Jean Shepherd - Not On DVD

I'm both surprised and disappointed that the release of Jean Shepherd's A Christmas Story on virtually every format (DVD, HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, with the 'Ultimate Collector's Edition' which was released on Blu-Ray Nov. 4th 2008, which features the same 2006 Blu-ray disc but in a metal tin which also includes a strand of Leg Lamp Christmas lights) and it running 24 hours straight on TBS during Christmas time, hasn't spurred the availability of Jean Shepherd's other (made for TV) movies.


Peter Billingsley then and now.
Even the soundtrack from A Christmas Story was released for the first time in late 2009 by Rhino Records.

A Christmas Story was playing when the theater I went to back in those days turned into a twin on November 18, 1983. Chances are I saw it in the theater there as well!



The Christmas Story House in Cleveland, transformed into a near-replica of the movie set, opened to the public on November 25, 2006.



The only other Jean Shepherd film available on DVD is My Summer Story (aka It Runs In The Family) from 1994, starring Kieran Culkin as Ralph, and Charles Grodin and Mary Steenburgen as the parents. This film is intended as a direct sequel to A Christmas Story, even though Kieran Culkin was technically younger (11) than Peter Billingsley in a Christmas Story (12) when My Summer Story was released in theaters. It's far from a classic like A Christmas Story, but worth watching nonetheless.



I'd really like to see Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven Of Bliss (with Jerry O'Connell as Ralphie) from 1988 be released on DVD.
Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss originally aired numerous times on the Disney Channel beginning August 6, 1988, shortly thereafter on PBS nationwide, and was released by Walt Disney Home Video on VHS in 1993. As of 2011 it has not been released on DVD.




I'd also like to see Phantom of the Open Hearth circa 1976,

Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters circa 1982 (Matt Dillon as Ralphie),


and The Star-Crossed Romance of Josephine Cosnowski circa 1983

all be made commercially available on DVD for the first time in their existence.

Currently one of the only ways you can see them is by purchasing them from Sheptapes.com for $30 from a guy who transfers them onto DVD from old VHS recordings.

These films are also available from other sellers, who also include Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven Of Bliss (out of print but still owned by Disney), although as far as who's selling the best quality transfer I do not know. As far as we know they could all be using the same transfer and throwing in a VHS transfer of Ollie Hopnoodle as added incentive.
Here's the box cover for a four-movie set from onesmedia.com for $25

and a box cover for a four-movie set from ioffer.com for $45


Trivia;
Although the cast of Jean Shepherd's six films changed often, and the main character of Ralph was played by someone different each time around, there were a few actors/actresses who reprised their roles.
Both the actress who played the Mother (Barbara Bolton) and the actor who played Flick (William Lampley) held their roles throughout all three early Jean Shepherd films Phantom of the Open Hearth, The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters and the Star Crossed Romance of Josephine Cosnowski.
The Old Man was played by James Broderick in both Phantom of the Open Hearth and The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters.
The actors who played Randy (Jay Ine) and Schwartz (Jeffrey Yonis) held their roles in both The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters and the Star Crossed Romance of Josephine Cosnowski.
The actress who played Miss Shields, Tedde Moore, was the only onscreen character from A Christmas Story who was played by the same actor in the sequel, My Summer Story.

The Director of A Christmas Story, Bob Clark, was known for kick-starting the slasher genre in the 70's, and also directed Porky's (and it's sequel), which is credited as launching the genre of the teen sex comedy.
Tragically, Director Bob Clark and his youngest son were killed on April 4, 2007, in a head-on car crash with a drunk driver.

Scott Schwartz who played Flick in A Christmas Story, and starred in The Toy with Richard Pryor a year prior, decided to stick his tongue on other foreign objects and flirted with the adult film industry for a brief time, appearing in such titles as Scotty's X-Rated Adventure and Dirty Bob's Xcellent Adventures, among others.

Childhood Toys Part 6 [What's Old Is New]

Some toys from the 1980's (and late 70's in the case of Alien) have been reimagined and released with the adult collector in mind. Now I am not an adult toy collector, but a few of these figures are very well done and tempting.
The only toy I purchased as an adult, and I just couldn't help myself, was a Star Wars Lightsaber when Star Wars toys became popularized again on account of the prequels.

Alien 18" Action Figure by Neca
A great replacement of sorts for Kenner's 1979 18" Alien figure.


Transformers Classics
First came the Toys'R'Us Reissue of Soundwave then came the Hasbro 25th Anniversary Reissue of Soundwave (pictured below) which includes Soundwave and all his cassettes!


Masters Of The Universe Classics from Matty Collector
These figures are not mass-produced and seem to go quickly. That has unfortunately given Ebay and Amazon bloodsuckers free reign to charge what they wish.


Madballs
A company called Art Asylum secured the rights to Madballs and are re-releasing some of them.
Crack Head has been rebranded as the more politically correct Bash Brain to be more in-line with the times. How lame is that. They look inferior when compared to their original counterparts in my opinion.


The New Garbage Pail Kids
In 2003, Topps reintroduced Garbage Pail Kids with all-new cards, dubbed the All New Series (ANS). As of 2008, Topps has released seven "All New Series" sets

Garbage Pail Kids Flashback

"Topps will be releasing a "flashback" set on February 24, 2010, featuring characters from the original 1985-87 Garbage Pail Kids series (8 each from OS 1 to 9) and only two from OS 10 plus 6 unpublished characters along with the Where Are They Now subset which 10 classic GPK characters are drawn as they would appear today. Each card has an a/b twin for a total of 160 base set cards. Packs will contain randomly inserted chase cards including lenticular Loco Motion, hand-drawn Artist Sketches, authentic Printing Plates, and four levels of Parallels."

Transformers Classics/Wikipedia Entry
By Hasbro 2006-2007

The Transformers Classics line consited of all-new molds designed to resemble updated versions of several Generation 1 Transformers.

Star Wars Transformers/TF Wiki.net
By Hasbro 2006-2009
Star Wars & Transformers? Awesome! It's like a childhood wet dream come true!
What? Luke Skywalker can TRANSFORM into the X-Wing Fighter!?! (Head explodes)

Childhood Toys Part 5 [Pac-Mania, The Wild Side, Addendum]

- PAC-MANIA -


Me and my 1981 Tomytronic Pac-Man. My first official video-game. I played the daylights out of it! {Photo from Christmas 1983}
It began turning off on me while I was playing so one day, a friend and I opened the thing up to see if we could figure out what the problem was. All that needed to be done was solder a wire back onto it's connector, and my Mom tossed it out!

Pac-Man Board Game (Milton-Bradley 1982)
X-Entertainment Article

I also used to have a bunch of Pac-Man trading cards, A Pac-Man Lunchbox, and I still have a small Pac-Man Wind-Up Toy.


- THE WILD SIDE -
My pair of western themed cap guns (model #272)


Ok, so the next one isn't really a toy per say. Switchblade Combs!

Hell yeah I had one!
About a year or two ago I ordered a couple off of Switchblade Combs just for the heck of it.

Inspired by Rocky, here I am with a pair of boxing gloves and the Super Punch Bag under the tree, which was made to fit into any doorway. If you didn't tighten the arms enough or punched too hard, the whole thing would come flying off. I punched my brother and friends with the boxing gloves for years to come.

{Photo Christmas 1981}

Ahhh the days of realistic looking toy guns, faux switch blades, and candy cigarettes.

Pack of candy cig's and firework in hand, cuz that's just how I rolled, baby.
{Photo Summer Vacation, Eagle River 1984}


REFERENCES;
General
80's Kid
Feeling Retro
I-Mockery
In The 70's
In The 80's
Nostalgia Central
Plaid Stallions
Retroland
This Old Toy
Toy Archive
Toy Info
VH1 I Love Toys/Wikipedia Entry
Vintage Toys Blog
Virtual Toy Chest
X-Entertainment
Specific Focus
Board Game Geek
Bug Eyed Monster
Dukes Of Hazzard Products
Gallery Of Monster Toys
Garbage Pail Kids Online
He-Man
Hollywood Diecast
Hot Wheels Collectors
Matchbox Monster Trucks
Nathan's Muscle Page
Nichols Cap Guns
Original Big Wheel
Pac Man Museum
Retro Pedal Cars Big Wheel History
Schaper Five Winders
Switch Blade Combs
Star Wars Collectors
Weird Sci-Fi
Wild Toys

Childhood Toys Part 4 [Toy Cars]

- TOY CARS -
- 1973 -
Then of course there's one of the most popular boys toys of the 1970s, The Evil Knievel Stunt Cycle. Weird Scifi Entry/Feeling Retro Entry
I feel quite familiar with this toy, although I'm not 100% positive that I owned one myself.



- 197? -
Marx Cobra Big Wheel

I used to love my Big Wheels. I would ride that thing until my butt was sore, although with hard plastic seats, that didn't take very long. I made use of it until the plastic tires were shredded.
I cannot find the commercial on YouTube, but apparently it's contained within the Sold Separately: Classic Kids Commercials DVD.

- 1979 -
Hot Wheels City (Mattel, 1979)
City De Ville (Sto-and-Go) or the Service Center set. Both sets were very similar and were both released in 1979. Hot Wheels City has a car elevator while the Service Center does not. These tracks could fold together to form a briefcase of sorts, making them easily transportable.
I feel quite familiar with this toy, although I'm not sure if I owned one myself.

Hot Wheels Service Center


- 1981 -
Dukes Of Hazzard Electric Slot Racing Set (Ideal, 1981)
Ahhh the Dukes of Hazzard figure-8 race track with stunt-jump intersection. I remember settin' this thing up on a card table in the basement and just goin' at it.
Yeeeeeeeeeeeee-Hawwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!


Although on second thought, I think I may have had the Automan version of The Dukes figure 8 set.


I also had Tyco's Daredevil 500 race track.

Other cool toy cars from the 1980's?
X-Entertainment Article on Toy Cars of the 1980's
Stomper's & Set's (Schaper 1981-1986)
Stomper 4x4 Site/Route 21 Site

Hot Wheels Crack-Ups (introduced in 1983 I believe)

Schaper's Five Winders (year introduced unknown)
Matchbox Monster Trucks (introduced in the mid-eighties)
Power Blaster pull-string motorcycle (year and co. unknown)
Tonka's Quick Silver wind-up dragster (1982)

The many Matchbox/HotWheels/Ertl novelty cars modeled after popular Television and Film, including the General Lee (Ertl)

the A-Team Van (Ertl 1983)

Spider-Man (Hot Wheels 1975)

the Batmobile, the Firebird Trans-am "Bandit" (Smokey & The Bandit), and KITT from Knight Rider.

Childhood Toys Part 3 [Action Figures]

- ACTION FIGURES N'MORE -
- 1982 -
Tron (TOMY)
I may have had a TRON cycle.

I also remember having a glow in the dark TRON frisbee (or flying disc if you prefer), alhtough it could've just been a generic dime store glow in the dark frisbee.

- 1984 -
It's difficult for me to remember all the Transformers I used to own, although I know I was partial to the jets and smaller cars. All that remains is a lunch bag full of broken parts.
But the coolest Transformer was of course Soundwave (Hasbro 1984)

Soundwave transformed into a boombox with a cassette deck that could be opened to reveal a miniature tape that transformed into a "condor".
Transformers G1 Commercials

I even saw Transformers: The Movie when it was released in theaters in 1986.

Voltron (Matchbox, 1984)

I think I had the main "Deluxe Lion" character (pictured on the upper right), though I'm not positive. Voltron was a cool cartoon and concept. A bunch of characters coming together to form one big super-powerful one.

WWF 8' Figures (LJN, 1984-1989)
Wrestling characters that could take the abuse! My friend had the wrestling ring for serious rumbles. X-Entertainment Article 1, Article 2



Then one cannot go without mentioning LJN's WWF Thumb Wrestlers!
X-Entertainment WWF Thumb Wrestlers Article



They even made erasers out of them with Rock'n'Wrestling Erasers

- 1985 -
MADBALLS! AmToy (1985/1986)
Madballs Central/Wikipedia Entry/X-Entertainment Madballs Article
There were plenty of imitators, but Madballs were the originals and the best.
I was partial to Slobulous and Crack Head.



I actually still have my M.U.S.C.L.E. Men (Millions of Unusual Small Creatures Lurking Everywhere) [1985-1988] I-Mockery Entry/Nathan's Muscle Page



I also still have the wonderfully disgusting Garbage Pail Kids [by Topps 1985-1987].


Out of all toy lines, I was the most feverish about He-Man and the Masters Of The Universe [by Mattel 1982-1988]. I created some of my own He-Men on paper, had two of the fan magazines, and even saw the live-action movie starring Dolph Lundgren when it was released in theaters in 1987. Even looking back on them today, I still think they are incredibly creative and remain unmatched.
It was around the age of 11 or 12, or 1986/1987, that I switched from He-Man (and toys altogether) over to Nintendo, and never looked back. I went from "I Have The Power" to "Nintendo Power". Sorry He-Man.

Childhood Toys Part 2 [Star Wars]

- STAR WARS -
Of all the things I've had and lost...
Star Wars Toy Commercial 1977


Apart from all the action figures I once had, here are some larger Star Wars products I once owned.
Star Wars (Han Solo) Laser Pistol (1977)


Star Wars Action Figure Collector's Case (1979)



Star Wars Creature Cantina Action Playset (1979)



STAR WARS CREATURES
Star Wars Tauntaun (1982, open belly version)



The Hoth Wampa (1982) is the only one out of the bunch that I still have in my possession (loose).



The Rancor (1984)


STAR WARS VEHICLES
Star Wars Landspeeder (1978)
I loved the Landspeeder!



X-Wing Fighter (1978)


Twin-Pod Cloud Car (1980)


Speeder Bike (1983)
I think I had the Speeder Bike, though I'm not positive.

Childhood Toys Part 1 [Monster Toys]

- MONSTER TOYS -
- 1977 -
Godzilla (Shogun Warriors, Mattel 1977) complete with action tongue and flying fist.
This was such a great toy. Godzilla's projectile fist had some weight to it and the spring was fairly strong, strong enough to knock a-many other toy figures down.
Why Godzilla you ask? Well, NBC ran a Godzilla Cartoon from 1978-1981, so that helped to fuel the fire.





- 1978 -
Suckerman by Mattel (1978)

I actually still have Suckerman (mine is red), although he's missing a sucker or two.

- 1979 -
Alien 18" Figure by Kenner (1979)
It was large, it had glow in the dark decals on it's head, it's inner-jaws came out via lever (they were sharp too!), and you could fasten it's tail in different positions. It was based off of an R Rated movie yet marketed towards children. Supposedly when my dad was in line to purchase it some woman asked who it was for and when he said "my son" she was mortified! "It's soo ugly!"
I was fascinated by it yet at the same time it scared the be-jeezus outta me. I had to store it in my closet so it was out of sight and out of mind. Yet that didn't always work because I knew it was in there. I think there were a few times before I became accustomed to it where I needed it out of my room altogether for piece of mind.
I was the one that asked for it, so I can't blame anyone but myself - and now I want it back (but hell if I'm payin' upwards of $400 for it)!



Krusher (Mattel, 1979)
A monster which you would crush (or Krush) and it would come back to life!
The problem with this toy is that after it'd been crushed too many times, it's surface would crack and begin to break off.





Krusher is nowhere to be found, it's too bad it sounds as if he's a rare find these days.

I loved the Megabug Gladiators (Kenner, 1979), of which I had the Scorpion and the Spider (not sure if I had the Fly)