When were the Flicker Rings Sold?

[shiverbones]

The question about how long the Anchor Hocking glasses were available for sale got me thinking about the rings. I for some reason always had 1963 in my mind, but can't remember why. Does anyone know when these rings were actually available for sale in gumball machines?

[Opera Ghost]

I bought many a Batman and Green Hornet flicker rings from A&P and Acme Grocery stores back in the mid-late 60s. I do not recall exactly when they started. As I recall, I think there were Archies characters to.

Captain Action Uniforms, I believe with 2nd series, issued a ring with each uniform as well.


OG

[shiverbones]

Thanks. I found in the Elwar mystery thread, it was stated as 1963 & 64 for the monsters, so that backs up what I had heard before.

[Paul L]

I recall getting a Monkees flicker ring cereal premium approx. 1968.

[Toy Ranch]

From wiki:

After Harvey bought the rights to Casper and many other Famous properties in 1959 (including Herman and Katnip, Little Audrey, and Baby Huey), they began broadcasting the post-September 1950 theatrical Famous shorts on a television show sponsored by Mattel Toys titled Matty's Funday Funnies on ABC in 1959 which introduced the Barbie  doll to the public. The other Famous produced Casper cartoons had already been acquired by television distributor U.M.&M. T.V. Corp. in 1956. U.M.&M. retitled just "A Haunting We Will Go", but miscredited "Featuring Casper The Friendly Ghost" as "Featuring Caspers Friendly Ghost".

New cartoons were created for The New Casper Cartoon Show in 1963, also on ABC. The original Casper cartoons were syndicated under the title Harveytoons in 1962 and ran continually until the mid-90s. Casper has remained popular in reruns and merchandising, and Hanna-Barbera produced two holiday specials, Casper's First Christmas (which also starred Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss, Quick Draw McGraw, Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy) and Casper's Halloween Special (aka Casper Saves Halloween), and also the Saturday morning cartoon series Casper and the Angels (a animated takeoff on two live action hit shows Charlie's Angels & "CHiPS") in the autumn of 1979, all on NBC. Also featured on the NBC version was a big ghost named Hairy Scary (voiced by John Stephenson). None of Casper's original co-stars appeared in the show.

Why is this relevant?  Because the UM flicker rings were sold with Casper flicker rings. 




The copyright under Casper reads "Copyright Harvey Famous Cartoons"

I believe the rings were released to promote the 1963 "New Casper Cartoon Show".

[shiverbones]

Great! Thanks for the detailed info!

[Toy Ranch]

They were also released with 3 different colored backgrounds.

Green is the most common.



The red ones are about 10x as rare as those.



Rarest are the blue



The Casper rings came in 2 different poses and in all 3 colored backgrounds as well.

[shiverbones]

Great shots! How many blues do you need yet? I don't think I have ever seen the red flickers on V bases before, only greens.

For me, I just have these 4, and am torn between holding out for a red Drac & frank for the red set, or just taking what I can get, most likely green.

[poseablemonster]

I have never found any of the flicker rings to add to my collection yet.  I can't ever bring myself to pay the price for them.

[Toy Ranch]

I've only got 3 of the blues.  I can't remember which ones I need.  I think I have Frank, Drac, and Wolfie.

The rings were sometimes shipped separate from the bases, and the vending guys would sit around the kitchen table and glue them on to whatever was handy.  There are vintage bases and repop "China" bases, but beyond that, most variations are possible.

[jpsmith2353]

I have posted pictures of 5 rings The creature, Dracula, Mummy, Phantom, Frakenstein. All rings are in mint condition, I am looking to find the value and rarity of what ive got, any help would be appreciated thanks again!

[Vandor Zorkov]

How exactly does the flicker feature work? I never had these rings but recall my dad had a silly button from the '60s with a big eye that opened and closed. Forgot all about it until this thread.

[Hepcat]

Why is this relevant?  Because the UM flicker rings were sold with Casper flicker rings. 




The copyright under Casper reads "Copyright Harvey Famous Cartoons"

Good info! Therefore any collection without the two Casper rings is not a "set".

[Monsters For Sale]

How exactly does the flicker feature work? I never had these rings but recall my dad had a silly button from the '60s with a big eye that opened and closed. Forgot all about it until this thread.

The lenticular printing was done on a ridged surface - like the surface of a corrugated iron roof or a Ruffles potato chip.  One image is printed on one side of the "ridge" and another is printed on the other side.  Tilting the surface back and forth exposes one image at a time to your line of sight.  Sometimes in mid-tilt you can catch glimpses of both images at once.

If the images are of the same face - one with both eyes open and the other with one eye shut - the character seems to wink at you.  If the images are totally different, the chracater seems to morph from one to the other. 

This system could also be used to give the illusion of depth, like with the old stereo viewers.

More advanced printing sytems could use 3 or more images.  A character could even be made to appear moving along like in the old flip books.  But the method remains the same, just images printed on different angles.
 

[MDG]

More advanced printing sytems could use 3 or more images.  A character could even be made to appear moving along like in the old flip books.  But the method remains the same, just images printed on different angles.

When I was doing some work for Kodak 10-12 years ago, there was a group working on trying to commercialize different applications of lenticular technology. They were able to get 3 or 4 seconds worth of video on a single piece.