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Thursday, May 23, 2019

Remco Toys Part 1 Soldiers

Note this is the first in a multi part series.

Good old Remco Toys. I've mentioned the before in my posts about the toys I had at Granny's. But I want to go a little more in depth and write about some of my memories of these cheap, wonderful toys. Most of mine came from either K-Mart or one of the Dollar Stores. Dollar General or Family Dollar. I probably go some elsewhere but those three places were the main stores for me.

The line I am most familiar with would be their military series that went by a few different names. Most notably American Defense or U. S. Forces.



 This was a line of 3 3/4" action figures along the lines of G. I. Joe. I had probably a dozen or so of them. As I said these were the ones I had at Granny's. The Good G.I. Joes stayed home but whenever I went to visit or stay I had these guys to play with there. And I had so much fun with them. I had a base from another Remco line that served as their headquarters.


Sure ManTech was a completely different scale but this base worked great for my soldiers. Like G.I. Joe they had some sci-fi elements and so it wasn't too odd.

Three of my favorite figures from the American Defense U.S. Forces line were

Heavy Metal

Forest Green


and Hidden Force


These were my go to guys. I've always liked figures made from translucent plastic like Hidden Force that made him seem to be invisible. Well at least that was what I think it was supposed to represent. Forest Green was a cool ranger type guy with the armor that had leaves on it. I got a kick out of that. As for Heavy Metal, come on look at him. He coulda been a Dreadnock easy. He was a great badguy for them to fight.

As cool as these were there was another military line that came first. Sgt. Rock! Based on the DC comic books that I read as a kid.


I only had Sarge himself and he was enough at the time. Though now I do wish I'd had more of that line. Oh well.

I had some of the vehicles and little playsets as well. I remember the boat and a jeep as well as a machine gun nest.

I don't have too many of them left these days. Most of the toys I had at Granny's I got rid of when she moved in with us. I just didn't have room for all of them. But there are a few left. I don't remember what thought process went into deciding which ones I kept and which ones I got rid of. None of my three favorites were kept for some reason.

I have a Sgt. Rock. Not my original though.


Then there are these three guys. Not too exciting compared to the others I had.


Finally there is this set. These were later releases that were of poorer quality and I'm certain I got these at one of the Dollar Stores. They were cheap and came in two packs. And I kept them.


Next up I'll talk about another line from Remco that was a favorite of mine. It features robots! Be ready.

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

My New Adventures of He-Man Collection Attic Archaeology Pt 2

The past few days I've been going through the boxes in my attic again. More thoroughly than last time. I've been finding lots of cool stuff. Things I forgot I had, things I remembered but didn't know where they were exactly. So much good stuff.

For one thing I found what was left of my New Adventures of He-Man collection. Not a lot and most of it is either broken or missing pieces. But still I gathered up what I found and took some pics and even made a video which is at the end of this post. First however, the pics.




First up, the good guys. I have two of He-man, but only one has his helmet and armor. So I gave the one remaining shield to the other one. Neither has his sword anymore. Both of the swords got broken long ago. Then there's Hydron and Flipshot. Flip is missing his jetpack and Hydron's helmet is gone as well. Finally there is the block-headed robot guy. I had to look him up as I didn't remember that his name was Artilla, which it is. As far as I know he didn't come with any accessories so he's complete.

Now for the bad guys.



First off there is Skeletor. Two of him as well, but they are different versions at least. I believe they are both complete at least. Then we have Flogg, minus his helmet. But otherwise in pretty good shape.  And lastly there is Optikk with his gun making him complete.

And there is also the shuttle.




The Dreadwing shuttle was the only vehicle in the series I owned. It is pretty much complete. Even has the weapons in the back. However the guns on the front are messed up somewhat. but at least they are still there. And as you can see from the photos some of the stickers are peeling off. So it's pretty rough looking but in okay shape.

Finally, here is a short video I made of them.

Saturday, May 4, 2019

Free Comic Book Day 2019

I only get to the comic shop every other week. And it worked out that I got to go on Free Comic Book Day this year. Nice timing really. I also went by the local weekend flea market where my friend Matt has a booth selling comics. He was also doing stuff for FCBD this weekend.

I brought along my usual sidekick, my nephew Mason. We had a good day. Starting with a stop at Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast. Then we ran by Family Video, Mason wanted to get the new release calendar for this month and I rented him a couple video games. Then it was off to the Book Broker for our first FCBD stop.

There I got to see my friend Vince, a local comic artist. I picked up a few of the free comics and my regular books as well.


My free books I picked up

I got Casper, Archie and Vampirella, a odd mix I admit but I was most interested in this year. Mason got a small art print of Deadpool, a Captain Marvel button and a Power Rangers print.


My regular comics pick up

Most of these were in my pull file with the exceptions of Major X, Zorro and The Six Million Dollar Man. Again an odd mix but I enjoy a variety of titles.

After the comic shop we headed to the Diamond Ave Flea Market for our next stop. Matt had some free comics he was giving away as well as having his comics on sale for 1/2 off.


Free comic from the Flea Market

I don't remember what book Mason got but I picked up a Kabuki comic. An older title I enjoyed reading back in the day. I also took advantage of the half price sale to replace some of my G.I. Joe comics and add a few more older books to my collection.


Flea Market haul

I got a nice run of G.I. Joe books 30-37 missing #34. Four Archie titles, two Betty and Me and two Jugheads. As well I got four Conan books. Headed home after that. 

All in all it was a good day. Mason and I enjoyed ourselves and we got some good comics. Yes I'd say it was a good day.