The Action Figure and Toy Collecting and Discussion Thread!

Discovered a new thrift store the other day but it was closed so I checked it out today and got some new goodies. My favorite item of the haul was this lazy susan spice rack. Knowing how I love to take everyday things and make them into either props or diorama fodder, anyone want to speculate what I plan on doing with this?

 

Hmmm...transporter room, perhaps?

 

Bingo! Just need to get some new paint and greeble it up.

 

In the wake of the demise of Toys "R" Us, KB Toys may be about to return!

 

So they are going to buy up all the stuff Toys 'r Us couldn't sell and sell it... Brilliant!

 

With a fraction of the real estate! KB stores fit inside shopping malls so I don't expect the new KB footprint to match the one that Toys "R" Us is leaving behind. Mind you, any big name toy retailer is better than none at all but this won't be a one-for-one swap.

 

Not to mention that K*B was notoriously overpriced on everything. I hope they don't keep that up; it's most likely what killed them in the first place.

 

I did find a lot of Star Wars figures for the same prices that both TRU and Target were selling them for at the time but yeah, you usually didn't shop at KB unless you couldn't find what you wanted somewhere else. They got an occasional Star Wars exclusive that I was at least mildly interested in but for the most part they just carried what everybody else did.

 

Back in February, when we got the first snow of this winter, that only lasted one morning, I took this picture:



But I never was really happy with it so never posted it. I have enhanced the colors, the original was very grey (as the sky was grey) and I did not like Alfred being in up till the knees and the grass showing.

Then on Wednesday Sean posted videos about snow in New York, looking like this:



And I realized that in the above picture I also had failed to give Alfred a scarf and a hat. So in the morning of Thursday, before work, I retook the picture, with what little of snow was left on my balcony. By evening, it was gone. I am very happy with my new result and I even got a retweet from Sean for it:



And here is a behind-the-scenes picture, taking off the magic a bit I guess With one hand I was holding the blue paper, with the other photograping. Gymnastics early in the morning.

 

From the episode "Patterns of Force" - Kirk and Spock breaking from their prison cell. The grid is from my oven actually.

 

Got half of the newest wave of the World of Nintendo figures. Metal and Raccoon Mario.

 

At Toy Fair in 2000 there was a line of Nintendo figures that was shown but sadly it never made it to retail. 18 years later, all the characters in that announced line are now here. Mario's World may not have made it, but World of Nintendo delivered what was promised all those years ago. This is my tribute to that line that never saw the light of day.


Along with that, I decided to recreate a scene from this commercial for Mario & Luigi: Dream Team.

 

http://cw39.com/2018/03/23/billionaire-ceo-on-a-mission-to-save-toys-r-us/

His plan is to raise $1 billion by the end of May.

Even if he succeeds, will it just be prolonging the inevitable?

A major overhaul is needed, to improve ways of doing business.

 

Boys and their toys!

 

The other day I was at Wal-Mart, and the Star Wars action figure section was a mess. I found a 3.75" Snoke on retro card, but I couldn't find the price anywhere. So I took it up to the register and rang it up. It was about $13, so I decided to leave it and get it next payday.

Later, out of curiosity, I searched online to so if I could get it cheaper, but it looks like it's going for about $25, minimum. Oops! I should have just gotten it at Wal-Mart instead of being such a cheapskate. I'll go back this evening and hope I can find it again.

Kor