League Post: Top 10

I can't even remember the last time I participated in a League of Extraordinary Bloggers post... so I figure it's about time. I picked a nice one too:

Pretty straightforward and simple. Come up with a Top 10 list! So what am I going to go 10-1 on here? I thought I'd talk about: 

The top 10 mini-figures in my personal collection at this time. (This means my top 10 could literally change tomorrow, but for today, this is it.) So here we go! 

First, Some Honorable Mentions:

All of these guys came VERY close to making it on the list... but ultimately, they all lost out to the rest of the guys below (Actually, I lied. One of these guys did make his way into the top 10!!! Jeez! He's insufferable! I must have either included him here by mistake, or else he PLOTTED his way into the list somehow without me realizing it!!!)

10. Kenner's Real Ghostbusters Gulper Ghost

Thought I'd go ahead and get these guys out of the way out of the gate. I could fill more than half of my list with the six mini-figures I owned as a kid that I made an obsessive Super Hero team out of. Instead I thought I would pick my (current) favorite of the six and let him represent the whole group in his way. And that would be Blob. Yes, he is more popularly known as "Gulper Ghost" and he was packed in with the original Egon Spengler action figure from the Real Ghostbusters line. But to me, Blob was the "Thing" to my super-group. He was the monster with a heart of gold. He was a shapechanger, made of slime, and he is probably the absolute only character out of the six pictured above who is absolutely 100% genuinely the original figure I grew up with from the very beginning. All the others were replaced when I was a kid because I broke or lost them, or replaced as an adult with repros or bought online (the only other one I can't be sure of is the blue Teri-Bull, who might be the original... or may be a replacement after I lost mine as a kid). 

9. Fisher-Price Imaginext Plankton

Oh how I love Plankton. He is the absolute most neurotic and self-loathing villain in the history of kids' cartoons. Full of self-loathing and pure envy, Plankton has cooked up more self-destructive plots than any wily coyote or prehistoric squirrel could dream of. And the look and feel of this Imaginext figure is simply brilliant. Putting tiny little plankton up at the top of the imaginext body as if piloting a robot is a perfect design, and I applaud whomever it was at Fisher-Price that came up with the concept, especially considering that Plankton can detach from the main body on a little roller-skate-style cart for a quick getaway. 

8. Hasbro Super Hero Squad Kang the Conqueror

Gosh, Hasbro had so many (now defunct) mini-figure lines that were going strong just a few years ago. Super Hero Squad (Marvel), Galactic Heroes (Star Wars), Combat Heroes (GI Joe), Robot Heroes (Transformers), and Adventure Heroes (Indiana Jones) are all great toylines. And I wanted to include some from ever line... but I decided to choose just one to represent them all. And that figure turned out to be Kang here. He is decidedly NOT a favorite character of mine in the comics. But this mini-figure? The color scheme, the stance of feet and pose of the guns, the grin on his face that tells you just EXACTLY how many f*cks he gives? All perfect. He just looks like he means business. Thanos and Iron Man and Thor and Kitty Pryde all have some pretty great figures dedicated to them as well, but Kang the Conqueror just NAILS it. 

7. Pint from a Cheap Bag of Skeleton Pirate Toys I Found This One Time

Back in January of 2013 I did a whole post on a set of cheapy-charlie Skeleton Pirate figures that I bought for .99 cents at a salvage/overstock store. I wrote silly backstories for all of the skeletal pirate crew, and I don't think I've ever had so much fun writing a post for this blog. But I did it because I genuinely LOVE this cheap-@$$ set of pirates, and I wanted at least one of them to be on this list. Back in 2013 I gave this little guy the name "Shorty" but he disagreed with me and insisted that his name is actually "Pint" which makes so much more sense in a perfectly ironic sort of way. See, he's pint-sized, and he's holding a pint of grog... so yeah. And I LOVE HIM. How many undead alcoholic kids toys can you name? Yeah. I thought so.

6. Applause California Raisins Michael Jackson

I honestly debated with myself for a very long time over which Raisin to include in this list. I ended up on Michael Jackson here because he is a personal favorite, and arguably the most recognizable and prolific of all the characters represented by Applause in plastic. I had to track this one down on eBay as the final one I really wanted for my collection. I have such great memories of hunting for these figures in specialty shops when I was a kid. Stores more like Hallmark stores and gift shops than your traditional toy stores. I was never into the smaller figures they produces for Hardees, though I had a handful of those as a kid as well.

5. Character Toys Scooby-Doo Mystery Mates Velma Dinkley 

I didn't have to consider for very long whether I would include Velma in this list or not. I would have KILLED as a child to own a mini-figure (or ANY figure, for that matter) of Velma. As the nerdy brains of Mystery Inc., Velma was the plain-jane compared to Daphne Blake's ginger bombshell. And THAT was why I was so deeply, madly in love with her! I actually love that I own the entire Mystery Inc. gang from the Character Toys Mystery Mates line, even if I did have to track Fred and Daphne down on eBay. 

4. Mini-Mates Real Ghostbusters Boogieman

As diverse as I really wanted this list to be, I just had to include another Ghostbusters themed mini figure. Mainly because THIS was the figure that finally got me to buy a Mini-Mates line and LOVE it. Overall, I do NOT like Mini-Mates. But when I saw how spot-on they had reproduced the characters and that THE BOOGIEMAN (their spelling, not mine) was included? I snapped up all four of the main Ghostbusters, and the Janine/Slimer "ready for bustin'" 2-pack. And I have THIS GUY on my shelf. He is one of the creepiest villains from the show and he just kept coming back! Seeing him on the show with his giant teeth, his doorframe-stretching body, his hooves and spiked hair, and his malignant bow-tie just gave me chills. 

3. Garfield in Disguise PVC from BULLY Toys

I was randomly trawling through eBay on day when I discovered this toy. It actually came on a keychain (but that was the nature of the 80's, where they would take any random PVC figurine, drill an eye-hook into its brain, and call it a keychain) but I quickly removed that and put him on my shelf. Apparently this figure was produced in the 80's by a German company called Bully. So it was most likely not produced and sold here in the states? I don't know. I had never seen it before, and in all my googling since then I have not found another like it. But for me, Garfield IS my childhood Halloween. I was never a big Charlie Brown fan, to be honest, and the Holiday specials I clamored for were the ones starring this lazy orange lasagna-eating cat. So having him in his Halloween costume, sitting on my shelf is a singular delight. 

2. Reis O'Brien Customized Dex-Starr (Imaginext Catwoman Accessory)

THIS right here ladies and gentlemen, is one of my absolute favorite possessions. I wrote about it when I originally got it, back in January of last year (that was a big January for the blog, I guess). But long-story-short, I am obsessed with the idea of the multi-chromatic Lantern Leagues. The Greens, the Indigoes, the Reds, you name it. I don't read the books regularly, but I love collecting the mini-figures. The various concepts behind the powers and colors and emotions are such a cool idea that I decided early on that I NEEDED a Dex-Starr. And when I found the Imaginext Catwoman figure, and it included an awesome black-cat figurine that looked like it was supposed to be Dex-Starr... I knew I had to get someone to customize it for me. And that someone turned out to be Reis O'Brien, who once ran the (now dormant) Dork Horde blog, and now works MAKING TOYS over at Funko! I traded Reis some of my duplicate California Raisins and he painted a little black cat figurine into Dex-Starr for me! He is honestly THE highlight of all my Lantern mini-figures. 

1. Funko Horror Classics Mystery Mini SAM from Trick R' Treat

There is no other mini-figure I own that I love as much as this one. He's perfect in every way. He's menacing, he's adorable, he's Halloween in all its glory, he's angular and stylized but not in an annoying way, and he is one of my hands-down-absolute-favorite pop-culture icons. Sam from Trick R' Treat is one of the most perfect visualizations of a Halloween horror villain ever conceived. And even with his big stitched-on smile and button eyes, the menace in that jagged crescent of lollipop is still unmistakable. Sam here just makes me smile. There is not a day goes by that I don't glance at him or pick him up to give him a closer look. The day I found him (at Hot Topic) I actually found 2 of him on my first try. I wasn't disappointed to find the duplicate though, as I quickly turned the second one into a Christmas tree ornament, wearing a little Santa's hat. More than nostalgia, more than the cool custom seen above, more than Saturday morning cartoons... I love Halloween, and Sam IS Halloween in every sense of that phrase. And this toy is AWESOME.  

So that's my top ten! Let's see what the other League Members counted down from 10 for: 

- Knives Tales gives us a list of her Top 10 Short Stories!

- Go Play Listen gives us a Top 10 of the DVDs on their shelf! 

- D.I. Treasures gives us a rundown of Top 10 Cereals!

- Awake Oh Sleeper treats us to a Top 10 Movie Monsters! 

- Pop Pop! It's Trash Culture shows of a Top 10 Videos!

- AEIOU and Sometimes Why delivers the Top 10 Songs that would have been great additions to the Guardians of the Galaxy Soundtrack!

That's all I've got for tonight kids! I'll be back soon with some Geeky Goodwill Goodies! Until then, Happy Hunting! 

League of Extraordinary Bloggers: My Biggest Regret...

So this week's League of Extraordinary Bloggers topic is decidedly NOT about Halloween, so that means extra post today! So what IS the topic you may ask?

Why did I buy that? Why did I sell that? My biggest regret is…

Which is to say: As a collector... what is my biggest case of buyer's remorse? 

Ahhhhh.... Let me spin you a tale my dearies. Once upon a time there was a toy line called Super Hero Squad. It was a series of mini-figures based on the Marvel Universe. These mini-figures were ADORABLE. They were done in a cartoon-y, chibi-esque style that suited the characters in an awesome way. And I LOVE MINI-FIGURES. 

Look at these things! If these had been around when I was just a kid... I would have simultaneously pooped and peed my pants while fainting. I would have screamed my throat raw and then, when I was mute, I would have picked up a sharpie and written "aaaaaaaaaahhhh" over and over again on any surface I could reach. These things are like all the best mini-figure lines of the 80's (Army Ants, MUSCLE, Battle Beasts) paired up with the MARVEL-F**KING-UNIVERSE!!! There was nothing I loved more than mini-figures as a kid besides maybe comic books. 

So as an adult, I amassed a large collection of Super Hero Squad figures:

These pictures are from my old apartment before we moved into our house, and they don't even show all of the Galactic Heroes (Star Wars), Combat Heroes (G.I. Joe), Robot Heroes (Transformers), Mystery Mates (Scooby-Doo) Toy Story Buddies, and DCU Action League mini figures I had in my collection back then as well. I have since pared down a LOT... but I still love the DICKENS out of these things. 

ANYWAY.

At one point in time, I wasn't picking up all of the packs. I was only picking and choosing my favorite characters. Well... that only lasted so long. I had much more disposable income at that time and I got very obsessive and completist. In the mean-time, a lot of the packs I had passed over initially got hard to find, as they were out of production. One of those was the Sue Storm and Doctor Doom 2-pack:

I had passed on this one initially because I wasn't buying all of the characters at that time. Well, when I started snapping up ALL of the characters, Sue and Doomy were nowhere to be found... except on eBay. On eBay, I watched the price on these two steadily climb. It was a hard to find pack, with two very popular characters, and there were a LOT of collectors of the line back then, fighting tooth and nail to find them. 

It felt like this except less... furry.

And I felt like I was desperate. So I did something incredibly stupid. I paid almost 50 dollars for this set of figures on eBay. Something I would NEVER do now... but an action I felt I NEEDED to take back then when my fever was at its very worst. It is something I regret to this day. First off because it was an incredibly selfish and frivolous thing to spend that money on. Secondly because I spent almost 25 dollars APIECE for two tiny plastic mini-figures. Which I think is stupid. And third...

They re-released the figures very shortly after. 

I had pegs upon pegs full of Super Hero Squad Sue Storm and Doctor Doom staring at me... taunting me at Wal-Mart. Laughing at me because of my impulsiveness and my foolishness and my selfishness. This happened back in 2006 or 2007, I can't really remember which exactly. But my spending habits have changed dramatically since then. Even my eBay purchases, on the few occasions I still make them, are only ever CHEAP. The only toy line I spend money on religiously at this point is the new TMNT line, and even with that, if I miss out on something... I'll just suck it up and wait for it to show up somewhere cheap. Almost (almost) everything else I buy I find on the prowl at Goodwill or at antique stores or thrift shops. I'll never make the same mistake I did when I panicked and bought those two Super Hero Squad figures. 

So that's it. That's my major regret. I'm sure there are others. Others I've blocked from my memory. But this is the one that immediately sprang to mind when I read the topic for this week. Susan Storm and Doctor Doom. Sue and Doomy. Soomy. Sue me.

Let's see what the other members of the League are regretting this week:

- Mason over at D.I. Treasures needs to LEGO his regrets!!!

- Patrick at Nerd Cantina has regrets from a Galaxy Far Far away.

- You'll MARVEL at Hobgoblin238's regret over at Monster Cafe Saltillo!

- You'll boo and H.I.S.S. right along with Michael Lynn P as she recounts her regret at Diary of a Dorkette!

- Nerd Out With Me needs to LEGO... wait. I did that one already.

- Jathniel's regret would almost be comical if it didn't involve some really cool comics.

- I only hope Yelinna from Travelling Pics can bounce back from her regret some day!

Well... regrettably, that's really it for tonight kids. I'll be back soon with some much less guilt-inducing Goodwill Goodies. Until then, Happy Haunting!

League of Extraordinary Bloggers: Spacemen!!!

It's League of Extraordinary Bloggers Time once again!!! Last week we had the simple topic of "Cowboys". The week before that (which I did not participate in) was "Spies". Do you see the pattern forming? 

So what is this week's single-word topic for the League? 

"Spacemen"

So in the same vein of last week's response from the Goodwill Geek, I scoured the cave in search of items that fit the bill. I think I did way better this time around. There are waaaay more men (and things) from space in the Cave than cowboys. 

First the group shot. Here's absolutely everything I could find within the confines of the Cave I call home:

First of all, I want to point out the absolute lack of robots. Robots may appear in space but are not distinctive to space. I also went for more variety than quantity, so my entire Star Wars Galactic Heroes collection sat this one out, along with all but one item of Star Wars in general. And while there is a definite Green Lantern presence, and an Action League figure, I left out the Green Lantern Action League figures I featured a short while back. And even though he got to sit in on this picture, we won't be talking about the Mars Attacks figure I mentioned back here. 

So I'll start with the animated spacemen. from left to right we have Red Lantern Razer and Green Lantern Kilowog McDonald's Happy Mean toys from the Green Lantern animated series. Up front there we have an Action League Martian Manhunter. Next up we have Super Hero Squad Silver Surfer, Galactus, and Nova. Then we have Burger King Kang dressed as the Burger King for Halloween. Peaking up from the back is MegaMind from McDonalds, in his exo-skeleton. Flanked by the Buzz Lightyear and Emperor Zurg Toy Story Buddies, we have villainous Gallaxhar from the Monsters Vs. Aliens mini-figs line. 

Here we have the vintage figures of the collection. From right to left, a 1979 Mork action figure. A sitting ALF figure from 1988. 1990 Raphael the astronaut. An E.T. pawn from the 1982 E.T. board game. And a mail-away Boba Fett from the 1979 toy line. These guys are some of my favorite toys in the Cave. 

Some of the oddball larger toys: A "Space Defender" figure who is really just a super cheap albino Darth Vader figure I picked up at a local chain store called Reny's. Also a PEZ spaceman magnet my wife bought me years back for my birthday, and a Target dollar-bin astronaut who used to be a bottle of bubble-blowing solution. 

Aaaand here is a collection of cheap toys such as coin-machine aliens and bagged spacemen that may or may not be vintage themselves. Loves these little colorful guys, and they all reside currently on the knick-knack shelf above my desk. 

That's everything I could find folks! That is the entirety of my "Spaceman" themed toy collection. I hope there's at least one thing here that makes you smile. 

Now check out what the rest of the League had to say about Spacemen:

- Rich at Fortune and Glory (Days) throws some vintage E.T. memorabilia all over everything. 

- Michael at Memories of Toymorrow just KISSed off the whole assignment. 

- Hobgoblin at the Monster Cafe has little plastic spacemen (they look sorta familiar) on the brain.

I'll be back soon with more Goodiwll Goodies. Until then, Happy Hunting!

December 18: The 23 Items (HA!) of Christmas: It's League Time Again!

So my item for today is actually a wish list. Because the League of Extraordinary Bloggers is all about Wishlists this week!

The big guy is on his way! What’s on your Christmas wish list this year? 

My wishlist is pretty earthbound... pretty simple. I'm going mostly realistic here.

1. A Jack Skellington Action Figure. I NEED this. I'd even settle for a statue. But something that is in scale with my Headless Horseman and Sam from Trick R' Treat figures. I want to complete the triumvirate. I'm kicking myself for not having bought one back when every Hot Topic, Spencers, and Toys R Us was choking to death on them.

2. Toodee Mega Bloks figure. I have all the others. I love the design of the characters, and the style and culture behind the show. Trippy and fun, without being Teletubbies-level annoying. I CANNOT find this character. I don't even want the whole building set. I just want Toodee. 

3. Pop Culture Hotwheels. Specifically, Ecto 1, Knight Rider, and The A-Team Van. I want them in the package. I already have the Delorean from Back the Future, and the Mystery Machine. I have the two Angry Birds cars (not in love with those two, actually) and  the Mars Rover. I WANT Ecto 1, KITT, and the A-Team. 

4. Kraven the Hunter SHS.  This is a Holy Grail. It's much less realistic than some other items on my list. Kraven was supposed to be produced... but never was in mass quantities. There are some floating around the eBayosphere... but for ridiculous prices. Some other Great White Whales of the series that I'd love to own are Hepzibah, Warpath, Gargoyle, and Nighthawk. 

5. Castle Greyskull. This is another or my Holy Grail items, but it is much more attainable than Kraven above. I just really loved this playset as a kid... and I want it BACK. 

6. Ewok Village. See above. 

7. The Planescape Boxed Set. Loved Planescape and Raveloft as a teen. I'm rebuilding my Ravenloft collection slowly but surely... but Planescape stuff is just back-breakingly expensive. I'd love to get this, and "In the Cage: A Guide to Sigil", "The Planewalker's Handbook", And the third Planescape Monstrous Compendium appendix. I still have a ton of my old stuff from way back when, and just want to complete my collection.

8. The Madball Rollercycle + Madballs action figures... and actually, all my old Madballs as well. I am crazy angry that these all got thrown in the trash when I was a kid. I. Had. Them. ALL. 

9. Thundercats Mini-Mates. I used to HATE mini-mates. Just never got into them. Never got the appeal. And then... The Real Ghostbusters series came out, and I had to have them all. Now they come out with these??? What the hell Mini-mates!!! I'm not touching those awful Battle Beast mini-mates with a 40' pole though. Yuck. 

10. Astro City, The Goon, iZombie... and a ton of other awesome Graphic novels. I just... I need to get caught up on my stories. 

All right... that's my wishlist. 

What to the other Leaguers wish for? Let's see:

- Hobgoblin at the Monster Cafe has big plans for the Cafe... and his wishlist revolves around those. 

- Rich at Fortune and Glory (Days)  is all about the mint-on-card goodness!

- Newton at Infinite Hollywood is all about the hard-to-find vintage awesomeness! 

That's it for today... but I'll be back soon with more Goodwill Goodies! Until then, Happy Hunting!