Randomly Received: Trade With Mason of D.I. Treasures

All right... the time has come. I am officially getting ready to delete the content from Really Rather Random Guy (dot blogspot dot com) and in preparing for that, I wanted to import a bunch of the content that I know will then be lost forever, by bringing the posts over here to Goodwill Hunting 4 Geeks (dot blogspot dot com). So, with that in mind, I thought I would preface these entries with the fact that they are indeed OLD blog posts from an OLD, now DEFUNCT blog, and cross my fingers and hope that folks will still want to read them.

This post was originally published back on January 20th, 2014.

A while back, before the Holidays... I set up a trade with Mason of D.I. Treasures fame. He noticed that I had an extra mace that I had picked up in a recent MotU find at Goodwill, and he wondered if we could trade that mace for a battle-ax he had for He-Man. This sounded acceptable to me, but then I upped the ante to make this interesting: I asked Mason to pick 5 other small items for trade and I would do the same in a sort of blind-box package swap. You can see what I sent him over at his blog, since he did a good job of actually posting what he received before Christmas got here. The reason this is significant is that the items that Mason sent me were all sort of subtly Christmas-themed. Let's take a look at what he sent me: 

Here's a group-shot of everything he sent me to start. A nice, colorful lot to be sure, you can already see the holiday cheer bleeding through. 

I mace ax you a question? Mace I ax you... no... I give up. Puns are hard.

First up let's talk about what got this whole thing kicked off. Here is the beautiful baby-blue battle-axe that Mason sent me in exchange for a mace for his Moss-Man. It is now in the hands of He-Man as he sits astride his loyal Battle Cat. And all is as it should be. 

Next up we have a Z-Bot! This is Turbine and he was actually a Burger King Kid's Club meal premium from 1994. I don't remember Z-Bots from when I was a kid... but they would have come out right around the time I was ending my love-affair (for awhile) with mini-figs. Which, knowing me, is kind of a shame because these look like they would have been right in my wheelhouse. At roughly the same size as Battle-Beasts a collectible line of little robots seems like something I would have obsessed over. I love the look of this little guy in particular, and it isn't hard to see why Mason included him, since the color scheme not only screams Christmas with all that red and green... but that drill arm looks like it could literally be a Christmas tree. Mason also knows how much I enjoy collecting little robots as well, so this is perfect. 

Next up we have a Rock 'Em Sock 'Em robot thumb wrestler. This guy fits down over your thumb and one can only assume that there is a blue counterpart out there somewhere for an opponent to wear. This guy is great! Again, since I love robots, it makes sense that someone would give me one of these... and in this festive red it's no wonder that Mason included it. 

This is Lenny, the wind-up binoculars toy from Toy Story. Specifically, it's a picture-viewer toy from a Toy Story 2 Happy Meal premium. This one hits on many different levels for me, such as the Toy Story connection, the fact that it's a view-master-style toy, and the fact that it's a Happy Meal toy. The one thing I couldn't figure out was why Mason might have considered it "Christmas-y" and I came up with nothing. I think this one was just included for the neat-o factor. 

The penultimate toy of the pack is this Power Rangers Megazord figure. I'm not a Power Rangers fan at all, but I can appreciate a nice giant robot toy. messing around on Google I see a lot of references to this megazord being called "OhBlocker". It doesn't take a lot of imagination to figure out why Mason included this one, as there's a giant star in red, some green and gold highlights, and overall, he feels pretty Christmas-y. 

Finally, we have Mr. Strong from the Mr. Men series! This is a kid's meal premium from Arby's whom I absolutely adore. The Mr. Men and Little Miss characters are all pretty geometric and basic in design, and that kind of aesthetic is just awesome to me. I could see myself tracking down more of these. And of course, Mr. Strong here is done in red and green, because Christmas!

So, I'd like to finish up by first apologizing to Mason for not getting this up on a blog for people to see before Christmas got here... but also a HUGE thanks to him as well for obviously putting so much time and thought into his selections. I had such a fun time discovering the contents of this package! Be sure to check out Mason's blog over at D.I. Treasures.

I have a couple of other packages to feature here in the coming days, so keep your peepers peeled here folks!

Oh No. It's a Book One (But there are Ewoks! And Gobots! and Muppet Babies!)

Alright: Full disclosure. This is a book post. Bear with me though, there are some pretty good finds in here. 

Here's a quick look at the first half of the pile.

Here's a quick look at the second half of the pile. LET'S RIDE!!!

First up, the nearly obligatory Little Golden Books. I have SERIOUSLY been thinking about purging my collection for awhile now and really prioritizing what I keep... but I will NEVER not want adaptations of Pixar films. It seems like Toy Story 3 is very divisive amongst the Pixar fans... I personally loved it and thought it made for a perfect wrap up of the series. 

That was of course... before they announced Toy Story 4 was a thing. 

A couple of chapter books in Lloyd Alexander's "The Beggar Queen" and Peter Abrahams's "Behind the Curtain," an Echo Falls Mystery. I still haven't read the first Echo Falls Mystery, "Down the Rabbit Hole," but these look interesting. Lloyd Alexander books that I don't already own are always a must-buy.

Next up a couple of kids' adaptations of 90's films near and dear to all our hearts. Home Alone and Jurassic Park! I don't really have a ton to say about these two... just really liked finding them!

A Casper and Wendy book that I plan on passing along... maybe... if my kids don't like it... and "The Littles and the Missing Cat." I always forget how much I actually liked the Littles cartoon as a kid. It went some weird places for sure.

A couple of Don Bluth books here, was have "All Dogs Go the Heaven: Charlie's Friends" and "An American Tail: Tony and Fievel" I must say again... I really have nothing majorly important to state about these guys. I did LOVE most Don Bluth films with all my childhood heart though... the storytelling, the bizarre characters, the interesting twists. All Dogs Go to Heaven especially was a weird one, but one I loved nonetheless. It is a movie that just couldn't get made nowadays. It's too distressing, too blunt in places. Too raw and real while also being bizarrely fantastical.

And "The Land Before Time," man this one was amazing. The heyday of Bluth animation was distilled in this set of three films plus The Secret of NIMH. Do I own all of these movies? If not I gotta track them down. 

Next up was this nice set of "Monster Chronicle" books, one about werewolves, one about Vampires. I'll probably be digging a bit deeper into these two as a part of my countdown to Halloween next month, so keep your eyes peeled for that!

I have already read "Would You Like To Play Hide & Seek In This Book With Lovable, Furry Old Grover?" about 40 times since this trip to Goodwill. My boys (especially my 4 year old) LOVE it! They interact with the book as expected, and laugh almost all the way through. This one's a classic. Interactive Sesame Street books with incredibly charming artwork, like "There's a Monster At the End of This Book" were pretty prevalent back when this came out. Aaaaand... I kind of hated myself IMMEDIATELY after buying this adaptation of "Herbie Rides Again!"

"Sesame Street: A Celebration of 40 Years of Life on the Street" was an incredibly awesome find for me! Just looking at the cover makes me smile. You have the likes of Frazzle and Farley and Don Music rubbing elbows with modern characters like Zoe and Murray. That's pretty awesome. This book resides in a place of honor on my shelf. 

It blew my 6 year-old, Star Wars-obsessed son's brains out his ears when he found out that there were two movies based solely around the Ewoks. He's an Ewoks fan, so this was kind of big news. He was even more excited to see that I had brought home a BOOK based on the first film! 

A BUNCH of Muppet Babies books! I really loved the Muppet Babies as a kid. This was one of my favorite shows. I probably got more of my initial exposure to the Muppets from the Babies cartoon (and the movies) than I did the actual Muppet show. 

GOBOTS BOOKS!!! I was a Gobots kid, meaning I owned more Gobots than Transformers as a kid (And I'm not even getting into the Rock Lords, which I've discussed here before... and which will probably be discussed again veeeery shortly...). I was not a Transformers kid at all really, except in that I occasionally watched the cartoon. So finding not ONE but TWO books based on the Gobots made me mist up just a little bit. And finding out that the interior art was done by Steve Ditko? Even if it wasn't exactly his greatest work ever... was a fun treat! 

Finally, I have sad TIME and TIME AGAIN that I DO NOT COLLECT VHS tapes. But when you encounter "Gobots: Battle of the Rock Lords" and "MTV: Liquid Television" VHS tapes just sort of kicking around the ol' Goodwill... and you have friends that collect VHS... you buy those things. You buy them HARD. Honestly, I kind of wish I'd kept these now... at least the Rock Lords one, even though I DON'T COLLECT VHS!!! But I know they are in a good home with someone who values them. So I try not to obsess. 

All right kids! That's it for tonight! I'll be back soon with more Geeky Goodwill Goodies (and October Eve is on its way!!!) so until that time, Happy Hunting! 

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!