Toy Spotlight

It looks like Hasbro will be releasing some highly detailed action figures under a new label.....Black Series. They are said to be sticking predominately to original trilogy characters with a few major players from the prequels. Wave one is set to be released in August and will include the X Wing pilot Luke (pictured below), Darth Maul, R2 D2, and a Sandtrooper. A bit of a random assortment for wave one.

I'm looking forward to seeing what some of the other characters will look like. I'm also glad these don't come out until August. This gives me a few months to decide if I want to collect them! =)

Happy Birthday!

Today Tom Selleck turns 68. Happy birthday to the guy who almost played Indy!

What was it with cops in the 80s and Ferraris. Must have taken a huge pay cut since!

Iconic Photo Spotlight

Here's one for teh LOLZ!

"Who is your daddy and what does he do!"

"It's not a toooooomuh!"

"Take your toy back to the carpet...."

The League Has Spoken - Pirates!

Another one word League assignment - Pirates

I'm looking forward to this one! 

Go ahead and press play for the full affect!

I actually thought about this topic for a bit as I don't collect anything pirate related. That's not to say I don't like pirates or have fond memories of the genre! 

Part One - Garfield's Halloween Special

To commence this 3 part assignment I'll start with some of my all time favorite pirates.....

These pirates didn't have names and were only present for a few minutes.....but that didn't stop them from becoming some of my favorites. As a kid I absolutely loved Garfield's Halloween Adventure. Anyone who has seen this special knows that Garfield and Odie dress up as pirates and pillage the town in search of "candy, candy, candy!" Anyway after scouring the neighborhood they see a lonely house across the water on an island. Garfield, being the greedy cat he is, decides they can't leave this house unpillaged! They row over to the house and meet a creepy old man (who really gave me the creeps as a kid!)

This creepy old man informs Garfield and Odie that a bunch of dead pirates are coming back for their buried gold (which happens to be buried at that very house). Garfield doesn't believe him until the old man claims to their "cabin boy". Anyway at the stroke of midnight the pirate ship appears....much to the dismay of Garfield and Odie who run for a hiding place.

Anyway the pirates find them and scare them half death. They make it home with quite a story to tell! Loved this one as a kid....still do!

"I said the one thing I'm not is a scaredy cat!"

Part Two - Swiss Family Robinson

Another movie I loved as a kid. Me and my brother recorded this on VHS (that's how 80s kids pirated stuff!) and must have watched it a dozen times! I mean it had pirates, wild animals, an awesome tropical island, AND the most incredible tree house imaginable! I think the tree house is what initially drew me in! I used to love building forts and hideouts. This tree house would be any kid's wildest dream!

The pirates in this movie are of course the bad guys. They are the reason this family gets stranded on this island in the first place!

I haven't seen this movie in I guess 20 years, but it still remains one of my favorites from childhood! Those Robinsons put Chuck Noland (Cast Away) to shame. They do stranded in style! No Wilsons for this family!

Part Three - Hook

I couldn't in good conscience write about Pirates without including Hook. Great movie with some great star power! Robin Williams as Peter Pan, Julia Roberts as Tinkerbell, and of course Dustin Hoffman as Hook himself. And don't forget the fact that the music was done by the great John Williams!  A classic in my opinion....

"I hate, I hate, I hate Peter Pan!"

Threw in my one solitary pirate related toy in the Nerd Nook.

So that'll do it for this week's topic. I guess you can probably tell that I really enjoyed this League assignment. A nice walk down memory lane. Gave me a reason to unearth some great memories!

“How you doin’, you old pirate?  So good to see you!”

Check out some other great pirate fun around the league:
Shezcrafti has some pirate tunes

Rediscover the 80s has some great pirate cartoon characters.

Good Will Hunting 4 Geeks has some sweet pirate related toys!

Iconic Photo Spotlight

Classic scene from one of my favorite movies....

"Never stop fighting till the fight is done! Here endeth the lesson"

Winter Fever Toy Show

So today I attended the Winter Fever Toy Show in New Jersey. I was really looking forward to this as I have been itching to attend a show since the last one I went to way back in early October. I was even more excited given the fact that it was a Toy Show! 

I saw some recognizable people, some from Hollywood Heroes and others from AMC's Comic Book Men. I didn't buy a whole lot but really enjoyed looking at all the awesome vintage toys each vendor had.

Old Board Games and carded vintage Star Wars figures

 

Old school cars and trucks

 

I had fun digging through loads of stashes just like this one!

 

There was loads of vintage Star Wars goodies.

 

Great assortment in this case!

 

I liked scoping these random displays with all kinds of stuff.

 

Lego of course! The top section were all super cool customs! Check out Cheetara in the upper front row!

 

This guy had an awesome selection of carded vintage Star Wars.

 

Another shelf chock full or random goodness.

 

Some old school Megos.

 

This guy some really cool stuff including a Mego Batmobile mint in box, that I really wanted but ultimately passed on due to the price tag =(

 

A cool assortment of monster items.

 

There were tons of vendors at this show. I'll definitely be going back.

 

Lol, a Pee Wee's playset! I'm not ashamed to admit I loved this show as a kid. "If you hear the secret word, scream real loud!"

Phew, that was quite a bit of picture taking! Now onto my haul. I have recently made it my goal to streamline my collection. I resisted the temptation to buy all the stuff that I thought was cool just because it was cool and nostalgic (like vintage TMNT, Masters of the Universe, Thundercats and more!). I focused on buying items that fit into the collections I am currently working on.

 

Legos of course. Most of these are from series 2 which was a few series back. These guys go for a good few bucks on ebay and I snagged all of these for a pretty sweet deal.

I'm currently working on a loose set of vintage Star Wars, and I snagged these guys on the cheap! Ghost of Anikin, 1977 Obi Wan, 1977 Tusken Raider, and 1977 R2-D2. All original and complete!

So that does it for my recap of the Winter Fever Toy Show. It was well worth the 6 bucks for admission. I had a great time with my buddy looking back on some truly awesome toys. Now I'm off to my in-laws for some home made beef stew. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday!

Iconic Scene Spotlight

What 80s kid doesn't love Crocodile Dundee?

"just kids havin fun!".....LOL!

Nerd Nook Newbies

Welcome to this week's installment of Nerd Nook Newbies. I must admit, I have really gotten into these Lego Blind Bag characters. They are coming out with some really fun and clever figures! Having always loved Legos (especially the minifigures) and this "bump method" for identifying the characters inside, beginning a collection of these was a pretty easy choice.

 Black Knight (series 7) Grey Knight (series 9)

These guys look cool displayed opposite one another.

Deep Sea Diver (series 8), Tarzan (series 7), Judge (Series 9), Rabbit Costume (series 7)

Like I said, these are just plain fun to collect.

Vampire Bat (series 8), Evil Robot (series 8)

I definitely want to get the monster related characters released so far. The vampire bat is way cool! Other minifigures I am actively pursuing are the two clowns released so far...too lolzy to pass up!

The only other newbie this week rounds out one of my collections.....

Scored the last of the 70's vinyl ad icons I was after...Boo Berry!

These were cereal premiums nearly 40 years ago. I finally have all four monsters....

Boo Berry, Count Chocula, Frankenberry, Fruit Brute (discontinued in the early 80s)

Here are the current 3 monsters with their modern Funko counterparts.

So that does it for this week's Newbies. Like I said in a few blogs, I am totally loving these Lego minifigures! I'm also pretty psyched to have finished my 70s vinyl ad icons collection. I do, however, have my site's set on some of the vintage items relating to these characters.

"the circle is now complete".

Portal Spotlight . . .

This portal nerd enjoyed this....

"Hey! Hey! Hey!"

80s Spotlight - Huey Lewis and the News!

Who doesn't love these guys! This band could make a strong case for best band to take you back in time!

"So take me away, I don't mind

But you better promise me, I'll be back in time!"

Jedi Mind Trick Prank

Stumbled onto this gem quite accidentally. LOL pretty much sums it up!

This pretty much says it all....

I'll never forget how totally pysched my friend and I were to see this movie! We went at midnight ready to relive the Indy glory days! After the second shot of the gophers we both looked over at each other and knew exactly what we both were thinking. God Damn it George Lucas....and you brought Spielberg with you! 

At least I was able to watch the originals and make pretend this travesty never existed!

"Bad director....I mean dates!"

Iconic Picture Spotlight

Having spent this long weekend being rather lazy (working on training a new puppy). I found myself watching quite a bit of a "Rocky" marathon. The first one is the obvious favorite here. Having grown up just a few blocks from where he made his memorable run through the Italian Market section of South Philly. This movie , like so many things, brings back great memories.

I love how in this scene he is so overcome with pride and emotion that the sensible thing to do is throw up his hands in celebration. It didn't seem forced at all. Very real. That's why I love this scene and this movie.

The League has spoken - Spacemen!

Well its Monday again and with this comes a new assignment for the League of Extraordinary Bloggers.

"Spacemen"

As always I usually go with my first thought when reading the assignment. With an assignment like Spacemen,  for me, the clear choice is E.T. My all time favorite spaceman. Go ahead and press play for the full experience =)

E.T. is one of the first movies I remember watching.  Oddly enough, the mere sound of the theme from this movie invokes a whole plethora of memories (maybe not even memories but feelings from a time long past). I don't have many items in my E.T. collection but as for memories relating to this movie...those are stocked full!

A ceramic lamp exactly like this one was in my room as a kid. Unfortunately that exact one was lost in one of the many moves I made when I was little. I was lucky enough to find this one a few years back that still works. The eyes, heart, and finger tip glow. Plenty of great memories attached to this piece...

I guess I was predetermined to love this movie. The above card was from my mom on my first birthday (1983) I'm glad she held onto to all this stuff for me!

I also have this LJN toy that I picked up a few months back for a buck. It shows E.T. from one of my favorite scenes in the movie. He's wearing the robe and holding a beer! For a buck, I couldn't resist.

That does it for my collection. There are other items I hope to add over time but for now I'll let the warm and fuzzy feel this movie gives me hold me over until then....

"I'll...be....right..... here"

Oh wait! Heres something else that popped in my head.

I was kind of brainstorming other space related stuff from my childhood and vaguely remembered playing with these toys that came with these cool spacemen figures. I had these when I was really young and kind of forget them. I began scouring the interwebs and even put in a call to my big brother who also remembered playing with them but couldn't remember the name either! I'm pretty sure after several Google searches that "StarCom" was them.  These things were cool and probably some of the first toys I remember playing with.

Any other 80s kids reading this remember these things? Or something similar that came with glow in the dark spacemen? Definitely appreciate any input!

Boldly go where these fellow leaguers have gone....here

Poll result....

So the votes are in for most anticipated movie of 2013....all 11 of them. And it looks like Man Of Steel beat out "other" by a nose. . . . 

To those people who voted "other", leave a comment, I'm curious to know what your choice was.

 

"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again...."

Music Spotlight - To Kill a Mockingbird

As I sit here on a rather dull Saturday night, taking a break from cleaning my man cave, To Kill a Mockingbird theme playing in my surround sound I felt compelled to type out this blog.  Anyway I had the IPad on shuffle and was dusting (one of my absolute least favorite things to do with all the stuff I have!) and on came one of my all time favorite movie theme songs, the main score from To Kill a Mockingbird. Having seen the black and white movie a LONG time ago I always felt like this song captured those magical nights (summer mostly) of time spent with good friends and of course my big brother.  I can totally picture myself dirty and crusty from drying off after getting sweaty and dirty having played all day. The sun going down. Old folks from the neighborhood outside chatting with their neighbors. Me and my friends still hanging out together savoring every possible minute of time before our parents called us in for the night. It's just amazing how music can instantly bring us back.

I was already feeling extra nostalgic this weekend (if that's even possible). My wife and I are fostering a puppy who's owner gave him up to the local SPCA. He's only 5 weeks old and reminds me a lot of my dog that I lost last February after almost 15 years. Either way its been awesome and quite sad having him, all at the same time. Anyway when this song came on it seemed fitting and kind of ironic.

 

Miss you Harry!

 Tony (Mr. T. as I've been calling him) our foster pup. Most likely our soon to be adopted pup!

Ok enough nostalgia this place isn't gonna dust itself!