Round Robin Challenge: Obsession

"THIS WEEK'S CHALLENGE IS OBSESSION!

WHAT IS YOUR COLLECTING OBSESSION?"

This is my fist post/response to the Round Robin Challenge.  It was hard to nail down exactly what my collecting obsession is, but after some soul searching I finally figured it out:  I AM OBSESSED WITH CREATING WORLDS!  This obsession with creating worlds explains why I  love building toys (LEGO, Construx), micro toys (Mighty Max, Micro Machines, Trend Masters), hobby toys (model trains, Christmas & Halloween villages, etc.), table top gaming (D&D, War Hammer, Brik Wars), and good old play sets!

Custom minifigures I created.  Space is my favorite LEGO theme.

Basil The Bat Lord, Fright Knights Castle sub-theme

Salt Lake City Comic Con 2015, UtahLUG display

My earliest toy memory was when I was 4 or 5 years old, building the Blacktron Message Intercept Base (Set 6987-1).  I still have bits and pieces from that set, and I hope to one day rebuild it.  I have always loved the customizable nature of the LEGO brick.  You really can create anything!  I really miss the modular Classic Space base plates and I wish I had stocked up.  Even considering just custom minifigures, there are millions of possible combinations of head, torso, legs, weapons, hats, etc., it is mind boggling!  You really can build your own little world out of LEGO, though it can become very expensive.  This is why I enjoy others' amazing creations, like Jang Bricks on YouTube, and the Construx Custom Designs Gallery.

My brother and I were huge fans of Galoob's Micro Machines and I still have a large collection of Z-Bots.  This inevitably led to my love of Bluebird's Mighty Max series and all the other micro toys that flooded the market in the 90's.  I loved that my parents could afford to buy me playsets, because they were so much cheaper in micro form.

Z-Bots Combots line, Tomahawk in custom desert scene. I simply used an old tan sheet as sand.  Army men buckets are perfect for little accessories, like the barbwire fencing.

I also recall with fondness our family trips to the Intermountain Train Expo.  I really want to visit again this year with my Dad and bring my kids along too.  It was so cool seeing all the work and detail that went into those model trains and the surrounding landscape!

I recently started building a Halloween a few years ago when Tombstone Corners hit Dollar Tree stores. Ever since I visited Gardener Village in the fall as a kid and saw the Halloween villages there, I have wanted to create my own village.

Check out my latest Tombstone Corners post, with links to every post HERE.

I have never played D&D or War Hammer, but I appreciate and marvel at the creativity of the games! I love the imagination and creativity that goes into a D&D game; and dedicated War Hammer players have created some incredible terrain and structures from everyday household rubbish!

And lastly, playsets and toy dioramas have always interested me.  I did get some traditional playsets as a kid, like the Swamp Thing Swamp Trap playest (1990), and one of the Bat Cave playsets (I can't even remember which one to be honest, and a few others of note.  I will be making a top 10 playset list of my personal favorites that I owned or really want).  However, I always ended up creating playsets myself using cardboard or whatever else I could find.  I recently created a playset from a cardboard apple box, Frogacuda's lair/toy room basement/sewer or something.  The great outdoors is another quick and easy playset of sorts.  Retroblasting puts it best with their video "Greatest Playsets you didn't 'buy'":

Frogacuda & Froggy Jr. in their toy room.  Micro toys are perfect toys for bigger toys.

Old Sheets are perfect for a quick and easy landscape.

Another part I love about dioramas is crossing toy lines.  Here we have Imaginext, The Real Ghostbusters, and Playmobil.  The more the merrier!

I enjoy building in many different mediums.  My 2015 ginger bread contest entry at work, Eversweet National Forest.  I won first prize for Most Creative.  That is real maple syrup in the candy lake.

What is your obsession, collecting related or otherwise?  tell me in the comments below!

Frogacuda's Toy Cave Episode 1: 2016 Madballs blind bags CODES!!!

Frogacuda: Hello internet, we hope you enjoy the first episode of Frogacuda's Toy Cave. Cutting straight to the codes first, so you don't need to search all over.  We give you the 2016 Just Play American Greetings Madballs codes!  

Look closely on the back bottom of the package and you will see numbers stamped onto the package, ending 001-007.  Each ending number corresponds with the Madball contained within. (You can barely make it out in this picture, if at all. Don't look at the barcode. You should be able to see the indented number on the bottom.)

001- Skull Face
002- Horn Head
003- Screamin' Meemie
004- Dust Brain
005- Slobulus
006- Oculus Orbus
007- Glow-in-the-Dark Skull Face

Horn Head, Skull Face (& GID Skull Face), Screamin' Meemie, and Oculus Orbus

Frogacuda Jr.: Now we are still hunting for Dust Brain & Slobulus.  So, if anyone finds these two please let us know.

Frogacuda: We are also collecting the full size Madballs, which you can find in the same location as the minis at Target.  We haven't checked Walmart yet, but we've heard they've been spotted there as well.  We need the full sized Horn Head and Slobulus.  If you can find those then count yourself very lucky!  I haven't even seen Slobulus on eBay or anything.

Full size Oculus Orbus

Frogacuda Jr.:  Yep, people have opened cases and haven't found a single Slobulus, and only very rarely found a Horn Head.

Going back to the blindbags, you'll notice there are 13 total on the back.  Only seven are currently available though, so don't give your hopes up looking for Swine Sucker, Lock Lips, Fist Face, Bruiser Brother, Snake Bait, or Buzz Off, because you won't find them. Hoping they will release the rest soon.  Though I find it a bit deceiving to have all 13 on the package now.

Frogacuda: Also, these have had mixed reviews.  A lot of people don't like the "X" eyes.  I don't mind it, I kind of like the style.  I really want to see the animated shorts, but nothing is posted on Madballs.com yet.

Frogacuda Jr.: The "X" eyes kind of bother me, but I still like them. They're a definite buy for any Madballs fan.  I also like that they are made of a squishy foam, just like the originals.

What does everyone watching think?  Do you like these new Madballs?  Let us know in the comments below!

Forgacuda:  Well, that's it for this episode.  If you have any suggestions, words of wisdom, tips & tricks, or you wanna send us any toys to review, or furniture and posters to jazz up our toy cave, please email us at FCToyCave@gmail.com.

My Top 10 Fast Food Toys

Recently I have been thinking about all my favorite fast food toys from the past.  Here are my personal top 10 favorites:

10.  Hardee's Halloween Smooshies

Hardee's had some real winners!  I still have all the Halloween Smooshies, but all the bases the little plushies came in are now all long since lost.  The Surfing Pizza has a nice review HERE.

9. Hardee's California Raisins Series 1-5

My Dad collected a ton of these and I remember playing with them all the time.  Hardee's released 5 sets, including a set of plush raisins!  They were a perfect tie-in with their cinnamon raisin biscuits, and the commercial if perfect!

8. Wendy's Playskool Definitely Dinosaurs

Almost everyone had these kicking around the house, even if you don't remember where they came from. I still have quite a few and they have held up after all these years and my kids play with them today. Check out Katrina's Toy Blog for more info on the definitely Dinosaurs toy line.  I can't believe how many color variants Wendy's released!

7. McDonald's Batman The Animated Series and Batman Returns

Finally, McDonald's  made the list (it's really unavoidable) I'm clumping these 2 batman themes together because the awesome little cars go together so perfectly. 

6. McDonald's Fast Macs & Mickey's Birthday Land Racers

These are just classic!  Like number 7 on the list, these are actually 2 toy lines, but they together perfectly.  I played with these little cars for hours.  Maybe my Dad should've kept them locked up in a case like the dad in the commercial, because us kids eventual wore them out.

5. McDonald's Super Mario 3

Nintendo & McDonald's go together like fries and and a shake!

4. Jack-in-the-Box & Burger King Universal Monsters

These were almost on par with toys you could find at the toy store! I didn't even know about the Jack-in-the-Box Monsters until I saw the fun little video below

3. McDonald's McDino & McRobot Changeables

These are at the top of the list for most fast food toy fans, and I can see why.  I still have some of the Dinos kicking around.  I love that the McRobot commercial used hand-drawn animation, perfectly knocking off the Transformers.

2. SubwayABC's Bump in The Night

Who'd a thunk Subway of all places would make the list!  No offense to anyone that likes Subway's current "toys", but I think it's all pretty lame now.  I loved the claymation Bump in the Night cartoon series, but somehow I missed out on these.  Probably because Subway wasn't really known for kids meal toys.  Maybe some day I will buy these.  Then Bumpy, Squishington, Molly, and Destructo too, can have wonderful adventures while I'm away.

Source

1. Burger King & KFC Micro Machines Z-Bots

It's no secret that I love Z-Bots, and when I found out Burger King had Z-Bots, well, The Burger King Kids Club was the clear winner of the kids meal wars in my eyes.  I found out several years later KFC also had Z-Bots Linkbots, so I thought I'd throw that in.  The KFC Linkbots are pretty ugly, but they're Z-Bots and pretty rare, so I want them too!

What are your favorite fast food toys?  Did they make my personal favorites list?  Am I missing out on an amazing fast food toy premium?  Tell me in the comments below!

January 2017 Mix Tape

The holidays are over, no more presents, no more candy, no more time off.  But it's still cold, dark, and depressing.  Time for the January 2017 mix tape! Have a listen HERE.

January 2017 Mix Tape

Side A

1. Super Mario Bros 3 World 6 Remix

2. Snowman TV

3. ZMiX - Koume & Kotake / Twinrova Theme (Dubstep Remix)

4. Ice Cavern - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Music Extended

5. Biomes: Taiga (Minecraft Inspired Music)

Side B

1. Resident Evil Code: Veronica X - Subzero [EXTENDED] Music

2. New Year's Eve Countdown - Animal Crossing: New Leaf Music

3. Animal Crossing - New Year's Eve

4. Mr Bean Sing Au Lang Syne

5. New Year's Day (2AM onward) - Animal Crossing: New Leaf Music

"Secret Tracks"

once there was a snowman

Tales of Symphonia OST - A Snow Light (Flanoir)

Donkey Kong Country - Snow Mountain

Snowhead Temple - The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask Music Extended