Batmobiles! Hey, Does Superman Have His License?

During this past summer, I stepped up in my quest to add more Batmobiles to my Batman collection. As long time readers know, the Batmobile is my very favorite pop culture vehicle. From the 1966 live action car to the movie incarnations, the Batmobile usually gets my heart racing and I'm not even a gear head. I just love the Batmobile.

With this summer's awesome Dark Knight Rises, there was a pleathora of Batmobiles released this summer. Hot Wheels continued its run by releasing different Batmobiles as well as the 1966 Batcopter from the live action movie and the Penguin Mobile from Batman Returns. Matchbox released some Batmobiles as well like the Batmobile from Batman: Arkham City video game. I haven't picked up any of the Matchbox Batmobiles, but here's what I did pick up.

To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the Tumbler from the recent Batman films, which is why I never went gaga over buying any Tumber related merchandise. Still, any Batmobile collection worth it's salt has to have at least one Tumbler in it's collection and here's mine. I might pick up a larger scale Tumbler if I find one cheap in a thrift store or flea market. I'm hoping the next series of Bat films has a better Batmobile.

Now, here is a beauty. One of my all time favorite Batmobiles, this one is from the 1940's. I love the look of this car from the big bat face on the front of the car to the big ass bat fin on the back of the car. Ths souped up sedan is one of the nicer Batmobiles they ever made, I think. The Batmobile from the 1950's is similar, with the exception of the search light on top of the car and the bubble dome windows. I hope Hot Wheels has that Batmobile in it's next line.

This one is not one I'm too familiar with, I'm afraid. I never really watched The Batman. I meant to, but I could never fnd when it was on and the one episode that I caught wasn't the greatest. I wasn't thrilled with what they did with The Joker and The Riddler, so I never really went looking to watch it again. Still, the Batmobile is pretty cool and I'm glad I was able to add this to my collection, thanks to my friend and her son.

This is one of those head scratchers. Don't get me wrong. I'm glad to have it in my teeny tiny Superman collection, but Superman doesnt need a ride, does he? I mean, is this car pimped out with hydrolics, loud speakers and fuzzy dice? Does Supes drive around in this on his off days around Metropolis wearing a Kangol, a huge gold chain and enough bling to make Liberace blush? Does he dance to Black Sheep like those gerbils do in that Kia commercial? Not sure about that one. I mean, I got the car he used in the Superfriends, the one with the hands to handle Kryptonite with. This one doesn't even have a second seat for Superman to kick it to Lois.

The one good thing about collecting these are they are very inexpensive. In most cases, they are under 3 bucks a pop and can be found just about anywhere. I was never really a car collector before, but once I got my hands on these I couldn't stop looking for more. Now, if someone can make that cool Spidey Buggy from the 70's, I would have it made.

Snoopy Bobblehead Night-Yankee vs Toronto Blue Jays 9/19/2012

Last Wednesday I was able to attend the Yankees/Blue Jays game at Yankee Stadium. It was Snoopy Bobblehead Night and I wanted to make sure I got one for my Yankees bobblehead collection, so I took the day off from work. I was the first one through the gates and I was thrilled when I was handed my Snoopy bobblehead. Yes! I had to take the day off from work, but I got the bobblehead.

I went straight to the right field seats for batting practice. The Yankees played the first game of a day/night doubleheader earlier, so I wasn't sure if there would be batting practice. The last time I attended batting practice, I caught a ball. The time before that, I got a ball. I wanted to see if I could make it 3 in a row.

I got to the right field seats and saw Derek Jeter taking hacks along with Alex Rodriguez. During Arod's turn, he launched a ball toward my section. I ran to the spot where I was sure the ball would land and sure enough, I felt the painful slap of rawhide meeting the skin of my hand, causing it to turn red. I did it, I caught ball #3 and from Arod no less. What a moment. What a.... the next thhing I knew, this older gentleman came over and slapped the ball out of my hand. I helplessly watched bounce 3 feet away and into the hands of another adult.

Ok, I realize it was just batting practice, but I will admit I lost it. I yelled I had that. The guy, smugly told me he didn't see my name on the ball. I held up my palm to show the redness so he could see it was in my hand when he smacked it out. He said I didn't close my fingers so it was fair game. I could see I wasn't going to win this arguement, so I walked away. Had that been a home run ball in an actual game, I might not have been so quiet.

It was close to game time and my buddy sent me a text message that he arrived. I wanted to see the look on his face when he saw how cool this bobblehead was and maybe he would think he should have taken a day off as well...until I saw him carrying the box as well. Oh well. Maybe I should have gone to work as well.

The game was a good one. Both the Yankees and Blue Jays scored a run each in their halves of the 2nd inning. That score held until Ichiro singled in Curtis Granderson with the go ahead run in the botom of the 8th. A half inning later, Raphael Soriano closed out the game and we all untucked our shirts for a 2-1 Yankee win.

Now, a look at the goodies

Snoopy looks great in Yankee blue, with pinstripe pants and Yankees cap. I realize it's the same bobblehead that was given out by the San Francisco Giants a year or 2 ago. As a huge Peanuts fan, I am hoping we get Charlie Brown and Lucy as well in the upcoming seasons.

 I think the only difference from the Giants give away, aside from the uniforms, was that Snoopy had a number, which I think was 07 on the back of his unifrom, while the Yankee one just has the MetLife logo. The 07 on the back of Snoopy's uniform was to signify the year the bobblehead was given out.

I also went to the Yankees Clubhouse store and picked up a Mickey Mouse figurine I have been eyeing for the last season or two. Yes, I am a fan of Disney and wanted this figurine to go with the Mickey Mouse All Star figurine I already owned.

Back of the box.

Here's Mickey decked out in the home pinstripes. Like the base he comes in with a small home plate with the Yankees logo on it.

Back of the statue has Mickey sporting 01 and his name on the top. Doesn't Mickey know there are no names on the back of the Yankee uni's? Shame on whoever issued that jersey to you. Now, I need to hunt down the Disney bobbleheads, which would make my Disney Yankee collection complete.

Would have been great to have bought home that Arod ball, but I think I did pretty well regardless. These new additions are going to look great in the Yankee bobblehead/figurine collection. No, they aren't players, but I love adding these to my collection as it diversifies the Yankee shelves and as a collector, I want my collection to differ from another Yankee collector's collection. I think one's collection is an extension of the personality of the collector and my love for cartoons is pretty well represented with Snoopy, Mickey and Woody before them. Now, if only they made Marvel or DC Yankee figurines/Bobbleheads....

If I Was Going To Blow $300.00 On A Toy

Honestly, I have never been a huge fan of spending crazy money on a single toy/statue/whatever. I would much rather take $300.00 and buy more than one thing. Then again, I'm the type of guy who can go into a convention with $300.00 and not spend any of it. I know, with all the things I have bought recently, it is hard to believe, but there are times when I see something I have wanted for a long, long time, I walk away from it and leave it behind as well as a stunned look on my buddy, George's face. George, understands that I'm not made of money, but sometimes he will have to talk me into treating myself once in a while.

Take the Hot Toys figures. I really dig them. Love how realistic they look and I have been dying to own the 1989 Michael Keaton Batman, The Jack Nicholson Joker, The Christan Bale Batman, Heath Ledger Joker, Iron Man, Spider man, Christopher Reeve Superman to name a few. I know once Hot Toys releases the 1966 Batmobile and, probably, a Adam West Batman, I will be beside myself in wanting to own one.

But seriously, I'm not a guy who can be confused with having deep pockets. I can't just drop $250.00 on a action figure. I have to save for it and, once I do save up, the moment has usually passed me by and I'll go off and do something else with that money.

But, if I was going to buy an expensive figure...

I would make this my first extravagant purchase:

I was looking on Cool Toy Review and saw a link for this awesome Luke Skywalker figure and clicked on it and squealed with delight. This thing is pretty detailed and looks a lot like Mark Hamill. Don't believe me?

Looks pretty good to me.

Love how detailed this is. Right down to his glove, lightsaber and hand





What's real cool is the lightsaber lights up. I would love to see what one of these looks like in person before I would even think about jumping the gun and buying it.

I like the stuff Sideshow releases. I have seen their other Star Wars figures and have been tempted to pick up a few Luke Skywalker statues I've seen like the Farm Boy Luke, and Bespin outfit Luke. Man, if this thing was 89.99 and I had a place for it, I would definitely snatch it up. I'm sure a lot of you more experienced collectors know how to get something like this cheaper than retail, which is $289.99. There is a payment plan option of 3 payments of $96.66, which take the sting out of paying the whole thing at once. Still is a nice chunk of change regardless.

As cool as this figure is, I would probably have to pass on it unless it takes a nose dive to a more "Mikey" economic price. If I would pass on a Batman Mego, mint in minty box, then you can bet I would let this one go.

Still, the figure is pretty bad ass and would love to see one of these in person, which might be a bad thing because I might try to smuggle it faster than Han Solo smuggles cargo in the Millennium Falcon.

Warp Speed, indeed.

Weekend Scores and A Vintage Ebay Purchase

I love addng to my collections. Let me rephrase that. I LOVE ADDING TO MY COLLECTIONS. Sometimes, I come across something totally by accident and some times I look for a particular item to add to my collection. This weekend, I was able to do both.

I hit up a flea market in Hells Kitchen in Manhattan and really didn't find anything to add to the House of Swag. Later, I hit up Target to pick up a couple of storage cases for my figures and I came across a couple of new additions that I have been looking for:

I had seen these Hot Wheels Dark Knight Batman 5 pack car set before yet always passed up on picking them up. But, for 4.99, I wasn't going to pass up on them again. This set includes a Batcopter, Bone Shaker Special Joker Edition, A Tumbler for my Batmobile fleet, A Ford Fusion Gotham PD Patrol Car and an Amored Truck. Nice addition.

I've been keeping an eye on these new Mattel Batman figures for a while now. I thought the new Bat logo on his chest was unique, yet again, I hesitated on purchasing one for the Batman collection. I finally decided to grab it when I saw it was the last one. I have never been one to pick up the "specialty" figures like the Blizzard suit Batman or the Underwater Adventure Batman. I stick with the regular figures. I like this one, but the one I really want is the Blue and Grey Batman figure, so I will be keeping an eye out for that one.

As a kid in the late 70's I loved Halloween. I used go with my mom to Woolworth's on Fordham Rd and pick out my costume for that year. I have been Spider-Man (Natch!), Batman (Duh!), Darth Vader, Gene Simmons and a Zombie. The one thing I always had was my trusty Spider-Man Halloween pail. I loved that thing. It was huge and it was shaped like Spidey, just like the bank that came out around the same time, which I also had. Over time, I lost both and have been looking to readd them to my Spider-Man collection. Look what this sexy geek won on ebay last week:

That's right. I was able to get the Halloween pail at a great price. Look at this thing, It's fantastic.

You got no candy? Spidey gives you his back! Make with the sweets, True Believer!

Aside from the fact that the pail looked like the Web Head, look how deep this pail goes. It would take me a whole day of Trick or Treating to fill this monstrosity. Just the way I liked it. I always got more than my sister, but my mom always made me share anyway. So, I gave her the Mary Janes and Jaw Breakers while I kept the Snickers, Goobers and Hershesy. Not only was I a sexy geek, but a greedy one at that. Mwhahahahahaha! Then Mother Nature got her revenge later that night. Stomach aches, bitch! You would think I'd learn that she was on my sister's side, but no. I tried the same thing the next year with the same result. Then again, you would think my sister would have gotten a bigger bag.

I was real happy to find that pail. A classic piece of my childhood is back in the collection. They don't make pails like this anymore.  Now, I just need to get a hold of the Bank and I'll be a happy geek. And If I could pose as a kid and fill this sucker at Halloween, it would be the icing on the cake.

Lights, Camera, Action: League Assignment

So I took a break from blogging. I had some family issues that needed my attention. After dealing with all that nonsense, I was looking forward to just chillin like Bob Dylan, sipping on some beers as I read some comics, watched the Yankees and look for more additions to my growing collection. But no, the lure of the League draws me back like a fly to an electric zapper, wanting to be the cheesey hambone showoff that I am.

So, as I returned to the spotlight that is so richly mine, I get handed this assignment from our esteemed leader, Brian:

Television executives have determined that you lead an amazing life and have pegged you as the next big reality TV star. What’s the name and the premise of your show?

Well, after much thinking, consulting with the stars, meditating with Sexy Sadie (Beatles reference) and swiming with the sharks, I would have name my show what my mom calls my collection:

Mike's Bunch Of Crap

I mean, the title works. To most people, what I have would be a bunch of crap, but to me it's treasure and I'm like Captain Jack Sparrow, I am drawn to treasure....and rum.

The show would be pure Mikey. The viewers would watch as I go to Toys R Us to pick up the latest Spider-Man toy or follow me to Walmart as I fight with a woman and her 8 year old for the Walmart Exclusive Avengers Hulk figure. See me as I anxiously await the final minutes of my ebay bid for the vintage Batman Soakie bottle and look at my frustration as a sniper comes in with 2 seconds left to out bid me for it. See as I go to Yankee Stadium and beg a ballplayer 20 years my junior for his autograph and see me explode into a venomus cobra as I am rejected for the scribble I need. Come with me as me and occasional guest star, my buddy George, go to diffrent comic cons, toy shows and sports card conventions looking to uncover the "Wow" factor. See me as I perform my legendary Pee Pee dance when as I find a vintage 1968 Justice League comic for 5 bucks because the dealer bought it to a Sports Card show. Watch in sheer horror and disgust as I watch Collector Intervention and drool over Elyse Luray while wearing wayyyyy to small Batman Underoos and Taz slippers...ok, maybe we won't be seeing that. Plus, I want an english narrator describing the action as it happens like those old Jacques Cousteau/Natural Geographic shows: "As the collector walks down the aisle of Toys R Us, he spots his prey. A mint in the box Star Wars Luke Skywalker Green F/X Lightsaber and it is the last one. A few paces away, another collector spots the box and a struggle ensues. The first collector, unsportingly, knees his competitor in the groin and rushes off with his prize." This show just sells it's self.

I'm pretty sure a bidding frenzy would ensue over the show. I can see channels such as A&E, SciFi, NatGeo, Travel Channel, Spike and Bronx Public Access getting in on the action until TLC wins the battle for the right to broadcast the show. It would win it's time slot, making yours truly a reality star until I get arrested for buying a mexican bootleg of a Batman figure. I would be kicked off the air and would be resorted to panhandling in the streets of Manhattan with a sign that reads: Will Buy Toys For Money.

Honey Boo Boo ain't got jack on me.

If you enjoyed this blog, please check out blogs from my fellow League Members which are bound to be way better than mine:

http://coolandcollected.com/whats-in-the-box-starring-yours-truly/

http://dorkhorde.blogspot.com/2012/09/league-of-extraordinary-bloggers-weekly_11.html

http://greenplasticsquirtgun.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-league-of-extraordinary-bloggers-me.html

http://primordialbadgersmediahoard.blogspot.com/2012/09/league-assignment-star-of-show.html

http://spacemanstar.blogspot.ca/2012/09/the-ward.html

My Visit To Toy Tokyo

Today I decided to take a quick visit to Toy Tokyo, which is located in lower Manhattan. I had heard of this store and wanted to take a peek at all the toy goodness inside. With the name Toy Tokyo, I expected the store to be mainly toys imported from Japan. Although there were japanese toys, there was a lot of american toys being sold as well. Toys that made this sexy geek wish he had buku money to spend. Problem is, if your looking for bargins, Toy Tokyo is not the place for bargins. The owners know what they have. Most of the toys were being sold at retail or above, especially the vintage goodies.

As soon as you walk in, there is a display case of vintage toys.

 

Yes Virgina, that is a circle suit Mego Spider-Man in box.

 

 



Vintage Green Hornet anyone?

After fogging the glass on this case, I moved on to the bigger cases in the back that housed more stuff. From vintage toys to not so vintage. Japanese to American. All I know is I was staring way too long. So long that I noticed an employee eyeballing me to make sure I wasn't looking for a five finger discount. Not that the thought would come to mind. I'm a good boy.

You know I was peeping at that vintage Star Wars X Wing Fighter japanese import model kit. Would look great in the growing Luke Skywalker collection.

As would this

And this. These were kubricks made to look like Lego's.

80's toy's?

If Superheros is your thing

 

 

 

Oh No! Godzilla!

 

 

You will be mine Jack, oh yes. You will be mine.

 

 

I don't know whats worse to see, a mess of Smurfs

 

 

or a bunch of Monchhichi's. Monchhichi, Monchhichi. Oh so soft and cuddly. Don't judge me.

 

 

 

As you can see, Toy Tokyo has a little bit of anything for every collector out there. There was a bunch of other stuff I didn't post pics of, but I assure you that no matter what you collect, you will come away from this place drooling. So, if you wish to visit Toy Tokyo, it's at 91 Second Ave in New York City. They're website is toytokyo.com. If you go and have funny ideas about walking out with a bunch of stuff, let me know. I'll have the car running.