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!

Giant Storm Shadow and an Alternate Reality Flintstones Family

I've had a good run of luck lately finding a handful of books here or there at Goodwill and then a couple of Grab-bags full of fun little toys to boot. This always makes me happy, as it feels balanced. And when all is balanced, all is right in the world. 

It is possible I am making more out of this "finding some books and grab-bags at Goodwill" thing than I should. 

Here's a quick look at the pile as a whole before we move forward. Now heeeere we go!

These knights are produced by Papo I believe. I myself don't really care about these kinds of toys, but my Aunt collects them, and so I keep an eye peeled for her when I'm out on the prowl. These guys and their horses were in a bag by themselves for a buck. Their weapons are completely destroyed, one snapped completely off, and the other appears to have been (ugh) chewed. Luckily, the weapons are interchangeable, so I removed the handles from their little hands before passing them on to my Aunt.

I already own a Sword of Omens from the 2011 animated reboot of the show, and mine is in much better condition because I bought it on clearance instead of secondhand. BUT in a judgement call I may question myself on for the next couple of decades of my life, I bought this sword for my sons to beat each other with. It went about as well as you'd expect.

This is not my first Sigma Six Stormshadow either, but this one is in MUCH nicer condition, and has his sash, pants, and scabbard intact. Unfortunately, none of his swords or other awesome weapons were included, except for the big stick thing with holes in the ends for... what? blades maybe? The other stuff in the bag were not Stormshadow's accessories. I'll find some substitute weapons for him at some point, I'm sure. Right now he stands proudly on my G.I. Joe shelf!

HEre are the contents of the bigger grab-bag in the set. Let's take a closer look.

The aforementioned Aunt also collects Hex-Bugs of any shape, size, or origin. So I knew as soon as I saw these Happy Meal toys that this bag would be coming home.

Also included was an assortment of Mario Brothers toys! I kept the Bob-Omb but most of the rest of these went to my kids. I only have a very tiny collection of Mario Bros. toys at this point and that's how I plan to keep things.

Plastic army men! The one I found to be significant is that one big guy near the middle. He's HUGE and I feel like he might actually be from a set or something? Anyone out there recognize him? I'm curious.

I already have a hula-dancing Spongebob, so the fact that this one has a broken nose is just fine. This is actually a set of cake toppers that goes along with the plastic Pineapple House I found back in 2012. So now I have the complete set! Man... I'm creeping up on my third blog-aversary! I've been doing this blog since July of 2012!

Here's a shot of the happy trio, with the unbroken nose-Spongebob included. 

Finally, here are some other random toys included in the bag as well. A Pirates of the Caribbean watch, and a couple of quarter-machine monsters that ended up on my ROYGBIV shelf of tiny plastic toys (They're on the "IV" shelf. I know skull guy looks red, but he's more magenta, so I place him in the violet category. Indigo and violet share a shelf.)

To add to my cassette collection: Blondie! "Parallel Lines" This is the one with "Heart of Glass" "One Way or Another" and "Hanging on the Telephone" on it.

A couple of action adventure stars this time around in the book-haul... Batman in The Stone King, and Tarzan in The Return of Tarzan. I don't have a whole lot to say about either of these books as of yet... but I look forward to reading them.

A couple of Holiday books made it home as well! A kids' book adaptation of the Christmas movie, Elf and the Goosebumps book: Attack of the Jack-O'-Lanterns.

One of my all-time favorite books (and I love the film as well) The Outsiders. My bromance with this book begins waaay back in middle school. I actually already own a copy of this book, but I saw this one with the movie adaptation cover and I reeeeally wanted it.

Finally, I found this bizarro "Flintstones" Little Golden book. In this story there are no Pebbles or Dino, and instead Fred and Wilma have a sone named "Junior" and they get a pet dinosaur named Harvey that looks a lot like Dino, but grows to... well... dinosaur size over the course of the story.

This is bizarre. Did this book come out before the cartoon? I don't think that's possible honestly, but I can't otherwise explain the presence of Junior and Harvey. I'm sure I could figure this out if I did even a cursory Google search... but I like to pretend sometimes that I'm living in the 80's and that every answer to anything I'll ever have a question about doesn't exist on the internet somewhere.

Anyway! That's all I have for tonight kids! I'll be back with more Geeky Goodwill Goodies so until that tie arrives... Happy Hunting!

Goodwill Finds: Egyptian Netherworlds, Mad Scientists, and Bubble Bath!

Hey everybody! I'm back with another pile of junk I found at Goodwill! I don't remember exactly when I would have picked up this load of stuff but I do believe it was last fall sometime. I'm going to kick things off with a board game:

"Passing Through the Netherworld: The Meaning and Play of Senet, an Ancient Egyptian Funerary Game" while being a ridiculously long name for a board game... is at least very efficient and accurate in its description.

Back when I was in high school, I was OBSESSED with mythology. I loved to read all I could about Greek, Norse, and especially Egyptian mythology. I would spend my entire study hall some days, poring over books on mythology, or reading whole sections of the ACTUAL ENCYCLOPEDIA to glean what details I could about ancient cultures and religions. I would photocopy whole stacks of pages from said books and encyclopedias to bring home with me to pore over more in my room at night. These would become the fodder for short stories, poems, role-playing adventures, comic books that I would start to write and never finish, you name it. So finding a game based on the beliefs of "the cult of the dead" from ancient Egypt...?

Yes please.

I was delighted to find that everything the game was supposed to contain was still in the box. I was less delighted to discover that absolutely no one in my family is interested in playing some creepy old Egyptian death-cult board game with me. Sigh.

Found the second collected volume of Mike Bullock's "Lions, Tigers, and Bears" from Image comics. I've never read this series, but had heard good things, so am hoping I can find the first book in the series on the cheap at some point. 

I love Love LOVE the idea of stuffed animals transforming into powerful night-time guardians of children, protecting them from bogeymen and nightmares. This idea is such a great concept. I hope it is executed well. 

I always have my eye peeled for old Sesame Street books, and this trip to Goodwill did not disappoint. "Ernie's Little Lie" is a real Raymond Chandler-style pot-boiler of suspense and intrigue as the titular protagonist digs himself deeper and deeper into a seedy world of shadows and illusions where nothing is what it seems and identities are as blurred as melting wax. Also it has a great "don't tell lies" moral for the kids. 

Harry McNaught's illustrations are the main draw for me in "The Sesame Street ABC Book of Words" This is a big, bulky, and old Sesame Street book that brings me back to the good old days. 

I don't have a TON to say about "Scrooge's Silly Day" except for the fact that it came out the same year that Ducktales was in its final season. It is certainly an unofficial but certainly legitimate Ducktales book in "Mickey's Young Readers Library". 

I discovered another of these incredible "Twisted Journeys" books, which is a hybrid graphic novel AND choose-your-own-adventure. Couldn't pass it up. And it's "Horror In Space" number 18 in the series! There are at least 16 more f these that I don't own yet! (I found another Twisted Journeys book back in 2012). Then there is the "Which Way - Secret Door Book: The Inch High Kid" which is another knock-off CYOA.

A quartet of genuine-article CYOA's including "War With the Evil Power Master," "Prisoner of the Ant People," "Hyerspace," and "House of Danger." All awesome finds, but I am especially excited about the first two.

There were two grab-bags full of toys on this trip as well. Let's take a look at the first one shall we? (There's some stuff here that doesn't make the cut...)

This Mad Scientist is from the 2003 "Stretch Screamers" McDonald's Happy Meal premiums line. In addition to the Mummy and the fin-man I now have three of the eight in the set. There is another one that looks like a brain floating in a jar with a robot body... some sort of yellow-vomiting orange creature... Oh they are all so beautiful. Looking back up at the "screamer" at hand though, if you tug the Mad Scientist's arm, it makes his pink-jelly brain expand up into the clear dome of his skull. It's very impressive.

This Halloween edition of Marge Simpson from a Burger King Kids' Club meal is AWESOME. Speaking of ancient Egypt...

And here we have Groundskeeper Willie, "The Grim Sweeper" also a Burger King Kids' Club Halloween toy. He... really seems to be stroking that broom handle. Like really caressing it.

Love the show Batman: The Brave and the Bold, but never owned a single one of the full-sized action figures. This is an interesting translucent plastic variant. Not sure if it's meant to be "stealth" Batman or "ghost" Batman... or what... but he's pretty nifty, and he looks great on the shelf with my other Batman action figures.

One of my favorite finds from this trip has to be this "Collectors' Guide to Bubble Bath Containers" Flipping through this thing just brought a huge grin to my face. I was even able to find my He-Man bubble bath bottle inside!

Here we have an assortment of "My Little Pony" books. I picked them up because I have a home in mind for them already. I have a hard time leaving any 80's licensed property books behind, even if they aren't the kinds of things I used to collect as a kid.

Same with "Pound Puppies" books. I was never a HUGE Pound Puppies fan... so these books are most likely going off to another home.

"An American Tail" and "Muppet Babies" books from McDonald's however... THESE ARE AMAZING AND ALL MINE BABY!!!

And here we have the second grab-bag of the haul, which contains just four items. But I liked all four! 

First we have Sultan Spongebob from the "Lost In Time" series of Happy Meal toys, from back in 2004. This was a truly inspired series of Spongebob figures, featuring the character as he would have appeared in various times throughout history.

This spinner toy is from a 2002 series of Burger King Kids' Club meal premiums, from the "Nintendo Superstars" series. Not really sure what it's for... but it's fun to push the button on top and watch Bowser chase the Princess around and around and around.

Here we have an Imperial Guard Star Wars LEGO keychain. I had no idea that these guys were popular enough to warrant their own keychains, honestly. But I'll take it!

And finally, a baby Po toy from the Kung Fu Panda 2 line of McDonald's Happy Meal toys. I'm a sucker for Kung Fu Panda, even if I didn't care for the 2nd movie nearly as much as the first. This toy is CRAZY cute though.

So there you have it folks! The entire haul! This was a bigger trip than I've been having as of late, and if you're still reading this thing, then kudos to you! You now have bragging rights.

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