A Package from John Gaither

Today's post is yet another horribly overdue post where I've waited MUCH too long to thank someone for sending me an AMAZING package of goodies. Today I'd like to focus on one of the absolute nicest guys you'll meet on the internet: A fellow who goes by the name of John Gaither. John also runs the Robot Monster Space Super Hero blog, where he features the AMAZING assortment of toys in his vast collection. 

I'll blather on and sing John's praises later on in this post, but for now I want to give you all a look-see at what he sent me! 

Here we have a carded "Willy Du Witt" of the Bucky O'Hare toy line. I almost ALMOST popped this little guy out of his prison to play with, but I Still haven't quite done it yet. Usually I am a "I put the PLAY in DISPLAY" kind of collector, and I always open everything... but Willy here is still stuck to his card and I can't bring myself to change that just yet. The packaging here is almost as great as the action figure itself!

Here's a look at the back of the card too.

John also included a couple of the villains from the line, the first of which is this squat, ugly little guy, Toad Air Marshall. He looks like he'd like to be chomping on a stogie right now.

And then this "Toad-Borg" is a menacing son-of-a-mother ain't he?

This fella's not a Bucky O'Hare figure, but a "Walkabout" action figure from the TMNT line. He even has his little sidekick buddy, "Kid Kanga!" This Walkabout is in MUCH better shape than the one I had found in the Bin of Awesome I bought this same summer, and he comes with his buddy, so I swapped him out for the one I already had.

These guys were some of the only GUTS figures I owned as a kid, so it was trippy seeing them again! I had all but forgotten this toy line! I had some of the ninjas too.

What HAS to be the piece de resistance however is this guy right here!!! This is No-Zone of the Toxic Crusaders! He was an absolute favorite action figure of mine in the final years of my action figure phase as a kid. All the Toxic Crusader figures were amazing actually, but No-Zone was by far one of my favorites. THIS item right here folks... this is the one that made me let out a laugh of surprise and delight! The whole package was great, but this guy made me feel 12 years old again.

So that wraps it up folks! I can't thank the awesome John Gaither enough for thinking of me and sending this great package of goodies! I have to say that John is probably one of the nicest and supportive guys I've met online while writing this blog. He is one of the best examples of how great our community of geeks and nerds and toy collectors and pop culture enthusiasts can be. He always has a kind word to say about whatever anyone has to share, and he is jut the BIGGEST kid when it comes to being excited about toys. Be sure to check out his blog, and follow him on Instagram as well!

That's it for tonight kids! I'll be back soon with some Geeky Goodwill Goodies (they will ACTUALLY be from Goodwill next time!) so until then... Happy Hunting!

A Whole New Bin of Awesome Pt. 3: Closing the Lid

So we're finally hitting the bottom of the Newest Bin of Awesome Stuff to have entered my life this past summer. This last post in the series of three (find part One here and part Two here) will be a sort of random mish-mash that makes up the final pile of stuff. There's a lot of junk in this post, but there are some legitimate awesome finds as well.

I will also finally reveal the toy that caused me to desperately WANT this bin upon seeing it, and finally deciding that paying 25 dollars for the whole lot was a deal I would be CRAZY to pass up... but more on that later.

I know that one of the toys that took me crashing back into my childhood the HARDEST was Dinah here. She is a "Tinosaur" from a 1986 McDonald's Happy Meal. I owned 4 or 5 of the 8 available Tinosaurs back in the day. They were a strange collection of non-licensed PVC characters that were dinosaurs, bizarre looking creatures, and a couple of primitive looking humanoids. Dinah was one of my very favorites, though I got a LOT of flack from other kids for loving her so much. She was generally regarded as either a girls' toy, a babies' toy, or both by my peers. But now I'm a grown-@$$ adult and I can own whatever toys I want. So nyah. 

This guy is named Maggot and he is from the Little Dracula action figure line, based on the cartoon of the same name. I have no idea what his background is... maybe a flasher who has a hard time getting his coat open because he has suction cups for hands? If you're into that sort of thing I guess. He's a fun little guy, but he eventually made his way on to another home.

Also included were these Aliens toys from the mid-90's. The one on the left is the "gorilla alien" and the one on the right is the "Scorpion alien" who unfortunately did not come to me complete. (he explodes when hit and some of his pieces are missing). These also had a new home destined for them as I am not a huge Aliens toys collector.

Next there were these Supernaturals action figures, produced by Tonka back in 1987. I never owned any of these as a kid because quite frankly they scared the pee out of me back then. The tall fellow on the left is a guy named Snakebite, and the shorter guy on the right is Weird Wolf. Snakebite has none of his accesories, including his headpiece, which resembles a cobra's hood, his chest piece, and his weapon. Weird Wolf, being a Ghostling pretty much came as you see him. (I found the holograms to be exceedingly difficult to photograph, so what you see is what you get... sorry).

To round out the action figure collection coming out of the bin, there were these guys from the Bucky O'Hare series. First up we have Bucky himself, and then Bruiser the Berzerker Baboon. I never owned any of the Bucky O'Hare action figures as a kid either, but they looked amazing, and seemed like they would fit in with the TMNT line perfectly. I haven't exactly become OBSESSED with this line, like I have with some others... but I definitely appreciate them and think I will be tracking more of them down in the future.

So here's the whole gang. These were the last of the action figures that I found in the bin.

But that certainly wasn't the end of the fun!!! These two Swamp Thing vehicles from 1990 were produced support the cartoon show. (None of the action figures in these pictures came from this bin... in fact, Swamp-Thing came from Goodwill and Anton Arcane came from an antique mall near here) 

I didn't own the March Buggy (left) or the Bayou Blaster (right) as a kid, but I did have a couple of the Swamp-Thing action figures!

Now for a bit of weird, and in some cases almost heart-breaking stuff. This Real Ghostbusters lunchbox was a huge disappointment considering the damage to the sticker on the front. If it just didn't have that cut going right down through Winston's face, I would have actually been pretty happy even if it was a little water-warped. Sigh.

There was this ancient toy cash register and this old erector set in the bin as well. Nothing I was all that excited by, to be honest. 

The accessories in the pile on the left here are all from the Sectaurs HYVE Playset. When I realized what they were I lamented like a grieving widow that the rest of the set was not including in the bin as well. I don't recognize the RC car from 1985 on the right, and I'm too lazy to spend ALL that time googling it to find out what it is... so feel free to go at it internet!

There was also this collector's case full of rusty old cars as well. Some of them are pretty neat... but most of them are just kid of junky. The items that caught my eye the most were these:

Hip-Hop Big Bird, Grover flying a rocket ship, and a Micro Machine car with monster truck wheels. After some Googling (I wasn't as lazy this time) I discovered it is a Micro Machines Chevrolet 65 Corvette 4×4 Monster Truck. There you go. 

All right! GIRD yourselves. For beyond this point you will witness the two items that MADE me buy this bin in the first place. These were the nails in the coffin. The straws that bro the camel's back. These were the selling points for me. 

First up we have Talking Robie from Radio Shack. Back when I was a kid, I owned a Robie Jr. and I LOVED that thing! I actually dented the bubble over his head but it did not deter my love for him in any way, shape, or form. This is not the same robot of course, but it is a direct relative, and all of these robots had a kind of uniform style and appearance that makes them lovable in the same way. This guy is proudly displayed on my shelf as a testament to childhood and all the over-hyped toys that didn't work that great but still made it magical. 

And finally, this motherf**ker. Metlar of the Inhumanoids!!! I always DESPERATELY wanted to own Metlar as a kid, but for some reason I never got him. Castle Grayskull, yes. Ewok tree village, yes. Metlar... hell no. But I own him NOW!!! Metlar was a giant lava-spewing BASTARD who would flatten you as much as look at you. I remember being TERRIFIED of the inhumanoids, but watching it anyway. I mostly watched it paired up with Jem and the Holograms, and some other cartoon shorts-episodes. Fest your eyes ladies and gentlemen:

Now, full disclosure: Metlar's head is broken completely off. I have to just rest it on his shoulders and set him up for display. He is no long fit for play... but I don't care!!! I am so psyched to own this piece of 80's childhood HISTORY!!!!

So that's it folks! That's the entire contents of the Bin of Awesome. Hope you liked falling down this rabbit hole with me!

That's it for tonight kids! But I'll be back with some Geeky Goodwill Goodies soon enough! So until then, Happy Hunting!

A Package From Devin Cönnörs!!!

So I'm horribly overdue on a few things, including the contents of this post... which is a package I received from a fellow named Devin Cönnörs. Devin is a fellow geeky-thrift enthusiast who approached me online with the offer to swap packages. So we did just that! 

This of course took place right before the Holiday blitz last year, and I've had some trouble getting my butt in gear to report on everything that I'd been meaning to (I still have stuff from as far back as last FATHER'S DAY you guys...) so instead of me continuing to make lame excuses for the rest of this post let us just delve into the stuff he sent me, shall we? 

First up are these cassette tape soundtracks for The Karate Kid Part II and Beverly Hills Cop II. These are just awesome. As I mentioned more than once during my Halloween countdown last year, I have become mildly obsessed with collecting old cassette tapes. Soundtracks, novelty albums, and stuff I listened to back in highschool mostly.

One of the most amazing items included was this 45 record of Cyndi Lauper's "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough. I am a Goonies FREAK and a Cyndi Lauper fan from way back, so this thing made me show my true colors and do the truffle shuffle.

Here's a shot of the back, which includes the classic movie poster artwork, and a b-side recording of "What a Thrill".

This grinning guy is Brick BAzooka from 1998's "Small Soldiers". I was working as a Toy Department manager for Wal-Mart back when this movie was released, so I remember the HUGE toy blitz it was represented by. This one takes me waaaay back.

His name ain't "Bazooka" for nothing. Although I never understood how THIS was less freaky than anything the Gorgonites were capable of. I mean, the soldiers were after the monsters because they were freaks right? So how is this normal exactly?

One of my other absolute favorite items in the box was this stuffed chibi Chewbacca. He now resides in a place of pride on my Star Wars shelf.

Aso included were these awesome buttons and magnets. The Monster House button is lenticular, showing the house attacking the main characters. Then there's the fantastic Freddy Krueger button and the two awesome 8bit Zombie pins (the clawed Power Glove and pixellated zombie) ALL of which ended up on the interior ceiling of my car. The magnets are all made by Devin himself, using bottle caps, art clippings, and adhesive magnets. I think my absolute favorite one is Church from Pet Semetary, and the one that had me most confused was the Freddy from an advertisement for pencil grippers.... and then there's f**ing ROBO-COP.

In the toy department we have Lisa Simpson, Goofy, Luigi in a Mario Kart racer, and a Jack 'o Lantern. I love the Lisa figure, as its from the very first set of Simpsons Burger King kids' meal toys, released back in 1989 here in the US and 1990 in Australia. I already own the Marge Simpson from the same set, so now I just need Homer, Bart, and Maggie!

I have no idea what the toy on the left goes to. I know it has something to do with the Mandalorians (it has one of their symbols) from Star Wars, and I suspect due to the color scheme, it has specifically to do with Boba Fett... but I can't figure it out. I assumed at first it went to the Boba Fett Transformer, but I can't find an image of this piece included in that toy anywhere. Even better, IMO, is this wax pack of "Baby" trading cards!!!

Finally, we have these two Muppets Christmas ornaments, that were in fact included on our Christmas tree this past year! Kermie and Piggy are very welcome additions to our tree for sure! 

I can't thank Devin enough for the awesome items he included in this package! He obviously put a lot of thought into his selections, and I hope he enjoyed the stuff I sent off to him half as much. Be sure to visit his tumblr which he plans to start using to talk about items he's found.

I'll be back soon with more Geeky Goodwill Goodies... so until then, Happy Hunting!

A Whole New Bin of Awesome Pt. 2

So here we are, rummaging once more in a bin of awesome stuff that I picked up this past summer. It is of course a sequel of sorts to the bin of awesome I picked up the summer before that. What does the future summer hold in store for me? Only time will tell. 

But for now, let us be content to simply explore THIS bin. Right NOW. 

Buckle up buttercup because this layer of the bin is going to be very Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-heavy. Now, the LAST bin that I bought from the same guy the year previous also included some TMNT figures, and specifically a Muckman figure... so I assume the guy who sold me this bin is some sort of wheeler-and-dealer when it comes to toys.

This gives me an extra Muckman to pass on to a friend, which is completely Hunky-dorey. The pair of Genghis Frogs is fine too for the same reason. I kept the one with the belt (none of these guys were exactly rich in accessories... or retained all of their body-parts as you will soon see) for my shelf, and set the other one aside for a rainy-day.

Dirtbag here just happened to be one of my favorite figures as a kid. I have no idea why. He's not really anything to get excited about (and this one is missing his tail, which you can't see) but he was always one of the heavies when I played action figures as a kid. Maybe because he's not quite as silly looking as some of the other figures? Dunno. Next we have Scumbug, a fan favorite that I never had as a kid. You can see though why everyone likes him... he's GNARLY. Mine is unfortunately missing all of his gear, which renders him a bit useless in a fight. And I also ended up with an extra Usagi Yojimbo, which again is fine by me.

Here we have Wyrm, Tattoo, Wingnut, and Leatherhead. Possibly some of the most tragic figures in the bunch, seeing as almost all of them (not including Tattoo) are missing body parts. Wyrm's left hand, Wingnut's wings (But hopefully not his nuts), and Leatherhead's leathery head are all M.I.A. (Luckily I have a completed Leatherhead in my collection already). Wyrm is another one of those bizarre fan favorites that I never owned as a kid. As far as I know he never made an appearance in the cartoon, but he did show up in the comic book. Tattoo showed up in the cartoon, but bizarrely as a mutated hamster, which is the worst shoe-horning of an action figure into a cartoon that I have ever heard of. Tattoo in the Archie comics was just a sumo wrestler who seeks the turtles' help in rescuing his dog. And Wingnut? He's awesome but I hate the fact that he's missing his wings. 

My three favorite TMNT action figure finds in the bunch had to be these three dudes here though. King Lionheart is from the later sets near the end of the line, and Ground Chuck was another of my absolute favorite TMNT action figures as a kid. I got him and Dirtbag around the same time. This kangaroo is Walkabout, and is the first one of his kind I had in my collection. I was later gifted one in better condition, including his sidekick mini-figure... but that is a story for another day. 

So a total of 13 TMNT action figures were included in the bin, in various states of dismemberment and disarray. This added 9 new figures to my collection, and gave me a pile of figures that I could pass on to others. But that isn't the end of the Turtle-y goodness by any means!

The TMNT Pizza Thrower was included in the bin as well! This was another one that I had never owned as a kid, but I was more than happy to add it to my shelves now! It even had three of its pizzas included in the mix.

Included were some random loose parts as well. The eyeballs there belong to the Foot Cruiser, which I almost started hyperventilating at the prospect of finding in that bin... only to be disappointed when I didn't find it. That thing is AMAZING. The plunger gun I actually (in a bizarre coincidence) already had a random handful of pieces to already. It was this orange gun piece that was included in the awesome bin though.

I already own the sewer playset, so this one is extra for me. I never owned this playset as a kid, but now as an adult I have two (this one already has a designated home, I just need to get it there...)!!!

By far though THIS guy was one of the most exciting finds in the ENTIRE BIN. While Killer Bee is yes, technically an action figure, I think of him more as a vehicle. He's missing his grapnel gun and his chainsaw, but other than that he's mostly complete, which was VERY exciting to me. 

This was one of those toys that I desperately wanted as a kid, but just never got. The colors, the expression on his face... the whole package to this guy is awesome. Seeing him in that bin in the back of that truck was just one of the factors that convinced me to pick up that bin.

So between the robots in the last post, and the TMNT figures in this one, we've now covered the first two thirds of the contents of the bin. There are a handful of items that I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to waste any time on, since they're not very exciting. But there's one more entry to go where I'll be sharing the last of the stuff I was really excited about at the very least. So stay tuned for that!

I'll be back soon with more Geeky Goodwill Goodies soon enough... so until then, Happy Hunting!