Masters of the Universe: Mini Standees (1987)

MotU: Mini Standees (1987)

Mattel + Little Owl Magazines

King Henry VIII's Pocket Ludo (19??)

King Henry VIII's Pocket Ludo (19??)

by House Martin

Given that Ludo wasn't patented as such in England until 1896, it's unlikely that Henry VIII ever said "Bring the... Ludo," as suggested by the box art. But considering that modern Ludo was based on a game that's believed to have existed from at least the 6th Century in India, it's not wholly improbable that the 16th Century King may have played a version of what inspired it.

The Deck of Many Things - Dragon Magazine #148 (1989)

The Deck of Many Things

Art: George Barr | Wondrous item, Legendary

There are many versions of the TDoMT. This one is from Dragon Magazine #148 (1989). It's crappy jpeg quality, but it's all I have, currently. 

Talking Mr. T (1983)

Talking Mr. T (1983)

Another entry in the half-assed attempt to document some of the things from my childhood that I'm now rehoming. Galoob's Talking Mr. T doll was released in the UK in 1983, afaik. I received it for Xmas, along with a bunch of A-Team stuff. It was a good year!

The Beano: Plastic 'Mitten' Puppet (c.1980s)

The Beano: Plastic 'Mitten' Puppet (c.1980s)

Cadbury's The Dandy and Beano Card Game (1990)

Cadbury's The Dandy and Beano Card Game (1990)

Promotional Game by Waddingtons Games Ltd for Cadbury's

Unlike The Cadbury's Transformers Card Game (1986) that I made a post about previously, The Dandy and Beano one has no outer card wallet. The image to the right is a quick, crappy cut 'n' paste modification of the Transformers one.

The game is for 2-4 players. In addition to a single instruction card, there are 8 unique character designs. Each of those are reproduced 4 times for a total of 33 cards. You can find pics of them all below the cut. They measure approx 57 x 87 mm. The objective of the game is to be the first person to get rid of all held cards.

A retail Beano only version was also available with additional characters (Ball Boy; Gnasher + Gnipper; Billy Whizz; Walter the Softy; Lord Snooty; Ivy the Terrible), which increased the card count accordingly. It was packaged in a proper card pack with full colour artwork. I don't own it, so don't know if it had additional rules. Billy and Walter could certainly allow for some.

The Beano: Fan Club Stuff (c.1980s)

The Beano: Fan Club Stuff (c.1980s)

Cadbury's The Transformers Card Game (1986)

Cadbury's The Transformers Card Game (1986)

Promotional Game by Waddingtons Games Ltd for Cadbury's

I don't recall how I came to own the Cadbury's TF Card Game. I was a chocolate eater at the time, so it may have been a token collect thing, or it may have been another jumble sale purchase. The memory of it is lost to time.

The packaging is a simple cardboard wallet inside which are housed 30 cards. The wallet measures approx 90 x 120 mm. The cards are approx 57 x 87 mm.

In addition to 2 instruction cards (see below), there are 7 unique card designs: 4 Autobot + 3 Decepticon (also below). Each of the 7 designs are reproduced 4 times for a total of 30 cards. The objective is to obtain all 4 cards of any one design, so there being more 'Heroic' than 'Evil' characters doesn't unbalance gameplay at all.

Heavy Metal Magazine Adverts of the 1980-90s

Heavy Metal Magazine Adverts: '80s to '90s.

I dumped a large collection of Heavy Metal genre UK music magazines recently, from the late 80s to early 90s, titles such as Metal Hammer, Metal Forces, Kerrang, etc. I'd a quick scan through each one first to see if there was any articles that might be of interest and it struck me how adverts for album / single releases back then differed to how they are in today's world. Some were full page, but many were half or even quarter page size.

Obviously, the smaller the advert the cheaper it was to include, but the difference also speaks to how out of control advertising has become. It's no longer a helpful pointer to interested parties. It's now an insufferable shit-stain on almost all media. It even follows you around the web if you don't have your browser's cookie settings set up to prevent it. (And if you haven't, why the hell not?)

I scanned a few of the adverts for posterity's sake. Most are of albums that I own or bands that I still enjoy listening to, so the selection reflects my own tastes more than they illustrate any other point, but that's okay. This blog isn't high art.

Pics below the cut, for anyone who cares; in no particular order other than they looked like they might sit well beside one another based on colour or style. Most likely not chronological.

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.

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.

Fighting Fantasy Quest Pack (1984)

Fighting Fantasy Quest Pack (1984)

The FFQP was a handy companion for players of the role-playing Fighting Fantasy gamebooks developed by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone in 1982, published by Puffin Books.

The Shakespeare 2016 UK £2.00 Coin Collection

The Shakespeare 2016 UK £2.00 Coin Collection

Issued by The Royal Mint, 2016

The Royal Mint struck three £2.00 coins in honour of the famous playwright, while also marking 400 years since his death. Designed by John Bergdahl, the images represent the three major genres in which the Bard of Avon worked: tragedies, histories, and comedies. The banner directly below is just a preview. You can find larger images of each individual coin below the cut.

Masters of the Universe: Minicomic Covers: TNA of He-Man (1989)

Masters of the Universe: Minicomic Covers:

The New Adventures of He-Man (1989)

Masters of the Universe: Minicomic Covers: She-Ra (1984-86)

Masters of the Universe: Minicomic Covers:

She-Ra: Princess of Power (1984-86)

Masters of the Universe: Minicomic Covers Series Six (1987)

Masters of the Universe: Minicomic Covers:

He-Man Series Six (1987)

Masters of the Universe: Minicomic Covers Series Five (1986)

Masters of the Universe: Minicomic Covers:

He-Man Series Five (1986)

Masters of the Universe: Minicomic Covers Series Four (1985)

Masters of the Universe: Minicomic Covers:

He-Man Series Four (1985)

Masters of the Universe: Minicomic Covers Series Three (1984)

Masters of the Universe: Minicomic Covers:

He-Man Series Three (1984)

Masters of the Universe: Minicomic Covers Series Two (1983)

Masters of the Universe: Minicomic Covers:

He-Man Series Two (1983)