Baltimore Toy and Collectible Show!

I told myself I was going to make the next Dave Hart Show no matter what! I'd missed it for years, and was dead set I wasn't missing it again. Then I forgot about it.

Fortunately Brian of Cool and Collected was on top of his game, and fired over an e-mail asking if I wanted to catch up with him at the show. With an early start, and an eager heart I was up, showered, and out the door by 7:30 AM to make my way for a 9:00 AM door opening - A time slot I made by mere minutes.

My intentions were to focus strictly on finishing my Remco Karate Kid line. You know...This one;

Mr. Miyagi*Daniel Larusso

With a boast of 80+ vendors, and 300+ tables I was sure I would find something. I mean, that's a lot of toys in one room. Well...Apparently luck was not on my side. I found only one dealer who said he had a Johnny figure from the line, but upon digging into his tote he concluded he either couldn't find it, or had already sold it. So in short, the day turned up nothing prosperous for putting any dents in my limited collection (above).

It may have been for the better as despite my lack of ability to find Remco KK toys, I found plenty of other stuff which made its way home with me.

For starters, I got a ton of CD's. I'm a big fan of owning physical media (which I then transfer to iTunes). I don't like digital downloads or the impression it gives that I'm only renting something. If I pay for it, I want to own it. I want to hold it, display it or sell it again if I tire of  it.

There were two dealers selling them for $1.00 to $2.00 a piece, and I wasn't about to pass this up. It would cost me anywhere from $3.00 to $4.00 just for shipping to get them off of ebay in addition to the cost to buy them. For a buck I was very liberal with what I chose, grabbing many CD's which had only one or two songs I wanted on them. Why not? The cost of a single for an entire album? Sign me up!

 Dirty Dancing Soundtrack*Young Guns II Soundtrack*Who's That Girl Soundtrack

Forrest Gump Soundtrack*Across the Universe Soundtrack*Pulp Fiction Soundtrack

I love a good soundtrack. It's a great way to get a nice mix of tunes from various bands, and not only that, but a lot of times songs they never released on their studio albums - For example Guns N' Roses cover of Sympathy for the Devil only available on the Interview with a Vampire soundtrack.

Not only that, but how many soundtracks from the 80's were so awesome? Sometimes even better than the films they were for.

 Batman and Robin Soundtrack*Batman Forever Soundtrack*Interview with a Vampire Soundtrack

Top Gun Soundtrack*Wayne's World Soundtrack*Grease Soundtrack

I'm by no means an R.E.M. fan, but three CD's for three bucks featuring the majority of songs I would look for on one greatest hits album is definitely well worth it for me.

 R.E.M. Document*R.E.M. Out of Time*R.E.M. Monster

Paul Simon The Rhythm of the Saints*Spice Girls Spice World*No Doubt Tragic Kingdom

This Greatest Hits of Kenny Loggins CD was an 80's soundtrack unto itself with hits such as Footloose, I'm alright, Meet Me Half Way and Danger Zone.

 Kenny Loggins The Greatest Hits*George Michael Faith*Motley Crue Dr. Feelgood

Heart (self titled)*Tears for Fears Greatest Hits*Madonna The Immaculate Collection

 Billy Idol Vital Idol*Dire Straits Money for Nothing*Dire Straits Brothers in Arms

The Outfield Play Deep*Men At Work Business As Usual*Skid Row (self titled)

Steppenwolf Greatest Hits*Simon and Garfunkel Greatest Hits*Boston Don't Look Back

Billy Joel Greatest Hits*Heart Greatest Hits

I apparently missed Prince The Hits when taking photos, but I grabbed that as well.

I would have gladly bought more CD's if I found more which appealed to me. Like I said, at $1.00 to $2.00 a piece how can you go wrong? That's practically giving them away.

In addition to the Remco Karate Kid figures, I also had my eyes on the lookout for a few other specific things; 1989 Batman movie Batman and Joker figures, Lion-O and Mumm-Ra from Thundercats and a Captain Power.

I ended up finding a Joker mint on card, but since the guy didn't have Batman I left it there with a promise I would be back if I found a Batman counterpart. While I did end up finding two Batman's, I passed on them both. One had the insignia rubbed off, and the other was missing the cape, and the belt was broken off. As such, Joker stayed at the show for someone else to give a home to.

Captain Power was nowhere to be found, and quite honestly got forgotten about rather quickly. He's a figure I would buy if I saw him (cheap), but didn't really focus on looking for.

Lion-O and Mumm-Ra I did find - Quite a few times. However it wasn't until I found two complete ones that I showed my hand of total interest. Not only were these figures complete with their weapons and light up rings, but also with their "pets" Snarf and Ma Mutt. However, at $60.00 for Lion-O and $50.00 for Mumm-Ra I was hesitant. Especially when the guy told me he couldn't confirm if the light up features worked. So, I walked away.

After perusing around for another thirty minutes or so, I made my way back and had a heart to heart with the guy. I basically said, "I'm interested, but what can you do price wise considering I'm buying under the assumption they light up, but not the guarantee?" He ended up knocking a fair amount off the prices, and I took them.

Lion-O and Snarf*Mumm-Ra and Ma Mutt

Mumm Ra paid off, working exceptionally for the light up feature. Sadly Lion-O did not. Considering the sword is in pristine condition, I still feel it was a fair trade off. Would I have liked the eyes to light up? Absolutely. But, let's be honest here - It's not like I would have sat and played with this feature over and over. It will sit on my shelf in all it's magnificent glory of display.

Then I made the ultimate mistake for the day...I decided it was the most opportune time to start my vintage G.I. Joe collection. Talk about instant buyer's remorse. These things weren't cheap - Which one would expect for nice stiff jointed figures with minimal paint wear and all their accessories. Still, it wasn't the smartest idea I had for the day.

Don't get me wrong. I got some great figures, but the timing just wasn't right. I really wish I had held off.

 Commando*Duke

Gotta love those original Joes with their purse accessories! Let's go shopping, YO JOE!

 Cobra Officer*Cobra Commander (hooded)*Cobra Soldier

I guess since I've broken the seal it's time to start looking for the next "wave" of Joe figures I want to add to the mix. I'm focusing strictly on 1983 - 1986. For me, there's no sense in buying the 1982 figures. They all got re-released in 1983 with fully articulated arms, so first and foremost why buy the same figure twice? Not only that, but the straight arm versions simply don't interest me, and at the end of the day they cost more.

 Baroness*Cobra Commander (helmet)*Destro

I definitely overpaid for the metal helmet Cobra Commander. At $50.00 he was the most expensive Joe I ended up buying. The rest averaged about $15.00 to $25.00 each.

One of the aspects I was cognizant of was the paint - Especially on the Cobra figures. It's rather challenging to find ones with the insignia's intact, and one of the main reasons I have held off for so long on taking the plunge on the series. I was pleased to find these all had very solid paint jobs.

 Xamot and Tomax

I looked around for some Joe team figures to help even out the ratio, but quite honestly just kept finding more and more Cobra ones which interested me more. I had to finally draw the line at an $85.00 Storm Shadow.

The last piece I picked up at the show was one which had interested me for a long time, but never made it from ebay to my house. When I found this one in the wild I was certainly interested, but the asking price of $35.00 was way too much.

 

Star Wars 1977 Theater Program

This is a 1977 program for Star Wars which was handed out at movie theaters. It's filled with beautiful photographs from the film, character bios, a behind the scenes write up, and a full cast list. This thing screams nostalgia, and will fit in rather nicely with my Star Wars home video collection.

The guy selling it was one of the vendors I grabbed a handful of CD's from. As he was ringing me up I casually said, "If you drop that Star Wars program down to $20.00 I'll take that too." To my surprise he immediately accepted. SOLD!

This was a fair price as it was essentially what I would have to pay on ebay for it without the hassle of shipping, and the satisfaction of instant gratification. Now I just need to find an appropriately sized backer board for the poly-bag.

One of the things my girl and I like doing when we go to new places is find a Mexican restaurant we can't find back home. Timonium was a perfect opportunity for this as there was one just down the street. Unfortunately it wasn't open at 11:30 when we left the show, so we decided to kill some time at Target.

Fate was dishing out love my way this day as I found three of the new Nickelodeon TMNT figures on the shelf.

 Rookies in Training Leo and Donnie*Samurai Leo*Rookies in Training Mikey and Raph

Admittedly I'm not a fan of what Playmates is dishing out in 2017 for the Turtles line, and it quite honestly makes me wonder if the series is dead or on a fast track to dying. Sprinkled in with the very few "new" figures to date are a trove of repainted ones. In fact, I dare say there are more repaints than new figures being released.

I'm all for a well thought out variant which has all new features and / or accessories, but these (the line in general, not the photo above) are just the same set of figures with a new coat of paint. This is lame, and lazy...and I guess I'm an idiot because I still bought them. Thank goodness I'm no longer a mint in package collector in addition to buying one to open because this is getting old.

I'm really not understanding why Playmates is flooding the market with rehashed old stuff. Like I said, maybe the line is dead.

Well, perhaps that's quite a downer of a note to end on, but that was my day. I mean, I could tell you about the two near misses I had on the highway as I almost got smashed from behind on two separate occasions when people weren't paying attention to stopping vehicles, but aside from a few choice swear words and middle fingers a-blazing out my window, there's not much to tell.

I'm sure Brian will have a post up about his wares (which sounded great from what he told me when we met up). Make sure you check his site for an update. As for me, I have a busy night ahead of me of "ripping" CD's to iTunes for my iPod.

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