Category Archives: Family & Friends

Owing to the positive response to the first vintage toy posting I did, I decided to put together another one. I know a little something about boys’ toys (I played with them). Girls’ toys, not so much. Then I remembered some years ago I bought a stack of board games at an estate auction for a few dollars. One of the games was the 1965 Milton Bradley game Mystery Date. I remembered seeing the commercials for it, but by 1965 I was 15 and starting to notice girls smelled… different. I even thought I was in love once, but it turned out to be an allergy.

I checked and all 4 playing pieces and all 53 cards were there (any board game is almost worthless if not complete) so I put it on eBay with an opening bid of like 9.99. When the auction ended it had sold for almost $125.00.

Fast forward to Monday, August 17, 2015. The delightful Dianny, with a PhD in snarkery,posted this at Patriot Retort:

Who here remembers the board game Mystery Date?

If ever there was a board game that would make Leftists’ heads explode it’s Mystery Date.

After all, the girls have to dress up and hope the boy at the door is the date of their dreams.

There is no transgendered “man.” And, no lesbian date.

I mean, talk about hate.

Any old how.

The thing I remember most is the commercial.

Will your date be a dream? Or a dud?”

Whelp. It looks like the Republican Establishment has been playing Mystery Date. They got themselves all dolled up for the ideal shoo-in candidate, flung the door open only to find Jeb Bush standing there.

READ THE REST HERE:
http://patriotretort.com/mystery-date/

SAY IT WITH ME:
WEEBLES WOBBLE BUT….

This is the Dick Tracy snub-nosed .38 made by Mattel from 1959-1962. It is the same size as the real thing. So real, in fact, that people were robbing stores with them because at that time, you could not be charged with armed robbery if the weapon was a toy. A sheriff’s deputy working security at a toy show I did took a long, hard look at some of the toy pistols I had and told me that the way the law now reads you don’t even have to show a weapon, just indicate you have one and it’s armed robbery.

(The orange plug is there to be advertised on ebay.They were not permanently affixed to guns until the 70’s.

CELEBRITY CHEF BOBBY FLAY WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN KENNER MAKING THE EASY-BAKE OVEN IN NEUTRAL COLORS SO BOYS COULD FEEL BETTER ABOUT USING THEM.THAT’S NO JOKE.

THESE WERE SO DAMN COOL…YOU ATTATCHED THESE TO YOUR BIKE.IT WAS BATTERY OPERATED AND WHEN YOU TURNED IT ON IT MADE A VROOM SOUND LIKE A MOTORCYCLE.I LOVED MINE.

THERE WERE BUBBLE BATH CONTAINERS CALLED ‘SOAKYS’ IN THE FORM OF ALL SORTS OF CARTOON CHARACTERS. ALVIN, MIGHTY MOUSE, ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE, ETC. FOR SOME REASON THE UNIVERSAL MONSTER TOYS WERE ALWAYS THE MOST HIGHLY PRIZED. THE ONLY ONES I CAN THINK OF MORE VALUABLE WERE THE BEATLES SOAKYS, WHICH ARE HARDLY EVER SEEN.

TELL THE TRUTH… IF YOU GOT ONE OF THESE FOR CHRISTMAS DID THE SYRUP AND PAPER CONES THAT CAME WITH IT LAST MORE THAN A DAY?

I HAD ONE OF THESE. IT WAS LIKE PLAYING HOT POTATO. YOU WOUND UP THE TOP AND IT UNWOUND AS YOU TOSSED IT BACK AND FORTH UNTIL IT WENT ‘BANG’. THEY USUALLY LASTED A WEEK OR TWO UNTIL THEY GOT OVERWOUND AND DIDN’T WORK ANYMORE

I KNEW ONE KID WHO COULD MAKE CIRCLES WITH AN ETCH-A-SKETCH…I HATED HIM

Now that we’ve flushed the Trumparrhea from our systems, it’s time to move on.

FIRST, THE TYLER NEWS….  BEHOLD GOD’S LOVE AND MERCY EMBODIED
FROM HER FACEBOOK PAGE:

8 months ago, our lives were turned upside down by the evil that is childhood cancer. There were days where it seemed like the end would never come, & yet here were are. Today is Tyler’s last day of chemo, & tomorrow night, we will go home. There are so many emotions that come with the end of treatment. Elation that my boy will no longer have to endure the poison of chemo. Sadness to say goodbye to the other families we have connected with, & the amazing staff who have seen us through the darkest of days. Trepidation for the future. I have been lucky enough to become friends with some other moms who have been through this, & I know that our journey is far from over. Now, it will become about managing the unknown.Tyler will get updated scans every 3 months for the first 2 years. We will continue to monitor him for side effects from radiation & chemo, & watch for signs of a reoccurance. For now, I am just thankful to be able to get on with our new normal at home. I could never fully express just how much everyone’s love, prayers, & support have meant to us throughout this process. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

This is why I call him my snuggle bug. He fell asleep while I was tucking him in.

ANYBODY WHO DOUBTS THE POWER OF PRAYER, SEND THEM TO ME, M’KAY?

OBIE FROM NAIROBI GOT A WARM WELCOMW FROM THE MILLIONS OF HIS ADORING FANS AS HE STARTS HIS EXTENDED SQUAT ON MARTHA’S VINEYARD

CAN YOU SEE HIM?

While perusing Facebook last night I came across a page devoted to the photographic history of my town. Some of the things were way before my time, but there were a lot of memories. Here is the opening of a website about our town:

Knowing the history of the city lets you know its character, and the character of the people that make it up. The history of Rockford, Illinois is quite interesting. This mid-sized city in northern Illinois turned 150 years old in 2002. The city was founded in 1834 and called the “Village of Midway” initially. This is because it was located at the midway point between Chicago and Galena. This name stuck around until 1837 when it was officially changed to Rockford because of its location on the Rock River. This name was chosen because of the good “ford” on the Rock River. A ford is a naturally occurring low water area in a river, allowing people to walk or drive across without a bridge.

Rockford is located 70 miles northwest of Chicago, just south of the Wisconsin state line. It was at one time the machine tool capitol of the country. Camp Grant was an Army training facility located at the Rockford Airport, which was renamed the Rockford-O’Hare airport after UPS built a huge distribution center there. When the Concorde first flew, it landed here because O’Hare didn’t have a long enough runway for it to land.

As with most towns,the downtown was the heart of the city. There were 5 movie theaters, businesses and recreational facilities, like a bowling alley/pool hall and a roller skating rink where the family could go. We have a landmark movie theater named the Coronado, which I’ll post about at another time, given I don’t want to use up a lot of space.

We are not without our celebrities, like Perry Mason co-star Barbara Hale, Olympic skaterJanet Lynn, the Rockford Peaches baseball team, and our hometown heroes, Cheap Trick. I thought maybe somebody would enjoy something that wasn’t a political rant. You can get those anywhere. Bear with me, I’ll try to do some regular stuff after my Thursday breakfast meeting with my kin.

THESE ARE THE ROCKFORD PEACHES AT BEYER STADIUM,IN 1950. WE PLAYED OUR HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL GAMES ON THAT FIELD UNTIL THE CITY BUILT A STADIUM ON OUR SIDE OF TOWN IN THE LATE 70’S.

THIS BRICK ARCHWAY WHERE THE TURNSTYLE WAS IS ALL THAT’S LEFT OF THE OLD STADIUM

THIS IS WHERE I HAD MY FIRST HOURLY-PAYING JOB IN 1965. HAMBURGERS WERE 12 CENTS, CHEESEBURGERS 15, AND HAND-CUT FRENCH FRIES AND MILKSHAKES .20. STANDING OVER A FLAT IRON GRILL IN THE DEAD OF SUMMER WAS NO FUN, BUT IT DIDN’T KILL ME, SO IT MUST HAVE MADE ME STRONGER.

THEY WERE CALLED ROOT BEER STANDS BACK THEN. THIS ONE WAS BUILT NEAR HARLEM HIGH SCHOOL, HOME OF THE HARLEM HUSKIES. MY WIFE IS A HARLEM ALUM. SHE SAID SHE SPENT MANY A MUGGY SUMMER NIGHT HANGING OUT HERE, QUAFFING ROOT BEERS, FRIES AND GOSSIPING WITH HER GIRLFRIENDS. WE KNEW HOW TO HAVE FUN>

THIS WAS THE DRIVE-IN THEATER ON THE WEST EDGE OF TOWN. IT WAS WHERE WE ALWAYS WENT. WE POPPED CORN AT HOME, TOOK SODA IN A COOLER, AND DRESSED IN OUR PAJAMAS BECAUSE HALFWAY THROUGH THE FIRST FEATURE WE WERE ZONKED OUT IN THE BACK OF THE STATION WAGON. I EVEN HAD MY FIRST CAR DATE HERE. IT STOOD UNTIL THE 80’S WHEN A BAD WINDSTORM BLEW DOWN THE SCREEN. IT WAS NEVER REBUILT. IT NOW HAS SELF-STORAGE UNITS ON THE GROUNDS.

THIS HAD TO BE ABOUT 1974-75. DW WENT TO SCHOOL WITH THE DRUMMER,BUN E. CARLOS (BRAD CARLSON) AND RICK NEILSEN’S DAD RALPH OWNED THE BIGGEST MUSIC STORE IN TOWN. BY THE TIME HE FINISHED HIGH SCHOOL, RICK COULD PLAY MORE THAN 20 INSTRUMENTS AND WAS ALREADY DESIGNING HIS OWN GUITARS, AS HE STILL DOES. I HAD A MUSIC THEORY CLASS WITH HIM AT OUR COMMUNITY COLLEGE. I WORKED MY BUTT OFF FOR A ‘C.’ HE SHOWED UP FOR ABOUT TWO CLASSES AND ACED IT. GO FIGURE. CAN YOU IMAGINE SEEING ALL THESE BANDS FOR TWELVE BUCKS?

THESE WERE SOLDIERS TRAINING FOR WAR AT CAMP GRANT

THERE WAS AN AMUSEMENT PARK CALLED KIDDIELAND. EVERY TIME A KID WENT BY IT THE WHINING WOULD START. I THINK WE WENT TWICE OUR WHOLE ADOLESCENT LIVES. IT HAD A TRAIN, A ROLLER COASTER CALLED ‘THE LITTLE DIPPER’, A PONY RING AND BOATS THAT WENT AROUND IN A RING OF WATER. IT WAS MAGICAL.

EVERY CHANCE I GOT I HEADED FOR THE RECORD STORE TO BUY THE LATEST 45s FOR 1.49. IN THE PICTURE YOU CAN SEE THE PALACE SHOE REPAIR. OUR FIRST DRUMMER WAS THE NEPHEW OF THE OWNER. HE WORKED SATURDAYS SHINING SHOES. THE GUITAR PLAYER,BASS PLAYER AND I WOULD GO IN AND MAKE HIM SHINE OUR SHOES FOR FIFTY CENTS. HE GOT EVEN BY STOPPING PLAYING IN THE MIDDLE OF A SONG. IT WAS WORTH IT.

I WAS THERE! JULY 27TH,1980. JUST ME AND ABOUT30,000 OTHER PEOPLE AT THE ROCKFORD SPEEDWAY. THIS WAS BEFORE ANN WILSON BLEW UP TO 200 POUNDS. IT WAS ONE OF THE BEST CONCERTS I EVER SAW

This is not your grandkids’ website.

There’s a Cecil the Lion Beanie Baby now
Plush toy manufacturer Ty Inc. announced Monday that it’s making a Beanie Baby to commemorate Cecil the Lion, a Southwest African Lion killed last month by American tourist Walter Palmer.

The company says it will donate all profits from the new toy to the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit of University of Oxford, the organization that had been tracking Cecil since 2008.

http://fortune.com/2015/08/03/cecil-lion-beanie-baby/

WHAT DO BEANIE BABIES HAVE TO DO WITH VINTAGE TOYS? SO GLAD YOU ASKED.

First,there are two basic determining factors that affect the desirability of any collectible….condition and rarity.
How hard is it to find?
What condition is it in?
This applies to any collectible from stamps and coins to antique cars.

About 20 years ago my wife suggested I start collecting something. At a big flea market held bi-annually at our county fairgrounds I came across a dealer who had some old cap pistols on his table. There was a mattel Fanner 50, just like the one my mom bought me for my 10th birthday in 1960. I bought it and I was hooked. The hobby became an obsession. The internet was in its infancy in the early nineties and the joy was in going to auctions, flea markets and estate sales looking for treasures.
There was a paper that was published every two weeks called The Toy Shop, which had ads for people selling toys and looking to buy certain items. I met some of the biggest toy dealers in the country that way.
There was a very large toy show held twice a year in St. Charles, Illinois, just west of Chicago. Dealers came from all over the country back then.
Of the scores of toy shows, flea markets, and antique shows, I can’t remember a time when somebody didn’t come into my booth, pick up a tin toy, cap gun or old pressed steel dump truck and say ‘I had one of these when I was a kid.’
Therein lies the inherent value of old toys. People equate them to a happier past and the good times they had. Somebody would pick up an item and look at the price tag and lament: if they’d only known. The boxes, some now more valuable than the toy that came in them, went out with the wrapping paper the day after Christmas. Alas, the collectibles market has been saturated with the advent of e-bay. I bought and sold thousands of items through that site. Sadly, there’s not much challenge to finding anything you want anymore. You can’t even find a good deal at auctions because you don’t need any knowledge anymore. Everybody has smart phones they frantically tap on, looking up prices of things.

OK, the beanies….
Most dealers I knew were in agreement that Beanie Babies would be a fairly short-lived fad. People used up their savings, took out second mortgages, and went through Junior’s college fund to buy cases of these things, envisioning great wealth. Trouble was, kids didn’t play with them. It was driven by adults speculating that they would go up in value. Like a Ponzi scheme, the ones who got in early made out OK, but after a while they devalued to junk status. Now you can find them at garage sales for .50 or a dollar.
Remember condition and rarity? There is one beanie, the holy grail of beanie collecting: the 1st issue of the Princess Di bear, which came out right after hr death.

You might want to see if you have one of these; in mint condition the value is somewhere between $100-150,000 (if you can find somebody to pay that much).

WHY IS THIS CLOWN BORING US WITH THIS CRAP?
Because I can.

Last weekend, more than a thousand vintage Barbie collectors came to DC for their annual convention
Welcome to Barbie world: More than 1,000 fans turn out for National Barbie Doll Collectors Convention in Washington DC
National Barbie Doll Collectors Convention 2015 taking place in Arlington
Thousands of plastic dolls sold and Barbie Broadway play auditions held
First Barbie doll released in 1959 and she has had 150 career guises
THE FIRST SIX BARBIES WERE ALL HAND-PAINTED, WITH #1 AND 2 IN JAPAN. THESE ARE SOME OF THE VINTAGE DOLLS.
THEY CAME WITH TWO HAIR STYLES, PONYTAIL AND SHORT-HAIRED, REFERRED TO AS A BUBBLE CUT. THE HAIR WAS BLONDE, BRUNETTE, BLACK, OR TITIAN.
IF YOU CAN READ THE PRICE STICKERS, IN A REPRO BOX THEY’RE WORTH $150-200. WITH THE ORIGINAL BOX AND ACCESSORIES, EVEN MORE. ALL THE ORIGINALS CAME WITH THE BLACK AND WHITE SWIMSUITS.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3181135/Barbie-Doll-Collectors-Convention-Washington-DC-attracts-1-000-fans.html#ixzz3hxO6lyO3

HASBRO INTRODUCED G.I. JOE IN 1959.
HE WAS NOT A DOLL, HE WAS AN ACTION FIGURE!
The original Joes had painted hair. Collectors referred to them as ‘painted heads.’ They came out in 1964.
In 1971, they came out withe these; it was the Adventure Team Joe, and were referred to as ‘fuzz heads’ because of the flocking. The commander figures had talk boxes attached by a string to the plastic dog tag they came with. The basic figure today can be had in decent shape for $30-40. It’s the outfits and accessories that get pricey.
This concludes todays lesson.