Hey, Mr. Postman... Again!

Wow, more toys came in the mail today! 2012 is gonna be a great year  :D  Yes, more of the 10" ToyBiz Deluxe figures from the 90's. As I said in my last post, while I was not into action figures when these hit the shelves, there is something nostalgic about these big dumb toys. They're simple, colorful, and FUN!

These two Spider-Man figures in particular are hard to come by, the asking price often ranging from forty to eighty clams. Luckily, some dork is always selling low in January on eBay, likely in attempt to pay off some holiday debt. The Wall Hanging Spider-Man came in his 1994 ToyBiz window box with a KayBee price sticker on it, $11.99 marked down to $5.99! This "chase" or variant version I scored for ten bucks has reverse coloring on the red/black sections of his outfit- really cool! He has suction cups attached to his wrist, supposedly to attach to a window or mirror- can't wait to try that  :)

Equally difficult to find is the 10" ToyBiz Spider-Man 2099, which I won for $8.50 loose. The boxed ones I've seen on eBay just go for too much. Sure, the shipping was ten bucks each on these two, but that's still a rare deal on gems like these. I'm thrilled  :D  I love the cloth web cape/air foil attached to his neck with a plastic clip. I enjoyed reading the Spider-Man 2099 trade paperback this summer, which left me wanting more stories of the future webslinger!

So if you're guessing I scored I scored even more of these babies on eBay this week, and that you'll be sifting through several posts on them in the near future, you'd be correct  :D  I was feeling so optimistic about the way things are going that I put a new display shelf in the apartment:

Might as well swing by the Hulk shelf & see how things are going... oh yeah  :D

More Later- Make It FUN!

Hey, Mr. Postman!

Only one week into the new year, and two parcels arrived in the mail! 10" Deluxe X-Men/X-Force figures from the 90's, apropos of my recent collecting/reading of the old X-Force title  :)  These simply styled figures were also released in Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, Iron Man, and Marvel Universe boxes, of which I have several. They are poorly painted, dumb toys with limited articulation that I just love! Though I was not into action figures when these came out in the early 90's, there is something nostalgic and almost comforting about them, and I love a big, chunky action figure! FUN!

I scored Cable loose, but I love the big window boxes these came in- they're garishly colorful & exciting! Shatterstar came with two swords, the back of his card advertising other characters from the popular X-Force title, Cable and Kane.

Cable next to my Marvel Universe Ninja Wolverine... like the current 3 3/4" Marvel Universe, there were several versions of Logan (can one have too many?), some quite ridiculous  :D   He has slightly better articulation than Cable, sporting elbow joints (the left one stuck), and his neck moves. Cable came with an appropriately oversized gun that surprisingly rotates at the end of the barrel, like a Gatling gun.

*See my posts on the ToyBiz 10" Beast, Silver Surfer, Moon Knight, and Ghost Rider!

More Later- Make It FUN!

More From the Dollar Comics Bin...

While digging up the remainder of the X-Force/"X-Cutioner's Song" crossover event in the dollar comic bins at V-Stock this week, I found some real gems, including the Dr. Strange #32 pictured above! I mean, will you look at that cover? You know that'll be fun  :D

*Warlock Chronicles #1 & #2, 1993

Since reading Infinity Gauntlet this summer, my interest in Thanos, Adam Warlock, & Dr. Strange has piqued. They are all characters I knew little or nothing of just a couple years ago before I started this blog & started reading comics again, and though I always thought of myself as a meat-and-potatoes kinda superhero fan, these cosmic characters were an unexpectedly fun read. That #1 has a  foil/prizm background, and embossed Adam Warlock on the front- really great! This should be entertaining  :D

*The Silver Surfer/Warlock Resurrection #1  and What If... #49, 1993

Again, more Adam Warlock WITH Silver Surfer, AND Drax the Destroyer on the cover! Cannot wait to dig into that! I've never had A What If.. issue, and read this from front to back last night before bed. Wasn't head-over-heels about the art, but I was entertained by the story.

On an earlier trip I picked up some Infinity Gauntlet-related 1991 issues of  Dr. Strange and Silver Surfer, in which the good Doctor must take on Adam Warlock and the Sentinel of the Spaceways, comrades against the Mad Titan Thanos in the Infinity Gauntlet, and Silver Surfer suffers the mind-bending vengance of Thanos- far out! I've also read Defenders # 78 & #79 from 1979-80, which feature the reluctant teamates Sub-Mariner & the Hulk- intense!

 

I sincerely enjoyed all these, and at a dollar an issue, that's hard to beat. I finally broke down last month and got a couple boxes to help keep me organized, but will need another soon as the "Have Read" box on the left, below is nearly full. Keep in mind there's also a huge tote full of comics from my youth, and a bookshelf in my room packed with trade hardbacks, paperbacks, and single issues. I wish I had time to write about each and every one of these, but I read A LOT of comics- far more than I ever did as a kid :D

More Later- Make It FUN!

X-Force #15, 1992

I posted about Rob Liefeld's X-Force #1 awhile back, and have kept picking up issues from the dollar comic bins, having read all the way up to this issue #15, including the crossover event with Spider-Man & Juggernaut early in the series, as well as the 4-part Shattershot crossover event spanning the early 90's X-titles. I must say that free from the bias many harbor toward the lightning rod/whipping boy of 90's comics, Rob Liefeld, I've actually enjoyed the series quite a bit. As stated before, X-Force is all new to me, having missed it all during it's heyday- I knew virtually nothing about the characters before. The action has been good, the story moving at a good clip throughout the series so far, and the artwork pretty over-the-top.  It's also interesting to read about Cable & Deadpool so close to their origin- these books are where it all evolved, and that's interesting to me. Liefeld handed pencilling X-Force over to Mark Pacella by issue #10, and Greg Capullo takes over on pencils in this issue #15. Capullo is currently the artist on the New 52 Batman title, and that's interesting because Liefeld is currently pencilling Hawk & Dove for DC Comics' said relaunch.  In my humble opinion, these are two successful, talented artists who have really evolved over the years, and have both been successful in their field.

A lot has happened in the first fourteen issues of X-Force, including clashes with G.W. Bridge & S.H.I.E.L.D., Juggernaut, the Mutant Liberation Front, The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, the mysterious Stryfe, and the deadly X-Ternals.

Initially exposed as a traitor, we find here that Domino was actually replaced with an impostor (Deadpool's shape-shifting ex-girlfriend, Vanessa Carlysle- hired by Tolliver). She roasts Deadpool standing over her rescuer, reuniting with Cable to run off after the mysterious Tolliver, the illegal weapons merchant responsible for breaking up Six Pack, Cable's disbanded & disenchanted group of mercenaries.

Racing to the roof, Domino & Cable catch Tolliver's helicopter before escaping, the grim soldier from the future telling Domino to jump before it gets too high up so he can blow it out of the sky, and to reassemble his X-Force for his return later. He teleports onto his ship Graymalkin before hitting the water, leaving Domino crawling to shore, and a partially rejuvenated Deadpool to escape!

Here at the end we are directed to issue #1 of Cable's new solo title, and three of the other X-Titles for the "X-Cutioner's Song" crossover event before reading X-Force #16. I've read Cable issues #1 & #2 in the past week, and found all the "X-Cutioner's Song" crossover issues just this Tuesday- four hours of searching through the dollar comics at two separate V-Stock stores! I was unexpected swept up by this book, Cable, Deadpool, and all the characters in X-Force. This has been fun, and a big part of the adventure is hunting down the back issues in the wild!

More Later- Make It Fun!

Defenders #109, 1982

I started writing this post a month ago, so it's time to play catch-up here at the Super-DuperToyBox  :D My interest in the Marvel non-team the Defenders grew after reading  Avengers Defenders War recently, and I've scrounged up some random issues from the dollar comics bin, including this well-worn copy of Defenders #109 from 1982. Look at that cover- rockin' !  

Valkyrie's announces the Enchantress' pending doom, repayment for trapping her in the host body of Barbara Norris, ironically to help the-allies the Defenders. Her eternal soul escaped it's centuries long containment in the crystal Globe of Souls, and Brunnhilde now having regained her true body thanks to Dr. Strange's magic, the Asgardian goddess commands the mystic to cast a spell to contain the confrontation & for the Defenders to stand down while she finishes her battle with Amora.  

Brunnhilde flies into a rage against Amora, shocking fellow Defenders as well as Amora herself, who returns the attack with some spells, the final one rooting Brunnhilde to the ground, like a tree! Before Amora deals the final blow, Brunnhilde mentally rolls the crystal globe into Amora's leg, breaking her spell and sucking her soul into it- horrific! The gleefully vengeful Valkyrie tosses Dr. Strange the globe to Strange for safekeeping while she attends to her All-Father Odin on Asgard.

Though the spirit of Barbars Norris gone & back in her own body, Brunnhilde's vengeance is not quite undone by the reversal of fortune, Amora now having been imprisoned in the crystal globe Dr. Strange keeps. She departs for Asgard to confront the All-Father! Her demand for retribution for the old god's negligence is met with surprising tenderness by a repentant Odin. The two embrace following his confession, forgiveness not given, but acknowledgement expressed.

Meanwhile, interdimesionally lost comrades Hulk, Hellstrom & Namor are pulled through a rip in the universe, dispatched there by the Enchantress earlier. The land clumsily on solid ground before someone they re shocked to see... !

Dr. Strange manages to find Hellcat while searching for the other three lost Defenders, and they pay a visit to Vera, Beast's librarian girlfriend, along with Spider-Man & Gargoyle. Dr. Strange feels some indistinct force pulling his lost teammates away from the spell he cast, and disappears to search the dimensional pathways for them. Still upset over the death of Nighthawk, caused by her demonic father's spell, Patsy (Hellcat) stays to confide in houskeeper Dolly in lieu of dinner with Beast & Vera. Later in the evening, Patsy slips away whileDolly sleeps, in search of her identity as an individual woman, the recent turn of events having been difficult to digest.

Finally, Dr. Strange finds his way to the other three lost Defenders, found earlier by the presumed-dead Nighthawk (Kyle)! Great last page!

While I was initially unfamiliar with the surrounding continuity, this story sucked me into this issue! Dropping into the series here 11 years after it's inception is only a mild handicap, the action whooshing my imagination off on an exciting adventure from the first page. As stated earlier, I've since read a couple more odd issues of Defenders and Dr. Strange found in the dollar comics bins at V-Stock (pictured below), and Defenders: Indefensible which I picked up in December at Comic Headquarters. I enjoy super-group/team books in general, and am becoming a little more familiar with Dr. Strange and his non-team of heroes.

*See my post on The Avengers-Defenders War!

More Later- Make It Fun! 

Shopping: Marvel Universe

It's always a good idea to take a look after the public has plowed through some inventory during the holidays and the help has had a chance to put some new/old stock from the back room  :D

*Red Hulk

This wouldn't be the first time this year I've seen 2009 Marvel Universe stock on the pegs, nor the first time I've spotted a Red Hulk in the wild this month! I took him home this time. Could he really look more angry?  :D

*Iron Spider-Man (translucent variant)

I've passed on the peg-warming, flat red version of this many times, but when I saw a picture of the translucent variant recently, I become more interested. I didn't expect to find one so soon- Great! Paintjob looks shoddy on this one however- may or may not return it.

*Electro
Another translucent variant, this Electro was released in '09 with flat, gold paint, but released again with clear hands- very cool! What a hilarious looking villain- right up my alley  :D

My New Year's resolution should be to open more of these Marvel Universe! I am WAY behind on these, and while I didn't want to pass these up, the last thing I needed this year was another one to throw on the pile  :D

*See the Marvel Universe visual checklist at ItsAllTrue.Net

Happy New Year! Make It FUN!