I may be in the minority these days, but I love anything to do with the Wild West — except the Will Smith movie, the Wild Wild West, that was garbage — I just can’t get enough of the old Sonoran scenery, saloons, and shootouts. There have been so many great “recent” Western movies, but they just don’t seem to get the kind of love they deserve. The Hateful Eight was incredible, and I just picked up Bone Tomahawk, which I am itchin’ to pop in the Bluray player — it’s a Western with Kurt Russell as the lead — yeah, I’m going to watch that.
I have a stack of vintage Western movie posters from the 50’s. The Western genre for collectibles isn’t very strong, which means you can get items like these for next to nothing. I’ll take all of them, please.
This Westworld poster is the only Western poster I have currently hanging in the cave. This has always been one of my favorite Mondo posters, produced back when they were putting out amazing prints. Lately, their offerings have seemed rush and just glorified illustrations, but this Westworld poster has a design that reminds me of old artsy Polish movie posters, and nails the movie perfectly — THIS is how you make an art poster for a movie!
Speaking of Westworld, who else is excited for the new HBO series with Ed Harris?
Western pulps that fall apart a little bit more every time you touch them I have a love/hate relationship with these things. They look great, just don’t ever touch them.
Target games are awesome to hang on the wall, with their bright, vibrant colors that never fade. There aren’t too many Hopalong Cassidy fans around anymore, but I am definitely a fan of this large target game.
This Lone Ranger target game has some awesome graphics, and the back side even has an entirely different scenic illustration.
This hypnotic target game features all the heavy hitters in the wild west lore. You remember Davy Croc Kett right? Spin this target around and you’re guaranteed to get very sleepy.
I’m always on the lookout for collectibles from the pop culture wild west, but they’re not easy to find in the wild. I suspect as the Baby Boomers start to clear out their attics, more of these items will find their way to flea markets and antique shows, and I’ll be right there, ready to round them up! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a movie to watch.
The Blogging from A-to-Z Challenge continues tomorrow with “X,” which is surprisingly one of the easiest topics for me to choose, and no, it’s not going to be the X-Men again!
Brian, you are not alone in your love of Westerns. I love them so much I started up a side podcast all about them. It’s called Hellbent for Letterbox. We actually covered Bone Tomahawk in the third episode. Our current episode talks about High Noon with Gary Cooper.
Check it out:
http://www.hellbentforletterbox.com/
Hey Pax, I knew that you and Michael May were starting a new podcast, but haven’t had a chance to check it out yet — will go download it now!
Gotta spread the Western love. It’s been a blast to do and we keep the episodes short.
Hey Pax, I just checked out your Bone Tomahawk episode after watching the movie the other night.(Such a great movie!) You guys put together an outstanding show — great chemistry, and I think the 2-person format works very well. I’m looking forward to listening to more, I just need to watch the movies first! 😉
Had no idea you (and Pax) were Wild West buffs. I enjoy a good Western now and then but, I guess you don’t appreciate it as much when you’re surrounded by it lol
So many of those old Westerns were shot here and while I live in the city, you don’t have to go too far to get your cowboy fix.
I’d go bonkers in your area. 😉 Here in Virginia, I am surrounded by Civil War landmarks — my neighborhood literally borders the Manassas Battleground. It is definitely easy to become jaded by your surroundings when you walk or drive through it every day. One of these days, I need to head West!
Visit any time!
Okay, I’ll be there next weekend. 😉