Happy Independence Day From The House Of Swag!

OK, so this image is from a calendar that is 33 years old, but it's the closest I can find that celebrates our nation's birthday, geeky style.

Of course, when I think of patriotic superhero images, this is the image that always comes to mind.

The cover of Superman #14 from January 1942. This is one of those images that even if your not a Superman fan, your going to want this in your collection is someway shape or fashion. For me, I want the DC Direct statue from 2002.

So I would like to wish you all a Happy Independence Day. I hope you spend it with your families, eat a lot of BBQ, down a few adult beverages and kick back and relax with your favorite comics.

Excelsior!

Happy New Years! Resolutions For 2013

Even though Batman isn't too happy, I would like to take this time to wish everyone a happy and safe New Years and a great 2013. 2012 was a great year, collecting-wise. I rediscovered a passion for toys, comics and other pop culture awesomeness I thought was lost. Now, 2013 comes (take that Mayans) and I have plans for my collection. Everyone has New Years resolutions so here are mine, collecting-wise.

-Collect More Vintage

One thing I discovered this year was a passion for vintage toys. Let me be specific here, vintage superhero toys. The newer stuff that has been coming out hasn't thrilled me as much as the vintage stuff.

 I have always been a huge fan of Mego's World's Greatest Superhero line. I had some of the figures as a kid. A few years ago I was picking up the figures lose and now I want to finish the line as well as pick up a few of the accessories.

I also want to pick up more vintage Batman stuff for my Batman collection. As a kid, I loved Batman and always had a Batman figure or a Batmobile. With the Dark Knight movies and my rewatching the 1960's Batman show, my love of the character is at an all time high and I want to add more vintage Batman to my collection.

-Expand My Collection

As much as a Superhero fan as I am, specifically Batman and Spider-Man, there are other characters I would love to collect. Green Hornet, Luke Skywalker and James Bond are three that come to mind. I have seen some great pieces I would love to add to my collection. I would also love to add some vintage Superman, Hulk and Iron Man pieces too.

I would also love to pick up some vintage Star Wars toys like a Death Star Playset, X-Wing Fighter and some figures.

-Organize

One of the things I really want to do is to be able to display all the stuff I have managed to collect. I want to buy display cases from Ikea and put up some shelves. I have seen other collectors awesome collections and I would love to be able to do the same.

-Work On My Spider-Man and Batman Comics Collection
Over the past couple of years I started to collect Spider-Man and Batman comics. I would love to have an entire runs of Amazing Spider-Man, Batman and Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man. Now, Some of these books are way too expensive and I will probably never complete the sets, but I will have fun trying to grab as many of these vintage comics as I can.

I would also love to add some vintage comics to my collection. I just love the artwork from the 1960's and 70's. I could just read those stories for hours on end.


I hope everyone has a fantastic New Year. Please, don't drink and drive. Be safe and I will see you all in 2013.

So, I Just Read Amazing Spider-Man #700 (Spoilers)

 

Today, I strolled into Midtown Comics and purchased Amazing Spider-Man #700. I was anxious to read this issue, not because the current storyline was any good. Frankly, I think it's been piss poor. Doc Ock managing to switch from his dying, decrepit body and into Peter Parker's which cause Parker to have to figure out how to switch back before his organs fail and he goes kaput. Not exactly a killer read. But, as the faithful Spider-Man fanatic that I am, I read it and held out hope that there was some big payoff that would make reading this tripe worth my time.

Epic Fail.

Not only does Dan Slott manage to keep Peter Parker from getting back into his body thus dies at the end of the issue in Doctor octopus' body, but during the fight Ock has a change of heart thanks to visions of Peter Parker's life flashing before his eyes and become his own and is now taking the mantle of Spider-Man. The Superior Spider-Man.

What??

Do you mean to tell me that this retched person is now going to be Spider-Man thanks to a few memories? Have we not forgotten what a bastard he has been the past 50 years? The big ending I was expecting turned out to be a wet fart. Thanks Mr. Slott. You have farted on Spider-Man. Why? Because you want to make Spider-Man more like Batman? Um, hello. Batman and Spider-Man are 2 different characters. Why would Marvel allow Slott to do this? Haven't they learned with past attempts to take the mask off Parker? In the end, he has always returned to take his rightful place as Spidey.

I wonder what Peter Parker did to deserve not just dying in Ultimate Spider-Man, but in Amazing as well. Did he make fun of Mickey Mouse and that vengeful rodent order the hit?What must Stan Lee be thinking about this? All Parker has done was be the best superhero in the Marvel Universe. Now, he is dumped for a super villain all because Slott probably ran out of one liners to feed Parker.

This sucks more than Showgirls.

Well, no more I say.

As of now, I am done with Spider-Man. I was planning on picking up the first issue of Superior Spider-Man, but I refuse to support it. Not until Peter Parker is returned as Spider-Man (Come on, you know it's going to happen at some point). I will read the older stories and watch the movies for my Spider-Man fix, but I will not buy any of the Spider-Man titles going forward. As a matter of fact, most of Marvel's books haven't been that great. Avengers vs X-Men wasn't that great. The Spider-Men could have been better. Fantastic Four hasn't been good in a long time. Uncanny Avengers so far has not been a good read and I dropped that title as well. I might as well just stop buying new Marvel titles and stick to DC Comics.

Wow, Marvel has had a banner year in the comics front, haven't they? They turn Cyclops into a mass murderer, kill both Professor X and Peter Parker. What's next? Make Wolverine into a secret agent? Have Captain America turn on his country a la Sgt. Slaughter? Sometimes, I think Marvel has lost its focus. Maybe this Marvel Now thing is their way of getting it together. So far, it's not working.

A lot of people I know hated the reboot DC gave it's universe last year, but the Batman, Justice League and Green Lantern books have been good (In the case of Batman very good). I am also willing to give Superman, Aquaman and Green Arrow a try. I think DC has churned out some of the better comics the past year and I will continue to support them by buying their books. If Man Of Steel is any good, they might even be able to make a dent in Marvel Studios armor.

Don't worry Marvel. I'm not totally giving up on you crazy bastards. I still have older graphic novels to read Like Planet Hulk and World War Hulk. Plus, I do love the movies you put out. I just don't feel that you guys respected us Spider-Man fans with that craptastic storyline and I for one refuse to put up with it anymore. I have been a loyal Marvel fan since I was a kid, but until Peter Parker is back as Spider-Man , I will not buy the comics or any of the toys that come out from here on end. All my eggs will go into Batman's cowl. If it sounds like I'm whining, perhaps I am. Maybe you should have thought about it before you made this horrible mistake.

Besides I know I am not the only one who feels this way. I can honestly see Marvel taking a hit on this. Titles can lose readers, toys are left on the shelves, t-shirts and other merchandise left unbought. Profits shrinking. Joe Quesada being turned away at Space Mountain. Oh the humanity!

I am just praying that this is all just a part of a long, drawn out story line that will eventually have Peter Parker return. I am hoping that this "Superior" Spider-Man is not what we will have going forward. Only Dan Slott and the Marvel higher-ups know that for sure. I'm hoping that eventually, they do the right thing.

New Comics Pick Ups

New Comic Book Day arrived and I went to Midtown Comics to pick up some new reading material. There wasn't anything I really wanted to pick up with the expection of these three books. I grabbed the books without looking around so I wouldn't be tempted by anything else and got out of dodge with my new weekend reading.

I picked up The Amazing Spider-Man #699. The series is ending at issue 700 and I am not liking it one bit. I don't see the need to make any changes to Spider-Man, yet Marvel wants to make drastic changes to the character when Superior Spider-Man comes out in January. Rumor has it that it won't even be Peter Parker under the mask. I wasn't too crazy about what happened last issue. It was pretty lame and if that's the way the series is going to go out, it will be met with a collective yawn.

I also grabbed Avenging Spider-Man #15. To be honest. I have been picking these up and have not read any of the issues. I pick them up because Spider-Man is my favorite hero aside from Batman and I know I will be reading them soon. I probably will do so this weekend. I wonder if this title will be cancelled after Amazing Spider-Man #700.

I also left with Avengers #1. I am currently reading Uncanny Avengers and am really not that impressed with it and will probably be dropping that title soon. I'm hoping this Avengers book will be better. Upon first glance, it looks like they are going with the movie line-up of Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, Hawkeye and Black Widow, but I could be wrong as I haven't read the book yet Only glanced through it. I'm guessing they are going with the line-up the general public knows to sell this title. Hope it's good.

Hopefully you all got out and picked up some new books today or are planning on it for the weekend. Excelsior!

My Top 5 Favorite Batmobiles

For as long as I can remember, I have loved the Batmobile. I'm not talking hearts and flowers and cherubs dancing along side my head, shooting arrows at me as I run toward it in a meadow with "Love Is A Splendid Thing" singing in my ears. I'm talking heart pounding, eyes wide open and drool dripping off my chin when I see one.

I'm not even a car person. I couldn't tell you what racken pinon steering is or if I even spelled it right. All I know is I love that car.  If its a toy, I want it. It it's featured in a comic, I'm reading it. To me, The Batmobile is the greatest vehicle in pop culture history. Everyone knows what it is and who drives it. It is the most pimped up car in comics history, period.

With everyone excited about Dark Knight Rises opening up Friday (Me included) and posting Batman related blogs left and right, I decided to post one myself spotlighting my five favorites of the many incarnations of the Batmobile.

So, as Casey Kasem, who was the voice of Robin in the Super Friends, used to say, on with the countdown.

5-Batman The Animated Series Batmobile

When you first see it in the opening credits, you realize that this is one cool car. Designed by Bruce Timm, this Batmobile was designed combining elements from the comics and the Tim Burton Batman films. It was dark, with a gothic feel to it, like the cartoon. It also was, like the movies, getting back to Batman's roots where he drove larger vehicles. It had a lot of those wonderful toys Batman is known for like an ecjection seat, tear gas launcher, missile rack, among other things. To me, this Batmobile is way cooler than any of the movie ones.

4-1950's Batmobile

This awesome vehicle first showed up in Detective Comics #156. In the book, Batman had plans for a Batmobile that was 10 years ahead of it's time. The car was modeled after a Studebaker and possibly a Cadillac. As a kid, I read the Batman Encyclopedia and I remember seeing a breakdown of what this particular Batmobile had inside it. It had a complete lab with, yes, stools. Imagine Robin trying to work in the lab while Batman is tearing down the streets of Gotham. Not getting much done, I assure you. The front had a steel nose to cut through barriers and the top had a searchlight, but what I love most about this car is it screams 1950's with the bubble dome and the huge fin on the back. This car is classic cool and one I need to add to my growing fleet of Batmobiles.

3-1940's Batmobile

I'm sure when kids picked up Batman #20 and saw this new Batmobile bursting out the cover, they must have thought they seen the greatest thing ever. The bullet holes in the windshield suggests that they were chasing some bad people and that Batgrill up front is just nasty. Dick Sprang drew this iconic image which was based on a previous Batmobile drawn by Jerry Robinson, with some noticable diffrences like headlights and the red trim. There were diffrent versions of this car drawn by Bob Kane, but this car seems to be the definitive Batmobile of that era.


2-Super Friends Batmobile

As a kid who grew up watching The Super Friends and it's many incarnations throughout the 70's and early 80's, I love this Batmobile. I have fond memories of siting in my jammies watching Super Friends while polishing off a couple bowls of cereal. This car, which was designed by Alex Toth, was based on the Futura 1966 Batmobile, with some obvious diffrences like the lack of red stripping and the oval Bat symbol on the doors. The front of the car has a Bat head on it's grill that the live action car didnt have either. When the show changed to Challenge Of The Super Friends, they did away with this car for one that was more hard edge, but I like this one a lot better.

1-1966 TV Series Batmobile

Come on, could there have been any other choice for this spot? This, to me, is THE Batmobile. I was not lucky enough to have seen the show when it aired (on account of my not having been born just yet), I can only imagine how thrilled the kids were back then to have seen this Batmobile coming out of the Batcave, tearing down the streets of Gotham, parking in front of Commisioner Gordon's office, getting stolen by various villians. The car became a character in the TV series. Designed by George Barris in just 3 weeks, he used Ford's abandoned Futura concept for the car. It already had the fins, which he modified and the bubble canopies. According to Barris, he modified the nose of the car to look like a bat mask, as well as open the wheel wells. Some of the cool features the car had was lasers, a telephone, rockets, ejector seats, an alarm system,and a mini batcomputer in the trunk. When I saw a replica of this Batmobile at Super Mega Show, I had to tell you, my heart was ponding and I had to really fight the urge to jump into the drivers seat and haul out of there. One of the things I do regret is not getting George Barris to sign something for me at a Hollywood Car Show he appeared at a few years ago. I hope I can get the opportunity to meet the creator of arguably, the most famous car in pop culture history.

Well, there you have it. My 5 favorite Batmobiles. I'm sure you guys have your own favorites and please, list any you feel I might have missed. I would love to read any and all opinons on the subject.

I'd also like to give props to a site I stumbled upon while doing my research for this particular blog. Head over to http://www.batmobilehistory.com This web site has so much information on the history of all the Batmobiles as well as pictures, fan art and, my favorite, a collectors page. I was in awe of some of the collections I seen and I haven't even seen them all.

As a pop culture geek, I cannot think of a car that is better than the Batmobile. Maybe the Black Beauty or the Deloran from Back To The Future, but thats it. Not The Mystery Machine or KITT. Not The A-Team Van or the truck from BJ And The Bear. None may be privlaged to have the honor of parking itself next to this extraordinary machine. There can be only one and that one is the Batmobile.

Recent TTM's

 The past week, about 4 of my TTM requests came back signed. 3 that I'm thrilled to get back and 1 that came back damaged. Let's get right into it.

Barbara Eden signed 2 photos for me in just about a month's time. As a kid, I was a huge fan of I Dream Of Jeannie and watched it whenever it was on. Plus, I had a huge crush on Jeannie and often wished I was Major Tony Nelson. Of course, my young mind didn't get that the show was not first run and had been off the air for about 6 to 7 years at that point, but I didn't care. I needed my Jeannie fix. I later watched Eden in Harper Valley PTA, but to me, she will always be Jeannie.

This just arrived today. Mort Walker signed and sketched Beetle Bailey for me on my sketch card. This took under a week and I'm thrilled to get it back. I grew up, just like most of you reading Beetle Bailey or Hi and Lois in the newspapers. I still read Beetle Bailey to this day. I almost asked for Sarge, but I think Beetle was the wa to go.

I am a huge Kevin Smith fan. Seen just about all his films, save for Zach and Muri and Red State. I've read most of the comics he's written and I listen to his podcasts. I knew at some point I had to find a way to add him to my collection. I was in Nyack, NY at a comic store and found an issue of Evil That Men Do and bought it for a quarter, specifically to send it out. I also had him sign my Clerks dvd insert. At some point, I do want to buy a signed movie poster from Jay and Slent Bob's Secret Stash and start an autograph project. Just trying to figure out which movie.

And here is the disapointing return. I got Yankees pitcher David Phelps to sign 2 photos in under a week, right before they left on their current west coast road trip. I noticed the envelope was real dirty. when I opened it, I saw the pics and was upset. If you look closely, the color seems off on them and in the top one, it seems "streaked". The backs of these pictures were also dirty. I'm wondering if they got trampled on at some point and the fronts got dirty. I'm hoping it's not the paper I used. I usually use Staples photo paper, but Staples had a sale on HP paper, buy one get one free and I stocked up. Lets see if the others in this batch come back the same way. I'll have to get another request out to Phelps sometime soon.

I will be getting another batch of requests out this week. Hope this short week has a lot of great returns stuffing my mailbox.

5 Graphic Novels I Want To Read in 2012

Ok, I admit it. I'm behind on a lot of comic reading. I had taken a few years off from comics to concentrate on my Yankees collection. I have cards, autographs, bobbleheads, jerseys and a lot more in my collection. I'm at a point now where I want to catch up on all my favorite super heroes and lose myself in stories about heroes I never read before.


Recently, I was able to read graphic novels that I missed out on Like Secret Wars, Flashpoint, Identity Crisis, Killing Joke, Spiderman: Blue, I even revisted my childhood by reading Superman vs Spider-Man all over again.


I really enjoyed those books and it got me thinking about what other stories I'm missing out on. So, I did some snooping around as only I can. I found a whole bunch of books I want to read, but for the sake of this blog (and holding your intrest, dear reader), I've narrowed my choices to 5 must read graphic novels. Forgive me, if I barely know anything about these books. I'm sure most of you have read them and I feel less of a geek for not having read them.


Green Lantern: Brightest Day


I know absolutely nothing about this story. I have read Green Lantern: Rebirth and really enjoyed it. I also just watched Green Lantern on HBO on Demand and while I enjoyed it, I felt it could have been better. But it did light a spark in me to want to read more Green Lantern stories. I figured I'd start with the book I have been hearing so much about.


Green Lantern: Blackest Night


How can I read Brightest Day and not read Blackest Night? Again, I know nothing about this story, but I have seen some really cool figures from this graphic novel. My question to anyone of you readers who have read these, which graphic novel is the one to read first?


Crisis On Infinate Earths


Of all the graphic novels on this list, not having read this story in it's entirity shames me the most. I was reading comics regularly when this came out back in 1985. I even bought the issue where Supergirl was killed. I never got around to reading the full story. This is the one I am dying to read.


Green Arrow: Quiver


Now, I have never, ever read a Green Arrow story, nor have I ever wanted to. I never thought he was a character I'd be intrested in. But once I read Identity Crisis, I got to see what Green Arrow was all about and he intregued me. I ran across this graphic novel and it was written by one of my favorite writer/directors, Kevin Smith. I'm sold.


Marvels


I'm a huge Alex Ross Fan. I love his artwork.I also have Justice on my list of must reads. Each time I run across this book in some of my favorite comic shops, I always flip through it, admiring the artwork in this book. Now, its time for me to read the story Kurt Busiek wrote for this book.


I have vowed that 2012 would be the year I catch up on some much needed reading. The warm weather is coming up and there is nothing I love more than sitting out in a park with a good book. I have 5 books that I will be looking to put on my Kindle Fire and lose myself in some great comics.

2012 Goals...Collecting-wise

Hey Everyone,

First off, I'd like to wish everyone a Happy belated New Year. I hope everyone had a safe and happy holidays. The month of December was crazy busy for this sexy geek, which explains the lack of postage from me. So, my list of 2012 Collecting goals are a bit late, but here they are nonetheless:

1-Card Collecting goals:

My card collection has gotten a bit out of hand. I have boxes upon boxes of unorganized madness, so I have decided a couple of things:

A-Concentrate On The Team Sets.

First and Foremost, I want to try to have as many complete Topps teams sets as possible, especially with my Yankees and Jets collections. My Yankees team sets are as complete as you can get from 1972 on. I might be missing a card here and a card there, but those sets are pretty complete. For the Yanks, I would like to concentrate on the years I'm missing. Of course, there will be cards I won't be able to pick up, like a Mantle or Berra or Ford or Maris, as my budget will be tighter this year, so unless I get a steal or a well loved card, my sets will be missing those key players for a while.

As far as the Jets go, this should be an easier task. Namath is really the only big name player in any older set and I can live without a Namath in my sets. My Jets team sets are nowhere as complete as my Yankees are, so persuing those sets are one of my top goals.

B-Forgo Game Used Cards.

I can't begin to tell you how much I have spent in the past on a blah game used card. I decided that unless the card is too good to pass or it's an awesome patch card, I will not be picking up a lot of game used this year.

C-Inserts, Inserts, Inserts.

I love these cards, especially inserts from the 90's sets. I am building binders full of these beautiful cards and will continue to do so in 2012.

2-Get Back Into Autographing:

The last year or two, my TTM'ing has gone down significantly. My thoughts were, why take the time and effort to find/make a card, write a letter and wait x amount of days for it to possibly return signed when I can just go on ebay and buy it, certified.

Well, my budget has dictated that if I want to continue to collect autographs, I'm going to have to go a cheaper route and that is TTM's or free signings. I have a lot of cards that I could put into use instead of them just sitting in a shoe box marked doubles. Time to whip out the pen and buy a roll of forever stamps.

Plus, there are projects I want to start. I'd like to go after wrestlers TTM, or try and put together a signed set of cards from a couple of my favorite teams, like the 1996 Yankees or work on a multi signed 8x10.

3-Read The Older Comics:

In 2011, I bought and read the Marvel Essentials Vol. 1's of Iron Man and The Avengers. Obviously, buying vol 2's are in order. I have also been collecting the Essential Amazing Spider-Man and reading those. I think I am at Vol 4, so I need to get the others this year.

I also would like to pick up the Essential Captain America, Hulk and Fantastic Four at some point. Since I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas, if I can get those digitally, even better.

4-Continue My Spider-Man/Batman Collections:

2011 saw me reembrace my inner geek when I started to pick up pieces here and there. I was buying figures, comics, t-shirts. Pretty much, anything I could get my hands on, I got. There was, and still is a limit to what I would get. I didn't want to buy a Polar Suit Spidey, complete with whale skin winter jacket or an Aqua Dive Batman, with green camo suit and bubble helmet. Nope. If the figure didn't come in the actual outfit, I wasn't buying it. I also did not really pick up any figures of the rouges gallery for Spidey or Bats, although I do have a few cool Venom's, Goblin's and Joker's in the collection. That might change this year, depending on space.

I do have certain things I'd like to pick up or continue to collect. I made some progress in my goal of collecting as many Amazing Spider-Man comics, issues 1-200, as well as Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man. I'd like to continue hunting down isses I need in 2012. I would like to start a Batman or Dectective Comics collection as well. Reason I have not started a Batman comic collection is $$$. Most of the older Batman comics are way out of my price range. But, the more I think about, with my Spider-Man comics, if the condition is decent or I can get a great deal, why not start Batman?

Figure-wise, I would love, love, love to grab the Hot Toys Spidey or Batman figures, especially the Michael Keaton one. Looking forward to the Captain Action Spidey re-release as well. I also need to go back and pick up some figures I am missing as well, so more comic shows, toy shows, flea markets and thrift store visits for me in 2012.

5-Fill other Holes/Start Other Collections:

I haven't really added to my Beatles, KISS, Back To The Future, Monkees collections in a while. There are things that I would love to grab, like the KISS: Alive box set or the Beatles Cartoon Series box set. I have been looking for decent prices on these, but I might have to suck it up and pay the prices I have seen on ebay/conventions if I really want them in my collections. I am also looking forward to Mattel's Back To The Future line coming out this year. I haven't heard or seen anything about them, so I hope the set hasn't been cancelled. If so, I will just grab the delorans I have seen or rebuy the BTTF Part 2 card set I used to have.

Been wanting to start a Avengers/Justice League figure set as well. I love the Classic Avengers box set I have seen and I'm kinda kicking myself for not grabbing it when I first seen it. I am just not thrilled with the 3 3/4 size of the figures, as well as the Marvel Universe figures. I had heard that the Marvel figures will be back to the 6" to 8" scale we have known and loved before, so I should be happy with that.

I would also love to pick up the Christopher Reeves/Michael Keaton/Linda Carter statues I have been seeing as well.

6-Have fun.

That, my friends, is what collecting is all about. I had a blast with it in 2011 and 2012 will be no diffrent for me. That, is a promise.

Recent Spider-Man Hauls

One of the things I want to do is to start a collection of Spider-Man comics. Spider-Man is my all time favorite superhero, with Batman consider 1A. I want to collect as many vintage comics as my wallet can afford. So far, I have been able to get some nice books without putting me into the poor house.

I realize these might not be considered vintage, but for under 20.00, I couldn't pass them up

The 90's was a great time to be a Spidey fan. The cartoon was a hit on FOX, there was some great toys out and the comics were pretty cool.

Remember these oversized comics from the 70's?

I used to have a ton of them. I remember having the Superman vs Ali, Batman vs Spider-Man and some of the DC reprints. A friend of mine came by the other night and dropped it off. An awesome add to the collection.

I bought these off someone on spidermancollector.net

I'd say my Spidey collection is off to a great start.

I'm going to a toy show in Wayne, NJ this weekend. Hopefully I can find something to bring home with me.