Thrifting and a Minor Update

Well, I haven't been blogging as much as I'd like to. It has been a combination of life getting complicated and another project taking up my time. Life is life, I'm doing what I can to make things better. The other project has been my taking up writing short stories again. I've tried off and on over the past few years but mostly just had false starts that led nowhere. But now I've gotten three stories written and just started the fourth. I'm pleased with that.

But tonight I want to talk about something else. Just a little thrift shopping I got to do today. My faithful sidekick, my nephew Mason, and I went out to some shops today. We managed to pick up a fairly nice haul.

First up we hit the Book Broker, a local comic shop and used book store where I go for my new comics. Today I found more than just the new stuff however. They had restocked their Dime boxes and I cleaned out a good chunk of them.

Forty-two back issues from the 70's mostly. Mainly Archie Comics titles, but a few Sgt. Rock and one Ghost Castle from DC. In other words some of my favorite reading materials. But that wasn't the only things I picked up there. I also found a couple Atari VCS/2600 games in the boxes. Since I already had Journey Escape I passed on it. But Chopper Command for only $5 CIB was too good to pass up.

It still had the price tag from Hills on there. That was cool as Hills Department Stores was my first job. I have a fondness for them and this has significance to me personally.

It is also my first game in the box that I have in my collection now. The rest are just loose cartridges mostly without the the manuals or any other paperwork.




After the Book Broker we went to Super Mega Replay and Coconuts. I didn't find anything in either place but Mason did get a movie he didn't have on Blu-Ray for $3.99. The Marine 3 I believe.

Then we checked out the Halloween City/Toy City that has taken over the old Toys R Us building. Pretty cool stuff in there, but nothing we wanted to get today. Nearby on the other side of the parking lot is World Missions Consignment. A big place full of all kinds of stuff. We looked around for a while in there but there was just too much to go through today. We may go back again and try to see what we find.

Our last stop was the Evansville Rescue Mission Thrift Store. Nice little place we hadn't been to before. Mason didn't find much he was interested in, but I found a bag of old records for $8.

Mostly they are Peter Pan Book and Records, minus the books. Though there were also some Disney and other children's records in the set. They need a little cleaning up before I try playing them. But still 24 records for $8 isn't too bad.

So all in all not a bad trip.

Mego Action Jackson 2018

The other day I got my first of the new Mego action figures. That being Action Jackson, a character I am admittedly not at all familiar with. But he seemed to be an interesting one so I gave him a chance.

Of course I took him out of his package and let him breath. I noticed the quality right away these are really well made figures.

The detail is amazing, from the features of his face to the uniform patch. The boots and the belt are nice as well.  Though I wish he'd had a holster for his gun on the belt. I mean sure he can hold the gun in his hand just fine. But I would have liked the idea of posing him with out the gun in hand. Plus it would have helped to keep the gun from being lost.

 

As you can see he does pose really well. It's easy to get him to stand up which is nice. I have plenty of action figures who cannot stand unaided. Thank you Mego for that.

 

All in all I am quite happy with this figure and I look forward to getting more.

Shelfie Time

Tonight I think I'll indulge in some shelfie photos. These are the toys I keep out on display, rotating things around from time to time.

Here's a good view of the whole lot. Top to bottom;

Dungeons & Dragons and fantasy

M.A.S.K
Go-Bots
Assorted
and unseen on the bottom shelf is my collection of coloring books.

Here's a better look at the M.A.S.K. and Go-Bots. With the exception of the Specialist Tracker G. I. Joe figure all of the M.A.S.K. toys are the originals I've had since I was a kid. They are all a little worn out and well played with. None of them are complete. The closest are the Boulder Hill playset and the Outlaw tanker truck.

The Go-bots are pretty much the opposite. Only the Space Hawk with the blue variant Leader-1 and a couple of the books are my originals. All of the rest come from my renewed interest in collecting over the past few years.

On the top of the shelf you can see mostly Dungeons & Dragons from LJN toys. But there are a few other things added in. My repainted Castle Greyskull, a Weebles Treehouse, generic carrying case and a two headed dragon. Of these only Greyskull and Warduke are my original toys. All the rest are additions I've collected over the years.

Sorry for this last photo being so blurry. The last shelf is an assortment of toys both old and not so old. A couple Morbius the Living Vampire figures, old Spider-Man series and recent Marvel Legends. My old Ultraman figure. A Frankenstein head and a wooden bomber that I got from my Joanne Fabrics and painted. A G2 Devastator. An old Godzilla figure and a Pac-Man hand held game finish up the front. In back is a stack of board games, puzzles and a box of Dungeons & Dragons Kree-Os.

You can barely see it but the bottom shelf is just filled with coloring books. Many of them old, going back to the 70s even. About a dozen G. I. Joe coloring books, some Transformers, super heroes and an assortment of other characters.

The shelf does get changed around from time to time. I only added the Go-Bots, taking the place of my old Starcom toys. I plan on bringing out the rest of my G1 and G2 Transformers at some point. Probably some of my other action figures as well.

Anyway, thanks for letting me share these with you.

Burger Chef Commercials #1

When I was a kid there was a chain of fast food restaurants known as Burger Chef. They were one of my favorite places to eat. As a bit of a nostalgia trip I've decided to share some of their commercials with you dear readers.

First up we get one with the mascots Burger Chef & Jeff. These are the guys that were a main part of my memories of the restaurant. But they weren't the only ones however.

There were also an assortment of monsters who interacted with Chef & Jeff. Such as Wolfburger the werewolf.

And of course there was Count Fangburger the vampire. I got a kick out of his little bat pal.

There were others as well. Cackleburger the Witch, The Great Burgini and Crankenburger. Fangburger and Crankenburger also had families as well. It was a fun and interesting assortment of mascots. More my style that the King or Ronald.

But before these characters came along they had other advertisements featuring cartoon characters.

In the 1960's they had ads with the characters from the popular newspaper comic strip "Family Circus"

Back to Chef & Jeff, they were used to introduce the Fun Burger followed by the Fun Meal. These were the predecessors to all the other kid's meals  that were to come later.

Incrediburgable!

I think that's enough for tonight. There are more that I will share at a later time.

Dino Drac Fun Pack August 2018

I'm a little late on this as I got my pack in the mail a few days ago. But life gets in the way of cool stuff from time to time. Anyway, here we go into yet another fun pack from Dinosaur Dracula.

Some fun stuff this month. The highlight being the Super Monstruos figure.

This month's figure is a cool lady vampire named Vampiresa. She goes well with my Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Hunchback. More about this fun line of figures can be found here.

Next up are the assorted trading cards.

Jaws, dinosaurs, music stars and Nintendo stickers among these.

Also got a pack of gum from South Korea. Good stuff actually.

Though I'm not really a fan of the movie these buttons are neat.

Two villains from The Super Mario Bros movie.

Finally the usual mini-poster and stickers.

So that's it for this month. Not a bad collection this time around. If you think this stuff is cool you should check out Dinosaur Dracula. He's just started his Halloween 2018 Countdown last week and there is all kinds of fun stuff on his site.

6 Little Golden Books #1

Tonight I think I'll talk about Little Golden Books. These were a major part of my childhood. In fact I still have all of mine. So I think I'll talk about a six of my favorites from my collection.

#1

Donny and Marie : The Top Secret Project
by Laura French
Illustrated by Jan Neely
I used to watch the Donny and Marie Show as a kid and I had this one book about Donny thinking he could build a robot. It doesn't turn out quite the way he wanted and so Marie and their little brother try to outdo him.

#2

The Black Hole A Spaceship Adventure for Robots
by uh, well my book doesn't give any credits.
From the Disney movie that I enjoyed it focuses on the robot characters of V.I.N.CENT and Old B.O.B. as they explore the spaceship and try to avoid being caught by Maximilian. A fun little story even if it doesn't actually fit in the with story from the film.

#3 

Underdog and the Disappearing Ice Cream
by Mary Ann Forn
Illustrated by Jason Studios
There's no need to fear Underdog is here. So his catch phrase went. An entertaining story. Ice cream disappears, Polly disappears, aliens show up and Underdog saves the day.

#4

Woodsy Owl and the Trail Bikers
by Kennon Graham
Illustrated by Frank McSavage
70's environmentalism. Remember kids, "Give a hoot, don't pollute."

#5

Woody Woodpecker at the Circus
by Stella Williams Nathan
Pictures by Frank McSavage
Woody along with Splinter and Knothead(niece & nephew I believe) decide to join the circus. Hilarity ensues.

#6

SHAZAM A Circus Adventure
by Bob Ottum
Illustrated by Kurt Shafenburger
And for our last book, how about another trip to the circus. This time however the circus train is delayed so Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel put on a circus themselves. Because real super-heroes aren't afraid to put on clown makeup and get hit in the face with pies.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this look back at a few of my Little Golden Books. If so, not to worry I have more and will be posting about them in the future.

The Return of Mego

Mego figures are back. These were the big thing back when I was a kid. I remember having a few of their toys. Only a couple of the 8" figures which I'll get to in a bit. First I want to talk about the return this year at Target.

I am so glad to see these figures in the stores again. I found them at my local Target today. The end cap was pretty full and there was only one figure they were out of. I didn't find Jimi Hendrix this time, but I'm not too worried.

A word from Marty President of Mego

Of this first wave of figures there are three that I want to get.

First up is one of my favorite characters. Dracula. And not just any Dracula, but the version as portrayed by the great Bela Lugosi. So glad they were able to get the rights to do this one.

Next up, Action Jackson. Admittedly not a character I'm familiar with. That said he looks really cool and seems like one I would have enjoyed as a kid.

And last but not least, the aforementioned Jimi Hendrix. One of my all-time favorite musicians and a must have.

Of course this is just from the first wave. I'm sure that there will be more to come in the not too distant future. I am hopeful for some other characters returning, namely CHiPs. These were the two I had as a kid. I even clearly remember getting Ponch at a department store in a mall while visiting my grandmothers and playing with it in the car on the way home. So it would be great to have them again. And to go along with them it would be nice to add Emergency!, Adam-12 and Dragnet. Fingers crossed, we shall see them one of these days.