 |
| Thrift Store Thursdays |
It's week three of Thrift Store Thursdays! Are you ready? Have you mentally prepared yourself?
No?
Uhh... well, that's fine, I guess.
This week, I've got a bunch of Batman stuff, plus a handful of Spider-Man toys, and a random assortment of other goodies. Let's check it out!
 |
| Nick Fury and Spider-Man |
First up, I've got a couple of oversized Marvel characters. On the left is a 10 inch Nick Fury action figure. He's a bit sloppy looking, if you ask me... like they just took a 3.75 inch figure and blew it up, without adding any extra details to his sculpt. Still, a fun thrift store find for a couple of bucks, especially when he came with a bunch of other figures.
On the right is an odd 12 inch Spider-Man. At first, I wasn't sure what to make of him. He has a button on his side and when I pressed it, weird, distorted voice sounds came out. I thought it was a "talking" Spider-Man whose voice recordings were damaged, and then I realized what he really was: a Spider-Man walkie-talkie!
 |
| Left: Spider-Man "action" figures. Right: Spider-Man yo-yo. |
Next up is more Spider-Man toys. I found a trio of strange Spider-Man action figures. One of them has suction cups on his hands, and I'm guessing it's a Happy Meal toy. The one that's standing up straight has arms that move at the shoulders, but not the elbows. You can pose him with his hands behind his back, or in front, and that's it. The Spider-man on the ground is in a permanent sitting position, and can't stand up. He looks like he was originally riding a motorcycle, and some kid tore him off. My final Spider-Man toy is a Spider-Man yo-yo, still in the package.
 |
| Star Fleet Battles Strategy Game |
Here is an interesting find, a "Star Fleet Battles" strategy game from the 1970s. I love the box art on this. Even though it's clearly based on Star Trek, the words "Star Trek" appear nowhere on the package, so I thought it was some kind of bootleg product. An internet search showed that it actually is licensed, but with an odd licensing agreement that doesn't let them use the name. And apparently this is a reasonably popular game, and people still play it today.
 |
| Miscellaneous Characters |
Here's a random assortment of characters. On the left is a Homer Simpson as Frankenstein's Monster toy. This is a good find for me, because I collect Frankenstein toys. Now I have to my eyes peeled for the Marge Simpson as The Bride of Frankenstein figure. Then there is some kind of fantasy warrior or sorcerer woman. I have no idea who she is. After that is a fun astronaut figurine, and Anakin "I'm a whiny, annoying little biz-natch who tried to ruin one of the coolest villains in movie history" Skywalker.
 |
| Playmobil Pirate Island |
This toy originally came with pirates, a rowboat, and scenery, but it was all long gone when I found this in the thrift store. I still picked it up though. I thought it would be cool to pose action figures in front of, and maybe I could use it as a part of a Batcave.
Speaking of Batcaves, let's move on to my favorite Thrift Store Thursday finds: Batman stuff!
 |
| Batman: The Story of the Dark Knight |
Batman: The Story of the Dark Knight is a hardcover children's book that tells the origin of Batman in a series of oversized retro comic, pop art illustrations. The artwork in this is really great, and it makes for a fun addition to my Batman collection. The best part of this find was the price I paid for it: 69 cents!
 |
| Action Figures and Playset |
I found a couple of cool animated Justice League action figures: Batman and Wildcat. I also found this fun little fold-out "Bat Bunker" playset. The playset is missing some kind of missile launcher or camera thing that sits on top of it, judging by the pictures I have found online. It's also missing a Batman action figure that came with it, but I've got PLENTY of Batman action figures, so that is no great loss. If I ever get around to piecing together a custom Batcave, I think I'll use this playset as my Batcave's garage or repair shop.
 |
| Batman Happy Meal Toys |
I also scored a handful of Batman Happy meal toys, including a Batman figure that stretches out his cape, a Jokermobile, two Robins on Motorcycles, and a Lego Batman figure, which is not an actual Lego minifigure, but a Happy Meal depiction of one.
 |
| Fisher-Price Trio Joker Bot |
I guess "Trio" is like Fisher-Price's version of Lego. Not really as cool as real Lego, but still fun. This one builds a mech suit for the Joker, and comes with a Joker minifigure. All the pieces , including the instructions, were loose in a plastic bag. It had everything I needed to build the Joker-Bot, but it was missing a few pieces needed to build some of the alternate configurations like the helicopter or plane.
Alright! That's it for week three of
Thrift Store Thursdays. Next week I'll be showing off a couple of Batmobiles and a Joker van I already have in my collection, as well as whatever new stuff I pick up this week So you next Thursday!.
