Doug says: "Check out some of my Stuff!" Part 3

Hey, I'm back with more goodies from Fort Knox (don't I wish!!). Speaking of investing in this hobby we love, I guess I turned that corner after two events. The first was the marketing travesty that was the 1990's, what with all of the multiple covers, foil covers, bagged comics, events, crossovers, blah, blah, blah. After initially being sucked into that mania, I figured it out pretty quickly that nothing from that era would a) stand up, and b) be worth much to the next couple of generations. The second event that made me more of a "possessor" than a "collector" was the completion of my complete run of Avengers (a future topic for this column). At the same time I was zeroing in on the last couple of dozen issues that I needed, a good friend of mine -- you may know of him: Don Kramer, noted DC Comics artist -- was attempting to complete a run of the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby Fantastic Four. Don was very picky about the books he'd buy -- he was not only wanting the run, but also to have it in pretty good condition. I'll discuss my strategy at a later date... Let's just say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.


On to this post's "stuff":

Slurpee Cups/Glasses


A couple of weeks ago I gave you a peek at some of the Slurpee cups in my collection. This time 'round I want to show off a few more (I have others that you haven't seen yet, including the very-much desired X-Men cup with Dave Cockrum -- the first licensed Wolverine image! Unfortunately, I used it for beverage consumption, washing it regularly. Consequently most of the silkscreen has worn off. Doh!!).

I was a very hit-and-miss collector of these cups when they were available at retail. While we didn't have a 7-Eleven in my hometown, my sister and I spent a week each summer at my aunt's and uncle's in St. Charles, IL (I mentioned this in an earlier post). They had a 7-Eleven right down the block. What I most remember is cutting a deal with the manager at the store to sell me these wonderful cups, but without the Slurpee - hey, a 10-year old can only take so much brain freeze in a week's time! I should add that I didn't get any break on the price, even sans the icy concoction. I ended up with maybe a dozen of the cups for the first series, and another 12-15 the next summer. Just great fun! It used to irritate me, though, when on the way to the store I'd see a cup, inevitably showcasing a character I'd not yet collected, smashed on the sidewalk by some obviously less-sophisticated miscreant. Years later, as an adult, I came across glasses that contained the same artwork as the '77 cups - I believe there were five in the set, although I can't verify that. I have three of those glasses in my collection, as you can see from the photos.

For some great details on the cups, their artwork, the backstory to how the artwork was chosen for the cups (and sometimes even modified), and a checklist (including the issue/page number for the cups' artwork), please see Back Issue #34, available from TwoMorrows Publishing. You can get a hard copy or a digital edition here:
http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_54&products_id=784


Here's an interesting nugget from the article (finely written by Lex Carson): The characters on the cups had to be good representatives of Marvel (and this speaks to some of the artists' work that was chosen/not chosen), and could not be fearsome -- in fact, some of the art that was altered involved changing grim expressions to smiles!



Glassnews.com reports that there are four major sets: a 1973 DC comics set (which includes a very sexy Lois Lane and some killer Dave Cockrum art on the Legion cups!), two 1975 Marvel comics sets, and a 1977 Marvel comics set. The 1973 and 1975 sets have a still picture of each character on the front, often with the logo from their comic book. On the back of each cup is a summary of the character’s origin, powers, and supporting characters -- the Black Bolt cup shows him thinking, not speaking (a fine touch slanted toward the true Marvel aficionado). One of the 1975 sets is taller than the other. As far as the glasses go, I can never seem to find too much information about them. However, when researching for this post, I did come across the FF and Cap/Falc glasses for sale (although noted as "backordered") -- you can check it out here: http://www.superherostuff.com/OtherItems/GlassesMugs/images/captglass77.html


Leave a comment -- do you have these? How about the tall glasses that were available (locally for me, at least) at Hardee's -- they showcased DC characters. I have a Wonder Woman glass, but bought it years later at a flea market. I'm sure many of our readers have more recent collectibles like these -- cups from the Batman franchise of the late 80's-early 90's, the X-Men cups that were available at Pizza Hut about the time Jim Lee was drawing the series, etc. Let us know!!

Karen here. Doug has asked me to share some of my Slurpee cup memories as well. I don't actually have my cups any more, but at one time I had a pretty fair amount. When the DC cups came out, we didn't have a 7-Eleven near us, but my grandparents did. So we got Slurpees when we went to see them, and I think that was my introduction to the Legion! I recall having the Cosmic Boy cup, and wondering why he wore pink! By the time the Marvel cups were out, we had a 7-Eleven about 3/4 of a mile from our house, and we went there frequently ( it was also right next to Taco Bell!). So I had a lot of the Marvel cups. My big mistake was putting them in my windowsill; they faded quickly that summer! They're all gone now, except for the Warlock one I got at the San Diego Con last year. They wanted $15 for it but I managed to talk them down to $10. That cup is in beautiful shape. I do still have 3 DC glasses that were from a promotion at Taco Bell - Batman, Robin, and Aquaman. A friend broke Superman a few years ago and I think I broke Wonder Woman. Of course they are all terribly faded - we put them in the dishwasher! What did we know back then?

Weird Wednesdays: The Dover Demon

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Karen: Although it’s been over 30 years since I first heard about it, I still hate the Dover Demon. I’m sure most people have no idea what I’m talking about – and good for them. The story is trivial, meaningless, and without any verification whatsoever. But it was a story that struck right at my core, particularly since I had an older brother who took no small joy in scaring me.

The time would have been late spring, perhaps June, since I believe I was out of school already. The year was 1977, and I was 12 years old. I do recall that it was a pleasant night in my central California town, and my brother, Steve, who was 18, myself, and two of his friends had decided to take a walk about half a mile or so to our nearest 7-Eleven, where we might grab a Slurpee or maybe some other treat. It was a clear, warm night and many stars were visible. In other words, it was a pretty nice evening to take a walk. Unless you have a sadistic older brother, that is.

As we wound our way down the streets of our neighborhood, Steve began to discuss a story we’d heard recently on the news. Here I am indebted to Loren Coleman’s wonderful book, Mysterious America, for the particulars of the case, as I was unable to recall them. Four kids in Dover, Massachusetts had reported seeing a strange creature over the course of a 25 hour period on April 21-22, 1977. Witnesses described it as a small, 3-4 foot tall, spindly humanoid, with light, peach-colored skin, and long toes and fingers. The most disturbing detail was its head: it was unusually large, shaped like a watermelon, and had no features except for two large glassy eyes. The kids saw it in different locations in their small town, all at night. One witness, John Baxter (whose drawing is shown above, from Coleman's book) saw it climb over rocks in a gully, with its feet “molded” over the stones.

As we walked along, talking about this weird thing, we approached a large brick wall. There were no street lights in the immediate area and it was fairly dark. My brother said, “What if we saw that thing right now? What if it was climbing up over that wall?” I told him to shut up, which of course only goaded him on. “What if it was crawling along the wall, staring at us with those big, glowing eyes?” That was it – I was completely freaked out. The hairs on the back of my neck were at full attention. But Steve kept it up. I wanted to run back home, but we were too far and I was too scared to do it alone now. I had no choice but to keep going with them, nervously looking over my shoulder.

We finally made it to the 7-Eleven, and I was able to calm down. Nothing like a cherry-cola Slurpee for a case of nerves! The only problem was, we now had to walk back past that wall again!

As we walked towards the wall, things were quiet. Probably the only sound was our footsteps, and me drinking my Slurpee. Suddenly my brother yelled, “What’s that?” I just about choked! I looked around frantically only to see Steve laughing at my reaction. I wanted to kill him, but even more, I wanted to get home!

As far as I know, the Dover Demon has never re-appeared - except in my imagination, whenever I am out for a walk at night. Damn you Steve.