Pre-Orders for My New Book Are Now Open - Retro Pop Culture A to Z Volume 2: From Activision to Zelda

 

PRE-ORDERS ARE NOW OPEN!

I’m incredibly excited to announce that my first book in three years is now available for pre-order!

Retro Pop Culture A to Z Volume 2: From Activision to Zelda will ship in September of this year.

And as a special thank-you to everyone who pre-orders, I’ll include a FREE GIFT with your book!

U.S. residents only, at least for now.

To pre-order your signed-or-unsigned copy, please send $32 via Venmo to @Brett-Weiss-18. Or, you can message me on Facebook to get my PayPal information.

 The $32 includes:

• $25 for the book

• $7 for shipping & handling

Want your book signed? Just include a note with your Venmo payment letting me know. If you’d like it personalized, tell me the name you’d like me to make it out to. Otherwise, I’ll simply sign my name.

Thank you so much for supporting my work and helping make this new book possible. I can’t wait to get Retro Pop Culture A to Z Volume 2 into your hands!

Pre-order yours today!

The sequel to Retro Pop Culture A to Z: From Atari 2600 to Zombie Films, Retro Pop Culture A to Z Volume 2: From Activision to Zelda was a pure labor of love. There are 60 chapters on a wide variety of topics, including Activision and Atari 2600, the ColecoVision, cartoons, comic books, classic monsters, classic rock, the Console Wars of the 1990s, the Nintendo 64, robots in popular culture, Super Mario Bros., and The Transformers, to name just a few. If you want the full story on the Intellivision Amico debacle, this is the only place to get my perspective.

It's a diverse list, but the overriding theme remains the same: nostalgia. Each chapter is a deep dive into the subject, with most featuring quotes from collectors, experts, and/or celebrities. One of my favorite aspects of being a writer is interviewing interesting people such as Q*bert co-creator Warren Davis, Emma Caulfield (Anya on Buffy the Vampire Slayer), John Schneider of Smallville and The Dukes of Hazzard fame, and Lydia Criss, the ex-wife of former KISS drummer Peter Criss. I even go into detail on my unpleasant interaction with William Shatner.

 If you’ve ever stayed up all night watching your favorite film series in its entirety, dug through a box of cereal to find the prize, devoted an entire room of your house to your video game collection, camped out for concert tickets, spent a weekend treasure hunting at garage sales, or cosplayed as your favorite superhero or other fictional character, Retro Pop Culture A to Z Volume 2: From Activision to Zelda is for you. Most of the essays are reprinted from my years of working as a journalist, writing articles for newspapers and magazines, but there are some BRAND NEW essays as well. EVERY essay has been UPDATED FOR 2026, and EVERY essay features NEW “FONDEST MEMORY” ANECDOTES.

****THESE PAGES WILL APPEAR LARGER AND CLEARER IN PRINT

 The book includes:

 *60 essays on nostalgic pop culture favorites

*More than 117,000 words

*More than 240 black-and-white photos

*Quotes from celebrities and experts

*Production histories

*Author anecdotes

*And much more!

 Here’s the full list of essays:

 Introduction

1. Activision and the Atari 2600

2. Activision Classics: Top 10 Games of the 1980s

3. Back to the Future Part II: What it Got Right; What it Got Wrong

4. Barbie: She’s a Real Doll

5. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

6. Bettie Page: Queen of the Pinups

7. Black Lightning Strikes: Tony Isabella on Creating a Milestone Hero

8. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Interview with an Ex-Demon

9. ColecoVision Christmas

10. Comic Book Fanzines: The Golden Age of Fandom

11. Daredevil: Blind Ambition

12. Dracula: Dead and Liking It

13. Dragon’s Lair: The Interactive Cartoon

14. The Dukes of Hazzard: Good Ol’ Boys Never Meanin’ No Harm

15. Dungeons & Dragons: The Neverending Quest

16. The Exorcist: A Film So Powerful It Will Make Your Head Spin

17. Flash Gordon: Savior of the Universe

18. The Original Flash TV Show: Gone in a Flash, Remembered for Decades

19. Frank Frazetta: Muscles, Monsters, and Masterpieces

20. Frankenstein: The Monster That Refuses to Die

21. Gilligan’s Island: A Three-Hour Tour

22. Harry Potter: Muggle Mania

23. The Hunchback of Notre Dame: A Legend That Still Rings True

24. Intellivision Amico: A Family-Friendly Fiasco

25. Jr. Pac-Man: A Chomp Off the Old Block

26. Ken Kesey Takes It Further: LSD, Literature, and Life on the Road

27. KISS: The Lydia Criss Interview

28. Lois Lane: Press Pass to Peril & Passion

29. Mickey Mouse Club: Of Mice and Mouseketeers

30. Mickey Mouse: The Mouse That Roared

31. Mr. Do!: An Apple a Day Keeps the Monsters Away

32. Night of the Living Dead: A Graveyard Smash

33. Nintendo 64: A Dozen Hidden Gems

34. Nintendo Entertainment System: Night of the Living Sprites

35. Obscure ColecoVision Arcade Ports: Coleco’s Cabinet Curiosities

36. Obsessed with Comics: Becoming a Collector

37. Peanuts: Going Nuts Since 1950

38. Photonovels: From Screen to Printed Page

39. Pinocchio: A Nose for Trouble and Truth

40. Planet of the Apes: Still Going Ape

41. Robin: The Boy Wonder Years

42. Robots in Cartoons: Toon in to Tomorrow

43. Robots in Popular Music: The Beep Goes On

44. Robots in Video Games: Wired for War

45. Rock Concert T-Shirts: Worn to Be Wild

46. Rolling Stone Magazine: Time is on its Side

47. Sears Catalog: Where Every Page Has a Price

48. Summer of Love: It Was (Almost) 60 Years Ago Today

49. Super Mario Bros.: Plumbing the Depths of Gaming History

50. Tabloid-Sized Comic Books: Making a Big Impression

51. The Time Machine: The Future Isn't What It Used to Be

52. Transformers: More than Meets the Eye

53. Under Fire: Classic Light Gun Shooters

54. Video Game History: The Early Years

55. Vincent Van Gogh: A Brush with Immortality

56. William Shatner: Captain Jerk

57. X-treme 16-Bit Showdown: Console War of the 1990s

58. Yesteryear's Arcade Hits: Game Boy Edition

59. Zaxxon: Beyond the Space Fortress

60. Zelda: Four Decades of Hyrule Heroics

Acknowledgements