More from the museum....

As mentioned in one of my earlier posts, The Frazier International History Museum in Louisville, Kentucky has now opened it's "Toys" Exhibit - "The Good, The Bad, and The Cuddly."I was asked to feature some of my toys, and now I have a few pictures from the exhibit to share!

Here are my featured toys in the "Sid's Room" portion of the exhibit. You may remember Sid, he is the kid from the original Toy Story film who was known to Frankenstein-up his toys. He liked to take pieces of one toy and smash them together with others to form monstrocities of mutant toys. Well, to that end, this section of the exhibit features monster and mutant toys - where my toys can be found... Mwaa-ha-ha-haha!!

In the case to the left, in in front, are my Kraken and Godzilla figures.

The Kraken is a toy that was released for the movie Clash of The Titans (1980). In the film he was a relatively small puppet of rubber and steel armatures that, through the manipulation of stop-motion and photographic wizardry of special fx genius Ray Harryhausen, was made to look like a giant. He became a giant of a toy, and, while not looking exactly like the creature from the film, became a GREAT looking toy that "sort of" represents his look in the film. I am very glad to have this figure in my collection!

Next to The Kraken is my vinyl figure of GODZILLA from Horizon (1994). This is a great looking figure that is a very accurate representation of GODZILLA from some of the later films from TOHO Pictures.

Next up, in the case on the wall are my Sideshow Toys Universal Monster figures that were produced in the year 2000.

In the late 1990's-2000 Sideshow Toys began to produce fantastic 12" scale figures of The Universal Monsters. Up until that time Monster toys, like these of Frankenstein's Monster, Dracula, and The Mummy, never, NEVER looked So amazing! Sideshow was able to get some really top notch sculptors together and have, to this day, been in the business of creating toys and statues with unmatched attention to detail. They nail the image of whatever the subject, and not just monsters, but of many, many great franchises. I still love these initial items that Sideshow created! The company has been in business for a few years now, and their sculpting and design of clothing for their figures has improved, but the monsters still hold up today as great looking pieces. Karloff and Lugosi would be proud!

If you have not yet visited The Frazier Museum to see the "Toys" Exhibit, there is still time! The exhibit doesn't close until March of 2011.

Have fun! Stay safe, and stay positive!

Tales of a future-past...and present

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!
It is just past midnight on what has been a pretty good turkey day. I hope yours was great!

Days like Thanksgiving tend to make me think about the past, all the way back to childhood.
When I think back that far my mind seems to drift to the greatest thing of my childhood, which is that "galaxy far, far away." Yes, I'm talking about Star Wars (1977) - the greatest movie of all time.... well, to me it is, and I know that I'm not alone.

You will find that many of my blog entries are going to deal with my love of Star Wars, and a love of the revolutionary toy line that followed in 1978 and continues to this day!

When Star Wars was released in '77 I was eight years old. I was the perfect target for this film, and likewise, the toys that followed. Before that movie I was really into Batman and Hot Wheels, and most things that a boy my age went for. However, when I saw Star Wars on opening weekend, it became my thing like nothing else ever had! It made me appreciate the power of film. Up to that point I saw movies and enjoyed them, but Star Wars changed my thinking about film. The simple story of good vs. evil, the charcters that were so unique, the special FX of which I had never seen before. The movie was truely awe inspiring, and was pulled together by an orchestral score that, to this day, I love and listen to often. Almost every boy my age was transported, and it would thrill our imaginations for years to come.

The year Star Wars was released no one expected the film to do SO well. Everyone was caught off guard, even Kenner Toys located in Cinncinatti, Ohio which won the contract to do a small line of colorful toys for the film. It was decided that to make action figures that would fit into the small space vehicles they would have to be small in scale, thus the decision was made to make the little figures just under four inches. A revolution in the toy world was born, and even today most toy lines based on a movie franchise scale their action figure toys based on the decisions that were made for Star Wars because that movie changed everything and became a pop culture icon as we all know. Movie merchandising would never be the same.

To begin our look at Star Wars Toys we will begin where it all began - "the empty box campaign," as it has come to be known.
Every kid wanted Star Wars Toys in '77 after seeing the movie. Kenner Toys had no idea the movie would be so popular! Knowing that they wouldn't meet the demand for the toys before the '77 Christmas season, they devised a plan - get your parents to buy this colorful envelope that includes a cardboard stand, and a certificate that you can mail in for the first four Star Wars action figures, and you will receive them by next spring ('78)....

Now, I got my dad to buy it. I think he was into it as much as I was! We took it home, mailed the certificate in, and I threw away the cardboard envelope!! That thing is worth quite a bit these days, but I was a kid and wanted the toys! The rest didn't matter, though today I would LOVE to have my original envelope again. There was a re-release of the envelope with an offer for four more figures just a few years back, but I will save that for a future post where past meets present.

So, next spring arrived and my figures did as well. Luke, Leia, R2-D2, and Chewbacca were the first to arrive to every eager young Star Wars fan!....

I played with those figures year in and year out, until about 1983 when Return Of The Jedi was released which sort of ended Kenner Toys' original figure movie line, but it kept going in production until 1985. At that point I was in high school and persuing other interests like girls, cars, and rock-n-roll!

Those toys that I loved would remain with me, boxed for many years, until 1995 when Kenner would re-visit that "galaxy far, far away" for a second time as Star Wars was making plans to come back to the big screen which would reawaken the original Star Wars generation, and inspire a new one - new kids, and a new toy line. This will be the focus of my Star Wars entries. Next time we will futher review old school Star Wars Toys, and see how the line evolved, and how I have evolved as a collector over the years. Should be fun!

Until next time, stay safe, and stay positive!

-Mike

"It belongs in a museum!"

So, you're probably wondering where the heck I went??
Well, I didn't abandon my blog.... I have just been, um, busy, I guess. Between work, the kids, and such, everything went to the back burner for a bit. I do promise to make many more posts in the coming weeks, so this WILL be TODAY-in-Mike's-world, and NOT this MONTH-in-Mike's-world. Again, sorry for the delay! :)

Anyway, back on track! I'm very thrilled and excited to say that there is a really neat exhibit opening at The Frazier History Museum in Louisville Kentucky called "The Good, The Bad, The Cuddly - Toys and The Movies," which will examine the stories behind some of America's most beloved toys. The exhibit, which includes art and props from Pixar's Toy Story franchise, runs from November 2oth through March 27th. This is going to be a really fun exhibit for the whole family and I hope that you will check it out.

The really fantastic part about this exhibit, for me, is that I was asked to feature some of my own toys from my childhood, as well as some of my more modern toys, in the exhibit! So, this is a thrill, and I can't wait to see some of my own stuff behind glass in a museum!
Toys=FUN!=Happiness! :)

Check out all of the information on the museum exhibit....
http://www.fraziermuseum.org/calendar_detail.asp?id=376

Alrighty! That's a start, right?
I promise not to be away for such a long time again!
Have a great day! Stay positive!

The first day in Mike's World

Well hello, and welcome to the show!

I hope to post here quite often on things going on in my world that will perhaps interest, entertain, enlighten(?), and generally burn up your, and my, free time.... call it a journey of sorts.

First off, I would like to share some of my latest sketches. I have begun to do a series of Star Wars sketch cards. Pictured are the first two. I decided to start with these two not because of the characters, but for their differences in texture. The Ewok came first, all furry and cute, and the AT-AT Driver was second because I wanted to contrast with something more hard edged.

They turned out pretty well, I think, so I am excited to continue on with more! I will also be branching out to incorporate other interests and concepts as well, so stay tuned and check back often! You never know what might be happening in Mike's World next!