Mail Day From Cool And Collected.

It would have been so cool if Spidey had delivered my package. Cool and appropriate.

Ever since I've been out of work, I had to pick and choose what I really wanted to collect. When I was working, I was picking up Batman, Iron Man, Luke Skywalker, KISS, Beatles and anything else I was into. But not having that much spending money has caused me to step back and figure out what I really want to collect. Out went KISS. Bye bye, Iron Man. I still pick up Batman and Luke Skywalker, but that too has slowed down considerably. I've really been concentrating on Spider-Man related items and I haven't looked back. I may have added more Spider-Man stuff to my collection than when I was working.

Brian over at coolandcollected.com was looking to clear out some of his collection. I picked out some affordable Spider-Man related items and we made the deal. The package arrived the other day and when I opened it I was astonished at what was inside.

Wow. The deal was originally for the black suited Spider-Man, Electro, Doc Ock and the Spidey mask, but Brian, generously, added a bunch of Spider-Man related goodies to the package.

Brian added these Venom and Hobgoblin vehicles that were part of the McDonald's Spider-Man Happy Meals in the 90's that coincided with the T.V. show. I think I had Venom at one point, but never Hobgoblin. I am very glad to have both in the collection.

Brian also added a Spider-Man Pez dispenser that I didn't have already, as well as two items I've never really seen before. I'm guessing the disc might have been part of a game. Venom is awesome. He maybe tiny, but I wouldn't mess with him too much. He is going to go great in my Venom part of the Spider-Man collection.

The Electro and Doc Ock figures were part of the deal with Brian, but he also threw in the Spider-Man Green Goblin figure. Electro has holes in his hands for bolts of electricity, I'm guessing. Doc Ock is from the fantastic Spectacular Spider-Man TV show. That show should have had a longer run, but Sony pulled it for the current Ultimate Spider-Man show. I enjoy it, but not as much as I did Spectacular.

Not familiar with these two Spider-Man figures. I do know that the figure on the left was on a motorcycle at some point. The one one the right, no clue, but I like it a lot.

I grabbed the mask because I wanted to pair it with my vintage Ben Cooper Spider-Man mask. At some point, I'd like to have a collection of different Spider-Man masks.

I even got a copy of the Cool and Collected magazine. This was a treat as I really wanted to read this. I had issues with my downloaded copy and was unable to read it. Now I have the magazine and I cannot wait to open this up and enjoy the articles inside.

I really hope there will be a second issue. A magazine like this one is something the hobby sorely needs.

Finally, there's this guy. I actually thought this was a 6 inch figure and I was afraid I had it already. Then I took it out the package and realized I did not have this. This is the 12 inch black suit Spider-Man from te Spider-Man Classics line. I have been looking for this figure for a long time for a decent price and now, thanks to Brian, I can add it to my Spider-Man collection. Now, I need to find the red and blue suit Spidey.

I love the sculpt and paint job on this figure. A wonderful pick up, if I do say so myself.

Now that I am starting a new job and I'll have some disposable income, I don't think I will be changing things. I think I will continue to build my Spider-Man collection. Sure, I will still pick up a Batman item here (especially 1966 Batman), a Luke Skywalker there, but it's just mainly going Spider-Man for me going forward.

What will I do with some of the non Spider-Man items I have? I'm not sure just yet. I may post pictures up here and sell them or trade them for more Spider-Man related stuff. I'll post pictures if I decide to to that. Either way, Spider-Man will be front and center in my collecting universe from here on end. I can't wait to hunt for more pieces.

Thank you Brian. Go and check out coolandcollected.com if you haven't already done so. Go, go now!

Toy Show Days Make Me Want To Jump In My Yellow Submarine

Today was the monthly toy show in greater Wayne, NJ. I was going to hunt down some goodies to add to the ole' House Of Swag and I was really looking forward to it. My buddy, George had the idea to go and we agreed to meet really early Sunday morning and head over to shift through bins filled with toys, tables displayed with gems and shelves showing off...well, you get the idea here.

Now, I usually don't discuss the journey to said event in my blogs, but because of the title of this entry, I feel compelled to explain myself.

George and I met up at the appointed time at the appointed place and hit the road. After a stop at the bank and gas station, we found ourselves in New Jersey pretty quickly, thanks to my buddy's GPS with the voice of Mr. T guiding us along with a well placed insult here and there. I got comfortable and figured we would be at the toy show in no time at all.

Knock, knock.

Who's there?

The Mikey Curse. I'm back, jerky!

Ah yes, my nemesis was back with a vengeance. The curse that loves to throw curveballs at me when I think I have it easy and it was Clayton Kershaw today.

When we hit New Jersey, the sky's literately opened up and down came the torrential downpours. The rain was God awful. at one point, we couldn't see the road ahead of us and had to really slow down. At one point, the rain got so bad that we got off the Garden State Parkway and drove through Paramus looking for a spot to hang out and wait out the rain.

Of course, Paramus's businesses are closed on Sunday's, so as the curse laughed it's ass off, we carried on until the rain finally let up and we were back on the road. We made our destination, no worse for the wear, but already on edge thanks to the impromptu tsunami we drove through. But once we got in, game faces were on. We were shopping and if I can survive that rain, then I could survive the dude wearing the stained Dr. Who t-shirt, blocking the aisle, preventing me from passing.

The toy show had a little bit of everything. Vintage, contemporary, Star Wars, Super Heroes, TV Show Toys, Sci-Fi, DVD's, banks,comic books, and then some. The show was held in one decent sized room and had a pretty good turn out. People were there just buying up a storm and I wanted to get in on the action. As with every show, there was bargains to be had and there was dealers who was overpricing their wares. One table was selling an Avengers Hulk figure for $50.00, which is laughable.

Some real nice stuff on this table. As far as I know, that can of soda was not for sale.

As much as I would have killed to have those Beatles figures, this was one of those overpriced tables, so I didn't ask what he was asking for them. One day, they will be mine. Oh yes, they will be mine.

So, what did I get?

Glad you asked.

My first pick up of the day. I went in to the show with a game plan of Batman, Spider-Man, any affordable Beatles and if I could find it, that LJN Roddy Piper figure. As soon as I walked in, George spotted a table selling vintage paperbacks and found this one for me. I have been wanting this 1966 paperback novelization of the TV series for a while and $5.00 later, I finally had one.

Another table had a box of 1.00 items and after looking through the box, I came away with this late 80's, early 90's Batman Pez dispenser.

Another vintage Batman item I have been wanting for a while. I know the lithography on this cup could have been better, but since it's 47 years old I could live with it. Plus, at $ 5.00, I could sleep better at night. Of course, after walking a little further, I saw the same cup, in pristine condition. I heard the Mikey curse laugh at me again and call me a moron.

At one table, I bought a few items.

I can never pass up anything Simpsons and at $1.00 a piece, they were coming home with me.

If I could say I have buyers remorse over anything I picked up today, it was over this vintage Batman item.

Not exactly in the very best condition. Again, it was a Bat-item I wanted for a while, so I pulled the trigger on it, figuring I could clean it up a bit when I got home. What I failed to realize until I got back in the car was there was a small, broken off piece behind the right ear. The curse strikes again.

I also got this neat mint carded Spider-Man bendie figure from the same dealer. Probably, along with the Batman paperback, one of my favorite pick ups of the day. I had paired this with the vintage Batman squirt gun and got a great deal for both which made me agree before I even throughly looked at the squirt gun. Oh well, I can display it in a way that no one will ever know until I can get an upgrade. Shhhhhhhhhh.

The day didn't end there. After getting lost in North Jersey trying to get back (The Curse representing!) and making it back to Westchester, we made Toys R Us the final stop of our day and I was able to pick up these goodies.

If there are three things I love in this world, it's Batman, the Batmobile and candy. This little guy has all three so I happily bought it. I will be eating the candy as I do not want any unwelcome bugs in the House Of Swag.

My final purchase was this Captain Action base figure. You long time readers might remember I bought the Spider-Man costume and accessories last year and had needed a Capt. Action figure to display it. The figure had been $39.99 for the longest time. So when I saw it today at $16.00, I grabbed it and I can throw on the Spidey outfit and display it once I have my shelving up.

I gotta tell you guys, it's been a while since I had a toy haul like the one I had today and it was sweet. The next few months will be a bit tough to have another haul with birthdays, weddings, holidays and a trip out to California upcoming. But if I can add a piece here and there, then I should be content until I can go off on another crazed toy hauling kind of day.

Curse be dammed!