Finds From the Thrift Store

This past weekend, I was introduced to a new thrift store(new to me anyway).  Of all the thrift stores that I have been to, this one seemed to have the best selection.  They had NES games, Genesis games, toys, and lots of other cool stuff.  The best thing of all though, was that they were having a 75% off sale.  Video games and electronics were not part of this sale(they were 20% off), so I decided to check out the toy section.  There were a few TMNT figures that I already have, but there was one that I had never realled seeing before.

This is Antrax.  I know that there were characters for almost any animal that you can think of, but I don’t remember this guy.  I thought he looked cool, so I decided to buy him.  His original asking price was $8(way too high, I think), but with the 75% off, he only set me back $2.  He’s completely void of accessories, and missing his antennas, and mandibles.  Still, I’m glad I picked him up.

I was informesd, when I bought Antrax, that I found him in the vintage toy section.  There was another toy section in the back with more current toys, but other stuff had been found there.  So I figured it was worth a peek, and found this beauty!

It’s the Captain Power – Powerjet XT-7!  The box is still sealed on one side, and the other side has been taped shut.  The contents of the box is loose(and rattles around in the box), but I was assured that everything that was supposed to be in there, was in there.  I would like to get some adhesive remover to get the tape off of the box, and then I’ll have a peek inside(I of course, want the box to look as nice as possible).  Now most of the time, I’d be ripping into the box before I bought it, to make sure it’s all there.  But, with the sale, I got it for $5, instead of the $20 it was originally marked for.  I love when I can find 80s toys in their original packages for a price that I’m comfortable with(which seems to be getting to be a rare thing).  The box is nowhere near mint, but I still love the look of packaging.  I’ll definitely be going back to that store soon.

Leonardo 2012

I picked up Leo here when I got Donatello.  I originally was going to just get Donnie, but at $8.99 a piece, it made it easy to buy two(Wal-Mart has the for $7.77, but that’s a story for another time).

Leo’s shorter, and his green skin is a different shade than Donnie’s.  This is a nice touch.  Each of the Turtles have a little bit more uniquenesss because of this, and that’s a good thing.  I love the old-school figures, but I’m liking the differences that they have made.

As is the case with all of the Turtles, Leo came with his standard weapons(in his case, katanas), as well as a rack of other ninjas weapons(each figure has a different set).  They’ll just end up in a ziplock bag, stored away.  I think that it’s a nice that they’re included, but I don’t have any use for them at the present time.

I plan on getting all 4 Turtles, but I’m not so sure about the other figures that came out in this wave.  The other figures have less articulation, but they do look cool.  Once the show airs, I may be swayed into picking them up.  And the next wave is shaping up to be awesome, with the addition of Metalhead!  I’m really interested in how he’s going to look.  Could be good, but could also be very bad.  Time will tell.

I am pleased so far, and I hope this line and show does great.  It’ll be really cool to see the new generation of kids get into the Turtles just like we did.  I can’t recommend the figures enough.  Once you have one, you’ll want all four.

Transformers Generations : Fall of Cybertron – Shockwave

With the recent release of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys, this almost flew under my radar!

If you’ve been reading this blog for a little while, you know that I’m a big fan of the Generations line of Transformers.  The sculpts are usually top notch, and, at least in robot mode, they heavily resembled their G1 counterparts.  And the newst wave is no exception.

The new figures are based on the characters in the upcoming Fall of Cybertron video game.  In the first wave we’ve got Optimus Prime, Jazz, and Shockwave.  All of their vehicle modes are their Cybertronian modes.  And in future waves, we will see Starscream and Grimlock(really looking forward to this one).  But for now, we’re here for Shockwave.

Shockwave came packaged in robot mode, but I wanted to show his vehicle mode first.  This is his “Cybertronian Mobile Artllary Mode”.  My guess is that this is some kind of super tank, and it’s bit reminiscent of his gun mode from Generation 1.   It’s a very interesting design, and looks bad-ass!

Of course, the directions were very confusing.  But now that I’ve transformed him from robot to vehicle and back again, it’s not overly complicated(which should be expected, as it’s transformation is a level 2).

But as with the majority of Transformers, he looks better in robot mode.

Shockwave’s cannon is a seperate gun rather than being part of his other arm(as was the case with the G1 version).  Still, with his one never blinking eye, and absence of any facial features, he looks really frickin’ awesome!

Now while I am happy with this figures appearance, I do have a few gripes.  The first being the higher cost of these deluxe class figures.  I picked this up at Wal-Mart(which is usually cheaper than anywhere else), and it ran me close to $16.00.  And that was before tax!  Now, I wouldn’t mind the price increase, if I felt that it was warranted.  But these new figures are a bit smaller, and the materials they’re made from, seem to feel a bit cheaper than the older figures in the line.

So, if I were to rate this on a scale of 1-10, I’d give it an 8.5.  It’s a great looking figure, but I don’t think the price hike was necessary.  Shockwave looks like he’s the short-packed of the 3 that were released.  So if you want him, pick him up when you first see him, because you may have a hard time finding him later.

New Display Set-Up

Recently I changed my toy display, from a typical bookshelf, to actual shelves on the wall.  Even though it supports less(just a smidge) of my collection, I am much more satisfied with it’s appearance.  There’s a few gaps that have to be filled, and they will be, as soon as I figure out where some of the newer additions are going.  Here’s what it looks like so far.

It’s still a work in progress.  But it’s nicer to look at compared to my previous set-up, and has been a pretty fun project.

Donatello 2012

I haven’t anticipated a toy line like this in a very long time.  As you should be able to tell, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is one of my all-time favorite toy lines.  I got into the toys and the cartoon series early, and moved to the older Mirage comics in my early teens.  And though there has been quite a few carnations of the Turtles in the past, this incarnation looks interesting.  It’s almost like a mix of the original Turtles from the comics, mixed with the ones we knew as kids.

I stopped at Toy R Us this past weekend, and they had every other scale in stock, except the ones I was looking for!  They even had the Classics.  I was about to purchase the Classics Donatello(he is my favorite), when I figured I would check out the nearby Target.  My plan was, if Target didn’t have any Turtles, I would go back to TRU and buy the Classics Donatello.

And as they have in the past, Target came through!  They had at least one of every figure in this scale, except for Krang(I know, I know, he’s now Kraang).  I already knew I would get Donatello.  But at $8.99 each, I bought two(you’ll see him in a few days).  I love the new look of the Turtles, and think that the figures(so far), are prety nice to look at.  I always get nervous when new incarnations of shows and characters I grew up with go into production.  But just like Thundercats, this line will get my money(and of course I’ll be watching the series).

The other 3 Turtles all have their teeth showing, but not Donnie.  From the back of the card, we can see that Donnie has gap-teeth.  While this seems a bit weird, I’m curious to see how it fits in to his personality.  The articulation is better than the old-school figures, and it works.  Besides his trademark Bo, he also came with a weapon rack(similar to the ones we got with the originals).

I will have all four of them.  In my opinion, you need to have all four Turtles.

I’m not going to have any time to write this weekend, so, we’ll see the next one in a few days(I may have a few more by that time though 🙂 ).

Yard Sale Finds #15

I had high expectations for yard sales for the past couple of weeks.  And while I have found some things, there hasn’t been much that has interested me.  On top of that, some people are asking for too much for a lot of things.  This past weekend, I found a handful of things.  The weekend before, I hardly found anything.  So I lumped both weekends together, to make a more robust post.

First we’ll start with some reading material.

I am nowhere near as into wresting as I was back in the day.  I stopped watching somwhere back in 2002.  It seemed like it was more of a soap opera more than anything else.  I liked to watch it for the matches, and it seems like there’s too much dialogue, and plots to actually give you that consistantly.  But Hulk Hogan has been a favorite of mine since I was like 5 years old.  And from what I’ve read in the past, wresting biographies are a decent read.  This book has a cover price of $26!  But I got it for 25 cents.  So even if it’s horrible, I won’t be kicking myself for buying it.  The Guiness Book of World Records, is a bit dated since it’s the 2004 edition(not to mention it’s the paperback).  But it’s always a good book to flip though, making it perfect bathroom reading.  And for 25 cents, it was hard to resist.

Everything above set me back $3.75.  The Game Cube games were a mere $1 each.  Which was refreshing, because you have people these days, trying to sell the crappiest PS2 games for $5 or more.  The same people were also selling Wii games for $3 each(these people had great prices for everything), but there wasn’t anything I was interested in.  Bloodsport was still in the factory shrinkwrap, and was sold to me for $1.50.  I bought it at “The World’s Biggest Yard Sale”(it really wasn’t), from a seller who had probably more than 1000 DVDs(some brand new, and some used).  I didn’t stick around for too long to check everything out, as people were all up on this great deal.  The Pee-Wee’s Playhouse tape was 25 cents at a sale we stopped at later in the day.  It’s one of the original VHS releases from 1988.  The funny thing is that I found a brand new VCR head cleaner(still sealed with the FYE price tag in tact), which comes in handy, since I do have a small collection of VHS tapes.

Pretty much the only toys I saw were either newer toys from properties that were from somwhere in the last 10 years, or they were of the fast food variety.  So it was slim pickin’s.

Although her nose seems to be chewed off, there was no way I could turn down this Cheetarah figure for 50 cents.  She was my last fing of the day, and I almost didn’t see her!  I’m happy if I could find figures from the eighties, as they are getting harder and harder to find in the wild.  My old-school Thundercats collection is lacking, so I’ll take what I can find.  And lastly, I found a Micro Machine for 25 cents.  Unlike my last yard sale post, this one is an official Micro Machine by Galoob.  I checked on that before I inquired about it.  I probably still would have bought it even if it “wasn’t the real thing!”.

And that’s it.  I did pick up a few new things that I plan on reviewing this week.  I know I was MIA in July for the most part, but I would like to rectify that.  I have the urge to write more, and I have some stuff that I want to write about(a winning combination).