A funny thing happened

A funny thing happened to me last night. Actually, last week. I somehow managed to get my hands on the ENTIRE RGB Super Fright Features line for $10 apiece. Absurd? Yes. Wonderful? OH yes.

Now, my original plan was to get the Peter, Ray and Winston figures, and not the Egon or the Janine, because I had them when I was a kid (so I guess there's less interest? Not sure). Well, obviously when I discovered I could get all 5 for the normal price of 1, I had to do it. My plan then was to leave the Egon and the Janine MOC, and open the others.However, here's where the funny thing happened. I got them, and I began to feel preemptive guilt for opening them. I mean, granted, I have the Ecto Glow Heroes, those are much rarer and more valuable, and I've opened all but 1 of those. But for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to open these SFF figures.

I think this has to do with 1) I'm away from my normal home, so I don't have the rest of my collection here, and consequently wouldn't be able to display these figures if I opened them, and 2) I think my mindset as a collector is (regrettably) becoming more investment-oriented, rather than love-oriented. Honestly, in buying this line for only $50, essentially I made $100-$150 on the spot. But I'm not collecting toys to make money, or secure my future in these trying economic times, so what gives?

I don't know. I think in order to prove to myself that I'm doing this because I have a (weird, childish, whatever) love for action figures, not because I'm a Collector and I Collect Them So I Can Sell Them Later, I'll open them when I get back home. I mean, it's "logic" that is holding me back (e.g., 'you just got these for so cheap, you literally made money on them; opening them would ruin that'), whereas my love for all things Ghostbusters should set me free. Or something.

Anyway, for now, they shall remain MOC, and I shall love them in that fashion. Perhaps once I return home to my collection I'll be inspired to open them. Until then... we'll have to see.

Knight Shadow Batman and the Cape Law

Knight Shadow Batman from Series 7 of DC Superheroes is badass. Just have a look at the photo on the right: pitch black. Ultra-articulated. Full Batman Beyond-esque face mask. The cape is the standard issue for a DC Superheroes Batman, but the way in which it accents the black and gray uniform is sharp. This is the Batman I believe the citizens of Gotham normally would imagine: dark, imposing, almost evil.

This figure illustrates one of my Laws of Batman Figures: the cape will make or break the figure. Like I mentioned, the cape on Knight Shadow Batman is a perfect accent to the dark image of the figure. I'll direct your attention to these two DC Direct figures: Justice League of America Series 2 Batman and Superman/Batman Series 6 Batman:

The cape belonging to the former gives this figure a stately, artificial look, whereas the cape of the latter looks almost like it's alive. Both create very unique figures and imbue unusual characteristics to them. The Superman/Batman figure, were he wearing a standard cape (or even a cloth cape) would look much less impressive. The same can be said for the JLA figure.

Anyway, for some unknown reason, Mattel then re-released this figure as a 2008 New York Comic Convention exclusive. I'm not sure why; he was not particularly rare, and I would imagine Mattel would want to exhibit something extra-special and not normally released (for example: DC Universe Classics SDCC exclusive Lobo). So oddly, the demand for this figure has driven the price up significantly (except in random pockets of the internet, where the price is still low. Weird Internet).

All in all, Knight Shadow Batman is cool. Badass. And sitting atop my shelf.

Legends of Batman Energy Surge Batman (1996)

1994 was a great year. Some of us were turning 10 years old, life was good, and Kenner began releasing a line of Batman action figures that was entirely unique. Each figure had its own sculpt, a bunch of accessories, and an Elseworlds theme that allowed for any number of interpretations. With that, the Legends of Batman line was born.

They also had "deluxe" figures, which (for an extra $4) were shiny. They also had some kind of push-button action that made them obviously better than the standard Legends of Batman fare.

My brothers and I could not be turned away from these figures. We collected close to all of them (and if you followed that link above, you'll notice that there is a lot of them). There were a few notable exceptions, and this entry is about one in particular.

I had no idea this figure existed until about 2 years ago. I'm not sure why; this figure was released in 1996, at the height of my love for this line. I just never saw him advertised, never even saw a photo of him until recently. And somehow, at that same time, I found him online for an unbelievably low price (if you search online for him now, you'll see how crazy it is). In fact, it seems this figure has become so rare that the only major bit of information on it can be found here. What you may notice is that the photo at that site is the exact same as the one adorning the top of this blog entry, because that summary piece is written by me. Yes, ladies and gents, it seems that I'm one of the only people out there in Internetland who has this figure. Hence, despite my usual inclinations, he remains MOC.

Therefore, it is with much ado that I introduce Energy Surge Batman, not necessarily my favorite figure (hard when he's locked in a plastic cage), but possibly the highlight of my collection. At least, in terms of rarity. Pretty cool.

RGB Gobblin' Goblins Terrible Teeth (1990)

Imagine, for a moment, you're six years old. You spend a considerable amount of time leafing through those old Kenner Action Toy Guides, and you see something really cool. Fast forward almost 20 years, and you remember a few things: this thing you saw was orange, and it had large teeth.

...And that's about it.

So now you're becoming an accomplished toy collector, and in your hours of wasted time (I mean...research) you stumble upon that thing you saw. Your eyes can hardly believe it, because at this point you weren't even sure if this memory was real. And yet, here it is. After close to 20 years, you've found Terrible Teeth.

That's the sad story of my life. At the time, it seemed like quite the accomplishment.

He doesn't do much; one pushes down on his tail and his mouth opens. Closing the mouth with all of those rubber teeth is not easy either. The RGB figures don't really fit in Terrible Teeth's mouth. The plastic is cheap and the detail isn't great, and he truthfully seems like a slightly larger version of the orange mini-trap from 1988. But there's one fact I cannot deny:

I love this toy.

And he loves me.

Legends of the Dark Knight Internet Exclusives (1997-1999)

Back in the old days, people wrote letters to each other. They called on the phone. They talked in person. Then, magically, as the 90's progressed, this crazy invention called "the Internet" sprung out of the aetherial plain. Anxiously, we booted up our Packard Bell and Macintosh computers, got the 18mbs modem on the phone line (and kicked off anyone trying to use the phone), and hit the Internet at a speed of one page per half hour. It was glorious.

It was during this time that Kenner had the brilliant idea to sell three action figures (one with a completely new, unique sculpt and two repaints) exclusively on the Internet. They thought they had outsmarted me, but in fact, all it took was about 8 years and eBay for me to get my hands on these figures. Dark Knight Detective (pictured above), Shatterblade Batman (below; a repaint of the 1996 Spline Cape Batman from the mainstream line) and Clayface (bottom).

I think it should go without saying that for a kid (hell, even for an adult like me), the Legends of the Dark Knight collection was insanely awesome. My brothers and I collected a large portion of them, and to this day I maintain that this was one of the greatest action figure lines of all time. Yes, the articulation is pretty poor. Yes, most of the figures were repaints of the same basic sculpt. But these figures were badass.

Shatterblade Batman, being a repaint, doesn't do too much for me, but I couldn't buy 2/3 of the set! (That's just not what we collectors do.) Normally (like I've mentioned before) I don't usually leave figures in their bubbles, but since this figure is still relatively rare, I thought it best to keep him safe in his packaging.

The Dark Knight Detective figure is a repaint of another hard-to-find figure: Legends of the Dark Knight The Dark Knight (that's a mouthful), which was a blue and gray version of the classic Batman. He has a permanent spot on the top shelf of my collection; Clayface is an incredibly new and unusual interpretation of the character (plus, he's got 5 faces... you rotate his head around to reveal each expression). He's huge, heavy, and all around intimidating (if one is inclined to be intimidated by action figures).

Awesome Clayface. Awesome Batman.

DC Superheroes S3 Bane

Bane is one of my favorite characters of all time. He's the epitome of the Batman paradox that The Dark Knight movie touched upon: the idea that Batman, by his mere existence, draws insanity to Gotham City. It's a concept I find interesting, and Bane-- super intelligent, and stronger than Batman himself-- proves the danger of Bruce Wayne's vigilantism.

Since this blog is supposed to be about toys, though, I'll go out on a limb and say that this Bane (the first DC Superheroes Select Sculpt Series figure I got) is one of my favorites of all time. The figure's feet are set too far apart, but that's the only shortcoming. The detail of this figure is incredible; the boots have tread, his every vein is visible, and the green Venom tubing is sturdy and adds to the overall look of the figure. It is definitely the one that started my love affair with DC Superheroes S3, and my only regret about getting it is that I didn't get the "running adaptation" of Osito (Bane's teddy bear-- I told you he was awesome) as an accessory.

RGB Ecto-Glow Heroes (1991)

You are looking at one of my most prized sets. Now, anyone who knows anything about Real Ghostbusters toys (there's probably at least 4 or 5 of us out there) knows that this is the last complete set of RGB of action figures ever released. This set is from 1991, the final year of the show. However, if you know anything about RGB toys (see above), and I told you I bought them all mint on card, you'd probably rip out your hair when noticing that... I've opened them. (Okay, not entirely true: I did leave the Louis Tully figure MOC.) Today, these figures sell anywhere from $50 MOC to $150 apiece, and even for close to $250 for the complete set... loose! Luckily, I didn't have to spend this much when I bought them a few years ago.

Fact is, I'm not much of a MOC guy. This does not apply universally (as I'm sure I'll post later, both of the 2008 Dark Knight Movie Masters chase figures I have are in-box), but when you love RGB to the weird extent that I do, it's necessary to open them and have them out for display.

You'll also notice the Mini Gooper ghosts (1988), which did not come MIB but DID come with the box. The yellow ghost in the middle is an accessory to the Ecto-500 vehicle, which I will post about later.

Anyway, as I mentioned before, I love things that glow in the dark (I think this stems from my early youth, when the RGB toylines used the glow in the dark feature fairly often for the most random stuff). But combining The Real Ghostbusters AND the glow-in-the-dark feature so well makes for one of my favorite toy sets of all time.

Beautiful, isn't it?

Superman/Batman Kryptonite Batman

This is Kryptonite Batman from Series 4 of the DC Direct Superman/Batman line. I have a confession to make, one that will become more obvious as I post the rest of my collection. I was on the fence about this figure based solely on the production photos from DC. I read somewhere online, however, that the figure glowed in the dark. Nowhere did DC Direct ever mention this fact (as it turns out, the production photos of this figure are photos of the translucent variant).

Well, I love things that glow in the dark. I'm not sure why, but it's always been that way. So as soon as I heard that this figure did just that, I had to have it.
I also really like the style of this figure, which is based on the art of Ed McGuinness; the figure has an overly-muscular look, which I like despite the quasi-cartoonish feel it imparts. (I happened to get my brother the Nightwing from this line, and believe the McGuinness design works incredibly well in that instance.) Kryptonite Batman is not exceptionally articulated, and his large muscles put him in a perpetual "imaginary lat syndrome" position with his arms flared out slightly, but all in all this guy holds a special place in my heart.

Identity Crisis Batman and Hush Ra's al Ghul

This photo captures two figures, the Batman figure from Series 2 of the DC Direct Identity Crisis line, and the DC Direct Ra's al Ghul Hush Series 3 (can you tell I like black and white? These are more "artistic" photos than review photos, so my apologies).
Ra's al Ghul has always been one of my favorite characters, stretching all the way back to Batman the Animated Series. Even as a kid, the intensity and intellect of the Demon's Head (plus the fact that I could never figure out if he was even a bad guy) fascinated me. Well, a few nights before he went off to the Air Force Academy, my brother (my parents somehow raised a whole family of supernerds) gave me this as a present, making it the second action figure I received.

I love this Ra's figure. He came with a saber (which unfortunately broke, and I fixed it, and then it broke again) and is highly detailed, well-sculpted, and maintains the classic look from TAS that I loved.

The Batman was also a gift from my brother, but came about a year later. I'm a fan of the black/gray Batman (as opposed to the campier blue/gray... no offense), but also tend to appreciate the sleeker, higher cowl (as opposed to, for example, the look of the Hush Series 3 Batman). So when I stumbled upon the Identity Crisis Batman online, my brother got it for me. So, again, it has value to me beyond just the cost of the plastic. My only problem with this figure is that, for some reason, the Identity Crisis Series 2 figures went from 13 points of articulation to only 9, so this Batman is not exceptionally poseable. However, given that the figures I grew up with bent their arms and turned their heads, I can't complain too much about his articulation.

The Dark Knight Returns Joker

This is the first "collector's" action figure I ever received. It was Christmas, 2004, and I had seen this Joker (from the Dark Knight Returns DC Direct series) in a comic shop. I half-jokingly asked for it for Christmas, and my mother (not jokingly) said: "But what would you do with it?"
I didn't really have an answer, but that didn't stop her from getting it for me.
As far as articulation goes, this figure is sorely lacking; he's got joints at the neck, shoulders, and waist, and... that's it. However, he did come with two detailed pistols that look pretty awesome, and I really like the interplay between the colors of his paint. The white suit is pretty unusual for a Joker incarnation, and I think this Dark Knight Returns manages to pull it off well, and look damn cool in the process.

In Which I Introduce Myself

I love action figures.

I guess it's pretty sad when I think about it; here I am, in my mid-20's, in the military, on scholarship to go to medical school, and I still collect toys. In the fifth hour of a long surgery, when I'm doing very little besides listening to the angry surgeon verbally abuse everyone in the room, I think about things like the KB Toys exclusive DC Universe Classics unmasked Batman Beyond variant figure that came out last year. It takes me to a place where I'm happy, where I'm comfortable, and that's fine with me.

Of course, maybe it's obvious I've spent a lot of time grappling with the notion of toy collecting, in terms of the "weirdness factor." That's where the Internet comes in! See, out here in the digital wild west, there seem to be plenty of toy collectors. Who knows how many of them are open with their obsession, and how many of them hide it in the dark recesses of their bedrooms. What I do know is that, thankfully, the pseudo-anonymity of the Internet lets people like me express our true love for something that would otherwise leave us forever branded as 40 Year Old Virgins.

Perhaps as this blog expands, I'll delve a little more deeply into why I started embracing my love for action figures, and why I believe it makes me happy. While I know that no amount of action figures I have now will bring back 6th grade and the fun I had as a child, I like being reminded of that feeling every now and again.

So my thoughts are: I'll post photos of each individual piece of my collection, as well as some thoughts on each one, and who knows... maybe someone besides me will read it.