Non-SW Collectibles v 2.0

I never had the BSG ships as a kid, but a friend of mine did and I was always jealous. I'm circling a Cylon Raider on eBay at the moment. I've been meaning to pick up that BluRay set. Wal-Mart had the standard DVD re-release recently for $29.00, but I held off because I do want it in widescreen. Let me know what you think once you start watching.

Yeah, the likeness on those ST Mego figures are really good aren't they? And this is obviously before laser scanning and all of that. This is some artist somewhere sculpting them by hand. Well done Sir/Madame!

 

I don't think we have the original BSG on Blu-Ray. We did get the full series of the New BSG on Blu-Ray. That was after I went to SDCC and saw a Caprica/BSG panel years ago and Edward James Olmos kept saying we needed to by the series on "bluuuuu-ray..." I saw him at my Con this past summer and told him that's now how I said Bluuuuu-Ray - he thought I was funny

Our original BSG came in that special box w/ the giant Cylon head on the outside of it.

 

Now that's how I'm going to pronounce it . I wasn't as picky about it being hi-def as I was the formatting. The aspect ratio on the standard DVD set causes it to look like a postage stamp on widescreen TVs. But the Blu-Ray set goes for $80.00+, which is really more than I want to spend on it. Might see if I can pick it up used for a bit cheaper in the near future.

 

You need it super wide screen to see those multi eyeballed aliens in their full glory, eh?

 

I'm a huge fan of the new BG 200X series too - great show. I liked the new characters (female Starbuck, Adama, etc.) & the storyline. Very interesting twist in the finale - I didn't see that coming. As far as quality goes, it's probably superior to the original series. Also really enjoyed the prequel series Caprica.

However, I was a really big fan of the original BG series as a kid - though some said it was simply a Star Wars rip-off, I felt it was more interesting than that. It seemed to draw from mythology to a great extent.

Never got the original BG series on DVD, though I've seen the whole series in full-screen.

I ended up getting the Remastered version of the original series on Blu-ray for around $60 (before tax) from Amazon. Note this also includes the IMHO underrated & entertaining Galactica: 1980 series as well. Note this remastered version only includes the newer, remastered "widescreen" version of the show, not the original full-screen version that's included on the regular DVD's. I'll post more info. once I have time to start watching this:

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Battlestar-Galactica-Blu-ray/119230/

However, there is a much more expensive version of the show which is the "Definitive" version on Blu-ray - this includes both the widescreen & full-screen versions - I don't have this. I figure if I have the superior widescreen version, I don't need anything else.

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Battlestar-Galactica-The-Definitive-Collection-Blu-ray/119231/

 

That and Dirk Benedict's feathered 70s hair.

Never got into the reboot/reimagining, but I grew up on the original. I was only 4 when it was on the air originally, but it was always on TV as I was growing up throughout the 80s; Often as part of weekend marathons. I still have some of the trading cards that my brother's friend gave me (along with a slew of others) when he outgrew them.

It does often get lumped into the pile of SW ripoffs--and there's little doubt of the aesthetic influence there. I believe John Dykstra even did the BSG f/x. But storywise, there's nothing in common. I agree, some really interesting concepts in there. Not fully fleshed out in the original series, but certainly present.

Cool, thanks for the info! I'm thinking this would make a good birthday present. Now just need to get the hint to my Brother...

 

Awww Juke Skywalker you need to watch the new BSG. The show really is it's own thing, it's sooo, soooo good. It's the pinnacle that all sci-fi tv aspire to become. Here years later I've watched stuff that both David Eick and Ron Moore have produced and I can tell exactly what each contributed to the new series. Eick was the sci-fi tech/ships guy along w/ day to day family character interactions - there's a very BSG quality to those 2 things on "Falling Skies" which he was a head producer on. And Ron Moore was all about the politics, moral ambiguity, and the rich, depth that went into building the characters and their relationships - he produces my favorite TV series "Outlander" and along w/ Bear McCreary there for the soundtrack the show has a BSG on earth quality to the politics and relationships.

It nods to the original series at times, but the 2 are very much their own entities. You can still enjoy them both as separate entities.

The original series did fine in the ratings but it wasn't a blow away hit, that's why it wasn't on very long. At the time it was on it was the most expensive weekly show ever made for TV. Ultimately they just couldn't afford to keep it on the air. It's too bad. But then again it opened the door so Dirk Benedict could go on to be on The A-Team

 

Agree 100% that the re-made BG series was amazing; I really enjoyed the show, though I watched it exclusively on DVD only (not TV). Amazing series that really tapped into a lot of the social issues that were in the news back in the 200X's, while also retaining an obvious strong sci-fi element. Also liked the new robotic cylons, which were much more streamlined & more threatening than the ones in the original series. And, the fact that the cylons also appeared human in many cases was quite disturbing, and made for some great plot twists...

 

The silver lining! I always loved the shot used in the opening credits from the episode where Benedict's Face is at Universal or some movie backlot and a guy in a Cylon costume walks by and he sorta gets this look on his face like "Hey, wait a sec, I know you...".

I gave the new BSG a shot back when the hype began, but it was a little heavy handed for my taste. But sometimes you really need to give a show time to get its hooks into you.

 

Good memories. I also remember enjoying the homage to BG in the opening sequence of The A-Team, when DB (The "Face" Man) saw the Cylon on that movie backlot and gets that look of recognition on his face - very funny.

The new BSG is definitely not for everyone. I remember talking to someone way back when the show made it's debut who watched the first couple of episodes & strongly disliked it - a lot of this was because it was so different from the original.

So, if you do plan on trying to watch the re-made BSG, I would say go into this with an open mind - don't think of it in terms of the original, except in the most rudimentary sense - i.e., this plot point is the same in both: A group of humans are forced to flee from their their home world(s) because of a Cylon Invasion, and are on a long voyage in search for a legendary planet called Earth...

Note that that a short-lived "prequel" series called Caprica came out after BSG, which basically delves into the history behind the beginnings of Artificial Intelligence & the Cylons, etc. However, it's probably better to start watching the BSG series first, and then if you like that watch Caprica....

 

Which reminds me, I really need to look into getting some A-Team figures...

I have a tendency to go back and watch shows several years after they've left the air. I don't think I'm a contrarian, but I can't deny that if something is popular or has a lot of buzz I lose interest unil long after that's died down.

 

Well the good thing w/ doing that is you can binge watch instead of having to wait each week for new episodes.

I don't understand why TV shows don't get tons of merchandising. I guess it's the "unknown' factor on if they'll get renewed or not. Shows like The Flash and Arrow should be getting gobs of merchandise right now, not just figures and pop figures but even the bigger merchandise guys should make things.

*Sigh I love my TV shows, movies are ok, but I love TV.

 

Yeah, TV shows are usually under-represented with toys/collectibles - much more than movies - I'm looking at you, X-files

That being said, the new BG series did get some interesting toys back in the 200X's. I've got some of the robotic Cylons around here somewhere.

Re: the classic BG series, I really liked the minimal but great action figures that came out in the late '90's by Trendmasters. They definitely looked more "comic-book" like than the original late '70's figures, and I preferred the Trendmasters sculpts. I only have the Silver Cylon, however.

There was another set of classic BG figures in the 200X's by a company called Joyride - never had any of these, however. Here's a link with more info. on the modern BG toys based on the classic series:

http://www.lurexlounge.com/bsg/figures02.php

 

That's definitely one benefit. I was late to the 24 bandwagon, and when I finally decided to check it out I knocked out the first three seasons in about two weeks. When Season 4 began and I was watching it traditionally it was murder having to wait a week to find out what happened.

Yeah, it's not like it used to be when genre shows got a lot of merch. But I guess that's true for movies as well these days, unless you're Marvel or Star Wars.

Nice likenesses on those Trendmasters figures. Definitely more for displaying than for playing with those sculpts and lack of articulation, but they look cool .

 

my kids and I collect a lot of diverse stuff between us. About the oddest we have is Loonette and Molly from The Big Comfy Couch. Then my son loves his Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts stuff.

 

Went to a local vintage toy store today and picked up an G.I. Joe APC (Amphibious Personnel Carrier). Always a favorite as a kid, and I need to start focusing on Joe vehicles again.

 

I have collected WAY too much s#@t over the years. Here is my collection room, which is basically my attic that I converted.

 

Darth Mikey I like the Ghostbusters stuff! I also like that you collect figures of all sizes.

I know probably no one will care, but I've suddenly got Barbie fever again thanks to Mattel announcing their new body sizes for the dolls - they're making a curvier doll, a shorter one, and a taller one to go with the standard body size. I ordered 4 of the new ones - my first 3 should be arriving next week, the other is on pre-order.



Thanks the world having Star Wars fever, I've been having a bitch of a time finding any Star Wars stuff at my thrift stores, but I'm always finding Barbies (my second big collecting love.) I was very excited on Friday, I went to a Goodwill that I haven't been to in a looonnngg time and scored an awesome find! I got a Mattel1968 Truly Scrumptious doll from "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"! (Not my pic below - but my doll is in gorgeous shape, better than this pic.) My Scrumptious's hair still has original curl at the ends, she's got all of her rooted eyelashes, her legs are tight and knees both click (things vintage collectors look for.) And she had her original dress that looks like the pic below except that it's missing the pink sash w/ the flowers. It's also firmer and looks brand new. She's missing a hat and shoes. She was a little dirty, I got a lot of it off today when I scrubbed her down w/ Clorox wipes.

From what I've been able to see she's the first edition of the doll. I used to sell at doll shows in CA in the 90's and these are sooo hard to find, the fact that I got her stuffed in a bag w/ another modern Barbie and I got her basically for $1.50 is all the better! Finding awesome vintage items in the wild just fuels my love of thrift store hunting.



In my time of thrift store hunting I've found a few vintage Barbies, but they've been pretty rare. Last Summer I scored and got a 60's Francie, an original Skipper and her friend Scooter (she was in rough shape.)

This fall I also got a 70's camper which my sister immediately snatched out of my hands and claimed as her own. It's missing the plastic window and one of the sides, but it's got the whole pop-tent which is usually long gone. It had a couple of flaws but was in amazing shape. I had a blue one of these called the Barbie beach cruiser that apparently I destroyed as a kid, someday I'll get one of those for myself.



My Barbie holy grails are the holy grails of all Barbie collectors, I'd kill for a black Francie. I have a repro of her but next to a #1 Barbie she's the rarest of all vintage dolls. (Of course finding a real #1 Barbie is also the mega dream, but I'd be happy w/ a #2 or #3 and yes, I'm enough of a Barbie geek that I'd know those on sight.)

Black Francie was the very first black doll that Mattel made. She came out in the late 60's and didn't sell well but she paved the way for Christie, Brad, and Julia (based on the TV show "Julia" starring Diahann Carrol.) The Julia doll btw was the first celebrity doll Mattel ever made, she's one of my favorites, I have like 4 of them



My sister and I used to have a pretty impressive vintage Barbie collection, she focused on a lot of the older Barbies, I got the FOB - friends of Barbie. But we had some unexpected vet bills that came up when our Golden retriever died our first year her in AZ and we sold most of them off to cover the expenses

Since I'm sort of looking again for dolls, I found an auction this weekend and scored a Bionic woman doll by Kenner who's got I think 3 of her outfits (I'll likely be selling her off - she'll pay for the whole lot) and I scored 2 vintage 60's TNT (Twist and Turn) Barbies w/ a few other 70's Barbies in the lot. I'm looking forward to getting them, they'll be my first TNT Barbies, Kate was the one who always bought Barbie, hopefully they're in good condition. I couldn't really tell much about the dolls because were dressed, but they all looked clean as did the clothes. *Fingers crossed* I did write and confirmed that they're smoke free - thank god, I'm sick of buying smokey doll lots on ebay!

For something slightly less girly - I really love the new Barbies for "Batman vs. Superman" - I really have zero interest in the movie, but I love the new, muscled body made for Batman and Superman and the Wonder Woman looks great, they've given her a more action posing body than any Barbies and has hands that grip!

$39.99 is a good price point for them. The Ben mold looks a lot like him as does the Superman Henry doll. I rather loathe Ben Affleck so I'll likely pass on his doll but I probably will get Supes and WW, I do have Superman figures, this is a much more affordable choice from Hot Toys.

 

Darth Mikey, great room! Haven't been a wrestling fan since I was a kid, but I have fond memories of Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n Wrestling and racing home after church on Sunday to catch the last half hour or so of the "best of" WWF show that ran on USA. Actually, just this past week I was looking up the old LJN Wrestling Superstars figures on eBay. I'd like to pick up a few; Hogan, Macho Man, Andre the Giant, Rowdy Roddy Piper. Maybe a couple of more.

PadmeLeiaJaina, my Step Sisters had a massive Barbie collection as a kid, so any 80s era Barbie item (Pink corvette, Dream House) instantly stokes the nostalgia fires a bit. I've sort of fallen out of the thrifting game of late, but back when I went regularly I would say I came across Barbie more often than any of the other iconic toy lines (SW, G.I. Joe, MLP). And that camper is so cool that if I came across one I'd buy it in a sec.

 

Barbies (and Disney dolls) are everywhere at thrift shops, it's why I buy them and resell most of what I pick up. You'd be shocked at how many practically brand new dolls show up there, all they need is a small amount of hair brushing and they're gorgeous ready to sell. I've amassed a pretty large collection of Monster High dolls that I've bought there w/o having to buy any of those brand new. Star Wars stuff and boys toys are always beat up in comparison hence why at some point I'm going to put together a huge Tatooine/Jakku junk yard display in my SW room because I have so many ships that are missing pieces.

I had Barbies really from the 70's and 80's for when I was a kid - then I started collecting after college. My sister still doesn't forgive me for destroying some of her much older dolls (hence part of our adult hunt to look to replace vintage dolls.) I need to get my craft room/doll room together fully so I can get shelves to display all of my Barbies, I'd really love to get a Barbie town house - it was 3 levels w/ an elevator. We had one as a kid and lost parts to it and eventually it got destroyed. We do have a couple of the houses that even pre-date that plus an early 60's boat and I think the airplane play set. Barbie has everything It's rather that fact that helps continue my love of her since Hasbro fails so miserably at providing play sets.

Mattel had some mountain man doll named Big Jim in the 70's that they made a version of the Camper for him (I can thank Jordan Hemsbrough for knowing this, never heard of it before I saw it on one of his shows):



I was looking up pics of the different campers last night and ran across this lovely - I might have to try to track one down, what a great knock off brand, Empire 70's van!



Ok so apparently Tonka made this Winnebego at 23" and Barbie fits in it - looks like the PERFECT piece for doing a Walking Dead 12" display!



EDIT: Ok now I'm REALLY excited, they made these even w/ the right colors for TWD!

 

That's a great idea .

It's funny you mention Big Jim. I've recently been looking to pick up a couple of 70s "Lifelike hair, Kung-Fu Grip"-era G.I. Joe Adventure Team figures (Boy are they expensive) and in doing research I came across Big Jim and his Sports Camper. As soon as I saw Barbie's I thought of it, but I'd forgotten Big Jim was by Mattel as well. Naturally they would recycle it.

The vintage toy store I went to Saturday had that green Winnebago, a little rougher shape than the one in the picture, and a price of $70.00 on it. I'd like to have one, but that was a bit steep for me for that particular item.

 

$70 is apparently a good price for that Winnebozo (what my mom used to call them) that's about the low end price of beat up ones online. As much as I love this thing, the cost of getting the figures to go with it to do a Walking Dead display isn't really in my wheelhouse, but I did put the bug in my sister's ear I'll just work on getting myself my Barbie Beach bus.

Two of my new Barbies showed up yesterday - I got my taller Barbie and my shorter one. The shorter one sort of reminds me of their pre-teen dolls but she's quite cute. The taller one it totally new, they've never done girls taller than 11.5". Can't wait for my curvy doll to show up, she should be here tomorrow.

 

I don't doubt it. A lot of that 70s era Tonka stuff is in rough shape due to the nature of the toys themselves, but they fetch a good price regardless of condition.

You mentioned that they're offering a wider variety of body shapes in the Barbie line now. Is that just for the females or will Ken and company be getting a similar revamp?

 

Oh you haven't seen the news on that? Clickeroo! It's just Barbie, I don't know if we'll be seeing any revamps on Ken or not. She's now going to be available in 4 different sizes - original, Petite, Tall, and Curvy. My first Curvy doll should arrive today, when she gets here I'll photograph them all together so you can see the difference. They have had somewhat taller dolls in the line, they're their Model Muse dolls who, as you might guess are model thin w/ hugely high arched heels. The tall girls are tall w/ flat feet, they don't have model bodies.The petite dolls have a more mature body style as opposed to the earlier shorter dolls that were distinctly pre-teen. The curvy dolls have wider hips, bigger thighs, and *gasp* a stomach pooch. They still have regular Barbie too.

It's all pretty exciting. Lots of annoying people out there love to claim that skinny Barbie gave them self esteem issues *rolls eyes* so the new dolls should help shut them up.

 

I have seen the headlines recently, but I wasn't sure if they were going to give us Beer Belly Ken w/pork rinds and six pack of beer too . The body image issue has been around at least as far back as my Step Sister's day. Not sure where I stand on that (My He-Man figures never made me want to use steroids, though there are different social pressure for girls than guys), but just as when they introduced more ethnicities into the line, it's certainly nice to see dolls that have a wide variety of body types. And the classic Barbie will still be available, so really it's a win-win.