THE HUMANOID (1979) Trade Ad

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Not too long ago, I finally got my mitts on a copy of The Humanoid, the Italian Star Wars knock-off starring Richard Kiel, Barbara Bach and Corinne Clery. I'd wanted to see it for years, and surprisingly, I was not disappointed.

While not quite as gleefully bonkers as other International space operas produced in the cosmic wake of George Lucas' box office megahit (I'm looking at you, Starcrash and Message from Space), The Humanoid does have its own Continental charms. It's also surprisingly watchable, with some cool production design and neat-looking spaceships. Of course, the shadow of Wars hangs over all of it (especially the archvillain's Vader-esqe helmet/costume), but there are some unique elements buried in there to enjoy as well. It's good, dumb fun.

Here's Ttitanus Studios' ad, printed in the May 17th, 1978 issue of Variety, announcing the Aldo Lado-directed (under the Anglicized nom de plume, "George B. Lewis") interstellar epic to the motion picture trade. Columbia Pictures ultimately picked it up for distribution in many International territories... but not the U.S., where it still has never received a legitimate theatrical or home video release.

CAPTAIN AMERICA (1979)

As it is Independence Day here in the United States, I figured it was time to finally post something here at Space: 1970 about the two 1979 Captain America TV movies, starring Reb Brown (Yor) as the star-spangled avenger.  Fortunately, I had this missive from loyal Star Kid Jason Shepherd in my e-mailbox, and I thought it would serve nicely, so:

Attached are some pictures from the 1979 CBS Captain America movies. Since Space:1970 has started covering TV superheroes of the era, I figured you might want these.

These movies represent a unique frustration for me.  Captain America has always been my favorite superhero, and I realize how lucky Cap fans were to see these movies, but... it stings that they're not very good.  Clearly they were less inspired by the comics and more by the then-contemporary Six Million Dollar Man series, including giving Cap an Oscar Goldman-like boss and a unique sound effect when he used his super-strength.

If Captain America had made the transition from TV movies to TV series, would it have been very good?  I like to think it could have become a decent series.  Reb Brown would have had a chance to stretch his acting chops a bit, grow into the role.  They would have to settle on a format that allowed for more action -- more fights, less motorcycle-riding (a weak point of the TV movies!)  While they likely wouldn't have been able to do TV versions of Cap's classic Rogue's Gallery, hopefully they would have invented some decent foes for Cap instead of run-of-the-mill crooks and spies.

Me again: I don't think I actually saw the two Captain America TV movies when they originally aired, although I did eventually pick up a VHS copy of Captain America II: Death Too Soon in the 90s, and I own the double feature DVD now. But I do remember that my friends who had seen them were very upset about the costume changes and revamped origin story. When I watched the two telefilms on DVD a while back, I personally found it difficult to get too worked up about either change (although the costume in the first movie was really bad!).

Yeah, they're silly movies and deviate substantially from Marvel Comics lore and legend, but they're entertainingly silly, and that's enough for me.

News: Kenner's Abandoned ALIEN Action Figure Line Finally Coming... After 34 Years!

I don't often cover news about new retro-Space: 1970's era merchandise, but this one's a little different. Back in '79, Kenner inked a deal with 20th Century Fox to release a line of toys and action figures based on their new sci-fi film, Alien. That deal resulted in an awesome 18" figure of the titular xenomorph - a toy that bombed when parents found it too scary for their kids. Also, there was some controversy about making toys for children based on an R-rated horror film (collectible toys for adults was a market that didn't exist yet). Kenner reacted by cancelling their plans for a line of Alien action figures at the 3.75" size of their popular Star Wars line.

Well, after After 34 years, fans of the Alien franchise will finally be able get their hands on the abandoned toy line thanks to the folks at Super7. With the aid of collectors and toy industry employees, Super7 has acquired original reference material for the abandoned toy line from 1979 as well as 34-year-old prototypes and, with authorization by 20th Century Fox, the full series will be released this year with preorders beginning at the San Diego Comic-Con.

From their website:

“Under authorization from 20th Century Fox, Super7 will produce the full series of ALIEN toys as part of our ReAction Figure Series (Retro-Action). Each is stylized exactly as items from the “golden age” of action figures with approximately five points of articulation, accessories, and period-authentic blister card packaging.

Preorders will begin at San Diego Comic Con!

Collect all five ReAction Figures -

THE ALIEN (“BIG CHAP”) – w/ removable transparent dome, extendable jaws and glow-in-the-dark head!

RIPLEY – w/ Flame Thrower

ASH – w/ Motion Detector

DALLAS – w/ Flame Thrower

KANE IN NOSTROMO SPACESUIT – w/ removable helmet and transparent visor”

For more info and photos, check out the Super7 website.

MORK Toys From Mattel

As I've mentioned before, I did watch Mork & Mindy regularly when it originally aired, although I've found it nearly impossible to sit through an episode as an adult. Still, it was a huge part of Star Kid culture, and was - or at least, Robin Williams was - quite a pop culture phenomenon in its time. Today's YouTube find is a vintage commercial for Mattel's line of Mork toys - action figures, plush dolls, and even a "Ork Egg" variation on their popular Slime product.

BUCK ROGERS (1979) Tie-In Paperbacks

Today we have the covers of the two authorized Buck Rogers In The 25th Century paperback tie-in novels, published in 1979. Written by Richard Lupoff under the pseudonym "Addison Steele," these books are, frankly, awful. The first book is a novelization of the TV pilot/theatrical film script by Glen Larson & Leslie Stevens, and appears to be based on an early draft, as there are a number of differences between the book and movie.

I've read some fine nonfiction books by Lupoff (his Edgar Rice Burroughs: Master of Adventure is essential reading) but his prose here is awkward, clunky and amateurish. That said, I do like the cover painting, even though it looks like the Gil Gerard likeness was painted by a different artist, and I wish the starfighter wasn't obscured by the logo.

Buck Rogers: That Man On Beta is based on an unfilmed script or treatment by Bob Shayne, and is even worse. The characterizations are all off, the world portrayed in the book only vaguely resembles the world established on the show, and the writing style is, once again, a struggle to get through. The cover art has a nice, pulpy, space opera feel to it... doesn't look anything like Gil here, though.

Even though I coveted these books back in the day, I only managed to get my hands on them in the past year or so. While I'm glad to have them in my collection, I'm equally glad that I didn't pay too much for them.

70's Sci-Fi Topps Trading Card Flyers

I collected a lot of Topps bubblegum cards back in the 1970's. I had tons of Star Wars cards (blue, red, yellow and green series) almost all of the Galactica cards (and still have most of them), and a small stack of Buck Rogers cards. I didn't collect the Superman or Hulk cards, but I seem to remember buying some Star Trek - TMP sets.

Anyway, here, courtesy of Star Kid (and Dark Shadows aficionado) Cousin Barnabas (of the Collinsport Historical Society), are a selection of colorful promotional flyers produced by Topps to interest retailers in carrying their various Space: 1970-era photo cards. Enjoy!

MOONRAKER (1979) Poster Art By Dan Goozee

Dan Goozee was a popular movie poster artist in the late 70s and 80s, and starting with 1979's Moonraker (through A View To A  Kill) was United Artists' go-to guy for the James Bond movie posters. Goozee usually designed a few alternate versions for each entry, and here are a selection of his spacey illustrations for the franchise's answer to Star Wars, which sent 007 (in the form of Roger Moore) into orbit and climaxed with a zero-G laser battle. Watching Moonraker now, as an adult James Bond fan, I'm appropriately appalled... but as an unrepentant Star Kid, I'm always utterly enthralled.

Apart from studio movie posters (including art for the original Clash of the Titans and Superman IV), Goozee also did some production designs for the original Battlestar Galactica and painted a handful of very cool sci-fi originals that were sold as posters through Captain Company ads in the back of Famous Monsters and other Warren magazines in the late 70s. If anyone has good scans of those posters, let me know - I've wanted to feature them here on the blog for a while.

Milton Bradley STAR BIRD Commercial

As a follow-up to yesterday's insanely popular post - here's a vintage UK TV spot for Milton Bradley's Star Bird toy!

Fifth Coolest Toy Ever: Milton Bradley's STAR BIRD

In the late Seventies everybody wanted a piece of the Star Wars merchandising goldmine, even companies that didn't have a license. In 1979, Milton Bradley Electronics introduced the best of the wannabe products, though, incorporating then-cutting-edge electronics into a sleekly-designed starship toy that, while original, looked like it should have been in Star Wars. They called it The Star Bird - and it was the coolest 70s space toy that wasn't based on a movie or TV show.

The toy was equipped with electronics that created an engine sound when turned on. If the toy was pointed upwards the sound would be altered by a ball bearing switch to generate an acceleration or taking-off effect, while a nose down orientation produced the sound of decelerating engines. A button at the rear of the cockpit activated the red LEDs at the front of the toy, along with a blast noise, to simulate the firing of the vessel's blasters.

MB offered a couple of variations on the Star Bird design, including a "fighter" configuration known as The Avenger and black plastic-molded version of the fighter, called the Intruder. A Star Bird Command Base was also offered. 

The Star Bird is, in this Star Kid's opinion, the fifth-coolest toy ever - it would probably ranked higher if the ship had actually appeared in a TV show or movie.(And unlike the other really cool non-TV/movie ship, the Interplanetary U.F.O. Mystery Ship model, you could really play with the more rugged Star Bird!)

For those keeping score, the coolest 70s toy ever was the Mattel Space: 1999 Eagle Transporter. The second-coolest toy of the Space: 1970 era was Kenner's 18" Alien. The third was Kenner's Bionic Bigfoot from The Six Million Dollar Man, and the fourth was Mego's Star Trek Communicators.

Erin Gray - The Ultimate Space Babe

You may have noticed the "Popular Posts" list over in the right-hand sidebar of this blog. This widget tracks the most popular posts on this blog in the last 30 days. For the last twelve months - give or take a week or two where it may have dropped to number two or three - the most-viewed post on this site has been the "Erin Gray/Wilma Deering Gallery."

I can't say I'm surprised. Not only was Ms Gray's Wilma Deering stunning in shiny spandex, she was a strong, courageous, intelligent and fiercely feminine icon of the Space: 1970 era with a devastating smile and the sexiest laugh ever heard on TV. Star Kids of both genders couldn't help admire her... and that admiration and affection continues today (anyone else watch her on The Guild?). I hereby pronounce her the "Ultimate Space Babe!"

Here's wishing all Star Kids - those who grew up in the Seventies with the sci-fi shows, movies and memorabilia of the era, and those of subsequent generations who discovered this stuff years later - a very happy, safe, and space opera-filled New Year. Enjoy a toast of Saurian Brandy, Tranya or ambrosa tonight (drink responsibly - that stuff has a helluva kick), and I'll see you all here again on the 2nd.

Intellivision SPACE BATTLE Video Game Cartridge (1979)

In 1979, Intellivision released a video game cartridge called Space Battle. Produced by APh Technological Consulting for Mattel, the game was pretty typical for its time, with the player tasked with shooting enemy spaceships out of the sky with a targeting crosshair sight. The ships were vaguely pancake-shaped, sported twin laser cannons, and often employed a distinctive "flipping" maneuver in order to evade the player's shots.

Not unlike a certain popular television spaceship, in fact....

Legend has it that Mattel, having the license for the Battlestar Galactica toys, assumed that their license included video games, and put their team to work creating a Galactica game cartridge. Well, supposedly it turned out that they didn't have those rights after all, so they quickly had the game altered to remove text references to the television series and changed the name. I don't know that this story is true, but it has a reasonable ring of verisimilitude, considering the timing and the company involved.

Of course, it may also have been that they did have the rights, but as the show wasn't renewed after its first and only season, Mattel decided to simply change the name and not pay Universal the licensing fee.

I like the package art. Those ships certainly resemble thinly-disguised Vipers and Cylon Raiders, don't they?

Behind-The-Scenes Pix #33: BUCK ROGERS

Another performer suits up as a robot - in this case, it's Felix Silla as the wisecracking ambuquad TWIKI (voiced primarily by Mel Blanc) in Universal's 1979 film and subsequent NBC television series, Buck Rogers In The 25th Century. Genre vet Silla also portrayed (in conjunction with Johnathan Harris' voice performance) the IL- Series Cylon "Lucifer" (and, presumably "Spectre" as well) on the original Battlestar Galactica, as well as an Ewok in Return Of The Jedi.

THE HUMANOID (1979) Lobby Cards

The one European Star Wars rip-off that continues to elude me is 1979's The Humanoid, starring Richard Kiel (The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker), Barbara Bach (The Spy Who Loved Me), and Corinne Clery (Moonraker).

I've read a lot about the movie over the years, and while I'm sure it's pretty cheap-looking and shamelessly derivative (just look at that Darth Vader clone!), I also suspect that it might have an eccentric 70's, Starcrash/Message from Space-type charm that would appeal to my arrested adolescent tastes. C'mon - it's got a robot dog! And Jaws! And a couple of Bond girls! In any case, it's a flick that I still want to see for myself one of these days.

I've occasionally come across gray market DVDs of the film being sold online, but I'm hesitant to spend money on something when I have no idea how it's going to look and no legal recourse if I'm dissatisfied. So... I guess I'll just have to keep hoping that some niche DVD outfit picks it up and releases a good quality, authorized version one day (preferably in English!).

In the meantime, I can keep looking at these mysterious lobby cards and keep wondering what I'm missing...

Behind-The-Scenes Pix #32: THE BLACK HOLE

With the help of a pair of technicians, professional mime Tommy McLoughlin is encased in the black fiberglass body of the Cygnus' gunslinging Sentry robot S.T.A.R., for Disney's 1979 interstellar epic, The Black Hole. His mouth and chin are blackened as a precaution against his skin showing through breathing holes/slits in the mask.

STAR TREK - THE MOTION PICTURE (1979) Coca-Cola Premium Poster

It only just occurred to me that it was 33 years ago today that the only new, live-action Star Trek of the 1970s premiered in U.S. cinemas. A glorious, big screen reunion of the original television crew in a then-unprecedented, big-budgeted theatrical feature film.

My own opinion of The Motion Picture has evolved over the years - from my initial awestruck experience 33 years ago, to my vague dissatisfaction with it during the 80s and pan & scan TV/VHS home viewings, to a more positive re-evaluation as both I and the film grew older. I still think The Wrath Of Khan is the best of the Trek films, but I really love this first widescreen adventure as well, and appreciate it much more now than I used to.

I honestly don't know much about this poster; I don't know the artist, nor exactly where/how it was available. I only know that it was some sort of premium offered by the Coca-Cola company. I'd welcome any information about its provenance - if you know something about it, post in the comments below.

ADDENDUM: According to a commenter below, this poster was actually an in-theater concession stand premium that you could acquire with the appropriate purchase of a Coca-Cola soft drink. Cool! Thanks!

Happy Anniversary, ST-TMP!

BUCK ROGERS (1979) U.K. Annuals

Here are the covers of the four British hardcover annuals (1981-84) devoted to the 1979 NBC television series, Buck Rogers In The 25th Century, starring Gil Gerard and Erin Gray. These volumes contained reprints from the Gold Key/Whitman Buck Rogers comics along with new material. If any Star kids from across the Pond can identify the cover artists (1981 and '83 appear to be by the same hand) or can provide more details of the contents, I'd appreciate it if you'd post the info in the comments.

As I've mentioned, growing up in the U.S., I never owned any of these distinctly British collectibles, but they fascinate me. Someday I may have to start trying to hunt down copies of these books, particularly the Buck, Logan's Run and Space: 1999 volumes.

THE BLACK HOLE (1979) Radio-Controled V.I.N.CENT Robot

Courtesy of the the archivists at Megomuseum, here's a toy fair presentation film (not an on-air commercial) for a proposed radio-controlled V.I.N.CENT robot toy intended for their Black Hole toy line.

As it turned out, the 'bot never got past the prototype stage and never went into production, being deemed too expensive to produce. Too bad, it looks like it would have been really cool... even if it didn't levitate!

THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME (1979) Thai One-Sheet

Just when I figured I'd dug up just about all there was worth sharing about the 1979 Canadian-made space opera, The Shape Of Things To Come, I stumbled across this Thai theatrical one-sheet for the flick on eBay. It's similar to the North American posters, but sports completely re-painted art, and it wins my heart by spotlighting the lovely Anne-Marie Martin (a/k/a Eddie Benton) in the composition.

If any movie I've written about on this site qualifies (even in my sci-fi addled mind) as a "guilty pleasure," it's probably this one, as I've watched the Blue Underground DVD edition* of this movie far more often than its cinematic quality warrants.

But what can I say? The very existence of this blog itself illustrates just what a sucker I am for anything with miniature spaceship effects, robots, and pretty girls in spandex... and The Shape Of Things To Come has them all, cheap and derivative as the film may be.

* Buy The DVD From Amazon: The Shape of Things to Come

BUCK ROGERS (1979) Syndication Ads

This industry trade magazine ad from MCA-TV, circa 1983, boasts of the popularity of Buck Rogers In The 25th Century in syndication, specifically in weekday daily airings (known in syndication as "stripping"). While I'm sure that the series did do well in some markets, the "Is a cult developing?" line seems more like wishful thinking on the part of MCA's marketing department.

I suppose it does have a cult following now (and if so, I'm certainly a part of it), but in '83? A mere two years after it ended its network run? I love the show, but Star Trek it ain't.

Thanks to Star Kid Peter Noble, for sharing this ad on the Space: 1970 Facebook page. Here are a few more MCA trade ads, also courtesy of Master Noble:

Behind-The-Scenes Pix #30: STAR TREK - THE MOTION PICTURE

I really like this terrific photo of William Shatner (as Admiral James T. Kirk) and director Robert Wise on the Enterprise bridge set during the filming of Star Trek - The Motion Picture in 1979. Sure, it's almost certainly a staged studio publicity shot... but I like it.