Toy Show Finds

Just got home from one of my favorite vintage toy shows. It's an annual event that happens each January, which really seems like a lousy month for a toy show, coming as it does right after Christmas. This year I planned strategically: when my family asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I said "money for the toy show please!" Here's what I spent it on:

There were all kinds of toy treasures, including a tin litho grocery store playset made in the 1950s by Wolverine; a scarce (and creepy) Hugo, Man of 1,000 Faces from the 1970s; a two-headed Doublenik troll from 1965 along with a tiny vending machine troll; a Weinermobile whistle; a bunch of 1950s space guys; Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon newspaper comics from the 1930s-1940s; a 1960s Batman puzzle; Barbie's original convertible; and a 1950s tin wind-up robot. I'll post properly about them later, but here are some quick pics and sneak peeks.

The robot has some rust, but he also has lots of character.

1950s space guys.

A Doublenik two-headed troll from 1965,
with its gumball prize friend.

Hugo, Man of 1,000 Faces, was a bizarre toy made in the 1970s. It's essentially a creepy looking guy's torso and head, along with a package of "disguise" accessories, including false chins, fake scars and warts, various noses, glasses, an eye patch, and hair pieces. I'm guessing it was inspired by spy films, but who knows. It's weird and now rather rare.

Hugo, Man of 1,000 Faces with some of his original accessory pieces.

Barbie's convertible, made by Irwin in the 1960s, was her first car.

The two shelf units on either side of this tin litho grocery store fold inward to close up the playset. Originally it would also have had a separate counter with accessories like a scale, but these are usually missing. The center span features great imagery of a 1950s supermarket.

The iconic weenie whistle.

The 1930s Buck Rogers newspaper comic above is complete, while the Flash Gordon strips below are only portions (but they feature a fantastic alien giant squiddy monster) :

These two mechanical bears were made in Japan in the 1950s. When wound, the bear on the left turns the pages of his book, while the one on the right wipes his glasses before holding them up to his eyes.

Superhero Stuff

Here are some snaps of a superhero themed display case I installed at my library for the month of May. Each year in May the comics industry sponsors Free Comic Book Day, a promotion run through comic shops that offers free comics to visitors. Public libraries have also begun participating in this event, and many run related events like superhero parties and comic drawing classes.

We had a really fun superhero party, and the display case served as additional advertising for the event. I filled the case with vintage Mego action figures, board games, Halloween costumes, and more. See what you can spot!

Vintage Batman and Batgirl costumes, a super-cool Bat-hat, and the Mego Batmobile.

A fantastic Fly Man costume.

A vintage Batman and Robin board game with spectacular graphics.

An old Captain Atom comic and a Mego Hulk.

Have a Super Day, everyone!

Vintage Big Little Books

Last week I acquired a box full of old Big Little Books, most of which are from the 1930s. They're in rough shape, clearly having been well-read and loved, but I still think they're a fantastic find. They present a sort of time capsule of children's interests from the '30s and '40s: space travel, cowboys, adventure, planes, cops & robbers, secret agents, superheroes.

As I browsed through the titles, I was surprised to see how much they still appeal, some 70 years after their publication dates. Escapism never grows old, I guess, and the opening paragraphs of each book were carefully crafted to catch and hold the reader's attention.

The excerpts below feature samples of some of the most evocative passages. Read on, and find yourself rocketing towards Mongo with Flash Gordon, riding along a creek bed with the Lone Ranger, piloting a plane through a fog bank above the Pacific Coast mountains, confonting an evil spy ringmaster in a dark castle, and taking down criminals with Detective Higgins of the Racket Squad...

The Flash Gordon books were my favorites out of the lot. Their condition reveals they were also the favorites of their original child owner, who actually wrote notes in the back of each book, reminding himself which pages featured his favorite gadgets and machines. The flyleaf below left reads: "130 armored car, 16 spacephone, 212 electrode guns, 366 RKT (rocket) sub, 390 RKT sub, 392 RSH (rocket sub) fleet." On the right you can see one of the beloved "rocket subs."

 Excerpt from Flash Gordon in the Water World of Mongo, Chapter One: The Sea of Mystery:
"High in the gaseous envelope which encloses the planet Mongo, a giant rocket ship sped through a murky fog. Within the craft were three strangers to Mongo -- three wayfarers from the distant planet known as Earth."

There were lots of westerns in the box. Here are two of the best-looking ones.

Excerpt from The Lone Ranger and the Black Shirt Highwayman:
"It was practically impossible for the two horsemen to see more than a couple of feet ahead in the intense darkness of an impending storm. They rode silently along the bank of Powder River; the only sound above the steady clump of horses' hoofs was the occasional rumble of thunder. The jagged flashes of lightning gave brief glimpses of the trail they followed."

Here's one of the oddest titles in the box: Invisible Scarlet O'Neil, all about "the girl who possesses the power to transform herself into an invisible being by merely pressing a strange nerve in her left wrist." (Wouldn't that be a great power to have?!)

 The box held lots of adventure books, including several about pilots. These featured some of the most gripping opening chapters, including this excerpt, from Brad Turner in Transatlantic Flight:
" ' Ceiling zero. Visibility zero. Barometer twenty-eight point four two. Wind...' Ten thousand feet above the peaks of the Pacific Coast Range, a silver shape roared through the endlessly swirling wall of fog. Twin motors hammered their song of might, a faraway drone to the two men inside the great airplane's control cabin."

Some of the most intriguing covers were these, on a couple of spy/secret agent titles. Even the back covers are illustrated:

Excerpt from International Spy: Doctor Doom Faces Death at Dawn:
" ' Doctor Doom! So, he matches wits with us again, eh?' In the gloomy and forbidding chamber, Count Arnheim, the war minister of Merovia, sat hunched over his massive desk and pointed his stubby finger at the tall, cloaked figure before him. His beady eyes smouldered with rage."

 There were lots of crime related titles in the box, with illustrated backs as well.

Excerpt from Detective Higgins of the Racket Squad:
"Detective Higgins swung his two hundred pounds of muscle and bone into action. His arms, working like trip-hammers, pounded down the once sneering face of Tuffy Haynes...he sagged down like a pricked balloon before the merciless fists of Detective Sergeant Higgins, of the Racket Squad."

That's all for now; Flash just rescued the queen of Mongo's underwater city, and I have to see what happens next:

1966 Batman Button

After finding this vintage 1966 button, guess who is now a 

Charter Member of the Batman & Robin Society?

I wear it proudly every day.

As an aside: I've often thought that Adam West's Batman 

would be the best 

President of the United States ever. 

Don't you think so, too?

"Holy Hat, Batman!"

I was glued to the TV as a kid in the 1970s whenever the campy Batman show starring Adam West and Burt Ward would come on. After a long, Batman-less dry spell, two fantabulous things happened: our local station started airing Batman reruns last week, AND today I found this ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE VINTAGE BATMAN POW! HAT!!!
I'm going to wear it every evening when I watch the show...and possibly to work.

Vintage Comic Book Ads

I love looking at the old ads in vintage comics and monster magazines. So many treasures to be had for such small amounts of money...Why, you could order your own live squirrel monkey from Monster World magazine in 1966! The ad claims the monkey will be "almost a member of the family soon after you get" it. (Hmmm. Wonder how many 1960s moms felt that way when their son's monkey arrived with the daily mail?) If a live critter was too much, other ads offered 10 foot rubber snakes for only $1.98, and promised that "people will admire your courage" when they see it wrapped around you. If crafts were more to your taste, a mere .98 would get you "Madame Tussaud's Chamber of Horrors Guillotine" model which, in a seemingly incompatible pair of testimonials, claimed both to "really work" and provide "harmless fun!"

Click on the pictures for more details. I don't recommend trying to order the squirrel monkey, though. I think we have laws about that sort of thing now...