Chew the Fat: Figures; Action and Otherwise...

Redartz:  Most of us have shelves full of books, comics, cd's, lp's, or any of a wide range of other objects of interest. And some of us also have, upon those shelves, figures representing those other interests.  "action figures", Theses figures may be 'action figures', such as Mego or GI Joe, or simply stationary statuettes designed to be 'just looked at'. And obviously those distinctions are rather arbitrary- you can 'just look at' your Mego figures, or you can create adventures with your pricey limited edition statues (very careful adventures). 

 


Personally, I never had any of those beloved Mego figures. Nor do I have any of the currently popular "Legends" figures, or any other superhero representations. Actually, the only one I do have is the 1974 Aurora Spider-Man model kit...





 



Now as for other types of figures, I do have several. One favorite is this small Robot B9 from "Lost in Space". He even speaks ( "Danger, Will Robinson").

 And then there's this set of Simpsons figures; America's favorite family (?) A bit of fluff from the 90's : 

 Finally, perhaps my most treasured figures are these incredible dinosaur figures from Schleich. Incredibly detailed, great poses, and strikingly colorful (and yes, I know a Plesiosaur isn't technically a dinosaur). Several times a year a local box store puts these on clearance, and I indulge in the addition of a couple more creatures to my prehistoric parade...

So that is a look at some of the  'friends' collecting dust around my house. What sort of beings and creatures occupy places of honor at your house?

Adventures in Comics: 'Secondary Collections'...

Redartz:  Good day, and a hearty hello to all! Let's share a few thoughts today about collecting. Speaking as a comic book collector primarily, I find that pursuing those paper pleasures keeps me quite sufficiently occupied (after all, a person only has a limited amount of spare time, let alone funds). Nonetheless, over the years, I've branched out into a few other 'sidebar' collections. Some as a result of my comics fandom, some just sort of happened. Today we will look at some of our secondary collecting pursuits, and see how they relate to our overall interests.

Once I started collecting comics, I soon picked up some actual magazines as well (Savage Tales, Planet of the Apes , and comic fanzines for example). But as an avid reader and history buff, some other magazines started to creep into my 'keeper' pile. I eventually added a few music magazines, particularly the Billboard year-end issues. After all, if there was anything I enjoyed nearly as much as comics, it was pop music. And these year's top hits issues made a great compendium of a year's musical output, in those days before Wikipedia.

One day at a flea market, I found a Life Magazine issue from 1969 that contained an overview of the 60's. Such convenient historical packages were right up my alley, and upon seeing them appear at the end of subsequent decades, I made a point of acquiring each one.  The "60's", "70's" and "80's" each had a retrospective devoted to it, somehow I missed the 90's. But I did get a volume dedicated to the 2000's.  It turns out they fit, sizewise, nicely on the shelf next to my Fantagraphics Popeye volume. My  magazine pile expanded even more as I added Newsweek issues devoted to historic events or interesting subject matter. The articles notwithstanding, even the advertisements were an interesting feature to those old magazines, as well- another reflection of the then-current state of popular culture.

And yet there were still more magazines: TV Guides. I started out selecting the "Fall Preview" issues to keep for posterity. Those are great sources for tv history, and usually had a full Saturday morning cartoon schedule for the season included.  You could often find them cheaply at those wonderful events known as flea markets. But once again, I started adding other issues covering shows of appeal to me: for instance, a couple years ago I found one with a cover feature on "Kung Fu", so out came my wallet.  

Now, don't think I was limited to magazines (comic or otherwise). Trading cards were another area that pulled me in; some vintage Marvel cards, some newer ones as well. Just about anything from the 60's or 70's that featured comics characters would get my attention. Not nearly to the extent that the actual comics did, but enough to justify a storage notebook to hold them. Granted, this group of trading cards dates from the 90's, but the art by the Hildebrants really knocks me out.

Comics, magazines, trading cards- a lot going on, but still not enough. I started adding original comic art and creator sketches. Comic promotional posters. For awhile I even collected Overstreet Price Guides! Obviously, comics held (and hold) such interest for me that they could generate a desire for almost anything else that was remotely connected to them. Oddly, though, one area I never got into was that of action figures and figurines. With the exception of one Aurora Spider-Man model, I've none whatsoever.  I never even had that first Mego . Go figure (sorry, couldn't resist that one)...

So now that you've seen some of my sidebar interests, let's hear about yours. Other than your comics, what collectibles  have you pursued? Do you have related magazines, books, cards, or whatever? Perhaps you have shelves filled with those Mego's I missed out on. Take an inventory and give us all the details...