This Winnie the Pooh clip-on earring shows that the titular character really is ‘a bear of very little brain’. As you will see from the opening image, he’s got himself a bit beat up:
Battle Damage – Those bees are playing for keeps!
Most would stop pestering a swarm of bees for their hunny after the first few failures, but not Pooh! He is also single-minded and just keeps trying, and so, he has lost an ear and has damage to his nose.
Unusual Clasp
This should have a mate for the other ear but it is long gone. This sample remains in our collection because of its unique clip-on feature.
Copyright Disney
The copyright of Disney means it is impossible to date this piece as this name has been used almost from the beginning of Disney merchandising.
These earrings are just under one inch high making them cute as a button. They are quite heavy though so I can imagine they would become uncomfortable after a few hours of wear.
For more of our jewellery collection, check out the post entitled Disney Bling.
Okay, True Believers, it’s time to go back in time to when comic books were subtly racist, bigoted, and controversial, but oh-so fun, wild, and inexplicable! Welcome to the Fantastic Four Essentials Volume 5 omnibus in all it’s black and white glory.
The stories collected in this volume are from issues 84-110 of the original series run, and mainly follow the adventures of the First Family of Comics as told by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (with some help from John Romita and John Buscema).
Front Cover
These collected reprints are marvelous (pun intended) as they make older and expensive issues of rare comics available to everyone. Through them one gets to learn the origins of their favorite characters and villains. But. In doing so, one can also end up wondering what the writers and artists were smoking back in the day!
Continuity? Who needs it! Plot holes? Plenty! Inappropriate behavior? Always! Let’s have a look at a few panels that will highlight some of the strange things you will encounter as you flip through the pages of these 1960s stories.
First: Continuity. By definition, continuity is a state of stability and the absence of disruption. Or to the writers and artists of Marvel Comics in the 60s, a non-essential part of storytelling. Let’s have a look at a case in point:
The first panel (top, left) establishes that Ben Grimm, The Ever-lovin’ Blue-eyed Thing, has not come to the dinner party. He stayed behind with his girlfriend, Alicia. In panel two (top, right) we see the complete company of guests being Crystal, Johnny Storm, Reed Richards, and Sue Richards. Nowhere is the Thing to be seen. The next panel shows only thesefour characters being struck blind (above) by the Mole Man. The issue ends with the four being helpless as they are attacked.
With that cliffhanger in place, we go ahead one month to the opening splash page of the next issue. And how many characters do we see, blind and helpless, before the might and malice of the Mole Man?
Guess who came to dinner after all …
Five! Out of nowhere and with no explanation is Ben Grimm, the Thing. Also blind. Also helpless. As you read on in the issue, the Thing is used extensively in the plot to defeat the Mole Man. So because he was needed to work out the story, he appeared! Why not? Continuity is highly overrated.
Second: Stating the Obvious. If you were being attacked by a mugger, would you cry out: “Oh my! It’s that mugger from the papers, with a gun, wearing a mask! And he’s got me by the throat!” No. No you wouldn’t. But in comic books, every time a villain shows up, the hero has to yell at the top of his lungs who it is, what he’s doing there, and how horrible it’s going to be.
Case in point:
No Kidding. Really?
In any given issue, this will likely happen several times. But just to shake things up a bit, once in a while the villain will unnecessarily mention his name while striking a pose. It’s dramatic, but seriously, if the Fantastic Four doesn’t recognize you when you kick in their door, then you can’t be much of a villain. So shut up and attack already!
Third: Plot Convenience. Then we have the thing that is used only to drag out the story to fill up all 20 pages of the comic. Someone, or usually everyone, totally forgets the one simple thing that could end the threat until the very last moment, when all is about to be lost.
Have a read of the text in the panel below:
“Oh, right. That!”
For two issues, a strange menace has been rampaging through New York City and the Fantastic Four can’t stop it. But the man who ‘didn’t think of it’ knows what it is, but doesn’t bother telling anyone. Ah, but now it’s do or die time and Reed Richards suddenly remembers something important. The man has a device back in this laboratory that can end the threat in seconds. And after a little more contrived drama, the trigger is pulled and it’s over. Just like that. A few moments of clear thought could have saved millions of dollars in damages and the possible loss of lives! Sheesh!
But the plot needed to drag on over two issues so this device couldn’t be introduced until it was needed. Convenient for the storytellers but not so much for the poor citizens of New York!
Back Cover
And that’s not all of the tropes you’ll find in a Fantastic Four comic. Here is a list of what else you can expect in almost every issue:
Misunderstandings leading to conflict between heroes or heroes and villains
Arguments between the characters over silly things, misunderstandings again, or just bad manners
Someone going off halfcocked and getting their butt kicked because they didn’t wait for the team
Sexism, as the female characters react in horror to threats * and are basically useless
The heroesbeing blamedfor everything even though they just saved everyone
Breathing and talkingunder water and in space when this is clearly impossible
Brilliant peoplebeing stupidand doing incredibly stupid things
And that’s just the short list! I had mental whiplash after reading this omnibus. So many inexplicable things coming at me from all directions! But it was fun. Stan Lee definitely created memorable characters that have endured over time and Jack Kirby is the undisputed King of Comics! His artwork is dynamic and detailed, and dare I say, in your face!
But both men fell into the traps of the times they worked in. Lee was writing to a younger audience and so favored splash over sense, and Kirby just packed as much action and carnage into his artwork as he could to make an impact. Later writers and artists developed a more subtle approach that can be appreciated by a more mature audience. That said, no one can deny the contribution both men made to the world of comics today.
Nuff Said!
* For an example, see Sue Storm’s (The Invisible Girl) over-the-top reaction from the cover of the omnibus itself (first image, above). It says it all!
The Rescuers was Disney’s 23rd animated feature film. The plot revolved around two mice who worked for the Rescue Aid Society, an international organization headquartered in New York City. The idea was that it shadowed the United Nations, actually meeting in the basement of the building. They were dedicated to helping abduction victims from around the world. Mainly children.
The Rescuers Collector Series glass that I have from Pepsi-Cola features, not the heroes from the film, but the villain and two of her long-suffering hench-things, Brutus and Nero:
The two crocodiles were never hug deprived, as much as they would have liked to be! But sometimes working for the swamps most clingy villain can be taxing at times.
Brutus & Nero
In the end, they were just doing their jobs.
This Collector Series of glassware was released in 1977 by Pepsi in conjunction with McDonald’s. Remember when Mickey and Ronald were still friends?
I’m not sure how many glasses were released, but here is an image of some of the other glasses offered in the set:
I’ve seen at least three or four other variations on selling sites so far. Each glass can go for up to $20.00 US, but I got mine for just $8.00 CAN.
Madame Medusa
If only all villains would treat their minions with such love and kindness, maybe they would come over to the side of goodness and niceness!
For more fun with The Big Cheese and The Clown, check out our previous post way back from the year 2012: 100 Years of Magic in Glass from McDonald’s. It’ll quench your thirst for glassware!
Vintage puzzles are amazing! The artwork and design on the boxes are usually enough to get me to buy them, let alone what is to be found inside. But this Walt Disney Characters Disneyland puzzle by PARKER will not be assembled any time soon. More on that later.
Let’s have a look at this wonderful piece of Disney merchandise:
9″ X 11″
This is a nice grouping of Disney characters in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland. But… why is Tinkerbell so huge? And what a prankster! Mickey and Donald seem to appreciate her practical joke on Goofy anyway.
This was apparently part of a six puzzle set released some time in the late 1970s. It contained a Short, three vintage animated movies, one more modern movie, and of course, the Disneyland puzzle I’m featuring in this post:
I’m dating this puzzle from the 70s because the latest characters featured are from 1977s The Rescuers. It is unlikely to be from the 1980s, as the set would likely have included a movie from that decade.
Side of Box
Children’s puzzles don’t provide much of a challenge for adults so I buy them purely for the display value.
This puzzle was bought at toycity:
I’m not clear on the history of this toy chain. It could have links to Party City or it could also have been absorbed by or morphed into Toys-R-Us. Whatever the case, it was a big deal back in the day! Have a look at some commercials from 1987:
As mentioned in the opening paragraph, this puzzle will not be assembled because the box has never been opened.
Factory Sealed
When buying games or puzzles that have multiple pieces, it’s always nice to find them factory sealed. At least that way you know everything is still there.
This is my first PARKER puzzle. I have one from Golden, another from Jaymar, and one more from Whitman. They all deserve a look!
I have a primary book shelf in my living room with my most valuable Disney books, along with many other collectible hardcover editions covering many other subjects. But I also have a large cabinet with doors on it in my office filled with overflow volumes! A bit of an eyesore. So it is time for some new book shelves for my ever expanding collection:
Time to buy more books!
It took a couple of hours to make the switch but I think it came out well. Now I can see what I have! As always, I ended up finding things I had forgotten about and just plain didn’t even know I had.
I picked up both book cases for just $75.00 CAN for the pair. I may have to slow down with my acquisitions as I have only one cubicle left. Poor Eeyore’s days on the shelf are indeed numbered!
The Mickey Mouse Club was a children’s variety show that was first televised from 1955 to 1959 for four seasons by the ABC network. Walt Disney created it to fulfill part of his contract to ABC to provide television programming in exchange for money to build Disneyland. And the rest, as they say, is history!
Part of the Mickey Mouse Club show included spin off series featuring young stars in roles outside of the regular variety show format. Spin and Marty and The Hardy Boys may be the most famous of these. But Annette Funicello also had a few storylines created just for her.
Walt Disney’s Annette, the DELL comic book, is an adaption of her first serial:
Walt Disney Presents: Annette was the full name of the television serial itself and it ran on The Mickey Mouse Club during the show’s third season (1957–1958). The comic book I am featuring in this post is from 1958, so is current with the original release. It starred Annette Funicello as Annette McCleod, a poor, orphaned country girl who moves into town with her upper-class Uncle Archie and Aunt Lila.
Teaser Page
Most of the plot has to do with her experiences in her new high school trying to fit in with all the new kids she meets. And of course, everything goes swimmingly. NOT!
Laura, a jealous teen, wrongfully accuses Annette of stealing a necklace following a party at her place. Hence the name of the DELL comic book: A clue… to the mystery of the Missing Necklace! Little did she know that the necklace accidentally fell into the piano that she had played a tune on earlier. You can see the whole ugly mess develop on the page below:
Laura and Annette become friends after the misunderstanding is cleared up. Oh, those kooky kids! You can check out a couple more sample pages below:
The artwork is uncredited but not bad over all. The likeness of Annette is quite good on most pages, but once in awhile, the artist couldn’t quite get her nose right! Now, who else do we know who had that problem?
The two pages above are separate one-page stories used to fill out the comic book. The first one (above, left) appears on the inside back cover, while the second one (above, right) appears on the back cover.
The whole comic is printed in colour except for the inside pages of the cover. The teaser page contains black and white stills from the actual television production (see image, second from top), so the back inside page had to be in black and white as well, for they would have been printed as one sheet.
DELL comics made a pledge to parents in all of their publications, namely: “The Dell code eliminates entirely, rather than regulates, objectionable material.” I can attest that to be true, unless you consider catty behavior among teenage girls to be objectionable.
DELL published comics from 1929 to 1974 and claimed to be the world’s largest comics publisher in 1953. So no wonder they were selected to print comics for Walt Disney! But the acquisitions started in 1996 and the company was passed from publisher to publisher for many years until finally resting under the Penguin Random House stable of brands in 2013.
I do have one other Disney-themed DELL comic book. You can check out the official adaption of the Parent Trap by clicking the link. It stars one of Disney’s other darlings of the screen, Hayley Mills.
Thirsty? Then you might be interested in this Goofy souvenir sipper by Monogram ProductsInc. It’s plastic but sturdy and not just a little bit fun! Actually, it’s a lot of fun!
Let’s have a look at our new drinking buddy:
Many pieces of merchandise seem to feature Goofy in a seated position. Maybe this comes from his days of being a bit of a vagabond who thought the world owed him a living. Back then, he was never looking to do anything that required effort!
He certainly does seem awfully happy and content for someone with a huge straw sticking out of his head!
And speaking of his head, now he seems to have lost it:
No matter whether you’re a real human or an anamorphic animal… that’s gotta hurt! But he is a Goof, so he’s still smiling.
I’m just over the moon (see what I did there?) with my latest flea market find! I’ve added an interesting piece of merchandise to my collection for just $3.00 CAN.
Monogram Products Inc. operated out of Largo, Florida but may not be in business anymore. Or it may have morphed into Monogram International Inc. I can’t find enough information on the all-knowing Internet to confirm either hypothesis. However, Monogram International Inc. does carry both Disney and Marvel properties, but is based out of California.
The only other collectibles I possess from Monogram Products are a pair of Mickey Collector Spoons. Check’ em out!
TheRocketeer is a fictional superhero that had his origins in comic books. Created by writer/artist Dave Stevens, the character first appeared in 1982 and is an homage to the Saturday matinee serial heroes from the 1930s through the 1950s. Later in 1991 came the major motion picture released by Walt Disney Pictures and Touchstone Pictures. And now we have The Rocketeer ‘Fate of the Future’ Funko game.
This is a long one folks, so let’s get right to it:
Dun! Dun! Daaaaaah!
Cue the theme music! Will the game be as exciting as the original comic book? Will it soar as high as the major motion picture? Maybe.
I love the graphics and the shear amount of detail that Funko put into this game! The artwork on the box cover is extraordinary and the fun little map of the Rocketeer’s world inside the box lid is amazing.
Box Side – Too cool not to include!
When I opened the game and lifted off the lid, I was greeted by the helmet of the Rocketeer himself! Way cool! It was on one side of the folding game board, with a fun quote on the other:
Game Board (3 Images, above)
Once unfolded, you have the main game board. Okay, that was the easy to understand parts. Now things get way beyond the understanding of a reasonably thinking person. It claims to be for ages 12+ but I think you would have to add another 12 years for a total of 24 to make it fair!
Next, we’ll look at the instructions. Or we could call them Greek, or hieroglyphics, or just plain confusing, take your pick.
Instruction Booklet
12 Pages of Utter Confusion!
I think the average player will have more questions than shown above. If you have an evening free, I recommend that you read all 12 pages… and then explain the game to me! Please?
From what I can tell, it’s a strategy game using cards that give directions. Each player has a number of them, either a hero or villain version, which can be used to address the moves of the opponent. You can choose which of your remaining cards to use, containing actions and abilities, to best achieve the goal of the game.
The winner is the one who ends up with the secret plans before the Zeppelin reaches it’s final destination. Of course, a whole lot of other stuff is going on during game play.
Turn Tokens
This is a 2-player game where one person controls three heroes and the other controls three villains. The play pieces are shown below:
To add to the confusion and complexity of the game, there are a multitude of card decks and tokens and other stuff needed to play and win:
Game Decks & Tokens (3 Images, above)
I was hoping to play a round of this game before featuring it on the blog, but honestly, I think I’ll need a few weeks to study the instructions, so will my wife, and both of us may need to take an annex course at our local Collage before we make our first move!
Back of Game Box
Funko Games is responsible for releasing the game but the makers/creators are actually, and I quote, “the gum-chewing team at Prospero Hall.” Below is the official spiel about the game from their website:
“Trouble is brewing high above the city of angels! The mysterious Rocketeer —who can blast through the skies with an ingenious jet-pack—must stop a sinister plot! Hollywood actor Neville Sinclair is scheming to steal the rocket’s blueprints. This breakthrough of modern engineering could revolutionize the future of flight. But in Sinclair’s hands, it could fuel the dark future of warfare. Play as the heroes or the villains in this action-packed strategy game for two players. Whether for good or evil, you will determine the fate of the future!“
You can also find on the website a Sizzle video introducing the game along with a How-to-Play video. Here’s the Sizzle video:
I thought the How-to-Play video would be a must-view before attempting your first game play. Then I watched it. It’s 10:53 long. After watching, the host concluded by saying “and that’s the basics of the game”. BASICS?!? I still have no idea how to play this game!
As a collector, I have a huge amount of board games that I don’t play. Guess what? This will be another one!
I’m constantly amazed at how much Orange Bird merchandise I keep finding in my small corner of rural Ontario. It must be because of the Snow Birds! If you’re Canadian or a native Floridian, you’ll understand what that means! However, the items featured in this post are from the opposite American coast.
My latest find is a double one, two pieces of clothing from the same seller: The Orange Bird Disneyland t-shirt and baseball cap ensemble!
My wife models the outfit for us. The hat is for an adult while the shirt appears to be a men’s medium. Both I believe are from the Disneyland Resort in California. Why? More on that later.
The t-shirt is a nice shade of peach with pinkish-gray sleeves. It sports the Orange Bird wearing sun glasses with the Adventureland font below. This item does not specifically mention Disneyland. But the baseball cap below does:
I love the level of detail on this cap! We have the slogan on the front (below, left) with an orange ready for squeezing on the side (above) and of course, the Disneyland Resort logo on the back (below, right). So I’m using provenance to link the t-shirt to Disneyland. Because they come from the same seller, it is likely that they would have been purchased at the same time in the same Park. She said she was liquidating her personal collection, so that lends itself to this assumption.
This is a rather large hat. To fit my wife I had to adjust the band to the tightest length, while to fit me, I had to let it out to the widest length. So likely it is a medium to large size, and again, likely a men’s or unisex.
For more Disney baseball cap fun, check out my Disney-themed Baseball Cap collection by clicking the link to visit a previous post. It has another Orange Bird cap that is super cute!
In 1996 Disney decided to give us 48 minutes and 57 seconds of the strangest musical choices and call it Disney’s Music From the Park. It was a compact disc compilation like no other! Lost in time and maybe better left there, I’ve once again defied the will of the Universe and dragged it back into the public consciousness. I don’t expect you to thank me. But I do ask that you suffer along with me.
Are you ready for some 90s madness?
You can read for yourself (above) the eclectic grouping of talent put together to create this compilation. Some of the names are legend but I assure you, the performances are not!
The best part of this product are the liner notes complete with some fun images from around the Parks and the lyrics to many of the classic Disney songs. Let’s have a look:
Now we get to the madness. If you were going to hire someone to sing The Ballad of Davy Crockett, who would you pick? Tim Curry, you say? Yup. It was a no-brainer for Disney!
I can’t begin to describe just how strange this cut is. So instead, I’m going to make you listen to it! Do you remember when your Dad made you do horrible things and claimed that it would build your character? This won’t be like that.
The Ballad of Davy Crockett – Tim Curry
So what did you think? Okay, I admit that it was kind of fun! Did you notice the subtle change to the lyrics? Instead of fighting in the ‘Injun wars’, Davy, or David as Mr. Curry calls him, now fought in ‘many a war’. Time marches on as it changes!
And speaking of marching, who loves a parade?
To be honest, I’m exaggerating a bit as to just how awful most of these tracks are. A bit. To say they aren’t my Tea Cups ride would be honest, though!
We’re 25 years too late to get our very own copy of The Walt Disney World Explorer on CD-ROM. Do computers today still play such antiquated technology? Let’s hope it was heavy on the sights and magic but lighter on the sounds!
You can see a complete list of the songs covered in the image above. Again, I imagine that this compilation CD is not included on any of the resumes for these artists!
The 90s weren’t all bad for Disney as this other CD compilation called Simply Mad About the Mouse proves. But only slightly! Check it out and hear Rick Ocasek sing Zip – A – Dee – Doo- Dah. It’ll make your day!
Disleelandia 