Mon, 28 January 2019
G.I. Joe with Retro Joe Tavano
After you titillate your taste buds with a Cuppa Joe or some bubble-gum with a Bazooka Joe comic this morning, treat your ear buds with memories of G.I. Joe with Retro Joe Tavano on TechnoRetro Dads as shazbazzar and JediShua dig into the toys and cartoons of the '80s that made fighting Cobra fashionable.
Ghostbusters III teaser trailer
Saturday Mornings
Weekday Afternoons: G.I. Joe
It's been a while since the Daddio of RetroZap.com has been on TechnoRetro Dads, but SuperFriend Retro Joe Tavano joins shazbazzar and JediShua at the perfect time as we approach G.I. Joe Day this Friday, February 1st! Although Saturday mornings were not typically the time these weekday afternoon cartoons aired, memories of Duke, Flint, Scarlet, Lady Jaye, Mutt, Roadblock, and Snake Eyes are full of fun times, cool music, informative PSAs, and rockets. Hasbro's marketing machine churned out a winner with this half-hour show featuring toys that were on shelves and pegs in stores across the nation when G.I. Joe made an epic return after some serious plastic surgery to reduce his size, making him more attractive to consumers in the 1980s.
Toys in the Attic: G.I. Joe
Since the cartoon was invented as a launching platform for Hasbro's redesigned G.I. Joe line, it only makes sense that shazbazzar, JediShua, and Retro Joe head up to the attic to see if their G.I. Joe figures have survived the test of time or if their internal organs have dried up due to age and they've fallen to pieces. We talk about the toys we had, the toys we played with, and the toys we wanted. From the Cobra H.I.S.S. to the Killer W.H.A.L.E. to the Defiant, we're spanning a range of several years of prime G.I. Joe collecting.
Vinyl Scratchback
Forty years ago, Chic returned to the number one spot on Billboard's charts for a third time with their song "Le Freak". The first song to top the charts three times, this disco ditty is an earworm almost everyone will remember.
Thanks for tuning in to TechnoRetro Dads, EarBuds! Be sure to check out episodes you may have missed on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, or at TechnoRetroDads.libsyn.com. Don't forget to rate and review TechnoRetro Dads on iTunes, share us and with us on social media, get TechnoRetro merch at TeePublic, and join discussions on Discord about toys, cereal, games, movies and/or shows from the '70s and '80s by giving the 'Dads your feedback via voice mail at (209) 878-7323 or sending us your mp3dback via electronic-M to podcast@TechnoRetroDads.com.
TechnoRetro Dads from V to Z: 1979 Vampire movies and Nintendo's Zelda
When you want to make Monday mornings great again, you get some pretty strange looks and people start to ask questions like, "When were Monday mornings ever great?" While we may not be qualified to give documented histories about great Monday mornings, we do know where to get the answers to the tough questions. We call Chris Luby (the Specialist), cohost of The Geek State podcast and long-time SuperFriend for answers to life's most challenging quandaries…
"How does a vampire select his prey?"
"What flavor are the red Funkos?"
"Who composed the music for the top five vampire movies in 1979?"
"Which version of Zelda best encapsulates the totality of Hyrule lore?"
You'll have to be the judge of how well Chris answers questions like these, even though we don't dig that deeply ourselves, in this federal holiday Monday morning episode for January 21st.
Eddie Murphy reprises his royal role in the upcoming Coming to America sequel.
The crew of The Muppet Show had some fun at the end of the first season of the program and we get to watch it! Muppets not included.
We Love Our Cereal…
…and EarBuds do, too! Russ "Honey Buns" Doutt and RealtorAngie report on finding new cereals in the aisles of their local stores and even give a review of Honey Bun cereal for the insatiable appetites of cereal lovers everywhere. The Roving Spoonster warms up a story from Europe that has JediShua ready to let Dracula turn him into a vampire bat to cut back on the cost of flying overseas for a morning cup of coffee and cereal at Starbucks Europe.
SuperFriend Chris Luby
After a prolonged absence from TechnoRetro Dads (and a hiatus from his own podcast, S'more Geeks), the Specialist Chris Luby returns with a brand-new show, The Geek State. Chris and cohost James take their podcast to the next level with a revamped and reimagined weekly podcast that keeps listeners attuned to the state of affairs in geek culture. Today, Chris shares his fondness for Funko Pops as well as Funkos cereal and even samples a box on the air. From Boba Fett to Elvira (is she a vampire?), Chris has become obsessed with the vinyl figures that fill store shelves in stores everywhere.
TechnoRetro Arcade
Before the break of dawn signals all vampires to hurry home, Chris tours the TechnoRetro Arcade with shazbazzar and JediShua to play various Zelda games in the console room. Tune in for Hyrule-ing excitement in these adventure games by Nintendo.
Let's All Go to the Movies: 1979 Vampire Movies
Forty years ago, vampires were all the rage at the cinema as well as at the disco. From genuine horror flicks like Salem's Lot and Nosferatu the Vampyre to the romance of Dracula to more humorous approaches like Nocturna and the fondly-remembered Love at First Bite, the 'Dads give a brief overview of the bloodsucking box office of 1979.
Choose Your Own Adventure — He-Man or Bandersnatch
The adventure continues whether you're turning back and forth through the pages of a book, making decisions digitally, or playing with He-Man and the Masters of the Universe toys from the '80s on TechnoRetro Dads — this week with a Big Honkin' dose of Steve Glosson from Geek Out Loud.
Dave Bautista joins the cast of Denis Villeneuve's version of Dune.
(Maybe someone will seek him out for a He-Man movie.)
Walmart welcomes pop culture cars to their parking lot.
William Morgan Sheppard departs.
Toys in the Attic
SuperFriend Steve Glosson joins shazbazzar and JediShua in the attic to play with He-Man and the Masters of the Universe toys by Mattel from the 1980s. These action figures were a huge departure from the popularity of the incredibly successful 3 3/4" action figures from Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and of course G.I. Joe. Beginning with several characters, a couple of vehicles, a non-articulated green tiger, and a large castle playset, the Masters of the Universe toys
Saturday Mornings: Black Mirror "Bandersnatch"
JediShua and shazbazzar remember the fun of Choose Your Own Adventure books when they check out the latest Netflix addition to the Black Mirror series, "Bandersnatch". This dark, weird interactive movie allows viewers to choose the actions of an on-screen character to determine the plot and end of the movie. "Bandersnatch" is a quality first effort at merging game books with digital technology for an effective Choose Your Own Adventure experience. Definitely for "mature audiences", the back-and-forth feel of this movie is a genuine throwback to the joy of reading Choose Your Own Adventure books. Perhaps more of these will be created soon. Maybe bring in some of our favorite franchises like G.I. Joe, Transformers, or even He-Man. The possibilities are only limited by imaginations at this point.
Mon, 7 January 2019
4000 Resolutions for the New Year PLUS Arcade 1UP and SuperNES
The last year of the twenty-teens begins with an amazing blend of new and old with feedback from EarBuds, new TV shows focusing on '80s culture, AI reminiscent of HAL from 2001, boxes of cerealicious breakfast food, and new video games in a classic style.
Discover the intrinsic relationship between Speak & Spell and the Little Professor. TRON goes X-Wing thanks to Mark Ham All. Mark Hamill jokes about Joker cereal. Several EarBuds chime in with fond memories from 2018, ranging from Solo to Spider-Man to Pac-Man to chicken walkers to vacations in O'Lando.
The International Space Station has a floating half-spherical artificial intelligence who behaves like a toddler. Thankfully, it's named CIMON and not HAL, and "Daisy" doesn't seem to be on its playlist. The '80s get turned upside-down again this year on July 4th when Stranger Things 3 shows up on Netflix. Speaking of sequels, They Live may finally have one in the works according to John Carpenter. Python Michael Palin is to be honored by the British Crown this year and gain the knightly honorific, "Sir". We think he maybe knighted at sunset.
…and the pics we're getting from EarBuds! From exciting wall decor in the image of favorite retro cereal mascots to boxes of marshmallowy grandeur to stockings backed by boxes of favorite cereals, there are bowls and bowls of breakfasts just waiting to be poured over milk. Suddenly, our bowls overflow with reports from the Roving Spoonster: new GM cereals hitting shelves, Netflix goes viral with a cereal question, a principal feeds kids over the holidays with gift boxes of…yep — cereal! Still, some cereal aficionados might give the rest of us a bad name; specifically with frivolous lawsuits.
The Super NES game console was Nintendo's 16-bit submission to the home video game market. SNES and Sega Genesis battled head-to-head thirty years ago for a bigger piece of the pixelated pie. With Street Fighter II and Donkey Kong Country, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System was popular with gamers of all ages, even as the 32-bit systems came into the market.
If you ventured into Walmart anytime during the past couple months, you may have noticed some larger than desktop sized arcade games featuring side art and classic marquees reminiscent of the mid-eighties with Pac-Man, Galaga, Rampage, Centipede, and more. A new retro idea — 3/4 scaled arcade games — hit the pallets in November and continue making their way out retail stores even today. With a $300 price tag, these aren't cheap , but they might just satisfy your craving for a bit of the old arcade in a corner of your office.