Cool Photo Of The Week; Missile Water Cycle

This is one of the many different water cycles made during the 1960s and 70s. Its called a Missile, one of the precursors to the See-Doos watercrafts seen on the water today.

Cool Photo Of The Week; 1961 Ski-Craft

This is a 1961 Ski-Craft; a finned, one-person unmanned tow motor that was made for skiing behind.

The handle folds forward for trailing and also contains all the electric start, settering and throttle controls of a normal boat. This particular one is said to have a 24 hp engine.

The skier steered by changing his direction.

Cool Photo Of The Week; 1957 Herters with fins

Another cool finned fiberglass boat. A 1957 Herter's built in Waseca, Minnisota and found in Utah.

These photos were just posted at the Fiberglassics forum and I couldn't resist adding it here. The forum thread -> http://www.fiberglassics.com/forms/forum818C/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=507&p=2347#p2347.

The new owner paid only $400 for it. Only things seem to be missing are the windshield and emblems.

Damn thing looks like a spaceship!

Cool Picture Of The Week - performers from "Bugs Bunny Meets The Super-Heroes" stage show.

This photo was recently posted at the 1966 Batman Message Board.

It shows two the performers from the late 70's "Bugs Bunny Meets The Super-Heroes" and a young fan.

Go to this blog entry to read some of my memories of the kiddie stage show and a store window card I saved.

Cool Picture Of The Week - Restored Vali IV

We can't get enough of boats that have fins and eyes.

This Cool Picture Of The Week is of a restored Vali IV.

Manufactured in Coldwater, Michigan briefly in the late 1950s there are less than 15 known to exist. Not much is known about the short lived Vali company except they made only one boat design with different variations.

Cool Picture Of The Week - "Bugs Bunny Meets The Super-Heroes" live show window card from 1977

This week's Cool Picture Of The Week is something I've had in what seems like forever. A 22 x 14 inch card stock, store window ad for the "Bugs Bunny Meets The Super-Heroes" live kiddie stage show.

This event was performed on October 4 - 7, 1977 in my home town when I was slightly more than 7 1/2 years old, 31 years ago this weekend.

My memories of this show are vague but I do remember several things distinctly. This children's stage show had a lot of Warner Brothers cartoon characters on stage singing and dancing with Wonder Woman and the Caped Crusaders joining in.

All of the dialog and songs were prerecorded and played through on-stage amps, meaning none of the actors on stage were actually speaking. They mimed to the audio as they moved around the stage, as I recall.

I used to work for the Civic Center as a temp a few times and know the venue's old fold-away stage risers were also used twice earlier that year by Elvis Presley (April 25th and May 3rd) and the next year by Bruce Springsteen (September 3rd).

Another memory is of my parents asking a local store if my brother and I could have the poster that was in their window and also the parking ticket the City of Saginaw gave use for not using the parking meters.

Back in the late 1970s Saginaw, MI was in decline, especially downtown. Still is. The city government came up with an idea to put parking meters along every curb in the business district to capture funds from the shoppers.

I used to be active in city gov. a while back and a lot of the old timers told me that this was one of the big nails in the Downtown casket. The parking meters simply drove people away slowly to the newer shopping mall seven minutes away, the Fashion Square Mall.

We parked in an area near the Civic Center, the place this show was at, where some signs said something like meters would be enforced except for special events. Well, this was special event wasn't it? Not in the city's eyes. We came out of the arena to find a pricey parking ticket on our car and on some others.

Boy was my dad furious and that was the last time we ever attended an event in Downtown Saginaw.

I was a souvenir type back then, keeping everything of special interest, and it is a miracle that this has survived the hands of this seven year old boy and his brother one year his junior.

Over the years it had been taped to the wall, kept under beds and thrown in closets. The card stock ad has seen every extreme of temperature and argument but still is in remarkably good shape despite of it all.

No matter where I lived and moved to I've always kept an interest in its storage, survival and had an eye on its welfare. Now I've got a Batboat and finally made the connection earlier this week between it and the poster so couple of days ago I quickly spotted and retrieved it from my parents' basement where it's been since the early 1990s.

It was where I put it several years ago, carefully placed on a shelf.

Its in my home now awaiting proper framing with archival materials from Michael's hobby store and display, out of direct and indirect sunlight naturally.

I'll wager that very few of these throw-away signs exist, especially with the Saginaw event imprint.

The poster has 1977 copyrights for the WB cartoon characters and DC Comic's Wonder Woman, Batman and Robin.

Tickets were $5.50 and $4.50 available at the Civic Center and Circus World toy stores at Hampton and Fashion Square Malls. $1.00 off for kids 12 and under on most performances.

The promoter was Rodger Hess who may have become the same, five time Tony award nominated Broadway producer who is listed at the Internet Broadway Database http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=23693, nominated for revivals such as "Macbeth", "1776", "Annie", "Jelly's Last Jam", and "Leader of the Pack."

Click on the pictures for larger versions.

The worse of the several minor stains.

This window card was stored for years face up at the bottom of plywood shelving. A pattern of the acidic wood grain transferred to the reverse side. This will be carefully framed with acid free backing to help slow the acidic process.

Cool Picture Of The Week - Original Batradio

Cool Picture of the Week is of an original Bat Radio used on the TV show and/or movie being auctioned by Profiles in History, lot #712.

http://www.profilesinhistory.com/new/index3.php?option=com_auctions&task=view&id=14617#
Original prop Bat Radio from the television series Batman.

(ABC-TV, 1966-68) Original prop Bat Radio constructed of a piece of wood cut in the shape of a bat with metal screen, metal antennae and metal knob. The red painted metal frame is a replica, executed in the style of the original. An exceptionally rare and highly visible prop item from the cult television series.

$8000 - $12000

Cool Picture Of The Week - Victor La Baron

This weeks Cool Picture Of The Week has more than one picture.

This bird splattered and faded 12 foot long finned boat appeared on eBay in recent weeks. A rare, late 1950's Victor La Baron on a trailer with cantilevered suspension.

Extremely scarce, however, the folks at one of the boating forums say the seller is a known fraud and most likely doesn't even own the boat or the property it sits on to begin with.

Some of these early fiberglass vessels had production runs numbering in the hundreds, sometimes with the manufactures going out of business within several years or less.

Although quite rare, these great looking boats don't command as much monetary value as some land vehicles from the same era. However, with a modest amount of cash investment and lots of physical work they are restored in better than new, pure eye candy showroom condition with modern plywood, fiberglass and gel coating paints.

This Victor La Baron looks suspiciously similar, in a way, to another boat we're familiar with.

Cool Picture Of The Week - Junkyard Batboat

Okay, so it isn't that cool.

Here is an old fiberglass boat with fins and an old Batman decal on it. The boat is from the late 1950s - early1960s.

The owner is going to restore it and run it on the water. Nice! :)

I'll see if I can get pictures of the finished restoration. You'll bet it will turn out great!

Cool Picture Of The Week: Worlds First Solar Powered Boat

Solar powered boat gets you on the water gas-free

By Adam Frucci

2:00 PM ON 05/26/08
http://dvice.com/archives/2008/05/solar_powered_b.php

Boats, just like their vehicular cousins on highways everywhere, tend to guzzle a lot of gasoline. And with the well-documented price increases of gasoline making getting behind the wheel of anything with an engine feel like getting punched in the face, boats are increasingly being left at the dock. The Czeers MK1 is a beautiful 10-meter boat that's covered in photovoltaic solar cells. The power it generates from the sun allows it to hit speeds of up to 30 knots, or about 35 miles per hour. While it won't win any races at that speed, it's plenty fast for most people out on the water. And when you don't need to pay $100 to fill it up every week or two, you really won't care all that much about going any faster.

Cool Picture Of The Week - European Drug Runner Boat

This inflatable 2,000 horsepower craft is said to have reached speeds of over 70 MPH. Almost enough to give the Batboat a run for its money.

It had speed in more ways than one. This thing was used to run drugs in Europe and was confiscated during a bust.

The picture was taken at a government auction.

Cool Picture Of The Week: Popular Mechanics, Sept. 1966 page 84

This Cool Picture Of The Week entry is from the News Brief section of Popular Mechanics, September 1966, page 84. It is one of the number of photos taken by Glastron before the Batboat was shipped to Hollywood.

This item shared the same page as a necklace remote radio transmitter alarm for invalids and disabled people.

Popular Mechanics used to be in digest publication form, 6 1/2 x 9 inches, until the 1970s when it was printed in the larger magazine size we see today. They are easy to find on eBay and antique stores, often at a low price.

Other articles include a new device that lets you drive a car sideways into tight parallel parking spaces, 42 pages of do-it-yourself home remodeling ideas and a computer controlled automated fast food and hamburger making machine called MIMS.

Cool Picture Of The Week: Space Craft Corp. "Royal Flush"

(click photos for a larger image)

A few weeks ago I won an eBay auction that included a rare 1970 Power Boat Annual catalog. I got it hoping the V-145 model would be in it but this particular volume didn't include any Glastron boats. My Batboat was built from a 1971 V-145.

However, browsing through it I found this one, a 1970 Space Craft Royal Flush 23.

This craft looks like something Space Ghost would use to water ski.

Check it out. This has two steering wheels!

Specifications:
Overall Length - 23' 5"
Beam (that means "width") - 95"
No. of Passengers - 5 to 6
Hull - Fiberglass
Positive Flotation - Foam
Price - $3,950 to $7,950

I searched the net for additional information and pictures but no luck. Even the Fiberglassics site has no details on the Royal Flush or Space Craft Corp. Maybe this was one of those short lived boat companies that made a couple hundred boats before folding.

Here is the description of the Royal Flush and sister model, The Queen Mary Lounger, exactly as printed in the 1970 Power Boat Annual Vol. 3.
"Born for adventure. Bred for excitement. The all new Space Craft Royal Flush is a real space swinger....in unbeatable looks as well as high breath taking performance. Her fast new lower hull leaves boredom behind. The Royal Flush’s power unleashes plenty of zip for joyriding or skiing, and the Royal Flush’s racy outer space looks come naturally, pleated bucket seats with lounge seat and all weather carpet, equipped with special custom styles aircraft controls with electronic push buttons dual fashion. Just to touch the mark you as a person with discerning taste and imagination. Moves lik lightning yet treads ever so softly, because of the unique sea plane design lower hull tail end which creates lift and planes high with greatly reduced drag. This gives the Royal Flush unusual speed, which she maintains even under heavy load. The Royal Flush leaps on a plane like a Jet headed for outer space. One ride will prove to you that the royal flush actually rides better and softer than traditional deep-V’s and because she sits up high and level, on instant plane even on choppy water, the spray leaves the chine far aft and gives you a dry ride. You’ll feel like a pro as you grip the all new aircraft control wheel with electronic push buttons. This will give you some insight into the pleasurable excitement the Royal Flush generates, far advanced from the basic run of the boats of to-day.

Here is plush living for those who desire space and comfort with safety for all, seating that can be arranged as you like it, storage compartments for all your needs, great for just plain lounging in the sun on the upper deck. Tail end perfect for diving off the built-in gentle spring board, and safe as the prop is seven feet back out of reach. Here is prestige at its best. Unsinkable as it has built-in polyurethane foam floatation.

Queen Mary Lounger crafts includes non slip Marine grained decking, all weather carpet family lounge, instrument panel, steering mechanical, folding Marine seats, stair chrome rail, safety chrome railing around deck, built-in step to lounge area, non slip diving stand built-in, pilot bucket seat. Special concealed outboard motor mount. Running lights. The Queen Mary Lounger is the only boat in existance whereby and outboard motor can be installed and you can’t tell it from an inboard, a 1st by Space Craft Corp.”

Cool Picture Of The Week - Novi May 21, 2006

(click the image for a larger size)

This weeks Cool Picture Of The Week is a photo of my Batboat before I bought it. Its hitched to the Batmobile at the Motor City Comic Convention, held at the Rock Financial Showplace in Novi, MI, May 19-21, 2006.

This convention is a big one that still has people talking. It emphasized the 40th anniversary of the TV show.

Adam West, Burt Ward, Julie Newmar, Lee Meriwether, and Yvonne Craig were there for everyone to meet, get autographs and photos ops. A rare instance to have all of them in the same place, I understand.

Yvonne had announced her retirement and this was her last convention appearance.

Among the last things she did was autograph the rear boat fin.

I stopped reading comic books years ago and never been to one of these conventions, however, I was disappointed when I found about this event too late to make plans.

Cool Picture Of The Week

(click on image for larger version)

I came upon this recent image on the internet earlier today, just in time for the first Cool Picture Of The Week.

A 1958 Lone Star Meteor awaiting someone to fix it.

"The fiberglass boat that's made like a car", says an old company description.

Thanks to the folks at the Classic Glastron Owners Association Forum, I learned these wonderful 15 foot, 485 pound vessels were produced from 1956 to 59 and are highly desirable by classic boat enthusiasts.

It even has eyes! I wonder which Superhero would have used this in a transatlantic mission?

The rear edges of the fins have cleats for water skiing ropes and the craft also includes a "remote control mount."

It doesn't say where the sealed atomic batteries go, however.