Monster House Gallery '79

Hilarious horror highlights from the September 1979 issue of Cracked Collector's Edition Monster House Gallery magazine, with awesome art from John Severin, Vic Martin, BOJ, etc...

Coming Attractions (1932)

Digging around at the old antique mall again recently, and I found a couple of neat "coming attractions" film schedule booklets, featuring pre-code Hollywood movies released in 1932 at the Monroe and Woods theaters in Chicago, IL. Lots of great classics, big stars, and very nice poster ad lay-outs highlighted with photos and illustrations.

What, Me Funny?

One great satire mag satirizes another, as the October 1971 issue of National Lampoon presented this astoundingly spot-on, 15 page parody of Mad Magazine. No one was safe either, from god Gaines to mad man Martin, Fold-Ins to even the letters column, and with lots of big gun illustrators like Joe Orlando, John Romita, and Ernie Colon (to name just a few) stepping in to severely call 'ol Alfred out while creating incredible imitations of classic Mad bullpen artists and writers. I have to wonder how Mad felt about all of this? I mean, as much as I love 70's Mad, NP does have some rather valid points on the direction the magazine was heading during this era.

Ghosts & Martians

I picked up a huge pile of vintage Valentine's over the last year, but these 2 were my clear cut favorites. Have a great VDay everyone, hugs 'n kisses from your 'ol pal, Mr. Karswell XOXO!

A Collection of Shapely Pin-Ups

...in full color and without clothes! Boy, I can't wait to open this book and check out the babes!



Heyyyy, wait a second...



Gag gift novelty item found at an antique mall recently. Yeah I love this silly stuff.

70's Pizza Hut Glass

Recently read the disappointing news that all Pizza Huts will become "carry-out" only, and pretty much do away with all of their sit-down restaurants and buffets. I mean, it's not my favorite pizza in the world, but it's good enough for the occasional visit and my son likes it. So, time once more to "gather 'round the good stuff" of yesteryear here at AEET with this beautiful 70's Pizza Hut drinking glass that I stumbled upon quite by accident (long story) the other day at a local antique store. This is truly an awesome glass in more ways than one-- it's tall and I super love the tapered waist shape of it, (no resemblance to how you actually feel after eating a bunch of pizza.) But the best part of course is the trifecta of brilliant branding that it displays from my childhood: the very fun original Pizza Hut logo lettering, the original building design illo, and the Pizza Hut Pete mascot serving up the pie just a'like'a mama used to make! He's easily my favorite food mascot ever.



CLICK HERE for a vintage 70's Pizza Hut matchbook from my collection too!

Bat Man vs. Pac Man

Found a couple of cool old 80's handheld pocket games the other day, and for those of you that remember my Jetsons post back in 2018 (CLICK HERE) this Bat Man driving game is pretty much the same wondrous dime store toy comprised of flimsy paper and cheapo plastic. This time you're driving a black car that looks more like a Porsche than the Batmobile, and as you scroll the dial on the bottom left with your thumb, you maneuver the steering wheel with your other digits, dodging DC villains as you cautiously careen around the many twists and treacherous turns. Pulverize Penguin's umbrella at the pass! Run right over Riddler's foot as you race down the wrong route! Get the last laugh and floor it to the finish as Joker Junction eats your holy bat dust!









As usual, fun for about 2 minutes. Tops. The unfortunate quality of this product remains it's greatest obstacle, but it still looks great displayed on my shelf next to the Jetsons game.

Now a much better constructed handheld game, and miles more fun (I actually laid in bed playing it for over an hour the other night), is Tomy's Pac Man Pocketgame based on the super 80's mega arcade hit video game. Move your Pac Man back and forth along the bottom (his mouth actually opens and closes too!) as you release the BB's from the top, catching them in your mouth to SCORE as they quickly roll down through the peg maze above you. Eat 'em up, or they fall into the OUT slot. It's harder than it looks, and brilliantly designed too in its own simple way-- PLUS, it still matches the ingeniously fun concept of the Namco arcade classic, only this time you're silently eatin' balls mechanically instead of lights 'n sounds electronically.





Someone on Youtube shot a video of it in action so I don't have to-- check it out HERE. 
*WOKKA WOKKA WOKKA*

This Empty Space!

February at AEET means vintage Valentines, of course, and all month I'll be sharing some new(old) ones I've found over the last year at various antique stores and collector shops around the area. And fyi to those groaning: Yes, I'll do a various mix of other AEET type thangs too, so it's not just all hugs 'n hearts 'n honey bunny smooches for those of you who do not enjoy that sort of thing-- but we are mostly certainly going to kick things off this Feb with a smile on your face! :)