More Comic Con '07

Just saw this cool ittle video on YouTube by Maddy Gaiman who is Neil Gaiman's daughter. Neil is one of the great comic writers of the last 25 years and a big inspiration to me. So seeing this was neat and Maddy is a cool little girl.

This video is by Queenie who is another big Mr Toast fan and she talks about all the cool Mr Toast stuff she got at Comic Con. She has a bunch of other great videos on YouTube and also has cool Goth dolls that she makes.

Balloon Pals

1975 Evel Knievel Chuckles candy ad

Rogues Gallery

I did this little watercolor as a concept sketch for some new handmade plush I am working on. Most of the characters and stories I do are pretty nice but these guys are a bit grittier. I am sure I will refine this group but I am really enjoying the mean little egg with the eye patch, I think his name is going to be Jake.

Disturbingly Large Tooth

More Wonka

A final few Wonka items today. First up a Cap'n Crunch box with the Wonka Candy Factory offer. Second the Golden Coupon and some info on it. Lastly a miniature version of what would have been a large scale store display.

Willy Wonka Candy Salesmans Book

Sticking with the Willy Wonka theme, this is a salesmans book for the introduction of Willy Wonka Candy. Since WIlly Wonka was owned by Quaker Oats they relied heavily on Quisp and Cap'n Crunch to get the word out about the candy. In addition to a Golden Ticket coupon, the other big tie in was the mail away Willy Wonka Candy Factory kit. Initially the only two candies they made were Super Skrunch and Oompas.

Willy Wonka Candy

I loved the movie Willy Wonka when it came out in the 70's and I was a huge consumer of the candy when it came out after the movie. So as a collector I have searched high and low for the wrappers, premiums and display boxes. Here are a few of the items I have turned up.

Wonka Bars Discovered!

I was at the Glendale Collectors Show this last weekend and stumbled on a very cool box. It was a plain cardboard box that was spray painted with a Wonka Bars graphic on two sides. I knew the dealer who had it and he has a shop in Burbank. It was brought in by a guy that used to work as a grip in Hollywood. He had taken the box home from the set in 1971. He brought it into the dealers store and traded it to him for some other stuff he wanted.

Now here it was in front of me at the show. I was doubtful at first but the more I looked at it, the more it seemed right. I trusted the dealers story and the box was definitly old. So I bargained a bit with him and bought the box.

When I got the box home I was ready to watch Willy Wonka to see if it matched with the boxes shown in the movie. It turns out I only had the film on VHS and our VCR was busted so I ordered the DVD. Three days later its was here and I began scanning the movie.

Just a few minutes into the movie and there it was. Same size box, same tape on the side, same sort of sloppy spray job and only sprayed on the 2 sides that would show up in the scene. It was a perfect match.

I must say I was pretty surprised. Watching the movie further, I found they also had some larger boxes in the Varuca Salt factory scene and even a super fancy box with a different stencil in the auction scene.



Hard to believe that this box has survived all this time. But what an amazing piece of pop culture goodness.

Dim Bulb

Something I Would Love to Find

I was digging thought some old magazines when I ran accross an ad for Morton Frozen Foods from 1974. A quick look showed some pretty boring packaging but some slightly interesting frozen Jelly Donut boxes. But on very close examination I saw somethign that blew me away. Morton Twinkie Suppers! Looks like standard TV dinner fair with a burger, fries & corn but there in a second tray there is a Twinkie and some other little desert and Twinkie the Kid is on the front of the box.

Also in the ad you can see a second Supper of spaghetti, peas and something else. I have a lot of things in my collection but there are always new things popping up. Maybe I will find them or maybe they will just remain a tiny footnote found in an obscure ad. But I don't think I will ever run out of things I am looking to find.

Mr Toast's USA Tour - Rhode Island

Rhode Island may be the smallest state in the union but host Chris found plenty of stuff to do. First off lets go to the Roger Williams Park Zoo.

Next up fun at the beach.

You can't miss the Merry-Go-Round

Lemonade from Del's.

Clowning around.

Night scenes in Rhode Island.

Thanks Chris and goodbye Rhode Island.