Saturday, December 24, 2011

Season's Greetings!

Best wishes from R2-D2, C-3PO and all of the busy droids and robots here at Space: 1970. Have fun, stay safe, and we'll see you all here again after the holidays - whichever holidays you celebrate!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

William Shatner For Commodore Computers


Star Trek's William Shatner shills for Commodore Computers' VIC-20 - "The wonder computer of the 1980s" - in this vintage commercial from around 1981. Gotta love the cutting-edge video "transporter" effect!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Behind-The-Scenes Pix #12: STARCRASH

Here's a cool shot of a modeler (perhaps Armando Valcauda?) detailing the special effects miniature of Stella Star's spaceship for Luigi Cozzi's Starcrash. Personally, while there are plenty of valid criticisms one can lob at the movie's model work and effects, I must admit that I truly love the funky spacecraft from this flick!

Monday, December 19, 2011

Space: 1970 wants you!

I've always welcomed contributions and ideas for the site from the readers of this blog. More than once I've featured artwork that was sent to me or brought to my attention by a faithful Space: 1970 Star Kid, and I'm always grateful when someone sends something cool my way. In the case of pictures/images, I don't currently have a functioning scanner, so lately, I'm kinda at the mercy of what I can find during my periodic Google safaris.

I do try to credit stuff sent to me. I may forget once in a while, but that's just because I'm a doofus. Recently, I was able to feature a couple of vintage Season 2 Buck Rogers ads from TV Guide thanks to reader "Bishop37."

I'm always looking for cool "Behind-the-Scenes" pix, rare promotional artwork, newspaper/magazine ads, or memorabilia, and especially, good-quality pix of our "Space Babes." Specifically, I'm still looking for good pix of Tamara Dobson from Jason Of Star Command, Jean Marie Hon from Ark II and Man From Atlantis, Katie Saylor from The Fantastic Journey, and Maggie Cooper from Space Academy.

Additionally, I'm open to suggestions for articles, reviews or features. Suggestions for "Space Babes," topics for essays, Polls or "Fave Five" lists - are all welcome. Constructive criticisms are appreciated, as well.

Space: 1970 recently celebrated its second anniversary. The site now has over 340 "followers" here on Blogger, and the Facebook fan page is up to 750(!) "likes." My sincere appreciation to everyone for their moral support!

I also want to thank everyone who have used the Amazon links on this site to make purchases (and the few who've expressed their appreciation for the site through generous Paypal donations - if you'd like to contribute, there's a link in the right-hand sidebar). Every little bit helps - if I can manage to buy a new scanner, I've got a lot more TV Guide and newspaper ads to share, and tons of magazines and other memorabilia to cull material from.

If anyone has material to contribute - or suggestions/general comments regarding Space: 1970 - feel free to drop me a line via e-mail.

SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN (1978) Pinball Machine Flyer

Yet another vintage pinball machine flyer, this time for Bally's Six Million Dollar Man table from 1978. Can't say I'm particularly impressed by the backglass art - seriously, is that supposed to be Lee Majors and Richard Anderson? - but I do love the photo of the 70s swingers cheering on their goofy friend, who appears to be so pleased with his score that he's doing a Fonzie-styled, double thumbs up!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Disco Space!

Another disco album inspired by John Williams' Star Wars themes and melodies, this one by "Blue Galaxy & his Orchestra." I'm posting this mostly because I like the album art - and the misspelling of "Star Treck" - or is that how it's spelled in France...?

Friday, December 16, 2011

News: LOGAN'S RUN (1977) TV Series DVD Art

To follow-up on the last post, here's Warner Home Video's artwork for the Logan's Run - The Complete Series DVD set, due in April of 2012.

Pre-Order Logan's Run: The Complete Series

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

News: LOGAN'S RUN (1977) TV Series Coming to DVD in April 2012

One of the most popular posts on this site - at least in terms of hits - is the one I posted back in January, when TV Shows On DVD announced that Warner Archive had the 1977 Logan's Run television series in the works for a 2011 release. I've also received tons of e-mails and queries asking whether I had any more information on the projected release, especially as the end of 2011 drew closer without any sign of the popular  program actually showing up on disc.

A couple of months ago, I was actually talking to a fellow who works for Warner Archive, and I asked him what the status of the title was, mentioning how many inquiries I get here at Space: 1970. I wasn't allowed to pass it along at the time, but I was told that Warner Home Video was considering offering it as a traditional retail package instead of as a manufacture-on-demand Archive product. They just hadn't decided yet which format was the most economical.

Well, apparently it's now been decided, since the aforementioned TV Shows On DVD site posted a report today that Logan's Run - The Complete Series will be released wide in stores and to other retail outlets (like Amazon) on April 10, 2012. The 3-DVD set, containing all 14 episodes (including the feature-length pilot episode), is priced at $39.98 SRP. No extras have yet been announced.

I'm a huge fan of the series, which starred Gregory Harrison, Heather Menzies and Donald Moffat, and am very excited by this news. With this much-desired and highly-anticipated video release, I'll now have virtually all of my favorite childhood shows on my DVD shelves.

Pre-Order Logan's Run: The Complete Series

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

News: THE INVISIBLE MAN (1975) Coming To U.S. DVD/Blu-ray in 2012

According to an article a couple weeks ago (sorry it's taken me so long to report it here) at the TV Shows On DVD website, VEI of Canada will be releasing both DVD and Blu-ray editions of the complete 1975 The Invisible Man television series, starring David McCallum, Melinda Fee and Craig Stevens, in the U.S. on May 1st, 2012.

The 12-episode series was originally scheduled to be available in Canada on DVD & Blu-ray in October, but that release has been delayed until February, 2012.

The show, which was a variation on the Six Million Dollar Man formula by way of H.G. Wells (co-produced by the bionic franchise's own Harve Bennett), cast McCallum as Dr. Daniel Westin, a researcher who is permanently rendered invisible in a lab accident. This makes him an ideal covert agent, and he's soon going off on secret missions with his supportive wife, Kate (Melinda Fee) for a private think tank called KLAE.

As a kid, I really enjoyed the show, and am looking forward to revisiting it on disc.

Pre-Order The Invisible Man - The Complete Series DVD

Pre-Order The Invisible Man - The Complete Series Blu-ray

Thursday, December 8, 2011

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (1979-80) Marvel Comics Cover Gallery - Part 3

Walt Simonson
Walt Simonson
Walt Simonson
Bill Sienkiewicz/Klaus Janson
Michael Golden
Walt Simonson
Walt Simonson
Brent Anderson/Klaus Janson
Walt Simonson
Walt Simonson
Here's the final batch of cover scans from Marvel Comics' terrific Battlestar Galactica monthly comic book series. As I stated in previous installments, I think Marvel did a great job with the property, especially any story that involved artist/writer Walt Simonson. It's a shame that it didn't continue on, like other Marvel licensed comics that outlived the properties they were based on, like ROM and The Micronauts...

Additional Battlestar Galactica comics would be published in the 90s by Rob Liefield's Maximum Press and Realm Press, and again recently by Dynamite Comics, which released comics based on the SciFi/SyFy Channel revival show, as well as the original ABC incarnation - and even Galactica: 1980! I hated the Maximum books, liked some of the Realm issues, and have never laid eyes on any of the Dynamite comics. 

Still trying to catch up with overdue assignments (like my DVD Late Show reviews), and get back in a blogging mood. With luck, regular posting will resume shortly. I still need to select December's "Space Babe!"