Kastor’s Retro Reviews

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Kastor’s Retro Reviews

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Finally the new home is OPEN

Hi all just wanted to give all an update.  Kastor’s Korner has a new home @ http://www.kastorskorner.com/   This week will see the long over due HML3 final review as well as DCUC wave one.  We should also have some Mattel answers soon

Sooooo… what happened?

The easy answer is life, the hard truth is my lack of motivation.  Life has been a little hectic and my time here has been frustrating.  When this all started ML and DCSH were coming fast and furious and there seemed to be so much to talk about.  Now my biggest toy lull has happened and I don’t know how to snap out of it. Here are some quick thoughts about what’s going on. 

Toys- How long will collecting lines last for me? Will I ever start over?

Hasbro- For me at least it has not been an issue.  I have seen sets in most stores and never had to really hunt for them. 

DCSH- who knows and who cares, Mattel and others seem to think the secrets of this line is more important then national security.  Which translates to #$%^ the collectors.  Mattel says we will  do what we want when we want.  Then I think wow look at all we got, but then I think look what we are put though to get it.

JLU- Hard to find, short packed , and promised then hard to find.  See above for the Mattel problem. 

Boards- Great for news and pictures but people can be a pain in the a$$

RTM- great for little updates

Fwoosh- Home.  Good friends and good conversations going on. 

Froosh- see above except more friends and safer to express our feelings, frustrations and our thoughts. 

AFI- Too frustrating to deal with.  Now I say this in responce to Mattel, because it runs mostly on DC stuff.  If hear wait till….. or relax… or it’s just toys… or Peace one more time I feel like throwing this computer through a wall.  Otter best guy in the world and gives me something to aspire to with my Super Powers.

 So where does leave me?

I want to build back up my sight and figure out were I fit in this toy/Internet community. 

I’m Back

So, I have been gone for about 2 weeks and I’m getting a lot of support, thank you all.  We have had a few deaths in the family in the past few weeks and it has turned our lives upside down.  As things start to calm down I’m coming back to this blog.  Now the family issues are not the only reason I took time off.  The message boards have been a source of stress for me over the last few weeks, to the point that if I had to choose hunting for toys or going home, I went home.  I just wanted a break.  I have been working a lot on taking pictures and writing my ideas down some fun and some serious.  I have though long and hard and decided that if I want this blog to become my soap box, I have to voice my opinions even if others don’t’ agree with them.  After losing on Fwoosh and feeling alone on AFI I am coming back to talk about all that and toys of course.  So stay tuned it will be an interesting ride. 

Time off

Thank you all for reading this Blog and taking a look at the Hunt with me.  I think i will be back maybe soon maybe later im not sure yet so rory has helped me move it back in the closet, and the book cases are empty again.

 

Pull List…Save File……Collection…Hobby….Addiction

          Ok so if you collect comics you have a pull list at your local comic book store and after being obsessive about it I have not kept track lately, mostly because I trust my store.  My wife and I joke about where we want to more and the subject of my comic book store always comes up.  My rule is that I like my store so much I won’t move more then 30 minutes from it.  Well although it seems extreme its true I really don’t want to more then 30 minutes from this store.  Alternate universe is a small comic shop in New Haven Ct, and these new owners know how to treat their customers.  This shop has been around for almost 20 years and is actually the first comic store I ever visited when I was little.  My father after a long day on the road took me in and it was heaven.  Rows and rows of comics, cards and toys it was like a whole new world for the 5 year old me.  Almost 20 years later I revisited the store and started to go on a weekly basis. 

                           Though I had a comic book store which was only 10 minutes from my home I was not happy with the service.  After being on the fence about joining their store and having a pull file I made the decision to move my orders to Alternate Universe.  Since then I have had all my books on time in great condition, a member discount, and a birthday discount.  The owners make sure if I’m looking for something they do their best to get it for me or find one for me and always are willing to help in any way.  They know me well and when friends or family come in to get me a gift they go above and beyond to be polite and helpful to them. 

Collecting is my hobby and my passion and Alternate Universe makes sure that all I have to worry about is reading and enjoying my books. 

This is a Link to a local article on the store and its history.

 

My pull List

DC Comics

52

Batman

Detective Comics

Robin

Birds of Prey

Nightwing

Flash

Green Lantern

Firestorm

Green Arrow

Justice League

Teen Titians

Outsiders

JSA

Justice

Superman/Batman

Not on pull list but reading

Tales of the Unexpected

Creeper

Trials of Shazam

Catwoman

Martian Manhunter

Ion

Wonder Woman

Super Girl

Super man

Action Comics

Marvel Comics

Sensational Spiderman

Amazing Spiderman

Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman

New Avengers

Wolverine

Daredevil

Exiles

Astonishing X-men

Ultimate Spiderman

Ultimate X-men

Ultimates

Ultimate Fantastic Four

Not on pull list

Civil War

Ultimate Power

Wolverine: Origins

 

Finally All the Super Powers

So one of my toy quests over the years has been Super Powers.  When I was about 5 I saw the commerical that would get me into collecting action figures.  I wanted them all after watching that commerical, God i wish i had tivo back then, I ran into my Mom’s room and woke her up but it would be days before we saw the commercial again.  So we started looking around local stores like Bradlees Caldor and they were no where to be found, but one day my body froze in good old asile 7-C.  There I stood in front of a wall of those yellow cards and we bought all they had, one of each figure.  Well 20 some years later I just finished my hunt.  Now not all the figures I got were mint or working but I have each figure from the Super Powers collection.  
            You know those offers that are too good to be true,  well I got one.  A friend of mine who works at a local Wal-Mart told me he had a ton of Super Powers in great shape, for a long time I shrugged it off because he loves toys no matter the condition but with Super Powers I wanted them as mint as possible.  So after years of hearing him talk I was claening out my DCD figures and was going to take them all down to a toy drive, there were 20 single MOC DCD figures and 3 DCD 2 packs.  So the deal started to take shape, he did not want those figures to be just given away so he offered his Super Powers.  We worked out the deal and it was a one for one trade DCD for Super Powers, and my 3 box sets for 2 carded figures( Shazam and Tyr) and the Delta Probe.  He brought his collection and we met in a Wal-Mart parking lot and I started to dig through.  What I walked away with Was simply amazing, it was everything I needed and more. Here is the shot of the haul, and a picture of them all together with my older figures. 

The Haul  

The Whole Set

And finally one of the commercials which fueled my collecting bug

The Great Debate

Time and time again I have heard the question on all our boards: “Has the JLU surpassed Super Powers?”, but I think it is more than that. That question, as a few have said, is like comparing apples and oranges. This seems like one of the hardest columns to sit down and write. I think the size of it is too big for anyone to completely cover. Otter has great background on the subject but the ability to cover both lines in one article is just too much. I thought the best way to really handle this topic would be to break it up in to the past the present and see how these two really stack up. Now on to the past.

The Past

The Super Power line is the only line I remember a commercial of from my past. I remember one Saturday morning watching cartoons and the commercial came on. It was like nothing I ever saw (boy I wish I had TiVo then), I rushed in and woke up my mom but the commercial did not play again for a while. A few weeks later I forgot about the commercial until one day we went to visit old aisle 7C. The whole first wave was there and we bought them all. Of course in those times as in now Wonderwoman was no where to be found and she would wait almost a year before we found her. Ah the days before the hunt……. Anyway this line was one that was simply amazing to my 5 year old mind. It was like my comics and cartoons were in my hands and the whole line came alive in my mind. The figures were amazing colors and what a surprise when we opened them all and we found the action features. Superman flew though the air in my hands and was able to punch Lex and the Green Lantern raised his power ring to fight evil, and the Flash was able to run to save the day. All of these features would fuel my imagination for hours. At the time this line came out my dad was not so understanding about buying all the toys so my mom and I only opened Batman, Robin, and the Joker at first. We took them up to the house and played with them, while the rest sat in the car trunk. It was not long until we both decided to go over to my grandmothers to open the rest and to have a whole Justice League to play with. These toys were amazing and I knew there were more. But at that age I was content with what I had not knowing about upcoming waves, when stores got their shipments, or when they hit California. It was a time of pure toy enjoyment, and the excitement of walking in to a store and being surprised to see a never heard of line. Well as time progressed and I was able to get most of wave 1 and 2, wave 3 was the one which slipped though my fingers and I’m still looking for them today. Only my original Green Lantern survived my child hood but thanks to eBay I have been able to rebuild.

So what made these figures the standard to which most of us measure toys today? I think it was about quality and variety. These toys were able to take a beating and still work. In fact my Green lantern- even with loose joints- still can raise his power ring. They were able to stand and hold a pose without a stand of any kind and they had playsets which could fit the figures and had great playability. The Vehicles were also great because they were also so versatile. How great would a current automobile be if it would hold both batman and a sidekick and still look like it should in the comics or movies. Kenner in its short run did it right and gave us a great standard. With the 25th anniversary coming up these toys are still heavily sought after and well loved. They have inspired our JLU in many ways. And speaking of the JLU…………

Join me next time when I continue my look into theses great lines talk about the return of the heroes.