FRANKENSTEIN by Jack Davis!

I have a cool JACK DAVIS print on EBAY under seller ANIMAGIC1.

Another revision to the ENCHANTED WORLD cover...

MUSEUM OF TELEVISION & RADIO in NY a few years back....

We had a wonderful time in New York a few years back when the MUSEUM OF TELEVISION & RADIO had a night to honor the work of ARTHUR RANKIN, JR. & JULES BASS! ARTHUR RANKIN gave a wonderful talk that is viewable at the museum. ARTHUR points MASAKI Iizuka my way for a portrait of the guys who made it all happen at RANKIN/BASS PRODUCTIONS.

ARTHUR, MASAKI and PETER BAKALIAN discuss business on the streets of New York. We had just been treated to a great breakfast at the PLAZA by Mr. Rankin and later that afternoon, New York was hit by a big snow storm (like the one that hits Christmas town in RUDOLPH)

DON DUGA (Storyboarder), BRADLEY BOLKE (Voice of JANGLE BELLS and CHUMLEY The walrus), Myself and RHODA MANN (Voice of Mother Nature) talk to my good friend PASTOR RODRIGUEZ at the book signing, after the MUSEUM event. We also had the FATHER TIME (Red Skelton) ANIMAGIC figure from RUDOLPH'S SHINY NEW YEAR on display at our table for the huge crowd of RANKIN/BASS fans! All of us appear on the DOCUMENTARY that will be on THE YEAR WITHOUT A SANTA CLAUS Special Edition DVD!

ARTHUR RANKIN signs some RUDOLPH games in New York! A fun time had by all!

THUNDERCATS #1 comic book

My son decided to list his issue of THUNDERCATS #1 (MARVEL COMICS) on EBAY under seller ANIMAGIC1. The artwork in this comic is actually very nice and it came out when the series did in 1985. There is a LIVE-ACTION film in the works now after all.

Revised BOOK cover by TONY AMATO....

He is too much!

With SUMMER heating up! Look for some exciting NEWS here at www.rankinbass.com

MYSPACE

I relaunched my MYSPACE MUSIC page at www.myspace.com/rgoldschmidt Talked with ARTHUR RANKIN today too and he sends his BEST! He is looking forward to the 3rd printing of THE ENCHANTED WORLD OF RANKIN/BASS: A PORTFOLIO (MISER BROS PRESS) Also, if you live out on the West coast, you will soon be able to find my books at BIG KID'S COLLECTIBLES!

GIN BLOSSOMS play Crystal Lake, IL this Summer!

The GIN BLOSSOMS are coming to your town this Summer! Check their MYSPACE page at www.myspace.com/ginblossoms or www.ginblossoms.net for their Tour schedule! Photographs by Valentina Ricupati

KING KONG...Who knows the name of?

There are plans for a 3rd DVD release of the classic RANKIN/BASS TV Series THE KING KONG SHOW (Designed by JACK DAVIS) 1966 BUT apparently it is postponed by CLASSIC MEDIA. You can read about it at www.tvshowsondvd.com The first two volumes are well worth buying and priced affordably.

ENCHANTED WORLD original STEVE RUDE art on EBAY of SUE BOND!

In 1996, my pal STEVE RUDE did this wonderful piece of art for my book THE ENCHANTED WORLD OF RANKIN/BASS: A PORTFOLIO! This week I have it on EBAY. I just don't have the room for all of this wonderful stuff and I thought I would share it. STEVE resides in Peoria, Arizona now and I visited with him a few months back and we took in a CALIFORNIA ANGELS Spring training game together. Check his webiste out at http://www.steverude.com/ and check him out at the SAN DIEGO COMICON! He is an amazing artist and friend!

THE YEAR WITHOUT A SANTA CLAUS collector's DVD!

Despite what happened with the SPARKHILL Documentary in the past few months, I am still recommending the Special Edition release of THE YEAR WITHOUT A SANTA CLAUS. At least the Documentary will finally feature interviews with the people that actually created the special!

1st printing copy on EBAY!

I have a FIRST EDITION printing of my first book THE ENCHANTED WORLD OF RANKIN/BASS: A PORTFOLIO by Tiger Mountain Press on EBAY right now under seller ANIMAGIC1. My son found the copy in a box in my garage. The first pressing of the softback edition of the book was printed on archival paper and the cover was thicker and glossier than the MISER BROS PRESS edition. I still want to do a 3rd printing of the book BUT not sure that it will happen by this Holiday season anymore. This is your chance to get a signed first edition before Christmas 2007!

RANKIN/BASS book distributor...

If you own a comic book shop, bookstore or even a novelty type store and are interested in carrying my book(s) for the upcoming Holiday season.... e-mail me: Rickgoldsc@aol.com I can work a very nice deal for you on large or small quantities of the hardback edition of THE MAKING OF THE RANKIN/BASS HOLIDAY CLASSIC: RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER (Miser Bros Press) which is starting to wind down it's print run. If you would like to buy autographed copies direct (with drawing and dedication), you can also e-mail me.

THUNDERCATS: Ted Wolf

I want to THANK Tim AIM: MUMMRA 666 for passing along the info that JULES BASS and PETER BAKALIAN were looking for on Ted Wolf's Daughter! He also passed along this early concept art from THUNDERCATS!

KYOKO KITA, ARTHUR RANKIN, JR. and DANNY KAYE at MOM Studios 1972!

A RANKIN/BASS DVD Treasure!

If you don't have this DVD in your RANKIN/BASS collection...get it soon! The actual title of this special is THE ENCHANTED WORLD OF DANNY KAYE: THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES but CLASSIC MEDIA was afraid of being sued by the KAYE estate, so they didn't use the title or the familiar ANIMAGIC image of DANNY on the cover....hence the poor sales. This DVD has a GREAT 8 minute original documentary film made by RANKIN/BASS to promote the series THE ENCHANTED WORLD OF DANNY KAYE and features both ARTHUR and JULES directing Danny, working in the MOM studio at the puppet set and some incredible JACK DAVIS Production art! It also features MAURY LAWS conducting in the studio with DANNY and ALLEN SWIFT. Some AMAZING stuff! The special is also RARE and looks amazing as well!

RETURN TO OZ (1964)

RETURN TO OZ was the first RANKIN/BASS animated TV Special! It was based on the characters from their TALES OF THE WIZARD OF OZ series. I have the DEMOS from the special on CD from a RARE pressing. I like the DEMOS better than some of the finished versions and there are a few cuts that didn't make the special. The cel from TALES OF THE WIZARD OF OZ is from designer TONY PETERS.

MERRY CHRISTMAS in JULY! From Mr. and Mrs. C

Could have been so much better!....

About a month ago, I talked about this wonderful documentary SPARKHILL was doing for WARNER BROTHERS for the special edition of THE YEAR WITHOUT A SANTA CLAUS DVD....well, it isn't so wonderful anymore. The brilliant WB legal department decided that all of the RARE photos I provided for the piece, shouldn't be used. They said, "no pictures of the puppets and no pictures of the people that made ANIMAGIC happen?" They are so fearful of a lawsuit these days, that they are willing to sacrifice the quality of the product they are putting out there for the fans???? I have supplied similar photographs to GOLDEN BOOKS ENTERTAINMENT and ANCHOR BAY and they were used on several DVDs in the extras, without any problem what so ever.

HAPPY 4th from THE STARVING ARTISTS!

CHRISTMAS IN JULY!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY! I made this recent purchase for my RANKIN/BASS collection of DOROTHY from RANKIN/BASS' TALES OF THE WIZARD OF OZ. ARTISTIC TOYS made these dolls back in 1961 and they are pretty scarce. I also have SOCRATES THE SCARECROW.

Small world...

My son JOSHUA and I ran into our pal MITCH O' CONNELL and his son LEO at U.S. CELLULAR FIELD at a WHITE SOX game the other night and he took this picture of us at the game. Check out his art at www.mitchoconnell.com He did the original cover for my ENCHANTED WORLD OF RANKIN/BASS book back in 1996!

PIXAR is 8 for 8!

We saw RATATOUILLE yesterday and it is a very different kind of film than the usual animated film. Again, it is a well written film and does not rely on farting and throw up jokes like the usual bunch of CGI films. In other words, it is special. We also saw the most unfunny trailer for a film called UNDERDOG. If you want to see how a classic cartoon can be totally ruined, check this one out!

EBAY link

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZAnimagic1

GIN BLOSSOMS in Downers Grove & Crystal Lake, IL

We had a GREAT time at some GIN BLOSSOMS shows over the weekend with our friend ROBIN WILSON and the rest of the guys. A GREAT way to kick off the summer and SCOTTY JOHNSON'S new solo CD was just released. ROBIN and SCOTTY played and sang on both of my CDs. We will be seeing them again in AUGUST!

Original RANKIN/BASS 'Animagic' figure on EBAY!

To start out my birthday, I listed an original 'ANIMAGIC' figure from THE FIRST CHRISTMAS (1975) on EBAY under seller ANIMAGIC1. These puppets are extremely scarce and I put a fair RESERVE on the auction. This is one of the jewels of my RANKIN/BASS collection BUT it is time to find her a new home. She comes with all of her original eyes, mouths and a few eye lids too. She got plenty of screen time in the RANKIN/BASS classic TV special. It will definitely be a CHRISTMAS IN JULY for some lucky winner! Hopefully she will wind up in a museum for all to enjoy.

SUMMER is here and we are getting all wishy washy...

Getting around much better these days....

I am on vacation this week and it is rolling right along! Saw a couple of GREAT GIN BLOSSOMS shows over the weekend and will post a few pics soon. Also, working on a few exciting projects I will post more info on later. Hope everyone is having a GREAT Summer!