Couple of Movies/Shows I've Been Watching

So, a couple of my friends lent me some dvd's this past week. I had been looking for something new to watch since I just about ran through everything I own and my buddies did not disapoint.First up, we have the 1966 Filmation cartoon, The New Adventures of Superman. This show captured the essence of the character beautifuly. Everything about this show was terrific. The animation was great for it's time, the voices nailed the characters and the stories were pretty good as well. Most of the episodes revolve around Superman, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen and whomever the villian is. The villians are well represented as Lex Luthor, Brainiac, Toyman and Mr. Mxyzptlk show up as well. Superman's classic trademarks from ripping the shirt off to "Up, Up and Away" are also incorporated into the cartoon. What I loved most is Bud Collyer and Joan Alexander, who did the voices of Superman and Lois Lane in the radio show as well as those awesome Max Fleischer Superman cartoons in the 40's, both return for this series as Superman and Lois Lane respectively.

There are 36 episodes of the show on 2 disks in this collection. There is also some trailers and a documentary called Superman in 1966, which discusses the character's history up to 1966 as well as how Filmation, who never had produced any cartoons up to that point, got the rights to do Superman.

I know some of Filmation's later efforts turned out less than perfect, I think this show turned out real well and I want to see the other Filmation/DC offerings like the Aquaman and Green Lantern cartoons they produced. I'm still waiting on that Adventures of Batman cartoon show
from the 60's on DVD as well. I know the New Adventures of Batman and Robin from 1977 is out on DVD, so I will have to hunt that down.

My only question; after watching this and knowing how well Grantray-Lawrence did the Spider-Man show in 1967, you mean to tell me Grantray-Lawrence couldn't do a better job with The Marvel Super-Heroes show?



Then I got to watch The Spirit. I wasn't expecting much out of this movie, but it was better than I expected. Frank Miller is quickly turning into one of my favorite directors. His use of imagry in this movie should leave no one who seen 300 or Sin City shocked. The writing was pretty good and acting was ok. I thought Sam Jackson's Octopus was a little over the top, but that's to be expected.

I never read a Spirit comic, so I don't know how well this movie holds up to Wil Einser's character, but I enjoyed it and will probably add it to my superhero movie collection. And Eva Mendes, Va Va Voom!

So, if you have some down time, I suggest you give these DVD's a shot. They may not be Sense and Sensibilty, but you will have fun watching them. Pass the popcorn and don't skimp on the butter.

Retro Action Batman

Well, I finally pulled the trigger on this figure. After seeing him in various stores and scoffing at the 20.00 + price tag, I grabbed him for the Batman collection and I'm glad I did.

I havent taken him out of the package yet. I'm loving the Mego-like bubble on card package this came in.

Once he does come out, he's going to look great next to my original Mego Batman. Too bad they halted production on these figures. I would have loved a Robin, Joker, Riddler and Catwoman to go along with this one.

Gotta go back and get Superman next.

Free To Be...You And Me

If you were a child of the 70's, you surely remember this special.

I ran across it on youtube and was attacked by the memories of watching this special as a young kid. Hope you have fond memories of it as well.

Probably My Favorite Pick Up of 2011

Anyone who knows me, knows that one of my all time favorite TV shows is the 1966 Batman series, Starring Adam West and Burt Ward. I'm not old enough to have watched the show during it's original run, but got the chance to see it on reruns here in New York City as a kid in the 70's. As a kid, I would run around in a blue towel with a Batman mask I made out of construction paper and rubber bands, fighting imaginary villians, screaming BAM! POW! ZAP! with each punch thrown (note to all, rubber bands hurt). And the Batman toys I got as a kid. Mego, AHI, Remco, and Corgi toys all filled my toy chest. God, I wish I still had them.

As an adult, I grew to love the show even more with it's campy humor and colorful villians and hilarious dialogue. Things like, "Some days, you just can't get rid of a bomb." or "Catwoman, you're not a nice person!" still crack me up to this day. A lot of ex-girlfriends never got my love for the series...which is why they are ex's.

When I started collecting, one of the things I wanted was a 12 inch Adam West Batman figure. None of the toy companies were making one and I had no talent to pull off one on my own. I certanly couldnt afford one of the customs people were churning out, so all I could do was drool over collector's Adam West figure.

One day, I recieved an email from someone over at 66batman.com, which is a message board that is all 1966 Batman. The gentleman let me know he had recently purchased an upgrade over the Adam West figure he has and was looking to sell the other. He asked if I was intrested in it. Was I?? Um, was Uma Thurman dreadful in Batman and Robin? (the answer is yes, dear reader) We worked out a deal and I received my Adam West Batman figure.

Take a look at this figure

These pictures do not do the figure justice. The paint job is insane. The customizer used high end materials and the likeness to Adam West is uncanny. I am so pleased to have this figure in my Batman collection. Maybe one day, I can add a Burt Ward and some villians. This is definately the centerpiece to my Batman collection.



Let's see if I can top this in 2012

2012 Goals...Collecting-wise

Hey Everyone,

First off, I'd like to wish everyone a Happy belated New Year. I hope everyone had a safe and happy holidays. The month of December was crazy busy for this sexy geek, which explains the lack of postage from me. So, my list of 2012 Collecting goals are a bit late, but here they are nonetheless:

1-Card Collecting goals:

My card collection has gotten a bit out of hand. I have boxes upon boxes of unorganized madness, so I have decided a couple of things:

A-Concentrate On The Team Sets.

First and Foremost, I want to try to have as many complete Topps teams sets as possible, especially with my Yankees and Jets collections. My Yankees team sets are as complete as you can get from 1972 on. I might be missing a card here and a card there, but those sets are pretty complete. For the Yanks, I would like to concentrate on the years I'm missing. Of course, there will be cards I won't be able to pick up, like a Mantle or Berra or Ford or Maris, as my budget will be tighter this year, so unless I get a steal or a well loved card, my sets will be missing those key players for a while.

As far as the Jets go, this should be an easier task. Namath is really the only big name player in any older set and I can live without a Namath in my sets. My Jets team sets are nowhere as complete as my Yankees are, so persuing those sets are one of my top goals.

B-Forgo Game Used Cards.

I can't begin to tell you how much I have spent in the past on a blah game used card. I decided that unless the card is too good to pass or it's an awesome patch card, I will not be picking up a lot of game used this year.

C-Inserts, Inserts, Inserts.

I love these cards, especially inserts from the 90's sets. I am building binders full of these beautiful cards and will continue to do so in 2012.

2-Get Back Into Autographing:

The last year or two, my TTM'ing has gone down significantly. My thoughts were, why take the time and effort to find/make a card, write a letter and wait x amount of days for it to possibly return signed when I can just go on ebay and buy it, certified.

Well, my budget has dictated that if I want to continue to collect autographs, I'm going to have to go a cheaper route and that is TTM's or free signings. I have a lot of cards that I could put into use instead of them just sitting in a shoe box marked doubles. Time to whip out the pen and buy a roll of forever stamps.

Plus, there are projects I want to start. I'd like to go after wrestlers TTM, or try and put together a signed set of cards from a couple of my favorite teams, like the 1996 Yankees or work on a multi signed 8x10.

3-Read The Older Comics:

In 2011, I bought and read the Marvel Essentials Vol. 1's of Iron Man and The Avengers. Obviously, buying vol 2's are in order. I have also been collecting the Essential Amazing Spider-Man and reading those. I think I am at Vol 4, so I need to get the others this year.

I also would like to pick up the Essential Captain America, Hulk and Fantastic Four at some point. Since I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas, if I can get those digitally, even better.

4-Continue My Spider-Man/Batman Collections:

2011 saw me reembrace my inner geek when I started to pick up pieces here and there. I was buying figures, comics, t-shirts. Pretty much, anything I could get my hands on, I got. There was, and still is a limit to what I would get. I didn't want to buy a Polar Suit Spidey, complete with whale skin winter jacket or an Aqua Dive Batman, with green camo suit and bubble helmet. Nope. If the figure didn't come in the actual outfit, I wasn't buying it. I also did not really pick up any figures of the rouges gallery for Spidey or Bats, although I do have a few cool Venom's, Goblin's and Joker's in the collection. That might change this year, depending on space.

I do have certain things I'd like to pick up or continue to collect. I made some progress in my goal of collecting as many Amazing Spider-Man comics, issues 1-200, as well as Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man. I'd like to continue hunting down isses I need in 2012. I would like to start a Batman or Dectective Comics collection as well. Reason I have not started a Batman comic collection is $$$. Most of the older Batman comics are way out of my price range. But, the more I think about, with my Spider-Man comics, if the condition is decent or I can get a great deal, why not start Batman?

Figure-wise, I would love, love, love to grab the Hot Toys Spidey or Batman figures, especially the Michael Keaton one. Looking forward to the Captain Action Spidey re-release as well. I also need to go back and pick up some figures I am missing as well, so more comic shows, toy shows, flea markets and thrift store visits for me in 2012.

5-Fill other Holes/Start Other Collections:

I haven't really added to my Beatles, KISS, Back To The Future, Monkees collections in a while. There are things that I would love to grab, like the KISS: Alive box set or the Beatles Cartoon Series box set. I have been looking for decent prices on these, but I might have to suck it up and pay the prices I have seen on ebay/conventions if I really want them in my collections. I am also looking forward to Mattel's Back To The Future line coming out this year. I haven't heard or seen anything about them, so I hope the set hasn't been cancelled. If so, I will just grab the delorans I have seen or rebuy the BTTF Part 2 card set I used to have.

Been wanting to start a Avengers/Justice League figure set as well. I love the Classic Avengers box set I have seen and I'm kinda kicking myself for not grabbing it when I first seen it. I am just not thrilled with the 3 3/4 size of the figures, as well as the Marvel Universe figures. I had heard that the Marvel figures will be back to the 6" to 8" scale we have known and loved before, so I should be happy with that.

I would also love to pick up the Christopher Reeves/Michael Keaton/Linda Carter statues I have been seeing as well.

6-Have fun.

That, my friends, is what collecting is all about. I had a blast with it in 2011 and 2012 will be no diffrent for me. That, is a promise.

Wish List Part 3-Star Wars

Like most of you out there, I am a Star Wars nut. I love the movies and will love nothing more than to throw on the movies over a tub of popcorn and just morph into geek mode. I'm old enough to have seen the original trilogy in the theathers on their first runs. My first memory of Star Wars was walking into the Lowes Paradise on the Grand Concourse in the middle of the movie (you were allowed to walk to see the movie whenever you got there). I remember just standing in the aisle, looking at the huge screen and seeing the Millenium Falcon being dragged into the Death Star. My poor mom, I made her sit through 3 viewing of the movie. My younger sister? She fell asleep before the end of the first showing?? I mean, how the hell do you fall asleep during a piece of cinematic genuis like Star Wars. I still bug her to this day over it. Star Wars was da bomb, Christmas Special aside.

Like most kids, I went all ga ga over the toys Kenner put out. I wanted to have everything. Of course, as I mentioned earlier, it was not to be. I had some things, but not everything like my bratty cousin did. I wish I still had my Star Wars stuff, but alas, my sis made sure of that. I used to play Barbie skydive, which pretty much was me throwing her Barbies, Strawberry Shortcake and Raggedy Ann stuff out of our 6th floor window. Once she got wind of it, I never saw my beloved figures ever again.

Now, my Star Wars collection is currently non exsistant, save for a few things. I am starting to get back into collecting Star Wars only now. I always thought there was too much merchandise, why bother to collect. Then I figured that I would only collect the main characters from the original trilogy. No Episodes 1-3 for me, thank you very much. Give me Luke, Han, Leia, Chewie, Vader, Fett and the 2 droids any day. So, once I started thinking, I narrowed my must have five items to these choice items:

1-Escape From Death Star Game

Had this game as a kid and loved it. The object of the game was to escape from the trash compactor and make it back to the rebel base first by picking up good force/bad force cards. This was a cool game to have and I would love to be able to get it again

2-Darth Vader Action Figure Carrying Case

I had this:

Then my mom smartened up and got me this:

Loved it. I kept all my figures inside this huge chunk of plastic with Darth Vader staring right back at me. Now, as a Jets fan, I see him and I see an obnoxious Oakland Raiders fan staring back at me, but I can deal with having this back in my collection. I would also love to add the C3pO Carrying Case from Return Of The Jedi as well

3-Kenner 12 inch figures

I had both the Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader 12 inch figures. I was having them square off long before they actually did in Empire Strikes Back. Both came with lightsabers and Luke had the grappling hook as well. I would have still had these if it wasnt for a bully at school beating the crap out of me and taking them away. I wish I can say I got him back, but I never did.

I do have the Luke re-issue 12 inch and I love it. Would love to get these, but I think they're a pretty penny. I might look into the Collector's Editions. That Boba Fett is kick ass.

4-Vehicles

I currently have a Tie Fighter, thanks to my buddy, who gave it to me as a gift. The original box is falling apart, but all the pieces are intact. Once I get a place to display, I will be taking it out of the box. Would love to add the following

X-Wing Fighter At-At

This thing was ginormous! I remember my cousin having this and never letting near it.


Landspeeder

And the ship that needs to me in every Star Wars collection, the Millenum Falcon

These toys were awesome. Big, but awesome.

5-Death Star Playset

Remember yesterday when I said that I had one other holy grail? Well, this is it. This piece of awesomeness is the Death Star Playset. 4 levels of plastic/cardboard goodness. A working trash compactor, a working elevator, a missle launcher at the top and a retractable bridge to enact that famous scene when Luke and Leia swing accross the bridge. (We won't talk about the kiss either). As a kid, this was the thing I wanted most in the world, but never got. I think I would put this as my number one holy grail item. I mean, this thing is freaken sweet!

Before I wrap up, I want to take this opportunity to wish the Vets out there a Happy Veteran's Day. Thank you for protecting us and helping keeping it free so us geeks can create blogs to write about toys we have/had/wish we had. May the force be with you all.

Wish List Part 2-The Batman

After Spidey, the character I collect the most of is The Batman. As much as I love the Adam West Batman or the Batman of today, the one I grew up with is the Neil Adams/Superfriends Batman. 4 of the 5 items I will prestent from my wish list are from the 70's and 3 were made by Mego. Again, these are in no particular order.

1-Remco Bat CSF Copter

As a kid, I spent hours playing with this awesome toy. It was a helicopter with Batman stickers on it, attached to a pole, which was attached to a base. It came with cardboard cut outs of villians like Joker and Riddler as well as a small building. All of which got destroyed in no time. I then used it with my Megos and other toys. I do remember trying to lift my plastic General Lee car with it, which resulted in an epic failure.

2-Mego Bat Lab

Honestly, to me, nothing screams Mego than Batman. Mego made so many things for the Caped Crusader to use in his adventures against crime. One of my favorite pieces was this Bat Lab. I remember seeing the commercials for it and begged my mom for one. Of course, I got something else instead. Not sure what it was, but I'm sure I had just as much fun with it. The van also came with a basket attached to a pole for catching crooks and bringing veggies or laundry back to Wayne Manor.

3-Mego Batman Command Console Probably the single coolest looking toy I ever owned as a kid. Look at this thing. A mini bat computer that flashed lights and picked up CB Radio signals. Of course, you couldnt talk back to anyone, but still, this thing was awesome looking and would look great in any Batman collection.

4-Batman Hand Puppet

So nice, I showed it twice. Well, it was an accident and I didnt know how to remove the 2nd pic. But it's still cool nonetheless. Other than the Soaky bottle, this is the one piece I will go out of my way to acquire for my Batman collection. Ideal came out with it in 1966, after the success of the Adam West show. Real nice piece.

5-Mego Wayne Foundation

Theres Something about this cardboard/plastic monstrosity that makes me drool. Aside from one other toy that I will mention in another blog, this would be my holy grail. Another piece of Mego goodness that I never owned, but am dying to have in my collection. Not quite sure how I would display it, but rest assured, I would figure something out. One of the more expensive Batman pieces, I rarely see this on ebay for anything less than 300.00.

I really believe Batman had some of the more cooler looking toys. Batmobiles, walkie talkies, costumes, etc. Whatever your budget is, there is something Bat-related you can find. Happy hunting.