The two combatants in this piece were made by MPC (which I think stands for Multiple Plastics Corporation); manufacturer of plastic toys & model kits in the 1960s. Their toy figures were generally ghoulish in appearance, with gaunt faces and elongated limbs, and were sold on blister cards (colorfully illustrated cards that have a plastic bubble, or blister, where the toy is contained. This type of packaging is still used today). Their figures were also offered via boxes of breakfast cereal and were the general object of a child's desire to obtain these boxes, no matter how crappy the cereal inside tasted. The octopus shown here was offered two ways that I know of: 1. It was blister-carded as part of a twelve piece "Sea Monsters" set and 2. one came free in a box of Nabisco's Rice Honeys cereal and was available in 1968. I got both of these toys in a plastic bag with another pirate, six other sea monsters, and a couple of jungle natives at a snooty antiques show in Cold Spring Harbor in 1998. They're battling atop a Weebles Pirate Island base (yes, I said Weebles Pirate Island) because the color worked so well with the octopus & pirate and this photo itself was taken at a local beach. The title was inspired by the phrase, "Eight arms to hold you" which was the original title for The Beatles' second film, Help!.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Get Rid of that Crap!! part 3: EightA2KY!(8armstokillye!)
The two combatants in this piece were made by MPC (which I think stands for Multiple Plastics Corporation); manufacturer of plastic toys & model kits in the 1960s. Their toy figures were generally ghoulish in appearance, with gaunt faces and elongated limbs, and were sold on blister cards (colorfully illustrated cards that have a plastic bubble, or blister, where the toy is contained. This type of packaging is still used today). Their figures were also offered via boxes of breakfast cereal and were the general object of a child's desire to obtain these boxes, no matter how crappy the cereal inside tasted. The octopus shown here was offered two ways that I know of: 1. It was blister-carded as part of a twelve piece "Sea Monsters" set and 2. one came free in a box of Nabisco's Rice Honeys cereal and was available in 1968. I got both of these toys in a plastic bag with another pirate, six other sea monsters, and a couple of jungle natives at a snooty antiques show in Cold Spring Harbor in 1998. They're battling atop a Weebles Pirate Island base (yes, I said Weebles Pirate Island) because the color worked so well with the octopus & pirate and this photo itself was taken at a local beach. The title was inspired by the phrase, "Eight arms to hold you" which was the original title for The Beatles' second film, Help!.
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Yellow Submarine: The Sea of Green
For this group shot of the foursome traveling towards the Sea of Green , I chose to alter the colors of their clothes seen in the film. Th...
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There it sits, the MYSTERIOUS BLACK METAL BOX - - quiet, sinister and waiting. You throw the switch to "ON" . Immediately there... -
....... ZZZZZ ..... Wha? What is that?!? Keep it away!! It's getting closer! CLOSER!!! AAAAAAGGGGHHHhhhhhhh........
This is one of my favorites, hands down. I could pretend to be artistic about it and say i'm responding to the primary colors and the lighting, but it's really the fact that it makes me nostalgic for the days when I would spend hours orchestrating elaborate scenarios with toys. I should go get some legos...
ReplyDeleteThat's really my goal with the work: to get people back to when things were at a zenith of happiness.
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