Posts in Random Nostalgia

Model Soldiers









I picked up a few used books from the second-hand store last week and finally had some time to scan them in. These images are from Model Soldiers by Henry Harris. Growing up, one of my favorite books was The Indian in the Cupboard, and this led to a fascination with the Warhammer 40K figures at the local comic book store. This book doesn’t contain any space marines, but its meticulously modeled miniatures remind me of the tiny battlefields I was drawn to back then. The detail they manage to include at this scale is amazing.

Vintage NHL Media Guides







Howard L Berger via Raeo

I still do my best to be a hockey fan these days but i’m kind of over it for the most part but I was an insane collector of NHL(mainly Vancouver Canucks and Pavel Bure) memorabilia when I was a little kid though. I saw these posted on facebook and I had to share since some of the layouts, pretty unbeatable compared to whats out there these days.

Walnut Neo Geo





This is pretty bad, but due to the unusually high walnut to nostalgia ratio I couldn’t resist. If you don’t know what a Neo Geo is you’re either too young or there wasn’t that one rich kid at your school who, according to legend, had one with like ten games. This whole thing really could have worked with the inclusion of some stainless steel (a’la the Jupiter 6/8 side cheeks) and the omission of the my-uncle-built-these-cabinets-for-me rounded cartridge bezel. All in all pretty cool idea though; one of the only gaming consoles I wouldn’t feel obligated to hide.

This abomination of our collective unfulfilled childhood dreams can be yours for about the same (ridiculous) price as the original — $650 — direct from Analogue Interactive. Of course, if you actually want to play games on it, you’re going to have to double down.

Faux Vintage Helmets




Interesting to see a company manufacturing faux vintage helmets. Growing up these were what we wore when ripping around the woods on motorcycles. Still quite thankful that full-face helmets replaced open-face helmets even though some of these vintage lookers were quite stylish.

Via Scribble

Generic Man Episode 1: Domes & Combs





My partner and I have run our label Moodgadget with a logo that, from the beginning, we intended to be an animated character. After 4 years of talking about it, over the holiday we finally made it happen. This is just one of many episodes coming together and I can’t wait for you all to see the rest. Below is a bit more information if you’re still scratching your head:

GENERIC MAN [the man behind the Moodgadget logo]

Our logo for the label has always been a mystery to people. The reason we picked it was because in our minds, it had life to it. Not only can Generic Man sit on a record sleeve, but he can sit in scenes, float across landscapes in his pod and hopefully one day people will be able to sit inside one.

The idea for this series is to have like-minded music lovers and/or new listeners realize their individuality as a listener. Most people don’t stop listening to TOP 40 music (which is totally fine) and never will think twice about this because they don’t care to dig for something they don’t know about. For those of you who have found this video, maybe you can relate to Generic Man.

Directed by Adam E. Hunt
Story by Jakub Alexander & Adam E. Hunt
Music by Teeel – Triangle Waves [Out on Moodgadget February 22nd, 2011]

As for the song in the video, it’s from artist Teeel whom we debuted on the ISO50 Dry Waves compilation. It’s beautiful slow synth material that oozes melody. Enjoy the free MP3 below.

FREE DOWNLOAD: Teeel – Triangle Waves

The Chairs of Mid-Century Modern





It’s a new year and along with it comes a remarkable collection via Flickr from one my most-favorable categories: Mid-century Modern. These chairs come from the 50s, 60s, and 70s; while some lived on, a number fell by the wayside for obvious reasons.

Some of my favorites in this collection include the iconic Eero Aarnio Ball chair, Eames Molded Plywood chair and of course the Eames Lounge chair.

Via Mid-Century Week on Wanken.

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Massimo Vignelli Subway Map Uncovered






Massimo Vignelli said in a recent short documentary that “good design lasts longer” and its quite true. Although, without the preservation or relocation to a safe location, I’m not sure how much longer some of these works will last in the wild. It really is pleasant to see that gems like this subway map are still out there.

This map is at the 57 Street F station in New York City. Let’s just hope that the maintenance crew doesn’t come by and slap a Twilight poster over it.

Via imjustcreative

Swissair: Behind the Logos


Swiss Airlines has a rich history that has been hidden in the archives for quite some time. On March 26th, 1931 when Swissair formed, I doubt anyone at the time really considered the history that they were going to be making with the company’s design. Balair and Ad Astra were the two companies that merged to form Swissair. Throughout the years they’ve changed logos many times but there was one that was most memorable (above). Quite possibly it was the best logo that the company has ever used.

Thanks to SR692 for collecting this information so that we’re able to walk through past logos used by Swissair. Some great, some not so great and a few that were very, very experimental. Hit the jump to see how the company logo changed throughout the years.

Via Wanken

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SwissAir Posters







Recently I’ve stumbled upon SR692—quite possibly the best collection of SwissAir collateral. It is definitely the biggest collection and had these gems stowed deep within. Most of these posters were came from the 50s to the 70s archives on the site. The few I’ve posted are very straight forward as you can see. Simply utilizing the generic airplane icon, a headline and the SwissAir logo—part of what makes these posters so unique.

Via Wanken

Volkswagen Literature 1938-1970








Just hearing the name Volkswagen makes me think deep history. Especially now after stumbling upon a Volkswagen archive that has scans from Everett Barnes’ collection. It’s well worth checking out if you have the time. The collection starts from the early 1930s’ and goes all the way until 2005. It has nearly more images and spreads of brochures and random Volkswagen nostalgia than you can shake a stick at.

View the full archive

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