Sizzling Print Knits

June 25, 2018 By Mantooth In Uncategorized 1 Comment

From the “Bus Station Creep” line…

About The Author

Mantooth

AKA Brian Heiler author of "Rack Toys: Cheap, Crazed Playthings" and co-editor of "Toy-Ventures Magazine". Co-Host of the "Pod Stallions" podcast. Host of the Brick Mantooth Youtube channel, painter, designer, writer, mental health advocate, toy collector, Mego, and Mego Knock-Off enthusiast. I have large feet, ADHD and I live in Canada. Talk toys, not others.

1 Comment

Anonymous on June 26, 2018

Oh, no, no, no… this was defintiely not the Bus Station Creep line. Mantique had that market sewn up tight.

This was as close as catalogs dared get to explicitly targeting the gay market of the time. No snarkiness here, either. It's fascinating entirely from a historical perspective, the kind of tone the copy-writers used, aiming for "the assertive male who knows fashion."

Further, the photographers deliberately avoided selecting the tougher-looking men who usually conveyed a ruggedly masculine archetype during that era… the kind of guy that Joe Average could look at and think, "Yeah! If I buy this polyester knit shirt, somehow I'll start looking more like him!"

Instead they chose younger, more sensitive-looking models a very different demographic would look at and think much the same thing.

Number Three, sporting the floral print shirt looks very much like Rudolph Nuryev the ballet star who was a HUGE heart-throb in the gay world during the late 60s and most of the 70s. Even by today's standards, Nuryev would be considered a knock-out. Trim, toned, incredible muscle definition, cheekbones that would cut paper, and utterly shameless.

On a related point, let's all breathe a huge sigh of relief the "Double-Feature" look never caught on. Even on a conventionally attractive model it looks awful.

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