Dave just sent some of our best yet from 1976 and 1977 ! Dave and his brother are the kids, and the dude sporting the killer mustache and the awesome Darth Vader iron on shirt.
Keep ‘em coming! Send yours to rberry@retrocrush.com and we’ll put them up!
Leah sends us this wonderful picture and writes…
“Hi Robert, I think your site is great. I really enjoy reading the articles about some of the neat stuff from my childhood and also from childhoods past. I’d like to submit a holiday photo. This is me with my new Big Wheel on Christmas of 1983. I rode that bike until the plastic cracked and the groovy graphics faded and fell off. It was a sad day when I finally had to part with it. Love the site! Leah”
Thanks! Send your retro holiday pictures to rberry@retrocrush.com.
I am thankful for…
Busting red paper caps on the sidewalk with a rock
Teachers who would actually play the movie backward after the reel ended
Being told by Leslie in 4th grade that I was very creative
The immature giggles I still get when I see a can of “Beanie Weenie”
Drinking the sugary milk left over from a bowl of Froot Loops
The eternal mystery of what “Froot” actually is
The crackles and pops from the beginning of a song on a vinyl record
The crackles and pops from the extra big Pop Rocks when you bite them
The death flirting goodness of a chicken fried steak
Schoolhouse Rock…the only place that truly helped me understand adverbs
Lolly lolly lolly
The gentle smack of a perfect Frisbee catch
The sweet SKIIIIZZZZZZZZZZ sound of a Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robot knockout punch
Watching my kids do just about anything
Beating my kids at videogames
The clinically unexplainable love my wife still has for me
Anyone taking the time to read the crazy stuff I write.
Thanks!
-Robert Berry
I’m a big time fan of the great puppet animation Christmas specials by Rankin and Bass. From “Santa Claus is Coming To Town” to “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer” they’ve never failed to please. My favorite, though, without a doubt, is 1974’s “A Year Without A Santa Claus”. Mickey Rooney returns as Santa and Shirley Booth (TV’s “Hazel”) does a fantastic job as Mrs. Claus, but it’s the incredible (and all too brief) appearances by Snow Miser and Heat Miser that make the special an all time classic! Read more »
We’ve been testing it out a bit to work the kinks out and the retroCRUSH Message Boards are ready to rock! Talk about retro fun stuff with tons of cool retro people all over the world. CLICK HERE TO BE AN EARLY ADOPTER! IT’S ALL COMPLETELY FREE!
When I first started compiling this collection of terrible titles, I was a bit concerned that there was an overwhelming amount of newer movies in the mix. But after careful consideration, I chose not to worry, as its merely indicative of modern films getting titles that are worse and worse as time goes on. We live in a time when a movie like “Gigli” can come out and more press is given to how awful the title is than the film itself (which was equally bad by all accounts).
Some films have awful names, but were not included because they were merely based on books with awful names, hence no “The Divine Secrets of Ya Ya Sisterhood”. Some films that didn’t quite make the cut where “Chu Chu and the Philly Flash”, “Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things”, and Prince’s “Under The Cherry Moon.” And special thanks to the fine goons in the Something Awful Forums for helping to brainstorm with this list.
#20 “STEP INTO LIQUID” 2003
If you didn’t see the poster, you’d think this movie was about walking into a bathroom with piss on the floor.
Hey…we could all use a little help around the holidays, so we’re offering a substantial cut on our advertising rates through the rest of the year so you can help promote your website, products, band, comic, whatever… For a measly $25, you can have a 125×125 box ad like you see right here on the left that will be good through DECEMBER 31st! The sooner you act, the more days it will be up. Email me at rberry@retrocrush.com for details. No ads for adult sites, get rich quick schemes, or other shitty things (all ads subject to approval).
Just plugging a great fun list from AMC’s Film Critic site. CLICK HERE to read it, with videos.
Many years ago we featured The Worst Superhero Costumes, and recently showcased The Best Supervillian costumes, so it was only a matter of time before we finally got around to give the best hero duds a shake. What makes a great costume? Is it a one hit wonder design that is only around for a bit but just taps in to something cool that everyone loves? Or is it an iconic design that has lasted for many decades virtually unchanged from the original pages it appeared in? We have a pretty good mixture of all these things. The Top 15 of these are a result of voting responses from a poll we featured for retroCRUSH readers, while the bottom 5 are just some personal favorites I threw in that were likely too obscure to register with the polling masses, but needed special recognition nonetheless.
I decided to leave female characters off the list, as they’ll get their own Top 20 shortly. So without further adieu…
#20 THE PHANTOM
The Phantom’s purple outfit is one of those costumes that looks absolutely ridiculous in real life, but in the comic book medium, it’s rather striking. The Phantom first appeared in comic strip form back in 1936, beating comic book heroes starting with Superman by a good 2 years. Though there haven’t been too many purple heroes since then, you have to give The Phantom credit for being the first costumed hero to wear tights, and have a mask with blank white eyes (which they took out of theatrical version with Billy Zane) that became a staple from heroes ranging from Batman to Wolverine in the years to follow.
We’re currently showcasing photos from retroCRUSH readers of their vintage holiday times! Here’s one we got today from Dana who writes…
Hello Robert Berry!
First let me say that the new RetroCrush look is awesome! I really enjoy your site as it helps me relive the golden past of my youth. I would like to submit a holiday photo of me and my siblings on Christmas day 1973. Check out my surprised look opening a “Safari” set that included a rifle with strap, binoculars and of course, a canteen. I think it was bought from Sears back in the day. You’re welcome to use this photo if it helps with your montage of retro holiday pictures.
I’m a huge fan of your site and your love of the past. I wear my RetroCrush T-shirt with pride! Take care Robert Berry. You have the greatest job on earth!!
Thanks, Dana! You’re awesome! I love the vintage console TV in the background! My friend Bill Emery used to have a wide model like that had folding doors that covered the screen that we accidentally melted when we opened one against a space heater! The drippy molten look was pretty awesome for watching scary movies on in later days.
Keep sending your pictures to rberry@retrocrush.com and we’ll put them up!
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Hello Robert Berry! First let me say that the new RetroCrush look is awesome! I really enjoy your site as it helps me relive the golden past of my youth. I would like to submit a holiday photo of me and my siblings on Christmas day 1973. Check out my surprised look opening a “Safari” set that included a rifle with strap, binoculars and of course, a canteen. I think it was bought from Sears back in the day. You’re welcome to use this photo if it helps with your montage of retro holiday pictures.
I’m a huge fan of your site and your love of the past. I wear my RetroCrush T-shirt with pride! Take care Robert Berry. You have the greatest job on earth!! |
In the late ’70s and into the ’80s, Marvel Comics made a substantial amount of comic books that were based on licensed characters that they did not create. And as time passed and deals expired, they were no longer able to reprint the work. You’ll notice this in collections like “Marvel Essentials” where the team up with The Thing and Doc Savage in Marvel Two In One is omitted. And though Dark Horse owns the Conan publishing rights now, and can reprint the original Marvels, they can’t bring back the swell What If? issues featuring Conan fighting Captain America in modern times.
Another fun series in limbo is the well done ROM The Space Knight. Originally a comic to cash in on a short lived pricey action figure, it lasted 75 issues and had some crossover appearances by The X-Men, Power Man and Iron Fist, Dr. Strange, and The Sub-Mariner. Marvel won’t reprint them and those particular issues are off limits to anyone else.
Probably one of the coolest series that this affects is Marvel’s excellent Micronauts saga that was written by Bill Mantlo and featured gorgeous Michael Golden art and covers. In particular was the 7th issue which featured the little dudes fighting The Man-Thing, which is still one of my favorite comic book covers of all time.
What a kick to run into comic book creator Mark Todd at the 2009 Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco and see that he did this alternate version of the cover.
Fortunately, most of the comics mentioned in this article are fairly easy to come by. Back issues from this period aren’t particularly rare, and you can often fine entire runs of a series for not much above the original cover price if you aren’t a freak about condition and just want good reading copies.
This was filmed on October 11th in less than ideal outdoor situations, but thanks to Jace Whitman for helping us make the best of it! Note to self: wearing sunglasses and a tshirt during an interview indeed does make you look like a douchebag! You can CLICK HERE and read it!
Ok…if you’re 8 or just immature like me, this commercial will make you giggle every time!
This was a pretty good jingle that’s still pretty memorable after all these years. There was no less than 10 different ads through the years that used this great tune. I wonder when Roller Disco will finally come back?
Got any great retro/vintage holiday photos to share! Send them to me at rberry@retrocrush.com and we’ll feature them here on retroCRUSH! The cool dude above is a 2 year old ME from around 1971. Gotta love those awesome pants and my kickin’ trike!
November 28th, 2009 
rberry 