A Decade at the Super-DuperToyBox

It's hard for me to believe ten years went by so fast, but a decade ago today was my first post on the Super-DuperToyBox. In the summer of 2010 I was selling old toys on E-Bay, and soon found a listing for the 15" Kenner Darth Vader I had as a child. I bought him with the money I earned selling some of my wares, soon finding other toys that brought back childhood memories. Mattel's 8" D.C. Retro Action figures caught my eye quickly,  tapping my nostalgia for the old Mego World's Greatest Heroes line from the 70's. Shortly thereafter I discovered the 90's line of  Marvel Famous Covers 9" figures by ToyBiz that featured cloth outfits much like the old Megos. Before I knew it, I had bought more action figures and a glass curio case to hold them all. I became consumed!

Above: Table full of action figures I had collected in just the first couple months of toy blogging. (December 2010)

Along the way I befriended many a toy blogger I know to this day, and while many have abandoned this platform in favor of Instagram and YouTube, I keep the light on here. I like the long form personally, and after nearly 1,000 posts and well over 1.6 million page views, it's become a thing I'm somewhat proud of, visited by people worldwide every day. Cheers!

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More To Come- Make It FUN!

Mighty Muggs Darth Vader (Hasbro, 2007)

Hasbro's Mighty Muggs series seemed to be tapering off as I got into collecting, but they did get some second looks from me. I recall a few on clearance between 2010 and 2012 I may or may not regret passing on, but my appreciation for vinyls didn't develop until a little later, when Funko got my attention with their POP! Series and Vinyl Invaders Batman. I have a fledgling Darth Vader subcollection that needed a unique member such as this, and the price wasn't much above the retail price shipped, so I went for it. Check out the video:

He suffered mildly from the issues I'd read about, namely his unwieldy cape and easily spilled helmet, but he's a looker and will stay put on a shelf to admire, purpose served. Whether you go for this kind of thing or not, Hasbro did deliver a vinyl a fraction of the price U.S. collectors pay for Japanese imports. Some of these go for three to five times the original $10.00 at retail on the secondary market. I'd been on the lookout for a Marvel Series Vision at a good price, but wasn't disappointed in finding the Series One Darth Vader.

More Later- Make It FUN!

Lego Star Wars Rebels Imperial Troop Transport

As the opening date for Star Wars: The Force Awakens nears, I find my nostalgia for all things related increasing, particularly Lego minifigs as they are my latest fascination. While I'm somewhat new to the world of Lego, I could plainly see this Imperial Troop Transport was a stand-out set among the Microfighters sets, with a generous group of FOUR stormtroopers! I love the working pop-blasters included with the minifigs! Check out my video with music and sound effects:

My BootLego Darth Vader can now lead the troops ...!

MORE LATER- MAKE IT FUN!

Marvel: Star Wars #1, 2015

Conversing with the manager at my local comic shop, I mused how Star Wars is as big as it ever was- a pop culture phenomenon, in fact, that's grown far beyond what I first witnessed as a child in the '70s. While I more often go for comics of the superhero genre, I found myself picking of the first issue of this latest installment of the epic franchise, the faint warmth of nostalgia enveloping my mind. This book picks up where the first movie, Star Wars: A New Hope, left off, the Rebel Alliance enjoying a period of renewed hope after the Imperial Death Star has been destroyed. With the Empire in a state of disarray, Rebel forces have launched a daring offensive across the galaxy in hopes of defeating them once and for all. The main cast of Skywalker, Solo, Leia, Chewbacca, and the droids run into trouble intercepting an arms deal between Jabba the Hutt and the Empire, Darth Vader making an appearance in the first issue! While I'm not the biggest fan of artist John Cassaday's style, it's skillfully done, the portraits of the original movie actors apparent in his renderings, and their respective personalities present in Jason Aaron's writing.

February will bring two other books within the series, Star Wars: Darth Vader and Star Wars: Princess Leia, the former I'm looking forward to. The Super-DuperToyBox is more focused in the superhero genre, but Star Wars is integral to my love of action figures, the original Kenner line some of my first. It's also true that Darth Vader was the catalyst for this blog, my search for the original 15" deluxe Kenner action figure starting the whole thing back in 2010!  There were a few preview  pages of  Star Wars: Darth Vader in this first issue that got me excited about the forthcoming series, namely the two page spread of Darth Vader paying a visit to Jabba the Hutt by artist Salvador Larocca, pictured below. Greatness!

My Kenner 15" Darth Vader with the more recent Hasbro Black Series 3 3/4" Darth Vader my nephew gave me last year...

More Later- Make It FUN!

Black Series Darth Vader

I don't have a great deal of Star Wars toys, superheroes more the focus here on the Super-DuperToyBox, but my nephew picked up this 3 3/4" Black Series Darth Vader for my birthday last weekend! Fun! Darth Vader is a complex and iconic sci-fi villain, possibly the most well known and widely licensed in pop culture history. I had a couple of the first Kenner Darth Vader figures released in the '70s as a child, the character my favorite villain of childhood fantasy. I even had a A Star Wars Darth Vader action figure case, which I still own, full of what figures I haven't given away or lost in time. This one came with articulation and accessories far beyond the coveted 3 3/4" classic Kenner, and was fun to pose with the great lightsaber he comes with!

Vader has the same swivel neck as the original Kenner, but gets additional hinge-swivels at the elbows, swivels in the glove & boot tops, waist, and ankles that are hinged as well. has simple T-hips, but the leg articulation helps out there. The cape and apron are real cloth as opposed to the stiff vinyl of the original, and is stiff enough to pose, even if minimally. The details seem faithful to Vader's appearance in The Empire Strikes Back, the card back mentioning Vader's Rebel capture at Cloud City. This is a great little Vader! I was shocked at discovering the staggering dozens of Vader action figures released since 1978- tell me your favorite one, recent or past in the comment box at the below this post!

Vader came also came with an additional left hand, hole in the palm to pop in a blast accessory to reenact the Empire Strikes Back scene in which Solo fires at him when he surprises the guest Rebels in the Bespin City dining room. The Imperial leader deflects the blast with the palm of his hand, and pulls Solo's weapon from his hand across the room into his own in the flash of an eye, disarming the fugitive smuggler and resigning the group to capture. My Marvel Universe Skrulls would be plausible intergalactic foes for Vader, no?

Black Series Darth Vader with my 3 3/4" Marvel Universe Dr. Doom, two characters who share many similarities. One could argue that Vader could overpower Doom with ease using his immense power over the Force, but let's not forget the Latverian's known experience in black magic and tricky demeanor. It's true, Doom is often undone by his ego, but he has overpowered much more powerful beings by shear treachery- Silver Surfer included.

More than twice had I contemplated grabbing a smaller Sith to compliment my 15" Kenner Darth Vader , the first toy I posted about here on the Super-DuperToyBox. Now I can play with him in one of my favorite ways, BIGTOY/littletoy    :D

More Later- Make It FUN!

Hello there...

This is my first post on this Super Duper Toy Box- it's funny that it came to this so quickly, let me explain...
This summer I decided to sell some old toys I had on E-Bay, and soon began poking around some of the merchandise in order to find out what I had was worth when I found him... my long-lost 15" Kenner Darth Vader Doll for $20.00.  I bought him with the money I earned from selling some of my wares. He was in really good condition and complete minus his lightsaber, which I found a replacement (reproduction) for on Ebay as well for $10.00. Not bad.

I then found about some other toys that brought back some childhood memories, namely Mattel's 8" D.C. Retro Action action figures, that reminded me of the old Mego World's Greatest Heroes line from the 70's- an old favorite! I bought two on Amazon.com, then four more. After that I discovered the 90's line of Marvel Famous Covers 9" figures by ToyBiz that featured cloth outfits much like the old Megos- I bought fifteen of them within two weeks.  Before I knew it, I had bought some MORE action figures by other manufacturers, and a glass curio case to hold them all is on the way as we speak, and I guess I just became consumed... I had even began keeping up with action figure blogs!

I 'll post pictures of these toys in future blog posts on Super Duper Toy Box, share some thoughts on them, and we'll see where this all goes. And for my first observation, the one that started it all...

I was chatting with my pal Darrell about a 7th grade picture of his, and how MY 7th grade picture featured an insecure kid who wouldn’t smile because of the braces in his mouth. And I went on to say that if I could go back in time and talk to that boy, I’d tell him everything was gonna work out, that he’d be OK. Darrell went on to say that Dr. John Bradshaw’s book "Homecoming--Reclaiming and Championing Your Inner Child" suggests doing exactly that: go back into your memories and telling "little you" that it's going to be OK. And Darrell believes some kind of deep level healing like that would keep society from having so many angry children walking around in adult bodies. I like that idea.
     When my brother and I were kids, we LOVED Star Wars, and collected/played with all the George Lucas merchandise we could get our hands on. And played with them we did- some of it didn’t survive, including Kenner’s large-scale Star Wars figures, of which we had at least three if my memory serves me correctly: Boba Fett, Chewbacca, and Darth Vader. Not a trace of them was left among the toys up in my mother’s storage closet- Lord only knows their fate, but as mother says, we actually played with those toys. We probably destroyed them! Ha! When I stumbled across my favorite, Darth Vader, in decent condition, I snapped him up for $20.00. He probably cost almost that much in 1978, and I’ve seen him recently for $75.00 complete, mint (but without the box). The 15” Vader I purchased came without his lightsaber, but I was able to get my hands on a replica for ten bucks. He was a little dusty with some light scuffs on his helmet when he arrived, but his cape was in excellent condition and he cleaned up nicely. I was extremely pleased!
     Darth Vader is so interesting in that he is a symbol of lost innocence, and how such promising beginnings can go so very wrong. Inside all of us is the ability to do such great things as well as very terrible things- and so many factors are at play, making it a miracle that there ARE so many good people. I went back in time when I saw that silly thing- I went and won that back for that good little boy in me. He deserved it.

...some other fun shots I took of Vader: