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.

League Of Extraordinary Bloggers: Saturday Morning Cartoons

I remember the days when I used to wake up real early on Saturday mornings to watch 6 hours of non stop cartoon goodness. Yeah, 6am. I was the kid who refused to get up at 7:00 to make a 7:30 bus for school, but yet I would happily get up at 5:45 to grab some Lucky Charms or Count Chocula to nosh on as I watch some awesome 'toons. The other day, I got curious and checked out what was showing on a Saturday Morning. What I saw was informercials. Are you freaken kidding me? I wanted to see Tom and Jerry and saw some dude spouting the virtues of a t-shirt that would hide your belly fat (I ordered 3 in back, white and fucia blue).

So it is my duty to get this right. On my new channel, WMIKE, we show cartoons on Saturday. And not just any cartoons. We got the vintage stuff here. And if you like Superheroes, well sit back, relax and watch some classic Superhero cartoons. Here's the line up:


6am-Underdog

Not your typical Hulk Smash Superhero, but I thought it would be fun to start off with a show like Underdog. Might be nice for kids to see where the movie came from.

6:30am-Couragous Cat and Minute Mouse

Unfortunately, the only clip of this cool cartoon I could find has a Spanish voice over during the intro. I always had a blast watching this Batman parody created by none other than Bob Kane, creator of Batman.

7am-The Supeman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure

Originally titled The Superman/Aquaman Hour Of Power, this show not only shows Superman and Aquaman cartoons, but you will also see the likes of Green Lantern, The Flash, Teen Titans and Justice League of America. Very cool show from Filmation, circa 1967

8am- The Marvel Superheroes

Not to be outdone by DC, Marvel had a half an hour of superhero cartoons that showcased Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and Sub-Mariner. The animation was pretty poor, but the art and stories were lifted straight out of the comics. And oh, those catchy theme songs:

Moving on..

8:30-The Fantastic Four

I'm not the biggest fan of the Fantastic Four, but Hanna Barbara did such a great job with this show that it has to be included in my lineup.

9am-Spider-Man

The show that made me the Spidey fan that I am today.

9:30am-Spider-Man (90's)

While not exactly vintage, it's too good not to be included in the channel's Spider-Man hour block.

10am-Batman With Robin The Boy Wonder

Like with the Spider-Man block, Batman will also get his hour block, starting with his first animated apperance on this Filmation show from 1967.

 

10:30am-Batman: The Animated Series

Almost went with the New Adventures of Batman and Robin from 1977, but I had to go with the best Batman cartoon show ever.

10am-The Hulk

Had to get The Hulk into the lineup and this was a good show to stick in there. With The Hulk's solid showing in The Avengers movie, this show should do well.

10:30-Battle Of The Planets

This classic anime cartoon should do real well with kids who love japanese animation and adults who remember it's original run in the late 70's.

11am-The Super Friends

Finishing off the morning is an hour of arguably one of the most beloved super hero shows ever.

So, there it is. The Saturday morning lineup on WMIKE. These are shows I loved watching as a kid and still do. I think these shows will be very popular today as they were yesterday. All that they need is a new generation of kids to watch and enjoy them just as much as we did. In today's world were video game consoles, the internet and smart phones rule, I think some vintage slips right in nicely to balance it all out because sometimes we all need a break and these shows provide that break. And they do an awesome job, if I do say so myself.

Recent TTM Autographs

I know what your thinking. You're thinking, "Hey, geek! Where are the autograph successes. We know you're sending them out still. Put down the Spidey figure, turn off Raw and show them". Well, in my defense, they just haven't been coming in. I have a bunch out there right now and I have only been getting 1 in. Maybe 2. But that really about it. It's frustrating because I watch youtube and I see these guys getting in 7 packages at a time and I only get 1 and that's per week!

Well, I am not giving up! I will continue to send out requests and be happy with the one success a week, dagnabbit!

So, here are the more recent successes:

Not sure if I have shown this one already, but just in case. This is legendary comic book writer/artist Walter Simonson. Notable works include Thor, X-Factor, Fantastic Four, Superman, Star Wars, Batman and Battlestar Galactica. He introduced Beta Ray Bill to the Marvel Universe and turned Thor into a frog for a bit, Walter drew me a quick Thor sketch and signed it in about 2 weeks.

I gotta tell you, I love getting these cards back from the artists. They are so cool when you see them in person. I have about 7 requests still pending. Hope I get them back.

Bobby Shantz was kind enough to sign this photo for me in a few days time. I had originally sent out 2, but I was unaware he had a brother who also played for the Yankees. I did find a pic of him in a Yankee uniform so I will be sending another request out to him soon.

I have always been a Burt Reynolds fan so I was thrilled to get a nice return from Mr. Reynolds. Loved him in movies such as Deliverance, The End, Cannonball Run, Boogie Nights and even Sharkey's Machine. But to me, he will always be the Bandit. I was pleased he signed these 2 photos for me as well.

Those will stay in my collection, I can assure you.

When I heard Steve Garvey was signing through the mail I quickly jumped on the opportunity to send out this photo. As happy as I am that I got it back, I am a bit upset that who ever opened the letter in his end left a long scratch on the photo.

Yes, even the Fonz knows I am powerful!

I was thrilled when Henry Winkler signed my photos. I have been a fan since I was a kid, watching Happy Days and clutching my Fonzie Mego doll. God, I wish I still had that figure. And his Jalopy too. Also loved Night Shift. I can still hear Michael Keaton's obnoxious humming to "Jumping Jack Flash".

I was able to get the Honkey Tonk Man to sign these 2 photos for me. Had to get one of the longest reigning Intercontenental Champion holding the belt and I like how it came out. I miss the days when that title ment something.

Former Knicks guard Richie Guerin signed these 2 photos for me in about a weeks time. Guerin was a star for the Knicks in the 1950's and 60's, becoming a 6 time All Star. and became the first Knick to score 2,000 points in a season when he scored 2,303 in the 60-61 season. He also signed a bookplate for me so I could start my Knicks project.

I was able to add another legend to my collection when Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat signed these 2 photos. I wasn't the biggest Steamboat fan growing up. All my affections were for Roddy Piper. But I always respected "The Dragon". I watched that thrilling match he had with Randy Savage at WrestleMania 3 and was blown away. I think that was the greatest match in wrestling history and it's a shame the WWE doesn't give it the proper respect as such.

I marked out for this guy in the 80's. Ted DiBiase had one of the greatest gimmicks in the business as well as one of the greatest heel laughs of all time. His theme song still cracks me up. Money, Money, Money, Moneyyyyy. The WWE really should have let him be the champion for a little while. Not only was he a great heel, but he was also a great technical wrestler. A match he had against Bret Hart was one of the best and it wasn't even aired on TV. Mr. DiBiase signed these 2 photos sent in care of his ministry.


I have also had my share of failures:

I was thrilled that I got this return from Richard Dreyfuss, until I saw i didn't match up with any certified autographs of his. Upon further investigation, I found out his autos in the mail are secretarial.

This one is up for debate

I have heard that these are phonies while some say that they match up with some in person autos they have seen so who knows. I need to do some further investigating to come up with my own conclusion on if they are real or fakes.

I hope to be able to show off more through the mail successes in the very near future. I have a bunch of requests still pending and I plan to send off a bunch more this weekend. Hopefully, the mail will start picking up shortly and I will have my own 7 return days as well. There is nothing like the thrill of finding one of your self stamped addressed envelopes in your mailbox. Its why I continue to send out requests and I hope you too will experiance it for yourselves. Once you get that first return, you will never stop.

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.

Spidey Shelves

Kinda behind schedule on my blogs. My internet went down for a while and I am behind on my work. So today, I thought I would let the pictures tell the story. Here are shots of my Spider-Man collection. It's not the full collection. I have some figures I haven't put up on the shelf yet, but this is most of it.

Enjoy.

Mighty Muggs Adds

With New York Comic Con 2011 a few days away, I am trying my best not to spend any money so I can blow it all at the convention. That said, A week ago, I was on shopgoodwill.com, browsing. I wasn't planning on buying anything until I saw a post that had these three Mighty Muggs. A Black Suit Spidey, a Venom and a Human Torch. I wanted to try and put together the Spidey set of Mighty Muggs as I already have the red suited one, still in the box. The auction was starting at 5.00, with 5.00 shipping. I placed a bid for 5.50, not really expecting to win. Heck, on ebay, Venom is usually a 25.00 figure. I thought what the heck.

I got an email from Goodwill a couple of days later informing me of the win. I expected to pay only 10.50, but to my surprise the total was 19.95. Apparently, there are taxes and fees placed on the winning bid. Never having bought anything from Goodwill before, I was a bit stunned. I just chalked it up to my money going to help the less fortunate, paid my bill and waited for the package which arrived today. I gotta tell you, the figures, not coming in their original boxes, were packaged great and look great in person.

Of all the Spidey villians, Venom shares the top spot with the Green Goblin. Hated the incarnation we saw in Spiderman 3, I perfer to think fondly of the Todd McFarlane version who tormented Peter Parker, wanting to eat Spider-Man's brains. As much as I like Venom, I don't have any Venon collectables...until now. I really try not to collect the villians due to space, but this Venom figure is awesome. Love that the tounge is not painted on this figure, which gives this Mugg a more demonic look.

Had to have this Spidey figure. This will look great on my Spidey shelf next to the red suit Spidey I bought a couple years ago from Toys R Us. All I need to complete the Spidey collection is the half Parker/half Spider-Man and the 2011 San Diego Comic Con Exclusive with the removeable mask. I'm hoping I can grab those at New York Comic Con. If not, there's always ebay.

Johnny Storm may be dead, but he looks pretty cool in Mugg form. This was the "throw-in" of the bunch. Not collecting anyone but Spider-Man and Batman, I'm probably going to trade this guy, although I am tempted to keep him. Again, love that the flames on his head are actually molded plastic and painted to look like he just Flamed On! Might have to think about holding on to this one...

Dispite the added costs, I'm very pleased with this purchase and would probably order through shopgoodwill.com again. I'm sorry they stopped producing these. Would have loved to have had a DC Line with a Batman made. I might actually put together the Avengers Set later on and might have done a Justice League had DC given up a licence to have them made.

Oh well, I will just enjoy the ones I have and continue on my search for the other 2 Spider-Men Mighty Muggs.

See you at New York Comic Con!

Per Request....

I got a comment from Dodgerbobble yesterday. If you don't know who he is, he writes a great Dodgers blog, I highly recommend it. Like me, he is a collector of bobble heads and asked if I picked up any new ones since I last posted.

Have I got any new bobble heads?

Well, feast your eyes on these beauties.

I realized when I downloaded the pics that it really has been a while since I posted pics of my adds. I added 9 bobble heads since I last showed any off. I will start with this Yogi Berra Bobble I won off eBay.

It was a SGA from the Columbus Clippers when they were still the Yankees Triple A team. This was given away back in 2003 and is a real beauty. I love AGP bobble dobbles.

Next I have a Tino Martinez 2002 SGA given away by the Yankees (Hal, if your reading this, please start giving away bobble heads at Yankees games again.) at the old Yankee Stadium. The give away was sponsored by Hormel as they had that summer with other bobble head give aways with the Yankees. Tino is one of my all time favorite Yankees and I had been trying to add a Tino to my bobblehead collection for quite some time. Very pleased to have it.

I also picked up a 2009 Mark Sanchez bobble head which was given away by PC Richards at a New York Jets game. Well, actually from what I have heard they gave away a certificate to go and pick the knucklehead bobble up at a PC Richards store. So, most fans would jump into their cars and race all around New Jersey/New York looking for a store that had them. Seems a funny way to have a SGA, but I'm not too familiar with NFL give aways. I have only been to one and they gave away Shrek ears cause at one point, as former head coach Herm Edwards said, they won Shrek ugly. And yes, I did wear my Shrek ears at the game, thank you very much. A Jets win over Cincinnati.

I also picked up a Ken Daneyko SGA bobble head which was given out by the Devils on Ken Daneyko Night, when they retired his number. The giveaway was at the Continental Airlines Arena, which is now called the Izod Center, which before that was the Brendan Byrne Arena. Whew! Anyways, this one was done by AGP as well, although it looks different then the others I have. I almost mistakenly took this for a Forever bobble head.

I finally was able to add the NJ Devil bobble head to my Devils collection. He was a SGA at Continental Airlines Arena back in 2003. This bobble has been wily and elusive, evading my grimy hands on more than one occasion. Usually, this is a 50-75.00 bobble head. I managed to get it for a lot lower than that. Jeez, look at my desk. I'm shocked my boss hasn't hired a maid to clean it up.

And finally, I grabbed these guys, just cause I love Marvel superheroes

Although they are plastic, I think Funko did a great job with these. I found these at a Big Lots in update NY for 5 bucks each. I couldn't resist snagging them. No Spidey though and he's my favorite superhero. Him and Batman. I did put Wolverine back. Oh well, next time Logan. Avengers, Assemble!