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THE VIEW MASTER TRIBUTE THREAD

pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
edited November 2008 in Strut Central
Before VCR's became common household items, there was the View Master.b, 21b, 21Those things were i1the bomb.[/i]b, 21b, 21When I was around six years old and discovered you could flip the reels and look at the photos i1backwards[/i], I felt like I'd discovered the world!!b, 21b, 21b, 21b, 21I'm not gonna lie to you...maybe ten years ago, I found one of these in a thrift store. Even though my old VM's from back in the day were lost or tossed long ago, I still had a couple of reels from my childhood. Even now, I'll hit any local nostalgia shops to see what new reels they have coming in used.b, 21b, 21(And yes, I did have the big blue 3-D View Master when I was a kid! Long gone now!)b, 21b, 21Inspired by the "Thursday Throwback" thread where somebody admitted to buying their kid a VM...do they still make these? If kids still get off on something like this, in this post-video age, more power to them!!!

  Comments

  • The-gafflerThe-gaffler 2,190 Posts
    castle greyskull looked so big from that thing when i was a kid.
  • djdazedjdaze 3,099 Posts
    I still have the Pee-Wee's playhouse set
  • soulmarcosasoulmarcosa 4,296 Posts
    I still have my SuperFriends gift pack... I get flashbacks just thinking about those cartoon images combined with photographic settings.b, 21b, 21img src="http://namtab.com/aquablog/viewmastercase.gif"1b, 21b, 21Plus I still have - b, 21b, 21- Star Trek TV series (The Omega Glory - what a boring episode to adapt!)b, 21- Star Trek animated TV seriesb, 21- Planet of the Apes TV seriesb, 21- Dracula (weird dolls telling the story)b, 21- Michael Jackson pack still sealed!
  • nzshadownzshadow 5,526 Posts
    Muppet showb, 21numerous Batman reelsb, 21the A teamb, 21Star Warsb, 21b, 21and i just brought my 3 year old 'Cars'.
  • shawnald_reaganshawnald_reagan 318 Posts
    The Peanuts viewmaster reels were freakishly entertaining puppet shows that entertained and amused me.b, 21If I ever find a viewmaster I'm scooping one up.
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    I had a the OG GI-Joe View Master.b, 21b, 21I recently purchased the Six Million Dollar Man/Bionic Woman View Tapes.
  • dollar_bindollar_bin I heartily endorse this product and/or event 2,326 Posts
    Issue 3 of Hi-Fructose magazine had a custom Viewmaster reel that was pretty cool. I would love to be able to make my own reels.b, 21b, 21You can still purchase a Graceland Viewmaster reel at the gift shop.
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    Quote:h, 21b, 21The Peanuts viewmaster reels were freakishly entertaining puppet shows that entertained and amused me.b, 21If I ever find a viewmaster I'm scooping one up. b, 21b, 21h, 21
    b, 21b, 21A lot of the cartoon reels featured (what looked like) Claymation rather than actual drawings. Looked pretty cool.b, 21b, 21Going by what I see in the shops, the cartoon and TV show reels must have been the most popular. Because you never see those reels! Usually it'll be some series of either historical landmarks like the Taj Mahal (cool, but I'd rather have Quick Draw McGraw) or Disney reels (not a big fan). For some reason, Disney VM reels are all over the damn place.
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    b, 21b, 21 img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/headz.gif" alt="" /1
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    Quote:h, 21b, 21 b, 21b, 21 img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/headz.gif" alt="" /1 b, 21b, 21h, 21
    b, 21b, 21I still have one of those. Still works, and I've even got a few tapes to go along with it.b, 21b, 21It's not the same one in the picture, though.
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    Quote:h, 21b, 21
    Quote:h, 21b, 21 b, 21b, 21 img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/headz.gif" alt="" /1 b, 21b, 21h, 21
    b, 21b, 21I still have one of those. Still works, and I've even got a few tapes to go along with it.b, 21b, 21It's not the same one in the picture, though. b, 21b, 21h, 21
    b, 21b, 21 b, 21b, 21Small Image but...b, 21b, 21The Bionic Video Center plays the same tapes but larger. I copped w/ about 10 tapes.
  • chungtechchungtech 290 Posts
    b, 21b, 21b, 21My friend's grandfather invented this- how crazy is that!?b, 21b, 21I love View-Masters, but always wanted a Fisher Price Pixelvision cam -PXL 2000b, 21b, 21 b, 21b, 21VIDEOS RECORDED ONTO AUDIO CASSETTE!!!b, 21b, 21img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/lvl.gif" alt="" /1
  • youngEINSTEINyoungEINSTEIN 2,443 Posts
    i got all the disneyland related view master reels.b, 21peace, stein. . . img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /1
  • alieNDNalieNDN 2,181 Posts
    Quote:h, 21b, 21 b, 21b, 21 img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/headz.gif" alt="" /1 b, 21b, 21h, 21
    b, 21b, 21wait, WTF is this??! its not what i think it is is it?! b/c i specifically "remember" a time when a friend of mine (the friend that has rich parents and owns all that sheit) had some mechanism that showed like 15 seconds of video of some animation, and it looked like a cartoon!!! but it was through some device!! god i thought that that was next level and a half, that was like 1985? is that what that thing is????b, 21b, 21shit and u think that stuff is so easily available on a phone these days, that shit was SO AHEAD OF THE GAME
  • troublemantroubleman 1,928 Posts
    Quote:h, 21b, 21
    Quote:h, 21b, 21 b, 21b, 21 img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/headz.gif" alt="" /1 b, 21b, 21h, 21
    b, 21b, 21wait, WTF is this??! its not what i think it is is it?! b/c i specifically "remember" a time when a friend of mine (the friend that has rich parents and owns all that sheit) had some mechanism that showed like 15 seconds of video of some animation, and it looked like a cartoon!!! but it was through some device!! god i thought that that was next level and a half, that was like 1985? is that what that thing is????b, 21b, 21shit and u think that stuff is so easily available on a phone these days, that shit was SO AHEAD OF THE GAME b, 21b, 21h, 21
    b, 21b, 21I think I know what your talking about. I had a neighbor that had a Disney one that you projected on the wall and had to move a circular lever clockwise to animate it. We had hours of fun making it go foward, backward, fast, slow, etc...all with our own soundtrack of lp's playing in the background. b, 21b, 21I even remember the Disney cartoon. It was about a couple scenes of "Mickey and the Beanstalk b, 21
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    Quote:h, 21b, 21
    Quote:h, 21b, 21 b, 21b, 21 img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/headz.gif" alt="" /1 b, 21b, 21h, 21
    b, 21b, 21wait, WTF is this??! its not what i think it is is it?! b/c i specifically "remember" a time when a friend of mine (the friend that has rich parents and owns all that sheit) had some mechanism that showed like 15 seconds of video of some animation, and it looked like a cartoon!!! but it was through some device!! god i thought that that was next level and a half, that was like 1985? is that what that thing is????b, 21b, 21shit and u think that stuff is so easily available on a phone these days, that shit was SO AHEAD OF THE GAME b, 21b, 21h, 21
    b, 21b, 21I don't think these things projected upside the wall...b, 21b, 21The deal was, you'd stick a kind of videocassette into this little projector and watch it through the lens as you wound up the crank. And the cassettes were a bit longer than fifteen minutes. You could even check it out backwards...
  • UnherdUnherd 1,880 Posts
    I thought we were finally gonna get a master tribute thread for these gals...b, 21b, 21
  • chungtechchungtech 290 Posts
    I even remember the Disney cartoon. It was about a couple scenes of "Mickey and the Beanstalk b, 21 b, 21b, 21OH.MY.GOD.b, 21b, 21I HAD THAT! I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT IT. I wonder what other movies they made????b, 21b, 21 b, 21b, 21
  • funky16cornersfunky16corners 7,175 Posts
    Quote:h, 21b, 21 b, 21b, 21 img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/headz.gif" alt="" /1 b, 21b, 21h, 21
    b, 21b, 21b, 21I remember my little brother having one of those with a very trippy Sesame Street cartoon about flying through space. I used to watch it over, and over, and over.... img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/melt.gif" alt="" /1
  • alieNDNalieNDN 2,181 Posts
    Quote:h, 21b, 21
    Quote:h, 21b, 21
    Quote:h, 21b, 21 b, 21b, 21 img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/headz.gif" alt="" /1 b, 21b, 21h, 21
    b, 21b, 21wait, WTF is this??! its not what i think it is is it?! b/c i specifically "remember" a time when a friend of mine (the friend that has rich parents and owns all that sheit) had some mechanism that showed like 15 seconds of video of some animation, and it looked like a cartoon!!! but it was through some device!! god i thought that that was next level and a half, that was like 1985? is that what that thing is????b, 21b, 21shit and u think that stuff is so easily available on a phone these days, that shit was SO AHEAD OF THE GAME b, 21b, 21h, 21
    b, 21b, 21I don't think these things projected upside the wall...b, 21b, 21The deal was, you'd stick a kind of videocassette into this little projector and watch it through the lens as you wound up the crank. And the cassettes were a bit longer than fifteen minutes. You could even check it out backwards... b, 21b, 21h, 21
    b, 21b, 21ya thats what im talking about! holy shit. that was like the one thing from my youth that i thought i hallucinated or something, and i just couldnt fathom how a toy like that was available back then.
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    Quote:h, 21b, 21I even remember the Disney cartoon. It was about a couple scenes of "Mickey and the Beanstalk b, 21 b, 21b, 21OH.MY.GOD.b, 21b, 21I HAD THAT! I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT IT. I wonder what other movies they made????b, 21 b, 21b, 21h, 21
    b, 21b, 21I (still) have Lonesome Ghosts (Mickey, Donald & Goofy as ghostbusters), Travel Thru Space (a Walt Disney thing about just that), a Sesame Street and a Pink Panther.
  • troublemantroubleman 1,928 Posts
    Quote:h, 21b, 21
    Quote:h, 21b, 21I even remember the Disney cartoon. It was about a couple scenes of "Mickey and the Beanstalk b, 21 b, 21b, 21OH.MY.GOD.b, 21b, 21I HAD THAT! I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT IT. I wonder what other movies they made????b, 21 b, 21b, 21h, 21
    b, 21b, 21I (still) have Lonesome Ghosts (Mickey, Donald & Goofy as ghostbusters), Travel Thru Space (a Walt Disney thing about just that), a Sesame Street and a Pink Panther. b, 21b, 21h, 21
    b, 21b, 21I really remember that Lonesome Ghosts one too! We used to trip out when certain scenes would randomly match up with the records we would play
  • facesdfacesd 236 Posts
    Quote:h, 21b, 21 I think I know what your talking about. I had a neighbor that had a Disney one that you projected on the wall and had to move a circular lever clockwise to animate it. We had hours of fun making it go foward, backward, fast, slow, etc...all with our own soundtrack of lp's playing in the background.b, 21b, 21h, 21
    b, 21b, 21Yo, I had that Disney thing....it was freakin' great....I still have it but the bulb burned out. I came with these big cartridges that you plugged in. Really cool stuff.
  • johmbolayajohmbolaya 4,472 Posts
    I didn't know about this until a few weeks ago, but ViewMaster also made a stereo camera where you could take your own stereo photographs, and have them turned into custom discs:b, 21/a1b, 21b, 21http://www.vmresource.com/camera/camera.htm/a1
  • PlantweedPlantweed 394 Posts
    I pick up reels everywhere I find them, especially the travelogues. Something about the photography of the era, everything is so clean and in primary colors.
  • JuniorJunior 4,853 Posts
    Yes! I'm sure I've still got a couple of viewmasters in the attic at my dad's house. Only reels I remember clearly are a couple of batman ones (I'm sure one involved a pit of spikes and tigers - enough excitement for any young boy) and a couple of Mr Men ones (less spikes and tigers - more general knowledge on the ways of the world). We also had a slide projector as well where we'd all huddle round and view the cartoons on the wall.b,121b,121What a nostalgia trip. Going to have to dig these out.
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