RETURN of the BIN OF AWESOME!!! 2015 Summer (Canadian) Edition!!!

So for the past two Summers, I have been ridiculously lucky to somehow have a bin of toys almost drop into my lap. And every year I try to chronicle the contents of the bin over the course of several blog posts, (Part 5 of the FIRST bin can be found here, with links to the previous 4 entries, detailing the rest of the bin... and Part 3 of the SECOND bin with links, etc, etc) with limited success... And both of those Bins Full of Awesome came from the same neighborhood guy who sold them to me.

You always remember your first... Bin of Awesome...
(I never got a photo of bin #2 because it was partially filled with rainwater
and time was a factor in salvaging some toys.)

This summer I was lucky once again to receive a Bin of Awesome... but this time from a very unexpected source: CANADA. 

Yes, I have altered the shipping labels to obscure my address.
That's why it looks like that. Just relax. 

Yes... you read that right... CANADA. I have a podcasting friend, Chris Gaida, from my days on Geek Fallout, who I THOUGHT I was trading just a handful of comic books with. I sent him a small parcel of comic books and a couple of months later... this thing lands on my doorstep. From CANADA. Thus, saving me from a Bin-of-Awesome-Less Summer! Let's rip the lid off this sucker and see what was inside it shall we? (Oh, and FYI, I'm going to cover everything in this one post and skip the multi-part nonsense because the Halloween season is drawing near, and I'm limited in the number of posts I can crank out between now and September 30th. So you get it all one-and-done, baby!)

Right after wrenching off the lid, a gust of cold, Canadian wind puffed out in my face, temporarily blinding me. But then I was greeted by the sight above. Goodies!!!  I'll reveal the layers of the bin as they were revealed to me. I had my camera in hand as I went through everything, so you are seeing pictures of the first moments I laid eyes on everything in the bin myself.

So, without further ado, let us dig in!

On the topmost layer, I was greeted by a crossover issue of the X-Men, featuring Power Pack (more on "The Pack" a bit later) an issue of "Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen" AND an issue of Amazing Stories ("Watch the NBC TV Series...") this is all EXACTLY up my alley so far... Let's keep on digging.

This was... unexpected... to say the very least. Not ONE... but TWO carded Dr. Killemoffs from the Toxic Crusaders action figure line. These were put out by Playmates back in 1991 and they were a very close rival to the TMNT in my heart. I was actually collecting these when I was 12 going on 13... so I was growing long in the tooth for action figures... but damned if I cared! One of these Doctors' blisters was separating from the card back so I shucked him and have since placed him proudly on my shelf! Dr. Killemoff was a high-ranking general in Hordak's army.

Aaaaaand theeeeen... A boxed set of the first four books in the Doc Savage novels set!!! This was one of my favorite items in the bin! I SHOULD have photographed the individual book covers because they are all AMAZING... but I'll feature them sometime in the future. There was also a news paper/magazine thing from the "Invasion" DC event, and a DVD of "Comic Book Villains" which I have never heard of but CANNOT WAIT to watch (Well, I actually can and will wait to watch it because all my spare viewing time is currently devoted to watching horror films for my October Countdown... But come... Novem... Decem... maybe January? I'll be popping this bad boy in right away!!!)

Chris also included this copy of "Star Trek: The Magazine" which features Jeffrey Combs! Chris knows I love me some Combs! Then I saw this "The Art of Star Wars Galaxy" book, which collects the art from the TOPPS trading cards. Oh man I LOOOVE me some Star Wars, and a lot of the artowork from those cards was ridiculously kick-ass.

So of course he included volume 2 as well! Chris proves several times throughout this bin that he's the kind of guy who pays attention to detail. He tailor suited this stuff to me PERFECTLY (which was the point, I know, duh... but it bears pointing out!) case in point being "Sesame Street Unpaved" which is an incredible behind-the-scenes book detailing one of my all-time favorite kids' shows. I've only had the opportunity to kind of flip through these books so far, but I'm planning a Sesame Street blog event for the future, and this book is just PERFECT.

MORE TOXIC CRUSADER ACTION FIGURES!!! This time around we get two of our verdantly virile hero, Toxie! and Dr. Killemoff's Major Domo, Psycho! I left one Toxie on his card and shucked both Psycho and one of the Toxies so they could join Killemoff on the shelf. It felt kind of wrong but it also felt kind of right. I just love playing with toys so much, I couldn't leave them trapped. Now I only have 4 or 5 more of these guys to track down before I have a complete set! But once those action figures were cleared out of the way... the most amazing thing was revealed unto mine eyes:

THIS THING. There have been hints as we've been digging all along. His purple body, his gloved hand... his.. be-spatted foot... all pointing to a California Raisin! But oh what a colossal Raisin it is!!! This thing is a monster! This is obviously one of those huge fair prizes that are almost impossible to win. Weird thing is... I think I remember these kinds of toys hanging from the ceilings of the dart games and whatnot at our own local Blue Hill Fair from when I was a kid! For those of you that don't know, the Raisins were a BIG DEAL for a few years back in the 80's. They were EVERYWHERE. SO it's no wonder that there would be questionably-licensed versions of the characters being given out as fair prizes back then. Good GAWD this thing is beautiful. And ridiculous-big. I have no idea where I will be displaying him, but its been mostly wherever he's least in the way for the time being.

But wait! We're still not done! The bin of awesome has yet deeper... depths... to plume! There was this gorgeous art print/poster of Mumm-Ra, the Ever-Living! The glare on the protective plastic sheath definitely steals some of the impact, but I assure you this thing is awesome.

Also included was this awesome Joker t-shirt! Is it worth anything? I don't know! I yoinked it out of the plastic and started wearing it the next day! I feel like I'm a terrible collector sometimes... but when somebody gives me a Joker shirt I wear that s**t. 

Ugh I didn't realize how blurry this photo came out when I took it... but I DID realize I was too lazy to go tracking these back down to re-photograph them, so you get what you get. "Power Pachyderms!" "Blip!" And two... count them TWO issues of "Sectaurs!!!" Because Sectaurs KICK ASS.

Sooo... now we're getting into the Power Pack neighborhood. I. LOVE. POWER. PACK. These issues here, "Skrulls vs Power Pack," are from a relatively recent mini-series put out around the "Secret Invasion" event back in 2008. I say relatively because the original Power Pack series was put out back in the mid-to-late 80's and early 90's. It had a bit of a renaissance under the "All Ages" series of books Marvel did from 2005 to 2010, in fact this one was the 8th miniseries out of 11. These are not really part of the mainline continuity of the Marvel Universe (like that even matters anymore), but they're still an excellent read. But honestly, they pale in comparison to...

Original Power Pack!!! Chris is actively trying to help me complete my original run of Power Pack. And thanks to this handful of comics (Including #1!!!) I'm finally down to the last 8 issues I need to have them all! This was such an incredibly AWESOME package to have received! Chris Gaida's generosity was ridiculous here, and I really can't thank him enough. I can only say that I owe him MAJORLY and I will do my best in the future to repay the gesture.

Well, that's it for tonight kids! I want to thank Chris Gaida one more time for being such an awesome friend and sending me my Summer of 2015 BIN OF AWESOME!!! Be sure to listen to him and some of my other good old podcasting friends over at Geek Fallout (They are also on iTunes so be sure to subscribe and leave them a review)! You can also follow Chris on Twitter. As per usual, I'll be back very soon with some Geeky Goodwill Goodies, so until then, Happy Hunting! (Only 19 more days until October Eve!!!)

A Trip to the Big Chicken Barn: Comic Books and Star Wars Figures!

So a couple of months ago the family drove out to Belfast, ME. We do this from time to time. On the way, we always drive past a huge Antique mall on the Bucksport Rd. in Ellsworth called The Big Chicken Barn:



The place is colossal, has two floors, and the entire top floor is filled with books, magazines, and comic books. So I am always dying to look through the contents of the store. Well... I got my chance on this particular trip! And boy did I find a handful of fun stuff! Let's take a look, shall we?

First up, there was a pile of comic books. 18 of them to be exact.

I'm a big Cloak & Dagger fan from way back. I have always loved their concept, their visual as a crime-fighting duo, their duality. I WISH Marvel could make a book with these two as the stars work. Until then, I will settle for digging through old dusty back-issue boxes in places like the Big Chicken Barn.

I found a bunch more Power Pack issues to compliment the ones I found at Goodwill last year. I find this title really interesting too. It would never work nowadays. The idea of little children placing themselves in the kind of peril that Power Pack did in this series would just never fly. Some of the stories become near-disturbing simply because children this small are involved. I personally really enjoy it. It's the exact kind of storytelling that brought me into comic books as a kid when I was reading titles like The New Mutants and X-Terminators (two teams that both featured youngsters in the rosters facing some rather adult challenges) during the demonic Inferno storyline. I am making it a point from here on to find the issues of Power Pack that I don't yet own. 

I was SO excited to find a six-pack of Sleepwalker comics! Sleepwalker was just weird enough and original enough that he quickly became must-read for me back in the 90's. I usually didn't have enough money to buy his title regularly, so my Sleepwalker collection is all over the place. But with Sleepwalker's limitations, powers, and bizarre character design he still remains an old favorite. He's the kind of character that would just never have any hope of kicking off his own book these days.

I am SHOCKED by how much I genuinely enjoy the Wonder Man series that Marvel put out in the early 90's. I've had a couple issues of this book kicking around forever, and over time have piecemealed together a small, enjoyable collection. I was able to add three more issues to the stack from this trip. I highly recommend at the very least, the first 10 issues or so. They're a fun send-up of Hollywood culture, in a sort of "L.A. Story" with superheroes kind of concept. 

Finally, I found these last two gems. The first one is an issue of Hot Stuff from Harvey Comics. These were staples of my childhood before I began reading New Mutants and X-Men. I mean I was a HUGE Harvey comics reader. And then there on the right are some of the very mutants that pulled me away from Hot Stuff, Casper, Richie Rich, and the other Harvey all-stars... the mutant team X-Factor! 

But the Chicken Barn isn't all books! The downstairs is full of antiques and collectibles. It was down there that I found this little bag of AWESOME... a ziploc bag full of Hasbro's Star Wars Galactic Heroes figures, which are no longer being made.

Here's a look at everyone included, 14 in all. As you can see, it was a nice mix of characters, if you ignore everyone from the prequels. Some of these I already had, but a lot of them are ones I was trying to track down! Let's take a look at some of the more notable characters:

First up are some folks from the forest moon, Endor. A pair of Ewoks, including Wicket, with the spear and I'm-not-sure-who with the wings. And Leia! Speeder-bike Leia, who goes along great with my Speeder-Bike Luke! 

And these guys from that hive of scum and villainy, the Mos Eisley Cantina! You have Hammerhead there and then one of the Cantina band.

Next up a couple of Golden Books. The first is significant to no one but me, but because I love reading Bialosky's Christmas to my kids every year, any time I find another kids book, much less a Little Golden Book, I get excited. And then this vintage Howdy Doody Little Golden book was such a neat find! Love stuff like this.

And I'll finish things off with a trio of novelizations. The Rocketeer, Darkman, and TRON! I love collecting movie novelizations lately, and these three books couldn't have made me more pleased! Just look at those covers, I mean come on! All in all, I had a pretty good time poking around in the Big Chicken Barn! 

That's all I've got for tonight kids, but I'll be back with more Geeky Goodwill goodies soon enough! So, until then, Happy Hunting! 

Goodwill Quick Stop 08-09-2013 Toys! Comics! Cool Stuff Galore!

On my way home from work on Friday I decided to stop in to Goodwill for one of my patented "quick-stops" this means I breeze through the departments I'm most likely to find something good without really digging much. I hit the toy department, scan the books, and look at the case at the front of the store. 

GOODWILL GEEK TIP #765: Always check the glass case or cases near the register. You NEVER know what they're going to stick in that case... sometimes its all just old costume jewelry but it could be old game cartridges, or steak knives, or vintage action figures, or sex how-to books, or anything they think may be valuable and/or dangerous for kids to get their hands on for whatever reason. Some of it may be obvious, but some of it will probably have you scratching your head. 

In the many glass cases of the Goodwills I frequent I have found: a bag of Masters of the Universe action figures, a bag of McDonalds vintage Happy Meal Cars, a can of Duff Beer from the Simpsons that turned out to house one-sixth of a dice game... the list goes on, but I will not. In fact, two of my quick-stop finds in this post were out of the glass cases by the registers! ALWAYS CHECK THE CASE

For instance, I found is set of 1991 Archie toy cars from Burger King in the case. I'm not a huge Archie fan, but this was a cool set, and I do enjoy have icons of different sorts in my collection. Plus the cars are all very cool. 

I love that the "big 4" of the Archies are all represented here, and that each has a distinct looking automobile that seems to match their personalities. Archie in his old-fashioned fun-loving jalopy, Betty in her classic Cadillac, Veronica in her suped up sports car, and Jug-Head in something that says Volkswagen to me, but I really don't know for cars... so feel free to enlighten me.

 

They have General Motors markings on the bottoms in addition to the Burger King and Archie stuff so I am led to believe these are genuine car models. I never liked them much as a kid but as an adult I'm becoming a sucker for any kind of old-school Fast Food premium with a famous character driving a toy car.

I paid 1.99 for each of these, making the set just under 8 bucks, and less than that with my discount card... but I still had this twinge of feeling like I was over-paying. I really fell in love with them though so I went ahead and brought them home. 

The next item I found was sitting in with the board games and puzzles in the toy department. It's a 2001 Dexter's Laboratory Coloforms playset! I've read enough blog posts from fellow bloggers to know how much fun Colorforms can be, so I snapped these up for .99 cents without hesitation. I was worried that when I got them home some of the pieces might be missing or damaged...

But I was relieved to discover that was not the case! All 32 Colorform Pieces were present, whole, and accounted for! They still stick to the background included like magic too! I was kind of disappointed by the selection of Colorform pieces to play with, as I know there were more crazy events and experiments that could have been represented rather than say... a loose lightbulb or a grandafather clock. I find it hard to believe kids would have had much to "play" with this set. But I still love that it reminds me of my childhood, and the Colorforms I had back then. They feel just the same. And I'm a big Dexter's fan so I can't complain. 

Kicking around loose on the shelf is yet another Dexter item, and I can only assume he was shucked from a grab-bag (This happens a lot. People pop open grab-bags and leave the contents strewn everywhere. It drives me insane) because he had no price tag so they just charged me .99 cents for him. The weirdest thing about him? He's a Subway Kid's Meal toy! I never thought Subway had anything worth bothering with in their kid's meals! This was of course from 2001 so it's been like, 12 years... they've probably had quite a few hits and misses in that time. 

Here's Dexter in his new home with some other fellows. I sort of see Dexter either teaming up with or facing off against Inspector Gadget. It just feels right. 

I cannot explain why I bought this book. It is a Perry Mason mystery/crime novel. It is "The Case of the Mythical Monkeys" I think... I think that the image of the monkeys and the title... juxtaposed with the hot "ready-and-waiting" red-headed bombshell... just got me. I will never read this book, just to be clear. I could easily just tear off the cover, frame it, and hang it on the wall. I won't do that because it causes me physical pain to deface books in such a manner... but I need to display this awesome piece of ridiculousness SOMEHOW. I only paid .99 cents for it, so I don't feel TOO guilty.

And of course, I can never leave a Choose Your Own Adventure book behind if I spot it. This one is particularly old, and is only #4 in the series. "Space and Beyond"" looks a little silly to be honest, based off the illustrations alone. The hero of the story has a chin that is larger than the rest of his head. I got this for .99 cents. 

And last but not least I found a parcel of comic books in the glass case up front! At first I sighed because the pack was 9.99 and I'm SO tired of Goodwill over-pricing old comic books... and then when I asked to see the pack and realized it contained sixteen issues of Power-pack... and THREE of them were Inferno tie-ins... I decided I would buy! That's like .63 cents per issue, and I'm okay with that. Not only that, but if you look above, there's a guest appearance by Nightcrawler and I suspect the Morlocks. 

I've never really followed Power Pack. I think I have a couple of loose issues somewhere in my collection (none of the ones I picked up here). I know a little bit about the characters and their powers, and some of their history That's only because I used to make it my business to know anyone and everyone in the Marvel Universe. But I've never really read any stories. These will be my first official foray into Power Pack territory. Hey look! The New Mutants guest star in one of these too!

Here's a three-issue story-arc featuring Galactus! The far right comic in the far right picture there is a Holiday special that came out in '93. "An All New Story from the Original Creators!"

I mentioned a while back that I've been having a bit of a dry spell at Goodwill. AND THEN... I run in for a quick-stop and I come home with some pretty cool stuff like all this! This was a fun little handful of great stuff and I walked out whistling!

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