39 replies to this topic

[steve]

EDITOR'S NOTE:

Since Steve posted these catalogs Ray has, sadly, died. He was one of the first great robot dealers and many of us owe him a great deal.

Many of these images are hosted on Imageshack rather than on Alphadrome and, over the years, have moved or disappeared.
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STEVE:

Ok let's get the show on the road. I will start small (as my test) and work my way up to larger catalogs. We will start with pictures "only" first and hopefully add Ray's descriptions later on. Under no circumstances should anyone with these catalogs post up Ray's original prices. I am very serious about this. If that happens this section is closed. (there are many good reasons for this) We must respect his wishes. Feel free to post questions or comments (except regarding original pricing) in the regular robot talk forum. Please bear with me - the pictures will not be perfect but good enough. The pictures might seem small - but this is the exact size as they originally appeared. My photoshop program is kaput nor was I very skilled with it anyway. Let's now have some fun:

Edited by Brian.., 14 March 2012 - 09:42 AM.

[steve]

Ok - we continue with our compilation of goodies from Ray's catalogs. Next up at the plate is his Spring 94" offerings. Without further adieu - lets take a look. Please note that this is not the entire catalog - I'll complete
the pages in the next couple of days.

[steve]

First off I had some "glitches" in the scaning of the Spring 94 catalog. I will redo that section. Right now I am without the "edit" function and will work on that glitch with Brian. Let's see if we can do better with this catalog. As Ray describes Mr. Davis he was a noted air brush illustrator. He created advertising for Nike, Nintendo and Coca Cola among many others. He had as can be seen from many of Ray's catalog covers - a talent for depicting toys in their own life like worlds. I am in total agreement with Ray that Mr. Davis illustrations are actually nicer than the toys he is depicting. Sadly Mr. Davis had an untimely passing due to lung cancer. His estate sold his robot and space toy collection thru Ray. Let's look at some intriguing offerings including a rare greeen Space Conqueror, the very rare Z-man and even a tough to find first edition original Planet Robot. Enjoy:








[img]http://img294.images.../img0010el3.jpg[/img

Edited by steve, 26 November 2006 - 04:07 AM.

[steve]

Let us continue on our magical mystery tour. At this point Ray's next few catalogs had a dramatic (thats dramatic not "Dr Atomic") increase in size. Yes in this case size does count as Ray's offerings became more varied. We see a pattern that Ray continued to use often. The "killer" or most expensive piece gets first page top billing. Less expensive items gravitate towards the catalog end - to promote Ray's philosophy of having something for everyone at all price points. This catalog as per usual featured a few real rarities (I'm confident Fineas will point them out) and we are once again treated to a beautiful cover by artist David M. Davis. Here goes:

[steve]

[steve]

Merrily we continue - this catalog offering by Ray is BIG. A number of real rarities can be found here. Wonderful variety of items - one of - if not Ray's best catalog - enjoy. I'll post this up in two parts.

Edited by steve, 07 December 2006 - 03:22 AM.

[steve]

Let's continue with the plethora of goodies:

[steve]

An awesome catalog - Ray's most varied to date. Wonderful selection of robots, spacetoys, rayguns, model kits & character. This one has it all!!!!

Edited by steve, 15 March 2007 - 01:19 AM.