This morning, while taking a browse of some favorite sites, I found myself watching a short compliation video of various monsters, creatures, and nefarious extraterrestrials from that old cult classic sci-fi series The Outer Limits. Though I never saw the show until my teens, I was given an Outer Limits annual, one snowy Christmas, when I was around pre-school age. This book was filled with comic strips about ravenous alien gloop and stories about crash-landed flying saucers. It started a passion for this kind of stuff that has lasted right through. But there’s nothing new in that.

The compilation clip was by Wah Ming Chang for a project called Monsters. Chang was a cinematographer, designer, and sculptor who is probably better known to Star Trek fans as Wah Ming—the mega-talent responsible for designing the tricorder and communicator on the original series, as well as a whole host of martians, monsters, and what-have-you. (Indeed, there’s a good blog to be done on Chang.) Anyhow, Chang also designed many of the monsters and special effects for The Outer Limits—hence the fine little compilation clip (see below) of various happy memories of scary things from outer space like the “Man from Galaxy ‘X’” or “The Zanti Misfits.”

All this, eventually, made me seek out a whole set of the Monsters From Outer Limits trading cards that were issued to coincide with the original TV series by Bubbles Inc. (Topps) in 1964. Back then, a packet of these cards (with a stick of chewing gum) cost 5¢. I was way too young to have ever bought or even thought about these magnificent works of pop culture, but know now I would have tried my hardest to collect a whole set if I had been. Nowadays, a single card from this set can fetch up to $50—which is fair return on an original investment all those years ago.

Having never actually seen a full set (I don’t get out much, I live in a trailer park, I like Wheetos), I thought it would be a fun diversion to gather all these past riches together for our delight and delectation. ‘Nuff said?
 

#1 The Television Terror.
 

#2 The Radio-Active Man.
 
More ‘Monsters from Outer Limits’ plus video, after the jump….
 

 
Leeds-based beat group The Outer Limits released their first single, “Just One More Chance” b/w “Help Me Please” for Deram Records in April 1967, and then another, “Great Train Robbery” b/w “Sweet Freedom” in May 1968 for Rolling Stones’ manager Andrew Loog Oldham’s imprint, Immediate Records. Neither was a hit or garnered any appreciable radio play, and supposedly the BBC banned “Great Train Robbery” due to the gunshots. Andrew Loog Oldham even tried re-releasing “Great Train Robbery,” but apparently it was to no avail. They just could not get a break. The group split up, but after the fact, their non-career was the focus of a Yorkshire TV report, “Death of a Pop Group.”

Playing like a predecessor to VH1’s Behind The Music, this short documentary about the group is an unusual time-capsule from the period, almost a cautionary tale for aspiring rock stars: Not everyone is going to make it—even if they have talent. The Outer Limits clearly had talent. They toured with Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd. They must’ve thought they had everything going for them, but it hit a wall pretty fast.

This is their (short) story…
 

 
Via Mod Culture