Randomly Received: A Package from "Dave"!

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 January 17th, 2014

So back in May of last year I was contacted by a gentleman named "Dave" via e-mail. It was all very clandestine and mysterious... but what it boiled down to was that he wanted to sort of set up a "Toy Karma" trading system. So he'd send me a bit of stuff and I'd send a bit of stuff back. I'm still working on my bit of stuff (there's a handful of stuff he's asked me to keep an eye out for and I am diligently doing so (Not sure if I ever sent Dave his package of stuff, to be honest... Dave... Dave? Did I send you your stuff?)). Dave doesn't have a blog of his own so he asked that I keep the details on him light, personally, but I definitely plan to show off the great stuff he sent me this past November:

Honestly, when Dave contacted me to let me know he's sent out the package, I had forgotten about our agreement. So it was with great curiosity and profound excitement that I tore open the box. As you can see from the picture above, it was an eclectic mix... but not one so hard to figure out. Dave obviously paid close attention to the things I've featured over on the Goodwill Hunting 4 Geeks blog, such as Sesame Street stuff, McDonald's toys, and various other sundry items. 

First up was this AWESOME advert for the Sesame Street movie, Follow That Bird! It looks like it may have come from a press junket or maybe just something handed out an movie theaters to get people jazzed about the film? I don't know but it is awesome. I love little pieces of promotional history like this that remind you of a time when films that NOW have been around for ages were still something "COMING SOON". 

Two particularly exciting items were this Ewok PEZ dispenser and a LEGO Batman McDonald's Happy Meal toy! I'm a big Star Wars OT fan, and PEZ enthusiast... so Wicket here is a welcome addition. And LEGO Batman is absolutely one of my favorite games of ALL time. LEGO Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter... pretty much ANYTHING LEGO is my favorite game of all time.  But Batman ESPECIALLY. This was VERY exciting for me. I'm... not really a gamer.

Here is an assortment of mini-figs that Dave tossed into the mix as well, knowing that I ADORE mini-figs. I think my absolute favorites of the bunch are the bendy Ronald McDonald, the Adventure Time BMO figure, and the absolutely AWESOME washing-machine/robot figure in the middle there, who, when rolled back and forth, agitates the teddy bear inside it. I was also particularly excited to add the Flash's ring to my collection of DCU rings (even though it was technically just a Lantern Corps ring collection before now).

Next up, this Ghostbusters mini-book, right out of an 80's Scholastic book order. (I have no idea if that's where it came from, but that's all it makes me think of) this went up in a place of honor on my Ghostbusters' shelf. 

Then there's this 6 hour-long DVD of "Old School" highlights from Sesame Street years 1979-1984, which would actually account for a pretty large chunk of my actual viewing years as a child. I haven't popped this in yet, but I can't wait to sit down and watch it with my smallest boy, who is my one true Sesame Street convert out of my three kids. 

And finally, I have the first volume of the Sesame Street Treasury. This is a later version of the Sesame Street Library, both of which were sold serialized in supermarkets. Since there were so many reprinted stories from the "Library" books in the "Treasury" books, I've never taken the time to track them all down... but after looking through this first book, I may just need to change my position. 

Well, that's it folks! I can't thank Dave enough for the great goodies, and I can't wait to get a package together and off into the mail for him. I have a HUGE BACK-LOG of exciting stuff that has been sent to me from fellow bloggers so I'm going to be focusing on that for a little while here on RRRG... but soon enough I'll be posting some other stuff in other... more random areas that I'm pretty excited about as well! So keep your eyes peeled here dear readers! 

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!