This Week's League's Assignment: Realty TV Treasure Hunters

This week's assignment from The League Of Extraordinary Blogger is a real simple one for me. The assignment:

Pawn Stars, American Pickers, Hollywood Treasure, Storage Wars, Toy Hunters, Auction Hunters, Auction Kings — the list of reality TV treasure hunting shows goes on and on. If you could spend a week with the crew from one of these shows (or one that I missed) who would it be?

I almost went with Comic Book Men on this one cause I could totally see myself hanging out with Walt, Mike, Ming and Bryan, but then I realized, this is a TV Treasure Hunters question. So, with that in mind, I'm going to go with the show about 90% of The League is probably going with

Storage Wars is the first of these Treasure Hunter shows I got hooked on and it's the one I watch still more than any of the others. I love watching to see what these guys are going to bid on, what they win and the interaction with each other. From Brandi getting pissed at Jarrod for bidding on crap to Dave and Darryl seriously disliking each other (which may or may not be real) to Barry just being Barry, which is probably my favorite part of the show.

Oh Barry, you crazy nut. From your dressing like a bum to you hiring psychics and then hiring a midget on stilts, the stuff this guy has pulled off from day one on the show, to me makes him the most intresting of the bunch. The thing I like about Barry the most is he's a collector and hunts to quench his hunger to add to his collection.

I like Darryl. He's a tough guy, but will drop words of wisdom when its needed. Like when Jarrod bought a locker with an empty safe, Darryl told Jarrod that the SAFE is what's going to make Jarrod money. Darryl knows the business and I think I could learn a lot by hanging out with him. I'd love to toss back a few beers with Darryl after as well.

Ok, Jarrod seems like he's a pretty cool guy whom I'd probably get along with well, but oh that Brandi. Hot, hot and too hot. I don't think I could hang out with them cause I would lose focus on biding on lockers cause I'd be too busy staring at Brandi. I do love Brandi for something other than her bodacious bod and it's because she found Megos. And not just any Megos, mind you. There was the expensive ones, in package or on card. I saw the expensive Catwoman, Wonder Woman, Thor, and one that is a white whale for me, a circle suit Spider-Man. Brandi, you make my heart sing.

Here's the reason why my stay on Storage Wars would be a short one. Dave Hester. His smug personality, his annoying habbit of bidding the price up and walking away just to assert his dominace and that skreeching YUPPPPPPPPPP of his. I probably would have stuffed him in a locker first show and that would have been it for me. He reminds me of too many people who think they are better then everyone else. But, then again, it might just be an act. Highly doubtful though.

As much as I would like to think the cast members would welcome me with open arms and teach me the tricks of the trade, I'd probably be viewed as just another threat or Johnny Come Lately. Therefore, I'd probably buy the worst locker there and I'd have to start my own show, "Mike's Bunch Of Crap" which would be cancelled in 2 weeks flat, leaving me in a roadside ditch.

I'll stick to watching the show at home, oggling Brandi like a dirty old man. Heh heh heh.

Take a look at some of the other members of the League's responses:

http://teamhellions.com/2012/06/17/the-league-xviii-reality-tv-treasure-hunters/

http://myeideticmemory.blogspot.com/2012/06/one-fun-week.html

http://coolandcollected.com/reality-tv-treasure-hunting-shows-starring-me-not-really/

http://haxbee.com/2012/06/13/the-league-reality-tv-treasure-hunters/

http://adamotomy.wordpress.com/2012/06/13/american-pickers-would-totally-throw-me-out/

http://www.lifewithfandom.com/2012/06/league-week-with-reality-treasure.html

http://shezcrafti.com/what-pickers-would-be-like-if-i-spent-a-week-with-the-hosts/

Super Mega Show Report

This past weekend, I attended Super Mega Show in Whippany, NJ. Adam West, Burt Ward and Lee Meriweather headlined the show and I wanted to be there. For the longest time I had wanted to start a Batman The Movie project. I never really persued it because Burgess Meredith, Cesar Romero, Alan Naiper, Neil Hamilton had already passed and I never was able to meet Frank Gorshin. When he passed, I kinda gave up on the project. Seeing that the remaining 3 were appearing got my gears turning. When I learned that there would be Bat vehicles as well as the Delorean from Back To The Future there I was sold.

My buddy George and I arrived at the Hotel the show was being held at about 9:30. As VIP ticket holders, we could enter at 9:45, but we decided to check out the vehicles and grab some grub before going in.

Check out the inside of this Batmobile

The car was signed by both Adam West and Burt Ward

The back of the car

Batcopter

Unfortunately, the Deloran never showed but that didn't damper our spirits. We were here to buy some collectables and meet the stars of Batman The Movie.

We went inside and found the stuff being sold way over priced, which was a bummer. My buddy managed to pick up a few things, but I kept it cheap. I did pick up a few things, which I'll show later.

I think Brian from Cool and Collected would have loved this poster

On Saturday, only Adam West and Lee Meriweather was appearing, so before hand I went and bought a print of the Batman The Movie poster for the three to sign. I should have checked before buying because when I was in front of Mr. West and I went to pull the poster from it's protective case I was horrfied to learn that the paper used was really flimsy, not the sturdy cardstock I was used to with these 11 X 17 prints. I was already in front and I wasn't in the mood to argue with the dealer who sold me the print, so I had Adam sign it anyway, then Lee. Both were very nice. I was a bit concerned about West as I had heard he could be a bit abrasive. But on this day, he was real cool even fist bumping my friend. Lee Meriweather was an absolute sweetheart, talking to me for a few minutes and actually taking the time to try and find a good spot to sign.

After getting the signatures we wanted (my friend also picked up Linda Thorson from the Avengers TV Show), we took another spin on the small dealer area and called it a day.

We returned Sunday for Burt Ward. Here was the line that greeted us.

Everyone got the other 2 and was back for Ward only. We waited a while and finally saw both Adam and Burt walk in together...with a few people between them. Seems that they still aren't on speaking terms. If you can see in the pic above, Meriweather sat in between them.

Ward was alo very nice. I told him I followed his Gentle Giants foundation on Twitter and he gave me the link to the website. If anyone wants it, let me know and I'll post it in the comments section. Also, the man has a firm handshake.

Again, after getting the autograph we wanted, we roamed around for a bit, then left to see the Avengers, had dinner and called it a day.

Here is the poster I got signed

Adam West's signature

Lee Meriweather

Burt Ward

Before I show off the goodies, I'd like to explain why there are no pics of the three signing the poster. I wasn't allowed to take any pictures. The show had photo ops at a certain time and that was another price on top of what you already paid for the autographs. You couldn't even step off to the side and take a pic because I heard Burt Ward was notorious for snitching and having you thrown out of the convention. As far as pics of the tables, there honestly wasn't much to show you guys.

Here's what I did pick up.

I picked up these Green Lantern and Sinestro 3 inch figures from the movie series for a buck each. I saw Killowag and forgot to go back for him.

Another dollar purchase was this Roddy Piper pin from the late 80's. I actually had this pin at one time and it got all bent out of shape as I wore it on my denim, then leather jacket. This one will stay on the card. Nice addition to the Piper PC

I remember seeing this Luke Skywalker Soakie bottle as a kid and never getting it. I love these bubble bath/shampoo bottles that are shaped like diffrent characters and if it's vintage, I love it even more. I have been looking for a 1960's Batman Soakie bottle and have been eyeballing a Superman on ebay. In fact, we saw the Superman at the show, but neither one of us was paying 100.00 bucks for it. So, for a cool ten spot, I had a vintage Luke Skywalker Soakie to add to my Star Wars PC.

This was not even picked up at the convention. After leaving Saturday, we hit a Target because I had heard the new Batman Hot Wheels were out and I want the 1966 Batcopter. Unfortunately, the Batcopter eluded me, but I picked up this Batmobile for the collection. I want an army of Batmobiles to do my bidding. Batmobiles, pick me up a cheeseburger. Batmobiles, find the remote. Well, you get the idea.

I have never been confused as a smart man. I left behind a 12 inch Chewbacca figure from 1978, complete with man purse and gun. The guy was asking 35 bucks for it. Should have grabbed it. Same dealer had a vintage 1970's Batman alarm clock that I have been wanting...since the 1970's and it still worked. He was asking 50.00 for it. I said no thanks, but was secretly hoping it would be there Sunday and I would try to barter him down to 30-35.00. But, alas, it was not there Sunday. He told me sold it right before he closed his table for the night. Again, not a smart move on my part. Oh well, theres always ebay.

To be honest, I was pretty disapointed with the show. The dealer area was very small and it was in the same room as the signings so if you were on line for an autograph, chances were you were getting bumped into by people trying to look at the tables the lines were blocking. As for the dealers, they really had nothing great. I was hoping to score a few goodies for the collections and came away with a lot less than I had hoped. The stuff that was there that I might have been intrested was way to pricey and sometimes not in the best shape for what they were asking. Some dude had a 1980's LJN Roddy Piper figure, on card and was asking 50.00 for it. Upon further inspection, you can see the face was terrible faded due to sun exposure. No thanks, Chief.

Hopefully, next years show will be better. In the meantime, I will send my Batmobiles to fetch me a pizza pie.







League Assignment: My Top Ten Favorite Movies

So, I'm sitting down at McDonald's, about to take a bite of my Quarter Pounder with Cheese and my cell phone goes off. There is a voice mail alert, so I opt to listen to it before I tear into my burger. I hear a voice, male, speaking of an assignment from the League of Extraordinary Bloggers. The recording says: "Mr. Phelps (Who's Phelps?), The past couple of weeks, you have been absent from the League. This week however, the task is a rather simple one. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, will be to list your top ten favorite movies, no matter how weird or out there they may be. This phone will self destruct in ten seconds."

11 seconds later, I and everyone else is clearing the McDonalds due to smoke and fire. Who do I send the bill to for the new phone I bought?

So, listing my ten favorite movies was a lot harder than I thought. Movies I thought would be on this list, was pushed aside for a movie I could just watch over and over again. So, I have quite the eclectic list of sci fi, comedies, dramas, classic and not so classic movies. What's weird to me personally, as much as a superhero fan I am, there is only 1 superhero movie on my list and it's not the one you think it might be.

So, with out further ado, I give you my list:

10-Mall Rats

The second of Kevin Smith's movies happens to be my favorite of his. This movie had comic book references, cookies, love lost, chocolate covered pretzles, Three's Company boobies and Stan Lee. What should have been an Academy Award winning picture instead tanked at the box office. But is now considered a cult classic and people all over are familir with the phrase, "Snoochie Boochies"

9-The Apartment

The first of 3 Jack Lemmon movies that made my list. Lemmon is one of my all time favorite actors and this movie has him at his best. In this movie, he plays C.C. Baxter, an office worker at an insurance in NYC, who allows some of his higher ups use of his apartment for their affairs. In turn, they write glowing reviews about C.C, which raise the suspicions of the personnel director, Mr. Sheldrake (Played by Fred MacMurry), who allows the promotion C.C was given to go through, provided Mr. Sheldrake is the only one using the apartment for HIS affairs. During all this, C.C is vying for the affections of Miss Kublick, played by Shirley McLaine. During the company Christmas party, C.C. accidently finds out that Miss Kublick is the one Mr. Sheldrake is seeing. Cheating husbands, corporate politics, backstabbing and Gin Rummy, aside from wonderful performances, a well written and directed movie, make this a must see movie.

8-Sunset Blvd

Another Billy Wilder movie makes my list (Wilder has 3 movies in total on my list). In Sunset Boulevard, Norma Desmond is an aging, forgotten silent movie star, who is plotting her comeback with a film she wrote. Joe Gillis is a struggling writer who accidently winds up in the employ of Norma, fixing the script she wrote. As Joe works on her script, Norma falls in love with Joe and lures him into her fantasy world that her butler, Max, helped create by writing her "fan letters" and claiming "Madame is the greatest actress who has ever lived". This movie proved to be a comeback for Gloria Swanson, who was a silent movie actress and a breakthrough role for William Holden.

7-The Odd Couple

In what would be Jack Lemmon's and Walter Matthau's second film pairing, The Odd Couple would be the one they are most remembered for. 2 divorced men, one a neat freak who is a great cook and the nicest guy and the other a slob who enjoys beer, sports and women, decide to share an apartment, but before long one gets on the other's nerves. This is also the only movie on my list that the New York Mets are featured in.

6-Superman The Movie

The only superhero movie on my list and it's not a Spider-Man or Batman film. Although The Avengers was an awesome, awesome movie, I still consider this picture to be the greatest superhero movie ever made. No one could or has played Superman as well as Christopher Reeve has. This movie is the blueprint on how to make a successful comic book movie without being too campy. Still holds up 34 years after it's release.

5-Star Wars

One of the first movies to capture my imagination as a kid. I wanted to be Luke Skywalker, battling Darth Vader, shooting at Stormtroopers, swinging Leia to saftey while learning the ways of The Force. Heck, I still want to be Luke. The bad ass Luke that is a Jedi Knight with the cool black outfit and green lightsaber he made himself because he lost his when his dad chopped off his hand during a family spat. That actually sounds more like a Montell Williams special rather than one of the many plots of arguably, the greatest Sci-Fi franchise ever, with apologies to all you Trekies.

4-Some Like It Hot

Ok, ok. I promise this is the last time you will see Jack Lemmon or a Billy Wilder movie on this list. But really, this movie, even today, is just so funny. Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis are so funny together that one wonders why they never made another picture together. Marilyn Monroe is soooooooo hot in this movie and plays the dumb blonde so well. This is one of those movies I can just watch over and over again.

3-A Hard Days Night

The Beatle-maniac in me loves this movie. It had catchy tunes, funny moments and who knew the Beatles could pull off a feature film and pull it off so well. What was billed as a "Day In The Life of The Beatles" was more like a Marx Brothers movie with a Rock n Roll soundtrack and British accents. Wilfrid Brambell, who plays Paul's Grandfather almost steals the show. All four Beatles have their moments in the spotlight as they encounter advertising exectutives, neurotic television directors, fans, their manager and grumpy train passengers. To me, the best Rock n Roll movie ever made.

2-Pride Of The Yankees

Yep, any chance I get to slip my Yankees into my blog I will take. But seriously, if you have not seen this movie, you need to be hit. Hit hard with a blunt object. This movie, as Triple H might say, it's that damn good. So good that I was toying with the idea of making this my favorite movie of all time. Gary Cooper is spectacular as Lou Gehrig, the iconic Yankee who ultimately dies of ALS, or to what's commonly called these days as Lou Gehrig's Disease. The movie follows Gehrig from his childhood days in NY, his college days, where he looks like an older Gary Cooper, to his days as a Yankee and ends with his famous speech at Yankee Stadium. Babe Ruth, Bill Dickey, Mark Koenig and Bob Meusel are former Yankee teamates of Gehrig's who play themselves in the movie. Teresa Wright shines as Elenor Gehrig as well as Elsa Janssen and Ludwig Stossel as his parents. The movie does take some Hollywood liberties, but it's still a touching story of a remarkable baseball player and an even more remarkable human.

1-Back To The Future

Ok, maybe this movie is not as good as some I have previously mention. Maybe it's not as well recieved or won as many awards. Who cares?? It's my list and I say it's my all time favorite movie. It has all the elements of a great movie: Comedy, skateboarding, a love story, music, conflict and the best looking time machine ever invented. This was the movie I drove my family crazy watching on the old VHS machines that doubled as the family car. I watched over and over and over again. I was careful not to break the tape as a movie back then cost a lot more than they do now. I was in Jr High at the time and started skateboarding to school cause Marty did it, even though I was never really any good at it and almost killed myself going down a huge hill near where I lived. I wish Universal would revive this franchise somehow ( an animated feature with the original actor's voices perhaps?) and Mattel, where the heck are our Back To The Future toys?? I can't get enough of this movie. In fact, I want to watch it right now, never mind the fact that it's 2 am and I have work in the morning.

So, that's my list. Check out the other League members lists and see how they stack up to mine or even yours

http://coolandcollected.com/the-league-of-extraordinary-bloggers/league-members/

All comments are appreciated. I'd love to know what your list is, so leave it in the comments section. It may not be the best list, but it's my list, all mine! Mwhahahahahaha!

Finally, A Yankee Bobblehead SGA

When I heard the Yankees were having a bobblehead give away this season, I was beside myself. As The Rock might say, "Finally, Boobleheads Have Come Back To Yankee Stadium!" I  started the bobblehead collecting only a year ago, long after the Yankees stopped giving them out. The Yankee Legends bobbles were given out at Columbus Clipper games while the Yankees just stuck with the current player.

But on Wed, Sept 19th at 7:05pm, against the Blue Jays, The Yankees will be giving away a Snoopy Bobblehead, sponsored by MetLife. The Yankees just released a picture of it this past weekend. The booble looks like the one given away by the San Fransisco Giants, last year I think. The bat is magnetic, so it comes out of Snoopy's paw.

I do like the fact they painted him in the blue Yankee batting practice jersey, with home pinstripe pants and black shoes. He has the Joe Cool look with the sunglasses and Yankee cap. The past few years, The Yankees have been giving out plush Snoopy dolls, so this is a fantastic replacement to that.

I am definately looking forward to the give away and will be buying my ticket in advance and taking the day off work. You can bet there will be a lot of ebay'ers lining up early  as the bobblehead is limited to the first 18,000 fans in attendence. If the Snoopy bobbles given away by the Giants went for a lot on ebay, you can bet that this one might sell for as much, maybe more.

This bobblehead would look great in my collection alongside my custom Woody Yankee bobble and my Mickey Mouse Yankee All Star Statue. I hope the Yankees give away Charlie Brown and Lucy as well in the upcoming seasons to complete the collection.

Recent TTM's

 The past week, about 4 of my TTM requests came back signed. 3 that I'm thrilled to get back and 1 that came back damaged. Let's get right into it.

Barbara Eden signed 2 photos for me in just about a month's time. As a kid, I was a huge fan of I Dream Of Jeannie and watched it whenever it was on. Plus, I had a huge crush on Jeannie and often wished I was Major Tony Nelson. Of course, my young mind didn't get that the show was not first run and had been off the air for about 6 to 7 years at that point, but I didn't care. I needed my Jeannie fix. I later watched Eden in Harper Valley PTA, but to me, she will always be Jeannie.

This just arrived today. Mort Walker signed and sketched Beetle Bailey for me on my sketch card. This took under a week and I'm thrilled to get it back. I grew up, just like most of you reading Beetle Bailey or Hi and Lois in the newspapers. I still read Beetle Bailey to this day. I almost asked for Sarge, but I think Beetle was the wa to go.

I am a huge Kevin Smith fan. Seen just about all his films, save for Zach and Muri and Red State. I've read most of the comics he's written and I listen to his podcasts. I knew at some point I had to find a way to add him to my collection. I was in Nyack, NY at a comic store and found an issue of Evil That Men Do and bought it for a quarter, specifically to send it out. I also had him sign my Clerks dvd insert. At some point, I do want to buy a signed movie poster from Jay and Slent Bob's Secret Stash and start an autograph project. Just trying to figure out which movie.

And here is the disapointing return. I got Yankees pitcher David Phelps to sign 2 photos in under a week, right before they left on their current west coast road trip. I noticed the envelope was real dirty. when I opened it, I saw the pics and was upset. If you look closely, the color seems off on them and in the top one, it seems "streaked". The backs of these pictures were also dirty. I'm wondering if they got trampled on at some point and the fronts got dirty. I'm hoping it's not the paper I used. I usually use Staples photo paper, but Staples had a sale on HP paper, buy one get one free and I stocked up. Lets see if the others in this batch come back the same way. I'll have to get another request out to Phelps sometime soon.

I will be getting another batch of requests out this week. Hope this short week has a lot of great returns stuffing my mailbox.

5/26/2012-Rusty Staub Bobblehead Day

So, yeah. I went to Citi Field again for another Mets bobblehead. I just can't resist a bobblehead, especially if its free. I may not root for the team, but I will display the bobblehead with the other Mets bobbles I already have.

It was a beautiful day for baseball. 80 degrees and sunny. I got to the ballpark to meet my buddy at 10:45 am and got on line. I decided to wear my Jets Neil O'Donnell jersey. I was going to wear my Red Devils Marty Brodeur tshirt to celebrate my Devils making their 5th trip to the Stanley Cup Finals, but I was "advised" not to. When I saw the first 5 Devils tshirts at the game, I kind of regretted the decision. But I had a steady flow of Jets fans complement the jersey. Whenever I go to a Mets game, I always wear a Jets jersey or t shirt because I still remember going to my first Jets game as a kid at Shea and I wear Jets gear to celebrate that.

I had never been to the Pepsi Porch before, so I went to watch a bit of batting practice up there

No balls were hit up there this time, so after an hour, my friend and I went down to hang out a little. Former Met Art Shamsky was signing in the Verizon Area. I wasn't aware of the signing and left the Mets 50th anniversry 8x10 at home, so I didn't wait on line for the auto.

As for the game, Johan Santana pitched a complete game  4 hit shutout as the Mets beat the Padres 9-0 behind home runs by Scott Hairston, Vinny Rottino and a grand slam from Mike Nickeas. During whch, I ate a Tex Mex Burger, Ice Cream and drank a bud and 2 sodas. Yep, quite the fatty. I will be paying for this on the treadmill this week.

Now on to the bobblehead.

Up first is the box, with 2 vintage shots of Staub on the box.

Now the bobblehead. The paint job isn't the greatest, but it's still a pretty nice bobblehead. I think Rusty is wearing one of the Mets road uni's from the 70's/80's. I want to say late 70's because it would keep with the theme of picking Staub for the Met of the 70's bobblehead.

Again, I think it's a pretty nice bobblehead, sponsored by Geico. I just think there were other Mets they could have given this slot to like Tug McGraw or Jerry Koosman.

The next Mets bobblehead give away is of Keith Hernandez. Not sure I will make that one. But knowing me, I will try to make it, I might try to complete the set just for the heck of it. There is no pic of the bobble up on the Mets website just yet, but I'm sure it will be a nice one. I just hope it has Mex wearing the blue Mets road tops instead of the ugly Mets home unis that had the racing stripes going down the sides.

I do have an extra for trade. I found an extra that was left behind. People were also leaving these on the staircase bannisters, but without the bat, so I let my buddy grab those. If intrested, let me know in the comments section. I'm looking for Yankees, Jets, Devils, Knicks, Mascots and HOF player bobbleheads. Would consider a superhero figurine as well.