bubbledog blog

my little food friends

Lately, I've been trying not to start any new collections, but from time to time it is just unavoidable for me.  My latest obsession has been trying to find little advertising figures.  There are tons of advertising things out in the world, but I am specifically on the hunt for anthropomorphic food people from fast food restaurants.  Why?  I have no clue... it's just kind of an inner need to find cute things with faces.  Therapy might help to curb these desires, but for now I go to ebay to satisfy them.  My latest additions just arrived in the mail this weekend:  the onion ring basketball player and french fry nerd are from Jack In the Box and the singing A&W root beer is from A&W Restaurants.

On a side note, if you like advertising characters and never saw the book Meet Mr. Product, you should go buy it now.  It came out a few years ago, but you'll love flipping through it!

clocks, radios, & clock radios

I recently won an ebay auction that consisted of about a dozen different vintage character clocks and radios.  After a rather hectic week at work, it was a nice surprise to have them arrive at my door today.  I won the auction for close to nothing (I think it was $12), so I wasn't sure any of the items would be working or in good condition... and that was the case with a few of them.  The junkers went directly into the garbage and of the others, some have been cleaned and stored for some upcoming birthday gifts while a few are being displayed atop my shelf of crafting supplies.  I took a pic of my favorites:  a Star Wars alarm clock, a Hamburger Helper radio (not working, but I just like having that guy hang out on my shelf), a Tony the Tiger AM radio, and a McDonald's Fries radio.

In other non-related news... in the next few days, I will be posting my last blog giveaway of the summer.  Be sure to check back for your chance to win.

take a left turn out of craft-town and make a right into nerd-ville

I just had a nice break from a craft project gone bad when a small package was delivered in the mail.  In this package was a red ghost (Blinky to those in the know) wind-up toy that I have been seaching ebay for over the last several years.  This little guy is the final piece I needed to complete my set of TOMY Pac-Man wind-ups from the eighties.  A quick photo, a short blog, a little admiration, and now it's time to go back and try to fix my crafting mess :)  Here's the whole crew:

flea market finds

I got a late start heading out today, so I wasn't expecting to find much of anything at the flea market.  To my surprise, I found several little treasures and came home with a respectable haul.  For my home, I found two silver pine cone candle holders (really cool in person) as well as two old ornate picture frames which will be painted with a bright gloss color (not sure what color though -maybe turquoise or lime green).  On the collectibles front, there were many little trinkets from the 1980s to be found today and that is very unusual.  Some ET wind-ups, a Shirt Tales stamp, a wooden Care Bear figurine, a 1984 Sarajevo Olympics button, and an Empire Strikes Back glass were the items that I decided to buy.  I also found a set of White Castle promo pvc figurines and two wind-ups... I'm pretty sure these are fairly rare.  

eggsters

My newest ebay win has arrived... a Tupperware Eggsters toy.  Someone was showing some pictures of one of these on flickr and it seemed like such a rip-off ghetto version of a Mr. Potato Head that I felt I needed to own one.  You get one egg and then the parts to make these three characters shown in the pic: Bulgy Bear, Pudgy Pup, and Lumpy Lion.  I don't know when this is from - 60's, 70's, 80's even? - as there is no date on the box.  I just have to decide which way I want to display it on my collectibles shelf.  I'm thinking as the dog... what do you think? 

frogger

Last night, I caught the tail end of a really funny Seinfeld episode where George was trying to get an old Frogger arcade game back to his house while hooked up to a battery pack so that it wouldn't shut off and erase his high score.  I miss that show!

 

 

Anyway, it got me thinking about Frogger.  I really used to only play it on the Atari 2600 and I was terrible at it.  I could always make it past the road, but could never make it across the water.  I wonder if I tried it now, instead of when I was nine or so, if I would be any better?  I don't have a lot of Frogger memoribilia, but here are some pics of things that I have aquired including some puffy Frogger stickers and some sticker cards and a rub off game from a series called Video City by Topps.

   

eighties nostalgia: Inspector Gadget

In fourth grade, my friend Brad and I would watch Inspector Gadget everyday (don't click that link unless you want the theme song stuck in your head for the next few days).  I can remember walking home from school and trying to figure out who Dr. Claw was... we would always talk about how we thought that Chief Quimby was actually Dr. Claw because when the credits rolled he would be on screen when you heard "I'll get you next time Gadget... next time!"  We had many ideas to back that theory up.  Inspector Gadget was like the LOST of my childhood, trying to figure out all of it's complex mysteries ;)

I don't have much Inspector Gadget memorabilia... nor do I really remember ever having any as a kid (though I watched the show religiously for a year or two).  I picked up this set of four pvc figurines a few years ago.  From left to right you have Chief Quimby, Inspector Gadget, Brain, and Penny.  Man, remember Penny and that computer book... I wanted that computer book so bad!

happy valentine's day

For your Valentine's Day pleasure, I present scans of vintage 80's scratch and sniff Valentine's Day cards by Spindex.  I gave out these very same cards (the root beer variety) when I was in 4th grade.  My family had just moved that year and being the new kid is never a fun thing.  I thought these scratch and sniff cards would help show my classmates that I wasn't just the dorky new kid - I was cool too!  I remembered that the other kids liked the cards, but I'm not sure they were as impressed as I had imagined they would (dare I say, should) have been.  I dreamt that they would have some sort of epiphany and instantly like me based on my Valentine selection....  

Fast forward twenty some years and loot at me, at 35, almost doing the same thing, but now with you on my blog ;)  Happy Valentine's Day!

eighties nostalgia: Astrosniks

One of my oddest collections is my small assortment of Astrosniks items from the eighties.  Just as the Snorks were like underwater Smurfs, the Astrosniks are kind of like outerspace Smurfs.  I never had these toys as a kid, but I was quickly seduced into collecting them when I saw my first Marsmen Snik... how could I resist a brightly colored figurine with no arms, headphones, and googly eyes?  I've been able to pick up a few more of the Marsmen Sniks over the years, but they are really hard to find. 

The few other Astrosniks items I have found mostly have come from places online, though I did randomly encounter some Astrosniks paper products in my Grandmother's house when I was helping her move a few years back.  She had no idea what they were or where they came from... they were quickly added to my collection.

The figures below are from sets of regional McDonald's Happy Meal toys from 1983-1984.  The McDonald's Astrosniks were given a back story and their favorite foods were said to be french fries and milkshakes... we have a lot in common.  You can check out the rest of my Astrosniks collection at my flickr account. 

 

eighties nostaligia: advertising erasers

Second, of what looks to be many posts about things from the 1980's that reside in my home, are these advertising erasers.  When I was a kid, I had tons of erasers in all different shapes and sizes.. I don't know if I ever used any of them, I would just collect them and smell them (the eighties were great about adding just a little bit of scent to pretty much every kid product imaginable).  I aquired these various product erasers over the last few years, mostly on ebay.  My favorites are the the giant Life Savers eraser and the Lucky Charms "Lucky" & Cocoa Puffs "Sonny" erasers shown in the pic below.   I love the way they come packaged in their own cereal box.  The rest of my eraser collection can be seen in my flickr account.