Abbey & Toralei sold out lightning quick, see ya later girls.

I hope to get more of these gals in stock before the holiday. Want to stay up to the minute on Monster High dolls, then visit Monsterhighdolls.com

Why so serious, about action figures?

This picture doesn't do the Heath Ledger likeness on this figure justice, but rest assured it is fantastic. If Mattel can keep up the level of quality we see on this figure in future releases then I think I'm hooked. The Dark Knight figures are a far cry from the Kenner/Hasbro figures we saw for the other movies throughout the 1990's. Pose-ability and sculpt are the two things I look for in action figures and I think this character is on the high end of the scale for likeness, with a fair amount of non distracting articulation to boot. We plan to carry more stellar DC action figures in the coming months.

Honey I shrunk Generation One

This week I was able to get ahold of the Transformers Reveal the Shield legends class Generation One wave. Even though I have an affinity for the matchbox sized spychangers, I haven't paid the similar scaled legends class much mind, until now. The set of six diminutive Transformers are a fun lot with Megatron finally returning to his gun form in a safe pint sized edition. The set also includes Optimus Prime in original snub nosed cab form, Starscream, Prowl, Gold Bumblebee AKA Goldbug, & Trailcutter AKA Trailbreaker. The toys also include an update of the original thermal rub insignias from our youth. This is a definite tip of the hat from Hasbro to long time Transformers enthusiasts. The whole wave is considered "tail-enders" as they were on the end of the 2nd movies merchandise run and did not see wide distribution. Check them out if you get a chance.

Keiper's Comics, Games, & More 34 W Main Street Down, Madison, OH 44057

I'm sure anyone following my blog may be wondering what I have been up to these past couple of months. Well here's the official announcement, I have been working on a collaboration with my friend Alex on the opening of a hobby store. This opportunity has been a long time in the making. As an avid collector of many things, namely action figures, comics, & the like, a store just seemed like the natural evolution of the hobby. I had been in the planning stages of a store several times in the past, but it never came together. I am thankful for the time and energy other parties like Dave Z. and Cameron put previously into the attempts to start up a store. Now I am directly involved with Keiper's Comics, Games, and More located in Madison, Ohio at 34 West Main Street Down. I really appreciate all the support from friends and family alike on this endeavor. Along with the store I continue to do auctions on Ebay and on Crave.com I look forward to continuing my lifelong obsession with collectables through this hobby shop venue. I am more than happy to shoot the shit on all topics of nerddom with anyone who cares to drop by.

G.I. Joe 2011 30th Anniversary 7-Packs Revealed! Slaughter’s Marauders & The Dreadnoks!

G.I. Joe 2011 30th Anniversary 7-Packs Revealed! Slaughter’s Marauders & The Dreadnoks!

Here's some excellent news from the NYCC!

Star Wars Aurra Sing (Repacks and Repaints) for Sale on Crave

Star Wars Aurra Sing (Repacks and Repaints) for Sale on Crave

Strange things are afoot in my life.

Not that anyone truly cares, but just to let you know, I have not abandoned this blog. I have been in the process of emptying my storage locker, going through all that stuff from there, and also moving out of my apartment. It has been hectic, and I should have some goodies to show for my "delving into my past" soon. I am going through like the last 15-20 years worth of stuff, so bear with me. Here's a teaser:

Star Wars Aurra Sing (Repacks and Repaints) for Sale on Crave

Star Wars Aurra Sing (Repacks and Repaints) for Sale on Crave

Star Wars R4-M6 - Mace Windu's Astromech Droid (Repacks and Repaints) for Sale on Crave

Star Wars R4-M6 - Mace Windu's Astromech Droid (Repacks and Repaints) for Sale on Crave

Scored a nice pair

The annual San Diego Con Convention was the other week, and there were a boatload of exclusives. Hasbro put there exclusives on hasbrotoyshop.com the tuesday following the convention. Unfortunately for me, they sold out of Zartan's sister Zaranna in classic deco, and the "Cold Slither" variant scheme almost instantly. Cold Slither was an episode of the classic cartoon where the Dreadnoks disguised themselves as a band called Cold Slither, and attempt to broadcast mind-controlling subliminal messages through their music.

Another great Hasbro exclusive was the new as of yet unreleased Skystriker jet colored like the Transformers character Starscream with Cobra Commander as the pilot weilding Megatron in his gun form. These, amongst other items sold out so fast that it wasn't even worth trying to get them. Some people report having the items in their carts, but when proceeding to checkout the items disappeared and became sold out.

I did have luck with an exclusive that I didn't think would be offered online, Mattel's Monster High Ghoulia Yelps cosplaying as her in universe comic book hero Dead Fast. I heard the good news that 1000 were made available on mattycollector.com through fans at the Monster High fansite: monsterhighdolls.com

The Ghoulia SDCC exclusive was $20 and shipping was going to be $10.55, I thought I might get a better price on two, and sure enough the shipping for 2 was only $11.75, making the average price per doll: $25.88, instead of the price one doll as $30.55 with the shipping.

(This picture is property of Mattel and is used for informational purposes only)

So a cool pair of Ghoulia's is on there way to me. This is downright amazing as in collector's circles mattycollector is known to be virtually impossible to get exclusives from before they sell out.

So this is the second SDCC item I have ever owned, the first was the "Pearl White" Marc from Battle of the Planets which I got for $20 I think it was back in 2003. I am pleased I didn't have to spend the money to fly to the convention, wade through tens of 1000's of con-goers, pay for convention admission, or hotel or overpriced food and still got a rare exclusive item. The only event that has happened at a SDCC so far that I wish I could have experienced was the Flynn's Arcade/End of line Club live action experience for Tron Legacy at last year's con.... man I want those tokens and the EoL club drink coaster SO BAD.

Oh well, all in all I am thrilled. See you all in my next post.

DS is dead, Jim

Well I guess I'm finished with my adventure to resurrect a dead DS handheld. When I first ordered parts and a dead system, the dead system would only blink on for a second then go off. I figured this was a "totally dead" system, with only maybe parts for salvage. I managed to earn some free Ebay bucks by signing up for a free netflix trial, so I used these bonus bucks to buy a new battery and a second "mostly" dead system. This second system did turn on but the top screen was cracked and no good. My brother agreed to help me Frankenstein a system from the parts I ordered. Unfortunately a new screen was not on the list of parts I had ordered. Instead I suggested taking a screen from that first "dead/blink" system and trying it out in the second system. Unfotunately this had the unwanted side effect of giving the second system the "blink". Basically I killed a second system that was half working. In all this endeavor to create a working system from dead ones cost me $30 (plus $15 in free EBay bucks). On the bright side, I know that in the future I should only add new parts to a partially functional system, instead of hodge-podging together parts from dead systems. I also do have the parts I ordered in new condition still: a battery, a system shell, a couple of tools, an AC adapter, a cable to connect the top and bottom screens, and a pair of hinges. Also I suppose I have the intact shell from the second system I ordered, as the first system had a cracked in half shell. So from this experience I figure in the future if I want a working system I should order one in that condition. (Likewise, if I become inclined to waste more money in the future I could always try rebuilding one again.)

The Scourge of the Forest Moon better scurry away in fear

I got two great additions to my Imperial Forces this month. I started the month off with the BA AT-AT (Big Ass All Terrain Armored Transport). I really can't put into words just how frickin' huge this thing is. Being the cheap ass that I am I held out on this toy for quite a while, besides there's things like food and rent to consider. When I saw the sticker price at Mentor Walmart at $49 I almost bought it on the spot. After a couple days of debate I broke down and bought it for this price which is half the original sticker price of $99.99. This thing is like owning a large dog, without the maintenance (thank god).

If this wasn't a good enough score, I was out at the Mayfield Toys R Us to see what I could get on clearance with an additional 25% off and low and behold, the exclusive Biker Scout Trooper and Speederbike was somehow on the shelf, actually two of them. I haven't seen this thing in probably over a year, they must have dug them out from under a shelf or something, the tape was all yellowed. I had debated then about buying one (or more) the last couple times I had seen it, until eventually it was too late & it sold out. As luck would have it a pair of Speeders presented themselves to me last week, and this time I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to add to my Imperial Ranks of Endor.

With the recent addition of the Ewok medicine man, Logray, to the Ewok Terrori.. oops... I mean to the "Scourge of the Forest Moon", my Ewok army is nearing completion. (Unless of course you count the other 30 odd Ewoks that appear in the Return of the Jedi and are unlikely to ever see the light of day) I guess now that the Imperial forces have the firepower to start massacring the brave native freedom fighters of the Endor Moon, I best start work on the custom Ewoks I've been putting off for over a year. Then of course I'll have to end up making a giant custom diorama (sure that will happen).

Transformers Dark of the Moon Toys R Us Scan Series 1

I've always been a fan of transparent toys, much more so than say, gold painted toys. This has been this way for a while, but the first toy I can think of that this really worked for was the mail-away Predator from Kenner's Aliens & Predators line. In that case it made a lot of sense, seeing as the Predator can cloak himself. With these two new Autobots, I think it's very cool that they represent the "scanning" and reformatting to earth vehicles, as seen in the first film. This series also is a fitting tribute to the reformatting sequence in the original Animated Movie. I am a big fan of the scene where Unicron re-formats the Decepticons and they change to a grid-like silhouette then take on there new forms. I think it would be awesome if Hasbro ever decided to make toys based on that scene using the technique used on this new Scan Series of figures.

After debating about it for a couple of weeks, I broke down and bought my first two Transformers Dark of the Moon figures. Since Toys R Us had a sale for buy 1 get 1 half off, I decided this was the week to add some 'bots to my collection. I passed on these guys the first time they were on sale. Then I checked these out online and there is supposed to be a second wave, which helped me want the first wave even more. Then I glanced at them a few times over the last couple of weeks. I figured that since I kept looking at these guys I must want them, so with the sale that started this week I figured I best get them before they are gone.

Star Wars Rebel Pilot Legacy II (Evolutions) for Sale on Crave

Star Wars Rebel Pilot Legacy II (Evolutions) for Sale on Crave

Transformers Shockwave (Animated) for Sale on Crave

Transformers Shockwave (Animated) for Sale on Crave

Transformers Wreck-Gar (Animated) for Sale on Crave

Transformers Wreck-Gar (Animated) for Sale on Crave

Transformers Starscream (Animated) for Sale on Crave

Transformers Starscream (Animated) for Sale on Crave

We can rebuild the DS, we can make it stronger, better, faster

Around the time the Nintendo DSi was released I sold off my DS original game system. My thinking was, "I can get a good price for this system now, and since the new system is out I can rebuy an original DS for less in the future." Well I was wrong, although I got a decent price when I sold off my system, the price of a used original DS system did not come down. So I checked the price of an original DS system the other week when LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean came out. It was $70 used, but refurbished, at Gamestop. This was higher than when I had originally bought a used replacement for my 2003 DS. So I was checking out DS systems on Ebay this week when the manager of my local Denny's enlisted my help to help sell off her DSi and DS Lite. She managed to sell the DSi off to my friend Ken, but was unable to get a credit for the DS Lite because the hinge on the shell casing was cracked. Gamestop, Best Buy, and the local new & used outlet Buy Backs didn't want it b/c it was cracked. So I did a little more digging around on Ebay and saw that there was alot of replacement parts for DS systems of any generation for fairly cheap out of China. My one brother is a bit of a technical wizard with computers so I asked him if he could oversee me if I wanted to rebuild a system. He agreed. So tonight I bid on and won a broken original DS system for $12.50 with free shipping. Then I used Buy It Now to get the replacement hinges, system shell, screen connector cable, & an AC wall charger all out of a few overseas vendors. All the parts should arrive by the second week of July. The parts I didn't buy were replacement screens, touch screen, or battery. So In a few weeks I'll let you know how my project works out and if I can manage to Frankenstein a system together. BTW I decided to get a white shell so it would look a little more modern like the DSi.

Rolling Acres Mall Akron, Ohio

Rolling Acres June 2011

On Monday June 13th 2011, I captured these images of the former Rolling Acres Mall in Akron, Ohio (click on photo above to view the album). Less than a decade ago I had shopped at this mall. Granted it was on a steady decline at that point, but the Target anchor was a pleasant and welcomed surprise. As we circled the parking lot I spotted the back of the former Target. When we came around the corner my jaw dropped. I knew the mall had been buttoned up for a number of years now, but to actually see these retail juggernauts' brick and mortar corpses was nearly too much to handle. I think I've made it clear by now that my collecting heydays were basically the better part of the 90's. To actually see a full blown dead mall was shocking. Especially one I visited at least semi annually if not quarterly.

This is however the sign of the times. Northeast Ohio had aggressively expanded, placing malls nearly on top of each other throughout the 60's,70's and 80's. To survive through the most recent decade as a brick and mortar mall is no small miracle. It's really no surprise that as e-tailers became more common and competitive along with the whole economy tightening up, that malls would be wounded or abandoned all together.

The Rolling Acres Mall did have one anchor in operation still, as a JCPenney's Outlet.

I also visited the two closest malls that day, both seemingly thriving, the Summit Mall in Fairlawn, Ohio and Chapel Hill Mall in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. They must have been in at least some small way strengthened by the abandonment of the old rival, Rolling Acres.

Ashtabula Towne Square

Well my first mall photo portfolio is ready. The subject is Ashtabula Towne Square in Ashtabula, Ohio. We were okayed for the photo shoot by the Mall Manager and the Zamias Property Manager. Zamias is the last family operated mall property group left according to the Manager. He said renovation was in store for the mall and leasing is available for new tenants. The mall is nice and new looking, with sweet overhead lighting. A young mall, Ashtabula Towne Square was opened as Ashtabula Mall in 1992. Three anchors are in operation: Sears, Super K-Mart, & JCPenney’s with room for three more. There is a Gamestop, and Buy Sell & Trade store. A Jo-ann Fabrics, Radio Shack and about dozen and a half other stores are open inside the mall, with several stores operating in the outlots like Applebee’s and Office Max. Click on the photo to see the rest of the album. My apologies for the dark photos, I was having some problems with the flash. This is the uncut group of images. I’m not sure what the next mall is going to be, but I will keep you posted.

Ashtabula Towne Square