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Late night and an early morning…

§ February 14th, 2024 § Filed under merchandise § 13 Comments

…so let me remind you MEN (sorry, ladies!) to wash up with only the most superheroic of soaps, as spotted in my local grocery store:


LATHER UP, BOYS

How to stuff a wild beach towel.

§ December 29th, 2023 § Filed under merchandise § 10 Comments

And now, for no good reason whatsoever, a couple of Kitchen Sink-produced beach towels from the early 1990s, still solidly sealed into their original packaging and rescued from the previous place of employment:

Cherry (née Poptart) by Larry Welz:


…and Omaha the Cat Dancer by Reed Waller and Kate Worley:


Here’s a shot of the tag included with each towel:


Since these were sealed, I “borrowed” these images I found elsewhere to show you the full pics on the blankets…I’ll try to find a better Cherry one at some point:


Neat, huh? And yes, before you ask, they’ve already sold.

I was looking in Diamond’s online catalog to see what other beach towels were offered over the years. Along with the expected (Bettie Page) and the on-point (toss-up between “Creature from the Black Lagoon” and “Yellow Submarine”) and the “sure let’s sell this in the comic book marketplace” (an Orange County Choppers towel?), was this sadly-cancelled item from 2001:


Well, that would have certainly lived up the church’s beach picnic social.

I’d even accept a two-pack of O. G. Wotasnozzle and Sappo.

§ December 7th, 2022 § Filed under merchandise, popeye § 9 Comments

So of late I’ve been trying to get my comic collection at home reorganized and put away properly, part of which is clearing out some material and bringing it to the store for sale. As such, I’m trying to keep the intake of new stuff down to a dull roar, both comics and other related goodies. But there comes a time in every person’s life when one must acquire a full set of high-end fully articulated and accessorized Popeye figures.


Just released from Boss Fight Studio, this figures are “1/12th scale” (or between 4 and 6 inches tall, depending) and come in these nicely designed packages and are accompanied by a selection of accessories (extra hands, hats, that sort of thing).

Castor Oyl, pictured above, needed some extra special accessories to attract the “Castor who?” crowd and thus gets Eugene the Jeep and the Whiffle Hen.

Olive comes with Swee’Pea, as well as an extra head with an angry face:


…which sadly does not quite live up to the swell expression drawn on the packaging.

The most massive figure of the bunch, and rightly so, is Bluto:


…who comes with a few extra hands and his little cap.

The package opens up at the side, where a flap is held in place by a couple of inserted tabs (one covered with a clear sticker to keep it shut). I had trouble opening it up, putting a few tears into the slots in which the tabs go, but I don’t know if that’s a design flaw or just my clumsy, clumsy mitts. If only I had swappable hands like Bluto.

Anyway, this is what it looks like inside:

And here’s Bluto in all his ornery glory:


He doesn’t need an extra swappable head…THIS ONE IS PLENTY:


There was an additional item in this series I passed on, which was a “Popeye Vs. Bluto” set featuring basically the same designs as above but with “battle damage” (bruised knuckles, black eyes) that I passed on.


These are some beautiful figures that I absolutely didn’t need but picked up anyway. The second series should be here in a few months (with the Sea Hag, Wimpy, Poopdeck Pappy, and Popeye in his white sailor suit) and after seeing these, I can’t wait.

If there’s a third series, I’m hoping for Alice the Goon, and wouldn’t it be great to get a Brutus to go with Bluto? Or a Ham Gravy to go with Castor? Or even King Blozo!

I mean, after that we’d really be entering real Deep Cut territory, getting into Olive’s parents and Rough House and the like. More likely we’d see more design variations on the main characters (such as one based on Bluto’s appearance in Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor).

But what I really want is a 4-pack of the nephews Pupeye, Peepeye, Poopeye and Pipeye:

Just don’t do a “Popeye Whistling Through His Missing Eye variant, I’m begging you:

And I’m not sure what’s up with that extraneous “K.”

§ May 27th, 2020 § Filed under marvel, merchandise § 6 Comments

So I had a fella bring in a few Spider-Man comics to sell the other day, and he had them stowed away in a small cardboard carrier. That that carrier looked a little something…like this:


I bought the comics, as it turned out I needed them all, and the seller left behind this box when he departed. At first clance, I thought it was a homebad box, as I’ve certainly seen a lot of personally-decorated comic boxes over the decade.

But no, the lettering appears to be printed directiy on the cardboard, which doesn’t preclude someone making one of these for himself, but more likely it’s some kind of mass-produced item. And it’s not official Marvel merchandise, given the lack of copyright notices. Not sure if this really counts as a copyright violation, despite the phrase “Amazing Fantasy” appaering, and having a spider dropping from the name “Peter,” which must be some kind of look ‘n’ feel thing.

Anyway, no idea where this comes from. I’d be very surprised if this was an Official Spider-Man Item™, but if you know where this came from, let me know!

“It’s Superman’s Fist o’clock.”

§ September 11th, 2019 § Filed under merchandise § 2 Comments

So the other day I had a gentlemen bring in this item to see if I’d like to sell it on consignment. I was kinda busy at that moment but I said I’d do some research and see what they were selling for online.

As it turns out, they weren’t selling at high enough prices for his liking (around $60 to $80) so he passed, but I still have these photos I took for reference:


This is one of the Super Heroes watches you used to see advertised all the time in 1970s comic books. This particular example, a Superman watch, is dated 1977.

Here’s a better look at the watch face:


This is actually the first one of these I’d ever seen in person…well, okay, maybe I saw someone wearing one at some point and didn’t realize it, but this is definitely the first time I’d seen one in the original packaging. Kind of a strange feeling to see the actual physical object that I’d seen advertised countless times in all the comics I’ve read. Nice to know there’s still weird stuff I’ve not seen yet even after 31 years in the business.

Why isn’t “Smile…Doctor Doom Loves You” still in print?

§ February 6th, 2019 § Filed under marvel, merchandise § 5 Comments

So please let me know if you’d like me to put in orders to Pacific Coast Distributors for you on any of these items from their August 1984 catalog (click to expand):

Any room,” you say? I say every room! Redecorate the interior of your house solely with mighty Marvel banners!

I remember seeing these banners around the old shop back when I was but a mere customr, and then eventually selling the last two or three still languishing about the backroom when I was doing the eBay thing for that same shop a couple of decades later. The one I remember specifically is that Alpha Flight pennant. I bet that Spider-Man one will still sell great today.

Now these things:


…Sure, it’s a little more common knowledge nowadays who the “X-Men” are* but I can only imagine how the mundanes reacted to the whole “Mutant Maniac” thing. …By the way, do people still refer to non-nerdy folk as “mundanes” or is everybody too infected with nerdiness now to be separated out? Gobble gobble one of us, and all that.

When discussing these on the Twitters pal Andrew noted that his younger brother still had a “Follow Me to the Secret Wars” bumper sticker on this car. As I said to Andrew, given its current non-awareness by the general public, I can imagine the uninitiated seeing that and thinking it’s some kind of political statement or somesuch. Or, like, some conspiracy-minded talk radio thing. It can serve multiple purposes!

And I was serious about the subject line. That Doctor Doom sticker needs to make its comeback, especially if this image of ol’ Vic were used on it:


 
 

* A story I’ve told before, but worth repeating: one of my earliest experiences in comics retail was, sometime in the late 1980s, someone calling the shop alarmed that these X-Men books she just heard about were “X-rated,” hence the name. “No, lady,” I replied, “the 1990s aren’t here yet.”

Now here’s a thing I had no idea my girlfriend even owned.

§ July 31st, 2013 § Filed under merchandise § 12 Comments


I am told I should have no reason to worry.

I don’t know how I missed including this…

§ February 10th, 2013 § Filed under merchandise § 5 Comments

…in one of my “End of Civilization” posts, but this here is a gen-you-eene Walking Dead Axe replica offered through Previews:

“Go after the zombies with this axe replica from the hit television series, The Walking Dead!”

“Zombies,” nuthin’. At $6.99 a pop, these are cheap enough to arm every kid in the neighborhood with one, and watch as passerby realize that oh good gravy, all the children are chasing each other around with bloody axes! Let’s get out here, Mabel!

Anyway, it’s a bit nutty, but not nearly as crazy as this, if only because there’s a greater chance of getting nearly seven bucks’ worth of entertainment out of a fake axe.

This post features a scan of a Mockingbird patch from 1985.

§ May 29th, 2011 § Filed under merchandise § 6 Comments


You’re welcome.

I could talk about current comic news and review recent releases, or I can look at more 1970s Marvel Super Hero Stamps.

§ March 29th, 2011 § Filed under merchandise § 6 Comments

I know which I’m choosing!

I have this package here that showed up in some collection or ‘nother of Marvel Stamps (as seen here):


…that contains several uncut sheets of said stamps. Since each package is supposed to only contain 10 stamps, plus one “special stamp,” obviously this package was only kept to store the stamps. Why the original owner didn’t go out “get [his] own Marvel Stamp Album,” as is blurbed on the back, I do not know.

Below are the five “special stamps” that this person had…they are normally sort of a shiny gold-ish color, but they didn’t scan all that well. Or rather, I didn’t scan them all that well. Should probably look at the scanner’s instruction book one of these days.


I like how the Hulk stamp looks as if they just threw that “Bruce Banner” above the Hulk’s head to fill space. “You know what would complete this design? If someone would hastily scrawl ‘Bruce Banner’ in this blank space here. …Perfect!”


Your Spider Sense is telling you…what? There’s a spider above your head?


The FF stamp is a little scuffed-up, and required some brightness/contrast adjusting, but hopefully you can make it out just fine. I guess…the Thing is hitting giant baseballs emblazoned with the faces of the other Fantastic Four members? “What If…Marvel Published Strange Sports Stories?”


I’ve got nothing snarky to say here. That’s actually not a bad pic. Well, none of these are really bad pics, but I thought this Cap stamp was quite nice, even with “AVENGER” scribbled in there at the side.


Now I know “The Invincible Shellhead” is just combining two of Iron Man’s most common descriptors, but man, that just doesn’t look right to me.

Anyway, the package says there are six “special stamps,” but I have only five here. And yeah, I know what the sixth stamp really is…


…but a boy can dream, can’t he?

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