Back Down Disney's Black Hole

Not quite as memorable as the Millennium Falcon, the Cygnus
 rests on the edge of a... BLACK HOLE!

Prior to enacting their modern creative approach of "If you can't beat 'em, buy 'em" that paved the way to their acquisition of Pixar then Marvel and finally the Star Wars franchise rights, Disney, then not nearly the juggernaut they are now, attempted to begin their own science-fiction, adventure franchise with The Black Hole (1979).

Following the huge success of the original Star Wars in 1977, every television and movie studio was looking to get in on the profits and the House of Mouse was no different. It probably seemed an easy enough task given the superficial formula Lucas had laid out in his film. Unique, toy-ready robots? Check. Rakish, bad-boy hunk? Check. Respected European actor in a key role? Check. Potentially iconic villain-in-mask? Check.

Disney's The Black Hole, directed by Gary Nelson (whose previous effort was the original Freaky Friday in 1976), was released in 1979 featuring performances by Oscar-winning actors Maximilian Schell (Judgement at Nuremberg, 1961) and Ernest Borgnine (Marty, 1955), as well as respected actor Anthony Perkins, best know as Norman Bates in Psycho (1956). The voices of the main robot characters are provided by Roddy McDowall and Slim Pickens.

Giant bad robot Maximilian and Dr. Hans Reinhardt played by Maximilian Schell.

A financially successful cinematic space opera was not, however, meant to be. As I came across my ancient (36 years!) 80 card complete set of trading cards released by Topps in support of the film's release, my own memories of seeing The Black Hole in theaters were neither warm nor fuzzy. Apart from the robot characters voiced by familiar genre voices, the film, like the trading cards, left me cold. Of course, many years later, the awkward tone of the film (with some rather mature philosophical ideas for a Disney film) reflected in poorly designed (repetitive images and story summaries out of order) trading cards can thank the warming effect of nostalgia for my even revisiting them. Sometimes even "bad" movies or collectibles find a place in one's heart for the period of time they fleetingly capture.

B.O.B. (BiO-sanitation Battalion), a battered early model 
robot voiced by Slim Pickens.

Our heroes led by V.I.N.CENT ("Vital Information Necessary CENTralized") 
voiced by Roddy McDowall.

V.I.N.CENT. and Captain S.T.A.R.("Special Troops/Arms Regiment") 
played by Tom McLoughlin.

Maximilian listening in on Dr. Alex Durant (Anthony Perkins) 
and scientist Dr. Kate McCrae (Yvette Mimieux).

One of three color-coded puzzles to be constructed using the backs of the trading cards.

V.I.N.CENT ("Vital Information Necessary CENTralized")
in action!

The climactic battle between Maximilian and V.I.N.CENT!

I vividly remember being weirded-out by the image (strangely not captured in the trading card set) of the movie's villain, Dr. Reinhardt, encased in the robotic shell of his chief minion, Maximilian, floating above a hellish landscape at the climax of the movie. Even reading the story summary below, suggests that the filmmakers were going for something "deeper" than a standard sci-fi action/adventure movie.perhaps. The "Or should I say the beginning?" commentary points to the intention to continue the story of the crew, a sequel that has been forever left to the imagination.

On second thought, maybe these cards aren't so bad...

Oddly, the Story Summaries on the backs of some cards are 
presented out of chronological order and therefore not aligned with 
the images on the front. The warning at the bottom 
warns you about it, too!

Trading Cards: Star Date 1979

10 year-old me would be psyched to know that I eventually did end up with all 88 cards!

Once again I've gone back to the old box of trading cards my mother recovered from her attic months ago, to seek inspiration for a blog post. The late 1970's were a great time to be a young science-fiction fan. Following the success of Star Wars, television networks were trying to cash in with shows like Buck Rogers in The 25th Century! and one movie studio, Paramount Pictures, attempted to breathe new life on the big screen into a short-lived television show, Star Trek.

The original crew was back looking none the worse for the wear after a decade away.

Released 10 years after the original series was cancelled in 1969, Star Trek the Motion Picture (1979) was not very successful, likely due to the filmmaker's efforts to go "big" with special effects rather than focusing on the smaller human stories that Star Trek episodes did so well during its brief 3 year run. Like most potential sci-fi franchises of the era such as Disney's The Black Hole or television's Space: 1999, the Star Trek movie was supported by a set of trading cards, that, like the movie itself, never really caught on. Even now, thirty-plus years later, a complete set of the Topps Star Trek the Motion Picture "picture card series" (with stickers, too!) can be had on Ebay for anywhere from 10 cents to $12.

Hunky newcomers Persis Khambatta and Stephen Collins were introduced as hip,
new Enterprise crew members.

I have fond memories of seeing the movie as it was a passion of my father's. Though it may not have been as action packed as this then-ten year-old would have liked, it was Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Bones and the gang on the big screen, which was (and remains) good enough for me. Flipping though these old cards, and fondly remembering the movie and my life when it came out, must be what it was like for baseball card collectors back-in-the day; I never felt as invested in sports memorabilia, but have a similar affection for most things sci-fi and comic booky.

Unfortunately alien practical effects and costumes failed to advance much in
the 10 year's since Star Trek the television show had been cancelled.

Count me as a fan of the hippie looks both Spock and McCoy sported
at the beginning of the film. Will always be a DeForest Kelley/McCoy fan.

Not only are these two cards almost exactly the same, they'r ordered right next to one another!?

I spent nearly an hour this evening sorting through my Star Trek the Motion Picture Topps trading cards, and it was time well spent. Not only did it remind me of simpler times, but it also gave me the opportunity to verify, after all these years, that I had indeed managed to get a full set (minus the stickers). I'm willing to make this concession to my momentary desire to have the entire set--as a ten year old, stickers often found their way onto notebooks, wall sand other places. For a young fanboy just learning to fly his geek flag, that's where they belonged anyway...

They Came from 1979: Buck Rogers Trading Cards!

"Biddi-biddi-biddi... do the Hustle!"

Returning to the recently discovered box of childhood trading cards, I was very pleasantly surprised to come across some artifacts from one of the greatest television shows of all-time... well, for two short seasons in the late seventies anyway, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century! Though the cards I found are far from a complete set, there are more than a few cards featuring my two favorite characters from the show's first season: sidekick robot Twiki (with the portable Dr. Theopolis, naturally) and sexy sort-of-romantic-interest, Colonel Wilma Deering, played by the fantastic Erin Gray.

If you missed the pilot movie (which premiered in 1979), a loose narrative outline--complete
with goofy one liners) is provided on the back of the cards.

Inspired (like much sci-fi produced after 1976) by the huge financial success of Star Wars, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century was must-see fanboy television during the course of its all-to-brief television run. The stills and narrative text from trading cards are primarily from the feature-length television pilot. Like the show itself, the cards must have shown a lack of staying power, as the Buck Rogers trading cards only lasted for one set of 88 trading cards, released in 1979.

"Lucky Buck" appears to be falling asleep at the wheel of his cumbersomely named "Earth combatship."

Trading cards are carries of nostalgia, and this Buck cards are no different. Though I have not actually watched an episode in nearly 30 years, these cards bring back many of the plot points and character beats that made it memorable for newbie sci-fi fans such as myself. As a ten year old, I had little insight to the fact that I as a television viewer was being fed standard action/adventure tropes or character designs ready made with the potential action figure sales. The fact that certain episodes still stay with me ("Space Vampire," anyone?) is as much a credit to Gray and Gerard's easy onscreen chemistry as much as every kids urge to watch all things sci-fi.

Erin Gray... 'nuff said!

Buck Rogers of the 25th Century trading cards are a prime example of the value of childhood collectibles: often in terms of dollars and cents, they have very little value to anyone. They do, however, have personal "value." Old trading cards allow the holder (in this case, me) to briefly revisit the days of my own childhood during which a walk to the corner store to find a brand spanking new set of wax-paper wrapped cards on sale were among the best memories of my youth.

 Twiki does it all: dancing, drinking and lending a mechanical ear to 20th Century barflies.

"Biddi-biddi-biddi... do the Hustle!" (Extended Mix)

Trading Card Memories of Moonraker

After the $ucce$$ of Star Wars, everyone was going to outer space.... even James Bond!

Many cards, such as #77 (above), had plot
points related to the action photo on the
opposite side.

One of the most exciting activities of my childhood was scraping together what allowance I could earn, as well as money from my paper routes, and heading up to the local corner store, Kwik Stop, to buy trading cards. In the late Seventies, collecting trading cards was a very popular hobby for many of the lads in our neighborhood, and while some were into the popular football and baseball cards, I went for the collectible cards based on movies and television shows, most notably Star Wars cards.

Recently my mother came across a previously forgotten box of cards in her attic (sealed in a Ziploc bag) that included not just loose cards from collections of The Empire Strikes Back packs past, but also from a few less memorable entries in usually popular movie and television franchises. As a child of the late-Seventies and Eighties, Roger Moore was (and remains)  my  James Bond, and my entree to his adventures was the Star Wars influenced Moonraker (1979). While Moore's Bond was charismatic and debonair (at least to my 12 year old sensibilities), the villains were every bit as cool as Bond in my eyes.

The title of the card, in combination with the grimacing assassin's face, says it all.

While others, such as #22, had parts of a
larger poster that would be formed by
collecting and combining the correct pieces.

Just as someone thought it was a good idea to send Bond to space (along with his primary Moore-Bond adversary Jaws), they also figured pre-teens would part with their pennies for trading cards, just as they had for the umpteenth Star Wars sets. They must have been at the very least partially correct, as I have the dusty collection of cards to prove it.

Much less interested in action shots of Bond performing static stunts, I kept mostly those few cards featuring either Richard Kiel's Jaws, Draxx (the film's mastermind villain), or Chang, played by actor Toshiro Suga. Like many fans I had an affinity for the colorful henchmen, likely because they were comic book-y in both name and purpose. Of the Bond adversaries over the decades, Jaws continues to be a favorite due to Kiel's indelible portrayal of the giant with stainless steel teeth. Both menacing and occasionally sympathetic, this latter element was never more present than in Moonraker, wherein Jaws found love in space with Draxx's diminutive daughter, Dolly (Blanche Ravalec).

One of my favorite cards: good to see Jaws happy!

Digging through the recently recovered trading card box has brought about nostalgic feelings of movies and performances that, while I once had great affection for, had until recently forgotten. If you enjoyed this brief glimpse at Moonraker (and Jaws) I can assure you that there is more were these came from...

Don't believe the hype, Jaws is hardly expendable!