It's Evel...and he's crashing again...and again...and again...

Evel Knievel... loved that crazy daredevil. If you look at the ad, you'll notice that the Sky Cycle even includes a realistic "screee", the sound Evel's brain made before he plunged into the Snake River Canyon. Actually, can you imagine any other toy that was based on complete and utter failure? Normally a horrible body maiming accident is avoided as it doesn't sell product, yet with Evel it's the impetus for another toy!

Monster Robot??? Where do I sign up!

This is incredible! I know when I was a kid I thought they sent you the monster robot for $1.00, but it's actually only the plans to build one. I wonder if you could actually walk around in this thing? More than likely you'd just crash into tables, get shoved around by your older brother, and the robot outfit would fall apart due to faulty building plans.

Welcome to the Leif Garrett Fan Club...that will be $4.95

If there's one thing a fan club message should be, it's sincere. Guess it's too bad Leif didn't realize that because this thing is so stilted and awkward, that when you hear it you can't help but picturing him reading a long page of text that he's never seen before - either because it was written by someone else, or because he was in an alcohol induced haze when he scrawled it on a cocktail napkin.

It's a ghost...and he's filled with love.

What kid doesn't love haunted houses? Another great book I got through the school book fair. The funny thing is until I saw this scan on the screen, I could never see the ghost in the lower right. I always thought the ghost was the bright light in the center. Geez, thirty years wasted..

Lidsville is the koo-koo-kookiest

In the 1970s Saturday morning meant there was a Sid and Marty Krofft show on tv. Live action shows were my favorites and I loved the Kroffts. Where else am I going to see the kid who played Eddie Munster falling into a giant hat and ending up in a land full of living hats. Oiks!

Kolchak!!!

One of my favorite tv shows of all time is The Night Stalker. Carl Kolchak, played brilliantly by Darren McGavin, was a reporter who always seemed to wind up investigating crimes that were perpetrated by some supernatural being. His editor and the police never believed him, and thought of him as a troublemaker. Each show had a plot involving vampires, werewolfs, ghosts, or some other strange being. The show also managed to maintain a nice mix of tension and humor.

Encyclopedia Brown vs the Hippie Long Hair

Another great thing about the school book fairs - Encyclopedia Brown, the exceptionally clever child detective who had encyclopedic knowledge...of everything. I used to have all his books, but somewhere along the line I gave them away to Goodwill - except for this one because it had a hippie on the cover. In case you're not familiar with good old Encyclopedia, I guess I'd better state that he is not the hippie.

The Avengers...in color!

Oh yeah! I was too little to watch this when it was first on, but I saw it in reruns. John Steed and Emma Peel were the coolest. It is interesting to note that the theme song was released on Hanna Barbera Records.

It's true kids, Steve Martin used to be funny

You know what this is, kids? It's an 8 Track of Steve Martin's "Wild and Crazy Guy". Can you say 8 Track?... Back then Steve wasn't a bland, mainstream, big budget movie star. He was a stand up comedian who sold out concerts in Civic Centers and actually made people laugh.

Bread - it's not just for breakfast anymore

"If a picture paints a thousand words, then why can't I paint you?"... That was the question Bread asked in the seventies. The answer turned out to be Gene Simmons spitting blood in David Gates' face which all but destroyed light rock as we know it.