My VINTAGE Action Figure Collection: JRNY to K-Mart Plaza!!!

[BrandonDaCollector]

PB, thanks Oh I have always been different, I keep that stuff for reference and just for the look it, always like that stuff. Well I'm sure your gonna like My Captian Power update

IS, thanks Oh I love the Kenner guides and yes I do miss them too, these companies during this day and age is so frugal and just sucks. Oh I loved them JC Penny catalogs around Christmas time too especially those Sears Wishbooks! Speaking of that, I got something huge to show about that but that will be for a really big showcase that I will get to in time!

[packerbacker180]

Christmas catalogs were the best in the 80s. After Christmas my grandma would let me cut the action figure pages up so I could make my own battles on construction paper. Good times.

[BrandonDaCollector]

That's sounds great PB, I always wanted the catalogs too but I never wanted to mess'em up and I always wanted to look at what I got and didn't get and hope I could get it next year. They weren't bad in the 90s either

[Tango X]

Hey Brandon I tried to look at some of your toy threads like you asked and some of them crash my browser maybe the posts are too long. I guess I could have sent you a PM sorry for hijacking your thread haha.

[BrandonDaCollector]

Yes could have, I just replied to your PM. I am aware of the situation. Any more probs just PM Me

[BrandonDaCollector]

OK, here we go with yet another update of Captain Power Now I found this cool stuff rather recently (you just saw My bonus Ghostbusters & Beetlejuice, I found that stuff during the same discovery in storage) along with some other great figures and other goodies that are gonna be very surprising to behold for sure

Now, off and on all year I have been searching for them and little by little I'm getting closer. Here is the awesome Blister cards of My previously seen figures Look at that great artwork and overall look at the front & back of them. I always loved Mattel's illustrations. They would continue to have this greatness till the middle 90s.




Now here is a card of a figure that I CANNOT locate at the moment and have been looking for, it is really a shame I can't find the Soaron Sky Sentry but once and if I find him you can bet I will showcase him in a special update in a hurry



OK, here is a closeup of their bio cards



Here a closeup of the artwork & Mattel info



Oh boy, here is one of the cool parts that I love to do in My showcases and that is to show off the Price Stickers/Tags I love it and I think its' very important because it shows you where that figure came from and how affordable they were back then As you see these guys came from Venture which I have showed off tags from them here many, many times previously (My very first figure I showcased within this topic was from Venture with the price tag!) and oh, look at that sweet price



Now moving on to My Captain Power Golden Coloring Book As seen in My Ghostbusters showcase a Golden Coloring Book and this is very similar, I never colored in it and search Me as to why but here it is





As a cool bonus, here is My 2 previously seen figures with their cards and the coloring book as backgrounds



Special Feature!

Here is some cool vids from YT to bring them memories back even further or even show the novice something very classic they may have forgotten or maybe never even seen before Now there is more out there, these are just rad samples










Well, that's all for now. I hope you enjoyed this bonus Captain Power update. Next up will be special showcases that maybe in several parts, until then I'll you around

[BrandonDaCollector]

Since I was talking heavy & emotionally about Venture earlier on and basically throughout My entire topic, I like to I provide a lot of important info and where I got My figures and what My favorite old stores are/were and if I can, I always take a pic of the price tag for many reasons. Venture was My most fave stores (maybe I will get into others as I go further along within this great topic of Mine), I got tons of great figures there in the 80s till they went out of business in the later 90s.




Anyway, if your not in the Midwest your probably not familiar with Venture as they were mostly in them regional States. Here is a special vid of it's history, check it out, it's really cool but for Me its sad because of all the memories I had in 3 different locations I used to go to with My Grandparents & Mom. Oh and My Mom used to work at one, in fact, when you watch the vid, at the VERY END @ 8:25 is that is the one she worked at and is at My closest location that Burlington Coat factory took it's place as there is that Big Lots that I talk about often plus that Dollar General is there as well that took the place of Family Dollar I have mentioned many times through My posts.



Here is a Venture commercial that aired just days before I was born



OK, finally here is a Venture toy commercial, look for Care Bears, Sesame Street, Snake Mountain, Transformers & Voltron (by the way, I have that very same Voltron, will be showcasing it soon!)



and here is a sample of their price tag



OK, well, as I am always talking about stores, this will be an added feature with My topic from time to time and I hope you enjoyed it More great vintage stuff coming your way soon

[BrandonDaCollector]

OK, so here we go. As I had mentioned earlier, I had found some great figures among cool vintage stuff that will now be a priority as everything thing else I had planned will be on hold for the time being because many of these recent finds are quite special to Me. In fact, I was looking for other things which I didn't find by the way however, I rediscovered many items that I had actually forgotten about as well as figures that I was wondering where the heck they were. Now these special showcases with be in at least a few parts. So without further ado here is the first part



Yep, My first ever entry of Marx, the vintage toy company with a lot of history. I got all of these at My great local Ben Franklin's (more on that in a bit) and My Mom got Me these guys!

Nazi German Soldier: When your talking old/classic/vintage army figures you cannot ignore the fantastic Marx versions! The sculpting of this guy is great. Unfortunately his barrel of his rifle is broken but he is still in fine shape. He is about 5" tall. I did have another one, I believe it was a US Army soldier but I have sadly misplaced him. Gosh, I remember taking them to Kindergarten many times playing with'em as I never wanted to put'em down. Amazing he is over several decades old but look at his classic greatness!




Marx Tyrannosaurus Rex & Triceratops Dinosaurs: Yep, these guys are truly awesome depictions of the two rivals in classical form The sculpting is great for both ancient animals. Look at the T-Rex, he has ears and 3 fingers This is clearly a specimen from the 30s to 40s before the specie was classified correctly!  




Here is the Marx Nazi & Dinos together, such classic figures



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Holy cow, when I found these guys a few short weeks ago, I was very surprised and so stoked that I found them in a box in the basement along with many other goodies. For a long time I was wondering where did I put them and search Me as to why they were down there So, these monsters were made by AHI - Azrak Hamway! It's none other than King Kong & Rex Dinosaur. These are "Little Walkers" and were originally issued in around 1976 but these versions are the second releases in the 80s as you can tell as they have different feet. They have built-in wind-up keys on the left sides. You wind them up and they walk like your normal, old fashioned wind-up with that similar sound plus they spark with tiny lightning bolt-flames coming out of their mouths  Now Kong is obviously licensed but his counterpart is not but I have always considered him to be Godzilla ever since I got him when I was a very youngster My Grandparents got them for Me at Ben Franklin's and here they are!

NOTE: I do not have the Creature from the Black Lagoon seen in the above Canadian Tire Flier, I don't recall ever seeing him there at Ben Franklin's ever




Here is the AHI - Azrak Hamway Kong & Rex/Godzilla compared with My Marx Nazi that was just seen only a few short moments ago



OK, as a sweet bonus, here is a special section on the store that I got these from and that is Ben Franklin's five and dime department stores! Now i have mentioned them throughout this great topic of My as well as other times on the board. They were always one of My favorite ones to go to. Their location was close to My old neighborhood and they were next door to a great Sears and I loved going to the back parking lot thru their back door and enter their basement area as it was a very large toy area with tones of great action figure and more such as the ones I just showcased, Many Kenner figures such as My recently seen Beetlejuice, Micro Machines  (look for a great special showcase of them in the near future). They also had a section of really cool toy guns, G.I. Joes but My most cherished moment yet My most regretful one is one I have mentioned before is that they had a very big section of DC Super Powers (I already posted My lonesome DCSP Superman a while back within this topic) and it was during a time I wasn't into comic figures yet Oh man, the area was the most dedicated, organized and stacked DC Super Powers ever seen They even had them in glass cases! If I had only been awoken about that sort of stuff then but that is one of the things a very young child does when he is young then grows up. Their store was tremendous, thing is, I rarely ever went thru the front door nor ever really looked around the front of the store as I always I wanted to go to the back area and head to the toys :bounce: My parents took Me there countless times but gosh, I miss that place so much. Ben Franklin's went out of business in the mid-late 90s. They are gone but not forgotten...at least not by Me



Click here for their great history vis their wiki page!

Here is great video too



Well, I hope you have enjoyed this part 1 of My recent findings and maybe perhaps learned something or was reminded here Part 2 will be up soon, until then I'll see you around

[BrandonDaCollector]

OK, here is part 2 of My recent findings! First up is Mattel's GUTS! This  series came out about 1986, it was a really cool plastic army men that featured painted details rather than just blank soldiers with no paint apps whatsoever. The variety of them as a whole was pretty decent with your typical army & militia groups seen in the 70s & 80s movies thus bringing about your excitement for that warring action to your shelf! I for one loved that war stuff as well as martial arts as seen earlier on within My topic. So, My Mom got these guys at My classic local K-mart (gosh I loved that store) I often talk about and I think she got Me many packs of them. They came is 3-packs at low prices, so much better then today's insane prices & selections IMO. There were 2-packs
with some duplicates and there was also two vehicles as well. Unfortunately I have miss placed most of them, but FOUR figures! Yep, I looked in a box down the basement and there they were, I couldn't believe...I totally marked out and said out loud "Oh wow, there's GUTS!". I mean I was looking for these guys for a long time and I had no idea where they were till I found them! They are a Green Beret, Jungle Fighter and 2 members of the Akido Force and they are still in great shape and here they are in all of their glory





Green Beret & Jungle Fighter vs. Akido Force



Copyrights!



and here is a version special size comparison of Mattel's GUTS!: Previously seen Hasbro's micro Sgt. Slaughter and with characters of 2 of My all-time fave series's of the 90s particularly 95 which is Mattel's Mega Heroes Judge Dredd & Cyber Force Block War Dredd & Cyblade (I featured My entire collections of them many years ago on the board but got lost in the shuffle, you can go look back if ya want)! See, Mattel always did make small figures like GUTS! and honestly I prefer figures like this style & scale


and here is a cool vintage commercial of GUTS!



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Next up is My finding of some of My Madballs! Yep, those classic character balls of the 80s that companies are trying to bring back off and on for years. These were made by AmToy Now, for a long time, better part of 2 decades I have regretted how I took care of the. I didn't store them correctly, they got torn, rotted, dried up and I have been kicking Myself hard in the @$$ ever since I had the entire collection and even the last of the originals in the 80s. I remember like it was yesterday, I got them all at K-B as My Mom & Grandparents got them for Me which many were so low prices including clearance! If these wasn't enough, I even had the bootlegs & knockoffs...I got them from a cool carnival in My old neighborhood that turned into a very derelict playground. I have no idea as to their whereabouts & conditions I get very disgusted about this situation every now and then. However, there is 2 of them that I found and really it was quite apropos as to which ones they are

Screamin' Meemie: Yep, the most iconic of them all, the ultimate mascot! He's a bit beat up but he still looks good! He is the size of actual baseball.



Arrgh: Also, one of the most well known of the whole series, he is the slime version. You unscrew his bottom and put slime in and he oozes it out



Here they are together!



Copyrights: I especially loved their copyrights because it sports their names on them




Here is a size comparison with My previously seen (and idea size comparer) Mattel's MOTU Prince Adam!



Click HERE for their great history via their Wikipedia Page!

Here is a couple commercials of Madballs!





Now, I also had these guys too, they were called Ugly Ball. They were a special part of one My fave candy when I was a kid and that was Bonkers! I was so sad & mad when they discontinued it Here it is plus a bonus




Well, that's it, I hope you liked it, part three coming up soon, until then I'll see you around

[BrandonDaCollector]

So here is a VERY SPECIAL update that I wanted to present before I get part 4. I found this during the same time as I My other recent stuff. When I found these they really brought back memories.  First off if you aren't familiar with ShowBiz Pizza then CLICK AND GO HERE to their wikipedia page!

So long story short, I loved this place, My Grandparents along with My Mom went there many times in local one in the county in the 80s before they closed down, went out of business and was successed by Chuck E. Cheese. If you never heard of ShowBiz or been there, surely you have been to and took your family to a Chuck E. Cheese. I will provide a couple videos in a bit. Anyway, they had great pizza, all kinds of games including classic arcade games in cabinets. In fact I played the original Star Wars Arcade Game in THE cabinet in around 1983/1984 which I believe sparked My passion for just not Star Wars but sci-fi in general (I will have a very special story about this in My video game topic in time) but the really cool thing was their diner. They had a live action animal mascot puppet musical band that I absolutely loved!

OK, when you would get points in games, you would get tickets to spend on special items in the glass cases such as stuffed animals, toys and more. A similar trend still rolls on at Marcus Theatres among other theaters. Well, I won a ton there but after all of these decades I only found 2 items that I won and that was a ShowBiz Pizza Eraser & a Keychain Pencil Sharpener The Eraser is of the companies' logo and the Pencil Sharpener Keychain is of the companies' main character & mascot Billy Bob Brockali Looks pretty decent for being nearly 4 decades old I do say Myself I was so stoked that I found these after all of this time




So, after checking out what their all about and seeing what I found, here is some pics that I put together to show how cool, fun and exciting these times were and the funny characters of The Rock-afire Explosion Band I loved the Gorilla, the moon, the sun and the Spider! I believe because of them is why I like country folk, forests, animals and the like...this really excited Me when I such a youngster





Now here some old coupons from 1986, My Grandparents always looked for them in the weekend papers and stocked up on them so we could get & do as much as possible. It was such fun times



OK, here is  really nice compilation of ShowBiz Pizza commercials to relive them great times or to present a novice who has no idea how it was then or at all.  



Now here is commercial to remind you about Chuck E. Cheese. Now remember, before there was them, there was ShowBiz Pizza Place! One highlight I can tell you about that was in 1994, My Mom was going out with a boyfriend at the time. He had 2 boys and 1 girl close to My age and we all played together. I played the ultra cool Jurassic Park arcade game. However, I wasn't that serious about it because I got hooked on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game...Turtles in Time! I had dozens of tokens and I kept on playing it putting token after token after token and after an hour and a half or so I BEAT THE GAME...it was one of the only arcade games I ever beat at an arcade! Overall Chuck E. Cheese was fun but it just wasn't the same as ShowBiz as everything was different and rebranded.  



Well, that's it for now, I hope you enjoyed this VERY SPECIALL ShowBiz Pizza Place showcase and were surprised with the 2 little items I found. Next up will be part 4 with some really cool figures. Until then I'll see you around