Masters of the Universe Board Game... In Norwegian

Yes, so I got invited to a facebook group for people who collected G.I. Joe figures in Norway. I didn't know there were more than 2-3 of us, but it turns out there is.
Come to think of it, I'm not that surprised. G.I. Joe - or Action Force - was a big thing here, and it had to leave a lasting impression on more than just me and my friend, Runar.
 

So, one of the guys contacted me and said he was collecting anything 80s, but preferably specified to Norwegian releases. He asked if I had anything cool lying around. I gave it a thought, and realized I actually had a very specific item he would appreciate. I had just been digging for treasures in the attic, and managed to find a vintage board game set to the Masters of the Universe universe. -_-

Anyway, it's not nearly complete, and it's missing box, lid and rules of play - in addition to several pieces. But the cardboard of the playing field looks to be intact, as does Castle Grayskull. The interior is made to be elevated an inch, and this function seems to still work. All though I didn't want to break anything, so I just left it lying flat on the floor.

You could play as the heroes, and I managed to find He-Man, Teela, Man-at-Arms and Stratos. When playing, you could end up literally stumbling onto villains, represented by square pieces, but of these I only found Mer-Man.

The more I look at this game, the more nostalgic I get. This was, for some reason, a big deal. It has obviously survived longer than my original collection of MOTUs.
I believe I could make some proxies for some of the missing pieces, and this could easily be a functional game. If my memories serve me well, it was far from the worst game I have played.
I have a vague sense of how we played this game, and regardless of its state, this has to be one of the coolest items I own.

Of course, the guy I was talking with wasn't particularly impressed, as he already had like five of these (among other seriously impressive treasures). But hey, we all have our thing, and that's great.

Here's some more pictures.

The Top 24 G.I. Joe Figures... From the 90s!

This is a guest article written by my little buddy, Al. He's a fan of G.I. Joe himself, and was let loose on my collection. I gave him the task to find his favorite figures among the later ones, the ones from 1990-1994. There's a lot that could be said about the demise of the original G.I. Joe - A Real American Hero toy line, and the way it ended was down right sad. But, as Al points out, there are a lot of gems here. Surprising ones even. 

The entire article is written by Al, and he has also taken the pictures. So, not a lot of work done by me. Which, honestly, is just the way I like it. 

Read on for the list of the top 24 G.I. Joe figures from the 90s!

Weekend at a local games con

This weekend, me and the girlfriend went to a local games con, as exhibitors, sellers and enthusiasts. We had a great time, met lots of great people, sold some stuff, talked old toys, and saw a bunch of really amazing collectibles.

My booth the first day

Read on for a short report and tons of pictures!

Snake Eyes v.3

In 1982, Hasbro released the first version of Snake Eyes. A very tactical design, clearly a commando, very different from the rest of the 82 line up. 1985 gave us the iconic design which we usually picture when we talk about Snake Eyes. A truly magnificent design, and a great action figure. Landed a spot in my top 5. And then in 1989 came the version that no one cares about. In fact, do anyone care about any 1989 G.I. Joe figures?

When I thought about it, I could barely remember any 1989 Joes. I know we got an updated version of Rock n' Roll. I know we saw a repaint of the impressive Payload mold from 1987. And... I know we got a new version of Snake Eyes. On it's own right a cool enough figure, but compared to the previous two versions, and even compared to the one that followed, it's difficult to care about this one. But I will try anyway. As usual, there are far more going on than you realize. Snake Eyes has tons of sculpted details, and actually came with an impressive amount of accessories - some of which I have misplaced over the years.

Snake Eyes is all black plastic, with silver paint applications. Not too exciting, but like I said, the sculpted details are numerous and impressive. He came with a backpack with nice details, a sword that would fit in the backpack. He came with a three-piece ninja-weapon I can't identify, and a blow dart gun and a machine pistol that probably lies in the bottom of my Joe box. This is absolutely a decent amount of accessories, even for a 1989 Joe.

What I really don't like about the figure is the head sculpt. His head just looks too tiny for his body. I also can't shake the knowledge of how Snake Eyes got hold of this costume. In the comics, our silent commando is about to be tortured by three clowns called "The Payne Brothers". One has black pants, one has black shirt, the last one has a black mask. Snake Eyes of course ends up taking out the three fools and steals their clothes. Now, why didn't they have more clothes? Why did only one of them have mask? I need to re-read this comic, maybe it actually is less ridiculous than I can remember.

Like I said, 1989 wasn't a strong Joe year... Until I gave it some thought.

We got two really cool army builders in the Alley Viper and the Night Viper. Some of the Joes were cool, like Backblast, Scoop and Stalker in arctic gear. Some of my favorite vehicles in the insane looking Arctic Blast, the dealy Cobra Condor, and of course, the mighty Thunderclap.

Fan favorite figures

Thunderclap was one massive toy with great playability

But there were reasons I could barely remember anything good about this year of Joes. We got a lot of wonky characters. Take a look...

Well this doesn't look dangerous at all...

Yes, that orange Cobra trooper has bombs strapped all around his ankles, and is carrying a cannon bigger than himself. Yes that Joe has machine guns connected to his hips, and is about to fight Cobra with a lawnmower.

I haven't been buying too many of the modernized Joes of late, but I doubt they have come around to modernizing Heat Viper and Pathfinder (the two guys above, likely to kill themselves as well as everyone around them). But we have seen modern versions of Alley Viper, and something that could pass for the Night Viper. Take a look:

But I digress. Back to our ninja...

Snake Eyes v.3 was modernized in the 25th anniversary line, and suddenly the design behind the character made sense. The previously sculpted details were suddenly functional, like the knives and the socket for the night vision goggles. Suddenly it was clear that this costume was a perfect blend between the "ninja" and the "commando", maybe even more so than the previous version.
This time around, the proportions felt more right too. In fact, the 25th Snake Eyes v.2 Is probably my favorite among the modern Snake Eyes versions.

Toys and Bacon on Youtube

I'm been planning on going video for a while. It's awkward hearing ones voice in playback, and I'm obviously more comfortable writing English than speaking it. I bet my sister and her English boyfriend would have a thing or two to say about both pronunciation and vocabulary. Never the less, here's my first video.

Basically, it's just me talking about MOTUC for 15 minutes, while showing some of my favorite figures. I rant a bit about the line, but also give praise where its deserved.

Here's the direct link if you're on a mobile that won't show youtube videos.

What I'd like from you guys is to leave comments on what you want to see. I have a big collection of toys, vintage and modern, lots of unopened stuff. Individual toy profiles? Collection videos? I'd also like to do it from an angle, have a twist to the videos. I guess by this time, it's difficult to make something really original when filming toys, but I'd rather not simply do "reviews" or "haul videos".

The Top 10 Greatest Toy Lines Ever!

This is a list I've been thinking of for a good while, and now is as good a time as ever. If you read my stuff, you would think this list could be named "Top ten action figure lines", but that would actually not work. Sure, it's mostly dominated by action figures, but there may be a few entries that just happens to fall in a different category.

I have collected, played with - and ultimately considered a huge selection of toys for this list. Some of the toy lines were rather difficult to leave out, and I feel like mentioning a few of them (but not all, because that would ruin eventual surprises).

 I did consider the original, 1/6 scaled G.I. Joe, for historical reasons, and the great variety of accessories. They were before my time, but I enjoy them whenever I see them today. In the opposite category, when talking about toys that predate the 80s, are the Mego dolls. I just can't see understand attraction. 

A powerful contender was the Real Ghostbusters line. Creative monsters, solid build quality, all over fun toys. There have also been many great superhero lines, like Toy Biz' X-Men, and the various DC Direct lines. I'm also impressed with many of the contemporary toys, whether they're based on movies, like the Avengers figures, or the toys from the smaller, more independent toy companies, like Four Horsemen.

Japanese toys I considered included the various Valkyries based off the Macross shows (like the Bandai VF-25 in my banner), and the range of anime robots in the mighty Soul of Chogokin line.

While the top ten may be familiar to most of you, and in many ways be "obvious" choices, they were the toys that has impressed me the most and given me the most joy.  Essentially, these are my top ten toy lines. 

Agree, disagree, want to share your own list? Leave a comment below!

MOTUC Extendar in 2014

I couldn't be happier. 2013 has been an awful year for the Masters of the Universe Classics toy line. Filled with characters that people really didn't care for, it's clear that they needed to change things a bit to hold on to the subscribers. 2014 and 2015 will be nothing but the remaining vintage toys redone, and key characters from the 200x cartoon.

I'm glad I didn't subscribe in 2013, and I'm even happier I have signed on for 2014. The year starts off brilliantly, with Two-Bad (MOTU), Glimmer (Princess of Power), Hydron (New Adventures), and Modulok. The fan convention Power Con was held this weekend, and four additional upcoming Classics were revealed: We got to see Blade (MOTU Movie), Scorpia (She-Ra cartoon), and Battle Lion (200x cartoon). All look fantastic, and it's good to see that Toyguru has stopped with releasing self customs, d-listers and extremely expensive three-packs of random, obscure prototypes.

Of course, the big reveal to me was that we're finally getting an Extendar Classics figure. Probably my all time favorite MOTU character. I remember exactly where and when I got him. Extendar was part of the 1986 wave of Masters of the Universe, and

I had of course read about him in the comics, but I never found him in my stores. During a vacation in another country, I saw him lying in a bin in a regular department store. I asked to get him, but was told this was not the time. I can't recall if I became sad, but if my mother reads this, maybe she can tell her side of the story. Either way, Christmas was right around the corner, and as you would expect, I got Extendar.

Such an impressive looking toy, with a relatively simple play feature. He's a mechanical knight that can extend his limbs, going from a bulky, robust warrior, to the majestic "Tower of Power". Extendar came with a large red shield, the same shield that was revealed to us during Power Con. There's no question who owns that shield, and this basically Matty telling us: Extendar is coming next year.

I have gone several rounds with my self, whether I would be disappointed or not, should Extendar be a 2015 release instead of next year. Keep in mind, with the current reveals (which is roughly 40% of the entire 2014 subscription), next year is looking amazing, and significantly better than 2013. But I found myself eager, almost impatient when it came to Extendar. And now I know, and this makes me just that bit more exited for next year. This of course means that Rio Blast - the last remaining original Master, will be the 2015 draw.

Extendar will definitely have similar features to Meckaneck. He will have snap on extentions, instead of the sliding features of the vintage toy. I'm ok with this, it doesn't take away from either playability of display value. Sadly, Extendar is a regular release, and not an "over-sized" figure, like the impressive Ram-Man. This means extendar will be the same size as the other, regular figures. At least when he's not extended. I would have preferred him to be just a bit bigger than a normal figure.

What I'm hoping for now is either extensions that will let Extendar be ridiculously tall, or maybe some extra accessories. Since he looks like a knight, he should have a sword, or a lance. Maybe a sword that can extend to a lance?

Extendar may not be everybody's favorite, but then again, he wasn't used to sell the 2014 subscriptions either. I'm at least sold, and I'm counting down till we get the Tower of Power, the mighty Extendar.

Nostalgia and the Reason We Collect Toys

Let me apologize immediately for the pretentious title. I don't plan on writing a scientific article on nostalgia and toys, but I want to put into words something that has been on my mind. I've tried to figure out why I have this fascination for vintage toys, why modern toys fail to bring me the same excitement, and I'm not alone in asking these questions, and for the outsider, it can be very strange that grown men and women still purchase, store, display, and sometimes plays with toys for kids.

Basically it can be boiled down to "Why do we collect toys?", but it's not that simple either. Read on for a rather long article on collecting. Agree, disagree, additional thoughts, personal similar stories? Leave a comment below!

Bootleg Metrotitan Upgraded

Oh wow, have I been slacking? Missed out on two regular updates. I not sure you readers really care. You'll check in from time to time, and if there's an update, you'll read it (or just look at the pictures). But I care. I want consistency. I want to be able to produce two days a week, and that's really just a minimum of what I should be capable of doing. But then there is the real life, the one where work, house, bills, family, friends and all that stuff comes into play, and blogging about toys and food absolutely takes a back seat. I can't ignore that.

But here it is, the apology for no Tuesday update, and lack of proper content last week. And here it is, a regular Thursday update. And since this is blog post #250, I went the extra length and took some pictures. Here it is, an article I promised literally a year ago. The upgraded Bootleg Metrotitan. 

Vintage Lego Space Minifigure

In relation to the upcoming May 4th, as well as Star Trek hitting theaters soon-ish, here's some Space Lego minifigures!

Lego was never one to shy away from trends, and what was more relevant in the late 70s and early 80s than family-friendly sci.-fi? 

And they have kept at it ever since. The guys below can be dated from early 80s to the early 90s. Notice how the logo evolves from the earliest (yellow, far right), to the blue one. The yellow one didn't actually come with the motorcycle styled helmet. He came with the one that more closely resembles a bucket. But at some point in history, Lego lost the mold to that helmet. And when ever they re-issue the vintage space guys, you'll see this new styled helmet.

The old helmet can be seen on this awesome little guy: 

There are Toys in New York

But it's not a Mecca for toy collectors.

And that may actually be a bit strange, because New York had literally everything you could imagine, and lots of it. Shopping in NYC was an amazing experience, and if you were looking for shoes, clothes, jewelry, food. I hoped the toy stores would match the quality of the other stores. I guess they did, it's just that my expectations to the toy stores were significantly higher than those towards clothing stores. There's also the fact that I know where to find toys in abundance: online. The online toy stores and forums are the best places to buy toys, and that's not even a secret. I assume this "new" market has more or less destroyed the potential for having truly great toy stores in New York.

But when completing my excursion of the toy stores on Manhattan, I may have discovered what the point of toy stores today should be. It's about presenting a selection so great, and in such a way that you'll want to want something. It's about giving an experience greater than the price reduction you'd get from buying online.

I had a blast visiting these stores, so much in fact that I decided to take a couple of pictures and write a few words on the various stores. I guess you can see this as a review of the toy stores in New York, but it's definitely not complete. I know I missed out on a couple of stores (like Midtown Comics), and I'm sure there were some I don't even know about. And we were only sticking to mid/lower Manhattan. But for the stores we actually did visit, you can look at this article as somewhat of a guide.

So come in for more, and leave comments if you want!

Caution: This is a long article with many pictures, and the gravy is all the way at the bottom.

The Top 10 Female Action Figures of the 80s

I felt a bit like an outsider, because my peers certainly didn't share my opinions, but as a kid, I loved the female action figures. They were rare, they were something different, and most importantly, they were usually extremely pretty. I guess I was a victim of... biology.

Looking back at these toys now, as an adult toy collector, I realize three things: The female action figures were severely  under-represented, to the point where it's actually offensive. Secondly, the toy makers struggled to translate the characters' beauty from cartoons and movies. And lastly, I realize that I still absolutely love these action figures. So much that I want to share a list of the ten best female action figures of the 80s. Skip a lot of paragraphs for the list, or simply read on! Either way, click in to read more, and leave a comment if you feel like it. Agree, disagree, how would your list look like?

Decepticon Headmasters w/heads

Friday, I showed off a nice little lot of Decepticon Headmasters I picked up on ebay. I wouldn't say I scored a fantastic deal, seeing as none of them had any accessories. But they are still extremely popular - and valuable toys to the point where they were totally worth the $25 for the lot- price, even if I plan to use them just for parts.

I'm not a completist by any means, not when it comes to the robots anyway. So I don't necessarily care if a robot is missing a gun or something. They still display nicely.

But the Headmasters are different. Their accessories are body parts - in both/all modes! Their weapons have a tendency to be an integrated part of the disguise mode. Like a tail, or a wing. And their drivers - the actual Headmasters - are just that. The heads of the robots. All of them are completely headless in robot mode, and one of them lacks his head in the alternate mode too!

Take Snapdragon, for instance. I'll have a hard time displaying him as a dinosaur at all, without his actual headmaster head.

But I realized something cool: Regardless of their lack of accessories, suddenly, I actually had all the Decepticon Headmasters: Scorponok, Mindwipe, Skullcruncher, Weirdwolf and Snapdragon.

Almost all of them, that is. I'm missing quite possibly the coolest one: Apeface.

But I couldn't let them stand there without their heads. I found my KO Japanese Headmaster Head set, and found the ones that fit best in terms of colors and style.

Weirdwolf got the head from Grand Maxiums. The teal color was a dead match, but obviously the style doesn't quite work. Grand Maximus is quite the hero, while Weirdwolf is the exact opposite: A vicious villain.

Skullcruncher got the purple head with the spikes. I have no idea who this is, but with the wicked grin, I'd assume it's a Decepticon. The style works out, but the colors aren't quite there.

The KO headmaster I used for Snapdragon actually transforms into a tiny elephant. It doesn't make sense, but that could be said about a lot of Transformers. Never the less, it works ok as Snapdragon's head, at least in robot mode. The style is sort of animalistic, and the colors are good enough.
And finally, I actually have the driver/head for my Mindwipe, and strangely enough, it was the best match too.

Figure Friday: Ebay Deals

A couple of years ago, I was camping ebay every day, searching for good deals. I had at all times at least 50 watched auctions, ranging from single G.I. Joe figures to enormous lots of various 80s toys. Sure enough, I managed to score quite a few great deals - and I'll tell about them in a bit - but more often than not, other collectors picked up the scent, and the auction ended in a bidding war.

And with bidding war, I mean that the auction ended for a fair price. Because buying toys off of ebay was significantly cheaper than any alternative for me. Here, in the far reaches of the world, we had no toy swaps, no conventions, and a more or less dead personal ad market.

But yeah, I did pick up a few good deals.
The reason a good deal presents itself may be because the auction is listed in the wrong category. A toy hunter quickly learns his or her specific searches, also within less relevant categories. It may be to do a simple "Unopened Transformer" search in the "Toys and Hobbies > Other" category.
It could also be auctions that simply have vague titles. Like an auction I picked up listed as "toy jet", that turned out to be a complete G.I. Joe Skystriker in great condition.
And then you have great deals that for some reason simply slip under the radar. I scored an unopened Cobra FANG for $9.90. Why so cheap? Well, it was a Japanese box, and no one else placed bids. Good for me.

Most of the great deals can be found in the auctions where it's obvious the seller has no clue what's for sale. It could be people cleaning up their lofts, attics and storage units, and just dumping them in lots on ebay, without knowing what they really had. If they listed them as auctions, be sure it would turn into a bidding war. But just as often, they list them as "buy now", and if you're the first to see a cool auction, don't let it pass you by.

This lot wasn't super cheap, at $25. But it was still, in my opinion, a good deal. Neither of these are complete, and all of them are missing vital pieces (like their heads), but it was something I couldn't pass up.

Three Decepticon Headmasters: Weirdwolf, Skullcruncher and Snapdragon. And one Autobot mini-Headmaster, Nightbeat.
Nightbeat had some broken parts, Skullcruncher has a scratched canopy, but the other two look in decent condition, apart from being dusty and dirty.

I mainly wanted the lot for Snapdragon, a fantastic toy. But this particular example has some discoloration. That is not really a big issue for me, as I know the cure for discoloration. The missing heads, tails and weapons? It doesn't sound expensive, but it is. The heads command high prices, unless you're patient. I can be patient. I don't mind the hunt for missing accessories. It's extremely fun to finally complete toys like that.

And if I fail finding that final wing for Snapdragon, I could always just buy a complete one, and use this for spare parts, or let my nephew play with it.

It's easy to be tempted to do the whole ebay thing again, searching for random old toys at great prices, but I think I'll stick with picking up those selected pieces I actually want.

That said, in the near future I'll share a few ebay tricks I've taught myself over the years, and of course, should you have any question or comments, just click below.

Enjoy your weekend!