Episodes

  • HALLOWEEN SPECIAL 2025! – Dandy Spook Shack episode 55

    HALLOWEEN SPECIAL 2025! – Dandy Spook Shack episode 55
    Oct 25 2025
    watch video below! listen to the podcast below! It’s scary season once again which means it’s time for the Dandy Spook Shack Halloween Special! This year we’re haunting the Spirit Store to see what’s new. We’ll also have a look at the new MUPPETIZED Monster Cereals with one very conspicuous absence and I will share my favorite fright flicks of 2025 along with what’s hot on the horizon! It’s alive! Halloween 2025! Let’s step into the SPOOK SHACK! Hello and welcome to the DANDY SPOOK SHACK annual Halloween special! 2025! I’m your ghost, Necro Neil Dandy and in this season’s spooktacular, we’ll be visiting the Spirit Store to see what’s new this ghoul year. We’ll also talk about the most notable scary movies of 2025 thus far and the ones to watch out for on the creepy horizon. And last but not least, we’ll feast!… Our eyes upon the new box designs for the classic Monster Cereals by Jim Henson Studios with one very notable character that has apparently been given the deathly cold shoulder! BUT FIRST! I’d like you to drink in these frighteningly fashionable DANDY FUN HOUSE t-shirts! Woven from the threads of my dungeon spiders, you’re going to look drop dead fabulous. They come with fronts AND backs because nobody should be backless walking through the chill of a nighttime graveyard alone don’t you agree? Want to abscond with one for yourself? Simply visit the Dandy Fun Shop at the official Dandy Fun House website at dandyfunhouse.com and orders yours this evening. And if you’re watching closely watching on YouTube, we have a miniature Dandy Fun Shop set up there as well! Absurdity is Amplified at the Dandy Fun Shop! Ok, let us begin with a visit to the Spirit Halloween store to see what’s freshly alive for 2025! SPIRIT STORE 2025 We visited the Spirit Store in Nashville’s Opry Mills where the legendary theme park Opryland used to stand… but that’s a story for another time. We wanted to see what was new for Halloween 2025 and we were not disappointed. As we entered, we noticed the centerpiece for this year was haunted subway system. Very original. Of course it was monster rat infested which was quite a shock to the conductor. Once we escaped the train we took in a little animatronic target practice on a decapitated clown. Mama’s not gonna like this! Scary clowns seem to be a thing this year. Moving on from the animatronics, we find an assortment of un-welcome mats for the front door including the Bates Motel complete with bloody footprints, Mars Attacks, with Killer Klowns and Pennywise keeping the clown theme alive. M3gan seems to still be holding her own with the young ladies (you know it’s the dance)! And for the little ones we have the cutesy line of dolls known as Tiny Terrors with adorable baby versions of Chucky, Frankenstein’s little monster and Little Mikey Meyers. Moving on to more costumes we find many food items like pizza and ramen which is about all you’ll be able to afford after blowing your paycheck in this place, hard tea and you can also make yourself a few fries short of a happy meal dress as a pack of french fries. For the couples you can be chips and salsa, plug and socket, peanut butter and jelly or milk and cookie Awww! There’s also a great assortment of inflatable costumes like the inflatable banana, penguin, alien abduction, blow up chicken, big rubber chicken so you can throw yourself at Svengoolie, chicken abduction and giant balloon animal! Also I didn’t realize that Spongebob was still so popular but there’s an entire wall with every sort of Spongebob Squarepants character you can imagine and you can even buy your own supersized spatula perfect for flipping your crabby pattys and also for scraping your carcass out the door and back into the mall once your cash has all run dry in the Spirit Store 2025! Ya know, every year I always wonder just how the Spirit Store is going to top itself from the previous year and they always do. The animatronics get better, the products overall get better and there’s always something new like for example, I don’t recall seeing the Terror Tots before this year and I just thought making those iconic movie monsters into cute dolls was just a really neat idea. And speaking of movie monsters, I think it’s time we have a look over… THE MOST NOTABLE SCARY MOVIES OF 2025! Ok, now why am I calling this the most NOTABLE scary movies of 2025 instead of my favorites? Quite honestly it’s because, while I have seen my fair share of them, I haven’t seen them all. There’s just too many and when it comes to certain types of scary movies like vampires, zombies and themes that have really been beaten into the ground, it’s tough to motivate me to go see a show about a type of monster I have already seen a thousand times before. Therefore I’m going to do a rundown of the notable ones that stand out to me whether I’ve seen them or not and also give ...
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    20 mins
  • WILD WORLD OF WHAM-O! – Dandy Fun House episode 54

    WILD WORLD OF WHAM-O! – Dandy Fun House episode 54
    Sep 22 2025
    watch the video below! listen to the podcast below! Hula Hoop. Slip n Slide. Frisbee. Super Ball. What do these names mean to you? To many, these are just the names of some fun toys from years gone by. But to others, these names all culminate into just one… WHAM-O! And in this episode of the Dandy Fun House, we’re going to tell their story, have a deeper look into some of their most iconic products and discover what’s on the horizon for this epic company! Bam-O Slam-O let’s dig into WHAM-O! And let’s step into the FUN HOUSE! Hello and welcome to the Dandy Fun House Video Show, Podcast and Blog! This is where we slam right into the very best in retro pop culture, toys and games and all the fun stuff. I’m your host Neil Dandy and in this episode, we’re going head first into the world of Wham-O! But first! I want to stick your head into one of these slammin’ Dandy Fun House t-shirts! Woven from the leftover strands of recycled superballs, you’re gonna look like a million bouncin’ bucks or no money back! They’ve got a front and a back because winter’s on the way and we very thoughtfully cut four very strategically – placed holes in em! That’s right! One to crawl your body into, one to stick your head out of and two to poke your arms through! How much would you pay for luxury like this? It really doesn’t matter because we’re not changing our price! Just head over to our Dandy Fun Shop located inside the Dandy Fun House website at dandyfunhouse.com and see for yourself! And if you enjoy this show on YouTube, we have a miniature Dandy Fun Shop set up there too! That’s the Dandy Fun Shop where we have Absurdity Amplified! OKAY! WHAM-O! Where do I even begin with an enigma like this? Wham-O is THE toy and sports product company responsible for such instantly-recognizable products such as Frisbee, Slip ‘N Slide, Hula Hoop, Hacky Sack, Super Ball, Boogie Board, Trac-Ball, Silly String and many, many more! You might think of Wham-O as a classic novelty company from the 70s and 80s but their history actually goes back farther than that. MUCH FARTHER!!!!! The year is 1948 and two eager upstarts freshly graduated from the University of Southern California named Richard Knerr and Arthur “Spud” Melin who were friends found themselves frustrated with their post-grad occupations and decided to team up and start of all things a business making extra-powerful slingshots out of Richard’s garage. Why slingshots you ask? Both being falconry enthusiasts, they would use slingshots to shoot food up into the air for their birds. They called their line of slingshots the WHAM-O Slingshot and it was made from ash wood. They promoted and sold the Wham-O Slingshot by visiting various sports clubs and holding demonstrations. Both men were very skilled slingshot marksmen and their product quickly popular amongst these clubs for competitive target shooting and small game hunting. DANDY FUN FACT! The name Wham-O was derived from the sound of a slingshot hitting its target! Knerr and Melin quickly outgrew the garage and rented their first proper business location on S. Marengo Avenue in Alhambra, California where they remained until 1955 when they once again found themselves in need of a location that could handle and even greater capacity of manufacturing. So they relocated to the neighboring town of San Gabriel, California where they would remain for the next 3+ decades. With a greater capacity for manufacturing in place, they began looking to expand beyond the business of slingshot-making and came across the idea of re-branding the Australian bamboo exercise hoop, producing them from a type of plastic called Marlex and trademarking the name these hoops had been loosely called by since the 18th century “Hula Hoop.” And the rest is history. Within 4 months of releasing the Hula Hoop onto the world it became literally the largest toy fad in history, catapulting Wham-O to 25 million units sold. Within 2 years, sales of the Hula Hoop would exceed 100 million units. Hula Hoop mania continued to rage through the end of 1959 and by the time the world stopped spinning, the 1950’s came to a conclusion with Wham-O netting a staggering $45 million (which would be around $500 million today). These two college friends who just a few years earlier were making slingshots out of a garage found themselves riding into the 60’s on a gravy train with biscuit freaking wheels! Not ones to rest on their laurels, as the Hula Hoop fad was beginning to wane, Wham-O was looking for their next big thing and they found it in 1957 when they purchased the design of a plastic flying disc called the Pluto Platter from an inventor named Fred Morrison, quickly changed the name to Frisbee And once again, Wham-O had another hit on its hands! ANOTHER DANDY FUN FACT! The name Frisbee was...
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    17 mins
  • JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH MOVIE REVIEW and RAVENOUS RAPTORS GAME REVIEW! Dandy Fun House episode 53

    JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH MOVIE REVIEW and RAVENOUS RAPTORS GAME REVIEW! Dandy Fun House episode 53
    Jul 19 2025
    watch the video below! listen to the podcast below! Death, Taxes and new Jurassic Park movies. 3 things that apparently are certain to continue forever. In this episode of the Dandy Fun House, I’ll be giving my thoughts after seeing the new Jurassic World Rebirth movie starring Scarlett Johansen while I simultaneously unbox, assemble and review the Jurassic World version of Hungry Hungry Hippos where the hippos are replaced with Velociraptors entitled RAVENOUS RAPTORS! That’s right! It’s all things Jurassic today! Let’s step into the Fun House! Hello and welcome to the Dandy Fun House where we get all archeological on retro pop culture, toys and games and all the fun stuff! I’m your host Neil Dandy and today we’re doing something special: It’s a movie review intertwined with a game unboxing, assembly and review! And there will be some Dandy Fun Facts along the way… BUT FIRST! How about we DIG on these Dandy Fun House t-shirts! Woven from 100 percent fake dinosaur hair, you’ll not only feel extra toothy but JURASSIC gonna look great! And you’ll help put my kid through community college. Want one? Just head over to dandyfunhouse.com where you’ll find the Dandy Fun Shop with tons of other absurd designs because the Dandy Fun Shop has ABSURDITY AMPLIFIED! Oh and FYI – there’s also a mini Dandy Fun Shop on our YouTube channel if that’s where you like to enjoy the show. That works too! OK, let’s start with the new movie (at the time of producing this episode) JURASSIC WORLD – REBIRTH! Starring Scarlett Johanssen whom I must say is still in absolutely incredible shape. Not only that but she’s also a great actress which is important when your profession is acting I suppose. Unfortunately she is THE ONLY big name actor listed. I won’t give any spoilers about whether there are or are not any special cameos that one might expect but Scarlett is indeed the only A-list actor being promoted. But honestly, when you have Scarlett Johansen, do you really need anyone else? Let me know your thoughts. I will give away the very first line of the entire movie however and this will be the only real spoiler I’ll share so cover your eyes and ears unless you’re driving. The very first line of dialogue in the entire movie is someone saying and I quote: “How many times are we going to keep doing this?” Which I thought was hilarious seeing how this is what the 5th or 6th sequel of the franchise??? It was like they uncovered the wooly mammoth in the middle of the room right off the bat and I respect them for that! We’ll dive into the movie some more as we go along but let’s go ahead and start having a look at this game of RAVENOUS RAPTORS. I usually like to a littly blurb about whomever produces the games I review on this show but in this case, there is no toy or game company listed, just the JURASSIC WORLD branding. So I guess we’re skipping our history of the manufacturer for this one. Looking over the box, the front has cartoon velociraptors from the movie looking sort of Saturday morning breakfast cereal looking. They’re sort of smiling which raptors never do. But whatever. Looking at the little picture of the game on the front, it’s obviously a version of the classic HUNGRY HUNGRY HIPPOS game but honestly in the picture, the raptors look more like alligators to me. It’s like they made an alligator farm version of the game, scrapped the idea and repurposed the molds for this. It also shows the Jurassic World logo in the center of the game field which is nice touch as well as some metallic fencing reminiscent of the habitats from the movie. On the back, there’s a picture of a couple of older kids playing it and very oddly they are both sitting on the exact same side of the table. I mean there’s not much more to say here since it’s really just a retooled version of HUNGRY HUNGRY HIPPOS, but there is a QR code on the box that takes you to a video on how to build and play the game. I find that also very thoughtful. Now upon clicking the QR code it takes you to a 1:08 YouTube video on the ToyMonster channel, (so now we know who makes it) which very concisely explains how to do exactly what it says. It shows you how to unpackage, prepare the pieces, how to set it all up (which appears much simpler than when I reviewed Hungry Hungry Hippos) and even the added bonus of how to properly pack the game up when you’re all through. That last one is something I NEVER see a game manufacturer pay any attention to. It’s so frustrating to set up and play a game and then you can never get it back in the box. THAT is amazingly helpful. THANK YOU TOY MONSTER! JURASSIC FUN FACT! in Jurassic Park, the Lost World, the Japanese tourists running from T-Rex in San Diego are saying in Japanese, “I left Japan to get away from this!” An obvious hat tip to Godzilla. Ok, back to the movie. Product placement? Yep! Lots of it. Mainly Snickers and Altoids. In fact, a littered ...
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    Less than 1 minute
  • WEIRDEST ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS IN AMERICA! – Dandy Fun House episode 52

    WEIRDEST ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS IN AMERICA! – Dandy Fun House episode 52
    Jun 1 2025
    watch the video below! listen to the podcast below! America the beautiful! Home of the brave! Home of the free! And most certainly Home of the weird! With summer on the way (at least at the time of this production), gas prices going down and Summer break on the horizon, we can expect road trippers to be loading up the ol Winnebago and rolling across the country in record numbers! And they’re gonna have to make at least a few stops along the way! Some of these stops will be mundane. Others, not so much. And others yet… downright weird! Therefore, we find it prudent to dedicate THIS episode of the Dandy Fun House to counting down the Top Ten Weirdest Roadside Attractions in America! Let’s step into the FUN HOUSE! Hello and welcome to the Dandy Fun House Video Show, Podcast and Blog! I’m your host Neil Dandy and this is where we seek the strangest retro pop culture, toys and games and all the fun stuff you can whack yourself out on! In this episode, we’ll be counting down the Top Ten WEIRDEST ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS IN AMERICA! But first! Bend your bean brain around these abnormal DANDY FUN HOUSE T SHIRTS! Specially woven from beard trimmings, we promise you’ll look amazing! But that’s not all! We’ve even cut 4 “special holes” in them for added entertainment. 1 to crawl your body into, 1 to poke your head out of and two to stick your arms through! Want one? Just head over to www.dandyfunhouse.com to get yours or if you’re watching on YouTube, we have a mini fun shop set up there too! 10: WORLD’S LARGEST BALL OF TWINE, Cawker City, Kansas This one grabbed my attention because I’ve always loved the song by Weird Al Yankovic, Biggest Ball of Twine In Minnesota. So naturally I assumed that the world’s largest ball of twine would indeed be in Minnesota, but… no. Apparently it’s just the biggest ball of twine in the STATE of Minnesota because the actual World’s Largest Ball of Twine resides in Cawker City, Kansas! The full and proper name would be the World Largest Ball of Sisal Twine which was started by a man named Frank Stoeber in 1953. After dedicating 4 years of his life to enlarging this twine ball, he got it up to 5000 lbs and a height of 8 ft! Once a year in August the residents of Cawker City get together and have a Twine-A-Thon where everybody adds more to the ball. So it gets bigger every year! The World’s Largest Ball of Twine currently weighs in at over 27,000 lbs! 9: BIG IDAHO POTATO HOTEL, Boise, Idaho This is exactly what it sounds like. A giant potato in Boise, Idaho that you can book as a hotel room. What!? Why? How!? I have so many questions! It’s 6 tons of steel, plaster and concrete placed in the middle of 400 acres of farmland with a custom-built queen-sized bed and a small seating area inside and air conditioning! The restroom and shower are in a nearby converted grain silo however. But why? Well… in 2012 the Idaho Potato Commission COMMISSIONED it’s construction as it’s main attraction for the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Idaho Potato Commision. It then traveled the country on the back of a large truck for 7 years spreading the gospel of the Idaho Potato for all of America to hear and see! Upon the end of it’s 7 year journey, Potato Commission employee and tiny home builder Kristie Wolfe took charge of the large spud and put it to good use in the middle of some prime Idaho farmland, transforming it into a destination accommodation that spud lovers from near and far come to drift away to starchy dreamland in. 8: WORLD’S LARGEST CEDAR BUCKET, Murfreesboro, Tennessee Ok, this one is in MY hometown of Murfreesboro, Tennessee! Home of the Dandy Fun House Studios! The World’s Largest Cedar Bucket lives in a quaint recreation of a pioneer town known as Cannonsburgh Village. The one currently on display is actually a replica of the original which was built in 1887 by the Tennessee Red Cedar Woodworks Company which was the only company in America making cedar buckets at the time. It was created over the course of an entire year as a promotional attraction for the company who took it on tour to fairs around the country winning a blue ribbon at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair as well as the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair who filled it with beer as one might expect in St. Louis. 1,566 gallons of it in fact. In 1950, a man named Charles White purchased the bucket at an auction and later donated it to Cannonsburgh Village in Murfreesboro, Tennessee in 1976. The bucket was partially destroyed in 2005 due to a fire but was lovingly crafted back to life by the Rutherford County Blacksmith Association and rededicated back to Cannonsburgh Village in 2011. DANDY FUN FACT! Did you know that Murfreesboro, Tennessee is the exact geographical center of the state!? We have an obelisk that says so! (an obelisk is basically a tall, pointy pile of rocks erected to signify something of perceived importance) 7: FUTURE BIRTHPLACE OF ...
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    16 mins
  • PICKLEBALL BLAST! Game Review, Unboxing and Assembly – Dandy Fun House episode 51

    PICKLEBALL BLAST! Game Review, Unboxing and Assembly – Dandy Fun House episode 51
    Apr 26 2025
    watch the video below! listen to the podcast below! The Game of Pickleball! It seems like a fairly recent phenomenon the way it’s been sweeping the land by storm doesn’t it? It seems every community is building Pickleball courts at breakneck speeds but still can’t keep up with the demand! If you’re having trouble fighting the rabid crowds of pickleheads just to get on the courts and wish there was a way to enjoy the game at your own home, at your own kitchen table where you can wear your favorite pickle costume without being ridiculed, I just might have the answer you’ve been looking for! It’s the tabletop game of PICKLEBALL BLAST by Moose Games! And in this episode of the Dandy Fun House, I’m going to unbox this sweetly sour barrel of fun, show you how to assemble and play it, give my honest thoughts and also share the history of the game of pickleball! Time to pucker up and step into the Fun House! Hello and welcome to the Dandy Fun House video show, podcast and blog! I’m your host Neil Dandy and this is where we scrape the bottom of the pickle barrel to bring you the juiciest retro pop culture, toys and games and all the fun stuff you can dill with! Today I’ll be doing a full-on unboxing, assembly and review of the game PICKLEBALL BLAST while also bringing you the history of the game of pickleball. BUT FIRST! I wanna marinate your cucumbers in a jar of these puckerrific DANDY FUN HOUSE T-SHIRTS! They might not come in a jar but they ARE crunchtastic and WILL make all your friends GREEN with envy! Manufactured by the briniest of sourpuss garment printers on the planet, everyone will instantly know that your taste is pure bread and butter. And I’m not just gherkin you around when I tell you that we also cut four specially designed holes in each tee for your comfort and practicality! One to climb your torso into, one to squeeze your head out of and two to poke your green little pimply arms through! Want one? Just head over to the Dandy Fun House website at www.dandyfunhouse.com to spin the lid off one of your own! And while you’re there, check out our other amazing designs including our COFFEE BADGER tees, mugs and bags of harshly ground french roast! If you like to badge in, caffeinate and badge out, then the coffee badger is your roast! Once again, head over to www.dandyfunhouse.com and get cranked up today! Ok! THE GAME OF PICKLEBALL! Maybe you’re like me and you’re wondering what all this recent hubub is about surrounding this game with the weird name, Pickleball! I just started hearing about this a few years ago. Everyone buzzing about playing it, every community installing courts in every recreational facility and absolutely nobody would explain it to me. It’s like everyone else knew what this was and I had to figure it out on my own. So I went down to my local park and saw these weird little miniature tennis courts with people holding giant ping pong paddles whacking whiffle balls back and forth. And I said to myself… This is pickleball? Where’s the pickle? Why is it called pickleball? When did all this happen and why am I the only person they didn’t tell? This prompted a bit of research on my part and I was very surprised to learn that while the current pickleball craze is a fairly new phenomenon, the actual game itself was invented in the 1960s! 1965 to be exact, on Bainbridge Island, Washington by a man named Joel Pritchard (who would one day go on to become a US Congressman as well as Washington’s Lietenant Governor) and his two friends Barney McCallum and Bill Bell. Together they devised the game and established the rules. The name Pickleball is inspired by the pickle boat crew where the oarsmen were chosen from the leftovers of other boats. Whereas the game of pickleball is sort of an amalgamation of the court from badminton, the paddles from paddleball, a whiffle ball and the net height of tennis. They decide to establish Pickle Ball Inc. to market the game, bring it to the masses and of course, sell the necessary equipment. By the mid-70s, pickleball tournaments began springing up around the country and by the early 90’s became a feature of the Senior Olympics. The Pickleball Hall of Fame opened in 2017 and two different professional tournaments became established in 2019. In 2022 Pickleball became the official sport of the state of Washington, signed into law on the very court the sport was first devised. DANDY FUN FACT! Did you know that the game of Pickleball even has it’s own tv channel? That’s right! PickleballTV is co-owned by the Tennis Channel and the United Pickleball Association. You can find it at pickleballtv.com as well as on a variety of streaming services. Ok, I don’t really want to get into all the rules of Pickleball because that’s not really what we’re here for! What we ARE here for is to dig into this game of PICKLEBALL BLAST by Moose Games! So here we have our box and we’re gonna have a good look at ...
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    19 mins
  • SOUPY SALES – Behind the Slapstick! – Dandy Fun House episode 50

    SOUPY SALES – Behind the Slapstick! – Dandy Fun House episode 50
    Mar 11 2025
    watch the video below! listen to the podcast below! Once upon a time there was a man who perfected the art of the pie in the face. This man hosted a 1950s and 60s children’s show where one day he got a wild hair encouraging the kids to steal money from their parents and send it to him in the mail promising a post card from Puerto Rico in return. This ill-advised stunt got the man in lots of trouble as you might imagine but also made him notoriously next-level famous almost overnight. So, in true show business fashion, he was allowed to keep his job. Throughout the decades to follow, he went on to appear in countless television, movie and music productions keeping his unique brand of silly humor and slapstick alive all the way into the 2000’s earning his rightful place in the pantheon of comedic legends. In this, the BIG 50th episode of the Dandy Fun House we’re going to tell his tale and learn some amazing Dandy Fun Facts along the way about someone you might think you know. Oh, his name! Milton Supman. But you might remember him better as… SOUPY SALES! Let’s go behind the slapstick and let’s step into the FUN HOUSE! Hello and welcome to the Dandy Fun House video show, podcast and blog! THIS is where we slurp a mega-smoothie of retro pop culture, toys and games and all the fun stuff! I’m your host Neil Dandy and in this BIG episode number 50 we’re going to take you Behind the Slapstick and into the story of SOUPY SALES! THIS is a show I have been wanting to do for a very long time! But not as long as the longing you’ll feel once you check out these soup-a-riffic Dandy Fun House t shirts! Designed by yours truly and expertly modeled by stock image personalities, you’re going to love the way you look, I guarantee it! We even cut 4 holes in them. One to crawl your body into, one to stick your head out of and 2 to poke your arms through! Act now and get zero percent off! This deal WILL last long so hurry! As long as we’re shirt-talking, we might as well get jacked up on some COFFEE BADGER harshly ground french roast coffee! As well as our Coffee Badger t-shirts and mugs! Badge in! Caffeinate! Badge Out! Find all our amazing stuff in the Dandy Fun Shop located within the Dandy Fun House website at www.dandyfunhouse.com . We also have a mini Dandy Fun Shop at our YouTube channel. Just search for Dandy Fun House and that’ll getcha there! Alright! SOUPY SALES! If you’re really old, you’ll probably remember this comedian from his 1950s and 60s children’s show LUNCH WITH SOUPY SALES where he pulled an infamous stunt that almost ended his career but ultimately brought him additional fame and notoriety. If you’re just a little bit old, you’ll likely remember Soupy Sales from his countless appearances as a panelist or celebrity participant in multiple game shows in the late 60’s through the mid 70’s. Then in the late 70’s through early 80’s as a full cast member of the hit tv show, SHA NA NA. And all the way into the 2000s as a radio show host, recording artist and author. With roots firmly in vaudeville and slapstick the tale of Soupy Sales goes back farther than you might think… MUCH FARTHER! CHILDHOOD The year, 1926. The town, Franklinton, North Carolina. A little boy named Milton Supman was born to Hungarian immigrants Irving and Sadie Supman. His father a dry goods merchant. He had a couple of older brothers named Leonard and Jack who had some wacky nick names like Ham Bone and Chicken Bone. Milton was dubbed Soup Bone and later shortened to just Soupy. Catching the performing bug early in life, he found himself auditioning for and acting in a variety of elementary school plays. Moving on to high school Soupy attended Huntington High in Huntington, West Virginia where his performing continued, his popularity grew and he was even voted Most Popular Boy In School. MILITARY SERVICE Upon graduating from high school in 1944, Milton Supman enlisted in the US Navy serving honorably aboard the USS Randall during the latter part of World War II and becoming known amongst his shipmates for commandeering the PA system with comedy routines hoping to keep up morale while at war. During the Battle of Okinawa the ship was under constant kamikaze attack. His time in the service instilled a fear of flying stemming from his being assigned to “clean up duty” following a fatal plane crash at the San Diego Naval Base. SOUPY STARTS HIS POST-MILITARY CAREER After exiting the Military, Milton Supman completed his college education at Marshall University earning a Masters Degree in Journalism. While there, he further honed his performing skills in nightclubs as a comedian, singer and dancer. Upon graduation, Milton managed to land a job as a script writer and disc jockey with WHTN Huntington, West Virginia, choosing the stage name Soupy Hines, in part to disguise his Jewish heritage which is something many Jewish performers did during that era. Charles “Chic” Sale ...
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    29 mins
  • Let’s Make A PINBALL MACHINE! – Dandy Fun House episode 49

    Let’s Make A PINBALL MACHINE! – Dandy Fun House episode 49
    Jan 24 2025
    watch the video! listen to the podcast! Have you ever wanted your very own tabletop pinball machine? Have you ever wanted your very own tabletop pinball machine that you could reconfigure on the fly in order to create new challenges and adventures? Have you ever wanted your very own tabletop pinball machine that you could reconfigure on the fly in order to create new challenges and adventures that didn’t cost an arm and a leg? Have you ever wanted your very own tabletop pinball machine that you could reconfigure on the fly in order to create new challenges and adventures that didn’t cost an arm and a leg AND you could eat the ball when you’re done playing!!?? Well have I got a TREAT for you!? In this episode of the Dandy Fun House we’re going to learn about the educational toy making powerhouse of the company THAMES AND KOSMOS who are currently nominated in several categories for a coveted 2025 TOTY (Toy of the year) AWARD AND we’re going to unbox, assemble, play and review their 2025 TOTY AWARD NOMINATED STEM experiment kit: PINBALL MACHINE MAKER – GUMBALL RALLY! Are you ready to rally my pinball-loving friends? Let’s step into the Fun House! Hello and welcome to the Dandy Fun House, video show, podcast and blog! This is where flop our flippers and flappers for the most frivolitizing retro pop culture, toys and games and all the fun stuff you can chew with your mouth open! I’m your host Neil Dandy and this is our first episode of the year of our Lord and Savior and I’m kicking things off with a full-on review of PINBALL MACHINE MAKER: GUMBALL RALLY by Thames and Kosmos! If you’re watching the video version of this show you might notice my background isn’t quite as snazzy as it usually is and that’s because instead of having colorful draping or a graphical animated background, I just have what’s actually behind the Dandy curtain which is my production and tinkering room that’s currently being overhauled for increased efficiency, productivity and capability. But for today it just kind of looks like a mess. If you wanna make an omelet, you have to break a few eggs, folks. OK we’re going to get into this review of the PINBALL MACHINE MAKER GUMBALL RALLY… BUT FIRST! I want to rally your attention over to these sweet Dandy Fun House t-shirts! Let them know you’ve arrived ready for 2025 looking oh-so Dandy! As you might have guessed, for your wearing convenience we’ve included a front and a back so you don’t get cold! But wait! There’s more! Not only do you get a front and a back, but we’ve also custom-cut 4 special penetration-points perfect for poking your arms, head and torso through! Now how much would you pay? Prices are subject to change so I can’t really tell you here, otherwise a hundred years from now I’d have to sell them to you at 2025 prices, but head over to the Dandy Fun Shop at dandyfunhouse.com or if you are watching on YouTube, we also have a Dandy Fun Shop there as well! While you’re there, you can check out our bags of harshly-ground French Roast Coffee as well as mugs and t-shirts for our coffee brand: COFFEE BADGER! If you work from home, but your jerk boss makes you come to the office for no other reason than to validate the overhead expense of the space. YOU my friend are a Coffee Badger! You badge in, Caffeinate, badge out and go home to actually get stuff done or just hang out with your dog and pretend you’re getting stuff done! Either way, Coffee Badgers of the world… the DANDY FUN SHOP salutes you! Once again, get over to dandyfunhouse.com and see all that we have for you in the Dandy Fun Shop where you will find ABSURDITY AMPLIFIED! Alright! PINBALL MACHINE MAKER: GUMBALL RALLY by Thames and Kosmos! I first heard about this company Thames and Kosmos while I was putting together the year-end episode for 2024. I had never heard of these guys but they were nominated in several categories for TOTY Awards. (Toty stands for toy of the year). I was looking over all the different toys and picking the ones I found most interesting in each category and Thames and Kosmos not only kept coming up over and over, but I kept picking their products as the ones I found most interesting. And I was so intrigued by one of their products in particularly, the PINBALL MACHINE MAKER: GUMBALL RALLY where you assemble your own actual working tabletop pinball machine that you can reconfigure at will and you shoot a gumball that you can actually eat when you’re done. Of course how are you going to play after you’ve eaten all the gum balls? That will be another issue for another time. But anyway, for the longest time, I have been wanting to incorporate pinball into this show. I would really like to have an expert in the industry send me segments on exciting new machines and retrospectives on pinball classics and make it a regular occurrence here on the Dandy Fun House. If that’s you, please reach out. I want to make this happen. ...
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    20 mins
  • 2025’s GOT ALL THE FUN STUFF! – Dandy Fun House episode 48

    2025’s GOT ALL THE FUN STUFF! – Dandy Fun House episode 48
    Dec 24 2024
    watch the video below! listen to the podcast below! In this edition of the Dandy Fun House, we’re going to close out 2024 by looking ahead to 2025 and seeing what’s on the horizon for theme parks, movies, pinball and my favorite TOTY AWARD NOMINATION picks for the upcoming 2025 Toy of the Year Awards! All this ahead! Let’s step into the FUN HOUSE! Hello and welcome to the Dandy Fun House 2024 year-end extravaganza where we celebrate retro pop culture, toys and games and all the fun stuff! I’m your host Neil Dandy and while most shows are just mailing it in this time of year and giving their audience a “best of” mishmash of what they’ve already done over the past year, this show is instead going to take the opportunity to look ahead into the New Year of 2025 and explore the most exciting things on the horizon. But first! I have to show you these futuristic DANDY FUN HOUSE T-Shirts! They do have a front and a back so you don’t get cold and we even cut 4 holes in them with the rattiest pair of scissors we could find! One to crawl your body into, one to stick your head out of and two to poke your arms through! All because we care! Find them in the Dandy Fun Shop at the Dandy Fun House website at dandyfunhouse.com While you’re there, be sure to load up on all the gogo juice you’ll need for the new year with our Coffee Badger t-shirts, mugs and bags of harshly-ground dark French Roast coffee! You don’t have to love France to love their harshly-ground coffee, but it helps! Just get your oui-oui over to dandyfunhouse.com and get busy! Alright, let’s get into this new year we’re starting down the barrel of. There’s a lot of amazing stuff on the horizon and we’re going to explore that right now starting with… THEME PARKS! And I’m going to start with the big thing everyone is talking about because it really is the attraction that is sucking up all the oxygen in the room right now as far as theme park chit chat goes and that is… UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, Orlando Florida – EPIC UNIVERSE. This is a brand new theme park located adjacent to Universal Studios and Universal Islands of Adventure and it’s going to include 5 different specially-themed areas: Celestial Park, Dark Universe, How to Train Your Dragon, Isle of Berk, Super Nintendo World and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic. Let’s just cut to the chase and talk about the REALLY interesting part of this new theme park and the only part that makes me want to visit: DARK UNIVERSE! This is a special land within Epic Universe that is dedicated exclusively to the classic Universal Monsters, Frankenstein, Dracula and the Wolf Man! Sorry, no live for the Mummy or the Creature From the Black Lagoon. I mean someone has to recreate the movie theater attack from THE BLOB at some point don’t they? Anyway, First off we’ve got an incredible looking ride called MONSTERS UNCHAINED: The Frankenstein Experiment. This one takes place inside Frankenstein’s Castle! Dr. Victoria Frankenstein continues the work of her ancestors deep below the family estate. A demonstration of her experiments to control monsters goes awry when Dracula leads a revolt of enraged monsters including The Wolf Man, The Mummy, the Creature from the Black Lagoon and more! Then we have CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF! This appears to be a roller coaster where you ride in gypsy wagons to escape a pack of hungry werewolves. One thing that stood out to me in the renderings was a picture showing people sitting sideways, forwards and backwards on this ride. The information doesn’t divulge whether or not the cars spin or if you merely have different choices on the type of seating, but further investigation into the animated tour of the overall land of Dark Universe actually does show the cars spinning freely from side to side. It has a top speed of only 37 miles per hour so as long as you can handle the werewolves, I think pops can probably handle this one with you! THE BURNING BLADE TAVERN: Upon first viewing from the outside looking in, this appears to be fashioned after the climactic final scene from Frankenstein where he (supposedly) meets his end in a burning windmill tower. It is indeed an eatery where you can enjoy burgers, wings, bratwurst and pretzels. But just the fact that they have the burning windmill from the movie Frankenstein with the windmill ACTUALLY ON FIRE is just blowing my frankin’ mind! Another eatery in this portion of the park is DAS STAKEHOUSE: (notice how STAKE is spelled). This is apparently the more upscale dining option in the area and is a Vampire-Themed dungeon filled with vampire artwork and artifacts. DARKMOOR MONSTER MAKEUP EXPERIENCE: This appears to be a laboratory where you, the visitors can yourself become on of Doctor Pretorius’ mad experiments and be transformed into werewolves, vampires, mummies and more! So, basically, two rides, two places to eat and a makeup shop. You’re not...
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    29 mins