Countdown to Halloween Day 28: Goodwill Finds, Brewer Store PLUS a Potpourri of Other Finds

Welcome back! I know it's going to be hard to top the incoherent ramblings about a random pile of comic books that was my last post... but I will try. This is the penultimate "Goodwill Finds" post of the season. I have one more planned for the day after tomorrow, but I gotta admit, I'm already getting misty at the idea of not reporting on all the Halloween-y goodness I've been finding this season. What makes it all even more bittersweet is that these items were all picked up the weekend before Halloween, and everything was already half off! Now, I'm not complaining about saving more money, believe me. But when they're trying to liquidate their stock a week ahead of the holiday itself... Man. 

Alright, enough jibber-jabber. Here's the pile-shot. Before we dig into it, I want to let you know as well that at the bottom of this post, I've added a few other miscellaneous items that I picked up here or there that I wanted to share before the end of the season, but didn't really have a good place to do it before. So BONUS material! Yay! This is a pile of stuff I picked up in the Brewer, ME store.

First up is this light-up skull wand. It reminds me SO MUCH of the lightsabers they make for roleplaying and the skull on the end is so cheap and classic looking that I HAD TO OWN THIS.

As if it's not enough that this beautiful jack o' lantern fella is beautifully orange and green... and as if it's not enough that the bendy limbs that end in leafy hands and feet actually support his weight... and as if it's not enough that there's a CAT ON HIS HEAD!!! He ALSO has one of those push-button bottoms that makes him play that spooky theremin-wannabe tune that all cheap Halloween toys play! I think his eyes are supposed to light up as well but they don't work any more. This is mildly disappointing, true but OH MY  GOSH I LOVE THIS THING.

The picture of this rubber proton pack makes it look much bigger than it actually is. Think like.. a baby Ghostbuster... or a dog... I'm not even sure what this originally went to. The pack is on weird, like fake leather straps... and even weirder, the thing opens up on the side that would go on your back, like you can put stuff inside it. Maybe it originally had a foam insert? Or... you can use this thing as a purse maybe? I don't know. I just know it's a freaking proton pack and I wasn't going to leave the store without it.

I've maybe mentioned that my son is going Goosebumps crazy all of a sudden? So I of course brought home four of these books. I'm keeping my eyes peeled for "The Blob that Ate Everyone" specifically for myself. I'm starting a Blob collection. I don't have to justify myself to you.

Even though that's pretty much what every single line of this blog actually is. Just one big justification of... well pretty much everything I do. Let's not examine all this too closely. Let's move on.

I picked up a fun looking cookbook called "Gross Grub" that has all kinds of disgusting looking food inside. There are all kinds of fun recipes inside... although I don't think I'm ever going to be able to make convincing-looking tongues out of meringue like they do in the book. I might take a stab at it someday though. If I do I'll post pics here.

Finally, I found a couple of anthology horror story books. I think one of these may be a last minute squeeze-read in the ol' Halloween Read Pile. I need a book I can finish in just a couple of days so I can be reading my final book by Halloween. So one of these might work. "Bones: Terrifying Tales to Haunt Your Dreams" is actually one of those two-sided, flip-over books where there's a whole other book on the other side. In this case it's the book "Bites" that I read as a part of my Halloween Read Pile last year. I didn't like that one very much, but that's the magic of anthologies. You never know what you're going to get. Or maybe that's a box of chocolates. "Nighttime: Too Scared to Sleep" is an collection of stories by Todd Strasser... whom I've never heard of. This one may actually be the winner though. Because it's only about 90 pages long and I am really intent on hitting 31 books before Halloween gets here. So... yeah. Quantity over quality and all that. 

All right! That does it for my trip to Brewer. But that wasn't all I wanted to share tonight! As I mentioned above, there were a few odds and ends this season that I wanted to wait and see if there was a post (like this one...) that needed some... beefing up. So, even though these items are all from assorted other trips to Goodwill, I thought I'd collect them together here just to show them off. 

I found this AWESOME framed poster of Mel Brooks's "Young Frankenstein" at the Ellsworth store awhile back. they actually had a whole bunch of other Gene Wilder posters there as well, but this was the only one that interested me. Had they had "Haunted Honeymoon" I would have been all over that too... but it was not meant to be. This is actually hanging u in my living room because I don't have this kind of wall real-estate in the cave anymore.

I made several rules about collecting cassette tapes that I promptly broke for various reasons. I swore I would not collect stupid looking cassettes ironically. Broke that rule. I swore I would not collect novelty tapes just for the sake of owning them. Broken as well. I also swore I would not buy cassettes based on cool cover art without knowing anything about the artists. So this is an example of that rule being broken... and why I should have stuck to my guns. While "October Project" is a KICKASS name for a band, and a creepy kid in a paper bag jack o' lantern mask is KICKASS AS WELL... the music on this cassette is just so not kick ass it hurts:

So I don't even know how to describe this genre of music other than "bait-and-switch."

I also picked up this dvd of "Trick Or Treat" (not to be confused with "Trick R' Treat" which I discussed just a few posts ago) about the undead rocker Sammy Curr. Watching this movie has been on my to-do list ALL MONTH and I just haven't gotten to it. Not sure I will before Halloween gets here either. I wanted to watch it back to back with "The Midnight Hour," but the night I watched that I ended up watching "Late Phases" on Netflix instead. I regret nothing. Maybe I can still squeeze this bad boy in before the season is over... even if I can't, I may not be able to wait for next Halloween to check it out. November is notorious for late Halloween viewing around here (December and January can be too, depending on what movies I receive as Christmas gifts...) so it's not impossible.

Finally, I just wanted to show off the Mega-Bloks Black Pearl that I got in a 3 dollar grab back in pieces. There are a couple of pieces missing... but I would estimate that this thing is like 80-95% complete. I JUST watched "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" with my kids, as my older son was very curious about them. He desperately wants to see the other two now, and I'm more than happy to oblige, as soon as I can track down copies of them. I don't hate those movies by any means.

I've gone into great detail as to why skeletal pirates are such a MUST for Halloween in the past, so I won't your time or mine by reiterating here... but I think this thing is just amazing to look at. I'm totally going to load it up with skeleton pirates.

Alright, that's it for tonight kids! I'll be back soon with more Grievous Goodwill Goodies soon enough, but until then, Happy Haunting!

Countdown to Halloween Day 18: Reptar, Halloween Happy Meal, and SCARY STORIES

Welcome back ladies and gents! Today I'm featuring another load of seasonal goodies I brought home from Goodwill! Let's not waste time jawing about it, let's dive right in! 

Here is the usual picture featuring the whole lot of goodies. Let us explore posthaste!

A couple more horror anthologies, one I'll be featuring in this very countdown, the other I will be saving for next year's Halloween Read Pile. I'm not going to waste too much time talking about either books because I'll be beating them to death in the future. I will say though that this was the last of the Scary Stories books I still needed to find in order to complete the trio, so that had me pretty excited!

A couple of street lamps for my Halloween Village! The fact that the globes are Jack O' Lanterns makes me so incredibly jealous of my Halloween Village inhabitants. I wish my town would commision special pumpkin themed light fixtures for October.

I think it's hilarious that there is a blog dedicated to books with covers featuring Women Running From Houses (which sadly appears to have been inactive since 2013... but still you guys) but even that has never really been enough to compel me to buy any of these MANY MANY books that I usually see at Goodwill. Until now. I'm still not 100% sure what possessed me to buy these ones, but...

I think the ridiculous title, "Witch of Goblin's Acre" had something to do with it... and the fact that the book  just so happens to take place in MAINE (!) sealed the deal. And let's just say if anyone ever says the words "Faceless Leper Ghost" to me, it doesn't matter what's going on... I'M IN. This is powerful information people. Use it responsibly. 

I freaked out when I saw the hands on this thing, because at first I thought I had discovered a stray Boglin at Goodwill. It's not crazy to think I could honestly. I've found a near-complete Castle Grayskull, and now not one but two Madballs at Goodwill, along with countless other awesome 80's toys. But alsas-alack it was not meant to be. This was not in fact a Boglin, and my disappointment at this realization almost made me put this guy back... but I calmed down, recollected myself, and reevaluated the situation before deciding anything too rash. At this point you must realize I brought the guy home. He's pretty great. I don't remember when I remember seeing these things come out, but I believe it was a while back. Not like decades perhaps, but long enough to appreciate more what I probably thought was damn annoying back when it originated. Pretty sure this guy jiggles and laughs maniacally while playing ear-piercingly intolerable theremin music.  But I haven't put batteries in him yet to test and see, so I can't tell you.

Next up we have a couple of novelizations of the 2nd and 3rd Pirates of the Caribbean movies. I picked these up specifically for my older son who is very interested in that movie series right now. We get a lot of movie novelizations of films the kids like to get them interested in reading. 

This mask wanted to come home with me so... I let it. Not much else to say there. I like harlequin and comedia del' arte themed masks and when I find ones in nice condition I usually pick them up.

Derek Benz and J.S. Lewis wrote a trilogy of books called the Grey Griffins books, and "Rise of the Black Wolf," is the second in the series. I've read the first one, really enjoyed it, and now have the entire trilogy to dig into (I already have book 3). "Unexpected: 11 Mysterious Stories" edited by Laura E. Williams loos like a good contender for next year's Halloween Read Pile as well! 

These treat boxes smelled like mildew as soon as I took them out of the plastic. Ugh. My wife tends to make a lot of baked goodies for friends between October and December, so I thought these would be a good fit... Too bad really. I may try to salvage them somehow. They aren't food-ready but that doesn't mean I can't clip the artwork and use it for something else.

I brought home the soundtrack from the 1998 Godzilla film as well. My friend Brian of Pop Pop! It's Trash Culture fame recently recommended a track from this album (Greenday's "Brain Stew" specifically) to me while we were doing the Eclectic Mayhem Podcast together, so when I spotted it for sale at Goodwill, I snapped it up! 

And finally, the two items I think I was most jazzed to find. The one on the left there is a McDonald's Halloween Pail from 1986 (UPDATE: While the bucket is stamped "1986" this bucket is actually from the 1993 series. Thanks to reader "Retro Robot Review" for the correction!). It's actually the witch bucket, but I like the cat peeking out from her hair so much more that that's the side I photographed. The bucket on the right I THINK is a trick-or-treat pail but honestly, the fact that it's an egg could indicate that it was an Easter bucket of some sort... but obviously someone at Goodwill agreed with me, because this orange monstrosity was in the Halloween section. These make LOVELY additions to my Halloween pail collection!

Well, that is it for tonight my friends! I'll be back soon enough with more Gorgon-Gazing Goodwill Goodies! Until then, Happy Haunting!

Remember, I'm doing this countdown as a part of the official Countdown to Halloween, so be sure to pop over there and look and see who else is participating this year.

Giant Storm Shadow and an Alternate Reality Flintstones Family

I've had a good run of luck lately finding a handful of books here or there at Goodwill and then a couple of Grab-bags full of fun little toys to boot. This always makes me happy, as it feels balanced. And when all is balanced, all is right in the world. 

It is possible I am making more out of this "finding some books and grab-bags at Goodwill" thing than I should. 

Here's a quick look at the pile as a whole before we move forward. Now heeeere we go!

These knights are produced by Papo I believe. I myself don't really care about these kinds of toys, but my Aunt collects them, and so I keep an eye peeled for her when I'm out on the prowl. These guys and their horses were in a bag by themselves for a buck. Their weapons are completely destroyed, one snapped completely off, and the other appears to have been (ugh) chewed. Luckily, the weapons are interchangeable, so I removed the handles from their little hands before passing them on to my Aunt.

I already own a Sword of Omens from the 2011 animated reboot of the show, and mine is in much better condition because I bought it on clearance instead of secondhand. BUT in a judgement call I may question myself on for the next couple of decades of my life, I bought this sword for my sons to beat each other with. It went about as well as you'd expect.

This is not my first Sigma Six Stormshadow either, but this one is in MUCH nicer condition, and has his sash, pants, and scabbard intact. Unfortunately, none of his swords or other awesome weapons were included, except for the big stick thing with holes in the ends for... what? blades maybe? The other stuff in the bag were not Stormshadow's accessories. I'll find some substitute weapons for him at some point, I'm sure. Right now he stands proudly on my G.I. Joe shelf!

HEre are the contents of the bigger grab-bag in the set. Let's take a closer look.

The aforementioned Aunt also collects Hex-Bugs of any shape, size, or origin. So I knew as soon as I saw these Happy Meal toys that this bag would be coming home.

Also included was an assortment of Mario Brothers toys! I kept the Bob-Omb but most of the rest of these went to my kids. I only have a very tiny collection of Mario Bros. toys at this point and that's how I plan to keep things.

Plastic army men! The one I found to be significant is that one big guy near the middle. He's HUGE and I feel like he might actually be from a set or something? Anyone out there recognize him? I'm curious.

I already have a hula-dancing Spongebob, so the fact that this one has a broken nose is just fine. This is actually a set of cake toppers that goes along with the plastic Pineapple House I found back in 2012. So now I have the complete set! Man... I'm creeping up on my third blog-aversary! I've been doing this blog since July of 2012!

Here's a shot of the happy trio, with the unbroken nose-Spongebob included. 

Finally, here are some other random toys included in the bag as well. A Pirates of the Caribbean watch, and a couple of quarter-machine monsters that ended up on my ROYGBIV shelf of tiny plastic toys (They're on the "IV" shelf. I know skull guy looks red, but he's more magenta, so I place him in the violet category. Indigo and violet share a shelf.)

To add to my cassette collection: Blondie! "Parallel Lines" This is the one with "Heart of Glass" "One Way or Another" and "Hanging on the Telephone" on it.

A couple of action adventure stars this time around in the book-haul... Batman in The Stone King, and Tarzan in The Return of Tarzan. I don't have a whole lot to say about either of these books as of yet... but I look forward to reading them.

A couple of Holiday books made it home as well! A kids' book adaptation of the Christmas movie, Elf and the Goosebumps book: Attack of the Jack-O'-Lanterns.

One of my all-time favorite books (and I love the film as well) The Outsiders. My bromance with this book begins waaay back in middle school. I actually already own a copy of this book, but I saw this one with the movie adaptation cover and I reeeeally wanted it.

Finally, I found this bizarro "Flintstones" Little Golden book. In this story there are no Pebbles or Dino, and instead Fred and Wilma have a sone named "Junior" and they get a pet dinosaur named Harvey that looks a lot like Dino, but grows to... well... dinosaur size over the course of the story.

This is bizarre. Did this book come out before the cartoon? I don't think that's possible honestly, but I can't otherwise explain the presence of Junior and Harvey. I'm sure I could figure this out if I did even a cursory Google search... but I like to pretend sometimes that I'm living in the 80's and that every answer to anything I'll ever have a question about doesn't exist on the internet somewhere.

Anyway! That's all I have for tonight kids! I'll be back with more Geeky Goodwill Goodies so until that tie arrives... Happy Hunting!

Payday Friday Week Continues! Grab-Bags!

It's still Payday Friday week here at Goodwill Hunting 4 Geeks! Yesterday I showed off some Fisher Price Little People toys I picked up. Today it's all about the grab-bags. 

This grab-bag I pretty much picked up for Mondo Gecko and Homer Simpson. The pirate toys were bonus, as was the strangely green giraffe. I was happy to find a Papo Ogre in the mix, even though I don't collect Papo figurines. The van with "Miele Geschirrspuler" (German) on the side translates to "Miele Dishwasher" in English. No idea where it came from, but I'm assuming Germany without knowing anything else about it. The other side reads: "Waschautomaten" or "washing machines" in English. There is no date stamp on this thing, but it doesn't seem all that old. This bag ran me 2.99. 

Next up is another grab-bag, this time with a bit more included that I was excited about. I'm breaking this one down a bit, but first I want to point out the Star Wars Galactic Heroes Speeder Bike, the Obi Wan Clone Wars Skateboard, and the Iron Man Happy Meal toy. You won't be seeing them again. This grab-bag cost me 2.99 too. 

First up, these Hero Factory figures. I've never collected Bionicle or Hero Factory figures from LEGO, but where these are semi-complete, I think I'll hang on to them and display them. I like the looks of them. They have a kind of feral animal vibe. Apparently their names are Nex (in orange) and Stringer (in black). 

This had a Crayola stamp on it. I had to piece the whole thing together from parts. I couldn't figure out what this was supposed to be at first. I like the skeletal, abstract art look to it. Then I Googled for a while and found: 

Which was a little disappointing, honestly. It also appears I put the thing together wrong. But... I sort of like it better the way it is now. I'm trying to think of something I can do with it.  

Then there's this Yoda figurine. He's from 1996. It's kind of hard not to love him. He's still so innocent and has no idea what the future holds for... his past. 

I'd be lying if I didn't say that this winged skeleton wasn't the reason I bought the whole bag in the first place. Apparently he's from some sort of "Destroyer" toyline, and is maybe a dollar store item? Google didn't turn up a ton... just this. 

I want to do something with this legless robot too. No idea what line he's from... but I like his attitude. He's a bruiser. Looks like he's flexing. 

That's it for my pair of Goodwill Grab-Bags from this past Payday Friday! I'll be back with even more Goodwill Goodies soon... so until then, Happy Hunting!