Category: History

Retro Wax Packs (Part 2)

April 23, 2022

It’s time for the second entry about opening old trading card wax packs!

Jaws 2 (Topps, 1978)

In 2020 the pandemic delayed most new release films and as a result our drive in played mostly older movies. We got to see the original Jaws on the big screen and it was incredibly good. At the time I felt I’d never actually seen the sequel and looking at these cards I’m now sure of this.

As far as trading cards go this is a competent set, but it’s an early one from Topps and they had yet to learn the lessons from the success of their Star Wars cards. This means no plot summaries, no die-cut stickers, and a poor puzzle on the backs of select cards.

As kids it was always fun to read the ‘movie facts’ on the backs of cards, since it wasn’t like we’d get that info elsewhere. But based on the imagery on the cards Jaws 2 was a film that perhaps didn’t need a trading card set 🙂

Here’s Bo (Fleer, 1981)

This is just a perplexing set. It purports to be a set of Bo Derek photocards, but the photos are all taken by her husband on what seems to be the set of the Tarzan film they made in the early 1980s.

It’s a bizarre selection of photos, especially since at the time she was a famous sex symbol selling lots of pinup posters. Surely they could/should have included a few of those images in this set?

The included poster is folded up many times and in this case had a sticker of flour-coated gum absolutely adhered to it. When unfolded it’s biggish considering the delivery system, but who would ever want to hang this on a wall?

Oh and the text on the back of the cards is very abbreviated and – to be blunt – creepy:

I can’t see who the audience for this set was!

Ghostbusters II (Topps, 1989)

I’m not a big fan of Ghostbusters, and don’t see the film as iconic as some people do. It was fun enough at the time, but I don’t recall ever being enthusiastic about a sequel, and when one finally arrived several years later I recall seeing it but remember nothing of the experience.

This card set is one of the latter ones that Topps released in wax pack form, and much like Robocop 2 (see the last wax pack post) is a by-the-books set with decent design and good print quality. The choice of a ‘wide screen SFX shot’ card is novel, but is the aspect ratio even different from the others?! The sticker card is shown in the middle, but there’s no explanation what the image is. As with other latter sets, by this time they’d stopped die-cutting the stickers which is a shame.

The film plot is summarized on the backs of the cards, which reminds me this was a baby-intensive film. Here’s a message to Hollywood: if you’re making a film in a franchise aimed at teenage boys, perhaps think twice about basing the plot around a baby 🙂

Howard The Duck (Topps, 1986)

A George Lucas film using a Marvel character?!? When this one came out in 1986 we went to see it with our cousins (Troy and Ryan) and I daresay we left the film even more confused than when we’d seen Caravan of Courage a year prior. This is a strange film for many reasons.

The card set is quite good, with a lot of nice shots of Howard and a well written plot summary on the reverse. But did anyone enjoy the film enough to actually buy these cards?

What stands out from this set is the quality of the stickers! These packs were very cheap so I bought two and both stickers are amazing:

I’m tempted to even try to stick these on something! Overall this is a fairly good set for a distinctly weird film that is worth a watch if you haven’t yet seen it.

Black Hole (Topps, 1979)

From one weird film to another! I believe we saw Black Hole at the Gateshead drive in when we were grasshoppers, and I’m sure we enjoyed the robot scenes but were bored mindless by the lengthy exposition and insane ending. This is a relic of the era of rushing out anything with science fiction content to cash in on Star Wars mania!

Faults aside, the film is visually strong, and lends itself well to trading cards. I recall buying a few packs of these as a kid, and tossing all but the cards showing Vincent and Maximillian!

There’s a well written summary on the backs of some cards, and as usual with Topps in those days we get a subset of die-cut stickers:

Oh and I almost got enough cards in the pack to make a jigsaw puzzle:

Overall this is one of the better sets I’ve opened recently, and I think would have been worth collecting had I had they been available to me as a kid. And as a bonus – since I haven’t shown any this post – here’s a shot of the 43-year-old gum I found in this pack:

There’s one more installment of this mini-blog-series forthcoming, with six more weird and wonderful wax packs from the 1980s. Watch for it in a couple of weeks!

Retro Wax Packs (Part 1)

April 10, 2022

In the 1970s and 80s, trading cards were packaged in waxed paper that was folded and heat-sealed. The term for such packaging is ‘wax packs’ and generally refers these days to any package of trading cards sold before 1991 (when the last wax pack was used). Importantly to me, all the cards of my youth were sold in wax packs, so these are very nostalgic for me.

Recently I bought a bunch of unopened wax packs from the 1980s, and over the next month or so I’m going to open and blog them all. Let’s start!

Robot Wars (Fleer, 1985)

This is a set of game cards, cashing in on transformers and scratch-off lottery tickets, and conceptually similar to the Super Mario and Zelda cards I have previously blogged.

The pack contains three game cards that no longer work since the scratch-off material has solidified (and I mean solidified; it’s like obsidian)! I expect children would have enjoyed these back in the day though. There’s also a sticker in the pack, but it’s in less-than-perfect condition due to a quirk of wax packs – the gum:

Almost every wax pack – and certainly all of them targeted at kids – contained a stick of gum. Over the 35+ years the gum has at worst become brittle and cracked to pieces or at worst become greasy and moldy. In most cases it’s just a solid inedible stick that has cemented itself to the card it was adjacent to. Removing it usually causes damage, as you can see above.

Incidentally there’s an internet rumour that this ancient gum has become poisonous and dangerous to eat. This is nonsense: it’s mostly just distasteful or extremely bitter. I’ve eaten some before, and I learned then never to eat it again 🙂

What about the ‘win a robot’ contest? Well it was a write-in, as detailed above. I wonder if anyone actually did this and won, and if so what happened to the robot?

Superman III (Topps, 1983)

This is the one with Richard Prior, and definitely not one of the better Superman flicks. But Topps, which had enjoyed in the years before massive success with the Star Wars cards, followed their formula and made a great set here.

The cards are nicely designed with good printing and a lot of action scene for the kids (from a film with a lot of ‘boring’ comedy scenes). The backs are nicely written too:

In addition the pack includes the usual sticker, and these were the days when Topps die-cut their stickers, which from a kid point of view made them just that bit better:

The gum in this pack hadn’t stuck as much to the card, and the pack itself was very easy to open, so I can show just what one of these wrappers looked like unsealed:

Unsurprisingly the wrappers themselves are collectible, and some of the rarer ones are worth big bucks these days in good condition.

Robocop 2 (Topps 1990)

We’re close to the end of the wax pack era, since 1990 was when Topps both moved to plastic and abandoned the gum. We’re also more than ten years after the first Star Wars set, but Topps was still following their standard formula here with Robocop 2:

The eagle-eyed amongst you will note scenes from the first film amongst these cards, and this is explained on the back with a little comment that the set ‘Includes highlights from Robocop’s first adventure‘.

Ah, the 1980’s, where companies didn’t think twice about releasing trading cards for kids based on ultra-violent R-rated films 🙂

Cyndi Lauper (Topps, 1985)

In 1985 Cynthia Lauper was 32 years old and at the peak of her fame. I wonder what it was like for her to open a pack of trading cards all about herself?

The cards themselves are just ok, with underwhelming photos and the usual Smash Hits level factoids on the back. For fans though, I expect these were a real treat.

The stickers are die-cut but a bit ugly (or maybe just very 1980s). That said I’d still love to stick one on a postcard now, but I know from experience that if you peel a 35+ year old Topps sticker off the backing it’ll never restick! As with most sets of that era the backs of the stickers can be used to form a large picture: a nice use for the card even if you remove the sticker.

The gum in here was very unusual. This is the first time I’ve seen a wrapped piece of gum in a wax pack, and it was branded as well! I’ve included the joke from the wrapper to give you a belly laugh…

Indiana Jones (Topps, 1984)

While generically named, these cards are based on Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Doom, the second film in the series. This is the only pack I’m showing here today that I remember buying as a kid. And just as I’m sure I did then, I’m very impressed with these now.

The cards are wonderfully designed with great stills and the adventure style font compliments the pictures well. The backs all describe the action and preview the name of the next card (once again following the formula they perfected with the Star Wars sets):

Back in our Australian youth we often got the cards before the films, so almost everything in the movie was ‘spoiled’ for us. But it didn’t matter, and in some ways made the films even better since we were seeing the pics from the cards in motion. And afterwards, in an era without internet or video, our cards were a convenient way to relive the movies.

I bought two packs of these cards (and they weren’t cheap at $8 each, but unopened packs from Raiders are much harder to find and often more expensive) and in my second pack got the title card shown above.

The stickers from this set are amazing and once again I wish they still worked. I wonder what I did with the ones I got as a kid? The picture you can assemble from the sticker backs is shown at the right: and as a child if I collected the cards I would have made this and glued (yes glued) the cards onto cardboard to turn them into a sort of mini-poster!

What do you think of these sets? As I said there’ll be more in future weeks. I wonder what other treasures I managed to get my hands on…?

75 More Hours Of Ultraman!

April 5, 2022

It’s time for another update in my (endless?) watching of all the Ultraman series! As with before, I’ve watched a mixture of older and new series since the last update.

Ultraman Leo (1975, 51 episodes 21.6 hours)

By the mid 1970s the Ultraman franchise was almost 10 years old, had been airing continuously on Japanese TV, and was expanding into other markets. To keep itself fresh it kept reinventing, and Ultraman Leo – the 7th series – was quite unique compared to its forbears.

For starters Ultraman Leo himself was not from the same planet as the other Ultramen, and transformed via a ring and not due to any inherent power. He had a brother, and at the start of the series while he was undeniably superheroic, he was still inexperienced and had to learn from a mentor. This mentor was none other than Dan Moroboshi, the human form of Ultraseven, who could no longer transform due to an injury.

Almost every episode of the series follows a similar format: Leo fights a monster but lacks the power to defeat it, then goes away and trains, then at the end achieves victory via a new ability or power. The show is heavily inspired by kung fu movies of the era, and the training sessions and unstoppable determination of the main character can at times be alarming.

And yet Gen – the human form of Leo – is a charismatic sort and it doesn’t take many episodes before the show grabbed me. It didn’t hurt that the show was notably more adult than Taro – perhaps by now Tsuburaya was actively catering to their aging fans?

Toward the end the plot makes a sharp left turn, killing off almost the entire cast in the first few minutes of an episode and essentially rebooting itself with no warning. But it ends well, and when Gen removes his ring to spend the rest of his days exploring his ‘new home’ (Earth) the audience, having seen what he’s gone through, can only wish him the best.

Ultraman 80 (1980, 50 episodes, 20.4 hours)

A couple of years passed before the next Ultra series, and in that time the world got Star Wars and science fiction storytelling changed overnight. Except for the Ultra series, since Ultraman 80 – a new series for a new decade – was in many ways a return to form after the experimental storytelling of Leo.

The setup is familiar: an Ultraman (called ’80’!) lives in human form on earth, protecting the world from the threat of aliens and giant monsters. The series begins with an interesting premise: Takeshi (the human form of 80) is a teacher at a school and he moonlights as an special agent of the organization UGM fighting off monsters – which initially are all based on human weakness.

In time this was dropped (the school and his personal life are never mentioned again) and it became a very formulaic series. There was some innovation toward the end with the addition of the first female ultra – Ultrawoman Yulian – but mostly this was a by-the-numbers series.

That said, I loved this show. The main actor was extremely likeable, the simple stories well written, the special effects respectable (for their time) and the location shooting was, as always, charming. We’re in the 1980s now as well, and I personally loved hearing the first mention of video games in an ultra series! One episode is also based around being an excessive fan of a hobby, and when one character says “Being a man means giving your all to your hobbies” I nodded knowingly.

Also Ultraman 80 has not only the best theme song of any Ultra series, but one of the best TV theme songs ever recorded! Who wouldn’t be moved by a line like: ‘The man who came to us from a star will teach you about love and courage‘?

Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle (2007, 12 hours)

This is a box set that include both series of Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle and the cinematic sequel film.

The first season is a bonkers show about soldiers from the interstellar agency ZAP SPACY becoming stranded on Planet Boris were they meet and eventually befriend a mysterious dude named Rei who uses a ‘Battlenizer’ to catch and fight with monsters.

Oh and there’s virtually no Ultramen in it at all. At least not until (literally) the last few minutes.

This was a pay-per-view show in Japan, and was based on an IC card arcade game. It shows, and I can imagine children eagerly purchasing their own battlenizers from Japanese toy shops then collecting the cards in game centers!

Is this a good show? Of course not. But just as there is no bad Star Wars, there’s also no bad Ultraman, and I enjoyed the lunacy of the show and the fact it didn’t outstay it’s welcome.

I was very surprised by the second series where the now very powerful Rei is pursued by a series of aliens who want to destroy him and steal his power. It’s a lot more creative, with spectacular battles and a few more explicit nods to other Ultra series. Oh and the girls are prettier, which is always a plus 🙂

But the true gem of this set is the movie, which introduces two characters that have become integral to the Ultra franchise: Ultraman Zero and Ultraman Belial. The movie has little to do with Mega Monster Battle and instead tells an insane story of an evil Ultraman as he attempts to destroy the universe and is so strong that he can only be defeated by Zero, the son of Ultraseven. Tsuburaya spared no expense here and the battle scenes are spectacular and Zero himself is fantastic from his first appearance. The movie was a massive success when it was released in Japan in 2009 and rightly so!

Ultraman Zero Collection (2009, 6 hours)

This set contains a few miniseries and DVD specials all featuring Zero and a few of his companions.

Belial returns as ‘Kaiser Belial’ (and his design is breathtaking) and of course Zero has to power up to eventually defeat him. There’s giant mecha and pretty princesses and legions of evil robots even a hand-shaped spaceship big enough to crush a planet!

The stories are as insane as they sound but it’s all so fast paced and sparkly that it’s enormously entertaining. This is Ultraman junk food; as tasty as it is flashy!

Neo Ultra Q (2013, 12 episodes, 5 hours)

Ultra Q was a 1965 series that predated the original Ultraman, and is often described as a sort of Japanese ‘Twilight Zone’. I own it (and should probably have reviewed it in a previous post) and loved it so was looking forward to see this followup made almost 50 years afterwards.

First of all this has nothing to do with Ultraman in that it’s absolutely not for kids and there’s no guys in rubber suits fighting giant monsters. Instead this is about three people that investigate mysteries in a Japan that seems to exist in a world one or two dimensions away from ours.

People take monsters and aliens for granted, and very weird things happen in this show. Very rarely is anything fully explained, and as the show continues the director seems to deliberately up the weirdness factor while cutting back even more on explanations. Some episodes even seem to end prematurely, and since this includes the final one this is definitely a series that I think could have done with a sequel.

It’s beautifully written, acted and shot. The tone is dark and unusually pessimistic (for TV), and I got the impression that the creators knew they only had one season so went for it to make the most memorable thing they could. In my opinion they succeeded. Of all the shows I’m reviewing in these posts, this is probably the best one for a non-Ultra fan to watch. Highly recommended.

I’m not even close to done. I’ve already got four more box sets and two movie sets all ready to go, and first on the list is the 1979 animated series The Ultraman. Then it’s time to move into the now-classic mid 1990s Ultra series, as well as a few more recent shows including another one (like Neo Ultra Q) aimed squarely at adults.

Look for more reviews in a year or so!

Robot Claw