Lark Programmable TV Game and the Pong clones of the 1970′s.
We can look back and see the time when the black and white images of the first televisions lit up lucky homes around the world. It was a revolution in entertainment that the whole family and jealous neighbours would have been amazed by.
So it wouldn’t be a surprise that this would have been the same amazing experience when video games started stamping their mark on the world. Pong and its many clones showed how interactive entertainment was possible and well, the world hasn’t looked back.
The Lark Programmable TV Game (TVG-868) released around 1978.
Kittens on classical vinyl album cover art. A pre-internet attempt at world domination.
60′s were a time of kitsch. Although it was the height of fashion at the time, designers went a bit crazy – pairing bold colours with the most random objects. Mind you, among garish décor disasters it wasn’t all bad and we can look back fondly for reflection and inspiration at an amazing colour revolution. But besides those interesting design sensibilities, what could this have to do with the internet today? Cats!
From the back of the album sleeve, this details the complete series, 'An Evening of Classical Favourites' from Fontana. Great colours and ridiculous use of kittens and musical instruments.Sam Raimi’s cult horror film The Evil Dead – Book of the Dead editions on DVD… and a musical?
Evil dead, Sam Raimi’s classic horror film. Released in the early 80’s it was THE horror movie to see. My older brother had watched it and as I was too young, he delivered it to me in his own words. Weaving vivid descriptions of its scariest and bloodiest moments, it was all the nourishment my young mind needed to recreate every moment he described into a terrifying vision.
The Evil Dead - The poster for Sam Raimi's classic horror film.Alphonse Mucha, creator of Art Nouveau – His life & works published in books and popular culture.
Apologies for the delay between posts!
There’s been a lot going on at work.. new job and have been settling into it. But I’m back now and will continue posting on a more regular basis 
Ever since I worked at a comic book shop in the early 90′s, I was fascinated by the beautiful and ornate artwork created by Alphonse Mucha. It wasn’t because at the time the comic shop sold Mucha artwork but that his style of work, Art Nouveau, was interpreted by one of my favourite comic book artists, Joe Quesada. Quesada had created some X-Men posters in the style of Art Nouveau and I loved them. Ornate, organic and beautifully detailed I wanted to know more about Mucha and the origins of this art movement. One of the posters is linked in a Tumblr blog further in my post.
Alphonse Mucha was renowned throughout Europe as a master of the decorative art style he created, they dubbed Art Nouveau.View Master – Reels of 3D fun and memories for over 65 years
View Master – one of the great toy success stories of the last century. There wouldn’t be many people out there that haven’t owned or at least played with one at some point. It was simple to use and with hundreds of reels created over time that meant there was something for everyone. Today’s post is about Bec’s very impressive collection of View Master reels and viewers and why she chose to collect it.
This is the classic red View Master people most remember.
Choose Your Own Adventure Books – 30 years of interactive fiction that’s influenced the world.
First published in 1979, Choose Your Own Adventure books propelled the new genre known as interactive fiction into the popular culture stratosphere. The key to their success was that it placed you, the reader, at the centre of the story and you decided how the book progressed. It was kind of like a video game, but without the console, game cartridges, joystick and TV… ok, they were nothing like video games, but they were interactive and that was central to their entire success.
The Cave of Time was the first Choose Your Own Adventure printed. The book on the far left is a later edition that featured different art. I always preferred the original covers.
Spider-Man Statue from Bowen Designs – centrepiece for the discerning comic book geek.
I haven’t posted about Spider-Man yet so it’s certainly about time. I’ve been following his adventures and collecting the comics since the late 1980’s and he’s always been my favourite super hero. The Bowen Designs Classic Spider-Man statue was always on my list of must haves and last year I was finally able to get my hands on one!
A classic Spider-Man pose faithfully recreated by Bowen Designs.Retro gaming with Mastertronic – Budget software for the Commodore 64
During the 1980’s, U.K based company Mastertronic rocketed to fame by launching a range of budget games for the Commodore 64, Amstrad and Spectrum home computers. Some became classics and others would be soon forgotten, but their prices were right and that’s what mattered to the kids of the day.
Inspired by the Mastertronic article featured in Retro Gamer Magazine #1 (check my post on Retro Gamer #100), Mat Corne has decided to recapture this heyday of silver age gaming by collecting and reviewing their back catalogue via his blog, Mastertronic Chronicles.
Some of the Mastertronic range for Commodore 64Kit Kats from Japan – a culinary collecting obsession!
Japan, being a big gift giving culture has embraced Kit Kats like nowhere else in the world. In fact a big part of their success is that the name Kit Kat is very similar to the Japanese phrase kitto katsu, or “you’ll surely win,” and this has helped it become a great present among students and friends.
Limited Edition KIt Kat from Japan. This one is Koi Kinako Kit Kat (Dark Soy Flour flavour)Click on the follow button below to subscribe!
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Retro Gamer reaches Issue #100 – revives fond memories of a misspent youth.
It was 2004 and I was browsing my local newsagent’s video game section when the cover of Retro Gamer #1 caught my eye. It was filled with reviews, interviews and flashbacks of the games and people who created them in the early decades of interactive and electronic gaming. It was also the first magazine in years that I would read from cover to cover. Eight years later, it has reached Issue #100 and Retro Gamer still provides an awesome array of articles and features put together by a passionate team of gamers that understand the importance of capturing this history for posterity and future generations.
The cover of Retro Gamer #100, and a nod to a famous Beatles album.Top Posts & Pages
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Stuff We Collect Twitter Feed
- New post on StuffWeCollect! Kittens on vintage classical album covers. Ridiculous, but necessary back in the 1960's! stuffwecollect.com/kittens-on-cla… 7 months ago
- New post on StuffWeCollect! A look at cult horror movie, The Evil Dead and Book of the Dead Limited Editions on DVD. stuffwecollect.com/sam-raimis-cul… 9 months ago
- New post (finally!) on StuffWeCollect! Alphonse Mucha & Art Nouveau. His life & works in books & popular culture. stuffwecollect.com/alphonse-mucha… 10 months ago
- New post on collecting View Master reels and viewers. Check it out! stuffwecollect.com/view-master-re… 1 year ago
- @JimDattilo thanks for the tweet Jim! 1 year ago