I Think This May Be Bigger Than A Womp Rat

Ever since I was 6 years old, Luke Skywalker has been my favorite Star Wars character. Whenever I would get Star Wars toys as a kid, somewhere in the lot there would be a Luke Skywalker I would gravitate to and play with above all the others. I wish I still had them all, but I lost them in the great war of 1982 when my sister and I were at war and destroyed each others toys. She threw out all my Star Wars stuff and I played skydiving with her Barbies from our 6th floor window.

Ever since I decided to restart my Star Wars collecting, I made sure I focused on Luke Skywalker, picking up as many pieces of him as possible. From puzzles to action figures to cups to calendars, anything that has Luke on it, I usually picked up. But I can't say I'm doing it all by myself.

My buddy, George, gave me some late Christmas presents and one of the items fits right into my Skywalker collection.

Recently, Hasbro released some Star Wars Titan figures in their Star Wars: Rebels line. I've never seen the show on Disney XD, so I don't know if it's any good. To me, if it has nothing to do with my beloved characters from Episodes III, IV and V, I have no interest. I gave the Prequel characters a chance and wasn't crazy about them. Also, I'm not sure why Luke was released in this line, unless he will make an appearance on the show or will at some point. All I care about is I get a new Luke Skywalker in my collection.

As with all Titan figures, they come in a box with a cellophane front and some art underneath. In this case, we get a Stormtrooper with the classic Star Wars lettering under the Stormtrooper, which is enough to make me squeal like a 10 year old.

I love the back of the box as it a has a great action shot of the final battle between Luke and Darth Vader in Return Of The Jedi. The picture captures Vader down for the count with Luke about to deliver that final blow that chops Vader's hand off. If I was Luke, I would have been like "A hand for a hand, eh Daddy"? That is probably why I will never be a Jedi. Much anger in this one. Then again, there is no such thing as a Jedi Knight, no matter what those cos players tell you at conventions.

I had wanted to keep the box for display purposes, especially since I was digging that picture on the back so much. Unfortunately, Hasbro did not make getting the figure out all that easily. I would have hoped I could have slide the figure out, but no. It was tied down to a piece of cardboard that was glued to the box. What the heck?? I had to tear apart the box to get the figure out so I could cut the elastic like strings off to set him free. After I was done, there was no box. just one long piece of cardboard. It looked like a piece of the skin off an orange if you peel it right.

Here is Luke out of the package. Right off the bat, I like that he's wearing his Jedi outfit from Return. He also looks enough like Mark Hamill for this figure to work out well.

I did say he looked enough like Hamill, not totally like him. There's enough there where you can look at the figure and say, "OK. I see it." Only thing I might have done was darken his hair just a little. Mark Hamill has dark blonde hair. Not very light blonde that the companies have been putting on him since the 70's. I never got that.

The only accessory that came with the figure was his green lightsaber, which I'm glad we got. Of the two lightsabers Luke had, the green by far is my favorite. Not sure why since blue is my favorite color. I thought, and still do, that the green made Luke more of a bad ass than the blue one did. The hilt on this lightsaber is a little bit bent, so I will have to figure out a way to straighten it out since I'm pretty sure Luke had a straight hilt and not the curve on the end that I have seen on some lightsabers.

There is barely any articulation to this figure. Luke's head turns slightly from left to right, the arms do a full 360 rotation at the shoulder and the legs go up in front and that's it. That's not a problem for me. My problem is if we weren't going to get wrist articulation, why is Luke's hand out stretched instead of at his size? It's not like we can pose this figure, so I fail to see the reasoning for the palms out theory with this figure.

Maybe Luke is asking Vader for some long overdue child support? No wonder he chopped Vaders hand off. The cheap Sith Lord.

The paint on the back of the figure is as good as the front is. Hasbro did a bang up job on the paint application. I did not see any splotches or messed up paint on any part of the figure.

That's as much posing as your going to get out of this figure, but I really don't care. It's a new Luke Skywalker figure that has been added to my collection and I am very glad to have it. Once I am able to display my collection, I figure (Pun intended, heh heh) this will have a prominent spot next to my other larger Skywalker figures.

Like most of the free world, I am looking forward to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I usually avoid seeing a newer release with crowds, but I may break that rule just to see this movie. I have been on such a Star Wars kick lately. I've watched New Hope, Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi all weekend get my Star Wars mojo flowing. The 2 best things about The Force Awakens? We get the original cast back and we are sure to get more Skywalker collectables for me to pick up. That's a win win...for me at least.

League Assignment:Regrets

No wonder Homer Simpson is my favorite Simpsons character. I always have D'oh moments in life. Actually, sometimes, I think my whole life has been one big D'oh! Even with adding to my collection I can be heard to scream D'oh! Like the time I bought a "vintage" New York Jets bank off eBay only to find out after doing some research that the bank in question was actually not a Jets bank. The seller took a football player bank wearing green and slapped Jets stickers on it's helmet. Luckily, I was able to get my money back without an issue.

Ever since I started collecting Batman there has been one piece that I have wanted for a long time. I wouldn't say it's a White Whale, but it's on my top 5 list of wanted Batman items.

That's it. The 1974 Janex Talking Batman Alarm Clock. As a kid, I wanted this pretty bad. I begged and begged and of course I never got it. Once I restarted collecting Batman, it's been something I have wanted to add to the Batman collection. I really think this would look awesome on a shelf with the rest of my Batman goodies.

Last year, at the Super Mega Show, I found a seller with a working one that still spoke. A lot of the clocks you see don't speak anymore, but this one did and he had the box. The seller was selling his for $50.00. I thought it was a little high, so I decided to walk around the dealer room, come back and hit him with a lower number later in the day. When I arrived back to the dealer table he had already sold it. Now, I cannot find a working clock for anything under 75.00 and that is without the box. D'Oh!

Next up on my colossal mistake list are the McFarlane Beatles figures based on the 1965-67 cartoon series that ran on ABC. When these figures were first released, I had the "I will wait a bit, then pick them up" attitude. Of course, my lazy butt never did get those figures and now they don't sell on eBay for under $50.00 individually. The box set goes anywhere from $150.00 to $250.00. Good luck finding them at a toy show. I have never even seen them at a Beatles con. No wonder I am a Nowhere Man. D'oh!

Finally on my Magical Mystery D'oh Tour is the time I left behind a vintage Darth Vader Collector's Case. I was at a flea market with my buddy, George. We came across a table that had a carrying case. I remember having this as a kid and I wanted to buy back a part of my youth. The dealer was selling this for $10.00. Now, I must inform you all that I had just started collecting again at this point and had no idea what vintage toys were going for. I balked at the price and walked away. Now, I know this collector's case is not all that expensive, unless you are going to buy one still with it's packaging. But I know I won't find one again for $10.00 again. The force was NOT strong with me on that day. D'oh!

Knowing what I have learned over the past few years, I know what good deal is and when to pick up an item. This has helped me score some really awesome pieces for my collections and who knows, maybe I will have the opportunity to pick up the items I passed up on at some point. And if I don't then those mistakes will always serve as a reminder that no matter how smart I think I may be, I will always have a bit of Homer Simpson in me. Now, pass me that can of Duff Beer and box of donuts.

Mmmmmmm, donuts.

Take a gander at these fellow Leaguer's blunders and regrets:

http://www.batcavetoyroom.com/2013/10/regretsi-have-few.html

http://monstercafesaltillo.blogspot.mx/2013/10/league-assignment-my-biggest-regret.html

http://goodwillhunting4geeks.blogspot.com/2013/10/league-of-extraordinary-bloggers-my.html

http://www.nerdcantina.com/1/post/2013/10/my-biggest-collecting-regret.html

http://coolandcollected.com/this-is-probably-why-i-dont-collect-star-wars-toys/

League Assignment: Halloween

Another assignment from the League. This one is about one of my very favorite holidays.

Halloween.

Who doesn't love Halloween except, maybe, the Amish. I mean, what's not to love? Candy, costumes, candy, scary movies, candy, tricks or treats, candy, It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, and did I mention candy?

As a kid, Halloween was a very special occasion. It meant a trip to Woolworth's (Google it, kids) to pick out a Halloween bucket to hold the loot in and a trip to my favorite aisle. The aisle of Ben Cooper Halloween costumes.

For those not in the know, Ben Cooper was a company that manufactured Halloween costumes. They had licenses to turn any character into a Halloween costume. The costumes were basically plastic masks and vinyl smocks with a silk screen image on the front, but during the 50's, 60's and 70's Ben Coopers was synonymous with Halloween.

Thanks to Ben Cooper, you didn't need an imagination. For around $4.00, you could be a Six Million Dollar Man

A Beatle

Or A Damn Dirty Ape

You could be a masked crime fighter

Or something just down right creepy

How parents allowed their kids to dress up as an Alien yet fight for the removal of said toy I will never understand.

Some of my personal favorites costumes are some that I wore as a kid. Allow me to indulge my middle aged geeky self and take a walk down memory lane.

Since two of my favorite heroes are Spider-Man and Batman you would think that I was Spidey and the Caped Crusader for Halloween and you would be correct. Two of my favorite costumes are the Batman and Spider-Man costumes. I believe I was Batman first, then Spider-Man the next year. With the Spider-Man costume, I had the matching Spider-Man Halloween bucket. Batman, I had the usual pumpkin shaped bucket. No matter, that bad boy was filled with candy and when I got to my little Batcave, I ate as much candy as I could before I passed out.

Another year, The Incredible Hulk T.V. series was a huge hit, so I wanted to paint my skin green and wear rags. Thankfully, I was given this instead:

Give me that candy and don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.

The last year I remember getting a Ben Cooper, I wanted to be Luke Skywalker. So, basically, I asked my mom for this:

And I got this instead:

Is it any wonder why I can be deliciously evil? That's all on you Mom.

I never wore this, but I just think it's freaking sweet and would love to add it to my future Green Hornet collection.

As much as kids today have costumes that look a bit more realistic, I will always have a soft spot for the Ben Cooper outfits. I mean, today's costumes come in a bag. No presentation whatsoever. You guys can keep that. I will just cherish the memories I have of seeing those boxes stacked on the shelves of Woolworths, going home and staring at the graphics on the box. I wish I had some of them. To me, nothing says Halloween like Ben Cooper.

Check out what Halloween means to the other League members:

http://coolandcollected.com/1965-munsters-lunch-box/

http://monstercafesaltillo.blogspot.mx/2013/10/league-assignment-here-comes-halloween.html

http://teamhellions.com/2013/10/09/halloween-the-league/

http://goodwillhunting4geeks.blogspot.com/2013/10/halloween-countdown-day-7-loeg-here.html

http://nerdoutwithmeblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/this-nerds-favorite-halloween-movies.html

Ask them for some candy and bring it to me!