Our final BIG TICKET DAY pick for The 2018 PopCult Gift Guide this weekend goes back to one of my favorite toys of my childhood, electric Slot Car sets. The Auto World 10′ Route 66 Slot Race Set is the latest racing set made by the folks Auto World, using the traditional HO Scale, Aurora-style X-Traction Ultra G-Slot Cars.
Race back in time to the glory days of America’s Mother Road – Route 66! You control the action as you race the supercharged ’55 Bel Air and ’69 Charger X-Traction Ultra-G slot cars across the Midwest from Chicago to Santa Monica, CA. Speed past the St. Louis Arch, the Golden Oil Driller, Cadillac Ranch and more famous Route 66 landmarks! A great action packed gift!
Auto World brings back some history and maybe some memories of a trip down historic Route 66. Highlighted landmarks surround the 10 ft. of slot car track. Race the Route or just go for a Saturday cruise.
Includes 55 Chevy and 69 Charger cars. Fold-up scenic items. 10′ of track. 2 controllers and power-pack. Cruise Route 66 in the comfort of your own home in classic cars and without paying a penny for gas.
I had slot cars as a kid, and in addition to providing hours and hours of fun, they also taught me a lot about electrical wiring and how to drive like a maniac. The is a great set for the automobile fanatic on your shopping list, regardless of their age. You can buy it for just under $110 with free shipping directly from Auto World, or shop around to see if you can find a better deal.
Batman: The Complete Animated Series (Deluxe Limited Edition)
Today first BIG TICKET DAY entry in The 2018 PopCult Gift Guide is the best gift ever for any dedicated fan of Batman. Batman: The Complete Animated Series (Deluxe Limited Edition) includes all 109 episodes (Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures) of the critically acclaimed, Emmy-winning series that redefined the Dark Knight with its thematic sophistication, aesthetics, voice acting, and orchestral score.
All of the episodes have been remastered for the first time since their broadcast airing and are now all here in this stunning Blu-ray box set that’s spread over 10 Blu-ray discs, which also includes a Digital version (people complained mightily about the digital version only being viewable with Vudo and, at first, only being standard definision, but your PopCulteer only passes that info along, as he never bothers with digital copies of movies anyway).
Batman: The Complete Animated Series (Deluxe Limited Edition) can be found at Amazon for just under a hundred bucks, as I write this. You not only get all 109 action-packed episodes ( 35 hours of crime fighting), but you also get a deluxe, numbered package (which Amazon has not always packed appropriately, according to some reviews) that includes collectible Batman, Joker and Harley Quinn Funko Pocket POPS, 7 EXCLUSIVE Lenticular Collector Cards of Original Animation Artwork, plus 2 Bonus Discs of Animated Films Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero.
There are also 25 In-depth Featurettes including: A new definitive Batman: The Animated Series making-of documentary, “The Heart of Batman” — A rare gathering of talent defined Batman for a generation; Twenty-five years later, Batman: The Animated Series continues to inspire fans and myth makers all over the world– This is an in-depth look at the storytellers behind the series; Commentaries on 12 Episodes with Animation Creators.
It’s a complete package of one of the great achievements of modern television animation, and any Batman fan will appreciate the extremely high quality of what is probably the most faithful screen adaptation of the Batman mythos. The best price I’ve found for the Blu Ray edition is at Amazon, but you can probably find this almost anywhere that DVD and Blu Ray box sets are sold.
Today’s other BIG TICKET DAY pick for The 20818 PopCult Gift Guide is the first trading card set devoted the beloved cult TV show, Mystery Science Theater 3000. The second series is due to be out before Christmas, but you can still get your hands on the very first series by ordering a whole box from the manufacutrer, RRParks Cards. This is the perfect gift for fans of MST3K, and you’d better act fast because they are close to selling out. Here’s what the website says:
Took 30 years for this to happen… but it finally EXISTS! Mystery Science Theater 3000 Trading Cards Series One. 36 10-card packs come housed in a full color pop-up display style box. Each box is guaranteed a complete 104-card ‘Invention Exchange’ set, 50-card ‘Experiment’ set covering the first 3 years of the classic TV show, 29-card DVD Menu Art subset, 18-card Anaglyph 3D subset (with a free pair of 3D glasses in the box top) and a 36-card ‘Riff It’ Retro Stalgic subset. Look for special chase and hit cards (guaranteed TWO in each box) which can include a genuine original art sketch card, show-used costume prop card (2 different to chase!), genuine printing plate card, Limited Edition Byron Winton art card, Faux Film Cell card and more. Each box also comes with a limited edition full metal box topper. 36 packs, 360 total cards — and the retail box is produced 24pt full color inside and out with a bonus 33 mini clip-out cards. [postpaid in the US, international orders please message me for a special invoice to include shipping to your country] …THIS CARD BOX IS AVAILABLE NOW (but don’t wait too long… it is getting closer to being sold out!
Series one MSK3K Trading cards will run you eighty-five bucks for a box (including shipping in the US), but each box is guaranteed to include a complete set of base sets, along with lots of other goodies. Visit the RRParks Cards website to order, and scroll down to the second card set on the page. You may want to poke around the page to consider other trading cards sets, like The Three Stooges, Sharknado, and all sorts of less expensive monster and horror and Halloween related sets.
R.E.M. is almost the forgotten superstar rock group. From their peak in the early 1990s, playing to sold-out stadiums, to their quiet dissolution, it seems like their fans have not had a lot in the way of new product to enjoy of late. That all changes with the release of R.E.M. at The BBC. This weekend’s first BIG TICKET DAY entry in The 2018 PopCult Gift Guide is an eight CD, one DVD set that delivers many previously unreleased recordings to the die-hard fans of Athen’s, Georgia’s favorite sons.
In the U.S., R.E.M. came to attention in the early ’80’s and developed a fanbase around the band’s relentless touring schedule and college radio airplay a uniquely American network of local radio stations playing ‘alternative’ music. The band s emergence in Europe also stemmed around their live forays in England, France, the Netherlands and Germany starting in ’83. From this time, the BBC embraced the band not only with airplay, but also with interviews, TV appearances and in-studio sessions. This strong bind between R.E.M. and the BBC throughout the band s career is celebrated here.
R.E.M. grew up with the BBC, and this historic relationship is lovingly celebrated across an incredible collection that beautifully illustrates the career trajectory of one of modern music’s greatest bands. The collection—available as a super-deluxe edition 8-CD/1-DVD box set, as well as 2-CD, 2-LP and digital formats—comprises a treasure trove of rare and unreleased live and studio recordings culled from the BBC and band archives. This is a must-have collection for R.E.M. fans and an authoritative introduction for newcomers. You’ll find plenty of alternative recordings of the band’s greatest songs, plus unusual covers as diverse as ‘Moon River” and Iggy Pop’s “The Passenger.”
In-studio performances featured in the 8-CD/1-DVD box set include a John Peel Session (1998), Drivetime and Mark and Lard appearances (2003) and a glorious Radio 1 Live Lounge performance (2008). Live broadcasts include a rough-and-tumble show from Nottingham’s Rock City (1984), the stunning 1995 Milton Keynes Monster Tour (their first after a six-year break), a blistering 1999 Glastonbury headline set and an invitation-only 2004 show at London’s St James’s Church.
The DVD kicks off with a sixty-minute intimate retrospective of the band’s legendary performances at the BBC in the Accelerating Backwards film – previously broadcast only in the UK and available commercially for the first time here. Accelerating Backwards also includes revealing interviews with Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe, further testifying to R.E.M.’s long, special relationship with the BBC. The DVD also offers a complete 1998 Later….With Jools Holland episode uniquely dedicated to the band, plus TV appearances on Top of the Pops and more.
The package liner notes add yet more behind-the-scenes insight to this definitive retrospective collection. Assorted BBC personalities reminiscence about what it was like to work with R.E.M both on stage and off. Respected BBC DJ/Presenter Jo Whiley recalls, “Their Glastonbury performance in 1999 was a dazzling moment: the band storming through an all-killer, no-filler setlist. As a headline performance, it was a triumph and, for me, it’s up there as one of the Glastonbury greats.” Of a 2001 Top of the Pops performance, BBC Producer Mark Hagen muses, “”Michael once told me that he hears in colors and it was one of those nights when you felt that you could reach out and touch the music as it flowed through the air, a glorious rolling cloud of green. Just like a kudzu vine in a dream.” Acclaimed rock journalist Tom Doyle also provides an overview of the entire thirty-year period.
In addition to the comprehensive box set, The Best of R.E.M. at the BBC is also available abridged via 2-CD and 2-LP formats. R.E.M. has had a special connection to West Virginia since their amazing 1991 performance on Mountain Stage, and this is a great “big” gift for their loyal fans. You can find it where ever CDs are sold, or order it from Amazon, where it’ll run you just under seventy bucks.
A Downtown Charleston fixture, nestled on the corner of Quarrier and Hale Streets, Art Emporium is a go-to location for art, art supplies, small and cool physical objects and all your framing needs.
In addition to notepads, calendars gift cards, paperweights and other cool gift ideas, at next week’s Black Friday Artwalk Art Emporium will play host to a new exhibt, The Art of Brian Zickafoose.
On November 23rd from 3:00-8:00 PM at Art Emporium in Downtown Charleston, WV hosts a special art reception with sacred artist, Brian C. Zickafoose. The Psychedelic Country exhibit will run at Art Emporium from November 13 – December 14.
The works to be featured at this show are an exploration of light and depth. There are several new landscapes that focus on the magic of famous West Virginia destinations. This exhibit will also featuring a dozen new tiny original paintings called, PSY-Matics, which are an exploration of how light is expressed through sound. Viewers can expect a world of eye-candy and painterly wonder.
Several other area artists sell their work through Art Emporium, and if you can’t figure out what gift to give, you can purchase a gift certificate and shift the burden onto the artistic-minded person on your holiday shopping list.
Art Emporium is located at 823 Quarrier Street in Charleston, and they’re open Tuesday through Friday from 10 AM to 6 PM and Saturday from 10 AM until 4 PM. I would expect them to have some extended hours through the holidays. Check their website and Facebook page for more details.
PopCult Note: Due to pressing outside deadlines, The PopCulteer will be taking this week off, but will return on Black Friday. The 2018 PopCult Gift Guide will continue with Big Ticket Day on Saturday and Sunday.
The Best of Don Winslow of the Navy: A Collection of High-Seas Stories from Comics’ Most Daring Sailor
edited and compiled by Craig Yoe
Dead Reckoning
ISBN-13: 978-1682473238
$29.99 (discounted at Amazon)
Next up in The 2018 PopCult Gift Guide is a great gift for fans of golden age comics and proud Navy Vets alike. It’s another great archeological comics presentation from historian, Craig Yoe, The Best of Don Winslow of the Navy.
Don Winslow of the Navy originated as a comic strip, but crossed mediums into movie serials and radio shows, before landing in the pages of Fawcett Comics (the home of the original Captain Marvel) in 1943. This book is a collection of the best stories from the Fawcett Comics run of Don Winslow of the Navy, which became one of the most popular comic books running during and after World War II.
Edited by Craig Yoe, the selected stories are digitally remastered and contextualized with Yoe’s historical research. Preceding the full, colorful tales is a detailed introduction on the creation of the adventurous Don Winslow, including the context for some of the racially and culturally insensitive material in the original comics. This was during wartime, and those were different times. The easily offended might not be the best target audience for this book. For fans of rollicking adventure comics, this is fun stuff.
Don Winslow served to foster recruitment and entertain Navy personnel and the general public alike during World War II and beyond. Winslow fights the Axis and supervillains like The Snake and the attractive, but deadly, Singapore Sal.
Don Winslow of the Navy presents twenty top-notch comic book stories from the peak days of comic book readership, and it also works as a great cultural artifact. You ought to be able to order The Best of Don Winslow of the Navy: A Collection of High-Seas Stories from Comics’ Most Daring Sailor from any bookseller by using the ISBN code, or save a few bucks by visiting Amazon.
Today’s first choice for The 2018 PopCult Gift Guide is a perfect gift for any fan of classic 1980s comedy shows, SCTV and Saturday Night Live. It’s the obscure but acclaimed live action/animated series, The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley, and you can get the entire series of 13 episodes from Warner Archives.
The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley was a 1988 animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera starring Martin Short’s Ed Grimley as well as other characters and actors from Second City’s SCTV. Martin Short’s immortal creation Ed Grimley, the nicest nerd to ever slick up a top knot, began life during Short’s Second City days and followed him onto Saturday Night Live. As Short’s comedy career took off, so too did the fame of his creation, and Ed eventually “graduated” from late night to early morning.
Short provides the voice for Ed, and is joined by a coterie of comedy compatriots including fellow SCTV alums Joe Flaherty, Catherine O’Hara, Andrea Martin, venerated voice vet Frank Welker, and the titanically talented Jonathan Winters.
Ed lives with his goldfish – Moby – and a clever rat named Sheldon while sharing screen time with a mix of or original characters and SCTV favorites.
Episodes feature Ed Grimley’s bizarre adventures interspersed with science lessons from The Amazing Gustav Brothers, Roger and Emil, and a live-action segment with a “scary story” presented as a show-within-a-show by Grimley’s favorite television host, SCTV’s Count Floyd (played by SCTV cast member Joe Flaherty).
This was a high-water mark for the latter days of Hanna-Barbera, and one of the last great Saturday Morning kids shows before the networks abandoned the idea of programming for kids following the advent of cable.
This 2-Disc Collection presents all 13 of Ed’s amazing animated antic adventures – Totally Decent! Tuna casserole awaits! Order it from Warner Archives. It’s only thirty bucks, a mere pittance, I must say.
Today’s final pick in The 2018 PopCult Gift Guide comes straight out of Uranus.
Uranus Missouri, that is. See, down in Uranus, for some reason, the folks found themselves to be the butt of many a joke, and rather than feel sad and wallow in pity, they decided to pick themselves up, and put their money where their Uranus is. They got in on the joke, and created a tourist attraction along the historic Route 66, and now you can take the joy of Uranus and spread it among all your friends.
You can even treat yourself to fresh fudge, direct from the famous fudge factory in Uranus.
And now, if you want to keep up with all the happenings so that you can stick your head right up Uranus and be informed, you can subscribe to the brand-new newspaper, The Uranus Examiner. You can keep up with all the news about the world’s largest belt buckle and the Sideshow Museum, along with all poop on what’s happening at the fudge factory.
I’m sure you all have someone on your holiday shopping list who would get a swift kick out of gifts from Uranus. Get off your butt and visit the website for the bottom line on all the cool stuff going on in Uranus!
Next up in The 2018 PopCult Gift Guide is a downloadable single, but since I don’t usually like to suggest downloads as gifts, I’m including this because it also has an option where you can get actual objects to wrap, plus it’s pretty darned nifty.
Ann Magnuson’s new song “The Sun Don’t Care” draws on her West Virginia roots to deliver an Appalachian-inspired spiritual ballad for today’s troubled times.
Born and raised in Charleston, West Virginia, Ann Magnuson is an actress, writer, musician and artist who is probably best known as the front woman for the band Bongwater. Currently appearing on Season 3 of the Amazon Prime series “The Man in the High Castle”, she guest-curated the critically acclaimed Club 57 exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art, and was recently inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. She’s also been an inspiration to me and is a personal hero.
The music video for “The Sun Don’t Care” features original folk art sculptures of The Sun that Magnuson created as well as homemade dolls crocheted by her Grandma Magnuson. The video also incorporates family home movies shot by Ann’s father during her West Virginia childhood. But, the literal star of the video is our Sun, particularly as seen in public domain footage created by NASA. While Magnuson does appear briefly, her avatar in the video is Arzetta, a doll created (with others) by Grandma Magnuson in 1950s West Virginia.
You can see the video below, and order the download HERE, but you will also find some other cool options. For fifteen dollars you can get THE SUN DON’T CARE EMBROIDERED PATCH, a 4″x 3″ Embroidered iron-on patch based on the original art for THE SUN DON’T CARE by Ann Magnuson. In addtion to the patch you also get unlimited streaming of “The Sun Don’t Care” via the free Bandcamp app, plus a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
This is a cool stocking stuffer–an actual personally designed by a famous actress. But that’s not all…
You can also pick The Sunshine Bag. It’s a special THE SUN DON”T CARE GOODIE BAG that contains: 2 Downloads of “The Sun Don’t Care”; 2 embroidered patches; One Double-Arzetta Dream Girl sticker; a Lyric sheet with personalized art; and a Sun charm, all in an optimistic gold organza bag full of shiny stuff. Plus it includes unlimited streaming of The Sun Don’t Care via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. It’s thirty bucks, which is a bit of a bargain. That’s also available on Ann’s Bandcamp page. This is a great gift for any fan of Ann’s, and I know there are plenty of them out there.
UPDATE: Mention PopCult when you order and Ann says, “I’ll add a Dream Girl download card and Jobriath Medley download sticker to any order that comes through your blog!! Maybe some other fun surprises too!”
Check out the video for “The Sun Don’t Care” here…
A Minyen Yidn (un andere zakhn)
by Trina Robbins and various artists
Bedside Press
ISBN 9780993997051
$15.00
The 2018 PopCult Gift Guide is not just for Christmas, but offers up gift suggestions for all the seasonal holidays. Today we’ve got a great pick for Hanukkah, particularly day three (December 4 this year) when the tradition is to give a book. This is appropriate for teens and up. I reviewed this book earlier this year, but felt it was too good a gift idea to leave out of the guide. I’ve been a fan of Trina Robbins comix since I was probably too young to be reading them. A pioneering underground cartoonist and comics historian, Robbins has always brought a strong sense of storytelling to her work. In last year’s PopCult Gift Guide I recommended both her autobiography and a collection of some of her best work.
In her autobiography she talks about a book her father, Max B. Perlson, wrote that was published in Yiddish in 1938, A Minyen Yidn (un andere zakhn), which translates roughly as “A Bunch of Jews (and other stuff)” was thought lost, until her daughter tracked down a new edition, and eventually an original printing. After having it translated from Yiddish, Robbins realized that it would make for some great comic book stories.
A Minyen Yidn (un andere zakhn) is a great collection of character sketches and short, mostly-funny tales of Jewish life, pre- and post- Immigration to America. In terms of the tone of this adaptation, it would fit perfectly on your comics library shelf between Harvey Pekar’s American Splendor, and Will Eisner’s A Contract With God.
Perlson was a talented writer who seemed to be working somewhat in the vein of James Thurber, maybe with a little traditional Jewish storytelling in the mix, too. This book presents snippets of Person’s life growing up in a shtetl in Belarus and immigrating to Brooklyn in the late 1910s at the age of 16.
Robbins no longer draws. For this book she has handed the scripts over to a group of terrific artists. The cover is by famed underground comic artist Barbara Mendes. Each of the 13 stories has been visually adapted by a different artist and includes contributions by: Steve Leialoha, Shary Flenniken, Eve Furchgott, Miriam Katin, Miriam Libicki, Sarah Glidden, Anne Timmons, Robert Triptow, Jen Vaughn, Elizabeth Watasin, Caryn Leschen, Joan Steacy, Ken Steacy, and Terry Laban. The effect is wonderful because each story is presented in a unique style, but they all combine into a cohesive whole because of the strong personality of the authors (father and daughter).
The stories are bright little vignettes that are very entertaining. Most are funny, though there is a tearjerker about a loyal dog, but all will hold your attention. The only problem is that the book is so brief. It really leaves you wanting more. That’s really not a bad problem to have.
A Minyen Yidn (un andere zakhn) is perfect for anyone with an interest in pre-WWII Jewish culture, but it will also appeal to fans of reality comics and good storytelling in general and makes a great Hanukkah gift . You should be able to order it from any bookseller, using the ISBN number, or you can get it from Amazon.
Auto World 10′ Route 66 Slot Race Set
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