949. The spectacular Space Ghost merch review!

I had a lot of fun with this episode!  Space Ghost rules, that is all I gotta say.

942. The supreme Strange Change Machine review!

I love this toy, and the story of the history of it.  Sure, it was kinda dangerous, but that was part of the fun!

858. A Genial Gorgo Legacy review!

Here's a review from Titanic Creations comic book and an overview of their great models.

760. Dinosaurs in Media books (a review!)

                      OK, this experiment did not quite work out, but it was an admirable try.  I hope.

A few Yule Gifts for X7 in 2025!

                  This is most of the loot I got for the Yule.  My friends and family are very thoughtful!

Space Ghost merch

In my Space Ghost research for a new issue of Xenorama, I found several Hanna-Barbera toys or whatever you would all this.  This would look cool, and I always think I would want such things, but then... it is just stuff.  Do I actually need it?  Probably not.  And where would I even find one?  Be that as it may, it sure is cool!  HB sure fell down on the job with merchandise in the sixties, they could have made tons more money with licensing.

627. Adventures in Moab, Day One!

                   Now this was a fun day, full of nice people, good food, and a few dinosaurs.  Yes, just a few.

Dinosaur Research Center, Woodland Park, CO

I spent two days in Colorado Springs this week, and the first day I went to this very interesting place.  It is about 30 minutes into to the mountains in the very picturesque town of Woodlands Park, population 8000.  The drive up there was lovely, I must say.  It was a beautiful day, and I had a nice lunch before I got there.  I kinda wish I had eaten up there though, but I was the hungry.  There will be a more detailed review on the podcast today (episode 300!) with pictures and video, but here is a brief overview of the place.

Calvin Monday

It really is the worst when you break your own toy.  You want to blame someone, anyone else for what just happened.  Then when you can't, the frustration and sadness hits.  It takes a while to wear off as well.  But it does, and life also goes on, well, for most people.  Odds are that this beanie will be available on eBay in a few years, if the older Calvin wants one, right?

Classic TV Theme: Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future

Major Matt Mason ad

 

As I prepare an all toys issue for Xenorama, I keep finding a lot of ads for the Major Matt Mason space line.  These sure would have worked on me, had I been cognizant of them.  By the time I discovered them the line had been phased out for the most part.  They were released in 1966, and were pretty popular for about five years or so before kids moved on to the next phase of their lives.  I discovered them about age 7, which meant no new toys were made, and the ones that were still around were falling apart.  These were made to be played with, not just sitting on shelves in boxes.

Calvin Feb 28th, 1989

At least Calvin gets to eat Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs, instead of Wheat or Rice Puffs.  However, I got a dinosaur that was in the cereal box, so that is a point in my favor.  We also weren't allowed to eat more than one bowl of the glop a day (if we could even finish it).  I wonder how many box tops we needed to get two of the sets, rather than just one.

The Moon Tower

This is one amazing set of toys.  Had I been old enough to see it, I sure would have wanted it.  I had the Little Big Book featuring Matt Mason, so I knew the character, but by the early seventies the Major had been retired.  Trying to find them from friends with older kids was not that easy, as the toys tended to break during play.  Which is what they were supposed to do.  Be played with.  My mother did find my the alien friend of Matt Mason, but being a dumb kid, I was rather disappointed and did not play with him as much as I should have.  Dumb kid!  Scorpio was quite cool, too, and I could have used him in the 8mm movies I was making.

mego super heros

I loved these dolls.  I had a ton of them, including many duplicates of a few of them.  I wasn't rough on toys, but I sure did play with them a lot.  I had seven of the ones pictured here, and then several of the Star Trek dolls (and yes, they were dolls back then).  I had the second Batman, as the first one had a removable cowl.  It was cool, but very bulky, so I had no real desire for it. I also had the Batcave, the Batcopter and the Command Center Starship Enterprise.  I also had a lot of Tarzan dolls, but not because I really wanted them.  The reason will be clearer shortly.

Cosmic Encounter original version, 1977

 

This game originally came out in 1977.  I saw it in the back of what almost certainly was Starlog, but I am not 100% sure now.  It looked and sounded cool, so I asked for it for some kind of holiday present.  I got it, and it was cool, but the rules were kind of hard to understand, and it was not a game like Monopoly.  There were no cool pieces of aliens, nor ships to use.  That was kind of a bummer.  I did get to play the game a few times, but it was not easy to do.  Also, finding fellow players wasn't easy, and the game needed at least three players, which is one more than my brother and I had most of the time.

Danhausen figure

 

With a Xenorama issue about toys in the near future, I have been looking at what I still own.  This is brand new to me, though.  Pro Wrestler Danhausen broke his leg during a match, and these dolls were part of a plan to help the very nice, very evil wrestler with his medical bills.  They are after all, working as independent contractors.  Since I enjoy his youtube channel, I thought I would help out, and get a cool keepsake.  It was released in the second quarter of 2022, but I just got it last month.  I had to send them a reminder, but then they got it right out to me.  No muss, no fuss.  It even comes with a bag of human monies, a jar of teeth and extra hands to hold them.  It is very nice and very evil!

Jet Jaguar figure

 

I got this figure a while ago.  It is hanging on the wall.  I haven't opened it up or anything, since that would destroy the collectability.  Also, it isn't really articulated, so it looks better this way.  I had a Bandai Jet Jaguar way back in the 90s, but when it went out of print (or whatever they call it when toys are no longer made) I sold it for about 5 times the original cost.  Always keep the tags on, kids!  That was the most boring pose they could have done.  This one is made by Playmates, and they generally have some far more dynamic poses for their toys and figures.

ThingMaker- Eeeks!

Did anyone else have this ThingMaker toy?  I loved it when I got it, about first grade.  It had Goop that you poured into molds, then heated up with the hot and sometime painful stove thing.  This is probably part of the reason the toys got canceled, since hot plastic/rubber and metal trays could be dangerous, and everyone I knew that had this toy got burned at some point.  Nothing bad, mind you, but still OUCH.  The Goop came in many colors.  There were several body styles, and then different legs and wings that could be attached to the bodies.  I think there were different heads as well.   So you could mix and match to make endless Eeeks.

Xenorama #40- Dinosaur parks!

 

Welcome ... to Jurassic parks and park accessories!  This issue started out as a way to make sure the original Dinosaur Land booklet would survive for future generations.  I love the way it looks and all the dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals in the park.  It then morphed into a larger issue, with journeys to Dinosaur National Monument, various museums and even a trip to the World of Dinosaurs in Brazil.  It is a lot of fun and even a bit educational at times.  As an added bonus, it contains only the second interview ever featured in Xenorama (the first being Julie Newmar way back in issue #5, perhaps I will reprint that in a future Batman themed issue).  This interview is with Lilith Draco, of  the GD Splanations podcast.  There are a few book reviews and some podcast reviews as well.

Bubo

Pity poor Bubo.  Always derided as an outright R2D2 ripoff (and there is something to that, we can admit that, right?) there were also plenty of robots present in Greek mythology, and since Talos had been in a movie already, Bubo isn't that bad.  He serves a purpose in the movie and is pretty darn cute.  He also adds some much needed humor to a movie that is far too serious for its own good for too much  of the running time.  This mechanical owl isn't really one of the problems of this movie.