Memory Bank: The Sears "Wish Book" Catalog (Circa 1979)

Recently, I tried explaining to my eight-year old son, Joel, the idea of ordering items from a catalog.

I explained that it’s like ordering something from Amazon.com, only your choices are more limited, you can’t buy the items online, and you have to wait longer to receive your toy.

He didn’t see the appeal.

But when I was growing up, it was tremendously exciting to order from a catalog, or I should say from one catalog in particular. 

Every year, Sears sent out a mammoth Christmas catalog or “Wish Book,” a hugely fat inventory of everything it sold, from appliances and clothes to toys galore.  

One of the Wish Books that I’m remembering today -- from the year 1979 -- was illustrated with the tag-line “Where America Shops For Value.”

Forget value, I just wanted space toys.

The 1979 Sears Wishbook Catalog had ‘em too. 

From Page 613 thru 620 in that catalog, there was everything a 1970s space-kid could possibly desire: toys from Mego’s Micronauts, Buck Rogers in the 25^thCentury, Star Wars, and Star Trek too.  There were models, play-sets, toy action figures…the works.

And the great thing about Sears was that it not only offered toys you could find elsewhere, it also offered exclusive toys, like the Star Wars knock-off playset called “The Star Fortress” (seen on page 617).  I’ve covered this toy before on the blog, but the giant fold-out space base has a position of honor in my home office to this day. 

Another Sears exclusive from the same era (although it may have been first sold in 1978…) was the Star Wars “The Cantina Adventure Set” (not to be confused with the Creature Cantina).  The legend in the catalog read “If you stop at this cantina, watch out for strangers.”

This diorama of the exterior of the Mos Eisely drinking hole came with four new Kenner action figures that were unavailable elsewhere: Greedo, Hammerhead, Walrus Man, and Blue Snaggletooth.  The Blue Snaggletooth has become a highly-prized collectible.

Without me knowing, my Mom ordered me the Cantina Adventure Set, and I loved it. 

I kept it intact until about two years ago when the diorama base finally ripped. But it’s the item I remember most from the catalog.  

After I received the toy in the mail, I would play adventures with Sheriff Snaggletooth and Deputy Hammerhead.  They’d drive the land speeder around Mos Eisely, catching the gangsters Greedo and Walrus Man.

Back in the 1970s I loved coming home from school and finding in the mail either the next week’s issue of TV Guide (so I could see if Star Trek or Space:1999 was playing…), but it was a day of absolute delight and toy nirvana when the Wish Book arrived.

I still remember the feel and scent of the Wish Book catalog's pages. I remember poring over those toy pages too, imagining adventures with Buck Rogers, the Micronauts, the Cantina, and that Space Fortress...

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Memory Bank: Star Wars and Wonder Bread - Perfect Together

Okay, what 45-year old geek with a pulse didn't collect Star Wars trading cards back in 1977?   I know I certainly did. I also remember that Wonder Bread released a series of cards from the Lucas film at the time. Which meant that as kids, we had to relentlessly pressure Mom and Dad at the grocery store to buy us a loaf of Wonder Bread, so we could get that ONE measly card. Ah yes, commercialism...

Anyway, I have memories of going to a Shop Rite in New Jersey, near Verona if I recall, just dying to get to the bread aisle, so I could look 

for the Wonder Bread loaves with the Star Wars cards in them. Worse, I remember groping the soft, compliant bread (mmmm...Wonder Bread....) to see if I could expose the card inside, and see if it was one that I still needed for my collection. I think I was in second grade at the time...

Because I'm obsessive, I guess, I still own my Wonder Bread Star Wars cards, at least a few of them, so I thought it would be nice to feature them on a trading card close-up today.

As you can see from these cards, they feature images of the 

characters from the film; the title Star Wars running up the right corner, and the names of each character in bold red lettering across the bottom.

On the back of each card is a description of the character. Darth Vader, for instance, is described as "an awesome, evil figure dressed in flowing black robes" who "uses his extra sensory powers to aid Governor Tarkin in putting down the rebellion." Artoo-Detoo's legend describes the droid as a "round, meter-high information retrieval robot, whose face is a mass of computer lights surrounding a single radar eye."

Here, you can see cards three (Princess Leia Organa), four (Han Solo), Five (Darth Vader), Eight (Artoo-Detoo), and Twelve (Stormtroopers).

I don't know how many more there were of these in all, but I know I must have eaten at least five loaves of Wonder bread...

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Memory Bank: Star Wars Episode I Widescreen Video Collector's Edition

In just two months, a new Star Wars movie premieres.

The Force Awakensis the first new Star Wars film in a decade, and simultaneously the first beginning of a Star Wars trilogy since 1999.

That last fact got me thinking about The Phantom Menace (1999), and the premiere of that film in the early Internet Age.

It really was a different time, for a lot of reasons. 

For one thing, we were at least one generation back in terms of home entertainment options.

In 1999, when the film came out, I had not yet turned thirty, and was deep into the laserdisc phenomenon.  I was married, but had no children yet, so an (expensive) collection of films on laserdisc was my child, in a way.

After the film’s release, however, I remember buying the movie in what seemed the best and most affordable option at the time: The Widescreen Video Collector’s Edition. 

This Episode I item came in a nice, over-sized collectible case, and the back was adorned with a photo of Darth Maul. When you opened it up, there was a lovely photo inside of Naboo on the side opposite the tape.

The set itself was described in this fashion: “The ultimate Episode I video experience includes a widescreen version of The Phantom Menace with an exclusive behind-the-scenes documentary, plus specially created keepsake memorabilia.”

The film itself was on VHS in “original theatrical letterbox format,” and “digitally mastered by THX.”  But of more interest, even today, this set came with a 4- page collector’s book: The Art of Star Wars: Episode I. 

This is still a fascinating read, 16 years later.

The set also came with a 35mm film strip consisting of “five consecutive frames from an actual theatrical print, specially-mounted for two-sided viewing on a collectible card.”

I owned this set for many years, but ultimately decided that -- though I enjoyed the movie fine -- my passions really ran towards 1970s and 1980s science fiction (think: Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, Space: 1999, etc.). Don't mistake this mean to I think the movie is without merit, or that I am a prequel hater. I just sort of realized that I didn't feel the kind of intense passion for the new Star Wars that I did for some older productions, from my childhood.

Thus I gave the vast majority of my Phantom Menace collection to my son, Joel, and sold off what he didn’t want.

And I sold my Widescreen Collector’s Edition. 

But then, this July 4^th, I visited my mother-in-law in Virginia, and she surprised me with another one she had found at a yard sale.  It’s in good shape, unopened, and complete…and it reminded me that there are some collectibles you are just destined to own, I guess.

I can’t get rid of this bloody thing. 

When The Force Awakens is released, I suppose it will be streamed in high-def, and released on Blu-Ray and DVD. 

No VHS release, I’m sure is slated. 

But I’d sure love a 48 page book about the making of the film to accompany at least one of those 21^st century releases.

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Star Wars Week: Waiting in Line to See Star Wars in 1977

I recently watched the (intriguing) documentary The People vs. George Lucas,and the news camera footage of folks standing in line for The Phantom Menace (1999) and other Star Wars prequels at first seemed quite odd to me. 

I mean, at that point in our national history, there was no need really to stand in line – or camp out in line as the case might be – to see any particular film. The distribution paradigm of carpet-bomb wide release makes the very idea of standing-in-line something of an anachronism, it seems.

But, in my heart, I suppose I do understand why some fans chose to stand in line awaiting a new release in the popular old franchise.  Standing-in-line is a communal experience first, one allowing fans to connect to other Star Wars fans and to plug-in to the community’s sense of enthusiasm and excitement  And secondly, standing-in-line now likely qualifies as a nostalgic experience for older fans, at least for ones of my (advanced) age.

Because let me tell you, back in the day, if you wanted to see Star Wars (1977) or The Empire Strikes Back (1980) or E.T. (1982), for that matter, standing in long lines was absolutely an unavoidable part of the experience.

I will always remember the summer of 1977 and the coming of Star Wars.  I was in second grade at the time, and a friend who lived up the block from me in Glen Ridge came to school with a Star Wars movie booklet; one that featured imagery of Dewbacks, Banthas, Tusken Raiders, Jawas, C3PO, Chewbacca, Darth Vader and other characters of seemingly impossible and unbelievable imagination. 

I had never seen so many strange creatures assembled between two covers, and I so listened in awe as Stephen, my friend, described the film to me in some detail.  I still didn't quite understand why robots were co-existing with monsters and other creatures. It seemed...weird.

At this point, I should add, I was still high on King Kong (1976), and could not quite believe that any movie might possibly surpass that particular viewing experience.  So sue me.  I was seven.

Soon after my introduction via Stephen to Star Wars, my parents took me and my sister to see the film at a movie theater in Paramus N.J., and I couldn’t wait to see what I would make of the movie.

Only -- in actuality -- I could wait. 

In line. 

For close to three hours. 

The line at the theater stretched around the large rectangular building -- around three corners -- and then led out into the huge parking lot. And the line moved at a snail’s pace.

Finally, of course, we got into the auditorium, and it was absolutely packed. Everyone in my family had to squeeze past other patrons to find four seats together.

And then the movie started and my life changed.  That night before I went to bed, my mother asked me if I liked the movie. My mind was still reeling, and I said that I did.  But I suppose I was a little reserved. 

She then absolved me of my guilt: “It’s okay, John if you liked it better than King Kong,” she said, apparently sensing my loyalty and allegiance to the big ape.  My façade cracked quickly at that point and I was glad and relieved to admit the truth.

I had liked Star Wars a whole lot better than King Kong.  It was…amazing, like nothing I had ever imagined.

By the time The Empire Strikes Back arrived in theaters in 1980, I knew to expect a long line.  And so did my parents.  Before queuing up for the sequel, they bought me Star Wars and Shogun Warrior comic books to read for the wait.  I also had my Star Wars novelization in hand, and a few action figures in my pockets.  The time in line still seemed eternal, but again, the wait was worth it.  I left the theater wondering how on Earth I was supposed to wait for three years to discover Han Solo’s fate.

Then, by the time of Return of the Jedi, there was no need to stand in line, at least in Montclair, N.J., where I saw the film at the Clairidge Theater.  I came out of the film deflated, thinking “that’s it?”  And now I must wonder if my disappointment came about at least a little bit because I missed waiting in line.  There was no build-up to the experience, and no plugging-in to the enthusiasm of other Star Wars fans and even general audiences. More likely, the movie was just disappointing, and the experience played almost no role.  Right?

Of course, I’m glad that, by and large, we don’t have to wait in line to see movies anymore…unless we choose to. 

But I do wonder what the lengthy standing-in-line experience meant in terms of a movie meeting or not meeting audience expectations.  By waiting for hours in line for a film, were we just relieved to be inside -- in the air conditioning -- and therefore more receptive to a film’s spell? 

Or did the waiting-in-line actually build up our anticipation to such a degree that nothing could meet those expectations?  I wonder.

I do know this for certain: Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark and E.T. certainly surpassed my wildest expectations, and those are the films I remember most vividly standing in line for.

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Memory Bank: WWOR TV and Thanksgiving Monsters (From the Archive)

When I was growing up in the New Jersey burbs during the seventies and early eighties there was a great Thanksgiving Day tradition that I’d like to share with you today, on the eve of the holiday in 2015. 

Every year, WOR Channel 9 would broadcast King Kong (1933), Son of Kong (1933) and Mighty Joe Young (1949) on Turkey Day.

Then, on Friday, the same station would host a Godzilla marathon consisting of such films as King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster (1971) and many others. Some years, if memory serves, War of the Gargantuas (1968) also played.

I remember showering and dressing early on those Thanksgiving Days, so I could be lodged near the TV when the Kong movies started.  

Meanwhile, my Mom and Dad would be busy in the kitchen preparing a great meal of turkey, stuffing, baked carrots with cinnamon, and home-made biscuits. The house would fill with the delectable aromas of the feast, and even downstairs --while glued to WOR-TV -- I could feel my appetite for dinner building.

Our guests, usually my grandparents and aunts and uncles, would arrive sometime in the early afternoon, around 1:00 pm and I would socialize with them, and then sneak back to the family room for more King Kong.  Sometimes my uncle Larry, a horror fan after a fashion, would join me.

Then the meal and dessert -- a chocolate cream pie and a pumpkin pie -- would be served, and we’d all enjoy each other’s company over the delicious food.  After an appropriate interval of visiting and socializing, I’d high-tail it once more back down the stairs to watch more of the movies.

I’m certain my description of Thanksgiving makes it sound weird and anti-social, but you must remember that in the seventies, there were no VCRs (let alone DVRs or movie streaming), which meant that if you wanted to see a movie like King Kong, you had to seize your moment, or else wait for another year.

I believe it took me the better part of four Thanksgivings to see all of King Kong, and then not even in chronological order.  I actually saw the entirety of Son of Kong first, perhaps because it was often scheduled between our early afternoon dinner and dessert course.

This tradition of King Kong Thanksgiving and Godzilla Black Friday continued over a long period at my house -- the better part of a decade -- so much so that I still irrevocably associate the Holiday season with WOR Channel 9 and its monster movie broadcasts.  

I still remember, a bit guiltily, forcing my parents to watch the seventies Godzilla movies on Fridays, while we ate Thanksgiving leftovers in the family room.  My folks liked the King Kong movies, but when it came to Japanese monster movies, they weren’t exactly big fans..

Anyway, if you decide to spend the holiday with giant monsters, make sure to bring the pumpkin pie...and Happy Thanksgiving.

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