Thrift Store Thursdays: Vader Mania, Imaginext, Batman, Bart Simpson, and More!

Thrift Store Thursdays: Vader Mania, Imaginext, Batman, Bart Simpson, and More!

Hi!  Welcome to the fourth edition of Thrift Store Thursdays!  I apologize to anyone who stopped by last Thursday and was disappointed by the lack of a Thrift Store Thursday post.  I got kind of busy last week, and my blog posts suffered.  Sorry about that.  I'm going to try and get a few blog posts done ahead of time, so that won't happen again in the future.  Now let's check out my latest thrift shop scores...

Bat Transportation

First up is a bevy of  Bat-vehicles.  On the left is a Batman (sadly unremoveable) on a Bat-cycle.  I like the color scheme on this one, the blue paint job with an orange windshield reminds me of the Super Powers Batmobile.

Next up is a Batman: The Brave and the Bold Action League Batmobile.  It originally came with a couple of Batman mini-figures to ride in it.  I'm going to have to dig through my collection of loose Batman toys and see if I have any who can fit in it.

On the right is another Imaginext Batmobile.  This one has a pincher claw thing that pops out of the grill to capture bad guys with.  Now that I think of it, didn't the Super Powers Batmobile do the same thing?  I'm going to have to pull mine out of the toy box and play with it.  Maybe it'll be on next week's Thrift Store Thursday.

Action Figures

Next up is a whole mess of fun action figures.  From left to right we've got:

• Raphael from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  He has a head that can retract into his shell.
• Some kind of Predator action figure.  Not one of the cool new ones from Neca, this looks like one from the 1980s.
• Gill-Man, aka The Creature from the Black Lagoon.  I think this is a Burger King premium, but I'm not sure.  I'll have to look it up.
• The first of two "Watchmen the Movie" action figures I scored in this trip is the Original Owl Man.
• Next is Batman from Batman the Animated Series in one of his many variant costumes.
• My second Watchmen find of the day is The Comedian.
• Plastic Man.  This looks like a Batman the Brave and the Bold Happy Meal toy.
• Finally we have Clayface from Batman the Animated Series.  He's a pretty cool figure, but he's missing the spiked ball that shoots out of his hand.  However, Batman's head fits in there pretty well...

Clayface sucks Batman's head up his clay hole.

Vader Mania

On the left is a Darth Vader knock off, according to the package he came in, his name is "Spacebot."  I get a kick out of oddball Star Wars knock off toys like this.  I'm thinking it might be something I collect more of in the future.

On the right, is a plastic Darth Vader mask.  For some reason these things are always in the thrift store near my house.

In the middle is my most awesome Darth Vader find.  It's a vintage Empire Strikes Back Darth Vader action figure carrying case.  I use to have one of these when I was a kid but that one is long gone.  So I was totally stoked to see this thing sitting on the toy shelf of the thrift store by my house.  There there weren't any action figures inside, of course, but I did find a couple of vintage blasters inside the accessory compartment, so that was a sweet bonus.

Imaginext Firehouse

Lately I've been on the lookout for Imaginext toys.  This week my search paid off when I found this sweet Imaginext firehouse.   I scooped this up as soon as I saw it.  But, after I brought it home I realized I had no place to put it!  So now it's just sitting on my bedroom floor until I can figure out what I'm going to do with it.  I may need to rethink buying larger playsets like this in the future.

Along with the firehouse, I found two Imaginext figures, as well as an odd Playskool (I think) Spider-Man figure that's pretty much in the same scale as the Imaginext guys.  I say he's odd, because he is sculpted without a mask, and with a hole torn in his costume's knee.  So, he's like a battle-damaged Spider-Man, I guess.  But he has a big smile on his face, which is totally at odds with his battle-damage.  He's in way too good of a mood for someone who just got beat up.

More Toys and Games

Here's a handful of fun pop culture goodies.  First up is a giant sized Bart Simpson Taking Pez dispenser.  Then I have a Justice League animated series puzzle.  I always worry when I buy something like this at a thrift store that it will be missing pieces, but this one is complete.  I'm slowly accumulating a collection of animated Justice League action figures on my thrift store shopping trips.  I think it might be cool to assemble and frame this puzzle, and then pose my figures in front of it.  Last up in this group is a big green Gumby!  I love Gumby.  I've already got Gumby and Pokey in a smaller size (I think I've had those ones since the 1980s), but this guy is about twice as big.  Now I guess I'll have to be on the lookout for a jumbo sized Pokey to complete the set.

Whale Bones

This is a kind of weird, but also kind of interesting, Burger King toy.  It's a whale made of translucent plastic, that you can open up to find a whale skeleton inside.  In my pictures, you can see the whale bones clearly through the shell, but that's due to the flash on my camera.  Under normal light it's only barely visible, and the effect is pretty cool.  I'm not sure what the deal is supposed to be with this toy... is it supposed to be educational, or is it supposed to be creepy?  I don't know, but I like it.

The Penguin Army Continues to Grow

Finishing things up today is the latest penguin in my Penguin Army.  Sometime in the next couple of weeks I'm going to have to gather all of my penguins together, along with my "The Penguin" (Batman villain) action figures, for a group photo.

Alright, that's it for this week.  I was just looking at my previous Thrift Store Thursday post from two weeks ago, and saw that I mentioned my Imaginext Joker Van.  Somehow that completely slipped my mind when I was taking photos for this post.  I'll try and remember to get it next week.  In fact, I might go for a 100% Batman post next Thursday, unless I find something else even cooler when I go shopping this weekend.  Either way, I hope to see you back next time!