Does anyone remember Awesome Earl in SkateRock, circa 1988? He was supposed to be the sart of a franchise, with many other adventures “coming soon.” It’s a curious title for a video game. I imagine somebody in marketing picked up a copy of thrasher and randomly appropriated a feature title. SkateRock is a side scroller where you are supposed to avoid obstacles in order to “Join the coveted ranks of the Slime Rat Skaters!” That quote comes from a the game description online, but it’s not actually listed anywhere in the packaging that comes with the version I have. Inside the box there’s nothing more than a 5.25″ floppy, a very short instruction page, and a warranty card. I didn’t actually own this game in 1988, It wouldn’t have run on my Apple IIe. I own it now because I have poor impulse control. Radical! Bigger photos, alternate covers and screen captures from game play after the jump.

A weird little play set, this Littlest Pet Shop Puppy Pal. Nothing says “play” like a puppy locked in a dog kennel. Don’t blame the seller, although for $14 I would want the complete set, even if it did date back to 1992. UPDATED

GEM models was a toy company in England that made plastic figures of may varieties, soldiers, cowboys, indians, and sports figures. There is no definitive source of information on GEM, but the consensus is that they were around during the 50’s and 60’s. Most of these models were sculpted by a man name George Musgrave, a man who had his museum for a while, but again there’s very little information about (this specific) George Musgrave on the web, other than some audio tracks of him reading poetry on the youtube. His home town of Eastbourne has a 45 minute documentary on him (that might have appeared on the BBC) but amazingly, you have to download it. Why do we care about George Musgrave? Because in addition to the hundreds of action figures he sculpted, he also made these creepy little skateboarders. They aren’t inherently creepy, it’s just that if you take close up photos of any 40mm (1.6 inch) model and blow it up larger than life it will tend to look creepy, even if it isn’t a half a century old. While GEModels existed in the 50-60’s, George continued to sculpt for various other toy company and cake topper manufacturers up through the late 80’s. So it’s hard to tell exactly when these were made. The seller says it may be 30 years old, which seems about right. The safety gear and board design point to the late 70’s or any time during the 80’s because skateboard themed caricatures seem to lag a good decade or more behind the times. In this particular photograph the skaters look like Eastern Bloc astronauts. While hovering my mouse between front and back views I became entranced, so I created a weird little animated gif. The only thing missing is a techno soundtrack, or maybe a little dubstep. And now you know,

I don’t know about you, but I can’t get enough wiener dogs on skateboards. This one is on a Sonic Drive In bag for their kids meals, called the Sonic Wacky Pack. There’s a girl (or funny looking boy with pigtails) also holding a skateboard, not to mention what looks like a marshmallow on roller blades. Nice grilled cheese launch ramps. The bag is dated 2012. I got this bag when I took my niece to a Sonic a couple years ago, she had never been to one and for some reason was super excited to go to it. After we left she was sort of quiet, and I asked what was wrong. She said dejectedly “It wasn’t as fun as it looks in the commercials.”

Sure, the last post was about something manly and useful – making your own concrete coping. Now I’ve decided that it’s “Doll a Day” week. This is Dashing Daisy, a Barbie clone made in the 70’s and sold in the UK. It’s actually “sort of” interesting in that she was allegedly designed by a mod fashion designer Mary Quant who was a bit of a celebrity in the UK fashion world at the time. Even so, they look like junk. I guess the Dashing Daisy variant had more movement than the standard Dull Daisy. The skateboard version came in at least 2 colors that I’ve found, and seems to go for about $75 U.S. despite the lack of perceived quality. Daisy Doll Skidoo 65705 is dated at 1977. WTF is a skidoo?

Barbie’s sister Stacie riding a skateboard in a McDonalds Happy Meal toy that dates back to 2000. Apparently “Awesome Skateboard Stacie” was a toy on it’s own before it became a downsized Happy Meal toy. I found a 1999 commercial for Awesome Skateboard Stacie, who had two friends that skated too.

Happy Easter, if you’re into that sort of thing. If not, Happy Care Bears Swift Heart Rabbit on a skateboard from 1984.

ReAction stands for retro action figure. Funko is releasing a line of action figures based on nostalgia, including figures like the Terminator, Escape from New York, The Goonies, Pulp Fiction, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and a Back to the Future model with a Marty McFly that looks nothing like Michael J Fox. In fact, he looks more like Corey Webster in Thrashin’. That little plastic skateboard looks like it’s been chewed up a little.

– Thanks to Myren for the tip.

The Hardees restaurant equivalent of a Happy Meal box, dating back to 1990. It’s called a Funmeal. Say it over and over again. It makes me think of mealworms. Another rare Smurfette appearance on a skateboard. $25, so yeah… no.

Well, not exactly the source. Smurfs are from Belgium, but these came from the Netherlands, although, maybe they were made in Belgium, at least the ceramic mug was made in Europe. I can’t imagine a PVC Smurf figure for even a European McDonalds would be made anywhere other than China. I got these both as separate purchases from the same seller, who was kind enough to put the figure in the mug and refund the extra shipping charge. $5 is a surfing excellent deal for shipping both of these from the Netherlands.