Random Reads: Starlog Magazines from 1984!!!

All right... the time has come. I am officially getting ready to delete the content from Really Rather Random Guy (dot blogspot dot com) and in preparing for that, I wanted to import a bunch of the content that I know will then be lost forever, by bringing the posts over here to Goodwill Hunting 4 Geeks (dot blogspot dot com). So, with that in mind, I thought I would preface these entries with the fact that they are indeed OLD blog posts from an OLD, now DEFUNCT blog, and cross my fingers and hope that folks will still want to read them.

This post was originally published back on February 7th, 2014.

I've mentioned Scottie's Books on more than one occasion in the past, and almost never fail to find something fun when I go in there. A few weeks ago I stopped in and found a couple of issues of Starlog magazine for a few dollars apiece. 

Back in the day I was never a fan of Starlog as I associated it too much with Fangoria which scared me so badly as a child that it made me physically ill to even see on the newsstand. That last sentence probably sounds like an exaggeration, but I assure you it was not. I was shocked when I googled it to find out that it actually only went out of print in 2009 which feels way too recent. 

Since I normally wouldn't have been interested in Starlog in the past, I didn't even pick these up when I initially saw them, and then finally I saw the word "Gremlins" on the covers of both magazines, and that pretty much did it for me. Upon closer examination I saw features inckuding Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones, The Neverending Story, Cloak and Dagger, Muppets Take Manhatten, and the Last Starfighter. And this was all just from a cursory scan of the covers. (Completely ignoring the Buckaroo Bonzai and Conan the Destroyer photos on the covers) I didn't even open the poly-bags on these until I got them home. 

Now, I'm going about this a bit bass-ackwardsly because I'm actually featuring shots of issue #86 first (with the cover shot of Buckaroo) and then I'm going to get to #85 second. Honestly, I don't even have a particularly good reason for that. But look at the fold out poster in the front of issue #86! Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom! or, as the kids nowadays are wont to call it, "STARLOG Science Fiction Classic #20". And check out the facing-page ad! A Star Trek III tabletop paper-and-dice game that is "a simulation of Starship combat in the final frontier" which I highly doubt could possibly be as intense as they are hoping you'll think it is. 

You guys... YOU GUYS. A Cloak & Dagger article! Now admittedly, it's a pretty light piece, being a plot synopsis, list of actors in the film, and a mention of the inspirations and creative team behind the movie... but YOU GUYS. Once upon a time, people could just go out and buy magazines with articles about Cloak & Dagger in them??? I want to go to there. 

Then this. "Dan O'Herlihy: Full-time actor, part-time iguana." Actually, the other issue I picked up had a Starfighter article in it as well, but in a crushing moment of disappointment I realized that the issue had somehow been printed without a page #59/60! It was a pretty in-depth article, too! In fact, page 59 was the second half of an article about Robert Zemeckis trying to turn "The Shadow" into a feature film... in 1984!!! Instead we got the Alec Baldwin version (which I am actually a fan of) 10 years later. But I can't help but wonder... Anyway... Yeah... Dan O'Herlihy. Moving on. 

There was a pretty great feature on the special effects behind the Rancor... This stuff has probably been archived and bandied about by die-hard-hardcore Star Wars fans for decades now, but did that awesome concept art up in the top left corner! 

An interview/focus piece on "nebbish, ner, & famous hoser" Rick Moranis! I love the caption under his photo: "Moranis as nebbish in Ghostbusters". Which pretty much sums it in the weirdest way possible. I like how the photo also seems to be Moranis in a very out-of-character moment. No trace of Tully in there at all, even though he's obviously in costume. 

And article about "The Brother from Another Planet" Someone honestly tell me if this was worth watching. I think it's on Netflix right now. That's... all I've got to say about this. 

GREMLINS!!!! That is all. 

Aaand an article on the Neverending story. I can rest in peace now. 

Okay, so onto issue #85 (With Conan on the cover and tragically missing a VITAL page...) here we have a very nice gatefold Bladerunner poster or as it is known more commonly, "STARLOG Science Fiction Classic #19".

Not surprisingly, there was a big Conan the Destroyer article. With lots of greasy half-naked people flex-posing. This didn't really do a lot for me (also, I hope, not surprisingly). 

Aaand then I pooped my pants. In this article, Jim Henson is talking about a little film called "Labyrinth" which they are currently developing with Brian Froud. None of the cast members have been cast at this time. It boggles (Hoggle!!!) the mind to think back on a time when Labyrinth was still just... just... an IDEA. 

There was a Harlan Ellison article that would not have made sense to me before I started watching Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated with my boys. As Harlan Ellison has just always looked like this to me:

And nothing like this:

Because Harlan Ellison is EXACTLY the kind of Scooby-Doo celebrity guest
that the kids these days are going to feel is relevant.
(I know, this one was for the adults... but still, weird, right?)

The article is all about Harlan Ellison's effect on the sci-fi landscape, not just as an author, but as an editor, as a personality, as an educator, and as a bona fide creative genius celebrity madman. It was a nice read. 

MORE Gremlins!!! This time focusing on Joe Dante instead of Chris Columbus. 

And to wrap it all up, a nice Ivan Reitman piece with lots of focus on Ghostbusters. Phew! 

All in all, I never knew what a great treasure trove of old pop-culture goodness a couple old issues of Starlog could be... but I will definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for more copies in the wild from now on!!!

That's it for tonight kids, but I'll be randomly popping up on here in the future, so keep your peepers peeled! 

Random Reads: Star Wars Books!

All right... the time has come. I am officially getting ready to delete the content from Really Rather Random Guy (dot blogspot dot com) and in preparing for that, I wanted to import a bunch of the content that I know will then be lost forever, by bringing the posts over here to Goodwill Hunting 4 Geeks (dot blogspot dot com). So, with that in mind, I thought I would preface these entries with the fact that they are indeed OLD blog posts from an OLD, now DEFUNCT blog, and cross my fingers and hope that folks will still want to read them.

This post was originally published back on February 19th, 2014.

A real blink-and-you'll-miss-it post tonight kids! Here's a handful of Star Wars books I've picked up secondhand:

Here are a couple of highly educational books starring C-3PO and R2-D2. I always find it exceptionally weird when they use fictional characters from other galaxies to teach kids about things from the here-and-now. I mean, I get that they're using characters that appeal to kids... and in a backwards sort of way it does make sense that the droids from Star Wars would be the experts on both robotics and space travel... but they seem a little over-qualified right? Like Earth robotics and space travel both seem a little beneath them when you compare them to protocol droids and hyper-drives. Both are a pretty fun flip-through however, as the ideas behind both robotics and space have come pretty far since these books were put out. 

Next, this pair of novels I picked up at Scottie's Books. I picked these both up for half the cover price (which was originally 1.95). I've never been a huge fan of the ideas behind the "expanded universe" for Star Wars, and these two novels make the second time I've really gone outside of my comfort zone and picked up books based on the original trilogy. They look goofy enough to enjoy, and the price was right, so I figured, "why not?"

Finally, we have a book that I almost didn't buy: Star Wars A More Wretched Hive: The Mos Eisley Cantina. At first glance I almost just dismissed this as a part of the drek that came out around the re-release of the (remastered) Original Trilogy in the late 90's. And in fact, this one is from 1997 and features a few of the "improvements" that George Lucas shoe-horned into the film. But then I noticed two things: 1) It's about Mos Eisley, which is quite possibly one of the absolute best things about the original Star Wars (even with the alterations). and 2) IT IS A SCRATCH AND SNIFF BOOK. And boy it does NOT disappoint. If you've ever wondered what a wookie's "strong, swampy odor" is like, or what the "sharp electrical scent" of a lightsaber might smell like right after it slices off Ponda Baba's arm, well then this book is for you! Also included? The general odor of the Cantina from outside, a frothy fruit beverage from the bar' "The only pleasant smell in the whole place!", Greedo's breath (!), the exhaust of THE one-and-only Millenium Falcon, and of course, Jabba the Hutt's morbidly-obese-shut-in-corpse-from-SE7EN body odor. 

Gosh, next to that I have very little to say about the kid's book version of the Ewok's complete ruination of the final film. (Actually, I'm not an Ewok hater by an means. I was totally on the Wickett bandwagon as a kid.) Ummm... it was nice? Both of these books ran me .99 cents.

Randomly Received: The Boo Bobby Blogger Box

All right... the time has come. I am officially getting ready to delete the content from Really Rather Random Guy (dot blogspot dot com) and in preparing for that, I wanted to import a bunch of the content that I know will then be lost forever, by bringing the posts over here to Goodwill Hunting 4 Geeks (dot blogspot dot com). So, with that in mind, I thought I would preface these entries with the fact that they are indeed OLD blog posts from an OLD, now DEFUNCT blog, and cross my fingers and hope that folks will still want to read them.

This post was originally published back on January 30th, 2014.

So... this package showed up. And it was from my friend Laura over at the Boo Bobby Blog. If you've never been to the Boo Bobby Blog, you really should go and check it out. It is a sort of combination between a slice-of-life confessional blog and a "hey look at this cool stuff I found for CHEAP!!!" sort of blog. And somewhere between those two is where the magic happens. I dare you not to go over there and simply fall in love with Laura and her husband Jerome, and their kids and their friends. Join them for a family game night of charades or out roller-skating, and then see how Laura has decorated the built-in bookshelf in their new house with cool vintage toys and kitschy knick-knacks that you've seen a million times at old antique stores but NEVER LIKE THIS. I have so much respect for Laura and her natural photography talents and her easy, effortless way of writing like she's talking directly to you. It ENRAGES me with pure JEALOUSY that her blog is so ridiculously good. 

And then she sent me some stuff in the mail and it just made it WORSE because she's GENEROUS TOOOO!!! Will she stop at nothing? Let's take a look at what she sent me, shall we?

First up, we have to take a look at the decorations on the box. I get the feeling that Laura literally doodled on this package while she stood in line at the post office and did I mention that she is also an incredibly talented artist who recreates giant-sized Disney-and-other-kids'-characters decorations for parties? 

Spider-Man, ladies and gentlemen. And we haven't even gotten INSIDE THE BOX YET.

Here we go! Look at this pile of goodies y'all! Let's look closer.

First up we have these adorable little Mini Bean Sesame Street Characters! Laura and I share a deep and abiding love of all things Sesame, and she knew these little guys would be a shot right through the heart! Bert and Ernie are great, that's a given... but a Twiddle Bug? Come on! That is the cat's pajamas people! What a random character to give the mini-bean treatment! I love it!

Next up are these seasonal Snoopies. These guys are just spectacular. I actually have a bunch of these Snoopies for the Christmas tree already... but amazingly NONE of these ones! And the Halloween Snoopy stirring a bubbling cauldron of green slime? Excellent. These are Russel Stover premiums that were (and may still be...) sold attached to little boxes of chocolates around their respective holidays. Obviously the Christmas ones are meant to be hung on the tree. 

Mini-figures! Little plastic guys! Gotta love these. I've seen these featured all over the internet in the last couple of years. The bigger guys, the astronauts, Turtle/snail/alien guys, and the white robot are all from a set of Tim Mee toys "Galaxy Laser Team" figures which I must now track down the rest of. The little tiny arm men? No idea. But I LOVE them. I mean, look at those beautiful bast**ds. 

Laura is a big fan of old, kitschy items and uses them in ALL of her decorating. So naturally this overflows into her Christmas decorating as well. So it was no surprise at all to me to find these fun little guys included. These are going on the tree next year! 

Muppets and rodents are both woven intricately into my life. Laura is yet another of my online friends brave enough to mail me glassware. This Rizzo the Rat juice glass is actually a Smuckers Jelly jar from back around '99, promoting "Muppets from Space". The mice are... well they're just mice. But they're PULL-BACK mice!!! 

I had a bunch of these Dick Tracy action figures as a kid. I think I liked them back then because they were made by Play-Mates in the same style as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figures. I had them pretty much working for the Shredder and Big Boss from C.O.P.S. (both of whom, in my imaginary universe answered to Hordak). I wasn't a huge fan of the Dick Tracy movie, but I loved the bizarre nature of the gangsters in the Dick Tracy canon. They weren't quite supervillains... but they were close enough. And most of them ended up with powers when I played with them anyway. Flattop was one of my absolute favorites! This is a straight-up blast from my past! 

I think this is probably my #1 favorite item from the package. ZOAR!!! Laura knows of my deep and abiding love for all things MotU and this little lady-bird is proof of it! Fun-fact: Zoar started off as a boy-bird, and a completely independent character on his own in the mini-comics packaged with the action figures. Then he became a lady-bird when it was revealed on the TV show that this was an alternate form of the Sorceress. When I was just a little guy I actually pulled the wings completely off of my Zoar and cried for DAYS. I probably won't be doing the same with this one. But I am a huge man-child... so who knows?

Aaaand now we're onto the REAL reason you people come to my blog... The freaky-tiki stuff. Or in my case, the Advertising Mascot soft-goods. These oven mitts featuring the Poppin' Fresh Doughboy and Sprout are honest-to-goodness ALWAYS going to be on display in my cave. There will be no scorch marks or boil-over stains for these mint-condition mitts! These paw protectors are staying pristine! And Mr. Peanut? Well I have documented in depth my love for this chap. He's going on the shelf with the other bean-bag mascots. 

Who ya gonna fall... asleep on??? That was terrible. But this pillow case isn't terrible at all! I'm assuming this was from a Real Ghostbusters (cartoon) sheet set... but I really don't know. (I'm so lazy... hold on.. I'm Googling it...) Yes! RGB indeed! loveLoveLOVE the Real Ghostbusters cartoon and toys and memorabilia... so this one is a real coup! Not sure if I'll display it or just go ahead and USE it! I'm leaning towards using it though. I ALWAYS forget to check the bedding sections at second-hand places but I totally should because I'd love to find some old Star Wars sheets or Ghostbusters, or even California Raisins! 

Christmas Golden books! Here we have the version of the Night Before Christmas that I remember the best from when I was a kid... Disney's Santa's Toy Shop, which is loads of good fun, and Frosty the Snow Man! If I'm being honest, this version of Frosty always creeped me out. I couldn't really put my finger on why until it dawned on me: The weird coal-chips for lips. They look... sinister in some way. 

And a couple of non-seasonal Golden Books, including "I Think That It Is Wonderful" from the Sesame Street collection, and "The Neatos and the Litterbugs in the Mystery of the Missing Ticket" which sort of sounds like there would be other mysteries in the series, right? Like Nancy Drew in the Mystery of the Cackling Cankles (or whatever) is just one in a series. But nope. This is the only appearance I can find of the Neatos and the Litterbugs, mystery solving or otherwise. It looks fun though. 

And this is a book about Mountain Monsters. Because Laura just... "gets" me.

And look at this thing. This is a vintage Christmas Card in which Laura wrote an incredible message to me in AND bemoaned the fact that she was defacing a beautiful vintage Christmas card! I felt her pain believe me, but I'm so glad I was card-worthy, because this beautiful reindeer has earned itself a spot among the valuable wall-space items of the CAVE. I only have 4 Christmas cards hung up in my cave, and this is one of those 4. Because... look at it. Just LOOK. Bask in its glorious light. 

Welp... that's it for this addition of RRRG kiddos! I want to send a huge THANK YOU!!! Out to Laura at the Boo Bobby Blog for the amazing gift-package. I LOVED it. Everything you sent me was obviously thought about and considered for quite a while before selecting it to be included. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. It was so thoughtful! 

I'll be back soon with a reveal of the new-and-improved Geek-Cave, which has been undergoing renovations since I revealed it last year! I'm pretty excited with the semi-new look (although a lot of it remains mainly unchanged... there's still a LOT to share!) and I can't wait to post about it here! Before that happens I may hop on here and post some stuff about books I like, or characters I've been thinking about, or heck my favorite flavors of Jelly Beans... who knows? Keep 'em peeled here folks!

Randomly Received: Laura Huey Just saved me 15% on My Car Insurance*

All right... the time has come. I am officially getting ready to delete the content from Really Rather Random Guy (dot blogspot dot com) and in preparing for that, I wanted to import a bunch of the content that I know will then be lost forever, by bringing the posts over here to Goodwill Hunting 4 Geeks (dot blogspot dot com). So, with that in mind, I thought I would preface these entries with the fact that they are indeed OLD blog posts from an OLD, now DEFUNCT blog, and cross my fingers and hope that folks will still want to read them.

This post was originally published back on March 7th, 2014.

* Title-Asterisk Pay-Off: This is a false claim for comedic purposes only. Laura Huey saved me 2 dollars, some tax, and gas money for a trip to town. Which is still pretty great though. 

So when I arrived home tonight I was greeted by a small yellow package that I assumed was something I had ordered off of eBay and forgotten about, or my mail-order-bride (which I was going to use once but keep the tags on so I could return it the next day...) or something of that nature. Instead I opened it and found this AMAZINGNESS:

Which, if you are in need of a run-down includes two Muppet key-covers, a cowgirl Fry-Kid, and a Blackstar Alien Demon. That last one I just mentioned a few posts back as being something I had planned on returning to the Dream Catcher Antique Mall to buy, because it goes with the Neptul Action figure I found there. Laura, upon seeing that post, sent this little guy off to me post haste and now he is MINE!!! The cowgirl Fry-Kid looks amazing with my McDonaldLand/Happy Meal collection, and I will actually be using the Kermit key-protector (but just displaying the other one). There was this lovely note included as well:

Since the moment I started corresponding with Laura online, she has proven herself to be one of the most generous and upstanding folks I have ever met. This is just such a Laura thing to do and I am incredibly thankful. I have had a rough week folks... and this was the perfect way to come home on a Friday afternoon: to fun mail from a friend (And then a Scooby-Doo Mystery Inc. Marathon). Be sure to check out Laura's blog over at BooBobby.blogspot.com for a glimpse at some of the fun stuff she's tracked down at antique shops, rummage sales, and the like. Her blog is also filled with fun and funny family tales that will warm you up on a cold March night. 

And speaking of families... look at this beautiful reunion. I'm... I'm misting up a little. Thank you again Laura. You made me smile today and you have no idea how much I needed it. 

Well that's it for tonight kiddos! Keep our peepers peeled here for more random receivals in the future!

League Post: My Latest Obsession!

All right... the time has come. I am officially getting ready to delete the content from Really Rather Random Guy (dot blogspot dot com) and in preparing for that, I wanted to import a bunch of the content that I know will then be lost forever, by bringing the posts over here to Goodwill Hunting 4 Geeks (dot blogspot dot com). So, with that in mind, I thought I would preface these entries with the fact that they are indeed OLD blog posts from an OLD, now DEFUNCT blog, and cross my fingers and hope that folks will still want to read them.

I should also point out that the "League of Extraordinary Bloggers" is also OLD and DEFUNCT. This post was originally published back on March 13th, 2014. (And yes, I am aware that I posted these out of order... I just don't care.)

The League is back!!! And this is the first official time I will be writing a League of Extraordinary Bloggers post on the new Really Rather Random Guy blog!!! What's the topic this week? Well... look right up above...

"My Latest Obsession"

But here's the thing... I've really been struggling with this topic! Usually I'm OBSESSED with a whole FLEET of obsessions! Obsessions that send me to eBay on searches for LEGO pieces to complete custom mini-figures:

or Happy Meal toys featuring the Ice Age characters... 

or even just the obsession of hitting Goodwill as often as possible in an attempt to make the next big "Find". 

Yep... just gonna keep trottin' this one out 'til I die.

But now, I find my passions cooling. My obsessions... waning.

What am I obsessed with? Not much at the moment. I was obsessed with Scooby-Doo for awhile, directly after discovering the new Mystery Incorporated series. 

But now that I've bought the second season on DVD and we're making our way through it... I feel a little less obsessed about it. I still LOVE it... don't get me wrong, but having the DVDs here and knowing we're going to watch our way through them makes me a little less anxious and fixated on all things Scooby-Doo right now. 

It's not close enough to Halloween yet for me to be obsessed with ALL THINGS SPOOKY (though I'm always in a little bit of a Halloween-y mood...) 

and I'm not currently trying to track down that VITAL piece to any of my many vintage action figure collections or mini-figure collections... or Horror movies... or Hotwheels... or PEZ... or comic books... or Little Golden Books... or FUNKO toys... or whatever... 

Pictured above: The room of a man with ZERO obsessions.

I ALMOST felt myself getting obsessed with tracking down more of the Sesame Street Fisher Price Little People figures... but then the eBay prices very quickly de-obsessed me with that. Right now I'm just not very obsessed with much at all. 

So what is a poor man-boy to do when obsession in all its forms has abandoned him???

Obsess over it. I guess I'll obsess over the fact that I have no obsessions at the moment. Or maybe... I'll come to the realization that I have SO many obsessions that they're all just duking it out right now in my subconscious to see who will be the next leader!!! I think Funko's ReAction figures are going to be a looming threat in the near future:

 as are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Half-Shell Heroes figurines but those are in the FUTURE...

Of course I loved the LEGO Movie, so getting more of those sets wouldn't be bad... 

I guess what I'm also realizing is that it's not really that hard to drum up a new obsession in no time... and I'll probably blog about it here when that happens... so just keep your peepers peeled here for more random obsessions to come!

Let's see what the rest of the League had to say about their Obsessions this week:

- Jathniel is obsessed with finding Spider-Man #33

- The Dusty Shelf wants to fill up with Fantastic Four comics and Megos!

- Calvin is obsessed with... Hugo. Brrr. Those cold, dead eyes.

- The Nerd Cantina is obsessed with Scarrrrrrry Stuff!

- That Yellow Duck is obsessed with The Big Lebowski

- Our fearless leader Brian at Cool & Collected is obsessed with Binge Watching!

- Pop Rewind is obsessed with McDonald's Orange Drink!