7 (actually 11), Cool Things in My Tackle Box

My tackle box is your normal everyday tackle box, except that I do not use it for storing fishing gear.  While I do like to occasionally go fishing, I do not have any of my own tackle, or pole for that matter.

You see, I use this tackle box to store many great things.

Today, we will see some of these fascinating items.

This little chili pepper bandito comes from the once popular “Homies” line.  I will admit that there was a time when I spent a lot of quarters collecting these.  I have since gotten rid of many of them, but still have about 5 that I really like, and this guy is a the top of that small list.  Not only is it an anthropomorphic chili pepper with a shotgun, he also has his own built in display of sand and a cactus.  I can’t believe that I plopped down 50 cents for each of the other figures I had, but I have no regrets when it comes to this one.

Now, I know it may seem weird to see Pokémon on my blog here, but I have no problem with stating that I do like the early years of the franchise.  I am familiar with about the first 300 or so that came out, and I was really into the Game Boy games up until the Gold and Silver versions.  Blastoise would have to be my favorite of them all.  A huge tortoise with water cannons protruding from his shell just screams awesome!  This is a burger King toy from around 2000 or so.  I can’t remember exactly how it came into my possession, but out of the ones I did buy from BK this was not one of them.  I have had it since around that time, but there was at least one previous owner.

This token should need no explanation as to why I am highlighting it.  First off, I has Pac-Man on it, and secondly it represents an era that has a lot of meaning to many, myself included.  While arcades aren’t completely extinct, most of the ones in business these days, just don’t capture the same feeling.  Many of them are filled with ticket/prize winning games, and you’re lucky if you can find 1 or 2 classic games in the place.  I don’t know what arcade this particular token came from.  My wife brought it home with some foreign coins that were with her change, and I quickly claimed it.

Marshall  Bravestarr.  This was a decent cartoon and toy line.  The idea was cool, and the toys were a bigger the many of the action figures of the 80s.  I would like to get his cowboy hat to give him the right look, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen the hat by itself on the secondary market.  Most, if not all of the figures came with Kerium, which is another accessory that I would like to get my hands on.  And a shout-out to Anthony for getting this over to me in a trade we did a while back.

these are not your everyday Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures.  What you see in the above photo, are miniatures, which I believe came in Mighty Max scale playsets.  they came into my possession in a TMNT lot I purchased on Ebay some years back.  I also have a few of the miniature vehicles as well, and I must say that for their size, they have some pretty decent detail.

The above figure is from the Star Wars Galactic Heroes line, and I did not know this until I did some research for this post.  It was given to me years ago with a lot of other toys, and I hung onto it because I thought it was an awesome looking bug man.  This is a Geonosian Warrior from the Battle of Geonosis set.  This would be from Episode II, which I haven’t seen since it was in theatres, which would explain why I had no clue to what it was.  So while I thought it was a cool looking figure, having it be from Star Wars is just a bonus.

And lastly, we have this old California Raisin Fan Club membership form.  This came with a Raisin figure that I believe came as a premium in boxes of Kellogg’s Raisin Bran back in 1989.  I found the sealed baggie with the Raisin(playing up right bass), and this form at a second hand shop for 5o cents.  I know there are people who would think I’m crazy for opening it, but how else was I supposed to see this form in it’s entirety, or display the Raisin on my shelf without opening it.  The figure itself is a little bigger than the others I have seen(and have), and I don’t think it was available through any other means.

There’s lots of other cool things in the tackle box, but I wanted to highlight a few of the things I thought needed a bit of showcasing, but didn’t justify individual posts.

Last weekend I went to a toy show, and I will get to posting my haul, most likely, in my next post.  But if you want to see a preview of almost everything I scored, check me out on Instagram(jasonvorhee91).  I post very often on Instagram, as it’s very easy and not very time-consuming.  It’s a fun alternative, and I’ve met a lot of very cool, like-minded individuals since I’ve joined.

Thrift Store Finds #1

Hey all!

I know it’s been a while since my last post, but I think I’m back in the swing of things.

As you may know, back in September I became a father.  My daughter takes precedence over everything, and most of my free time is devoted to other things(mostly television).  I have been checking in on some of your blogs, and that made me miss writing.  I have another post almost ready to go, and I have a handful of figures I’d like to get to reviewing.  I am frequently on Instagram(Jasonvorhees91), though.

Most of my second hand pick-ups come from yard sales, but since it’s winter time, we don’t have any of those on the east coast this time of year.  There are quite a few thrift stores in a 40 mile radius of my house, and recently, I have found a few deals that I couldn’t pass up.

This Metal Pac is from the Disney series “Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures”, that seems to have a Wii U game of the same name.  This figure is one in a series that you could get by reserving the game at Target.  This is what I gleaned from reading the package.  For .49 cents, there was no way I was passing it up!  Even though it’s new-school Pac-Man, it’s still Pac-Man nonetheless.

I don’t know too much about this Raphael figure other than the mechanism that locks him into place to do a flip is broken.  It’s a TMNT figure I didn’t have, and I love how much he looks like the old-school comic version  of the Turtles.  I bundled him with everything else below for a total of $1.47, so he cost mere cents!

These Marvel trading cards were the precursor for the Marvel Universe cards we came to know and love in the early nineties(of which I have a few sealed packs of).  They’re from 2 different sets, and I wish I could’ve found more.  The artwork looks great, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen Thing portrayed quite the way he is on that card.

I am a hockey fan(NY Rangers), and used to actively collect hockey cards for years.  While I still have a collection of sports and non-sports trading cards, I don’t buy many cards on a regular basis.  But I do buy a few packs and some select singles here and there.  The card of Tom Simpson is a card from the long-defunct WHL.  I didn’t have any cards from the WHL prior to this, so I figured “Why not?”.  The Batman card is from the 1966 set.  Batman is one of my top 2 favorite comic characters, and I couldn’t pass up this card for the price I got it for(remember everything except Pac-Man came to a combined $1.47).  It also has the distinction of being the oldest card in my collection.

 A Burger King tray liner from 1991!  I have no special association with this particular promotion, but I love all things from the eighties and early nineties.  I have never seen any fast food tray liners in the wild, and I’m not sure many people(I can think of 1 or 2) would be interested in such things.  What I really like about this is the old Burger King Kid’s Club logo.

And lastly, a McDonald’s tray liner from 1991.  This one trumps the BK one in my opinion, for 2 reasons; 1.) – It is for the long running Hot Wheels/Barbie Happy Meal(one of my favorites as a kid).  2.) – It actually has coupons for the “real” toys.

I’m not sure about this specific promotion, but in the eighties, the Hot Wheels we got in our Happy Meals were made of die-cast metal.  Whereas during the last 15 or so years, the cars are mostly made of plastic.

You can bet that I will checking the local thrifts more frequently, and digging up more treasures in the near future.  🙂