Swords and Spaceships

Here they are: some of my favorite GI Joe: A Real American Hero figures. These come from my extensive museum-quality collection that I've been working on since 2000. I've managed to acquire most of my favorites, yet some remain. (The nature of collecting, amirite?) Let's start with Cobra. Out in front, we have the mail-in hooded Cobra Commander, a classic. In back, left to right, are the Alley Viper, Ice Viper, Range Viper, and the Toxo-Viper. I always wanted to acquire the Alley Viper and Toxo-Viper when I saw them on the back of the Night Viper's card, but I never did find them. Paid a bit for the Alley Viper, as that is one of the big army builders these days, but the Toxo-Viper isn't as popular, so I got him relatively cheap. The Ice Viper came with the Cobra Wolf vehicle, an item I had as a lad. That was one of my favorite figures, especially with his odd weapon choice, a pair of sai. The Range Viper I always loved because of his awesome helmet. A grim sk

My local comic shop, The Core in Cedar Falls, IA, has recently begun to offer a small assortment of vintage Star Wars figures for sale. These are the figures I've purchased there in the last month, the genesis of my new vintage Star Wars collection. I had to start with C-3PO and R2-D2, since those are the cornerstone of any Star Wars collection. Then Anakin Skywalker, because he was super cheap. Then Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker, my favorite action figure of all time. And finally, and couple of Ewoks, notably two I had back in the day. Used to be, you couldn't throw a rock in a department store without hitting one of these two Ewok figures.

 And, here they are: the rest of my junk Star Wars figures. Dudes I picked up at various garage sales and antique stores in the late 80s/early 90s. Spent about 25 cents to $3.50 each on these figures, junk I wouldn't have otherwise bought if I had money back then. Buying these is how I learned to be a wiser collector, in that I wouldn't even look at these now. On a side note, even figures in this condition will have someone out there on craigslist or ebay thinking these are worth a fortune just because they're Star Wars toys. Check your local craigslist page for insane people trying to get a fortune for junk. I remember seeing the blue elephant dude Max Rebo and having to have it. Unfortunately, I never located the rest of the band at that garage sale, so just 50 cents for Max. I remember seeing this set at JCPenney, and my mother wouldn't buy it because it was $12, which was pretty steep back then. This is the Max Rebo Band as they originally appeared in Return

I dug out my box of vintage Star Wars toys that I have left. My original, beat-up, basically junk Star Wars dudes that I loved probably more than I've loved any woman I ever met. Kind of wish I still had my X-Wing and ISP-6 mini-rig, but those are long gone. And now, anecdote time! Darth Vader. Man, how many of these I owned. C-3PO with Removable Limbs, R2-D2 w/ Sensorscope, Boba Fett, and Darth Vader. I bet I had an average of three of each, with R2-D2 probably being my most common purchase. Those damn stickers just couldn't hold up to the bathtub, man. And Vader- every time I lost his saber or ripped the vinyl cape, I had to have a new figure. Of course, by the time I was old enough to own these, they were on mega-clearance, and I was able to get them for like 3 for $1. I was a Jedi baby, one of the last of the original Star Wars Generation. Hell, I remember getting Admiral Ackbar and a couple other guys at Kay-Bee in January of 1987 when my youngest brother was born-tha

I guess I just needed a hiatus from this blog. Anyway, lots more stuff coming yer way, so be on the lookout!