bubbledog blog

snorks pvc figurines

Anyone else remember the Snorks?  They were cartoon characters that were basically the underwater equivalent of the Smurfs.  Though they were much less popular than the Smurfs in general, I always preferred the Snorks because the characters were all different colors. 

Last night, I put together some pics of my Snorks pvc figures to create an eBay collecting guide.  I think I have all but one figure... yes, I need to grow up and get a real life :)  Anyway,here are the figures:

All-Star Seaworthy:

Casey Kelp:

Dimmy Finster:

 

Dafney Gillfin:

* I am missing the last Dafney figure which is her with a watering can.

Tooter Shellby:

and then all of the misc characters on the show... which, by the way, where the hardest and costliest to get:

I'll post some more Snorks items soon.  Enjoy their colorful silliness!

sunshine on a stick

Since this past Christmas, I have been making a conscious effort to try and eat healthier.  That being said, I thought the time has come to post about Timer, the healthy snack guy from Saturday morning public service announcements in the eighties.

I remember this guy distinctly because I always thought he was disgusting - some sort of anthropomorphic blob of chewed food that happened to wear a hat.  Though his message of healthy eating was a good one, I mostly remember being very annoyed at the interruption of my weekly Saturday morning cartoon-athon.

There were a few different segments that aired, but the one I remember most was "Sunshine on a  Stick" which taught you how to make ice-pops with fruit juice, an ice cube tray, and some toothpicks:

Hi.  Time for Timer and time to make a week supply of healthy after school snacks. 

On some weekend when its raining and your mother is complaining cause your hanging around just twiddling your thumbs, tell your mom that you've been itching to make something in the kitchen and, oh yes, the mess will be a minumum. 

But the thing that's going to please her is that you make it in the freezer and nothing could be easier to fix. Now just watch as I go through it.  Really, all you need to do it is some kind of juice and just a few toothpicks. 

Ok, now take an empty ice tray and fill it up with orange juice, or lemonade, or pomegranite juice, or whatever turns you on.  Then, cover the tray with plastic wrap, carefully poke the toothpicks through the plastic, put it in the freezer, and in a few hours... PRESTO, stacks of snacks."

Don't wait until it rains before you try this nifty trick. You'll have a fun time making sunshine on a stick!

Download sunshineonastick.ram 

nostalgic reincarnation

I have been wanting to share a craft project that took me some time to finish in early December.  For her birthday, I wanted to give my fellow sticker collector friend Amy something unique that she couldn't get anywhere else.  Basically, I decided on recreating the design of a 1980s Trend Enterprises scratch and sniff sticker, but in much larger form as a pillow.  You can notice the extensive cutting and applique that was involved in the lettering of "Swooper!" - that was fun :)  I chose a neutral colored background and square shaped pillow to represent the sticker backing (yes, I am that big of a nerd). 

This is a scan of the original 1.25" diameter sticker that I copied.  When I get the chance, I think I am going to make one for myself!

Incidentally, the second part of this gift was the book "Just Can't Get Enough" which is this amazing book about toys and collectibles from the eighties.  The book is a lot of fun and the design (in the form of a working Trapper Keeper) is just AMAZING!  I highly recommend getting one now!  I am almost done reading my copy which (incidentally) was given to me by the same person I gave it to... great minds think alike!

all that glitters is gold

Sorry that I've been a bit out of touch with my blog lately... I can't believe a month has gone by.  Work has been very busy since the start of the new year and time has just slipped away. 

I wanted to start my '08 posts with something extra special.  I went on the hunt through my collectibles looking for something to share with the world.  I finally decided on these glitter stickers made by Sticca Graphics in the eighties.  When I was a kid, these were the jewel in my sticker collecting crown.  If I remember correctly, they cost between $.50 and $1 and therefore, I didn't get them too often (quite expensive for a 11 year old on a budget).  On my 12th birthday, one of my favorite relatives bought me a whole bunch of them and it felt like I had died and gone to sticker collecting heaven.  I still have those exact same stickers to this day. 

Good luck trying to find these stickers anywhere today.  They come up infrequently on Ebay and when they do show up, be prepared to pay!   You can see some more at my friend Amy's site.

donkey kong

As I sort through all of my "treasures", I get on mini collecting kicks that consume me for a few weeks before I am able to get back to normal life.  The problem with wanting these older items is that you can't just buy them whenever you want... I guess that is the whole fun part of collecting though.  It's just so frustrating! 

For some time now, I have been wanting to get a full set of these Donkey Kong pvc figurines made by Coleco in 1982.  I only have the big D man himself and none of the other figures... though I am not even sure how many others exist.

It's tricky to find eighties Donkey Kong items on Ebay because there is so much new stuff out there... and I just want my old barrel slingin' Mario hatin' pal!  I do have a lot of 80's DK stickers to post, so I will start with a few today...

Several old school video games had a sticker like the one shown at right... I know I have at least DK, Pac-Man, Frogger, and Centipede.  If you didn't know what this game was, this sticker would be an absolute mystery - "HELP!... I've got cat whiskers on my face, an ape boyfriend, and someone is coming up a ladder with a hammer the size of my leg!"  I make fun of the graphics, yet, I love them.

Also in the sticker pile are these puffy stickers by Diamond Toymakers.  Not only are they puffy, but some also have googly eyes.  Attention eighties sticker collectors...please behold their awesomeness below!

a smile at the end of the rainbow

I found some old eighties craft magazines that I thought I might give me some cool craft ideas.... well, not so much.  I forgot that 80's crafts were HORRIBLE!  The magazines did provide some laughs and a couple of cool advertisements like this Jell-O add above.  The only problem I would see with this cake is that I would need to make all five flavors...  I would want to make them and then line them up just like this photo and then, of course, never eat them.  Here is the Jell-O Rainbow Cake recipe.  Enjoy!

my wants and desires

The mere sight of the front of The Official Sticker Catalog from Toys To Grow On brings back such strong and vivid childhood memories for me.  I think I spent the majority of 1984 thumbing through this catalog... to the point where the pages just sort of disintegrated.  When I saw one on ebay last year, I just had to buy it.  Though it cost me twenty bucks, it has been worth every penny in sweet, sweet nostalgic bliss!

I can remember looking through this catalog every night before I went to bed and it travelled in my backpack (secretly) everyday to school.  As a ten year old, I didn't have a ton of extra cash lying around, so I didn't really buy anything from the catalog, but that wouldn't keep me from dreaming.  Some of the items I did eventually get...

1.  A tub of Mrs. Grossman's stickers.  I got the "originals" and I think they never left the tub.  I can still hear and feel the plastic top open.  I was on top of the world with what felt like an endless supply of stickers.  On a side note, though I never had it, I would have given my left (or possibly even my right) arm for the Garfield set below the Grossman tubs.   

2.  I loved the look of the prismatic stickers in these greeting cards.  I still don't know who made them, but I desperately wanted them.  I really just wanted the stickers and though I never got this set, I did get a card with the prism stickers in it for my birthday in October of '84.  However, It wasn't any of these cute designs shown in the catalog... no, it was a hideous prism clown!

3.  Last, but not least, I convinced my parents to order me this set of Animal Toots.  I loved these stickers and had I known what "petite" meant, I would have known that they weren't counting each strip of stickers, but rather each teeny, eeny, weeny, tiny sticker.  I felt so scammed, used, and stupid.  What woud "65 colorful designs" mean to you at the ripe age of 10? 

The last scan to share today is their Swell Smells page.  I would die to have any of these sets today.  Over the last six years, I have been amassing my vintage 80's scratch and sniff sticker collection.  It is a highly addictive hobby (ok, maybe "obsession" would be more appropriate).  I had to scan the whole page to show it in all its glory.  If you have ever bought old stickers on ebay, look at the prices and then pick your jaw up off the floor!

   

To look a lot more great vintage stickers, check out my friend Amy's site at www.vintagestickers.com.