2 MINUTE TOY BREAK !

Remember when you actually had the time to soak in the entire gaming experience?You know,before the wife and kids.Before the marriage of hard drive and console.It was just you ,a wired controller  and that perfect distance between you and your analog TV screen.If you ever got stuck at any point in a game  you could always count on your "physical" manual to give you little tips and hints ,almost as If the creators knew you'd get stuck trying to figure out how to get Alucard passed those iron grate doors.The john was now your war room  because time spent sitting on the toilet would be utilized  wisely dissecting manuals and formulating strategies,among other stinky things.Juxtaposed  GamePro mags and Cheetos adorned your room floor ,and the wires connecting your shelf top stereo to the television set stuck out sorely with everything plugged in  to  your giant surge protector power strip.My ,have things changed!Not necessarily for the worst,though.Today,I game at a more subd

My two newest Starting Lineup additions arrived yesterday and I had an issue with both of them.Robin Yount's stand came warped so he couldnt stand very well.Luckily I was able to remedy that using the old boiling water to plastic trick.I was able to flatten out the stand and take Yount off the disabled list.The Dave Stewart figure was supposed to be his 1989  rookie release and the vendor sent me the 1991 figure instead.Both figures are identicle so Im not really sweating it.My Starting Lineup collection is now 21 figures deep!

And what better way to celebrate than with what has to be one of my all time favorite card designs,Topps Turkey Red!These were based on the original designs of the past and have a nice ,antiquated look to them.The cards look and feel like mini canvases.Every player looks like they were hand painted with some really nice and picturesque  backdrops.I still have a bunch of these ,some in binders and others in shoeboxes.Again,I could have posted this on my sports blog but everyone on that side of town has seen these before.And even though this is the toy orientated side of the blogosphere,sometimes its nice to look at something a little bit different.On that note,Happy Topps Turkey Red Thanksgiving everyone🦃

OZZIE "THE WIZARD" SMITH                                       

The lighter fluid worked like magic.The sticker popped right off literally ,in  seconds.Only to reveal that either an attempt at peeling it off before had been made,ripping the cardback or the cardback was ripped already and the seller just placed the worlds largest sticker over it.Im not even sure if this "1988 edition "sticker is native to Starting Lineup figure packaging.I dont remember ever seeing a sticker like this on any SLs as a kid.I wouldn't have minded displaying the packaging as is ,with torn cardback,but it's the smudge that really bugs the shit outta me now.I think its time to release Parker from his cardback confines,touch up the bill of his cap with a little yellow acrylic paint and call it a day.

So I got the final piece to my 88 A's team,Dave Parker.I knew it had the giant 1988 edition sticker on It and had planned on removing It.A task I will undertake later on tonight,a post on that forthcoming.What the ebay item pic didnt convey was the paint smudge on the inside of the packaging which appears to have come from the bill of the baseball cap 🤨Well,i only paid 4 bucks for it so I shouldn't complain.These Dave Parkers sell for about 20 bucks carded and 12 to 15 bucks loose,so.Ive looked online and found out that lighter fluid is good at causing a chemical reaction that makes old sticker price tags come right up without damaging the card back.Of course ill be trying this on 30 plus year old sticker so im pretty much planning to fail.As far as the smudge goes,im stuck with it.Unless I detach the blister and yadda,yadda,yadda.If the cardback was in better shape i would have tried it.Ill be doing a follow up post on my sticker removal results so stay tuned!

Post deleted.Lets move forward people.Things shouldnt have gotten so out of hand.The issue has been resolved by both parties involved and Its time to get back to blogging about toys.

O.K. maybe the word "cool" isn't cool anymore but In the eighties,toys sure were!Which got me thinking.Should the 80's be labeled as "The Golden Age" of toys ?Try to be as unbiased as you possibly can when you answer this question.I think the 70's could duke It out all day with the 80's In a match for toy supremacy.The 90's had some o.k. stuff  but come up short imo.The 2000's brought us a ton of cool shit ,too,but that's kind of expected when you factor in technology and resource material,again, ,all thanks to  the 70's and 80's.Most of what Is out now Is rehashed from toy greatness of the past.So It's the 70's vs. the 80's.Who wins?                     1987 Captain Power Soaron Sky Sentry

I could have done this on my near defunct sports blog but everyone over there knows who these guys are.Most in toy collecting circles don't,so consider this a crash course.80's Baseball Greatness 101.What i'm gonna do for these installments Is let the highlights speak for themselves.First up.. (Steady) Eddie Murray                                       

Yes my friends,more Starting Lineups.I could literally eat a bowl of these fucking things with milk ,I'm so hooked on them right now.New arrivals include Mark McGwire and Carney Lansford.For those of you that didn't know (I think Fuji knows,not sure) ,I was a huge Oakland A's fan growing up.The Mets were my favorite N.L. team but overall I was an A's fan.That all changed when they decided to trade Canseco but that's a whole 'nother subject. Still,even today I could name pretty much everybody on that  mid to late 80's squad including bench players. You guys probably know who Mark McGwire Is already but Lansford might be new to you.Carney Lansford was the A's third basemen and primarily batted second In the lineup ,after Rickey Henderson.He  had one of the more intense batting stances In the game.Fidgety might be the best way to describe It.Lots of line drives down the third base line,the occasional homer and crazy glove work ,just a fun player to watch.Hi

It's early 80's,and your mom decides she wants to reward you for all the hard work she thinks you've been doing in school,and takes you down to the nearest Toys R Us.There's a catch.She's being very meticulous about the figures she wants you to pick out.They have to be of the 3 3/4 variety and of the same brand/universe.She wants to teach you a lesson about the real world because,according to her, In the real world G.I. Joe doesn't mix with Star Wars.He-Man doesn't get down with Captain Power and Marvel Is better than DC so you definitely don't want to integrate those two universes.That's when you realize your mom's not playing with a full deck but that's besides the point.There are far more serious matters to attend.The ball's In your court now.In front of you  are rows and rows of  .... He-Man Secret Wars Kenner DC Super Powers G.I. Joe Star Wars (leftover stragglers on clearance) Captain Power and D&D . What do you go fo

As you can see I've streamlined a bit. Stashed a few things and some stuff I've just gotten rid of  or sold on eBay. But for the most part It's the same crap you've seen here in the past. Check out the lids ! Never to old for a hat collection.I have 5 now.Anyone else rock snapbacks?That Marvel pic in the back is a drawing my oldest drew/painted for me In her art class.Pretty damn nifty,I think. To Be A Winner....ok I'll stop now. Mostly 90's stuff on the top shelf .Some late 80's.Again,I don't go out of my way to collect every toy that released back in the days.What you'll see on my displays consists mostly of stuff I used to have as a kid. The middle shelf Is straight 80's. Doing my best Brother Midnight impersonation here with my 5.5 fig display ;) Lion O stands out like a soar thumb,though lol. I gotta get more Sectaurs.Poor Skito has been rolling solo for too long.No Toxcid and he doesn't even have his web

This is what I'm working with so far. My most recent pick ups are Mike Schmidt,Roger Clemens and the rest of the Mets players that I needed to complete the team set,some loose and some carded. 1988 was a great year for baseball.You could argue that alot of the guys were juiced up but so were the pitchers. And even more remarkable were the pitchers who weren't juicing that still managed to put up great numbers against some of baseballs most herculean hitters. And yet another great Starting Lineup commercial ...  

Can you guys let me know how this looks on your PCs?I've been kicked out of my room thanks to Zumba and I dont have access to my personal cpu.Hence the phone test.Fisto will be my Guinea pig for this Blogger phone experiment.

Please excuse my lack of participation ,my fellow blogger pals,as I've been a little out of whack mentally these last couple of weeks.Dealing with a loss in the family and a spew of other things really has me In the dumps.I didn't want to post anything during this time just for the sake of posting. Didn't want to force it.Sometimes It just seems  no amount of action figure magic can pull you out of the depths of  depression.I've resorted to playing my guitar ,ALOT, and singing lots of very sad songs ,lol.That seems to help me get It all out sometimes.I do have lots to be thankful for ,though,and I will never take that for granted.I decided to try and get into the X-Mas spirit early If you couldn't tell already by my background.Yeah,that's Santa on the left there.I do have more Starting Lineup goodness on the way.I don't know what It Is but lately I've been In 80's MLB mode.Sucks for you guys ,I know lol.So stay tuned,peeps,be back soon ;)