Reintegration Of The Last Shed Box

I couldn't stop thinking about the Bat Jet and Eva Marie figure I didn't get yesterday, so this morning I hit up Goodwill when they opened at 9:00. As soon as I walked in I ran into Bobby Verge, owner of Northeast Collectibles. We chatted for a bit while browsing the toy section. I grabbed the Bat Jet, which isn't in the best condition but I have the hard to find missile piece that attaches to the front so I couldn't pass it up, even if it is just to resell. Found a bunch of 90s Spiderman and X-Men comics but I have no need for them and don't know enough about their value to buy them so I tracked Bobby down and he bought all of them.

Next stop was to TJ Maxx for the $4 Eva Marie NXT Takeover figure I saw there yesterday. When I looked her up online later, she gets a little bit of money on eBay so I went back and grabbed her. The package was pretty damaged and the blister was coming off the card so I opened her the rest of the way and will try to sell her. Oh and they dropped the price by a dollar since yesterday so I only paid $3 which is cool. It really is a good figure, it actually looks like her. She wasn't much of a wrestler but man is she hot.

I hit up Salvation Army since I was right next door but nothing, and then I went to the Antique Mall on Union Street which I haven't been to since it changed hands a while back. Nice place but nothing there for me. They did have a bunch of Ninja Turtle movie cards and Batman movie cards from the late 80s/early 90s, still in their sealed packs for $1 a piece. I actually just went through my cards yesterday and saw a bunch from those exact sets. There was also a whole display case of sports cards.

When I got home, I went into the shed before the big snowstorm hits and brought in some toys that I wanted to display on the dresser I just cleaned off. This is the last full tote of toys from the shed, though I do still have some loose pieces that I just don't have room for right now. But I'm excited about what I did bring in because not only were there vehicles and playsets, there were also accessories and parts I needed in a KB Toys bag which is a cool find in itself. Some of my old plastic bags have partially disintegrated but this one is in excellent condition.

So let's go over what I brought in today, and a couple things from the other day as well. The 1990s Power Of The Force Star Wars Land Speeder with its box. The box was a bit dusty and dirty and a little misshapen but I cleaned it up and found a box identical in size to go inside of it to help keep its form. First box I tried, usually that's close to impossible. I was on a Star Wars kick back in the early 90s and had quite a few of the early Power Of The Force figures and a couple vehicles as well, all of which I sold at a yard sale, accept this one. I think because I had the box, that's what I was storing their cardbacks in, I decided to keep it and try to sell it with its box. It never went for anything so it's just been sitting in my shed for all these years.

I also brought in the Nation Of Domination 4 pack box from the Jakks WWE line. The box is a little damaged from being in the shed for all these years but I cleaned it up and put it on a shelf. I always planned on selling it but it was never worth anything since it's the early Nation before The Rock, D-Lo, Mark Henry and Kama joined. I decided to bring it in because when I was going through the pictures my dad and sister sent me from the photo albums, there's a Christmas picture and this box set is in the picture. I think I'll keep it for that alone, unless maybe it suddenly becomes worth something.

I also brought in my vintage Star Wars figures in their generic 80s Space Cases. I went through the cases a while back and brought in my favorites to put on display but this time I decided which ones to keep and which ones to sell. Not that they're worth anything, maybe a dollar or two a piece. I added about ten figures to my ranks of Star Wars figures who already have a spot in my living room display. The figures got me thinking, I should really make a custom of King Terak from the Ewoks Battle For Endor movie.

And now onto today's shed haul. The largest of the bunch, which wasn't actually in the tote because it's too large, is the GI Joe Headquarters from 1992. Though not quite complete, it does have most of its parts, which I reattached today after compiling them all from their different locations. My sister and I loved this thing as kids, we would set up Joes everywhere on it and have to shoot them all down with the little cannons. Man, now I wanna play again. I bet my wife would love that game.

To stick with the playset theme, I also brought in the other two Battle Beasts playsets, I have the Shocking Shark in my display case, mostly complete. So today I brought in the Wood Beetle and Blazing Eagle, which are now close to or possibly 100% complete. I forgot how much I loved these until seeing them again. I also brought in the three riding chariots to round out the collection. Now, all I need to do is once again get the figures themselves. Sometimes I really hate past me.

One of the things I went out there to grab in the first place was the GI Joe vehicle, the Hurricane, a Cobra jet that takes off and lands vertically. Years ago I planned on selling it but they were only fetching maybe $10 incomplete, plus I never found a box the right size for it so it's been sitting in the shed in its tote for years. Since then I've found the figure that came with it and almost all of the missiles, just missing two now. It was always one of my favorite vehicles so I think I'll keep it.

I'm going to be honest here, up until a couple months ago, I had no idea how much the yellow King Of The Ring WWF Hasbro wrestling ring was worth. Of course, mine is nowhere near mint condition, I played with those figures for years. My ring was always a little warped, since the minute I took it out of the box and still is today, not sure if that's normal with these. The sticker in the middle of the ring is so scuffed up you can barely read it. I certainly got my money's worth out of it, well, my parents' money to be technical. Now that I know how valuable it is, not just to me but to collectors everywhere, I figure I should have it displayed properly.

I also brought in a couple of my New Adventure Of He-Man vehicles to display, not that I have any room for them. The Terroclaw and the Shuttle Pod. I actually have two Shuttle Pods, one of which will stay toted up, as well as the Astrosub and Bolajet. Since I've never had these vehicles on display before, this is the first time I'm seeing them with the Shuttle Pod attaching onto the top of the Terroclaw. The Terroclaw was always my favorite New Adventures vehicle.

There were two things in the box I didn't even know were in there. The first was a GI Joe puzzle featuring one of my favorite characters, Croc Master. I knew I had this puzzle somewhere but hadn't seen it in quite a while, I'd been hoping to come across it since assembling my closet shelving display system a couple years ago. It'll go nicely with my other puzzles. I'm so glad I kept this from my childhood, one of those things I don't even remember having. I was never big into puzzles but this is a great display piece.

The other item in the box that I didn't expect to find was Reptile's Dragon MK1 boat from the GI Joe/Mortal Kombat line in the mid 90s. I never cared much about the boat, I just wanted that damn Reptile figure. I honestly don't think I ever even played with the boat so it's still in mint condition. And miraculously, I seem to have found all the accessories either in that tote or in my box of Joes weapons. And I can't be sure but online, all the pictures I see of it, and there aren't many, show it with black missiles on the sides. However, I attached two gray torpedo looking missiles to mine which I find weird because I never played with it so those would have been the parts I put on it to begin with, fresh out of the box. When I looked at the GI Joe Piranha boat they used as the mold, it has those torpedo style missiles but in yellow. So I'm wondering if the gray ones I have on mine are actually the ones that came with it. I have the four 4 black missiles as well, two on top, one in the cannon and one just flopping around. I'm so glad I didn't sell this piece, it may not be worth much, but I loved those Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter figures and this is one less rare piece I need to hunt down.

WWE Retro Series 7 at Bangor Walmart

Earlier today I hit up the Bangor Salvation Army and TJ Maxx but didn't find anything. I had to go to the grocery store tonight and figured I'd stop at Goodwill along the way, right before close, and Walmart as well, still looking for WWE Retro Series 7. I didn't find anything at Goodwill, well, they did have the Batman Bat Jet by Kenner from 1990, a toy I had as a kid and sold a few years back for a few dollars. I'm not a fan of Batman so I wouldn't have looked twice at it except I recently found the missile that goes on the front of the jet and planned on selling it separately. I thought about buying the jet for $2 to sell it complete but there's a big ass Goodwill price sticker on the cockpit shield which would be a pain to get off, so I didn't bother getting it. (went back and bought it, the sticker peeled right off with no trouble)

Next up was Walmart. I could feel something good and was hoping for Retros. They must have just reset the action figure aisle today because everything was moved around and quite empty, awaiting the new product on its way. They had the pegs all set up for the new items that haven't arrived yet. I looked at the Transformers pegs to see what was coming, there's something called a G1 Optimus for I think $50. Next to it was the spot for the Siege Optimus and Megatron which I don't need anymore since the Brewer Walmart already got them in.

They also just got in the MOTU Mega Construx Wind Raider I just picked up at the Brewer Walmart, no multi figure pack though. Then I checked out the section for the WWE figures and saw the empty Retro pegs, still only $10 which is nice to see since other stores have them for no less than $13. They must just have not gotten them in yet. Just to make sure, I looked up in the top stock where there was one lone case of WWE figures. Retros!!!

I grabbed it and hoped Shawn Michaels wasn't already scooped up by another collector since the box was open. There he was, bottom of the box, well, top but they opened it upside down. I decided to go ahead and just buy both of them, one to keep in package, one for display. I put the others back in the box and stuck it back in top stock. I did the same thing when they got in Series 2, it took them a month and a half to put the ones I didn't buy on the pegs, and that box they actually took out of top stock and stored out back, so I'm glad I found this one when I did. I'm guessing they got it in today.

This is the first figure I've seen in person with the leg kicking action. I don't know, great idea, but their legs are too short, they look like midgets. Why couldn't they have made the legs just a couple centimeters longer? And wtf is up with his head sculpt? That is just horrible. Easily the worst face yet on any of the Retros. But it's Shawn Michaels so I just couldn't help myself. Sheamus looks great, except of course for his midget legs. Chris Jericho looks amazing, I'm actually kind of surprised they didn't put an emergency halt on this figure since he signed with AEW, like they did with the Enzo Series 4 figure we'll never get, which also looked awesome in the prototype shots. Kurt Angle looks, well, he's not as bad as HBK but if I were a fan of Kurt Angle, I certainly wouldn't be happy about that figure. These Mattel designers really need to step their game up, or maybe they don't because idiots like me buy them anyway. I also noticed that on this series, they stopped including the personalized figure stand they started back in Series 3. I'm okay with it either way, I just wish they did the drawing of the figure's action feature in the little circle like the old WWF Hasbros, rather than the actual photo of it.

I also checked out the clearance section which is full of toys, new toys, like really new, I mean some of these came out just a day or two before Christmas. The brand new Cyberverse Optimus Prime is marked down. The G1 Hot Rod vintage style figure is half price. The new WWE Survivor Series set which they didn't get in until after Christmas, I think it was only AJ Styles left. They also still have some Mega Construx series 2 figures for half price, Beast Man but no Teela. I can't figure out why they clearanced their brand new product, I get they're making room for the new stuff but some of these things aren't even a month old. Oh well, I guess they have their reasons. I'm just happy to have gotten my hands on the Retro Shawn Michaels.

Epic Day Of Toy Hunting Around Bangor... I got the freakin' Technodrome!

Fingers numb after pumping gas, they led me to Salvation Army as if I didn't have a choice. I didn't plan on going but when you get one of those feelings, you gotta follow it. The place was packed, I actually had to park at KFC and walk over, as if my hands weren't cold enough out there in the single digits as it was. I headed straight for the toy section, like always, though I haven't been to Salvation Army in months. I immediately spotted the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Party Wagon Attack Van for only $2. I thought about grabbing it but wasn't sure if it was actually the 1988 model or one of the many later ones I see at every thrift store. The wheels looked vintage though. While thinking about it, on the floor, in a cardboard box with tape across the top, I spotted the eye and its purple lid. It took only a millisecond to figure out what I was looking at. My heart began pounding in my chest. Could it be? It couldn't. No. But it was. The motherf***ing Technodrome!

As a kid, my friend had it, he had all the cool playsets, in fact, it was the same friend who collected Power Rangers I mentioned in an earlier post. Even as I grew out of the Turtles, I still wanted that spherical piece of awesomeness on wheels. It's been one of my holy grail pieces for quite some time now, one I never thought I'd actually own. I grabbed that box so fast my hands practically burst through it, I think it's got burn marks now. Six dollars. Six. If you're not familiar, this thing is worth $150. I didn't care if it had its parts, all I really need is the shell for display. On top of that, there was a ziploc bag inside with what I assumed were some of the pieces but who cares. I went back and grabbed the Party Wagon too because why not. And this makes up for that time the redneck momma got her grubby little mitts on all those bags of vintage Ninja Turtles before I did. I got the freakin' Technodrome! I didn't even care that I had to wait in a long ass line. There's a possibility I ruined my underwear in all the excitement.

From there I made my way over to Goodwill but didn't find anything, almost couldn't get a parking spot there either. January and February used to be the quiet time around here but those days seem to be over. Then onto the Bangor Market Bazaar to hit up Northeast Collectibles again. I've been thinking about the WWE Classics Sunny and MOTU 200x Tri-Klops all week. Do I have them both? Yes, but I needed a second. Let me explain. Oh and I also picked up a vintage TMNT Bebop figure to go along with my other new Turtles toys.

So, first, Sunny. I got her WWE Classics figure the second it arrived at the store. I was working at Toys R Us at the time it came out. I would've grabbed two but the female figures were always short packed, sometimes every other case but luckily we got one. Since I only had one, I kept her in package. I think it's safe to say that Sunny is the first girl I ever, ahem, you know, to a picture of. And even though the figure is amazing, I was always disappointed she wasn't in her original Bodydonnas attire. So I later bought a second one back in my customizing years without her Legion Of Doom flame gear. Shortly after, I moved away from making customs so my out of package Sunny is just standing there in her black bra and panties, not that I mind. I now finally have her in her ring gear, and who knows, maybe I'll get around to painting my other one someday.

As far as Tri-Klops from the 200x Masters Of The Universe line goes, I have him in package and out, I even have the Snakemen series repaint. So what could I possibly need another one for? First of all, shut up, he was only $2 and he's in excellent condition so leave me alone. Second, I swear, I'll get back to making customs someday, and when I do, I'm going to be grateful I got him. Once upon a time, I had big plans for the 200x series, I wanted to do every character there was. I think I made about 10 but one day I'll get back to it. I also wanted to do a Beastmaster line of figures using the 200x MOTU toys. Not the movie, no, the TV show that ran for three seasons. My wife and I love that show and I planned on making all the main characters in plastic form. So, see, I actually need a few Tri-Klops's, which means next time I see one, I'll probably buy him again.

And on to Bebop, released in wave one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles back in 1988. I had the whole wave, plus most of the second, and the third, and the fourth. And then I got too old for them. They sat around in a bin for fifteen years until I eventually needed the money and sold them all. And then I regretted it. Good news is, I don't want all of the figures I once had, just my favorites. And all the main characters while we're at it. And hey, now he has a cool rolling globe with a giant eyeball to hang out in.

If you're anywhere near the Bangor area, you really need to check this place out. The guys at Northeast Collectibles are great and the amount of stuff they manage to cram into their two booths is incredible. A whole bin of Turtles, one of wrestling figures, MOTU, Thundercats, their $2 bins, comic books, Pop Vinyls, video games, sports cards, custom artwork, they have a little bit of everything. I didn't plan on going again next week but there's a few figures I can't stop thinking about and I have a feeling I'll be going back again.

I wanted to hit up Walmart but the area was just too busy and there's no way I'd be able to take a left out of there so I said screw it and headed on over to Brewer. First stop, Walmart. I was hoping the new set of WWE Retros would be out and maybe even the new Transformers Siege series Megatron I've been searching everywhere for. But I stepped into the toy aisle and spotted something I didn't expect to find, Masters Of The Universe Mega Construx series 4 Evil-Lyn. I never even saw series 3, I ended up finding my Faker figure at Goodwill right before Christmas. But there she was. And then, on the peg beside her, tucked away in the back, Man-At-Arms. Sweet! I had no clue they were even released yet. And already, that set was close to gone.

As I snapped a picture for the blog, I noticed something on the bottom shelf. The Wind Raider! The Wind Raider vehicle set that I was beginning to think would never hit the shelves! Oh my god, I grabbed it along with my two figures, happy as a pig in s**t. They had three pegs for the WWE Retros but they were all empty and I didn't even care, I got my MOTU Mega Construx. I think I just mentioned in one of my blog posts how I hadn't heard any more about the Wind Raider or the figure five pack and wondered if they were still coming out. No five pack but it is pictured on the back of the Wind Raider.

And then, a few feet down the aisle, Transformers Siege, The War For Cybertron. They arrived. And almost completely sold out. The pegs were almost bare, the shelves were practically empty. Except for one leader class figure. Megatron! They had him! And wow, what a thing of beauty he is. A little smaller than I'd expected but the packaging is phenomenal, I love the color scheme. I intended to take him out of package but now I'm not so sure. There were still a couple of the figures the next size down and a few of the small ones, based on the Action Masters sidekicks. But that section was wiped the hell out. I finally got my War For Cybertron Megatron. I took quite a few trips to Walmart and Target looking for this figure, he was worth the wait. What a thing of beauty.

On my way out I took a trip down the clearance aisle and came across a couple Mega Construx MOTU Beat Man figures for $2.50, so I picked up one of those too. Yes I already have him. And I have no excuses, I don't need a second one. I guess I'll take him out of package. He'll be alone though and then I'll have to get other duplicates to take out of package and... this isn't good, I think I just created a monster. So, four MOTU Mega Construx and a Megatron later, $60 worth of toys and a smile on my face, I was done at Walmart. Maybe it's a good thing the Retros were sold out already, or perhaps haven't arrived yet, because my total would have crept up another $20.

I stopped at the Brewer Goodwill but nothing I wanted there so it was on to my last stop of the day, Mardens. I've been wanting to go back since the last time I was there and picked up those MOTU and Thundercats Loyal Subjects blindbox figures for Christmas. This time I wasn't there minutes before closing so I got to take my time and look around. The amount of toys there right now is unbelievable. Nothing new since last time but wow. They had a Star Wars Tie fighter, the big black one, for $60. They had an endcap of Pop Vinyls. The modern Technodrome along with a bunch of Turtles, even those WWE / TMNT crossover figures. They had WWE basics and Elites, Star Wars, Marvel and DC figures, so much good stuff. They also just had a buyout of some book/movie/music store so they are loaded right now with tons of DVDs, CDs and books from childrens to young adult to adult novels and nonfiction, definitely worth checking out, 60% of retail price.

I ended up grabbing two of the MOTU Loyal Subjects. They're still $9, as are the Thundercats ones, which is kind of pricey considering you don't know who you're getting. One of them was opened, I peaked inside to see it was Man-E-Faces who I didn't particularly want so I didn't take that one. I grabbed my two and called it good, hating myself a little. I should wait until they drop in price but they may not drop in price, man I suck. Well, I ended up with a Man-E-Faces anyway, kinda knew that would happen. But you know what, this figure is pretty cool. The detail is amazing, his faces even turn just like the original toy. And I also got Man-At-Arms. Not the two I would have chosen but they both look amazing, my first good guys. That puts me at six total, for a series of figures I didn't plan on collecting. Oops.

When I got home, after eating a quick lunch because I was starving, I opened up the Salvation Army box to check out my holy grail piece, the Technodrome. It is as spectacular as I remember. And pretty close to complete too. When I opened it, I was surprised to find most of its parts inside, and even a Krang figure. Then I checked out the ziploc bag a little closer. It turned out to be one of the large size bags chock full of figures and accessories, it coulb barely close. Six figures to be exact, and tons of weapons. Weapons I needed for the figures I've recently added to my collection. It's crazy, I now have parts for General Traag, Slash, Tokka, Triceraton, Mutagen Man, even the Bebop figure I just got today. And on top of all the weapons for figures I don't need, I came across weapons for a few that I do, including all the original series 1 figures, I'm talking the Turtles, Splinter, Rocksteady, Foot Soldiers, plus some of the weapons for one of my all time favorites I still need, Chrome Dome. I really hit the jackpot here.

And the figures in the bag, oh man; Mutating Raphael and Donatello, Mutating Rocksteady, Road Ready Mutations Donatello. I've never been a fan of mutating/transforming figures but the Raph and Don ones are kinda cool, think I'll keep 'em until I get regular versions to replace them. But the real gems, aside from the Krang inside the Technodrome, are an original Shredder. He's in rough shape but that's fine, I was planning on making a custom out of him at some point so this beat-up one will be perfect. And the real prize, for me at least, Scale Tail. I never had him as a kid, but he looks insane. He was actually on my list of figures to get but I put him at the bottom because he goes for about $40 with his weapons. Which it turns out I have most of thanks to my big bag of treasures. I have his guns so I'm only missing his whip and backpack but honestly I don't care, I would have bought him without any accessories had I ever come across him in my travels. And considering I didn't even know I was getting any figures in this box, I am shocked I came across such a great find.

This might be my best haul ever, from the MOTU and Megatron at Walmart to the Technodrome and bonus Turtles at Salvation Army. Hands down, my best Salvation Army find ever. The $8 I spent is easily worth well over $200, not that I plan on selling most of it. And for Walmart, I think my level of excitement for the toys I found today rivals that of the time two years ago when I got all of the WWE Retro series 1 figures, and then a year later when I found series 2. I still can't believe I got all this stuff, I'm never lucky enough to be the one to find deals like that. The toy gods smiled down on me today. Really, they have been since Christmas, and I couldn't be happier.

Why I Collect Toys

I hate the fact that I got rid of so many of the toys I loved as a child. After keeping them for so long, when time's got hard and I needed money, I resorted to selling them. Not all of them, maybe half, but enough to make me regret it. I thought I was ready to say goodbye. To grow up. To leave behind what I once loved.

It's weird how everyone eventually says goodbye to their childhood and most of us think nothing of it. But some of us need to hold onto it any way we can, usually by the toys we played with. And we spend our lives trying to reassemble the collections we once had. Most kids got rid of their toys when they outgrew them but I come from a family of pack rats so we held onto all of mine, a fact which I love today.

I think some people love their old toys because it brings them back to a simpler time, before we had to be adults. But for me it's more about holding onto who I was back then, and those toys I played with are a symbol of that. I had to change in order to make it through. I had to lose parts of myself that I didn't want to. But as long as I held onto the pieces of my childhood that made me who I am, that little kid was still within me.

Selling them off, I see today, that was symbolic. I had to sell them in order to make it through, just like I had to put them down and grow up before I was ready to in order to make it through back then. Do they remind me of an easier and happier time? No, not really, they remind me that they were there to help me through the loneliness.

I didn't want to be like the kids around me, I didn't strive to be like their athlete heroes. I didn't want to get into trouble and do things they thought were fun, it wasn't me. My friends were my toys, and I wanted to be more like them. I wanted to be larger than life. People suck. My plastic heroes and their cartoon counterparts taught me how to be greater than what I saw around me. Where I'm from, we were all destined to fail, and we did. Me included. I never became what I set out to be. I watched my goals fall, one by one, until I was left with only one, surviving. To be perfectly honest, I didn't think I'd make it to 35. But here I am, unemployed, no college degree, no friends, and some days, no hope.

These pieces of poseable plastic get me through, just like they did when I was a kid, and just like they did the last time we found ourselves out of work and desperate. Jaime has a great job now, which gives me the opportunity to do what I was put here to do. I'm unemployed, yes, but this time is different. This time I choose to be. This time around I'm an author.

Am I unemployed or self employed? From off-trail hiking guides to novels. They are in direct correlation with my childhood. I've been hiking and collecting toys since I was born, playing with my action figures the whole car ride to Acadia or the White Mountains or even the smaller hikes in Connecticut. I didn't destroy my toys like the kids around me, I treasured them. They weren't just pieces of plastic to chew on and bang off one another. What of my favorite activities was naming off characters to keep my parents entertained. What do you mean, of course they found it entertaining. Hiuking wasn't hiking if we weren't pretending Skeletor and his henchmen were after me. Every stream crossing was the lava emanating from Snake Mountain. Mer-Man was always waiting to emerge from every muddy section of trail we had to hop on rocks to cross. My heroes and villains are what got me through.

Every novel I write, from secret stairways to magical worlds, zombie outbreaks, children coming of age and finding themselves, finding love, finding themselves to be greater than they knew possible, those stories I write are pulled straight from the 'dolls' people tease me for collecting. They made this possible. Those hunks of plastic gave me a voice. I survived because of them. I owe them my life. On more than one occasion, they've saved me. They were there when no one else was. The least I can do is treasure them. Display them prominently and proudly. Give them the respect that they deserve. And love them, because without them, there would be no me to love.

1st time at Bangor Market Bazaar - Northeast Collectibles

Part of my old routine for toy hunting in Bangor Maine was K-Mart. Next door was the Hands Of Hope Thrift Store, which was actually quite large and I'd gotten some good stuff there over the years. When K-Mart closed down in April of 2017, Hands Of Hope followed not long after, leaving me two less places to frequent for toys. I didn't have that many to begin with. A car dealership now occupies the old K-Mart lot, but next door, in the old thrift store, a new place opened a couple months ago. The Bangor Market Bazaar Craft & Flea Market. I try avoiding the mall area on weekends during the day and they're only open on Saturday from 10:00 to 5:00 so I hadn't been yet.

Today, I don't know, I just had one of those feelings I get. Intuition or perhaps divine intervention from the toy gods. Those feelings lead me to hidden caves, unknown waterfalls, ledges with beautiful views, all of which I write books about, and of course, toys. I walk into a store and can feel it, there's something good here. I am so glad I braved the crowds today because I couldn't have been more right. Northeast Collectibles.

The flea market is awesome, there were tons of crafts, some stunning log furniture, delicious smelling food, lots of great artwork, and amidst all the homemade goods, a toy dealer with so much product, he took up two booths. Now, toys around here are, well, they're Star Wars and superheroes. And that's about it. You'll find a few wrestling figures here and there but collecting the stuff I collect is not easy in northern Maine, or really New England in general. Let me tell you, Northeast Collectibles is a breath of fresh air to Bangor collectors. Bobby Verge has got it all and surprisingly, the prices were amazing. I walked away with 13 action figures and only spent $50. And holy s**t did I get some good stuff. Let's get into it.

The first item I saw that sparked my interest was the Battle Armor Skeletor from POP Vinyl, yes, the very one I was searching lower New England for in the days following Christmas. He was sold out everywhere, they still had the others from his series, but no more Skeletors. So when I saw him for $10, I grabbed him immediately, and almost Battle Armor He-Man to get two for $15 but decided to pass on him. I really hate POP Vinyl figures, mostly their un-detailed faces, but Skeletor oddly looks good, maybe it's due to the whole skull for a face thing he's got going on. So I was pretty excited already.

Then, among the carded Star Wars figures, I spotted a Thundercat. Mumm-Ra, the 6" vintage style Bandai figure from the 2011 line. I wanted him back when he first came out but couldn't afford him, in fact, I was just talking about those figures in a blog post from last week. Even when they went on clearance at Walmart, I wasn't able to get him. I hadn't seen the new show yet and just assumed I would hate it (couldn't have been more wrong, easily one of the dopest shows ever) but I at least wanted the vintage style Mumm-Ra and Lion-O. So for $5, I couldn't pass him up, in package at that.

Awesome, I was ready to call it a day. Until I realized there was a booth right next door that had even more toys, pegs of MOCs and bins of loose figures. Multiple bins. The vendor told me he had some MOTU and Thundercats in one of the buckets. And boy did he ever. Unfortunately, I recently got my hands on all of the Thundercats he had except one, Tygra. We've already discussed what happened to my Thundercats collection but this marks another one off my re-collection list. Tygra puts me at 12 Thundercats so I'm slowly getting there.

Now, I have all the vintage MOTU figures, most of them nearly complete but I still love to look at them. It takes all my strength not to purchase every MOTU figure I see, no matter how many of them I already have. However, when I was a kid, I didn't feel the need to get every He-Man variant they made, though I did have most of them. I bought Flying Fists He-Man a couple years ago at the Toy Vault, he was in pretty rough shape but for a few dollars, I didn't mind. That left me needing only one, Thunder Punch He-Man. My eyes lit up when I saw him in the bin of MOTU and Thundercats figures. Really good shape too, beautiful figure, I kinda wish I had him as a kid now. Oh okay, I think I remember why I didn't, caps scared the crap out of me and that's kind of his action feature.

In that same bin of figures in baggies, I spotted something I never thought I'd see in Maine, I've only ever seen one other, even in lower New England, and I bought him last week. The Sectaurs. Not one but two of them, two freakin' Sectaurs, and not the two I already have, but two of the good guys, Mantor/Mantys and Zak. I'm sorry but what kind of name is Zak? They don't have their weapon holsters but whatever, I wasn't going to let Sectaurs pass me by. Oddly enough I was just reading about them last night and saw that someone acquired the license to them and got a Kickstarter campaign going to produce new figures. They met their goal and the figures should be out soon. They look awesome by the way and I'll definitely be picking up a Spidrax if possible. Wish I knew the campaign had been going on, I would've thrown some money their way.

A couple was going through the toy bins for quite a while so I got to talking to the vendor, a cool dude name Bobby Verge. He sells on eBay and goes to the conventions. It's nice to see someone selling action figures around here, this area is so dry for collectors. He said he rotates figures out every week so I'll be going back again and again. And luckily he takes cards if you spend over $10 because I don't usually carry cash on me, turns out today I would've had just enough.

When the couple finished digging through the crates, I took their place, sweating a little in my coat because it was hot in there and, ya know, action figure excitement. Oddly enough I didn't have to poop, usually I have to poop when I spot action figures and get all excited. Too much information? Ah, whatever, you don't mind. He had tons of Ninja Turtles but I'm only after a select few, just replacing all my favorites that I sold off during the poor college kid years. In one of the bins I found Triceraton, one of the last TMNT figures I need. He's missing his tail but for $2, who cares, I don't see him from behind anyway.

In one the Christmas trip blogs, I discussed my Mortal Kombat figure collection. I hope to one day complete it once again which sucks since I pretty much had the komplete kollection (see what I did there, k's instead of c's because it's Mortal Kombat, sorry, I couldn't resist). When matching up my new Rayden and Shang Tsung figures to their weapons recently, I noted how impossible it would be to get my hands on some of the rarer figures. Well, today I got my hands on three of them. The movie edition of Rayden, who I unfortunately do not have accessories for, but that's okay. Smoke, who's in rough shape with some marker markings on him and his sash ripped off after it was colored red, but I actually have both of his swords in my little weapons bag which is almost empty now. I also grabbed a movie edition Goro who I didn't have as a kid, I had the regular one without the extra markings, I wasn't sure if the same kid colored him as well but if he did I was quite impressed by the work on this figure. Turns out, no, that's a factory paint job. Unfortunately his ponytail has been ripped out and he had a foot amputated and an attempt was made on his other foot. Diabetes possibly? I think I'm going to try to attempt to re-sculpt his missing parts and take it back to my customizing days. Other than that he's in great shape and amazingly, he stands despite having only one foot. I also grabbed a GI Joe Street Fighter Ryu figure who I miraculously have all of the weapons for in my box, all 7 and his stand. Who needs seven freakin' weapons? Ryu, that's who. I bet it was him who cut off Goro's foot, after all, he's got seven blades to choose from.

So, I had all the Mortal Kombat GI Joes, what I didn't have as a kid were the enlarged versions of them. I didn't know they even existed until a few years ago. I finally saw my first one in real life last week at one of the Toy Vaults, Sonya Blade, in package. I almost bought her too but the card was a bit damaged. I would have absolutely loved to play with these, they stand at 5 inches tall and have the exact same articulation as the regular sized Joes. So I snatched both of the ones they had this week at Northeast Collectibles, Liu Kang and Johnny Cage, both in excellent condition. I believe they're from the Mortal Kombat Trilogy series from 1996 or so, and now I want them all.

There was also a large selection of wrestling figures, almost bought a loose Sunny and yeah, probably should have grabbed her. I have one out of package but plan on using her for a custom because she doesn't have her special Legion Of Doom attire. Quite a few Mattels and Jakks, none of which I needed for my collection. There were also some video games and consoles, some cool artwork of comic characters by a local artist, some Star Wars figures, Lord Of The Rings, DC and Marvel, and lots of random figures you don't typically see at places like this. This felt like the type of flea market vendor I'd find in southern New England, but with much more reasonable prices, some of the guys down there are charging more than the figures are even worth. This place is f***ing awesome. I'm already looking forward to next Saturday. You can check them out on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Northeastcollectiblesbrewer/