Wrapping Up Christmas 2022

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. There is nothing like seeing their little faces light up on that special December morning...even if it's at 4am. I guess that's karma, but every year I still look forward to unwrapping my own gifts from my kids & wife. They always 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 let's look behind the wrapping paper and see what goodies were under the tree for me in 2022!

"The Last Folk Hero" and packs of sports cards

I have been a huge fan of Bo Jackson since I opened a pack of 1987 Topps baseball cards and found out that I had scored his "Future Stars" card. You know the one I'm talking about. The one with the sweet woodgrain border featuring Bo in the outfield. Once I found out this book was released a few months ago, I had to read it. I have read the great book "Bo Knows Bo", so I am interested in seeing how this book advances the story and digs into the folk hero that is Mr. Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson. In addition to this book, my wife picked me up a few packs of baseball and football cards. My favorite out of the packs had to be the Wild Card Garrett Wilson Rookie Card. He has been fantastic for my NY Jets this year and I hope to see his continued success in years to come.

DC League of Super-Pets and The Goldbergs Season 5 DVDs

Myself and my wife took our kids to see the DC Super-Pets movie back when it was released in theaters in July 2022. We all enjoyed the movie, and I can't wait to re-watch this one at home with the fam. The Goldbergs is one of the rare television programs that the whole family will sit down and watch. The first few seasons were the best and, in my opinion, captured what it was like growing up in the 80's. My kids chuckle at the jokes, and it gives them the opportunity to ask me and my wife about the things that happened during the best decade ever!

Masters of the Universe Mad Libs and Power Rangers: Battle For The Grid Switch game

Oh man, does my family enjoy Mad Libs! I'm sure everyone reading this has taken part in some crazy Mad Lib sessions and we all know how much fun they can be. The fact that this version is Masters of the Universe related makes it all the more fantastic. We've already done a few and if you are a MOTU fan, I highly suggest picking this up and taking part in the most powerful Mad Libs in the Universe! I was in my teens when the Power Rangers became a huge phenomenon, but my younger brother was big into the Rangers, so I have some fond memories of playing in some epic battles with him and his action figures. I had heard this game was pretty great from some hardcore Power Rangers fans at work and when I saw it at Walmart for under $20, I picked it up. I gotta say, I played it last night and it is so much fun! There are so many characters to choose from and the story mode is actually pretty dark. Power Rangers fans need to give this game a try!!

Hickory Farms Beef & Spicy boxed set

My wife picks me up one of these boxes of meat & cheese every year for Christmas. I don't know about you, but I love getting snack foods on Christmas. My Dad used to stuff our stocking with everything from Slim Jims to microwaveable Pork Rinds and that's where my love for salty snacks on December 25th started. I am so glad that my wife continues this tradition for me every year.

World's Smallest Blind Box figure

I was really surprised to find this in my stocking this year. I had never seen these blind boxes in stores, but my wife did and thought I would appreciate them. She was right! These blind boxes give you the chance to score a micro figure of either G.I. Joe, Ninja Turtles, Transformers or Masters of the Universe figures. Of course, I was hoping for a Turtle, but I was not disappointed with the Battle Cat that I received! These are no cheap Dollar Tree figures. These are fantastically sculpted; have points of articulation and you can even remove Battle Cat's armor! As a bonus, each blind box contains a micro comic and a magnifier so you can read the books. If I see any more of these in the wild, you better believe I'll be picking them up!

NECA Black & White Shredder figure

I received the NECA set of 4 Black & White Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles years ago as a birthday gift from my wife, so when I saw that NECA was releasing a Black & White Shredder to compliment those previous TMNT figures, I immediately added it to my "Want" list! Unfortunately, NECA made getting this figure a bit of a hassle. These were part of the "AutoT" series of figures. In order to get your physical Shredder, you needed to go to Walmart, find the AutoT package, buy the code, go to a website, enter the code and then wait weeks for NECA to send you your figure. Pretty convoluted, but well worth the wait. This figure is amazing, and I was happy to finally receive it on Christmas morning. One cool thing about the AutoT experience is the fact that everyone has the chance to receive an autograph from TMNT co-creator, Kevin Eastman. I did not get one of these randomly packed autographs, but hey, at least there was a chance.

Playmates Toon Turtles 4-Pack

I never had these Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figures when they were first released back in the 80's. By that point I had already amassed several variations of each Turtle, so getting these was not high on my priority list. Man did I miss out! I love the action features on these figures and the retro packaging really takes me back to perusing the toy aisle at our local department store, Toys R' Us, Child World or KB Toy store. The commercial for these toys really shows how cool they actually are! You can view that below.

It was another great Christmas filled with family, fun and of course presents. I hope you all had an AWESOME holiday and look forward to the new year. Thanks for reading!

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.

New Ghostbusters Toys

 I am a huge Ghostbusters fan and I have been since I watched the VHS at my friend Ron's house back in the mid 80's. This movie was more than just a mindless summer blockbuster, but it was humorous, had a great & original story, outstanding cast and really captured the imagination of a generation. It inspired us all to stand up to our fears and bust them! Today I am glad to say that I have been able to share that same feeling of wonder and empowerment with my kids. They have seen both films and a number of the animated "The Real Ghostbusters" cartoon and they genuinely enjoyed them. To say that we are excited for the new Ghostbusters Afterlife movie is an understatement. It looks so cool!

The teasers and trailers alone have not been enough to satiate our hunger for more ecto plasm splattering fun. We are counting down the days to the November 11th release date. To help bridge the gap between then and now I have picked up some of the new Ghostbusters toys for my kids to enjoy and create their own adventures. 2 of their birthdays are coming up and they will be gifted with these surprisingly cool action figures and vehicle. I am so excited to see their reactions when they bust these open in a few weeks. Let's take a look and see what we've got to look forward to:

Freaking AWESOME, right? I'm glad I was able to score the Ecto-1 at Target, but I had to grab the Ghostbusters themselves on Amazon. Surprisingly, they were $1 cheaper online than the would have been if I bought them in the store. I'm still on the lookout for the Venkman with Terror Dog. The Muncher ghost looks pretty cool, but I can't help feeling like he is a sort of bootleg version of Slimer? I guess I should wait to see the movie before I pass final judgement. Like I said earlier, I hope my kids are excited to see these when they unwrap them on their birthdays. I know I look forward to partaking in their adventures just like I did back when me and my older brother were kids. Hoping this movie is what will keep the franchise going for generations. See you at the theater on November 11th...hopefully!!!

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!

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!