Chew the Fat: Figures; Action and Otherwise...

Redartz:  Most of us have shelves full of books, comics, cd's, lp's, or any of a wide range of other objects of interest. And some of us also have, upon those shelves, figures representing those other interests.  "action figures", Theses figures may be 'action figures', such as Mego or GI Joe, or simply stationary statuettes designed to be 'just looked at'. And obviously those distinctions are rather arbitrary- you can 'just look at' your Mego figures, or you can create adventures with your pricey limited edition statues (very careful adventures). 

 


Personally, I never had any of those beloved Mego figures. Nor do I have any of the currently popular "Legends" figures, or any other superhero representations. Actually, the only one I do have is the 1974 Aurora Spider-Man model kit...





 



Now as for other types of figures, I do have several. One favorite is this small Robot B9 from "Lost in Space". He even speaks ( "Danger, Will Robinson").

 And then there's this set of Simpsons figures; America's favorite family (?) A bit of fluff from the 90's : 

 Finally, perhaps my most treasured figures are these incredible dinosaur figures from Schleich. Incredibly detailed, great poses, and strikingly colorful (and yes, I know a Plesiosaur isn't technically a dinosaur). Several times a year a local box store puts these on clearance, and I indulge in the addition of a couple more creatures to my prehistoric parade...

So that is a look at some of the  'friends' collecting dust around my house. What sort of beings and creatures occupy places of honor at your house?

Off the Bookshelf: Dinosaurs!

Redartz: Anyone catch the news this week about the remarkable fossil find? An actual dinosaur's tail (or part of one, anyway) actually preserved in amber; bones, soft tissues, and even the feathers. Truly an amazing specimen, and fascinating to any longtime dinosaur buff. It got me thinking  back (not as far as the Mesozoic, only to the Bronze Age), to when I'd hungrily devour any book available about dinosaurs. 

One of the first such I acquired was "Dinosaurs and More Dinosaurs", a paperback from Scholastic  Books. Yes, it was ordered through one of those much beloved school book club bulletins, and I counted the days until it arrived. And I wasn't disappointed: it had some very dramatic black and white painted illustrations of a wide range of dinosaurs, presented chronologically through the eras. I first met Pachycephalosaurus  through that book- loved the name, and the spelling (yes, Dino geek cred established).

 


My Elementary School was also the source for another favorite: "All About Dinosaurs" by Roy Chapman Andrews. In fact, I checked that book out from the school library so often that they ended up telling me not to borrow it any more so that someone else could have a chance at it. That book told the tale of Andrew's adventures in the Gobi Desert, hunting dinosaurs. Aside from superheroics, I couldn't imagine a better career goal.







 


Of course, that book had to be returned to the library. So to fill my home shelf with dinosaurian doggerel. I went to the local supermarket of all places. At the time, early 70's, there was a series of books called "How and Why Wonder Books" that were sold off a rack , actually next to the comic spinner rack. These books covered a wide range of subjects from nature to history, but the majority were focused on science. Of course, the edition devoted to "Dinosaurs" was the first one I hunted out.  Other volumes I picked up included Prehistoric Man and Prehistoric Mammals...





 

A few years later, in high school, I made a trip to the local used bookstore where I regularly hunted through the dime stacks of comics (oh, for those lost days). On one trip I found this book:  "The Hot Blooded Dinosaurs" by Adrian Desmond. Up to then, my understanding of those Mesozoic Mights followed the old preconception of them as dull, slow moving and slow witted. This book exposed me to the new theories and research of such paleontologists as Robert Bakker. These theories suggested that the dinosaurs may have been warm blooded like birds, and much more active and intelligent than previously thought. T-Rex and company suddenly became even more intriguing to me. 




These books satisfied the inquisitive thirst in my youthful brain for facts about all those ancient wonders. Even more, they  whetted my appetite for more; leading to a fascination for paleontology that lasts to this day. I once had the great pleasure to meet Dr. Stephen Jay Gould, who wrote numerous fascinating books on the subject. I still make it a point to visit the fossils at the Field Museum upon making a trip to Chicago. I had another great pleasure in taking my father and my youngest son with me on a fossil hunt in southern Indiana one day. And that bucket list of mine still includes a trip to Montana to join a dinosaur dig. One day...

Perhaps some of you have shared this interest with  our long-vanished friends (who, more accurately, are still with us as birds). Maybe you had a few of these books on your shelf. Here are a few more that graced the rooms of my sons, or simply attracted my attention at the time. Any other old bone buffs out there?