Friday, July 2, 2010

WHAT'S MR. POTTER WATCHING TONIGHT?

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D.A.R.Y.L. 1985

Found this at the thrift store and haven't seen it since I was a kid. I got out the VCR and watched this with my daughter Sam until she fell asleep. She's 10, just like the actor (Barret Oliver) who plays Daryl in the movie. She told me she thinks he's cute. Barret, who is most well known for his role in the Neverending Story, quit acting around 1989 joined Scientology and disappeared. Sorry Sam.

A COUPLE OF RECENT LOGOS

I thought I'd share a couple of recent designs/logos I've done. The first was for a 80s themes coffee shop in Chicago called the Wormhole. It's got a time travel theme and they bought a delorean so they wanted a Doc Brown looking worm flying in the delorean through a wormhole.

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I also did a logo for a local band called Dubble Stuffd which has two black dudes and a white guy. Makes sense I guess.

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If anyone needs a logo or a tattoo or anything let me know.

Monday, June 28, 2010

WHAT MR. POTTER IS READING

I'm always reading a paperback or magazine of some sort so I thought I'd share what I'm paging through from time to time. Here is the book I'm currently reading:

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Mysterious Fires and Lights by Vincent H. Gaddis 1967

I'm on page 78 of 236. The Flying Saucer Mystery, Animated UFOs, Lightning Legerdemain, Fire Falls and Fireballs... good stuff. Chapters coming up on Spontaneous Human Combustion, Firewalkers, Poltergeist Incendiaries... can't wait.

FUNTIME FUNNY #1

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This was in an old "Highlights" magazine from the 80s.

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Just a new way to post random silly things I come across.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

Finally the last post of the Topps 1980 trading cards, the Weird Wheels series. There's a bunch of stuff I could go into with this such as the "Kustom Kulture" style and the Big Daddy Roth "Rat Fink" type theme, but I really don't care too much about artwork involving hot rod cars and stuff to spend much time dwelling on it. If it is something that interests any of you "funtime" readers just Google (Ed Roth, Kustom Kulture, Rat Fink, etc...).

There are a few influences for this set that I may elaborate on at a further date such as the major trading card influences such as the Donruss "Odd Rods" series and the mosters in dragsters influence of the Aurora model kits (DRACULA'S DRAGSTER, FRANKENSTEIN'S FLIVVER, WOLFMAN'S WAGON, MUMMY'S CHARIOT, GODZILLA'S GO-CART, KING KONG'S THRONESTER) sounds like a fun post for later?

Anyway, lets get to the friggin cards already...

As always, the box and wrapper:

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

There's also a debate as far as the art is concerned regarding who painted what. Even the artists known to be involved with the series seem to have a foggy memory when it comes to remembering who did what. Personally I would not forget to take credit for some amzing work, but maybe at the time it didn't seem as big of a deal for them as it is for the fans today. It has been said that Norm Saunders painted over 20 of the cards and it is speculated that the other mystery artist was Gary Hallgren. Other sources have said Saunders only "touched up" the 20 plus cards credited to him and that the other artist is still unknown? I do read my comments, so if anyone feels like coming forward or solving a riddle, I know I'd like to know.

Here's the cards!

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

The cards backs include peeling instructions, puzzle-backs, and of course a checklist.

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

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A while back I decided to redraw one of my favorite cards from the series. Here is a scan of the inked/colored illustrations.

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

TOPPS WEIRD WHEELS 1980

COMING UP NEXT: TOPPS 1981 DALLAS CHEERLEADER CARDS (these aren't technically "non-sports" cards but hey, they are cheerleaders! And I just happen to own the whole set.)