Retro Thing

Documentary: The King of Kong

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters follows the pursuit of a classic video game record. In the process, Billy and Steve discover there's a lot to be learned about life while competing to be the best at Donkey Kong.

Director Seth Gordon explains, "When producer Ed Cunningham and I first conceived of a documentary following the pursuit of a classic video game record, we had a very simplistic vision of the way the story might play out. We would follow the rivalry between two men on one of the most hotly contested arcade titles of all time, Donkey Kong.

As we looked deeper a far more troubling (and ironically far more universal) story emerged. What started as a portrait of a competition turned instead into a portrait of two competitors, and the many agendas that took shape behind the scenes that bolster their rivalry. These two great gamers, one Salieri, the other Mozart, have grown to despise and fear each other and in so doing alienate the only person truly capable of appreciating their own achievement and greatness."

The 79-minute King of Kong DVD will be available at the end of January from New Line Home Video and is available for pre-order now from Amazon. [Thanks to fueriose fury for the tip!]

Retro Japan: Vintage Billboards

Francesco from Hobby Blog says, "I just found Retro Kanban, a fascinating web site dedicated to old Kanban. The Japanese word "kanban" means "shop sign", "signboard" or "billboard". This site carries a collection of enamel signboards, which were familiar from the 1930s to the 1970s but are rapidly disappearing."

Retro Kanban: Japanese retrospective signs [via Hobby Blog]

Kyle's Flea Market Mystery Box

Jewelry box? Tombstone Radio? Miniature casket for Rudee Valley? Almost!

Found on a recent visit to the New York City flea market in Chelsea, I almost passed on this gem thinking it was a run of the mill jewelry box. But as I looked closer I noticed the gold frame and small porthole-esque window alluding that this was more than meets the eye. Turns out this amazing mechanical marvel is an inlaid wooden cigarette box, complete with dancing cigarettes, alternating blinking colored lights, and music box. Not to mention a mirror and all around good time.

As if all this weren't enough, it also includes a lighter and revolving display of images which show through the front porthole/radio dial window. These "views" snap into place every few seconds, and show a different view of Asia with each pass... and the images illuminate as well.. whoa!

This cigarette dispenser/virtual jukebox set me back a whopping $32 and I was so excited I couldn't wait to go home and open this box of magic to see how it ticks, er in this case whirs. Inside is an elaborate yet quaint series of wires and small colored bulbs, connected to various metal tabs. These tabs help alternate the low voltage current (making the lights blink alternately) by touching a series of revolving pegs, spun by the music box movement, which is also responsible for the teeter totter motion of the dancing cigarette platform, and spinning front image display.... yeesh!

I have found very little information about this amazing beauty online, thought I do remember seeing a website that said these were souvenirs of Asia from the 1930's through the 1950's. If anyone has more info on the manufacture or images of various models, please leave a comment and let us know!

Till the next find ~Kitsch Kyle  [Kyle has promised to drop in occasionally to show off items from his vintage collection.]

ARRI Movie Camera Family Portrait

Wim Robberechts in Belgium sent us this amazing ARRI family portrait a few months ago. His company specializes in breathtaking aerial filming on HD and film.

ARRI is a German camera manufacturer with a long and distinguished history. They introduced the world's first cine camera with a rotating mirror viewfinder system in the 1936, and have produced thousands of professional motion picture cameras since. The sleek little ARRI 416 Super 16 camera (foreground) is their first all-new 16 mm design since 1976. It weighs a mere 5.5 kg, including camera, loaded magazine, viewfinder and video assist.

Wim Robberechts & Co
ARRI Group professional motion picture cameras

1899 Coke bottle design: At a store near you!

Tony Wisneske writes: "I went to my local Vons recently and checked the soda aisle to see if they had Coke in bottles (the last time I checked, they didn't). I didn't see any bottles amongst the cans and plastic bottles but at the very end of the aisle there was a big stack of cases of these. Too bad this is a limited edition thing. I wish it was forever!"

related
Coca Cola Unveils A Somewhat Familiar Retro Look
Pepsi Invaders for the Atari 2600
A steaming hot mug of Dr. Pepper, anyone?

HE-RObot: The Next Generation of Heathkit HERO Robots

Heathkit is back with a brand new personal robot platform dubbed the HE-RObot. Technology has advanced considerably since the original HERO line was offered in the 1980s, so this blue beast features a Core 2 Duo processor as its soul, along with Windows XP Pro to enable its robotic delusions of grandeur.

Heathkit released four different programmable models in the 1980s, and they proved quite popular with hobbyists and educators. Just imagine R2D2 crossed with a mid-1980s Epson dot-matrix printer and you'll have a fairly good idea what they looked like. HERO Jr. (right) included a 32K ROM of "behavioral utilities" to control sensors, movement and even speech.

The modern HE-RObot is a rebadged version of the Model 914 PC-Bot by Canadian manufacturer White Box Robotics. It features multiple IR sensors (5 in the bumper and 3 in the drive bay), a Logitech webcam, CD/CD-RW drive, speakers, precision stepper motors, a 12 V battery pack and four LED headlights. It's capable of manual or autonomous navigation. The robot's software is based around an extended version of Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, which ensures that many programmers will be able to code for the platform "out of the box." Hopefully, there will be a slightly less demanding control app developed for non-programmers.

Until now, the most advanced robots available to many of us in the 21st century have been Roombas - glorified electric floor mops. I long for my own C-3PO to manage the household or a phalanx of battle droids to pillage backwards solar systems, and I'm hoping that the HE-RObot will be the gateway to my dastardly plan for galactic domination.

HE-RObot will be available in early 2008, and I'm guessing it'll cost around the same as the Model 914 PC-Bot, which starts at $5595.

The HE-RObot at Heathkit Educational Systems

The Model 914 PC-Bot at White Box Robotics

The LinnDrum II: Rethinking a classic electronic beatbox

Roger Linn (the inventor of the programmable digital drum machine) and Dave Smith (creator of the Prophet 5 polyphonic synthesizer) have teamed up to introduce the LinnDrum II, 26 years after the original revolutionized the music industry.

Roger Linn unleashed the LM-1, the first programmable drum machine that played digital samples, in 1980. It cost $4,995 and allowed well-heeled electronic musicians to make all manner of percussion sounds without requiring the assistance of a real, live drummer. The LM-1 was upgraded to become the LinnDrum in 1982, with 15 acoustic samples (the sounds for the early Linn machines were captured at a sampling session featuring session drummer Art Wood). Linn machines are famed for their shuffle feel and plethora of individual voice outputs to make studio work easier. Thousands were produced before falling victim to low cost Japanese rhythm machines. Linn himself moved on to create the revolutionary AKAI MPC series.

The LinnDrum II will be sold in two different configurations. The basic 'LinnDrum II' will be a digital drum machine. The 'LinnDrum II Analog' will add four voices of Dave Smith's Curtis-chip based analog synth circuitry inside the box, which promises to be a deadly combination. The machine offers 16MB of internal sound memory and there's a compact flash slot on the back panel for adding more sounds. Fans of Roger Linn's later Akai samplers will be pleased to know that the new machine features velocity and pressure-sensitive pads and both MPC-realtime and XOX-box style step programming.

Dave Smith's site reports "Inputs and outputs include four audio outs, two sampling/audio processing/drum trigger inputs, phones, USB, MIDI in/out, two expression pedal/foot switch inputs, and four additional direct voice outputs for the Analog model."

I can't wait. This looks like a must-have machine for well heeled electronic musicians everywhere. It's scheduled for a mid 2008 release.

LinnDrum II unveiled at the Dave Smith Instruments Site [via Matrixsynth]

The WPIX Yule Log

WPIX is a New York TV station with a long rich history going back to 1948.  Like a lot of independent stations, they've had their share of local sports and Three Stooges frolics, but in 1966 they started a tradition that put them on the map; The WPIX Yule Log.

Canceling $4000 worth of advertising on Christmas Eve 1966, WPIX broadcast a jumpy 17 second film loop of a roaring fireplace accompanied by several hours of "easy listening" holiday music (borrowed from the radio station owned by the same company).  There were no ads, no announcers - it was WPIX's Christmas gift to their viewers so they could enjoy the warm orange glow (or gray if you didn't have a color set yet...) of a roaring fireplace.

The broadcast was a massive success that became a New York tradition for the next 23 years.  WPIX even staged a reshoot of the fire footage in 1969 to create a longer loop on lovely 35mm film.  Despite its popularity, management extinguished the Yule Log in 1990, no longer willing to miss out on a Christmas Eve full of lucrative advertising.  They offered a version on the internet in 1997, but it seemed that the annual TV holiday fire had gone out forever.

In the low spirits of December 2001, New Yorkers were warmed by the return of the Yule Log to the airwaves, thanks to the efforts of Joseph Malzone and his friends at theyulelog.com.  The six minute Yule Log loop was unearthed from the film archive (it was misfiled as The Honeymooners episode "A Dog's Life"), digitally restored, and has resumed its place as the most watched Christmas TV program in New York.  Even the music is identical to the original broadcast - some of the tunes have never been available on CD, so many have been remastered from LP's!

Other stations now simulcast the Yule Log (you can find it on WGN Superstation nationwide in the US) - some even in HD.  There is a downloadable "Portable Yule Log" and the special's 40th anniversary last year was marked with an hour long retrospective "It's a Log's Life" (taken from The Honeymooners episode title above).

Today's TV landscape is a very competitive one, with the technology bar constantly rising.  Isn't it charming that something this simple can become a cherished tradition - one that even the writer's strike can't ruin?  Old time broadcasters talk about television being an honored guest in people's living rooms, and the Yule Log makes a welcome change from the usual cacophony of commercial TV this time of year.  I find it heartening that for one night, at least one station can find it in its heart to give a video gift just for the sake of giving it.

Get your own video Yule Log at Amazon

Read all about The Yule Log and its recent comeback!

The Yule Log - article by Joseph Malzone

43 Years Ago Today: The SR-71 Blackbird Takes Flight

The inaugural flight of the SR-71 took place on December 22, 1964, becoming the most impressive Christmas present ever to slip out of Lockheed's Skunk Works facility at Burbank airport. Amazingly, the SR-71 took to the air less than 17 years after Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier.

On paper, this titanium-skinned monster was capable of Mach 3.2, although pilot Brian Shul has since admitted that he once pushed a Blackbird to Mach 3.4 in his haste to leave Libyan airspace well in advance of looming surface-to-air missiles. He reported that the aircraft seemed to fly smoother than ever at those unbelievable speeds, cruising at well over 80,000 ft.

Propulsion came from a pair of Pratt & Whitney J58-P4 engines that produced a total of 65,000 lbf of static thrust and operated on afterburner at all times. The Sunkworks team had initially played with the idea of using liquid hydrogen for propulsion, but were unable to figure out how to cram the storage tanks into the airframe. They settled upon a much safer fuel known as Jet Propellant 7, which featured a high flash point of 60 C that reportedly couldn't be lit with a match (convenient, since the SR-71 leaked fuel like a sieve while on the ground ).

The SR-71's skin was subjected to extreme heat due to the friction generated by flying at Mach 3+ for extended periods of time. The designers settled on a Titanium-composite alloy that revolutionized high-speed design. The shadowy monster flew her first operation sortie in early 1968, and a total of 32 aircraft were built before the tooling was ordered destroyed. They remained in and out of operation with the USAF until the last three aircraft were formally retired from military use in 1998, although several SR-71s were flown by NASA until the final flight of the SR-71 on October 9, 1999.

Almost a decade later the Blackbird remains the stuff of legends. No other aircraft embodies the essence of raw speed and technological might to such an impressive degree. Unfortunately, modern advances in digital satellite imaging have probably ensured that the United States Air Force will never again be able to unleash such an impressive and untouchable reconnaissance vehicle.

related
The Lockheed Martin Skunk Works and Kelly Johnson's rules
The SR-71 Flight Manual

The Most Popular Apple II Clone

The Apple II was one of the most frequently cloned personal computer platforms of the 1980s, boasting over two dozen imitators. The VTech Laser 128 was the most popular of them all. The compact all-in-one system included a 3.6 MHz 65C02 processor, 128K of RAM, 64K video RAM and a built-in 5.25" disk drive.

VTech's engineers reverse-engineered the Apple ROM and were able to license Applesoft BASIC directly from Microsoft. This shrewd combination of moves enabled them to legally manufacture a machine that was almost fully compatible with the Apple II lineup. I seem to recall a list price of $595, but couldn't find anything definitive on the web.

The Laser 128 proved so popular that Apple countered its growing popularity by releasing the Apple IIc Plus later in 1988. However, Apple chose to incorporate a cutting-edge 3 1/2 inch floppy drive. This proved to be an awkward mistake, because the vast majority of Apple II software had been released on 5 1/4 inch floppies and required an external add-on drive.

VTech's late success in the 8-bit market is interesting. The company had been producing various Z80-based home PCs since the early 1980s without achieving great success.By the late 1980s, the IBM PC market was beginning to pick up steam and there were a variety of extremely capable all-in-one 16-bit platforms on the market such as the Commodore Amiga 500 and the Atari ST. Still, there was enormous interest in classic 8-bit platforms such as the Commodore 64C and the Apple IIc line because of the huge array of affordable software titles on the market, and the older systems tended attract budget-conscious consumers. The Laser 128 appealed to value conscious consumers who weren't ready to make the jump to 16-bit systems while demanding compatibility with a large software library. It appeared quite sleek in comparison to the clunky lines of the original Apple II.

VTech followed up the Laser 128 by releasing an IBM-PC clone in the same form factor, followed by several more traditional IBM-PC 8088 and 80286-based clones. I worked at an independent computer shop during the 1988 Christmas season and vividly remember my dismay at the number of customers who chose a VTech Laser XT IBM-PC clone over a far more capable Amiga. The company eventually withdrew from the PC market in the early 1990s as fierce competition eroded their margins.

These days, VTech remains a well known manufacturer of telephones and electronic learning toys such as the V.Smile system.

Video Technology Laser 128 / 128EX / 128EX2 [old-computers.com]

Cartrivision: The USA's First Crack At Video Cassettes

We've discussed the various video format wars on Retro Thing. The most popular was VHS versus Beta, a battle so popular that it's still used as an example in marketing classes, and even spawned an indy rock band. We've also talked about some of the other video formats that have been forgotten since, and there are a lot of them.

This is one I'd never heard of before, and in a lot of ways it shows that the media companies just haven't learned a damn thing in the last thirty years.  The format is called Cartrivision, and it dates all the way back to 1972. It was the first such format developed and sold in the USA. The unusual carts are square - the reels are one atop the other inside. It recorded only every third field of video and displayed it three times - a clever way to use the technology of the day to yield a decent picture and still fit a whole movie into the 8 inch square cassette.

The player was built into a number of specially made televisions, making the buy-in a hefty $1350 (nearly $6800 in today's money). Blank carts could record TV shows using the inbuilt timer, and there were pre-recorded movies and special interest programs.

Since there were no corner rental stores, you'd choose your film (the advertising copy does mention the availability of adult films, no surprise there...) from a catalog and the cartridge would be shipped to your Cartrivision dealer. You couldn't buy feature films to keep, nor could you rewind the cartridge at home. If you wanted to watch the movie again, you'd have to take it back to the dealer and pay a fee to re-rent and rewind the flick. 

Why? Cartrivision was developed in cooperation with the film industry, and these were the stipulations they placed on this new home-based movie experience. It does smack a lot of the many current format wars, and the tyrannical terms of digital rights management. To be fair, home movie rental was unfamiliar turf for the studios back then, and at that point they made all of their money from a film's theatrical release and possibly a rare showing on TV. Check out the original marketing film below.

The carts recorded television broadcasts in color, though the available accessory camera only shot black and white (a limitation of the camera, not the format). Cartrivision quickly failed financially - a combination of the system being unrealistically expensive and a whole warehouse of pre-recorded movies ruined by heat.

The format seems to have deserved the death it received. It was the vanguard of home video recording using a convenient cartridge, but the price and the restrictions on movie rentals made Cartrivision consumer unfriendly. The company went bankrupt about two years after the roll out of the format, and many of the unsold components went into the surplus market allowing experimenters to fool around with video recording years before it was commonly available. 

I really hope there aren't any Cartivision voyeur home video fetishists out there...

LabGuy's page on Cartrivision
Advertising & other behind the scenes rarities

related
Brown upholstered Beta VCR
Reel to reel Sony video recorder
VCD Player

Own A Vintage London Taxi

Here's your chance to pick up a well used London black cab. You won't be able to carry passengers for hire (in London, at least) but you will certainly own a distinctive vehicle.

Elite London Taxis sells between 50 and 100 of these cars every year, with prices starting at less than £2,000 ($4K) for a 1991 LTI Fairway Taxi in slightly shabby condition. Most of these vehicles feature a 2.7 L engine mated with a 3-speed automatic transmission.

Surprisingly, these frumpy old matrons can manage a top speed of 70 to 75 mph. Their mileage is guaranteed to be astronomical (100 to 150 miles per day of their lives), but chances are that they were reasonably well looked after by their owner/driver. After all, these vehicles were quite literally their bread and butter.

Elite London Taxis ships worldwide, although it seems from their testimonials section that the majority of their machines make their way to continental Europe, where they begin a second life as a wedding car or promotional vehicle.

A real black cab from Elite London Taxis [via retrotogo]

Holiday Giveaway: "It's a Wonderful Life" special edition train set

[Update: The contest is closed. We'll draw the winner on Christmas eve. Good luck to everyone who entered!]

The folks at Lands' End have generously provided our final giveaway of the season, a special edition Lionel train set featuring scenes from the award winning film It's a Wonderful Life. This beautiful $299 O-Gauge set hearkens back to the days before video games and computers, when kids dreamed of a train set under the tree. This set doesn't disappoint with a genuine die-cast metal locomotive, two cars with opening doors and a classic red caboose.

Bohus couldn't resist taking a look inside the box and gleefully reports that the engine features a real air whistle, puffing smoke and an illuminated headlamp. The set runs on AC power and features remote-controlled forward, neutral and reverse. It also includes magnetic couplers, along with metal wheels and axles to ensure miles of trouble free service. The track features a textured roadbed to help keep everything in place. It's recommended for ages 8 and up, and I suspect grown-ups will have as much fun as kids!

For your chance to win, leave a comment on this post letting us know how long you've been a Retro Thing reader, and tell us how you found our site (it's OK if you're new here, too). Only one entry per household. The contest closes at midnight Eastern on Sunday, December 23. We'll draw a winner at random on Christmas Eve and notify them by email. Because of the size of this item, the contest is open only to residents of the United States and Canada.

We'd like to offer our sincere thanks to Lands' End, and I notice that you still have a couple of days left to shop their online catalog and qualify for standard shipping before Christmas.

More about the "It's a Wonderful Life" Train at Land's End

Your Very Own Life-Size Cylon Centurion

You might recognize Fred Barton as the guy behind the brilliant reproductions of Forbidden Planet's "Robby The Robot" and "B-9" from Lost In Space.

It turns out his crew has been busy building an army of life-sized Cylons, including a platoon of chrome Centurions from the original series, along with the much deadlier looking matte 'Toasters' from the re-imagined series. The modern 7-foot tall Centurions are created using the actual CG files from the television series, ensuring that they're the most realistic robotic overloards you're likely to encounter this side of Caprica.

The vintage 'chrome disco toaster' replica is based upon one of the Cylon costumes that appeared on-screen with Dirk Benedict and Richard Hatch almost 30 years ago. It measures a mere 6 ft tall (I guess the new Centurions get more vitamins) and is coated with a "new space-age chromium finish that does this classic warrior justice. Gone is the 70's disco look of cheap ultra-reflective plating and thin vacuum-formed armor pieces hooked and looped to a guy wearing faded ribbed tights."

The site doesn't list prices, but expect your very own Cylon to cost a pretty penny. For  comparison, the company offers a fiberglass reproduction of Maria from Metropolis for $7,500.

Visit Fred Barton Productions for more...

Super 8 Camera In Search Of A Good Home

I don't usually mention my own eBay auctions, but I thought you'd like a chance to check out a few pics of my Beaulieu 4008 ZMII Super 8 camera before she sells. The French-made 4008 is one of my two favorite Super 8 cameras (the Canon 814 XL-S is the other). The 4008 was introduced in the early 1970s with several semi-pro features including a stunning Schneider Kreuznach interchangeable lens and manual film speed adjustment, which comes in incredibly handy when using modern high speed negative film.

However, I'm not ashamed to admit the real reason I love this thing is that it looks like the kind of device Flash Gordon would pack to kick Ming the Merciless into the next solar system.

Update: My camera is sold, but here's a link to some similar models on eBay...

Beaulieu 4008 cameras on eBay