Toy de Jour (220) - The Man from U.N.C.L.E. figure

My friend Jon recently bombarded me with texts & photos from an antique mall in Wisconsin where he and his wife were shopping. After about ten replies of "no I already have that" or "I'm cool, thanks though" he sent me a picture of a couple Man from U.N.C.L.E. figures that I thought were pretty amazing. I had them pick up this guy mainly because of the great sculpt and the fact that he's carrying a gun very similar to a Walther P-38 (the same type of gun that the G1 Megatron transforms into).

And as with everything, I'm a sucker for repaints. So I couldn't resist. I obviously like the pink one the best. But would I'd really like one of each...

Toy de Jour (219) - Escape the Blob!

I recently visited Lund & Co. out in River Forest for work and when leaving I asked about one of the board games on the shelf that I had noticed last time I was out there. The game is called Escape the Blob! and has a pretty cool figure that came with it. I believe the game hit retail in the late 80s or early 90s but I hadn't heard of it until I saw it in the showroom. Bruce offered to give me a sample of the toy from the box but I felt a little rude so I asked if I could just borrow it for the blog. She (I assume it's a she because of the eyelashes and purple color) became fast friends with many like-minded toys that I have. 

This is the full game, which I don't have, just grabbed the ONLY photo of it I could find online.

From what I could tell, you take the blob around and pick up the various game pieces if it lands on them. The little pieces are small enough to fit into the hole on the bottom of the figure that is lined with soft rubber and then go inside the body of the figure. The back of the figure has a hatch you can open when it's full to release the pieces. The figure also squeaks and closes it's eye when it's pressed down to pick up a piece. This definitely looks like a toy that a lot of people I know would like to add to their collections. And with good reason.

This one being a prototype actually has pen-drawn red lines on it's eye. Not sure if the finished product does, but I think it's a nice touch on this one.

Toy de Jour (218) - MLP Spike figure

The new show for My Little Pony is pretty entertaining, and keeping with the high caliber quality of the show, comes some pretty well thought out sculpts for the new figures. This is Spike the Dragon. He's a bit of comic relief and sort of everyone's "little brother". I just like that he reminds me of an old McDonald's Happy Meal toy from the 80s. I'm sure we have the figure around the house somewhere. Just gotta dig him out... Here's Spike while you wait!

Toy de Jour (217) - Lumpy Space Princess

Probably our favorite character from Adventure Time, Lumpy Space Princess has a special place in our hearts. And possibly our livers. If she can be used as a human organ transplant. With this new splat-squishy toy she just might. She's currently very dirty and she's dumped Brad for Senator Kelly. "I'm not dirty, YOU'RE dirty, loser!"

What IS this?!

"Pls, you guys, don't tell Brad."

Toy de Jour (216) Vintage G.I. Joe vehicles

I usually don't post like this but we just got four vintage GI Joe vehicles complete with all paperwork and very VERY nice boxes. Included are the FANG, Ferret, Vamp Mark II and a SNAKE Armor. These boxes are some of the best that I've seen. We've already had most of these vehicles complete in our collection, but never with the original boxes. Most of these are from 83-84. Oh the toys themselves are in great shape, but I was really blown away by the boxes obviously...

Featured Toy Shop - Groovy (Pittsburgh, PA)

The first weekend of May we went to Pittsburgh with Musical of the Living Dead and it just so happened to be my birthday on that Saturday and it just so happened that there was a vintage toy shop about three blocks from the Rex Theatre where the show was. So we just so happened to go there and make a couple purchases.

It just so happened that the shop was super hot as was the rest of Pittsburgh that day and it just also happened that the store smelled more like it's name than it's product. You think vintage toy shop and you think dank and cold and possibly a moldy smell. Not Groovy. They refuse to turn on air conditioning and burn incense during business hours. I'd rather have the mold and the cold.

It was too hot to concentrate on actual hunting in the store so I just nabbed a Battle Beast and a M.A.S.K. figure that I was looking for and we got the heck out of there and back down to the air-conditioned theater. I assume they're cash only as every other business in Pittsburgh seemed to be, but I didn't bother to ask about using my card because I wanted the quickest transaction as possible. I really wanted to spend more time in there but it was quite unbearable. They have a GREAT selection, but go on a nice day so you actually have a chance to look around.

The Saturday we were there I had to make copies of the show's programs since we ran out the night before so when we got to the theater I ran down to Copies on Carson which was closing in 8 minutes at 6pm. When I got the copies done I ran across the street to visit the store again and it just so happens, they close at 6 as well. Aaaand they were closed on Sunday, the last day we were there. Definitely check the hours if you're driving 10+ hours to get there. 1304 East Carson Street Pittsburgh, PA 15203 (412) 381-8010. Right in the heart of the South Side, which if you're from Chicago, means something completely different.