Beware the Cyclops Ball!

 I love this! Halloween trinkets are filtering in and that means monsters, baby!

The "Cyclops Ball"  is like the love child of a Big Daddy Roth flying eyeball and a Madball. I snagged this this morning at breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Looks like there's a horned on and a fish one (maybe a relative of that radioactive fish from the Simpsons...

Check out the eye-popping action!

A Halloween Treat! The El Esqueleto Halloween Mask

Halloween is a week away and I thought I'd post a little treat, an "El Esqueleto: The Skeleton" Halloween Mask! I tried to design it to look like those old Ben Cooper and Collegeville kids costume masks.

Anyway feel free to share, print and wear.

Happy Halloween, everyone!
-Matt
aka Dr. G

HALLOWEEN: Vintage Discount Store Ads

Here's a few vintage discount store Halloween-themed advertisements from the mid 80s...

 Eckerd Drugs Ad from October 14, 1984

Loads of Halloween fun here. Rubber masks, "Creepy Creature Make-up Kits" G.I. Joe, He-Man, Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake Halloween costumes, "Kooky Spooks Make-up Kits", Candy, Lite-up glow sticks and the classic plastic pumpkin candy holders.

Osco Drug 3 page Halloween add from October 26, 1986. We've got GI Joe and Pound Puppies costumes, Snickers, M&Ms, Reese's and Rolo Candy...

 Adult costumes, Halloween decorations...

Tootsie Rolls and Tootsie Pops, Butterfingers, Baby Ruth, Almond Joy and Mounds, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Make-up Kits, Rubber Masks, and pumpkin pails. 

TG&Y Family Centers (my fondest discount store of my youth)brings it' "A" game with this October 21, 1984 Halloween Ad. Cabbage Patch Kids, Shirt Tails, Rainbow Bright, Transformers, He-Man, Care Bears, Spider-Man, My Little Pony, Cookie Monster and Barbie (I think) costumes galore! Also assorted candy bars, Pops, Sweetarts, Whoppers, Rainbow wigs, rubber masks, Plastic pumpkins, Paas Halloween Make-up Kits, Flashlights, and other goodies.

 TG&Y Variety Stores ad from October 28, 1984 (weird that these are a week apart and have the new and old TG&Y logos. Maybe the new style was just for the Family Centers...).

He-Man, Cookie Monster and Rainbow Bright costumes, glow sticks, witch's hats, Baby Ruth and Butterfinger candy bars and Super Bubble bubble gum.

 McCrory and TG&Y Variety Stores Ad from October 26, 1986. Includes lots of candy, Centurions, GI Joe, Muppett Babies and Barbie costumes, Brach's Candy, Weird Footballs (I assume Madballs knock offs), Spray hair colors and Silly String.

Page 2 of the TG&Y ad has some classics. Halloween bags, make-up kits, plastic fangs, plastic pumpkins, Bat Masks, Rubber Masks, "Sounds of the Night" cassette tape, Rubber masks and rubber monster hands, rainbow wigs and decorations. Plus some generic Christmas Toys too.

 Last up is Walmart from October 26, 1986. Skittles, Starburst, Mounds and Almond Joy, &Ms, Butterfingers, Baby Ruth, 3 Musketeers, Snickers, Reese's, Mr. Goodbar and KitKat, some hair sprays and Makeup Kits, plus He-Man and Ultra Magnus Halloween costumes.

I've got some more ads to go through, so there's more to come.

-Matt

aka Dr. G

HALLOWEEN: Vintage 80s food ads

From my archive of vintage ads, here's a few Halloween themed food-related items...

Mounds, Almond Joy, Caramello and Power House candy bars

Franken Berry, Count Chocula and Boo Berry Cereals

Orville Redenbacher Popcorn

Skittles and Starburst candy



Come on kids! Christmas treats!

Christmas is barreling at us like a train and bringing with it some old favorites.

Christmas trees for the girls, and bloody spearheads for Bart!

Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes! Now, I'm a Hostess-man, myself, but around late November these puppies are "it". Add a hot mug of cider and the Chipmunks Christmas Special and all will be right with the universe.



Speaking of mug, Target has some cool Star Wars mugs in their Christmas setup. Stormtroopers, Vader and Boba Fett, for $6.99 each. Cider just tastes better out of a clone skull.
And Winter Oreos are back with red frosting. Eater beware. Your toilet bowl will look like a paint-by-number after dining on there tasty treats.
DR.G
---END TRANSMISSION---

The Halloween that pretty much wasn't

Halloween 2007, we hardly knew ye. You came and went like a Ninja-Frankenstein.

And your cousin, Thanksgiving-Bot 5000, has been destroyed by an early Christmas shopping season. Seriously, how did November 1st, suddenly become the new shopping launch date and Thanksgiving reduced to that pesky meal you eat after looking at the Black Friday ads?

Any-whooo, it was so busy this last week at the Geektarded Labs, that our poor pumpkin didn't even get carved. Poor bastard. That's why I'm taking Monday off and declaring it Halloween II: The Quickening. That pumpkin will fulfill it's destiny and become a jack-o-lantern and some horror movies and Charlie Brown will be watched.

I did manage to witness Target's 75% off Halloween frenzy on Sunday morning. Kinda fun to watch soccer moms go ape-shit for bags of M&Ms and motorized wiggling rubber wolf-boys. For the most part, I don't like shopping post-holiday item sales. It sort of feels like going to an estate sale for someone that just died, that's being run by their next of kin. Depressingly-creepy.

Luckily, I'm a whore for a good deal, so personal feelings be damned. $1.99 Transformers treat basket and light sabers are where it's at!

And to show my Christmas-Love, despite the fever arriving 3 weeks too early, good Ole' Charlie Brown came home with me too. Check out Chuck with his hat and zombie-tree!

Don't worry kiddies, there are still plenty of Halloween frights to enjoy. Just check out Silver Spoons dad, Joel Higgens, all shirtless and hairy from this old TV Guide ad for "First Affair". Gruesome!


---END TRANSMISSION---
DR.G