READ
I’ve been writing about pop culture for almost 20 years and I can’t imagine stopping any time soon. Here you’ll find all of my current articles and an archive of the stuff I wrote for my defunct site, Branded in the 80s.
Saying Goodbye to Jason Gross
I have this morning ritual that plays out like finest of Swiss clockwork. Each night I set two...
Remembering an Autumn Harvest
On a rare date day, playing hooky from work with the wife, I found myself in a trendy, upscale...
Monsters Attack Mountain Dew
A few years ago the Mountain Dew brand went through a fairly massive overhaul of the visual...
The Mystery of the Lizard Man with the Ghoulie Hands
About a year ago I stumbled onto something pretty amazing while searching vintage lunchboxes on...
Resurrecting Mr. Bones
Over the past few decades, I’ve been blessed to have rubbed elbows and met some extremely...
Cult Film Club Celebrates 10 Years with Kismet!
A little over 10 years ago, back in the Fall of 2012 my best friend Paxton and I began...
Mead’s Rad Dog: Secretly the Best Trapper Keepers?
I’m always on the lookout for a few 80s era collectibles that I deem as essential...
Escaping the Allure of A.I.
It seems like there are a million and one computer-driven visual art fads that have popped up...
Picking Through the Death Star Trash Compactor for Treasure
I’ve talked about this before, but as I get older it’s kind of weird and...
Before & After Ecto Cooler there was…Ecto Cooler?
Of all the expired and long gone junk food products over the past 30-40 years there is one...
Peel Here #138: Reconstructing my Childhood Sticker Collection
Pretty sure I’ve addressed this a million times on this site, but one of the aspects that...
Dumpster Diving for Nostalgia, Part 3
So, these Dumpster Diving pieces were not essays I had planned to write, and they’re more...
Dumpster Diving for Nostalgia, Part 2
In the last part I talked a bit about how I came to a point where I started trying to pick up...
Dumpster Diving for Nostalgia, Part 1
When it comes to collecting and nostalgia, there is almost nothing that’s off the table....
Is Frankenstein the Monster or the Man Who Made Him?
I love The Monster Squad. It’s no secret, and if you’ve at all familiar with this...
Saying Goodbye to Warduke
About five years ago I stumbled upon an item in an antique shop that took my breath away....
Micro, But Many!
The late 80s was a weird time for me, toy and collecting-wise, because I was racing into my...
Peel Here #137: Transformers Lenticular Bliss
About a million year ago, when I first started writing about stickers here at Branded, there...
Muppet Magazine, Perfect Kid Reading in the 80s
Of all the publications available to kids in the 80s I’m not sure I can find one that is...
Peel Here #136: 80s Era Wacky Packages!
As a collector of 80s era stickers, one of my absolute favorite sticker producers has to be the...
Clearer Images of a Nightmare
When you run a website steeped in nostalgia you never know exactly where the hunt for content...
The Most Important Spreadsheet That Ever Was
In July of 1990 two essential things happened in my life. The first was turning 13 years old...
Happily Deranged
Branded in the 80s is an unapologetic, love letter to everything that I adore about the 80s, in...
Customizing My Love of the Transformers and G.I. Joe
About five years ago I wrote a piece here at Branded about my adoration for the idea of...
Scraps, an Unlikely Monster Squad Collectible
Over the last five or six years my love for the film The Monster Squad has taken me to all...
Peel Here 135: G.I. Joe Hearts You
In my quest to organize and clear out some of the accumulated clutter in my home office I been...
Shiver Me Chicken Planks!
Of all the fast food places one could eat, far and away my favorite has always been Long John...
Checking Off the Drive-In Bucket List
Though I love a ton of 80s era films, by far my favorite film of all time is the 1987 Fred...
Buy Me That!
When I was a kid I had some really weird interests. For instance, whenever my mother would get...
The Great Fruit Snack Wars of 1985
One of my absolute favorite pastimes, specifically when it comes to working on this site, is to...