SDCC 2013 Toy (Not Really Toys) Haul - Part 5!

I'm not into Superman that much (although I've been giving his comics more of a chance) and I don't collect record albums, but I just couldn't pass these $2-a-piece beauties...

What is it with Supes letting kids ride on his back in the '70s?

Tales from the 25¢ Bin! Superman Edition!

I've talked about my life-long distaste for Superman several times here on the blog, and I've also gone into how over the past year or two, that distaste has somewhat dissipated. I think it has something to do with getting older. I've noticed that as I age, my dislikes have lost a lot of their venom and a small voice has begun to whisper out from the back of my mind things like, "But why don't you like it? Have you given it another chance recently? What could it hurt?"

I've done the same thing with shrimp and NFL football. Getting older is weird.

Anyway, I've dipped my toe into the world of Superman a little in the past year and my latest trip to the 25¢ bin seemed to me like a message from the comic book gods that it is time again to go a little deeper into the pool when I spotted these vintage Superman books. And since I do my best to pay close attention to what the comic book gods are telling me, I snapped them up.

First up is this issue of Superman Family from 1976. I love this issue because it reminds me of the era and style of the few Superman comics I remember having as a kid (often procured in batches from garage sales). Also, I was always a fan of these "family" books, especially the Batman Family ones, since you got several stories, often starring one of the more obscure characters.

Next up, we have a copy of a Superman comic from the time period when I really started hating the character. This came out when I was in 8th grade and by then I was a full blown Batman fanatic and as you know, when you're an 8th grader, everything is all or nothing. So I got it in my head that if I was a Batman fan, I had to hate Superman. Weird. But I will say one thing, I love the heck out of John Byrne, so this issue shows promise.

Next up is probably one of the greatest Superman covers I have ever seen. What romance! What elegant art! I'm gonna read the heck out of this one!

Here we see Supergirl being a douche. Whatever.

Now we're talking! This next comic has one of my favorite villains ever, Bizarro! I always thought that the concept that there is a twisted, backwards, evil doppelganger out there for everyone captured my imagination as a kid. I always want to read (and I have a vague memory of this) a comic where every DC superhero had a Bizarro of their very own. Imagine a Bizarro Batman! I wonder if I have a Bizarro me out there somewhere.

Ummm... I don't have much to say about this one. It was a quarter.

And finally, I grabbed this issue of Superboy. Can you believe that this is 100 pages of comic book for 50¢? Now we get, what? 22 pages? For $3.99? What a joke.

I never really understood Superboy. Is he just Clark Kent when he was younger? Then when did he start being super? I mean, there's a story here where he's a baby in a red cape, for cryin' out loud. Wouldn't people all over the world know about this Super Baby? And wouldn't they know he lived with the Kents in Smallville? It completely destroys his whole alter ego. And for that matter, when he was a boy, he didn't wear glasses. So he just had the same face whether he was Superboy or not. I'm so confused.

Anyway, that's it for this edition of Tales from the 25¢ Bin! Now I'm gonna curl up in my reading chair and catch up on some serious Superman action!

Video Blog #20

The Super Powers Haul!

I have to admit, I've had a pretty damn good week for toy hauls. Between a couple of personal purchases and some killer gifts from fellow bloggers (more on those later), I've racked up a decent pile of toys in just a seven day period.

So, today we're going to take a look at one of my purchases I made from some dude on the 4chan toy boards (a site I do not recommend for the faint of heart or the easily offended; this site is sort of like the Mos Eisley Cantina of toy message boards - a wretched hive of scum and villainy). Every now and then, I spot something worthwhile (ie. cheap enough to take the risk of getting ripped off) in one of the site's BST (buy sell trade) threads, and such was the case last week when one seller was giving up five Kenner Super Powers figures for $10!

One Paypal transfer later and those babies were mine! They arrived on Tuesday and I thought it'd be fun to take a look at them. Here we go...

Above, we see what ten clams can get you on the interwebs; a sort of weird bastardization of the Justice League, in a bizzaro world where Superman wears a blue cape, Hawkman has no wings and the Riddler is a good guy.

Here is Blue Cape Superman! I believe he is actually wearing the cape originally belonging to Red Tornado, but I could be wrong. I only had a couple of Super Powers figures as a kid, since they came out when I was 12 and starting to enter that age when it was less than cool to be into toys. Now I'm all grown up (ha!) and can buy them all if I want to, and I just may do that.

Here's the one figure I would have spent $10 on alone; Wonder Woman! I've always loved this figure and think it is one of the most charming female 3 3/4" figures ever made. There's just something about this figure that truly captures the essence of WW in her purest "Superfriends" form, which is often how I remember her best.

Next up is Wingless Hawkman! Crap. Anyone got a spare set of wings for this guy? He's just not the same without them. At least he still has his mace, so if anyone gives him static about his lack of wings, they'll get a face full of iron spikes!

This is an Asian man in green underwear.

And finally, the haul consisted of one DC Comics Super Heroes Riddler! He's from the series of toys that came out later by Toy Biz in 1989. But, I've got all these heroes, so what am I going to do with one measly little Bat-villain?

I know! I'll team him up with more Bat-villains that arrived in the mail the next day from my good cyber-homeboy and fellow blogger, Derf from Derf's Domain! Here we see just a scratching of the surface of the toy-filled care package that he sent me, which I'll go into much more detail next Friday!

And what did the Joker and Penguin bring with them? Another DC Comics Super Heroes Riddler still sealed on the card! This one is going up on the display case, while the loose Riddler is about to wreak havoc on Gotham City!

I hope Blue Cape Superman and Wingless Hawkman get there in time to save the day!

Stay tuned!