Toy Biz Batman vs NECA Batman

When I discovered that NECA would be releasing this 7 inch Michael Keaton Batman figure along with the newly released 25th Anniversary blu ray, you can say I was beyond excited. Keaton has and will remain my favorite Batman. And NECA's idea to emulate the classic Toy Biz look and packaging from their '89 toy line got me even more excited. I mean, this is badass! For a number of reasons! Most notably the fact that there was always an issue with using Keaton's likeness for an action figure. It was a big deal, and I don't know the exact details of all that, but I do know it was an issue. Even when NECA first used this same exact mold for their ever popular 8 Bit Classic Video Game Appearance line, they seemed to have been able to get away with it because the coloring of the figure was blue and purple. But here, they seemed to have found a loophole, or worked out their license issues because it seemed out of nowhere, they surprised us all with the announcement of this particular figure, which sold out online immediately, but not before I was able to put my order in.

It was really weird too. You could only order this as part of the Blu Ray Anniversary combo pack, not just the figure alone. And you could only order it through their eBay store, which seemed rather suspicious to me right from the beginning. Apparently NECA set up this eBay store solely for the purpose of selling this Blu ray/Figure combo pack. So there was no feedback. And when I first saw the eBay store, shipping was cheap at $8 or something like that. Then when I went to place my order later in the day, shipping was hiked up to around $15 if I remember correctly. So I was concerned all around, but I placed my order anyway.

They sold out within a day. So then word came that Toys R Us and Toys R Us only was selling these, but only when you bought the Blu Ray. But fortunately for a lot of collectors and flippers, most employees were not aware of this, and were selling the figures by themselves. You can bet your ass that flippers grabbed every last one of them and immediately threw them on eBay for $50 and higher. I hate fucking flippers.

In the end, I got mine at retail price, along with that killer Blu Ray. It's a great figure, and NECA did a bangup job on Michael Keaton's likeness.

Robocop VCR Game (1988)

Robocop VCR Game (1988)

Back when I was 12, Robocop had just come out in theaters. The following year, this VCR Home Game hit store shelves. I don't remember if it was a hit or anything like that, but I do remember seeing this at my local Service Merchandise (remember that store?!) behind the glass and begging my parents to buy it for me. They were hesitant of course, stating that it's not really a game for kids, but of course, I wouldn't listen. It was Robocop, and I had to have it. And of course, they were right. For a 12 year old kid, this game was trying. From what I can remember, you'd play the board game, stopping at specific moments to play a minute of the VHS tape, which were scenes from the film, and then using those scenes to progress somehow in the game. I didn't have that kind of patience, so it sat on my shelf for years unplayed, before I ultimately sold it at a garage sale many years later.

I was reminded about this game recently on Instagram through a friend, and so I set upon looking for it again. I was more than shocked to discover that this game typically goes for anywhere from $50 to $100. I mean, it would have been nice to get this again just for nostalgia sake, but I didn't need it that bad, especially when you consider that it's just going to sit on my shelf. I kept my eye out though, doing random searches when I would remember, and one day I lucked out. A seller was offering it for just $10 as an auction, so I bid early. A week later, I won it and I'm one happy geek. I think what tripped people up is that when the seller listed this, the image he chose to represent the game was of the board game, and not this sweet box cover. So I'm sure a lot of people probably just passed this by without realizing it was actually the old '88 VCR game. Win for me!

Gobots RoGun Cap Rifle Robot (1985)

In my quest to reacquire pieces of my collection when I was a kid back in the 80's, I quickly discovered that one of the most awesome robots in the Gobots universe (IMO), while easy to find loose, was nearly impossible to find complete in box. Checking online on a daily basis for the better part of a year proved fruitless. Even the numerous toy and collectors conventions I hit up within this past year turned up nothing, let alone hardly any Gobots in general. 

When I decided to track down a Rogun Cap Rifle Robot in it's original box, I had no idea it would be one of the hardest toys I'd have to hunt down. Hell, even doing a google search of this sucker proved to me how hard my hunt would be. I believe there's maybe 1 or 2 images online of this guy complete in box. So if it wasn't for those images, I would have not even known what the original packaging would have looked like. In any case, I shockingly found one on eBay about a month ago in Very Good condition. It was funny too. While I make it a habit of looking daily for specific items, with this being one of them, I had actually forgotten to do so for a few days, or even a week. And one day when I was getting ready to leave work, it hit me, and I did a quick search and holy shit! There it was. Complete, never opened, in great condition. While I suppose I should have tried to haggle with the seller a bit, or even read the entire description, I impulsively bought the thing, all within the span of under a minute. I was that excited. So this beauty sits on my shelf, a testament to patience and dedication to looking for that one piece that you just have to have.