ALL SCI-FI

[Robert (Butch) Day]

"Uncle" Irwin (as he preferred to have his 'family' call him — when he wasn't angry) had only ONE book that he went by What Makes Sammy Run? by Budd Schulberg inspired by the life of his father, early Hollywood mogul B. P. Schulberg. [It's a rags to riches story chronicling the rise and fall of Sammy Glick, a Jewish boy born in New York's Lower East Side who, very early in his life, makes up his mind to escape the ghetto and climb the ladder of success by deception and betrayal.]

As long as could keep the majority of the money that the networks paid him, he just really didn't care.

As to "Himself" Harris, the nickname says it all.
_________________
Common Sense ISN'T Common

[Krel]

Butch, wasn't Irwin Allen also one of the first to heavily merchandise his programs? I read that in his office, he had one of each of the products from his programs on display.

David.

[Robert (Butch) Day]

No; Disney was. Then M-G-M. But Irwin was the second (again after Disney) to mass market his TV shows. Sci-fi TV shows of the 1950s marketed only to their specific audience a la old radio shows. Simple toys, decoder rings, membership cards and food products.

[Brent Gair]

Time to stick in a post with another Lost in Space collectible...and a story.

The 10" Trendmasters robot is one of the truly essential modern LIS collectibles. By "modern" I refer to that period of product licensing sparked by the 1998 movie. The movie wasn't much to write home about but it gave rise to a line of toys from the classic series.

The 10" robot is the most popular of those toys. In addition to the standard robot, a limited edition of 9996 Chrome robots was released. These differed from the standard robot in that they were obviously chrome plated, came in window box with a plastic front (as opposed to the open front box of the standard bot) and came with three different colored laser pistols: red, blue and silver.

Somewhere around the year 2000, I bought a chrome B9 from eBay. I don't bother collecting "variations". I just wanted a chrome robot and it came with the standard silver laser pistol.

Several months (maybe even a year) later, I picked up my mother from the bus station following one of her "old folks" gambling junkets to North Dakota. She handed me a large bag and said, "I don't know if you're interested in these but I know you collect Lost in Space toys and I found these on clearance at Suncoast Video". I think she paid $10.00 each.

I opened the bag to find TWO 10" chrome robots...and by pure coincidence, she had picked up one with a red pistol and one with a blue pistol!

Through dumb luck, good fortune and my mother's generosity, I ended up with all three variations of the Trendmasters limited edition chrome B9.

[Bud Brewster]

I'm trying to picture what the living room floor around a well decorated tree looked like on Christmas morning when you were a kid, Brent.

Either your parents were very generous and you got used to scenes like the one above, or you were deprived of toys for some reason and you're trying to make up for it.

Based on what you said about your wonderful mother, it was probably the first option.

I think I'll send the picture above to my daughter so she can show it to my ten-year-old grandson. I suspect he'll be a very good boy between now and Christmas, and he'll make some major changes on his list to Santa.
_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Brent Gair]

[Bud Brewster]

Brent, I've been a little worried the last few months that the personal stories I often mix with my posts about various movies (especially the very long tale in The Time Machine post) were not exactly thrilling our members.

However, you've proven that fond memories go hand-in-hand with interesting facts, and both of these have a place on All Sci-Fi.

I'll keep our virtual campfire burning, and you warm up the coming winter months with more tales of days gone by and creative triumphs!

One quick question: Was little Brent plotting to take a peek into that mysterious coal chute when nobody was looking? By God, when I was that age I sure would have!
_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Robert (Butch) Day]

Brent, do you have this Trendmasters toy?



It' sort of a "Jupiter I"!
_________________
Common Sense ISN'T Common

[Brent Gair]

[Robert (Butch) Day]

How big is it?
_________________
Common Sense ISN'T Common

[Brent Gair]

[Brent Gair]

I just got an upgraded item for my Lost in Space collection. I say "upgraded" because I had one of these before.

Many years ago, I got a View-Master through eBay. I've always had great luck with eBay but that set was pretty weak. Honestly, I don't remember if it was a misleading description or if I simply wasn't diligent in my shopping. Regardless of who was at fault, it was a rather moth-eaten set. The exterior envelope had a Scotch Tape repair. It wasn't an expensive item but it is something that has always bothered me.

I don't have the budget to buy mint condition collectibles from that era but I try to buy good, displayable pieces.

I was recently able to upgrade that set when another View-Master became available on eBay. They are not rare or terribly uncommon...but I do have to be sensitive to price.

When I saw this set, there was only a few hours left in the auction and no bids. With an hour left, I put in a lowball bid. I assumed I would be outbid in the last few seconds. Luckily, there were no other bidders and, as the only bidder, I got the set for the opening bid $29.95.

I just received it today and I'm very happy. The condition is very good...nowhere near mint but very displayable at a reasonable price. It's WAY better than the set it replaces.

[orzel-w]

[orzel-w]

Hey, whatever happened to noetic_hatter? Three days, 39 posts, then poof!
_________________
...or not...

WayneO
-----------

[Brent Gair]