May the Fourth Be With You

Hey it's May the fourth, and that means it's the unofficial Star Wars day.  Since the internets is made of approximately 67.3% Star Wars content it going to be hard show you something that's never been posted online before, but I'm gonna give it my best shot.

First here's something that probably out there, it's a press kit or lobby photo of the Darth Vader vs. Ben Kenobi light saber fight...

I've never met Mark Hamill, but I had a friend who went to an Autorama where Mark was appearing and picked up this photo... 

That signature isn't "real" in case you're wondering. Hmm, I think I need to watch for Mark Hamill in "Stingray" from MGM.

I did meet Darth Vader, Chewbacca and a Stormtrooper at Toys R Us on October 1, 1977.  Here's what they handed out to the kids...

 The entire Toys R Us giraffe family was there also...

Like every 70's kid I was swept up in the Star Wars mania, and for a while would clip any Star Wars thing I found in the newspaper.  Like this Meijer ad for Star Wars figures...

I remember my mom taking me and a friend to our local Meijer before school one day when they got a shipment of figures.  We were able to pick them right from the shipping box before they were even stocked on the shelves. Thanks Mom!

Here's an ad for the Star Wars Escape from the Death Star board game...

 I never had that game, but I assume I wanted it since I clipped the ad.

Here's a unique ad for a free Super 8 sound 400 foot edition of Star Wars when you buy a movie projector...

Lastly here's a little bit of Star Wars legal news when Fox sued Ideal Toys over their Star Team action figure toys, and "Knight of Darkness" in particular...

I wish someone would upload those 1970's Star Team toy commercials someday.  I always love to post them YouTube commercials, but I came up with nothing this time.

Hometown Newspaper Ads from 1973

Here's a quick post of a few newspaper ads from 1973.  They're ads from the Redford Township edition of The Suburban News for the week of May 30, 1973 to be exact... 

Kresge's was the discount store that spawned Kmart.  The Kresge's stores lasted well into the late 70's, and I'm pretty sure even into the 80's.  The sale prices in the above ad are very good.  I'm particularly impressed by the price for Puffs which inflation adjusted for 2012 is $1.19.  I challenge you to find a box of Puffs for $1.19 anywhere.

Above is a very long ad for Sentry Drug.  You can see there's two sizes of Selsun Blue on sale, but it doesn't seem like much of a sale to me.  Adjusted for inflation that $2.69 on the 8oz size is $13.90 in 2012 dollars.  Selsun Blue goes for about $7 today, and that's an 11oz size.

Get ready for Memorial Day with stylish fashions for men and boys at SIMS.  I'm in awe of those "Bold Cuffed Bells."  I kinda wish I was bold enough to wear them today.  In case you're wondering about the price on those pants - $10 in 1973, is $51.66 in 2012

Obscure Newspaper Comic Strips from 1973

Whoa it's 2012, and it's time for my first post of the year so I better make it an extra good one...

Umm, to be honest, this post is just OK, but I swear there will be some good ones this year sometime - I just don't know when.

So anyways I was looking through an old newspaper the other day, looking for something that might make for an interesting post.  It wasn't a "major" newspaper, but the Redford Township edition of The Suburban News for the week of May 30, 1973...

Redford is a suburb of Detroit, and like many hometown papers the contents seems to focuses on things like school fairs and civic activities.  But as I leafed through the want ads  I was rewarded with a number of obscure and mysterious comics sprinkled here and there.  Like this one called Half-Past Teen...

I have no idea who the creator is, and Google was no help at all.  Heck, I'm doubting this comic has anything to do with teens.

Near the back of the want ad section was over half a page of comic strips.  I like to think I know a little something about comics, but at fist glance I didn't recognize a single one.

Do you recognize anything?

This first one is a Mutt and Jeff by Al Smith.  Mutt and Jeff is a name I recognize. The only problem is whoever laid out this page left off the title and artist name.  This now concludes the only comic that I was even remotely familiar with.

 

This next strip is Grubby by Warren Sattler.  Grubby is not a strip about a bear, but an old west prospector.  I like the layout on this one.

Deems by Tom Oka looks like a strip that would have been a favorite of mine as a little kid, you know, before I could read.   I think Deems is a character like Henry who never speaks. Also Google doesn't really turn anything up on who Tom Oka is.

Sonny South by Courtney Alderson.  Can't find any info on  Courtney Alderson or this strip, but someone has been auctioning off the original art.

 

This Grandpa's Boy by Brad Anderson.  Brad Anderson is best know for Marmaduke, and well, that's what I know him for too.

 

Those Were The Days by Art Beeman.  Art has a nice classic old-timey style that fits this strip well.

Above was another unidentified comic, but I think it is Citizen George by George Wolfe.

Of all the comic strips on this page I think this drawing of the deep sea diver reading a newspaper might be the most fun thing.

Lastly, this is the most bewildering thing I found in the want ads.  It looks like a classic Ripley's Believe It or Not! comic, but why is it named Nothin, But The Truth by Arnold?  When searching for info on Deems I found this comic page from the July 6, 1956 issue of The Deming Headlight (Deming, New Mexico) the with another "Nothin, But The Truth by Russ Arnold."  What's going on here? These are obviously "Ripley's" what's the deal with the name change?

The Toy Newspaper

Whoa, April is almost over and I haven't made a single post this month. Time still flies even when you're not really having fun.

Anyways, in my last post I posted a mock newspaper movie promotion, and now I'm back with another one I've managed to scrounge up.

Here's a mock newspaper promotion for the vaguely raciest 80's comedy The Toy (1982)...





... and as always here's a little something from YouTube.

Capricorn One Newspaper

Did Capricorn One (1978) help create, or simply add fuel to the fire of those wacky moon landing hoax conspiracies? I don't know the answer to that. In fact I've never seen the movie, but I did find this promotional mock newspaper...

Click to read all about it

If you clicked the image to actually read that thing you noticed that every single article mentions the movie's cast and/or crew. I don't know why they thought they needed to "tip their hand" like that. They should have played it completely straight like it was actual news. I don't think anyone would have mistaken it for a real newspaper since this was on the back...


I think all those listed Metro Detroit movie theaters are all gone now. Well as always here's the TV spot...