My Modern Collection: My Accoutrements!

[BrandonDaCollector]

So in the midst of seeing the signs finding & getting all kinds of new action figures with the now revolutionary tech & sculpting done by multiple companies and as well as discovering news ones in 2001, Sideshow Toys/Collectibles was instantly My favorite one as they were like no other, even more so than that of McFarlane Toys who was My previous fave I loved Sideshow because they were so unique, took on many different properties that had never been done before and remaking some franchises and making them way better that previous companies did. Unfortunately I cannot say that about them now as they along with McFarlane and many other great companies have supposedly lost their creative edge and joined each other making lines & variants that has been made dozens of times thus making their-selves pathetically generic. I struggle with this a lot because back in the day in the 2000s figures were cheap and seemed special but now with adults collecting figures more than kids and ridiculously insane prices on items that has already made in the past...it just pains Me about this as people keeping submitting to this and not thinking about the classic past  

So with My small venting rant coming to close, I am about to showcase one of My most beloved action figure series' that I have in My collection and that is the Sideshow Toys Universal Monsters! I saw these great looking 8" guys along with the 12" figures (seen in this very topic) which really green-lighted My liking about 1/6 scale figures as I saw the signs there Of course I was like wait, Hasbro (over 2 decades before they fake awoken) already made Universal Monsters but they didn't make many of them. They were easily to get on eBay but I felt Sideshow's was far superior and many ways. See, I didn't feel this way then because It had already been nearly 20 years since I missed out on REMCO's versions but thankfully I got Imperial's Universal Monsters which this was only two companies that was making them and they made them only in sparsely and in selections where Sideshow went THEY EXTRA MILE MAKING NEARLY EVERY CHARACTER That there in itself was such a huge important matter for Me as I am a completist in many ways and having all the characters even obscure ones. See, some people don't want them secondary characters while I always have.

The series was such a deluxe one to behold with Sideshow's uncanny sculpting and their good painting. One thing I wasn't and still not a fan of is how fragile they are, they are as brittle as McFarlane's figures and this seems like it was such a dismaying trend that was going along with many companies as most followed suit to compete with each as their sculpting was improving so much but the quality was nearly at an all-time low which is quite unacceptable by some but I hung with it and just got used to these distressing times and just accepted it. So here they are, thank goodness I took care of them. Not all accessories are shown and these figures are not in any particular order but one that i saw fit so get ready for the classic horror show

Count Dracula - (1941 - Bela Lugosi)



Frankenstein's Monster/The Son of Frankenstein - 1931-1939 - Boris Karloff




The Bride of Frankenstein aka The Monster's Mate - (1935 - Elsa Lanchester)




"The Mummy" Imhotep - 1933 - Boris Karloff



The Phantom of the Opera/Mask of Red Death - 1929 - Lon Chaney




The Wolfman - 1941 - Lon Chaney jr.



The Creature from the Black Lagoon/Gill-Man - 1954 - Ben Chapman on land and by Ricou Browning underwater



Dr. Jack Griffins The Invisible Man - 1933 - Claude Rains




The Werewolf of London - 1935 - Henry Hull



Quasimodo the Hunchback of Note Dame - 1923 - Lon Chaney



Ygor - 1939 (SOF) - Bela Lugosi



The Mole Man - The Mole People 1956 - Various



The Metaluna Mutant - This Island Earth 1955 - Eddie Parker



SPECIAL BONUS ENTRY!

The Silver Screen editions:  Ah, these guys Long story short, when I was collecting this series, I got them from various stores online and The Metaluna Mutant was the hardest one to find at the time and I only found 1 place that had him then. I don't the name of the place though they don't deserve Me mentioning their name anyway as they went out of business and for good reasons them them reasons are these: I was very thrilled they had what I wanted, they shipped them after waiting several days for them to do so. Waited about a week for them to get to Me, on the day they are supposed to be delivered I waited hours outside for the mailman, he missed My house as I saw him drive all the way down the street. I had to hurry up and run down there, talk to him and after waiting for him took, he finally looked for Me box and it was there...I had to walk all the way back home just to find out these ARE NOT WHAT I ORDERED! I didn't want the variants, I wanted the regular versions! So I e-mailed them with no answers, then finally got one and they were out of stock and made a mistake and they wouldn't give Me a refund if I would return them and it became a big fight. I had to file against them and I got my money back thank goodness so I kept the figures and then not to long after that thanks to their horrible CS, they became obsolete and were no more. I took it they were just a terrible company to do deals with...I should have known since how they page looked so plain and looked like it was ran by nobody! A fun time this should have been but nope, it was impossible for it to be as NONE OF THIS SHOULD HAVE HAPPEN So with that out of they way, here is the Silver Screen editions of The Hunchback, The Invisible Man & The Metaluna Mutant!    




Here is a comparison of examples of 2 different types: regular vs. silver screen!



SPECIAL GALLERY!

Copyrights!





Scenes & more!

The Monster Meets his Bride!




Frankenstein & Ygor!



Group Shots!

The most usual bunch!



The most classic yet underrated!



The coolest of the Monsters!



The Last two ever of the Universal Monsters  :(



SUPER COMPARISON SECTION!

Vintage Imperial & Colorforms Universal Monsters vs. modern Sideshow Universal Monsters

NOTE: I previously showcased My Imperial & Colorforms Universal Monsters in all their glory in My great vintage action figure topic so go there and them in all they horrific glory!







Size comparison with Sideshow's Mask of Red Death, ToyBiz' Marvel Legends Wolverine, Mcfarlane's Movie Maniacs Michael Myers & NECA'S Wolf Predator (SPOILER!)

[packerbacker180]

Cool collection. I've been tempted by the new NECA Universal Monsters, but haven't bought any yet.

[BrandonDaCollector]

Thanks PB. Yeah, they look good but IMO they don't have the cool classic stuff that likes these so I have already decided that I already got tremendous ones, why should get new ones now Also, let's see how far NECA will go with them cause Sideshow went pretty darn far with these guys

More coming VERY soon

[BrandonDaCollector]

So in the last part of this special spooky Halloween update, here is My collection of Universal Monsters that was sold by Jack in the Box! This was in 2002. Sometimes fast food joints had some good kids toys and that can easily be collectibles for adults! You could get them via a kid's meal but if you ask and get the right person waiting on you, you could buy them singly for full price without additional items and that's what I did There was 6 in the set and i got all of the. They all have cool features and look very authentic. When i saw them @ JITB, they were a must

The Wolfman & The Phantom of the Opera!



The Bride and her Monster!



The Mummy & Count Dracula!




SPECIAL GALLERY!

Copyright & Logo!



EXAMPLE - 1992 Vintage White Castle Wolfman (never showcased before but will in time) vs. Modern Jack in the Box Wolfman



The Mummy Comparison: The JITB sarcophagus can actually be a cool display piece



Group Shot!



SUPER SPECIAL ENTRIES!

Dark Horse Comics: Back in the mid 2000s I got these great graphic novels by My fave comic publisher Dark Horse! These are tremendous ones indeed!




Candy Cigarettes: At My local Shop 'n Save, I always played the vending machines. There was a Candy Cigarettes box that caught My eye, it was Frankenstein's Monster! I got it pretty easy. I ate the candy as them things are yum but I really got it just for that box as it is a great display piece and I've had it for nearly 20 years



That concludes My special Universal Monsters showcase. I hope you enjoyed this and all of what I have done for Halloween. More great stuff coming soon that i will showcase in time. Until then I'll see you around

[BrandonDaCollector]

So now I'm gonna take a small hiatus from movies and the like for a little while. So here we go with this one, My BBI Elite Force set! Yep, Blue Box Toys, the same good company that made the original awesome & hot 12"-1/6 scale Cy Girls in the early 2000s when things was just too sweet! Anyway, I got these dudes back in the mid 2000s at My good local Walgreens. As you know, I have talked many times about Walgreens as I have found & bought many great figures from several locations over the past 3 and a half decades or so including My awesome Primal Rage figures seen in My great Video Game topic! Sometimes you can find some really rare & obscure stuff there that you cannot find at places such as Walmart plus they have exclusive as well

Now, when I saw these guys on the shelves I was very surprised as I had never seen them before advertised, previewed or anything at all online, it was like nobody knew about them and possibly nobody cared as sometimes people seem to do that but it was most likely the former. I had to get them as I loved how they looked but also their to My liking to fit with other figure lines that desperately needed soldiers as allies or enemies. In fact this series is extremely ideal for that Another factor that I really like about them was the price but much more about that in a bit

There was some inconveniences however as the paint apps weren't great and with that sort of aspect I am picky. They had several of each so it was tuff picking the ones that suited Me well. They have several POA and accessories and are very realistic and here they are in all of their glory

LT. Lucas: My fave of the three, I love his pose and expression, truly a realistic depiction of a US Airborne!



Cpl. Demarco: Another cool figure, that expression rocks!



Sgt. Mahoney: Mahoney is good and I like the diversity. His stance is great arguably the best of the trio!



SPECIAL GALLERY!

The Clamshell: I love the packaging, it was the standard clamshell but seemed more attractive than ones done by such companies like McFarlane & NECA of years prior and presently at the time.



The info and look at the sweet Price Tag: Yep, look at the price, it was so sweet and it was an absolute deal and truly a no brainer to get the whole set of 3! I mean why wouldn't anybody want all of them Now in this current androgynous era of pathetic offerings & insane crowd funding prices, try finding anything like these guys anywhere for that oh-so-low price




Bios!





Group shot!



Size Comparison: BBI Elite Force vs. NECA Alien & Predator: Ah hah, this was the hint I talkin' about earlier on. Look at the coolness with My AvPs that came out in around the same time! The fact of the matter is, most displays you see of Alien & Predator either has just special forces or the marines from the movies & comics but nobody else. Well until now that is



SPECIAL FEATURE!

Walgreens: Yep, here My local Walgreens that I got them at. I just put some random pics together to show it off when things were better. I have many great memories & times and I got many great figures there. I haven't shopped there for figures in years though because they have to compete with the other stores thus forced to bring the ridicules high prices there as well...I mean Star wars, Marvel Legends & WWE figures are like $19.99 a pop...no thanks, I'd rather reminiscent the past and get the stuff I couldn't get then and get them for the same price or even less! I May feature more about Walgreens in the near future!



Well, that's all for My special BBI Elite Force showcase. These guys as I speak are superbly obscure on the secondary market and seem to be even more rare than originally back in the day I hope you have enjoyed it More cool stuff coming soon

[BrandonDaCollector]

So as you know, I was stupid back in the day, didn't take care of My vintage Joes from the 80s & 90s. Then time went by and came 2005, I visited My "the then new" local Big Lots! (yes, the same BL that I have talked about time & time again before!) and they had a really nice action figure selection from many types of well known companies to their own knockoff figures which weren't too bad. So seeing lots of Batman figures and others from major companies, I saw 1 lonely Bareness of G.I. Joe I was like WOW, it's BARENESS I loved her back in the day. I immediately got her before anybody else did but decided she was gonna be My only choice as a collector's piece and that I WAS NOT gonna go for the whole series again like I did in the 80s and early 90s (cause I loved them then, IMO 87 - 92 was the the best time ever for RAH - I saw the Valor vs. Venom line at My local TRU in 04 - 05 and I was tempted...even years later when the new movies came out never did anything about it as I kept My thinking the same as before) Hasbro's change to this newer VVV line was more modern yet with the sculpting (when they took over Kenner & Galoob, their sculpting had major improved especially in their SW line). The way figure is wasn't too far away from the classics IMO as the articulation is about the same and also comes with a generic type of display stand.

Unfortunately I misplaced her blister card. I think she is just great, her armor is superb and she has a nice looking utility belt. She has a great hand gun a really cool machine gun as well. As always, she is raven-haired with glasses (I just dig that look on women!!). She is gorgeous and her physique is nice and her boobs are of a good size. She looks as good as ever before





Copyright!



Size Comparison: Well, as I had previously showcased My Scarlet figure, she too became just a collector's piece for Me when got her @ BL too later on and here they are together but there is a bit of a difference in articulation and style compared to each other since they were released a little bit a part and from from two different lines as Hasbro made Scarlet more like a Star Wars figure rather than a G.I. Joe figure!



-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


So next will be something that hardly anybody talks about now like so many countless things and that it is the great female series that complements G.I. Joe rather well IMO. It is made by Guru*Toyz (no I'm not talking about ToyGuru aka the two-faced turncoat Scott Neitlich of Mattel then Jakks) which is a very underrated company/web store that is a direct seller of Hasbro's G.I. Joe series' and even their own series called Spy Agents/Spylounge that is completely Femdon and really the first and only series of it's kind which in My mind is very poignant. Sure, Joes among others has their "selections" of females characters but there's only a handful when it is all said and done which has always been a darn shame (though Playmates' great Star Trek series in the 90s had more women within the line arguably more than any other line I might add, check out My recent Acquirement topic to see what I mean).

Here is their logo and I will provide more info about them as we progress through this very unique showcase




I got their very first character and she is their main one and her name is Agent Annika! I got her in the middle part of the 2000s Her packaging was juts a sealed plastic bag. She is a such a beauty and they went the extra mile with in appearance. Her eyes are a little off but hey, nothing's perfect She originally came with a vest, a machine gun and an alternate masked head but I had misplaced them As for as her articulation goes, she moves and feels quite differently compared to a Joe figure. She has wrist cuts and a v-cut hips. While this may serve as an inconvenience for sitting in vehicles, it does make her more realistic appearing.



One of the big aspects that caught My selling points was her physique. She has a similar look like Baroness with the long dark hair and the black outfit. She is thick, curvy and well endowed. In fact, her boobs are really nice, shapely and round and they even have sculpted nipples! Oh and she has a nice booty as well Now the intention was to make an adult collector action figure that isn't Anime or anything of that nature and that looks very American and they would still fit in with 1:18 collections





Her Stand: Her stand is rather nice and has two different pegs. I find that a bit unusual for this type of figure. Her feet pegs in there quite snugly however.



Copyright!



Agent Annika & Baroness: Here she is with her Cobra counterpart. She is a bit taller than Baroness. Since Annika is a fellow European also (and even more convincing IMO than Baroness), I pretend that she is an amazon :bounce:



Super Size Comparison Group Shot:Ah hah, here they are compared to some others figures that I have in My collection and yet to showcase but in time I will..just think of it as a preview of what's to come So we have here Baroness & Agent Annika along with the previously seen Scarlet plus Hasbro's Darth Tyranus from Star Wars, Kaiyodo's Hitomi from DOA, Takara's Chun-Li from Street Fighter and ToyBiz' Wolverine from Marvel!



Unfortunately I was a imbecile as I only got Agent Annika back in the day as I didn't check their online store for a long time when they were expanding upon the series as I was collecting stuff that was super expansive such as Sideshow's Dinosauria and Comic Premium Format figures to name a few that really ran My budget out that I have now since sold on the bay. I still regret it because I didn't wake up about things till recently and if you have been noticing in My Recent Aquirements topic, I have been getting stuff that I missed out on when I much younger in the 90s and that I should have bought during those foolish times collecting things that was hundreds of dollars a piece




Well, Spy Lounge/Spy Agents is still in stock. There are several variants that makes up a few different babes that has various looks that makes them different and attractive rather than having variants of the same characters over and over again. They would be an ideal female army builder for collectors of small figures that are 3.34". Their prices are a bit high but keep in mind, these are a very limited series and they're made exclusively by Guru*Toyz! While I have no intention at getting them at the moment, if I do get extr mollah, I sure will Here is their WEB STORE! Their store in still very old school much like an old Yahoo store from back in the day of the 2000s as I loved stores like these instead of ones that is higher tech looking of recent days and so forth.

Well, that is all, I hope you have enjoyed this special Baroness & Agent Annika showcase update. More great stuff coming soon, Until then I'll see you around

[packerbacker180]

I looked at those Guru Toyz figures over the years but they always felt too pricey for me. Nice to see some in hand images of them. The sale prices aren't bad. Have you ever checked out Marauder Gun Runners? If I'm looking for 3.75 stuff that'd be the place to start as far as quality.
https://www.marauderinc.com/

[BrandonDaCollector]

Cool, you know about them and I know what you mean about the prices. I try show things that is rare and that maybe never seen before of at least not in a long time.

Actually no, never knew about that place, if I do get back into it I'll see them first, thanks for the tip PB

[packerbacker180]

It's a cool site, you can buy complete figures, or mix and match individual items to make whatever kind of figure you want. I've bought lots of 3.75 accessories and weapons from them, plus a few bodies. It adds up fast, but you get what you want. A lot of them are designed so that if you really tried you could put together some fairly accurate versions of modern looking GI Joe characters.

[BrandonDaCollector]

Oh that's great, looks very ideal for a Joe kitbash. Thanks for the link and all that. If I ever get some extra doe together then maybe I'll consider it but just not now.

Don't forget to check out My BBi army guys before the Baroness & Annika one