Hoooo boy. This was worth every ounce of sweat and every minute of the hours-long drive.

It’s a Toy Show — essentially an outdoor flea market that dealt strictly in old toys — happened last Saturday in some part of Jersey that’s otherwise populated by nothing but cows and Wawas. Hosted on the grounds of the incredible It’s A Toy Store, the hundred degree heat did little to dampen the event’s status as life-changingly awesome.

Dozens upon dozens of vendors took to picnic tables and ratty blankets, and nearly all of them had collections worthy of individual tributes on Dino Drac. And maybe rock anthems by charity supergroups. Holy shit, this was paradise. Read More…

I wouldn’t normally do another edition of Five Random Action Figures so soon, but I’m creatively tapped. While my present mental faculties can handle five old toys, I’m not sure that they can handle anything more.

So, off we go! Five Random Action Figures, Part 18!

Cobra Commander!
G.I. Joe, 2002

Funpack subscribers should recognize this “special” Cobra Commander as being from a weird set of Pepsodent promo figures — yes, Pepsodent — that were distributed back in 2002. They were made in India, and I don’t believe were ever available in the States.

As part of the Playskool branch of G.I. Joe figures, the figures were 100% legitimate while still seeming very “bootleg.” The Pepsodent set included ten figures in all, and since I had to handle so many of them for the Funpacks, I can say with all confidence that they were very shoddily made. (Some were molded with differently-sized feet; others had cubic stumps where their hands should’ve been. I have a pile of these figures that were too malformed to include in anyone’s Funpack.)

Many of you had black-suited Cobra Commander figures, but this one is a little different. The details are cruder, the paint is messier, and the figure isn’t quite as articulated. On a stretch, these faults only add to the charm. He almost seems like a prototype, or like something you’d win from a really bad carnival.

(The Pepsodent G.I. Joe figures each came with a weapon, but not a dedicated weapon. Another Cobra Commander figure might’ve come packaged with a totally different gun. I chose the lemon yellow rifle, because I so enjoy the idea of Cobra’s maharaja carrying that.) Read More…

I’m a sucker for giant, ominous statues. If Easter Island had 7-Elevens, I’d live there.

Quickest way to make me a fan of your movie or TV show? Toss in a giant, ominous statue. I don’t care if the statue is pure scenery or critical to the plot. Just stick it in there!

Here are seven of my favorites:

The Statue of Taweret!
Lost (2006)

Of all the things that kept us guessing about the island from Lost, the Statue of Taweret was by far my favorite. Introduced in Season 2 with only one four-toed foot intact, viewers had to wait until the Season 5 finale to see the whole thing, through one of the show’s most critical flashbacks.

Taweret is the (real life) Egyptian goddess of fertility, and while her inclusion may have been a nod to pregnancies being a “complicated” issue on the island, the statue was mainly there to tell us that people had been coming to this strange place for a very, very long time.

Hippo-headed and carrying an identical pair of huge ankhs, it’s among my favorite “monster” designs ever. (“Monster” in quotes because ancient Egyptians certainly didn’t view Taweret that way. She was a protector!) Read More…