Giant Bots and Legs from Butts.

So here's a pile of loot from last fall or early last winter, sometime shortly after Thanksgiving, from a trip to the Brewer, ME store. It's a nice haul, and it's waited a while to finally be seen. So let's dig in! 

Right off the bat, I am ALWAYS on the lookout for these Napa Valley CD cases, because they so perfectly work as little knick-knack shelves to display toys in. So bringing home my THIRD case was pretty exciting. All of these are on my desk, facing me, so I make sure to put all my very favorite toys on them so I can look at them all the time.

I brought home a pretty big grab-bag too, so let's see what's inside.

Here are the contents, all piled together, and as you can see, there was a pretty diverse collection of good trapped in this bag, waiting to be set free.

First up a couple of Animaniacs toys. I like Animaniacs toys, don't get me wrong... but I'm not a huge fan of those weird, plastic accordion tubes that are holding these together. They're weird, and as a kid, any toys that had them attached would ALWAYS get stretched out too far and destroyed. So as much as I like the characters, I passed these along to a new home.

These are from 1993's "Makin' Movies" Happy Meal toy line. They weren't a licensed property, so this was just one of those McDonald brand sets of toys that I absolutely ADORE. I missed these as a kid, mainly (probably) due to the fact that I was 15 when these came out and was past caring about Happy Meal toys (for a while). But I can love them now. I do love them NOW.

There were four... FOUR of these Dr. Robotnik (or Dr. Eggman or whatever) Burger King toys in the bag. That is all I have to say about that, really.

These are quite possibly my two favorite items from the bag. The first one is "Rhino" (no not "Rhinox" apparently...) and despite not being even a LITTLE BIT of a a fan of Beast Wars Transformers, I have a ridiculous affection for all of the Happy Meal Beast Wars Transformers toys. It's true! I currently own three of them, and I have no idea who the heck they are, but they are all so impossibly awkward in their design that I can't help but love the ever-loving HECK out of them. THIS ROBOT SPROUTS ITS LEGS OUT THE BUTT OF A RHINOCEROS. Your argument is belong to us.

Ace Ventura: Beast Wars Edition

Beside that beautiful and artfully designed Transformer, I also found a Z-Bot in the bag! This fellow's name is Buzzsaw, and he is yet another one of the Z-Bots from Burger King, in other words: one of the 5 Z-Bots ever produced that I am actually interested in owning. (I have Turbine, Jawbreaker, Skyviper, and Buzzsaw here. I only need Bugeye to complete the quintet).

I so completely remember the first half of this commercial (before the Z-Bots are introduced)... it's downright creepy. 

Creepy Pocahontas head in a basket, like some weird Disney Native American version of SE7EN, and Phoebus from the Hunchback. The random Disney characters Happy Meal toys portion of our program is now complete.

Another HUGE highlight of the bag is this little guy right here. This is Doodle Bug. He's from the Glo Friends line that accompanied the Glo Worm line of toys, who all additionally starred in a cartoon. I used to have a Glo Worm. The original. The long green Mr. Hanky shaped toy from the 80's.

The guy on the... ri-- no the left. The guy on the left.

I LOVED MY GLO WORM. So much in fact that I was constantly running through batteries and in need of another glo-fix. It got bad man. But I got help. And now I'm the man I am today and I am not defined by my Glo-diction. Except now here's Doodle Bug. 

And I'm back to square one. 

I am a sucker for these wooden push-puppet toy things, especially when they are holiday themed. I didn't notice when I took the picture, but the black thing on its underarm is not a weird mole that needs attention. It's actually a crow that should have been flipped up the other way so it would be facing us.

Now for the books!

A couple of nice Thanksgiving themed books to read to my kids when the holiday rolls around.

I picked up this copy of Lloyd Alexander's The Black Cauldron specifically for the cover art. It is amazing. That's part of what convinced me to pick up Adventures in Time and Space as well, because I liked the cover art so much... but I also hope that one's a good read as well. I already know the Black Cauldron is a good read, as this is like... the 3rd copy I now own, and I've read it almost as many times.

These were both nice surprises. I have a long-time love of Garfield because of my childhood association with it. So finding a copy of the very first collection of Garfield strips was a must-have. The Batman digest is nice because if you flip it over, there's a Superman comic book on the other side! These are both done in the style of their respective animated TV serieses as well.

How can you lose when it's a Bugs Bunny Little Golden Book? You can't. That's how.

I never knew that the Iron Giant was a book by Ted Hughes and Dirk Zimmer before becoming one of my favorite animated films of all time.

However, the book has a MUCH different skew to it than the movie did. I much prefer the movie, I must say, but this is an interesting story too, In the book there is a monster that is giant even when compared to the Iron Giant. So there's that to deal with.

Finally, I found a couple of cassettes. These are some excellent, EXCELLENT cassettes to have found. Joe Cocker is f**king amazing. He just is. If you don't think so then you listen to music wrong. And the Eric Clapton edition of Unplugged is easily on of the best sessions to ever come out of the "Unplugged" concept. So... I was pretty happy to have found these.

Well! That was quite the journey, but we got through it together, and now it is time to rest our weary heads. So... that's all there is for tonight kids! I'll be back soon with more Geeky Goodwill Goodies. So, until that time Happy Hunting!

Another Trip to the Old Schoolhouse Antique Mall

There's an antique mall out in Brewer, ME that I've only dropped in on a couple of times now, and this post to follow reflects the second visit I've made out there. It's a fun place to check out once in awhile, as the stock doesn't really change frequently enough for me to make the trip out there more than maybe once or twice a year. But when I do, man the finds are fun! 

Here's a quick glimpse at everything I brought home from The Old Schoolhouse. But let's take a closer look, shall we?

First up, I already had a capeless version of this same Shadow action figure. But since this one HAS the cape, I couldn't pass it up, This is pretty much the one action figure from the line put out to support the 1994 Alec Baldwin film that actually just looks like the character without any weird bells or whistles. Would I love it if I had the pistols that go along with this shadowy hero? Yes I would. But at least now I have an action figure that represents the character as he should look.

This Miss Piggy in repose is a Benjamina Gunn Muppets Treasure Island Happy Meal toy from 1996. I love the look of this toy, and the colors are amazing. So far I have Piggy and Fozzie from this set, and I honestly wouldn't mind tracking down the rest. I made the mistake of finding and passing over a Gonzo toy from this same line about a year before this, and have been kicking myself ever since!

This little Green fellow is an "Outer Terrestrial Creature" toy produced by Marty Toys back in 1983. This guys name is "Mooky" and on top of being a bendy toy, he's preternaturally top-heavy due to a special "Somersault Action" that these toys had, which basically meant that if you toppled them over, they flipped. I absolutely ADORE weird old toy lines like the one Mooky here comes from. It's precisely these kinds of discoveries that keep me picking through old junk as a hobby.

This might not strike you as ridiculously exciting... but for me, finding this 1996 Burger King wind-up "Scud" toy from the original Toy Story movie was a dream come true. I've been eye-balling these things on eBay for years now, and all because I wanted a Scud toy of an approximately appropriate scale to display with my Toy Story Buddies collection:

And this Scud fits the bill perfectly. (P.S. If anyone has an extra Etch-a-Sketch with Chickenman, Snake-and-Robot 2-pack, or any mini toys of the mutant toys from the first film... contact me. There's only like 5 toys left that I want or need to finish this collection off).

I used to religiously track down the M&M tubes every Christmas JUST for the ornaments on top. I don't do it anymore because they don't really make them either a.) new every year... they just recucle old designs repeatedly... or b.) they don't make them at all. Couldn't spot any M&M ornament tubes at ALL this past year... -sob-. So finding this little brown M&M skier really made my day!!! I feel like the brown M&M's are seriously underrepresented in toy/ornament form, since the reds and yellows and greens are so much more festive... so this guy really stands out!

I am now 1/6th closer to having a complete set of Fisher Price Little People to represent each of the Village people. I could literally NOT be more excited than I am about this fact. Look at this guy! I apologize if this toy is seen as horrifically racist. I really do. But it came from a time when toys like this were beloved.

And I belove him.

Please don't hate me.

I am not afraid to admit that I adore Marge Simpson. Probably to an inappropriate degree. And disturbingly, there is a whole LOT of inappropriate material out there on the internet (please, for the love of all that is good... do NOT Google it, as some of it will just make you lose faith in humanity) to support a man with my kind of carnal cartoon lust. Fortunately, I don't need to go looking because my collection of Marge Simpsons toys is growing healthily, (can the jokes you pervs) thank you very much. I now proudly own two of the toys from this, the very first line of Burger King Kids Club premiums to feature the Simpsons.

There was also a handful of fun books to be had while I was picking around the Old Schoolhouse too! This Bugs Bunny's Adventures copyrighted from 1948 is practically an illustrated chapter book. I picked this up with a friend in mind.

I will never not buy illustrated adaptations of Garfield TV specials. This one is from Garfield On the Town, which was the second special to star Garfield. In this one, he meets his mother and the rest of his extended family, and learns to be (somewhat) thankful for the life he leads with Jon and Odie. If this was being produced today, you wouldn't see the cigarette butts on the ground near Garfield's feet. Just a random observation.

Have I mentioned my undying love for Punky Brewster on this blog before? I think I have. So finding a kids' book dedicated to one of her animated adventures (with Glomer in the mix!) would obviously be a Holy Grail for me. So I brought it home. 

So that's it for tonight kids, but I'll be back soon with Geeky Goodwill Goodies before you know it! Until then, Happy Hunting! 

A Geek-Load of Books

All right... consider this your warning: This post is going to be LOADED with mostly books. Absolutely no toys. So if that's not your thing... turn back now. But I hope you don'! There's some pretty fun and funny book finds this time around! Stick around and check it out! 

This is everything, all piled together. Last chance to turn back!

First up a couple of cassette tapes. "The Carpenters: And Old Fashioned Christmas" and the self-titled "New Kids on the Block" cassette! Not a whole lot to say about either of these, honestly... I'll probably have more to say about the Carpenters when December rolls back around. I was never a huge New Kids fan, but I do have a certain amount of nostalgia for them since I had friends (or friends with older sisters) who LOVED these guys. Look at those clothes. And mullets!

Roger Zelazny is hands down one of my top 5 authors, so the rare occasion where I find a book of his that I don't already own is pretty great. Isle of the Dead looks to be a great read in typical Zelazny fashion. I never read SeinLanguage when it was really popular, so I'll be interested to see what I think of it when I finally crack the spine on this one. Seinfeld was one of my favorite sitcoms (as it was for most folks I guess) at a certain point in my life.

Choose YOur Own Adventures very rarely DON'T make it home with me, so Grave Robbers should come as no surprise... and although I am a self-avowed X-Men fanatic from waaay back, it is rare that I pick up comic book novels. This one, Prisoner X, is written by Anne Nocenti and involves the Mojoverse however... so it's just a no-brainer this time.

I realized I don't already own the Little Golden Book version of Mickey's Christmas Carol. So... fixed that finally. Phew. I also found this HILARIOUSLY racist copy of Bugs Bunny and the Indians which is also a Little Golden Book which has been stripped of its Golden spine. How racist is it?

It's THIS racist.

A couple of Muppet-family books to be excited about: a Muppet Babies paper dolls book, and Imagine... Big Bird Meets Santa Claus which I feel is a bit wishy-washy honestly. I get that they're trying to be "honest" here by going with the whole "IMAGINE" concept... but if you want to avoid having to acknowledge the existence of beloved mythical holiday characters (by having them interact with your "real" giant bird puppet character. Ahem.) maybe just try not cashing in on them at all?

Sorry for how blurry this one came out... probably the very best finds out of this lot and I got a crummy picture of them which I didn't realize until much later. Ah well. There's a Real Ghostbusters Pop-Up book The Birthday Ghost, and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles junior novel, Sky High. I'll go way more in-depth into the pop-up book in the future sometime. It's in good shape, but the pop-ups are really low-effort and kind of lack-luster honestly. But still a fun find! And anything TMNT is always welcome!

Well that's it kids! That's all he wrote! See, that wasn't too bad was it? Some pretty neat books in the pile, right? I thought so. I'll be back soon with more Geeky Goodwill Goodies! Until then, Happy Hunting!

Halloween Countdown Day 15: Payday Friday 09-26-2014

Really stretching the whole Halloween connection tonight... but honestly, I need to post a shorty tonight guys. So here we are. 

First up is the ONE truly Halloween-y item in the lot. It gets... shaky from here on out. I featured this book in my spooky pulp covers post, but now we reveal the rest of the stuff during that same purchase. I want to say again how much I am loving this book. If this is the last book I get to read from the pile before Halloween arrives, I think I will be happy with that. It is an EXCELLENT collection of old Horror fiction. Some of the stories are just weird... some are outright morbidly horrifying, while others are suspenseful. They're all pretty good either way. 

Next up is this Star Wars Jigsaw puzzle from 1977 "Trapped in the Trash Compactor! I have no idea if all the pieces are in it or not. I'm going to go ahead and guess not... but I'll probably never know either way. As a kid this was my favorite scene in the film because it scared the poop out of me. Scary trash monsters = Halloween-y.

I've begun collecting cassette tapes recently, as I've mentioned a handful of times now. These cases are to help facilitate that. I now have a total storage capacity for about 200 cassettes total due to all of the storage I've recently bought. I'll probably cool it now (storage-wise) unless I find something really cool.

I was disappointed to see that this tape does not match the case... but the cassette is way cooler than the case because the case liner notes are a reproduction. The cassette is a legit vintage copy of Station to Station. 

I don't have a ton to say about this cassette head cleaner and demagnetizer except that I now own it. 

And this AWESOME Bugs Bunny book about a giant Space Carrot is one that I owned a copy of as a kid. This was one of my favorite bedtime stories as a kid. 

So that's it. Juuuuuuust enough Halloween to justify the post... but eh. There will be more tomorrow, I PROMISE. I will definitely bring the Grody Goodwill Goodies tomorrow! Until then, Happy Haunting! 

A Random Handful of Goodwill Goodness

Just a quick one today, kids.

I found a group of these books where there's a handheld device you push against record-like discs on the pages to play sounds. They're called "Comes to Life Books". There was an Alvin and the Chipmunks book that I almost picked up as well... but I've never been a huge Alvin and the Chipmunks fan to be honest. This one cost me .99 cents, and if you can't tell by the picture already is a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle book: Monsters Among Us. (Here is a link to a youtube video of someone using the device that works with these books on a different TMNT book. For some reason I couldn't embed)

I don't have the device required to activate the sounds inside the book. And... the story ain't that great... but it's TMNT and I like the weirdness of the gimmick even if I can't make it work. 

Here are a couple more licensed property books. These ones are just regular books. I pretty much pick up any old Sesame Street books I find, and the Bugs Bunny book is one I had a kid about a castle adventure. Love old books like these where the aesthetic is just so... yesteryear. I know that sounds weird considering both of these books came out in the 80's... but YOU CAN TELL they came out in the 80's you know? They have that feel. That look. That... taste. I DID NOT TASTE THEM.

Last of all, I found this rubber Pillsbury Doughboy toy for .99 cents in a random bin full of bean-bag characters. NEVER underestimate the stuffed animal bins you guys!!! Dig deeper! That's how I found my Galaxy Force Starscream AND my Crackhead MadBall. Both of them were buried under discarded plush animals as well. This Pillsbury Doughboy is pretty interesting. The date on the back of his head reads 1971. Everything I've seen on Google encourages the idea that this is in fact his legit production date. He does not stand freely on his own, and apparently he originally came with a stand that his legs fit down into to keep him upright. He ALSO had a little lady friend... and a kid... and a puppy!?!?!?!

This Pillsbury picture was pilfered.
It is a purloined poppin'-fresh portrait.

Color me stunned and amazed. 

Well, that's it for me tonight guys! I'll be back soon with more Geeky Goodwill Goodies! Until then, Happy Hunting!