makes a very concerted effort to be sequential, and carry a storyline throughout the entirety of the series, including actual developments of powers and a plotline - a very ambitious move for the time. While the writing is agonizingly heavy-handed, and the animation is even more questionable, it still shares the same nostalgia value of everything I grew up with on Saturday mornings, back when the phrase ‘Saturday morning’ was exciting. The show falls safely within the ‘so bad it’s good’ category.

Did I mention that every episode has a musical number in it? Fortunately, we’re spared from the limited voice-acting talents of Jaleel White, and treated to similarly grating voices which sing these songs, all of which share the same ‘Up With People’ lyrics and vibe, set to fairly generic rock / pop music. Alas, I’m just a bit too cynical to really sit through them without wanting something to die. Go love your miserable life somewhere else, Sonic. The 4th disc in this 3 DVD set is actually a CD containing 8 songs from the show, specifically designed to sever vital neurons. It’s late 90s cartoon mayhem at its finest!

It’s also worth noting that these three Hedgehog siblings are supposed to be in their early 20s, not their mid-teens. It makes it a LOT less creepy with the evil bounty hunter pig-guy starts getting all up on her. This is important to note, folks.

The set contains 20 episodes over 3 discs, totaling 8 hours. Despite my terrible unkindness towards the cartoons of my youth, I love them, and can only regard them as essential acquisitions towards either reliving my more glorious days, or at least testing the strength of my current friendships. If anyone will sit down and watch eight hours of this stuff with you, they’ll probably see you through anything.

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So sing along with me, to the tune of “It’s Crying Time Again”., It’s Purging Time Again, I’m Going to Leave You.

I guess the accumulation of gifts bestowed upon me by family and friends at this time of year has an affect on my mental state. I become conscious of all the things I have accumulated over the years in an “It’s a Wonderful Life” moment.

No, wait, maybe I just can’t fit another thing in my closet, on shelves or in drawers.

I have always taken the ‘tween’ holidays period to offload accumulations of paperwork from my real job. Discarding two year old quotations, around two-thirds of the proposals of products never purchased, old catalogs, price lists, blueprints, invoices and assorted paper correspondence. With today’s paperless society, why is it necessary for each and every e-file to have at least two paper copies, one in my file cabinet and one in the company office?
I do the same on the hard drive, but files less than four years old are still archived because I now have 500 gigs. (Any body out there who can translate that into the number of file cabinet drawers is welcome to do so!)

But in my clothes closet, three new shirts must somehow fit on hangers. So I have to select three discards. Pull this one out, but no, I could still wear it to cut grass, or maybe paint the stairwell into the basement. Three are finally selected, shirts that are still in good condition, but have dust on the shoulders from not being moved in four or five years. I decide to place them in a box for donation and get the inspiration to check for other items. Shoes are checked, but in a true manly manner, I wear them till the soles are so bad, they are no longer acceptable in shoe heaven. (When you live in snow country, old shoes are saved for snow days when I have to slug through a client’s unplowed parking lot for a meeting.)

Wifey pulls out an old, very warm winter jacket, replaced by gifts last year, I still had trouble saying good-bye. Well, into the donate box. Sweaters are off limits, old ones get used around the house, none so bad as to embarrass me if the Governor stopped by. Pants too, well maybe. I have some that are now too big, but might fit with all the meals and snacks, at the abundance of gatherings Wifey booked us into this season.

Together we decide to go through other assorted clutter. (Note! I avoid the word collections, some things are off limits even to discuss.) Old Auction Action News,papers from three years ago are discovered in a back closet, phone books of the same vintage are all placed in the recycle bin.

We have our oldest Grand Baby staying with us this week. She will soon be moving into her own apartment. Wifey has “hired” her while she’s here to help sort through the stored antiques and collectibles wifey sells on Ebay and in her antique mall booth. Some items, while looking so good when first purchased, are now deemed to be too new and placed in the donate box. Sorted also are items usable by our granddaughter in her new digs. The giving spirit lets us part with items we hope will help others.

It’s a great time of year, we have family and friends around, we share gifts, a meal, laughter, discuss the past and look forward to the future. We have welcomed the arrival of our latest Grand Baby, watched the incredible progress of our other Grand Kids, reminisced about and shed a tear for friends no longer with us.

And we wish all of our Collector’s Quest friends a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

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Community”

The following scans come from a set of Wards catalog pages (saved by a crafter and part of those huge auction lots we bought). None of the pages have any date, however, it’s pretty clear these dolls are from the late 60’s.

Li’L Miss Fussy: She kicks & cries until you change her diaper. I guess it’s realistic & teaches little girls all about the demands of a baby, but noisy, noisy, noisy. My guess is Li’L Miss Fussy would have been kickin’ and screamin’ in the bottom of my toy box.

Suzy Homemaker Doll: Talk about preparing girls for their futures, Suzy teaches your girl just how long and painful the beauty process is… Wigs, falls, wash her hair, dry her hair, put on makeup, coloring her hair, give her a manicure — I wonder if it comes with instructions not to share makeup & wigs with friends’ dolls due to lice and infections? Anyway, the Suzy Homemaker name seems a tad contradictory given that homemakers do not spend their days at the beauty parlor… But (as seen on TV!), these Deluxe Reading dolls (Topper Toys) also had more domestic skilled accessories too.

Tammy Tears & Baby Tammy Tears: Wards’ Exclusives, these dolls do the predictable crying but at least they don’t urinate.

Tubsy: No, she’s not called ‘Tubsy’ because she’s plump; she’s ‘Tubsy’ because she kicks and splashes when you put her in water — and she comes with her own bathtub. I’ve never seen a Tubsy doll, but I’d like to see a water-activated doll that plays in the water instead of peeing & crying. (Not to mention, Tubsy is supposed to stop when she’s out of the water.)

Baby Chatterbox: Turn the bow on her back and “She laughs! She talks!” Along with talking, Baby Chatterbox moves her arms, head and legs and can open & close her eyes. A 14 inch doll for just $6.99 sure opens my eyes.

Cindy: Another Wards’ exclusive, Cindy came with a wardrobe trunk, clothes, a grooming set, and “puffs”. If you know what puffs are, please do tell; for now, I’m assuming they are of the cheese variety.

If I seem to dislike the baby dolls, well, it could be that I knew that childhood would be brief, so why waste it pretending to do the things I would later be forced to do? Or it could be because I really only played with one doll… It was my sister’s doll and I cut the hair to have a baby boy, Timmy. And then I was rather terrified my sister would kill me. Moving on… Let’s see about the other dolls — the less work, more fun, dolls.

Liddle Kiddles: I had a few of the Liddle Kiddles, though not these exact dolls. I love the names/themes: Soapy Siddle and bath set, Liddle Diddle in crib with duck, Surfy Skiddle and surf board, Freezy Sliddle and sled, Windy Friddle pilots plane, and Trikey Triddle has a trike with training wheels (hey, I’m copying the ad; but I don’t think trikes have training wheels — but it’s pretty clear this batch of Kiddles was focused more on the rhyming names).

Lucky Locket Kiddles: Now these I had! I don’t remember any of us wearing the lockets — or even saving those. But the Kiddles themselves were everywhere!

Baby Peewee Twins: Are clearly Fraternal.

Peewees: “4-in folks in Wards Wee-Keeper rack.” What else can I say

Pocketbook Dolls: I don’t remember these at all either… Heidi, Spunky & Pip? I know I’d remember a 5.5 inch doll with Mrs Beasley glasses.

Bottle Babies: “It’s fun to collect… Bottle Babies!” It’s also creepy to display Bottle Babies.

Barbie Goes BRANIFF!: Scream it with me now, “All 4 stewardess outfits designed by Emilio Pucci!” Just look at that “bubble top” which “keeps her hairdo perfect on the way to the plane” — apparently, Barbie knows what Suzy Homemaker knows.

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