LOEB - CONtemplation

With San Diego being the biggest nerd convention in America there are always loads of teasers and announcements. This week's assignment from the League is all about what news/products came out of the con that have drawn our collective gazes......

Days 6 & 7 - Toy Shows and Outside Cookin'

The summer of Rich is moving along and I finally did something cool. This past Saturday (6/28) a friend and I made the drive out to a pretty cool toy show.

April Fools Toy Show 2014

 

San Diego Comic Con Exclusive Alert!

These might be too cool to pass on! They are called mini masters and come with an awesome package that can be used to display them in what looks like Castle Greyskull. I'm a fan a mini figures, especially ones of my favorite characters. Very likely I'd be adding these to my collection!

San Diego Comic Con Exclusive Alert!

I'm sure you guys are well aware of the Black Series of Star Wars figures being released this summer. They look super cool and I know I'll end up buying more then a few of them! Well here's a must have for me....San Diego's exclusive Black Series Boba Fett with Han in Carbonite! The photo can speak for itself ;)

San Diego Comic Con Exclusive Alert!

How cool are these Angry Birds done in the vintage style? This might need to be in the Nerd Nook!

2013 Wizard World Philadelphia Comic Con

So this weekend Wizard World Comic Con was in my neck of the woods and I got a weekend pass. The vendors were pretty lack luster if I'm honest. Most of the stuff was new toys that I really have no interest in. Luckily there were some pretty cool guests, so I decided to grab some autographs to grace the walls of my man cave.....

....But first here's a few photos from the show....

"Who ya gonna call?????"

Nice New 52 Joker mask!

What, no crossbow????

It's Meryl!

6 feet tall Jawas are kinda scary....

Brandon Routh got a tough break with that lousy Superman movie. He was a pretty cool guy.

Los Pollos Hermanos anyone????

Father and Son together again...

Stan Lee!

Borderlands enemy...

I must say, the crowd was a fun bunch. I had a great time nerding out! Now onto my autograph haul!

First up is Stan Lee. I waited until his signing time was nearly up and grabbed my ticket. I literally got the very last one available. My strategy (luck) paid off and I only had to wait in line like 10 mins. He was cool and actually asked me if I was enjoying myself. I called him "Stan the Man" when I walked up to him. He chuckled. I already went out and grabbed a nice frame for it. I bought a nice 13x19 print at the show for him to sign. The free 8x10 just didn't say "Stan Lee" to me. I wanted something a bit more special. This print, i thought, was awesome...

They allowed me to video tape him while signing!

My next autograph is Crixus....the undefeated Gaul!!!! 

 Anyone who watched Spartacus appreciates this one! He was super cool and actually chatted with me for a few minutes since his line was short at the moment. I admitted to shouting at my tv screen while watching the epicness of Spartacus. I love the "Shall I Begin!" quote. A favorite line of Crixus!

Next I grabbed Brandon Routh and Dean Cain. It was pretty cool meeting two former Supermen in the same weekend.  Dean was super friendly and pretty funny actually. I also attended a Q and A session where they both attended. They were very funny and entertaining together!
 

"I am sending my apprentice....Darth Maul...." If there was one thing I would say was awesome about Phantom Menace (one is a stretch)..... I'd say it was Darth Maul. Ray was late and had a group of uber nerds pretty pissed. It was funny and I wish I had it filmed. I dig the photo tho! I guess he wrote "feel the force" kinda tough to make out. Thoughts?

Finally....for the nostalgia....I grabbed Andrew McCarthy. My brother and I loved "Weekend and Bernie's" and I've got some great memories attached to it. Heck, I've even got great memories attached to "Manequin". My mom loved that movie and would force me and my bro to dance with her when this certain scene came on....lol. Anyway he was also pretty cool too. Chatted for a minute or two.
   
So that's it for my Con experience. It was fun doing the autograph thing as I'd never done it before. There were some cool actors there and the cost was very reasonable! 

Next I've got a toy show coming up this weekend that I'm pretty psyched for! I know I'll find some cool stuff at this one!

April Fools Toy Show

 I have been looking forward to April Fools Toy Show since attending the Winter Fever Toy Show back in January.  I was not disappointed.

There were loads of great vintage toys (mostly loose) including: Star Wars, Super Powers, Masters of the Universe, Thundercats, TMNT, Secret Wars, and many other vintage toy lines.

 

There were also many vendors specializing in toy cars and trucks.

I really wanted this Alf....lol.

I really did enjoy browsing the tables and digging for goodies. It was a great show and one I will visit again in the future. 

As for my haul, I went with a goal in mind. I wanted to recapture some childhood memories, I was hoping to return with a loose Secret Wars Dr. Doom, Mumm-Ra, and Skeletor. I got 2/3 of the way there!

I would up with a loose Mumm-Ra complete with working eyes, a mint on card Dr. Doom (for a great price), and a Mego Pocket Heroes Batman. I'm still after that Skeletor.

 

I would certainly recommend a trip to this convention next year. There was a great variety of toys, friendly vendors, and nostalgia as far as the eye could see =)

New Castle Winter Antique Show

I was once again itching to go to another show. With the April Fools Toy Show still about 7 weeks away I figured I'd give this antique show a visit. The flyer did advertise "toys"!

There were some old toys like the ones seen here.

 

I totally had that Motorcity playset!

 

There were loads of old items. Kinda wish I picked up that Batman glass.

 

There was no shortage of old toy cars, Hess Trucks, you name it. The truck above was way cool. It had some old Batman stickers stuck to the back of it. Some kid must have had tons of fun playing with that thing!

 

 There were some odds and ends toys.

 

I used to love Micro Machines!

This poster of the Apollo 11 astronauts certainly caught my eye!

Some random assortments

For the most part the items there were not really up my pop culture alley. Lots of knick knacks and stuff like that. There were a few booths that had some cool old money as well as items relating to World War 2 and past presidential elections which was cool to look at. My friend and I spent a few minutes listening to an old timer's story about how he came to own many of the items at his booth. That was pretty neat. I found myself wondering if that would be me 30 years from now. One can only hope!

As for my haul I didn't buy much. Spent 13 bucks on a few items that brought back some fond memories....

Had this toy as a kid. I really love the 1989 Batmobile

Another purchase driven by nostalgia. A McDonald's Happy Meal Toy (also had this guy)

The Alf just caught my eye and I love E.T. so there's those. Love the Speak and Spell on the figure!

So that's it for my journey to Delaware. My friend and I had a good time talking old stuff on the ride there and back. We certainly saw some neat old stuff and met some neat old folks to go along with it.

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!