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! 

Countdown to Halloween day 30: The Very Last of the Halloween Goodwill Finds Posts for 2015

Well... this is it folks! The last Goodwill Finds post of the 2015 Countdown to Halloween! I'm not too sad though, because there's always next year to look forward to, and with the end of the Halloween season I get to go back to looking for items in general that tickle my fancy. Halloween, like all good things, must come to a close. 

I have to say too, that I think for a post I wasn't sure I'd even be writing, since I just found all this stuff last weekend... I kind of saved the best for last. Here's a shot of the whole pile, (anything that was actually in with the Halloween merchandise was 50% off) so let's dig in!

First up this little folding screen-thing made up of three black cats. I kind of wish they hadn't done two pumpkins and a skull. Wouldn't a skull, a pumpkin, and a witch have been cool and colorful, and reminiscent of Halloween III? Either way, I think these cats are cool. Serene, majestic... almost stoic.

When I picked this up I thought it was a night-light, but then I realized it was actually an air freshener. I love that he's got an eye patch! He's practically a pirate jack o' lantern!

I think they sell the filling for these at Bath and Body works. I'll have to see if they have some pumpkin spice ones.

This was a surprise! I was really hoping to find the entire set of KISS band members in vinyl toy form... but all they had was The Demon, Gene Simmons! He's pretty much the one you want to find if you're going to find one though, so no complaints. Ever since seeing KISS on the Paul Lynde Halloween special this season, I can't NOT think of KISS as a Halloween band!

This is Ghost Rider's red-headed step-child, Vengeance! He's on one of those bikes that is supposed to have a ripcord to rev up the bike before you set it off on the floor. As an unabashed lover of s**tty 90's comics, there is a soft spot in my heart for ol' vengie here. He's one of the Midnight Sons characters, and he's basically Ghost Rider on bath salts. Plus the colors here are just perfect for the season!

I was pretty excited to find a McDonald's Halloween pail that features the McDonaldLand gang circa 1999. I was pretty chuffed to see that the lid is intact, the handle was on there... and this thing is in great shape!

While I'm not a huge fan of the pails as they creep closer and closer to modern day, THIS bucket features both Birdie and Grimace in that animated style they were doing for the "Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald" at the time.

I know next to nothing about vintage Halloween masks. Like how to even tell if they are, in fact, vintage. But these two masks just look way too old, and way too oddly familiar for me to leave them behind. I'm using the McDonald's trick or treat pail here as a model, which I think lends an appropriate level of eeriness to the eyes that I really like. This green guy is just absolutely gorgeous.

I should mention that both masks do actually have markings near the bottoms that should be telling me what the companies are that made these. This might make it easier for me to trace them to a specific time period... but unfortunately they are impossible to read. So... no dice. This devil guy's mouth opens up sideways I guess? Not sure. I love the use of blues and yellows here to make the red look crazy bright. Both of these masks stink like old Halloween masks should. Just smelling their weird cheesy gasoline odor takes me back to the Halloween section of Ames as a kid.

This is another interesting looking book about monsters that I may save for next year's Halloween Read Pile... or I may just read it now. Not sure. But "Scare Scape" by Sam Fisher looks like fun.

I was pretty excited to find this comic book, which is a cheap, indy comic done by creator "Madman" and is touted as:

"Eternity's Halloween Special" which I realize now is the name of the publishing company. "Lunatic Binge" is kind of fun, but kid of rough around the edges. We're talking super cheap end of the old indy comics pool here. It's mostly fun to own for the novelty's sake.

This was another fun find! "World's Worst Monsters & Villains" is another of those weird compendiums that collects monsters from movies, cartoons, myths, fairy tales, video games... whatever, and includes them all with equal fervor... and a equal lack of correct information.

But it's fun to flip through and look at! Here are some particularly monstrous entries in Cthulhu himself and something vampire-y called a Camazotz. If you're an RPG enthusiast like I am, these kinds of books are our bread and butter.

Well that's it kids! I'll be back one more time for this countdown with a final wrap-up post to see us out of the countdown! I won't be hibernating this year during November before my Creepmas and Christmas countdowns in December... so I'm not really going anywhere! Ummm... anyway...

I'll be back soon with more Goonie Goodwill Goodies! So until then, Happy Haunting!

Countdown to Halloween Day 27: Anthologies - Comic Books!

Hello everyone! Tonight I'm back on anthologies, but this time it's all about comic books! I pretty much just dug out all of the anthology horror comic books I could find in my collection (there are more but I FRUSTRATINGLY couldn't find them all. It's driving me INSANE!!!)

Here's a nice group shot of all the comics, scattered on my desk. I kind of just love the look and feel of this picture. But let's dig in, shall we?

If you're looking for some sort of well-thought-out, archival history of anthology horror comics, you have come to the wrong blog. Pretty much I'm just going to be pointing at stuff and going: "Hey isn't this cool?" for this entire post. What I really want to focus on is the presence of a "host" or some sort of framing story that keeps the anthology format moving. So the comics that lack this aren't going to get much more than a quick cover shot before I move on. First up: House of Mystery!

This one is a favorite for various different reasons.

First up, is Cain. Yes, THAT Cain. As in Cain of Cain and Abel. If you are even passing familiar with DC's House of Mystery (and it's brother book, the House of Secrets) then you will know that Cain, the first murderer is the host of House of Mystery, where he delights in repeatedly murdering his brother Abel in various nasty ways. Cain lives in the House of Mystery, Abel in the House of Secrets. The Houses and the brothers are actually canonical DCU locations and characters, and have been used in stories alongside superheroes, and arguably most famously as a part of Neil Gaiman's run on "The Sandman" where the brothers play rather large roles in the stories. The only issue I own of the classic series is the issue where they announce the series is being cancelled, in October of 1983. Ho-Hum. 

There was a reprint special put out in 1998 by the DC/Vertigo imprint with 10 different stories collected from the House of Mystery comic, as well as "PLOP!" another comic that featured Cain and Abel. The framing story was written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Sergio Aragones. The stories contained within are prime examples of House of Mystery storytelling, and what I've come to realize is that while the stories were often clever and even beautifully illustrated, they were always a bit rushed.

The House of Mystery was taken over by the Mistress of the Dark herself, Elvira in 1986. Apparently this was only an 11 issue run, and I was lucky enough to find the 7th issue in the series in a recent trip to the Big Chicken Barn. This is a "Special Sci-Fi Issue!" She and the House banter back and forth quite a bit in the framing sequences, and apparently it is her mission to track down the missing Cain. This all takes place during the Crisis on Infinite Earths event.

I think probably the most exciting thing about this comic book is the offer to join the Elvira fan club though. I mean... for just less than 8 buck I get an autographed 8x10, a newsletter, a bumper sticker, a mini-poster decal, AND a Button!? If I wasn't afraid of just wasting 8 bucks, I would totally send out for this tomorrow, just to see what happens.

Another DC horror anthology comic is "The Witching Hour" which featured three witches. These witches were Mordred, Mildred, and Cynthia.

These witches would also come to be very important in Neil Gaiman's run on "The Sandman" as well as earning themselves a mini-series called "WitchCraft" in 1994 written by James Robinson, and illustrated by 4 different artists:

The "Witchcraft" miniseries both is and isn't a horror anthology in and of itself. It tells four distinct stories, but they are stories of reincarnation and revenge, and they all tie back directly to the framing sequence. I'm making the case here and now that this actually IS a form of anthology storytelling, albeit one a great deal more structured and intertwined than most.

The next pile of comic books I want to focus on are the ones sent to me by my online friend, John Gaither of the Robot Monster Space Super Hero blog (say THAT 5 times fast!) who regularly floors me with his kindness and generosity! Of the 5 issues you see above, the "Ripley's Believe it Or Not: True Ghost Tales," and the DC comics, "Ghosts" did not have a framing story or "host" character, so I won't be delving in past the covers... But the remaining three had some fun characters to welcome us in.

"All New Midnight Tales" from Charlton Comics  stars The Midnight Philosopher, Professor Cyrus Coffin and his niece Arachne, and apparently, the theme of this particular comic was that they would head into a mysterious locale or situation each issue, and then the stories included would reveal clues as to the nature of the mystery. An interesting idea.

Next from DC comics we have "Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion", and its host, Charity! This is a pretty cut and dry set up with Charity popping in to give us an introduction to each tale, and a closing anecdote after each one wraps up. Apparently Charity there went on to become a supporting character in the Starman series.

"Scary Tales" was originally a Charlton comic as well, but the copy John sent me here is a reprint put out just a couple of years later by "Modern Comics" which I find very interesting! Countess R.H. Von Bludd is our host, and as this is the very first issue, we are treated to a collection of vampire stories, and more than one of them feature her in them!

The Charlton comic "Monster Hunters" is a straight up anthology with no host from 1976, and "The Silver Scream" is a reprinted collection put out by "Recollections" (Lorne-Harvey Publications) back in 1991. We're not going to pull back the covers on either of them. Instead, let's take a closer look at...

"Grimm's Ghost Stories" from Whitman Publishing, circa 1978. As far as I can tell, the host here is the titular "Grimm" who is a clotheshorse hag who changes her outfit for every story. She dresses as a fisherman for the first story, a bullfighter for another, etc. I love the guy's quote above: "I made a date with a dead woman-- and there's no way to break it!"

Edgar Allan Poe's Haunt of Horror is a much more recent affair, although it's still almost a decade old, having been published back in 2006. It is a part of the Marvel MAX imprint, which was for mature readers only. The stories are all loosely based around the stories of Edgar Allen Poe, and while some of the tales are literally interpreted, some of them are veeery subjective. There is no framing device, per se, but we do get this guy in the front cover of each issue:

Uncle Deadgar! And each issue is presented by the "Dead Poe Society" which gave me a chuckle.

And finally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention some of the MOST famous anthology horror comics of all times: The Haunt of Fear, The Vault of Horror, and of course: Tales From the Crypt! The issues I own are all reprints that were put out in the early 90's. Each issue is technically a reprint of two comics, the first being the title comic, and the second one being "Weird Science Fantasy" or "Crime SuspenStories" or some other random EC comic from back in the day. Of course, you talk about classic EC horror comics without taking a look at their three horror hosts:

The Cryptkeeper! This guys quite a bit different than the Cryptkeeper we know and love from the HBO anthology show!

The old witch is the primary host of "The Haunt of Fear," though all three hosts actually show up in all three of EC's horror comics.

And I'm not even sure why they needed a Vault Keeper. He seems a bit redundant, honestly. Basically the Cryptkeeper in a hoodie. Like I said, if you were expecting to be educated or otherwise enlightened in any way by this post, I feel you must understand by now that this is simply not going to happen.

And that's all I have for tonight folks! Just a weird and wacky melange of comics that all happen to be horror anthologies! I'll be back soon enough with some Graverobbing Goodwill Goodies! Until then, Happy Haunting!

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!