I Am Walter: Toy Whore

11.23.2011

Toy Whore

If you know one thing about me, you know I'm a die hard comic book fan. I picked up my first comic book when I was ten years old and I haven't looked back since. As I've grown older, my fascination with the funny books has grown to include all things comics related. I love buttons and t-shirts and posters and drinking glasses and toys. Man, do I love toys. When I was young, I had super-hero toys that I played with and like almost every other toy I owned, I destroyed. I wish I could go back in time and snatch some of those toys from my younger self before that happened. Specifically, I'd love to go back and steal all the Mego toys I had. But I can't so I won't dwell on that thought for fear that I'll start crying.

I've blogged recently about how I've been having a hard time dealing with life lately. Yesterday was another particularly bad day. I don't know why I let things get to me like I do, but I do. I try to fight it, but I almost always seem to lose. Yesterday was a great big loss. But I knew I was taking today off of work for some much needed r&r. As the day went on and as my mood got worse, all I could think about was how I was going to go blow off steam by doing a good ol' toy hunt. And by that, what I mean is I pick a store a decent distance away from here as my starting point and then I hit every store that carries action figures from there all the way home. My plan was to do that this morning, then hit the gym, then start my Thanksgiving chores. But I didn't work late last night, got to the gym relatively early and realized I had a lot of time last night to do that. So I did, which left today wide open. My starting point was the furthest away of the two local Toys R Us stores. That store I have better luck at then I do the one much closer to me. The store was mostly a bust except I noticed that all the Green Lantern toys are now on clearance. There was one that I've been wanting, but it was just too expensive for me to justify it. But it's now marked down to $19.99 and I couldn't resist. It's this, the Green Lantern/Sinestro two pack. I really dig it and now I own it.

But otherwise, Toys R Us was a big fat bust. The line I'm most interested in right now is Mattel's DC Universe Classics. They had none of the recent waves of the figures, which bummed me out. I'm trying to complete my Apache Chief build a figure and I'm only half way there. I jumped on the DCU Classics line a little too late. I used to see them in Target all the time and as neat as they were, I thought that DC Direct did a much better job at making action figures. But DC Direct's output has slowed way down and the Classics line has been getting more and more appealing to me. I've been picking up the toys when I can find them, but it's getting harder and harder to find them. My local Toys R Us hasn't gotten in anything new in over a year. The further Toys R Us is about 2 or 3 waves behind. I've been having a little luck at one of the Target stores and one Wal-Mart, a store I'd prefer not to go into. But both locations I'm having luck at are not the closest stores to me. I've noticed that Target is still carrying the line while Wal-Mart only has it at a few selected locations. I could always buy the figures online, but there's something to be said about being able to find the toys in a physical store and to not have to wait for them to arrive. (But on the flip side of that coin, I LOVE getting packages in the mail.)

I did a decent job of finding some toys I really wanted at this year's New York Comic Con. As much as I love toy shopping, I love bargain shopping even more. I found a bunch of things for dirt cheap and that makes me very, very happy. I was better prepared for my shopping this year than I was last year. I have want lists conveniently located in my telephone now for easy reference. I'm itching to go back already, but the show is nearly a year away.

I'm very lucky that I have an entire (huge) office to devote to my collection of toys and comics. I'm really bad at guessing the size of this room, but I would say it's probably 15X30 feet and it's chock full of my junk. And I'm running out of room! In our old house, my office was a 14x14 room that was crammed high with all my stuff. Now it's all spread out, I've expanded beyond control and now I'm wishing I had another 15 or 20 square feet to display it all.

I'm an odd collector, I think. Some of the packages I won't open, while others barely make it home before they're ripped to shreds. There's no clear logic behind it. I mean, there is a partial logic. Some of the lines looks so good in their packages that I don't want to open them. But I also have some things still in the package for no good reason. But I'm not keeping things packaged because it will keep more of the value to it. I don't collect like that. I collect things that I like and things that make me happy. I plan on keeping this shit until I die and then once I'm dead, it won't matter if they're worth a thing or not.

I took some pictures of my toys today since I was thinking about blogging about them. The post didn't come out at all how I thought it would, but that's the beauty of just sitting here, turning your brain off and letting your fingers just go. I hope I've made sense, but again, I don't really care. :-)

This is a shot of my Justice Society figures

And here is the Justice League

We've got Red Lanterns and Orange Lanterns and Yellow Lanterns and Green Lanterns.....

Two of my favorite action figures, Hawkgirl & Hawkman. Both are dressed in their Earth-1 costumes

Green Lanterns

Power Girls

Wonder Women

Welcome To Smallville. This sign is reversible and the other side welcomes you to Midvale

Although I predominantly collect toys based on DC Comics characters, I do have characters from elsewhere. This is Kevin Matchstick from the comic MAGE

Curt Swan inspired Superman figures

That pesky Velma. I love her.

My Mom collected cookie jars. She had them up the wazoo. After she passed away, my Dad let me take this one. Not only is it beautiful, but I think of my Mom every time I look at it.

The Phantom Stranger is lurking from the rafters above my desk.

I've got Super-Villains watching from above.

Justice League Unlimited toys

I don't have a proper home for these, so they're just sitting on a table for now. And I need to find more of these Mego inspired Doctor Who figures. I love them.