Check my swag, yo! I just felt there had been such an influx of goodies through the mail that warranted some mention. I don’t typically do this, as most of my stuff tends to come from random eBay sellers. The past 2 weeks, however, have brought stuff from Facebook and Twitter friends, so I want to share those with ya.
First up, Kevin over at Team Hellions took me up on the Trader Will’s Deal-O-Rama post that I wrote for the League of Extraordinary Bloggers. I was glad he came forward, as I was starting to feel like the kid picked last for sports. Well, he did not disappoint!
As you can see, I got the first 2 volumes of Adam Warren’s Empowered, as well as a deck of Star Wars playing cards. His wife also sent along something nice for my wife, but she ran off with it before I could take a picture! I read the first volume of Empowered years ago and loved it, but never got around to actually buying any of it. Needless to say, I can’t wait to read these. Thanks, Kevin!
Next up, I bought this from my buddy Vincent over at Dinosaur Toy Vault/The Robot’s Pajamas. He went to Joe Con, and ended up buying the Exclusive Night Force Nocturnal Fire boxed set. He’s selling off the figures to pay for his trip, and I just had to get Psyceh-Out. Even though I think he gave me a good price, I paid more than I ever should for a G.I.Joe figure. Still, Psyche-Out holds a special place in my heart, as he was the first G.I. Joe figure I ever got. I hadn’t seen the cartoon at that time, so I didn’t even realize he wasn’t important. I just loved that he had satellite dishes all over himself, and that Woolworths only had him and Raptor. I sure as Hell wasn’t buying Raptor! In the years to follow, I would lose all his dish accessories, snatch the antenna from the back of his head, and bite off his fingers. Who knew I was training for a job at GitMo? As maimed as he is, I still have that figure, as he suffers from PTSD in my Joe case at my mom’s house. One day, he will stand side by side with his updated version, and see that it truly does get better (NOTE: It always bothered me they spelled his name – typically that’s pronounced “SY-kee”, making his name pronounced “SY-kee Out”).
Some more eBay acquisitions to bolster Operation Trade-Up. That X-Statix Omnibus gets rid of an entire longbox for me on its own. That thing retails for $125, but somehow I found it for $32. And if you’ve never heard of it, definitely track down The Last Days of American Crime by Radical. There’s a Bruce Willis-starring movie just waiting to be made!
Next up, Twitter/Facebook pal @kngfu71 was selling off some action figures, and I snagged this movie Reed Richards off him. Little known fact: I’m not an avid Marvel Legends collector, but I’m trying to track down all the movie versions of Marvel characters on the cheap. I had a Reed body and accessories that I found at a thrift store, but he didn’t have a head. I actually bought this to cannibalize it, but he’s so cool that I think he gets to live, and I’ll just put that other Reed body on the site for a customizer to buy. If I’m not mistaken, I believe I’ve also got a Sue Storm on the way from Michael, so that will complete my movie Fantastic Four!
Finally, everyone was raving over this figure, and I knew I would need it for my Batman collection. That said, it’s not that easy to find, and I really don’t have time for a toy hunt right now. Luckily, I ended up getting an Amazon gift card for cashing in some bank rewards points, and I couldn’t think of a better way to waste it! Actually, I thought of several different ways, but it was burning a hole in my pocket. Though I probably wouldn’t buy from them directly, this ended up coming from Big Bad Toy Store via Amazon. It was cheaper than I was gonna find at retail, and when everything was said and done, I only spent $1.38 out of my pocket. So, what can I say about him? He’s a big fucking hunk of plastic! The New Plastic Smell was so full and robust that I just huffed his card bubble once I finally extracted him. I saw many colors, and I think I learned Chinese! Since I’ve never owned an MOTUC figure (the line from which the body was borrowed), I wasn’t really familiar with the different articulation. His rubber undies obstruct full movement of his hip joints. I haven’t seen an other review reference that, but that’s how mine turned out. Too bad he’s not a pegwarmer like Penguin – I’m sure a lot of customizers would love to have a field day with that MOTUC body at a lower price than the Matty Collector store charges!
Well, there ya have it. Would you like to be included in a future Mail Call Monday? Then send me some shit, fool! It’s just that simple. I’m out.
Re: Price of the figure… YEP. I never imagined paying that much for a set, that’s why I have sell some. I’m keeping more than I wanted so their cost is still really high. I’d never EVER pay that much for a store price, but when the production run is so low I figure it might be worth it if the figure is unique enough.
For example, repainted Lady Jaye was con price was what 30 bucks? No thanks. But the unique ones that were never made before, they’re worth it to me.
I got big Boa on the club site for 30. I’d never pay that much for him in a store or on eBay, but this is the only way I could get him, so *shrug*
“I just huffed his card bubble once I finally extracted him” awesome. That Bats figure looks cool. I love that Psyche-Out is your favorite Joe and I love the story behind it. Took me back to my own Woolworth and the same 2-3 Joes that always had over and over.
@RobotsPJs – yeah, I’m always amazed how much exclusive Joes cost, seeing as how small they are. If I could get $100 for 4 inches, I’d be rich! OH! I’m here all week!
@Howie – The Bats certainly looks cool, but I’m not sure how many awesome poses I can put him in. Yeah, my Woolworths sucked. I remember Joes being the most cost effective toy at the time, as they were only $3 or something. I usually ended up getting something I didn’t want, like Chuck Norris figures, ’cause I refused to buy Raptor or Crystal Ball
I saw the Batman figure when I picked up my comics on Sunday. I am on the fence about it- I looked at the figure carefully to try to figure out how it was articulated and I wasn’t satisfied with what I saw. However, I don’t have a Dark Knight figure, so I am considering getting this one. Anything else about the figure that I should know?
That TDKR Batman is an awesome figure indeed!
@Agent_70 welcome to the blog, man! Glad to see ya outside Comic Book Chronicles Live. It’s not a bad figure, but I’m not sure I’m “wowed” by it. I actually expected to get it at a comic shop, as that’s where I bought the Planet X Batman. We’re at this weird retail nexus where comic shops and mass market retail aren’t that far apart in terms of price. I’m a Bat fool, so I knew I’d need the figure, but I find it to be…lacking. Maybe it’s because we’ve known about it since SDCC last year, and the thrill has passed. I’m not doing such a great job selling it, am I? 😛
@BubbaShelby – I expect I’ll learn to love him, but he’s not articulated like that Batman I’ve come to love!