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
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!
For the past 3 years I have been creating what I like to call my "Toytivity". Largely inspired by one of my favorite holiday classics, Merry Christmas Mr. Bean.
I was lucky enough to find a decent nativity set from the DI on the cheap so I can use the manger to really sell it. 2016 is my favorite so far. I only wish I owned more female action figures. A Blackstar demon will have to do for now.
The League is always open to new members! Got a blog? Write a post in response to the weekly challenge, and you’ll be included. It’s that easy!
Once you put up a post on your site add a comment below with the URL. Try to incorporate at least three of your fellow League members’ links (but more would be great!) into the article you wrote, or you can also link to them on social media.
By cross-posting like this, we will help each other out by sending new readers to each other’s sites. Have fun!
The full range of Z-Bots figures, vehicles, and play sets can be quote daunting for a Z-Bots collector. There don't seem to be many Z-Bots fans. It was a weird toy series, especially being under Galoobs Mirco Machines banner. Luckily, I am not a completionist, and while I may be envious of those with super rare series 4 figures and hard to find play sets, I am quite happy with my collection. Here it is!
Not even close to a complete collection, but still an impressive little army. Gathering them all together for one group shot was no east task, and I can see I missed a few. If you want to see some closeups of my collection check out the Z-Bots & Voidspage of Toy-Disorderly .
Is Z-Bots month really over already!? I had it all planned out with a post for each type of Z-Bos starting with Utilitoids and ending with Linkbots, but life just keeps happening. I have decided to pace myself a bit and get more sleep, thus the "Catching More Zs" title, totally not a play on words there. I will still keep posting like a mad man on Instagram, no worries there.
June will be "Halloween In June". It's time to plant pumpkins, so I have Halloween on the brain! Stay tuned for that. Until then, check out #ZBotsMonth on Instagram for some Z-Bots goodness.
Super crappy, super cool vintage Halloween skull I found for 50 cents at the DI of course.
I'm not too familiar with Skylander figures, but I'm loving the spooky vibe from these. 50 cents a pop from the DI!
I already found some Halloween goodies at the DI, where Halloween never dies.
The Z-Bots never had their own cartoon show, but it's okay because they're still "totally cool!"
Personally, I love toy lines that don't have their own cartoon show. Not that I hate cartoons, cuz I love 'em! There's something about cartoonless toys. You can really let your imagination run wild without some "canon" holding you back.
Though there was no toon, there were plenty of commercials. And now, bask in all the 90's glory of Z-Bots commercials!
I really like this fan made commercial!
These were the only commercials I could find with a quick Google search. Are there any more that I am missing? Please tell me and leave a link in the comments below if you know of more awesome commercials!
Stay tuned, this week I will highlight Z-Bots from my collection and I have new additions on their way soon!
I'm just a tad late on this, but I have decided May just feels like Z-Bots month. Z-Bots were produced by Galoob under the Micro Machines banner and my brother and I couldn't get enough of these little robot guys when we were kids! Some of the old Z-Bots collection is worse for wear, and many of my poor Z-Bots and Voids have been lost. I hope to slowly and frugally build a complete collection and I'm sure it will be a life long pursuit, as some figures are insanely rare. If you are a Z-Bots fan then be sure to check out the Z-Bots Collectors Facebook Fan Page! Also, be sure to check out the Micro Machines Museum for an exhaustive checklist of all things Z-Bot! Stay tuned this month for more Z-Bots goodness!
It was bound to happen, I finally caved in and purchased the Extreme Fighting Wrestling Playset from the Dollar Tree. Let's have a look see!
At first sight you may look at this playset and just see a really crappy toy. But keep in mind, you're not always gonna walk into a dollar store and find a The Homer Hot Wheels car every day. Usually you have to look at a dollar toys potential.
The figures that came with the ring are just terrible. The green guy won't even remain standing for more than a few seconds. You have to see past the crappy little wrestling guy figures, think outside the ring
That hideous Extreme Fighting sticker peeled off extremely easily, reveling a lovely diamond plate metal pattern! Why did they even slap that terrible sticker over it anyway?
And of course, you don't have to use this terrible figures when you already have an awesome collection of minifigures! MUSCLE, Battle Beasts, Trashies, Army Men, LEGO minifigures, you name it! You now have a perfect ring for all your minifigure cross-over smack downs!
Of course, the ring is kind of plain, being only one color and all. It does make those colorful minifigures really pop though! I would like to further customize the ring, but I don't have much customizing experience. Do you have any ideas? Has anyone else spotted this hidden gem at the dollar store?
