The second weekend in December is here once again (already), and that means it's time for the last trip to Timonium for the year for the Dave Hart Show. As I was in route to the show, I had visions of my head of seeing everyone's massive end of year wares. It is after all the Christmas season, and vendors would come packed to the hilt with the best of the best in order to make that end of the year final sale.
Sadly, this wasn't the case.
Things were pretty slim pickings as far as I was concerned. Scratch that. I wasn't the only one who thought this. As people roved the convention hall, I over heard quite a few people excitedly asking their companions, "What did you get?" The answer, more so than not, was, "Nothing." Some even followed the word, "Nothing" with, "There's nothing here." I know I've said it before, but I really need to take a break from going to the Timonium shows. It seems that each consecutive one gets less and less appealing, in terms of merchandise available.
I started out snapping some photos, but then honestly got bored with the show. Here are the few I took, most of which are from the "left side" of the show.
I considered the above Smurf glasses momentarily, but then passed. A full set is fourteen glasses, and it would honestly be easier to find said set in one fell swoop then go on the hunt for individual glasses.
Disappointments aside, I didn't come away empty handed. While I usually stop by the dollar CD vendor first, I took a little detour this time, and actually started at the guy who sells G.I. Joe figures. He's not my go to vendor for them, but unfortunately, I knew in advance Action Joe wouldn't be there.
I started off with Keel-Haul, a figure I had been looking at for quite some time on ebay. As the "driver" of the U.S.S. Flagg, he's a little difficult to come by. Right now, there are only fourteen of them available on ebay. Out of those fourteen, eight are missing the gun.
The second figure I picked up was A.V.A.C., the Cobra soldier packed in with the Terror Drome. This is another figure I've been looking to get for quite some time now. If it weren't for that solid chest emblem, I would have passed on him for the other paint deficiencies. I also nabbed the parachute for the figure, but it's not in the photo because it's in front of his feet.
Cobra H.I.S.S. Driver wasn't a high priority on my want list, but the figure was one I wanted to get in the long run. I couldn't pass this one up when I saw it. It's got a few blemishes, but for the most part, the emblem on the chest is perfect - As is the rest of the paint.
From there, I made my way to the CD vendor and poked around a bit. At this point, the titles I'm looking for somewhat obscure in the wild. Truth be told, I don't think I honestly got anything that was on my list. In fact, as I take a second glance, the only one I got that was is the soundtrack to Austin Powers: Goldmember. Mind you, it wasn't one I actively was looking for. Rather, one I had on my list for the sake of having all three soundtracks in my collection.
Basia - Time and Tide*Asia - Alpha*Laura Branigan - Over My Heart*Boston - Don't Look Back*Depeche Mode - 101
Bonnie Raitt - Luck of the Draw*Carpenters - The Singles 1969 - 1973*Bad Company - Bad Company
The Wedding Singer*The Lion King*Pocahontas*Natural Born Killers*The Jets - Magic
Austin Powers in Goldmember*West Side Story
I've seen Basia in every pile of 80's CD's for sale, but I can't honestly say I know any songs from them. I figured, what the heck. Let me grab one and see what they're all about. Boston - Don't Look Back, is a CD I already had, but it was in a cardboard digi-pack. I much prefer the standard cases. Everything else is either bands I knew of, or movies I had seen. Overall, kind of a bland haul.
After circling around the show, I made my way back to the G.I. Joe dealer and grabbed a couple more. It was pretty obvious to me I wasn't going to find much more which interested me.
Version one of Sgt. Slaughter wasn't a high choice on my list either, as I much prefer version two, which I already owned. At $15.00, I kind of felt like I needed him there and then.
My mom was never big on mail-away toys back in the 80's - Well, unless they came from the Sears Wish Book. As such, I missed out on pretty much every mail-away figure in the original G.I. Joe line, with the exception of Hooded Cobra Commander and Sgt. Slaughter (V2).
Super Trooper was an interesting promotion when it first came out. Unlike other toys from the line, you couldn't send in with Flag Points for him (initially). You could only order him by getting Super Trooper certificates from specially marked packages. These days, he's much easier to come by, and not too expensive, considering the age of the figure and the line it's from.
With two more in hand, I set to task on finding something unrelated to the brand. I really didn't want to walk out of the show with only a bag full of G.I. Joe figures. I asked a Transformer dealer if he had a complete Shockwave, but was told, "No." I also poked through the very few boxed / complete NES games, but nothing appealed. From there, I found a vendor selling DVD's and eyeballed a complete series of Muppet Babies. I wanted it, but couldn't take the plunge. As some of you may know, the series was never released on DVD, let alone complete. I'm also not a supporter of bootlegs - Especially not at $40.00.
Things started to look a little I found a guy selling a blue Snaggletooth, but for the condition it was in, I wasn't going to drop the standard asking price of $300.00. The same guy also had a carded Pee-Wee Herman figure for $15.00, which I almost bought, but ultimately passed on. Instead, I grabbed from him a complete Panthro from Thundercats.
I've been wanting to get a few more Thundercats figures, but they haven't ever been a high priority. Mainly, because they're a lot of work to find complete. I can't tell you how many times I've looked at the Thundertank only to find broken treads.
This particular dealer had quite a few figures from the line, but the majority of them were incomplete. The ones which weren't were overpriced. Quite frankly, Panthro was too (overpriced), but I was determined to get something other than Joes. I would have also bought a complete Tigra, but it had a lot of paint wear.
As I meandered around some more, I came across a table which had a boxed Mr. T doll from Galoob. It was priced at $60.00, but when I turned around to make the guy an offer he walked away from his table to wander around the show. Rather than stand around waiting for him to come back, I simply walked away too.
Towards the back of the convention was a table which had a Galoob A-Team van for the 3 3/4 inch figures. I was interested in it, but not at the $80.00 the seller had on it. Especially not with the stickers all torn and worn. I also passed on a Han Solo DL-44 for the same reason. It was overpriced, and one sticker was torn, while the other was missing. It was also missing the battery door knobs. The guy still had it priced at $40.00. For reference, you can get one with stickers intact and the knobs in working condition for $50.00.
At this point I was honestly just bored of the show. With a bit more cash still at the ready to spend, I did the only thing I could think to do. I went back to the Joe dealer.
I was told Destro version 2 was a difficult figure to find by my go to Joe dealer. It had been on his list for quite some time as one to track down for me. Yet I had no issue finding today. It was sitting right there, and relatively cheap too.
Ice Viper was a late comer to my "want" list, but has quickly become one I got a little obsessed with finding. The challenge for me was tracking one down with both sais and a "clean" emblem. I lucked out today, finding one with everything in my criteria.
Unless I'm missing something I don't know about, Road Pig is the last Drednok I needed to complete my 1983 - 1988 set of figures. I don't know that I'll venture into anything 1989 and beyond as, while I had some of the later figures, I was essentially getting out of G.I. Joe (and toys in general) at this point in my life, so little circa 1989 and up interests me much.
I don't know why, but the Joe's from the 1987 movie are some of my all time favorites. Which is what makes it odd that, up until today, I've only had Tunnel Rat.
Chuckles was a figure, who back in the day when I had him as a kid, was actually utilized as a James Bond type character in my imagination. He's just got that look to him. At least to me.
The last figure I got, and subsequently the last thing I bought at the show was one that was on my "maybe" pile.
I knew little to nothing about Starduster until today. For example, I didn't know he originated as a mail-away incentive in the short lived G.I. Joe Action Stars Cereal. I also didn't know there were multiple versions of him. The one shown above, I'm told, is version "C". Lastly, I didn't know the thing was so expensive! When the guy told me he wanted $225.00 for it, I about fell over. In fact, I even handed it back to him, and said, "I'm going to pass on that." However, as I pulled out my phone and started perusing ebay, I saw this was right around what the average selling price was. Not wanting to pass it up, only to have it go even higher in price, I went ahead and took the plunge.
He's complete with his accessories, but much like A.V.A.C. above, said accessories are sitting in front of his feet.
Though Timonium didn't offer the variety I was hoping for, I still had a good time. It's never a bad day to grab more G.I. Joe figures.
My personal collection of them still has a bit of a way to go before I cross everything off, but It's getting there. It has been such a blast to collect these figures in my adult years. In fact, I dare say I have more now than I did as a kid.
Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.