Junk.  Waste.  Garbage.

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and oh BOY is this trash a treasure…at least for me!  

Welcome, one and all, to another edition of the Super Powers Highlight.  Today we’ll be looking at some of the various shipping cases used to transport Super Powers figures to their intended retail destinations (way back when).

Yes, that’s correct.  We’re looking at boxes.  Three different boxes.

Used shipping cases are very difficult to come by, especially for vintage toy lines.  I don’t think I’ve seen pictures of any other Super Powers shipping cases on the internet, but I’m sure that some of the "high-roller big-baller" collectors have examples in their stashes.  I also know that at least one case of Canadian-release 33-backs was cracked open at some point, since there are AFA-graded U90 (the "U" stands for "uncirculated") MOC Shazams and Orions on eBay.  Sad that a sealed case had to be destroyed to make something desirable for those silly label collectors, but that’s a profanity-laden blog for another day.  I’m sure I’ll get to it, since I can’t stand stuff like that.

On to the pics!

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Recently, I’ve been following the little company that could deliver HUGE – Shark City Ozark, or SCO Collectibles.  Being a giant fan of the film "JAWS", I quickly discovered that no one makes ‘em better than SCO.  I have been granted the opportunity to interview the principle owner, operator, sculptor and artist, Mike Schultz.  Mike gives us a peek not only at what it’s like running a small company and manufacturing right here in America, but also what he’s got in store for us, long and short term.  As a bonus, They’ve given us an exclusive first look at their incredible 1/6 scale (you read that right!) Nose-to-Gills bust! 

Just when you thought it was safe to start saving money again…..

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We’ve all felt it.

It begins when you read on the forums that Figure X may have been found at retail and your heart skips a beat.  You hop in your car, get a ride, catch a bus.  With a rush of adrenalin as you enter the store’s parking lot, your mind filling with the possibilities of what awaits you in the toy aisle.  The building anxiety as you walk towards your destination, your pace and heart rate increasing with each step.  Your mind is racing.

Could it really be there?  What if someone has gotten to it first??  What if it’s a scalper???  What if he’s there RIGHT NOW WITH MY BELOVED TOY IN HIS FILTHY SCALPER HANDS????

The pressure is building.  You are almost running now.  You nearly roll an elderly woman as you dart around an endcap, focused on your goal.  It’s got to be there, it must be there!

Finally – you reach the toy aisle!  But wait -someone is already there! NO!!!

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I’ve had a blog idea kicking around the back of my head for over a year now, and Mattel just killed it.

Sort of.

Being responsible with our environment is an important topic to me. It’s more than a topic, it’s a way of thinking and a way of living. My family and I live on a small 5 acre farm. We raise our own chickens (we have 17 egg layers, and generally raise about 60 for meat per year), pigs, and dairy goats. We actively recycle as much as we possibly can. Where we live you have to pay extra for that, so we do what we can on our own. The animals help with that. There’s a lot of food stuff that can go to the chickens or, especially, the pigs rather than into the trash.  Fortunately, we have a recycling facility in town to which we take our paper products, glass, cans and plastics. Two years ago our trash can was full to overflowing each week when we put it out. Now, there’s barely anything in it. It’s fantastic.

So, where does Mattel come in?

Over the past few years Mattel (and, to be fair, other companies as well) have been getting very elaborate with their packaging, especially with convention exclusives. But, even their standard retail products as well. And, frankly, it’s been frustrating me because it’s just a huge waste. It’s a waste of resources on their part, and it’s a waste on the consumer end as most of that packaging then ends up in landfills. I remember getting action figures as a kid, whether it was Kenner’s Star Wars or Super Powers or whatever. The packaging was a small backing board, and a plastic blister containing a loose figure. No plastic backer vacuu-formed to the shape of the figure. No twist ties holding the figure in plastic (or, in Mattel’s case, a figure-warping action pose). It was all pretty minimalistic. And, I miss it.

This has been bugging me for a while. Backer cards started getting ridiculously huge in proportion to the figure it held. The amount of plastic being used seemed to be more than the amount of plastic used in the figure itself! The Comic Con exclusive packaging has been raising my ire for several years now, and then I saw the trend at retail start to move towards excessive packaging, too. The 4" figures from James Cameron’s Avatar had packaging that was so disproportionate to the product being offered that it was ludicrous.

And I thought, enough was enough.

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2011 is shaping up to be a fantastic year for me action figure-wise. Two of my favorite properties are not only making a much anticipated return to toy store shelves, but they’re both doing it in the 4" scale. Better yet, they’re coming from the same company: Jazwares (which is rapidly becoming a favorite of mine)

I’m referring to, of course, Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat.

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My last blog, in which I wrote about our local theater here in the little town of Delaware, Ohio, got me reminiscing about my favorite theater back home in San Jose, California: The Century Theaters (with their unique dome shape) on Winchester Avenue. Specifically, it’s Century 22 that holds a special place in my heart.

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Summer movie season is nearly upon us. My inner geek is already squealing with anticipation over what is to come in the next few months to our local cinema.

It used to be, for the big blockbuster-type movies, I would want to see them at the big chain multiplex with the biggest screen and the best sound system. But, that’s changed.

About 3 years ago my family and I moved to a rural area just outside Delaware, Ohio (about 20 minutes north of the northern edge of Columbus). Delaware is a small town, and an old town. There’s a little movie theater in town called The Strand. The Strand just celebrated it’s 95th birthday, having first opened on April 10, 1916. And, even cooler, it has been in continuous operation for those 95 years.

It has only 3 screens. A main auditorium and a smaller side theater downstairs, and a balcony theater upstairs. While the side theater screen is fairly small, the main and balcony screens are of decent size. They’ve recently upgraded their sound system, so the sound is actually pretty darn good.

But, with only 3 screens The Strand often has to juggle what they’re showing. Sometimes they won’t be able to show a film the day it opens simply because there is no screen on which to show it. That presents a challenge to them, but they handle it well.

Since moving here The Strand has become our theater of choice. There was even a time recently we were headed off to see a movie (I don’t recall which at the moment) that we didn’t think The Strand was going to be getting at all. That’s pretty much the only time we’ll go to the big multiplex. While my wife and daughter were getting ready, I was on the computer checking Facebook and just saw a post from The Strand with their schedule for the next week. They were getting the movie we were just about to go see. We changed our plans on the spot. Didn’t go to Rave and waited until the following week and caught the flick at The Strand.

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My girlfriend and I recently took a week long trip to Mexico, the Motherland. I call it the Motherland because both my parents are Mexican, and while I was born and raised in the USA, I was brought up with a rich Mexican heritage and speak fluent Spanish. So naturally I’ve been to Mexico several times before, but never Mexico City or its surrounding areas. My family is from the north of Mexico and that’s pretty much all I knew of the place.

On this trip I expected fun, relaxation and adventure (the fun version that American tourists have when "discovering" a nice restaurant as described in a guide book). What I didn’t expect was to be hounded by toys and geek culture. My first encounter being at a KFC near our hotel in Puebla. They were offering Justice League toys with the kids meals, called Chicky Packs. Pictured below are the images from the offending KFC. Not pictured is the fact that KFC’s in Mexico also sell chicken butts, and no I didn’t have any, they’re too spicy.

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