Another Weekend Antique Excursion!: Part II!

A few weeks ago I met up with a friend as we went on the hunt for retro treasure at one of our local antique malls. I enjoy going to these kinds of stores, because you'll never know what you're going to find. Most of the time the cool stuff that I like is way over priced, but it's cool to know it's out there if I really want it. There were a ton of booths to go through. Some of them did have some great stuff, but nothing that I really collected. Below are some of the items we found this time around...AGAIN!

Marvel Comics Wolverine #75: $2

This issue was a big one back in 1993! Wolverine's Adamantium was ripped out of his body by Magneto and the X-Men were trying to save him. Things turned out well for the Canadian mutant and he had "Bone" claws for a while, but in true comic book fashion, he got his Adamantium back a few issues later and all was right in the world. This book written by G.I. Joe legend, Larry Hama and drawn by Adam Kubert sported an amazing cover that was made all the more better by the inclusion of a freakin' hologram! Take a closer look at this one and you'll notice the hologram is upside down! You better believe this came home with me! At $2 how could it not?

Matchbox Pee-Wee Herman Talking Doll: $25

This doll was released by Matchbox in 1987 and I have some pretty vivid memories of it. I had a friend named George who owned this doll and after the whole "Adult Theater" event happened in 1991, he came to despise the character. One day while at his house, he decided to give the doll a burial at sea and launched Pee-Wee directly into the retention pond behind his housing complex. I never owned this doll or any Pee-Wee merchandise, but I must say that I did enjoy the Pee-Wee's Playhouse show from time to time on Saturday mornings. 

Spuds MacKenzie Plush Toy: $20

Everybody loved Spuds MacKenzie back in the 80's (1987-1989)! He was the lovable "Original Party Animal" who promoted beer. That's where things went wrong. When people started to realize that kids were loving this character as much as the alcohol drinking adults, Budweiser pulled the plug on Spuds after a ton of pushback by parent groups and senators. I can't go to any antique mall without spotting at least one Spuds item. From old beer signs, to plush stuffed animals to t-shirts, Spuds was everywhere. His life as a marketing icon was short, but damn was it successful!

Playmates TMNT Leatherhead Action Figure: $75

This figure was released in 1989 as part of the extremely successful Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line of toys by Playmates. My brother got this toy when it came out and it was one of our favorites. Who wouldn't love an evil mutant alligator? Leatherhead has been a part of the TMNT universe since his first comic book appearance in the Mirage published "Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #6". Although his appearance and origins have varied from series to series, Leatherhead has always been a staple in TMNT lore.

Kellog's Corn Flakes Batman Box: $20

Who doesn't love gimmicky cereal boxes? This one has it all. The lenticular photo of Batman transitioning to Bruce Wayne is worth the price alone. This box that was found still includes the original Corn Flakes! I honestly don't remember seeing this on the cereal isle shelves back in 1997, but I wish I had!  

Pepsi Jacksons World Tour '84 Can: $10

I love this can! I should have picked it up. I was all of 4 years old back in 1984, but I already knew what a big deal Michael Jackson was. My sister's played Michael's "Thriller" album non-stop on their record players during that time and every track was a classic. This tour brought Michael back into the mix with his brothers after his massive solo success. Many believe Michael did this to help his brothers out financially. The tour itself was a smash success, but tensions between the brothers led the cancellation of the European and Australian parts of the tour in 1985. This was the only time all 6 Jackson brothers performed together and it was also the last. The hype for the tour was big and the names connected to it were as impressive, featuring Paula Abdul as choreographer and Don King as the promoter. This can symbolizes that brief moment in time where the entire Jackson family was back on top of the world. Like I said, it was brief, but it gave us this kick-ass Pepsi commercial that shows off the dancing skills of a young Alfonso Ribeiro! ENJOY!!!

Another Weekend Antique Excursion!

 

A few weeks ago I met up with a friend as we went on the hunt for retro treasure at one of our local antique malls. I enjoy going to these kinds of stores, because you'll never know what you're going to find. Most of the time the cool stuff that I like is way over priced, but it's cool to know it's out there if I really want it. There were a ton of booths to go through. Some of them did have some great stuff, but nothing that I really collected. Below are some of the items we found this time around.

Ms. Pac-Man Coleco Tabletop Arcade Game: $175

I love these tabletop games! When I was younger I always admired the collection that my cousin had. He would rarely let us play them, but when he did, it was an amazing experience. My favorite of the tabletop games that he had was Mario's Cement Factory. I'm still on the lookout for one of those machines for an affordable price. Speaking of price $175 for this Ms. Pac-Man with the box and paperwork is actually a fair deal. I've seen these go for twice that price in worse condition. If I were a richer man, this would have come home with me! 

Dave Stevens Autographed Art: $75

Dave Stevens is most well known as the creator of The Rocketeer. He passed away in 2008 at the age of 52 after a battle with leukemia. He had such a distinct style that is immediately recognizable. At $75, this autographed piece of comic art titled "Hot Cargo" is a steal! I should go back and grab it before someone else comes to their senses and adds it to their collection!

Nestle Crunch/Upper Deck Slam Dunk Bar: $5

I was an avid collector of basketball cards in my youth, but I don't ever recall seeing these sold in stores. If I had, I know I would have bought them in bulk. Each pack contains a special "Slam Dunk" Nestle Crunch Bar and 4 Upper Deck basketball cards. The cards highlight some of the best dunkers of the era like Michael Jordan, Shawn Kemp and Isaiah Rider. This is an item that I did pick up and I'll show you what was inside in a future post.

Vintage Lunchboxes: $15 - $50

I love old lunchboxes and these ones especially. I had those Real Ghostbusters and Super Mario Bros. lunchboxes when I was in grade school and they were well used and well loved. I may still have them somewhere at my Mom's house, but they are nowhere near as clean as these ones are and I'm pretty sure the Thermos are long gone! For $30, I will go back and pick these up to add to my Ghostbusters and Nintendo collections. The She-Ra and Golden Girl boxes were a nice surprise to see in the display case.

X-Men #25 (Blue Hologram Error): $2

This X-Men issue was released in 1993 during the peak of X-Men mania! The cartoon was on FOX, the comics were selling like crazy and Wolverine was the hottest comic book character around. Of course I collected the X-Men books around this time and I do have the regular green/yellow hologram version of this book, but when I saw this for $2 at the antique mall, I couldn't pass it up. Allegedly, these blue holograms were a printing error and are fairly rare. I just think it's a cool looking book from an era of X-Men that had me hooked!

My Pal 2: $30

My Pal 2 was released by Toybiz in the early 90's. I never owned one, but I vividly remember the commercials for this little robot companion. He could talk, his nose glowed, he played games like Simon says & ring toss, he could throw and he had a basketball hoop on his chest for impromptu games of HORSE on a rainy day! This example of My Pal 2 is missing his sweet hat and hoop, but man did this bring back some memories. I've attached the commercial from 1993 below. Take 30 seconds to watch it and bask in all that My Pal 2 could do. If that's not your thing, at least give it a watch to see one of the kids truly magnificent mullets!

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!

Return to the Antique Store: Part I

It has been a while since myself, my wife and kids have been out and about at our local downtown shops, but a few weeks ago we decided to go to one of the antique stores. We found 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. After our trip through time the kids were feeling exhausted, so we took them to grab some ice cream. It was a beautiful day outside, but I would like to share with you some of the "antiques" that we saw inside the antique store. I didn't pick any of these up, but I thought they were worthy of a post.

Assorted Smurf Figures

As far back as I can remember, I have loved the Smurfs. My Mom said I used to sit in my height chair and dunk my Smurf figures into my milk and then suck the milk off of them. Pretty gross, but hey I was like 2 years old! Anytime I see these figures at a store or garage sale, I take the time to check them out. These were a bit over my comfort price at $30 for the "Jungle", "Trick or Treat" and "Zombie" Smurf. The others were around $10 each. I did pick a few up for cheaper, but I'll show those in a future post.

Old Metal Batmobile

I don't know much about this toy. It was behind glass, so I couldn't find a manufacturer or production date on it. I tried searching Google and found a few from the 60's that look similar, but not exactly the same. Those were going for around $400, so I assume the $185 price tag on this awesome looking Batmobile is a fair price?

Baxter Stockman & Bendy Captain America

The Baxter Stockman figure was around $10 and was in pretty good condition. I thought about picking him up, but I already have one in my collection, so I left him for another collector to add to their TMNT collection. I thought these Lifesavers promotional Bendy Captain America's were pretty neat, but at $10 I didn't pull the trigger. These look like they were from the early 90's but I can't seem to find any info on them or the promotional giveaway campaign. There were a ton of them at one booth, so maybe next time I stop by Cap will be coming home with me!

Fisher Price Queen Buzzy Bee Toy

My family had one of these pull toys when I was a kid! I'm sure it was a hand me down from one of my older sisters, but I thought it was pretty cool and would pull it around the house while watching the wings spin and antennae bobble around. The one in the picture above was from the 60's and I found that Fisher Price still makes a version of this toy for it's "Classics" toy line! 

Flintstones Movie Action Figures
These Mattel produced figures were released alongside the theatrical release of the Flintstones movie in 1994. I remember seeing this movie in the theater and being sort of disappointed. I never had any of these figures as I was starting to reach my teen years at this time, but seeing these takes me back to some of the hype surrounding the film. I thought John Goodman did a solid job as Fred, but that wasn't enough to make me want to take him home with me. A few booths later I found a figure of Cliff Vandercave as played by Kyle MacLachlan! The resemblance was uncanny!

Character Glasses

I'm pretty sure 50% of the booths at this antique store had old character glasses from the 70's & 80's. I already have quite a few Peanuts, Smurfs and Garfield glasses in my collection so I passed on this group. They were about $10 each on average at the antique store. The glasses I am currently seeking out have our favorite pellet muncher on them...Pac-Man!

Pulsar Action Figure

Pulsar was released in 1976 by Mattel to try and capitalize on the success of Kenner's Six Million Dollar Man toy line. This figure had a pumping organs feature that was able to be seen through Pulsar's clear plastic torso. The line was not very popular and only produced 2 figures, Pulsar & Hypnos (The Bad Guy), and one lone playset called "The Life Systems Center". The seller was asking $50 for this figure which is fair based on going rates on the internet. I vaguely remember hearing of this toy, I never had him, have no memories of him, so he stayed on the shelf.

Snoopy Phone!
This awesome phone was released by Telecom in the 70's and the one at the store looked fantastic! This was one item that I was really second guessing, but my wife gave me that "really" look when I told her how much it was. At $75 that seems to be fair as I've seen these go for anywhere between $50 - $150 online. There is a rotary version of this phone that seems to be more sought after which makes those prices fairly high. I can't say that I'm not a little sad that I left Snoopy behind, but I guess we don't even have a landline at home that I could have hooked this bad boy up to anyway.

Vintage Lunch Boxes & Thermos

I saw this cool Pac-Man Thermos for $12 and there were also some sweet looking metal lunch boxes at a few of the booths. I saw a Muppets, Dukes of Hazzard and Mr. Merlin lunch boxes. These were priced between $30-$40 without the Thermos. Does anyone remember Mr. Merlin? I don't, but a quick search on Wikipedia tells me this show ran for one season in 1981-1982 and was about a boy named Zac who pulls a crowbar from a bucket of cement. Of course this crowbar was actually King Arthur's sword Excalibur and now Merlin disguised as a mechanic in San Francisco must train Zac in the magical arts. Sounds pretty crazy right! Well, you can view some of this insanity below by watching an episode of this lost piece of television history!

Weekend Antique Excursion #3!

A few weekends ago, myself and my family went downtown and visited a few antique stores. I enjoy going to these kinds of stores, because you'll never know what you're going to find. Most of the time the cool stuff that I like is way over priced, but it's cool to know it's out there if I really want it. Below are some of the items we found this time around.

 Vintage Hot Wheels Cars & Shirt Tales Car: $1 - $9.99

I have seen so many Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars over the years that were way overpriced at antique stores just like this. These ones though were pretty reasonable. I'm not a huge collector of cars, but the 99 cent asking price for them was not a bad deal. The Shirt Tales car in the middle was produced by ERTL in 1982 and was priced at $9.99! I loved these guys when I was a kid. I felt the asking price wasn't terrible, but a little high for my taste.

 1990 Donruss Baseball Cards: $8.99

I love finding old baseball cards at the antique store. The only problem is that people price these for way more than what they are worth. These 1990 Donruss cards came out when I was at my peak of card collecting and I have many of them in my collection. I think the design is pretty sharp and there were some great players in this series, but once again paying $8.99 for what is referred to as "Junk Wax" cards in a package that had been opened was not for me.

 2018 Met Solo Bobble head: $35

This was one of the items I am kicking myself for not picking up! I am a lifelong Mets fan and also a lifelong Star Wars fan. This is the best of both those worlds wrapped in a bobble head tortilla. These were given out to the first 25,000 fans who entered the gates during Star Wars Night at Citi Field in 2018. If this is still there when I go back, it may just end up in my collection!

 Nestle Quik Bunny Mug: $5

I have always thought of the Quik Bunny as one of the top advertising mascots of my lifetime. I always liked his commercials and was jealous of my friend when he got a stuffed Quik Bunny for his birthday. This cup is from the 80's and what I like most about it is that it still refers to the product being called Nestle Quik! To hell with this new fangled Nesquik crap, it will always be just plain old Quik in my house!!

 Spaghettios Plastic Bank: $10

I totally forgot about these old styled cans of Spaghettios!!! On there own Spaghettios were great, but throw in some meatballs and you have a feast! I still enjoy this delicacy toady, but my wife usually does the shopping and will not pick up most canned foods because she feels they may be "unhealthy". What up with that? Anyway this was not just your standard can, this was a 9.5 inch tall plastic bank fashioned to look like a can of saucy goodness!

Thundercats Top-Spinner Action Figure: $25

I had this guy as a kid and he was AWESOME! He was part of the bad guy pirate group known as the Berserkers! The Thundercats toyline by LJN was know for each figure having a great battle feature and Top-Spinner's was pretty excellent! He had a trigger on his back that when you pushed it his entire top half of his body would spin around and knock over any would be do gooders! This was an amazing series and when I head back to Jersey, I may just have to search through my Mom's attic to see if I can find any of my original Thundercats toys. Enjoy a Thundercats toy commercial below and let me know who your favorite figure was in the line in the comments below! HOOOOOO!!!!

Weekend Antique Excursion #2!

A few weekends ago, myself and my family went downtown and visited a few antique stores. I enjoy going to these kinds of stores, because you'll never know what you're going to find. Most of the time the cool stuff that I like is way over priced, but it's cool to know it's out there if I really want it. below are some of the items we found this time around.

 The Dukes of Hazard Personal Radio: $14.95

I was never a huge fan of The Dukes of Hazard television program. My sisters loved it though and that's where my introduction to the series happened. We never had this specific radio in our home, but my sisters had a very similar one with the Charlie's Angels logo emblazoned on it and that's where the nostalgia kicked in for me. I remember sitting in my sisters room and playing with the tuner on that radio hoping we could actually get a signal from the local radio station. Good times!

 Smurfs Lunch Box: $29.99

As I've said many times before, I love old lunch boxes! This Smurfs one was actually complete with the Thermos which is pretty rare. That's why I had no problem with the asking price of almost $30. It's a fair price, but I passed. I loved the Smurfs as a kid and had a big collection of the figures, but I never toted my PB&J sandwiches around in this box. I am still on the lookout for a complete Thundercats, Ghostbusters or Super Mario Bros. box. Those are the ones that really bring back the memories for me.

 Mattel Electronics Star Strike game for Intellivision: $10

It's always cool to see old games still in the box at these antique stores. The Intellivision was a little bit before my time. The first system we owned in my house was the Nintendo Entertainment System. If I saw any of those original NES games in box for $10, you better believe I'd be all over that!

 Parker Brothers Star Wars Board Game: $25

I've seen similar games go for way more money than this. So why the lower price? There were a bunch of pieces missing and the box had some minor wear. With all that considered the box art alone is worth the $25 asking price.

Batman Forever The Riddler Action Figure: $14.95

I actually liked Batman Forever. Of course the movie doesn't hold up when compared to the Tim Burton masterpieces that came before it, but it actually was a fun movie. I enjoyed Jim Carry's portrayal of the Riddler. He added some of his own personality into the character and that's what I like to see. I don't want a carbon copy of how someone else played the character. All that said, I never collected nor played with this series of figures, so it was a pass for me!

The Simpsons Colorforms Set: $9.99

This was the item I would take home! I love the early look of The Simpsons cartoons. They are classic. I remember watching the Simpsons Christmas Special when it aired on FOX on December, 17th, 1989. One watch of this episode and I was hooked! 30 years later and I am still a big fan of the Simpson family. A sealed Colorforms set from the early 90s for $9.99! Yes, please!!! Below you can enjoy an early episode from The Simpsons run on the Tracey Ullman show in the late 80s.

Weekend Antique Excursion!

This past weekend my wife and her female family members took part in a women's run downtown to celebrate Mother's Day. After the run it is traditional for the girls to grab some coffee and check out the stores. My wife texted me and asked if me and my son would like to join them when they went to the antique store. I asked the boy and he said yes! I enjoy going to these kinds of stores, because you'll never know what you're going to find. Most of the time the cool stuff that I like is way over priced, but it's cool to know it's out there if I really want it. below are some of the items we found this time around.

Walt Disney Mickey Mouse Disco Album: $3.95

I recently received a record player this past Christmas and since then I have been searching for some records to play on it. When I see a stack of vinyl. I'm gonna check it out! This stack had a few old country records and this Disney Disco classic. Very cool, but not exactly my kind of jams.

 Kenner Return of the Jedi Coloring Book: $9.95

This coloring book really took me back! I had a bunch of these Star Wars books back in the day and love that classic look on the cover also I am a sucker for anything that pictures the Max Rebo band! I thought the price was a little high, so I passed this time around.

Pac-Man Mini Arcade Game: $89.99

If there was one item in the whole store that I could get regardless of the price, this one might be it! Pac-Man is one of my all-time favorite video games and these mini arcade games are jam packed with nostalgia for me. I got the Donkey Kong game for around $20 and I know these are tough to find, but I could not justify buying this for myself on Mother's Day. I guess Father's Day is only a few weeks away!

Star Wars Ewok Village, Death Star & Millennium Falcon: $135, $350 & $250

My head exploded when I saw these on top of a display case. I grabbed my wife to show her and picked up my kids so they could have a clear view of the toy greatness before them! This seller always has great toys in their booth, but this time he freakin' nailed it! I had the Ewok Village as a kid, so it holds a soft spot in my heart, but damn that Millennium Falcon in box looked AMAZING!!!!

Random Display of Action Figures: $5.99 - $19.99

This display was a glass case of emotion for me. It had some of the coolest toys I remember playing with as a kid. They had Doc Ock from Secret Wars, Superman from DC Super Powers, Dino Riders, Star Wars and G.I. Joe action figures. If that Doc Ock had any of it's tentacles left, I would have taken it home with me, but just like mine and thousands of other kids who owned this toy, his mechanical arms of doom had been ripped off. Dang!

Vintage Lunch Boxes: $12.99 each

I always stop and check out vintage lunch boxes when I see them on a shelf. Usually I will crack them open to check for a Thermos. 99.9% of the time the Thermos is missing. These boxes were reasonably priced, but had no Thermos. Since I was not attached to any of these, I passed. The lunch boxes I would grab in a minute would be Thundercats, The Real Ghostbusters and Super Mario Bros. Those were the ones that carried my lunches for years during that formative time in my life. If anyone has one of these lunch boxes hit me up, and let's see if we can make a deal!