Over the past month I've acquired a handful of old comic books and magazines, primarily in search of more video game ads to scan. In the December 1984 issue of Boys' Life, I came across an article about robots that I thought worth sharing. The beginning of the article is about industrial robots, an interesting look back on what people were saying about robots 40 years ago compared to today, when many similar discussions revolve around artificial intelligence. After that, it's primarily about personal robots, most of which can be considered toys. My uncle had a Tomy Verbot that I believe is currently sitting in a box in my basement, though I don't recall using it very much or what exactly it could do, other than hold things.
Sunday, April 13, 2025
Thursday, March 27, 2025
Championship Baseball Board Game
Over the years I've primarily posted baseball video game magazine articles and reviews on MLB's opening day, and I think I'm running out of those and ideas on what to post. A few times I have posted about baseball-related toys and this year I've photographed Milton Bradley's Championship Baseball board game from 1984. The box cover states that it's "The Game With Special Topps Baseball Cards That Direct Every Play." It does include 30 baseball cards featuring some of the top talent from the time period, though it doesn't have the MLB license so there are no team logos on the cards. On the backs of the pitcher cards are the player's career stats while on the back of the other player cards are one year of stats and dice roll outcomes.
I'm missing some of the player stands and the box cover has stains from being stored in a basement. It might look better in one photo over another because I didn't edit them all to the same degree. The game also comes with a bunch of pieces that can be put together to create the scoreboard and stands. I don't remember how the game plays but it does look good when set up and the Topps cards are a nice bonus.
Monday, March 10, 2025
Mario in Four-Color Land (Video Games & Computer Entertainment - January 1991)
As I wrote last year on this day, Its-a-Mario Day. Every March 10th is Mario Day, not because of the day marking a special occasion but because of the abbreviation of March being MAR and 10 looking similar to "IO." Last year I went with a few magazine reviews of Super Mario Bros. 2 and 3, and this year I've scanned an article titled "Mario in Four-Color Land." Although Mario is in the title, the story from Video Games & Computer Entertainment magazine is actually about all the Nintendo-themed comic books published by Valiant from 1990 to 1991.
Friday, February 14, 2025
[YouTube] Golden Axe
Released in late 1989 for the Sega Genesis, Golden Axe is a game I played over and over when I got it. It's rare that I try to be perfect at any game which is something I was attempting to do with Golden Axe when I was younger, though based on the scores I wrote in the manual, I never got through the game without dying a few times. Of course, I'm not as good at it anymore either, and in the video I'm using a gamepad rather than an arcade stick which is what I played with exclusively as a kid. The game itself isn't difficult but it's easy to make a mistake that will cost a life, whether it's falling off a ledge (rare) or getting cornered by multiple enemies, especially skeletons, that hack-and-slash the hero from the front and back at the same time. Also, being an arcade port, it's not a very long game and can be completed in 30 minutes or less. While Arcade is the primary mode, in the video I also play the much shorter Beginner mode and the Duel mode, where players can battle the computer in 12 rounds or challenge another player.
When the game ends it provides a score, strength rating, and letter grade. Based on what I wrote in the manual, my best score was 390.6 playing as Gilius Thunderhead and my highest strength rating was 118.3 as Ax Battler. I'm not sure how the scores are determined, though I believe the less magic you use to eliminate enemies, the higher your score will be. Since Gilius has the weakest magic and the strongest weapon with the best reach, it makes sense that players will get their highest scores playing as him. I'd noticed magic's impact on the score when I was recording the Beginner mode play through, as the less I used Tyris Flare's magic, the better my score. That stood out when I had what I thought to be a perfect run but ended up with a much lower score than my previous game in which I thought I played worse. In that perfect run I used the magic often simply because I wanted to show as many spells as I could for the video. Unfortunately, my Genesis started having issues as I finished up the recordings, otherwise I would have gone back through Arcade mode without using magic to see just how high I could score. This game was also a Sega CD pack-in title on the Sega Classics Arcade Collection disc and I own it but I can't test out the scoring there either. As I posted in 2019, my Sega CD also isn't functioning correctly and I don't know how to repair it.Saturday, February 8, 2025
EA Sports Vol. 2, Issue 1
As I said, it's Super Bowl weekend and at this time of year I do often put together a video or blog post with a score prediction, which is really just a complete guess as I'm not an expert and I don't analyze anything. Last year I picked the wrong winner in a game that went into overtime. Two years ago I was a single point off from guessing the exact score between these same teams. Philadelphia makes its second Super Bowl appearance in the last three years and Kansas City returns for the fifth time in the last six years, and is going for a three-peat! I did pick against KC last year and maybe I should learn from my mistakes but I'm leaning toward the Eagles pulling out the win. Either way, I'm expecting a close, high-scoring game, and I'll go with the same score I guessed two years ago but with a different outcome: 38-34 Philadelphia.