• January 2026
    S M T W T F S
     123
    45678910
    11121314151617
    18192021222324
    25262728293031

  • On Facebook

    On Facebook

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Comic Blog Elite

    Comic Blogs - BlogCatalog Blog Directory

More Vintage TMNT Figures: Ace Duck and Fugitoid

Posted on April 19, 2017 by Walt

I’d actually pretty much forgotten about a local vintage toy shop, Retroland Toys. In definite need of distraction from stuff going on ‘in real life’, I ended up stopping in last Friday–I think it’d been at least a year, if not a couple years since the last time I’d stopped in.

Given my recent-ish hunting down of vintage TMNT toys, I was curious as to what their stock and prices were like, particularly in comparison to Big Fun in Cleveland Heights.

more_vintage_tmnt_fugitoid_ace_duck

They had a decent assortment of the older TMNT figures; nothing that particularly surprised me, but I was rather excited to note they have a Foot Cruiser and a couple of really good-condition Man Ray/Ray Fillet figures…making me think I do want to get a “replacement” even though I’m not gonna flat-out get rid of my original of the figure.

They also had a number of variant turtles–sports turtles, military turtles, surfer turtles, and I found a couple of rocker turtles. (There were a bunch of figures and vehicles in a display case, and then a bin of individual figures bagged with accessories in a bin next to the case).

And for what I was half-expecting…VERY GOOD prices! A couple had prices a little bit out there, but for the most part they all seemed to be $10 or a little under, with the vehicles in the $20 range. Basically, the prices are perfectly on par with buying any new contemporary figure/vehicle, if not cheaper.

I ended up deciding to get Ace Duck and Fugitoid, with Ace Duck having been fairly tops in my mind as the next reasonable figure to be able to get.

I also “randomly” remembered over the weekend that I used to have the “Wacky Action” Shredder figure, so I’ve added that to my list…and I’ve added Ray Fillet.

Overall, for figures that seem relatively common-ish that may not be terribly hard to track down, I think I’m pretty much left with Ray Fillet, Splinter, Tattoo, and the Foot Cruiser. Hothead, Wacky Action Shredder, the Robotic Foot Soldier, the 5″ Krang/Android Body, and the “Toon” Shredder & Neutrinos I don’t think I’ve actually seen in person since seeing them on pegs over 20 years ago when they were new and I passed on them at the time.

I also suspect the Party Wagon will be a bit hard to find intact. My own is a “shell” with the top missing, numerous accessories missing, and so on…and mine’s in pretty darned good condition compared to several I’ve seen online. I don’t care about most accessories for it, but want the main outer part to look whole and not be missing anything obvious.

From these, I suspect it’ll be down the rabbit hole on tracking down other figures or “coming across them” “in the wild”–Star Trek TMNT and Cave Turtle TMNT and whatnot…perhaps a replacement or replacement parts for the Turtle Blimp.

My primary checklist thus currently stands as the following:

Replacements

  • Ace Duck
  • Baxter Stockman
  • Fugitoid
  • Rocksteady
  • Triceraton
  • Splinter
  • Ray Fillet
  • Wacky Action Shredder
  • Party Wagon (vehicle)

New (to me)

  • General Traag
  • Rat King
  • Leatherhead
  • Usagi Yojimbo
  • Dirtbag
  • Tattoo
  • Wyrm
  • April II
  • Merdude
  • Hothead
  • Krang’s Android Body (regular figure size)
  • Robotic Foot Soldier(s)
  • Toon Shreder
  • Dask (Neutrino)
  • Kala (Neutrino)
  • Zak (Neutrino) (if radically different from the ‘non-Toon’ version)
  • Movie Star Leo
  • Movie Star Mike
  • Movie Star Raph
  • Foot Cruiser (vehicle)

more_vintage_tmnt_fugitoid_ace_duck_blogtrailer

Filed under: 2017 Non-Review Posts, 2017 Posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Re-Collecting Classic TMNT Toys

Posted on April 4, 2017 by Walt

Well, I think it’s official: my new "thing" right now seems to be classic/vintage TMNT figures…given the below, the ones I bought a couple weeks ago, and the ones that arrived just last week.

vintage_tmnt_from_bigfun_20170331

End of last week, since it was relatively "on the way home" from work, I stopped in at Big Fun (vintage toys store) and snagged three figures from "the case" (and got a surprise discount for buying multiples!) and one from a bargain bin.

General Traag came with a couple of his accessories, which I believe were part of the pricing. It was pointed out that Baxter and Merdude did not come with accessories–something I was totally fine with! (And having looked at stuff online, a number of folks sell Baxter without the wings, or the fly-arm things at all…that this one had those was the main thing to me!)

Finally, the Triceraton is missing its tail…but I already knew I could order a replacement tail online such that this one as-is and the tail combined will work out much cheaper than finding a "whole" figure.

While I’m sure I’ll add other figures as I see them, learn of them, or re-realize their coolness and such, my current "want list" is as follows, for replacing figures that I’d had and need/want to "restore" my original collection as well as adding characters I never did get as a kid.

Replacements

  • Ace Duck
  • Baxter Stockman
  • Fugitoid
  • Rocksteady
  • Splinter
  • Party Wagon (vehicle)

New (to me)

  • General Traag
  • Rat King
  • Leatherhead
  • Usagi Yojimbo
  • Dirtbag
  • Tattoo
  • Wyrm
  • April II
  • Merdude
  • Hothead
  • Krang’s Android Body (regular figure size)
  • Robotic Foot Soldier(s)
  • Toon Shreder
  • Dask (Neutrino)
  • Kala (Neutrino)
  • Zak (Neutrino)
  • Movie Star Leo
  • Movie Star Mike
  • Movie Star Raph
  • Foot Cruiser (vehicle)

A couple of other recent acquisitions (and the store price for these at Toys R Us has kinda set the bar for me for what I’ll pay for actual vintage figures!)

super_donnie

I don’t remember Super Donnie in stores in 1993…and I think by 1993 I was or had already shifted away from collecting the figures, in favor of comic books.

super_mikey

And not much sense getting Super Donnie without also tracking down Super Mikey!

(Presently, as this post goes "live," I’m on the hunt for the current-series Super Shredder…independent of these other Super _____ figures!)

tmnta_partial_shelf

I also believe I’m–at long last, this half-decade or so later–completely "caught up" on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures volumes from IDW.

I’ve been frustrated for weeks at the insane prices for vol. 2 of the TMNT by IDW series…why a "middle volume" (especially so early in the run!) would be out of print has been BEYOND me. Thankfully, the other day, I saw a list put out by Diamond listing new reprints of previously-out-of-print volumes, and spotted it on there…so I should be able to be caught up by the time the fifth volume comes out, whenever that is, in the next couple months.

I also want to get the rest of the Usagi Yojimbo Saga volumes before any of 5-7 go out of print. I have yet to actually read any of these (unfortunately!) but I’ve been "holding out" to also hopefully come across good pricing on the pre–Dark Horse stuff, and read the entirety of the character’s saga.

I guess we’ll see what the next few weeks hold for TMNT stuff in general!

vintage_tmnt_from_bigfun_20170331_blogtrailer

Filed under: 2017 Non-Review Posts, 2017 Posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Remember Early-’90s Speculation on Image Comics?

Posted on August 26, 2015 by Walt

Remember when Image was so brand-new it was a company having its comics published by another (Malibu)?

Remember when those #1s were supposed to be so “hot” and “valuable” in the future?

Remember how $1.95 was quite a hefty price next to DC and Marvel‘s $1.25(-ish) cover prices of the time?

Remember that supposed notion that a comic’s “value” could only go up?

wildcats001x16

These 16 copies of WildC.A.T.s: Covert Action Teams cost me a whopping $4. Basically the cover price of two copies of the issue…at its original, August 1992 cover price. With the bound-in card thingie still intact/present.

Maybe these aren’t “mint” and wouldn’t get anything close to a “9.8” if I “slabbed” them (shelling out far more than any copy is “worth” for the price of getting ANY “graded”)…but for a guy who collects for completion and story…the chance to read the entire story (or as MUCH of it as I’m able to get access to)…25 cents is not at all a bad price for this #1 issue.

It’s actually the later issues that would be more of a problem to find. “Everyone” has #1. How many people followed the series itself? How many followed for more than just the first year? Or after the cartoon didn’t last? Or…whatever else. How many saw the bright flash in the pan mature into something with any staying power?

Continue reading →

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Recent Acquisitions

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Walt

It’s been an interesting week with several things ‘converging’ for me: a forgotten pre-order item, a purchase substituting for a convention, and my largest single “back issue” purchase ever.

First off, last weekend I happened to to see a link on Facebook to some group called Something Valiant. I clicked through, and found some stuff involving classic Valiant stuff, so did not immediately click away.

I noticed a post offering Harbinger #s 2-5 for a very reasonable price, shipped–and messaged the poster to inquire if they were still available (not seeing any comments on the post). They were, so arrangements were made.

harbinger_90s_2thru5

Easily my biggest “back issue” purchase in this regard–for what I paid for “only” 4 issues. However, considering I’d expected to pay significantly more per issue and not get them all but dropped in my lap from one source, I’m very happy with the purchase, and will certainly reach out to this seller again in the future as I whittle down my “missing” list of classic Valiant.

Another surprise arrival this week was the new Hellblazer volume.

hellblazer_tpb_11

This is the 11th volume in this incarnation of the series, reprinting it from its start including key tie-ins and such, and incorporating a numbering so it’s not just a bunch of random volumes.

hellblazer_tpb_thicknessIt turns out that I apparently had pre-ordered this from Amazon several months ago and forgot about it. So when it showed up, it was a very pleasant surprise.

I continue to be quite impressed with the size of these volumes, particularly for the cover price. Though this would easily be a $40+ volume from Marvel, this one carries a $24.99 cover price…and thanks to Amazon I got it for less than $12.

Though I grouse about Marvel‘s pricing, they make up a significant chunk of my graphic novels collection due to various clearance and blowout sales and such through the years, as well as having a lot of stuff I’m truly interested in.

A couple years ago, I was quite impressed when I came across the X-Men: The Age of Apocalypse Omnibus at Carol and John’s. It was very far out of my price range, though more recently I’d lamented realizing it was out of print, and so had been jacked up astronomically beyond my price range by “third party sellers.” So when I more recently learned of the Age of Apocalypse Companion I didn’t even consider pre-ordering it from anyone…no sense having the companion volume without the main.

age_of_apocalypse_companion_omnibus_01

I was listening to a recent episode of the Collected Comics Library and learned that there’s to be a new printing of the main omnibus in the first part of next year, in time for the new movie. So, rather than beat around the bush and put it off, I found a mostly-reasonable price online and bought this volume, knowing I’ll be able to pair it up in the spring (and for what that’s gonna cost me, I certainly would not want to be trying to buy TWO omnibii nor “risk” this one going out of print!).

Plus, I had decided that I was not going to be attempting to attend a particular convention I had been considering, so with gas money and admission I would not be spending, as well as other random purchases I would not be making…I was able to justify (to myself) this rather large singular purchase.

age_of_apocalypse_companion_omnibus_02

If you look to the right in the photo above, you’ll see a quarter leaned up against the volume–showing just how thick this companion edition is.

And below, it currently has a place on a shelf with the last Omnibus I’d bought, as well as the recent TMNT by IDW hardcover.

tmnt_cap_aoa_hardcovers

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Next Grail – Uncanny X-Men #266

Posted on August 12, 2015 by Walt

uxm266directI already have most comics that I truly, SPECIFICALLY want. A lot of my bargain-bin finds and such are things that I’ve been aware of, had some interest in, and are cool to GET, but not typically specific, "key" issues that I’ve specifically sought.

As I fill in general holes in my collection with various series, I’m certainly going to get down to where there will be just a few one-off issues here and there that I’m after.

Having recently acquired Spider-Man vs. Wolverine, and the first chapter of Batman: Year Two it got me thinking. My next "grail" issue has got to be Uncanny X-Men #266–the first (full?) appearance of Gambit. I don’t seek it BECAUSE it’s his first appearance…it’s just that because it IS his first appearance, it has never been something tossed into a bargain bin and so has never randomly entered my collection that way.

But not having this issue is a singular hole preventing me from having a run from Inferno through well past #400, and my eventual aim is to fill in to have a complete run from Inferno to 544 or whatever the final issue was before the Schism relaunch alongside Wolverine and the X-Men. All of the other issues are simply a matter of the odds of finding the issue, given the time periods and quantities.

I have no intention of getting #266 to flip or make any profit on. And where a lot of things I’d be content with a reprint, the only reprint in single-issue format that I’m aware MIGHT exist would be one of those black-border issues that used to be packed into the original Marvel Legends action figures. And I truly don’t want a reprint, simply because ALL my other issues in the run are standard/first print issues, to my knowledge (if there are any second prints, they’re the kind that don’t have any cover variation).

As such, even though I do really specifically want the issue, I’m not willing to pay Big Money for it. In 27 years, I have NEVER paid more than $10 for a single-issue comic book. However, I do have to be reasonable: for any kind of halfway-decent copy of this–even "just" a "reader copy" condition WOULD pretty well be a "steal" for $10 or under. I feel (personally) that $20 would be quite reasonable and "fair" for a decent-condition/reader-copy of the issue. The more I pay, the better I’ll expect the condition to be. But I’m by no means looking for a "near-mint," "mint," or high-grade slabbed edition.

I just want it for my collection, as the only hole in an otherwise 150+ issue run, toward a nearly 300 issue run.

And given that this is a KEY "key book," first appearance of Gambit, and the maybe/maybe-not pending Channing Tatum Gambit film looming and such…this would be a worthy issue to be an exception to or break down my $10 "limit" that I’ll spend on single-issues.

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

The Entire Collection In One Space Again

Posted on December 6, 2013 by Walt

20131206-214931.jpg

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Still Continuing the Valiant Journey

Posted on November 4, 2012 by Walt

I’ve continued to build my Valiant (1990s) collection, picking up issues here and there.

Last weekend, I received a postcard in the mail from the local comic shop about a Halloween one-day sale:

Halloween one Day Sale Postcard

Given the previous sale and what I snagged, I looked forward to the sale. Fortunately (or unfortunately–Superman: Earth One vol. 2 had to wait), I wound up finding a bunch of issues for most of the titles I’ve needed holes plugged, though I’m still missing more comics than I’d like (but I’m closer to a full run than not, now).

Valiant Comics (2012.10.31)

And while I’d figured I’d be juggling a couple large paper bags, the store owner (as usual) makes an awesome deal even sweeter, giving me an old/used shortbox to lug the comics home in:

Valiant purchase in shortbox

So now I have to integrate these into my Valiant collection and verify a few issues that I may have neglected to note one way or the other before the Akron Comic Con next weekend.

Unfortunately…I have the suspicion that what I’ve noticed for several years now will hold true: comic cons are put to shame by my LCS’ bargains/bargain bins.

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Officially on the Valiant Journey

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Walt

valianttpbsI suppose it was official when I bought runs of Bloodshot, X-O Manowar, and Ninjak a couple weeks ago…but I think some part of me at that point was still thinking “just these series and maybe a couple more.”

BUT, with a deal at the local comic shop and a Fill-a-Longbox Sale at another nearby shop, I’ve jumped fully in: I want to track down a full reading copy of the Valiant Universe from the 1990s. I’ll settle for reprints/collected volumes if needbe–In 20+ years I’ve managed to never pay more than $10 before tax on any single comic issue…and I’d prefer to keep to that. Especially since I want to READ all the stories.

I feel like I’ve already learned a great deal about Valiant just in the past few days–both in-continuity stuff (Rai #0 in particular) as well as the comics themselves (thanks to listening to old episodes of a podcast: Only the Valiant).

While it would be interesting to try to chronicle my Valiant reading issue by issue (like my recent review treatment of Bloodshot #0 last week), I think that’d be folly–and I’d almost certainly “burn out” on it. So instead, I’ll probably just post here and there with random thoughts about the Valiant reading, and the occasional “coverage” of what I’ve been reading.

To that end, on the current journey thus far, I’ve read:

– Bloodshot #0
– Bloodshot #1
– Bloodshot #2
– Rai #0 (in the Rai TPB)

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Collection Maintenance and the Unintentional Valiant Haul

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Walt

ziggyonxmenboxesAfter years of intentions, this year I’ve finally started to–at least in small steps–do some maintenance on my comics collection.

I’ve been getting comics for 23+ years now, and aside from giving away some duplicates and occasionally buying comics intended for friends, my collection’s simply grown. Compound that with having the oldest chunk of my collection at my parents’ house while I’ve lugged the last decade’s worth of comics around with me 20120904valiant01(and some absolutely incredible sales at the local comic shop and a full longbox purchase at a Free Comic Day sale a few years ago) and my collection is nothing remotely approaching ordered.

Last year I sped through several of my boxes to pull what Ultraverse comics I could find, and pretty much assembled a “what’s missing” list that I’ve sorely neglected for about a year now.

20120904ultraverseThe last several months I’ve been gathering my X-Men comics together, with thoughts toward a major reading project. Having scoured the old boxes at my parents’, and weeks later transporting the boxes of X-Men stuff to my apartment, I’ve finally begun going through the most recent of my longboxes, and found a great many of the X-Men comics I knew I had–including sizeable runs of X-Force, Cable, and Wolverine.

But I also found that–like I discovered when I pulled Ultraverse comics last year–that I’d been snapping up lots of Valiant comics from various bargain-bins.20120904valiant02

I’ve been referencing all these “classic” Valiant series that I’ve never read as I’ve reviewed the “New” Valiant stuff this summer…and come to discover (and I still have more than a dozen longboxes to sort through) that I have a pretty good stack of Valiant stuff–primarily Archer & Armstrong and X-O Manowar, as well as a couple early runs of Turok and H.A.R.D. Corps.

20120904valiant04And…there’s X-O Manowar #0. Turns out the thing’s apparently been one of my favorite bargain-bin pulls, as I know of a couple other copies I’ve snagged this year, and I found 2-3 other copies going through stuff tonight–though apparently I neglected to pull them, not realizing I was going to find so many other Valiant comics to justify pulling those together.

It’s amazing the way time flies when one takes such a trip down memory lane…and how hard it is to flip through a longbox of comics without stopping to page through the odd issue here or there, and wish there was more time in the days, to just sit and read everything.

20120904valiant03

20120904valiant05

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Weekend Ultraverse acquisitions

Posted on July 17, 2011 by Walt

newestultras01Had a quick 10-minute dash through another local comic shop’s bargain-bins Friday night. Also visited one of two local Half-Price Books locations. Snagged a fair number of additional Ultraverse issues.

I’ve decided to start a separate blog to focus on my Ultraverse project. First will be this hunt to track down all the story issues (if I find some cheap variants and such along the way, cool…but I’m more interested in simply having a copy of any given issue in order to read it).

My plan at present is shaping up to be that I locate the full run, and then do a read-through, June books 1993 through to Future Shock from 1997.

I’ve read a good number of these before, but most I have not, and given the nature of the Ultraverse line, I think it’ll be interesting to read all the books, and to do so in order of release (at least by month) to roughly simulate what the original experience of doing so may have been.

My scope is to share the enjoyment of the story and perhaps quasi-review the books. I’m no Ultraverse expert, and will leave the fun stuff like interviews and such to other parties.

I will most likely crosspost here for awhile at least, until or unless the Ultraverse Revisited blog gets some legs of its own.

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , | 1 Comment »

« Previous Page — Next Page »