The Mega-Merchandising Initiation

I'm running exactly a week late with my promised "every Monday a Big Bang Theory" entry. Those close to me know why and I thank you for the support - the rest of you, I apologize if you've been waiting. I'm afraid this first one isn't much, but I just wanted to finally note that just as the show was wrapping their third season on the Warner Brothers lot last May, they finally had Big Bang Theory merchandise for sale in the Studio store. I was lucky enough to receive one of these caps for my birthday. I haven't seen them anywhere else - is it possible they're studio exclusive? Please let me know if you've seen them out in the world.
Otherwise, all they had was a wrack of t-shirts that seem to be everywhere - several odd images of Sheldon with Klingon or Bazinga! references, and the one I like best, reproducing Sheldon's Friendship algorithm, above.
I also had the opportunity to try the peanut butter cookies from the Warner Studio commissary that Jim Parsons said he loved back in the 5 questions interview I reproduced previously (click Big Bang Theory over on the right to see it and earlier entries). While the first one in the pack of three was unimpressive, the other two were delicious - a slight taste of toffee in them, adding a little extra chewiness. Oh, and the pizza was quite good too.

In the next Big Bang Theory entry in a week, I'l recount the Museum of Television & Radio's first BBT event from a year ago January. (Do you see why I'm forcing myself to do a weekly BBT entry? I have many backed up!) I haven't seen the info presented anywhere else, so it may be of interest to fans. For example - do you know any of the potential last names for Penny? They named three of them that night!

Be well.

Shambling soon on a TV near you...

I'm lousy at getting information out there in a timely manner. For example, at the simplest, I have been meaning to write up and recommend The Walking Dead comic book, and talk about collecting comic art, since I first started this blog. Since that time, about 40 more issues have come out, and the book has gone from incredibly popular to mega-super-popular. (Those are my estimates; industry standards may actually label it ultra-super popular). On top of that, it's now being adapted to the small screen on AMC. Given that creator Robert Kirkman wanted to essentially tell in comic form a "zombie movie that never ends" (because when a typical zombie movie ended, he always wondered what happened next to the characters)... given that, a series is a natural way to develop the story. Given that AMC is creating the best dramas on TV now - Mad Men and Breaking Bad - I am really looking forward to the series.

So - I'm way late for any of the above to be news to Walking Dead fans, but I think I'm first with an image of the director Frank Darabont with the comic book (above). I'm not a friend of his, but I could claim to be an acquaintance. We have mutual friends in common, and I often would be at the same events - usually at or related to the legendary Creature Features store in Burbank. I would never expect him to know my name, but the few times we've run into each other he has recognized me slightly, enough to let me say hi and remind him who I am. The last time I saw him was just a few days after he was pegged to direct The Walking Dead series, in The House of Secrets comics in Burbank. He was buying every copy of The Walking Dead available for reference, and he graciously let me take this photo provided I promise not to put it online until a date was announced. I assume he meant a shooting date, and since they're now shooting and it's been announced to air in October, I think I'm safe running it now. Permission is granted to reproduce anywhere provided you leave the copyright notice attached, and please (if possible) link back to this site.

Walking Dead was such a good comic it got me into collecting original comic art much more than I had before. Buying the art for pages is a curious thing to collect: it's taking something you already own and bought for a few cents (a page of a comic) and buying it again, for much, much more money. I got interested in the book just about as issue #24 was on the stands, and it was a great time to buy up some really good pages - like above from Issue 19, the first I bought - for a good price.

One danger of buying online of course, is having a one of a kind piece damaged. I got page 2 of issue 2 - the only piece I ever saw from Tony Moore's original 6 issues at an affordable price, and a great full page splash of main character Rick. It was in Canada, and it arrived, as you can see to the right - with a hole all the way through the outer cardboard, a layer of inner cardboard, an envelope,

and the ART ITSELF. I promised myself I wouldn't write negative opinions here, but I have to tell you, when I tried to file an insurance claim with Canada Post, they eventually just stopped answering my phone calls. Thanks, Sandro...

The funny thing is, I got this for such a good price, it's still a good price even with the damage, and it will display just fine. Oh well.

Starting next Monday, this blog will be updated regularly every Monday and Thursday, with each Monday entry being Big Bang Theory themed until I run out of topics. Thanks for reading!

My Father

My father passed away last month. Besides being a great Dad, he was a world class collector of Theodore Roosevelt. Memorabilia, writings, everything. If Roosevelt was on it, he wanted it, I remember as a kid happily finding a Richie Rich comic I had contained an imaginary story where Dollar the dog helped Roosevelt dig the Panama Canal and happily giving it to m Dad - it went on the bookshelf in the dining room right with the "real" Roosevelt books. (For years my Mom sacrificed the dining room to the Roosevelt library, until us kids moved out and an upstairs room became my Dad's office). It was always exciting to find something for Dad, even game pieces at McDonalds when they had a presidential game in the 70's. The Roosevelt figure you see fallen above was made in 1941. I just found it at the San Diego Comic Con last year, and sent it to my Dad at Christmas. He loved it, and it was amazing to find something that was around since he was a kid that he hadn't come across yet.

Dad's collection was truly world class - arguably the largest, most complete on Roosevelt privately assembled. One of the guiding philosophies of his collecting was that, if something said it had nothing to do with Theodore Roosevelt, it belonged in the collection.

As far as I'm concerned, Dad absolutely "won" as a collector - he not only created something valuable (the best place to research one of our most influential presidents) but he kept the collection together and sold it for a good amount to New York State, where it now resides under his name. A legacy. (The postcard collection alone is linked here). His collection was unquestionably relevant - it is a real pleasure now to see Dad's name listed as a source in documentaries and books about Roosevelt.

Dad loved going to the Flea Market in Syracuse every Sunday he could. I've often noted that part of the appeal of collecting is the hunt, and that was definitely true for him too. My sister said she might go to the Flea Market today in honor of him, and I hope she (and any other family back there into it) does.

Like, I would say, most collectors, Dad started when he was a kid. He treasured the books he had a child, like the one above, and still had many of them in his office now. The top on the left, and the giant's ring on the right (quarter shown for size reference) were treasured possessions that were amongst a very few things he kept atop his dresser or in the top drawer. I will continue to treasure them.
After he sold the collection to New York, he went right on collecting Roosevelt and amassed a fairly decent collection again. A pleasant find as we were looking through this was the book Room For Mr. Roosevelt which is about a family in Syracuse NY that was inspired by TR during his life after the presidency. I'm currently reading it, and finding a surprisingly personal connection to Dad, who also was always somewhat a local historian too.

Late in life, Dad acquired an interest in antique, mostly wooden tools, especially planes - and quickly acquired over 400 of them. For anyone else it would have easily passed as a lifetime, sole obsession, but that just underlines the zest with which Dad embraced his interests. (I swear, one of the last times I was home we went to a book store together and Dad found a wooden plane to buy. Seriously.)

One of the reasons I started this blog was to explore the question "Why do people collect?" I know the answer in part for me: I'm a collector because my Dad was.

I miss you, Dad. Happy Father's Day.

We interrupt these messages...

Sorry folks, I was really on a roll to start posting every three days, but my plans have been put on hold while I return to Syracuse for my Dad, who's in the hospital. He's doing better.

I should be back in Los Angeles pretty soon, and I intend to continue posting twice a week - every Monday and Thursday, I think. Until then, here's this completely non-ironic look at the Spider-man 3 version of Operation. (Spotted in a thrift store in Syracuse).

From Springfield, WIth Love

A recent episode of The Simpsons, "Stealing First Base," Bart experienced his first kiss, or something like that, while receiving mouth to mouth resuscitation. I thought he had his first kiss about fourteen years ago, but since he's only ten years old, maybe that episode doesn't count anymore...

Anyways, the kiss set off a great little montage of iconic cinema and TV kisses. It's interesting how easy they all are to recognize, even with the characters Simpsons-ized and no other context or sound included. I'm sure of all of them except the third - it looks like John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara in The Quiet Man - but I don't recognize the setting. Did they kiss in some church ruins at one point? I only saw the film once.

Enjoy.

This last one is my favorite. If you're old enough to remember this, it was probably one of the biggest laughs ever on television.

When Worlds Collide

Couldn't resist this on Ebay recently. This scene never took place on either Barney Miller or Welcome Back Kotter, but it sure could have. Kotter was set in Brooklyn, and Barney Miller's 12th precinct was somewhere in New York, so it's entirely possible they could've busted the Sweathogs at one time or another.

The truth is, they just ran back to back on the same night, but I loved it when shows crossed over like this. Remember when there was a blackout on every NBC Thursday night show set in New York? I believe it was Friends, The Single Guy, Seinfeld, and Carolyn in the City. Or even further back, when Loni Anderson took the Love Boat to Fantasy Island? (Well, not exactly, but almost). It can get a little complicated: Kramer on Seinfeld sublet his apartment from Paul Reiser on Mad About you. Ursula, the waitress on Mad About You, was twin sisters with Phoebe on Friends. (I recently heard the part of Phoebe was adapted to make her the twin of Kudrow's part on the other show). Paul Reiser's character on Mad About you did a documentary on Alan Brady, the star of the show Rob Petrie wrote for back on The Dick Van Dyke. Morey Amsterdam's character from Dick Van Dyke, Buddy, once appeared on the Danny Thomas Show. Now, the Williams family on The Danny Thomas show once shared a home with the Ricardo family on the Lucy-Desi Comedy hour, which featured the same characters as I Love Lucy, on which little Ricky was once visited by Superman - the real, super-powered Superman from The Adventures of Superman, played by George Reeves. So....Seinfeld lives in the same world as Superman, and every character in between. (Which would've made Jerry's day, he was a big fan of Superman on the show...)

Don't think I'm such a big TV fan I know all this off the top of my head. Out there in the interweb, there's a site where they kept track of all the crossovers ever done on TV here. Between the grid here, mapping how the shows connect, and the key here, it's easy to spend hours seeing how almost every show you watched growing up is connected. And, if you believe the last episode of St. Elsewhere, they're all an autistic boy's imaginings within a snowglobe.

Sadly, neither Welcome Back, Kotter or Barney Miller appear anywhere on this grid - but at least this photo proves their worlds did intersect, somewhere out there in the multiverse, briefly.

Brick by Brick by Brick by

I don't often just throw up a link to someone else's site here, but this one is a little different: a friend sent me this link to a visit inside the Lego Archives. Aside from just being an amazing look at 1) corporate organization in a toy company and 2) a neat look at real old stuff in mint condition, I have much the same reaction when I come across the old space Lego sets as the author does. I Spent many a summer afternoon with my friend down the street (who's now a congressman) making up our own games of space battles between red and white space men (I think the blue and yellow were too scarce to be a whole side unto themselves). The best thing about playing space battles with Lego ships? Any time your ship takes damage, you just break off bricks from the appropriate spot.

Anyways, hope you enjoy.