Always Saturday (in the Late 70s)

One of my favorite songs in Guadalcanal Diary’s “Always Saturday.” I share the song narrator’s titular wish, though I suppose it would have Groundhog Day-like repercussions if it really came to pass. I will say though that a mental “happy place” is among the Saturday Morning Cartoons in the late 1970s. As I am not alone in this nostalgia, a number of miniatures companies make appropriate figure to regain the vibe. In fact, Crooked Dice has created a whole game — 7TV — devoted to the shows of my youth. I’m endeavoring to acquire representations of my favorite characters.

Back in 2021, I shared the set of Hasselfree Scooby-Doo figures I gave as a gift to my son. I wisely knew that I would want a set for myself, so I quickly repurchased the lot — both the OG and “post-apocalyptic” versions. The under-scale Mystery Machine is courtesy of WalMart.

I discovered on another blog that Crooked Dice did versions of some iconic Scooby villains, thus:

Another Saturday Morning Cartoon I loved was Thundarr the Barbarian. In fact, I recently purchased the show on DVD. Crooked Dice came through with a nice Thundarr and Ookla, but my favorite, Princess Ariel, is inexplicably missing.

However, I had previously tracked down Interloper Miniatures Wasteland Warriors, who makes things gloriously right:

There’s something a little wonky with Thundarr’s sun-sword arm — it almost seems like it’s a left arm grafted onto the right side — but I think when I summon the nerve, a little added sinew with green stuff will fix it up. At any rate, Ariel is first rate, and that’s what I was after.