Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Tales from the 25¢ Bin!
Hey kids! Welcome once again to another edition of Tales from the 25¢ Bin! I had a particularly epic haul this past Saturday, so forgive me if this post is a little big.
Let's dig in, shall we?
This latest haul is probably one of the most eclectic piles I have ever amassed from the cheap-o bin, and we're kicking it off with good ol' Captain America! I was so taken by his role in the Avengers movie so I snapped this comic up quicker than a ricocheting shield.
Next up is issue #11 of DC's Claw the Unconquered, which is a particular score for me since I already have issues #1-10. Back in the day, i dug this character even though he's basically a Conan rip-off with a metal hand. I flipped through this issue a bit and noticed that he has suddenly taken on a sort of Native American appearance. Not sure why. Maybe they were trying to make him more like Arak or something.
Next up, we have the first four issues of a Marvel book called Dreadstar and Company, a comic that I don't think I've ever seen before but it looked something like Warlord in the world of He-Man fighting Ming the Merciless with his girlfriend, Scarlett from G.I. Joe. Whatever. It was a buck for all four issues, so I'll give it a chance.
Four words, ladies; Giant Size Man-Thing. 'Nuff said.
I can't pass up old horror comics, even if they're reprints from 1999. Just look at that cover. These were the comics that caused me to lose a lot of sleep as a kid.
Again, since I'm still riding the Avengers wave, and considering my renewed love for the Hulk, I couldn't pass these babies up. This was the Hulk that I loved as a kid. It's all about the purple pants.
And even though I grew up as a Marvel kid, and have been pretty Marvel-minded lately, I haven't wavered in my quest to catch up on some classic DC comics and these three issues of Justice League of America will make fine additions to my comics collection. Dat Zatanna.
It was a good day for finding multiple consecutive issues, and even better when I scored this 4-issue limited series about X-Men's Storm and some little girl that apparently sells her soul to the devil and then turns into a hot chick with a tail. Which... is really... inappropriate, now that I think about it. Then again, I'm just going by the covers. I could be wrong.
Wow... Star Wars fever was really rampant back in the day....
The coolest thing about this issue is the fact that it's a Whitman publication and not a DC issue (which they did sometimes for some reason). Also, I've recently discovered the awesomeness of Adam Strange and have made great strides in getting over my hatred for Superman. I can't wait to read this one.
And finally, it wouldn't be a successful trip to the 25¢ bin without bringing him at least one vintage issie of Archie, and this groovy rag was originally published a year before I was even born, which makes it positively ancient.
Dig those crazy pants, Reggie!
Let's dig in, shall we?
This latest haul is probably one of the most eclectic piles I have ever amassed from the cheap-o bin, and we're kicking it off with good ol' Captain America! I was so taken by his role in the Avengers movie so I snapped this comic up quicker than a ricocheting shield.
Next up is issue #11 of DC's Claw the Unconquered, which is a particular score for me since I already have issues #1-10. Back in the day, i dug this character even though he's basically a Conan rip-off with a metal hand. I flipped through this issue a bit and noticed that he has suddenly taken on a sort of Native American appearance. Not sure why. Maybe they were trying to make him more like Arak or something.
Next up, we have the first four issues of a Marvel book called Dreadstar and Company, a comic that I don't think I've ever seen before but it looked something like Warlord in the world of He-Man fighting Ming the Merciless with his girlfriend, Scarlett from G.I. Joe. Whatever. It was a buck for all four issues, so I'll give it a chance.
Four words, ladies; Giant Size Man-Thing. 'Nuff said.
I can't pass up old horror comics, even if they're reprints from 1999. Just look at that cover. These were the comics that caused me to lose a lot of sleep as a kid.
Again, since I'm still riding the Avengers wave, and considering my renewed love for the Hulk, I couldn't pass these babies up. This was the Hulk that I loved as a kid. It's all about the purple pants.
And even though I grew up as a Marvel kid, and have been pretty Marvel-minded lately, I haven't wavered in my quest to catch up on some classic DC comics and these three issues of Justice League of America will make fine additions to my comics collection. Dat Zatanna.
It was a good day for finding multiple consecutive issues, and even better when I scored this 4-issue limited series about X-Men's Storm and some little girl that apparently sells her soul to the devil and then turns into a hot chick with a tail. Which... is really... inappropriate, now that I think about it. Then again, I'm just going by the covers. I could be wrong.
Wow... Star Wars fever was really rampant back in the day....
The coolest thing about this issue is the fact that it's a Whitman publication and not a DC issue (which they did sometimes for some reason). Also, I've recently discovered the awesomeness of Adam Strange and have made great strides in getting over my hatred for Superman. I can't wait to read this one.
And finally, it wouldn't be a successful trip to the 25¢ bin without bringing him at least one vintage issie of Archie, and this groovy rag was originally published a year before I was even born, which makes it positively ancient.
Dig those crazy pants, Reggie!
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Avengers Chibis! What... What the Hell is a "Chibi"??
Over the weekend, during a fruitless search for the new G.I. Joe movie Snake eyes figure at Target, I stopped by the blind-bag/trading card section just to see what's new. The section was filled with the usual small packages filled with even small collectibles like My Little Pony dog tags (really?), and that's when I spotted these new micro collectible figures called Chibis (whatever the heck that means), and to sweeten the pot, these little packs of big-headed stylized cuties are all about The Avengers...
Still high on The Avengers after seeing the movie last weekend, and not batting an eyelash at the $2.99 price tag (I mean, you get three figures), I grabbed a pack on a whim and after opening it when I got home, I was faced with a massive wave of regret that I didn't buy several more packs.
Let's take a look at who I got. First up is the legendary Agent Coulson, one of my favorite characters and the only one besides Nick Fury to be in just about all of the latest Marvel movies, and a character who made the reverse jump from movies to comics recently.
Just look at how adorable these figures are. Look at Coulson with his little gun raised, calling in the big guns on his cell phone. That random little spot on his nose looks like some sort of an unfortunate growth, but I think its just a sloppy paint app. Still, cute figure.
Next up we have the Invincible Iron Man! Not as cute as the other figures, due to the lack of round eyes I think, but I can't really complain. It's Iron Man for cryin' out loud.
But the real winner in the pack was this bomb-diggity little figure of the one and only Nick Fury. This little guy is bad to the ass!
I love it we badassery is combined with cuteness and these figures knock it out of the park. A major part of their cuteness (and inexpensiveness) comes from the fact that they are teensy weensy baby tiny...
So, jeeze... It looks like I've found another silly little toy to collect. But can you blame me? I gotta get that Cap and Clack Widow!
And that Thor and Hulk. And the Hawkeye. Oh, and the Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, too.
And all the others.
Still high on The Avengers after seeing the movie last weekend, and not batting an eyelash at the $2.99 price tag (I mean, you get three figures), I grabbed a pack on a whim and after opening it when I got home, I was faced with a massive wave of regret that I didn't buy several more packs.
Let's take a look at who I got. First up is the legendary Agent Coulson, one of my favorite characters and the only one besides Nick Fury to be in just about all of the latest Marvel movies, and a character who made the reverse jump from movies to comics recently.
Just look at how adorable these figures are. Look at Coulson with his little gun raised, calling in the big guns on his cell phone. That random little spot on his nose looks like some sort of an unfortunate growth, but I think its just a sloppy paint app. Still, cute figure.
Next up we have the Invincible Iron Man! Not as cute as the other figures, due to the lack of round eyes I think, but I can't really complain. It's Iron Man for cryin' out loud.
But the real winner in the pack was this bomb-diggity little figure of the one and only Nick Fury. This little guy is bad to the ass!
I love it we badassery is combined with cuteness and these figures knock it out of the park. A major part of their cuteness (and inexpensiveness) comes from the fact that they are teensy weensy baby tiny...
So, jeeze... It looks like I've found another silly little toy to collect. But can you blame me? I gotta get that Cap and Clack Widow!
And that Thor and Hulk. And the Hawkeye. Oh, and the Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, too.
And all the others.
Monday, May 28, 2012
The Very First Dork Horde Give-Away!
Hail fellow Hordytes! It is I, your Lord of Dorkness, and I am officially kicking off the very first (and hopefully not the last) Dork Horde Give-Away!
Basically, I did a little toy shopping this weekend and managed to find a few elusive Hot Wheels cars that I already have but thought that maybe some of you may be looking for. I know that these particular Hot Wheels cars get scalped pretty hard, so I thought I'd snap them up and spread the toy love to my fellow Horde members.
And what Hot Wheels cars did I find? Why, no less that one A-Team van and two K.I.T.T.s!
One of these could be yous, however...
Not a member? No problem! You can join up RIGHT HERE!
Here's how it's gonna go down; every eligible Horde member who comments that they want a chance to get one of these four-wheeled beauties will be put on the list. Next Monday (June, 4th), I'll randomly choose three of those names and KA-BAM! they win a free Hot Wheels car!
This week will give all Hordytes a chance to throw their names into the hat (figuratively speaking, I'm not really going to use a hat) and also any prospective Horde members a chance to join up!
So speak up, my geeky brethren! Who's in?
Basically, I did a little toy shopping this weekend and managed to find a few elusive Hot Wheels cars that I already have but thought that maybe some of you may be looking for. I know that these particular Hot Wheels cars get scalped pretty hard, so I thought I'd snap them up and spread the toy love to my fellow Horde members.
And what Hot Wheels cars did I find? Why, no less that one A-Team van and two K.I.T.T.s!
One of these could be yous, however...
THIS GIVE-AWAY IS OPEN ONLY TO DORK HORDE MEMBERS!
Not a member? No problem! You can join up RIGHT HERE!
Here's how it's gonna go down; every eligible Horde member who comments that they want a chance to get one of these four-wheeled beauties will be put on the list. Next Monday (June, 4th), I'll randomly choose three of those names and KA-BAM! they win a free Hot Wheels car!
This week will give all Hordytes a chance to throw their names into the hat (figuratively speaking, I'm not really going to use a hat) and also any prospective Horde members a chance to join up!
So speak up, my geeky brethren! Who's in?
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Saturday, May 26, 2012
SCORE! Vintage Trapper Keeper!
Much like lunch boxes, the type of folder/notebook configuration you carried while in grade school could make or break your social status. Nobody wanted to be that kid that had to lug his homework around in a navy blue three ring binder that said "I Got Financed by Deerfield Bank & Loan". No, we wanted brand name school supplies. If we were going to have to look at this thing all year, it needed to be badass. It needed to have pockets and velcro. It need to double as a Hot Wheels car ramp or a bully-repellant (yes, i once whacked a bigger kid in the face with one of these). It needed to carry not only our homework, but our artistic masterpieces, our current favorite comic books and the occasional stashed love note from that cute girl in the third row.
It had to be a Trapper Keeper.
I got my first Trapper Keeper in 4th grade, in 1982. It was a sleek basic red model, and back then, most Trapper Keepers were a single color. Later, they would come adorned with zany graphics of dinosaurs riding skateboards and whatnot, but in my day, it was all about clean, crisp primary colors.
I would get a new Trapper Keeper every school year up through 8th grade (in 5th grade, I went for the beautiful blue model seen in these pics). For a kid that hated school (well, I hated homework, teachers, learning and that kind of stuff, but loved school because that's where all my friends were), I sure got all excited about new school supplies every year, and the Trapper Keeper was sort of the king of all school supplies as far as I was concerned. Your notebooks, pencils, rulers, erasers and all other manner of school necessities were sort of like little star fighters and troop transports and my Trapper Keeper was the mothership.
After searching for ages for just the right Trapper Keeper (and one that's affordable), I finally scored this little beauty on eBay for under $20 (many of them go for $50-$100 on eBay). When I finally got in in the mail, the very first thing I did was rip open that velcro and pull over the side pocket flap, only to get hit square in the face with the scents of freshly sharpened pencils, flecks of Crayola crayons and the rubbery flakes of those classic pink erasers, with just the slightest hint of ball point pen ink.
This was a time capsule grade school memories and I had triggered the trap.
Trapper Keepers consist of several compartments and features, such as the inner pocket, which in my day was often tested to the limits of its holding power, stretched out by comic books, action figure backing cards and the occasional construction paper Mother's Day card.
The opposite end of the Trapper Keeper consisted of the closing flap. One memory I'd forgotten about bubbled to the surface when I saw the interior pattern where the flap folded over, which was made up of small rectangular divots that in moments of boredom in class (of which there were many) I would fill in with black pen. The urge to do this again was powerful but I managed to fight it off.
This particular find came with the added bonus of having all three of the original folders (or Portfolios) inside. Each brand new Trapper Keeper came with three folders, a read, blue and green one. You could always buy more to add to your Trapper Keeper and I often did about halfway through the school year, since these cardboard folders often wore out by Christmas, thus allowing you the chance to add a little spice to you Trapper Keeper by purchasing a folder with Garfield or Smurfs on it. Or maybe a dinosaur riding a skateboard.
One of my favorite things about the portfolios in the Trapper Keeper was the fact that they were packed full of great information. In fact, it took a while for our teachers to catch on to this and I totally remember having to fill out a sheet with our multiplication tables and I thought, Hey! I know where I saw this before! and immediately began to copy it all down. I didn't think of it as cheating at the time, i just thought I was being resourceful. Anyway, got a 100% on that one.
Click to embiggen to learn all kinds of great stuff about measurements and metric conversions. Heck, I need this info in my life now.
So, now I own an exact replica of my original 5th grade Trapper Keeper (that's the year I picked out the blue one), minus all of the Star Wars drawings and inner pocket packed to bursting with trading cards. But thanks to my penchant for nostalgia and collector's fever, I can make that happen again as well.
By sheer coincidence (I swear!), Branded in the 80s just posted a great write up on vintage Trapper Keepers, too, and I strongly suggest you check it out. I only mention this because I had already planned this post when theirs went up and I just want to make sure that nobody thinks I'm a big, fat copycat.
Unless you ask me to write down the multiplication tables, of course.
It had to be a Trapper Keeper.
I got my first Trapper Keeper in 4th grade, in 1982. It was a sleek basic red model, and back then, most Trapper Keepers were a single color. Later, they would come adorned with zany graphics of dinosaurs riding skateboards and whatnot, but in my day, it was all about clean, crisp primary colors.
I would get a new Trapper Keeper every school year up through 8th grade (in 5th grade, I went for the beautiful blue model seen in these pics). For a kid that hated school (well, I hated homework, teachers, learning and that kind of stuff, but loved school because that's where all my friends were), I sure got all excited about new school supplies every year, and the Trapper Keeper was sort of the king of all school supplies as far as I was concerned. Your notebooks, pencils, rulers, erasers and all other manner of school necessities were sort of like little star fighters and troop transports and my Trapper Keeper was the mothership.
After searching for ages for just the right Trapper Keeper (and one that's affordable), I finally scored this little beauty on eBay for under $20 (many of them go for $50-$100 on eBay). When I finally got in in the mail, the very first thing I did was rip open that velcro and pull over the side pocket flap, only to get hit square in the face with the scents of freshly sharpened pencils, flecks of Crayola crayons and the rubbery flakes of those classic pink erasers, with just the slightest hint of ball point pen ink.
This was a time capsule grade school memories and I had triggered the trap.
Trapper Keepers consist of several compartments and features, such as the inner pocket, which in my day was often tested to the limits of its holding power, stretched out by comic books, action figure backing cards and the occasional construction paper Mother's Day card.
The opposite end of the Trapper Keeper consisted of the closing flap. One memory I'd forgotten about bubbled to the surface when I saw the interior pattern where the flap folded over, which was made up of small rectangular divots that in moments of boredom in class (of which there were many) I would fill in with black pen. The urge to do this again was powerful but I managed to fight it off.
This particular find came with the added bonus of having all three of the original folders (or Portfolios) inside. Each brand new Trapper Keeper came with three folders, a read, blue and green one. You could always buy more to add to your Trapper Keeper and I often did about halfway through the school year, since these cardboard folders often wore out by Christmas, thus allowing you the chance to add a little spice to you Trapper Keeper by purchasing a folder with Garfield or Smurfs on it. Or maybe a dinosaur riding a skateboard.
One of my favorite things about the portfolios in the Trapper Keeper was the fact that they were packed full of great information. In fact, it took a while for our teachers to catch on to this and I totally remember having to fill out a sheet with our multiplication tables and I thought, Hey! I know where I saw this before! and immediately began to copy it all down. I didn't think of it as cheating at the time, i just thought I was being resourceful. Anyway, got a 100% on that one.
Click to embiggen to learn all kinds of great stuff about measurements and metric conversions. Heck, I need this info in my life now.
So, now I own an exact replica of my original 5th grade Trapper Keeper (that's the year I picked out the blue one), minus all of the Star Wars drawings and inner pocket packed to bursting with trading cards. But thanks to my penchant for nostalgia and collector's fever, I can make that happen again as well.
By sheer coincidence (I swear!), Branded in the 80s just posted a great write up on vintage Trapper Keepers, too, and I strongly suggest you check it out. I only mention this because I had already planned this post when theirs went up and I just want to make sure that nobody thinks I'm a big, fat copycat.
Unless you ask me to write down the multiplication tables, of course.
Friday, May 25, 2012
New Additions to the Nerdatorium Papercraft Arcade!
Just thought I'd post a quick update and show off my latest additions to my rapidly growing miniature papercraft video game arcade. My newest machines are Defender, Gauntlet and, a personal favorite, Tempest! Enjoy...
Thursday, May 24, 2012
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Wednesday, May 23, 2012
League of Extraordinary Bloggers Weekly Theme: Social Media
I'll just let this one speak for itself... (Sorry if it's a little hard to read. Blogger does horrible things to images sometimes.)
Please see the complete list of posts from the Extraordinary League of Bloggers and show their blogs some love. Thanks!
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