Swap Meet Finds: Greek Ninjas Smell like Whores

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Found this, O theios mou, o ninja from "Greek Video Record & Tapes", as an odd duck buried amongst "regular" tapes this morning. From the family bonding over cig hardpacks, instructional video-like no-no workplace shenanigans, and ninjas I was expecting something a bit stranger than what appears as just Greek family entertainment in the '80s when investigating further online.

Still, the expression on the dude's face on the front is hilarious, looking like a desperate last attempt at a psycho stare before he and the boy get their asses kicked by a band of street thugs with zero ninja training. There's even a snippet of this flick on Youtube (seen here) with the English title being My Uncle, The Ninja. Judging from that clip, I assume extreme property damage is fine in Greece if perpetrated by children using their bare fists. Another curious thing about this tape was that the case smells drenched in cheap perfume and the paper cover smells bathed in the ash of six thousand stale cigarettes. Huh, maybe that dude on the cover is some kind of Greek sex symbol or something?

Not much today besides that, the biting cold and wet dog piss/motor oil slop that was once snow yesterday kept people away. I did find a sealed copy of Toxic Crusaders, The Making of Toxie, Vol. 1 from Golden Book Video released back in 1991. Even though only lasting thirteen episodes; I can remember the theme song, having a bunch of the colorful action figures, and playing the Genesis video game. Thinking about the series now, it's amazing the pitch for an animated kid's series based on of all properties The Toxic Avenger was even sold to begin with no matter how watered down. It doesn't seem like the same thing could happen in today's neutered children's television entertainment landscape.

In other news, Big Lots continues to have surprisingly good DVD titles for only $3 a pop. I picked up My Little Eye, The Phantom of the Opera (Robert Englund one), Chamber of Horrors / The Brides of Fu Manchu, Isle of the Dead / Bedlam (Val Lewton Collection), I Walked with a Zombie / The Body Snatcher (Val Lewton Collection) along with some cheap root beer for under twenty. Awesome. I didn't find the other two Val Lewton double features, but I noticed copies of the The Return, The Grudge 2 (unrated), The Exorcism of Emily Rose (rated), and Nick Cage punching hippie women in the face mixed in.

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