Star Wars An Art Odyssey, l’exposition Marseille, France 2015

Posted on December 30, 2015 by The Vintage Toy Advertiser

This awesome Star Wars art exhibition is currently being shown at L’espace Villeneuve-Bargemon in Marseille, France from 3 December 2015 up to 17 January 2016. If you get chance to see it do – you won’t be disappointed by these superb and original scenes from the Star Wars universe that are cleverly lit up in subtle neon and set within a cool and sleek science-fiction atmosphere that the venue ably provides.

The artworks have been created by the international collective of artists known as Poster Posse – some of the finest and in-demand graphic artists working today in film, TV series, comics, video games and books. The event has been put together by Disney, Lucas Film, Café Pixel and ACME Archives. Official website is here

Vieux Port, Marseille, France. A funny thing happened on the way to Marseille…

It’s this way…

Entrance L’espace Villeneuve-Bargemon

Greetings from Yoda. Art by John Aslarona.

Looking down onto the floor space.

Robert Bruno.

Stephen Sampson.

Orlando Arocena.

Daniel Nash.

John Aslarona.

Doaly.

Juan Pac Valderrama.

Andy Fairhurst.

Thanks for looking!

Non-toy ad Tuesday: Office cats, bubblegum, beer, cigarettes and Saturday Morning TV

Posted on December 28, 2015 by The Vintage Toy Advertiser

As TVTA stumbles from the holiday season into another New Year we must confess there has been much overindulging at the office (not work we hasten to add). Still, everything in moderation we say – with just a little bit of excess to keep things interesting. Alas, paperwork duties have fallen to poor Wooof, our office cat, who has been stoutly keeping things going this past week and managed to find the following advertising goodies in the wine cellar on one of his many excursions down there. Well done Wooof!

US. Legion of Superheroes. 1983.

France. Paris Match. 2001.

France. Képi Blanc. 1979.

France. Geo 163. 1992.

US. Legion of Superheroes. 1983.

DC Mail-away toys

Posted on December 21, 2015 by The Vintage Toy Advertiser

These hand-drawn adverts for mail-order toys, games, stamps and books were common to see in DC comic publications throughout the 1970s. In a similar style to the Heroes World adverts of the same era, the drawings are often fun and simplistic versions of the characters and toys they are meant to represent.

US. Superman 296. 1976.

US. Jonah Hex. 1978.

US. The Witching Hour. 1977.

Vintage Star Wars Oddball Collecting

Posted on December 5, 2015 by The Vintage Toy Advertiser

Luke, I am only going to ask you this once, are you an oddball?

Luke X-Wing Pilot ceramic mug by Sigma

Oddball…

Oddball U.S. informal, noun, 1. a strange or eccentric person or thing.
Adjective, 2. Strange or peculiar.

So what is Vintage Star Wars Oddball Collecting ?

Star Wars oddball collecting has been steadily building momentum for a good many years now; sometimes quiet and unassuming, other times loud, brash and often scoring high value kitsch points, it is a somewhat niche aspect of the hobby, happily carved out by collectors who are lured by the irresistible appeal of the strange side of the force.

I am going to try and answer the question by posting some photos from my own collection (Artoo-Detour) which I hope will help illustrate some of the items that an oddball collection might contain. In a broad sense Vintage Star Wars Oddball Collecting is pretty much anything that was sold between 1977 to 1985 that was branded Star Wars and was not action figure-related such as the figures, vehicles and play-sets.

Vintage Star Wars Oddball Collecting embraces the ‘everyday’ world of collecting such as kitchenware, bedroom and bathroom accessories, stationery, food promotions, clothing, posters, comics, books, records, Clarks Tusken raider shoes and the infamous Underoos!

The list of items that can fall under the umbrella of Oddballs is long (there is actually an umbrella to collect by the way), and to give you a more comprehensive idea of which Star Wars products are considered oddball you can check the links at the end of this article to some great resources found at The Imperial Gunnery Forum and the SWCA.

The earliest reference to Star Wars oddball collecting that I can find (and please correct me if you know better) is on the Rebelscum forum way back in 2002! It is possible that the term may well have existed prior to this even before the advent of collector forums. Certainly it is a term now firmly embedded in the vintage Star Wars collecting culture… and with a wealth of items to choose from that were licensed around the world, how can any collector resist a little oddball love?

For now, here are few oddballs to whet your appetite…