Ye Olde Collectibles and Trivia Shoppe
Column highlighting new product releases
Strange New Worlds Issue 9 - Sep/Oct 1993

Remarks, Reruns, Retreads, and Returns

As August looms on the cinema horizon, there are some interesting selections in the multiplexes. I am awaiting the Harrison Ford remake of The Fugitive, Robert Townsend’s Meteor Man with cameos by Bill Cosby and James Earl Jones, Blake Edwards’ The Son of the Pink Panther, horror master Stephen Kings’s Needful Things with Max Von Sydow and Bonnie (Die Hard) Bedelia, and Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday. If you believe this is the end of the Friday the Thirteenth movies, I have swampland on sale very cheaply in Brooklyn.

Each film, of course, has some sort of merchandise available that bears its name. The Fugitive will have a novelization from Avon books. Robert Townsend’s Meteor Man currently has a six issue mini-series from Marvel Comics. Harvey Comics is re-releasing the Pink Panther comics. Penguin HighBridge Audio has author Stephen King reading the novel of Needful Things to tape. This twenty-four-hour presentation is not for the weak of heart. For the Friday the Thirteenth fans, Topps is releasing a comic book adaptation of the movie with a trading card poly-bagged with each comic and a 100 card set of the movie.

Beam up the Gameboy, Scotty

I have an extraordinary and remarkable wife who understands I am a BIG kid at heart. She bought me a Gameboy for our anniversary. So I am impatiently anticipating the August release of Star Trek: The Next Generation for Gameboy. The press releases of this product look great. The game seems similar to the old IBM Star Trek: The Next Generation game, The Transinium Challenge, which is now longer for sale. By the way, the Gameboy also has the Star Trek: 25th Anniversary Game similar to the computer versions.

Poster ‘Em, Danno

In my study I have a wall filled with movie posters of the films that I have enjoyed over the years. I do not care what other critics have thought of these films; I enjoyed both the films and the poster art. Bruce Lanier Wright has accumulated a collection of science fiction movie posters from the 50’s and 60’s in his book, Yesterday’s Tomorrow [see book excerpt in SNW #12]  from Taylor Publishing. This collection of film history is a wonder for fans of B-movies, this critic included. The informative text with one-sheet poster illustrations tells behind-the-scenes stories about the films and their creators. The book’s low price, under $20, makes this a gift affordable to all collectors of posters or science fiction film fans.

Audio Books

Let me draw your attention to several excellent audios now available.

Star Wars: The Original Radio Drama (Penquin/HighBridge Audio) is a collection of the 1981 National Public Radio shows that expanded the film versions of the Star Wars saga. After you listen to this audio production you may want to review the film. (For further information about this six-and-one-half hour radio drama, see story on page 5.)

A soundtrack recording of a Dr. Who adventure that many thought lost was found in the BBC soundtrack library. Dr. Who: The Evil of the Daleks (BBC Audio) is an adventure of the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton). The audio version is slightly confusing, since it was originally a TV production and the circumstances that you would see visually are not there. Narration to explain the actions that sound cannot cover is by Tom Baker, the Fourth Doctor. This soundbook is a treasure since no video of this Doctor Who adventure has survived.

Music For Little People has re-released the Grammy-winning The Little Prince. Do not miss this classic tale narrated by Richard Burton. Also on this spoken word recording are the vocal talents of Jonathan Winters, Jim Backus, and John Carradine.

I’m Conning Around the Mountain

I am going to be busy this fall at the following conventions: First Trekopolis at the Roanoke Civic Center in Virginia on September 18 - 19. Then, I will be at Kaleidoscope SF&F convention September 24 - 26 at the Radisson in Lynchburg, Virginia. Then I will be heading the writer’s workshop and judging the costume call at Rising Star 2 at the Salem, Virginia Civic Center October 1 - 2. Of course, I will be happy to autograph Strange New Worlds , so stop and let me.

In June I had the pleasure of finally meeting the publisher of this wonderful magazine face-to-face at the 1993 American Booksellers Association in Miami Beach. It was a pure delight for me!