Yard Sale Bust & Thrift Store Haul (TMNT, WWE, Star Wars, Spider-Man and more)

So I hit up a bunch of yard sales today, but it seems my string of good luck has finally ended... well, as far as yard sales go. Didn't buy a single thing at them today, but I also stopped at all four thrift stores and bought a buttload of toys at two of them. Salvation Army came through today with a $5 bag of mostly Ninja Turtles, a TMNT Samurai War Horse, Spiderman Monster Spider, a 1989 Shazam vhs to resell and a vintage Power Rangers Pink Ranger vhs, with Kimberly on the cover. Saw it there last week and passed on it but the look she was giving me, for 50 cents, how could I possibly say no?

Snatched up the bag of toys with Ninja Turtles from all different time periods, ranging from the original Splinter, the 2002 Splinter, Wacky Action Shredder, which I own but he's one of my favorites, some mini Turtles figures, a couple newer Turtles, a kind of rare 2002 movie Spiderman, Buzz Lightyear, a Scooby Doo figure, Digimon, Dragonball Z and you guessed it, McDonalds toys. For once, I think the actual toys outnumbered the McDonalds garbage, though it's close. Just did the tally, yep, McDonalds lost for the first time ever.

The vintage Splinter makes up for the one I found a couple weeks ago with the missing hand, I already have his weapons, just need his robe now. And the 2002 Splinter will go nicely with the set of four complete 2002 Turtles I got this summer. Had no plan of collecting these but now that I have them, I want Shredder to go with them because that's a dope figure. I didn't even see the vintage Wacky Action Shredder in this bag until I emptied it out, he was shoved in the middle. Not sure if I'm going to keep him, since I already have him complete, maybe for a custom? One of my favorite figures from the line because he looked kind of like he did in the cartoon.

I honestly didn't even know the $1 horse was TMNT when I bought it, I was thinking it was Skeleton Warriors, maybe a horse the good guys rode. But it turns out there's only that one skeleton horse in the line, which I'm wishing I didn't get rid of because it's so badass. Aside from the horse, I also had one of the figures I'm wishing I held onto, Baron Dark. But this horse ended up being the Samurai War Horse from the 3rd TMNT movie in 1993. You know, I still have not seen that movie. I'm told I'm not missing out on much.

I also picked up the Spiderman Web Trap series Monster Spider figure from 1997, my favorite era of Spiderman cartoon, actually, technically the only superhero cartoon I was ever into. I had a few of the figures from that time period, which I foolishly sold, but I was too old for toys at that point in my childhood. Didn't stop me from wanting them though! This is one I probably wouldn't have bought back then, I like the regular figures that look like they do on the screen, but for $1, I couldn't pass him up, not sure if he's for my collection or to resell.

Then at Goodwill, there were multiple boxes of toys for $8, way too much considering you can't really see what you're getting, and most of the box is garbage. But I could see a few figures I wanted. I tried slipping them out of their box and into the other but there kept being more I wanted so I just bought them both, hoping it'd pay off. Lately, they actually have, sometimes quadrupling what I spend on the box which is usually $5 to $10. Not bad considering I usually spend the seven or so dollars on one figure I want in the box and the rest is just profit.

And I'd say they paid off today. So, which figure drew me in? Well, I had to get the box because it had the Baron Dark Skeleton Warrior figure I was just wishing I still had. How weird is that? I also spotted a John Cena and transforming Rocksteady, which I realized after I already have but oh well. There were a couple of the mini Ninja Turtles, to go along with the ones I just picked up from Salvation Army. Again, how weird is that? There were even accessories to go with figures I got earlier in the year. There was a Beetlejuice, unfortunately missing his regular size head, Mr Freeze, Captain Planet, X-Men's Apocalypse, Bob The Joker's Goon from the original Batman movie, die cast Star Wars vehicles mostly from their Hot Wheels line, the Blue and Black Imaginext Power Rangers, Roman Reigns, Undertaker and Nikki Bella figures, a McDonalds Megatron and a bunch of stuff to sell. The two Mario Kart slots cars alone are worth enough to cover the cost of both $8 boxes which is awesome, made my money back already, anything else is just icing on the cake.

I really wish they put some effort into these boxes, both of them were half full of baby toys, there were even some kids book in there, a roll of tape, they just throw anything in them. Now I'm wondering what was in the third box that didn't look good on the top but who knows what was underneath, man, shoulda bought that one too.

Two Days Of Goodwill Finds (Undertaker, Rock, Shredder, Power Rangers, Little People)

So I had to go to Walmart the past two nights to buy a new router and TV when ours both broke, and of course, along the way, I took a stroll through Goodwill both nights, and found something both times around. On Tuesday night I picked up a vintage Fisher Price Little People airplane from 1980 for $2, along with a small bag of figures from the line for $3. I had the figures as a kid, they're still at my parents house, but not the plane. I bought them to sell, looks like I'll make about $20. With all the random Little People pieces I've been finding lately, I'll probably throw them all in a lot.

On that same trip, I also found some WWE figures for $2 a piece, only two of which I got. There was a dirty Shawn Michaels figure from the Jakks line, which I actually have in package and out, as well as a beat up Randy Orton from the Flex Force kid's line with action features. The two figures I did pick up were an Elite Rock from 2011 and one of the rarest of Mattel's WWE line, the Defining Moments Survivor Series 1996 Undertaker. He unfortunately didn't have any of his accessories but as he is, he's worth upwards of $50 and is in great condition. The Rock, not so much, he's got a bit of a head wound and some major scuff marks which I was able to clean. I plan on keeping both of them anyway, at least for the time being. Can't believe I found one of the rarest figures in the line at a thrift store!

I stopped there again the next day on my way to pick up a new TV and found a box of toys for $5. I didn't want to get it, but there was a Nickelodeon Shredder, the version with his mask off that I've been wanting, so you already know I had to grab it. There were a few other figures in there as well, including some Power Rangers and Batman pieces.

Not much of interest for me in there other than the Shredder figure and a Beast Raider Savage Warrior figure that I made a custom Skeletor out of back in 2005, when I first started customizing figures. The line looked awesome and was available at discount stores like Dollar Tree and Big Lots. I couldn't afford much at the time so the $1 figures were perfect to make a custom MOTU line out of, but I didn't make it very far. I've been hoping to find the figures ever since. Finally found one, and it just so happens to be the one I made a custom out of. Couple of days, couple of awesome finds.

Crazy Yard Sale Box (Barnyard Commandos, Transformers, TMNT, Ghostbusters)

Only bought stuff at two yard sales today but what I did find was completely unexpected. In a random box of toy cars, I spotted a Barnyard Commandos vehicle, then a Ghostbusters vehicle, followed by a box of random figures and parts, and then another one. I combined them and bought the whole lot for $5.

I had the Barnyard Commandos Pork-a-Pult until recently selling it along with the few figures from the line I had as a kid, and since regretted it. I was never a huge fan of the line and only had a few pieces but looking back, it was kind of awesome. The catapult isn't complete but it's in good condition, pretty much just missing the bathtub launcher.

I also had the Ghostbusters helicopter and sold it, along with the rest of my Ghostbusters, quite a few years ago when I needed money. It's one of the few lines I don't regret getting rid of, I know you'll want to kick my ass for saying it, but I was into Filmation's Ghostbusters much more, the one with the ape and Prime Evil. Unfortunately, I sold those as well and really regret it. The helicopter isn't complete and I'll probably sell it off with some other random parts and figures I still have from the line.

In the boxes were a bunch of random things, including some vintage Ninja Turtles. I got a naked Splinter, missing a hand, a headless Foot Soldier, as well as Casey Jones's leg. Aside from the obvious, they're actually in good condition, never should have gotten rid of my TMNT collection.

Almost busted a nut when I found an Action Masters Transformer in there, his leg was detached but I was able to easily pop it back on. Again, you'll probably want to kick my ass for it, but that's my favorite Transformers line. The figure turned out to be Autobot Rad, one I did not have as a kid.

There were a few CORPS figures and pieces along with one GI Joe upper half, one of the twins, not sure if it's Tamox or Xamot. I had them both as a kid and even kept their broken bodies for years when their rubber bands broke, before I knew I could fix them. I sold them during my poor years after college in a lot of broken Joes and regretted it like crazy as soon as I found out how easy it is to fix them. So many good figures, gone.

Possibly the best and rarest find of the box came in a figure from a 1982 series I'd never heard of,

Dragon Riders Of The Styx. The Demon Flyer is missing half of one of his legs, from the knee down, if he had that part he'd be worth about $40. I'll have to research the line a little because he looks awesome and I just might keep him. I love the bad guys and I'd say he looks like the leader of the bad guys.

Tons of other random pieces in there, some 90s X-Men parts, a New Kids On The Block marble, some vintage cars from the 70s including a Johnny Lightning, some Pez dispensers, a GUTS figure, which I had a couple of as a kid and knew right away he was part of that series, a WWE Wrestlemania 2000 folding chair, some early 90s Power Rangers role play pieces, WWE ring skirt, all sorts of cool things, mostly from the early 90s.

At another yard sale, I picked up a couple Ninja Turtles from the 2002 line, Mike and Raph. I already have them, after finding all four Turtles complete a little while back at Salvation Army for $1 a piece. I paid $4 for these two, who do have their weapons. I'll keep one set and sell the others, this was a really cool line that I missed at the time as I was graduating high school and just getting back into collecting toys. Damn that Masters Of The Universe 200x line, they were so cool I just had to get back into toys and haven't looked back since.

Awesome Yard Sales Score (vintage Star Wars, Wind Raider, Thundercracker, Spiderman)

Had an awesome day yard saling today! It's not often I find stuff but these last couple times have been great. With last week's WWE figures and hiking pack, I wasn't expecting much this week, figuring I'd used up all my good luck, but man oh man.

Found another hiking pack, this one without the hydraulics feature, which will be great in the spring when I don't need it because I'll be using my filter to drink straight form the brooks. And what's even better, it's a WWE one, must be a patch or something but it looks so legit. I can't find anything about WWE and High Sierra making a backpack together. Also grabbed a couple PSP and DS games to sell, not worth much but I only spent fifty cents on each of them, might hold them for my friend who's getting out of prison in a few months.

Then, at another yard sale, I hit what I consider to be a motherload. If I need a bag to fit my purchases, you know it's good. They had some totes of toys, a $5 box, a $1 box, and 10 for $1 box. Figured it'd all be crap, it mostly was... until I spotted a vintage Han Solo figure, the one I've wanted since I was a kid. I only had the Hoth gear Han Solo you could barely tell was him. I actually planned on buying him sometime soon, after putting my vintage Star Wars figures on display and selling the ones I didn't care about. So to get him for ten cents, wow.

Found some more vintage Star Wars figures, mostly ones that I had actually sold a few months ago out of my hand-me-down collection from my childhood. The Return Of The Jedi Luke Skywalker is actually in better condition than mine, these things are mint. I also grabbed a MASH figure, a black and blue Spiderman I always thought looked cool but didn't have as a kid (turns out he's from a mega armor crazy battle suit and actually quite rare), a Batman, Borg from Star Trek, which I was never into but I remember wanting that figure as a kid because he looked so cool, a Stormtrooper from 2008, an Imaginext TwoFace figure that didn't make the picture and last but not least, Transformers Generations Thundercracker, who I actually had on my Christmas wishlist of figures. So excited about my finds, I never find cool vintage figures around here.

Stopped at Salvation Army and was shocked to see a vintage Masters Of The Universe Wind Raider, missing its wings and tailpiece but screw it, for a $1, I bought it anyway. It's too hard to pass up MOTU stuff, especially vintage. And hey, the rope feature still works. I actually just sold a duplicate I had a few months ago so it's only fitting that I sell it and it somehow finds its way back to me. Unfortunately no other He-Man stuff there. It's crazy how random thrift stores are, it makes you wonder how this vehicle from the early 80s wound up there.

Another yard sale, one that had lots of Star Trek figures, would have been a goldmine I would have gone broke at if the woman's children didn't take all the MOTU, GI Joes and Transformers, leaving her with only Star Trek to take out of the attic. The stuff was in great condition, all accessories and card backs, some boxes, unfortunately I'm not into Star Trek and they're not worth enough to resell.

But I did find a Li'l Playmates airport that my sister and I had as kids, in fact, it's still at my parent's house. I bought that set for $10, couldn't find it on eBay to know what it was worth exactly but I might keep it until I get the one from my parent's house, just to have on display. We loved this playset and I didn't really plan on selling mine, it's almost complete as well, everything except the baggage ramp. Looks like it's worth about $35.

May not look like a lot but for someone who usually goes to about 15 to 20 yard sales and buys absolutely nothing, this is unheard of. I've bought more from yard sales this summer than all my years yard saling combined.

Yard Sale With An Armload Of Wrestling Figures (WWE Mattel Basic)

Saturday, it's yard sale day! Well, I usually go on Friday but there more on Saturday this week. And one of them had hiking gear listed, so I went out hoping to find one of the backpacks with the built in canteen.

My first stop of the day, a church sale, one that wasn't even advertised, right next door, first table I looked at as they were opening, an armload of WWE figures, mostly the current Mattel line Basics. Though there was one Elite Kevin Owens in the mix and a four of the old Jakks figures, all $0.25 a piece. I got about $5 worth of figures, not even looking at who they were, didn't care, I just grabbed them all. Most of them I'll probably resell in a lot with some of the others I've picked up recently, but I've got a handful of them on display with my others. The Dean Ambrose figure is from a playset, fairly rare but not worth too much unfortunately.

At the hiking gear yard sale, I found exactly what I was looking for, $15, brand new, never used. I looked it up before I bought it and they go for around $100, an Osprey Hydraulics Viper. Can't wait to try it out, I've wanted one of these for longer than I can remember. It'll be nice to run down the trails and not have to hold my pack to stop it from bouncing off of me, and to have water right there whenever I want it, so excited!

Then at Salvation Army, because no day yard saling is complete without stopping at the thrift stores, I picked up an Ion Video 2 PC converter to resell. I thought about keeping it for myself but I already have one similar. They're for putting vhs tapes onto the computer, and it sells on eBay for about $25. It's even still in its box.

Not a bad day, wish I'd found a little something more but WWE figures and the exact backpack I was looking for, can't complain one bit.

Power Rangers And A Box Of Goodwill Crap (that turned out to not be crap)

On Saturday, I purchased a $10 box of toys at Goodwill, mostly crap, I could tell by looking at it. Not sure why I got it, I don't usually get those stupid taped up boxes you can't really look through unless I see a figure I would spend the price of the box on. Didn't see anything good in there but bought it anyway and regretted it as soon as I started going through it.

Still no other She-Ra figures at Target, other than She-Ra herself. I want an Adora and my wife wants a Catra, but we can't decide if we should get them. We love the show and definitely want figures from it, but not Barbie sized ones, they just take up too much room in my already over crowed toy room. They did get in the sword and shield set though, also, want but don't need, too big. No new WWE Retros and still no new NXT Takeover line. It's their own exclusive line, how do they not carry their own exclusive line?

And speaking of stores not carrying their own exclusive line, after Walmart did their toy reset, not only do they not have pegs for WWE Retros, they also don't have pegs for their exclusive Mega Construx Heroes figures, the ones that have two Masters Of The Universe figures in each set. It's their own exclusive! How do you not carry your own item? Isn't that like McDonalds not carrying the Big Mac? After researching it, it's no mistake, they no longer carry their own exclusive line despite it still being exclusive to them, which means no Scareglow for me. I was so excited for that figure too. Walmart shouldn't even be allowed to have exclusives, they just suck so bad at it.

After listing eBay stuff the other day, I woke Tuesday morning to see the toys from the $10 box I was kicking myself for getting, welp, no longer regretting it, already making $20. Sold some stuff on Buy It Now and got bids on other items. An original water baby doll sold for $10, the woman messaged me, so excited to have finally found one, and after I cleaned it up it looked like new. That makes the box worth it, it wasn't treasure to me but it sure was for someone else, I love bringing people together with something they value so much. (That $10 box has now made over $45)

Yesterday, at Goodwill, I found a couple bags of Power Rangers, one of Megazords, one of figures for $3 each. I decided to grab them both, even though I'm not very familiar with Power Ranger toys, but I figure it'll be fun to look them up. Unfortunately one of the bags was ripped open, I think someone stole a figure or two out of it, and judging by some of the pieces in there, I'd say they left with a Red Ranger with swappable parts. I've come to the realization that there are way too many Power Rangers lines, my god. There were also a couple Transformers mixed in there, just a McDonalds Optimus and a little Robots In Disguise Grimlock, neither of any value (Grimlock has since sold for $2). Might keep the vintage looking Megazord, we'll see.

Saturday Yard Sales, Thrift Stores & Market Bazaar (TMNT, Star Wars & Papa Shango)

Another day of yard sales. After last week's finds, finally, I had high hopes for yard saling and thrift stores. Nothing on the yard saling tip, I swear Bangor kids play exclusively with Imaginext, Ninja Turtles and McDonalds toys. One yard sale had a ton of 12" Star Wars figures and an incomplete 2015 TMNT Technodrome. And that was about it for toys at the 15 or so yard sales I went to, not bad, considering I figured it'd be dead this week with the fair going on.

Last week, Goodwill had all the great finds, this week it was Salvation Army, with all four of the 2002 Animated Ninja Turtles from Mirage Studios, individually bagged with their weapons! Not sure if I'm gonna sell these or keep them for myself. I found Leonardo, without his weapons, a few years ago at the Ellsworth Goodwill for $1 and had to pick him up. These are really incredible figures, so much detail, especially compared to the Turtles they've been coming out with lately. I love the Shredder from this series as well, I might have to hang onto these and even get a few more. No, bad Matt, bad, these are to sell, not to collect, you don't need more figures.

And right next to the Turtles, almost missed them on the peg hanging off the endcap, were two MOC Star Wars Last Jedi figures, $2 a piece. They retail at $13 so not bad. I grabbed both of them, Kylo Ren and Snoke, though Snoke doesn't go for much. Now, I love the new Star Wars movies, a helluva lot more than the clones and pod racing, and Anakin, ugh, but in all honesty, as cool as Kylo Ren looks with his badass mask and crazy lightsaber, he has to be Anakin Junior. Can we please get a villain who's not a whining little sissy, one who's alive for more than one movie, ahem Darth Maul?

Nothing at Goodwill this week but I swung by the Bangor Market Bazaar to check out Bobby's Northeast Collectibles. Didn't plan on buying anything but he had in some new wrestling figures, including the Mattel Elite Papa Shango. At $5, there was no way I could pass it up. Yes, I have the two pack of this figure with the Ultimate Warrior still in package, but I've been wanting him loose since the day I bought the two pack at Target. I always loved Papa Shango and after going back and watching WWF Superstars from 1992 on the Network, it's official, he is the freakin' man. How many voodoo sorcerer wrestlers lit their opponents feet on fire?

I have to say, it's nice to have someone like Bobby around here, doing something he loves. It shows. In an area filled with Imaginext, McDonalds toys and a few Turtles, superheroes and Star Wars figures, it's refreshing to go toy hunting and see Thundercats, MOTU, Street Sharks and even some Visionaries. Oh and Rambo, Chuck Norris, GI Joes and Transformers. And since he wanted to read more blogposts about toys in our area, here we go, maybe we can make Bangor a little less sucky on the toy hunting front. It's either that or I move as soon as I'm done with these last couple Acadia books.

Speaking of sucky, I stopped by Target to see if they had in the new WWE Retros, NXT figures and the new Target exclusive She-Ra line. I don't understand how a store can be so disorganized, and I've worked at both Ocean State Job Lot and Toys R Us. But, at least the two pallets of toys sitting in the aisle for the past two weeks were finally gone. And they started the new toy aisle reset. To my surprise, they sucked a little less today, they had She-Ra, just She-Ra, but still, go Princesses Of Power! But I didn't buy it. I loved the original She-Ra cartoon, and might like the new one just a little bit more, and if the figures were smaller, I'd be buying every single one of them twice, one to open and one to keep in package. But at 12", I just don't have room in the toy room for dolls, no matter how good they look. Me and my wife decided on getting Adora because I've always loved Adora, and possibly Catra for her. Oh and Scorpia if they make her, and obviously Entrapta. Oh and Sea Hawk too. Adventure! Man I hope they make these in a smaller scale. And is that really the freakin' Snakemen I'm seeing in the Season 3 trailer? Can't wait.

Then it was on home to get back to writing. Working on the fifth and final book in the Blood Type Infected series. Third of the way done already, looking at an early October release. I also started cleaning up the display case I bought last week, still not sure which figures I'm going to put in it but I'm leaning towards WWF Hasbros and the Retro line. I'd say rest in peace, but it's not necessary because I'm in denial. The Retros are not dead, they're just sleeping. And now that's what I'm gonna go do because it's late and I've had a long day. I'll catch you guys next week.