Strollerderby : old stuff

Superman Comic Sells For Over 300k

Brett Singer — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:00:00 GMT

Action Comics #1, featuring the first appearance of Superman, sold for $317,200. It was first published in 1938, with a cover price of 10 cents. The owner bought it in 1950 for 35 cents. Amazingly, the issue is still in mint condition, hence the high price it brought at auction. There are only 100 copies of Action Comics #1 in existence. Many of the original issues were probably thrown away by somebody's mom. Oops.

The buyer was John Dolmayan, drummer for System of a Down. He said he bought it "for a client." (That's the kind of thing guys tell their wives when they spend this kind of cash on a comic book. I kid. Sort of.) Dolmayan has a huge comics collection and is also a dealer.

When I was about 10 years old, I was in a comic book store (Dragon's Den on Central Avenue in Yonkers) and saw a copy of Incredible Hulk #181, which features the first appearance of Wolverine. (Note: technically Wolverine's first appearance is in Hulk #180, but he only appears in one panel and #181 is worth more to collectors. For a very nerdy discussion of this important topic, click here.) The price was 10 dollars. I decided that was too high and didn't bother. Today that comic book sells for between $1,000 and $2,000, depending on condition.

Save those comics, kids. Don't let mom throw them out. You never know - they could be worth big money some day. Heck, at this point, it beats the stock market, right?

Image/Source: Daily News

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Retro Electronic Toys

Brett Singer — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:36:00 GMT

Sometimes I think I might be psychic. For example, right now, you are reading this blog post. And you think the joke I just made wasn't all that funny.

See what I mean?

Anyway, I was talking to my son the other day about the handheld electronics I used to play with. Then I'm online, reading my email, and in my gmail toolbar I see the title of a Wired.com article: "Forgotten Electronic Games."

Hmmm. Maybe Google is reading my brain waves. Wouldn't put it past them.

But enough about my psychic ability. (I know that you don't want to hear any more about it. You see? You see what I mean?) What did Wired dig up? Here are some highlights:

Big Trak: Man, did I want one of these. You could program it to move around and stuff! And it had a laser! Well, it was just a little light that flashed, but it made a cool noise.

Vectrex: Another one that I didn't actually own. This little gem was a self-contained gaming system, complete with a monitor that displayed vector graphics (hence the name). The system is still popular with some folks -- Wired points out that there are even new games being made. http://www.classicgamecreations.com/

Microvision: This I had. And I wish I still did. The Microvision was really the first Gameboy, albeit a technologically inferior version. The controls consisted of a dial and a squishy membrane that became various buttons depending on which cartridge was inserted. The screen was a series of black squares on a gray background. But at the time, it was the coolest thing around.

Merlin: It seemed like everyone had one of these, except for me. I didn't care for it but it was hugely popular. Lots of beeping and more than one game to play. It looked (and sounded) like a futuristic telephone from a movie made in 1979.

Not on the list are some of my personal faves, like the Pac-Man knockoff Epoch Man:

"It's not just a game! It's a digital clock, with a musical alarm!" Things were much simpler in the early 80's.

Bring back any memories?

Source: Wired.com

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The Banana Splits are back, sort of

Brett Singer — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:15:00 GMT

Clearly, my Babble List has had tremendous influence on the entertainment business. How else do you explain the news that the Banana Splits are coming back to television?

Well, they're sort of coming back. The Cartoon Network will show "1½-to-2½-minute comedy shorts…Monday through Friday between 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m." So its not exactly appointment television, and the kids will be in school (hopefully) when the shorts air. HOWEVER, another component of this re-surfacing of the Splits is the website, bananasplits.com. There you can find tons of videos and music, including what the press release calls, "one of the catchiest theme songs in television history." I think the kids will like it, and they'll also like these jokes (please note that the side comments are mine):

"What do you call a song you sing while you're parents are driving?"

(Annoying?)

"A car tune!"

(Oh. Right. Of course.)

"What do you call a cow from Alaska?"

(Must… not… make… Sarah… Palin… joke…)

"An eski-mooo!"

(Phew! I did it.)

Anyway, all of this Split stuff brings enough nostalgia to the table that I might share it with the kids, which is really the goal. I do wonder why they bothered re-recording the theme song. It's more modern, sort of, but it lacks some of the energy of the original. I'm not sure if I'll run out and buy the music and DVDs that are also available, but if nothing else, the website is a fun diversion: very colorful and, dare I say it, "groovy." (That's their word, not mine.) Check it out for yourself and see what you think.

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Strollerderby : old stuff

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