Patriotic Pop Culture

Another week, and another assignment from “The League”.  I haven’t been contributing as much as I would like for these assignments, but I try.  And I just couldn’t pass up on this one.

“Patriotic pop culture. What movie, TV show, comic book, etc. makes you want to stand up and salute Old Glory?”

Well, I could go with a few things here.  But the number 1 for me would have to be(probably everyone else thought of it first), is G.I. Joe.

I know this seems like the easy route.  But that’s not at all, what I’m going for.  Even as a kid, this show, made me proud to be an American.  It not only entertained me, but I think it may have helped to make me a better person.  And I mean that.  I really think the end segments(“And knowing is half the battle”), helped me to understand what was right, and good.  It sounds funny, even cheesy to say, being an adult and all, but it’s true.

I have always been grateful for the freedoms we have in our great country.  I appreciate the efforts our soldiers exert, to ensure that the American people, and our future generations are able to have these freedoms.  While I may not agree with everything our government does, I am damn proud to be an American!  And the song that sounds just like what I typed, is oh, so true(you know the song)!

My dad was in the Navy(before I was born), and seemed to dig that my brother and I were into a cartoon such as G.I. Joe.  I say this because I can remember many birthdays and Christmas’s where we got toys pertaining to G.I. Joe.  We absolutely loved the show, and toys(I still do!)!

So, even though I’m talking about toys and cartoons…remember those who have sacrificed everything for us to be able to enjoy such things.  Yo Joe!!

Reis says it better than me over at Lair of the Dork Horde

Over at Branded in the 80s, shawn goes all out with G.I. Joe as well(Awesome, Shawn!!!)

And Adam from Adamotomy, goes of the beaten path, with something I love, that also makes sense(if that makes sense)

OMFG

An abbreviation that I thought I would never type.  But in this case, it’s needed.

Ashley from Life With Fandom, held a contest, a little more than a week ago, and I was chosen as the winner!  The prize for this contest was an awesome set of these OMFG figures!

The package was still sealed when it arrived, but in the excitement, I opened them before I was able to get a shot.  So what you see above is the best I could do.  The packaging is pretty close to how the 4-packs of M.U.S.C.L.E.s looked back in the day, and that gives it a 10 out of 10 in my book.  I was only able to get 1 picture to look good(I really did try though), but lighting was just not in my favor today.  But the good thing is, is that it’s a group shot.

From left to right, we have…Multiskull, Crawdad Kid, Phantom Shithouse, Stroll, and King Castor.  In most cases, a guy made from skulls, would be the favorite of the group.  But take a look at the company he’s joined with.  It’s impossible to pick a #1 favorite!

The quality is excellent, and they’re only slightly bulkier then the original M.U.S.C.L.E. figures.  October Toys hit a home-Run with this one.  I hope these figures sell well, so we can see a future series.

Thanks again Ashley!!  🙂

Thundercats 2011 Tygra

This was the final figure that I needed to complete my “base set” of the new Thundercats.  Sure, there have been other figures released, as well as figures that only come with certain vehicles/accessories(I would like to get them at some point too).  But the core members are the ones that I am most interested in.

When the line was first released, and as I started to buy the figures, Tygra was plentiful.  Even as I purchased the other figures, he was no trouble to find.  But of course, when it’s the last figure I am looking for, I can’t find it!  I’m sure most, if not all, of collector’s has had them happen to them before.  But on a recent excursion to a not-so-local Wal-Mart, there were Tygra’s aplenty!  Actually, they had a good assortment of the first series.

He comes with his bolo whip and blaster.  His belt is removable, but it’s not poseable, as there is a small “peg” on the inside that attaches to a hole on his hip.

The whip is very flimsy, and the blaster is a very light weight plastic.  I think both accessories could have been made better, but the figure itself is pretty decent.  The face is a little off from how Tygra actually looks like in the show, but it’s a four inch figure, so I really can’t complain too much.  As you know, tigers’ stripes help them to “disappear” in the tall grass of the plains to stalk prey.  Well, Tygra is obviously a tiger, so his whip makes him invisible.  I also figured that it would be fitting to take shots of him in the tall grass(tall to Tygra, anyway) of my yard.

I wouldn’t say that Tygra is my least favorite character, but it just happened that he was last on my list of figures to get.  But I’m glad that I got him.  The only other figures I have besides the collection of Cats are the 2 Mumm-Ra figures in this scale(the mummy and “The Ever-Living).  I have never seen “The Ever-Living” figure on the pegs, and I have Jboypacman to thank(if I didn’t already 🙂 ) for both of those figures.

Now that I have the complete team, I can get to reviewing the Thundertank, which should be a lot of fun!

’66 TV Batmobile

Now, I have a handful of toy cars in my posession, but I am not a toy car collector.  I probably have 20-25 of them, but more than half of them are stored away.  Toy cars have to meet certain criteria for me to make the purchase…they have to be cool in more ways than one.

This one met that criteria, and, the price was right.

I’m pretty sure this car was released a year or two ago in the usual Hot Wheels packaging.  This one is included in a series of Batman related vehicles.

What I don’t get, is why they didn’t include the original Batmobile from the 1989 movie?!  The one featured on the back(right side, bottom row) is a super beefed-up version of the one in the movie.  Why?!  But that is a discussion for another time.

This one is pretty awesome.  Like the Batmobile from the 1989 film, this one is pretty iconic.  Even without the bat-symbol on the side, most people would probably be able to tell what  it is.  Unlike the Back to the Future Time Machine, I actually opened this one(I’ll eventually open the Time Machine though).

The only other one that caught my eye, is the Arkham Asylum Batmobile.  And Pancuco from Action Figs and Things, actually sent that one to me in a package a few months back.

League Assignment – Top 10 Movies

Brian from Cool & Collected came up with yet another great topic for this week’s League assignment.  Top 10 movies.

He asked, “What are your Top Ten Movies?”.  But it doesn’t have to be a typical top 10 movies of all-time list, which is nice.

For more clarity…

“Note, this list can be your top ten all time favorites, or your top ten in a given genre–go ahead and make up your own qualifiers! Google loves top ten lists, so make sure to use those words in your title and watch your traffic soar.”

I went with what my 10 favorite movies are these days.  But I did exclude holiday titles like, “A Christmas Story” and “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, “Planes, Trains & Automoibiles”, “Halloween” etc., because, while these movies are great, and a good watch every time, they just hold more meaning to me during their respective holidays.

It was very hard to narrow the list down.  I came up with a list off the top of my head that was 14 titles long.  This was already more than enough, so I stopped there and had to cut 4 titles from the list.  Those being, “Gremlins”, “Back to the Future”, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” and “Grandma’s Boy”.

This list could be different next week, but most of these have long been favorites of mine.  So let’s get to it!

10.) The Karate Kid

I used to watch the hell out of this movie when I was kid(among others, some of which are on this list)!  This is the classic underdog tale.  There is so much to like about this movie.  And even though it’s a bit embarrising to say, I really like the soundtrack.  I’ve never seen the remake(and don’t plan to), as I don’t want to tarnish what a great movie the orignal is.

9.) Pulp Fiction

I was introduced to this movie by my older brother back in 1997.  I was blown away!  The intertwining stories were great.  The acting was phenomenal, as was the casting choices.  Pulp Fiction is extremely quotable(as is the rest of the list), and after watching it, Quentin Tarantino became one of my favorite directors.

8.) The Crow

For many years, this was my absolute favorite movie.  In my opinion, this is the finest movie ever made that was adapted from a comic book.  Brandon Lee was great in this, and actually died during the filming(it’s a sad story, and a real shame because his star was on the rise).  It has a feel similar to Batman, in that it’s dark and gritty.  There were a few other movies made based on The Crow, but none of them come close to the original.  If you haven’t seen it, I can’t urge you enough to give it a watch.

7.) GoodFellas

The greatest gangster movie of all-time!  I’d also say that this is Joe Pesci’s career performance.  While most of Martin Scorsese’s films are really good, this was is his best.  The acting of everyone involved is top-notch, complimenting Scorsese’s direction.  The fact that it was based on true story, makes it just that much more compelling.

6.) Dumb and Dumber

This is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen.  I know a lot of the humor in this movie is kind of childish, but I think that’s what makes it so funny(to me anyway).  The title is most fitting, as it will have you thinking frequently, “are they really that dumb?”.   Jim Carrey had a lot of great movies in the nineties, and this is no exception.  This is another highly quotable movie, and I have many favorites.  I couldn’t choose just one, so here’s the full list from IMDB.

5.) Spaceballs

Before we had all of the parody movies like Scary Movies, and the “Not Another(insert movie genre here)”, we had Mel Brooks.  I’m no expert on Mel Brooks’  movies, but Spaceballs is an exception.  I loved this movie since I first saw it back in 1987-88.  My step brother was into sci-fi and horror movies big-time, which in turn got me into those genres as well.  This movies spoofs every sci-fi movie from Aliens – Star Wars, and does it well!  The subject matter and John Candy make for a winning combination. If you’ve never seen it(which I would find hard to believe), get on it!

4.) Clerks

Kevin Smith’s first and finest work.  This movie details a day in the life of 2 store clerks, Dante and Randal.  If you have ever worked in the retail sector, most of this movie will hit close to home.  I for one, have worked in a convenience store as well as a video store, so I can relate to some of it.  There’s a slim possibility for some of the stuff that happens in the movie would ever happen in real life, but it also seems like some of it legitimately could happen.  The film is in black and white, and I feel that that’s a good thing.  There is nothing to distract you from what is going on.  Kevin Smith worked at the store he filmed at, and most of it was filmed at night when he wasn’t working.  In the movie, Dante arrives at work to find that someone jammed gum in the shutters’ locks(“Bunch of savages in this town.”).  I can go on and on, so I’ll just leave it at see this now!  If you haven’t already.

3.) Beetlejuice

This was released in 1988, and I remember when my dad rented it as a new release(’88-’89?).  Directed by Tim Burton and scored by Danny Elfman(who have done numerous projects together), and featuring an all-star cast(not all of them were legit stars at this time), this movie just screams win!  It has the feel of classic Tim Burton, which it is(I’m not saying that the movies he’s made in the past 15 years is bad, but, in my opinion, his stuff in the 80’s through the early nineties is flawless).  I can’t say that I’ve seen anything like it, and that’s the main reason why it’s #3 on my list.  The movie spawned an animated series, as well as a line of action figures(I’m a huge fan of both btw).  I think I’m going to watch this again at some point this weekend.  🙂

2.) The Goonies

If you have a pulse, I’m sure all of you have seen this movie, and love it as well.  If yuo first saw this movie as a child, you’d be lying if you said you never wanted to be a Goonie(Goony?).  Some of the cast has gone on to bigger and better things, while some of them just kind of fell off the map(no pun intended).  It’s got humor, action and suspense, so there’s something for everyone.  This was one of the first movies I could recite word for word, and it didn’t take long because this was one of the movies me and my brother would regularly choose to watch whenever we were home and wanted to watch a movie.

1.) Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure

This is the movie I think that I’ve seen more than any other movie.  Just like The Goonies, this is another of the first movies I learned to recite word for word.  This is Tim Buton’s feature-length directorial debut, as well as the beginning of collaborations of Burton and Danny Elfman.  If you’ve been reading my blog long enough, you know that I am a huge Pee-Wee Herman fan.  Co-written by the late, great Phil Hartman(along with Paul Reubens and Michael Varhol), this is a tale about a man(boy) and his quest to get back his most prized posession…his bike(and what an awesome bike it is!).  This was the beginning of my fandom for Tim Burton and Pee-Wee Herman.  There isn’t a single thing I would change about the movie(although I would have liked to have seen more of the inside of his house in the movie), and I don’t think it ever has, or ever will be out of my top 3.  But I’d say it’s been my #1 for 10 years or more.

For now, these are my top 10 movies.  And while the order may change slightly from time to time, I don’t think any of these would ever fall out of my top 20.  But that’s a subject for a later time(this was tough enough as it was).

 

Check out Shawn’s Top 10 Favorite 80’s Villains over at Branded in the 80’s

Brian “goes ape” at Cool and Collected

Colbey mixes it up with an eclectic list over at Random Toy Reviews

 

 

Yard Sale Finds #13

Well, this weekend was supposed to be a pretty decent weekend for yard/garage sales.  But the friggin’ rain ruined it!  There were two different towns that were having village-wide garage sales, and the rain seemed to make many people change their minds.  The people were out looking for the sales, but there were far fewer sales than I have seen in past years.

There were some deals to be had, and I even passed on a few items.  But we’re here to talk about what I was able to come home with.

There were tons of PS1 games for sale, but many of them were missing the instruction manuals, so they were of no real interest to me.  While this game is nothing special, but I am a hockey fan and I am a PS1 fan.  75 cents was about what I was willing to pay for it, so it was a good deal for both sides.

I know the above three items don’t look like much, but all three were mine for 25 cents!  The Officer Big Mac car is made by Ertl, but I’m not sure if it was a Happy Meal premium or sold in stores.  It’s marked 1984 and has the Ertl logo on the bottom, and the pull-back action still works like new.  I can never say no to either series of McDonald’s Changeables(the robots or dinosaurs), as long as I don’t already have them.  And obviously, I didn’t previously have this one.  The McDonald’s Happy Meal box is iconic, and this is a pretty neat toy.  The pack of NBA trading cards is a premium that was inserted into boxes of Drakes Cakes back in 1992.  I remember this promotion, as I was heavily into trading cards at the time(NHL, NBA and non-sports).  This is something you don’t see everyday, and I couldn’t pass it up.  I will not open them, but John Stockton is the top card, so that’s not half bad.

And now, the action figures.  I passed on Tabe from Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos because he was really dirty and was pretty much naked.  Even for $1, I just couldn’t make the purchase.  I also passed on a Transformers Animated Ultra Magnus.  But I had reasoning behind why I didn’t grab it.  I like the look of the Animated figures, and Ultra Magnus looks cool.  But When I picked him up, he was in robot mode, and I wasn’t sure if anything was missing.  It was $3, so it wasn’t too big a risk, but room is at a premium right now, and he is one of the larger figures from the Animated line(probably taller than my Voltron).  I’ll grab it next year if the old woman still has it, as I make it a point to visit her set-up every year(she always ahs a ton of action figures).

These three came from the old woman I briefly mentioned above.  And they cost her usual $1 per figure, of which I had no qualms of paying.  I found the Beetlejuice figure on my second time through(my first from the line).  Whiplash is a little dirty, but that will not be a problem that can’t be solved with a little soap and warm water.  And Fugitoid looked to be in pretty good shape, and you know I’m always looking for new additions to my old-school TMNT collection!

I spent a total of $4 on the day(everything you see above), so I didn’t do too bad.  I just wish that we didn’t get all the rain we did, because there would have been at least 3 times as many sales as there actually was.  But still a fun hunt nonetheless.

2 Years?!

Yes.  It was 2 years ago, today, that I started this blog.  I cannot believe that I have been doing this blog for 2 years!  It’s been fun, and I have to thank everyone who has been coming here to read my ramblings.  I don’t see myself stopping anytime soon, as it’s been a really rewarding experience.  There are some village wide garage sale this weekend, so I’ll see you guys in a few days.

Yard Sale Finds #12, Dino-Riders & Reppin’ “The Pizza”

Has it been a week?

Well, the Rangers got eliminated from the conference finals on Friday(I’m a big fan of the Rangers, and they had a great season), so I’ll probably be posting stuff more often now.  This past weekend was pretty good for yard sales.  But surprisingly, there weren’t nearly as many as there usually are, considering it was Memorial Day weekend.  I did pretty good, and only spent a total of $5!  The bad news is that I only took 1 picture of everything together, and didn’t get any up close shots, as I had already put the things in their respective(new)places.  So here it is!

Not bad.  The Game Boy Pocket was only 2 bucks(it works), and Paperboy was included!  “The Empire Strikes Back” Burger King glass was a steal for a mere quarter.  I’ve been a fan of those little fuzzy googly eye things(not sure if they have a formal name) since I was a kid, and a kit where I can make as many as I want for only 50 cents?!  Sold!  The Flower(from Bambi), figure was in a “free” box at one of the sales, as was the Deiner dinosaur eraser.  Some of these can fetch some good money, but I’m not planning on getting rid of it.  The Pee Wee’s Playhouse Christmas special was 75 cents, and I found it at the same sale that I found my favorite items.  Skeletor, Bruise Brother and the Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos figure were only 50 cents each!  These are the things I specifically look for when I’m out yard saling.  And they’re getting harder and harder to find in the wild.  The Madball(Bruise Brother), is definitely my find of the weekend.  Now, he is displayed right next to Touchdown Terror.

And check these out!

Now, I don’t plan on opening these.  But I do plan on doing a post with some more insight on these great little figures.  I got both of these together for $15 including shipping(do a search on Ebay right now, and you should be able to get them for $9.99 each with free shipping.  She has 6-8 packs of each different 2-pack).  I’ll save the story for when I do a more detailed write-up.

And reppin’ “The Pizza”!

If you have never read the words of The Surfing Pizza, get on it now!  “The Pizza” is one of my favorite blogs that I regularly read.  Pizza’s writing is far better than anything I’ve ever written.  And if you like what you read here, you’ll be a fan of “The Pizza”.  Recently Pizza got a batch of stickers promoting(is that the word I’m looking for?)The Surfing Pizza, and was sending them to anyone who wanted one(not sure if he has any left, but here’s the link).  He sent me 2, and the one you see above is on my car.  Get yours today!

I’ll be back in less than a week this time.  Ha!  I’ll try anyway.  🙂

Bang-Jo

So, what we will be looking at is another recent Ebay win.

G.I. Joe, Equipo Ninja, Bang-Jo.

What’s weird about this, is it’s obviously from a Spanish speaking market, it was sold to me from China!  My winning bid was $3, and it included free shipping.  The seller sent me an e-mail stating that the figure I won was out of stock.  They asked me to pick something else, or they would give me a refund.  $3 is a good deal for a carded figure, so I told them they could substitute my win with a similar figure.

The package is copyrighted 1992 Hasbro.  These figures came out just as I was phasing away from toys.  More than anything else, I like the packaging itself.  It’s art!  The packaging for the toys of my generation are some of the best looking(I may be a bit biased though).  I know this isn’t a highly sought after figure, but it sure does look nice.  I would pick up any old-school G.I. Joe figure that’s still carded for less than half of what the new ones go for.  Obviously, I don’t know anything more about this guy.

Sometimes you can still find a deal on Ebay.  Who knew?!

Yard Sale Finds #11, and…

It seems like that time of the year is upon us.  The time when the weather’s warm, and you need any excuse not to be in the house.  It’s late spring, and it is now, yard sale season.

There were quite a few sales in my surrounding area.  But I didn’t find a whole lot that caught my interest.  I did find some neat stuff though.

First is this freebie.

This was unmarked at one seller’s table.  And when I inquired about the price, she told me I could have it for nothing!

Another angle.

I’m not sure when this promotion ran at McDonald’s, but the last copyright date on the glass is 1965.  Anybody know?

There were tons of vhs and dvd’s available, but they were either horribly overpriced(and some in pretty rough shape), or they just weren’t very desirable.  That being said, I did manage to find a few that peaked my interest.

I am a New York Rangers fan, and these dvds peaked my curiosity, as I’ve never seen anything like these.   One is a random Rangers game from 2009 against the Washington Capitals.  And the second is a National Hockey League “Rule Enforcement” dvd for the 2008-2009 season.  I’ll try to find out some further info on these.

The vhs tape is The Trolls and the Christmas Express.  From what is depicted on the case, this movie seems very familiar.  The animation is unique, and I’d love this to be another holiday movie I can watch during the season.  For 25 cents, there wasn’t much risk.

And video games.

(not pictured : The Genesis controller that I got for free.)

Typically, I wouldn’t buy a carrying case for a handheld system, unless it’s one for the old-school Game Boys.  But, the case that I keep all of my Game Boy games in, it getting crowded and I could use the room.  I can use the case to primarily house my original Game Boy games, while the carrying case can hold the “SP” itself, as well as many games as I can fit.  50 cents well spent!

I went to the sales with my buddy Mike, and like me, he collects NES games(although not on the same scale as I do).  At the first sale we hit, I found the 2 games pictured, in a spot he had just looked at.  He couldn’t believe that he passed right by them.  They’re nothing special, but a great find at $1 a piece.  I have never learned how to play Othello, but it’s a great addition, nonetheless.  The other cart is Flying Dragon : The Secret Scroll(it says this on the top part of the label, while the face says it’s The Secret Scroll : Flying Dragon.).  I have never played this one either, but I have never come across it before, so I hope it’s decent.

Also, Lilo & Stitch for PS1.  I don’t know if the game itself is any good, but a PS1 game for 50 cents is hard to leave behind.  🙂

Now, as you can see, I didn’t find any toys!  That’s the bad news.  The good news, is that I did get all of my Ebay purchases in the mail.  So we’ll take a look at one of those.

G1 Cosmos!!  Cosmos has long been my favorite of the little Transformers.  How could you not love a transforming U.F.O.?  His alt mode is a very classic looking flying saucer.  He cost me a total of $7, but $4.50 of that was for shipping.  But he also came with his Tech Specs, so that’s not too bad.  It’s always nice when I get the opportunity to add another G1 figure to my collection.

I did get a few other things.  The other items are all MISB.  My question is…should I do individual posts?  Or, do I showcase them in a single post?  There a re a total of 3 items.  But 2 of them are related, and have to be written about together.  So, I’ll let you guys choose.  If I don’t get any votes, I’ll see how I want to go about this.