The comic book I am most excited to read this week is... TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #127 (W) Sophie Campbell (A/CA) Pablo Tunica Who is Dr. Jasper Barlow, and is he friend or foe? As the TMNT regroup from their battle with the Punk Frogs, the doctor makes some of our heroes an offer they may find hard to refuse, and reveals a most startling creation he calls... VENUS. Plus, a tense situation between the Utroms and Triceratons goes from bad to worse! SRP: $3.99 Synopsis Provided By: PreviewsWorld.com
Throw on your best swag wear, and head to the disco as we take you back to the 80s! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK!
Artist: The Sugarhill Gang Song: 8th Wonder Album: 8th Wonder (1981) Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: N/A Bonus Fun Fact: This song was featured on their second album that was produced by Sylvia Robinson!
This past week, I posted the music video for the song "Nuttin' But Flavor" by Funkmaster Flex as the 20 Years Before 2000 Throwback Jam of the Week. This song reminded me of this "Hip Hop Mix" CD that is currently in my collection. I dug around and found it and myself and my daughter have been listening to it every morning this week as I drop her off at school.
Me and my brother had quite a few of these compilation CDs back in the day. You see this CD was released in 1995, which was about 4 years before Napster was launched, so the only other way to get your favorite songs without all the filler was to pop a blank tape into your jam box and hope your favorite radio station plays the best jams so you could record them for later listening pleasure.
This CD was originally only offered through a television commercial campaign (evidenced by the "As Seen on TV" graphic on the cover) that involved a chunky, bald man getting ready for his untimely demise in an electric chair. Lord knows what that had to do with anything, but it really caught the teenage eyes of me and my brother. Especially my brother. I tried searching the interwebs, so I could post that commercial here, but I was unable to find it anywhere! At least the commercial is sort of represented in the cover art for this disc.
The Hip Hop Mix was more than just a really weird commercial, it actually featured some bangin' jams like "Safe & Sound" by DJ Quik. "Funkdafied" by Da Brat and "Tootsie Roll" by 69 Boyz! My brother ordered the CD and after his interest in it wavered, I grabbed it and still have it to this day! That got me thinking about all of those "Only Available Through This TV Offer" tapes and CDs that were being advertised to us back in the 90's? Did anyone ever buy any? Below are some examples of those classic ads featuring some great songs from back in the day!
When was the last time you saw one of these? Do they even do this anymore? If you did buy one of these CDs, please feel free to let us know what you purchased in the comments below! I'll leave you all off with a video from another hit song off the Hip Hop Mix album..."Tukka Yout's Riddim by Us3! Enjoy!
The comic book I am most excited to read this week is... GODZILLA vs. MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS #1 (W) Cullen Bunn (A/CA) Freddie Williams II From IDW Publishing and Boom! Studios, two titanic powers collide in a cross-company collaboration event you never expected . . . but makes complete sense! When Rita Repulsa uses an ancient artifact to transport herself to a universe without Power Rangers, she finds herself on a world with aliens, kaiju, and . . . Godzilla! Hoping to annihilate this new foe, Rita hurls her own terrible creatures into battle. But she never expects that the Rangers have followed her to this alternate reality! Now, the Dinozords themselves are going head-to-head with the King of the Monsters! Written by superstar scribe Cullen Bunn (Godzilla: Cataclysm) and illustrated by artist extraordinaire Freddie Williams II (Batman/TMNT)! SRP: $3.99 Synopsis Provided By: PreviewsWorld.com
Throw on your Hot 97 shirt, and head to the turntables as we take you back to the 90's! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK!
Artist: Funkmaster Flex feat. ODB & Biz Markie Song: Nuttin But Flavor Album: Nuttin But Flavor Single (1995) Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: N/A Bonus Fun Fact: Funkmaster Flex released 3 compilation albums for Loud back in the late 90's, but this song was one of his first recorded original songs!
Over the last few years, I've been collecting old wax & foil packs of trading cards from the 80s & 90s. When you would buy one of these packs you would tear it open and throw away the wrapper. Never giving it a second thought. Seeing these again brings back memories of feeling the slick paper in your hands, seeing the simple artwork and the smell of bubble gum. In celebration of the return of Major League Baseball after the great lockout of 2022, let's dive into a few of these packs that I have on display and celebrate a few of my favorite players from my #1 team...the NEW YORK METS!
1988 Donruss
1990 Topps Traded
1991 Donruss
1991 Fleer
1992 Topps Stadium Club
Thanks for taking a minute to look at some old packs of baseball cards and humoring my die hard Mets fandom. I hope whoever you cheer for has a great season and you can enjoy the game to the fullest! If you feel like checking out the classic 1985 broadcast of the Mets vs. Cubs game, feel free to watch the Youtube video below. Now let's PLAY BALL!!!
The comic book I am most excited to read this week is... SLUMBER #1 (W) Tyler Burton Smith (A) Vanessa Cardinali (CA) Nathan Fox Stetson is a nightmare hunter. A dream detective. She runs a shoddy back-alley business where she helps clients sleep at night by entering their dreams and killing their nightmares. But Stetson's past comes back to haunt her when she tracks down a literal living nightmare - a serial killer that murders people in their sleep. SLUMBER is an ongoing series from the twisted minds of writer TYLER BURTON SMITH (Kung Fury, Child's Play) and rising-star artist VANESSA CARDINALI. SRP: $3.99 Synopsis Provided By: PreviewsWorld.com
Throw on your Celtics Jersey, and head to Boston as we take you back to the 90's! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK!
Artist: House of Pain Song: Jump Around Album: House of Pain (1992) Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: 3 Bonus Fun Fact: This song was produced by Cypress Hill member DJ Muggs. Before House of Pain took the beat and ran with it, it was offered to B-Real & Ice Cube who both turned it down! This song peaked at #6 in Ireland!
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are probably my favorite characters from my childhood. Close by are the Masters of the Universe, Thundercats and Ghostbusters, but none of those stand up to my passion for collecting all things TMNT. Recently, I've been scouring the internets for any great deals I could find on merchandise featuring the Mean, Green Machine in an attempt to recoup some of my childhood collection. I did find some more cool stuff that I would like to share with you. Hopefully it brings back some great memories from that time in life where animals in bandanas were everything to us. Here we go!
I had been wanting one of these collectible ice cream vinyl figures for quite a while. I thought it was the perfect way to display one of my favorite childhood frozen treats without any of the mess! These were on sale at the Culture Fly website and I had wanted to get the vinyl of my favorite Turtle, Donatello, but they were sold out!
I ultimately decided on getting a Mikey since he was the last TMNT frozen treat that I had ingested. Pretty close resemblance to the real thing, huh?
Henry Gordy International TMNT Watergun (1988)
Here is another one of those rack toys I have talked about. I wasn't actively seeking this water gun out, but it came with the TMNT Flash Gun I had wanted. Not a bad throw in though! Still love the crude, early TMNT artwork on the packaging. I like the looks of the Shredder on this one!
Henry Gordy TMNT "Puffy Stickers" (1988)
These stickers may be one of my favorite items in my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles collection. Me and my brother would beg my Mom for any spare quarters she may have had in her pocket book any time we went to the local A&P supermarket. Usually she would break us each off a quarter if our behaviors were good enough during the shopping trip. It was a great way to make sure we were on our best behavior and while she was checking out, we were checking out the machines at the front of the store. More often than not, we would spend those quarters on globs, mini football helmets or those tiny, translucent Masters of the Universe figures. Then Turtlemania hit and we pumped quarters into those machines for the chance to get a complete set of these very TMNT stickers! So many great memories are attached to these pieces of sticky perfection!
I never had any of these Mighty max style playsets from the Nickelodeon show, but I saw this in a bin at my local Goodwill for $2 and since it was a depiction of my favorite member of the Green Machine, I picked him up. He now sits on one of the desks in my office as a proud member of my TMNT collection.
IDW Usagi Yojimbo Comic #20
This was a book that I had wanted, but my local comic shop didn't order any shelf copies. I searched ebay for copies, but most were out of my price range. Finally, while purchasing some My Little Pony comics off the IDW website, I saw this book for sale at the shelf price of $3.99. The reason I wanted this book is because it introduces a new recurring character to the Usagi Yojimbo story by the name of Yukichi Yamamoto. Yes, it is the second print, but I'm glad to have this book in my collection. I know it's not technically a TMNT book, but Usagi is a friend of the TMNT and that makes him part of the family to me!
Thanks for checking out some more great Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles items from my collection. I hope you enjoyed it.
The comic book I am most excited to read this week is... DEVIL'S REIGN #5 (W) Chip Zdarsky (A/CA) Marco Checchetto As smart and ruthless as Wilson Fisk may be, he's chosen to enlist the aid of some of the most reprehensible, dangerous and bloodthirsty criminals the Marvel Universe has to offer! He's been able to keep them on a short leash out of fear for weeks. IN THIS ISSUE - that fear runs out! Fisk's lackeys aren't scared of ANYTHING anymore, even him - and ALL OF NEW YORK is left to pay the price! SRP: $4.99 Synopsis Provided By: PreviewsWorld.com
Throw on your backwards pants, and get your hair braided as we take you back to the 90's! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK!
Artist: Kris Kross feat. Super Cat Song: Alright Album: Da Bomb (1993) Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: 19 Bonus Fun Fact: This single reached #1 in Portugal in 1993 and went Gold by selling more than 500,000 copies!
Back in 1982 Marvel Comics started publishing a line of G.I. Joe comics under the "A Real American Hero" banner. The G.I. Joe cartoon was beloved by millions of kids and the toys were flying off the shelves, so it made sense that someone would want to cash in on this craze with a comic book. Writer Larry Hama crafted such amazing, endearing and legitimately entertaining stories in this so called "Kids" book that it is still looked at with fondness today by us alleged grown-ups. With the success of the flagship title, Marvel decided to branch out with other spinoff series like "G.I. Joe: Special Missions" (1986), "G.I. Joe: Order of Battle" (1986), G.I. Joe/Transformers" (1987) and "Tales of G.I. Joe" (1988).
I recently found an issue of Tales of G.I. Joe on the $1 rack at my local comic shop and immediately picked it up. Most of the time when I find old, cheap books like this, it's not for the story or art...it's for the ads! The issue I picked up was from 1988 and features some ads that I honestly had never seen before! I'd like to share those ads with you now! Let me know if you have any memories of these in the comments below.
WOW! Those ads were amazing! Imagine if you could still get some of those deals from that New England Comics ad today? I'd buy almost everything off that page! How crazy would it have been if we got a Contra movie or series based off the video game ad above? Would have blown my mind back in the 80's! Who am I kidding, still would blow my mind today! My other favorite out of the bunch would have to be that Jolly Rancher ad with artwork by Don Martin. Really takes me back to the days of wasting time at the library reading MAD Magazine. I hope you enjoyed checking these ads out as much as I did. Which was your favorite?
The comic book I am most excited to read this week is... DEVIL'S REIGN: SPIDER-MAN #1 (W) Anthony Piper (A/CA) Ze Carlos The events of DEVIL'S REIGN #1-2 have put Spidey in an awful position. As if that weren't enough, the newly returned ROSE has Spidey in his crosshairs and wants to prove that he's badder than his dad, Kingin, ever was. SRP: $4.99 Synopsis Provided By: PreviewsWorld.com
