Gearfuse

This week’s Retro Rewind delves into the original poor-mans virtual reality, the ViewMaster. The good old days of paper reels and plastic mechanical eyeware might be behind us, but we shall never forget the ViewMaster.

I remember quite vividly. The joy of looking through the different reels at my local Kmart. Filled with the anticipation that only a child can feel when they think their Mommies might just say yes this time and buy them that damn Racing reel you always wanted. But, Oh! The horror on our faces when our Mom said “Maybe next time”. Our little worlds were caving in from under us.

We all eventually forgave our mothers for this atrocity. Or at least we hope you have by now. But isn’t there still a small piece of you that would still jump at the chance to have that reel you always wanted? Regardless of the importance the actual reel would have on you now, the symbolism of youth doesn’t get any more blatant. Nowadays, non-battery powered viewing devices are more rare to find then one would think. Sometimes you just need a taste of the old classics. — Andrew Dobrow

ViewMaster [Wikipedia]

This week’s retro rewind delves through various levels of pop-culture through the 80’s. No doubt the De Lorean was best known for its role as the time machine from the Back To The Future movies. Did Michael J. Fox or Christopher Lloyd ever think that the Delorean would become a cultural trademark after the movie was made? Who the hell knows.

Of course, it’s most famous feature is its vertically opening gull-wing doors, which would eventually become even more well known through the luxury car company, Lamborghini. The funny thing about this particular car is that when its doors were closed, it looked like a stripped down station wagon. From the front it just looked awful. Which is why most pictures of the De Lorean display the doors at full mast.

Despite the cars supposed popularity, the company went bankrupt in 1982 and only 9,200 original De Loreans were ever produced. Much lesser known are the 24k gold-plated De Loreans (picture after the jump), which were produced as a limitied edition, only 100 made, to be sold to American Express gold customers. Let’s all take a moment of silence to remember the De Lorean.

(more…)