This Week In Your Plastic Crack, Action Figures and Toy Collection 26 26

[F For Fake]

FB has been delivering some good pickups lately! Grabbed these from a very nice young man today. I'd inquired about the Wolvie, and he offered me a deal on Hobby that I couldnt refuse. He's unpunched too! When we met up he handed me the Snake Eyes and said he was giving it to me because I'd told him I collect Joes, so he was throwing it in. Very nice guy! 

He also had an Iceman, but I've already got one, so I passed for now. His price was very fair if I needed it for the personal collection, but not much room if I was reselling. I may go back for it later though as they're pretty uncommon around here, wouldn't hurt to have two!

 

[F For Fake]

And that's leads me  to something I'd been meaning to post for a while now. I thought this might be fun.

Do you remember the first toy you bought as a collectible? Meaning you didn't buy it to play with, but rather it was something that you bought specifically with collectibility in mind. 

If so, what was it? Do you still have it? And is there a story behind the purchase?

Heres mine:

When I was about 9 or 10 years old I went to a comic book show at a local shopping mall. This was the mid to late 80s when such shows were still pretty common. I found a booth that had action figures on the wall, and this one caught my eye. I had a few Secret Wars figures, but I knew this was something I'd never seen before. It was all I could think about. It was $30, and at that time $30 may as well have been $300, as I didn't have that kind of money as a kid. But I was obsessed with this figure. I knew it was special.

So, I made a contract with my parents, swearing to do any chores on demand in addition to my usual jobs. Mow the lawn, clean the house, whatever they wanted done until they felt it was paid off.

My folks have always been softies, god bless em, so they agreed and gave me the $30 to bring him home. They may still have that contract somewhere, I'm not sure.

I couldn't let myself open him up no matter how much I wanted to. It was proudly displayed on my top bookshelf. And from there I was off to the races. I still played with toys, but I also collected them.

Since that time, as I grew up, I sold and rebought my comic and toy collections a couple of times, but I've never let this guy out of my sight.

So what's your story?

 

[miraclemet]

From the era of "what else can we make transform" toys of the 80s. Know what's even more cool than a car or a jet?

A ROCK!

Yes Rock Lords. Had this guy as a kid along with a couple others. Got him off eBay last week for a decent price. Box is nice, as is the toy. Just gotta be careful with that perforated flap/lid, if I keep opening and closing it, it'll eventually split!

[followtheleader]

Takara/Japan "Circle" Sunstreaker. 

DK-1 (Diaclone) stickers instead of the standard CR. 

Very nice condition with very little chipping. 

Wish I would have thought to take a picture with the Red and Yellow Sunstreakers together. 

Patrick

[followtheleader]

Brother to the previously posted Doom Commander. 

Robeast Mutilor.

Nice MOC.

Patrick

[followtheleader]

Seems like MUSCLES have been a bit deflated lately. 

Figures look accurate for Set #3.  Just haven't verified if it's the appropriate colors for this set. 

#63 sure looks a whole lot like the Hulk (awesome that he's green).

Figures are very clean; I get the impression they weren't played with. 

Patrick

[Buzzetta]

On 3/6/2020 at 12:02 PM, fantastic_four said:

I'm up to about 250 Marvel figures now.  I've bought pretty much everything that's out that I ever wanted in the Marvel Legends line, plus a small handful from other lines like Mafex or Revoltech.  I'm curious about Mezco figures but can't get into the aesthetic, the head sculpts all look weird and I'm not a fan of cloth costumes.  Mezco does cloth about as well as it can be done, but I still don't like the look of it, and moreover I'm concerned about the long-term durability of the material.  I really came close to buying the Mezco Magneto, but I just couldn't pull the trigger because I'm afraid that cloth costume will stretch out and become problematic in a decade or two.  The Mafex Cyclops and Thor coming out soon both look incredible, if reviewers don't find any of the quality control issues that Mafex figures often suffer from I'm all over both of those.

There weren't many new figures shown at the February Toy Fair I'm interested in, maybe 8 or 9 new Legends figures.  The one I like the best is the new Gwen Stacy figure with an alternate Mary Jane head in the new Spidey vintage wave, the sculpt on that is spectacular.  The Spider-Man in that wave looks to have spectacular articulation but it's tough to tell from just pictures, so I'll wait for a review to see how much the range of motion of the legs improved.  My favorite would have been the first appearance Storm figure, but there are a few things off about the look that I'm not a fan of.  Unless they fix some issues I may not buy that one at all despite it being one of my most-wanted figures.

Thought of you actually while in Target the other day.    I know they are not in scale... I know they are not Marvel... 

But damn... the McFarlane Jim Lee Batman figure hits all the bells and whistles for me.   Really nice figure. 

I left him.  Trying to be good this year. 

[kav]

I have a rare Phantom Girl action figure but I activated the damn thing now I cant see or touch it.

[kav]

Same company that made this baby

[GeneticNinja]

On 3/8/2020 at 2:36 PM, F For Fake said:

And that's leads me  to something I'd been meaning to post for a while now. I thought this might be fun.

Do you remember the first toy you bought as a collectible? Meaning you didn't buy it to play with, but rather it was something that you bought specifically with collectibility in mind. 

If so, what was it? Do you still have it? And is there a story behind the purchase?

Heres mine:

When I was about 9 or 10 years old I went to a comic book show at a local shopping mall. This was the mid to late 80s when such shows were still pretty common. I found a booth that had action figures on the wall, and this one caught my eye. I had a few Secret Wars figures, but I knew this was something I'd never seen before. It was all I could think about. It was $30, and at that time $30 may as well have been $300, as I didn't have that kind of money as a kid. But I was obsessed with this figure. I knew it was special.

So, I made a contract with my parents, swearing to do any chores on demand in addition to my usual jobs. Mow the lawn, clean the house, whatever they wanted done until they felt it was paid off.

My folks have always been softies, god bless em, so they agreed and gave me the $30 to bring him home. They may still have that contract somewhere, I'm not sure.

I couldn't let myself open him up no matter how much I wanted to. It was proudly displayed on my top bookshelf. And from there I was off to the races. I still played with toys, but I also collected them.

Since that time, as I grew up, I sold and rebought my comic and toy collections a couple of times, but I've never let this guy out of my sight.

So what's your story?

 

Collectibility meaning just for future value? And not opening it because of that? Or perhaps the start of collecting a line of figures?

 

When I was young, I was very quick to open figures. At times in the car on the way home. It probably wasn't until college and afterwards that I got figures not for value but to own as collectible pieces for display. I remember putting together my Star Wars collection after getting it tossed by my parents. I found a Vintage Hoth Leia figure in the same comic shop that I purchased my Death of Superman comic that I mentioned in a few posts around here. The figure was opened but complete and I was happy to get it back. But I would sell it later for a Star Wars prop which was even more desired. However as luck would have it, Hot Toys came around and made an even better Hoth Leia compared to the vintage figure. So I'm happy again and won't need another Hoth Leia as I doubt Hot Toys will make a quarter scale version. And I wouldn't bet on Sideshow Toys making a Hoth Leia statue.

 

Another one is a Jedi Luke figure. I did repurchase him sealed some time during college at a different comic shop. Never opened him as I owned an opened version. Plus at that stage I knew older sealed Star Wars figures would have more value. And I still have him in storage. Also when I was still hyped for Star Wars Episode 2, I purchased Aayla and Barriss figures since they were cool in the comics. I was going to get them signed by the actresses. But then Episode 2 turned out to be so so at best. The female Jedi figures are still sealed though and I'll use them for a Star Wars comic display.

 

I think that's all that I can remember right now. I'm pretty much an open the item person. I'm getting G.I. Joe Classified Scarlett. It's possible that I won't open it as I'm just getting it for the box art. I'm opening Snake Eyes though.

[fantastic_four]

I guess I got my collecting bug out with comics...I haven't bought any toy yet without opening it and playing with or posing it for display.  The first comic I bought like that was GI Joe #1, bought one to read and at least one other to save without opening.

[fantastic_four]

7 hours ago, Buzzetta said:

Thought of you actually while in Target the other day.    I know they are not in scale... I know they are not Marvel... 

But damn... the McFarlane Jim Lee Batman figure hits all the bells and whistles for me.   Really nice figure. 

I left him.  Trying to be good this year. 

I generally enjoy the look of most of the new McFarlane DC stuff, but I'm planning to limit myself to exactly one of all DC characters since I'm a Marvel guy, and those aren't all that close to the one I want even if they were 6" scale.  The forthcoming Mafex Superman and Batman figures MIGHT be the ones for me if they end up being as good as they look.  Mafex overall does the finest work I've ever seen in 6" action figures, but much of the time they have design problems that make a figure not worth getting because they break too easily.  I'm also often not a fan of their aesthetic choices for characters; their Venom is far too small and their Wolverine's claws look dumb in addition to him being too tall (he's only slightly shorter than Spider-Man).  Their Spider-Man was absolutely SPECTACULAR and is the only Mafex figure I currently have, and their Cyclops looks scintillating, best ever if he's good, he comes out next month and I'm hoping for the best on QC issues.  When the design is solid and the aesthetics are spot-on, Mafex has the best sculpt and articulation you could ever hope for in an action figure.

Here's the upcoming Mafex Superman, he looks stunning:

https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/107528

   

And here's the upcoming Mafex Batman:

https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/96065

Edited March 12, 2020 by fantastic_four

[Summydad1]

Here are a couple of Joes I picked up at a local toy convention. The Vipers figure is from eBay and is mint. 

[Chillax23]

Anyone know where I can get a plastic clamshell case to protect a 1984 She-Ra figure still on card - like this:

Just wondering if anyone knows of one that will fit - AND may be available in Canada?

[Yorick]

43 minutes ago, Chillax23 said:

Anyone know where I can get a plastic clamshell case to protect a 1984 She-Ra figure still on card

Probably ToyShield.

[followtheleader]

1 hour ago, Chillax23 said:

Anyone know where I can get a plastic clamshell case to protect a 1984 She-Ra figure still on card - like this:

Just wondering if anyone knows of one that will fit - AND may be available in Canada?

Should be Zoloworld, but seems like they NEVER have MOTU available. 

Patrick

[bane]

Another addition to the Super 7 MOTU collection.

 

And a couple of cheap Batman figs I couldn't pass up.

 

[Buzzetta]

$16 shipped on Amazon.  I always wanted this for some reason  

 

 

[NoMan]

On 3/8/2020 at 11:44 AM, F For Fake said:

FB has been delivering some good pickups lately! Grabbed these from a very nice young man today. I'd inquired about the Wolvie, and he offered me a deal on Hobby that I couldnt refuse. He's unpunched too! When we met up he handed me the Snake Eyes and said he was giving it to me because I'd told him I collect Joes, so he was throwing it in. Very nice guy! 

He also had an Iceman, but I've already got one, so I passed for now. His price was very fair if I needed it for the personal collection, but not much room if I was reselling. I may go back for it later though as they're pretty uncommon around here, wouldn't hurt to have two!

 

are those secret war action figures worth big money. Was working teenage job at a now long gone department store and there were racks and racks of these items.

I was, umm, more interested in the Super-8 film in the camera department and the Kodak mailers where you could mail your super-8 film to Kodak and they would process it and return it.

Edited March 13, 2020 by NoMan

[F For Fake]

24 minutes ago, NoMan said:

are those secret war action figures worth big money. Was working teenage job at a now long gone department store and there were racks and racks of these items.

I was, umm, more interested in the Super-8 film in the camera department and the Kodak mailers where you could mail your super-8 film to Kodak and they would process it and return it.

Nah, not tons. The Hobgoblin is probably the most expensive domestic release, around $200 these days. Most of the rest are in the $50-$100 range, carded. There are three European only releases (Iceman, Constrictor, Electro) that are worth around $300-$500, but you don't see them very often over here.