A Toy Box Contest IV

 

***Not much time is left on this contest, tomorrow is the last day. Based on the minimal entries for this contest, I am assuming that interest is dwindling in winning free stuff, so I won't be running a January 2021 contest. Thanks to all who participated these past four months.***

Hello, and welcome to contest number three here at The Toy Box! Before we jump into this month's prize, let's first handle a little matter of who the winner was from last month.

I'm happy to report that it's not the winner of our past two contests. So that should excite those of you who are reading this. The winner of contest number three is...DRUM ROLL...Big Tone! You have seventy-two hours as of this post going live to leave a comment with your e-mail address (which won't be posted) claiming the prize. I'll reach out from there and work out the shipping details with you. Congratulations!

 ***The prize has been claimed. Congrats, Tone!***

Onward now to contest number four!

Fans of Monopoly, Disney+'s The Mandalorian and / or the new Retro Collection Star Wars line will be happy to get their chance to win this brand new board game featuring player pieces and locations straight out of the series. This deluxe edition of the game also comes with an exclusive Retro Collection Remnant Stormtrooper. So what are you waiting for? Enter to win!

How do you win? Simple. Leave a comment with the name of the Star Wars Retro Collection figure that wasn't included in the original vintage line that you wish Hasbro would release, and a brief story of why you want that figure to be made. Sorry, but it can't be one already made and / or already announced.

Entries will be accepted as of this post going live, and through 11:59 PM on December 31, 2020. The winner will be chosen at random and announced on January 1st, 2021. I haven't decided if another contest will follow, but if one does, it will go live at that time.

You must be eighteen (18) or older to enter this contest. The winner will be announced at the beginning of the post for the next contest. At that time, the person will have seventy-two hours to leave a comment with their e-mail address, which will not be published, so that I can get in touch with them. We will work out the shipping arrangements from there.

Shipping is free and all entries across the globe are welcome. However, foreign addresses will be responsible for all applicable taxes and import fees on their end. The package will be declared at the full retail price of the prize on the customs forms.

Good luck to all!

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Retro Spins: Labyrinth

We were all seated in the family room of our parent's home in Oregon, and my dad said, "Let's watch a movie." We had no idea what we were about to get, but man, was it memorable. The fantasy world, the labyrinth, The Goblin King and his minions, Sarah on the hunt through all of it for her baby brother Toby, all masterfully crafted from the minds of Terry Jones and Jim Henson.

Sarah (JENNIFER CONNELLY) has just made a terrible wish. She wished her baby brother would be taken away by goblins - and her wish has come true! The Goblin King (DAVID BOWIE) has whisked the boy off to his castle to be goblinized. Now Sarah must rescue him, but that means getting into the Goblin Castle and facing the mighty, Jareth.

Between Sarah and the castle stands the LABYRINTH, a magically mesmerizing world of mazes, mystery and spellbinding excitement! A world where all sorts of endearing and tricky, delightfully mischievous creatures lurk around every corner! Enter with Sarah into a world of wonderment...enter into the LABYRINTH! - Back of the original VHS

I initially had Grease 2 and mind to finish off Retro Spins for 2020. However, just as I was about to play it, my mind went to Labyrinth, and was no parts of moving on from there without firing it up. It was a good choice.

David Bowie and Trevor Jones created a fun mixture of vocal and instrumental tracks which drop you right into the movie itself as they play. The album opens with Bowie's superb Underground, and from there flips back and forth between his sung tracks and Trevor Jones score.

Listening to this album made me want to watch the movie again, which is something I may very well have to go do now. I suppose that's what makes a great soundtrack in the long run. One which ignites your mind so fully with imagery of the film that you need to go watch it just to appease yourself.

Then there are the songs which induce nightmares in your head - Such as Chilly Down by the Fire Gang creatures from the film. Those things spooked the crap out of me as a kid, and even in my adult years I don't enjoy that scene. Thanks for scarring me, Labyrinth!

On a side note, I always wished there was a studio version of Magic Dance released that featured the goblins and baby from the film. The one on the soundtrack is fine, and does the trick when you want to hear it. But, it could be so much better.

Overall though, it was a fantastic album to listen to. I ended up adding all of the David Bowie tracks to my iTunes and iPod shuffles. I passed on all the Trevor Jones tracks as well as Chilly Down.

With that, another year wraps up for Retro Spins here at The Toy Box. Next year I'll be jumping back into studio albums from some of my favorite artists. For now though, it's been rather enjoyable to listen to so many soundtracks from classic, and not so classic, 80's films. I'd definitely like to do this again in the future, but need to bolster up my 80's soundtracks first in order to encompass a full year.

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G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero File Cards - 1994 (Hasbro)

 

Well my friends, we wrap up another year of toy posts here at The Toy Box It's hard to believe that in January I'll be starting my thirteenth year here at this site. What fun it's been so far.

Speaking of wrapping things up, today is the final day of G.I. Joe file cards. We've reached the end of the vintage line with 1994.

Since at this point in G.I. Joe I was long gone from the collecting scene as a kid, I really don't have much to say about the figures themselves. Much like my comment for 1993, I really don't know much about them, nor do I see myself putting much effort into getting many of them as an adult. Though there are a few I like, for the most part, I have no connection with them. However, with that said, I get that a lot of kids born in the 80's do. The 90's Joe's were their Joe's.

If I were to point out something particular that I liked from this wave, it would be the homage to the original twelve inch line. Hasbo made some pretty cool figures based on these, and you'll see those as the first handful of cards below. So without further ado, let's look at the last batch of file cards from the original vintage 3 3/4 series.

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Christmas, Round II

 

Taking a hiatus from yesterday's festivities, my girl and I took some well needed time to sleep in this morning, not getting started until around 9:30. When we finally got around to waking up, we started the day off with a delivery of breakfast, and enjoyed that with our coffee, letting the day rev up before diving into our second round of Christmas.

We did go ahead and let the dog open a box of toys, but mostly because they were packed in a comic box, which I desperately needed to help transport the many comics noted from yesterday's post upstairs.

For those of you who read my Christmas Traditions post the other day, what ensues next is a perfect example of the chaos that I mentioned about Christmas day as a child. Presents flying everywhere, with the whole extravaganza done before you know it.

We let the dog romp around on the floor for a bit, making a mess with all the stuff and fluff before deciding to open our presents. Even then, before we got started, we ran interference on him with a holiday dog treat.

With the dog content for a moment, we separated our gifts out from under the tree and took turns opening them. I'll spare you the details of what she got. They are boring girly things.

As for me, I got some really great stuff!

Can't go wrong with Moose Munch. I love popcorn with chocolate and caramel on it, or s'mores. As I sit here typing, I'm fighting the urge to dig into it already.

This is one of those items I didn't know I wanted or needed (or even existed) until it was in my hands. As someone who suffers from chronic pinched nerves in my right shoulder blade, this will be wonderful to have and use.

This C-3PO case was actually a final gift from my brother, which remained under the tree from last night. It has all the tabs, as well as, the insert sheet.

Mark Bellomo's The Ultimate Guide to Vintage Star Wars Action Figures 1977 - 1985 will be fun to thumb through here and there, even though my figure collecting days of the series are relatively over. I know I keep kicking around the idea of getting all the Droids and Ewoks figures, but I don't honestly think that will ever happen.

By this time in the present opening, the dog was in full on pouting mode because he realized there was nothing else for him to open.

I on the other hand still had quite a few gifts to open, which I happily continued to do. Three such items were things I saw in passing one day, and made the comment of how cool they were. I then proceeded to forget about them. My girl on the other hand made a mental note, and surprised me with these great Fallout related items.

While I don't own any Fallout related collectibles, the game series is by far my all time favorite to play. There's just something about roaming the wastelands that I find intriguing and appealing. Maybe it just brings out the collector in me from all the stuff I hoard in my various settlements.

I also got a handful of comics, which fill in the very small gap of issues I'm missing in the 400's of The Amazing Spider-Man, and the slightly larger missing issues in the 100's.

I'll also mention at this point that I received another ebay gift card. This time from my girl's eldest daughter. I have a very generous amount of funds to use on some items, and while I initially was going to purchase an Ultimate Fallout #4, the first appearance of Mile Morales, after much thinking, I decided that deep down I really didn't want this particular book for the sotry, but more so for the event it contained within the pages. In a moment of being honest with myself, I decided that I would be much happier with filling in more of the gaps of issues in the Amazing Spider-Man line within the Peter Parker era I'm actually reading, than buying an expensive book which would simply sit in a comic box. So that's what I'll be looking into over the course of the next few days.

The last item I received was the newly released Freddie Mercury Live Aid version from S.H. Figuarts. As a massive fan of Queen, this one went to the top of my want list as soon as I found out about it. Admittedly, it's a bit disappointing that the only thing S.H. did was change the clothing the figure was wearing. Other than that, the heads and accessories are all the same from their previously released Wembley 86' version.

With that, Christmas 2020 wrapped up very nicely, very generously, very well spread out and a ton of fun. Even after spending the past two days celebrating the holiday, I'm admittedly a little sad that it's going to be another 363 days until it comes back around. But, it was enjoyable, and I have plenty of things to spend some time with to keep me well occupied.

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