New Bat Item: The Bat Signal

The Bat Signal. This beacon of light sends fears through the hearts of criminals everywhere as once it is lit, an ass kicking of epic proportions from the Batman isn't too far behind. From it's first appearance in Detective Comics #60 way back in 1942, this distress signal has always been apart of the Batman mythos, even to this day in the recent Christopher Nolan Dark Knight movies. 

Recently, I have been on a tremendous Bat-Kick. The only comics I am reading are Batman and Justice League, because Batman is a member. Anything I am keeping an eye on over at eBay is Batman related and anything I do pick up (which isn't much lately), is something Batman. My most recent pick up is something I have wanted for a few months now.

When I first saw this at Barnes N Noble, I new that I would be picking this up eventually. This little guy comes with the Bat Signal (Battery Included) and a teeny tiny book about the basic history of Batman. 

Here's what you get inside the box. I have the feeling that reading that little book will present a challenge to someone with my hands. 

This Bat Signal is pretty awesome looking. Made of plastic, it still gives off a sturdy look to the casing and is pretty detailed for something this small.

Here is the back. As you can see, the compartment for the battery goes in the back and has to be opened with a screwdriver. 

Underneath, we find the on and off switch that makes the signal light up. Not sure if this is a problem that everyone has with this, but I have to switch mine on and off twice before I get the light to turn on. Not really a big deal to me, but it was a bit surprising when it initially happened.

Took out my Superman/Batman figure to show the size comparison. I bet Bats is thinking to himself size doesn't matter.

And here is this sucker lit up. Believe me when I tell you, the light on this thing is a lot more powerful than I initially thought. It took a few minutes for that yellow blog that was hanging out in my vision to vamoose. 

When pointed to a wall, you get a huge Bat Symbol looking right back at you. It's pretty cool and I do wish I could show you, but the camera on my phone did not pick it up when I took the pictures. You'll just have to take my word for it. Or better yet, go get one of your own.

For $9.99, this is a pretty cool piece to have. It gives off pretty good light and would look absolutely awesome in any Batman collection. You can find these in Wal-Mart, Barnes N Noble or any place that sells those little rack books. There was a Batmobile as well, which I will have to pick up at some point as well. I think this little guy belongs in all Batman collections. 

So, go pick yourself up one, throw on that Batman Halloween costume from last year and pretend to answer the call of the Bat. Better yet, don't. Just enjoy the signal and leave it at that.

The Start Of A New Collection:Signed Playbills

Now, I will let you all in on a little secret: I have lived in NYC all my life, save for 1 year in Dobbs Ferry, NY, and I have never seen a Broadway show. I love the theater though. I used to have aspirations of being an actor at one time. I performed in high school shows, college shows, college movies, summer stock and off, off, off, off Broadway shows, always thinking I would one day perform on Broadway one day. It just never panned out for me. Damn my lack of acting talent!

Because of my love for acting, I decided I wanted to start a new autograph project: cast signed Playbills. I have watched you tube videos from other autograph collectors and have always marveled at their signed playbills and have wanted to try my hand at starting a collection of them myself. So, a few weeks ago, I sent 6 requests out to different shows hoping I would be lucky enough to get them back with signed Playbill goodness.

My first success has arrived:

Mary Poppins has always been one of my all time favorite Disney movies and I have always wanted to see the show on Broadway. Unfortunately, the show ends it's run in March. I included the show in my batch of requests and biggity bam, I got a signed Playbill to start my collection.

I have already started thinking of storage. As I receive more in the mail, I plan to shell out for the official Playbill binder. It's pretty expensive for a binder, but for 33.95, I get the binder and 18 polypropylene sleeves with backing board. It's a steep price, but worth it to keep my signed treasures in the best possible condition.

Hopefully, the rest of my requests will start trickling in. I also have a few more requests ready to go out this week and hopefully, those will come back shortly as well.

As for my dreams of playing on Broadway, you can find me appearing on the corner of 42nd St and 7th Ave playing the violin with a turned over hat on the ground. Bring money.

League Of Extraordinary Bloggers: Spacemen

This week, The league was given one simple topic: Spacemen. We could write whatever we wanted as long as it was about those daredevils who saved worlds, fought evil empires and, at times, won the love of a beautiful woman. 

So, what to blog about. Do I write a 500 word essay about how awesome spacemen are? Do I do a blog about how well spacemen toys sell? Maybe write about a great spaceman toy collection? 

Nahhhhh. I will take the easy way out and list my 5 favorite spacemen. Yeah, I know, another list. But it's what I do best. That and eat. I love to eat.

5-Han Solo

How can you not love the scoundrel who turned into a key figure in the Alliance's movement against the Empire. Solo goes from conceited, wisecracking smart ass who captains his own ship to a conceited, wise cracking smart ass who is a captain in the Alliance. And, he wins the heart of a Princess in the processes. What a guy.

4-Buck Rogers

  

When I was a young Sexy Geek, I remember my mom taking me to see the Buck Rogers movie. I knew nothing about the character before I saw the movie. I don't remember much of the movie, except the robot Twiki kicking someone which cracked me up. I did, however watch the show, which came out later that year of 1979. I enjoyed the show and always hoped we would see another Buck Rogers movie. I feel this is a character that should be revived in someway. 

3-Captain James T. Kirk

 

I'm not the biggest Star Trek fan. Yes, I remember watching the original series as a kid when it was shown here on WPIX, watching the cartoon, seeing the movies and owning some of the toys from the first movie. But Star Trek never captured my imagination like Star Wars had. It wasn't until I met my best friend that I appreciated the greatness of Captain James Tiberius Kirk. Kirk was a fighter, a leader and loved more women, green and not, than any other Captain who's come before and after. Screw Picard, give me Kirk anytime!

2-Superman

 

OK, he might not be what is typically considered a spaceman, but he is to me. He was born on another planet, he has traveled to other worlds and has powers us other mortals can only dream of. Superman is THE superhero and he is not even of this planet. 

1-Luke Skywalker

Skywalker is my all time favorite spaceman. He always had a good heart, despite a temper that could have led him into the Dark Side of The Force. He came from humble beginnings but would eventually become a key member of the Alliance and a Jedi Knight. I have a small Skywalker collection and I am always looking to add more to it. A lot of kids liked Solo because he was the cool guy. But for my money, Luke was the man and will always be. I hope he is a huge part of the new Star Wars movie that J.J Abrams is going to direct. I would be greatly disappointed if he was not.

I will admit, I am not a huge Sci-Fi guy. I do have my favorites, which I listed here and there were a few others I left off the list, like Lt. Starbuck, Uncle Martin and Astronaut Taylor. But, I do think that spacemen are very cool and I do enjoy watching movies and t.v shows about them. 

Here are some other fellow Extraordinary Bloggers you should check out:

http://monstercafesaltillo.blogspot.mx/2013/01/league-assignment-spacemen.html

http://aeiouwhy.blogspot.com/2013/01/loeb-post-spaaaaaaace-post.html

http://coolandcollected.com/buck-rogers-poster-by-laurent-durieux/

http://shezcrafti.com/mtv-moon-man-tribute/ 

Marvel Universe FF Foundation Spider-Man

When I first heard that Spider-Man was going to be the one replacing Johnny Storm in the Fantastic Four after Storm's "death", I had 2 questions: How long would it it be before Storm comes back and what costume would Spidey wear. Well, it didn't take long for Marvel to restore the original Fantastic Four line up, but what we were left with was a very cool outfit for Spider-Man.

When I first saw the white and black outfit, I actually liked it. It was different from what he's ever worn before. Yes, he's worn black and white before, but not with white being the dominant color. I actually thought we might have seen a Fantastic Four blue and white outfit, but I was pleasantly pleased to see something completely different from Marvel.

Another thought I had when I saw the figure was, of course, toys. Now, I will have to admit, I was hoping to see a 6 inch figure or even bigger. I wasn't surprised to see a 3 8/4 Marvel Universe figure, but I was disappointed we didn't see something more.

The package art for the figure looks pretty cool. I always thought Hasbro did a great job with the packaging for these figures.

The back of the package. It gives information on the character as well as show which other figures are released in this particular wave. Also, we have more character art.

Here is what's in the package. The figure, a web and a very small cardboard comic cover. Not sure why the comic cover was included with the figure.What do you do with it?  I would have much rather had a small stand for this figure for display purposes. Fail Number 1 by Hasbro.

I have to say that this figure is pretty bad ass looking. The paint job on it is terrific. He actually looks like he popped out of a comic, which to me is is the selling point of an action figure. If the figure doesn't look right, I pass it by.

Here's what the back looks like. Again, great paint job. Very constant with the way the front of the figure. Visually, this figure is a winner.

Now, here's my problem. This figure is not as articulated as you would think. The legs are very stiff, almost as if they weren't put in correctly. I was playing around with this figure, trying to get some cool poses out of it when the left leg popped off. I was able to put it back in without any problems, but it popped off again not to long after when I was playing around with it again. After the second time I just gave up on trying to get anything out of it. 

My other issue is the web. It doesn't fit into the figures hand. It kept falling out of it when I would put it in. the hands don't open enough for you to slip the web in properly. The figure can't get a grip on it so it keeps dropping out. I like the idea of a web as an accessory, but build the figure so that the hands can grasp it.

I guess I can say that this figure, while visually beautiful, was disappointing for me. the articulation was nil, the figure doesn't seem well built and the accessories packaged with this figure are pretty useless. I have never been a big fan of smaller figures and this is why. As nice looking as they are, you really can't do much with them. I have 2 other Marvel Universe figures that are still in their packages and I think I will keep them in there as well as any future Universe figures I pick up. It's a shame. These are some nice pieces Hasbro puts out. If they take a little more time putting together the figures as they do with the paint job, then these would be the best figures you could buy, As it stands, for 9.99 all you get is a cool looking piece to put on your shelf.

Restoration Projects: Are They Worth It?

One of my holy grails is the 1966s Captain Action Batman figure. As any collector knows, this particular figure is a pretty expensive piece. Now, each time I see one on ebay, the drool I release almost short circuits my keyboard. It's dangerous for me to look at them on ebay. And God forbid I see one at a toy show. I become transfixed and my buddy George has to drag me away, usually kicking and screaming. It's an embarrassment to both he and I...mostly him.

Here is the problem my fellow geeks; I cannot afford this glorious piece. Like most of you, I have bills to pay and that's where the bulk of my dollars go. Whatever is left over is usually enough for work expenses and my leisure time as well as any purchases I make. Now, since I have vowed to concentrate on vintage pieces this year it should clear up some cash for the goodies such as this. Unless the modern piece is really cool or I can get it at a great price, I will more than likely pass on it.

Looking at prices for this on ebay over the past few months, I have noticed this usually finishes anywhere from 100.00-300.00. If I have a hankering for Raman noodles, I could probably swing 100.00. But those finish at that price few and far between. But while looking at the figures I noticed that sellers also sell the pieces to the figure separate, which gave me an idea.

What if I start picking up the pieces and just build the figure that way? Seems like a pretty good idea.I can add pieces when I get the money and over time I should have the figure I want. I actually got the idea for this from my buddy John over at the Batcave Toy Room, which you can read here: http://www.batcavetoyroom.com/  He restores Star Wars toys, so I thought maybe I can do the same thing with this Captain Action figure.

Then I start to notice a few things:

A-The pieces can go for a pretty steep price. I've been watching a few and some finished at 30.00 and over. I'm currently watching a bat-a-rang and it's at 46.00 with 21 hours to go. That piece alone could finish near 60.00.

B-Some of the pieces are not in the best condition. I mean, that's expected with age. These pieces are 47 years old. You really can't expect mint condition, but some of these sellers sell the pieces in horrible shape and that's a shame. If I had customizing skills, I could probably work with it, but I don't. I failed finger painting in kindergarden.

C-I would have to buy the original Captain Action Figure as well. I sometimes forget that the Batman figure is actually a Captain Action figure. Batman was sold as a suit for him to wear. I have seen, on average, the Captain Action figure go for around 120.00 alone. Heck, a modern Captain Action figure goes for about 40.00 and I don't want to pay that. I need one for my Spider-Man that was released last year.

So, going this route, I might actually pay more for the figure than one that is completed on ebay. By how much is the question. If I do thrifty shopping, maybe I can find the pieces at a good price, but there's no guarantee that will happen. I'm sure other collectors will have the same idea (especially after reading this, lol).

Knowing this, I wonder if restoring a vintage toy like this is the way to go. I think it could be. You have the thrill of the chase when looking for the accessories and pieces needed for the figure. Then there is the satisfaction of a completed figure in your collection. Hard work always pays off, right?

So, I guess the answer to that is really up to the person buying. Would you rather pay the money to have a completed figure or spend time and possibly more money to build the figure yourself with pieces you find on ebay and take the time to make sure the figure looks as good as you want it. Either way, you'll end up with a vintage figure that will look awesome on a shelf.

The Beatles Yellow Submarine K'Nex

Now that I finally fixed the issue of not being able to download pictures to my blog (thanks to Hobgoblin for the tip), I have some catching up to do. I had gotten a few things that I haven't been able to blog about. Now, I can.

I finally pulled the trigger and picked up The Beatles Yellow Submarines K'Nex set. I wasn't too sure about this set. I am not a fan of smaller toys. The pieces can get lost pretty easily and the figures are pretty hard to stand. There's not a lot of detail to these little guys, but I couldn't resist. It's the Beatles. I had to have it.

The back of the package doesn't really say much about the product, but does show that there is a stage for the teeny tiny mop tops to play Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band for us.

If you decide to pick these up, you have to be careful when you open this. The pieces are really shoved into the plastic case and when you try to get them out, they can pop out at you and you can lose the pieces pretty quick. I had a couple of instruments pop up at me as if they were attacking me. Be careful.

So, once I finally was able to get the figures out of the package, I had to then get the instruments into the figures hands, which wasn't that easy. Since George has a tuba, you have to pop off his head and slide the piece on his neck, then pop the head back on. Then, you have to get them to stand. This was easy, which was a good thing.

So, using my best Ed Sullivan voice, here they are.....The Beatles!

Paul

John

George

And Ringo

"Cause The Singers Going To Sing A Song And He Wants You All To Sing Along...

The stage is made of light plastic and the stage is made of cardboard. It makes for a pretty nice display. I can't wait until I can display this with the rest of my Beatles collection on a shelf.

Overall, this is a cute set for kids to play with and learn about the greatest band ever from their parents as they play Beatles tunes. for 9.99, I think this set is worth the pick up and will make a nice addition to any Beatles collection. Just be careful with the pieces and you should be fine.

Now, I may pick up the KISS set as well.

Issues With Blogger

So, I have been wanting to post a blog for a while, but for some reason, I can't post pics. I tried to post from my computer at work (relax, I was at lunch) and the same thing happened. I'm unable to post any pictures.

Until I figure out how to fix the problem or just restart this blog elsewhere, I won't be able to post anything. Really sucks too.

Anyone have any idea's?