Saturday, 30 August 2025

DIO: Fan Mag [Metal Hammer] (YEAR UNKNOWN)

DIO: Fan Mag [Metal Hammer]

Mid-May. Early afternoon. There were clouds overhead, scattered and motionless, but it was still hot. The starlings in the rear garden were being dicks, as per usual, shitting on the fence and bullying the smaller birds. The crows sat atop rooftops, deliberating on whether or not the available food was enough to warrant them bullying the starlings, in turn. It wasn't, so they merely watched and waited.

I took refuge indoors and set about the eternal struggle: getting rid of old crap to make way for new crap, specifically books. With courage to the sticking place, I braved the dust and spiders. I unearthed a bunch of Metal music mags from a bygone era. I kept a few things for later perusal (Manowar, King Diamond), but got rid of most of them. Necessity.

The DIO Fan Mag was a pull-out and keep supplement from an issue of monthly UK magazine Metal Hammer that I'd pulled-out and kept. As such, I don't know what issue it was in, but given that the info goes up to Lock Up the Wolves, it must've been around 1990. That's also why page numbers begin at 41 and end at 60. (The 8 missing pages were likely two double-sided posters that lived and died on my wall.)

Friday, 22 August 2025

King Kong Board Game (1976)

King Kong Board Game (1976)

I bought the game from a jumble sale sometime in the 80s. It's not much fun to play, but it's an interesting piece of vintage tat that I'm getting rid of, now preserved for posterity. The copyright info + box art show it to be related to the De Laurentiis Movie (1976–86) directed by John Guillermin. You can find a review of that on my main blog HERE.


Article and Package © Copyright 1976 Ideal Toy Corporation, Hollis, N.Y. 11423
Copyright © 1976 Dino De Laurentis Corporation, All Rights Reserved. 2L-1004.

Thursday, 24 July 2025

Mr T

Mr T

I know Mr T from only four things: Clubber Lang in Rocky III (1982); B.A. Baracus in The A-Team TV Series; and as himself in a motivational exercise video and a TV snack bar advert. I've not followed his career, nor am I aware of any scandals or wrongdoings that he may have been involved in (if any such things exist). My respect for Mr T is derived from either the characters he played and/or what they represented. That's what earns him a page all of his own.


Monday, 2 June 2025

The Experiment

The Experiment

FAO: Professors 020618/J and 020618/K

Subject: Specimen #3

Last Checked: 250593.A

Notes: New growth has been detected in Specimen #3. Aggressive tendencies have been observed. Check again in 3842 HCs. If target awareness is not reached by then, record any change(s) in the usual manner and then destroy the specimen before it can contaminate the others.

Sunday, 25 May 2025

M.A.S.K: Fingerprint and Code Kit (1985?)

M.A.S.K: Fingerprint and Code Kit (1985?)

The Mobile Armored Strike Kommand: FaCK was a licenced product by Pic Toys Ltd in the UK. I don't know if it was available in other territories; there's very little information about it on the web. My info comes from having been given it at Xmas as a child sometime in the mid-1980s.


Monday, 14 April 2025

An Overdue Eulogy: Departure and Arrival



Like it says in this blog's About Page, the posts are visible to all who visit, but the content is primarily for personal use and may be of little or no interest to anyone else. That description has perhaps never been more accurate than at this moment in time. This one's for me...