From: IMRud@aol.com Sent: Monday, June 04, 2001 12:11 AM To: Clark, Wes Subject: Re: Toy Bop Hey Wes, After visiting your site I sent away for Toy Bop (got a used copy in great condition from Amazon for half price) and it arrived Saturday. Great book. Do you remember King Zor? I'm pretty sure I got this one of the Christmas' I lived next door to you. It was this big plastic dinosaur that roamed around 'til you shot the big red round target on its tail -- then it roared, turned around and shot plastic balls at you. It's in Toy Bop -- as is Jimmy Jet, which didn't register with me when I saw it on Avocado Memories. I had one of these before I met you and would set it up in front of an electric train I had that went around and around in a circle. I used to pretend I was in a jet bombing the hell out of the train and tracks. Another Toy in the book I had that predated my meeting you was the Showboat. Why anyone bought me this thing I have no idea. My memory is it sat ignored and collecting dust in a corner of my room. Could it have been a cast off from my sister? I don't know. It was this big, dumb, pink plastic paddle boat you'd put shows on with little cardboard people. What a yawn. Not in the book is a toy I remember you had -- Supercar. You put disks into the bottom of it and this caused it to move in different ways and directions on the floor. Before I met you, I made my mom and dad's life miserable by always asking how words were spelled when I was writing and drawing my Supercar comic books. I saw this show a few years back when the comedy channel first started and three guys would show fifteen minutes of an episode and do a Mystery Science Theater 2000 number on it. The show, of course, doesn't hold up, but I still kind of have a soft spot for SuperCar itself. The electronic Space Gun (hilarious description in book) looks like something I once owned, and does the Astro Ray Gun. Guess I was to young to every get my hands on a Tom Corbett Atomic Rifle. Major Matt Mason brought back this memory. I was visiting over at your house and your parents wanted to go buy something, so we all got in the car and drove to... Zody's. Is that how it was spelled? I can remember driving up over a bridge, and as you topped it, the huge parking lot of Zody's came into view and the store beyond. I think you picked up some Matt Mason accessories there. I guess I have good memories of the place based mainly on its name. To me, it sounded futuristic (I guess it was supposed -- after all, what is a Zody?) and sounded like a store the Jetsons might shop at. Final toy memory. I remember going with you to this huge place that had all these elaborate miniature race car tracks in it where you could take your car and race other people. I must have rented a car there or something, and I remember people weren't too happy if you didn't know what you were doing and were constantly cracking up your car and causing other people to crack up also. I seem to remember spending a lot of my time running around and putting my car back on the track because it was always spinning out. Jim