REMEMBER “The Great Space Coaster“? And Garry Gnu’s “Gnus of the Week”?

Here’s the intro courtesy of senorhand.

And here’s the clip of the closing theme from oscartripe.

REMEMBER this 1985 movie starring Val Kilmer as Chris Knight?

Here’s the “Real Genius” trailer courtesy of Crash517.

VOLTES V and the other super robots over at Channel 7 might have been more popular, but Channel 9 also had its own armada of armored heroes. One of these robots was Balatack (or Balatak). Remember him? And do you remember exactly on which days Channel 9’s robots appeared? Like on which day did they show Dangard Ace?

Here’s the Balatack intro from tawess.

WHILE drinking last night, we got to talking about “Heroes,” “Star Trek” and the upcoming “Star Trek” movie (Zachary Quinto a.k.a. Sylar will play the young Spock, and original Spock Leonard Nimoy will also be in the film), when INQUIRER.net executive editor Leo Magno brought up this show Nimoy used to host, the TV documentary series “In Search of…”

Man, that takes us back. I told him I also used to watch that show all the time, but I’d forgotten about it until he mentioned it heh “Oh ayan, may maisusulat na naman si Joey,” our reporter Alex Villafania quipped.

Here’s a clip of the show intro on YouTube from KentuckyBootleg.

HERE’S a thought-provoking article that I stumbled upon — “Retro hits and myths” from The Courier-Mail.

The article talks about “newstalgia.” Here’s an excerpt:

Gadgets and gizmos from the last decades of the 20th century are also, with a little spin and innovative campaigns, being sold as both history and future to audiences of all ages again and again. Mickey Mouse pyjamas, Bugs Bunny and Mr Men T-shirts, Strawberry Shortcake cartoons, more superheroes, “classic” cars, rock and pop music (on vinyl, CD or live), furniture and clothing. The list of popular Generation X products and brands, their associated characters that are being recycled and the ideologies they represent is almost endless.

It’s called “newstalgia”: that is, making something old original again by reinventing it for the contemporary consumer. Both a movement and a marketing strategy, it’s corporate gold. It’s not simply the stories and what they symbolise in terms of revisiting the ghosts of childhood past, but the opportunities for some cross-generational bonding that they embody as well that make them so successful.

Playing on the sentimentality of those who grew up with specific characters, brands, values and ideas, while attracting a fresh, young audience who listen to the adults in their lives waxing lyrical about them, businesses are turning shared trips down memory lane into lucrative whimsy. Through retro-chic, they’re giving us a chance to take a stroll down sentimental street and embrace a form of retro-worship while milking a very profitable cash cow.