Another Great Package From Jboypacman

Howdy everyone!

I have been itching to get another post done, but I ended up catching the flu last Saturday.  I was laid up in bed sick from then until this past Wednesday.  This was the first time I have been really sick in a very long time(6 years or more).  During this time my last item from Ebay arrived(those hockey cards I briefly mentioned last post), as well as a surprise package from Jboypacman.

This was a complete surprise!  Jboy has sent a couple of packages to me in the past, but he usually lets me know before hand.  This time it was out of the blue, and was perfect, because I was sick at home.  So, getting an awesome package of toys while I was sick, made me feel somewhat better(if that makes sense).

So let’s see what was inside.

First there was a huge Hell Boy figure(he’s not my thing, but I’ll find him a good home).  One of Hell Boy’s feet was broken at the ankle(I’m guessing this happened during transit, as it was directly below where it was attached).  You’ll also see Frankenstein from The Real Ghostbusters line.  I already have this figure, but this is an upgrade compared to mine, so I swapped them out.  There is also a Snake Eyes figure(25th anniversary?), that came with tons of guns, swords, knives and even an extra head.  The extra head has Snake Eyes in his classic “knight” helmet(the one he’s currently sporting is the goggles version).  Rounding out the group is a character from Chicken Run(I believe), which is going to my friend Mike(he loves chickens).

The Ecto-1 is a welcome addition to my collection, because up until this point, there wasn’t one in the collection.  The Transformers are (I believe), Spy Changers.  I already have the Optimus Prime(my buddy Mike already took him), and I believe the translucent one is Ironhide.  I only say that because, I have a Ironhide that is the same scale, same mold and has the same transformation process, but has a drastically different color scheme.  Take a gander.

It looks like we have fraternal twins, huh?!  You might also be able to say the same for the next two.

You all have heard how much I like the new Thundercats series, and here are two figures I did not yet have.  Jboy sent both the frail mummy version of Mumm-Ra and Mumm-Ra “The Ever-Living”.  Both came with their version of Lion-O’s claw shield(one part of the show I’m not sure I like).  The mummy version came with the dagger version  of the Sword of Omens, and bad-ass Mumm-Ra came with, what looks like a variation of the full-size Sword of Omens.  I now only need Tygra and Wilykit to finish off my “Cats’ team(maybe finish the first wave, unless there’s a Grune in this scale).

Sadly, we’re almost done.  We have one more item, but it’s a doozy.  It’s my favorite item of everything that Jboy sent me.

It’s Beetlejuice!!  I can’t find any stampings(I did a quick once over so I may have missed it), but I’m sure this is the NECA release.  The detail and likeness is great, and definitely looks more high-end compared to every other figure in my collection.  Beetlejuice is in my top ten movies, so I’m really digging this figure.  I also love the miniature Handbook for the Recently Deceased(again, amazing detail).

Jboy you did it again!!  🙂

Reveal the Shield – Optimus Prime (Legends Class)

This is the lone action figure I received for Christmas(from the wife).

Like Megatron, Optimus is one of three legends class figures that I wanted from this line(the third is Starscream).  Of the few Optimi(that’s plural, right?), that I own, this is the most reminiscent of our beloved G1 Optimus.  That’s one of the big reasons why I want the three that I do.  Let me tell you a story…

When I was a child, my younger brother and I could not like the same toys.  Now, we could both like the good guys or bad guys, but we couldn’t like the same characters(I’m sure this was the reason my brother and I never had that many conflicts when it came to choosing toys on the fly).  Well, for Transformers, my brother was the first to claim Optimus Prime as his favorite(and as such, we would always refer to ourselves as our favorite  characters, i.e.- “That’s me, Optimus Prime”).  This meant that I could never own an Optimus Prime figure(now my brother and I never discussed this, but we just knew).  To this day, it is a figure that I long to have in my collection(some day!*shakes fist*).  And, c’mon, who doesn’t like old-school Optimus Prime?

This one looks just as good in vehicle mode as it does in robot mode(I tend to lean to the robot side when it comes to Transformers).

He also looks great in robot mode.

I’m actually torn between the two.

Christmas Fallout 2011

I hope that everyone had a merry Christmas!  I must have been good, because I did very well this year!  Here’s everything(minus gift cards and cash).

I was like my kid-self this past Christmas.  I love opening presents, and I’m sure a lot of you can relate to that.  I got most everything I wanted, and some other stuff that wasn’t on my list, that I’m happy to have received.  Let’s look a little closer.

I finally got a Wii!!  This was the big gift from my wife.  This Wii is black and came with New Super Mario Bros.(as well as a music cd, which I haven’t checked out yet).  My wife also got me Punch-Out!!, and her parents got me (The Legend of Zelda) Skyward Sword.  My friend Mike got me the Genesis games you see, as well as Kung-Fu for the NES.  It looks like I’ll be busy for a while!  🙂

In the clothing department, I also did well.  But most of these items were things that I needed.  I got a pair of Dearfoams moccasins(slippers), driving gloves, socks(you can never have too many socks), sweat pants and a couple of t-shirts( one from The Nightmare Before Christmas, and a really sweet “Facts You Need to Know About Chuck Norris” shirt).  Although clothes weren’t really appreciated(you all know what I’m talking about) on Christmas during my childhood, they are greatly appreciated now!

The Walking Dead, Book 2, was my secret Santa gift from the X-Entertainment gift exchange(thank you so much velouria_78!) that a few of us who post  on X-E took part in.  This is the hard cover edition, and I can’t wait to start reading it!  While I’m up to date with the tv show, I have only read the first collection(Book 1).  Next to that is a Reveal the Shield, Legends Class, Optimus Prime.  This line has been scarce in my parts, but my wife, somehow, found a place that still had some.

And here’s everything else.  We have a case of Saranac “24 Beers of Winter”, of which I am on my second Chocolate Lager as we speak(it’s pretty good, not too chocolatey or sweet, it’s quite strong though).  I also got a nice Old Spice gift set.  This has everything to keep me clean and smelling good for a little while, plus maybe it’ll turn me into that cool guy in their commercials(and I’m not talking about Ray Lewis either).  My wife(she’s so awesome!), also got me a Remington(they don’t make just guns), grooming kit(I hinted that I wanted this, but didn’t think I’d get it).  You’ll also notice some Slim Jims, a head massager, Werther’s Originals, a few rubber bracelets, some car air-fresheners, some vhs Transformers episodes, Paul Mitchell shampoo/conditioner and a Snoopy toothbrush holder and rinse cup(which is in my bathroom right now, but will end up going into storage with the rest of the Christams decorations in a week or so).

Also, between my wife and myself, we got $160 in cash, a $25 Applebee’s gift card and a $25 Regal Cinemas gift card.

I hope you all got what you wanted, and had a great time as well!  Please feel free to discuss your Christmas in the comments, as I love to hear about stuff like this.

Monday, Monday…

New content tomorrow.  I promise.  As a some of you know, I have joined a few others, and will try to not purchase any toys for the month of February.  I do have some other stuff I will post.  I am also expecting a package from my nephew Joe.  He has some stuff he’s going to send me.  Thanks to Chunky B over at Eclectorama for this challenge!  Let’s see how long I will last.

I will leave you with these photos.  G1 Transformers in HD.  Thank you HUB!!

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”.