You know it's bad when...

I don't really have much to write about right now, to be honest, but I wanted to make myself do it anyway. I can't think of a better reason to start blogging right now than the fact that we're experiencing some terrifying stuff, hiding from a virus in our homes while the world seems to be literally trying to destroy itself. 

So here it is. A return to the blog. This may not end up being what it ever was before, but I am not the same person I was when I was writing this blog before anyway. Be gentle. I'm just dipping in my toes here. It will take me some time to focus up and get some good ideas for actual posts. Until that happens, I thought I'd just share some fun pics from my Instagram account. 

I really just wanted to post some fun pictures today and be able to say: "There, I did it. I blogged again." So that maybe I will keep doing it and keep adding a bit of positivity to the world instead of being scared of it. Here are my two potato heads. They were both Goodwill finds. The one on the left LOOKS like he's super old, but he's actually a reproduction released somewhere in the early-to mid aughts. The guy on the left is practically BRAND NEW and I bought him mainly because I wanted one that looked more like the guy in the Pixar Toy Story films. They look ridiculously happy together and that's what I wanted. I don't ever really remember caring all that much about Potato Head toys when I was a kid, but they have so much nostalgia wrapped up in them anyway!

Here we have a couple of the NECA "Toony Terrors" action figures. These guys were NOT thrift finds. Sometimes I buy new if the item is exciting enough, and boy do I love these figures. They are colorful and goofy and menacing in all the right ways. I own Pinhead, Leatherface, Jason, and Freddy as well, but this one pic encapsulates everything I love about this line.

When Amazon finally put the Luke Cage/Claire Temple 2-pack on sale for 20 bucks, I snapped it up. Then I promptly bought Luke a tiny hooded sweatshirt to wear like he does on the show. He looks great up here with Matt and Jess. Jessica Jones was absolutely my favorite show out of these three series... but Daredevil and Luke could hold their own for sure. I've kind of made it my goal to stop collecting so many different scales and versions of characters... and to star focusing MOSTLY on 6 inch scale figures like the Marvel Legends and Star Wars Black Series figs. It makes it harder for me to track down the figures I like... but I think in the long run it will help make my shelves look nicer. 

There was a classic Fisher-Price wedding at my apartment! Two of my Fisher Price Husky Helpers have discovered that they are more than just co-workers or even friends. There was a huge Fisher-Price celebration with all kinds of Adventure People, and a few other Fisher-Price characters in attendance. What's funny is that I had to travel to a Maryland fleamarket to find one of these construction workers in order to unite him with the other that I found here in Maine. So it's a true story of love and triumph. 

Whelp. I think that's enough dipping my toes in for now. I'm shaking off dust and stretching muscles I haven't exercised in quite some time. So I'm striving more for repetition and habit building than quality right now. I hope you guys will be patient with me. 

But I'll be back sooner rather than later this time, with more Geeky Goodwill Goodies! Until that time... Happy Hunting! 

Random Buys of a Random Guy: Old toys!!!

All right... the time has come. I am officially getting ready to delete the content from Really Rather Random Guy (dot blogspot dot com) and in preparing for that, I wanted to import a bunch of the content that I know will then be lost forever, by bringing the posts over here to Goodwill Hunting 4 Geeks (dot blogspot dot com). So, with that in mind, I thought I would preface these entries with the fact that they are indeed OLD blog posts from an OLD, now DEFUNCT blog, and cross my fingers and hope that folks will still want to read them.

This post was originally published back on February 12th, 2014.

Just a quick post to show off some vintage finds I made at Goodwill over the past weekend: 

I think I paid a total of 5 dollars for the three items you see here, and I was pretty happy to find all three. Let's take a closer look, shall we? 

First up was a pile of girly-girl stuff for my wife. A grab-bag of vintage Barbie clothes (which included the pair of baby My Little Ponies) and a vintage Strawberry Shortcake trolley. My wife's not huge into collecting vintage toys, so I may even end up passing these all along to a good home. I especially found the Ken-Doll Cosby sweater in the bottom left corner to be hilarious. The whole pile was pretty ridiculous though. 

First up, is this See 'N Say from Mattel. I was all agog when I saw the date stamp on the back said 1964. So I was a little disappointed when I saw the date on the large animal sticker running around the front of the toy said 1978. I don't typically make my old toy purchases based on age or value, I just buy stuff I like, or that bring me back to childhood, or that I think someone else might like. But the idea of this See N' Say being from the 60's really did get me excited. But still, it being from 1978 was pretty awesome too (I was born that year so... it was a good year). Then I noticed the copyright on the Zoo Keeper sticker in the center had 1983 on it. Sigh. I still smiled when I bought it. I actually had one of these as a kid, and THAT was why I wanted it anyway. 

Next up is this Fisher-Price Fire Engine which looks like it has a little person sitting in the front, but really just has a head attached. I've seen these for sale in antique shops in MUCH better shape... but I really love the look of this thing, and don't mind how beat up it looks. The ladder is missing, but the wild shoestring hose is still attached! This little guy is from 1968. And finally, drum-roll please...

A Fisher-Price Kermit THE Frog hand-puppet from 1978 (again... a good year). I've stuffed his head full of tissues to keep it from crumpling for display purposes, and honestly, it sketches me out a little bit sticking my hand in a hand-puppet that is 35 years old (it FEELS sketchy) but it was the item I was most excited to find. Now when I sing karaoke in my best Kermit impression, I can have a Kermit puppet to lip-synch with. (This is not a joke. It is something I actually do. I once did a version of the Carpenters' "Close to You" as Kermit the frog at my company picnic. I followed it up the next year by singing Dolly Parton's and Kenny Rogers' "Islands in the Stream" as both Kermit AND Piggy... I'm not bragging... but it was a pretty epic performance. Let's just leave it at that.) 

ANWAY! That's it for tonight kids! I've got some Valentine's Day goodies that arrived in the mail courtesy of Tommy Day over at Top Hat Sasquatch that I want to share tomorrow... And I'm currently working on a MASSIVE post about Scooby-Doo... but for now, this is all you get. Keep your peepers peeled here for more randomly random randmoness!

Doubling Up: It's a Goocher!

(Quick note about the title of this post: My wife has gotten me using the term "It's a Goocher!" all the time now. She purposefully uses it wrong to make me point this fact out to her. It is a quote from one of our shared favorite movies. I have purposefully used the term wrong here as well. That is all.)

So just when I think I'm ready to embrace 2015 fully, I find some set of pictures that I took of stuff I bought back in 2014 and just never got around to talking about. I'm sooo behind. And now, I've decided I'm going to double up on a few posts because I want there to be a bit more content if I'm going to ask you all to come here and waste time reading about some of the stuff I've picked up at Goodwill. So this post has two... count-them-TWO posts for the price of one! 

So above you can see the first of two collection shots. Say it with me kids: Let's take a closer look, shall we? 

First up I found a hardcover library-copy of "The Forbidden Castle" and a soft cover copy of the hilarious-looking "Master of Tae Kwon Do." Both of these are Choose Your Own Adventure Books, and as most longtime readers (If I have those. Do I have those? Yeah, I have a couple at least. Thanks guys.) know, are a must-pick-up for me. Although... I've slowed down a bit on the CYOA collecting in the last few months. I pretty much just pick up gaming books with either Horror themes or ones starring pop culture licences, or ones that have some sort of awesome gimmick I've never seen before. So... there's my life story. You're welcome.

The world may be mad at Hulk Hogan right now, but I can never stay mad at ANIMATED Hulk Hogan! Either way my feelings towards him don't really matter as I picked this up for a friend because as you know: I DON'T COLLECT VHS.

This is one of the books that inspired me to do last year's Creepmas celebration. That should give you some idea of how old this all is. Unfortunately, I STILL have not read this book. Don't know if I EVER will. After Halloween season gets done, I'm hard pressed to read anything creepy for a while. I'm kicking off August with my Halloween Read Pile. I will have been reading creepy books for three months straight by the time Halloween gets over with. I will be pretty much done... but I might make an exception this time around.

I don't collect Strawberry Shortcake toys or books myself, but I still can't leave them behind when I find them! This one I believe got lost in the mail on the way to a dear friend. It's a shame. But c'est la vie.

I believe this was my second copy of Garfield's Christmas. I found the first copy in a used bookstore in Rockland, ME for a little it more money. I picked this one up too so I'd have a copy to give away to Adam Nori of "Who Ya Gonna Collect?" fame! I loooove Garfield Holiday specials, pretty much more than any other holiday specials. I will never not buy this book if I find it.

My wife has asked me to start tracking down chapter books from our childhood last summer. Judy Blume has a lot of great 80s era books out there as well that she wanted me to find. So far we have "Fudge-A-Mania," "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing," and "Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great," which all take place in the same literary "world." "Superfudge" was the last one we needed. 

Since I gave away all of the E.T. figures I showed off in the very first blog post, I thought I might use these Toy Story aliens to take their place. But then I didn't end up doing that... and now I couldn't even tell you where these all even ended up. No earthly (or unearthly I guess) idea. 

The piece de resistance in this particular haul was this Fisher Price Kitchen! I am almost sure that I owned one of these as a kid... but I couldn't swear to it in a court of law or anything. This thing is missing absolutely ALL of its accessories. Which, meh... I'm fine with that. I kind of wish it had the little salt and pepper shakers... but maybe I'll find some stand-ins that are even better than the real things.

All right! This is normally where I would be done and I'd do the tagline and we'd see each other in a few days... BUT NOW MORE STUFF!!!

"The Pink Panther in the Haunted House" was a fun addition to the Halloween shelf, although I think since this was probably in November or so, it won't be read for the first time in our house until this Halloween. I remember owning at least one Pink Panther book as a kid, and I think this was it. 

We've talked about why I'm on the lookout for Ramona books already. This was before I was looking specifically for the Joanne Scribner covers, so I have probably already gotten rid of this copy in favor for one with her artwork on the cover. This one by Alan Tigreen doesn't do it for me. It's a little too evocative of Lynn Johnston's For Better or Worse Strips.

There was a big ol' grab-bag on this trip too! As usual, you might notice from the group shot above that I've omitted some of the stuff I just don't care about. I was ESPECIALLY excited however, to find this Squidward in the bag! Spongebob's nice too, but I love this Squidward with his Kali-esque assortment of athletic-equipment-armed arms. That sweat band is a nice touch too. 

Check out this triple threat. We have an Ice Master from The Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog. I had no idea this show was a thing. Apparently it was Power Rangers in ancient Ireland or something? Anyway, this guy's missing an arm. It's too bad, because I kind of love him in a "I desperately want to be Skeletor" kind of way. We also have Milhouse as Fallout Boy from the Burger King series of weird superhero figures that a) had weird bodies that telescoped inside themselves until you popped the open and b) interacted with your computer webcam somehow. There was a set of five of these guys, but I let this one go on to a new home as the rest of the set doesn't really entice me much. And Finally a Pound Puppy Poseable! This is the "Mutt" figure from that line, which came out in 1985. This is another item sent to a friend. 

I had a HECK of a time figuring this one out! I knew this rock monster was definitely LEGO, and that I LOVED it... But what was it from? My first impression was that it was some sort of frozen-in-stone troll figure from the Hobbit or something... but that turned out to be wrong. It turned out instead to literally be a LEGO "Rock Monster" from the "Rock Raiders" line, which was apparently only around from 1999-2000. This guy stands (or crouches, or whatever it's doing...) on my LEGO minifigures shelf with pride! 

These Mario Kart racers were inherited by my Mario-crazy sons (I was collecting Mario stuff for a while, but ended up giving almost ALL of it to the kids after too long). 

Truly the items that impressed me the most (and the major reason why I picked up this grab-bag in the first place...) are these Dinosaurs action figures! Originally there was a set of 6 of these guys, including (inexplicably) Earl's boss, B.P. Richfield. I have had a love/hate relationship with "Dinosaurs" over the years, which has finally, comfortably, settled into "love". 

Well that's it guys! You got your two-fer! I'll be back soon with more Geeky Goodwill Goodies, so until that fateful day... Happy Hunting!

TMNT Books, Sesame Street, Applause toys,

Welcome back! I've been lazy, I'll admit. Completely slacking off. I don't usually let the blog rest this long, especially with Halloween less than 100 days away now, and so MANY posts still cluttering up my reservoirs. So without further ado, let's take a look at a load of stuff I brought back from a trip to Goodwill awhile back. 

Here's the obligatory group shot, but say it with me kids: Let's take a closer look, shall we? 

First up, here are a couple of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles books, both based on the 1990 movie. "The First Battle" is interesting because it tells the first third of the movie with the cartoon-versions of the turtles. This is an obvious move to bridge the gap for younger viewers/readers. And of course there's the young readers novelization of the film. Some year I'm going to go on a novelization-reading BINGE and just rot my brains out with books based on awesome old movies. My friend Biran over at Pop Pop! It's Trash Culture has been talking about starting some sort of book club... maybe it's time to roll that out. 

One Little Golden Book, and one of the Mickey Mouse Club books that desperately emulated them. "Ernie's Work of Art" is one I never had as a kid, but would have loved. "Bongo" looks like fun too, although I'm not familiar with the character, I know I've seen him before.  

I was pretty happy to add a couple of fun looking Halloween books to the shelf... "Ghost Train" and "Trick or Treat" will both probably get a second look as we get into the Halloween countdown this October. 

"Big Bird Joins the Carnival" is from 1985 and is based on the "Follow that Bird" film. This tells the story of how he meets the Sleaze Brothers and gets painted blue. It's... not as much fun as you'd think honestly. 

The E.T. the Extraterrestrial Storybook. I honestly don't have a ton to say about this. I have a love/hate relationship with E.T. It simultaneously scared the ever-loving s**t out of me as a kid, and I also LOVED it. So... now I own the storybook... 

I also found an issue of Marvel Comics Presents, featuring the Daughters of the Dragon, Wolverine, Union Jack, and best of all: Wonder Man! I can't remember if I've even mentioned this comic before, but I loved MCP as a kid. It was such a weird, disjointed introduction to several corners of the Marvel Universe all at once, especially considering that many of the stories were serialized, and so you might pick up an issue to see Wolverine, but then realize that you were actually in the middle of an 8-part story starring him, and then you'd move on to the 7th part of a 13 part Black Panther Story, the 6th part of a 7 part story starring the Master of Kung Fu, and then there would be some weird one-and-done story starring Spitfire or Longshot or some other random c-lister. It was kind of confusing but it really did make the Marvel Universe that much bigger and more magical for it. Plus for around a buck you 4-5 times the action and adventure, even if you didn't get the whole story. 

Now! Onto the grab-bag. All of the loose toys you see in the intro picture above were in one great big grab-bag for 2 dollars. There was a lot of detritus to be cast off, but there was so much great stuff included that it pretty much outweighs the junk. Here you can see a Smurf figurine, a Goomba toy from the 1990 Happy Meal toy line featuring Super Mario Brothers 3, and a Fisher Price Jumbo Little People Bear from the Poppity Pop Car set. But by far (to me) the greatest treasure here is the pink dragon in the front, marked "Applause 1987". Google has turned up only one other possible toy in this series, and I am tempted to say this was some sort of random junk-toy series they put together for bookstores, gift shops, etc. The detail they put into these guys were of the level usually reserved for licensed properties (which Applause was the KING of back in the 80's. They were the Funko of movie licensed products back then. PVC figurines out the rear...) this guy looks so familiar to me that I suspect I had one from the set, or spent a lot of time begging for one.

Here is a set of little vintage decorative figures for... whatever those were used for back then. Cake toppers maybe? Cupcake toppers? Either way, they are charming. And they've been saved to send off to a new home already, as I have a friend who eats this stuff UP.

This is the "Gotcha Gusher Squirter" from the 1992 Nickelodeon Happy Meal toy series from McDonald's. This is actually my second toy from this series. I lock only the blimp game and the loud mouth mic now. I love this thing for being exactly what it is: A piece of Nickelodeon history from the days when they were hitting it big and becoming a brand unto themselves. Yes I would have been 13 or 14 around that time, but Nickelodeon still monopolized a lot of my viewing time 

And finally, here are the vehicles from the bag. Bugs, Knuckles, Wakko (from Animaniacs), and Ratchett (from Tail Spin) are all fun, but it's the Batman Returns and Ernie (also produced by Applause!) toys that really made my day!

Well that's it for tonight kids! I still hope that you enjoy seeing and reading the junk I find at Goodwill nearly as much I do finding it! I'll be back soon with more Geeky Goodwill Goodies! Until then, 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!