'Dr. Franken-Loyd' just KEEPS striking BACK!!-- The SAGA continues!

As  promised / threatened last time around gang--- here's yet ANOTHER installment, concerning the updating and 'jazzing-up' of some of my toy or scale model Bat-rides! Also like the cars featured last time, these 'Caped-Crusader-wheels' have been in my collection for a fairly LARGE chunk of time!

The projects featured this time, are really what I'm gonna consider the 'last' ones-- at least for now. Now that they're finished, I feel like pretty much ALL of the vehicles I wanted to 'freshen-up', have been taken care of.

Don't worry though, oh gentle faithful-few who read this here bloggy-woggy-thingy-thang-- there will ALWAYS be some kind of CRUNCHY-GEEKY-goodness featured here from month-to-month! It just won't be Batmobile-model-tinkering-- at least for a while!

I also want to mention again-- how AMAZING it is, that I've actually somehow carved-out the time to get these little 'update' projects DONE! The 'ol Loydster's working life alone, has been a real MEAT-GRINDER lately! There's also been the on-going working on improvements / tinkering on the 'cozy-cottage' & it's surrounding property!

Somehow, someway though--- I've scrounged-up a few spare moments here and there-- and managed to finish these things to the point where I'm pretty proud of how they've turned out!

But--- that's enough of me patting myself on the back! Onward with the showcasing of the 'model-Bat-ride-updates'!!! (Said again-- in my best 'Adam West-type' voice!)---
 

Apologies for the goofy 'before' pic (a cropped-down version of one from a previous post!)! But--- it was the only one I could dig up, to illustrate the state that the 'Keaton-Bat-ride' was in before I dived into sprucing it up! 
It was LONG ago (the FIRST time I did some customizing to it) painted with plain old 'flat black' primer, and that paint job was REALLY starting to look pretty TIRED & beat-up! There were also a couple of details on the car that I wanted to straighten out! (More on that below, natch!) 
Like a couple of the other earlier 'update' projects, I also took this one apart, to do a better job on the prep work and paint.

I should also mention-- this 'action-figure-scale' car (it's pretty BIG-- roughly a bit shy of maybe 1/12th scale!), is based on the 'Batman Returns' version of the 'Keaton / Burton' ride. (Circa 1992) So--- it originally came with a neat-o feature, where--by pushing a little button on top, the car's sides would 'pop-off', and it would become the 'Bat-missile' vehicle-- just like in the movie!

Well--- I had LONG ago cannibalized this thing for some of it's wheels (the ones from it's 'Bat-missile' segment anyway!), for another customizing-a-Batmobile project! So... for part of my 'updating' here, I simply super-glued the three segments of the car together. (I know --- collectors who think these things should STAY frozen in 'mint' / 'original' condition-- are probably screaming & jumping up and down as they read this post!)
I also super-glued it's wheels / tires in place, so it's 'wheel-centers' / Bat-Symbols would stay centered-up. (a little thing that's ALWAYS bugged me just a smidge!) So, it's almost more of a 'static display replica' of the '...Returns' Bat-ride, than the toy it originally was! ( I know.... MORE jumping up and down and screaming from the collectors out there! Oh well! MY toys, MY rules folks!!)

After disassembly, I carefully-- with the handy-dandy Dremel-tool-- cut-out openings into the 'bowl-shaped' in-take-type pieces just in front of the rear fenders. It had ALWAYS bugged me, that these parts looked NOTHING like the pieces on the real car! Again with super-glue, I placed some nylon-type material (actually from an old kiddie trampoline!) down into the new openings (later painted with 'gun-metal' acrylic, of COURSE!) on each side.
It's STILL not exactly like the 'movie car', but at least NOW-- those parts on the car LOOK like  'in-takes'! Then, after a bit of sanding, prepping and careful masking-- I shot this bad-boy with some semi-gloss black enamel

'Details' around various areas on the body of the car were painted with (again!) 'gun-metal' acrylic.

The little custom-'Keaton' Bat-figure, permanently glued into the driver's seat--- was left just as he was  from my earlier customizing effort on this car--- at least a DECADE-and-a-half ago! As SWEET as he originally turned out... WHY mess with something SO darn NIFTY! (I know... my shoulder's practically out of joint---from patting myself on the back again!!! Sorry gang!)

ANOTHER dorky 'before' pic, cropped from an image --from that SAME previously mentioned earlier post! BUT-- you get the idea here! The 'action-figure'-scaled 'New Batman Adventures' ride (from circa 1997 or so! VERY cool show too, by the way!)-- was ALSO in need of a bit of love! This one mainly needed (much like the '...Returns' ride above!) it's TIRED, scruffy-looking 'flat-black' paint-job ---switched over to a fresh, shiny coat of GLOSS black enamel!
This car also didn't need to be disassembled to do the prep and paint. Just a bit of rubbing with some 3M scotch-bright pads, some careful masking here and there--- and I was ready to start slinging the spray-paint at it!

As I was saying--- this ride just needed a NICE paint job, to really make it POP! I'm fairly proud of the SLICK 'real car'-type of gloss I was able to achieve with the Wally-World rattle-can-paint!

Looks like 'ol Bats and Alfred gave this Batmobile a SERIOUS waxing with a couple of 1-gallon-TUBS of  'Turtle Wax', doesn't it???

I dug up yet ANOTHER Batman action figure (from the 'New Adventures' line of figures, of COURSE!), that for some unknown reason-- I STILL had in a storage tote! So he can be posed next to his now SUPER-slick-and-SHINY Bat-ride, when it's returned back to the shelf! Note how I also changed the previously yellow headlights to a gold metallic color!

                                                                                         

      So, now pretty much ALL of the modifications / updates / general JAZZING-up on the various 'mini-Bat- vehicles' are finished (at least for now!)! I have yet ANOTHER group of items here in my little 'Man-Cave' that -- while they ALREADY made me smile before--- now that they're in tip-top shape-- they make that big 'ol GEEKY-grin I usually have when I enter 'The Secret Sanctum'... just a little BIGGER! And isn't that what having a 'Man-Cave' SHOULD be all about?

On to another area here at 'Ferrell-Central' that I've still been tinkering with!-- Although I'm also at kind of a good 'stopping point' with it too--- at least for the time being!-- I'm referring to the 'Man-Cave': Annex!

Mostly, I've been digging some additional items out of the remaining storage-totes-- the stuff I really didn't have room for in the 'Sanctum' / 'main-Man-Cave' in the house-- and figuring out 'display' ideas / areas for them in the little space I have in our storage building ('The Annex'!). It's been fun getting some of these additional things out, and finding spots for them!---

A bit of 'blank space' next to my paint and supply shelf, was PERFECT for some of the additional Captain America and Iron Man goodies that were otherwise piled into a storage-tote! I scrounged-up a little wooden shelf and covered it with a piece of plexiglass for a little display case for some of it. A display case originally for a 1/24 scale model car shows-off the other items below it!

That's another 8x10 frame, with yet more of my old 'Sunday-School-teaching-days' neck-ties hanging below all of that!

Another oddball-shaped display case houses some additional Iron Man Action figures, sitting atop (along with a framed 'Hot Wheels'-related image!) an appropriately decorated (with a HEALTHY-sized group of some of my old custom-made magnets--of COURSE!) old two-drawer file cabinet. The cabinet holds extra hardware (screws, fencing-wire, etc...) and other 'occasionally-necessary around the house & property' stuff! There's also been a few more magnets & stickers added to the side of my old toolbox to the right (just for extra grins & giggles!)!

My EVER-so generous and thoughtful wifey, Mrs. Debbie-- gave me this NEAT little 3-shelf bookcase! Not ONLY is it useful for displaying / storing those extra books and binders I couldn't find room for in the 'Sanctum, BUT-- I've also found homes for a number of nifty super hero and cartoon character-related items (that were--AGAIN-- stashed-away in dusty old storage-totes!)!! Also-- note my recently snagged 'Dad-jokes' sign, sitting proudly on the top-right of the bookcase!

    

Mrs. Debbie found this little metal-sign I recently snagged-- BOTH: funny, AND--pretty appropriate for a 'master-procrastinator' like me! I figured a spot near the toolbox --alongside where 'Captain Marvel' stands guard-- would be a GREAT place for it!

As I was saying above.... I think in the case of BOTH my little 'Man-Cave' AND the 'Annex--  I can take somewhat of a breather from doing anymore adding of additional stuff, or doing any kind of major tinkering on the items on display in either space for a while! it might just be the RIGHT time to just kick-back & enjoy BOTH of these 'Guy-Spaces' I've been blessed with! Just let them bring that previously-mentioned big 'ol GEEK-A-ZOID grin to my face with whatever's in them, for the foreseeable future at least!

See you NEXT time gang! 'Til then-- stay SAFE, SANE, and HAPPY!

'Dr. Franken-Loyd' just KEEPS striking BACK!!

 

Once AGAIN-- yet another post-- with even MORE proof of my LIFE-long love-affair with (multiple-versions of) the Caped-Crusader's ride! --AND-- once AGAIN--the 'mad-scientist' in the 'ol Loydster has come out to PLAY! This time around, I've been tackling some LONG-delayed updates and mods to a few of my already HEAVILY-customized / completely original 'Bat-ride' models and toys! Keep on 'scrollin-and-readin' to see JUST which ones!

Things here at 'Ferrell Central' / 'The Cozy-Cottage', have been CRAZY-busy and just outright HECTIC lately! Lots of fix-ups and 'home-improvements' have been going on, around our property! Most of the 'hammer-swingin' and paint-brush-slingin', is being carried-out by just my lovely (AND hard-working!) wifey, Debbie and myself! So--- it's been BOTH a kind-of-exciting... yet also EXHAUSTING-- time!

Yet... somehow, and someway--- the 'ol Loydster has managed to carve-out some chunks of time here and there--- to do some MUCH-needed (not to mention MUCH-delayed-- these things have been in storage for nearly 4 YEARS, remember?) updates and mods to selected models and toys in the collection of 'miniature-Bat-rides'!

Before our move from our previous home, I'd planned on gradually doing some 'spiffying-up' on some of my collection, but the move (and piling up all of the 'Loydster-geeky-stuff' into storage!) forced that to be put on hold! Now that it's been a few months since the return of the 'Man-Cave', and I've been able to display all these things once again--- I've been diving into the 'updates-&-mods' projects with GUSTO!

I did kind-of 'ease in' to this whole effort, with a simple 'updated' paint job-- on one of the long-time (fully custom) members of my 'mini-Bat-ride' family. Still, I'm pretty proud of how even IT turned out! As ALWAYS here at the Bloggy-woggy-thingy-thang-a-ma-rang... I'll now cease with all the introductory jibber-jabber, and save most of the 'GEEK-TASTIC' commentary for the pics down below! On with the 'BOMBASTIC-BAT-RIDE-MODEL-BEAUTY-SHOTS'!! (Said in my best 'Adam West'-voice!)---

Ah yes! My completely original custom model of the early '40s Batmobile! I thrashed this one out-- probably well OVER 20 years ago! Based on a snap-together kit I'd snagged at Wally-World way-back-when. The original model seemed to be based on an already heavily-customized '40 Lincoln Zephyr. (That's the car a lot of Bat-fans say the early-40s Batmobile was based on!) This pic was snapped maybe a  year or two after I'd finished it.

The original paint I'd used was still in good shape, but I'd long been kicking around the idea of adding on the red-stripes, (like the comics-version!) and a bit of detailing-- to push it into the 'authentic-'40s-Bat-ride' zone! So... out came the masking tape, acrylic paints, and paint brushes!---

The 'first try', after I'd (VERY carefully!) added on the ('satin-finish') lower body-stripes to the car (as well as a red 'emergency-beacon', mounted to the 'Bat-Fin'-- donated from a bag of left-over 'Lego' parts, natch!). Cool enough! But... it was STILL  missing a little something! I dug around through my collection of 'Bat-classic-comic' reprints and (numerous!) images of the car, and soon enough discovered just what that 'something' was!--

'BAM"!! Yes! The stripe along the 'belt-line' was the 'vital-missing-ingredient' in the recipe, to making this a now just DARN-NIFTY model! The additional bit of 'detailing' around the 'hood-side' exhaust-pipes, also helped it become an 'authentic'-looking 'Bat-vehicle'!

The above-mentioned Masking-tape helped me get those stripes 'straight-and-true'! And, for those who are wondering-- yes, that is INDEED one of the fins--donated- from an old busted-up toy-version of the '89 movie-Batmobile... (More on THAT one later!) super-glued into place on this custom-- 20-plus-years-ago!

Another LONG-time member of the 'full-custom-Bat-ride' collection! This was originally a 'Dollar-Store' toy I snagged (and saw a Batmobile-possibility in!)--- close to 30  YEARS ago! The pic on the left, is how it looked not long after I first customized it. Simple black primer and a few spots of 'bright blue' acrylic paint here and there! The 'Bat-fins' are actually made from cut-up sections of a hood from an old T-bird model kit!
 The pic on the right, is my (kinda GOOFY, I'll admit!) attempt to update the paint-job, a few years back! (In fact, if you 'scroll back' far enough, you'll see I've actually shown this model here on the blog before!) I broke out the sand paper and partially disassembled this one! I wanted to REALLY improve it THIS time out!

And-- HERE is the finished project! Some left-over Wally-world 'gloss-black' spray paint, additional 'swoopy-zoopy' 'Bat-panels' (cut from sheets of clear plastic, of COURSE!) mounted above the wheel openings, a bit of CAREFULLY-done pin-striping in just the RIGHT spots-- and... BAM!--Once AGAIN!! I'm thinking THIS Batmobile's looking a little DANGEROUS (in a COOL way, I mean!)! Oh, the wheels (complete with the center 'Bat-discs' already mounted-up!) were donated from another of the 'project-cars', that you'll see shortly-- IF you just keep on reading and scrolling on down, that is!

With it's 'Can-Am' racer-style body and 'bubble-canopy', this car looks like it's almost 'moving-fast-while-standing still', right??!?

Bad guys BEWARE! Batman's got himself a ZOOPY-Bat-ride, and he's ready to chase down ALL evil-doers... at a HIGH-rate of SPEED!

The next little number that I decided needed some tinkering, mainly needed an update-- or an upgrade actually-- in it's tires and wheels! Check out the pic below (which I've also popped-up here before on the 'ol bloggy-woggy-do-da!), and I think you'll agree.... that the 'rollers' definitely lacked the 'punch' that a car like the Batmobile NEEDS!--

This 'what if' / 'alternate universe' version of 'Ol Batsy's ride, is based on an already pretty wild-custom '53 Corvette model kit. My idea was-- 'what if Batman had based the early '60s (comic book) Batmobile on an existing factory-built car?-- like, say: an early 'Vette?
I looked through a LOT of my old Corvette mags and books, at images of the early 'Vette racers and prototypes for ideas-- before I dived into all the original mods and custom-Bat-touches. Also, I customized a little 'military-man' figure into a Batman, for placing behind the (cut down into a 'u'--like the TV series ride, of COURSE!) steering wheel!

A number of years later, I dug up some original '53 'Vette tires to pop onto the kit-- to replace the ones that came with it-- they were EXTREMELY wide, and looked a little 'out of place' on a car that was supposed to have been built in the early '60s! I retained the NEAT 5-spoke mags though, with the teeny-tiny center 'Bat-discs' I'd already mounted up to them in the original build.
The downside to the 'tire-swap'? Well, look at the pic again!-- the wheels & tires were just TOO skinny! They looked like wild-west-WAGON-wheels!!

           

So--- off I went, DEEP into a quest on E-bay-- for what I hoped would be the solution to the WAY-too-SKINNY-tires problem! This whole 'wheel-and-tire-swap' thing, would end up taking a MUCH bigger CHUNK of time than I hoped it would!----                      

This is the first set of tires & rims I ordered off of E-bay. A VERY cool set of 5-spokes with 'red-line' tires. Not 'til they arrived in the mail, and I sized them up alongside the car....did I realize--- they were the WRONG scale! The custom 'what if' Bat-ride is-- unfortunately -- 1/24 SCALE! Duh, Loydster!!

Back into 'deep-quest-mode' I went! Fortunately, after a good amount of 'searchin-&-scrollin'---I stumbled across the EXACTLY-right business! In fact, I'm gonna come to a pause here, and give these folks a special 'shout-out'!!---

                                         

THIS is the E-bay seller (they also have a VERY neat-o-nifty website!) that SAVED the 'ol Loydster's SANITY! Name the tire and wheel combination, (even the kinda odd-ball & weird!) and they probably HAVE it! Better STILL--- the prices are VERY reasonable too! Jay's will be my 'go-to' source, whenever I tackle any kind of model kit-wheel-&-tire swapping or updating in the future!

Anyhoo-doody--- after ANOTHER few days of waiting on the proverbial 'pins & needles' for the NEXT  'miniature wheel and tire' package to arrive--- the 'moment of truth' FINALLY came!--

'Jay's Resin Wheels' really knocked out a 'home run' with THESE little numbers! the scale was EXACTLY right, and the detail on BOTH tires and rims is AMAZING! Unlike in the above pic (which I shamelessly cribbed from their site!), the wheels and tires come completely unpainted. Painting both was pretty easy & straight forward though. Two light coats of acrylic was all they needed! I did sand-off the 'raised lettering' on each tire though-- for that 'Authentic-'60s-era' plain black look for the tires!

 

Just check out the pics below to see the results! I painted the wheel-spokes 'gun-metal', and the rim-edges silver. Another set of tiny photo-copied 'Bat-discs' for the center of each of the mags, added the finishing touch! As mentioned above, the original 5-spoke wheels from this kit, ended up being swapped over to the 'Can-Am' style custom Batmobile shown previous to this one.----

Outside of touching-up the paint on the body a tiny bit here and there, and painting the side-pipes with the aforementioned 'gun-metal' metallic--- everything else on the 'what-if' Bat-ride remains the same! Hey, why MESS with something that originally turned out as NIFTY as this car did?!? (Can you tell I'm pretty proud of myself here?)
 

Thanks once AGAIN to 'Jay's Resin Wheels'! The size and fit on these wheels and tires is pretty much Perfect! Now, this car REALLY does look like it just ZOOMED out of a comic book from around 1964!

The next-- and last (for NOW, anyway!) 're-do' / update project, was yet ANOTHER long-time part of the collection. Also like the others, it's one I've shown you before! In fact, the pic below is the SAME one I've previously popped-up here!---

This 'semi-custom' Batmobile, started out as a messed-up / busted-up electronic kid's toy-- that was 'sort of' based on the '89 movie car. Some of it's proportions were a bit off-- so it's kind of like a close 'cousin' to the REAL car! So I first customized it with the idea that it could be a 'hybrid / alternate universe' version of the '89 ride... or maybe an updated version that 'Ol Batsy (with Alfred's help, of course!) built after 'Batman Returns'!

 The rear fins were actually fashioned from parts of an old mid-90s Batman action figure accessory!
One of it's original fins, I utilized for the Custom '40s Bat-ride you just gawked at up above!-- the other one was mangled-up when I originally snagged the toy. Hence-- the OTHER need for it to be customized-- as it was above!
It pretty much remained in this state of customization for over 20-odd years.

At any rate, after a couple of decades-PLUS---it was practically SCREAMING for some updates and just general 'freshening-up'. So--- with a can of 'midnight blue' semi-gloss paint, and a NEAT-O idea for jazzing-up it's wheels--- I dived into good 'ol 'Mad Scientist' mode!---

I'm REALLY happy with how this one turned out! The 'midnight blue' paint really 'pops', those customized fins STILL look pretty WICKED, and--- the 'gun-metal' paint for the detail-areas around the body (as well as the outer-rims on the wheels!) make it look ready-and-able to go chase-down Gotham City bad guys!

I'll bet the Joker does NOT want to see this BEAST in his rear-view mirror!

That idea I had for the wheels? The 'Bat-symbols' at the center, STAY stationary when the wheels turn! (JUST like the 'Batman Forever' car!) It was SUPER-simple / easy-peasy to do! I simply super-glued the symbols to the flat-topped 'pins' that held the wheels to the chassis of the car. The pins had heads that were nearly 1/4 of an inch wide, so it was NO problem for the glue to hold, while not interfering with the free turning of each wheel!

It just so happened, I had an extra little 4-inch Batman figure to place alongside the car, when it went back on display with the rest of the collection! The Caped Crusader looks ready to jump into the cockpit-- and CHARGE into ACTION and DANGER! 'To the BATMOBILE, Robin!'

Before I sign-off on this here post-- I just thought I'd share some 'Loydster-statistics' with you-- my faithful-few readers! Just for some GOOF-BALL grins-&-giggles, I recently took count of the 'Bat-vehicles' in my collection. In fact, instead of rattling all of that stuff off in boring old type... I'll just pop up pics of the actual half-an-index card that I scribbled it all down on!!---

The numbers tell the story folks! The Loydster just keeps on LOVING the Caped Crusader's set of wheels! AND-- some of his other vehicles too!

There are STILL one or two other vehicles in the miniature-Bat-ride collection, that I'm definitely going to be 're-vamping' / refreshing / sprucing-up! Of course, I'll most likely be posting updates right here on the bloggy-ma-thang-a-rang... as those 'mad-scientist' projects are finished-up! Take that as a promise, or threat-- your choice!

Meanwhile--- 'til NEXT time--stay SAFE, SANE and HAPPY everybody!

A lifetime of STOOGE-watching!

An appropriate image, if I've EVER seen one! The choices for watching the original 'Knuckleheads' (Moe, Larry and Curly, natch!) and their  ALWAYS funny shorts / episodes, are almost TOO many to keep track of! Coming from ALL kinds of different directions and sources! Keep scrollin' & readin', to see just how much time & effort I've put into saving copies of those shorts over the years!

 Ok, so this post is ABSOLUTELY going to prove what an 'old TOOT' (a term coined WAY-back--by my mom, of course!) that I am! Mostly... because I'm gonna kick it off by saying how AMAZING technology has become in recent years!

If you've been following along with me any length of time here on the 'ol bloggy-woggy-thingy-thang, you'll know that the 3 Stooges were (some of) my absolute HEROES growing up! (Heck, they STILL are!) The story in THIS post, is just how MANY ways (not to mention how MANY years!) I've been chugging-along at trying to SAVE (and RE-WATCH, many, MANY times over!) the adventures of these MASTERS of the art of slapstick!

Never could I, as the wee-lad-Loydster-- around the age of 8 or 9-- have imagined having access to practically EVERY 3 Stooges short... ANY time of day (OR night!)! AND the numerous ways / choices in HOW to watch them all! Back then, I simply looked forward to my time spent with them--- weekday afternoons around 3 o'clock (after school).

In those days, ANY show that you watched on a regular basis, was 'appointment TV'! meaning, if you wanted to watch a favorite show.... you had to be parked in front of the 'ol 'boob-tube' at EXACTLY the time it was scheduled to come on! This was before ANY sort of recording devices were available to the public. So, if you missed your show--- well... you just MISSED it!

Of course, the 'Stooges were NO different than ANY of the other programs I parked my little grade-school-aged-booty in front of every weekday--- in that the episodes were shown OVER and OVER again! So--- if I missed an installment, a few weeks down the line... I could count on it turning up again! Still, it WAS a bit of a hassle keeping up with my 'Knuckleheaded'-buddies!

The household item my pops sometimes referred to as 'the ONE-EYED monster'! Many weekday afternoon-hours were spent by the teeny-Loydster, parked in front of one VERY much like this example!

Fast-forward to my late-teen years, when some of my more 'well-off' friends' moms and dads  started getting another sort of WILD gadget in their living rooms---usually it was parked on top of their TV sets!---

Ah yes! The EARLY 80s version of the VHS player / recorder! Something that pretty much BLEW the then 19 - 20 year-old Loydster's mind! Just to think ---I could watch 'Stooge-shorts (and other COOL movies and stuff!) OVER AND over-- on something called 'video-tape'! It just twisted my BRAIN into a pretzel!

Yes... it would be another handful of years, (the mid-80s -- when they FINALLY went down a bit in price, so average joe-blows could actually AFFORD them! They STILL weren't exactly cheap!) before my folks actually snagged one of the last 'top-loader' types of VCRs, but man-o-man! I became a VCR-video-recording-FIEND! (Even MORE so, after mom and pops eventually bought one of the later 'front-loading' tape machines!)

By then, the 'Stooges were being shown around midnight, and only on weekends. So, I'd stay up 'til the wee-hours-- recording what shorts I could. Several VHS-tapes were filled-up with not ONLY the 'Stooges, but LOADS of movies, favorite TV shows, and OF COURSE-- Looney Tunes! I still had MANY of those tapes-- even after the wife and I got hitched, MANY years later!

Skip a few more years ahead, to the early and mid-90s. VCRs by then were a LOT more streamlined, simple to use, and a TON of material was available on tape for 'collector-types' like yours truly! Sadly--- there weren't any 'complete' collections of 'Stooge shorts that I remember ---though there WERE a few 'best of' / 'mish-mash' / odd-ball collections around, like THIS--- 

The Knuckleheads on home video! NO 'complete' collections of their shorts were around, back in the 80s OR early 90s! (At least that I knew of!) But--- there were plenty of 'random' / 'mixed-bag' collections around---like the example above!

So--- I was STILL recording stuff from both late-night local 'Stooge-programs, as well as cable channels. It took AGES, but I eventually collected / recorded-- EVERY short featuring 'Curly' Howard! Now THAT'S dedicated-stooge-fandom for you!

You can PICK your nose, you can even PICK the noses of your friends! BUT-- in the 8os and 90s-- the ONLY way to 'PICK' - up the adventures of my HEROES, the 'Stooges-- was to relentlessly RECORD late-night showings of their shorts-- mostly on weekends! It was though, TRULY a labor of love for this LIFE-LONG 'Knuckleheads' fanatic!

Not that I disliked Shemp Howard---some of his early appearances, after he took Curly's place -- are indeed VERY funny! BUT-- Curly was ALWAYS my all-time-FAVORITE '3rd stooge', PERIOD! (STILL is!) The team just was NOT quite as gut-bustingly-funny, after his departure! (Just this fan's opinion!)

So, it was ALL 'the Curly shorts' (plus a handful of the 'early Shemps') that I went after, in trying to build-up my 'Stooge-video-library'! The 8 VHS tapes That I eventually compiled, were my 'go-to' source for repeated 'Stooge-entertainment' for QUITE a few years.

Eventually, the old VHS tapes began to gradually wear-out--- from not ONLY the passage of time.... but ALL of those MANY repeat-viewings! Then came the WONDER that was the arrival of the Digital Video Disc! 

Again, it took another handful of years-- but I eventually was able to snag & add THESE little numbers to the 'Loydster-video-library', to replace those nearly worn-out old video cassettes! (-- Not ONLY the 'Stooges tapes-- but LOTS of my favorite movies, and of COURSE-- hundreds of hours of Looney Tunes cartoon-collections, are STILL being gradually 'changed over' to DVDs! It's a SLOW, on-going project!)---

FINALLY! there was a source / media-type, that offered the opportunity to watch PRISTINE-copies of ALL of the Boys' CLASSIC shorts! It took a a bit of time & patience-- but eventually, DVD-sets of EVERY 'Curly-episode' were at LAST on a shelf in my house! BUT-- that didn't end up being the ONLY way I've watched the 'masters of mayhem' since then!
That doesn't mean these discs are going anywhere though! Nope-- these collections are staying with me--- for however long I stay around and kicking!

Which brings us back around to the present day and time, folks-- and ALL those 'viewing-choices' I referred to up above! Now, there's numerous ways a 'Stooge-fan can get their 'Knucklehead-fix'! Streaming-video platforms are about the most convenient. 

YouTube is the one that's my 'go-to' source, here at 'Ferrell-Central'. As also stated above-- ANY time, day OR night-- I can plop down in my old faithful easy-chair, pull-up the YouTube 'Stooge-channel on my Roku device---and let those AGELESS, always FUNNY shorts put a BRIGHT-spot into my life... for 17 to 20 minutes at least!

Oh, there's 'smart-phone' aps and other 'digital-down-load' sources I could be utilizing too, for my 'Stooge-watching'.... but, right now-- YouTube is the easiest and most 'user-friendly'! Especially for an 'over-the-hill-type' like ME! I'll also occasionally pop in one of the DVDs, when I want to watch the boys 'commercial-free'! (One of YouTube's down-sides!)

I just know, that no matter HOW I've managed to watch them over the years.... these SPECIAL funny-folks have ALWAYS brought me a LOT of happiness and PLENTY of belly-laughs-- in ALL the ups, downs, and other CRAZY times in my life! That's one thing that will NEVER change!

This post is dedicated to both of the Arnold brothers, Tim and Jeff! We spent countless hours watching (AND belly-laughing at, of COURSE!) the Stooges together! 

3 Stooges (AND cartoons too!) lovers and fellow GEEK-A-ZOIDS! Circa 1987-or-so! Tim, Jeff, and (a MUCH-YOUNGER) Loyd! (AND-- yes, I know I've put up this old pic once before! But.... SO WHAT!? It's ALWAYS been one of my FAVORITES of the 3 of us!)

When I watch the classic Stooge-shorts even now, I STILL think of you two! You guys are TRULY my BROTHERS! Then, now, and ALWAYS! Love you BOTH!