Toy Fest 2 at the South Portland Maine Mall!!!

I couldn't wait for the first Toy Fest back in early April. I saved for months, selling stuff on eBay so I'd have extra cash for the show. Then, herniated disc, couldn't walk or even sit for months, which meant the two and a half hour trip down to Portland wasn't happening. We tried anyway, my wife was willing to drive but I couldn't sit in the car for more than ten minutes. So I missed out on the toy show. It was such a success, they immediately announced a second one for November. And I was finally able to go.

Jaime left work early and we headed down in the pouring rain, stressful drive but it was supposed to clear up before our trip back. Got some Arby's, all the ones in northern Maine closed a few years ago so any chance we get, we eat some Arby's. Stopped at Mardens but didn't get anything, they did have that dope Transformers Generations Trypticon though for $60 and some TMNT Out Of The Shadows figures. Hit up Red Robin for lunch, another place we don't have up here so we go whenever we get the chance. Then it was on to the mall for the toy show.

Honestly, I wasn't that impressed. Between the two center courts, there were really only two good toy dealers, Mann-Lee Toys and Maine Vintage Toys. Most of the others were comics, video games, a sports dealer, and couple randoms who had some McDonalds toys and overpriced modern junk. Lots of Star Wars, MOTU, GI Joe, WWF Hasbros, TMNT, bunch of stuff I love, but also own already. I expected a lot more toy dealers but it's still cool to have that much vintage goodness in one place. Sounds like it was super busy in the morning, should have gone first thing I guess, probably missed out on some good stuff.

I did manage to pick up a few items I was looking for, both from the show and from a couple stores in the mall. I was just there earlier in the week and picked up the MOTU Super 7 retro figures, so I wasn't planning on going to Newbury Comics. But, then I remembered the new Masters Of The Multiverse comic came out on Wednesday so I checked to see if they happened to have the variant cover with Skeletor, knowing they wouldn't but it was worth a shot. And they did!

I couldn't be so near MOTU figures and not look at them so I went back by that section, such a thing of beauty. I wanted to look at He-Ro because someone was selling him at the show for $55 and I just wanted to see him, and drool a little, not wanting to spend the $30 he retails at, let alone the $55 the dealers wanted for him. But to my surprise, he was down to $20, so I grabbed He-Ro for my collection, the figure that should have been but never was. His package is starting to peel open but I planned on opening him anyway so it's all good. And look at that, $35 cheaper.

At Go Calendars Toys & Games, they had the giant MOTU figures but no one I wanted in this set, if there was a Skeletor I woulda been all over it. But they did have a box of MOTU Loyal Subjects, only $12 a piece, which is less than most places, I think I paid $15 for the ones I got a year ago. I've been looking for the Sorceress ever since then, so I decided to pop open the mystery boxes in search of her and what do you know, first one I opened. Sweet! My god is she sexy, love the Sorceress. (A couple days later I swung through the electronics sections of Walmart and noticed they had MOTU Loyal Subjects too, they also had a Sorceress, $10, dammit.)

From the actual toy show, I picked up Gripper from the Rambo figure line, made by Coleco in 1986. I had him as a kid but got rid of him during the poor college years. He had been a hand me down from my cousins, I never actually watched the cartoon but I always loved the commercials for the those toys. I've been wanting him back, along with the few other Rambo figures I had, but Gripper was always my favorite. He was $3, no accessories, which is fine by me, I actually still have some of his guns.

Speaking of hand me downs from my cousins, I also got their Star Wars collection when they were too old for them, I still remember that day. Hold on, let me daydream for a minute here... Okay I'm back. I recently went through my Star Wars figures to sell, only keeping my favorites characters. But there were a few that I didn't have as a kid always wanted, one being Obi Wan Kenobi. I picked him up for like $5, incomplete but I don't mind, he was one of the last figures I needed for my collection. As a kid, I pretended Anakin was Obi Wan, and now I finally have him. Yes, I still have my ghost of Anakin figure which I think was some sort of special mail in figure.

I also picked up Skulkur from the Conan line of the early 1990s. I didn't have this figure, or any of the Conan figures from that time period, but only because I never could found him as a kid. He just looked so cool, I had to have him, but never did. So he's been on my list for quite some time. He's missing the horns on his helmet but for something like $5, not a big deal, this is my first time ever even seeing the figure in person.

I grabbed a vintage TMNT Shredder without his cape for $3, but good condition with all of his spikes. I've regretted getting rid of my Turtles collection for years now, and the prices have only gone up since then. Shredder was always my favorite, and this figure was always my least favorite, that pose, my god. Why? But still, it's Shredder so I wants. I actually got him in the bag of figures that came with the Technodrome playset I found at Salvation Army back in January, still nutting over that one eleven months later, but he was quite beat up and missing most of his paint. He's missing his cape but I'll get that eventually, and also try to find a way to make him stand up.

In Maine you typically see the same figure lines over and over again, with very few exceptions. Today was one of those exceptions. I spotted a handful of Army Ants, another collection that I had as a kid and sold off during the poor college years, another big mistake. For $3 a piece, I only picked up one, one of my all time favorites, Stalker. He's missing his little handgun but I think mine was too. I'll probably only get a few more of these guys, just my favorites, but it's not often I find these little treasures in the wild.

While we're on the subject of reacquiring my old collections, there were a few Thundercats at the show. Unfortunately, I had most of them already, but I did pick up a Hachiman. He didn't have any of his weapons but it's cool because I actually still have his original helmet, must have found it in a random box after selling all my figures. I'll get his sword at some point, should've never gotten rid of my Thundercats, another collection that's only gone up in value.

One figure I did not have was the miniature Thundercats Slithe, and no, I'm not typing out the extra S's at the beginning of his name. Honestly, I didn't realize such a thing existed. For some reason, I don't recall the miniatures, despite the set being quite extensive, going so far as including the Cat's Lair and Mumm-Ra's Tomb. I've had the miniature Mumm-Ra in my collection since I was a kid but never knew where he came from, I just assumed he was from a gumball machine or something. It wasn't until getting back into action figures that I even realized these were a thing, and now I want them all.

Oh and as an added little bonus, I spotted a purple cape in the $3 bucket at Maine Vintage and he was kind enough to toss it into my purchase for free. It took me a little while to figure out who it belonged to, not Shredder, not New Adventures Skeletor, it's Lord Dread's cape from Captain Power. Yet another figure I sold off that I later regretted, stupid stupid stupid. I loved the Captain Power toys, I only had a few but they got a lot of use. A few years ago, at a flea market in CT, the woman who runs a toy booth had a little baggy of weapons and accessories she was getting rid of so I took it off her hands, not knowing what most of the pieces were but knowing they looked familiar. Turns out they were Captain Power. I now have all of Lord Dread's accessories, and no Lord Dread.

Overall, not a very impressive toy show, but I had a great time nonetheless. Picked up some more Arby's to take home with us, hit up Five Below and Goodwill but didn't find anything, and had a nice relaxing drive home with no rain. My new figures are watching over me from their current location on my coffee table beneath the Christmas tree. And it's only about four months until Toy Fest 3. Am I going back despite not finding much? You're damn right I am. Wooo, go toys!

Goodwill Goodness (Skywarp, Raphael & a box of figures)

My wife had a webcam work meeting tonight so I got out of her hair and headed to Goodwill and Walmart. And man am I glad I did because I found some stuff at Goodwill, they've really been coming through for me lately, I've found some pretty cool toys this year, and today was no exception. Aside from a $5 box of random toys and action figures, I found a Transformers leader class Skywarp and a Nickelodeon 12" Raphael each for $3 a piece.

I could see the box of toys up front didn't have anything I wanted but you never know what's hiding in there, so I grabbed it anyway since it was all boys toys, they're usually a jumble of everything including baby. Not much of note in there, definitely from the same lot of toys that were in my last box from there though. There was some superheroes, a Yellow Ranger without legs, some Jurassic World dinosaurs plus some other dinos, John Cena and of course some McDonalds crap. Looks like I'll make about $30 or so off the box if I can clean the stuff up, the previous owner apparently had a fascination with coloring his toys with marker.

But the real finds of the day were the separate $3 large figures. I love the Nickelodeon TMNT cartoon and buy just about figure from it I come across. This is my first of the 12" figures, which I was hoping to find at some point after seeing them on The Toys That Made Us the other day. I never had the large Turtles as a kid but always wanted them, especially Shredder who I don't believe they ever made. But hey, 2015 Raph works for me, figure is in excellent condition.

Best find of the day, Transformers Generations Combiner Wars Skywarp in the leader class scale. Oh my freakin' god. I had to stop myself from buying him every time I saw this figure in the toy aisle at Walmart, but at $50, I just couldn't do it. Skywarp has always been one of my favorites, he's purple, silver and black, come on, how could he not be a favorite of mine, those are my favorite colors. I never had him as a kid, or hell, an adult either, until that recent Goodwill Transformers score when I found the animated Robots In Disguise Skywarp. But this one, whoa, this is a thing of beauty. Excellent condition too. For all those years hardly ever finding anything at Goodwill, I'd say 2019 has more than made up for it.

The 34 Year Wait Is Over (Evil Seed, Shadow Weaver, Evil Lyn)

One thing I get so sick of hearing is that the Masters Of The Universe cartoon was nothing but a 30 toy commercial. I have to call bull****. In fact, I kind of wish it had been, because then I wouldn't have had to wait 34 years to get my hands on these figures! Most of the toys didn't appear in the show, and most of the characters from the show didn't have a toy, something that's always irritated me. But thanks to Super 7's retro line, we finally get some of the figures we missed out on.

I had to take my father-in-law down to Portland today for a doctor's appointment, which gave me the opportunity to check out Newbury Comics and see if they got in the new set of MOTU figures. Yes, I'll be back down in a few days for the Toy Fest at the mall, but I've been waiting 34 years for these damn figures and I didn't want to risk not getting my hands on them. The pegs were full of Masters, and it felt like 1985 all over again.

Right away I spotted Evil Lyn, the way she looked in the cartoon. It always bothered me that her figure made her look like one of the Simpsons. What was up with the yellow skin? And where was her cape? And why was her headdress/crown thingy so little? When I was a kid, I actually thought my Evil Lyn figure was discolored. One of the first custom figures I ever did was a repaint of her, making her look like she did on screen, but there's nothing like having the real thing. Finally.

I flipped through the pegs of figures, in search of the others in the set but figuring they'd be gone already. And then I came across Evil Seed, one of my all time favorite villains from the cartoon. Had it actually been a half hour toy advertisement, surely we would have gotten an Evil Seed, even if he was only in one episode. When he popped up in the 200x cartoon, he was even cooler than before, not that it was much of a feat considering he looked like a radish who stole the robe off a monk but it made me want a figure of him even more.

The two evil ones would have to do, there was no way I'd find... last peg, fourth figure in, Shadow freakin' Weaver! Thirty minute toy ad my ass, she was in almost every episode of She-Ra, Hordak's second in command, yet, no figure. One of my earliest childhood memories is going into a pharmacy with my mom and seeing a huge display of Princess Of Power and Horde figures. I think that moment set me back in my potty training. It was awesome but I was so disappointed that Shadow Weaver was already gone, but why wasn't she shown on the back of the cards of the figures I got? Well, because they never made her. One of the most quintessential characters, excluded, until now. The Horde may not be complete, we're still waiting on you Scorpia, but we're one step closer.

At $25 a piece, they're a bit pricey, damn you Newbury and your jacked up prices, but I've literally been waiting 34 years for these figures, so I can deal with an extra $5 a piece. I have so much trouble opening action figures, but these ladies, and radish head, have been waiting to join their friends for three decades, so I'll be letting them breathe. Finally, the wait is over.

Thrift Store Toys And A Case To Put Them In (Leonardo, Digimon, Trolls)

After dropping off an eBay package at the post office, the Batskiboat I picked up last month, I checked out Goodwill and found some interesting stuff. After rummaging around through the now ripped open toy box I found TigerClaw and FishFace in the other day, I spotted a couple of figures at the bottom that looked interesting, not sure what they are. And I threw them in a bag of transforming animals that I honestly had no clue what they were, turns out two of them were Digimon figures from 1999 and worth a little bit, definitely more than the $2 I paid for the bag.

Then I spotted a spinning display case for $5 from a wristwatch company that'll be excellent for displaying toys. This thing is beautiful and built like a tank, that was not easy to carry around the store. The shelves are kind of small but it fits TMNT, GI Joes and WWF Hasbros perfectly, now I just need somewhere to put it.

After that I headed over to Salvation Army where I picked up a bag of toys. It didn't look like anything great but I could see some Imaginext among other action figures, a vintage Joker I already got this summer at Goodwill, couple little Transformers, and a bunch of toys I didn't recognize. Not sure if this one will pay off but it was fun to sort through.

And then I found a TMNT Nickelodeon Leonardo. Do I already have him? Yes, I do, but I was pretty sure mine didn't have his belt/sash so I got him for a dollar. Glad I did because I was right, mine was naked. Still no swords but at least he's a little more complete.

Had to go out again at night so we swung by Goodwill to see if they'd restocked since this morning and they had, nothing I was interested in but I did grab a bag of vintage Troll dolls for a couple bucks. I've always found them sort of creepy back when my sister had a few but there's a pretty big market out there for them. I'll at least make a few dollars off of it, easily enough to pay for today's purchases.

Not much for me today, but enough to fund my toy addiction, now I just need to get listing some more stuff on eBay.

And Goodwill With the Win Again (TMNT TigerClaw & FishFace, Intercontinental Championship)

Goodwill in the 8:00 hour is the time to go, some more cool finds today. I could feel something good as soon as I walked in. There was a box of toys up front but it didn't look like anything great so I made my way to the toy section where something shiny caught my eye. Make that multiple something shinys, WWE championship belts for $1 a piece. I probably should have grabbed all of them but only picked up one, my favorite, the Intercontinental championship belt with the white strap. As a kid, I barely cared about the heavyweight belt, those matches were usually boring, I wanted the one that Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon fought over. The strap's a little dirty and the belt's a little scuffed up but I don't care, it's the freakin' IC belt.

Then I noticed a couple more boxes of taped up toys hiding under a gaggle of naked women. After removing the Barbie dolls, right away I spotted a TMNT figure from the Nickelodeon show, TigerClaw! It's a figure I don't have and haven't ever seen before, awesome. Then, in the sea of plastic crap, the robotic leg of another one of Shredder's baddies, FishFace. I fished them out of the box, sorry for the bad pun, it didn't actually take any fishing, the tape was already pretty well ripped and the boxes picked through. Rather than get them single and pay probably $1 for each, I brought them up front and stuck them in the box of toys I first looked at.

The rather heavy box consisted of mostly Hot Wheels, nothing too special but enough to easily pay for tonight's purchases. Probably should have just got the figures separate and saved myself the hassle having to sort through it and list them on eBay but you never know, could have been more Turtles hiding in there. There weren't. It was mostly dinosaurs, Lightning McQueens and Grave Diggers. Oh well, I got FishFace and TigerClaw so I'm super excited for them, my Nickelodeon TMNT collection is growing!

Mardens & Goodwill Finds (TMNT, Marx Knight, Plushies)

Guys, I did something I said I wouldn't do, I went back to Mardens and bought the TMNT Out Of The Shadows Technodrome. Ugh, what is wrong with me? But, no, look, I had to, because they didn't make a Technodrome for the Nickelodeon show, despite it playing a huge part, so this was as close as I could get. And my growing collection wouldn't be complete without it. At least it was on clearance so I got it for $20, and the box is still in excellent condition. Think I'm gonna leave it sealed, at least for now, and it fits on one of my shelves perfectly so technically it was meant to be and no one can get mad at me. I went there specifically hoping it would still be there, and there was one left.

Next day I headed back to Brewer and hit up Goodwill, hoping they'd have a Calico Critters house that was there last night when the internet on my phone wasn't working. It was gone. Two days in a row is a bit extreme for Brewer Goodwill since they typically suck, but I've found a few gems recently. Well, sort of, I haven't found anything for me but rather items that I can sell to help fund my action figure addiction. And today I found a few more. Although, the 12" GI Joe looking doll with articulation turned out to be a vintage Marx knight figure from 1968, not actually worth anything as it turns out, but wow, 1968. And it is a really cool figure.

I also picked up a couple plushies, both new with tags, for $2 a piece. I've never really sold plush toys before, but since these two had their tags, I thought they might be worth a little something. One of them is a Neopets Starry Scorchio from 2003, the other an oversized My Little Pony from a couple years ago. I should get about $10 a piece for them, so, not exactly big money makers but you never know until you sell them, I've been surprised before. Shoulda just bought the dollhouse last night but it was $8 and I wasn't sure if it was worth anything. Just because something looks cool doesn't mean people want to buy it, like the Marx knight. Except in this case, the cool looking house goes for about $40 in the condition it was in. Grrrr, stupid Wi-Fi!

Goodwill's A Freakin' Transformer Treasure Trove (Transformers)

Grocery shopping day. I hit up Dollar Tree first for my food, I like to eat cheap. Not sure why, but I felt the urge to check out the toy aisle, something I rarely do at Dollar Tree, but man am I glad I did. Amidst the sea of plastic garbage I spotted something vintage looking. Oh my god, vintage style G1 Transformer keychains! And they had two of my all time favorites, Megatron and Soundwave. For a dollar, hell yeah. These guys look sweet. I passed on Optimus and Bumblebee because I really don't need them but they looked awesome too, even the packaging looks vintage.

From there it was on to Goodwill, where I immediately spotted a Transformer, followed by another, and another, and another. At $1 a piece, I grabbed them all and kept digging. There were movie edition Optimus and Megatrons, Berzerker who looks badass, as does Alpha Trion, and Sentinel Prime. There was a Robots In Disguise Skywarp, a character I've always loved but never owned any version of. Not sure who I'm keeping and who I'm selling but wow, what a find. Too many to carry, I had to load them into a basket, only the second time I've ever bought so many items at Goodwill I needed a basket. The more I dug, the more I found.

 

Then, in the buckets of Barbies and baby dolls, I spotted something purple, freakin' Galvatron! Transformers Generations Titans Return Galvatron, the one I have in package and was literally thinking about opening yesterday. I mean this figure is a thing of beauty, he's missing his cannon but still, this is possibly my favorite version of my favorite Transformer. (A couple days later, I went back and what did I see sitting on the shelf but an orange cannon. I didn't mind paying a dollar for his weapon. I now have him in and out of package and I couldn't be happier.)

I also grabbed a Toothless from How To Train Your Dragon for $1. Don't know anything about these figures but I know there's a new movie and some of these guys sell for a little bit. His wing is kind of broken, as is his tail, but he'll go nicely with another figure from the movie I got this summer to sell as a lot. There was also a big Iron Man figure, also a dollar, so I grabbed him as well, why not. If he doesn't sell separately, I'll just add him to my superhero lot.

The next day, I hit up Salvation Army where the success continued. Again, one buck a piece, I picked up three more figures. There was a Halo Red Spartan Grenadier Commando Scout which I'll pair up to sell with some other Halo figures I've found. There was also a movie Wolverine from the early 2000s which I'll either add to my superhero figure lot to sell or put him aside for my friend, but I don't know, it's a pretty stupid looking figure, even for a Wolverine fan. And last but not least, the prize of today's Salvation Army finds, a vintage Head Droppin' Raphael figure from the vintage TMNT line. I never had any of the head dropping figures as a kid but he'll be an excellent place holder until I get the original Raphael again. Now that was a successful and exciting couple days of action figure hunting.

Birthday Weekend Toy Haul (MOTU, Transformers, Spiderman, TMNT, Mortal Kombat, GI Joe)

Over the course of my birthday weekend slash week, we hit a few stores and I found some great presents for myself. On Halloween we went to TJ Maxx where I spotted the Masters Of The Universe Mega Construx Battle For Eternia 5 pack for $10. Yes, I already have it, but mine is for in package and I've been wanting one to open, I just couldn't bring myself to spend another $20 on it. I planned on getting it on clearance at Walmart but missed my opportunity this summer. So today it became mine and they look amazing out of package. And now I can display the back of the package as well, and enjoy the artwork in the instructions pamphlet.

We swung by Goodwill where I picked up a bag of Hot Wheels, not because of the cars, but because of what was in the bag with the cars. Not sure how they figured these went together but for some reason they shoved a black Spiderman figure from the third movie in there, who is actually worth a little bit of money. The cars on the other hand, yeah, not so much. But for $2, totally worth it. Not sure if I'm keeping him or selling him. I guess we'll see what other people are willing to pay for him because he'd look awfully good in my collection.

That evening Jaime gave me a couple presents she'd picked up for me, one of them being the Transformers reissue Soundwave figure from Walmart! I was there with her that day and still somehow didn't know she bought it for me. Soundwave's been one of my favorites since I was a kid but I didn't have his figure until the Action Master line. I wanted the reissue but wasn't going to spend $50 on it, then kept going back and forth in my head until I decided no. I'm so glad she got it for me, I drool over it every time I'm in Walmart. I'll take him out of package and display him in front of it because I've never actually held an original Soundwave in my hands. These reissues are incredible, exactly like the original, I love it.

We went to Ruby Tuesday on my birthday, but had to drop the car off at Walmart for a new headlight while we were eating. It took a lot longer than expected so we looked around and found a new Transformers Siege repainted Megatron, in his G1 colors. But $30? Jaime said yes, it's my birthday, so we got it. I already have the regular Siege Megatron still in package, which I had planned on taking out but the box is just so freakin' cool, so I got this one to take out since the box art isn't anything special. Man this figure is amazing, can't wait to open him up. We also got a nice little pre-lit Christmas tree with fake snow on it, it's so gorgeous and elegant, I don't think we're even going to decorate it.

I brought Jaime in to work on Saturday so I could check out a rather pathetic church rummage sale. But, at Goodwill, I found another Spiderman from the third movie, this one with better articulation and a slightly different mold, also worth some money. I figure I'll see if they sell as a lot for $25, if they don't, then I'll keep them, or at least one. (update: they sold for a total of $25 right away) There was also a movie Superman figure so I grabbed him as well for a dollar a piece. He's not worth anything but I'll throw him in my lot of superhero figures. I also found a performance tee for $6 that's worth about $15 but I think I'm gonna keep this one for myself. It's a brand I've never heard of, Hind, but it's really nice and looks like it's never been worn.

From there I headed over to the Market Bazaar flea market and bought a couple figures. What I was really hoping for were some Nickelodeon Turtles, which I know I've seen there before, back when I wasn't hunting them down. I had to dig through the buckets but I eventually spotted Donatello, the last one I need to complete the four Turtles. Well, so I have a Don but he's a special version and I wanted a plain one. For $2, more than worth it. I watch the show every night before going to bed and love it, I need all the figures. So glad I've been picking them up all summer, now I have a little collection so I'm not starting from scratch.

I also bought a Mortal Kombat movie Liu Kang figure, from the GI Joe line, for $5. I'm not sure if that's a good deal or not because I haven't been able to find him on eBay, so even if he's not worth a lot, he's still hard to find. I had him, along with just about every other Mortal Kombat GI Joe, and have been kicking myself for selling them for years now. Luckily I still have their weapons so now when I repurchase the figures, I already have their accessories. I loved these things, them and the Street Fighter series, and I was only missing a few variants, shoulda never gotten rid of them, these guys are going to be hard to hunt down.

Today we had to take Jaime's father down to Lewiston for ankle surgery, which meant leaving the house around 4:30 in the morning and hanging around the hospital most of the day. On the way back we stopped in Augusta for Arby's, since we never get to have it, I think Augusta is the closest one. On our way back to the highway, I stopped at Goodwill and found a GI Joe comic book. It's not actually a comic, but a Battle File for Cobra, so it's got pictures of the Cobra soldiers and little bios for everyone. This thing is awesome, and it's got Cobra Commander on the cover, it's even got a file for the Night Creepers, one of my all time favorites! At only a dollar, score. I think I'll put it in a comic sleeve and hang it up in the hall with my other favorite comic covers.

Not a bad birthday weekend at all. We would've rather been in CT going to the flea markets before they shut down for the season, and the Toy Vaults, ohhh the Toy Vaults, but hopefully for Christmas. Ooooo, and Cajun Cafe. Dammit, now I wanna go to CT. Thanks a lot guys, you just had to bring it up.