New eBay Store!

A few weeks ago I went to an old co-worker's house to look at toys from her son's and nephew's past.  I had no idea how much they had, I just knew the boxes contained Transformers, G.I. Joe and more.  I was eager to see what kind of Transformers they had as the nephew was about the same age as my wife (early 30's).

Well in my excitement I forgot to take pictures so you'll have to use your imagination!  When I got to their house I was greeted with one of those large 15 gallon plastic totes, full of toys.  Then she told me she had 7 more on the back porch!  Looking back at me in those containers were G1 and G2 Transformers, G.I. Joe A Real American Hero figures (and parts of figures), TMNT, Star Wars and so, so, so much more.  We quickly agreed upon a deal and then I proceeded to load up my car to head home.

It took me a week just to sort through everything.  To this moment I am still in shock of some of the things I found.  The downside to all of this is the way these toys were stored.  Outside, in a storage shed.  The heat and humidity didn't treat some of the toys kindly.  I pulled out several toys that were badly discolored...and not just white plastic.  I don't have a count of the G1 figures I pulled out, but it had to exceed 75 at least.  Some of which were in better shape than some I had in my own collection (Sandstorm, Huffer) and a few I didn't even own (Blitzwing).  The real treat however was all the little loose parts floating around the bottom of the containers.  I found a Spike Headmaster, Vroom's small gun, Fasttrack's small orange gun, several Trypticon parts, two Megatron Action Master missiles I lacked and more.

I still haven't even touched the other containers save for sorting them.  I have so much I couldn't begin to figure out the best way to try and move them.  I thought about using some of the toy forums or some Facebook groups, but ultimately I decided to re-open my eBay store I had years ago.  This is a time consuming process, and time isn't something I have an abundance of.  However I will be slowly adding these toys and parts to the store over the next few weeks / months.  If you see something you want, send me a message letting me know that you follow this blog, or have 'Liked' my Facebook page and I'll pass along a small discount.  I'm not trying to get rich here, but all of this actually comes at a time when my family could use some extra money to help pay down some debt and pay some unexpected bills.

Random Toy Reviews eBay Store

While I'm not buying right now, I am leaving the option of trading open.  I lack just under 20 G1 figures now from completing the line and there are still several parts I need to complete various figures.  That said if you see something in the store you are interested in, let me know and we'll if we can work out some kind of deal.  If by chance anyone has any complete M.A.S.K. toys also let me know as I'd be interested in trading for those as well.

Loot Crate!

So by now there is a good chance you've heard of Loot Crate, especially if you are on social media of some sort.  What?!  No?  You haven't?!  Well neither had I until last month.  The premise is simple and rather straight forward.  For a monthly fee, Loot Crate will send you a small black box each month that is packed with all sorts of pop culture goodies.  A quick on YouTube will show all sorts of stuff crammed inside the box.

June 2014's theme is Transformers, so I found it fitting that this was as good as any time to jump on board and experience this for myself.  Loot Crate encourages their users to share their unboxing videos and it turns out I had a few moments this evening to share my very first Loot Crate!  So what are you waiting for?  What the video.  Warning though, I can't give you back those 10 minutes...

Masters of the Universe (NECA): Clawful

I was a huge fan of the Masters of the Universe 200X series...both the toys and the Mike Young Productions cartoon.  With the exceptions of the stupid amount of He-Man and Skeletor variants, the toy featured a lot of great characters and toys.  However some characters were never made by Mattel for the series.  I'm guessing that some of characters not produced would have appeared in subsequent waves had the series not ended earlier.

Thankfully however Mattel awarded the company NECA with a Masters of the Universe license.  The Four Horseman that had worked on the line for Mattel, were again brought on board to work on the NECA figures.  However this time around these toys, if you can call them that, weren't action figures.  I'm not 100% sure why the characters were made into what the fans call staction figures (miniature statues), but with the Four Horseman at the helm it didn't seem to matter.

The first wave consisted of three characters, Snout Spout, Hordak and Clawful.  While Hordak was the obsession of many, Clawful is the one I had to have.  In the original Filmation cartoon and the original Mattel MOTU line, Clawful was protrayed as well...pretty stupid.  I hated his look, hated the way he talked and sounded in the show...I just had zero interest in the character as a whole.  Then the Horseman worked their magic and made him look outstandingly cool.  Gone was this small, stupid looking man with a crab head and claws.  In his place was this...

Oh yeah.  Much improved.  Granted this more of a statue than an action figure, it scales and blends in great with other 200X MOTU figures.  All of NECA's staction figures came packaged with figure stands, but this guy is so heavy and well proportioned that he doesn't need a stand at all.  I'm telling you the level of design put into this thing is a true marvel.  From the claws, to the skin, to the head...amazing.

Check out the huge crab shell on his back.  How awesome is that?!  Even his loin cloth looks like real leather.  I've you've never seen one of these NECA Masters of the Universe figures in person, you really can't appreciate their beauty.

  

"Nice to pinch you!"

Clawful comes packaged with one accessory, his club.  This thing just barely fits into his small claw hand.  I urge you to use caution when placing it in his hand has the handle will break off if you apply to much force.  This is the 2nd Clawful figure I've owned as the first one fell off my desk @ work where he once stood displayed.  While the staction figure survived the short fall without much damage, the club wasn't so lucky.

This is one of those toys that if I had unlimited display space I would have kept, but ultimately he because a casualty as so many other toys of mine have become due to lack of space.  Highly recommended if you are a fan of the character or the Masters of the Universe in general.  Last I checked he is still readily available on the secondary market for a little over his original MSRP of $20.