New Additions to the TMNT Collection VI

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are probably my favorite characters from my childhood. Close by are the Masters of the Universe, Thundercats and Ghostbusters, but none of those stand up to my passion for collecting all things TMNT. Recently, I've been scouring the internets for any great deals I could find on merchandise featuring the Mean, Green Machine in an attempt to recoup some of my childhood collection. I did find some more cool stuff that I would like to share with you. Hopefully it brings back some great memories from that time in life where animals in bandanas were everything to us. Here we go!

Culture Fly Meltz Michelangelo Ice Cream Vinyl (2021)

I had been wanting one of these collectible ice cream vinyl figures for quite a while. I thought it was the perfect way to display one of my favorite childhood frozen treats without any of the mess! These were on sale at the Culture Fly website and I had wanted to get the vinyl of my favorite Turtle, Donatello, but they were sold out!

I ultimately decided on getting a Mikey since he was the last TMNT frozen treat that I had ingested. Pretty close resemblance to the real thing, huh?

Henry Gordy International TMNT Watergun (1988)

Here is another one of those rack toys I have talked about. I wasn't actively seeking this water gun out, but it came with the TMNT Flash Gun I had wanted. Not a bad throw in though! Still love the crude, early TMNT artwork on the packaging. I like the looks of the Shredder on this one!

Henry Gordy TMNT "Puffy Stickers" (1988)

These stickers may be one of my favorite items in my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles collection. Me and my brother would beg my Mom for any spare quarters she may have had in her pocket book any time we went to the local A&P supermarket. Usually she would break us each off a quarter if our behaviors were good enough during the shopping trip. It was a great way to make sure we were on our best behavior and while she was checking out, we were checking out the machines at the front of the store. More often than not, we would spend those quarters on globs, mini football helmets or those tiny, translucent Masters of the Universe figures. Then Turtlemania hit and we pumped quarters into those machines for the chance to get a complete set of these very TMNT stickers! So many great memories are attached to these pieces of sticky perfection!

Playmates TMNT Donatello Transforming Playset (2016)

I never had any of these Mighty max style playsets from the Nickelodeon show, but I saw this in a bin at my local Goodwill for $2 and since it was a depiction of my favorite member of the Green Machine, I picked him up. He now sits on one of the desks in my office as a proud member of my TMNT collection.

IDW Usagi Yojimbo Comic #20

This was a book that I had wanted, but my local comic shop didn't order any shelf copies. I searched ebay for copies, but most were out of my price range. Finally, while purchasing some My Little Pony comics off the IDW website, I saw this book for sale at the shelf price of $3.99. The reason I wanted this book is because it introduces a new recurring character to the Usagi Yojimbo story by the name of Yukichi Yamamoto. Yes, it is the second print, but I'm glad to have this book in my collection. I know it's not technically a TMNT book, but Usagi is a friend of the TMNT and that makes him part of the family to me!

Thanks for checking out some more great Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles items from my collection. I hope you enjoyed it.

How I ruined my shot at getting a Sewer Lair in 1989!

Recently while scrolling through my Twitter feed, I came across an old toy ad similar to the one above. The post asked "Which Toy Would You Want From This Ad?" and my immediate reaction was the Sewer Lair! We all know how AWESOME the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Sewer Playset was when it was released in 1989 by Playmates toys. It was on the wishlist of every turtle fan that year and for many years beyond that. I mean, who could resist this beautifully crafted playset that featured a High-Voltage Battle Swing, Real Working Elevator, Fire Hydrant Sewerscope and Realistic Sewer Pipe Passageways? I know it was on my list and my Mom knew this and that's where our story begins.

In 1989 I was about 8 years old and I don't like to admit it, but I had a thumb sucking problem! My Mom tried everything to get me to stop, but I kept on going. I would snuggle up with the Smurfs blanket my Mom made me and suck my thumb quite often. It was a real comfort thing for me and no matter what my Mom tried, I would not stop.

After exhausting all other possibilities, my Mom made a deal with me. If I could go one month without sucking my thumb, she would buy me the TMNT Sewer Lair! I was excited and totally determined to do this. I wanted that Sewer Lair so bad! Myself and my brother were and still are, huge Turtle fans and had all the figures and some of the vehicles, but we never in our wildest dreams thought we would have the opportunity to add this grail item to our collection!

For a while I was doing pretty godd, but then the draw of the thumb crept in and I would sneak around the house and find some hiding spots where my Mom wouldn't see me and suck my thumb. I thought I was brilliant and would never get caught. I vividly remember being 1 day away from the end of the month and my Mom caught me hiding behind the couch with my thumb in my mouth! I lost the deal and never received the playset of my dreams! I was so angry about this that it actually encouraged me to stop sucking my thumb. I no longer partake in that past time and I also have never owned a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Sewer Lair Playset. I see that they go for around $250 out of box on ebay. Maybe someday I'll be able to drop the cash and get one, but for now it remains "the one that got away"! Remember folks, no matter how sneaky or secretive you think you may be...momma always knows!

Classic Playmates Ninja Turtles

 

Back in 1988 I was 7 years old and had my first experience with what would become one of my all-time favorite cartoons, toys & comics...the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES! That's right, my first exposure to the TMNT was via the Playmates Toys action figures. Myself and my older brother were drug along on another boring shopping trip to Kmart with my Mom. It seemed like those trips with her to the local stores like Ames and Shelby's in Newton, NJ took forever, but at least when we went out there was always the possibility that we would get a new toy based on behaviors. If we were good, didn't fight and kept from complaining, the chances of getting a toy were doubled. Also, Kmart was our favorite because it meant that there was also the chance we could grab lunch at the Kmart Cafe! Remember them? I loved their bacon cheeseburgers and hot dogs!!!

Anyway, on this one trip to Kmart, my brother and I bolted to the toy section as usual, but this time there was something new on the pegs that really caught our eye and piqued our imagination. They were green, they were ninjas and they had AWESOME weapons! I grabbed a Donatello and my brother picked Raphael and we ran to my Mom. We hoped she would let us get these toys and after some persuading, she did!

A few trips later, Kmart had all of their Ninja Turtles toys on sale and my Mom in a moment of weakness bought us almost the entire first wave of figures. This time I got Leonardo, Rocksteady & a Foot Soldier and my brother was able to add Michelangelo, Shredder, Splinter and Bebop! He got one extra figure, I guess he was the favorite son. Below is a photo of those very Ninja Turtle toys! I still have them today and they hold a special place in my heart & collection almost 33 years later!

Now our collection was growing and we would bring our action figures over to our friends house and have epic battles of good versus evil in the backyard. A short time later we were introduced to the cartoon at a friends house and I was hooked for life!

These figures and characters were a huge part of my childhood and I was super excited to see that Playmates was returning these original figures to Walmart shelves this year. Yes, Playmates has re-released these figures multiple times, but for some reason they never did it with the original backer card art. Luckily for me, I was able to fairly easily acquire a full set of the four Turtles and a Party Wagon after only about 5 or 6 visits. I know to some people it may seem silly, but having these figures in my hands again really brings me a lot of joy. The same joy I had as a 7 year old who held this wild looking, purple clad Ninja Turtle in his hands all those years ago. Here are some shots of those Turtles.

Thanks for taking this journey back in time with me. I hope you enjoyed it and it brought back some great memories from your childhood. TURTLE POWER!

Return to the Antique Store: Part II

A few weeks ago I showed off some incredible items that myself and the fam saw at a local antique store. some incredible items there. Of course the majority of it was way over priced, but I did manage to score some solid deals on a few items. These are those items!

1989 Topps Baseball Pack

I have collected baseball cards since 1987 and recently the hobby has become quite the cluster. Resellers are snapping up everything they can before collectors like myself can even get a pack. Cards that used to sell for around $2 a pack last year, will now set you back at $25 on the secondary market. I found this unopened Topps pack at one of the booths for $5! I could see the pack contained several Hall of Fame players like Kirby Puckett, Rickey Henderson and a Craig Biggio rookie card. Those guys alone justified the $5 price tag. Hoping to score a fresh Bo in this pack!

Masters of The Universe: Buzz-Off

Buzz-Off was one the first Masters of the Universe action figures that I ever owned, so he holds a soft spot in my heart. He was $7 and I was happy to find that he still had his wings, so Buzz-Off is now hanging with He-Man & Skeletor on my MOTU shelf in the basement.

Mighty Ducks Puck

Myself & my kids had been watching an episode of the new Mighty Ducks: Game Changers series on Disney+ every Saturday as part of our weekend morning routine. We just finished the series a few weeks ago and we all loved it! It was nostalgic and a bit predictable, but still a very fun watch. We saw this puck in a case and probably overpaid for it at $5, but we were still in the afterglow of the Don't Bothers big win. It now resides on my daughter's dresser in the girls room.

Pac-Man Candy Tin

I am a sucker for anything that is vintage Pac-Man. This tin was produced in the early 80's at the height of "Pac-Man Fever" and at one point held candy inside. I know this because their was still 40 year old candy residue in it! I did a quick Google search and saw that these tins can go for around $30, so not a bad pickup for $3.

Swimming Smurf and Peewit

We saw quite a few Smurfs at some of the booths in the antique store, but the prices were higher than what I would like to pay. As I said in a previous post, I have loved the Smurfs for as far back as I can remember. I still even have the Smurfs blanket my Mom made back when I was about 2 years old! Anyway, I found these 2 Smurfs figures for $3 each. I picked the swimming Smurf because my neighbor used to have him and I loved playing with him and I had never seen a Peewit figure before and thought he would be a cool addition to my Smurf collection. Now I just need to find a figure of his buddy, Johan!

Street Shark Streex

Any time you find a Street Sharks figure, you must pick it up! This one was in good shape for around $7. My younger brother loved the show and toys back in the 90's, but I always thought they were a TMNT ripoff. I guess that's partly true, but it wasn't until recently that I have come to appreciate these heroes who kick some serious fin. I have been watching the cartoon with my son recently and I see the joy in his face while it's on and I can finally see it for what it's worth. It's a fun trip back to the 90's full of absurd action and characters with a JAWSOME intro song. I'd like to end this post by sharing that song with you below...ENJOY!

Goodwill Finds!

Because of COVID I have not been hitting up the local thrift stores as I once did, but recently I decided to make a trip to the local Goodwill store...and I am glad I did! I searched through the wall of toy grab bags and found one that had some vintage action figures in it for only $1.99! Let's check out the highlights!!!

1989 Spinhead Beetlejuice by Kenner

I have not seen a Beetlejuice action figure in years! I remember owning a few of these figures back in the late 80's, but not this one. We had Shish Kebob Beetlejuice, Harry the Haunted and Otho The Obnoxious. I vividly remember picking these up at a toy store and having to make the tough decision of Beetlejuice toys or The Simpsons action figures. Beetlejuice won out. These figures were a bit strange because they were based off the movie by Tim Burton and not the animated Beetlejuice series that was more aimed at kids. This figure actually has a fairly good Michael Keaton likeness to it and recreates BJ's look from one of the iconic "Waiting Room" scenes from the movie. You can even pop off his head to reveal the shrunken version underneath!

1986 Screaming Heroes Ray Stantz

Just like most kid in the 80's, I was obsessed with The Real Ghostbusters. I remember owning this toy as a kid and it's probably still somewhere at my Mom's house. Who could say no to any RGB toy? This Ray has a wind up feature that makes his hands raise and head spin once a trigger is pushed on his front. Ray also came with a companion ghost called Vermoan that when attached to Ray's back would make a sound that sort of resembled screaming. This toy line was filled with all kinds of gimmicks and this one was one of my favorites!

1992 McDonald's Super Looney Tunes Petunia Pig

In 1992 McDonald's released a line of Super Looney Tunes figures in their Happy Meals. There were 4 figures in all: Super Bugs (Bugs Bunny/Superman), Bat Duck (Daffy Duck/Batman), Taz Flash (Tasmanian Devil/The Flash) and the figure I recently pickup Wonder Pig (Petunia Pig/Wonder Woman). These figures featured Looney Tunes characters in normal attire, but then you could snap on their super hero outfits for some zany hijinks! The only figure I ever remember owning was Taz Flash, but honestly, I could see myself searching out the rest of the set. These are pretty cool Happy Meal Toys!

1990 Pizza Hut Batly Puppet & 101 Dalmatians Pongo Figure

These items were cool, but not really anything I collected back in the early 90's. Eureka's Castle was a show that ran on Nick Jr. from 1989-1991. These puppets are cool and remind me of the ones Pizza Hut had sold for "The Land Before Time". The Pongo figure has no date or manufacturer on it, but I assume it was made available around the time of the 1991 re-release of "101 Dalmatians". 

Some pretty cool stuff in that $1.99 grab bag. I should start getting back into the swing of things and hopefully when I do, I'll be able to show off some more cool finds from the local thrift stores!

A SNAKE Lost at Sea

In 1982 REMCO released a series of action figures based on the DC Comics series "Sgt. Rock". These figures were the same scale as the G.I. Joe figures on the shelves at the time and the backing cards even told kids to play with them alongside your Joes. There were several good guys released in the set including Sgt. Rock himself, but I was more interested in "The Bad Guys"!

On one of my Mom's trips to a store called "Rockaway Sales" in Newton, NJ, me and my brother took our traditional stroll through the video game and toy section. My Mom said if we were good, we could pick out a toy. My brother picked out one of the "Good Guys" from the Sgt. Rock line while I snatched the badass, eyepatch wearing, mustache toting SNAKE from "The Bad Guys".

I loved this action figure so much that I took him on a family trip to Seaside Heights. My Aunt had rented a house on the beach for all of us to stay in for a few days and I was ready for some fun in the sun with Mr. SNAKE! This is where this delightful story turns into a tragic tale of woe!

The first day there, we went to the beach and I thought this would be a good time for SNAKE to practice his swimming. I took him down to the ocean and buried his legs in the sand. I thought that would be enough to keep him hunkered down, but I underestimated how strong the tides were and SNAKE was taken out to sea, never to be seen again! I WAS DEVASTATED!

My brother had joked and teased me by telling me that SNAKE was now in the belly of a shark somewhere near the bottom of the ocean. This did not help the situation and I'm pretty sure it led to some tears being shed.

Well, on the way back to the beach house, I was feeling terrible, but then I was in disbelief of what I saw! It was an Incredible Hulk arm popping up out of the sand! Was this the miracle that would turn this vacation around? Was karma smiling on me willing to replace the figure I lost with an AWESOME Mego Hulk toy?

I grabbed the arm thinking I was going to pull out a full intact Hulk! Instead...

I pulled out a broken off green Hulk hand. No body attached! Would the disappointment ever end! Why was Seaside Heights providing me with the cruelest summer a young boy in the 80's could ever have? Well, I hung on to that arm for a while and actually played with it every now and then, but whenever it was in my hands it brought back the crushing memory of losing my pal SNAKE out to sea!

Flash forward about 35 years and I found a loose SNAKE action figure on ebay for around $5! I needed this lost piece of my youth back in my life!! I paid and waited and when SNAKE arrived it was one of the happiest moments of my collecting life!!! In the listing it didn't even mention that he came with his accessories, so that was a happy surprise. Since the day he arrived in my mailbox at work, me and SNAKE have been so happy together...again! I still wonder what did happen to my original SNAKE?

I like to think he is living out his years on a beautiful deserted island, sipping delightful exotic drinks with his wife Golden Girl by his side. Wherever he ended up, I hope he is doing well and living the good life. God bless you SNAKE, your service will never be forgotten! 

Kenner Real Ghostbusters Re-Issues

Last year, when I heard that Hasbro would be re-releasing their classic "The Real Ghostbusters" action figures, I knew I had to have them and I knew it wouldn't be easy! I have some amazing memories of busting ghosts with my older brother. This was one of those lines that we both agreed was cool and we collected them voraciously! Even though I have AMAZING memories of these guys, I also have one standout memory from the Christmas of 1986 that didn't make me feel good. I won't rehash the pain in this post, but if you want to find out more you can read the old post by clicking HERE. Anyway, the first figures I was able to find were the ghosts...

The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man

and The Green Ghost aka Slimer (My favorite of the original figures). These figures were the only ones I had ever seen on the shelves at Walmart and the cards were a little banged up, but I didn't care. I just wanted to own that special piece of my childhood again and I wasn't going to be picky. I had never seen the actual Ghostbusters in store and had given up hope that I ever would...until I started seeing photos pop up on Twitter of collectors spotting these figures at their local Walmart stores. I ran over to my store and found no Ghostbusters, but I saw this...

The Real Ghostbusters "GhostPopper"! I didn't even know this was being made! I snatched up the only one on the shelf and went home happy. I never had this toy as a child, so this is a brand new acquisition for me and I must say the artwork on the back of the box is GLORIOUS!

I am so glad Hasbro decided to make these toys affordable. The figures will run you around $15 and the GhostPopper was $20. With a little glimmer of hope, I returned to Walmart and finally found these 2 guys hanging on the pegs...

Ray Stantz

and Winston Zeddemore. Winston has always been my favorite buster. He was the "Everyman" of the group and someone the average person could relate too. Streetwise and ready to bust some heads...in a spiritual sense of course! I couldn't stop gushing about the artwork on these packages that were recreated almost exactly as the were when the toys were released in the mid 80's. I never thought I would own these again. The wave of nostalgia was great, but I was still missing a piece to the puzzle. On my next trip, I was able to secure...

Egon Spengler! Still Peter had eluded me. My wife gave me permission to buy one off ebay for $30, but I don't like paying inflated prices, so the hunt continued. A few days later a co-worker helped me out a found the missing piece to this Real Ghosbusters puzzle...

Peter Venkman was introduced to the rest of the team and we were finally whole again! The Ghostbusters is definitely in my top 5 collections (Masters of The Universe, Thundercats, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Bo Jackson are the others) so I am elated with the return of these classic toys from my youth. Thank you Hasbro for re-releasing these. I feel like a wrong from 1986 has finally been rectified and now I can collect in peace! I wonder if they will continue this line? Maybe give us an Ecto-1? Anyway, enjoy a classic commercial from the original 80's release below! IT'S MILLER TIME!