Wednesday, November 18, 2020

Godzilla vs the Smog Monster lobby card

Back in my day, lobby cards were almost as important as the movie poster.  I vividly remember trying to memorize every detail of any lobby card for a movie I wanted to see.  Funny thing, though, I really don't remember too many of them, other than the three that were up for Godzilla vs Megalon when it was released in 1976.  I wish I had asked the manager if I could have bought them, since they probably just trashed them after the movie was in town for a week or so.  This is a common lament of many monster kids.  It never even dawned on me to ask what would happen to the promotional material once the movie was done.

The poster for Godzilla vs the Smog Monster was memorable, but I was so much younger when I saw it that it was pretty scary.  It was a double feature with Yog, Monster From Space, and I remember that trailer from whatever movie I saw that day.

It's funny what lobby cards the theaters would choose to use a previews.  There were usually at least nine different once they could use.  These were various scenes of the movie, though a few could be airbrushed up to look a little different (see Kong Kong vs Godzilla, where the 54 Godzilla is battling the 33 Kong).  Sometimes they would pick the lamest ones to use, and sometimes the studio fell down completely on the images they put on the lobby cards.

I am trying to remember when the last time I saw a lobby card in a theater, but danged if I can.  I would think they disappeared in the early 90s.  I can see how it happened, with the multiplexes becoming common.  I think there is going to be a lobby card special issue of  Xenorama featuring the coolest of the lobby cards I can find.

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