Drinks Coasters and Beer Mats (part 2)

 Here's an assortment of coasters and beer mats collected over the years. 

some date back to the 1970s or possibly early 1980s, such as the Watney's Pale Ale beer mat, the Tuborg beer mats, and the Embassy cigarettes coaster. 

I got the Mayr Bier beer mats whilst on a high school skiing trip to Austria in the late 1980s. It was really bizarre - one evening the whole class traipsed through the snow in to town, accompanied by the teachers, and we went to a nightclub. Turns out it was a special evening for youngsters, so no sneaky alcoholic beverages for us, but I collected a handful of beer coasters as a memento.

The majority of these mats/coasters I picked up in the 90s, possibly a few in the 2000s. The Humpty Dumpy Brewery beer mat was a bit later - probably 2010s. 

A few of them feature on another post here. 

If I had to chose a favourite it would be between the Watney's Pale Ale, Coniston Brewing Co. (Bluebird Bitter) and the the Odeon cinema beer mat, but from a sentimental angle any of the mats my Dad got me in the 1970s, and the Mayr Bier mats do bring back a fond memory of how they were acquired. i.e. I can't choose just one!

UPDATE: Here's a couple more I found knocking around the house. I knew I had the Uncle Stuart's Brewery one somewhere! Uncle Stuart's was a brewery that operated in Norfolk from 2002 to 2015. 

Badges, Keyrings and pencil sharpeners

Some of the space on the shelves in my office and my spare room are taken up wit boxes and bags of stuff from my childhood. Among this "stuff" is a large icecream tub full of badges, keyrings and a small set of pencil sharpeners. It's likely that some other boxes also include these types of item and maybe they'll be moved in to the tub at some point. Oh, and there is also a collection of beer mats in the tub too, but they are on a separate post.

The other day I decided to have a quick look and take a group picture so I can take a note of what I've got and share with the one or two people who stop by this blog.

A quick heads up - there are a few modern badges that have snuck in here. For example, there are a couple of my kid's age related badges (2 and 7) which are this century, as is the the Disney Conservation and The Big yellow Taxi (all American diner) badges.

The other badges include, Oink!, Wimpy Trinidad, Lennys says (from Tiswaz) , Jimmy Krankie, Midlands Bank, Girobank, The Queen's Silver Jubliee, Pizzaland, BT (Buzby), Ford, Ford Sierra, Bristol Street Motors, Hovis, Radio Stoke, Wilberforce House, Hull Council, Royal Philatelic (stamp collecting), Brownies, Fujifilm, British Airways, Guide Dogs, Birmingham City (no idea why I had this -  as an Albion fan I had several Albion badges too but sold those a while ago and only discovered the Blues badge in this tub), Ever Ready, British Rail (some lovely shiny train badges) and more.

Amongst my badges are several music related badges, mostly from Smash Hits magazine, plus a few modern ones such as Therapy? (the triangular badges), Idlewild (Hope is Important), and Kingmaker. 

There's a Spikey (Mistar Pigog) badge from the Brecon Beacons National Park Committee - See this post for more on Spikey the Hedgehog!

A smaller set of keyrings. I wasn't a big key ring fan, but I know what I liked. So, I've got a few cap-gun keyrings, a bullet one, Pepsi can and Fujifilm reel keyrings, an Oink! one, some football keyrings (a ball and a boot). There's also a very rare Wrigley's Bubblemint necklace. 

Finally, I really love my TV and telephone pencil sharpeners, both from the early 1980s. The other 3 (dinosaur, pig and wooden dog) are a bit more modern, likely to 1990s.

Who'd a Tho't It? Pub Memorabilia Courage Brewery Nostalgia

Dating back to the 1990s, this diddy little pub sign took my fancy so, like many things, I bought it and it sat on a shelf for years and years, biding its time until it could be used. I guess I liked the Starship Enterprise in the background and "Ye Olde English" traditional pub on the moon flying the Union Jack.

To date it hasn't been used, though at some point down the line I removed the cellophane wrapper to perhaps spur me in to putting it up somewhere.

But where would to go? No, I'm not asking for suggestions. I already know where I wanted it to go. It was supposed to go on the wall of my home bar. I don't have a home bar, and to be honest I don't envision there ever being one.

So, here it is, removed from the shelf for a quick photo and now it's in a box of other retro stuff.

Do you have aspirations of having your own bar, or perhaps you do already? May be someone you know enjoys a drink and you would like to buy them a gift. Well, this pub paraphernalia below might be what you're looking for!

Stencil Map of Europe .... from History!

How times have changed. Germany wasn't united. Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia had not split apart.

At first I thought this might date back to the very early 1990s, just before the declaration of independence of Croatia and Slovenia and Yugoslav war. The reason for that thinking was the presence of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on the map. These countries declared independence from from the Soviet Union in 1990 (Lithuania) and 1991 (Estonia and Latvia). However, I can't say for sure.

Let's just leave it as late 1980's/early 1990s. This stencil was from Boots, and it was used a bit so isn't pristine. Still, I'd say it's decent condition and it's a nice keepsake with a bit of history.

The Ren and Stimpy Show Prismatic Trading Cards

Happy Happy Joy Joy!

Ah,  Ren Höek  and Stimpson J Cat. A mix of the emotionally unstable and sheer stupidity in cartoon format - comedy heaven for little kids, teens, and immature adults alike.

These cards, mad by Topps, came out in 1994 and, being a fan I bought a handful of packs. So, all my packs are opened but for some reason I kept some of the empty packets too. Odd, I know.

What are they worth, Ren?

Well Stimpy, a full set (154 cards + 50 stickers) is likely to fetch in excess of £100. With the programme getting a fresh airing on TV (well, in the UK), and a nostalgic audience, I would expect this to creep up. 

I'll have to dig mine out (not literally) and see how many I had...a and see if I had any Swapsies! 😁

The Crow Trading Cards

Not much to say on this one other than it's an unopened pack of The Crow Official Movie Trading Cards from 1994. The movie, described as a supernatural superhero film, starred Brandon Lee, who was fatally wounded on set.

I've never seen the movie.

Gridiron figure

Erm, Steve Young. Never heard of him. The only Gridiron plater I've ever heard of is The Fridge, though I could not tell you his real name or who he played for. Okay, OJ Simpson and Dan Marino too, but I've only heard of them as they were in movies (and in OJ's case, the 9 O'clock news too.)

I did try watching Gridiron when it was pushed in the late 1980s, but I couldn't get in to it. The razzmatazz of the half-time shows didn't really get my attention and there didn't seem to be much content to the game beyond that. If I wanted to watch grown men wallop each other I'd watch Rugby (League or Union) as they do it without the Dynasty shoulder pads and with a lot more skill. I'm sure a few people here might enjoy it, but not me.

Anyway, back to the NGL Headliners figure, and we have this bloke called Steve Young playing for the red team wearing the number eight. This was given to me by a friend who I think must've got it from The States. Pretty sure it wasn't issued here in Blighty as catalogue has been spelt incorrectly. 😉

It's unopened though the blister packaging is a bit battered.

So, there you have it. Steve Young. Probably the 4th most famous Gridiron player in the world. Perhaps he needs a white goods nickname like The Tumble-Dryer as I'll never his real name!

Star Trek 25th Anniversary Trading Cards

For the record, my preference is Star Wars all day long, but I like Star Trek too. So, that's possibly why I had some of these Star Trek 25th Anniversary trading cards.

There were two types of packet to collect, one was the Original Series and the other was The Next Generation. I happened to have a handful of packets of each - Naturally I opened them to see what was inside, but kept the wrappers too.

Thunderbirds

Dating back to 1992, these "Thunderbirds Are Go" cards by ProSet find themselves amongst my collection of random cards and stickers. They weren't something I was collecting, just like a lot of the things you may seen on this blog.

Cadbury's - The Dandy and Beano card game

Some stuff you find and think "exactly how did I acquire this?"

This item falls in to that category. The "Cadbury's" bit helps as it would suggest it was a promotional item obtained through the purchase of chocolatey goodness, however, beyond that I'm stumped. I found out with some fine googling that it dates to 1990.

So, it's a card game with Dennis the Menace, Korky the Cat, Desperate Dan etc. I don't have the packet it came in (assuming it did have a packet) but a nice set of cards for a collector nonetheless.

An American Tail : Fievel Goes West

So, erm following on from the Alfred J Kwak pack, here's another random unopened pack of stickers.

So, as you can see, in Spansish conquers the west. The Pet Shop Boys would've been pleased.

Alfred J Kwak

I have random stuff, I really do.

Amongst my card and sticker collections I have a few unopened packs.

The one below is a from a Panini sticker set for Alfred J. Kwak, which was a Dutch Japanese anime television series. The series lasted for 52 episodes, broadcast between 1989 and 1991.

I say that with some authority, but ..... that was internet searched info. I don't recall ever having heard of Alfred J Kwak. I just happen to have a pack of stickers!

The Simpsons..... watch!

Watch The Simpsons, wear The Simpsons' watch!

In 2004 this was a watch was free as long as you bought (an maybe consumed) several boxes of Kelloggs cereal. 

Okay, this items breaks the 70s/80s/90s convention, but as The Simpsons was the most popular TV show of the 1990s I figured we can stretch it a little. Hey, afterall it is my blog!

Flash Gordon trading card

Heads up. This photo is a bit blurry. I'll redo it when I get a spare moment, I promise.

My memory is iffy at the best of times, so I'm not 100% sure how I came to own this Flash Gordon card. I collected various cards in the early 1990s so I suspect I may have got it whilst purchasing other cards.

I used to watch old Flash Gordon reruns on telly in the 1980s and, of course, the film of that era was enjoyable. After all these years I'm still mildly amused by the presence of Peter Duncan from Blue Peter!

We must sign off with a bit of Brian Blessed............"GORDON'S ALIVE!"

Subtle Plug

No, there wasn't a weird toy from the 1980s called a "subtle plug". I just figured that whilst this blog covered some random stuff from my childhood I should also point you in the direction of something that was central to my upbringing. Also, the photo was a bit of a clue.

So, here's a link to my Original Star Wars blog, with pictures of some of my Star Wars stuff. One of these days I'll sell fit on, but I wanted to capture it for posterity.

Garfield Annual

Yep. Not much to say about this other than it's the 1990 Garfield Annual.

Tape Cassette labels

For some reason I have kept a few tape cassette labels. I can't remember the last time I played a tape never mind actually recording with a tape. But I've kept them,and I can't imagine me ever throwing them away either.

FYI, there may also be some Hi8 video tables in there too.