Freaky Friday: Trying New Haunts

I do about 90% of my Frugal Friday shopping at the DI. It's just easier that way because there are DIs freaking everywhere in Utah! This week I thought I'd change things up a bit and try out our local Goodwill. I didn't even know there was a Goodwill nearby until we happened to spot one as we drove by. I probably wouldn't have even noticed it if it weren't for the Goodwill Geek. Go check out his blog, it's freaking awesome! I've read all about the awesome things the GWG has spotted at the Goodwill, so I thought I'd try my luck.

Very ominous weather.

When I arrived I noticed there was a Halloween Express next door and a Toys R Us just 2 stores down. Pretty neat. Inside there weren't many shoppers, which I love, more stuff for me. The DI is always swamped with people, it's brutal.


The prices seemed a tad higher here, which isn't all bad, because that means things will tend to stay on the shelf a little longer. I spotted an awesome Dragon Slayer coloring book for $1.

The back cover is pretty sweet!

Tons o' grab bags. Similar to what you might see at Savers.

There were a ton of toy grab bags priced between $2 and $4. Sitting on the shelf in the toy section I spotted a nice little gem.

Nothing to see here, just an unassuming, tiny-headed lumberjack.

This weird shrunken-headed lumberjack caught my eye. I could tell right away that it could transform. The transformation was a thing of beauty! BEHOLD!

My, what big feet you have!

After Mr. Lumberjack's true identity was revealed it was a no brainer that I had to have him, even though he was missing a wing. I wasn't 100% sure what he was from, but I had a pretty good hunch this was a Ghostbusters toy of some kind. My hunch was confirmed by a quick internet search later on. I had discovered a VINTAGE KENNER 1988 REAL GHOSTBUSTERS, THE HAUNTED HUMANS, HARD HAT HORROR GHOST ACTION FIGURE!

Now Slimer has a friend! I thought Hard Hat Horror was $1, but apparently every item with a yellow tag was half-off. I didn't know this, but everything at Goodwill is color coded, and every week one color is half-off for that week. Cool!

Look at that sinister face!

The "human" face is scarier though!

My last, and absolute favorite, find of the trip was this absolutely adorable Flower costume! It was just Ava's size and only 2 bucks! The Halloween selection at the Goodwill puts the DI to shame. 

Look at this cutie! Melts my heart, I love her to pieces!

So, the verdict is in, the Goodwill will become one of my new haunts. All you Utahans, don't forget to check out a Goodwill near you every once and a while, you can find some great stuff!

Creepy Crawlers!

Yet another awesome toy that may very well be lurking in a box in my parent's garage. I remember making dozens of cheap little bugs with this this thing!

Yeah, they really weren't that realistic. It was so hard to get the detailing right. Still loads of fun though!

Creepy Crawlers featured on MS3TK!

There was even a Creepy Crawlers cartoon. I kind of remember this

That theme song needs work. It feels forced and that kid's singing kinda makes my ears bleed.

Does anyone still have one of these? If so, can I come over to your house and make some Creepy Crawler spiders?

Wicked Wants

This week’s assignment for the League of Extraordinary Bloggers is an idea submitted by Tommy over at Tophat Sasquatch… — When you hit up the toy store, thrift store, flea market, or comic shop, what are some of the things you’re actively hunting?

As you all know my wife and I are quite fond of lists. In honor of Halloween, my list will only include items that are at least vaguely related to this holiday of holidays, otherwise we might be here all day. We might still be here all day. I hope you all enjoy!

Halloweeny List O' Haunted Wants

Candy

Vintage One-eyed Monster PEZ Dispenser

Any Vintage Halloween PEZ Dispensers

Vintage Audrey II (Little Shop of Horrors) Candy Head

Clothing

T-shirts with cereal, food, and candy branding 

Moon Boots (for my Napoleon Dynamite costume)

Curly Wig (Also for my Napoleon Dynamite costume)

Napoleon Dynamite style glasses

Furniture and Housewares

Vintage Black Kit-Kat clock (or any color really, but I prefer black)

German Owl Clock

Any vintage or cool Owl décor

Vintage Halloween Themed Tablecloth

Vintage Halloween Decorations

Animal Head Mounts and other cool taxidermy

A Real Mummy Hand

Reconstructed Animal Skeletons
A real monkey skull

Mounted and framed bugs (butterflies, spiders, beetles, etc.)

Books and comics and trading cards

Original Tales From the Crypt Comics

Any Halloween related MAD Magazines

Goosebump Books (I'll spare you a list of the ones I don't have, the ones I do have are tucked away somewhere)

Garbage Pail Kids cards and figures

Creepy Pogs, I had these one Pogs that had severed body parts on them, but I've lost all my Pogs. I think they were Jots brand, but I'm not sure. I want those again so bad!

Video Games

Splatter House II for SEGA Genesis

Any scary game from any system

I always keep an eye out for a steal on an arcade machine, full size or mini

TOYS

Original Kenner The Real Ghostbusters Toy Line

Slimer's Pizza and other accessories

Any figures and accessories from this line

LEGO

Any sets and figures from the Monster Fighters theme

Any sets and figures from the Wolfpack Castle theme

Any skeleton figures

Any vintage Pirates figures and sets

Any Harry Potter Figures or sets

Custom Zombie Figures

Any LOTR figures and sets

Any Dino themed figures and sets

Any robot, alien, and space figures and sets

Any figures and sets from Pharaoh's Quest or Andventurers Themes

Spooky figures from any of the Minifigures series. I don't have with a spooky or potentially spooky theme:

Zombie

Vampire

Witch

Robot

Werewolf

Lady Robot

Scarecrow

Island Warrior

Evil Mech

Yeti

Female Scientist

Welder

Saxophone Player

Crash Test Dummy

Mime

Pharaoh

Explorer

Gorilla Suit Guy

Mummy

Space Villain

The Monster (Frankenstein)

Egyptian Queen

Cave Woman

Lumberjack

Butcher

Genie

Surgeon

Ocean King (Merman)

Jungle Boy (Tarzan)

The Thespian

Alien Villainess

Business Man

Fortune Teller

Sad Clown

Mr. Gold

Playmobil

Any figure and sets from the Ghost Pirates Theme

Ghost Figures

Skeleton Figures

From the new Mystery Packs:

Witch Figure

Original Specials Executioner

Jail Bird

Vampiress

Pirate Captain (with skull)

All Alien Figures

Original Beetlejuice toys

Anything from this line

Bendos

Any spooky figures, including aliens and robots, and accessories from this short lived toy line

AC from Bendos line holding a MOTU He-Man battle axe.

MOTU

Scareglow

Accessories for Moss Man and Grizzlor

Pretty much any He-Man baddy

Sectaurs Warriors of Symbion
I never owned anything from this line, but I would love to get my hands on some figures. As you know, I love bugs, so these are perfect!

Supernaturals
Another toy line I knew nothing about as a kid, but now I want 'em!

Army Ants
I actually had some of these back in the day, but they're all lost. Again, bugs.

The Inhumanoids toy line
I don't know how I never knew about the Inhumannoids cartoon show when I was younger. I would have loved it. The toys are just scary as all heck!

Mutant League toy line
This show cracked me up as a kid. In the intro you watch in horror as football players mutate into hideous monsters. The main character's flesh melts off his bones and he becomes Bones Justice. From then on they didn't play normal football, oh no, it was now the Mutant League! Tearing off limbs, or even decapitating your opponent was no longer considered a penalty, in fact it was encouraged. The show didn't last very long, I wonder why?

Mighty Max

The cool boy version of Polly Pockets! These were some awesome toys and my brother and I had some sets as kids. Of course, like most of my childhood toys, they're all gone and I want them back again!

Original Aurora Universal Monsters Models

All of them!

In general I look for monster, skeleton, alien, and robot figures of any kind.

That's all I can think of right now. I'm always on the look out for a lot of cool junk, so if there are any sweet Halloween related things I missed then please let me know in the comments below!

Also, if you have some of the above listed items and are willing to part with them or trade or something, then please contact me @ mason.john.allen@gmail.com

And if you have one of said items, but just can't part with it, then that's okay, I still wanna hear about it!


I'm not the only one searching for awesome stuff to add to the pile. Go check out these other amazing wish lists:

Garage Sale of Awesome-Check out the competitive sport known as Video Game Collecting. I can relate!

Thirtyish Year Old Boy-For Daniel, thrift shoppin' is where it's at! I hear that noise!

Whatever I Think Of-Jamie likes to hunt for books, clothes, and Halloween costumes. I'm right there with ya sister!

Nerd Cantina-Matt likes his Joes MOC, and his Star Wars loose.

Nerd Nook-Rich Goes for nostalgia with Super Powers, MOTU, and Thundercats, oh my!

Nerd Out With Me-Fellow AFOL longs for the ultimate Monster Fighters set, 10228 Haunted House. I want that too!!!

Goodwill Haunting 4 Geeks- The Goodwill Geek lists out his awesome coveted toys and longs for some old role playing stuff. Don't we all?

Calvin's Canadian Cave of Cool- Kal says,"There is only one thing I want and you all know who it is. – The Oscar Goldman action figure from the Six Million Dollar Man line WITH exploding briefcase." Oh, heck yes!

Retro Toy Safarai-Mego Superman needs his outfit and Gizmo wants to relive his glory days in a 1984 pink Barbie Corvette. Ahhhh, yeah!



Thanks for reading and happy Halloween Hunting Season!

SLIME TIME!

SLIME TIME With Muck Man and special guest, Slimer!

As promised, October 1st is SLIME TIME! The secret special guest is none other than Slimer, as you can clearly see. I picked up 2 more "flavors" of slime for more slimy fun! After all, what's Halloween without a little slime? So, without much further ado, let's check out the new slimes and slime these slimy guys up, shall we?

Slimer dons his slime cap.

Wow Mason, "Have they made any Star Wars toys?" LOL, I don't know why that came out as Star Wars, I meant X-Files. You know, for the black ink.

Slime Squad

Tar.

Look out Much Man

Yeah, use your spit torture on him!

YUM!

Well, that was fun! Thanks for watching!

Monday Madness: Kirby Witch Doctor!?

Another interesting toy found in the wild

 For me, half the fun of shopping second hand is finding something strange and just out there, something that speaks to you, something unique. The other half the fun is figuring out just what exactly you have!

This little dude's awesome! Makes me think Thanksgiving for some reason.

I found this little guy for the standard 50 cents price and he sure is cool! The only point of articulation is where the top of his head meets his tiki mask-hat. He looks just like a little yellow Kirby witchdoctor (he has the same stuby little arms)  or a Mario Sunshine character. I searched and searched the web for answers, but I just can't figure out this guy's story. Luckily I'm not alone in my search, I have all you wonderful people to help me! Thank you for helping me solve these toy mysteries!

Some kind of microchip, probably interacts with something to emit sound.

The only clue are these strange markings on the bottoms of his feet. Does anyone out there know what I've stumbled upon? It can't be that old, it seems to have a microchip.

Thanks for looking and if you have answers please share!

Sunday Reflections: How Do You Measure Success?

I have a dead end job and obviously it doesn't pay very well, and because of this I feel like I am very unsuccessful. I have a BS degree and I have been searching for a better job, but still nothing has turned up. I have a wonderful wife and the cutest little daughter. My job does suck, but it pays the bills, we're renting a nice house, and the rent is reasonable. Sometimes I just wish I could have a fancy pants job and make $100,000+ a year or something. This may be a fictional example, but Scrooge McDuck is swimming in cash and he gets to go on all sorts of awesome adventures. If I had gobs of money I'd go on some grand adventures with my family. I'd also be able to better help those in need.




Recently I have become more active with my blogging and I have met so many wonderful people within the blogging community, and that has made me very happy. Now I understand why my wife has been so into blogging all these years. She tells me I have caught "the blogging bug". Thank you so much to everyone that has followed, commented and read my little blog! It really means a lot to me! Every time I read a comment it's like getting a little note in the mail from a good friend. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

So, is money really an adequate way to measure success? How do you measure success? I often feel like a failure because I don't make more money. Does anyone else ever feel the same way? How do you overcome that feeling?

Let your voice be heard in the comments below and have a happy Sunday!

Move Over Sponge Bob, There's A New KIng of Crazy Crap, Uncle Grandpa!?

I thought I'd share this scary cartoon with everyone, since Halloween is right around the corner.

Uncle Grandpa reminds me of MAD magazine. It makes shows like Flapjack and and Sponge Bob look like Masterpiece Theater. I don't think I could ever get into this show, it's just too messed up, and yet I just can't stop watching this weird, mindless stuff. Thought I'd share.

WARNING: THIS IS SOME BIZARRE CRAP! VIEWER BEWARE!

What do you think of cartoons these days? Are they all weird random crap, or are there some modern gems? Are there any older cartoons that can top Uncle Grandpa in craziness?