by Shawn Robare | Sep 23, 2015 | Branded in the 80s, Read
Back in 1997 when I first saw the Paul Thomas Anderson flick Boogie Nights I felt like my brain was going to melt. It wasn’t just that the film was amazing, it was and is still one of my favorite Anderson films, but it was one of the first times I experienced the...
by Shawn Robare | Sep 21, 2015 | Branded in the 80s, Read
A couple weekends ago my girlfriend Jaime and I made the trek up to Oaks, Pennsylvania for Retro Con, a relatively recent toy and pop culture convention that I’ve wanted to check out for a few years and I had an absolute blast. There was a time in my life when I...
by Shawn Robare | Aug 19, 2015 | Look
With the release of the first two trailers for the new big screen, live action adaptation of Jem & the Holograms only a couple of months away it’s had me thinking a lot about the original cartoon and toy line and what made those so special to me growing up...
by Shawn Robare | Aug 13, 2015 | Branded in the 80s, Read
A few months ago my buddy Ed over at AEIOU & Sometimes Why tipped me off to a mystery box swap that he was planning for this summer. Basically, he filled a box full of miscellaneous fun stuff (movies, toys, and ephemera) and a host toy (a Dracula Mego figure that...
by Shawn Robare | Aug 11, 2015 | Read
There are a lot of great 80s era pop culture collectibles on display at Branded HQ; toys, books, lunchboxes, stickers, vinyl albums, animation cels, and heaps of magazines and comics. Though I love all of that stuff, when I’m feeling really nostalgic the one...