Pho-TOY-graphy: Some exceptional photos of vintage Fisher-Price toys found around the internet

Photo by Dutempsaperdre78

Fisher-Price absolutely takes the cake when it comes to picking my favorite vintage toy brand. Those toys made me very happy as a child, and they still comfort me as an adult. Even just seeing them in a photograph tends to really excite me. And this li'l group of toy pics is a fine example of some that have turned me on lately...

Photo by Chris White

Photo by Lolie Jane

Photo by Cracklin Tulip

Photo by The Aunt with Gum

Photo 'a Go Go!: Yet, even MORE of my 365project

Yes, it's that time, again, folks. Time to shake and shimmy to the photographic stylings found only right here in the Pop Circus "Photo 'a Go Go!" gallery. Well, actually you can also view them on the official 365project website, but it sure sounds more cool and exciting the way I said it at first. Anyway, let's carry on with the show...

Kaleidoscope ball 

I really dig this water-filled bouncing ball with its

myriad of colorful little balls floating inside. I had

a feeling that it might make an interesting photo subject.

Super Mushroom 

I couldn't believe it when I walked out my front door

and found THIS sprouting out of the lawn! I sure did

a double-take. I even looked all around a bit furtively,

half expecting to see Mario or Yoshi peeking through

nearby shrubs!

I'm quite tempted to take a little nibble, just to see if
this real version of Mario's magic 'shroom provides
the same super-growth powers as the ones you find
in Nintendo's virtual worlds. Oh, heck! What's the
worst that could possibly happen, anyway? It always
works for Mario...

Water's edge 

I'm grateful to be living close enough to the ocean

that it's only about a half-hour's drive from home.

That's a real good thing since I'm using my camera

a LOT more, now, and there are so many different

types of photo ops to take advantage of at the beach.

Like my previous shot of the Balboa Pier which I

photographed several days ago, this too was taken

in the late afternoon sun. Do you find it as hypnotizing

as I do to watch the waves come rushing up the sand

and then slowly drift back out to sea, only to repeat

the cycle again, and again?

My mother's
"handsome" cat

This is Handsome, my mom's friendly little
feline companion. As you can see, he's an
attractive long-haired kitty with piercing eyes
and wonderful markings on his coat.

I miss having a cat of my own, so it's nice to
be able to visit with Handsome whenever I go
over to see my mom.

(Psst! It's also nice never having to clean out
his litter box, since I'm not his owner!)

There's our Matt, again!

Ya gotta love this guy 'cause he's just so
odd in all the right ways. Here, Matt is
proudly modeling his 'They Might Be
Giants' fez that he got at one of the band's
concerts, years ago. Interestingly, Weird
Al Yankovic was at the same show, and
for some admittedly strange reason, Matt
felt compelled to buy a second fez that he
could personally give to Mr. Yankovic
with his compliments... so that's what he did.

The End.

Premonition

Once I was able to excuse myself from the
others, I immediately went upstairs to the
attic so I could take another peek through
the window that was not there before. What
I saw when I pulled back the little curtain
was disturbing in ways that I cannot fully
describe. I knew about the alternate
dimension that lay just outside this mysterious
window because I had already made that
jarring discovery the first time I peered through
it. No, this was something entirely different.
What I saw and felt as I strained to focus my
gaze out amongst the pine trees in the darkness...
well, it was... WRONG. Somehow, I just knew
that deep within my bones. But this wasn't the
only knowledge I had gained that night.

A delicate-looking green insect landed on the
window pane before me, and I swear it was
actually whispering something to me. As I stood
there entranced, and concentrating on every tiny
whisper from the strange bug, it suddenly
disappeared. It was only a moment or so later
when I realized the damned thing had actually
reappeared inside my head! Once it was digging
around in there, it was no longer a struggle to
understand what it wanted me to know - Evil was
coming to pay us ALL a visit, soon. Very soon...

Knothole

I've always felt that one of the best aspects of
photography is how you can focus in on what may
seem like an everyday boring subject/object, such
as a knothole in an old wooden fence, and the
results can be fascinating. I like these rough textures
and subtle colors, but most of all, I like how you
could almost (maybe?) be convinced that this was
an entrance to a cave, somewhere...

If you didn't already know better.

Kewpie doll bubble jar

Here's another shot inspired by something I made
(assembled, really) and gave to my husband as a gift.
The subject matter is a clear glass jar filled with
dismembered Kewpie doll parts floating in blueish-green
liquid. All I did was simply shook it up a bit to create the
bubbles, and then turned the jar on its side so I could
see this little cutie looking back at me. She looks fresh
and clean... and happy to indulge my (slightly twisted)
photographic tendencies.

Green

This is my first attempt at doing a water droplet shot...
I'm pretty happy with it. Not only do I find simple,
natural beauty in the droplets, I'm also fascinated by
the detail seen in the rich green leaf on which they sit.

Canna, or can't I?

Continuing with water droplets, here's another shot
taken of some clinging to the leaf of a plant. This time
it happens to be a vibrantly colorful Canna plant.

One bad penny

I was taking a nice morning walk with my mother-in-law
when I happened to look down toward the ground and
spotted this wonderfully beaten up, scratched, and
repeatedly driven over penny. At least, that's what it
looked like to us.

The first thing I thought, and said was, "Oh! I could take
this and shoot it with my macro lens for the 365project!"
And with that, I shoved poor, defiled Lincoln into my
front pocket, anxious to retrieve him later for his
photographic close-up!

Fiery red

This is a Canna Lily that I found to be exceptionally
vibrant and beautiful in the late morning sunlight.





Are you still with me? I know that was a lot to share, and I appreciate your interest. Truly. Unfortunately or fortunately, however you happen to see it, that is all for today's 'Photo 'a Go Go!' gallery visit. Thank you for coming, everyone! And, please, remember to retrieve your coats and umbrellas upon exiting.


~ All photos were taken by Anthony (AKA antvision), and are not to be used or reproduced without written permission from me. ~

Photo 'a Go Go!: Even MORE of my 365project

Hello, everybody! It's time, once again, for another installment of everyone's favorite photo-viewing pastime... Photo 'a Go Go! [APPLAUSE]

Folks, it's been so long since I last shared any of my 365project photos with you that I thought I'd go ahead and torture you with some more, now. You knew I was gonna sooner or later, so I might as well, right? Thus far, I've been making a point to present my photos to you in the same order they've been taken for the project, so I figure I'll just continue on with the same method. Let's jump right in, shall we?





Happy toy [2]

I felt like I had to revisit this one, photographically.

It's just so colorful, and the first shot I took of it

for the project didn't even show the dial or the

receiver/handset! So I think I'm finally satisfied.

I think...



Verdant growth along

the old weathered fence

I've always liked this sort of juxtaposition;

something young, fresh and healthy set against

or alongside another that looks old, run-down

and has some character. I'm also happy with

the textures here, even though the fence IS

mostly out of focus.

The Great Stromboli

Marionette Show

I spent a fantastic day at Disneyland with

my husband and two of our dearest

friends. We spent 12 hours there filled

with laughter, screaming (on the rides, of

course), great food (Blue Bayou) and

even better company! It just doesn't get

much better than that.

While in Fantasyland, I spied a wonderful

window display of Stromboli's Marionette

Show from the animated Disney classic,

'Pinocchio'. Both Jiminy Cricket and

Pinocchio, himself, were also "dancing" on

the stage of this wee puppet theatre, but I

was particularly taken with the pretty little

lady, above. I'm guessing that she's

supposed to be Heidi, or a close facsimile?



Beautiful imperfection

While walking along some unusual

shop windows, I came across this

attractive copper bust and instantly

knew that it must be visually

documented. Isn't she/he lovely? I

was especially drawn to its color,

along with all of the scuffs and

imperfections. AnyTHING, or

anyONE, that shows this sort of

aging character truly IS beautiful to me...

A few of my favorite things

Since I enjoy both photography and board games

a whole lot, I thought I'd get creative and figure out

a way to combine the two subjects, visually.

And so... Voila, this was what I came up with!

My father's hippo

About a week ago, my mom dropped by to give

me something very special. It was an old porcelain

hippopotamus from somewhere around the 1950s

or '60s. But that's not why I think it's special. It

was my dad's, and he kept it on top of his bedroom

dresser. The body is hollow, so my dad mostly kept

pocket change and other odd 'n' ends inside of it.

Plus, that awesome gaping mouth was the perfect

place to rest his glasses for the night. Or, maybe,

even a few business cards from his day at work...

My dad died 21 years ago, and after all that time,

I'd completely forgotten about his hippo. That is,

until my mom just appeared with it one day, and said

I should have it. I'm quite touched that she held onto

it for all of these years.

I didn't receive this priceless knick knack with any of

my dad's old pocket change, business cards, or

ANYTHING inside. But what DID come with it was

some wonderful (temporarily forgotten) memories of

my dearly departed father.

Starship Victoria

Sinking into the plush, red velvet cushioning of

my chair in a most fearful anticipation, I stared

out through the huge, glass viewing-sphere and

watched as our magnificent spacecraft approached

the foreign surface of planet Zebulon.

1958 Murray Champion

This is a miniature reproduction of a classic,

kiddie pedal-powered car, like they had

back in the 1950s. It's made real well, too.

In fact, it has a bit of heft to it because it was

made out of some kind of heavy-duty metal.

I received it as a gift years ago and I still really

dig it! The color combo is perfect. That shade

of blue is my favorite, and I've always liked

red. If only I could shrink down to the

appropriate size in order to ride it... Just

imagine how much money I'd save on gas

AND car insurance!

"Like sands through

the hourglass..."

I'm real pleased with how this shot

turned out! I always find the seemingly

random patterns of light reflection that

you can capture within different types

of glass to be very fascinating, so I do

like that element. But the thing that

really made me giddy about this photo

was that I managed to capture lots of

individual grains of sand falling through

the center of this hourglass!

How cool is that?!

Hello, my BUZZZY bee-like friend!

I almost feel as though most of the credit for this

wonderful photo should go entirely to the magic

of serendipity. My original intent was only to snap

off a few macro shots of this dandelion, I wasn't

planning at all on trying to catch an insect in any of

my compositions. But then, as I was focusing this

shot and about to take the picture, that nice little

flower fly zoomed down into the frame only long

enough for me to press the shutter release, and then

it quickly buzzzed away! Like it was flying by, saw

what I was doing and thought, "Hey, I can help a

brotha out... I think I'll just swoop down there for a

sec and pose for the guy."

Peering 'neath the pier

I absolutely love being at the beach.

It's just about my favorite place of all, next to

Disneyland. But I don't enjoy going there to

sunbathe, or for a dip in the ocean. I just enjoy

being there and absorbing the peaceful energy.

You know, the powerful crashing waves, the

wonderful distinct smells (SOME of them), and

the unmistakable euphony of sounds (i.e. seagulls,

buoy bells and ship horns). Not to mention the

visual aspect of nature's oceanic beauty... Of

course, the only times that are best for appreciating

any of those things are either in the early morning,

or late afternoon/evening. It's pretty hard to feel

connected with the ocean's calming energies during

the middle of the day, when there's hundreds of

people sunbathing on the beach, kiddies building

sandcastles and teenagers surfing and/or boogie

boarding.

I'm glad that I shot this late in the afternoon, so

nobody else was around to walk into my frame.

What you see is the underside of Balboa Pier in

Newport Beach, CA. What you don't see, thank

goodness, is me tripping and falling down in the wet

sand as waves washed over me (shortly after I took

this shot)!! Aaand, as if I hadn't suffered enough

indignity, my friend, Matt, immediately busted out

laughing! But it was okay because I laughed pretty

hard, too.

Innocence

I sure hope y'all have enjoyed this latest edition of 'Photo 'a Go Go!'. Stay tuned for even MORE of them in the not-too-distant future... 'Til then, we'll see what other trouble we can get up to around here! So make sure to check back often. Bye-bye!


~ All photos were taken by Anthony (AKA antvision), and are not to be used or reproduced without written permission from me. 'Photo 'a Go Go!' dancers were found in a back alley, behind Google Images, playing Connect 4 and drinking Earl Grey tea. Clearly, they needed something to spice up their lives. ~

Show & Tell: Our Playmobil Victorian dollhouse, a Christmas tradition.

I have mentioned before that I never really outgrew toys, right? Well, here's even more proof of it! Yes, this beautiful Playmobil Victorian dollhouse has graced our home for the holidays, proudly displayed by, or near, the Christmas tree for almost 18 years. And it is certainly one of my favorite Christmas traditions!

When it isn't out at Christmastime, it's tucked away up in a closet the entire rest of the year, so you can imagine how dusty it gets. I actually kind of enjoy the whole process of taking it down, meticulously cleaning it (inside and out), and then, the BEST part of all... placing the furniture and people inside!!

The following photos are a somewhat goofy gallery of interior shots (plus a few exterior) just to give you a closer look. Btw, for some reason, I had a devil of a time getting the lighting just right. So if they seem a bit funky, that's why. Enjoy!







Here is the back side of the house, with
"handy" access to all rooms and floors.

 

These lovely ladies are relaxing in the living room and
enjoying a command performance by the pianist
on the left (you'll see his piano in the next shot).

Here is the artist at work, on a piano that really plays!
(Well, technically, it's just an electronic tune when
you press down on the keys...)



One of many maids, Sophie arranges place
settings at the formal dining room table.

Meanwhile, out in the nearby moonlit forest, a small
family of deer is seen grazing along the barren, icy floor.

Jane, the kitchen maid.

Jacques, the house chef.

Maxwell, the family dog.

























Grampa enjoys his newspaper next to a toasty fire.



Unbeknownst to Grampa, a fiendish
imposter lurks in the shadows nearby...

Look out, Grampa... She's right behind you!

Between the den and the veranda lies one of the
bedrooms simply referred to as the Flower Room.
(Notice the detail of the chamber pot sitting on
the floor, next to the bed. Sign o' the times!)

Out on the veranda, a professional photographer
takes a lovely holiday portrait of a fine couple.



Here we see the other bedroom, aka the Red Room,
and it looks as though we've caught a young couple
just settling in for a nice, long Winter's nap... 

Yet another maid, Louise, ensures that sanitary
standards are upheld at all times in
the house's one and only bathroom.
(It ain't a fun gig.)

As we progress up the stairs to
the attic nursery, we can see both
kitties AND kiddies.
(Har, har! Get it?)

Like typical children, this close to
Christmas it's real hard to go to sleep!

Well, folks, that concludes our tour of the Playmobil Victorian dollhouse. Sure hope you liked it! Until next time, I wish everyone a very merry Happy Holiday and a shiny New Year!!


~ All photos property of Anthony See. ~

Retro Photo: Old, family album snapshots

By far, the most valuable material things in my world are photographs. Sure, I love my old toys and games a lot, too, but nothing is as priceless or irreplaceable as an old family photograph! That's why I'm so pleased to have borrowed a few of my family's old albums from my mom; I can scan and make copies for my own collection. Plus, now I can share some of my personal favorites with you. So if it sounds like fun, just grab a seat next to me and we'll get started...



This is my mom and dad on New Years Eve, 1969,
"sealing the deal" in a Las Vegas wedding chapel.
They made quite the handsome couple, if you ask me!





Here are the stylish newlyweds, again! Look how
very dashing my dad appears in his suit, smoking
a pipe. And check out my mom's HAIR! Wow!
Actually, it's interesting to note that my mom
was about 5 or 6 months pregnant with me in this
photo because if I didn't know better, I'd swear she
was carrying ME under that HELMET of hers!





Not sure WHAT I DID to deserve THIS... But at
least I look happy. And I should, just look at the
bottle of port they threw in there with me!
Here, I'm about 1-year-old and happy as a clam.
A drunken clam.




























Did I ever mention that my grandparents were robots?





















"Now, what??"
Here, I'm about 2 or 3 and quite
obviously less than impressed.


























Grandpa

























Sheesh! You'd think that riding HUGE turtles
and carousel horses would make all the little
boys smile, but NOOOO, not this kid...



Viva, Las Vegas!
I think my mom looks WAY cool, here. She's totally
rockin' that retro look and vibe... only it WASN'T
retro back THEN! It was the real deal.






















"Allo. Parlez-vous francais?"
This shot cracks me up every time I see it!
And it makes me think of Pepe Le Pew,
if he were a little boy and NOT a skunk.

























Well, I hope all of that didn't bore you too much, folks. In fact, thanks for indulging me! Until the next 'Retro Photo' session, remember... Today's snapshot could be tomorrow's priceless treasure.

~ All photos property of Anthony See ~