Shiny Vinyl Disk: Wonder Woman

Peter Pan Records had a solid grip on what entertained kids in the '70s. I remember the Star Trek and Six Million Dollar Man book and record sets pretty well, and I'm pretty sure that I had a few of the superhero records as well. I'm not so sure about their choice to put Kojak on vinyl in '77, but what do I know?

This Wonder Woman book and record set is awesome actually.




The drama level is pretty intense. I think the line, "Hitler! You play rough!" wins for most rediculous bit of dialog, but don't let me spoil the stories. Included below is the first side of the album, where Wonder Woman battles Mars the god of war.... and maybe I'll get around to posting side two with "Amazons From Space" some day.

Board Game: King Kong

Like every kid that grew up in the '70s, I love King Kong. it all began with regular viewings of the classic Kong movie on Saturday afternoon television, but it peaked when the Dino De Laurentiis film came out in 1976.

I'm actually pretty fond of the '76 Kong movie. Nothing will ever beat the original, but the version with Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin, and Jessica Lange (I had a huge crush on Jessica Lange) is a lot of fun.

Just as great is the amazing amount of merchandise that came out with the film. One really cool example, is the King Kong board game by Ideal.



You roll dice, spin the spinner, and play the mission cards to beat Kong before he reaches the top of the World Trade Center. In all, it's pretty typical that the game is a bit cooler to look at than it is to play, but ultimately it's silly and fun, just like the movie.

The Hot Ones

I picked up this generic diecast car collectors case at a thrift store recently, but didn't have any plan for how I'd use it. It's not terribly old, but I love the graphics on the front. I figured that for two dollars, I could probably find some way of using it... and as it turns out I have.

I was never a big fan of Hot Wheels from the '80s, and The Hot Ones line from that decade doesn't hold much sentimental significance. But just the same, they have put out a few Ferraris recently in the modern The Hot Ones line, and I'm sort of stuck on collecting diecast Ferraris at the moment, so I thought maybe they'd store nicely in that old vinyl case.




The cars from this line are nicely made actually. They're a little more expensive than the basic Hot Wheels line, but they're fun, and if you're a fan of retro Hot Wheels, this is probably just the thing for you.

Super Luxury

As shocking as the idea of a super luxury sports car is, it's just as surprising to see Matchbox and Hot Wheels versions of these incredibly expensive family vehicles.



I've seen the Porsche Panamera in person (the real car and not the toy), and I'm not a big fan. I tend to be of the "Porsche should only make the 911" persuasion. The Lamborghini on the other hand is a cool looking concept car, that I'd consider buying if I happened to have a spare quarter of a million dollars laying around.

Shiny Plastic Disk: Iron King

From Mill Creek Entertainment, the same people that brought me Ultraman on DVD (as mentioned in a previous post), comes the complete Iron King series. All 26 episodes of this obscure little show are included on three disks, and I couldn't be happier.



Iron King is pretty much your standard tokusatsu superhero show, which means it includes quite a bit of this...



As well as many instances of this...



And plenty of this...



The show is fun, but I'll obviously watch anything that involves a guy in a rubber suit fighting other guys in rubber suits. As far as '70s Japanese TV goes, it's not the very best, but it's still great if you can find the entire series for under twenty dollars like I did.

I'm A Lumberjack... and That's Okay

I spotted LEGO Minifigures Series 5 at a local store this afternoon, and picked up a few of them. I'm sure there will be a list of "dot codes" published at some point, giving us all a way to hunt down the specific figures that we want, but this time around I just sort of went for it.

As it turns out, I did pretty well. None of the figures in Series 5 are loosers really (well, except for the Fitness Instructor perhaps.) There are a few in particular that I've been hoping for, and luckily I managed to pull two of those.

The Detective is cool because we get a figure with massive mutton chops that would be fantastic for just about any Hammer Horror diorama.



Being from Oregon, the Lumberjack figure is a bit of a sentimental favorite. I'm fond of the beaver hat, but what I really like is the big scary axe that this guy has.



I'm still looking forward to finding the Evil Dwarf and the Gangster figures, though I wouldn't be sorry to pull the Boxer or Gladiator figures as well.