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Encounter: the Women of Ta: Cecily, Astrid, Sybil, Amneris, Ursula, and Rimelda (plus a few friends and familiars)

#adventuring parties #land of ta #geedis #hybrids

Geedis

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The Land of Ta (Vintage Stickers) (1981)

So, a few years ago, there was a mystery being discussed on Reddit regarding the origin of a vintage pin featuring a strange creature with the name Geedis.

I don't know that they ever found out who made the pin. However, they did find out the origin of the character of Geedis. He was from a collection of stickers called the "Land of Ta" produced by the artist Sam Petrucci for the company Dennison back in 1981.

YouTuber Whang! made a pair of good videos. One of them talks about the mystery, and the other discusses the resolution.

It was discovered that the artist was Sam Petrucci. It was also discovered that the characters were only ever used for the stickers. There wasn't a book series or cartoon tied to it. I got ahold of the two known sheets labelled for "Land of Ta", and I did high-resolution scans of them. The 80-218 sheet looks a bit off, as if they printed the characters slightly to the right from where they were supposed to go. The 80-219 sheet looks perfect, however. I don't have the spin-off(?) sheet "Women of Ta" (80-224), but I plan to get that one as well.

https://archive.org/details/land-of-ta-second-sheet-a-full

https://archive.org/details/land-of-ta-first-sheet-z-canadian-packaging-front

So, we have these characters without any backstory or even character bios. So, we can only judge these books by their covers. That's what I'm going to do. Let's go out of order and start with the 80-219 sheet.

So here's Eris. I can tell that they aren't a traditional Dragon, as those have four legs. Likewise, I can tell that they aren't a traditional Wyvern, as those have two legs. Maybe they were based on the more obscure Amphiptere. It's not a perfect match, as Eris's wings (or are they flippers?) are basically on their head.

That was drawn by English cleric Edward Topsell back in 1608. The Amphi- prefix suggests that they are amphibious creatures, which would fit with Eris's sea-serpent look. However, I can't find much information about them.

And now we have Hermann. It is a bit difficult to make out his eye color. His eyes may be red, which is stereotypically evil. That axe, complete with chips, does look somewhat menacing. However, he might not be using it as a weapon. He may be a wood-cutter. The short legs and massive torso make me think of Where the Wild Things Are. On the plus side, his legs are super short, so you could probably out-run him in a chase.

And now, we have our first human (or maybe just human-like) character. Radon has a horned helmet. That's an old Viking stereotype that has been largely debunked. Having horns on your helmet is a really bad idea in a fight, as the enemy can grab the horns and do alot with your head. I cannot see what his necklace is made of. His boots are made of metal, while the rest of his minimalist outfit is made of fur. That's a bit odd. Barbarian types would probably still with all-fur, and a knight would probably have more substantial metal armor.

He's jacked as hell, and he looks very serious. So, fighting him would probably be a bad idea.

And now, we have whatever the hell Shimra is. They look like a cross between a red-eyed tree frog, a mountain lion, and a chipmunk. I don't immediately recognize Shimra as an existing creature from well-known folklore. They look about ready to pounce. Those claws look like they could do some damage. Some frogs do have tiny teeth, but they're more for swallowing prey whole rather than chewing.

And here we have Stefan. He's a tall, jacked, barbarian with an elaborate wyvern on top of his staff. He appears to have just taken down some type of wyvern. However, I'm not sure I believe this. Sure, he has one foot on the wyvern's belly. However, it's claws are well within range of ripping his balls off. The staff that he leans on doesn't looks very useful as a weapon, as he's bound to get the little wyvern caught on something, or broken off. He's not even looking at the wyvern that he's supposed to be fighting. He's just staring straight ahead, not knowing what he's about to lose.

I think this shot was setup and posed. It's like that old trope of the hunting trophy with the bear posed like it's going to attack. Yeah, something tells me Radon could take him.

But maybe I've got Stefan all wrong. Maybe that wyvern on his staff indicates that he is a wyvern-trainer of some sort. Maybe the wyvern on the ground is actually his pet, and that's why he isn't worried about the situation.

And here we have Uno. They won't stop staring at me. I have to question how they're holding that club. Why is the club being held in their lower arm? It they try to pull back to swing, their upper arm will get in the way.

And now, we have the first member of the 80-218 sheet. The green skin and antennae make me think of the Namekians. He appears to be carrying a serpent, which I assume is a living minion. Or maybe he swings it like a flail. Maybe it's both.

Zoltan, of course, is rich as all hell. He bought those gold arm bands with the royalties from his line of fortune-telling machines. Here's an example from pinrepair.

And here's C3PO's cousin, Tokar. Or maybe that's a man in a suit with a respirator, a-la Darth Vader. We know he was inspired by Star Wars anyway. That's definitely a killer robot pose. I wonder who he is reaching for? Or maybe this is as far as he can raise his arms. That upper part of his chest piece looks like it would inhibit his shoulder movement.

And now, everyone say "hello" to Iggy. That is certainly a face. This bothers me more than Uno did. Just like Zoltan, we have some sort of living serpent. In this case, the serpent is wrapped around his staff. Surely, Iggy isn't planning on using the staff as a weapon while the serpent is wrapped around it. Or maybe I've got the wrong end of the staff here. Maybe Iggy is the serpent, and the green guy is the minion.

And there's Harry. He has some horrifying mixture of a bald eagle and an earthworm. Just like Stefan earlier, his animal-handling skills are questionable. It looks like its about to bite off Harry's nose.

And now, we have Erik. At first, I thought he was another human, like Stefan or Radon. But then, I saw those bird talons on his feet and that beak on his face. I don't see any wings, but he does have a bird on his helmet and on his staff. With the questionable exception of Tokar, Erik is the first one who decided to bring chest armor. He looks like the sort of person that another fighter would discount immediately because of his looks. But then, he would take them apart.

Yeah, I saved him for last. Geedis led so many people to learn about the Land of Ta. He brought the 1981 sticker pack out of obscurity. He looks very friendly.

And that's it for the 80-218 and 80-219 sheets from the Land of Ta. I'll make another post later on when I get the 80-224 sheet for the Women of Ta.

#long post #longpost #1980s #stickers #Geedis #Land of Ta #nostalgia #Youtube

when i am art blocked and in med withdrawal he is all i have

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