Thrift Store Hallo-weekends: Universal Studios Monsters Magic Pictures Activity Book

This week, we’re looking at Universal Studios Monsters Magic Pictures, a coloring/activity book published by Golden Books/Western Publishing in 1992. I have no idea what the retail price of this was, but I got it for a dollar in a Goodwill store in Hocking Hills, Ohio.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, the Universal Studios Monsters brand is the Cadillac of Halloween-related products in my eyes. Anyone can sell a generic flat-topped Frankenstein’s Monster costume for Halloween… or a kinda/sorta Creature from the Black Lagoon decoration to hang on your door, but Universal has the market cornered on the look of these classic ghouls.

thrift store finds: star wars- adventure in beggar’s canyon

Today we’re looking at Star Wars: Adventure in Beggar’s Canyon, published by Golden Books in 1998.

It was written by Jane Mason, with artwork provided by Gary Ciccarelli.

thrift store finds: masters of the universe- time trouble

The second Masters of the Universe book in this set is Time Trouble. Written by Roger McKenzie with art from Eduardo Barreto, this was published by Golden Books in 1983, a year after last week’s TSF, Caverns of Fear.

thrift store finds: masters of the universe- caverns of fear

(Thrift Store Finds is a mostly-weekly “column” of sorts where I discuss some of the cool books I’ve happened upon in my neighborhood St. Vincent DePaul store. Please don’t mistake me for an expert on any of the books I am writing about… I’m just a fan of a bargain.)

For the next two weeks, we’re looking at a collection of children’s books featuring He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, published by Golden Books in the early 1980’s.

MotU was an early obsession of mine, hitting toy shelves and television screens just around the time I was old enough to appreciate such things. He-Man looms large in my mind as a show full of magic and adventure, but as with most things beloved in childhood, his televised adventures are best left to memory. Revisiting them as I did in this comic, a few years ago leads to diminishing returns.

Far more fun and interesting to me were the toys, which I collected and played with for years. These books recapture some of those memories for me.

I’ll look at one this week, and one next week. If you have no interest in Masters of the Universe, you may want to skip TSF for the next half-month.

The first book we’ll be looking at is Caverns of Fear, published in 1983, was written by Mary Carey with illustrations from Al McWilliams.

thrift store finds: the young indiana jones chronicles coloring/activity book

The Internet was aflame earlier this week when this profile piece from The New York Times indicated George Lucas, mastermind behind many of the most successful blockbuster movies of the last thirty years, would be retiring from big budget moviemaking and instead focusing on “personal films.” According to Lucas, he’s depressed by the nasty backlash which accompanies his new takes on both the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films, all of which received a sound drubbing by fanboys and girls upon their release.

I could write 10,000 words on what George Lucas’ movies meant to me growing up and how deluded I’ve found him to be in regards with his perplexing choices regarding the Star Wars franchise… but I’m not going to. Instead, for today’s Thrift Store Find, I’d like to talk about the first time I remember been truly disappointed by George Lucas and why it doesn’t really matter.

I will talk about this by using a coloring/activity book I bought for fifty cents.

The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles premiered on ABC in the spring of 1992, three years after Indy’s last theatrical outing. The show was designed to focus on the youthful exploits of the character, both as a child and a teenager. I’m guessing Golden Books published this coloring/activity book around the same time. The book I found was in pristine condition and still has the price sticker on the cover.