Friday, September 13, 2013

Trash Collecting on Friday the 13th

Earlier today, after a very early morning at work and with it being payday, your third-favorite Trash Man set out on the grandest of quests. His mission was to seek out any and all Friday the 13th flicks on VHS that he could find, return to base-camp, and spend the rest of this wicked "holiday" celebrating the life and un-deaths of the one and only Jason Voorhees. Was he successful? Is he moments away from a marathon viewing of the entire franchise from the original to Jason X? Surely, it's a task that would drive anyone as batty as Tommy Jarvis! But he would endure it for you, loyal readers..!

Nope, sorry. Didn't happen. Isn't going to happen.

Instead, I'm here to show you the treasures I discovered while I was out in search of Jason's analog adventures. We'll all just have to take solace in the handful of vintage [and not so vintage] goodies that I managed to score for a few bucks each. Live vicariously through my random purchases, children, and be glad. At least now none of us have to suffer through Jason Goes to Hell.


El Kabong..!

This was the first item I ran across today that I knew I couldn't leave behind. It's a plastic Baba Looey piggy bank circa I don't quite know. Apparently, there were a couple variations of this particular piece, but I'm not educated enough on 'em to know for sure if mine is an original '60s or a later [mid-'70s] release. Either way, he's cool, and totally reminds me of the early days of Cartoon Network, when they used to show all the old Hanna-Barbera shorts, like Quick Draw McGraw and Wally Gator.




Sitting on the same shelf as Baby Looey was this promotional vinyl-figure of Sprout, who you may recognize as The Jolly Green Giant's nephew or cousin or something like that. I only remember seeing a few television spots with this little guy when I was a kid, but for a measly four-dollars, I really couldn't pass on him. I am always some kind of sucker for advertisement mascots, whether they promote a product I care for or not.




Here's a really awful looking Return of the Jedi collectible cup, which was originally available back in 1983 from Burger King. It clearly takes some liberties with the plot of the film, since the "art" on the glass shows Luke lightsaber-dueling with the Sarlacc and Han totally blowing up Jabba's barge with his trusty blaster.

Looking at pictures of the three other cups that were available, I'm now realizing that I scored the absolute worst of the bunch. Even at two bucks I feel gypped, especially knowing that instead I could have had a glass where the Ewoks worship C3P0 as their god or, even better, Salacious Crumb.

Salacious Crumb!

Goddamn.




I guess that I'll just have to be comforted in the soft glow of translucent green plastic courtesy of this here beauty, the Mantis Alien. I've briefly gushed about the Kenner Aliens line before, so no need to retread that territory. I found him surrounded by newer, and far lamer, toys on a shelf near the register. I couldn't leave him there, keeping company with Ben 10 and Attitude-Era Undertaker, so I scooped him up for another couple bucks. At that price, it was all like, "Game over, Mantis", for me. I never stood a chance.




This McDonalds plate isn't something I would have normally grabbed, but with the holiday fast approaching, everything Halloween is gold to me. Released in 2001, it features Ronald and friends dressed up in costumes and rocking out to, what I can only hope is, their own personal rendition of Monster Mash. I love the Hamburglar's dedication to wearing his stupid bandit mask on the outside of his ghost costume. I adore the inclusion of the The McNugget Buddies. I'm insanely jealous about Grimace's mustache.

But I'm not entirely sold on the way-too-happy jack o'lantern checking out Ronald's ass.




The DC Super Heroes Postcard Book is equal parts awesome and kinda' stupid. I was glad to pick it up and find that all 28 of the included postcards were still intact. Remind me to show off the best of the bunch someday, because while some of them are generic and not-at-all interesting, boy, there are a few that are inspired. I've actually got some big plans for the best cards, but that's something for another day, I think.




Hah! Mission sorta' accomplished..!

This was a true Friday the 13th miracle, because while my usual VHS hunting ground bore no fruit, I found this baby lurking in a corner of an antique co-op that I very rarely visit. I stopped in on a complete whim, found the rest of the items I've shared so far, and not too long before leaving, stumbled upon a CED-copy of the original Friday the 13th. It was tucked behind some old magazines, but I happened to notice the RCA SelectaVision logo peeking out. I nearly yelled in excitement when I saw what movie it was. Total zeitgeist!

For those unfamiliar, this is a CED [or Capacitance Electronic Disc] released by RCA in the early '80s. It's a extremely short-lived video format, where movies were printed onto vinyl discs and stored in plastic caddies. A sort-of precursor to laser discs and DVDs, the players actually used a stylus to physically read them. I don't own a player, so there's no way whatsoever I can see how good [or bad] the quality is, but on this most holy of holidays, there was no way I wasn't going to grab it.

Happy Friday the 13th, all.

16 comments:

  1. What is that collectible cup made of? Is it a glass or is it plastic?

    All great finds! I once found one of those McDonald's plates at Goodwill (not the Halloween one) I think it was a Summer time scene or something... but it was before I had my s**t together and I passed on it.

    Excellent haul all around! If nothing else, mount the F13 case on the wall somewhere as an objet d'art.

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    1. The Star Wars cup is plastic, despite how I referred to it as a drinking glass a couple times in the post. Oops.

      And the guy at the co-op didn't actually know what the CED was; I believe the tag actually did list it as "art". But then, I remember the first time I found some at the flea market a few years back, thinking were weird, old laser-discs in a case that wouldn't open. Ah, to be young and naive.

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  2. I keep telling my grandma that Aunt Hazel let us watch a scary movie on a "record" when she left us with her! And it certainly didn't help that Aunt Hazel looked like Zelda from Pet Cemetery....It wasn't Friday the 13th. If it were I wouldn't even mention it because it would seem like a big fat lie just to have something relevant and amazing to say....
    And now you have proven to me that NO, I was not delusional.... now how do I get my granny to see this post....

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    1. Spread the word. I want everyone and their grandmothers to know about the wonders of outdated media formats. I won't be satisfied until all the lil' old ladies are learned on the Video Format War of '86.

      Never forget! "Betamax is The Future!"

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  3. Way to go! Scoring something F13 is awesome! I did my own Crystal LAke sign a few weeks ago!

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    1. I saw that. Like, a month or so ago, right? I'm always amazed at all the custom items you do or have done. Wish I had the space to display stuff like that.

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  4. As much as I love the DC Heroes Postcard set and the ROTJ Cup, I'd say the Babba Looey bank was your best score.

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    1. He's also the item I paid the most for-- six bucks.

      The co-op has a weird set-up, where different areas of the store belong to different sellers. I don't know whose shelf I grabbed him [and Sprout] from, but they had tons of great stuff. I passed on a four-dollar Pillsbury Doughboy figurine in favor of the two I got.

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  5. Great find and the fact that you found it on Friday the 13th makes it even better! I really like that McDonald's plate a lot, too. Something about it just screams Halloween. Great post!

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    1. I was desperate to add some of Jason's filmography to my collection. Seems the only one of his flicks that I own is Part V, which [spoilers] isn't even really him anyway.

      Thanks, Cliff!

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  6. Your second find there reminds me of a joke:

    Why did the Jolly Green Giant get arrested? He was caught playing with his Little Sprout!

    HA HA HAHHHAAAAA!!!

    The classics never go out of style!

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  7. Excellent finds my trashy friend! : )

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  8. Ugh, I hate Birdie! Almost as much as I hate the kid-friendly-fication of Hamburlger. I liked him better when he looked like he might have been trying to pick up kids outside McD's in his van.

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    1. I think Ronald fills their pedo- quota just fine on his own.

      Robble robble.

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