A Quick Note About Our Amazon Store

While we are at shows, the Amazon storefront is turned off to prevent duplicate sales. We do this to avoid any stock outs and disappointing customers. If you are visiting our store after seeing us at a show, the storefront is usually back on by the Monday after the show. So, if you are looking for our Amazon listings and not seeing them, don't worry, they will be back!

And thanks to all the great people we met at the Virginia Comicon and Inside Pitch shows the past two weekends. Old friends/customers and new, we appreciate your support.

It's Show Time!

We have been out of the show circuit for a little bit, but business is picking up over the next month. With a slew of over 800 plus figures added to inventory, these shows will be the first time these figures will be offered for sale. We are also adding in at least five new long boxes of 50 cent books for these shows as well.

This Sunday (9/20), we will be at the September edition of The Virginia Comicon. Located at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Richmond, Brett and Guy put on a great one day show that attracts collectors of all levels. We are continually amazed when we are informed of the final attendance numbers because it always seems like there are more people than that! The crowd is really nice and has the most kids we have seen at any show other than HeroesCon. Additionally, there is a great selection of comics from fifty cent and buck books to the latest variants to Golden Age goodness. Non-sports trading cards are represented by between two to four vendors per show. There are also at least a few comic artists taking commissions (say hi to Louis Small, Jr!). We bring the majority of toys/figures/busts found at the show, and this time we are focusing upon family and wallet friendly superhero and similar action figures along with at least ten boxes of fifty cent books. Marvel, DC, and Star Wars will all be represented with prices starting as low as $3/figure, and if you ask Angi nicely, she can probably cut you a better deal. If you are a comic fan within a two hour drive, this show is definitely worth the drive.

The following weekend (9/26 and 9/27) finds us at the Inside Pitch Toy Show at the NC State Fairgrounds in Raleigh, NC. This show appeals to mainline collectors with items ranging from vintage 50s and 60s toys to sportscards to diecast (lots of Hot Wheels) to all sorts of action figures. It has a little bit of something for every type of toy fan. Unfortunately, there is usually only one or two comic dealers present. With it being a two day show, some nice deals can be found on Sunday which is great for casual fans. Next to the flea market also run every weekend at the Fairgrounds, this show tends to attract a mix of hardcore collectors searching for specific items and bargain hunters. We are going to be bringing some McFarlane sports figures along with more wallet friendly figures from X-Men, Batman, Aliens, Predator, and other genres.

After that, we are off to a new show - Jaxcon in Jacksonville, NC on October 3rd. We really enjoy going to new shows when possible because of the opportunity to meet a whole new circle of fans. Jaxcon is also significant because all the proceeds are going to a pair of great causes - Wounded Warrior - Battalion East and The Pride Track and Field Club. Jaxcon is going to be primarily a gaming show with CCGs, RPGs, board games, video games, and tournaments currently boasting over $10,000 in cash and prizes. Since this is not our normal customer base, we are excited to be bringing a number of figures we normally only sell online. Among these will be McFarlane fantasy and horror lines, NECA horror (think Freddy, Jason, and Leatherface), and some Sideshow offerings. On the comic front, we will have some 50 cent boxes, higher end books, CGC books, and perhaps some Bowen and Diamond busts. So if you are in the area and are into gaming, you can't miss this show. However, make sure to check out what we have, you might find some surprises!

Things are going to be hectic, but we are looking forward to meeting some old friends and repeat customers as well as new fans. We will be sending out con reviews as we go along our merry way, and if you go to one of the shows, let us know you saw the blog!

What? No Sequel?

While it seems like every movie that does halfway decent or even less (Crank 2 or Butterfly Effect 2 anyone?) gets a sequel, there are a string of movies from the '80s and '90s that did not get a second run at the box office.

So, in no particular order, here is our short list of movies we would have liked a second helping of:

• Top Gun - so Maverick becomes an instructor at Top Gun. The next movie could have been him against more smart ass young pilots or even getting called out into another international incident with his cadets. Throw in more romance with Charlie or another love interest, and it would have been another fun summer flick (and probably lots better than Days of Thunder.
• Independence Day (ID4) - no way all of the nasty aliens were dead at the end of the first one. Surely some of those big ships got back into orbit before we kamikazed into them. Flash forward a few years, and it's Memorial Day. Let the explosions and Will Smith wise cracks commence.
• Pulp Fiction - not so much a sequel as what happened in between the stories. Where did Jules go? How did Marsellus get the case? What was in the case anyway? How did Vinnie come into Marsellus' employ? Pump up the music, grab your milkshake, and let's get the gang back together.
• The Fifth Element - avoid the obvious of calling "The Sixth Element", and we can continue the story of Leeloo. Surely someone can persuade Luc Besson and Milla Jovovich to start working on this film (and bring Jean Reno along). Who needs Bruce Willis anyway?
• Legend - more Darkness! Nuff said.
• Ferris Bueller's Day Off - this could have been a mini-franchise for Matthew Broderick. Ferris Bueller's Next Day Off, Ferris Bueller's Summer Vacation, etc until they go the way of the National Lampoon vacation flicks. Seriously, it would have been another fun romp as Bueller enters freshman year in college and decides he needs to skip out before he flips out and heads off cross state find Mia Sara's Sloane with Cameron once more unwillingly/willingly in tow.

I am sure there are more, so feel free to send your nominees!

Cover via Amazon

Image via Wikipedia

Cover of Independence Day [Blu-ray]

Muggs the Word!

The Empire Muggs Back - a hokey name, but it was for a great cause. And we are even more excited here because we got one of them!

YAYYYYYYYY!!!!

You can read more about the event here -

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• One-of-a-kind Star Wars vinyl toys for kids' charity (boingboing.net)


• The Empire Muggs Back (drawn.ca)

So, we got the Leia Robotika by Bill Morrison of Simpsons Comics fame. It's an unique take on Your Worshipfulness that is definitely a step up from the Slave Leia outfit. We are also excited that the Mugg appears to be fully rendered with some nice detailing. I need to contact Morrison to get more info on the creation of this one of a kind item since star wars.com has not done a "Making of" feature yet.
Here are the promo photos from the auction website. We will post some figures of the actual Mugg once we have received it.

Support the Troops

We were driving down I95 today when we came upon a long convoy of military vehicles heading northbound. After doing some research, we found out that it was a brigade heading for deployment in Iraq. Seeing these soldiers in full gear on an incredibly hot day here in NC, maintaining their discipline even though doing just a "harmless" drive - it really makes you think. They are leaving their homes and loved ones behind, some for the second or third or more time, and they are doing it in service to us and in service to the greatest country in the world. It makes you realize how many things we take for granted in the United States, and how we MUST hold these freedoms sacred.

So...it may be a cliche...but freedom is not free. The United States of America is the greatest living experiment in individual liberty and representative democracy in the history of the planet. Do not forget our troops in harm's way, and do not let their sacrifices be in vain by trading "security" for freedom.

Here's A Job Opportunity!

Image by comiquero via Flickr

http://www.starkindustriesnow.com/employment/

'Nuff Said.