Who was Johnny Kilroy?

On October 6th, 1993 the world cried as the greatest basketball player of all-time, Michael Jordan announced his stunning retirement from the game. Sure the NBA had some superstars like Shaq, Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing and David Robinson, but there would be a huge hole left by Jordan's departure. Who could fill those shoes? Who would entertain the world? Enter a mysterious baller named Johnny Kilroy!

I had totally forgotten about this mythical basketball player until I recently uncovered an Upper Deck card from 1994 in my collection that features Mr. Kilroy. This brought back so many memories and raised so many questions.

Nobody knew where he came from, but the Chicago Bulls believed in his raw talent enough to sign him to an undisclosed contract in late 1993. Legend has it that on December 20th he scored 79 points in one quarter, but little to no evidence of this achievement exists! You can view the fan home video dubbed "The Popcorn" tape in the Steve Martin hosted documentary below.

Was he Michael Jordan in disguise? Was MJ's retirement a huge hoax? Was Johnny Kilroy even a real person? The only one who knows the real truth about Johnny Kilroy is...Johnny Kilroy. As of this writing he has not been available for comment in 20 years. We may never know the origin of this shooting star, but damn was it great to be alive when Johnny hit the court. You can still see his presence on the streetball courts today thanks to the folks at NIKE.

 God bless you Johnny Kilroy, wherever you are! Below are a few more documented Kilroy signings and opinions from NBA superstars. Who do you think Johnny Kilroy was?

 

Comic Book Pick: 3/29/17

This week the comic book I am most excited to read is...
GREEN LANTERN/SPACE GHOST SPECIAL #1

Trapped in a strange rift in time, Green Lantern and Space Ghost are forced to battle a variety of foes - and each other! And even if they manage to survive, they will be thrown into a world with no concept of interstellar travel - or even what an alien is! Stripped of their weapons by a xenophobic culture, the duo will have to battle to regain them - but what happens when Space Ghost dons the Emerald Ring and Hal Jordan put on the Power Bands? And in the backup feature, Ruff and Reddy were once the toast of nightclubs, variety shows, late night chat fests and Broadway. Learn how they became the comedic duo of yesterday... before they hit rock-bottom today!

(W) James TynionIV, Christopher Sebela, Howard Chaykin (A) Howard Chaykin (A/CA) Ariel Olivetti

SRP: $4.99

Round Robin Challenge: Eccentric Action Figures

This week 2 Minute Toy Break has challenged us to take a look at our nearest and weirdest and post a pic or multiple pics of the most eccentric action figure in our collection. This would be a museum worthy action figure. One that would draw a lot of ooohs and aaaahs from an art show crowd. Here's what I decided to feature....

A 2009 vacuum metalized limited edition Fugitoid action figure by Playmates Toys. This is not just any Fugitoid action figure though. This figure hung on the Christmas tree of TMNT co-creator Peter Laird! Here's the story.

In 2009 Mr. Laird's daughter Emily decided it would be fun to decorate the family tree with a bunch of these shiny, metallic Fugitoid figures. Peter Laird had a case of 100 of these figures and he himself opened 50 of the figures and attached an ornament hook to each figure.

On December 21st the tree was decorated by the Laird family and the 2009 mighty "Fugitree" was born.

After the 2009 holiday season, the Fugitoids were boxed back up and sold through the Mirage Studios website for $25. There were only 50 of these items available, and I got one!

This guy holds a prominent spot on my shelf of fame in the basement. Each Fugitoid came in a custom box made by Peter Laird with the story of the Fugitree printed  on a sticker on the front of the box.

The coolest thing was that the boxes were personally signed by Peter Laird. I am so glad to own this piece of TMNT history. It is a rare item that was used in the home of one of my comic book heroes. I feel this piece would fit into any museum of pop culture and would make any Ninja Turtles fan oooh and ahhh at it's appearance. And yes, my Fugitoid still has the ornament hanger on him that Peter Laird twisted around his neck for future tree hanging experiences.

If you would like to read more about the Fugitree, the history of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or the thoughts of Peter Laird, please visit his TMNT blog by clicking HERE! The Laird family photos in the above post were from his website.

 

Check out Toy Break's post. He has a pretty interesting mash-up to show off!

Top 5 Cartoon All-Star Cameos

A few months back I uncovered a copy of Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue at a local thrift shop. This was a video put out in 1990 by Buena Vista Home Video that taught kids about the negative effects of drugs. It featured almost all of the top cartoon stars at the time including Pooh Bear, The Smurfs, The Chipmunks, Alf and many more.

For $0.25, I could not pass this up. I remember watching this video in school during our D.A.R.E program with the local police. It was always great to be able to watch TV in school, but this was amazing! All of these cartoon characters together in one video! That sound you just heard was my 9 year old mind being blown! Like I said the video included so many classic characters, here are my top 5 favorites from Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue!

5. Muppet Babies

This video focuses on a boy named Michael and how drugs have affected his relationships with his friends and sister. The Muppet Babies (Gonzo, Kermit & Piggy) take Michael on a journey through his brain & body to show him how drugs are also messing with his health. They do this by riding a roller coaster through Michael's body with the power of imagination!

4. Slimer from The Real Ghostbusters

Slimer's time in this video is very limited, but when he is on screen he eats a lamp that is shaped like a fruit buffet.

3. Bugs Bunny

Bugs has a pretty big part in Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue. He uses a time machine he got from a "Coyote" to take Michael back in time to see how his drug problem started.

2. Huey, Dewey & Louie

These triplets from Ducktales educate Michael and the viewers on the million ways there are to say no. Of course they are asked to do drugs by Mr. Smoke Monster and this leads them into a song on how to say NO written by Academy-Award winning composer Alan Menken and Howard Ashman!

 

Pretty catchy song with a lesson that I can still use today when monsters try to bully me into using crack! It happens more often than you may think.

1. Michelangelo

Just like Slimer, Mikey doesn't have a huge part in this video, but when he shows up on screen the excitement ramps up big time! Just the fact that the Ninja Turtles were in this movie for 2 minutes was enough to lure me in as a kid. Anything with the Turtles in it was worth watching, educational or not!

Those are my top 5 characters from Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue. Who was your favorite? I would like to see them do a remake of this video with characters from the most popular cartoons of 2017. Maybe the would include Sponge Bob, Finn & Jake, Batman, Skylanders and a return of the Ninja Turtles! I would watch that with my kids! You can watch the original in all it's anti-drug glory at the link below. ENJOY!!!!

Comic Book Pick: 3/22/17

This week the comic book I am most excited to read is...
GHOSTBUSTERS 101 #1

"Let's Do The Space-Warp Again!" Before they began investigating the supernatural, most of the original Ghostbusters were teachers... and they've decided it's time they start sharing their knowledge again. But when their first batch of students start poking around the firehouse and accidentally set in motion the merging of two universes (it's easier than you'd think) Venkman, Stantz, Zeddemore, and Spengler will need all the help they can get to put things right! And who do you think will Answer The Call? (If you guessed Holtzmann, Yates, Tolan, and Gilbert... you get a gold star!) It's a brand new inter-dimensional meeting of the minds, starting here!

(W) Erik Burnham (A) Dan Schoening (CA) Tim Lattie

SRP: $3.99

5 Random Trading Cards: Vol. 3

Today I'll be taking you back to the days of cardboard cards, stale chunks of pink chewing gum and wax wrappers...again. We will be taking a look at 5 old trading cards! I loved collecting cards as a kid. Baseball, Ninja Turtles, Superheroes it didn't matter. I just loved opening a pack and smelling the gum and seeing if you had opened a pack with new cards or more doubles! The stickers were always the premium pieces, but having a few extras to trade never hurt. Let's open this pack of awesomeness and take a look at 5 random cards from the 80s & 90s:

 Reboot (Fleer, 1995)

Back in the mid 90s this cartoon was revolutionary. It was fully animated with computer graphics and the story line, while being kid friendly, still had enough edge to appeal to older viewers. I watched a few episodes here and there, but was never an avid viewer. I own these cards due to the packs being included in the before mentioned Dollar Tree Comic Value Packs.

 Garbage Pail Kids: All New Series 3 (Topps, 2013)

If you have read my blog recently, you can tell that I love Garbage Pail Kids. Me and my older brother collected them as kids and any time I see a new series on the shelves, I have to pick up a pack for nostalgia's sake. This card stood out to me because of the inclusion of the original GPK, Adam Bomb. That guy is classic! Also, the Spider-Man inspired comic on the back of the card was brilliant!

 Nintendo Sticker Collection (Merlin, 1992)

Who didn't have one of these sticker albums back in the 80s & 90s? They covered everything from Ninja Turtles to Major League Baseball to Beetlejuice! The books were fun and the packs of stickers were usually around $0.25 each. So it was a cheap way to keep us kids entertained. I like this sticker not only because it's from Nintendo, but because of the old school Gameboy box art. I never played Dynablaster. Maybe I'll have to find a copy?

 Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (Topps, 1983)

Oh Star Wars. The common bond that everyone had in common. Every kid was a Star Wars fan. From nerds to jocks everyone could agree that Star Wars ROCKED!!! I did collect these cards as a kid. Return of the Jedi is probably my favorite Star Wars movie. I know most people will pick Empire Strikes Back as the superior film, but this was the movie I watched religiously as a bright-eyed young kid. In my opinion, this card is great because it depicts the Sarlacc Pit in all it's glory, before Lucas added tentacles and a beak! Why was that necessary? 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 (Topps, 1992)

The most despised of all the Ninja Turtles movies, until Michael Bay came along. Ninja Turtles 3 suffered from a lot of problems. Poor story, bad costumes and rushed production. It was still Turtles, so I bought into it and tried really hard to like this movie, but I just can't. After the greatness of the first 2 Turtles flicks this was a huge disappointment. I have a few of these cards in my collection and really do like these art cards, but it's not enough to redeem TMNT 3 from how bad it was.

Comic Book Pick: 3/15/17

This week the comic book I am most excited to read is...
HE-MAN/THUNDERCATS #6

The epic series comes to the only conclusion possible: all-out war against Mumm-Ra and Skeletor! He-Man and Lion-O confront the diabolical duo in the heart of the magical, mystical Castle Grayskull, but the battle royal quickly expands across the multiverse itself!
(W) Rob David, Lloyd Goldfine (A/CA) Freddie Williams II
SRP: $3.99