CHAPTER 1-OPERATION “M.O.C.” !

   BZZZZZZZZZ!

SHZZAKKT!

 

 

 

 

Captain America -U.S. Agent

My first recollection of U.S. Agent or black suit Captain America as i used to to call him as a kid,was back in ’88  or so in issues 339 and 341.These issues  left my head spinning because i had a hard time figuring out who  the real Captain America was.The fact that John Walker looked just like Steve Rogers made things doubly confusing.I didn’t know if it was Steve Rogers in the black suit or vice versa.And then Iron Man got involved and it went all “Jerry Springer” from there.Anyways,this figure’s been in my collection for a while now without getting his own post,so here it is.I must say that the cool vibe this and the Captain America  movie figure used to have has kind of worn off .I actually like the U.S. Agent figure better than C.A. but both have the annoying leg articulation,you guys should know what i mean.It bugs the crap out of me.He’s still a pretty cool figure despite not coming with the tradtional  black and red shield(again..not sure if that was U.S. Agents shield or The Captain’s shield….ugh..forget it)

Marvel Secret Wars Comic Pack #12 -The Thing & Bulldozer 8/13-8/19

I found this comic pack marked down at a nearby Wal-Mart and could not pass it up.I really needed a Thing figure for my collection and the Bulldozer figure,while not a must have,is definitely a plus.

From what I’ve read around the internet this Thing figure isn’t the most popular but the only flaw IMO is his range of motion,or lack there of.He’s not the most poseable figure but he still looks bad a#$ when displayed!I also like the fact that he’s shorter than my Avengers Hulk figure.

I gotta admit,I don’t know much about Bulldozer other than the fact that he is part of the Wrecking Crew.This really makes me want to find the other three crew members -Piledriver,The Wrecker and Thunderball!I remember seeing these guys a lot as a kid as they would make the occasional appearance in random comics in my collection.

Comic books and action figures go hand in hand IMO.As a kid I would have gone nuts for these comic packs.Back then we were limited to reading a small three-framed strip on a card back or to a mini-comic at best.The comic included in this pack is Secret Wars #12 and while the story is dated,the various pin-up’s found at the end were a nice addition.More than anything, I dug the Marvel Universe action figure advertisements on the back of the cover!

My Small Haul!

As i stated before in my last posts,spare time  has been rather elusive this week with everything that’s been going on.I was however ,able to snag up a couple of  items that I’ve  had my eyes on for a bit now.You’ll notice that one of the items is none other than the infamous “awkward hand attachment gun holding thingamajig” Retaliation Roadblock.Sorry guys but i had to do it lol!I know he’s got limited articulation and a ridiculously large weapon that connects to an even more ridiculous looking permanent hand attachment,but i just love this figure!The sculpt is bad a#$ IMO and i can’t wait to stand him next to my Heavy Duty and Gung Ho figures.Next up is Transformers Prime Wheeljack.What caught my eye when i saw this guy on the pegs at Wal-Mart was the throwback design and the sword accessories.I like this line of TF’s and will probably pick up a couple more from it in the near future.Last we have a 3 pack of Marvel comics that i found at a local Family Dollar for $2.50.Reading comics can be very relaxing and a nice way to take the edge off of a rough day,and while these aren’t premium comics they should serve their purpose.So there you have it guys!I apologize for the lack of commenting and replies on my part and hopefully things will get back to normal around here so i can get this blog thing rolling again 😉

 

1994 Spawn: Medieval Spawn

I was never a huge fan of  Spawn but i’ve always liked the way he looked.I remember years back picking up the HBO animated Spawn  series on VHS and the SNES and Dreamcast   video game’s were pretty sick too.Since i wasn’t collecting comics at the time Spawn’s were released i relied mostly on T.V. and other media like video games to better familiarize myself  with the character.So after being given the green light by my better half to pick up some toys online for valentines,i decided to go with the line of Spawn figures that started it all.I believe these were the first series of Spawn figures ever to be released by McFarlane and while the sculpt,paint and design are just amazing,the same can’t be said about the quality.The figure itself is very chunky and the articulation,while limited,is still on par with pretty much every other action figure released in the 90’s.His sword fits snugly  in his right hand and his shield clips on to his left arm without any problems.The problem pieces on this figure are his shoulder pads,cape and rubber chain belts.The shoulder pads are removable and have to be in order to attach his cape.Alone the shoulder pads are a little loose but not that much of a problem,it’s when you try to attach the cape when everything pretty much goes to you know what.The cape on this figure just does not stay on,and when the cape comes off so do the shoulder pads.It got to be pretty annoying to say the least.The other issue i had with this figure was with the two little chain link belts attached to his waist.These problem pieces are made out of an extremely soft rubber and have little pegs at both ends that fit into Spawn’s skeleton buckle and back.They tend to fall out if you handle the figure too much and to put the soft little rubber pegs back into their respective tiny holes is friggin’ tedious.Some people remove them and place them in Spawn’s hand to be used as a weapon of sorts but I’d much rather leave them be.Both of these problems could be fixed with a little Crazy Glue but being that these are the first Spawn figures to ever hit the market i really don’t want to mess with the integrity of the design.Even though this toy has it’s flaws ,it’s still pretty iconic IMO and makes for a bad a#$ display piece.

1994 Medieval Spawn

The comic book that comes with these figures are not very long but do sport some amazing artwork as well as a glimpse into the characters background.

1987 Issue # 63 G.I. Joe Marvel Comics

Here’s a 1987 G.I. Joe Marvel comic with Snake Eyes and Scarlett on the cover.Despite the picture of  Snake Eyes on the cover,he only makes a few appearances in this book and all of them are of him wearing civi’s and a rubber mask disguise .Not once does he make an appearance wearing his uniform LOL! It was still a pretty good read.

1987 G.I. Joe Marvel Comics

End

Pic 4

Pic 5

Pic 1 The Red Hood / Pic 2 The Suicide Squad

The Red Hood

The Suicide Squad

Pic 1 Trickster & Piper Pic 2 The Rogues

Trickster & Piper

The Rogues

Library Stop : AVENGERS “THE ULTIMATE GUIDE” 2005

In my quest to pick up where i left off in the ever expanding comic book universe,i’ve taken the advice of  friends who have suggested that i visit the public library.While not the best place to find newly released comics,there are quite a few  older Marvel and DC  TPB’s as well as other great comic book  related  material.Having access to some of these older issues should aid me in my efforts to slowly creep back into comic book relevance. Take The Avengers for instance.The last time i picked up an Avengers comic was in the late 80’s early 90’s.At that time there were two teams-The West Coast & The East Coast-Avengers.Wonder Man and Hawkeye were my favorite on the West Coast and Captain America my favorite on the East.Since then there has been a who’s who of characters who have( at one point or another) been a part of the Avengers.During my most recent trip to my local library i managed to pick up this amazing book entitled Avengers “THE ULTIMATE GUIDE”.This book has every and anything you’ll ever want to know about the Avengers and then some.Granted the character profiles are brief but there are so many that you’ll want to keep reading just to get to the next one.Avengers: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE  will school you on everything Avengers from the ’60’s-2,000’s and i highly recommend this to anyone looking to get their super hero knowledge on!

Avengers: "THE ULTIMATE GUIDE"