Buckland Hills Mall and Maine Mall in Portland

With snow coming tomorrow, we decided to head back to Maine this evening. But we had a busy day planned before that. My mom had a doctor's appointment in Glastonbury which is just outside of Manchester, so me, Jaime and my parents left in the morning for Mom's appointment, my sister was working. I had read about a couple comic shops in the Glastonbury area, but the one I really wanted to go to was closed, maybe we were there too early, they had no hours listed. But we stopped at a Goodwill, nothing, and Omni Cards and Collectibles which was more of a sports collectibles store, really big though. I stopped at a pawn shop next door and almost bought an open box set of Lord Of The Rings figures but I had almost all of the figures already so passed on it, it was $30. Last year I would have grabbed it but I got the remaining figures I needed since then. I would have just been getting it for the display box which I honestly have no room for.

Then we ate at Red Lobster and went to the Buckland Mall. We stopped at the old Toys R Us plaza where there was a pop up toy/Halloween shop in its place. Their stuff was on clearance but nothing I needed, kind of cool place though. Nothing good at Game Stop. Five Below was wiped clean, except they were far from clean, I don't think anyone's picked up that store in weeks, it was completely trashed. They almost had some good stuff, the right series but the figures I wanted were gone, no WWE Retros unfortunately. I read online recently that Five Below was carrying Retro Series 5 (Macho Man and the three New Day members) but by the looks of it, if they did, they sold out already. They had one pack of WWE Muscle figures but no one I wanted in it, a couple WWE Mutants, ugh, why, and one WWE Diva Superstar figure but it was Natalya so nope. Why couldn't it have been Sasha Banks or Alexa Bliss? I almost got an Elite Alexa next door at Big Lots for $10 but I ended up putting it back, it wasn't all that great of a figure and I really don't need it.

I looked around the mall, actually walked the whole thing for once, while Jaime read in Barnes & Noble and my parents waited in the car to avoid the crowds, that place was packed. The FYE there is gone but there was a toy store in its place, some pretty cool figures but way overpriced, even at 30% off. They did have GI Joe vs Transformers blind pack figures but I wasn't too impressed with the pictures so decided against getting them. Nothing good at Go Toys & Games, Game Stop or Newbury Comics. But Hot Topic had the MOTU Loyal Subjects exclusives, and they were on sale for buy 1 get 1 30% off or something like that. They had the Battle Armor Skeletor I wanted so I grabbed him and a blind box figure which turned out to be Mer-Man so not bad. I really wanted a Sorceress though. The Skeletor is awesome and I love that I can leave him in package or easily take him out and put him back in whenever I want, great design feature. Then I got my Cajun Cafe for the road and we headed out. Even without KB Toys and Toys R Us, it's good to have so many places that still carry action figures.

On our way home we had just enough time to stop in Portland and get some Arbys. I checked Hot Topic while I waited for the food, last customer served, they close at 8:30 on weekdays, not 9:00, same with some of the other restaurants in the food court. Hot Topic had Battle Armor Skeletor but no Sorceress, now that I know I can pop open the mystery figs I did, but it was just a Mer-Man and two Fistos.

Then we rushed over to Five Below which is in a different plaza. They had a lot more toys at this one, smaller section but not as picked over. Still no WWE Retros. They had quite a few WWE figures though, even those NXT Target exclusives, but nothing I wanted. Then on my way out, defeated and kinda disappointed, I spotted another toy aisle near the front candy section. I could feel their presence, Retros. They just stocked them, series 5, an entire case, two of everybody. I grabbed a Macho Man and a Big E. Not a huge fan of Big E but the figure was too cool to pass up. Jaime and I used to be huge Kofi Kingston fans but he's got one of those stupid jumping action features which I've always despised. They really need to stop making those, I think everybody hates them. And Xavier was alright, not a great figure and I'm not a huge fan of his either so I passed on that one too. I really hop they get Series 6 because I want a Bray Wyatt and Shinsuke Nakumara.

They also had the Superstar Diva figures that look like, um, I don't know, Barbie dolls I guess. They carry them at Target and are pretty freakin' cool but too expensive. They had two Alexa Bliss figures so I snatched up both of those, one for in-package, one out. At $5 a piece, I couldn't pass them up. I should have got two Macho's and Big E's as well because I'm not gonna be able to bring myself to open them, dammit. But I was super excited to find the figures I was hoping for, the perfect way to finish off our Christmas trip. And there is no way in hell I can fit all these new toys on top of my display case where new figures live. I think they'll have to line the floor in front of it for a while.

Emerald Square Mall

When Dad and I got back home from the Crystal Mall, I finished my food court Chinese Food while Jaime ate her Subway and we decided to head on out to the Emerald Square Mall in North Attleboro MA. It's a bit of a drive, an hour and 15 minutes, but we drive further than that all the time to go to Acadia so it's no big deal for us. Well, other than last time when we got a little lost but we were back on track in no time. No getting lost this time, well, except for the turn I missed but I just caught it at the next block so it was nothing. Jaime stayed in the car while I went inside and I just realized now that they have an FYE there, dammit. At least they used to, it's three stories, I didn't walk the whole mall. Crap.

Anyway, I hit the Toy Vault there which is usually the best of the bunch. I've easily spent more here than the others combined. We used to go to the Warwick RI one but I never found anything so we stopped going, plus it's RI so the roads are confusing as hell. I didn't find too much at Emerald Square today though, three figures and a magazine.

The GI Joe Magazine is something I never even realized existed. I have the MOTU magazines, but GI JOE?! How did I miss these? For $5 I would have grabbed it regardless of the cover but this is one of my favorite GI Joe pics, I have the puzzle box on display in my glass case. It features Battle Armor Cobra Commander, my favorite Cobra Commander and very first GI Joe ever. So I snatched that up right away. I still haven't opened it but it's supposed to have the cover as a poster inside, I think I'll leave it though because I have nowhere to hang the posters I already have.

Entrapta from the She-Ra Princess Of Power line. Now, I have just about every MOTU and POP figure there is. One of the only Princesses I didn't have as a child was Entrapta, not sure why. I don't honestly remember ever seeing her but I never thought much of it. Until the new She-Ra cartoon came out on Netflix. Entrapta is f***ing awesome. I absolutely love her. She's probably my favorite character, I love them all but she might just preside a little over the others. I should have bought her last time I was here at the end of October but thought she might be cheaper online and quite frankly, the new cartoon wasn't out yet and I didn't how much I'd love this character. She wasn't cheaper online, and this one actually has her pink and purple hair braided properly so for $30 I said hell yeah, not passing up on her again. I'm lucky she was still there. And the figure is in beautiful condition.

Rayden and Shang Tsung from the GI Joe Mortal Kombat line. I had them. I loved them. I sold them. And I'm still mad about it. What was I thinking? I guess I figured I was over Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter so during the poor college years, I sold them off. Stupid stupid stupid. I recently decided I need to get them all once again, at first I just wanted my favorites but I'm pretty sure I won't stop until I have all of them. But, on the plus side, I still have like all of their accessories, and they came with lots of weapons. Lately I've been matching up my Joes with their weapons and I still have most of the Mortal Kombat accessories. So when I saw these two for a few dollars a piece, because they're incomplete, I was all over it. And not only is this Shang Tsung, this is the black gear Shang Tsung that came exclusively with the boat vehicle, which yes I had and yes I sold and yes I'm angry about it. I'm not too big in to having the complete figure with all their weapons but I have a weapon for both of them so that's cool. They each came with two originally but at least they have something to hold, otherwise I'd have to put them close enough to hold each other's hands and I don't think they'd like that.

I looked at a vintage MOTU Dragon Walker with its original box but the box was really beat up and I have the vehicle itself so I'd really just be paying $30 for the box. It was there in October as well and I thought about it but I still can't do it, not for the condition it's in. There was another Mortal Kombat figure I considered as well, Johnny Cage maybe, I can't remember, but his knees were too loose and he had a broken crotch so I put him back. I went to Game Stop afterwards and what do you know, another WWE Retro AJ freakin' Styles. Where were all these AJs last year when I still needed him?!!! I couldn't find one, now I have three and could have had even more. I know I checked there, multiple times now, and they didn't have him so where the hell did this one come from? It's okay, calm down Matt, you got your toys, you'll be fine.

I also went into Hot Topic and they had the MOTU Loyal Subjects figures! I'm not a year too late like I thought. But Battle Armor Skeletor was gone. The figures do look awesome though. We stopped at Walmart on the way back but they were pretty well cleaned out after Christmas, they do have their Transformers on clearance though to make room for the new Siege series which I can't wait for. I need that Megatron. But overall, that was one successful day of toy hunting. I'm eager to get back home and put them all with the rest of their friends on top of the display case, because there's no more room inside.

Wait, no, I did check out the FYE there but they didn't have the MOTU figures. I get all my malls confused on these toy hunting trips. I thought about going back and asking an employee but decided I didn't need an out of package She-Ra. Well, looking at her now, maybe I do. It is a sick figure, though it looks like she spent a little too long sun bathing under the Etherian sun. Probably should have bought a second She-Ra at Toy Vault for $5 more.

Crystal Mall

This morning, Dad and I headed off to Grandma's house in the Norwich area. And whenever I'm near Grandma's house, I'm not too far from the Toy Vault at the Crystal Mall in Waterford CT. This was actually the first Toy Vault store I visited, before I even knew such a thing existed. We were down visiting one summer and met up with our friend Kari at the mall for lunch, and across from the food court was a beacon of light. It was in a much smaller location back then but I can still feel my heart begin to race just at the memory of seeing all those vintage action figures behind the glass. I knew stores like that existed, but not around here. We were broke as could be at the time but Jaime told me that's what credit cards are for, go ahead and buy some stuff. I only bought a few things that time around, but I'll never forget that day.

A few years ago, they moved to a bigger location upstairs beside FYE, in the old Suncoast Video store, lot of memories from my childhood there as well. I can't count how many WWF Coliseum Home Videos I got there, still have some of them today. Recently, within the last year, they moved back downstairs to an even larger storefront right off the food court with a huge window where they display all the statues.

I couldn't decide if I wanted to get anything or not so we perused the mall while I thought about it and decided to go ahead. If I came home empty handed and Jaime found out there were toys I thought about getting but didn't, she'd make me drive back to get them. Yes, I have a great wife who supports my hobby, and really everything I do, including me right now since I'm technically unemplyed. So I saved myself a 45 minute drive and picked up the four figures I couldn't stop thinking about. Monkian, Commander Waspax, Leatherhead & Evil Lyn.

Monkian from the Thundercats is a bit of a sore subject. I sold all my Thundercats, well, almost, I kept four of them. We were poor, we needed money, they were worth quite a bit, and I listed them on eBay. I tried watching the old cartoons and couldn't get into them so I figured I didn't need my collection anymore. For a couple years I was fine with it, then one winter when I was sick, just a year into my new job, I downloaded the 2011 series. Oh my f***ing god! I was blown away, and the Thundercat fan in me was back. Thunder, thunder, thunder, Thundercats... Nooooo!!! My collection was long gone and we were still too poor to buy me the new Bandai figures, even when they got clearanced out at Walmart. So I've slowly been rebuilding my collection.

Commander Waspax from the Sectaurs is a new recruit among my action figure army. The only Sectaur I had growing up was General Spidrax, the most bad ass of all the Sectaurs. I believe he'd been a hand-me-down from my cousins, which is where I got quite a few of my earliest toys, from Transformers to Go-Bots to Star Wars. I never thought much about the Sectaurs honestly, until I wrote my first novel in 2008 and made mention of them in it, just a random painting the main character did for a commissioned piece. That novel, still unreleased, is what started off my new career, so the Sectaurs hold a special place in my heart. And I just found out they're coming back! Oh man I hope we get that second series that never made it to the shelves. I'll add Sectaurs to my collection whenever I find them, which isn't very often, in fact, this is my first time seeing one. Sort of, I saw him last time we were down back in October and have regretted not getting him since coming home.

Leatherhead from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles vintage line is also bit of a sore subject. Again, I had him, I had all of them, then I sold them because, you know, poor college student. I didn't even regret it until I saw bags and bags of them at Salvation Army a few years back, but they were in someone's shopping cart. I was tempted to grab them out of the cart and replenish my collection and sell the ones I didn't want, but I couldn't do that to the woman that was buying them. Then I hear some dirty backwoods hick of mother in need of a shower yell to her son "oooh look at dem dare, go grabs dem supahero figures, theys worth money". It wasn't until then that I realized the woman near the shopping cart was merely moving it out of her way to look at something else. The cart of toys was stuff they were putting out on the floor. So Redneck Mama got all four bags of TMNT figures. Since that day, I wanted my collection back. And bit by bit I'm rebuilding it, just my favorites, the bad guys of course because for some reason I've always loved the villains.

And onto Evil Lyn from the original Masters Of The Universe line, who I have because I don't get rid of He-Man figures. So why did I buy this dirty, beat up Evil Lyn you might ask? Well, back in 2005-2010, I was making custom action figures. One of my first was a simple repaint of Evil Lyn, giving her the classic cartoon color scheme because, well, why the hell does she have yellow skin? She's not a Simpsons figure. And that's not how she looked on TV. Someone offered me $50 for her and, poor college student, remember, I gladly accepted. Now, I haven't done a custom in 8 years but someday I plan on getting back into it when I have the time. I saw her for $4 and couldn't pass her up. She's not even in that rough of shape. I've been thinking about her since earlier in the year when I wrote a book about a guy who made custom figures when he was a kid and gets back into it as an adult, like me, this was one of his first. What can I say, I got jealous and wanted a custom Evil-Lyn.

At FYE I was looking for the new Masters Of The Universe retro figures, which yes I just bought, but they're $5 cheaper at FYE and I wanted a second She-Ra to take out of package. So wouldn't you know she was sold out. They had the other three, but no She-Ra. They did have a nice little MOTU endcap though, complete with Skeletor cereal. I was also hoping for the POP Vinyl Battle Armor Skeletor but no such luck. I'm honestly not into the Pop Vinyls but that Battle Armor one is kinda sick and come on, it's Skeletor. Oh well. We also checked Hot Topic for the exclusive MOTU Loyal Subjects figures but they didn't appear to have them so I figured that series must have already come and gone. But I'm happy with my four new figures, well, one new, three replacements. One day I'll learn my lesson and stop selling off action figures when I think I won't want them anymore, because clearly I will.

Nothing But Toys For Christmas

Remember when you were a kid and you got nothing but toys under the Christmas tree? Well, that's what my Christmases are still like, lol. Some years we don't really do much for presents but when we do, we go all out. This year we planned a trip to CT to spend Christmas Day with my family so we opened presents there. I picked a few things off my loooong list and opened the eBay pages on Jaime's computer and she picked some out for me, so I didn't really know what I'd be getting. I honestly couldn't even remember what items I opened on her computer, and I gave my parents a couple ideas that they might possibly find in stores as well. And wow, what a Christmas morning it was, it looked like it did when we were kids, I love it! I forgot to get a picture of it but here's a picture of the tree and presents at our house before we packed them up and brought them down to CT.

I had about 12 or so gifts, all of which I wrapped myself because Jaime didn't have time with work and all, so I wrapped my presents still in their shipping boxes, no clue what was inside. I also wrapped up the figures I got at Mardens recently but I still had quite a few surprises. On top of the toys, my sister gave me her old camera which is fantastic, a really good one, and she got me a big memory stick for it as well. And my parents got me Huckleberry Jam, my favorite. Oh and a set of kitchen knives because I've recently broken all but one of mine. How?! I'm cutting cucumbers and cheese. My Dad gave me an extra he had from my grandparents stuff after they passed away and I even broke that one.

Jaime got me seven figures and my parents got me two so I had a total of 9 sort of surprise toys. Plus the three Loyal Subjects figures I got but didn't open so that was a total surprise as well.

I think my favorite was Ice Armor Skeletor from the MOTU 200x line, mint on card. This figure is beautiful, one of the last released in the series. It's just a repaint of Fire Armor Skeletor but I absolutely love the coloring. He's extremely hard to find, I never saw him in stores or I would have grabbed him back then. I want one out of package as well, this is hands down one of my favorite Skeletor figures. He'll go nicely with my other Snakemen series green cards.

Jaime bid on and won the Tough Talkin' WWF Ultimate Warrior figure which was the last of my gifts to arrive. The figure is a bit beat up and dirty which I saw when I opened that page for her but I don't mind, I can clean him up a bit and I don't need the talking feature. I never had him as a kid but my friend had the talking Hulk Hogan, possibly Warrior too, I just love all the WWF Hasbro figures from this time period. His look is awesome and really epitomizes that era of wrestling.

My parents got me the new Transformers Cyberverse Megatron and Shockwave, two of my all time favorite Transformers ever since I was a kid. Not a fan of the Cyberverse cartoon but these figures are incredible. I only made it through the first couple episodes but might give it another try, I want to like it, I just hated it. I love Shockwave's colors, even though everyone teased me and said Shockwave was clearly a girl and should be called a Transgender, not a Transformer. I like his pink and purple though, despite it being kind of girly.

The MOTU Loyal Subjects blind box figure I got turned out to be Trap Jaw which is pretty cool. I love the villains and he'll go nicely with my Tri Klops. And for the Thundercats I got the two I wanted the most which is f***ing insane and never happens to me! I got my girl Cheetara and Mumm-Ra. Those are the two I would have picked if they weren't blind box figures! And they actually look really good, a lot more detail than I expected. Plus, the Cheetara is the chase variant version with white skin and yellow hair, 1/24 whereas the other figures are 4/24, pretty cool, I never get the chase figures. I guess that extra minute I took feeling the blind boxes, reading their aura and picking the two I wanted really paid off, lol.

Jaime got me an out of package AJ Styles Retro figure because when I finally found him last year at our Target after scouring all of lower New England for him, they only had one. And I couldn't find a second one anywhere to open up. Until the other day when I found him at Mardens in Ellsworth and couldn't pass him up just in case Jaime didn't get him for me. I'll just turn one of them into a custom, Jaime wants him in his purple attire so someday I'll get around to that. We've been AJ Styles fans since his TNA days and were ecstatic when he came to WWE. This figure is dope as hell, they did a great job with his sculpt.

She also got me Astrotrain from, I don't even know which Transformers series, Classic Deluxe I believe. I have three others from that series as well, Galvatron, Starscream and Cyclonus. Astrotrain's always been one of my favorites but I didn't have him as a kid, him or Blitzwing. I loved Transformers but hated the toys because they weren't good to play with and none of them were properly scaled. So I was super excited when they made the Action Masters Transformers most people hate because, well because they don't transform. I could actually play with them.

Which leads me to Action Masters Devastator. I had him as a kid, I had quite a few Action Masters, but they're gone and I don't know how or where. I  have been searching for them since high school and can't find those little bastards anywhere. I still have the  accessory robots they came with, I still have Megatron's tank, but the figures seem to have vanished. I have no clue what happened to them, I still hope to stumble across them in some random box one day but I've slowly begun rebuilding my collection. Jaime got me Devastator this year to go along with the Soundwave, Shockwave and Starscream she got me a few years ago. He is in mint condition, even better than my original.

She also got me the Battle Beasts figure, Blitzkrieg Bat. I had all the Battle Beasts as a kid and loved them. And then I sold them all when we were poor and have regretted it ever since. I'm trying to collect my favorites and have most of them now, he's one of them. I still have the three bases and the riding vehicles, a couple random weapons, and I found two figures at flea markets over the years. I'll probably slowly rebuild my collection but this was one of the most important pieces for me to have once again. Luckily I don't care about the hologram rub so it makes buying them a little cheaper.

I also got the the two WWE Retro figures I found at Mardens a few days ago, AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose. I'm not particularly a fan of Ambrose but I've been eyeing him at Target forever, since last year when I got AJ Styles there right after Christmas. He's been there this whole time, along with stupid jumping Goldberg, but they haven't gone on clearance yet. So I grabbed him as well, why not, pretty cool figure and I likde him when he was in The Shield originally.

And last but not least, Battle Punch He-Man from the New Adventures line. I had most of the New Adventures figures as a kid but not the He-Man and Skeletor variants. I honestly don't even remember seeing this one. I like the figure because he looks a hell of a lot more like he did in the cartoon than the original one they came out with. I also love his power sword and shield. I would have played with this figure for hours if I had him as a child. New Adventures gets a bad rap but I liked it as a kid, not as much as the original but it was good and there were some cool characters, particularly the mutants. This He-Man variant will be a great addition to my ever expanding collection.

I had an amazing Christmas. It was nice to be with my family like when I was a kid, even better when you're opening toys as an adult. All my figures are great and I can't wait to get home and display them. This was pretty much what my childhood Christmases looked like. I'm excited to hit the malls and see what else I can find during this Christmastime toy hunting extravaganza.

Solomon Pond Mall

Christmas Eve. We were supposed to head down to CT tonight when Jaime got out of work but it was quiet as hell so they let people leave early. So an hour after her shift started, she was out and we were on our way. Well, first I had to finish my modified Watergate Salad and pistachio cookies with cherry frosting, then load the car, and then we were out.

Since we left early, we were able to make it to the Solomon Pond Mall just outside of Worcester Massachusetts. They recently opened a new Toy Vault there that we went to for the first time a couple months ago on our way down to CT since we literally pass right by it on I-95. We got there around 5:00, only an hour before close and the place was mobbed.

Without too much time to browse, I ran straight to Toy Vault, sort of, I couldn't remember where it was and it's too new to be on the directory map. So I weaved in and out of holiday shoppers until I found it, and I forgot where it was so I'll have to search for it next time too. I should really draw myself a map. The second I walked in, I spotted the brand new retro Masters Of The Universe figures. They're made to look exactly like the originals, down to the packaging, artwork on the back, even the fake little mini-comic situated behind the figure. I knew I needed She-Ra and Skeletor after seeing them online but Hordak looked damn good as well so I grabbed the three of them. He-Man just looks too much like the original and not enough like the cartoon version. At $25 a piece, I decided to just get one of each rather than get an extra to open. They really did a good job with these figures, can't wait for He-Ro and Eldor and whatever else they have in the works.

They had tons of GI Joes so I spent a while searching through them but had most of them already. There were a few that I wanted but they had broken crotches so I passed. What good is a Joe without his dingaling? I did find one I needed, Night Viper, one of my favorite Cobra soldiers. I had him once upon a time but sold him about ten years ago. Why? Because he was in three pieces. So I sold him and all my other broken GI Joes, long before I realized I could put them back together. Now that I've become a licensed GI Joe doctor (I'm not actually licensed but don't tell my Joes that), I regret selling that huge bag of parts. So many of my favorites. Well, at least another one has been added to my Cobra ranks. I even have one of his weapons, unfortunately not his night vision goggles or backpack.

I always check the cheap figure rack and usually find at least one figure. Most of them are in pretty rough shape and would be great for customs but unfortunately I don't have time to make custom figures anymore. Still, when I spotted a WWF Hasbro Scott Steiner figure, in mint condition, I had to grab him. I don't know what he was doing in there, possibly a mistake, the Hasbros are typically behind glass. He might even be in better shape than the one I already have. I can't tell you how many hours I spent playing with these things as a kid.

Back in 2007, I was working on a bunch of WWF Hasbro customs, making all the superstars that never made it into plastic form. I bought every Hasbro figure I came across and built up quite the collection of extras, then when I stopped making customs after getting into writing novels and hiking guides, I sold off all the duplicates I'd amassed. And naturally, regretted it shortly after. I'm thinking about getting back into customizing again, despite not having the time for it, and I had quite a few figures that were set to use Scott Steiner as a base. Someday I'll get back into it, and when I do, I'll be glad I spent the $4 on a figure I always had trouble getting my hands on.

Ellsworth Mardens

With over an inch of rain yesterday into the night, we knew today was going to be a waterfall hunting day in Acadia. At close to 50 degrees, I was out until the sun went down. I also needed to grab a Park Pass which they discount to 50% off during December. Being done around 4:00 meant plenty of time for a little shopping in Ellsworth Maine. One problem, the only store I really wanted to go to, Mardens, closes at 5:00 on Saturday. I didn't want to have to cut hiking short so we went there when they opened at 10:00.

After finding those MOTU and Thundercats Loyal Subjects figures at the Brewer Mardens, I was hoping for a few more. The Ellsworth one usually has a better toy selection, not sure if it's because they get better stuff or if it's because the Brewer one is busier and everything sells before I get there. Tons of toys, a lot of them different from the Brewer location, but no Loyal Subjects figures.

However, as I made my way past some rednecks with the combined IQ of a pillow, trying to figure out what toy to buy for Mary-Sue-Beth-Anne (they might have been inbred as well), I spotted something I didn't expect to see. The girl was holding a high school diploma, no, no, no, I'm kidding, she'll never make it that far. WWE Retro figures, series 3. I spent last Christmas hunting those little bastards down just so I could get my hands on an AJ Styles. I finally found him but only one, I've been hoping for a second so I could open him up. And there he was, just one of him, plus a Dean Ambrose who I also grabbed and a Seth Rollins, who I did not. Nothing against 'the architect', but man do I hate that stupid ass jumping feature they give some of the figures. I hated it back then and even more now. Most of my WWF Hasbro figures with the jumping feature are still in mint condition because I never played with them. So I passed on Seth and although I'm not a big Dean Ambrose fan, the figure is pretty cool, not to mention I have no self restraint when it comes to toys. They were still like $9 a piece which isn't much of a discount considering Target has them for $13. And I had AJ Styles on my Christmas list and Jaime probably bought him for me because we love AJ but if I wind up with an extra, I can just turn this one into a custom or something.

After an exhausting day of waterfall hunting and over 10 miles of hiking, I got some great stuff for my Acadia Waterfalls book. I can also barely move my legs now but that didn't stop me from checking out Reny's, nothing good there and man are they expensive. Then I ran next door to Family Dollar but they were pretty much wiped out, very few toys left. They did have some blind bags of Transformers that had the possibility of some cool characters but I really hate little figures with giant heads. I realize that's what the Loyal Subjects ones are but at least they're a little larger. Oh and it's a good thing I went to Mardens in the morning because I didn't get back from my last waterfall until the sun was going down around 4:15 and we wouldn't have made it to Mardens in time.

I went to TJ Maxx as well where I found a WWE Retro series 2 Steve Austin and Triple H last month at the Bangor location but there were none in Ellsworth today, if they had them I'm sure they sold long ago. I picked up an Austin but skipped on Triple H because, you guessed it, he's a freakin' jumper. If it weren't for that stupid action figure I'd have bought a Triple H, Sting, Goldberg, Kofi Kingston and probably a Seth Rollins, Daniel Bryan and Finn Balor as well. My collection would be about twice the size it is now. I'm still hoping for a second Kane to take out of package. I did run into one of my former managers there who sells stuff on eBay and recently came across a bunch of MOTU vintage figures, some of which even have their cardbacks, so I might buy some of the ones that didn't sell off her. Do I really need more MOTU figures? No, but they have their cardbacks, I don't think I can resist. I also hit up Goodwill but didn't find anything there, their toy section typically sucks.

Great day of waterfall and toy hunting, two of my favorite things. Not quite what I was hoping for at Mardens but hey, a Retro AJ Styles, no complaints here. I've barely looked at the figures, I think I'll wrap them up and open them on Christmas along with the Loyal Subjects I found at the Brewer Mardens a few days ago.

Brewer Mardens

I had to run to Brewer tonight to pick up the calendar I made for my mom from Walmart. For some reason, the Bangor Walmart got rid of their photo center so I had to have it done in Brewer instead. Not a big deal, I like going out that way to check out Mardens and Goodwill. That made it sound like Brewer's far away, it's not, just a couple miles but with traffic it takes almost 20 minutes to get there most days. I got Jaime's new phone and a few other gifts while I was there but no good toys. I was hoping for the Transformers Siege Megatron which was supposed to hit shelves in November but still no sign of him. I am tempted to get those Cyberverse Transformers though, I mentioned them to my parents so they might pick them up for me for Christmas. Or who knows, maybe Siege Megatron will hit there by then, toys come out a little earlier in CT.

With only 15 minutes to spare, I ran into Mardens, which isn't nearly enough time for that place. And oh my god, the toys! It was clear they bought out a bunch of Target's back stock so they had some really good stuff. Tons of WWE figures but none I needed. Maybe needed isn't the right word, not sure if action figures are ever a necessity, so in that case, none I wanted. Well, wanted isn't right either because I want all the toys but you know what I mean.

They also had tons of Star Wars figures, Ninja Turtles, man I am not feeling those new designs, the figures all look so basic. TMNT just keeps getting more simplistic, pretty soon they'll be stick figures you have to use your imagination to see. They even had that MOTU Vinyl 2 pack of He-Man and Trap Jaw which I was tempted to get because it's so hard to pass up on anything Masters but those things just look so stupid. They had a bunch of DC and Marvel figures as well. I scooped up a Batman variant that I've had my eye on for a while. Not because I like Batman, but because it'll make the perfect body for a Krulos custom figure. Krulos is from the Dino-Riders in the mid 1980s, a line of toys that consisted of humans and mutants who used dinosaurs to aid them in their war. Somehow they haven't been remade and I'm getting sick of waiting for a 6" Krulos (Dino-Riders figures are only like an inch and a half tall), so I might just have to make one. When I'm going to find time for this, I don't know, but I'll have the figure waiting when I'm finally ready.

The real find of the night was a single Masters Of The Universe Loyal Subjects blind box figure that I grabbed for $9, not much of a discount but I'd said if they were $10 or less I would have bought them. And then I spotted a whole case of Thundercats Loyal Subjects. I bought two of them. The only villain in the set is Mumm-Ra and I'm all about the villains, except for Cheetara, she was freakin' awesome in the 2011 cartoon so I'm really hoping for a Cheetara and a Mumm-Ra, but will probably get two of the same figure. I wouldn't mind a Jaga either. I'll wrap them up for Christmas and it'll be a surprise. I'm not the only guy who finds the 2011 Cheetara sexy as hell, am I?

I got out of their exactly at 8:00 but wish I had more time to look around. I was really rushing in the last five minutes after finding another aisle of toys with some more collectibles type stuff in it. They even had some of the new Funko Savage World horror figures, not sure how since they just came out but I couldn't find any Mortal Kombat or Thundercats ones. I wish I'd come here sooner in the season, I bet they had even more toys before they were picked over for Christmas. I'll have to go back again soon.

The next day (12/20), when Jaime got home from work, we went out to Walmart and Target to pick up a few things and I stopped at Goodwill shortly before they closed. They had a tree set up with some in-package toys around it, some of them hanging off the tree. I spotted a few Mega Construx figures and hoped for a series 1 He-Man or Skeletor, both of which I have but I've kinda been wanting one for out of package. No such luck, but around the back side of the tree was Faker, series 3, I haven't even seen him at Walmart yet. I've never been into Legos but these MOTU Mega Construx figures are sweet, I'm really hoping they come out with more and eventually vehicles and playsets. I thought they were supposed to drop a Wind Raider vehicle and a multi pack of figures for Christmas but I haven't seen anything about it in quite a while. It was exciting to find a Faker though, still $5 which is retail price but who knows when he'll actually show up in stores around here.