Toy Bender

It’s time for part two of my toy haul from the San Jose Toy, Comic, and Record Show!

Star Wars Micro Collection Bespin Gantry - $12.00

This is one of those purchases that was totally spontaneous. When I was a kid my Dad bought me the companion piece to this rare-ish Star Wars toys wayyyy after they should have been in stores. It was flipping sweet. The only reason I got this one was that I picked it up and asked how much the dealer wanted for it. He said twenty bucks, which was out of my price range since it was at the tail end of my spending and I wasn’t that interested. I put the box down and the guy then tells me he’d take fifteen. I said I’d have to think about it and he suddenly offers it to me for twelve. This guy must have been desperate the way he talked himself down so quickly. I bought it at that moment, but man I wonder what he’d have offered if I would have turned that down. There was probably a free puppy that I missed out on. Damn it.

Shawn managed to get a huge deal from the guy with virtually no effort as well. I’m wondering if this dealer should rethink his line of work.

G.I. Joe Catalog Insert - $1.00

You couldn’t beat the little inserts that outlined all the cool toys available in a toy line. I’d stare at the Star Wars and G.I. Joe inserts for hours. I decided a little while ago that I would like to start collecting them again and i was glad I found one at the show. For a buck, I can drool over the Joe toys available in the early years of the line.

Cobra Battle Bunker Parts - 2.00

One of the great advantages of having a repository of useless toy knowledge is being able to identify what random toy parts belong to what toy. While digging through a pile of G.I. Joe toys in a box I found one piece of the Cobra Battle Bunker. A toy collecting frenzy washed over me at that moment, since the Battle Bunker is one of my most wanted items and it’s kind of pricey. After digging around a bit I managed to find two other pieces that make up the main chunks of the thing. All I need now is the top and bottom to get the whole thing, which should be a bit cheaper than buying a 100% complete bunker.

Cobra Pogo - $15.00

The Cobra pogo is one of the most ridiculous of all G.I. Joe vehicles. It was also engineered to drive kids crazy because almost the entire thing is made of easily lost parts. I’ve been hoping to get a new one that had everything included after my old one nearly disintegrated piece by piece and the one I purchased was nearly flawless. I did try to talk the dealer down to ten bucks, but it didn’t work. I walked away from the deal and by the time we finished looking at all the dealer tables I was going crazy with wanting the stupid thing, so I returned and dropped the fifteen on it.

WWII Helmet - $120

I’d be remiss to not mention this thing. No, this purchase was not for myself. The unique thing about this helmet is that it’s got a bullet hole through the side. How creepy hey? After seeing it I told Diane (my wife) that she should call her Dad and tell him about it, as he is a bit of a World War II aficionado. She called home on the spot and got her mom who told her to buy it and she’d pay us back. She wanted to give the helmet to my father in law as a 30th wedding anniversary. Hey, nothing says love quite like a German war helmet with the stench of death on it…

I have no idea if it is worth as much as they were selling for if it was legit. I’d rather just assume it was real and that it’s going to haunt me.

*Thanks to me for the worst picture ever. Thanks to the internet for the rest.