My year of toy happiness has officially begun

Sorry it's been so long, to that one person out there who reads this blog (me). I'd explain why it's been so long, but you know already. So I'll dispense with that and move on to the awesome.

EGON IS HERE. Don't let me understate the amazingness that is that fact. Finally, after close to 18 years without a new Ghostbusters toy (excluding NECA, obviously, but 1) I didn't get them when they came out and 2) they didn't even have any Ghostbusters), I finally have a super-articulated Egon Spengler figure. The figure is great; his articulation is incredible, even better than the movie masters'. And Slimer is translucent, but the effect is increased because of some kind of layering done with the translucency. He's not just clear-- he looks like he's made of slime. So obviously, I'm incredibly excited that these figures turned out so well, and I can't wait until October when Ray comes out... because the Logo Ghost he comes with might be glow in the dark! It's like Mattel is reading my mind with this new line.

Speaking of glow in the dark, I found out the SDCC exclusive Peter/Stay Puft minimates set has a glow in the dark Stay Puft. How awesome is that?? I am trying to figure out how to justify spending the amount of money required to obtain him from eBay, which is annoyingly high. However, I did manage to find 3 TRU minimates sets (no Washington Square ghost or exploding Stay Puft... yet) and I got the series 1 box set online. They are pretty damn cool, and I'll be able to rest happy when I have the Washington Square ghost and possibly the glow in the dark Stay Puft. I'll put up pictures of those later.

12" Ray comes out next month, and I'm definitely looking forward to it. However, I discovered online a complete set of Fright Features Ghostbusters, MOC, currently at $40 bidding on eBay. I've been looking for that set for a while, and I think I'm at a point now where I can justify spending a wee bit more to get them (nothing will compare to the Super Fright Features, which I got MOC for $10 a piece... but I digress). Bidding ends on Saturday, and I think I'm going to commit to winning them, as long as the price doesn't get too absurd. I'll post all about that when/if it happens.

I'm slightly pissed that I have to wait until July 2010 for Peter, and that I'll be able to get Walter Peck (with containment unit!) before then, but that's okay. I'll be living in a new house, new state, with a new (real) job at that point, which is weird to think about, so I won't! Off to look at Egon some more.

AWESOME

Well this is interesting

There's a shop just up the road from me that is a bit quirky, and they sell a bunch of gag stuff and jokes and things like that. But they also have a pretty huge selection of vintage toys and video games, which generally hail from the mid to late 80's.

Well, on the eve of the 2nd biggest test of my life (so far... sigh), I decided I'd take a stroll in there to look at their stuff. I then happen to stumble upon 4 complete original series Ghostbusters (loose, of course), complete with ghosts and proton packs. Each of them costs $35.

Here's my dilemma: I have always planned to get the original 4, as they would undoubtedly be the centerpiece of my Ghostbusters collection. My plans, however, involved saving up and buying them MOC (which would be insanely expensive, obviously, but we're talking about the centerpiece of the collection here), not buying them loose.

So if I buy them loose, and drop $140 in the process, would there still be a reason to buy them MOC? I mean, I guess so, but having 2 of each of them seems a bit much, even for a Ghostbusters freak like me.

I guess we'll have to see how I feel tomorrow after my test. I might head over there again to look at them more closely, and see if they're broken anywhere or anything like that. If not, then this might be something I can't pass up.

Ecto-500, eBay and a Terror Dog

I didn't really get into toy collecting until I discovered eBay. Prior to then, I would buy something here and there at retail, which would satisfy some kind of unnamed craving I refused to acknowledge (for example, I bought a Nexu figure from Star Wars episode II one day while feeling depressed; I didn't like Episode II, and had no attachment to that particular monster... but I needed a toy. Odd, right?).

Well, when I discovered eBay, I discovered that quite literally anything I wanted, I could find (note: not entirely true, but more on that shortly). And so it is, to this day, I will just go on eBay and browse the endless lists of things I want. I found the Ecto Glow Heroes, which was a line of RGB figures I somehow did not even know existed. I found Terrible Teeth, which I originally thought was either a mis-interpretation of having seen a photo of the orange mini-trap or a figment of my imagination. I also found Ecto-500, which my cousin had when we were little kids, and which I coveted intensely. It was such a cool vehicle, and I remember thinking that my cousin did not appreciate all the cool Ghostbusters toys he had. He even had the original 4 figures, which I never did.

So now, I can use eBay to find what I want, right? Wrong. I've been searching, now that my Ghostbusters collection is going to expand to its own shelving (whenever I buy a new shelf...). When I heard NECA was coming out with Ghostbusters figures (circa 2004, before my current toy collecting insanity) I looked for them, but not at many places. I definitely didn't look online. Now that Mattel is releasing such awesome Ghostbusters figures this summer, the NECA figures seem even more appealing. I have Slimer, but that's it. Gozer is available in relative abundance online. But the Terror Dogs-- Zuul and Vinz Clortho-- are nowhere to be found. There is one on Amazon for $60, which seems pretty steep. So what am I to do?

If I get the mini-mates, those will be relatively cheap and found at retail. I'll get Egon at the end of July, and then I've got the new Hot Toys Joker on pre-order; that'll be August. I think it would be reasonable to get a terror dog at some point soon, if I save up for it.

Decisions, decisions.

I have mentally committed

Seeing this photo (from Art Asylum) of the Ghostbusters minimates, in their packaging, has officially committed me to getting them. The packing is far too reminiscent of the old Ghostbusters boxes, and elicits such a happy feeling, that I'm going to have to get them. I might leave them in the boxes; we'll see how they look in person, and on a shelf. Not sure about paying a ton of money on eBay for them, but I'm willing to hit up TRU to see if they're there.

I've got the feeling I get when I'm excited about a new toy: I just want to drop what I'm doing and go out on a hunt. After finishing night float while doing OB/GYN, I used to stop at TRU, Target and Walmart on the way home (probably not safe to be driving after being up all night, but...whatever) to see if they had any new TDK Movie Masters. (In case you're wondering, they didn't.)

In other news, images of the Hot Toys Silk Spectre II have been revealed, and... I'm less than enthused. It's pretty much as I expected: she looks like a brunette Barbie doll in a Watchmen suit. I didn't expect much, and I'd imagine it is pretty difficult to make a female action figure that maintains 1) articulation, and 2) sexual appeal.

Not that I'd buy a female action figure because of its sexual appeal. I'm not that guy. But part of Silk Spectre's character is her (subtle?) abuse of her sexuality, and I think it's an important aspect of the notion of a female superhero that is never really addressed in mainstream comics.

We shall see what Hot Toys can manage to pull off for the other Watchmen figures, however. I'll never say never.

Hot Toys + Watchmen = Oh no

I'm supposed to be studying right now, but instead of doing that, I hit up Toy News International, as I am often wont to do. Lo and behold, Sally Jupiter's kid is sitting right atop the page.

Oh no.

This post will therefore serve as an open letter to Hot Toys.

Dear Hot Toys,
I do not have enough money to buy all of the things you make that I want. I do not collect 12" figures, but yours are so beyond anything else on the market that every time you release something, I'm interested. Now that I've already pre-ordered your Police Joker, I cannot start considering all of the Watchmen you will undoubtedly make. Please, for the sake of my wallet, stop!
Sincerely,
(name removed to protect nerdity)

The thing is, I can't picture what a Hot Toys female body, clothed in very little, would look like. The male true-type body is not something that lends itself to being mostly nude, so I doubt the female body would. But who knows? Perhaps we'll have to wait and see.

But seriously, I can't afford this.<sup>1

1</sup>For now.

Movie Masters Cancelled?

The Internet is abuzz with news that recently, several large online retailers have dropped their pre-orders for cases of Movie Masters Waves 5 and 6, about which I have been so excited over the last, oh I don't know, eight months. I'm pretty pissed. I was excited about Arkham Scarecrow (despite his admitted lameness), and that proto-suit Batman was so cool of an idea.

Of course, while the dropping of pre-orders is real, the rumors ablaze across the Net are not necessarily true. Some people are predicting that these will be Mattycollector exclusives (at $20 each... God I hope not), or they are just adjusting the case assortments and these will be released on time. Whatever the case, I'm annoyed and pretty disappointed. I wanted those figures.

In other news, I was a bit excited to see this. Like I said before, collecting Lego people.... meh, not my thing. But this is the Ghostbusters, and Slimer glows in the dark, AND the uniform is my favorite from GB2.

Even the Venkman figure from the SDCC Diamond exclusives is exciting to me. I don't know, maybe it's because I remember going to the theater to see Ghostbusters 2 that it reigns supreme in my mind (don't get me wrong; the original Ghostbusters is a better movie, I just have sentimental value attached to the sequel). But the charcoal/black uniforms are so awesome to me, and I hope that this means the new Mattel figures might sport some variants in the GB2 uniforms. Maybe with slime blowers.

Ok, now I'm getting too excited. Time to end this entry.

An update!

Wow, has it really been since April 2nd? I guess I have a suitable excuse: I returned home to Cleveland shortly after the 2nd and have been doing some medical school things that require a lot of time, so that's how I'll play it. Plus the battery pack for my camera has died, so I need to get a new one before I can do more documentation of my collection.

Therefore! I shall update regarding the happenings in the toy world of note to me. Namely, and this is a surprise, Ghostbusters minimates.

I have no interest in collecting Lego people, essentially, but these 5 little toys caught my attention. For some reason, the ghost from Washington Square (from Ghostbusters II) really took me back to a place where I'm a kid, it's 1989, and I want some cool clear ghost toys. That was a great addition to the minimates idea (and might also provide clues as to who the pack-in ghosts will be for the Mattel figures coming out this summer) and its design is highly reminiscient of the old 80's toys. I was pretty excited by it, and might consider getting these if I see them in person. Supposedly they'll be a TRU exclusive, so I'll have to look this July. I can't figure out why there are only two actual Ghostbusters being released (plus Louis and Dana), but maybe that means there will be more in the future.

Other than that, it seems to be a slow few months of waiting for Mattel's Egon and Slimer, then the new Hot Toys Joker. This works out, I guess, since I have no money right now. So it's good, except 1) it's not fun to have no new toys, and 2) it's never good to have no money.

For now, to bed I go.