Wednesday, May 01, 2013

Collectible of the Week: The Black Hole “Assortment of Fun” (Western Publishing Company, Inc; 1979)




The year 1979 was one of my favorites in childhood, no doubt because it saw the release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Alien, Moonraker, and last but not least, Disney’s The Black Hole.  I collected toys, magazines, model-kits, comic-books, novelizations and more from each of those productions.

But as a fourth grader, I really, really loved The Black Hole.  

This boxed set from Western Publishing Company, Inc., includes many activity books and paper toys based on the film including a “Little Golden Book,” “A Golden Poster Storybook,” A Golden Book of Things to Do,” “A Press-Out Book,” “A Coloring  Book,” “Crayons” and “2 Robot Puppets.” 

The two robot puppets, as you might surmise, are V.I.N.Cent and Maximillian  And the press-out book allows the intrepid kid to build paper versions of the Cygnus and the Palomino.



The back of the box describes the set as “an astronomical assortment of fun that’s out of this world,” and to a ten-year old kid, that’s precisely what it was.  

I remember that my (now-deceased) grandfather bought me this box set at a five-and-dime at the Jersey shore in the summer of 1980, and that during the whole week at the beach, I wanted to stay inside the rental and play with the Black Hole ships and robots.  My parents had to force me to actually go to the ocean.

I know…I’m a geek.  But one of my favorite parts of this toy is a paper backdrop of the Cygnus bridge, and small cut-outs of all the major characters, from Captain Holland and to Commander Reinhardt.

To this day, I remember that beach trip because of this very toy set, my grandfather's gift, and the time I spent imagining further adventures and sequels to The Black Hole.

4 comments:

  1. Ooohhhh....I have one of these! My hobby is designing and collecting paper models. Being a fan of The Black Hole, I had to get this when I saw one in good condition on eBay.

    I wish more paper-related books and activity sets were available! They really inspired so many hours of imaginative play, as did plastic model kits.

    There were also a ton of paper toys produced for Star Trek: The Motion Picture. The Space:1999, Marvel, Waltons and Planet of the Apes cardboard playsets by Amsco are just wonderfully designed. I wonder why these kinds of toys fell out of favor.

    Truth be told, my dream job would be to start a company to create more toys like this! As always, thanks for sharing.
    Pierre

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    Replies
    1. Hi Pierre,

      These were great, weren't they? I wish I had some of the paper toys produced for Star Trek: The Motion Picture. I should research them. I have the Space:1999 Amsco set and it is the pride of my collection. Wish I could get my hands on a Planet of the Apes set!

      best,
      John

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  2. Anonymous11:29 AM

    John, I agree, as a boy in '79 it was a good year with all those films.

    SGB

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I loved 1979. It was a great year to be a kid...and for space toys! :)

      Delete

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