Funko Pop Comikaze Exclusive Peter Parker Vinyl

I remember seeing this cover as kid and ever since then I have been fascinated by Peter Parker unmasked as Spider-Man. Some of my favorite Spider-Man stories have Spidey unmasked for one reason or another. Like when Parker caught a 24 hour flu in Amazing Spider-Man #12 and lost all his strength. He went to fight Dr. Octopus anyway because he had kidnapped Betty Brant and Peter felt like he had to save her. Because of the flu, Parker was over whelmed and unmasked. Luckily, Doc Ock thought that Parker was masquerading as Spider-Man and threw him aside.

Or probably the most famous Spider-Man unmasking, which occured in issue #39. That is the issue when the Green Goblin discovers Spider-man's true identity, with the help of a gas that dulled Spider-Man's spider sense. He didn't know he was being followed after a fight with some crooks on the observation deck of the Empire State Building, where one of the crooks, who was hired by the Goblin, threw the gas at Spider-Man. Afterward, Goblin followed Spidey and saw him change back into Peter Parker and followed him to his house. After a fight on Parker's lawn, he was subdued, roped up and dragged away by the Goblin. Also in this issue, we discover that the Goblin is Norman Osborne. (SPOILER ALERT!)

Now, ever since I found out that Funko was releasing a Unmasked Spider-Man POP Vinyl, I knew I had to have one. The fact that it was a Comikaze exclusive and that Comikaze was taking place in Los Angeles and I'm a New Yorker was irrelevant to me.I was either going to get this on eBay or I would fly out to the con and get one myself, which is just what I did.

Only the Hot Topic booth was selling this figure, a fact that I didn't know until I was at the con for about an hour and after going to booth after booth looking for one. Lucky for me, one of the dealers told me where to find one.

The first thing is the packaging. One of the things I love about the boxes is the drawing of the figure you're getting on the bottom left. The drawing on this one is very well done as usual. The coloring pops off the package. We also have the usual clear cellophane that shows off the figure as well as the number on the top and the name of the figure on the bottom.

There's the sticker that proclaims this as a Comikaze exclusive. I've said it once and I'll say it again, management needs to think of a better logo than that octopus.

As usual, the back of the box shows off the other POP's in this line. Now, if I wasn't just strictly collecting Batman and Spider-Man, I might grab that Ghost Rider POP because it looks awesome. I also like the Dr. Doom and Silver Surfer. I know that Deadpool POP is going to be a popular one as well.

Now, as much as I like the sculpting on this figure, what jumps at me right away is the paint job. The black on his boots are all over the place. I love that he is looks like he is about to spin a web and Parker has been de-masked,  but that paint job on the boots just irritates me.

The back of the figure doesn't get any better. There are white spots galore on his left hip and left shoulder area. And the boots are pretty funk-a-fied on the back as well. Unlike myself, there is not a spot of white on Parker's hair. As if being Spider-Man isn't enough for me to be jealous of Parker.

One thing I remember, there was a dispute if POP made any bobbleheads and sure enough, this one is a bobblehead. I also see that Parker has been branded. I need to find out what that marking on the bottom of his foot his. I am not sure if any of my other POP's have a number on the bottom of their feet. Again, the boots are a complete mess. It looks like Spidey has been hanging out in the mud pits over at Lallapalooza instead of fighting crime.

Overall, this is could have been a fantastic figure had it not been for the paint job on it. Somewhere, a painter is getting destroyed by his boss so bad that he is shrinking into his beret and rightfully so. There is no excuse for a company to have released a figure so badly painted as this one was. I just hope that anyone else who managed to pick one of these up has a better painted figure than the one I got. I'm still going to display this next to my regular Spider-Man POP, but man, it should have been painted better.

I'm pretty sure you guys are getting tired of reading POP reviews and I promise this one will be the last review for a bit. I can't promise you how long because I am addicted to these little guys. They're inexpensive and look great displayed. Plus, there are others I will be picking up, but in the meantime, I will be reviewing other stuff and discussing other topics for the foreseeable future. But, I dare you to try walking past these at Barnes N Noble, Toys R Us or any other of your fine retail stores. They are like Lays potato chips. Once you get one, you just can't stop. I dare you to try.

Ahh, I Love The Smell Of Old Comic Books In A Small Hotel Conference Room

Today my buddy, George and I decided to go out on a hunt for comic books. And not just any comics. We wanted old, cheap books to read. The kind of book that was read and re-read a few times before I got my grubby mitts on it. Luckily, George knew where we could find books like these. At a good old fashioned comic book marketplace.

At a Holiday Inn at Hasbrouck Heights, NJ there was a comic book marketplace that I believe is held a few times a year. It was one of those marketplaces that was held in a room where you walked in the front door and fell out the back window. Where people battled for elbow room and to check out boxes and boxes of comic books.

And I loved it.

My game plan going in was to go for books I just wanted to read. I wasn't looking for high dollar items. Just books to read and to fill holes in my collection until I can upgrade them. I also did not want to spend a whole lot of money either. Lucky for me, at a comic book marketplace there are a ton of books that could be had for very little.

After looking at the dollar and 4 for a dollar boxes, I came away with a ton of books. Now, the condition of these books are not the greatest, which is to be expected in dollar boxes. That said, I think I came away with some nice books. I will split the haul over the next couple of days as I don't want to write up a long, boring blog. I will have the next few days to do that. What? I keed. I keed.

I'm trying to put together a complete Run of Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man. I would love a complete Amazing Spider-Man run as well as Batman, but with those titles, you're running into high dollar books that I will never be able to afford. Peter Parker was one of the first comic books I read as a kid because I dug the picture of Peter Parker pulling on his Spidey mask in the upper left corner of the comic, so I want to put that series together. Here are some PPTSM books I grabbed:

I cannot wait to start reading these books. Spider-Man is one of my very favorites and is always a good read no matter what title he is in. I also plan to start a Web Of Spider-Man collection when I can as that title was one of my favorites in the 80's. There was a ton of Web at the show, but I left those behind. Next time.

I bought home more Spidey, but I'll save those for the next blog. Stay tuned.