Catching up on Mr. In between. Such a great show! Every time I see someone get introduced on the show, I think to myself, "I hope Ray kicks their skull in soon." Lol #fxx #mrinbetween #nowwatching #hulu #binging https://www.instagram.com/p/B2ZmX5XgGZW/?igshid=1o7iyhtm9xx4f

Enjoy yourself. #mcdonaldstoys #happymealtoys #mactonight #saintpepsi #toycollection #enjoyyourself https://www.instagram.com/p/Bnwv1JclJJt/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1r8o2iw87sv00

Now, this would be a fight that I would love to see.

The new line up from Hasbro looks pretty promising!

I was meant to get this. #voicescarry #tituesday #fleamarketing #fleamarketfinds #45rpm

Duncan Jones is gonna do a Rouge Trooper movie!!!!!

Who knew porn bots were into toy collecting!

Cops and Joes

Hello everyone.

I promise to publish more blog posts soon. But also, I am going to start doing mini blog posts as well. Little blurbs about toys and little-known facts. Here's my first one.

Did you know?  C.O.P.S. character Checkpoint is related to a very recognizable character from another toyline/cartoon?

Checkpoint's real name is Wayne R. Sneeden III, he grew up in Auburn, Alabama with his father, who served with a certain top-secret anti-terrorist unit during the 80's - 90's. And if the name and the clues don't spell it out for you. I'll just tell ya.

Boy, you better not be on the juice!

His dad was non-other than our favorite southern, salty, stick in the mud, by the book, army ranger and a personal fave of mine, Beachhead! Since C.O.P.S. was owned by the same Hasbro, so it was fine to do something cool like this for the fans out there.

You see this guy? His name is Barnum. I had a dream about him the other night. He was standing outside of a department store, I was inside and people were giving me nice compliments and it made me feel very good. Then they pointed out to the door and they asked asked if he was with me. I looked out the department store doors and saw Barnum but he was 8 feet tall and waving at me, so I motioned for him to come in and join me. So he came in, and started hugging me and rubbing my head and it just made me feel good and then I woke up. It was a very pleasant dream. Most of time I don't really have pleasant dreams, most of my dreams are bizarre, and are full of weird imagery. So it's nice to have a dream where your hugged by an 8-foot tall stuffed Ankylosaurus. #stuffeddino #dinosofinstagram #ankylosaurus #weirddreams

Geedis!

Geedis,

There...I said it. Atlas Obscura is talking about it. And there's a big Reddit Thread for it too. (But then there's a Reddit Thread on which way people put their toilet paper on the dispenser and how the people that put the toilet paper with the tissue going under the roll, are refugees from an alternate reality that has collapsed onto our own. I made that last part up. C'mon! You think Reddit is that cool?)

Comedian and writer for The Late Show with James Corden, Nate Fernald, Tweeted one day about he found an enamel pin when looking for a pin for the band, "The Jam", and then went down the ol' google hole. Fernald has brought a lot of attention to this creature named Geedis. This little monkey-like creature can be found on a sheet of stickers in 1981 from a company called Dennison. It appears that the company made some fantasy stickers from 1981 to 1982. Also on the top of the sticker sheet, next to the name "Zoltan"  it says, "The Land of Ta".  Also, notice that does not have a "TM" next to it, nor does it have copyright symbol either. That is the give away for me, that this is not a failed toyline or prototype cartoon or any kind of conceptual art.

These stickers came out around the time That Gary Gygax's Dungeons and Dragons was making headway in our society. It was spreading through schools like wildfire and running away with our imaginations. Dennison made stickers to sort of cash in on that streak. I mean, if I would have seen them, back then, I would literally throw money at it while it was hanging on a peg next to the scratch and sniff stickers!

The creature known as Geedis has a look that evokes a general sense of a forgotten picture of something that you can't put a finger on. He brings to mind the look of the robotic daggit (dog) on Battlestar Galactica called, "Muffit" (I would put a “I” or “II” after the “it” but..semantics). And it very well could be where the artist of this creature got his inspiration from. Also, the very first picture of a daggit came from veteran sci-fi artist Ralph Mcquarrie.

Daggit played by a 3-year-old female chimpanzee named Eve.

Looks Geedis-esque to me!

But in my opinion, I believe that it was just a run of stickers just like Dennison's knockoff of Star Wars, Buck Rogers sticker sheet. (See below)

We can see from the above picture here that there is a knock-off X-wing fighter from Star Wars on the top left of the sticker sheet. And if you look at the "A" shaped ship below the saucer-shaped one, you would say that it looks similar to the A-wing fighter. Now please direct your attention down to the very bottom of the right side. One could argue that the ship there puts you in mind of the Draconian Marauder from the TV series Buck Rogers. These stickers were just a way to issue a prescribed response for those that had seen these things and related or identified with them and then begged your parents to buy them for you.

X-wing fighter from Star Wars (for those of you that have lived in a bomb shelter for the last 40+ years)

A-wing fighter from Star Wars

Draconian Marauder From the Buck Rogers TV series  

The knockoff stickers are familiar enough to picture the real ships in your mind's eye, without actually saying something negative about the whole thing. Sure they're riding on the coattails of other giants but sometimes you can't help what influences you, I mean in the 90's I drew characters with pouches all over them. It was a dark time in my life and I'd like to not talk about it anymore.

So where does the Geedis pin come into this whole thing? My answer would be since it was an obscure sticker that wasn't very mainstream, then it was considered fair game to some random bootleg enamel pin maker who could make some easy cash on them.

My point is that there's no more story to those stickers. That's all they were. But I am staying open to new developments though. And just like Atlas Obscura and Fernald, I contacted, neigh, called people! I know right?! Who even uses a phone to call people anymore unless you are over the age of 50.

I even talked to a bigwig named Eva Fishman and told her what I was doing. She told me that she couldn't help because all the people that worked back then are retired and it would be pretty hard to get a hold of them but that I should call corporate and try to talk to someone in cataloging. So I called corporate in Glendale Ca, and they told me to fill out the "contact us"  part on their website and they would try to get back to me as soon as possible.

I may come back and do updates on this if I ever find out anything more on it. So stay tuned!                                                                        

The comet and the parasite

This world has always been fascinated by Halley's Comet. (All comets mostly, but I am going to focus on Halley's for this blog) Like all the way back to 240 B.C. The comet was seen as a "Harald" of death and destruction and doom. A harbinger of chaos, an Usher of oblivion, a Chauffeur of catastrophe, uh...the bus driver of the holocaust? But I digress.

It always had a knack it seamed for showing up at the wrong time. (Like me.) It Appeared before the defeat of Attila the Hun at the Battle of Chalons. In the year 1066, it was seen in England and thought to be an ill omen, later on, that year Harold II of England died at the Battle of Hastings; it was a bad omen for Harold, but a good omen for the man who killed him, William the Conqueror. In 1910  Halley's comet was set to poison the Earth with it's 15 million mile tail. People went absolutely crazy Evil creatures from the tail of Halley's comet! Matchbox came out with the Parasite toy line in 1985. And yes, Halley's comet showed up on February 9th, 1986. In 1985 I was mad for the coming of Halley's comet! I couldn't wait for it to get here! Something that visited the earth every 76 years sounded amazing. And one cold February night, I got to see the comet with my own eyes. I remember standing in my front yard, just staring up at the night sky, admiring the comet's celestial beauty. 

But let's get back to 1985, shall we? In 85 I was gathering intel on the coming comet and ignoring everything else in my life ( I see a pattern here!), my father that ignored me or looked down on me as a failure. My school life where kids my age were pretending to be adults and making fun of me for being a kid. I thought kids still played with toys in 5th grade. Little did I know, that was not the case at all. If you did play with your toys, it was a lot like masturbation, you made sure no one was around when you did it and you had to make certain no one else knew about it!

I purchased my first and sadly the last Parasite then. I got it at K&B Toys at my local mall.

I loved the idea of these evil robotic entities that got came to earth after piggybacking off the tail of Halley's Comet.  There was never any information on how they got their "Shells" and it was implied that the beings gutted out our vehicles and hid inside them. Hmm, a lot like a parasite. I imagined that they would eventually have to move on to another "Host body" since that's what parasites do. We just don't get the insertion, gestation, and egress phase of the parasites that we see in nature. (See Hair Worm)

Since I was a giant NERD about Halley's comet, I was forming stories and origin stories for them in my imagination. The length of the nucleus or center of the comet is roughly 9 miles long, and the width, about 5 miles wide. It would take you roughly 2 hours to walk the length of it. A comet the size of St. John island. It could harbor some alien life about the size of a parasite which would probably be about 15 to 20ft tall that originated from the Oort Cloud that resides outside the Heliopause and interstellar space in the furthest reaches of our solar system.

Hey! It could happen!

The parasites are distant relatives to transformers. Stephen Lee was brought on board to design the figures. His previous work was the spinoff Micronauts line Aliens including Repto, Antron, Membros, Kronos, Lobros, and Centaurus. You can see Lee's influence on the weapon/hands that the Parasites have. It's very reminiscent of those old figures.

Repto

I thought I would share what the artwork and the package for Parasites looked like, as well as the profile information on the back.

Specterite: "Leader of the Invasion Force" 

Specterite -Leader of the evilest outer-space force ever to reach this planet, Specterite is bent on conquest and destruction. He's a master of the art of mind control. The ultimate menace to humankind. His wrap-around sensors give a computer scan image to detect humans wherever they may be. Specterite wraps, twists and bends his body to fit inside a Ford Pickup. Be on the lookout. Specterite has arrived! 

Origin: Halley's Comet

Class: leader

Characteristics: Supreme Commander of Invasion Force, Master of Mind Control, Brilliant, Brutal.

Weapons: Two Batteries of Magnum Blasters; Wrap-Around Sensors

Mission: To conquer and rule the world.

Earth Vehicle: Ford Pickup

Nemisite: "Hunter" 

Nemisite delights in attracting attention with is bright orange Corvette.then strikes with the speed of lightning! A flashy dresser with purple armor, Nemisite bends and folds and twists to fit inside his four-wheeled home-away-from-home. His outgoing personality makes him the "Parasite Most Likely to Attack"! 

Origin: Halley's Comet

Class: Hunter

Characterics: Flashy, Deceiving, Blinding Speed, Lightning Fast Reflexes

Weapons: Twin Electro-Action Multi-Maser Repeaters.

Mission: To quickly eliminate resistance.

Earth Vehicle: Corvette.

Extermasite:”Hunter”

Extermasite's role is to exterminate. Extermasite uses sophisticated weapons with silencers to complete this task discreetly and efficiently. Uncanny traits allow him to fold, twist and squeeze into a Dodge Caravan. Be on the lookout is somewhere waiting!

Origin: Halley's Comet

Class: Hunter

Characteristics: Accurate, Quiet, Deadly.

Weapons: Long Range Armor-Piercing Sniper Laser; Ultracide Hand Cannon; Weapon Silencers.

Mission: To exterminate

Earth Vehicle: Dodge Caravan

Destructite: "Master of Destruction" 

Destructite is the Warlord of the Parasites. Cloaked in black armor, he travels only at night to spread extinction and desolation. Destructite can fold, bend and squeeze his awesome shape into a Ford Blazer. Destructite is here to do incredible damage! 

Origin: Halley's Comet

Class: Master of Destruction

Characteristics: Expert in Conquest Tactics and Weaponry, Merciless, lethal

Weapons: Mega-Power Twin-Barreled Rapid Fire Masers.

Mission: The unconditional conquest of humankind

Earth Vehicle: Ford Blazer 

Terrorsite: "Advance Spy Scout" 

Terrorsite is the ultimate spy. A gigantic foe who can disguise his magnificent weaponry and unearthly shape in a Chevy Van. Caution: When detected Terrorsite unfolds instantly to become the biggest of the Parasites. Terrorsite has no fear! He's programmed to spy and destroy! 

Origin: Halley's CometClass: Advance Spy Scout

Characteristics: Master of Concealment, Snake-Like Abilities

Weapons: 2 Twin Barrel Rapid Fire Laser Guns; 2 Multi-Laser Cannons

Mission: To spy on the human race 

Earth Vehicle: Chevy Van

Gammasite: "Detection/Destruction" 

Gammasite is known as the Master of Detection. His head contains a battery of radar detectors that search and pinpoint targets to destroy them! His radar is also a gun control center for his deadly accurate "Long Boy" Laser Cannons. His Firebird makes him as swift as he is sinister! 

Origin: Halley's CometClass: Detection/Destruction

Characteristics: Alert, Calculating, Radar-Like Powers

Weapons: Battery of Microsonic Motion and Radar Detectors; "Long Boy" Laser Cannons. 

Mission: Pinpoint targets for destruction.

Earth Vehicle: Firebird

  Matchbox had a series two for the Parasites line set to go as well. We were going to see a  Semi truck with a trailer, the cab of the semi would house a mini-Parasite and the trailer would have a giant one. For some reason, Matchbox never greenlit it. Probably because no one really remembers Parasites at all. It would have been really cool to see it come out though. Or even just the preliminary sketches and designs would be amazing.

Deep diving into self deconstruction.

A lot of people write blogs….I mean, a lot! Blogs about making more money, blogs about cooking and travel, history, architecture, about making your blog better. So, many times people will say to me, “why are you writing about this kind of stuff?” what makes your blog more important than anyone else’s? It’s not important to anyone else, or maybe it is. That’s the point. I show you the things that I love, the things that I am passionate about. I started this blog as a way to make some people in my life proud of me and then one day I found out they never read or even looked at my blog then my blog became about me. I want to encourage you to love these things too and reward people who engage with them. I write about my culture and the people that travel down the same pathways. The people I talk to and about are my heroes and mentors, or even people I’d love to get know better. They’ve taught me very valuable things in my life. Throughout your life, you come up with this character, this identity that defines you, through all the things out there that you love. You let them become a part of you, and now, now that I'm older. It's time to peel away those pieces and find out what's really at the center of me. It's time to find out what was before the Avatar. What is the “proto-me”? Who is he out there? So that's what this is all about. This is all about me, finding out who I really am. It really sounds like a lot of nonsense when you say it out loud, but it's not. It's not at all. It's not some hokum or pseudoscience. It's real. This is what people do every day. They figure out that they're not real, that they’re made up of this suit to survive reality, and once in awhile you start to figure out that you're wearing a suit and you want to know what's inside because you haven't taken that suit off in half your lifetime, so you don't realize what's in there. Ever become conscious of your own tongue? That muscle that lives in your mouth and helps you digest food and make words? Of course, you have. But have you realized that you are wearing a suit? A suit made up of memories, and things that you love, a suit that helps you cope with the world. A suit that you let drive you around thru life? Think about that.

And the whole thing of not knowing what's inside the suit is what everyone is afraid of, and when they see you peeling away at this, peeling all the layers away taking that suit off to find out who you really are, you'll get shunned. You will get ostracized by people because you're doing something that you shouldn't be doing. Why would you do something like that?

Do you know what we have in common with every person on this Earth? What we have in common with them is the exact same thoughts and that is what if they find out that I'm fake? what if they find out that I'm a liar? what if they find out how bad of a person I really am? Everyone has those same thoughts What's really profound about all that is that no one really cares. It's the funniest thing in the world. No one cares. They really don't and that's what makes it so personal to you is that this is your journey, not theirs so of course, it's not going to matter to them. It matters to you and it's profound to you and no one else, but by the end of the day no one's going to remember and that's funny. Be like a person in a massive crowd in a stadium, and everyone's yelling "Hey look at me, I'm important!" and you can't hear yourself over everyone else yelling and doing the same thing but no one's going to admit it at least not to you.

Saturday evenings as a young adult were very sacred to me. It was a time when I relished being alone and coming home with a rented movie to watch. Just me and whatever foreign, art house or horror movie that I wanted to watch. Now, I seem to be moving in the opposite direction. Now I just want a friend to enjoy a saturday night with.

I have a reason to wear shorts now. #neverinpublicthough #swimtrunks #shorts #cactusshorts #80sstyle

@nibrasso asked me what my top 5 albums are. So here they are! Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield, Remain in light by Talking Heads, Moon Safari by Air , Nighthawks at the diner by Tom Waits, and Endtroducing by DJ Shadow. These are all albums that I've owned multiple times over the years and I've listened to them so much that they've fallen apart or stopped working. (Cd,tape, record) #topfivealbums #mikeoldfield #talkingheads #air #tomwaits #djshadow