Funko Pop Collection: Part #1

I am a fan of the Funko Pop figures. They are inexpensive and feature some amazing characters. if you are a fan of any show or movie, Funko has probably made a Pop of it! That being said, I really don't collect Pops, but if I do see one of a character I absolutely love, I will pick it up. My collection is not huge, but it is selective and here are a few that I would like to share with you...

Blanka from Street Fighter

Around my neighborhood, Street Fighter II was the fighting game of choice. Me and my friends would play this game for hours on our SNES during the summer of 1992 trying to perfect all the characters special moves. Of course one of the easiest to master was Blanka's electrical attack. That paired with his crazy look, made him a favorite of mine to play with.

Casey Jones from the TMNT Movie (1990)

The summer of 1990 brought my favorite Heroes In A Half-Shell to the big screen. My Dad took my brother and me to the theater to see this movie and our minds were blown! The movie was gritty & dark, but it still had the humor and action that we loved from the TMNT cartoon show. It was the perfect balance of the Mirage comics and Fred Wolf cartoon. Of course one of the highlights was the appearance of Casey Jones. He had some of the best scenes in the movie and of course I needed a Casey Jones to go along with my TMNT Funko Pops.

Doctor Octopus

Spider-Man has always been one of my favorite comic book superheroes. So much so that I have a Spider-Man tattoo and back when I was a DJ, my stage name was Spyda-Man. Those days have passed, but Spider-Man is still one of my favorites and my family got me this Doc Ock Funko Pop as a birthday gift a few years ago. He's a bad dude and still looks awesome, even as a Funko Pop!

Gremlin from Gremlins (1984)

Seeing Gremlins with my Dad and siblings in the movie theater is one of the earliest memories that I have. I don't actually remember seeing the movie, but I remember getting home from seeing the movie and the power went off in our house. Of course everyone was joking that it was the Gremlins that caused the power outage, but in fact it was a blown fuse. I didn't know that and those innocent jokes led to a few sleepless nights in my bed!

Harley Quinn from Batman: Arkham Knight

I have the Batman Arkham games collection for the WiiU and honestly, I've only played it a handful of times. I'm not a huge fan of the game itself, but I do like me some Harley Quinn. I picked this Pop up at a going out of business sale at a retro store in our mall. So for a couple of bucks Harley came home with me.

Dustin from Stranger Things (Target Exclusive)

I have been a fan of Stranger Things since the first season hit Netflix way back in 2016. Recently, my oldest daughter has watched the series with me and my wife and now she is in love with the show! For my birthday, my wife and kids got me a Target exclusive Funko Pop Dustin set. The set came with this Funko Pop of Dustin in his "Camp Know Where" outfit and a shirt with the "Roast Beef" design on it that Dustin wore in season 3 of the series. I love this shirt!

That's it for this round. Check back next week for some more random Funko Pop figures from my collection!

Discontinued Candy I Want Back: Part II!

I don't know about you but there are just certain things in life that can bring back strong nostalgia and make those memories of the good old days flood back to you. Certain smells, beats & lyrics from a favorite song or tastes of a favorite food or drink can make those good times come back if not only for a quick minute. For me certain candies can transport me back to my childhood in the 80's & 90's. Fortunately for us, a lot of those candies are still around, but in some instances they have been discontinued and we will never experience them again! If I owned my own candy company, these are even more of the sugary treats I would like to revive...

Sparkle Laffy Taffy

I remember discovering Sparkle Cherry Laffy Taffy back in the 90's. The flavor was typical cherry flavor, but inside the taffy were these small crunchy sparkle candies. I like Laffy Taffy, but the little crunch added so much to the experience. After doing a little searching, I found out that this unique form of Laffy Taffy can still be had! Places like Walmart & Kmart have the product listed on their sites, but are currently out of stock, but I did find a candy website where it is still for sale! If you want to try this off shoot of the beloved Laffy Taffy brand by Wonka, you can buy one for $1.99 at CandyDistrict.com.

Topps Character Candy Heads

What kid growing up in the 80's/90's didn't have one of these? It seemed like any movie or cartoon that was even remotely of interest to kids had a Topps Candy Head container on the impulse buy shelves at grocery stores, toy stores or corner markets. They were filled with small fruit flavored hard candies and ranged from Ninja Turtles to Alf to Star Wars! I remember playing down by the creek that ran through my old neighborhood with my sister's Gizmo candy head. I accidentally dropped it into the water and immediately panicked because I knew my sister would be crazy angry with me! I jumped into the flowing water as Gizmo was being dragged away by the current, shoes and all. I was able to rescue Gizmo. I was soaked from head to toe, but I avoided the wrath of my older sister!

Neon Bandits

Does anyone remember these candies from the early/mid 90's? They came out around the time Warheads were the hottest candies on the market. I remember they had a sour taste and came in a variety of flavors. It has been decades since I had one of these, but I remember part of the gimmick was that they would turn your mouth the same color of the candy. Each package had a different cartoon character on the front to coincide with the flavor of candy. I liked them, but nothing could take my loyalty away from Warheads. Speaking of Warheads...does anyone else remember the hot Warheads flavors that came out in the early 90's? 

Topps Juice Bar Bubble Gum

If you had this gum on the schoolyards of the 80's, you were the man! Everyone wanted just a single pellet of this delicious gum. Each box opened like a real carton of juice and poured out small nuggets of fruit flavored gum. The gum was delicious, but just like Fruit Stripe Gum, the flavor lasted all of 30 seconds. That fact never detracted kids from picking these tiny boxes of wonderful from the candy store though. My favorite was the Grape Juice flavor followed closely by Pink Lemonade! They really need to bring this gum back!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mutagen Candy Chew

That title is a mouthful, but these things were delicious! These Mutagen bars were neon green colored and had the consistency of taffy with a lime flavor to it. These were once again released around the same time as the TMNT movies were hitting theaters during the height of Turtlemania! I believe this was another KB Toys front register impulse buy. Why haven't more candy companies taken advantage of the TMNT Ooze connection. I would buy those like crazy!

LaVie Fruit Drops

These candies were delicious! They were never my main pick when my family would hit up the store, but my Mom always seemed to have a tin of these in her purse. They came in various flavors like Orange, Cherry, Strawberry & Lemon. Since I always had that connection to my Mom, these candies were more of a grown up way to enjoy candy. They came in different shapes based on the flavor you chose and had a sort of powdered sugar outer coating that added to the flavor. It seems these have been discontinued in the US, but may be available in other countries to this day!

Butterfinger BBs

These mini "popable" versions of Nestle's Butterfinger Bars actually lasted for a long time on market shelves. They were introduced in 1992 with an amazing marketing campaign that featured the uber popular Simpsons characters and they were discontinued in 2006. That's actually a pretty long life span for a spin off candy! I liked these because you got all the flavor of a Butterfinger Bar, but you didn't have to deal with the melting. You could pop a few in your mouth and throw the rest back into your back pack for future snacking. Of course the addition of Bart & Homer didn't hurt at all. In 2009 Nestle introduced the Butterfinger Mini Bites that were supposed to be an update of the BBs brand, but they just don't taste the same. Below you can find some examples of this marketing wonder...ENJOY!!!

It Came From The Closet!

Recently I was searching for something in our back basement closet and as usual I dug out the boxes of old loose toys for my kids to play with. I want them to have the same great memories of playing with these figures as I did as a kid. These are the memories of happiness that have stuck with me for a lifetime, also it makes me happy to see them bringing joy to another generation. Okay, let's get past the sentimental gushy stuff, because as I was cleaning I rediscovered some cool stuff that I forgot I even owned! These are just a few of the items I have packed away.

The Adventures of Batman & Robin: Action Packs

I bought this full box of Batman cards at the local Goodwill for a couple dollars. I intend to one day have a room that I can display my collection of retro goodies. My plan is to have a section devoted to my full boxes of retro trading cards. For a few dollars this was worth the pickup!

Kevin Smith Autographed Inaction Figure

I spent the first 20+ years of my life growing up in NJ and when I noticed a fellow Jersian was making it big as a movie director I was on board. I enjoy Smith's View Askew movies like Clerks, Chasing Amy and Mall Rats, so on one of my return trips to NJ I visited the Jay & Silent Bob's Secret Stash comic shop in Red Bank where I purchased this autographed figure for around $10. I actually got the chance to interview Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier on their tour bus a while ago. He is a great guy and took the time to answer my questions, pose for some pictures and give me some swag. If you have the chance to see Smith live, I recommend you go!

Gremlins & The Goonies VHS Tapes

The Gremlins VHS is actually the tape I had as a kid! I loved this movie and every year during the holidays I try to convince my kids to watch it with me. So far, I have had no takers, but I feel like 2018 is the year my kids will give in and watch Gizmo & Billy fight the good fight against Stripe and his evil mischief causing Gremlins! The Goonies VHS, I saw at a thrift shop for a quarter and I just couldn't say no!

Signed Pointer Sisters Poster!

The Pointer Sisters were hot stuff back in the 80s, so when I found this old autographed poster in my office I had to take it home! Every year our local theater hosts a big fundraising event and in 2004 the station I work for was the media sponsor. As a thank you the headliners of the fundraiser, The Pointer Sisters, signed this event poster and presented it to the station. Obviously nobody cared to hang it, because I found it jammed between a locker and filing cabinet. I was so excited to find this! BTW am I the only one who thinks of that Saved By The Bell episode were Jessie over does it with the caffeine pills when you hear the song "I'm So Excited"?

Power Rangers Tiger Electronic Game

Not much to say here. I was a fan of the Tiger electronic handheld games as a kid, my younger brother was into Power Rangers when they were at the height of their popularity and seeing this game at a thrift store brought a bunch of those memories flooding back. It was only 50 cents, but when I got it home and popped in some AA Batteries, it didn't work. I just don't have the heart to throw it out!

Puff Daddy feat. Jimmy Page: Come With Me CD Single

I admit that I was a huge fan of Puffy back in the day and when the hype train for the new Godzilla came rolling into town this song played through it's horn! I actually liked the song and bought the Cassette single. I had a friend at school who asked if I would trade my cassette single for his CD single and I said yes. It is still in my collection today! My son has become a big fan of the Godzilla movies and we recently watched the 1998 Godzilla movie and he enjoyed it, so it was no surprised he started jamming out when the song "Come With Me" played during the end credits. Man, I remember this video being one of those big MTV events that they hyped up for weeks.  

Christmas 2017 Fallout

Now that I am a parent Christmas is mostly all about making the kids happy and helping Santa get them the toys that were on their list. But every year I still look forward to unwrapping my own gifts from my kids & wife. They typically do a great job of getting me some sweet presents and this year they did not disappoint. I know it's a little late, but lets look behind the wrapping paper and see what goodies were under the tree for me this year!

Super Mario Maker for the 3DS

I have been wanting this game for a long time now. It didn't matter if it was the 3DS or Wii version. I just wanted the power to control Mario's adventures in the Mushroom Kingdom. For so many years Nintendo dictated to us what perils would befall our fearless plumber, but now I can put 100 Bloopers in Bowser's castle and give Mario all the abilities he needs to succeed! I love this game, my kids love this game...kudos to you Nintendo!

DreamWorks Voltron Action Figures

Every Sunday for about the last year my kids and myself have been watching a new episode of the DreamWorks Voltron Legendary Defender series on Netflix. We love it! It is one of the few rebooted series from my childhood that I can actually say is better than the original. The animation is top notch, the action is great and the humor is fantastic! If you have not seen this show, I highly recommend you do it soon. Anyway back to the toys. We all got a lion that all come together to form a huge, interactive Voltron figure! I received the Black Lion. We have had a lot of fun with this guy since Christmas morning!

Gremlins Glasses and Ice Cube Tray

I had never seen these before. I didn't ask for them, but I am glad I got them! I am a big fan of the Gremlins movies and anything with a Mogwai or devilish Gremlin on it is a winner in my book! One glass has Gizmo on it and shares the "Rules" of Mogwai caretaking that I am sure we are all familiar with. The other glass features Stripe on it and his "REVISED" rules which include "Feeding after midnight", "Keep out of sunlight" and "Get them wet". Very cool! BTW the Ice Cube tray was in the freezer when I took this pic.

 
Movies: Logan, Apocalypse & Wonder Woman

I had not seen any of these movies yet. So far the only one I have watched out of this all-star trio is X-Men Apocalypse. It was okay, not my favorite X-Men movie. Hopefully soon I can check out Logan & WW. I am so far behind on my movies! I guess that's what happens when you're a parent?

Dome Basketball Game

I used to have one of these when I was a kid and me and my brother would spend a ton of time slamming the buttons hoping to score a bucket and become basketball world champions! I played it with my kids, but they didn't seem to get as excited as I was when playing Dome B-ball!

Stocking Stuffers

I love stocking stuffers, maybe even more than the main gifts. I love the anticipation of seeing how much stuff got shoved into my Spider-Man stocking every Christmas morning! This year I got a few TMNT blind boxes, a TMNT fidget spinner, a Kylo Ren figure eraser, Star Wars playing cards, a bootleg Turbo Football and of course lots of candy including Snickers bars and Sour Patch Kids!

That's it for this year! I hope you got everything that was on your list. I can't wait until Christmas 2018! Enjoy the new year everyone and let us know what your favorite holiday gift was in the comment section below!

5 Random Trading Cards: Vol. 1

Today I'll be taking you back to the days of cardboard cards, stale chunks of pink chewing gum and wax wrappers. Today we will be looking at 5 old trading cards! I loved collecting cards as a kid. Baseball, Ninja Turtles, Superheroes it didn't matter. I just loved opening a pack and smelling the gum and seeing if you had opened a pack with new cards or more doubles! The stickers were always the premium pieces, but having a few extras to trade never hurt. Let's open this pack of awesomeness and take a look at 5 random cards from the 80s & 90s:

 Baby (Topps, 1985)

I never collected these cards as a kid. Mostly because I never knew they existed until I found them thrown in with some other collectables I purchased a while back. I remember seeing this movie in theaters at the age of 5 with my family. This was one of the few movies my mom went to with us. As a 5 year old I was blown away by the "lifelike" dinosaurs in the film. To me it was Jurassic Park before Jurassic Park. Looking back now, the movie and effects are horribly outdated, but it's the memories that give me a fondness for this film and it's card set.

 Gremlins (Topps, 1984)

This is another movie I saw in the theaters at the age of 4! I thought it was AMAZING but the Gremlins still scarred the hell out of me. The part where the Gremlin gets sliced up by the blender always stuck with me. When we got home from seeing this movie at the theater, my dad went into the house and the lights would not turn on. Of course he joked that "The Gremlins must be in our house!" Of course it was just a blown fuse, but still I WAS 4 AT THE TIME...thanks for the trauma dad! I did collect these cards as a kid with my brother and sisters along with Gremlins toys, candy and books!

 The Rocketeer (Topps, 1991)

I always thought this looked like a cool movie. It was very retro, but still modern and stylized. Oh, it also had 90s Jennifer Connelly in it! I remember watching it as a rental as a kid and enjoying it. I tried watching it recently on Netflix but fell asleep pretty quick. I'll have to give it another watch soon and see if it still stands up. BTW did not collect these cards back in the day.

 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Series 1 (Topps/O-Pee-Chee, 1989)

Who did not collect these cards? I had the entire set of cards and stickers from this set plus the movie cards and stickers, then I kinda slacked when the second series came out. I had a few of the cards, but definitely not as many as the first. I'm not sure why? Maybe my collecting tastes changed at that point? The card pictured here was the Canadian O-Pee-Chee version of the card. It seems to be a bit more on the high end side. The colors are brighter and the card stock is more slick and less brown/cardboard textured. These are like a premium version of the Topps cards we got in the US. Damn you cheap Topps company!

X-Men: '94 Fleer Ultra (Fleer, 1994)

Ah the X-men. One could say that the merry mutants along with the Death of Superman were the reason for the comics boom & bust in the 90s. I enjoyed the cartoon so much, but the comics became a little confusing around this time with all the crossovers going on. If you missed one issue, you were lost for years! Who is that new guy? Who killed him? What future is this guy from? All questions that became all too familiar to X-Men readers in the Bronze Age. The cards that spun off from this popularity though were amazing! These were probably the most traded cards on the school yard and why not? They had great art, cool info on the back and were laminated with gold foil stamping! These guys were huge in the 90s!

Coleco Donkey Kong Arcade Game

Every summer our town has a huge flea market which I try to make it to. You'll find everything from used tools to artwork to vintage toys. This past year I was able to score a few carded WildC.A.T.S figures a box of Deathwatch 2000 cards and some Nintendo DS games. But the best pickup of the day had to be this vintage Coleco Donkey Kong table top arcade game from 1982!

The seller wanted a pretty high price for this item. He claimed it was something he didn't want to get rid of, but his wife was making him do it. I passed and figured I'd go back later and if it was still there, it was meant to be mine. I went back after searching about 100 tables and Donkey Kong was still on the table. I made an offer to the seller. He refused. In the end I paid him the asking price, but he did throw in a few Hot Wheels cars to sweeten the deal!

It worked and immediately reminded me of the scene from Gremlins where Stripe and his Mogwai buddies were playing the same game under the Christmas tree while Gizmo tooted his horn in the spirit of the season.

This past year a Reaction figure of Stripe was produced and included a mini version of the game. Of course I had to own that too. I added it to my collection this past holiday season.

I attempted to snap a pic of the screen, but it came out all blurry. Thankfully I was able to grab this off the website Geek Vintage. My kids and I enjoy playing this game from time to time. Sometimes it is frustrating and other times satisfying. There is nothing like the feeling you get when you reach the top and save your girl...only to have her get nabbed again by DK!

The artwork on this game is fantastic and definitely from the 80s. With a classic depiction of Mario and the pre-Donkey Kong Country DK without a tie. I always wanted one of these as a kid and the dream was realized in my 30s. Better late than never! Now enjoy some retro ads for the Coleco lineup of mini arcade games!