BOB McCALL HEADER ART

 As soon as I saw this header on an online auction I recognised the artwork its lifted from.

Its this glorious scene by the late Bob McCall of the USA.

The header art has been changed a little.

I can't place the toy water pistol. Can you?

Have you got any favourite lifted box art?

MY FAVOURITE CAULDRON

I see a lot of cauldrons around these days. In toy shops and bubbling away on those magic goth crystal shops that are in most town centres somewhere.

One H. Potter has a lot to do with the rise of the cauldron as a desirable object among kids and here's one such pot.

But my own favourite cauldron has to be one from my own childhood and from a similar craze to Potterdom. Yes, the monster craze and out of it crept Aurora monster kits - including The wonderful Witch.

I can almost feel that lumpy surface on the Witch's cauldron, what with snakes and bats in there. Mine went really dusty. 

What a fabulous kit all round, the details of which are still vivid in my mind like the snake wrapped round the hearth joist and the flaggon on the small chopping table. And who can forget the drip on the big spoon!

The Witch on Bama's box art was always way better looking that the plastic hag herself. The box witch was almost a babe and with a bit of foundation could have been Elkie Brooks.

I had the Witch until 1980. I left her behind when I left home. I miss that Witch and her cauldron.

Mine was the Glow in the Dark version.

Do you have a cauldron in the home and do you know a Witch?

TERRANOVA'S CADBURYS MONSTER BAR POSTERS

Hello Woodsy

Since the blog is covering candy and desserts, and why not, here are some posters issued by Cadbury in the early 70's in exchange for some wrappers:

SIX CADBURY'S MONSTER BAR POSTERS.

Not as scary as paperback or magazine covers but ideal for the Beano and Dandy crowd.

Regards,
Terranova47

USA

What If Airfix Kit Boxes Including Zero-X and Thunderbirds Fire Tenders!

Hi,
I do not know if you have seen this before, but I just found this site with pictures of boxes for models that Airfix might have produced, but sadly did not. All would make great kits. Several are of Gerry Anderson subjects.

What do you think?

ArtStation - 'What If' ARTWORK, Matthew Teevan

Paul Adams from New Zealand

GONE UNDER FOR A BITE TO EAT

 

I saw these two toys of Junior's lying on the floor and I knew I had to recreate the infamous zombie eats shark scene from Lucio Fulci's movie Zombi 2.

Have you recreated any movie scenes with toys readers?

A 2001 DINNER DOWN UNDER

Hey Woodsie,

I just went to the BEST dinner party last night! 

My wife has known our long time pal Nick just a bit longer than me. He's a mad 2001:A Space Odyssey fan and for years he's been banging on about how he has a proper set of cutlery and he really must make a space meal for them!

Well, yesterday he finally did it for my Missus's birthday!

The Restaurant review runs like this...

Last night I accompanied my Missus to a dinner party in her honour. 

Although it was held in an unassuming bungalow in Katoomba NSW, in another reality it was Space Station 5 in low Earth orbit over the world of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The culmination of an Artist's dream, decades in the making, we were met at the airlock by Stanley Kubrick himself (or a passable simulacrum) using the body of Nick for the entire evening.

At voice-print Immigration, we had just one line to deliver, but Stanley went for another take before he was satisfied. 

It was a template for the entire evening as our genial but iron willed host led us down his own personal memory lane.

Did you know Stanley really had himself in mind for the role of Napoleon? -No? Neither did David Hemmings!

With carefully curated stainless steel cutlery, we dined at Howard Johnson's Earthlight Room in fine 2001 style...

When it was time to re-enter reality, Stanley plucked a zero gravity pen from it's floating thread and autographed our menu card. 

It was a fitting ending to a piece of performance art that had been promised for many years...

Lewis

OZ

LADY DIVERS

 Whilst browsing for divers I found this vivid poster for Jane Russell's 1955 movie Underwater, "as you've never seen her before!"

Anyone know who the artist was?

You can see Ms. Russell in 'skin diver action' on this short clip from the flick. It was filmed in a huge tank of water at RKO. The film premiered ... underwater, where the audience wore airtanks!

As soon as I saw the Underwater poster I thought of something in my comics collection: Warren's Eerie #22 from July 1966, with this very similar lady diver by Vic Prezio.

Earlier in 1961 Vic Prezio painted a pulp cover that echoed Russell's Underwater even more, for Lost Treasure of Adventure Magazine.

You can read more about the prolific pulp cover artist Vic Prezio on the fabulous American Pulp site, where a gallery of his startling illustrations is there in glorious colour, including the one above.

https://americanpulps.com/the-pulp-art-of-vic-prezio/

What do you think of these? Do you collect Eerie comics?

HOW WAS IT WHEN YOU LEFT HIGH SCHOOL?

Do you remember leaving high school for good when you were around 16 years old?I'm really struggling to recall what it was like.

I ask because I'm aware that all Year 11's in the UK secondary system will be leaving 'high' school in about 2 to 4 weeks. There are no GCSE exams this year due to Covid, just written assessments done in class, which will all be more or less finished with by now.

In my own educational setting the final year students are getting very, very excited and all the various rituals of leaving are the main topic of conversation: signing shirts, buying year books and hoodies and saying farewell to friends and staff.

Its a huge moment, which I wish I could recall much more clearly. My own Year 11 experience, age 16, known then as the 5th Year, was dominated by the death of my Mum so I'm not really representative of how you should have felt/feel anyway.

What were the farewell rituals when your high schooling ended? What were the rites of passage? Were their celebrations at home as well as school or was it a time to actually forget and move on from with little fuss or fervour readers?