It's Wild at Wildwoods

Stateside reader Brian F from Monster Base sent me this snap of Wildwoods funfair on the New Jersey shore.

It's looks like good clean summer fun!

Do you still visit funfairs and fairgrounds? Did you used to buy toys at them?

Baby Boomer Mag Ads

 I'm enjoying browsing mags on holiday like an old US Baby Boomer Collectables one.

Seeing M&J Variety's ad again took me right back to reading the American Toy Shop newspaper pre-Ebay days. I adored that big newspaper crammed with amazing vintage stuff.

M&J were - are? - a vintage merchandise wholesalers. Everything could be bought by the dozen or by the case. I was always in awe of what they had and mused endlessly how they got hold of this stuff! 

It was based in Elizabeth, NJ. Anyone know if it still is?

Another ad that brought back memories was Toy Scouts Inc. I always loved there ace line drawing logo including The Impossibles, who I adored as a kid. I sent off for their catalogue and amazingly got one sent to me in the UK. That was the Nineties. I still have it.

Toy Scouts Inc. was run by the great Bill Breugman, a vintage toy collecting pioneer in the States. His 1989 book Toys of the Sixties is for me still the collecting bible and I still have my copy I got in 1992. I also have his book on Aurora models I think, both out of print now.

Do you have Bill's books or maybe bought something off Toy Scouts Inc.?

MASTERS OF THE HALLOWEEN UNIVERSE!

Hi Woodsy.

Just finished this display in time for Halloween. I have a bunch of spooky action figures that look like they have really been hitting the gym! So I decided to put them in Castle Grayskull/Snake Mountain with some Halloween lights and scenery.

Enjoy!

-BrianF 

 Monster Base 

 NJ USA

MONSTER BASE HALLOWEEN, NEW SCARESY!

Hi Woodsy and Happy Halloween! Here are some new decorations, both indoors and out.I have begun decorating the side yard and back porch in addition to the already well established front yard deco. 

I eventually want to have a Haunted Walk all the way around my house!

-BrianF 

Monster Base 

NJ USA

DEF CON 4

I'm currently watching Def Con 4 on You Tube, a apocalyptic flick from 1989 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KASH2jx6mfc

Like a bad hair combo of Mad Max and Gravity with Threads thrown in, it has all the scars of 80's cold war paranoia and starring no-one we've heard of.

Still I'm enjoying it.

I'm particularly enjoying the version I'm watching because its part of Commander USA's 1989 channel from New Jersey - do you remember him anyone?

The Commander and his female assistant introduce every part of the film in their own special zany way and it really is quite funny. On top of that there are loads of original US TV ads from NJ from back then including the Pontiac Grand Prix and Bisquick.

All in all a great 2 hour package of Americana from the Miami Vice era for a Sunday afternoon!

Have you seen Def Con 4? The poster art is great!

THE TOWNE OF SMITHVILLE NEW JERSEY WHERE THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS STILL GLOWS

Hi Woodsy. Hoping you had a happy holiday. I have put away all the decorations but I am still reluctant to let the holidays go.

Last night I went to the Towne of Smithville to look at the lights twinkling on the water. The lights are programmed to dance to Christmas music.

There are also shops and restaurants there, open but socially distant.

I should also mention that Smithville is only a stone's throw away from Leed's Point. Birthplace of the Jersey Devil!

BrianF NJ USA

CARNIVALS OF SOULS

The other day Brian F posted his great atmospheric snaps of Wildwood pier and rides in the New Jersey night.

It reminded reader Mish of the opening to TV's Journey to the Unknown from 1968 and I agree, its one creepy eerie fairground with a hauntingly whistled theme!

What do you think?

Episodes of this old nerve-tingling series on You Tube.

Another ghostly fairground appeared in Herk Harvey's 1962 weirdster Carnival of Souls. I've seen a colourised version of this film but I have to admit for pure atmosphere I prefer the black and white original, available gratis on You Tube.

One of my fave fairground takes appears in the opening titles of The Lost Boys, that vampire-fest starring the Two Coreys [Haim sadly died in 2010, Feldman still around]  and one Keifer Sutherland from way back in 1987.

There is something eerily sorrowful about the whole idea that young immortals hang around their town's fairground. Yes, I suppose that's the Lost in the title, a reference to Rufio and the gang in Peter Pan, trapped in Neverland forever.

The theme Cry Little Sister has stuck in my mind ever since first seeing this flick in the late Eighties.

Thou shalt not fall! Remember?

Do you like the Lost Boys?

To round off this ride on the fell rim of night here's a tale from my own neck of the woods, the sad demise of Lancashire's own Disneyland, the medieval theme park Camelot.

As if built from straight from the pages of Michael Crichton's Medieval World, Camelot, with castles and candy floss, rose from the earth in 1983. I'd already left Lancashire for pastures new so I never got to sample the delight's of this northern treat in Chorley.

Alas, like the aging knights of the round table themselves, Camelot went to seed and closed its drawbridge in 2012. 

Abandoned, Camelot has become a magnet for the curious. You Tube is bristling with urban explorations into its decaying splendour. Here's a more professional look behind the scenes from TV's the One Show.

Have you an abandoned park or fairground near you? Have you ever come across one readers?

W I L D W O O D

HI Woodsy.I have taken my annual visit to Wildwood NJ.The boardwalk ,which is usually not crowded in early August,was even less crowded,probably because of Covid concerns.

The amusement piers are open,with cleaning crews keeping things clean and safe.While I did walk out on the piers,I wasn't so much interested in the rides.My goal was some early Christmas shopping.

The little shops along the boardwalk are famous for unusual items and most are having end of season sales.I also wanted to indulge in a slice of boardwalk pizza.

My choice was an unusual one.Pizza with grilled chicken, barbecue sauce and white cheddar cheese.Surprisingly good! 

I took some pics of the gaudy glitz that best defines the Wildwoods

BrianF 
NJ USA

DEVIL'S DOMAIN

Just south of Leeds point, the supposed birthplace of the Jersey Devil, is a lonely wooded trail that ends in a hauntingly desolate salt marsh.

It is a protected nature reserve, although I saw no wildlife stirring there.

But,wait,what was that behind that tree?

 Brian F 

New Jersey

USA

brian's weird new jersey

Hi,all at Moonbase. From time to time I hear mention of the Weird NJ publication. I am very familiar with it and I often find things even I, a New Jersey native,wasn't aware of.

A few months back ,a very familiar face appeared on the Magazine's cover.(see photo).This giant gorilla is the greeter to Mighty Joe's Market,a rest stop and convenience store not far from where I live,and this past weekend,I took a drive to see it.

He towers over a gas pump island near the parking lot.There is a plaque on his chest(see photo) telling a touching story about a young man who was known to his loved ones as "Mighty"Joe and had passed away at a young age.

The huge ape,and the family business are dedicated to his memory.I snapped a photo of him myself.The simian squinting away in front is me!-Brian in(Weird) NJ.

Brian F.