The latest Oz reading

I've got two more items to talk about before moving on to some non-Oz reading.

• I'm not sure how I picked it up, but I got a catalog from Bloomsbury Auctions for their September 2008 Bibliophile sale. The striking cover, a close-up of the Fab Four (nope, no Toto here) from the cover of the 1921 The Wonderful Game of Oz, would have made it into the collection alone (at the right price). But since about a third of the auction was made up of items from Fred Meyer's collection, I'm sure you can see the appeal. All kinds of Oz items, from first editions in jackets to manuscripts to original art to advertisements, are in here. A handful of items I didn't even know about. And I would love to see Neill's original manuscript for The Wonder City of Oz, before it got "expanded" by a Reilly and Lee editor. There was also a section of items from the MGM movie, again mostly from Fred's collection. The rest of the catalog looked pretty interesting, too, but I just skimmed through it.
• There was a bonus Oz appearance in this month's comics order. In Futurama #61, Fry, Leela, and Bender each end up starting their own Scout troops, and all three end up on the same planet to earn badges. This, naturally, leads to a contest! In the Best Entertainment Around the Campfire contest, Leela's Mutant Scouts easily win with a recreation of Wicked! (It helps that one of the mutants is green.) It seems the latest revival has been mounted right above the sewer, so all the mutant kids have been listening to it every night. (Bender is pressured by his agent into appearing as the Tin Woodman!)