Visit the newly remodeled Pop! Culture Connection in Greensburg, PA!

Pop! Culture Connection, located in Greensburg, PA, is one of the best all-around stores for vintage toys, and I've enjoyed watching it grow over the last three years.  The store recently underwent a fancy remodeling that impressed the heck out of me; it was always a really cool place to browse and gawk, but now it's become a high-end toy shop with a selection that always astounds me.  Seriously, I'm even in awe of the stuff that I have absolutely no interest in.

Since it's been a while since I first wrote about the shop, I decided to take some pictures during a recent trip to document the changes.

The merchandise on display never stays on the shelves for too long, but the store always has a host of impressive memorabilia.  Recently, the owner invested in some high-end display cases that line the walls.  Not only does this better protect and showcase the items on display, but it serves to organize things in a way that wasn't possible with the previous layout.

LEGOs might be more popular than ever, and Pop! Culture has more than its share.

This wall display - which doesn't show any of the game cartridges - is entirely devoted to Nintendo (with a few Pac Man items thrown in for good measure).

This windup Popeye toy is, I think, from the 1930s.  Think about that!  What a find this is.  It's got the key and everything - it looks to be in great shape for an 80-year-old toy.

The store has items from most decades of collecting, thought the '70s and '80s might be the most well represented.  Here's a vintage Thundercats line.

The number of box sets at the store is impressive.  Boxes are, of course, the hardest to find when it comes to old toys.

The Ninja Turtles display here is really impressive.  The Technodrome!  UGH!

And what's the Technodrome without Krang's robot body?  Unbelievable.  That Gizmo figure is pretty neat as well.

The store has some new items as well, such as this Back to the Future Hover Board!

Lookit all of these Megos.  They are so ugly.  But I love them.

There's plenty of comic related items in stock.  I'm told that the owner has an impressive comic collection as well, but very few books make it to the shelves.  Maybe one day I'll come across a Fantastic Four #1, and convince the owner to give it to me out of the kindness of his own heart.

So much weird, cool stuff here.  That Batmobile model is outrageous, as is the Superman guitar.  I've got my eye on one that Fantastic Four lunch box up at the top.

Movie monsters are well represented at the store.  Not pictured is some cool Munsters items.

What's the story with this rip-off toy?  It's obvious that it's Spider-Man, but perhaps it's *just* legally distinct enough to pass.  Also pictured are fake Captain America, fake Wolverine, fake Cyclops and fake Batman.  Perhaps they are the Fake Avengers.

Most of the store is redone and set up in working order.  The front still needs some work.  But look at that pinball machine!  Awesome.

In this picture, Larry apparently is measuring something.

The store has a few nice sports items as well, mostly (AS IT SHOULD BE) from the Pittsburgh area.  To the right of the picture, next to the Roethlisberger autographed football, is a program from the 1961 Pirates season...the year after they won the World Series.  A great piece to be sure.

If you are anywhere near the Pittsburgh area and enjoy seeing vintage toys and the like, do yourself a favor and visit Pop! Culture Connection.  It's like a museum of pop culture merchandise and it's well worth the trip.  Suffice it to say, I could easily go broke on any given day, but it's worth it just to see all of the items in stock.  The owner really takes great care of the inventory and it's quite a nostalgia trip.

Here's the (incredibly Google-able) address and other information:

Pop! Culture Connection
105 East Pittsburgh St.
Greensburg, PA 15601

Hours: 11:00-6:00 Tuesday-Saturday

Phone: 724-691-0179

Click here for their Facebook page

Click here for their eBay store

More Andromeda Jones

My last post about Andromeda Jones, in the matter of two weeks, became the most-viewed post in this blog's entire history (take that, Pop Culture Connection!).  While this is most certainly because my friend (and yours) Ruben Cordero put a link to it on his Twitter page, which was then re-tweeted by Todd Nauck, artist of the page I wrote about, I nonetheless feel that it is my duty to kowtow to the masses by showing more Andromeda Jones art.  Some of this is ages old and some of it is newer, but almost all of it is going to be printed sooner rather than later.

One of the things I like about Teddy and the Yeti is that it gives me the opportunity to print other short stories that otherwise don't have an outlet, and Andromeda Jones is the best example of this that I have.  I printed the five-page "Message in a Bottle" story, with art by Ryan Stegman, in issue #1 because I had been sitting on it and trying to do something with it for what seemed like forever.  And wouldn't you know it, I actually got mail that mentioned the story.

At the time, the Todd Nauck one-page story was the only usable sequential art that I had at my disposal, so to make it worthwhile for a future T&Y issue, I wrote another short story to appear with it - a three-page deal that artist Nick Acs and colorist Paul Little worked on.  The first page for that story is at the top of this post, and I think it turned out well.

I then went looking through my old files and found some other art that I had almost forgotten about, such as this pinup by Chris Whetzel.  I'm currently having this inked and colored and I plan to use it as the back cover for the issue the two stories are printed in, just like how Teddy and the Yeti #2 had a back Mr. Massive cover (coincidentally by Todd Nauck).

It should be noted that I've since changed the character's costume to make it a little less skimpy (or otherwise known as "just like every other female comic book character's costume", which I've tried to break away from), but hey, you work with what you have.  It looks nice in any case.

There are a few other pieces of art that I'm holding onto, such as the above pinup by Eric Pugh and the sketch below by Jeff Lafferty, but I don't have any hard and fast plans for either right now.

The Todd Nauck story, the Nick Acs story and the Chris Whetzel back cover will probably show up in Teddy and the Yeti #5 or #6, wherever it works out best.  It almost feels like spring cleaning, finally showing these things the light of day.

Justice League #8 letters page

To prove that everything old is new again, DC Comics recently announced that they were bringing back letters pages to their books.  Letters pages were removed several years ago in lieu of a more standard "DC Nation" page, which ended up being exactly what it was destined to become - a full-page in-house ad for other crap the company wanted you to buy.  It followed a pretty predictable formula: at first Dan DiDio wrote the DC Nation page and it was fairly informative; after a while DiDio still wrote it but would mention things like "well, I'm running really late with this, so...who likes Plastic Man?!"; later, Didio passed the torch onto other editors and assistants; even later you'd see full pages of art with "HAPPY THANKSGIVING!" (and similar messages) plastered on them; finally, it settled down to its current form, the Jay Sherman-esque "buy my book!" ads.

The prevailing sentiment from DC a few years ago was that message boards effectively took the place of letters pages, and nostalgia aside they probably did, though comics do run on quite a bit of nostalgia, to be fair.  I imagine that the DC Nation page might stick around even though letters pages are returning, as most DC books are cutting the page count of their books from 22 to 20 in an effort to save costs and keep cover prices at (or roll them back to) $2.99.

In any case, letters pages seem intrinsically tied to comics in many ways, as they have a long publication history together.  For example, last week I mentioned that I had bought a copy of Justice League of America #8 from Greensburg's Pop Culture Connection.  Within its pages is a 50-year-old letter column that was probably as stupid-fun as any could be today.

The first letter in this column is from none other than Roy Thomas, who later went on to become a mainstay creator himself, writing titles like Fantastic Four and Conan (he just took over as the main writer for Dark Horse's Conan: Road of Kings series, as it turns out, after lengthy runs on several of Marvel's series).  This isn't a great surprise, as Thomas is known to have letters published in quite a few series before he began working for comics in a professional capacity, but it still is funny.  He mentions what had to be the first issue of his well-known and long-lived fanzine, Alter Ego.

Writers of most of the other letters do what fans do best - they complain.  Oh, do they complain!  Most of them complain about the overuse of certain characters like Superman and Batman.  It's funny to read how much disdain some fans had for different characters, especially when fans today spend so much time making the same kinds of arguments.

One fan (Ronald Lehr of Cleveland) wrote to yell about the misuse of Superman, saying "I'd rather see him dropped off the JLA than be abused as he is.  He is the most neglected member.  Never (just about) is he in the action."  The best part about Ron's letter is that he calls DC on using Kryptonite on every possible occasion: "The mineral must be on sale at a local candy-store", he muses, "the way you guys scatter it into the hands of every crook that comes along."  The sarcasm!  The vitriol!  It's nice to know that some things withstand the test of time.

There are other interesting entries; one person writes his letter directly to the Flash (and asks the editors to deliver it to him); one counts - panel by panel - the appearances of each Justice League member (except for Snapper Carr and Green Arrow, for some reason) in each of the first six issues of the book!

My favorite letter of all, though, comes from Mrs. John L. Wright from Terre Haute, Indiana, who wrote to prove that smart people read comics, too.  After listing a string of her and her husband's accomplishments (including IQ numbers), she praises the "clean harmlessness of comic books."

The reply from the editor really knocked me over.  I can't tell if it's supposed to be tongue-in-cheek.  I dearly hope it is, because after noting that this woman's husband had an IQ four points higher than hers, the editor replies: "We're curious about what effect your husband's higher I.Q. has on your married life.  Does it mean that you allow him to make all the decisions in your household?"

My goodness.  As I said, these letters are 50 years old, so we're talking about a time when gender roles were a bit different than they are now.  Even so, what a flippant response!  Here's a woman praising the value of your comics (when everyone else is writing in to say how much they hate Batman), and your big response is "does your husband tell you what to do all the time?"  You're a bunch of jerks sometimes, DC.

People are People!

A few weeks ago at Greensburg's Pop Culture Connection, I stumbled upon a copy of Justice League of America #8, published in 1961, and bought it for a great price.  As is sometimes the case with comics that are 50 years old, I found the story to be a little goofy (the uncomfortable "Wonder Woman can be rendered powerless if you bind her tight" issue was brought up), but some of the ancillary material was pretty interesting.

Take the above advertisement - apparently purchased by the United Nations, of all places.  In its bold title it proclaims that "People are People!"  Despite sounding a bit redundant and a perhaps a precursor to Charlton Heston's famous line from the movie Soylent Green ("Soylent Green is PEEEEOPLEEE!"), I was impressed with this ad once I began to think about the context in which it was printed.

The 1960s were right in the middle of the Civil Rights movement, a real turning point for this country in reaction to the kind of prejudices that still existed despite the fact that the Civil War had been over for a century at this point.  To print an advertisement like this in a book marketed to millions of kids at a time in which racial tensions were at a boiling point showed savvy and guts on the parts of the UN as well as DC Comics.  While the six-panel comic and its message might seem a little obvious (in a "how can this not be an accepted way of thinking" kind of way) 50 years later, I can only imagine what it took to produce and print something as potentially incendiary at the heart of the struggle for equal rights.

The issue also gives us this gem, brought to you by the makers of Science:

First off, this advertisement makes the abstract concept of science seem rather antagonistic: "What's that, kids?  You think cold water pipes freeze faster than hot water pipes?  Well GUESS WHAT?!  SCIENCE says you're wrong!  Eat it, children."

For more reasons than that, though, this is a strange ad...or whatever it purports to be...because it's difficult for me to believe that there was ever great debate surrounding any of these subjects.  I can't see that one person ever said to another: "The vibrations of a fly's wings alone make its familiar buzzing sound!"  While another replied: "Hogwash!  The buzzing is created by its wings IN ADDITION to the exceedingly rapid vibrations of its thorax!", at which time the two must have decided to settle the dispute by blowing holes in each other.

Beyond this rather flippant observation, I'm not convinced that all of the science reported here is entirely correct - if nothing else, the wording is a little strange.  Science (the bastard) says you're wrong if you believe that the amount of oxygen in the blood controls how often you breathe.  Instead, it's the amount of carbon dioxide!  But...aren't the two amounts inversely connected?  In that a larger percentage of carbon dioxide implies a smaller percentage of oxygen, and vice versa, meaning that the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide control the number of breaths you take, and not simply one or the other?  Maybe I'm thinking of things improperly, which has been known to happen (if that's the case, perhaps a more science-minded reader can correct me), but it sounds to me like Science is splitting hairs.

Fun with Shrinky Dinks (and an all new Franks and Beans!)

I don't consider myself particularly nostalgic, but trips to Pop! Culture Connection in Greensburg, Pa do seem to have an effect on me.  Case in point - hanging on a rack I managed to find an unopened box of Marvel Super Heroes Shrinky Dinks from 1983.  The price was right so I bought the package and brought it home.

For those of you not familiar with Shrinky Dinks, it's almost useless for me to try and describe them, because they don't sound like they'd be any fun to actually make.  It's just something you have to experience.  Shrinky Dinks are still being produced today, but the 1980s were certainly the boom time for the company, and the licensed products (such as the Marvel brand) were at their height for sure.  In short, Shrinky Dinks were sheets of plastic that one would color, cut out, bake, and watch shrink to a miniature size to be placed on a little display stand.  Doesn't sound like much fun, but man...I loved 'em as a kid and I wanted to try them again.  Thanks to the vintage toy store Pop! Culture, I was able to.

One of my concerns was whether or not the Shrinky Dinks would actually still "work" after 27 years in a box (and, you know, if the plastic sheets were coated with toxic chemicals not regulated in the early '80s), but the contents of said box looked, for all intents and purposes, brand new once I got a look at them.

The eight characters chosen were fairly obvious ones, except for the hideous exclusion of the Thing.  Seriously, he could have easily replaced a C-lister like Doctor Octopus.  It's not like Marvel had to keep up with a villain quota or something.  Having, I don't know, a female character might have been nice as well, but that obviously wasn't a big concern with the people who put this package together.

Here I am with Franks and Beans cohort Larry, preparing the characters for the oven.  LOOK HOW EXCITING THIS STUFF IS!

Ready for the oven.  The set only came with four colored pencils, so a few sacrifices had to be made.  The Hulk is wearing blue pants (sacrilege, I know), and any other visible skin is pretty much a softer shade of red.  Dr. Doom's armor is "colored" in with a regular pencil.  Larry decided to go with the opposite color scheme for Doctor Octopus...maybe he's the Mirror Universe Doctor Octopus or something.

Shrinky Dinks curl up in the oven before flattening back out.  All except for Doom, because Doom curls for no man!

And here they are, out of the oven.  Cap was a casualty, but that's a risk you always take.

As you can see, the results were SPECTACULAR!  Oh, and Iron Man also doubles as a love note to Larry's girlfriend.

Shrinky Dinks turned out to be as fun as I remembered them.  As I said before, they don't sound fun at all until you actually give 'em a try for yourself.  It's too bad they aren't as available as they used to be...in any case, I imagine that I could make these at least once every 20 years.  Maybe even more frequently!  Awesome.

And speaking of Larry (and awesome), there's a new episode of Franks and Beans out.  So you should watch it.  Everyone should.  Here it is!

"Fun with statistics" or "Here's to all my fans in Luxembourg"

Let's make one thing clear: I don't like to obsess.  I don't!  But I suppose that's the nature of obsession - it's uncontrollable.  Take, for example, my recent compulsive need to check the viewership statistics of this very blog.  Along with being obsessive, I am apparently also oblivious as I was just recently made aware that the dashboard page of this blog includes a link that lets me track general statistics on how many views certain postings of mine get, and what countries those views are from.  This may seem like a minor tool in the grand scheme of the Teddy and the Yeti blog, but it's something I find extremely fascinating to the point that I CAN'T STOP CHECKING IT.

In spite of its collaborative nature, making comics is a lonely venture at many points, and so, perhaps, is comic blogging.  Commenting on most of my posts is a rare thing indeed, and I can only assume that stems from the fact that my posts are so chock full of information as to make any questions redundant.  This does at times, though, make me think that absolutely no one is reading what I have to say (blasphemy!), but thanks to the "stats" function on this site, I'm happy to say that I have proof that the keywords I have used in titles and tags have tricked dozens and dozens of people from all over the globe into checking out the Teddy and the Yeti blog.

For example, check out these telltale numbers (click on the pictures to get a better view).  It's obvious that most of this site's page views would come from the United States, because that's where I'm located, and where most of my friends and family are located.  That the UK is second is also understandable, as that's the home of Teddy and the Yeti artist Duane Redhead (though it's a distant second.  Pick up the slack, Duane!).  What really comes as a surprise is that every so often, someone from Luxembourg wanders over to the site and checks it out.  Luxembourg?  Really?  Why not, say, Latvia or Liechtenstein?  Not that I don't appreciate the attention, Luxembourg - I do, and greatly.  I'm just a little surprised.  Based on its size, the people of Luxembourg have more Teddy and the Yeti fans per capita than anywhere else in the world.

Similarly surprising are the individual posts that have had the most recent success in getting seen.  Pop! Culture Connection, the vintage toy store in Greensburg, PA (a fantastic place to visit, by the way) does not, I believe, have a dedicated website of its own.  So when people search for the store, they apparently find my blurb about it from April.  I wonder if people are disappointed when they click on the link - I mean, if I remember what I wrote, it does have all of the necessary information with which to find the store, and the write up ain't bad, either.

Other lessons learned: putting the words/phrases "crochet", "FUBAR", "Joe Sinnot" and "Garmin" (that one was a surprise...I suppose people are trying to figure out what commercial that yeti holding a teddy was from) in the subject line is a surefire way to get consistent page views months after the initial posts, and at least 27 people have wondered, just as I have, just what the heck those "beats for reading comic books to" ads were all about.

Next, many thanks go out to Xavier at his Paper Heroes site for posting a link to this blog, as I've benefited from it in recent weeks.  And also thanks to...uh...Google...for apparently directing nearly 400 people here recently.  In fact, Google (in one iteration or another) is on the "referring sites" list three separate times.

Lastly, we have the "search keywords" list, which apparently tallies up the search terms people are entering that lead them to this blog.  Thankfully, "Teddy and the Yeti" heads that list, followed by..."blogger"?  People are just typing in "blogger" and finding their way here?  Well, I'll take it.

From looking at the list of popular posts, I expected to see searches for Pop! Culture Connection, FUBAR and even the Garmin commercial on this list, and the few Brownsville Telegraph searches weren't shockers, either.  To the three people who searched for 2099: Manifest Destiny, though: I'm sorry that all I wrote about in my post regarding that book was how difficult it was for me to find.  That probably didn't help you at all.

I'm telling you what - I eat this stuff up.  It's like everything I never knew I wanted and needed to know about this web page was now available to me...like magic or some form of Divine intervention.  Now, if I got some comments from people in Luxembourg as a result of this entry, I think my week might be complete.