eclectorama

Cap'n-Merica

2011-10-26T16:23:00.003-05:00

I would bet you could never guess what I finally watched last night?

I love the smell...

2011-10-24T21:32:00.002-05:00

...of minty Bat Dolly in the morning. It smells like victory!

Ah, excuse me...

2011-10-20T10:35:00.003-05:00

These guys were wandering around the EHQ (Eclectorama Headquarters) this morning, asking for directions to a detention block or something. It seemed sorta fishy to me, but I couldn't put my finger on it, like maybe they were a little short for Stormtroopers... anyway, they were way off so I gave then directions and went on with my morning routine.

Swing on by

2011-10-12T20:24:00.003-05:00

Click the Boy Wonder above or click here to see what's happening over at BTAT Blog!

Batman Year One

2011-10-11T15:18:00.004-05:00

Straight from the Doodle Book to the Blog, in Bat-tastic-color!

Oh, and if you bothered to read this, you can buy Batman:Year One on iTunes and some other services ahead of the release date TODAY ONLY! You're welcome.

The hardest part is letting them go

2011-10-09T22:08:00.005-05:00

file photo of Chunky B

I still consider myself a collector, even as I am going through one of the largest toy purges in my toy collecting career. I guess largest isn't the right word, how about hardest. Just last tonight I decided it was time to let go of some more things I never thought I would part with, I guess the catalyst was I was sorting through a tote of Star Trek toys and I looked over at the stack of totes I still need to go through and I thought, why am I storing some of this stuff. I mean I enjoy my collection, but some stuff I think I am just storing for no reason. I don't plan on opening some of it and I really don't plan on displaying it, so why am I holding on to it?

I couldn't answer that question really, so right then I decided it was time to make the cuts that hurt the most. I knew there were some loose toys and some packaged toys that I was holding onto out of some weird collector obligation, I gathered them up, reluctantly at first, and shot pictures of them and posted them at really good prices. I say really good because of my first round of stuff, eight auctions with low buy it now prices, five lots sold just as fast as I could post them. I was actually posting one and went back to revise it when I got two notifications that it sold to two different people. Don't ask me how that happens. I got it all sorted out though.

At first I was kind of disappointed, not that they sold or sold so fast, but that when I was ready to write this post I would only have three auctions going and undoubtably all my die hard toy collecting brothers would look at them and think "yeah, wow! Really letting some stuff go". My plan was to put lots up in groupings of ten or so, or for that matter as many as I could before I got tired of posting them. I plan on making some more cuts. If you remember this picture...

There were about 24 totes there and a couple boxes of toys. I can say that two of those totes is miscellaneous items that are not toys, so subtract those and that leaves lets say 22 totes. Probably most of my fellow collectors out there could easily double this number, but I used to work at UPS in college so I can pack a tote. That picture was taken around 2007, so the number of totes have fluctuated over time, emptying a few, refilling a few. This year I started a few little purges, maybe loosing a couple of totes here and there bringing the number down to around 19 totes, but recently I really doubled my efforts to clean house. My recent efforts have emptied 7 totes off that number. So I am sitting at 12 totes now, plus you have to take into account those little shelving units I am sorting into, those are probably where my first few totes of things went, which I am going to say have been a life saver sorting things to sell. It's so easy to pull a drawer and get a quick view of what i want to keep and what i want to thin out.

I still have a long way to go, I want to get that number of totes down to maybe 6 or eight, almost half of what I have now. Also I want to get the little shelf units to a more manageable point to store my keepers. So why all of a sudden this great purge? The purge to end all purges? A few reasons.

My Focus and thoughts on collecting have changed.

1) While there are a few Items I think I will always keep in their original packages, for the most part I am opening up things that I don't have already opened and enjoying them.

2) Loose items I have that are in great condition and can find another home I am letting go, as with some of the packed stuff that I can tell myself to let go.

3) The reason I say I am still a collector, I am planing on picking up a few great pieces for my collection, and also a few select pieces for my focuses; Batman, Stormtroopers, Classic Trek (Spock!), Vintage Star Wars, and a couple others I don't want to reveal at this time.

What does all this mean? Hopefully a more streamlined collection, better judgement on future purchases (which I doubt), and maybe help fill some holes in other peoples collections. So as long as this little Jawa is hanging around on the blog...

Click HERE for the Utini!

I will be in a continuous house cleaning frame of mind. Rest assured I have a few things coming in the mail I can't wait to get my hands on and shoot pictures of.

Doodle Book: 1

2011-10-07T12:25:00.004-05:00

Yesterday after work I had to run to the bookstore with my wife. She picked up a little photo album for a project she is working on and I picked up a three pack of those little moleskin sketch books. I went small and cheap for these as it was going to be an experiment. Surprisingly I do like the feel of the paper for drawing on, I can see why people suggest these.

Anyway, I decided I needed to keep a more concentrated Doodle Book, you know not so many bits and pieces of paper everywhere. Though I was happy to see a little flap in the back of each book that could hold pieces of paper : )

I want to try to put something in it everyday with hopes I will post the drawings from time to time. I have kept sketchbooks in the past, but much larger than these 3.5" x 5.5" pages. I thought the smaller size would force me to carry it with me more often than not. So all that said, here''s my first group from the Doodle Book.

Obviously they all can't be winners, looking at that Captain America I don't know what I was thinking on that one. I also need to take it with me when I am out and about as I did get the comment from my wife that "I always draw cartoons!" I guess I need to put all of those semesters of life drawing to good use.

RIP Steve

2011-10-06T10:03:00.003-05:00

Outgoing and Incoming

2011-09-30T12:38:00.006-05:00

Earlier in the week Reis at Hey! Look at my toys! sent out a call for some trades. So, while I was getting an envelope ready for the two I had on hand, a few of my other minifigs decided to show them the door. I don't blame these two for jumping ship now.

Wow that whip has to sting! That's the last time I give my security team a week off. Okay, so, while those two were leaving the EHQ (Eclectorama Headquarters) here is some incoming post.

First is a printed invite I had drawn up for my Niece's baby shower. I included my Niece, her cat and her husband. I tried to personalize it a bit, she likes to shop and he works in the sound and lighting industry. Hope they like it. I had these printed at Faulkenberg Printing Company and I couldn't be happier.

Then there are these sets of awesomeness! In the package from Faulkenberg was a few packs of the first ever Eclectorama Trading Cards! I must have a fan at Faulkenberg, it's really kinda of cool seeing artwork you worked on in a format you never thought you would see artwork you worked on. Don't get me wrong I have had stuff printed both in my day job and as a freelancer, some for Star Wars Kids Magazine back in the day. But this is artwork I just did for fun.

I was sent five packs, I of course I am keeping the one I opened, but was told that all the packs had the same cards... oh and one sticker. So that means I have a few to giveaway! Should I have a contest, a drawing, or just send them at random. Hmmm decisions, decisions. Let me think on it and I will make an announcement next week. I think I will even do a few artist's sketch cards to sweeten the deal. What does everyone think?

Have a cool weekend and thanks again to everyone at Faulkenberg Printing Company, especially the Eclectorama Fan ; )

Star Wars Vignette

2011-09-27T09:15:00.002-05:00

As if it wasn't obvious without the text. Was bored, these were on my desk, had camera phone.

Problem Solved

2011-09-24T20:45:00.003-05:00

That last comment in my last post got me thinking. When I got this Robin home today I looked at it and the first thing I said was "Robin does not have a cape!"

For a split second I thought it must either be a mistake on the toy or a safety thing since he is packed with a motorcycle. I mean I wouldn't get on a bike with a cape. But hey Batman does it, Then I thought it couldn't be a cycle thing he has no Helmet. Surely the Boy Wonder would wear a helmet. Looking on the back of the packages I noticed the picture had a Robin with no cape. Are they all like this? I could have sworn I gave one of my Nephews a Batcave and it had a Robin with a cape, I could be wrong.

I knew exactly what to do though. I found some scrap black fabric and some yellow felt. In hindsight yellow fabric would be much better, but felt is what i had. I grabbed some of that fusing material from my wife's sewing kit and heated up the iron. I fused a small swatch of the two materials together, let it cool and trimmed it into what I believed was a decent Robin cape (slow evening here in Texas folks).

I gently pulled and twisted Robin's head until it popped off. It's on there pretty tight. It might help to run it under a hot tap first. The base of the neck has what looks like a plastic collar where a cape should be so it works perfect to help hide where the cape slips over the peg. Cut a hole and slide it over the peg then pop the head back on and done!

Here's the results...

... no more cape-less Boy Wonder!

FINALLY!!!

2011-09-24T11:23:00.003-05:00

I had pretty much given up on this one and the kicker, I have pretty much given all my other Transformers away, now I have one!

Also as a stroke of luck I spied these and snagged them both. Toy budget 0, Charles 3.

For the Superfans

2011-09-21T10:23:00.003-05:00

I can't say I am the world's largest Superman fan, but I do loves me some Max Fleischer's Superman.

More for the Garage Sale!

2011-09-19T10:08:00.004-05:00

Just a quick post, if you know of anyone looking for cool stuff I dropped some new things up for auction.

Click HERE to see that evil little Jawa's wares!

Spread the word! Thanks, I now return you to your regular scheduled blog... okay, so it's not so regular, promise I will post something more this week.

So, tell me...

2011-09-15T13:39:00.007-05:00

Have you ever danced with the devil by the pale moonlight?
I ask this of all victims, I just like the sound of it.

Anyhoo, I felt like I owed myself a drawing, and I do like Batman so I drew me a Batman...

Then a friend told me I forgot the Keaton Lips, ha ha, so I fixed the drawing...

I dug it so much I made myself some wallpaper...

Then I thought I would share and so I made you people some wallpaper...

click it to get it biggie, batty size and get jiggy with it!
(sorry I scaled it for my monitor, hey what do you want for free!)

Oh, I have been thinking of doing commissions... anyone interested?

EDIT:
A little re-color ala Kenner...

Pay Day

2011-09-12T12:46:00.005-05:00

Sorry it's been a while since I have posted. This time of year always seems like my most hectic at work and that carries over to home life as well as we are always trying to finish up house projects. I am almost done with some major ones (well what I consider major, I'm sure they are minor). Anyhoos, this is something I have been meaning to post for some time, actually it's been several weeks.

This is what I like to call Pay Day. See I have this arrangement with Tate's I do a bunch of stickers and stuff and instead of paying me freelance they send me the occasional care package. This is actually the second one this year, the first contained Galactus and a ton of other goodies that have popped up on the blog. Tate's are always good to me and they really keep up with what I am into, they make sure I have a Batman, Stormtrooper (or other Star Wars thing), some Marvel and as in this case some Hellboy. This is also when they send me a ton of the stickers I helped in creating. I can't say it enough I love Tate's and all the people there and I always look forward to doing more drawing for them. To be honest I did purchase one item in this box, but the rest was earned with blood, sweat, and digital ink. Hope you enjoy.

An over view of all the cool swag!

The stickers and cool Tate's Spiderman cover.

Lil' Marvel Dudes! My son already claimed the Iron Man.

This is the one I bought, sweet vinyl cape Jawa!

The Jabba Dark Horse Comic Bag (I helped with the illustration ; ) and a sweet Batman and Robin Pennant from the Sixties.

This was a total surprise for my son and I to share... I knew Mike Mignola signed a sticker for me, but...

...this was above and beyond my expectations!

That's it! I received this package about three weeks back and still amazed at how well they know me and all the cool stuff in there. Big thanks again to Tate and his Family,the staff and all! I received another package from a fellow blogger this past weekend, that one you have to tune in later in the week to see.

Hopefully I will get back on some sort of schedule and as soon as my wife clears out her shoes from the closet, ha ha, I will be putting some more stuff up for sale on eBay (have to make room for that Jawa).

It's Crwazy, Crwazy Gungan's Garage Sale!

2011-08-30T21:04:00.005-05:00

That's right I decided to clear some stuff out of the collection and man that Jar Jar (how I hate him) is gutting my collection and cutting the prices deep to the bone! That's the last time I leave him the keys to the Eclectorama Vault!

Messa Hasen Stuff for Sale!

Right now I just have stuff listed for sale to U.S. only, sorry the shipping overseas is outrageous, but if you say you saw it on the blog here when you win something I will throw in a little something, something (I promise no Jar Jar, he's going to the hounds!)

Why all the cool stuff for sale, well that's a big surprise! Let's just say it has something to do with my collecting focus(es)!

Don't bring a blaster to a lightsaber fight

2011-08-24T11:00:00.002-05:00

As an old friend of mine used to say "HERE"S SOMETHING FOR YOUR EYE!" which usually had me ducking because it was followed up with some sort of attack like Cato Fong in the Pink Panther movies. In this case it's some more artwork, sketches, doodles whatever you want to call it. These are done for fun.

First up is poor old Ponda Baba. What if the whole run in with Luke and Ben in the Cantina was a mistake, then this poor guy got the short end of the stick... wait didn't his buddy get killed? Now I have to go watch the movie one more time, damn you feeble memory! Still to loose and arm while trying to relax in a bar, right?

I have to say I am pretty excited that this guy is getting a new version in the Hasbro Star Wars Vintage line, complete with stump.

Next Jboypacman asked in some earlier comments if I ever drew monsters... you know I haven't in a long time. I did a set way when I first started working in toys for some basketballs, I will have to see if I can dig those up from an archive. So, I drew up this guy up for him.

Why he is offering up a flower is beyond me, just seemed to be a good thing for him to hold. Again I am thinking this was a scene in the movie right before someone drowned...Great! Now I have to go re watch that movie!

I ended up taking this one and setting up a little sticker for my favorite comic shop, if you dropped by from the shops facebook page welcome and hope you enjoy the sneak peek. Jboy if I get it made I will send ya some.

I have been feeling like doing a DC sticker for the shop and I have it narrowed down to two characters. Hawkman and Aquaman. I will end up sooner or later doing both, but I want to see a show of hands for which one should be first. So leave a comment and vote for one, or you could offer up another suggestion, but you better be prepared to work I will need a tag line too. What's is in it for you... um bragging rights? I don't know I will think of something.

Helluv a Week!

2011-08-22T12:55:00.001-05:00

I really meant for this to be a weekend post, but one thing led to another and on and on. So with that said here's something I thought was pretty sweet. As you may know I make these little illustrations that a great little comic shop down in Florida then prints up for stickers. The shop of course is Tate's, the illustrations vary from hero to hero and are pretty much just what ever I feel like sketching up at the time. I do get requests from the team at Tate's for special events, only on occasion and for something they need quick. It's a pretty sweet little gig and the pay is awesome!

Anyway a few weekends back Tate's hosted a Dark Horse Day and of course I had already did a sweet little Hellboy illustration months ago. I thought they might use it, but was not sure. Turns out they did. Do you rember the one,here it is in case you need a refresher.

Okay the part that I thought was sweet was that Mike Mignola was present at the event. Surely you know that he created Hellboy right? I am somewhat a fan of his artwork, and by somewhat I am totally a fan of his artwork. You would think being a Batman fan I would have known more about Mr. Mignola's other hero, but my son was actually the person that introduced me to the wonderful world of Hellboy, which I fell for hook, line and sinker. Comics, movies and toys, I loves me some Hellboy. Plus it's a cool thing that my son and I share, because lets face it a lot of times us parents are lame and do not follow all the anime our children are into and they do not always love the heroes we are into. That's all okay, but it is even cooler when there is that one that just clicks. Now, I can't say I have every comic or toy, but I think I have enough to satisfy my desire for the character. With that said here are a few of my favorites that I picked up over time.

First up is the Graffiti Designs Hellboy. This one actually sat for a really long time in our local comic shop before I picked it up. I used to get a chuckle out of the description on the package every time I went. It said something like "Comes with a Big Ass Gun!", loved it. I really like the simple style of the figure. It's pretty honking big, but not too big that he couldn't sort of fit in with some of the other figures on the shelf. I can't peg the scale, but he stands about eight to nine inches tall and could go as a big player in the Batman the Animated Series Universe, though he would tower over even the Clayface figure.

Next, and years later, I picked up this one from Mezco. Hands down one of my all time favorite toys. This thing screams Mignola's style. It is like they reached into one of his comic books and ripped it right off the page. I actually have a couple of these. this one and one with his trench coat that came with a group of Vampire Heads. Plus there is one out there I have yet to get, the Rocket Pack version... well that and the large version. Still I am constantly on the look out to score a good deal on either.

Rounding out this post is this little bad boy. He came packed with a Best Buy release of the animated feature Hellboy Animated: Blood and Iron. Talk about a bonus, how cool was it to kill two birds with one stone?An awesome little animated movie and a sweet figure. This animated Hellboy is from Gentle Giant, actually my first toy from the company and what a toy it is. I love it just as much as the other two. He came with a couple alternate hands, though the open right hand of doom is my favorite.

I never did pick up any of the small Movie Hellboy figures, not because I didn't want to, just they were always sold out every where I looked at the time. I guess I am lacking that scale in the collection. Still I have enough different sizes to keep me happy.

I have a few of the other characters that I will post about in the future, plus a few little figurines that came in another DVD bundle as well. till then I'm leaving you with the sweet part of the whole comic book shop arc of this post. This here is Mr. Mignola at the Tate's Dark Horse Day event...

photo courtesy of Tate's Comics, photo by A. Pants

How cool is that?

Hey it's a Birthday!

2011-08-18T06:00:00.002-05:00

So I was mistaken my second post for the week will not be toy related. It's my little Basset Hound Squee's Birthday today. Catching up to our larger Basset, Squee is turning seven today. We are the type of people that will bake them a little plain cake and give them a slice (no worries it will not have any chocolate in it) and we do wrap them presents, because the Bassets love to rip open presents. Christmas time is pretty hectic around here we have to keep the presents put up until the big day or they would both unwrap them all... found that out the hard way one year.

This year they are getting matching collars. I say they because the Birthday girl (all our puppies are ladies) will get a present as well as all their "sisters", that way they are all covered, no favorites.

Here's a picture of Squee the morning before her big day. She must be day dreaming of travel and exotic foods. She could be watching the squirrels playing in the front yard too.

Oh, she caught me!

Not to leave you hanging on the toy front. My recent purge unearthed these two gems. I actually have a small collection of carded Batman the Animated Series figures and I also have a small collection of loose Batman the Animated Series figures. I knew I had each of these carded and I had actually been on the prowl on eBay for some cheap loose versions. Well as I was going through some totes for that care package the other day I turned up an extra carded set. My only guess is I must have acquired them in a lot and did not think I had them carded at the time so they got stored away. It was like a little good toy karma. I now have them setting on the shelves watching over the sort and keeping an eye out for more finds.

Actually sort of embarrassed that I didn't know I had these, I usually am pretty good at keeping track of this sort of thing. Oh well two more for me to detail on the ole' Batman the Animated Toy blog. Enjoy your day.

Red Five Standing by

2011-08-16T05:00:00.002-05:00

Okay, I decided to try this. I am going to try and post a couple times during the week and possibly a little post on the weekend. It's not that I am tired of posting stuff, I just want you to have some quality stuff. I will try an artwork post and a toy post and I am not sure what on the weekend maybe an art toy post : )

This will be the art post for the week. I love reading other artist's blogs where they show a little behind the curtain, a sketch, a technique here and there. I have been trying a few things out, trying to nail down some processes. This one is not going to be that in depth, mater of fact you might think "big deal" but none the less it is something I tried and was pretty happy with the results.

I have come across an iPad and while we mainly use it to look up recipes or watch YouTube videos of Basset Hounds and Bulldogs doing crazy stuff, I did load Sketchbook Pro on it for the occasional doodle. I haven't had that much luck doing wonderful sketches on it. To be honest the last time I did a finger painting I was a wee little lad, but one Sunday morning over coffee I did whip up this little colored sketch.

I am pretty proud of it. As drawings go it's not high quality or a rush it to press type drawing, but it does beat my usual scribble all to hell. I even tried out the layers to add some colors. Then I thought hey! Let's take it and email it to the main machine and finish it up in Illustrator! Sketchbook even exported with all my layers intact and in a PSD file format, sweet.

So here is what I did in illustrator.
edit: The shading was done back in Photoshop.

Like I said, no ground breaking tips or tricks, more of a "hey I can use this thing to draw with my fingers and then clean it up later" sort of thing. I usually use Photoshop to sketch out ideas when I am near a computer, when I am away from one any scrap piece of paper I can get my hands on will do. I will then take the image, either JPG or PSD straight form Photoshop (or a scan from the paper) and digital ink it in illustrator. This iPad thing just gives me another option for sketching.

I will try to remember to take some screen shots of a drawing in progress if anyone cares to see stuff like that. I do have one where I saved the rough sketch and the line work before coloring it... maybe next week.

Sunday Afternoon Toy Purge

2011-08-14T13:07:00.003-05:00

Okay, so first, no I haven't lost my toy collecting mind. I did though promise some nephews we saw at a wedding a few weekends back that I would send them some Batman stuff. I needed to weed out some of my extra things and thought this would be a great opportunity... then things started to go a little crazy and I decided to fill the box with a sampling of some other things that they might enjoy.

Before you all look at the pictures and pass out, no I am not getting out of collecting toys, this is just keeping with the whole need to get more focused. I still plan on keeping an ongoing open Batman collection, I kept a few of my favorite things from my packaged collection... just a lot less now. I still have my Stormtroopers starting to take over a second shelf thanks to Reis ; ) Plus I still have a ton of other items in the loose collection. This is just a continuation of a process I started a year or more back.

I succeeded in filling the box in the background to the brim and saving on using any packing material!

I wanted to make sure they had a few Batman characters to open, plus I had some extra Aquaman for each of the boys and of course some Trek plush (heh, gotta try) and I think that may be my last Cantina Musician.

One of my favorite Batman figures. I had an open one so I sent this guy to a new home, plus a few other loose heroes.

The boys are very into the "old" Batman the Animated Series cartoons. Since I have the series on DVD I had these individual episode DVDs kicking around and packed those in as well, plus a few of the older Toy Biz Marvel guys, why not.

Last is a bout 30 plus loose GI Joes and Cobra with a few more Heroes thrown in for good measure. I bagged them to keep the accessories together.

Man if that does not make their day (by the way three boys all at the right age for this stuff) I do not know what will. Perhaps I may have sparked an interest in some other heroes say Aquaman, Spider-Man, some Trek possibly?

Next post maybe I will post about some stuff I found and kept, ha ha, stay tuned.

Dammit Uncle Owen...

2011-08-12T11:28:00.006-05:00

"I was going to Toshi Station to pick up some Power Converters!"

Hey, it's been a while, hasn't it? I have been swamped, well not swamped enough that I couldn't do a sketch. I've been thinking about the direction of the blog, artwork, and my toy collecting... not to worry I will still be talking about toys here, unless you like checking out doodles, then I will still be talking about art.

Some things I have been thinking about recently.

1) I need to do a sketch, drawing or doodle everyday! I knew an industrial designer that would start every project with a bunch of odd sketches and say it was a way to get the crap out of their head... I never thought of drawing as a way to purge crap from my brain so I was sort of insulted. I look at it more like working things out and trying different things... Sad little Luke here is a warm up drawing I did this morning, working some things out. It's origin was a text conversation with my wife and my response of "awe, I was going to Toshi Station to pick up some Power Converters", queue light bulb and poof, the Toshi Station Blues above. This is probably more finished than say my warm up sketches, but still I think it is important to draw something everyday.

2) Vintage Star Wars figures, I can't get them off my mind lately. Talking with friends, seeing posts about finishing up sets, blah blah blah, etc, etc. Not sure how I want to tackle my little collection of Vintage Star Wars figures, so stay tuned as I work this out.

3) I wish I was in Florida this weekend for one the Stitch Wars show opens up today and second at same comic shop Mike Mignola is going to be there on Saturday. I usually do not geek out that much on meeting celebs and what not, but come on Mike freaking Mignola!

4) I have enjoyed this little break from toys and I have actually been sorting through stuff to thin down my collection, but in the same breath there are a ton of new things I want for the collection... never ending cycle. This time I'm doing it different.

5) Hitting the local Tex Mex cantina tonight and now I'm wondering what to get...

That is all that is on my mind right now, lunch break over, now back to work! Stay tuned I do have a Spockcation update coming, and if I can stop being lazy I will shoot some toy pictures, and possible post some more sketches / artwork.

Have a great weekend, may the force be with you, live long and prosper, go do something creative!

Stitch Wars Strikes Back

2011-07-27T11:00:00.000-05:00

Whew! I didn't think I would get my entry done in time to make the deadline for the upcoming Stitch Wars Strikes Back show at the Bear and Bird Boutique Gallery. I had actually planned on making a set of three of these for the show, to include Darth Vader, a Stormtrooper and of course this Bounty Hunter but you know how that goes, the best laid plans of wamp rats and men. Being slammed at work with preparing for an even earlier catalog season and taking on several projects for my family including some stuff for my Nephew's wedding in about a week hasn't helped and has me pretty pressed for time (that would include time for blogging, so sorry).

Still I plan on making more punks, even for my own enjoyment, or possibly to set up on Etsy. I just love the lo tech, low brow look of Punks, or Cat Punks as they are also called. I plan on completing my Imperial Collection and move on to some Rebels, then who knows after that.

Since the Stitch Wars show revolves around sewing I went ahead and made this Punk with stitched on elements and a more presentable rounded wood base, covered of course. Punks in the wild are usually painted or screen printed with cat or clown designs and include the fur trim and are weighted down way more than this piece. Plus they have a square wooden base, makes them a little harder to tip I guess. I think I will try and keep the round base, but if I do move toward the more traditional base I will finish it instead of leaving it unfinished as they are usually found. I will also keep the weight down as these are more about displaying as art than playing with.

The fun part about the expanded collection it will give me a chance to illustrate and paint on the canvas for each design, or possibly do some screen printing, sort of giving them my personal touch. I promise to post things here as I get them done, so stay tuned.

Yes I made a tiny hang tag for it as well : )

I will also try and post more illustrations and sketches, some artwork for Tate's Comic Shop, plus whatever fun stuff I have been working on. I have been doing more roughs using an ipad, still not the best, but I think pretty good for finger painting. Well, enjoy the Punk. Be good to each other. May the Force be with you.

Poor Redshirt

2011-07-14T12:40:00.004-05:00

"The Captain is nuts, this planet is beautiful, how could it be dangerous?"
(click image to monster size it)

Red, White and Blue!

2011-07-04T06:00:00.004-05:00

It's time again for a Photo Assignment reveal! This time I asked for some Red, White and Blue. It could be a Captain America Figure ( I got a few, not as many as I thought), a red figure, a white figure and a blue figure. A toy that had all three colors on it. It just had to be a toy(s) and had to have the theme on it somewhere.

I was expecting an avalanche of Captain America toys, I mean the movie is being released soon right? The toy aisles are flooded with Captain America everything right?

So with that let's go, three cheers for the Red, White and Blue!

Reis had this to add to his photo, "You know you're going to get a gazillion shots of Captain America toys, right? ;)"

Matt "Still no website" sent in this with this explanation, "This time I have Darth Maul in a lightsaber battle with a Smurf and a white robot trying to break up the fight. I think DM will defeat both of them. Happy 4th of July!"

Logan sent this via Mock's email, "My dad told me what the next thing with the toys was. I looked through my toys and found some toys that were red, white, and blue. I also did a rainbow but I put that on my blog."

Colin (Super-D!) dropped in with this awesome pair of heroes, "I realize Captain America would be the obvious choice, but these 3 3/4" figures are new for me and I'm particularly excited about them :) Hasbro Marvel Universe Iron Patriot & Hasbro Paratrooper Dive Captain America! Happy 4th of July, Chunky!"

Jason rocked it with mix of characters, " only picked toys that had all 3 colors present. Jazz and Spider-Man(along with Panthro, Tracks and Mr. Sinister) are chaperones for their kids' class party. :)"

Victor sent this in "Since I have a bunch of Captain Americas, I thought I'd send in a collection of figures that AREN'T Cap.
Wasn't that hard, just had to go though some boxes to find something.
I think the most interesting find was the Lone Ranger who is RWB, he's just old and worn. I've had him since I was a kid.
Also interesting is that all the British Marvel figures are RWB, but that makes sense since the US was UK colonies.
Power Girl was a surprise since I didn't expect to find a fig from DCIH, but there she was.
Oddest RWB find was R5-D4 since I opened my "new toy" drawer and there he was. lol
Hope you enjoy the pic!"

Brian stole my thunder and left me scrambling for a new subject, ha ha, "Nothing like getting something in just under the wire.... :)"
Funny his pictures never look like they are under the wire.

Last and least, ha, my "Plan B", when world's collide. Red (Helboy from Mezco), White (The legs of my Super 7 Stormtrooper and Blue (non other than Spock), Happy 4th of July everyone!

Don't forget the Red, White and Blue!

2011-06-29T10:55:00.003-05:00

Today was the deadline to get something in for the Red, White and Blue photo assignment, but Captain America(s) convinced me to give you a little extra time, so if you can have your picture to me by Friday, I will post it. After that and not even a motorcycle full of Captain Americas can save you!

Meanwhile in the backyard...

2011-06-25T06:00:00.001-05:00

Gertie has a new friend, and they share one thing in common, they both like to eat.

I present to you the World Eater...

" Ahhh, smells delicious!"

and also the World Eater...

"Hey, don't hog all the grub!"

Yes, two pees in a pod indeed.

I have been waiting to debut this Galactus for quite sometime, it was a sweet reward from none other than my pals at Tate's. I will have to do a better post later, plus show off some of the other swag!

Look what lives in my front yard!

2011-06-24T06:00:00.000-05:00

Okay, okay I know, not about toys or drawings or puppies, but come on it's a bunny! Everyone loves bunnies. Okay, well it's a wild hare, but still it's a baby one.

So here's something you may not know about ole' Chunky B. When I go to Chinese Restaurants and look on the little paper place mats, that's right, I'm a Monkey... but my son is a Rabbit!

Also, I used to raise little dwarf rabbits, it started with one I bought my wife, the tiniest little bunny I had ever seen and the pet shop swore it was a female, and it was. Then we had to get it a friend and it was even tinier than the first, it was hands down the smallest and cutest thing I have ever seen in my life (and I have seen a lot). Anyway again the pet shop swore it was a female... this time they were wrong and two litters later I was raising dwarf bunnies! True story, we couldn't get rid of all of them ( and we were giving them to good homes for free!) so I had Seven bunnies all running around this little yard at a town house we rented. I secured the fencing, built them a hutch and they played in that yard and had little tunnels and all. They would all come to you (sometimes) to be put up at night so the wild critters wouldn't get them. They were a great bunch of rabbits. Named them all after candy too.

Amassing the Fleet

2011-06-22T11:24:00.007-05:00

So, I haven't been in too big of a toy buying mood lately, not sure why. There is a lot of cool stuff out there, just not feeling it right now. Anyway I decided to go through some of my loose totes to organize some more. I have been attacking them every once in a while when I can squeeze it into the schedule. The next tote up is what I refer to as the old Star Wars tote. This tote is mainly POTF2 (Power of the Force 2) action figures and the occasional oddity or two.

click to enlarge

I picked up a new tower of little drawers and set about sorting and figuring what's a keeper and what needs to go, side note this whole tote is a keeper, ha ha... anyway I sort of sorted them in little piles of Droids, Jedi, Scum and Villainy and a pile of Rebels. Then talking with a buddy of mine it made more sense to sort them by franchise (New Hope, Empire, Clone Wars, etc.) though that hasn't happened yet. As I unpack stuff I I tend to have little flash backs and start messing around, getting side tracked is easy with this tote of stuff. I noticed several little, heavy bundles at the bottom all wrapped in tissue paper, I unwrapped one and rediscovered a little Galloob TIE Fighter. A few more unwrapped bundles and I had my little collection of 90's era Die cast.

For the most part they are all Galloob, the exception being the Blockade Runner, which I think when Hasbro took over making these was it's first appearance, say around 2006. You may or may not know this, but Galloob, the Micro Machines Company, was bought by Hasbro and rolled under it's banner of toys. The Hasbro Titanium line was born from these Die Cast Micro Machines. I was always saddened that the smaller, almost rubbery, plastic Star Wars Micro Machines didn't make the cut. That was such a great line in itself.

So borrowing a cue from Collin over at Super Duper Toy Box, I labeled an image to help you sort what's what.

click to enlarge

A. Imperial Star Destroyer - One of my favorite all time Sci-Fi Starships.

B. Y-Wing -Can't have an X-wing without a Y-Wing. "Stay on Target!"

C. You know this one, it made the Kessel Run in les than twelve parsecs.

D. The Rebel Blockade Runner (Obviously these are way out of scale)

E. "Red Five Standing By", Luke's X-Wing, not big enough to be a threat to the Death Star... right?

F. The TIE Fighter that spurred this post.

G. Boba Fett's Slave I

H. A Jawa Sandcrawler, though this seems a little squatty, this is a fun one.

I. Luke's Landspeeder, another fun one. I am not sure if it's intentional or not,
but the wheels are off slightly on the axles and it
makes a cool,subtle wobble when rolled, like it's floating.

J. This is a all plastic version of Slave I, part of the X-Rays line,
showing the detail inside the ships. They came in two packs, this
may have come with Darth Vader's TIE Fighter, which I gave away
to my son or one of his friends long ago.

These were a great little find in the bottom of that tote and I found a few other things in there that may be of interest to Toy and Star Wars fans alike, you'll have to stay tuned for those.

"Follow Me Friend"

2011-06-16T11:55:00.007-05:00

I am so excited about this next little illustration I have been working on I decided to drop a sneak peek up here on the blog. It's funny how you can be checking out sites and one thing leads to another and you are watching an old cartoon on YouTube and you get the notion to draw your version of one of the scenes.

I made a version of this for Tate's Comic Shop to use as a sticker and I am thinking of making a Hi-Res available on my art on the cheap page up above for a free download. Anyone want some free art of a bounty hunter riding a orange, water dino ?

UPDATE: I made a 11"x17" Mini Poster available for download on the art on the cheap page!

The Gert Days of Summer

2011-06-15T06:00:00.001-05:00

I know the official start of Summer is about five days away, but we are having a really unseasonable June this year. This week alone the highs are already hitting 100º Fahrenheit by noon, which is not weird for Texas... in July and August that is. The last good rain we had was in January, so far for this year our rainfall has been about 4.02" and 2.66" of that was in January.

Even with the water restrictions going into Stage 2, you cannot have an overheated bulldog and the Gert has her own pool for when we are outside, sometimes on weekends we throw a bag of ice in it which she tries to eat, she loves her pool!

The Bassets on the other hand love the A/C...

In Florida? Going by Tate's?

2011-06-14T12:45:00.004-05:00

Be on the lookout for some more stickers...

Brand spanking new Kirk exploring strange new worlds!

Plus Spock, based on this illustration, doing some Tricordering... or is it Tricording?

Tate's told me these were just sent off to the printers! Also you can Facebook them here, I think they dig the Spock one : )

This one is for you Bubba!

2011-06-13T06:00:00.000-05:00

Laugh it up fuzzball...

I figured I would get this out of the way, yes I ordered a Sideshow Princess Leia. I told you after seeing Brian's I would either get this one or open up a boxed Hasbro one I've had since the nineties. Well fates have a funny way of handing you stuff, I saw a post on the Mego Museum boards about some EMCE megos on clearance at gohastings.com for some decent prices, I had all the ones they were talking about but curiosity got the best of me and I decided to check out what else was on sale. Well turns out it was Leia here, 29.00 big ones, that seemed like a really decent price for a Sideshow figure.

I will do a more thorough post later, but for now let us sit back and enjoy the comic stylings of Bubbashelby... commence oh festival...

Pizza Porkins!

2011-06-12T06:00:00.000-05:00

Last Friday I posted a fun little image of Rebel Pilot Jek Porkins and almost by second nature I included a Mynock (Chicken) Leg for our dashing X-Wing pilot to chew on for his portrait. Almost as soon as I posted it I received my first comment on the post from Dave Lowe of Para Abnormal fame. I think this may have been the first time Dave has commented on my blog. Dave is an artist that I hold in pretty high esteem, not only does he do the daily Para Abnormal blog, but he is also a prop designer of great talent having worked on many shows and a yearly celebration of Halloween at his own home. So, I was pretty excited to see what Dave had to say. Here's the comment for your reference:

"How come fat guys are always cartooned eating chicken?

Sincerely,
Fat Guy in Van Nuys (who prefers pizza)"

Okay, Dave has a sense of humor, so here was my reply...

"First I think that may be a Mynock leg, they taste like chicken so it's an understandable mistake. Second I think he finished the pizza after the cheeseburger and shake, or was it the taco, then the pizza, the cheeseburger, the Mynock leg then he likes his shake... anyway Third, I think I may be having chicken or Mynock for dinner tonight.

Best Regards,
Chunky B, Fat Guy in San Antonio (who luvs him some Tacos!)"

I was pretty proud of myself, having rubbed elbows with a cartooning great, I thought I did a pretty good job. So I waited for a response and as comments came in on loving the image, questioning if Jek could fit into an X-Wing the way I drew him and what not, not another reply form Dave. I thought maybe Dave didn't take it in jest. Then I thought possibly I had chosen the wrong words or even pushed it a little too far, which wasn't my intent. I was bummed, this was probably the second time in my life of drawing that I may have messed up and offended someone (I don't think the farting Jar Jar counts, if so make that three times).

So at risk of further offending and making people on the Internet mad at me I made a version of Porkins with a slice of homemade Bantha-eroni Pizza! Sort of a Peace-a-Pizza offering... though I think the Mynock leg works better, just saying.

Not My Toys!

2011-06-10T10:31:00.006-05:00

Not a lot of participation for this one, which I totally understand as we all have lives, mater of fact I sort of phoned this one in myself, ha ha. Still the ones I received are awesome and need to be shown! I am also using the text that each person sent as an explanation which makes the story complete.

Remember at the bottom of this post will be the next Photo Assignment! So here we go... these are Not My Toys!

Colin sent in this awesome shot, smooth as velvet and with some toy history.

"Found in my pal/bandmate Jackhammer's basement: These Mattel toy cars were called "Zowees", and they are about 1/2 the size of a Hot Wheels car. Fourteen of them were produced in 1972 (the year of my birth), the initial eight as promotion with the Shell Oil Company, free with a gasoline purchase or 49 cents alone. Later on in 1972, these cars (in slightly variant form) along with six new cars were made available retail, as well but as a variation of the Shell Oil versions. From left to right: Numb Skull, Shifty, Good Knight (Shell Oil promo version), & Goin' Fishin'"

Here's Reis' entry, which made me laugh pretty hard when I saw the email, you know I have run across a few of these type of scenes in the toy aisle, but this one is just too perfect.

"While trolling through TRU the other day I spotted this lovely little scene near the Schleich toys in which someone carefully placed what appears to be a Bernese Mountain Dog into a scene with a rather large dragon, thus making me imagine what could very well be one of the strangest Disney movies ever. I'm calling the movie "Barney & Scales" and it will be rated G."

Last but not least is my entry, like I said I may have phoned this one in. These are technically not my toys... yet anyway. I am working on some DC Comics projects at work and Warner Bros. sent these over for inspiration. So they are in my office and to be used on the project, but not really mine. After the project and if I am good I may be able to assimilate them into the Bat Shelf and give them official numbers.

As you can see I already opened one up and was checking him out. The Unicorn is from Despicable Me, it was left on my desk for some reference shots and now as a joke I keep it around, besides "It's so fluffy!" well, not really, but still funny to have staring at you while you work.

That wasn't so bad, you know it was not a lot, but what I got was really worth it. I think even my phoned in one wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, ha ha. So, what's next? Glad you asked.

The next Photo Assignment is "Let's hear it for the Red, White and Blue!"... get it? July... Red, White and Blue? Okay the photo does not have to be patriotic in nature, it can be but it can also be of any toy or toys, just use all three colors in the picture.

Here's the details...

1) Submit one JPG image to me by Wednesday, June 29, 2011 of some Red, White and Blue Toys. They can be any combination, but lets face it if you send in a Captain America you obviously have it made... oh and that would be way to easy. This is open to every one, not just people in the USA, every one has some sort of Red, White and Blue Toys! It can be patriotic themed or just a Red toy, a White toy and a Blue toy. It just has to be all in one picture.

2) Include your first name and if you have a website you want linked to.

3) Send your picture and info (see above) to eclectorama [at] studiohowell [dot] com, with "Some RWB for ya!" in the subject.

4) I will post all the photos on Monday, July 4, 2011, like that? I knew you would. So be back here then to see what people sent in.

This isn't a contest and I don't want too much trouble put into your picture, line them up, snap a pic and send it in! I am not collecting email to spam you, I don't have that much time,it's just for fun!

Eject! Eject!

2011-06-09T12:54:00.002-05:00

Another drawing just to draw and this time it's Porkins! This one reminded me of my Star Wars Kids magazine days, those were the days...

Thank You Admiral Obvious!

2011-06-08T15:01:00.003-05:00

Just drawing to draw, thought I would try a quick drawing to take a break. Enjoy.

All Vintagy and Stuff.

2011-06-06T06:18:00.004-05:00

I finally got around to downloading the Hipstamatic app for my Gen One iPhone, that's right baby still rocking my Gen One, getting my moneys worth! Anyway, I have been wanting this app for quite some time, it's not expensive it's just I never got around to downloading it, I'm pretty choosey on the apps I download too. This one was well worth the price as I am having a blast shooting pics with it. Here's some of my first attempts, this makes me miss the days of of actually using film and hanging out at the photo lab with my pals.

The Bassets, Lulu in the back and Squee, the blurry one, howling at the door.

Some home made Whoopie Pies cooling on the rack.

A Extra Large, "Big Head" Han Solo roaming the living room.

Lulu sitting in her favorite spot, gazing out the window.

Spock Stop 21: Woodbridge, New Jersey

2011-06-03T06:00:00.001-05:00

Long time Eclectomaniac (and I mean long time, I think he has been leaving the occasional comment since I started this blog) Jay of the Sexy Armpit was Spock's most recent host. I knew when Jay signed up Spock would have a good time, I mean come on Jay likes Batman and lives in Jersey, Spock was bound to have a good time... forget 'bout it!

Jay also stepped up on the creativity level by not only taking Spock to some key New Jersey pop culture locations, but he also combined the New Jersey Spockcation Experience into a great little comic (I'll post the link further down the post). Also, a first for Spockcation, but not a first for little Spock (ask Barbie, wink wink), a Spock Nude Photo!

So hang on to your Vulcan ears it's time for Spockcation!

Here's a the link to Jay's Comic, probably easier to read than these low res images I posted, big thnaks to Jay for taking on the first of a two part visit to New Jersey, Spock's next Jersey location is with none other than Rob at the Aquaman Shrine. I hope Aquaman doesn't mistake Spock for Namor, stay tuned and remember to Live Long and Prosper.

I know you are but what am I?

2011-06-01T15:10:00.002-05:00

click it and tell them Large Marge sent ya!

More Stickers for TATE's!

2011-05-28T06:00:00.004-05:00

Here's a few more stickers I did for TATE's comics in Florida! I haven't seen if these were used or not yet, but it's been a blast doing these. Enjoy.

Don't forget to check out the latest Eclectorama Art on the Cheap for your Hi Res Star Wars Trading Card! (yes it's FREE Brian.)

Here you go internet!

2011-05-25T15:41:00.005-05:00

My take on the classic Star Wars trading cards. Collect them all!

click image to see it Galaxy size! Then save, print and enjoy.

Hey Ladies!

2011-05-13T11:25:00.000-05:00

All right it's ladies night and the feelin's right... oh hey didn't see you there. That's right it's time for another Eclectorama Photo Assignment! Well, the part were I post all the photos you my fine Eclectomaniacs have submitted. Stay tuned because at the end of this post I will announce the next assignment and I think it's going to be a fun one!

I thought I would drop my photo first this time, so here you have my original Princess Leia figures from when I was a wee lad.

I cannot tell you how or when I acquired these, most likely from different birthday hauls and holiday presents, but as you can see I did take care of my ladies. My favorite is the Hoth Leia front and center. To this day when someone mentions Princess Leia, this is pretty much the first thing that pops in my mind, I think the Hoth outfit trumps even the Jabba's Prisoner outfit, lets be truthful that one is so over done now, I don't know if it's the way she wore her hair or the snow bunny aspect that I dig, but Hoth Leia will always be my number one.

I have to tell you also it was difficult to decide what to shoot, I tend to collect a lot of the female action figures for various lines, and by the looks of things so do you. So lets see what you sent in.

Matt, who I have an ongoing joke that he has no website, sent in this mix, here's what Matt has to say "Padme Amidala is my favorite Star Wars female character. In this photo she has found a couple of friends to go fight bad guys with."

This impressive sampling of lady action figure form is from non other than Reis. He added "I had this big pile of 1:18 scale female figures collected and was planning this big scene of them all hanging out, maybe having a wedding shower or something, and then I spotted my DCUC Powergirl and my MOTUC Teela and decided that I needed to show my few larger ladies some love. ;)"

Ron had a great idea of doing a mix of all his figures, something from all the different lines he has on hand, "I coulda done a whole pic with just Star Wars ladies or Simpsons ladies, but settled on one from each line and even then Star Wars kinda cheated with one figure from the original vintage line and a prequel figure"

Mock had this to contribute "... is of the ladies who sit on my desk. I admit I moved Hourman but other than that it is pretty much how things look."
But wait, check this next one out, one of my favorites...

Now how cool is this... Mock's son, Logan (who has his own blog) had to send his and his sister's figures! "...my 7 year old son Logan. He saw me organizing my figures and wanted to set up some too. He says "Here is a picture of all the little girls that me and my sister bought. I decided to take a picture. They are mostly Super Hero Squad. Some of them are Star Wars and some of them are GI Joe. :-) "

Bubbashelby, who is no stranger to the ladies... but has a thing against dolls for some odd reason, sent in this mix. "one of these ladies just isn't like the others". Bubba sent in a whole slew of images, I picked my favorite though he has been posting the rest on all his sites, go check them out.

Chrisman sent in this awesome batch of ladies from his collection and as always he makes toy photography look awesome! "This time i wanna participate XD... i’m pretty sure at least 30% of my collection is represented by beautiful girls & i’m doing a great effort to achieve a 50/50... just for the gender equity!"

Colin had this to say about this amazing toy. "One of my favorite female action figures is the DC Direct New Krypton Superwoman- I have a few female Mattel DCUCs, but DC Direct does a more artful job with their females, in my humble opinion. This little lady loved the camera during my shoot for her blogpost at the Super-DuperToyBox this past February 14th- it was a labor of love..."

iok went all GI Jane on us with this sample of his collection, I think he covered all the favorites... wait where's Lady Jay? "My piece - Ladies of the Joeniverse - features (from left to right) Scarlett, Baroness (the less-ugly version) and Courtney ''Cover Girl'' Krieger from the GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra movie tie-in line. Personally I think Cover Girl looks more like David St. Hubbins but you gotta work with what you've got...
"

Brian sent in this wonderful Father, Daughter piece. I told Brian that the Sideshow Princess Leia is simply amazing, it looks so much like Carrie Fisher. Makes me want to go to Ebay and find one... or open up my POTF one from Hasbro. Thanks Brian for sending this in!

This is cool, I have been posting the photos in the order I have received them and I was getting worried that I would have just a bunch of dudes and their little plastic ladies, not good for nerd or geek kind, but then I received this next email from Alexa of Pop Elegantiarum..."Here's a portrait of my old Batgirl doll from the 70s. She lost her helmet and boots through years of play."
She still has her Batgirl! We need to pull together and get her the parts to complete her figure!

And as if that wasn't cool enough...

Long time blogger, who has been missed as of late, A. Pants sends in her photo of all her ladies "duking it out over Spock-Elvis". That is too funny!

This Ladies and Gentlemen was one of my favorite Photo Assignments to date, how can I top this one??? How about a picture of someone else's toys?

That's right the next Eclectorama Photo Assignment is a photo of someone else's toys! I will give you a little time on this one and I will no doubt have to remind some of you : ) So, go take a picture of your son's or daughter's favorite toys, how about a fellow collector that you marvel at their collection, or have a family member that has a collection of stuffed animals... take a picture of that. You could even go into a toy store and take a photo of toys you wish you could have, but just don't have in your collection. That's really it, it cannot be in your collection.

Here's the details...

1) Submit one JPG image to me by Wednesday, June 8, 2011 of someone else's toys (with their permission of course... well unless you are going all commando and shooting pictures in stores).

2) Include your first name and if you have a website you want linked to.

3) Send your picture and info (see above) to eclectorama [at] studiohowell [dot] com, with "Not My Toys!" in the subject.

4) I will post all the photos on Friday, June 10, 2011, so be back here then to see what people sent in.

5) Remember these toys cannot be in your collection! Yet, anyway.

This isn't a contest and I don't want too much trouble put into your picture, line them up, snap a pic and send it in! I am not collecting email to spam you, I don't have that much time,it's just for fun!

X-Men invade my desk!

2011-05-12T14:50:00.000-05:00

Not really a Candid Toy Pic, but it was sort of a random little photo shoot.

Found these at the TRU here in the "Middle of Nowhere", Texas.

This set reminds me of those old 90's Toy Biz days...except with a ton more articulation. Truth be told I picked this set up for Storm, but was sad that her waist articulation is super loose (keep your minds out of the gutter) and she cannot raise her arms because they are fastened to her cape... so that if she could raise them her cape would raise too?!

Oh well at least I got another Wolverine.

Hey Ladies Reminder!

2011-05-11T06:00:00.000-05:00

Today's the deadline to get your picture in for the "Hey Ladies" post on Friday!

Reworking Our Work Space

2011-05-10T07:30:00.004-05:00

If you have followed along I have been cleaning stuff out and trying to organize the home workspace. My wife and I have discussed turning the "Man Cave" into a more friendlier space we both could share, though she still wants it to have some of my influence in it, to that end she picked me up some new wall art for the main wall.

I'm not going to mince words here I am one lucky som-bitch!

Free Comic Book Day 2011!

2011-05-07T06:00:00.003-05:00

It's here, and even though our LCS (Local Comic Shop) in town is rather greedy and limits the comics to one per customer, I have been taken care of very well by my friends at Tate's. I still may venture into the "big city" and see what one of the shops there is doing.

In the mean time as promised here are the first set of stickers I did for Tate's Comic Shop...

I think these turned out great! Tate's does a really great job promoting their shop, they also sent another item they used the artwork on that I will be posting soon!

Next up are the submitted artwork, as with all projects the artwork may need some tweaks and type changes, the Galactus went through a few before the finished version and since the Flash was the first sticker attempt I had left off some key elements like the website url... so, these will be a little different being the first submissions and all. Enjoy!

Flash! He'll save everyone of us...

2011-05-06T06:00:00.009-05:00

Oh wait wrong flash. Little known fact, next to Batman, the Flash is one of my favorite super heroes. Okay, maybe it is known. This illustration was done for Tate's Comics in Florida for their Free Comic Book Day stickers they pass out (a different version, this one was an "airbrush" version I did for the fun of it).

If I lived in Florida this shop would get a good portion of my pay check. If you live in Florida you should check them out, tell them Charles sent you and what the hey pick me up something nice from their shop for giving you the tip... worth a try.

click image to see larger... if you can, the Flash is pretty quick!

Speaking of being worth a try, do you my dear, dear readers think that people might be interested in me doing commissions of their favorite pop culture heroes? I have been approached and have turned away a lot of offers, but I think if I do it as a commission it might be okay. Leave a comment and let me know.

Tune in tomorrow as I will be posting the stickers and images of the submitted graphics I did for the shop! Hope you all have a great Free Comic Book Day!

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone!

2011-05-05T06:00:00.000-05:00

I knew all those little Lego Mariachis would pay off one day! I love these guys!
Cinco de Mayo, any reason is a good reason to celebrate in ole' San Antonio and the Fifth of May is no exception. So while you are just happy to make it over hump day we are living it up here in the Eclectorama HQ!

This guy here, he's crazy!
I know that this is sort of celebrated through out the country, well at least here and So Cal, but I remember in college working for a certain brown shipping company and shipping those damn Corona displays everywhere for weeks leading up to this day. So live it up, tomorrow it's back to work... unless we can do this on the 5th of every month!

Happy Star Wars Day Everyone!

2011-05-04T06:00:00.002-05:00

clicky to wookiee size it!

See what I did there? May the 4th, eh, eh? I wish I could take credit for this day, oh well. AT-AT first I was thinking what can I do to celebrate Star Wars Day this year, I was so going to shoot a cool picture, then I thought I will make my peeps something special, so I drew up my favorite wookiee jamming out for yas!

I plan on watching the OT tonight and maybe swing by the store and pick up a little Star Wars sompin sompin, you all have a blast today, go pull the ears off a Gundark!

Oh yeah the official site is supposed to make a big Blu Ray announcement today!

Next Photo Assignment: Hey Ladies!

2011-05-02T06:00:00.001-05:00

I don't know if I will have a lot for this one... That's right I want to see all those action figures of the ladies in your collections. Dig through those totes, go to your shelves and gather them up and shoot a picture. You know you have them. Pick a favorite or shoot a group but have them sent in by no later than May 11th so I can post them that Friday.

Why the ladies? I don't think they get enough exposure in the "Action Figure" world. Sure we have seen more and more being released over the years, but I get the feeling they are still regulated as the damsel in distress in many a collection.

To announce this photo assignment I went no father than my drawing desk and shot a picture of this fine example of action figure form, my favorite from when I was a kid, my original Leia.

So, ladies AND gentlemen send in your pics, here's the particulars:

1) Submit one JPG image to me by Wednesday, May 11, 2011 of your action figure ladies.

2) Include your first name and if you have a website you want linked to.

3) Send your picture and info (see above) to eclectorama [at] studiohowell [dot] com, with "Hey Ladies!" in the subject.

4) I will post all the photos on Friday, May 13, 2011, so be back here then to see what people sent in.

5) Last but not least, and this should have to go unsaid, but let's keep it decent oaky, I mean you all have mothers, sisters, wives or girlfriends (this is for the guys, ladies I am sure you will take this assignment seriously).

This isn't a contest and I don't want too much trouble put into your picture, line them up, snap a pic and send it in! I am not collecting email to spam you, I don't have that much time,it's just for fun!

Oh yeah, this will be a monthly thing so if you miss this one there will be more photo assignments to come.

Let's see this is 118...

2011-05-01T06:00:00.001-05:00

Find out more about him at Batman the Animated Toys!

A Spockcation Update

2011-04-27T06:00:00.001-05:00

Spock and Mo (from Puppatoons ) mind meld.

First I just want to say, where do I sign up for service in Starfleet, I mean besides the obvious dangers of being a red shirt, the vacation time alone is out of this world and well worth the risk. Spock has been on vacation since April 14, 2009... TWO YEARS THIS YEAR! Actually over two years since this post is coming after the anniversary date.

Also, Spock's last host Liz sent us an out take which you see above, if you haven't visited her sight go check it out, Liz is a puppeteer, a TIE fighter pilot and a Ghostbuster just to name a few of her talents!

So with this update I thought until we receive some fresh photos I would drop some Spockcation knowledge on you...

Spock has completed 22 stops since he started on April 14th of 2009.

Spock has visited 18 states and Canada. Spock has actually made his way into Canada with two different hosts.

Spock has had multiple stops in the following states so far: Florida,California, Illinois and Georgia.

Spock has logged an estimated 20,930.2 travel miles.

Spock's longest distance he has traveled is still an estimated 3316 miles from Boca Raton, FL to Seattle, WA.

Spock's shortest distance he has traveled is still an estimated 11 miles in California. There was runner up that may have beaten it if you count not actually going from door step to door step.

Spock was actually hand delivered from one host in Georgia to another, how's that for bringing people together.

Spock has been traveling for 2 years and 13 days, more precisely 743 days.

Spock has 9 more stops in his trip, he's almost home!

Spock's estimated return to his home state is August 2011, looks like we didn't make that November 2010 deadline.

Spock's vacation shirt, which looks like it's holding up rather well, was custom made for him by my mother... yeas my mother made a shirt for my dolly... which I still maintain is an action figure!

While Spock is enjoying his travels he wishes he would have taken a Shuttlecraft to get from stop to stop.

Spock is still going strong. I hope he makes it back before the release of the next Star Trek movie. My finger's are crossed that he does, I still need to show him around my home town for you guys and gals.

If you are hosting him try to keep his time with you at one week remember the needs of the many out way the needs of the few, or the one.

Live long and Prosper.

Something you might not know

2011-04-25T10:58:00.004-05:00

Before she came to live with us, our bulldog Gertie used to be a test pilot. She was instrumental in making a lot of planes that fly today safe for everyone from a U.S. Air Force Pilot flying the latest fighters to "Joe and Jane Traveler" flying commercial airliners. Decorated several times for bravery and above all staying cool under pressure.

This has been something you might not know.

Honestly I am not doing this on purpose...

2011-04-22T19:46:00.005-05:00

... I know , I know enough Batman! I can't stop!

Believe it or not I have passed on this Batman figure time and time again, I just wasn't sure if I was into the whole Imaginext thing. I picked up a Joker last year it was pretty cool, then for the Battle Royal with Reis I picked up another, the gray and black Batman... you can't have a Joker without a Batman. Then a few weeks back I found a Hawkman and Flash two pack, that peeked my interest more and now I guess I am going to try and get a few more.

I was actually looking at the Green Lantern with the Jet then I found out if I had waited on that earlier two pack I could have had three birds with one stone, oh well. Also kicking myself for not grabbing the Penguin, Riddler and Two Face from the Target Easter section... doh! Oh well don't they do one of these for the fourth of July or something?

So all that said I give you Batman 117. I may need to start another shelf, but my Stormtroopers don't want to give ground. Okay I will stop now... well, until number 118 comes in the mail from a eBay purchase, in my defense I was after an accessory and another figure that came with the Batman so there.

Da Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Batman! BATMAN!

2011-04-22T06:02:00.005-05:00

No sooner than I leave a comment on one of Super Duper Toy Box's post do I pick up a Justice League Unlimited three pack... okay for the record I am not collecting these like I used too, but this set has a few things going for it and I had to get it, but the price, Ugh don't get me started... Mattel you bastards! I can't quit you!

First, up it's a new Batman I do not have, or a re paint I do not have.
Second, it's a freaking Batman The Animated Series Set! No Brainer.
Third, Who doesn't love a repainted Joker?
Fourth, holy freaking cow, it's the Gray Ghost, I would have never thought I would see this set ever.

Look how Happy Batman is, it's like when Bubbashelby picks up one of his all plastic dollies at a swap meet! I kid, I kid Bubba.

Oh Batman you will be number.... let's see, oh yeah 116! Seems like it was just yesterday I was thinking I would not get any higher than say 115...

Why is Batman so Happy? Oh, it's the Gray Ghost his childhood hero, punching Joker right in the kisser! Yea Bats, yea Gray Ghost! Boo Joker.

Oh what the hell, for old times sake... Viva JLU Club!

Stuff in the Mail! Big Thanks!

2011-04-21T09:36:00.006-05:00

I have been remiss in my posting duties lately so today, like on Reis's blog, I am finally giving a few shout outs. First up Jboypacman has been doing some spring cleaning of sorts and has been making the USPS work for their money sending all sorts of goodies around the blogesphere. I have to say when he emailed me to let me know something was on it's way I was not expecting all the goodies he was intending to send my way, I am actually floored. I have to say, and forgive me if this gets a little mushy, but I have really enjoyed Jboy's efforts in collecting and being in on his little blog from the early days, it's like watching a little video game loving bird learn to fly... sniff, sniff. That goes for all the "newbies" out there... what a horrible term, how about "eager new collectors" ? I think they bring a fresh perspective in the often jaded world of collecting.

Big thanks Jboy! He let me know if there were anything I have extras of I could pay it forward to my fellow collectors, what a guy! There are a couple things I have duplicates of now, but I have to say he really knows his bloggers because a majority of the haul here is something I do not have in my collection. Oh and I had to get a chuckle because he sent me four, count them Reis FOUR new Batmans, that I didn't have in my collection... I think I will call them number 112, number 113, number 114 and number 115.

Next LEon over at open the toy surprised me with this awesome, minty fresh Captain Kirk from EMCE toys. I think this is just the greatest because he thought enough to send the good captain my way and who doesn't love getting packages from around the world! Thanks again LEon, you are the best.

Now I am a little embarrassed here because my dedication to this line of Figures runs a little deep, and I am going to say this upfront, it is an action figure, not a doll any effort by the "plastic only heads" is futile, because in truth any little toy that is a representation of the human, monster or alien (etc, etc.) form is considered a doll, it was the marketers of the 50's and 60's that coined the "action figure" name to sell "dolls" to boys and their parents. So trying to re-write history so you can sleep at night for buying little plastic men isn't going to work Bubba, call it a dolly all you want, you dolly lover!

Okay that said my embarrassment lies in the fact that including this one I now have four versions of this Kirk; I have an original open Mego (we all know you have to have at least one of the holy trilogy if not all three in Mego form), I have an open EMCE toys version (just like this one, but out of the package) as well as a packaged version... and now this one. So I talked it over with LEon and we agreed that a little contest or give away is in order, or I could slap a Harley Quinn outfit on it and send it to Bubba ; )

Anyway we'll work it out and make an announcement so study up on your Star Trek or even Shatner history... oh and when I received this package I could not help but think of this appearance(s) of our great captain.

Enjoy and Thanks again guys!

Candid Toy Pic - 04.19.2011

2011-04-19T10:33:00.001-05:00

A few new troopers for the ranks!

It's time for a Cantina Crawl!

2011-04-15T06:00:00.009-05:00

Making your way in the galaxy takes everything you've got
Taking a break from all the wookies , sure would help a lot

Wouldn't you like to go far, far away?

Sometimes you want to go

Where no one can pronounce your name (bumm, bumm, bumm)

and the drinks all look the same. (bumm, bumm, bumm)

You wanna be where droids can't go,
and some aliens have big fangs,
You wanna go where no one can pronounce your name.

Cantina Crawl is filmed in front of a live audience...

Reis sent his in almost the next day! I am really digging the vintage look to the photo on this one, when I asked if Reis was working some Photoshop magic here he sent me this cool link to the app he used to create this!

Matt once again sends in this great picture of all his aliens, he mentioned that he at one time had more Star Wars based aliens but they were out drinking at another bar when shot this photo. He did throw in a few other Star Wars characters and I have to say I am a little jealous of that Thanos.

Colin sends in this one he titled "The Stranger" (getting all artsy on us here) I have to say this is my favorite of the bunch, it looks like the Star Warriors were totally taken off guard with the Martian Manhunter's entrance.You can here the record skip...brrrrrrrrp.... when the door swings open. Or did he just phase through it?

The next five pictures were sent in by Victor. Actually Victor sent in a lot of pictures, so many that they crashed my phone when I casually checked it in the morning, but no big deal, there was a lot of good pictures to look at when I got it working again. I narrowed down the selection to my top five from all the ones he sent in, I like how he has all these little "conversations" going on at the local cantina. Looks like the Rodians have taken over duty as bartenders as well.

Next Doc Atomic sent in DROIDS! Your droids we don't serve their kind here!

I'm kidding, I know these are aliens but Brian explains it better... you know something I just realized I do not have any Doctor Who in my collection...

"This is my collection of vintage Daleks, ca. 1964-1975, all hailing from the U.K.

The two in back are talking Daleks by a company called Palitoy; the one large and two small ones in front are by Marx's British division. The large one is battery operated while the small ones have a friction mechanism.

Finally, the Dalek in the middle is a wind up version by the company Cowan de Groot -- a.k.a. Codeg. It's the rarest of the lot, and definitely my favorite. When it's wound up, the toy rolls around, changing direction, while the eye stalk swings side to side in an eerily life-like way. Cool!

For anyone who doesn't watch Doctor Who, the Daleks are aliens, not robots. The outer mechanical part is sort of like an armored suit; inside it sits a small, shriveled up mutant of an alien, one that's hell bent on taking out everything in the universe. :)"

Finally here's my submission. I tried to keep it simple this time, plus for some reason I kept putting off my photo shoot till the last minute and failed to drag out ALL my aliens... Oh well.

I am sure like everyone else there are scenes in the original Star Wars that stick in your brain, the Star Destroyer fly over, the first ignition of a lightsaber, Stormtroopers blasting through a hallway of Rebels, the list goes on and on. To me the Cantina is one of those scenes, I will admit until about age twelve I honestly believed that all bars will filled with these wonderful creatures, imagine my surprise when I was old enough to actually go into a bar and discover there were just people in them... who knew. Back to scenes sticking with you, when I saw Hammerhead's appearance on screen (even though it was a quick one) I was floored. "What the heck was that my eyes just saw?" My mind couldn't grasp what he or she was, I just knew it was the most awesome alien I had ever seen.

To this day when someone mentions the Cantina scene Hammerhead is the first image that pops into my mind. So, when I picked up my first cantina alien it was that fellow in the middle "Hammerhead" and immediately he was my go to alien. I took a shoebox and built my own cantina so he and his buddies could have a place to drink. I would take my little 45 record player and place it behind the box and play the Cantina song over and over again, must have drove my parents crazy. I was all about creating the atmosphere when I played Cantina. Isn't it weird that we got a set of Bar Flies and not one but two Cantina playsets back then. I always wanted a proper Cantina playset, but I settled for the shoe box. I may have to rectify that.

Next, the guy standing picture left recounting his day to his fellow Ithorians was a Christmas present from my wife back in 1996. It was a big deal at the time because they just released the series that included him and they were going to phase out the orange cards. I opened him up on Christmas Eve, weird how you remember that stuff. The one on the right was a later purchase and is pretty much the best Momaw Nadon out at the moment. Highlights with this guy include his favorite drinking glass and he came with an Ithorian Staff and a small Cantina table.

I cannot tell you how excited I will be to see a new version, if it is ever released, on the new vintage cards, my fingers are crossed that we get one. That was fun and keeping it simple by spotlighting my favorite Cantina Alien brought back some nice memories. Lets raise a glass to all the aliens above! Great job everyone and thanks for participating!

What's next? I am thinking this will be a monthly feature from here on out, the next one being in May. I will announce the theme and deadlines around the first week of each month. So keep checking in for the next theme and due date. Happy Friday everyone, be safe flying home from the Cantina and remember to tip your waitress.

Aye Carumba!

2011-04-14T09:49:00.003-05:00

I still need to shoot my Cantina Crawl photo! Where does the time go?

Spock Stop 20: Dacula, GA

2011-04-13T05:00:00.002-05:00

It's Spockcation time again, actually I have had these for a little while and just got around to posting them. This is Spock's second of three stops in Georgia, Spock has some fans in Georgia! His host for this stop is none other than my pals over at Puppatoons, Liz and her husband Steve. Love puppets, then head over there for a visit, Liz is a working puppeteer and her husband... well I'll let their pictures tell the story.

So let's get it started, oh and I will be going without a lot of captions this time, because well if you can't tell where Spock visited it will become pretty apparent by the end of the photos.

Guess where he is at yet?

Turner Mansion

Across the street (or highway) there is Adult Swim!

Spock looking for Scotty

Liz and Spock lending a hand on the March Madness set

Spock visiting Steve at work

Steve and Spock

Well Spock's work visit sure beats my little C-3PO office visit. That was very cool seeing all the stuff scattered around the hallways of Cartoon Networks HQ, hope Steve didn't get in trouble having Spock visit while he was busy working on the latest cartoons. Thanks again to Liz and her husband for showing Spock around, now it's time for Spock to be heading to his next stop in Georgia, so keep checking back to see where Spock ends up!

Live long and prosper.

Candid Toy Pic - 04.12.2011

2011-04-12T12:30:00.001-05:00

Finally! I found one that wasn't too bad (paint has been terrible on these) in the Target Easter section, Batman number 111, the Funko POP Heroes Batman... Awwwwwh, who's a lil' Batman... you are, you're a lil' Batman!

Weekend Toy Haul

2011-04-11T06:00:00.000-05:00

Not often I have one of these, but I had pretty good luck this weekend and found some cool things.

First up I found myself near a Toys R Us that we do not often find ourselves near, this one is located in the big city, anyway on the pegs were about 20 Captain Colds and one lone Flash figure. The thing is his card was destroyed, the bubble was being held on by two pieces of scotch tape on one side, what was left of the original heat seal on the other and the top of the bubble was open to the world. I figured he was either A) a return from a child's birthday party, it was opened and then decided upon it was lame and returned or B) someone really wanted to see what it was all about and ripped it open in the store. Either way since Flash doesn't have any accessories and the rest of him seemed in tack, I bought him. That is how bad it is around here folks, you buy them when you see them, no matter the cindition. Now I will admit I was going to open him anyway and I did feel a little cheated, but at least I found one in the wild... The Action League set was from a trip to Wally World, I was in a Flash sort of mood and wanted to round out the Flash collection a bit.

This next set of toys is from a trip (or two) to the local Grocery Store, well let me back up. The Lego TIE Fighter was from the same trip to Wally World as the Flash Action League. It looked like it was meant to be an Easter thing like Target does, they had the X-Wing (which I already had) and the TIE. These were all tucked away in the very back of the Lego aisle. I had to have a small Lego TIE. Okay now, the two figures were from the grocery store trips, I picked up the Stormtrooper because I have this sickness that compels me to pick up two of certain figures, like Stormtroopers, Jawas, etc. Sort of a mini army builder I guess. I just had to have two of these to put next to one of all those Darth Vaders I have laying around. R5-D4, might live on the card I haven't decide, I sort of dig those Star Wars cards. Now, I'm a little ashamed here as I had already picked up the Luke from this set earlier in the week and I also picked up another "big head" Han Solo, I don't know why besides I wanted another one of these Han Solos for something. I couldn't help myself. STAR WARS!

This last one is from the Toys R Us trip as the Mego-Like Flash, which I should call the "Mr. Miracle Flash" as he was trying to escape that plastic tomb all those Captain Colds put him in (for the record I passed on Captain Cold this round). Anyhoo, check this out, they make a freaking Red Porsche 914! I found out that there was a red one and a mustard yellow one a week or so back. I told myself that Toys R Us is the only place I will ever see the red one and if I am near one I was going to check and they had one on the peg. Again the package is in not so hot shape, but I plan on opening it up anyway. I just wanted to shoot a package pic for all my die cast readers. The mustard yellow one comes in one of those multi packs. I have a plan for that one since I am only interested in the 914, that will be revealed later. It's not illegal, I am not going to swap out a car. Gesh people, my nephew loves die cast cars so he will get all the extras, see now you made me spoil the surprise...

I think that about covers it, plus I think I have pretty much used up my toy karma for the next month... plus maybe my budget : ) I do have some Spockcation pictures to post this week, an awesome box of toys Jboypacman sent last week I need to post (sorry Jboy I'm getting to it) and wasn't there something else? Oh yeah the Cantina Crawl! I still need to shoot my entry! Have you shot your's yet? Oh, and welcome to the new followers... er I mean eclectomaniacs! I woke up Sunday morning and had 67! Sweet!

Candid Toy Pic - 04.07.2011

2011-04-07T06:00:00.001-05:00

"... so I said big deal, you can destroy a planet, you are still an overwe... oh wait, it's right behind me, right?"

Sorting it all out

2011-04-06T08:00:00.000-05:00

I debated posting these, I shot some really crappy phone pictures so I could show a friend what my latest action figure project is, then I thought might as well, you will get the idea of what I am trying to do here.

Here's an overview so far. I have about 6 to 8 totes packed with loose toys, they take up quite a bit of space in a spare closet, along with some totes of stuff I plan on opening and stuff I plan to keep packaged. Anyway, it is a pain to dig out a tote, especially if it is on the bottom of a stack of four and then get it situated so I have room to dig through it to find the figure I want to snap a picture of. I would love to have the room to display my entire collection at arms reach, but that is just not possible, so I end up rotating stuff out (not as often as I would like).

I broke down and passed on a Lego set I had been wanting and purchased a few of these pretty standard drawer units. I started with two and then two more... wait what? You say you only see two in the photos, oh that being pretty modular I have taken the first two apart, re arranged the order of the drawer units and snapped them all back together, I know nothing special, but it does give you a pretty decent height for the whole unit. So, these started out as five drawer units, with four shallow drawers and on larger drawer at the bottom. They make these things in all sorts of configurations and sizes, I found these to be the best for what I want to do. My goal is to maybe have 4 to 6 of these towers, I am really hoping for only 4, I think at some point I need to grow up a little and let some toys go... did I just say that?

Here's a peek into one of the drawers of the unit I am calling the DC Tower, okay I will admit at the bottom I might throw a few of my Marvels in there, it's a work in progress. For the most part this is all my DC figures except for any Batman figures. Batman may need his own set of storage drawers. I have decided on some figures, ones with tiny accessories I need to bag them. Instead of dropping a ton of money on action figure baggies I went with the local store brand sandwich bags. To me they are pretty much the same, maybe a little lighter mill. I also decided it might be wise to use a hole punch and make a little vent hole in the back, small enough to keep accessories from falling out, large enough to vent. My thinking here is to try and keep the figures and their accessories together and hopefully keep some of the plastics from cooking in their own juices. This may or may not work.

The shallow drawers will have very limited stacking and the larger drawers will have the most, but still far less digging than say a tote and hopefully in the case of the JLU figures that seem so easily damaged by storing together they will not be under the weight of fifty or more figures stacked on top of each other.

Finally, organization! I figured why not make it a little easier to find the toys I am looking for. This is the part of the project that is taking the time. I borrowed my wife's label maker and got to labeling drawers. I tried to keep the line name and the manufacturer all in the titles, but as you can see with the open drawer picture I do have drawers that contain mixes. I tried to label these with a few different descriptions or labels. I also found that I have more multiples on certain figures and figures I no longer really want from doing this, so I will be compiling them to send to friends, blogger buddies and post a few on eBay. Remember I am trying to cull the collection to a more focused collection. So with the DC Tower near completion, the empty one should be large enough to house my GI Joe 25th Anniversary figures plus Indiana Jones and maybe a few of the minor lines I want to keep. I think Star Wars may fill two of these by itself. Plus I do not know how I want to organize the loose Star Wars collection. Decisions, decisions...

Well, I know it's not the latest greatest toy or a crazy shot with a vintage Chewbacca, but it's what I have been up to lately. I will show more of this project as well as the others I always seem to have going as I get further along.

Hulking it Up!

2011-04-05T12:00:00.000-05:00

You know for not being one of my favorite Marvels I sure do think about the Hulk a lot... fun to draw I guess.

They make them in Orange flavor now!

2011-03-29T06:00:00.000-05:00

While I was out with my wife this past weekend we stopped by the local Wally World, it's close and has just set out all their plants, so while she was looking over the nursery I went to the toy aisles. I picked up a Clone Wars figure I had been meaning to get (Not everyone's cup of tea) and passed down the die cast aisle where I was hit with this amazing little guy.

I have said it time and time again, if there is a Porsche 914 on the shelves and it's a different color from what I already have it will follow me home. That's just what this one did. I took a lot of flack on the ride home for buying another one of these cars, but I did point out it had three very important things going for it.

1) It was a Porsche 914
2) It was orange... a no brainer in my book.
3) It was inexpensive!

Some things I noticed on this version is it still has the silver interior, fairly accurate I might ad (not the silver, but the details), it also had a new deco, the "Porsche" decals above the rocker panels. Plus, I don't know if this was the case with all of them because I have only seen the one, but the signal lights are all missing their paint deco, front and back. I figured if it was like that on all of the orange models because of the new deco on the sides, maybe cutting into cost. I will have to check if I see another one.

Even with the signal deco missing I think this is a great little find and I for one am glad they are getting some mileage out of this car. I would welcome some more colors... hint we need a white one, a black one and a silver one : )

Hang In There!

2011-03-28T09:59:00.002-05:00

I guess this would have been a better title if I had actually hung Spidey upside down or something, but I figured you the reader would see the connection. What a crazy weekend I totally feel unorganized starting this week, I hopefully will have something new for you this week. I picked up a few little toys this past weekend and have even started a loose collection organization project I might float by you to see what you think, also to ask how you store your loose figures.

So stay tuned true believer... Oh and this is a Famous Covers Spider-Man form series one if you were wondering, he surfaced from a tote I was cleaning out and has been hanging around on the computer desk. Right now he looks disappointed that he hasn't been featured on the blog and that I have slacked in my Marvel based posts. Jeez, I can't make anyone happy.

Candid Toy Pic - 03.26.2011

2011-03-26T14:11:00.003-05:00

"Look buddy I don't care what you and yer Droid are going to do at Toshi Station, I only know one Skywalker and his name ain't Luke!"

Cantina Crawl

2011-03-24T06:00:00.003-05:00

Trooper Doodle

2011-03-23T06:00:00.001-05:00

... don't ask, not sure what I was trying to do here either.

Spring has sprung...

2011-03-22T12:00:00.000-05:00

...and the IG-86 Assassin Droid is frolicking in the flowers!

A Straggler

2011-03-21T06:00:00.000-05:00

"Hide all the green women, Captain James T. Kirk has arrived! Hello? Anybody here? Where did everyone go? I swear the invite said wear green and be here on Monday...

"Nice Suit..."

2011-03-20T06:00:00.005-05:00

"...does it come in extra, extra, extra large?"

Come on guys leave him alone and lets get the rest of these green toys packed back up... I can't leave you two alone for a minute.

My Original Turtles

2011-03-19T06:00:00.002-05:00

These guys were kind of hidden in Friday's photo and I thought they needed a little spotlight of their own. They are some of the very first toys I collected.

Let's See Some Green!

2011-03-18T06:00:00.009-05:00

It's that time, and I thought I would post my pic first this time. I realized while I was pulling all my green stuff out and getting ready for pictures that I tend to collect a lot of the same character, over and over again, not very exciting now that I think about it. Believe me I also had a tough time with this one, where is the cut off? Aquaman has green pants, Kirk owns a green shirt, I finally settled on these green characters and not using all the versions I had on hand. I tried to mix it up a bit. So here we go.

LET'S SEE SOME GREEN!

So, this is my green... well most of it. Click the image to super size it, I put stuff in there for everyone. See what you can recognize!

John aka Jboypacman from Revenge from the Cosmic Ark sent in the first submission this time.

Reis from Hey! Look at my toys sent in more awesome green stuff. Seriously Reis has some of the best toys.

Matt, a loyal reader, sent in his Yoda collection... very nice. Matt needs to do a Star Wars blog.

Not to be out done, by no one, Erick from Wonderful Wonderblog blew me away with his Hulk Shrine... speechless.

Iok from That figures sent in this awesome photo with this explanation " I know not everything here is green but the light effect - which I caught purely by accident - more than makes up for it.It's a display of some Microman Command Replica figures from Takara's 1999 re-issue run, with an M142 Hudson Spy Magician (also from 1999) at the fore." Thanks and yes it does make up for it.

Ruben, a newcomer who's blog/website I didn't catch, hit us up with this motley crew of green dudes. How cool is this setup?

Brian from Cool and Collected sent i three pics, this one shot for the Green Project here and the next two with the largest group of TMNT I have ever seen and what I think is a Hulk Coin Bank...

Eric aka BubbaShelby from Toyriffic! shows off his collection of Green at work!

LEon from Open the Toy shows off his Green from his collection with the hopes that he did not leave anything out.

Jason from Jasonvorhee's Blog Has some stuff I haven't seen in a long time with his Green collection, thanks for the trip down memory lane with this one.

Colin from Super-Duper Toy Box sent his in with this explanation:

"As a kid, I never paid any attention to Martian Manhunter, but I'm absolutely fascinated with J'onn J'onzz as an adult. His intellect & thoughtful nature combined with enormous power appeal to me greatly. While sharing "sole survivor" status of his race with Superman, J'onn was not raised on Earth within our culture- he also witnessed the death of his homeworld. He is truly a "stranger in a strange land", something I can often identify with. *Clockwise, from the left: DC Direct New Frontier MM, Mattel DCUC MM, DC Direct 13" Deluxe MM, Hasbro 9" MM, and front/center DC Direct History of DC Universe MM."

Doc Atomic over at Attic of Astounding Artifacts and
Galactic Awesome Brings us these with this explanation:

"Oddly enough, I don't have many green toys in my collection. However, here are two that I really love -- and that have a connection to each other.
First, the Flash Gordon Signal Gun, which was made by Marx in 1938. When I first started collecting ray guns, this was a holy grail... And when I finally got one, I felt like my collection took a huge leap forward. Fun fact: For what I think are pretty obvious reasons, it's sometimes known as the Martian Boob.
The second toy is my Return of the Jedi Force Lightsaber, made by Kenner in 1983. I've been looking for one of these for a while now, but could only find the more common red one -- and since I'm a huge Luke Skywalker fan, that just wasn't gonna do. Besides, I had the green one as a kid and I really wanted it back!
So, the connection? Well... Before George Lucas sat down to write Star Wars, his plan was to license the Flash Gordon character! Yep, we almost had Flash fighting Ming the Merciless in a galaxy far, far away. Instead, we got Luke versus Darth Vader... AND Mike Hodges' version of Flash Gordon a couple years later. Score!"

Brian from Yesterville Toy Room sent this great pic of his favorite Hulk toy just being a toy!

How fun was that, I actually received more than I thought and very little overlap of green I might add, not like we were looking at a bunch of turtles at a pizza party... wait, never mind.

I'm having such a blast with this I have another one in the works, not sure when I will make the announcement for it so stay tuned.

It's LuLu's Birthday!

2011-03-17T06:00:00.000-05:00

LuLu is seven years old today!
Happy Birthday to Lu
Happy Birthday to Lu
Happy Birthday dear LuLu
Happy Birthday to Lu

She looks really excited doesn't she? I think this is the most excitement I have seen from her all week!

Office Visit

2011-03-16T06:00:00.003-05:00

Yesterday C-3P0 tagged along with me to work and explored the place a bit while I was putting the nose to the grind stone, here's his adventures...

"Oh my! These humans have interesting taste in art!"
Note:This is the first thing I see every morning, well this and a huge Batman image outside my door.

"My lot in life to hang around on this bag while R2 is off somewhere on a grand adventure."

"Stormtoopers! Here?!

"This Basset Hound looks familiar!"

"Over heeere! We do not use devises such as these to make images in my galaxy."

"If you will not be needing me I am going to switch off for a while."

"Wait... could it be? Yes I believe it could be..."

"Scooby-Doo it is you, it is you!"

R2-D2 where are you?

2011-03-15T12:10:00.003-05:00

Not since I was a kid did I run out of the house with an action figure in hand heading off to face the world. Then it would have been school, now it's work. I decided it might be fun to take a piece of home to work with me today, maybe shoot a couple of pics at work, who knows. I used to keep toys on my desk at work and probably in the past two years have stripped down my work desk to bare essentials, not exciting I know, but I do work on toys and have my fill of them during the day... Besides people have been sneaking into my office and putting my figures in not so nice positions and situations... humf! I never!

C-3PO was sitting on my drawing desk at home and looked like he wanted to go for a ride, so off we set out to join the world in the morning commute... I wonder if this mean I can officially use the car pool lane.

Oh yeah and I guess I wasn't kidding after all... more STAR WARS!!!

Batman Number 110

2011-03-14T17:30:00.002-05:00

I needed to break up all that talk of Star Wars with a Batman break. This was a gift from a buddy (name withheld to protect the innocent) of mine during the 28 Challenge that took the edge off the drought of toys a bit. If you missed the post it was here, but I thought it would be a good time to give this Batman his official number and welcome him to the Batman Shelf. So thanks again pal, rest assured this Batman has found a great new home.

Another reason for this post was I was just talking it over with my buddy about our top ten favorite Batman figures and I was feeling in a Batman sort of mood. Tomorrow more STAR WARS!!! Just kidding.

I can't get Star Wars off my mind!!!

2011-03-13T13:16:00.004-05:00

I do not often do this, but thought it might be fun, here's a weeks worth of Star Wars haul ending today, I guess you could call this a Star Wars Week... or Star Wars Weekending 03-13-2011... or too much Star Wars Swag... oh you get the point, let's see how this goes.

First these two arrived from Hasbro Toy Shop, I had been meaning to pick them up for a long time, they were stationed in the freezer until they climatize to the South Central Texas weather.

Then while looking for cheap AT-AT's I found Han Solo frozen in Vintage Style Packaging. No cheap AT-AT though.

Oh and if you are at Target and hanging around the Easter section here's the Star Wars LEgo set, I don't mean to brag but my wife even refers to it by it's nick name, the Chicken Walker... also if you are looking for those new DC Superheroes Funko Pop Figures, they have them there for 6.99, the Batman ones I saw were pretty bad on the paint so I will be waiting till the next trip to get one.

The finished AT-ST "Chicken Walker" on patrol in the backyard.

Last, I shouldn't have picked these up, but how cool is that Aqua Droid? Like something out of Gundam. Also my favorites from the Clone Wars Series, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka... I saw Ahsoka's Droid so maybe next time I will pick that up and I even might replace a Jedi Starfighter I gave away in a toy purge with Ahsoka's to complete the set.

I also picked up a couple of GI Joes, the first in a long time, since I think the movie came out. They are different versions of two of my favorites and they had so much equipment packed with them I couldn't pass, but you don't want to hear about those.

Just kicking back with Chewie...

2011-03-12T16:51:00.002-06:00

...enjoying the day and drinking some tea.

Rebuilding the Falcon

2011-03-11T08:00:00.000-06:00

The one on your left is my 1995 POTF2 Falcon, the one on the right is my original Falcon from around the time Empire Strikes Back was in theaters. I remember the day I picked this up with my mom, but that is a story for another day... or blog. This is about rebuilding my old childhood Falcon, as I get more and more into it I plan on posting images of what I have and what I have done, this may take a long time, but that is okay just be warned that every once in a while it will pop up here on the blog.

Jabba, you've lost weight!

2011-03-08T06:00:00.002-06:00

Ha ha ha, this just makes me laugh. Yesterday I caught word on the interwebs that Giant AT-ATs were being purchased at WalMart for 49 Bucks. I couldn't resist, I had to check the Wally World by work so I took a little 15 minute break to scope out the nearby big blue for some AT-AT goodness... lets face it I know I'm getting one and if I can save a few bucks , why not. Well zippo, no AT-ATs to be found, but plenty of other Star Wars stuff including the extremely rare Jabba's Palace set pictured above with weight watchers Jabba.

The funny thing was I saw this tucked behind a few others of the same set and from the top I was thinking "which long neck alien is that?", ha ha it's Jabba!

Okay this sort of stuff has really ticked me off in the past and this is actually the second time I have seen a swapped figure at this WalMart, but now it's like this guy or gal is not even trying. What a wonderful world, the lesson here is I will not be buying any boxed toys at this location and really inspecting the bubbled and window boxed stuff carefully.

Let's See Some Green! Update.

2011-03-07T09:39:00.003-06:00

I have already received three great shots over the weekend, having just posted this Saturday, that makes me super jazzed on what's to come with this. remember if you only have a few or even one green toy, take a pic it will be fun. So dig out your Hulks, Green Race Cars, Greedos, Yoda... whatever.

See the Post below for all the info!

Let's See Some Green!

2011-03-05T06:00:00.000-06:00

No I'm not asking for money, but now that you brought it up I have been thinking about another little toy purge on eBay, more on that later. Anyway I had a blast with "Show Me the Droids!" I wanted to do something on the heels of that event, I actually have a couple ideas, so for March I'm thinking of the theme "Let's See Some Green!" so round up all your green aliens, superheroes, cars, trains, planes, you name it and group them together and snap a pic, that's it! same deal as before...

1) Submit one JPG image to me by Wednesday, March 16, 2011 of your green stuff.

2) Include your first name and if you have a website you want linked to, include that. Funny caption if you want.

3) Send your picture and info (see above) to eclectorama [at] studiohowell [dot] com, with "Here's some Green!" in the subject.

4) I will post all the photos on Friday, March 18, 2011, so be back here then to see what people sent in.

This isn't a contest and I don't want too much trouble put into your picture, line them up, snap a pic and send it in! Also I am not collecting email to spam you, I don't have that much time, Just for fun!

Oh and yes I know March 17th is St. Patrick's Day not Friday, but March 17th is Lulu's day that spot is already filled, I can't argue with that face.

Show Me the Droids!

2011-03-04T06:00:00.014-06:00

It's finally here and what a fun ride it has been, well on my end. I have always loved seeing pictures of people's collections so I figured this would be a neat little project. I'm glad to have opened it up to all robots, I know it started with just an R2, but hey they are all mechanical brothers and sisters, so without a lot of jabbering about binary load lifters lets get into the pics... Show Me the Droids!

Name: Reis
Favorite: "All R2s. And that little guy is technically an R2 knockoff from Galaxy Laser Team, but I've always loved him."

Name: Matt
Favorite: "My favorite R2 from the photo is the Clone Wars action figure just because it looks the coolest."

Name: Bill
Favorite: "Kenner 4-LOM (called Zuckuss back in the day)"

Name: Colin
Favorite: "Please accept my humble offering of the only surviving droids of my childhood :)"

Name: Jeremy
Favorite: "My favorites so far are the R5-4D and the Gonk droid. I just wish the Gonk had more painted details."

Name: Jason
Favorite: "my one and only Star Wars Droid, R2-D2"

Name: Leon
Favorite: "3 of my favorites Droids from 3 different era packaging. One from Kenner another 2 from hasbro. :)"

Name: MOCK
Favorite: "My favorite is probably the red 3PO unit. A while back I tinkered with the idea of customization and painting figures. Droids were both the easiest and hardest to do. You can see a few attempts in the photo..."

Name: Christiam
Favorite: "OFC they aren’t SW related but i love’em, all of them (that’s why any of them is marked specifically)...
Greetings from Colombia !!!"

Name: Brian
Favorite: "The original Kenner R2D2 is my favorite R2 figure of all-time. He
may not be screen accurate but he was part of that magical first Star
Wars action figure commercial for the Early Bird Figure Set. At a
time when Star Wars fans only had comic books, calendars, and trading
cards, these figures were a promise of many great things to come.
This R2 has a very strong association, for me, with the earliest days
of Star Wars and wonderful memories of childhood."

Name: James
Favorite: "My favorite is
probably the Wall-E figure as it looks very accurate yet has an insane
amount of articulation, so it's an insanely fun toy to play with."

Name: Ron
Favorite: Ron didn't specify so I am going to have to say they are all his favorite, that is an awesome group of bots!

Name: Mario
Favorite: "Here's my contribution to Show me the droids! I decided to stick with astromechs only for the picture, for simplicity's sake. I think my favorite of the bunch is R2-B1 (the blue and yellow one with a grey dome in the second row). Mainly because I like the blue and yellow color scheme, even if drink carrying Artoo is the most versatile of the bunch."

Name: Dan
Favorite: "I like the Jedi Treadwell Droid"

Name: Doc Atomic
Favorite: "Takara SW collection, made up mostly of droids. They're all from Japan; some are die-cast and fire missiles, others are remote controlled, and one has bump-and-go action! Collectively, they're some of my favorite Star Wars toys ever. However, if I had to call one the tip-top favorite, it'd probably be the wind up R2-D2. It's a tough choice, but I'll go with him."

Detail of the Windup R2-D2 from Doc Atomic.

Name: Brian
Favorite: "These may not be the droids you are looking for, but they're some of my favorite ones. Most of these are all reproduction tin windup robots, and my favorite one is the orange-headed guy in the back, solely because he has a propeller on his head that spins around."

Name: Victor
Favorite: "...my droids collection, R2-Q2 is my favorite because he's black and it's radio controlled."

I decided to just show my R2-D2's. So here we go...
I'm Charles, these are my R2's, my favorite is being held by the large R2 in the back, it's the Tomy Remote Control R2-D2 released around 2005 (Hasbro recently released these over here in stores, but this is the Japanese one) I like this one becasue how cool is it to finally get a 3-3/4 scale figure that actually moves and beeps.

This was a blast, so much so I decided to do another, tune back in tomorrow for the announcement. Also what do you think of making "Show Me the Droids!" a reoccurring feature? Like maybe a couple new entries featured each month. Leave a comment.

Toys is my Bizinuss and Bizinuss is good!

2011-03-03T10:00:00.002-06:00

images swipped from auctions just won!

So on March 1st what is a person to do when they came off a 28 day toy drought? Buy some freaking toys that's what! So during the day on March 1st I ordered a couple of Stormtroopers from Hasbro Toy Shop, plus a Galactic Heroes Pack I have had my eye on for quite some time and I laid down a couple of bids on those two vintage beauties up there, okay they may be a little banged up in spots, but the price was so right on both and they complete my Vintage line up of Bounty Hunters. All true to my goals for 2011 by the way.

A quote from my wife "Well, it didn't take too long for you to get back into the toy business!"

You know I just realized I bought things that, besides being Star Wars related, feed some of my little toy collecting quirks. For instance I have a habit when I decide to open a figure that I have had for a while where I will bend a corner of the card and then say "well the package it ruined, might as well open it!"

1) The duel Stormtroopers - Having two (sometimes more) of certain figures like Stormtroopers, AT-AT Drivers, etc. Also this may feed my recent addiction to having Stormtroopers of all shapes and sizes in my Stormtrooper focus collection and having one that is packaged when it comes to 3-3/4" scale, old habits are hard to break.

2) The Galactic Heroes Pack - Again having a AT-AT Driver in different styles and in case I get the small AT-AT I will have two drivers even if they do not fit.

3) The Bounty Hunters - My more recent compulsiveness of having a complete set of bounty hunters in different lines or styles. Once I get at least a couple I have to track them all down... which is going to suck because when I didn't have all the 12" POTF ones I let a 4-LOM go and am now trying to complete that set as well... ugh.

Now, I am not saying I am obsessive compulsive, this stuff doesn't bug me when it happens, I have just noticed the pattern.
Which leads me to this, does anyone else have little collecting quirks or compulsive collecting disorders? Dr. Chunky B is in.

One more thing if my family is reading this I also have a disorder of wanting expensive toys for my Birthday and Holidays, but I am too cheap to buy them myself, it hurts the precious...

This is the last day to Show Me the Droids!

2011-03-02T06:00:00.001-06:00

Hey I am going to get all the use out of this Stormtrooper graphic I can : )

Today is the deadline, after today... well then I'm afraid your friends on the Sanctuary Moon cannot help you. So, beep boop, click click.

Show Me the Droids Extended Deadline!

2011-03-01T06:00:00.000-06:00

That;'s right I decided to give everyone a few more days, just in case they didn't have time or forgot about this little Droid round up. So, I will extend it till this Wednesday, March 2, 2011... after that I need some time to get them all organized. If you haven't taken your pic, now's the time. Here's the skinny.

1) Submit one JPG image to me of your R2 or Droid Collection, only have one that is cool, don't have any and want to send a picture of another Robot, that's fine too.

2) Include your first name and if you have a collection shot, pick one and identify why he is your favorite of the bunch.

3) Send your picture and info (see above) to eclectorama [at] studiohowell [dot] com, with "Show me the Droids!" in the subject.

4) I will post all the photos on Friday, March 4, 2011, so be back here then to see what people sent in.

This isn't a contest and I don't want too much trouble put into your picture, line them up, snap a pic and send it in! Also I am not collecting email to spam you, I don't have that much time, Just for fun!

LAST *#@% DAY!

2011-02-28T09:57:00.009-06:00

Almost there, just today and I have a good feeling. I cannot say it hasn't been tough but it has been rewarding. Thanks for everyone that participated.

The reward is going to be coming in the next month, hopefully, I have to get through buying presents for 4 other family member's Birthdays and then two in April, so I may have to wait because of the budget, but it will be coming! Will I go on a spending spree? I seriously doubt it, but I do have my eye on some Stormtroopers, so maybe a little spending spree, within reason of course... or maybe I will drag it out a few more days and go for a 31 Day Challenge, I'm on a roll!

Doodle in the Margins

2011-02-26T06:00:00.002-06:00

I used to doodle on post-it notes, but when I decided to try and cut back on using paper when conceptualizing stuff I will sometimes doodle or sketch off to the side of the art board in whatever file I am working on. Sometimes just quick little scribbles that get noodled around some more later, nothing that takes anytime (as you can see). Also not the greatest of sketches, but it fills the time when I am stumped on a drawing or the phone rings. I'll try and post more and possibly scan some of my post-its and other sketches.

Candid Toy Pic - 02.25.2011

2011-02-25T06:00:00.001-06:00

"Don't worry buddy, maybe you'll be in the next droid hunt...

There's still time...

2011-02-24T10:11:00.004-06:00

I have gotten some really cool pictures of R2-D2s, Droids and other Robots! This is going to be really fun and cool, I can't wait till the big reveal on March 4th. Still, there is time to send in your pics, below are the "requirements".

This would be a really cool ongoing thing, or something like it...

... by the way I decided to go all R2 on mine, but other bots and droids are welcome!

1) Submit one JPG image to me by Monday, February 28, 2011 of your R2 or Droid Collection, only have one that is cool, don't have any and want to send a picture of another Robot, that's fine too.

2) Include your first name and if you have a collection shot, pick one and identify why he is your favorite of the bunch.

3) Send your picture and info (see above) to eclectorama [at] studiohowell [dot] com, with "Show me the Droids!" in the subject.

4) I will post all the photos on Friday, March 4, 2011, so be back here then to see what people sent in.

This isn't a contest and I don't want too much trouble put into your picture, line them up, snap a pic and send it in! Also I am not collecting email to spam you, I don't have that much time, Just for fun!

7 Days Left!

2011-02-22T06:00:00.001-06:00

To be honest I didn't think I would last more than say five days, but I have been holding strong and now that there are only seven days left in the month, I think it's safe to say I can make it the entire 28 days without buying myself a toy.

I have seen several of you out there trying the same thing with the same success, and some have been waiting for me to pass some sort of judgement or a pass on stuff they have bought, when at the end of the day it's up to each individual to decide how they have coped with not buying toys. I never started this to force anyone to try it, just thought it would be easier for myself personally if I had friends come along for the ride and offer support. I'm sorry if some thought I was a villain or a task master for even starting this, apparently more issues are at play.

I can honestly say that for myself it really wasn't as hard as I thought even if I hadn't received some toys from friends, family and the few e Bay purchases that shipped from January. Several times I found myself in toy aisles at Target or the Grocery Store or trying to drop hints to family members that toys always make nice "just because gifts" but I think it really wasn't an issue not walking out of a store with a toy in hand. I also noticed that my overall pop culture spending dropped all together, no books, DVDs, etc. Matter of fact the only thing I had picked up for myself this month was some parts for my bike and a Star Wars T-shirt, it's been sort of refreshing.

So here's some stuff that arrived unsolicited, barring my January eBay purchase, let's take a look...

First up is a vintage Cloud Car (which my wife has taken to calling a "Clown Car") along with this R2 Unit I was expecting these to arrive in February having purchased them in January from eBay, I'll try to get to better pictures of it in another post.

Here we have a package I received form a buddy of mine, name withheld unless he wants to reveal himself, who was sending me an extra piece that he had to a vintage Millennium Falcon, he also decided to send a few other things... A Snowtrooper for my reward AT-AT in March (fingers crossed), a comic I hadn't seen since I was little The Marvel Empire Strikes Back adaptation, one of those AWESOME little Kenner catalogs that used to come with the vintage toys. Oh and Batman number 110 for the Batman self! Thanks again, this was totally unexpected.

Last up, but not least. My wife decided that Valentine's Day needed some extra goodies, so when I returned home from work that night she had this waiting for me, Another Admiral Ackbar and a new Lego set. She told me she wasn't sure what I had or didn't have and she couldn't pass up Ackbar (figuring I more than likely already had him) because and I quote "It's a Trap!"

That's really it, still true to the challenge and counting down the days until March and know that I think about it I think this may have been a good exercise to help with keeping in my focus areas... one other note, I have been checking out eBay and it never fails all the stuff you are looking for is at ridiculously low prices but the auction all ended in February... I just watched a Mint Vintage 12" Stormtrooper, with original packaging in decent shape sell for about the same as the cruddy ones go for without packaging, that hurt, I will not lie. Just watched it go and I didn't even place a bid because I didn't want to risk messing up my own challenge. So let me know how you guys are doing or let me know what you have missed out on by taking the challenge in the comments and thanks for sticking it out with me.

One more week to Show Me the Droids!

2011-02-20T06:00:00.001-06:00

There's another week left to get pictures of your R2's, Droids or other robots in, SHOW ME THE DROIDS!

1) Submit one JPG image to me by Monday, February 28, 2011 of your R2 or Droid Collection, only have one that is cool, don't have any and want to send a picture of another Robot, that's fine too.

2) Include your first name and if you have a collection shot, pick one and identify why he is your favorite of the bunch.

3) Send your picture and info (see above) to eclectorama [at] studiohowell [dot] com, with "Show me the Droids!" in the subject.

4) I will post all the photos on Friday, March 4, 2011, so be back here then to see what people sent in.

This isn't a contest and I don't want too much trouble put into your picture, line them up, snap a pic and send it in! Also I am not collecting email to spam you, I don't have that much time, Just for fun!

Spock Stop 19: Duluth, GA

2011-02-18T06:00:00.005-06:00

It's time for another Spock Stop in 2011's Spockcation. Hard to believe this has been going on for so long, seems most of the time Spock is traveling. This week Spock spent some time with Shawn over at Branded in the 80's. You need to check out his site, my favorites from his past post are the Ghostbuster's Halloween ones, I had forgotten a lot of those ghosts were out there.

Shawn was also the winner of the Dr. McCoy House Call Contest Giveaway back in 2009, I think his first Mego type figure.

Shawn looks like he had a blast with Spock and I am a little jealous that Spock even went down to Athens, GA for part of his visit, hope he was shouting out "BUTTERBEANS!"

Let's take a look at the fun they had, take it away Shawn...

"Spock runs into Bones. There's no time for work Dr. McCoy!"

"Spock at The Varsity Gwinnett 3 1-30-2011. Whatya Have, Whataya have? For hot dogs in Atlanta, it's pretty much the Varsity or nothing. Slathered with chili or coleslaw, these are some serious hot dogs. Walk up to the counter and you'll be greeted by the counter call," Whataya have, Whataya have!" Better know you're order or they'll push you aside for another customer..."

"Looks like Spock tried a dog..."

"Spock at Bizarro Wuxtry in Athens GA 2-5-11. A visit to Athens isn't complete without a stop at one of the coolest Comic Book, Toy, and Ephemera stores ever..."

"Spock at Junkmans Daughter in Little 5 Atlanta 1 1-30-2011. Junkman's Daughter is a crazy eclectic store full of weird clothes, crazy toys, and a million interesting odds and ends. You can get everything from a tiny little monkey figure wearing a fez to giant plush figures. One of Little 5's more recognizable landmarks..."

"Spock runs from the Buford Highway Goatman 1-30-2011. The Buford Highway goatman is one of the weirdest landmarks I've encountered in my 20+ years living in Georgia. The thing towers over the side of the road and has been creeping me out for a long time. Spock took one look and started running away. You can find out more about this goatman here:

arglebarglin.blogspot.com/2006/07/goat-man-with-wrench.html"

"Spock at The Vortex in Little 5 Atlanta 2 1-30-2011. The only eatery I know of that's shaped like a giant skull. They serve some of the best fried pickles I've ever tasted too!"

"Shhh, don't tell Spock that there's no liquor in that drink..."

"Fooling around with the vintage V Vistor alien mask. Spock woke up and decided to pretend he was in a David Lynch inspired nightmare. Am I a Beach Boy with an enormous head or a science officer?!? Don't worry Spock, it's all a dream..."

"Spock at the 40 Watt club in Athens GA 2-5-11. Legendary club that was home to none other than R.E.M. back in the day. Spock's thinking about direction and wonders why he hasn't before..."

"Spock is making that guitar sing!"

"Spock Meets a Bunch of Robots from the 80s including Robo Force, the Starriors, Transformers, and the Go Bots...

Spock brings the message of exploration, peace and the tenets of the Prime Directive where ever he goes, even while on vacation..."

This is stop one of three in Georgia, Spock has some fans there, and if this is any indication of the creativity there we should see some more great stuff in the coming weeks. Matter of fact Spock had so many pictures from this stop it was hard to choose just a few, so check out Shawn's Flickr Spockcation set for the out takes.

Till next time remember to Live Long and Prosper.

Old School Action!

2011-02-17T13:14:00.003-06:00

A friend of mine sent me an email showing off his new "old school" Star Wars shirt and what do you know I was sporting my "old school" Star Wars shirt as well, as giddy as an Ewok stomping on a Stormtrooper I shot this rebuttal AND taking it a step further by including some "old school" reading material I happened to have handy in my bag.

So as my buddy put it "I guess it's Star Wars shirt day!" Yes... STAR WARS!

A Long Time Ago...

2011-02-15T14:17:00.002-06:00