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September 27, 2026September 27, 2026 Serpentorslair Staff1980s nostalgia, action figure collecting, childhood trauma, Cold Slither, depression and mental health, Destro Designs, Destro Is My Spirit Animal, fandom and mental health, G.I. Joe community, G.I. Joe Fandom, G.I. Joe mental health, Gus Rios, healing from trauma, Mark Fogarty, mental health awareness, mental health support, Michael Vandenberg, personal mental health story, R.A. Rayne, self-acceptance, Serpentor’s Lair, toy collecting community, trauma recovery, We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Programming, Zartan1 Comment

By R.A. Rayne I have rewritten this opening a half dozen times now. I knew when I sat down to write this article it would be rough, but I never realized how freeing it would be. Call it luck, divine intervention, or just perfect timing, but this past week Destro Is My Spirit Animal gave us a chance to look at ourselves instead of the world of G.I. Joe. Recently, Mark Fogarty posted a YouTube video on his Destro Is My Spirit Animal channel, where he candidly discussed his experience…

Gilligan’s Planet: The Forgotten 1982 CBS Saturday Morning Cartoon That Sent Gilligan Into Space

September 27, 2026September 27, 2026 Serpentorslair Staff1980s cartoons, 1982 cartoons, Bob Denver, CBS cartoons, CBS Saturday morning cartoons, Classic animation, Dawn Wells, Filmation cartoons, forgotten 80s cartoons, forgotten cartoons, Gen X nostalgia, Gilligan's Island cartoon, Gilligan's Planet, Gilligan's Planet 1982 cartoon, Gilligans Island, Hal Sutherland, Lou Scheimer, Paul Dini, Retro cartoons, retro TV, Saturday morning cartoons, Saturday morning TV, Tom Ruegger, vintage cartoons0 comment

There was a wonderfully strange moment in Saturday morning television when almost any familiar character could be sent into outer space. And in the fall of 1982, CBS and Filmation actually sent Gilligan there. Long before Saturday mornings became dominated by toy-driven action franchises, Gilligan’s Planet took one of television’s most recognizable comedy ensembles, loaded them aboard a homemade spaceship, and stranded them all over again—only this time on an alien world. If you grew up watching cartoons in the early 1980s, there is a decent chance you saw this…

SIGOURNEY WEAVER: The Queen of ’80s Sci-Fi — Ripley, Zuul and the Gen-X Sex Symbol Who Changed the Genre

September 25, 2026September 25, 2026 Serpentorslair Staff1980s actresses, 1980s nostalgia, 1980s sci fi movies, 80s science fiction, Alien franchise, Aliens 1986, Dana Barrett, Ellen Ripley, female action heroes, Gen X crushes, Gen X movie icons, Ghostbusters 1984, Ghostbusters II, Ghostbusters Sigourney Weaver, James Cameron Aliens, retro movies, Ripley Alien, sci fi actresses, Serpentors Lair, Sigourney Weaver, Sigourney Weaver 1980s, Sigourney Weaver Aliens, Sigourney Weaver sex symbol, women in science fiction, Zuul Ghostbusters0 comment

SIGOURNEY WEAVER: The Queen of ’80s Sci-Fi — Ripley, Zuul and the Gen-X Sex Symbol Who Changed the Genre There is a reason a generation can hear the name Sigourney Weaver and immediately picture steam rolling through a steel corridor, the warning lights of LV-426, or a Manhattan apartment glowing like the doorway to another dimension. Weaver did more than star in some of the biggest genre movies of the 1980s. She made intelligence, nerve and authority part of the decade’s sex appeal. Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley in Aliens…

5 Retro Action Cartoons You Need to Rewatch This Week!

September 23, 2026September 23, 2026 Serpentorslair Staff1980s cartoons, 1990s action cartoons, 80s nostalgia TV, action cartoons of the 80s, best retro cartoons, C.O.P.S. cartoon, Centurions Power Xtreme, classic action cartoons, classic animated series, Defenders of The Earth, Exosquad cartoon, forgotten 80s cartoons, nostalgic cartoons, retro action cartoons to rewatch, Retro cartoons, Saturday morning cartoons, Serpentor’s Lair Retro Watchlist, toy-driven cartoons, vintage cartoons, Visionaries Knights of the Magical Light0 comment

Defenders of the Earth Visionaries Centurions C.O.P.S. — Bulletproof Exosquad 5 Retro Action Cartoons You Need to Rewatch This Week! Serpentor’s Lair Retro Watchlist 5 Retro Action Cartoons You Need to Rewatch This Week! If you grew up during the golden age of after-school cartoons, action figures, cereal commercials and racing home before the opening credits started, this week’s Serpentor’s Lair Retro Watchlist is for you. Everybody remembers the giants like G.I. Joe, Transformers and ThunderCats. Those shows absolutely deserve their legendary status. But the 1980s and early 1990s were…

Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors: The 1980s Cartoon That Deserved a Real Ending

September 23, 2026September 23, 2026 Serpentorslair Staff1980s cartoons, 1985 animated series, 80s action cartoons, Armed Force vehicle, cartoons that deserve a reboot, classic Saturday morning cartoons, classic toy cartoons, DIC cartoons, Escape from the Garden of Evil, J Michael Straczynski, Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors cartoon, Lightning League, Mattel Wheeled Warriors, Monster Minds, nostalgic television, Retro cartoons, Saw Boss, SEOs: Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, Serpentor’s Lair, Wheeled Warriors toy line0 comment

“Thundering across the stars to save the universe from the Monster Minds!” If those words immediately triggered a guitar riff somewhere in your memory, then you already understand why Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors deserves another spin on today’s nostalgic watchlist. Premiering in 1985, this animated science-fiction adventure arrived during the golden age of toy-driven cartoons. It shared television space with giants such as G.I. Joe, Transformers, ThunderCats, and M.A.S.K. Yet despite having transforming vehicles, terrifying villains, a memorable theme song, and a galaxy-spanning storyline, Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors…

The Rainbow Berry Smelling Case of Strawberry Shortcake V Rainbow Brite

September 20, 2026September 20, 2026 Serpentorslair Staff1980s animated specials, 1980s cartoon nostalgia, 1980s toy rivalry, Kenner Strawberry Shortcake dolls, Mattel Rainbow Brite dolls, Rainbow Brite history, retro toy collecting, Strawberry Shortcake history, Strawberry Shortcake vs Rainbow Brite, vintage girls toys0 comment

By R.A. Rayne Move over, Harding-Kerrigan, Perry-Swift, Jem-Barbie. The biggest female celebrity rivalry started in the greeting card industry. This all started way back in 1972, when American Greetings published a Laurel Valentine’s Day card created by Barbi Sargent. The first image, titled Girl with a Daisy (Strawberry Girl), showed her holding a daisy and wearing an orange hat with a strawberry pattern. The card was a big hit, so popular that Rex Conners, the staff art director at American Greetings, asked Sargent to create more cards featuring the girl…

When the Cameras Stopped: How Crissy Moran Walked Away From Porn, Found Christ, and Made Her Past a Mission

September 17, 2026September 17, 2026 Serpentorslair StaffChristian redemption stories, Crissy Moran, Crissy Moran Christian testimony, Crissy Moran porn industry, Crissy Moran Treasures ministry, Crissy Outlaw, former porn star finds Christ, porn industry testimony, pornography and Christianity, women leaving the porn industry0 comment

There was a time when Crissy Moran’s face was part of an industry built to make people look larger than life. Beginning in 1999, Moran entered adult entertainment through the internet, initially posting ordinary modeling photographs online while looking for paid work. According to her later account to Christianity Today, offers for nude modeling soon followed. She initially refused them. After a painful breakup, however, she accepted one—and what began as modeling rapidly became something much larger. Moran eventually worked across several corners of the adult-entertainment business. She modeled, appeared…

Speedy Gonzales at 71: Celebrating the Fastest Mouse in All Mexico

September 17, 2026September 17, 2026 Serpentorslair Staff1950s cartoons, Classic animation, classic cartoons, fastest mouse in Mexico, Friz Freleng, Looney Tunes, Looney Tunes history, Mel Blanc, Merrie Melodies, Robert McKimson, Speedy Gonzales, Speedy Gonzales 1955, Speedy Gonzales 71st anniversary, Speedy Gonzales birthday, Speedy Gonzales cartoons, Speedy Gonzales history, Speedy Gonzales legacy, Sylvester the Cat, Warner Bros Animation, Warner Bros cartoons0 comment

On September 17, 1955, a tiny mouse in an oversized yellow sombrero raced onto movie screens and straight into animation history. Seventy-one years later, Speedy Gonzales remains one of the most instantly recognizable characters to emerge from the golden age of Warner Bros. animation. Although September 17 marks the anniversary of the Speedy audiences recognize today, his story actually began two years earlier. Before He Was an Icon Speedy’s earliest incarnation appeared in the Merrie Melodies short Cat-Tails for Two, released August 29, 1953 and directed by Robert McKimson. That…

September 17, 1951: Cassandra Peterson at 75 — The Woman, the Wit and the Wickedly Sexy Legacy of Elvira

September 17, 2026September 17, 2026 Serpentorslair StaffCassandra Peterson, Cassandra Peterson 75th Birthday, Cassandra Peterson Biography, Elvira 1980s, Elvira 75th Birthday, Elvira Horror Icon, Elvira Mistress of the Dark, Elvira Mistress of the Dark 1988, Elvira Movie Macabre, Queen of Halloween0 comment

For more than four decades, she has appeared every autumn like a glamorous emissary from some wonderfully inappropriate corner of the underworld: towering black hair, impossibly plunging gown, scarlet lips, dagger at her waist and a one-liner usually sharp enough to draw blood. But Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, was never simply a costume. Behind one of the most recognizable characters in modern horror stands Cassandra Peterson—a comedian, writer, performer, businesswoman and former Las Vegas showgirl whose improbable career carried her from Kansas to the Strip, across Europe, through Los…

BUT DID YOU KNOW? Don’t Feed These Facts After Midnight: The Wild Secrets Behind 1984’s Gremlins

September 16, 2026September 16, 2026 Serpentorslair Staff1980s movie trivia, 1984 movies, Chris Columbus Gremlins, classic 1980s horror movies, Gizmo Gremlins, Gizmo original design, Gremlins 1984, Gremlins behind the scenes, Gremlins Christmas movie, Gremlins fun facts, Gremlins movie facts, Gremlins movie history, Gremlins PG-13 rating, Gremlins practical effects, Gremlins production secrets, Gremlins trivia, Howie Mandel Gizmo, Joe Dante Gremlins, Steven Spielberg Gremlins, Stripe Gremlins0 comment

Few movies capture the wonderfully strange personality of the 1980s quite like Gremlins. Released on June 8, 1984, Joe Dante’s horror-comedy somehow managed to combine Christmas, adorable furry creatures, gruesome monster mayhem, dark comedy and Steven Spielberg-style adventure into one unforgettable package. You know the rules: keep them away from bright light, never get them wet and, most importantly, never feed them after midnight. But did you know the movie hiding behind those rules is packed with strange production stories and alternate ideas that could have made Gremlins a completely…

This One is Truly Outrageous

September 13, 2026September 13, 2026 Serpentorslair Staff1980s toy cartoons, Barbie and the Rockers rivalry, Christy Marx Jem, Jem 1985 cartoon, Jem 2015 movie, Jem Amazon Prime series, Jem and The Holograms, Jem and the Holograms history, Jem Hasbro toys, JemCon 20260 comment

By: R.A. Rayne The early ‘80s were dominated by space adventures, action films, and MTV. Boys’ action cartoons dominated the afternoons and Saturday mornings. While the Care Bears, My Little Pony, Strawberry Shortcake, and Rainbow Brite aired, they could not compete with the toy-driven G.I. Joe, He-Man, and the Transformers. Following the success of G.I. Joe and Transformers, Hasbro came up with a truly outrageous idea. They wanted to launch a new line of fashion dolls to compete with Mattel’s heavily dominant Barbie line. Hasbro planned to create a multimedia…

Before He-Man Had the Power: Blackstar’s “Search for the Starsword” Turns 45

September 10, 2026September 10, 2026 Serpentorslair Staff1980s Saturday morning cartoons, Blackstar 1981, Blackstar cartoon review, Filmation cartoons, forgotten 80s cartoons, He-Man precursor, John Blackstar, Search for the Starsword, Starsword and Powersword, The Overlord Blackstar0 comment

Before Eternia, before Castle Grayskull, and before the phrase “I have the power” became part of every 1980s kid’s vocabulary, Filmation took viewers to the strange and dangerous planet of Sagar. On September 12, 1981, Blackstar arrived on CBS with “Search for the Starsword,” a wild science-fantasy adventure that feels like a missing link between Thundarr the Barbarian, Star Wars, and the later explosion of toy-driven action cartoons. The premise gets right to the good stuff. John Blackstar is an astronaut from Earth who has been swept through a black…

Why Were Halloween Costumes Like That?

September 10, 2026September 10, 2026 Serpentorslair Staff1970s Halloween costumes, 1980s Halloween costumes, Ben Cooper costume history, Ben Cooper Halloween costumes, classic Halloween nostalgia, collectible Halloween costumes, retro Halloween masks, vintage Halloween costumes, vintage plastic Halloween masks, vintage pop culture costumes1 Comment

Story by @GIJoeRepairShop Jerry Seinfeld famously said about Halloween costumes: “Cardboard box, self-made top, mask included. Remember the rubber band on the back of that mask? That was a quality item there, wasn’t it? That was good about 10 seconds before it snapped out of that cheap little staple they put it in there with. You go to your first house: ‘Trick or…’ Snap! ‘It broke. I don’t believe it!’ … So I’m going out trick-or-treating but the mask’s rubber band keeps breaking and keeps getting shorter. I’m fixing it, it’s…

37 YEARS OF PAIN: BLOOD, SWEAT, BROKEN GLASS AND THE MAKING OF VAN DAMME’S KICKBOXER

September 9, 2026September 9, 2026 Serpentorslair Staff1980s action movies, 1980s martial arts movies, 1989 action movies, classic martial arts films, David Worth, Dennis Alexio, Jean Claude Van Damme movies, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Kickboxer 1989, Kickboxer anniversary, Kickboxer behind the scenes, Kickboxer filming locations, Kickboxer movie, Kickboxer movie trivia, Kickboxer production, Kickboxer Thailand, making of Kickboxer, Mark DiSalle, Michel Qissi, Muay Thai movies, Paul Hertzog, Stan Bush Kickboxer, Tong Po, Van Damme Kickboxer1 Comment

By the fall of 1989, Jean-Claude Van Damme was no longer simply another martial artist trying to break into Hollywood. Bloodsport had made audiences notice him, but Kickboxer helped turn the “Muscles from Brussels” into a full-fledged action star. What makes the movie even more fascinating today is how much of Van Damme’s own personality, athletic background and creative influence ended up on the screen. Kickboxer was produced by Kings Road Entertainment, with Mark DiSalle producing and sharing directing credit with David Worth. Van Damme was far more involved than…

“Billie Jean Wasn’t His Lover—But She Wouldn’t Go Away”: Inside the Bizarre Paternity Claims and Stalking Case That Followed Michael Jackson for Decades

September 7, 2026September 7, 2026 Serpentorslair StaffBillie Jean Jackson stalker, Billie Jean song inspiration, Billie Jean true story, Lavon Muhammad Michael Jackson, Lavon Powlis, Lavon Powlis children, Michael Jackson $150 million lawsuit, Michael Jackson 1980s controversy, Michael Jackson Billie Jean, Michael Jackson celebrity stalkers, Michael Jackson Encino home, Michael Jackson paternity lawsuit, Michael Jackson stalker story, real Billie Jean Michael Jackson, Thriller Billie Jean story0 comment

Few songs in pop history have inspired as much speculation as Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” Its story of a woman insisting that a superstar fathered her child sounded so specific that listeners naturally wondered whether Billie Jean really existed. Decades later, one woman became publicly associated with that nightmare in an extraordinary series of lawsuits, trespassing cases and paternity claims. Her name was Lavon Powlis, also reported as Lavon A. Muhammad and later Gabriella Jamilla Jackson; she repeatedly called herself “Billie Jean Jackson.” One important fact must come first: there…