This One's Honestly Kind of Lame, but I've Been Sitting On This Draft FOREVER and I don't Blame You if You Hate It.

Oh my gosh, this entry has been waiting for AGES to be written up and posted. Here's a quick stop into Goodwill from last year some time... My quick stops didn't used to involve combing through the books section, but now I usually at least scan them to see what's there. Hence, the small pile of books.

First I found this vintage package of "Mr. Doodler" non-toxic, washable markers from the 80's. Unfortunately, they are not the smelly kind... but I remember these from school when I was a kid, and surprisingly, they still (kind of...) work. So I bought 'em for .99 cents. 

I don't feel like writing up stuff about each and every one of these books, but most of these should be pretty obvious as to why I picked them up. All sci-fi, fantasy, and geek-speak stuff. The I, Steve book is all inspirational Steve Jobs quotes, 2001: A Space Odyssey is a novelization of the Stanley Kubrick film (although its pedigree is smudgy. It was developed by Clarke and Kubrick together, to be released after the film... and is technically based on the film... but it (and apparently the film) was also based on a bunch of Clarke's short stories). 1984. Never read it. Probably never going to get around to reading it... but now I can at least say I have no good excuse for not having read it... because I own it. 

I have been holding on to the first book in the Wyrd Museum trilogy for a while now, and I was almost on the verge of just getting rid of it... and then I found book #2... and now I have to try and make myself read these books about a magical museum... which sounds pretty great actually. But... so... many... books. Like this beautiful old paperback copy of the Tolkien Reader that I will probably never read either. But look at that thing.

I picked up this fun looking Gold Key Golden Comics Digest starring Tom and Jerry. Just look at that line-up! Droopy Dog! Still haven't read this one, but I am looking forward to it!!! And as always, there was a Golden Book starring Mickey Mouse that just HAD to come home with me as well.

The star of the show is this Hungry Hippos board from the 80's! Look at this thing! The ones you buy nowadays have the hippos that you can separate from the game for easy storage... actually no. That's the version our family bough back in the early 2000's. NOWADAYS, the game has been tainted by the "Elefun and Friends" branding because Hasbro realized that all of their animal-themed games needed their own shared universe.  

Look at this goofy b*stard. This was back in the days of "Henry," "Homer," "Harry," and "Happy" Hippo. But darned if they didn't ALL look so deliriously "Happy" back then. Man. Although... if you stare at his nostrils for too long it makes your eyes hurt a little. Don't do it.

All right kids, that's all I have for tonight. I'll be mack with some more Geeky Goodwill Goodies soon enough though! So until then, Happy Hunting!

Halloween Countdown Day 9: Scooby-Doo Haunted House Game

About a week and a half ago I was in the Brewer, ME Goodwill and found something I have been wanting to buy for YEARS:

The Scooby-Doo Haunted House 3D Board Game!!! Ever since I started to collect Scooby-Doo Mystery Mates (Scooby-Doo themed mini-figures in the same vein as Hasbro's Super Hero Squad or Mattel's Toy Story Buddies) I have wanted to buy this game. Not to play, but to use as a display for all my Mates!!!

Thing is, the game retails at Toys R' Us for about 20 bucks. And I've just never really wanted to pull the trigger on it for that price. Especially since most of it looks like it's constructed from cardboard. But wouldn't you know it? I found a copy at Goodwill for 1.99!!! I couldn't believe my eyes! And even then, I assumed I would get it home only to find most-to-all of the pieces missing. 

But they were all there! Everything you see here is everything that was supposed to be here! The instructions were in there too! There's a lot of fantastic parts to this game and they all do something to trap, trip-up, or tumble players moving around the board. You spin the severed arm there on the front of the board and then move the number of spaces it lands on. If the space has a gravestone, fine, just move that number. But if the space has a ghost? Look out! You then press the ghost on the top of the game (who is the "villain" the gang is there to unmask) and it sets into motion some of the booby-traps all over the game. It's a different set of traps each time. 

All of the Scooby-Gang pawns were in there too, and they were really the only thing I can complain of being damaged. Some of them look like they've been bent in the middle and creased. But don't they look swell? 

The winner is the first player to reach the roof of the house and unmask the villain. Here he is. Oh man! Old Mr. McCreedy's son! The one they kept locked up in the root cellar and electrocuted when he made noise! HE's the one who keeps scaring people away from the old estate so he can find the pirate gold stashed in the... well you get the joke and I want to stop writing it now.

So then I decided to pile on all of my Mystery Mates to see how they looked... and quite frankly this was the only part of the purchase I regretted. This doesn't work as a display for these mini-figs at all. This discovery just made me that much more thankful that I never paid full-price for it at TRU... but now I'm glad I got it just because it's an awesome game!!! I have it out on display in the cave surrounded by Halloween PEZ dispensers just to celebrate the season, but I'll be dragging it out to play with my kids soon enough. 

Well, that's it for tonight! I'll be back soon with more Groovy-Coolsville Goodwill Goodies! Until then, Happy Haunting!

Be sure to check out all of the great blogs participating in this year's Halloween Countdown! You can do so by clicking this link, or clicking on the Cryptkeeper 2013 banner on the sidebar to the right! Also, check out the "Blog-O-Ween" Halloween Blog collective, again by following this link, or through the badge on the sidebar! Thanks!

Halloween Countdown Day 5: Goodwill Gaming - Scooby Doo Playing Cards!

It just wouldn't be Halloween without Scooby-Doo! In fact, this won't even be the last time he's featured in my Countdown! But to start, we have this deck of Scooby-Doo playing cards! 

I found these for .99 cents. Unfortunately, three of the cards are missing from the set, so I won't really be able to use these to play... unless I want to alter three of the four jokers included to replace the missing cards. The art on the back-side of the cards is kind of green and simple, but also Gothic and cartoon-y and awesome. So we're off to a nice start. 

The 10's, Jacks, Queens, and Kings are all represented by a member of the Scooby-Gang. Velma is definitely a 10!!! Shaggy is on all of the Jack cards, Daphne is the Queen, and Fred is King. These are one out of three different poses featured for each of the characters in the deck. And each suit gets it's own spiffy background, so all the skull cards (diamonds) get a cemetery, all the Scooby-Snack bones (clubs) get a Malt Shop, all the bats (spades) get a different spooky cemetery (this one complete with a skull-headed gate and a half-opened crypt) and all the ghost cards (hearts) get a ghostly pirate ship. Fun little details that they didn't HAVE to include. The only weird thing about it is that there weren't enough trumps for Scooby to get his own, so he takes over the entire suit of spades (or bats), even the trump cards for that suit. The only one he even shares is the Jack card pictured above with Shaggy. All of the Ace cards (with the exception of Scooby's own Ace) is shared by Scooby and Shaggy together as well. Fascinating!

The jokers of the deck are all different kinds of Scooby Snacks. I honestly don't have a lot to say about these. You get two kinds. Dog bones and the more traditional style of Scooby Snack they used to sho on the cartoon whenever they'd bribe Scooby and Shaggy into risking their lives. I think I'd have to be one hungry hippy/beatnik/stoner to let someone talk me into being bait for a swamp monster for a couple of lousy dog treats. 

And finally, even more exciting than the trump cards are all of these guys! All the numbered cards from 2-9 in all the suits except for spades are occupied by the monsters! They all dominate their own number, so you always see Frankenstein's monster on the 2's, and the Witch Doctor on the 6's, etc.

So a pretty nicely dressed-up and SPOOKY Scooby-Doo card game over all!

That's it for tonight boils and ghouls! I'll be back faster than the swishing of a cat's tail on the back of a witch's broom with more Ghoulish Goodwill Goodies! Until then... Happy Haunting!

Be sure to check out all of the great blogs participating in this year's Halloween Countdown! You can do so by clicking this link, or clicking on the Cryptkeeper 2013 banner on the sidebar to the right! Also, check out the "Blog-O-Ween" Halloween Blog collective, again by following this link, or through the badge on the sidebar! Thanks!

Goodwill Gaming Week Day 5: Games... made of wood? I Guess?

Welcome to the fifth day of Goodwill Gaming features here on Goodwill Hunting 4 Geeks! 

Today I'm focusing on a couple of games that have a nice old-timey feel to them, even though one of them came out in 2001. Both are constructed from wood, so they get to share a post together. 

Gobble what?

First up we have the game "Gobblet" which is a sort of cross between checkers and connect four. I paid 2.99 for my copy at Goodwill after hearing rave reviews about it online.

Let's look under the lid.

Here's a shot of the inside of the box, and the under-side of the lid, which serves as the playing surface. I'm not entirely sure why they built a smaller box inside of the bigger box to contain the playing pawns, but it looks classy as hell. 

I want you inside me.

Here's a shot of what the pawns look like up close, and separated from each other. When not in use they rest inside each other like nesting dolls. The larger three pieces of each color are hollow for this purpose. 

Reading is for wusses. Just play the damn game already.

Here are the instructions. What it basically boils down to is that you move the pieces around on the board, jumping onto and "gobbling" your opponent's pieces until you have four of your own colored pieces in a row. I have yet to con anyone in my family into playing this game with me... though I'm DYING to try it out. I love checkers, and I love connect four. I love eating stuff too. I guess that is really neither here nor there.  

Just a box... not assuming anything.

Here is a rather unassuming box with a handle that I picked up for 1.99 at Goodwill. It looks like a little case for something really sophisticated like cigars or hummus. But when you open it and look inside you find:

Now I am assuming so many things!

It is a game called "Shut The Box"! My game didn't actually come with dice. I added those.  Those are some nice dice.

More reading. Wuss.

The object of the game is to roll dice and put down the numbers that match the rolls until all the number tiles are down. It's a pretty quick play, and a great time killer. You can count each individual die (if you roll a 1 and a 3 you can put down both of those numbers) or the total of the dice together (1 + 3 = 4, so you could put down the 4 instead). But as soon as you roll something that you can't flip over (let's say the 1, the 3, and the 4 are all already flipped) then you lose. The object is to get all 9 tiles flipped and then shut the box without having that happen.

And since I mentioned checkers above, and to just sort of fluff up the end of this post... I'm going to plop a link here to the post where I talked about this game: 

That's right, bitches. I'm back.

Blanket checkers. There was a whole story associated with these that I feel like NEEDS to be recounted now (you'll need to scroll down past the books to find it... but it's totally worth it).

If you'd like to check out what's been going on during the other 4 days of Goodwill Gaming Week here are some links to the other articles:

- Day 1 I checked out the MAD Magazine Board Game from Parker Brothers. 

- Day 2 I explore the bizarre world of Mexican BINGO!

- Day 3 I featured the Clarissa Explains It All Board Game! 

- Day 4 I sort of just phoned it in and re-blogged about some other games I've featured here before. "Hero Quest" and "Emperor's Challenge". 

I'll be back tomorrow with some more Geeky Goodwill Gaming Goodies! Until then, Happy Hunting! 

Goodwill Gaming Week Day 4: Just Some Lazy Reblogging. About Games!

So today I'm totally blowing off doing a new entry and pointing you back to my very first board game feature here on Goodwill Hunting 4 Geeks: 

Hero Quest! Here's the link to my original write up of that game. 

Not enough? 

Then here's a link to a post that shows the contents of a cool seeming game called Emperor's Challenge. (Scroll down to the bottom of the post to find it).

Sorry for the reblog... but I wanted to find some way of tying in old game posts in anyway... so this is it. 

If you want to check out the earlier Goodwill Gaming posts (before I phoned this one in):

- Day 1 I checked out the MAD Magazine Board Game from Parker Brothers. 

- Day 2 I explore the bizarre world of Mexican BINGO!

- Day 3 I featured the Clarissa Explains It All Board Game! 

I'll be back with some original content and more Geeky Goodwill Gaming Goodness tomorrow! Until then, Happy Hunting!

Goodwill Gaming Week Day 3: Clarissa Explains It All!

Welcome back to Goodwill Gaming Week here ate Goodwill Hunting 4 Geeks!

Back in November of 2012 I posted about a Payday Friday from the prior October. This haul included a copy of the Clarissa Explains It All Board Game. I didn't write much about it at the time... but the time has come to correct this oversight.

Take a look:

For those of you who have no idea who Clarissa Darling is, or why she should be explaining anything to you at all... we need to go back a few years to 1991 and the heyday of Nickelodeon. Spongebob hadn't been invented yet, and wouldn't rear his yellow, porous head for another 5 years or so. It was the year of Nicktoons like Rugrats and Ren & Stimpy. But along with those were some live action shows aimed at teens like "Are You Afraid of the Dark" and "Clarissa Explains it All". 

Clarissa was portrayed by a pre-"Sabrina the Teenage Witch" Melissa Joan Hart. It wasn't the first sitcom of its ilk aimed at Teens, nor would it be the last... but it always had a special place in my heart. 

So they took this concept and turned it into a board game. It actually seems like it would be pretty fun to play (still haven't play-tested on my family... we'll see if it happens) what with it's fun multiple choice mechanism and opportunity to steal from other players- but you can just read the rules later. I think the major thing this game board is lacking is more photos from the show. There's a total of three on the whole board, four if you count the driver's license (which I DO NOT). It just would have dressed it up some more. 

Obligatory back of the box shot here. Full of cute-itude. 

Here's a shot of Clarissa on her bed. Nothing funny I can think of about that. 

Teenage girls like talking on the phone. There's got to be some comedy they can wring out of that...

And there's Sam! Sam was so cool. He climbed trees and whatnot. 

Being a game about Clarissa's quest to acquire a car and license, you may notice a certain... theme to some of the game tokens. 

Here are more game pieces, all transportation themed. I like that flip-flops are considered a form of transportation. 

Here are some crisis cards. They represent chances to lose your hard-earned... earnings. 

Here are a few examples of "rescue" cards. These counteract the various crisises... crisees... cristopi? The various bad cards. IF the character on the card matches (a Ferguson rescue cancels out a Ferguson crisis). 

Here are some "Clarissa Explains... List Cards". The players all choose which number on the list they agree with and this determines a secret number of spaces they may move on the board. I picked my 8 favorite lists to highlight here. I really dig the explanations of a teenage girl from the 90's. 

And finally we have the booklet with instructions on how to play the game. I honestly can't believe my luck at finding this game complete. There was even an old pencil included. I can't wait to give it a shot with my wife and 12 year old daughter (can't decide if she'll be mortified or completely uninterested... but excited is too much to hope for). 

Any way, this little 90's Nickelodeon relic takes me way back, and for that, I love it. 

If you want to check out the rest of Goodwill Gaming Week:

- Day 1 I checked out the MAD Magazine Board Game from Parker Brothers. 

- Day 2 I explore the bizarre world of Mexican BINGO!

I'll be back tomorrow with more Geeky Goodwill Gaming! Until then, Happy Hunting!

Goodwill Gaming Week Day 2: Mexican BINGO!!!

Welcome back to Goodwill Gaming Week! Today I'm going to showcase an amazing copy of a Mexican BINGO game: "Juego De Loteria". It is "Autentica" which in my hackneyed translation I think means authentic... I'm not going to Google it. You want... you can do it. I paid .99 cents for this bad boy. 

Here's the box. The artwork is what initially caught my eye here. It occured to me that some of the images on the top were vaguely Tarot-ish, and so I popped open the box (you can see some tape damage where they resealed the box before donating it) to look at the BINGO cards.

Included were this baggie of little yellow chits, and this deck of plaid-backed cards. The cards are shuffled and drawn to determine the pictures on the BINGO cards to cover with the chits. 

Some of the images on the cards are people of various different walks of life. Including dapper gentlemen, Ladies in skirt-suits, knife fighting valientes (valiant or brave)... and chalupas? I have no idea why this woman is being referred to as a menu item at Taco Bell. Okay I did Google that one. The chalupa is the canoe. This makes some sense to me now. I'm trying to be culturally sensitive here. 

But there's always room for cultural insensitivity! 

Here are a handful of gorgeously illustrated images of either cultural, celestial, or mythological significance. El Sol and La Luna are obviously the sun and moon respectively. El Mundo is the world. El arpa is a harp. 

And here is some unadulterated nightmare fuel for the kiddos. But apparently La Calavera refers directly to something to do with the Day of the Dead holiday. The other three cards are all pretty much on the nose. 

Here we suddenly have a random assortment of items from mildly menacing to bizarrely mundane. What a lovely gorrito! Have some ketchup. 

And an assortment of juicy melons. Oops! How did that mermaid get in there? 

Here is the entire rest of the assortment that I didn't feel like highlighting. Lots of pretty, innocuous, and regular items one might encounter while south of the border. I actually really love the look and feel of the artwork on all of these. I may have had a chuckle at some of the more scandalous images, but overall this is a game from a different culture, and I think the contents of the images speak volumes about some of the day-to-day experiences. 

Here are the Bingo cards themselves. I probably won't actually be playing this game with my kids, to be honest, because I don't want to have to explain about the drunk guy or Satan... but I like the components nonetheless. 

I'll be back tomorrow with more Geeky Goodwill Gaming Goodness! Until then, Happy Hunting! 

If you want to see yesterday's game check out: 

- The MAD Magazine Game from Parker Brothers!