Quick! What did Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964-1968), Lost in Space (1965-1968), The Time Tunnel (1966-1967), and Land of the Giants (1968-1970) all have in common? Give up? They were all Irwin Allen television productions!
Mention the name Irwin Allen* and most people immediately think of his star-studded, big-budget blockbusters, The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and The Towering Inferno (1974), but Allen was also quite active in the sci-fi field on both the large and small screens. In fact, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea was a motion picture before being adapted for television!
Allen's sci-fi shows have often been described as "childish" and lacking any deep thought, but they were FUN. Many a fan still fondly recalls The Robot of Lost in Space waddling around and waving its arms as it warned young Will Robinson (Billy Mumy) of "Danger!" (So what if it looked an awful lot like Robby the Robot in the 1956 classic Forbidden Planet? Think of it as convergent evolution.) And fans enjoyed watching James Darren, long before he played hologram Vic Fontaine on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, running around the Titanic trying to keep her from hitting the 'berg, or Ford's Theater trying to save President Lincoln, or--well, you get the picture. And how many of us wondered just when one of the giants (as in The Land of...) would take a wrong step and-oops!
But whether you are an Allen fan or not, you are probably wondering if there is any money in the collectibles generated by each of the series. Lost in Space was the most popular, as attested by the number of items available at auction--over 2,200 (for both the series and the 1998 movie)! (All the figures quoted herein were derived from a survey of eBay in the wee hours of the morning of 10.21.00, EDT.) These items ranged from a set of 6-1966 trading cards for $22, a domed metal lunch box with thermos for $255.99, and a 60's battery-powered Robot toy for $61.
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea was next with 305 completed auctions including a 1964 sealed wax pack that sold for $80, a 1964 Gold Key Comic for $11, and a metal lunch box with thermos for $202.50.
Third on the list was Land of the Giants with 197 items. These included a Viewmaster reel set for $10.50, a metal lunch box for $100, and an Aurora Spindrift model kit for $420!
Last was The Time Tunnel with just 85 completed auctions. There were no lunch boxes, but there was a Viewmaster reel set for $59 (!), a 1966 Gold Key comic (#1) in just good condition for $3.25, and two board games-a 1966 Ideal (with a missing piece) for $92.51 and a 1967 Pressman Spin-to-Win for $135.83.
As always, condition and rarity were the most important factors in almost all the auctions, so keep your eyes peeled at yard and church sales, and GOOD LUCK!
*For more information on Irwin Allen and his sci-fi series, you might want to check the following sources:
The Web:
The Irwin Allen News Network at http://www.iann.net
Lots of info about Allen and all the series; links to fandom
Books:
The Complete Directory to Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Television Series: A Comprehensive Guide to the First 50 Years, 1946 to 1996, by Alan Morton
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/096573580X/auctionbytescom
Science Fiction Television Series: Episode Guides, Histories, and Casts and Credits for 62 Prime Time Shows, 1959 Through 1989, by Mark Phillips, Frank Garcia
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0786400412/auctionbytescom
The Sci-Fi Channel Encyclopedia of TV Science Fiction, by Roger Fulton (Preface), John Gregory Betancourt (Preface)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0446674788/auctionbytescom
