Trade With Action Figs & Things – Part I

A short while back, Anthony from Action Figs & Things and I made a trade.  We both knew what the majority of the trades would be, and it’s exiting to get some new items for the collection while helping out a fellow collector add to their collection.

Here’s the first part of the fantastic package Anthony put together for me.

I can always use more M.U.S.C.L.E.s for my collection!  Not only did I not have any of these 3, but this would also be my first colored figure from the line.  The last time I owned a colored M.U.S.C.L.E. was when I was a kid when the colored ones were originally released.  These are very clean and are a great addition to my slow and steady M.U.S.C.L.E. collection.  Thanks again Anthony!

I will be showing the rest of the contents from this great package in seperate posts over the next week or so.  Stay tuned!

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!!  🙂

New toy display

Well, my computer is out of commission for the moment, so I’m posting this on the Clarkinator’s computer.  Recently, I got a bookshelf to display my loose toys in my bedroom.  The funny thing is, is that it was my wife’s idea.  Now, there are mostly MIB figures and such in “The Vault”.  Without further adieu, toys.

There’s the beast in all it’s glory!

Here’s a shelf by shelf breakdown

On top, we have my boxed N64, boxed Starfox 64 as well as a few random pieces.  You should know what the other stuff is(if you don’t, just ask).  If you look closely you’ll notice Superchicken!

The first shelf is the Transformers/robots shelf.  A mix of Transformers, Rock Lords, Battle Beasts, Voltron and Rokkon from MOTU.

Going down one shelf, we have the TMNT shelf.  This shelf is exclusively dedicated to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, except for the picture of Penny, remembered from Pee-Wee’s Playhouse.  The picture of Penny is actually cut out from the box of the talking Pee Wee I traded to my brother a couple years ago.

The third shelf is for my wife and I’s wedding memorabilia.

The third shelf of toys is a mix up of lots of great lines.

Here you will see Marvel super heroes from different lines, M.U.S.C.L.E. men, Thunder Cats, Ghostbusters, G.I. Joe and many other toy lines.  See how many different ones you can name.

The bottom shelf is stuff that I couldn’t fit on other shelves, or just didn’t belong on them.  I know this is blurry, so, below are a few shots from different angles(of all the shelves).

Well, there you have it.  My new toy display.  That’s not all the toys I own, but it is a nice chunk of them.  Others are stored away, the ones still in their package are still in “The Vault” and I’m certain that I’m not done with the collection yet(far from it).  So, what do you guys think?  Was it worth the wait?  Please share your thought in the comments.  You can even comment on what your favorite piece is.  And later in the day these pictures were taken, I acquired a big ALF plush from The Clakinator, in exchange for an E.T. that I had.  He is now seated on the shelf on the right side of the N64.  Pictures of him will surface at another time.

Yard sale finds #4 + more

All of this was aquired over the last few days.

This past Saturday(yesterday), there was a village wide garage sale in the nearby village of Schoharie.  This is an annual event, but this was the second one held this year(I don’t believe that this has happened before).  It was a beautiful warm sunny day.  Perfect weather for an event like this.

Before we get started, I would like to state that all of the items in the pictures were aquired at the aforementioned village wide garage sale, except for the SNES games and the packaged Transformer(which were found at my younger brother’s house and Wal-Mart, respectively).

The journey begins this past Wednesday.  My fiancee and I went to go meet with a woman to design and make our wedding cake.  After we left, my fiancee suggested that we visit my younger brother, Jeff, who lived around the area we were in.  It was almost one year since I had last seen him, so I knew he would have a lot to show me.  I was checking out his SNES collection amd I came across two games I was interested in owning.  I asked him if he wanted to sell them, and he did.  I asked him how much he wanted for them, to which he replied, “Three bucks each”,(I’m assuming those are brother prices).

I selected Donkey Kong Country 3-Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble, and Castlevania IV*.  This particular Donkey Kong Country is the first in my current SNES collection.  I am very familiar with the first two games in this series, and I have maybe played this one once.  So, this is almost a new game experience for me…sweet!  The same could be said of the other title I selected, Castlevania IV*.  Now, I have played, and own the first two of the trilogy that was released for the NES in it’s prominence, but I don’t recall ever playing Castlevania on the SNES.  So…another new game experience.  This isn’t the first time my little bro has came through for me though, years ago he sold me Contra and Bugs Bunny’s Crazy Castle(both for the NES), for five bucks each(gotta be brother’s prices!!).

*-The front of the cartridge reads, “Super Castlevania IV”, while the top reads, “Castlevania IV”.  Now, this being the first Castlevania game for the SNES(of two I believe), I would think that, “Super Castlevania”, or, “Castlevnia IV” would be appropriate titles.

Fast forward to Friday afternoon.

Across the street from the local  Mobil gas station, there was a yard sale, where the proceeds from the sale, went to the local Lutheran church(I’m Roman-Catholic, but I don’t discriminate when it comes to a charitable cause).  Everything to be sold was donated by local people, and you determined the price you would donate for the items you wanted to purchase.  I donated two dollars for this awesome piece of video game history.

The box was in rough shape, and I took a shot in the dark, by not checking the contents within.  When I got home, I was astonished at my findings.

Released by Coleco in 1983, we have the “Kid Vid Voice Module”.  As you can see, it’s complete.  Aside from white gunk on the cord, this appears to never have been used.  The black cassette in the photo was in the player when I bought it.  As of this moment, I have not listened to it.  I should though, who knows what could be on it?

I decided to do a little research on my find, and here is what I learned…in general, “Smurfs Saves the Day” is a pretty rare title.  This seems to have everything that was included…instructions, pristine cartridge, ear piece, power cord, all three of the audio tapes(still factory sealed), the tape deck, mail surveys and advertisement, as well as original Coleco styrofoam.  I found that complete copies are in the range of $200, but this one seems unused, the cassettes are still sealed, and I don’t think anything is missing.  The box is pretty beat up, and a few pieces are ripped off, but they are inside the box**.  If I get any additional information, I’ll be sure to give an update.

**You can’t see the original price on the sticker in the picture, but this retailed for $64.95.  That price was crossed out with red pen and reduced to $39.95.  Best find ever?

Saturday.

Garage sales, yard sales, lawn sales and Wal-Mart.  Here’s the little things I found throughout the hunt.

The first finds of the day were a M.U.S.C.L.E and an unidentified doll/figure(1984 Mattel), for a donation of 50 cents.  They were aquired at the same sale that I found the Kid Vid the day before.  Grover and the little jack-o-lantern guy were found at one of the many sales for 5 cents a piece.  We’re at $2.60 so far.

The Transformers made three seperate appearances throughout the day.  Here are the ones that found their way to my home.

First up for 25 cents, is Optimus Prime, who looks to be of the “Transformers Animated” variety.  He’s stamped 2008 and was a McDonald’s Happy Meal toy.  The little purple and black guy is Storm Cloud(the woman at this sale told me to take it for free).  This Decepticon was part of the “Air Strike Patrol”, released in 1989 under the Micromasters line.  Last but not least, we have “Tracker Hound”.  He was the most extravagant purchase at $4.95.  He’s pretty reminiscent of his G1 design.  He will be opened and given his day in the sun.

Our next item is absent from the main photo, for two reasons.  One, the first picture(the one that I used), didn’t include it because I forgot about it.  And two, The picture I later took with it in the picture came out blurry, and I said, screw it!

This is one of the coolest mugs I have ever seen!  With Newport cigarettes everlasting slogan.  The bottom of this mug states that this mug is neither dishwasher nor microwave safe.  I believe that this was a give away promotional item originating from sometime in the early nineties.  If I remember correctly, this was at a time when there was cigarette branding on a wide variety of everday items, from fanny packs to keychains.  Bought for 25 cents at a thrift store down the road from where I bought that Herman book.

Speaking of Herman…

I stopped at the same place I bought the first Herman treasury.  I opted for the third and eighth treasuries at the same friendly price as last time.  A buck a piece. These people also have the treasuries that appeared in between the course of the ones pictured.  I’m a sucker for great literature.  🙂

Last up, we got three dvds, for a grand total of eight bucks.

Ghostbusters was found early in the day.  Marked for three dollars, haggled down to two dollars.  The Good Son was found at the last sale I stopped at for a dollar.  And while grocery shopping later that evening, I found “The Great Outdoors” in the $5.00 bin at Wal-Mart, during the same trip “Tracker Hound” was purchased on.

I’m guessing that this was the last hurrah for summer garage sales.  I found a lot of neat things and the thrill is definitely in the hunt.  Soon, we’ll be shifting gears to “Thrift store finds”.

Beverage review #2

Today I will review one of my all time favorite sodas.  I don’t know if this is considered cheating, because I have had this so many times.  The only difference is that, you already know is this beverage is gonna get my recommendation.  So let’s meet our friend, shall we?

Here we have Barq’s Red Creme Soda.  In the last review, I briefly mentioned my love of this soda.  Maybe the reason I like it so much is that it isn’t readily available anywhere in my surrounding area.  Anytime I travel to Ohio(I have a lot of family out there), I always make it a point to drink beverages that are not native to my state.  You may be thinking what makes this creme soda better than any other?  First it’s the red liqid, and second is the taste.  This is not to be confused with Big Red soda.  In my opinion, they taste nothing alike.  Big Red tastes more like bubblegum.  That’s not a bad thing.  This soda taste like a sweet creme soda with a little bit of the bubblegum flavor.  And it’s bright red!  This was the last remaining can, and I it has survived since I returned on July 5.  It’s 23 brothers were quickly dispatched.

I guess I don’t need to say it, but I will.  If you like creme soda or the color red, I would say to give it a try.  It doesn’t have the trademark “Barq’s Bite”, but it’s creme soda, and it’s supposed to be smooth.  I’m drinking the last of it now, and I’m a little sad.  So we’ll look at something that will make us happy!

Over the weekend my friend Chris(we call him Clarkinator), gave these to me as a late birthday gift.  He has had these M.U.S.C.L.E men since he was a kid.  When he showed them to me a couple of years ago, I was like are you giving them to me to add to the collection?  Unfortunately, he just found them in his closet and thought I would appreciate them.  Just before he moved back from Florida this past May, he had asked me what I wanted for my birthday, and immediately  I said “How about them M.U.S.C.L.E. men?”  And he said, “When I find them.”  Well, this past Saturday he came by and went into his pocket and tossed them to me one by one.  I said thank you and he informed me that he kept a few, but that’s cool because now I have some of these guys in my toy collection.