Hi, Here’s Some Old Stuff. Or Something.

Damn, I haven’t made a real post since July. I can’t make any promises that I’m ready to start updating on a regular basis again, but I wanted to show you guys the retro junk I’ve collected during my little hiatus. To be honest, there’s not very much of it– as I said several times before, the thrift store selection around here is so-so, and I generally don’t even try garage sales, because who the fuck wants to get up at 6 AM on a Saturday to go look at people’s unwanted trash can fodder? The chances of finding something awesome are very slim. (Though admittedly, I did find a couple things at some garage sales last week, but they’re not retro stuff so…)

I’ve been checking the Salvation Army store down the street quite regularly, and the fact that I’ve only bought maybe four little things from there either says something about the store or about my taste. To be fair, I’ve mostly been looking for retro furniture, and every single damn piece that I’ve wanted has disappeared before I could get back down there to buy it. Not exactly good for my morale.

Anyway! Enough moping. Anyone recognize this?

No? I didn’t at first either. I saw it on the shelf, thought it was cute but very unusual. See, it has this hole in the side of it:

I picked it up and saw a mark that told me it was made in 1956, so I decided to buy it even though I didn’t know what the hell it was supposed to be used for. It was only five dollars.

I figured that someone on the internet had to know what this is, so I searched around and was pretty surprised to find that it’s a dresser caddy– you put your wallet in the side hole, your change in the pouch, and your watch on the tail. That’s probably the last thing I would have thought of– I was thinking pencil holder, napkin holder, random-small-crap holder, maybe even a place to put cigarettes.

But I was even more surprised to find that this is just like the kangaroo Bruce Willis’ character used in Pulp Fiction to store his very important watch. I feel stupid for completely forgetting about it because I’ve seen that movie a dozen times. More info here if you’re interested.

It’s in great shape, and it’s not a reproduction. I’m excited to finally own a piece that could actually be worth something someday, and has some pop culture significance. So I doubt we’ll actually use it for its original purpose. I plan to take good care of it.

Alright, moving on. I found some character glasses a few months back! I’ve been looking for some for a while, so I was pretty happy to find these. I found a Ducktales one and a Muppets one.

That’s all for now.

The Great Muppet Caper

Alright! I’m done screwing around and am finally back. Surely you can hardly contain your enthusiasm! After the stunning quality of my last few posts, I don’t blame you.

Netflix is my new best friend. I can watch as many old movies as I want for about thirteen bucks a month. Waiting for them to arrive in the mail sort of sucks, but I figured it would be a great way to revisit some films without having to buy them all. And, so far, it is. [End shameless plug here.]

Recently, I put the first three Muppet movies in my queue. The first to arrive was The Great Muppet Caper. I loved this movie as a kid and remember watching it quite a few times, so it’s obviously perfect material for this blog.

The Christmas Rabbit in Outer Space

Today, I offer unto thee more obscure retro junk. What else is new, right? I suppose I could make a bad pun with that, but I’ll spare you.

First of all, last night I found a VHS copy of Jim Henson’s The Christmas Toy at Second Chance. I suspect most of you haven’t heard of it. That’s because it hasn’t been aired on TV since probably 1993 or something. It hasn’t been released on DVD, which is why the VHS goes for at least twenty-five bucks on Amazon.

When I saw it on the shelf, I would have excitedly spouted profanities if there hadn’t been some kids hanging around. There wasn’t a price tag on it, and I was expecting it to cost at least fifteen dollars, but guess how much it was? Five dollars. Made my frigging day. I haven’t seen this special since it aired on Nickelodeon in the 90s, and I didn’t want to pay thirty dollars for it.

The Wikipedia article talks about the similarities between this and Toy Story, which came about ten years later. Coincidence?

Next up: Pinocchio in Outer Space. No, I am not making this up.

My dad recorded it off TV when it aired on a local station. I was only about 3 or 4 years old; haven’t seen it since probably the late 80s. I remember watching it a whole lot, rewinding my favorite parts over and over again. (Maybe that’s why that VCR broke.) I almost want to see it again just to figure out why I liked it so damn much, but this might be one of those things that would be better left in the past.

For one thing, it involves Pinocchio trying to save the world from an extraterrestrial whale called Astro. Sounds like a bad acid trip, huh? Well, it was made in the 60s.

There’s actually a lot more info about it online than I thought there would be. I guess that even though it’s obscure, it’s so bizarre that people never forget it. I certainly never did.

And now, The Velveteen Rabbit. No, not the book (though I have and enjoy that too). I’m talking about one of the several animated adaptations. This version seems to be little-known, only having minimal details on IMDB. It doesn’t even have enough votes to have a star rating.

I first saw it when I was about 4 or 5 years old. They showed it to us at Head Start (kinda like preschool, if you’ve never heard of it). It made a very lasting impression on me, because it was one of the first things I saw that almost made me cry.

A year or so ago, I actually found it on DVD! At Walgreens, of all places! I was shocked. It was only about two bucks. Unfortunately…I got what I paid for. The audio is horribly out-of-sync throughout the whole thing. Very distracting. So, since Second Chance has a VHS copy of it (told you that place was a goldmine), I think I’m gonna buy it next time I get a chance.

They also have a different version, which looks like it was one of the ABC Weekend Specials (anyone remember those?). I might also pick that one up. It’s also pretty obscure, since I haven’t found much info about it yet. People also seem to frequently confuse the two versions.

Well, that’s all I got for now. I apologize; the quality of my writing has faltered lately, I think. I promise to do better in the future, so hang in there…if you’re interested.

Edit: Think I said “also” enough times in this damn post? I really am slipping.