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Dark Horse launches
BLAST OFF!
Space Toy Book
FROM DARK HORSE: Blast Off!! chronicles the golden era of space
toys, an age of imagination unbound by the more mundane realities of space travel
ushered in by Sputnik and the Space Age. Containing hundreds of striking color
photos of some of the most beautiful and ofttimes bizarre toys ever created --
many never before seen in print -- Blast Off! unearths the nearly lost
histories of these space treasures and the companies that created them. Not limited
to the presentation of these unique and fascinating playthings of the past, Blast
Off!! includes one-of-a-kind prototypes, original packaging and instructions,
glimpses into ultra-rare Japanese robot catalogs, long-lost advertisements, vintage
comic-strip and pulp-magazine art, and items of every description from every corner
of the globe. Blast Off!! covers extensively some of the most profound
toy and space phenomena of the era, from Buck Rogers to Flash Gordon to the "Space
Opera" programs of the infancy of television to a blow-by-blow account of the
greatest Tin Robot auction in history.
SOLAR GUARD REPORT (update):
In addition to the above mentioned items, chapter 8, Living the Fantasy, has the
Ralston Rocket Saga with stories from Bob Burns and Judd Lawson. Chapter 6 is
dedicated to "Space Opera" collectors with many interesting 1950's spaces items
included in the chapter. More details and pre ordering can be made from the following
websites:
NOTE: You will need the Macromedia Flash installed
for your browser to view the great animation on the sites.
http://www.darkhorse.com
http://www.vintage-things.com
I have had the pleasure of communicating with both Steve Duin and Mark Young via
email and phone. Both are presenting a quality collectible book for fellow cadets.
I have my copy of BLAST OFF! and it has lived up to my expectations. It
will be a joy for the "cadet" we find in ourselves when we remember the "future
past" of our childhood. You can read my review of Blast Off on either Amazon (http://www.amazon.com)
or the Barnes and Noble (http://www.bn.com) sites,
or check click here for the full story from Cadet Ed.
EXHIBITION COMPANION:
California:
BLAST OFF! will be the official companion volume to the Blast Off! Space
Toys and the American Imagination October 7, 2001 through January 13, 2002
exhibition at the California Center for the Arts in San Diego. Fellow cadet Gene
Metcalf with be the curator for the exhibition. The space toy exhibition will
be on concurrent view with another large show devoted to great astronomical photography,
from the first Moon landing to more recent images from land-based observatories
and orbiting craft such as the Hubble Space Telescope and Mars Global Surveyor.
More information on the exhibit can be found on Gene's website:
http://www.toyraygun.com/
Pictures from the exhibit in California are also available, thanks to Cadet Jeff
Bertwits. PICTURES of exhibits.
Chicago:
BLAST OFF! is also at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. The
museum is featuring Bob Lesser's world class robot collection. Last year this
show was at the Brooklyn Museum in New York and has moved to Chicago. BLAST
OFF! is one of several books that accompanies the show. Any Cadets with pictures
they would like to share of the exhibit are invited to send them in to the Solar
Guard Academy.
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