Old GI Joe Order of Battle Comics Sighted and Bought

The GI Joe action figures I have at home have always been great conversation piece. My cousin, who is also a toy collector, would reminisce about the classic figures he had when he was still a little boy. It breaks his heart everytime he recalls how badly he treated his toy action figures. Mutilated is perhaps the correct term for it. I should know because I ended up inheriting the limbs and crotches. That's the beauty of knowing what to do with unwanted GI Joe body parts. You see, over the years, I have amassed joes in various conditions -- headless, crotch-less, arm-less, etc. Sometimes it easier to just buy action figures that are in mint condition, but part of collecting is the thrill of repairing what's broken. Armed with tiny screw driver, I was able to rehabilitate many 80s GI Joe classic figures.

Since I am more of an action figure toys person, my collector friends were surprised that I have bought GI Joe comics in the recently-concluded Collecticon 2009. I am not a comic book collector but 1980s GI Joe comic book in good condition and at a very cheap price is too good to pass up.

The one on the left is the GI Joe Special Missions printed in 1987. The one on the right is the GI Joe Order of Battle - The Official GI Joe Handbook. It's part 4 in a four-issue limited series. This last part is the handbook on GI Joe and Cobra vehicles. New collectors would want to have this because everything they need to know about the classic vehicles are this issue. I got both for only $1.30.


The Special Mission issue revealed a lot about Leatherneck's personality. In one panel, he said these words to Lifeline (medic):

Better shake a leg, Lifeline! If you can't extract those black boxes and you can't help us return fire, then you gotta be as totally useless as I think you are!

What a jerk!

Toy Action Figures Galore @ Collecticon 2009

Philippine toy collectors had an action figure filled weekend at Collecticon 2009. The event held at the Robinsons Midtown Mall Atrium was attended by toy aficionados on the lookout for most sought after toy action figures. Non-toy collectors found themselves in awe of the action figures on display, and more so on the items up for sale. More often than not, the prices of toys in this kind of event are within the collectors' threshhold. Outrageous prices are reserved to classic figures that should rightfully fall into the hands of legitimate collectors and not some enterprising individuals.

Interestingly, the toy merchants have priced their goods reasonably, a farcry from the toy conventions of the past years. Loose GI Joe action figures were offered for as low as 60 pesos. For comparison, the retail price of the new GI Joes at Toysrus is 450 pesos and classic figures being sold in Greenhills are at 500 to 1000 pesos a piece. Of course, with an insanely low price, one would question the quality of the product. It would be safe to say that they are NOT knock-offs, but they are GI joe action figures that did not pass Hasbro's quality control. Despite this, the figures are pretty decent and the flaws are hardly noticeable.

I spent a great deal of time gawking at the GI Joes but a number of collectors have their eyes set on life-like Mcfarlane action figures and Sideshow Collectible statuettes. They are impeccably designed and perfectly sculpted, which explains why they command high price.

With all the toys begging to be bought, it was difficult to choose those that will occupy the top shelf of my display cabinet. After a couple of hours, I found what I've been looking for: Family Guy! Three for 500 pesos (or 3 for $11) .

There's another toy event scheduled in November and if the bi-annual Philippine Toy Convention pushes through, I'll be seeing fellow toy collectors in December.

G.I. Joe: A Real American Knock-off

A typical toy hunt entails hopping from one toy shop to another until my feet or my pocket hurts, whichever comes first. My favorite stops are Toysrus and Toy Kingdom, where I spend at least 10 minutes of my time scanning the action figures section.

Over the years, toys such as Star Wars, G.I. Joes, Marvel, and McFarlane action figures have become harder to find in retail. So, if you really are into these figures, consider running to specialty toy stores and buy as soon as you have the cash. The price that specialty shops charge for these collectibles are on the high side. A few percentage mark up shouldn't hurt too, much, but if you feel that you are being ripped off, don't buy.

Now, since Toysrus and similar toy shops no longer carry some of the more popular toy lines, you'd wonder what sort of toys they are selling these days.

Wonder no more:

They are knock-offs of G.I. Joe, He-Man, and other popular toy action figures.

"Cars" was not spared too...

Choro-Q pullback cars

My fondness for tiny toys explains why the last figures standing on my display cabinet are G.I. Joes, Gashapons, JLU (Justice League Unlimited), and other 4-inchers or less. Little cars appeal to me too, but I don't collect them. I used to play with matchbox cars back in the late 80s, but that's all there was to it; there was no love lost when we parted ways. Since then, I have always ignored toy cars when I do my toy runs. But there are some things you just can't ignore and one of those things is Choro-Q.

Choro-Q is the name of a series of pullback cars made by Takara. The cars are 3 to 4 centimeters long and are insanely fast. My dogs think they are cockroaches on steroids. So far, I have 5 Choro-Q cars purchased in a span of one year. How's that for self-control? You should give me a medal or something. You can read more about Choro-Q on the Takara website if you speak/understand Japanese.

Here's Soiv and Lespu (don't ask me why I named them as such).

HP Mini 110: Yes, the PC is personal again!

The Mini 1000 is HP's first foray in the netbook category and boy was it a big success! It was light, thin, and a real headturner. Then HP released variation of the model to address issues of screen resolution and storage space, among others. In less than a year, HP released the Mini 2140 with aluminum finish. It was sexy yet sturdy. Then came HP Mini 110, which actually is a clone of the Mini 1000 albeit with improvements that are not necessarily desirable. The specs of the HP Mini 110 can be found in the HP product page, but I'd just like to point out some of the improvemens (or changes) from its predecessor.

• 160 GB HD
• 6-cell battery
• extra ventilation in front
• speaker now incorporated to the screen
• LCD is recessed in
• additional USB port

The first unit I got was defective and I sent it back to E-Hub Alabang Town Center. They replaced it without much drama. Although I got a replacement unit, the bad vibe is there and I just couldn't shake it off. That was until typhoon Ondoy hit us and I had to do some important work using the HP Mini 110. Word processing was a breeze, I had no problems getting Wi-Fi signal, and it handled multi-tasking so well. Minor gripe is on the screen resolution of 1024 x 567. Just need to get used to more scrolling than usual.

What more can I say? I now love it to pieces.

Toyrant Fundraising at Multiply

Here's the partial list of toys for sale for the Ondoy Fundraising. I still have several boxes that need to be sorted. If you have questions, please use the comments or email me at toyrant [at] gmail com. Some of the toys are water-damaged and some are in really good condition. Of course, the packagings are not mint condition that's why I sell them at really low price.

Thanks for your support.

Toyrant and Fundraising for Ondoy Victims

Typhoon Ondoy left thousands of people homeless in the Philippines. Three days after Ondoy unleased his wrath, several places are still submerged in flood water. Most of the rescue operations were mostly from volunteers since the government is rather slow and incapable of saving its people. To the limited and half-assed disaster relief operations of the GMA gov't, thank you. But I wish they do more and not depend on volunteers, local governments, and private companies.

My home was flooded and since part of the living room is toy storage area, some toys are water damaged. Back then, I would probably cry at the sight of damaged expensive toys, but times have changed, and it is clear to me that there are far more important things than toys.

In my own little way, I'll be starting a fundraising event at http://toyrant.multiply.com and sell some of my toys at really low prices and some of the proceeds will be donated to Ondoy victims through a charitable institution or church group. Details will be posted in this blog and at the multiply site.