Where Did THAT Come From – ATM, Watchful Billboard, & ATF Van

In our silly lil game, we sometimes see things pop in that we have no clue as to their Origin. They seem familiar, but we just can’t pinpoint from where. So that is why we decided to make a fun lil reminder out of it. To let you know just Where Did THAT Come From?

Wowza… the 2017 Secret Agent Simpsons Event is in full effect and we’re all busy collecting intel, crafting subversive surveillance items, and tapa-tapa-tapping secret agents and spies in a covert palooza all about Globex, the EPA, GHOST, and the CIA. It’s enough to make me want to watch Roger Moore, Sean Connery, Don Adams, and Rowan Atkinson on repeat. Hooray for new ideas in TSTO. Just like the xxth Bond movie, life lessons as an adult, or an intelligence collection mission, I’m sure a lot of us never saw this coming. Of course, with any new event, there’s always an inevitable tapping on my attic floor from Alissa to get started on writing about the origins for it all. It’s always a pleasure to re-watch episodes of the Best. Show. Ever. to do just that. For this round of origins, I figured it could be fun to take a look at a few of the craftin items from the event.

Automated Tracking Machine – Level 2 Crafting Prize
Watchful Billboard  – Level 4 Crafting Prize
ATF Van – Level 5 Crafting Prize

First up, the Automated Tracking Machine which I think of as the E-Z Money outlet. To find this, I figured we could head to “Midnight Rx” (S16:E6). I just love this because it’s a nice call to things we see in the show and take for granted. In this episode about Grampa and Homer going to Canada for “pills to make ya sleep late, coagulate, eliminate, and copulate… in that order,” we can clearly see there’s an E-Z money outlet at the Kwik-E-Mart. I’m sure it appears elsewhere but this is the image I had saved in my collection.

Next up, the billboard  for the Genuine Spy Camera Just Like the CIA uses. For this we go wayback like Mr. Peabody to “Homer’s Night Out” (S1:E10). This episode is all about Homer getting caught dancing with Princess Kashmir at a bachelor party for one of the guys at the nuclear plant. Strip clubs really aren’t Homer’s thing since he has such an amazing beauty at home but one can’t blame him for being at a seafood restaurant shindig that just happens to turn into a stag party with an exotic belly dancer.

Suffice to say, Marge is none too thrilled when pictures show up all over town.

But you might be asking yourself just what the heck this has to do with a new billboard. Well hold one. We’re getting there. Early in the episode, Bart is flipping through one of his comics and sees an advert for none other than a Genuine Spy Camera Just Like the CIA uses for only $1.99.

He clips the deal, breaks his piggy bank, and mails off for the gadget. Six months later, it arrives courtesy of the Fe-Mail Man. Bart is officially in the spy business taking lots of pictures. It’s during barts shenanigans taking lots of secret pics that he ends up snagging a photo of his pop dancing with Kashmir, Queen of the Mysterious East. Truly a classic episode and you should check out how it all ends up all because of a tiny spy camera that’s now advertised in our Springfields.

The last item is the ATF Van which comes our way from “Homer the Father” (S22:E12). Bart wants a Street Assassin dirt bike but Homer has been inspired by an 80s family sitcom on TV to be a better parent. The whole episode revolves around this premise of Homer’s parenting based on Thicker Than Waters (a Growing Pains Matters parody). If you believe the show, David Chase once was an executive story editor and Stephen Soderbergh was a director. Long and short… Bart resorts to trading nuclear secret to America’s enemies (“so many enemies: Iran, Iraq, China, Mordor, the hoochies that laid low Tiger Woods”) in exchange for the mini bike he really wants. The CIA (Chinese Intelligence in America) takes him up on the offer before the FBI (French Bureau of Investigation) and ATF (the A-Team of Finland) can pick him up.

And there you go friends. The secret origins of some of the new craftables courtesy of the 2017 Secret Agent Simpsons Event. What do you think of them? Did you know where they originated? Wish the Finnish A-Team was a thing? Sound off in the comments and here’s hoping we’re all successful secret agents in no time.

TTFN… Wookiee out!