Cyborg, Beatniks, and Blood

Again with the books and grab-bag magic! This one comes with yet another Imperial monster toy as well! I could keep talking and talking and talking and... well, you get the idea, but instead let's take a look at what I brought home this time, shall we? 

Trotting right out to the front we have this Imperial beauty which, after a little bit of research turns out to be their idea of a Pegasus... but I call bulls--t and say this thing is a Jersey Devil!!! It's meant to stand on its back-legs with the tail propping it up, but when I found it, it was broken off, and so had to be super-glued back into place. I was lucky to even find the tail if we're being honest. Usually that stuff is nowhere to be found, and alas, that would have precluded me buying this guy at that point. But here we are dear reader! Tail glued firmly back in place, this guy looks downright MAJESTIC posed with the rest of my Imperial toys in the cave.

Now let's pick through that grab-bag. HEre are the total contents. We will NOT be going over the entire contents, as there were only a handful of things I even wanted. There was a ridiculous overabundance of Night at the Museum knight/top toys from Wendy's (oh how the mighty have fallen...) and though I don't feature it here, I did end up keeping the Easter Bunny toy because there is a disturbing lack or representation for the Easter Bunny here in the cave. But let's look at the other stuff now:

First, flying out of the DCU animated television universe, we have a "Beware the Batman" Happy Meal toy and a "Teen Titans Go!" Cyborg toy. Both of these dudes were judged "worthy" of positions on the Batman/DCU shelves, even if Cyborg is missing his projectile fist.

Let's be honest. The reason I bought the grab-bag was for Maxwell the pig here. He's one of the apparently hundreds of spokes-things for Geico insurance. He's somewhat lost his charm as they've begun to overuse him... but back when he first appeared in the "Wheee! Wheee! All the way home." ad... he was HILARIOUS:

"MAXWELL!"

And what I originally took to be some sort of bootleg Sesame Street merchandise (Can you tell me how to get to "Sesame Place?") actually turned out to be merchandise from a Sesame Street THEME PARK that I had previously not been aware of. Sesame Place is my Graceland folks. 

I also found these, which I found fascinating, in the cassette section. "The Beat Generation" vols. 1 & 3 (I did end up finding vol. 2 on another day). Thee include everything from readings from books, songs, and interviews that have to do with the Beat movement. Artists include Kerouac, Burroughs, Gilespie, and more. This is one of those situations that I genuinely regret not actually owning a tape-player to play this stuff on.

More cassettes include "Captain & Tennille's Greatest Hits", and "Creedence Clearwater Revival". I'm a sucker for music from the late 60's-70's.

To kick off my book finds from this particular trip, we have the horror anthology, Psychos which I promptly added to the Halloween read pile for this fall... and Tales of the Cthulu Mythos which is really interesting to me because it is an anthology containing not only H.P. Lovecraft's tales, but stories from other writers who have borrowed Lovecraft's concepts for their own, building on them.

I found an extra copy of Spaceballs: The Book and the strangely appropriate companion volume of Star Wars: Tales of the Bounty Hunters which is a Star Wars anthology of EU fiction that I just couldn't pass up. I've mentioned my disinterest in most Star Wars EU stuff here in the past, but The Mos Eisley Cantina, Han Solo, and Lando Calrissian have all made me contradict that in the past, and no so have the Bounty Hunters.

I found these novelisations of Jaws 2 and Jaws: The Revenge and almost peed a little. My friend Miss M over at the Diary of a Dorkette blog (and podcasting companion on both Geek Fallout and Eclectic Mayhem) is a big fan of all things Jaws, and that interest has infected me as well. Her favorite was Jaws 3 and I was disappointed not to find that particular volume... but still. 2 Jaws books are pretty great. But I have to be honest... I was even MORE excited to find the NEXT two novelizations:

Gremlins and The Return of Swamp Thing!!! Again, potential urination threatened. And Peter David wrote the Swamp Thing one!!! Can I just say how much I adore the Swamp Thing live-action costume? Man that thing is gnarly, both literally and figuratively.

So that's it kiddos! Between that Jersey Devil toy, the Geico-pig toy, and those kick-ass novelizations, I was pretty pumped to bring home this particular haul!

I will be back (hopefully sooner rather than later...) to share more Geeky Goodwill Goodies with all y'all! Until then, Happy Hunting!

A Whole New Bin of Awesome Pt. 3: Closing the Lid

So we're finally hitting the bottom of the Newest Bin of Awesome Stuff to have entered my life this past summer. This last post in the series of three (find part One here and part Two here) will be a sort of random mish-mash that makes up the final pile of stuff. There's a lot of junk in this post, but there are some legitimate awesome finds as well.

I will also finally reveal the toy that caused me to desperately WANT this bin upon seeing it, and finally deciding that paying 25 dollars for the whole lot was a deal I would be CRAZY to pass up... but more on that later.

I know that one of the toys that took me crashing back into my childhood the HARDEST was Dinah here. She is a "Tinosaur" from a 1986 McDonald's Happy Meal. I owned 4 or 5 of the 8 available Tinosaurs back in the day. They were a strange collection of non-licensed PVC characters that were dinosaurs, bizarre looking creatures, and a couple of primitive looking humanoids. Dinah was one of my very favorites, though I got a LOT of flack from other kids for loving her so much. She was generally regarded as either a girls' toy, a babies' toy, or both by my peers. But now I'm a grown-@$$ adult and I can own whatever toys I want. So nyah. 

This guy is named Maggot and he is from the Little Dracula action figure line, based on the cartoon of the same name. I have no idea what his background is... maybe a flasher who has a hard time getting his coat open because he has suction cups for hands? If you're into that sort of thing I guess. He's a fun little guy, but he eventually made his way on to another home.

Also included were these Aliens toys from the mid-90's. The one on the left is the "gorilla alien" and the one on the right is the "Scorpion alien" who unfortunately did not come to me complete. (he explodes when hit and some of his pieces are missing). These also had a new home destined for them as I am not a huge Aliens toys collector.

Next there were these Supernaturals action figures, produced by Tonka back in 1987. I never owned any of these as a kid because quite frankly they scared the pee out of me back then. The tall fellow on the left is a guy named Snakebite, and the shorter guy on the right is Weird Wolf. Snakebite has none of his accesories, including his headpiece, which resembles a cobra's hood, his chest piece, and his weapon. Weird Wolf, being a Ghostling pretty much came as you see him. (I found the holograms to be exceedingly difficult to photograph, so what you see is what you get... sorry).

To round out the action figure collection coming out of the bin, there were these guys from the Bucky O'Hare series. First up we have Bucky himself, and then Bruiser the Berzerker Baboon. I never owned any of the Bucky O'Hare action figures as a kid either, but they looked amazing, and seemed like they would fit in with the TMNT line perfectly. I haven't exactly become OBSESSED with this line, like I have with some others... but I definitely appreciate them and think I will be tracking more of them down in the future.

So here's the whole gang. These were the last of the action figures that I found in the bin.

But that certainly wasn't the end of the fun!!! These two Swamp Thing vehicles from 1990 were produced support the cartoon show. (None of the action figures in these pictures came from this bin... in fact, Swamp-Thing came from Goodwill and Anton Arcane came from an antique mall near here) 

I didn't own the March Buggy (left) or the Bayou Blaster (right) as a kid, but I did have a couple of the Swamp-Thing action figures!

Now for a bit of weird, and in some cases almost heart-breaking stuff. This Real Ghostbusters lunchbox was a huge disappointment considering the damage to the sticker on the front. If it just didn't have that cut going right down through Winston's face, I would have actually been pretty happy even if it was a little water-warped. Sigh.

There was this ancient toy cash register and this old erector set in the bin as well. Nothing I was all that excited by, to be honest. 

The accessories in the pile on the left here are all from the Sectaurs HYVE Playset. When I realized what they were I lamented like a grieving widow that the rest of the set was not including in the bin as well. I don't recognize the RC car from 1985 on the right, and I'm too lazy to spend ALL that time googling it to find out what it is... so feel free to go at it internet!

There was also this collector's case full of rusty old cars as well. Some of them are pretty neat... but most of them are just kid of junky. The items that caught my eye the most were these:

Hip-Hop Big Bird, Grover flying a rocket ship, and a Micro Machine car with monster truck wheels. After some Googling (I wasn't as lazy this time) I discovered it is a Micro Machines Chevrolet 65 Corvette 4×4 Monster Truck. There you go. 

All right! GIRD yourselves. For beyond this point you will witness the two items that MADE me buy this bin in the first place. These were the nails in the coffin. The straws that bro the camel's back. These were the selling points for me. 

First up we have Talking Robie from Radio Shack. Back when I was a kid, I owned a Robie Jr. and I LOVED that thing! I actually dented the bubble over his head but it did not deter my love for him in any way, shape, or form. This is not the same robot of course, but it is a direct relative, and all of these robots had a kind of uniform style and appearance that makes them lovable in the same way. This guy is proudly displayed on my shelf as a testament to childhood and all the over-hyped toys that didn't work that great but still made it magical. 

And finally, this motherf**ker. Metlar of the Inhumanoids!!! I always DESPERATELY wanted to own Metlar as a kid, but for some reason I never got him. Castle Grayskull, yes. Ewok tree village, yes. Metlar... hell no. But I own him NOW!!! Metlar was a giant lava-spewing BASTARD who would flatten you as much as look at you. I remember being TERRIFIED of the inhumanoids, but watching it anyway. I mostly watched it paired up with Jem and the Holograms, and some other cartoon shorts-episodes. Fest your eyes ladies and gentlemen:

Now, full disclosure: Metlar's head is broken completely off. I have to just rest it on his shoulders and set him up for display. He is no long fit for play... but I don't care!!! I am so psyched to own this piece of 80's childhood HISTORY!!!!

So that's it folks! That's the entire contents of the Bin of Awesome. Hope you liked falling down this rabbit hole with me!

That's it for tonight kids! But I'll be back with some Geeky Goodwill Goodies soon enough! So until then, Happy Hunting!

Random Handful: Action figures from the Dream Catcher!

I recently made another trip to "The Dream Catcher" Antique Mall in Ellsworth, ME. I mentioned The Dream Catcher back in February when I wanted to post some pics of items I've been drooling over there. But this time, I didn't just go to drool. I went back with a specific purchase in mind: a couple of old CRACKED magazines that I had seen there the last time I'd visited. But I ended walking out of there with so much more!

After running upstairs to quickly grab the magazines, I headed back downstairs to find a box of mixed action figures that had caught my eye on the way by. This is the complete pile of stuff I brought home with me after my visit.  

I've been hitting a bit of a dry spell at Goodwill lately. I have to admit. I'm just not finding the vintage goodies in there like I used to. So I thought I'd visit the Dream Catcher, pick up the issues of CRACKED and then see what else they had for cheap. As I pawed through the box of old action figures, I asked the guy behind the counter how much they were, and he said "A buck apiece" which got me pretty excited. 

Now, this first item I actually did not find in that box of action figures. This is a He-Man Soaky bubble-bath container from 1985. It cost me 5 dollars. And honestly, I can't think of ANYTHING I would have rather spent 5 dollars on. Look at this craftsmanship. It looks like an Academy Award from the Hyborian Era. 

ALL RIGHT!!! Let the 1 dollar goodness begin!!! First up straight out of 1986, we have this John Rambo action figure in his all his Rambo and the Forces of Freedom glory! I like your sleeveless sweat-shirt John, because your shirtless figure makes me very uncomfortable feeling. 

This is the action figure that actually drew my eye to the box. This is a Windhammer from the Silver Hawks line, from 1986. He is next to useless, even if I had his tuning fork accessory. But I like his colors, and he looks pretty bitchin' next to the vintage Thundercats figures I've managed to accumulate so far. He sort of looks like a medieval surfer-dude werewolf, right? 

Oh my ever loving F**K. I had NO IDEA what this figure even was when I picked it up. I just knew it was a bizarre pig-ball character with a Roman helmet and sexy legs. And, I might add, nothingh covering his crotch-ital area. Turns out this is a Pudgy Pig Power Rangers figure from 1994. I am not even a little bit of a Power Rangers fan. Sorry. But I F**KING love this toy. I reminds me of something straight out of MadBalls. 

Pawing around in that box, my face LIT UP when I saw this Anton Arcane and Weed Killer from the 1990 Swamp-Thing toy line. I found a color-changing Swamp-Thing at Goodwill last year, and even though these guys are missing their monstrous accessories that "transform" them into monsters, it's nice to have some of Swampies villains to menace him with. I love how Anton's head sort of just looks like a raisin. Weed Killer is the typical Toxic Crusaders/Captain Planet type villain... as eco-aware superheroes were the trend at the time. 

I almost didn't pick up this Strong Guy action figure from 1993. It's a little plain, and while I'm a HUGE fan of Strong Guy, I'm not a huge fan of this action figure... then I was like: "Hey, it's a buck, and what are the odds I'll ever find another Strong Guy toy of any kind? I NEED this." So I bought it. 

This Rocketeer PVC figure from 1991 was not actually in the box, but he was still just a buck. I found him while I was meandering through the upstairs area of the mall, where I picked up the CRACKED magazines. There was a suction-cup version of the character too, meant to cling to a window... but I ain't got time for that. 

Finding this 1993 Batgirl Happy Meal figure from Batman: The Animated Series put a huge grin on my face. For a simple, barely articulated Happy Meal figure, she's pretty great looking. She looks so... peppy, right? 

Finally, there's this guy. I have no idea where he came from. I've Googled and Googled and Googled. I picked him up at first because I though he was a Mummy figurine, possibly from the old Marx Universal line. I was disappointed to discover that was not the case, but he's still pretty cool. He's a larger-scale solid plastic playset style figurine. It looks like he was supposed to maybe have a helmet? And something plugs into his gut there, where you can see a hole. I've posted before and after cleaning shots because he was sort of caked in... clay I'm hoping? He looks like he's supposed to be an astronaut, but I have to admit, his dead-eyed face has a kind of creepy quality. If anyone can help me identify this guy, I would much appreciate it!

UPDATE: My inter-friend Anne Packrat did some research and came up with some other plastic astronaut toys. They aren't the same guys, but they are exactly what kept coming up every time I tried searching. I own a few of them, so I'm posting this next picture for reference/scale/whatever so folks can see how BIG this guy is. Keep in mind the guy on the left is about the size of a green plastic army man where my big blue guy is somewhere around 5 inches tall or so. 

UPDATE to the UPDATE: Well, Anne was right! Or at least very VERY close. MPC makes both figures. They put out the little guys but they also put out the 5 inch line as well, which had accessories. I found a picture of some more of them over at AngelFire.com. Here it is:

Image Courtesy of Angelfire.com

That's my guy in green there. The gray guy on the end is an example of a re-release and you can see how the accessories were pegged to the figure and then twisted off for play later. 

That's it for right now. I'll be talking a bit more in the future about the CRACKED magazines I picked up, but I wanted to dedicate a whole post to those. I'll be back soon with some Geeky Goodwill Goodies! Until then, Happy Hunting!

Day 23: Goodwill Grab-Bag Beetlejuice Edition!

A few months back, before I had ever even dreamed of writing and maintaining a blog, I found an excellent, excellent grab-bag at goodwill. I've detailed some of the other excellent grab-bags I've found including various different Masters of the Universe and other 80's toys in them... But I've been holding back on showcasing this particular one because I knew at some point I was going to want them for a Halloween post.

Only some of the items in this grab-bag were semi-Halloween themed... so I'll start with the three that have NOTHING to do with Halloween at all. (Unless you count the hockey mask... which I guess I sort of do... but then I guess I have to count the other two as... Easter?)

Casy Jones, Ace Duck, and Usagi Yojimbo

See More After the Jump.