HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

I have a lot to publish in the upcoming days...I've been busy lately, so might as well start fresh with the new year tomorrow.

In the meantime, if you are out partying tonight....don't go to Tech Noir on Peco St. in LA.

League Assignment: The Art of Scott C. - It's soooooooooooo good.

This week’s League of Extraordinary Bloggers Assignment: It’s soooooooooooooo good.

I try and focus on toys for obvious reasons, but today I will go off into another realm, which is the art of Scott C., also known as the Great Showdowns (http://greatshowdowns.com/).

If I am not mistaken, I first saw the Great Showdowns in an article in the premiere issue of Brian’s Cool and Collected. The Great Showdowns are a collection of watercolor paintings by Scott C. that showcases conflicts between people or entities in our favorite movies. So there is a great pop culture reference their which drives a lot of our toys. 

The paintings are simple and very….friendly. Each antagonist or protagonist always has a smiley face, no matter how villainous or diabolical they are.

I purchased his first book months ago after reading the C&C article but never had time to peruse it. 

Those of you with 3^rd graders will understand. I finally through it in my bag and looked at it at lunch yesterday at work. They were soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good.

I immediately ordered Return of the Great Showdowns and also found the website.

I’ll be honest, there are a few movies I can’t place and Scott won’t reveal them on the website. I can sometimes catch the movie title from the  Tumblr comments which are difficult to read. That’s what makes it so much fun,…seeing which movies you know, and which are a little harder to determine.

Here are some of my favorites. As you can see, the conflict is not always man against man – it is definitely man against nature at times.

SDCC 2013 Star Wars Black Series Boba Fett Exclusive with Han Solo in Carbonite

The Star Wars toy manufacturers tends to launch a new series of product each year at San Diego Comic Con. Much like the Gentle Giant Jumbo Kenner Boba Fett unveiled a few years back, Hasbro used SDCC to unveil the new 6 inch Black Series figures.

This exclusive came with Boba Fett, a ton of his gear and an exclusive Han Solo in Carbonite. The packaging was phenomenal...simple, and sleek. The black box also had a slip cover. While the exclusive sold for $100 at the convention, and peaked around $200 at the secondary market, many online retailers like Big Bad Toy Store have it on sale for around $80. Not sure if it is missing any SDCC identifiers on it, but who cares. It is a great piece and worth the price.

ERTL Cannonball Run

I loved the Cannonball Run movie as a kid when it came out. Can't believe it was way back in 1981 when it was released. To this day, I have a burning desire to drive cross country in a race as fast as I can.

Looking at IMDB, I realized that I had forgotten what a great cast it was - Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Sammy Davis Jr, Adrienne Barbeau, Farrah Fawcett, Dean Martin, Terry Bradshaw and Jackie Chan. Outstanding!

Anyway, I remember riding my bike to the local 7-11 to get the ERTL Cannonball Run "matchbox" cars. They included Burt Reynolds and Dom Deloise's Ambulance, Jamie Farr's "Sheik" Rolls Royce, the Hawaiin Tropic car, and Sammy Davis Juniors Ferrari. There is also a brown Porsche but not sure whose it is - is it the two ladies? I'll have to rewatch the film. Anyway, I recently purchased the Rolls Royce.

And here are some more I pulled off of Ebay.

Austin Miniatures Western Figures

I've posted before about my love of "army men playsets" from Marx, Barszo (www.barzso.com), Conte (www.conteco.com) and Toy Soldiers of San Diego (www.sdsoldiers.com). But there is a new player in town.

The company is called Austin Miniatures: www.Austinminiatures.com

The first set of Cowboys can be ordered in two different colors - grey or buck skin. If you take a close look, some of these Cowboys look strangely familiar - characters from Tombstone and The Outlaw Josey Wales.

Austin miniatures also released a new set of WWII Marines - Each bag consists of 12 figures from six poses.

But the REALLY cool part of their product line is the western town buildings. Their buildings include the Two Story Saloon with Awning ($120), Two Story Saloon with Balcony ($120), Corner Building ($120), Livery ($125), Church ($120), Jail ($100), One Story Saloon ($100), General Store ($100) and Undertaker building ($100). They look awesome and they have a hefty price but look fantastic.

Star Wars The Black Series 6 Inch - Series 3

Trying to catch up, but Hasbro's 6 Inch Black Series - Series 3 has been out for a couple of months now - well, at least it is supposed to be out. I have only seen it once at retail - and that is only Obi Wan Kenobi from Revenge of the Sith. I haven't seen Bespin Luke or the Stormtrooper out in the wild yet. I likely won't. I have yet to see Boba Fett from Series 2 out in the wild. That's why I preorder from Big Bad Toy Store.

Anyway, Series 3 is a decent set. First, it has the Stormtrooper...Hasbro resisted for awhile, but it looks like they are going to start shipping 4-packs of Stormtroopers for army building. That's better than a Greedo or Slave Leia army. More on that later. Also included in Series 3 is Bespin Luke and Revenge of the Sith Obi Wan Kenobi. All three of these figures rock. I enjoyed the prequels. Didn't love them, but definitely enjoyed them. I really like Ewan MacGregor's portrayal of Kenobi. The fourth figure is a carry forward from Series 2 - Han Solo. Not sure why they picked him, but there are plenty of him hanging on the pegs.

Along with Han, there are plenty of Greedo's and Slave Leia's hanging on the pegs. Hope that doesn't discourage the big boxes from ordering future series. If the popular figures can't be found, it is a good sign that things are selling well.

Series 4 is already out - and I have possession of it. Will be posting those in the future. 

Zica Toys Six Million Dollar Man 3-3/4" Series 1

You know, if it wasn't for the League of Extraordinary Bloggers, I would hit stretches for weeks where time got away from me and I didn't post. Anyway, doing some catch up work here.

First of, there is a renaissance of sorts going on with 3-3/4" retro Kenner style figures. Super7s ReAction line is awesome...more on that later. Bif Bang Pow released their Black & White Twilight Zone figures which are fantastic as well.

The focus of this post is Zica Toys' Six Million Dollar Man Series 1. Steve Austin - astronaut - a man barely alive...yes, you know the drill - it was the intro to the awesome 70s show, starring Lee Majors.

In this series, you have Colonel Steve Austin in his red jumpsuit, blue jumpsuit variant, and Bigfoot. I remember loving the show, and I remember bigfoot. I just don't remember details. May have to binge watch in on Netflix. Anyway, here are the figures.

The knees are articulated, but the elbows are not. The figures are a lot of fun. Will have some more photos shortly of them unpackaged.

A Series 2 of six figures was scheduled which included Oscar Goldman and Barney Miller. Unfortunately, it was cancelled due to lack of preorders. Maybe they can make a smaller series with just 2-3 figures. An Oscar Goldman would be awesome. And a Jamie Summers Bionic Woman, but rumor has it, that character license belongs to a different entity and they aren't selling the rights. Bummer.

League assignment: Cryptozoology!

This week’s  League assignment: Cryptozoology!

 First question – what the hell is cryptozoology? Well, I’ll tell you what dictionary.com says:

cryptozoology
[krip-toh-zoh-ol-uh-jee]
noun
1.
the study of evidence tending to substantiate the existence of, or the search for, creatures whose reported existence is unproved, as the Abominable Snowman or the Loch Ness monster.

So what to write – well, since this is a toy blog, I asked myself….”self, what kind of toys are focused on cryptozoology.” I went to Ebay and typed in “cryptozoology.” Let’s see what happens.

Believe it or not, Mezco released a series of cryptozoology figures – big foot, mothman, and jersey devil - they are all listed between $60-75.

There was a Kickstarter campaign for an action figure line called Cryptids. Unfortunately, it wasn’t funded. It was pretty darn cool so I hope the owner of the campaign figures out how to make it a reality in the future.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1336904045/legendary-monsters?ref=nav_search

Some other ebay search results included a plush chupacabra and Loch Ness monster.

Interestingly, I liked the Cryptozoology Toob. You’ll see these in arts and craft stores like Michael’s and AC Moore, and they are small tubes with a theme of toys like dinosaurs, cowboys and Indians, etc.

Of course, Big Foot seems to have plenty of items. Most recently, the new Six Million Dollar Man figures from Zica Toys.

Before that, the Marvel Legends “Sasquatch” from Alpha Flight was always one of my favorites.

I’m sure there are more – since cryptozoology is the study of these, I will continue to do some more research.

Other Leaguers write about their studies:

Adam tracks the Chupacabra

League Assignment - TOP 10

League Assignment.

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

Top 10!

My top 10 is about my Top 10 toys as a kid that were not Star Wars or GI Joe.

10. Playskool Sesame Street blocks. Not sure why this made such an impression but I still remember it.

9. Fisher Price Sesame Street – it was just cool for a 4 year old.

8. Weebles Wobbles Treehouse – cool sculpting

7. Six Million Dollar Man Repair Station – the rubber arm skin, the bionic plates, and a repair station that turns into a rocket.

6. Giant Tinker Toys – my brother and I made more weapons with these than one can possibly imagine.

5. Big Trac – won this at my dad’s company summer picnic. Only thing I think I’ve ever won.

4. Starbird – random Christmas gift. Oh so cool.

3. Marx Navarone – Marx playsets go vertical. This one was hard to beat.

2. Mattel Shogun Rodan – random gift, and rare to boot. Today, this toy commands top dollar.

1. Mattel Shogun Godzilla – Not as rare as Rodan, but so much fun. Fist shoots off, flicking tongue, and wheels on the feet to get around. And a winning smile.

Other Leaguers!

http://knivestales.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-league-my-top-10.html 

https://goplaylisten.wordpress.com/2014/08/06/the-top-10-film-dvds-sitting-on-my-shelves/

http://goodwillhunting4geeks.blogspot.com/2014/08/league-post-top-10.html

http://ditreasures.blogspot.com/2014/08/top-10-cereals.html

http://fortuneandglorydays.blogspot.com/2014/08/this-week-league-of-extraordinary.html

http://awakeohsleeper.blogspot.com/2014/08/top-ten-movie-monsters-creatures.html

http://adamnori.com/loeb-top-10/

http://coolandcollected.com/top-10-marvel-movies/

http://poppopitstrashculture.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-league-top-ten-video.html

http://rgendres.blogspot.com/2014/08/top-10-favorite-board-games-wow-this.html

http://aeiouwhy.blogspot.com/2014/08/league-post-top-10.html

http://traveling-pics.livejournal.com/545266.html

http://superpoweredfiction.com/2014/08/10/top-ten-authors-for-super-powered-fiction-writers/

http://www.retrorobotreview.com/top-10-a-loeb-assignment/

http://adambobomb.blogspot.com/2014/08/this-weeks-assignment-for-league.html

http://traveling-pics.livejournal.com/545266.html

http://primordialbadgersmediahoard.blogspot.com/2014/08/league-assignment-top-10-g1-update.html

http://geekshowink.com/blog/?p=5085&fb_action_ids=762571120471907&fb_action_types=news.publishes&fb_ref=pub-standard