San Jose Super Toy, Comic and Collectible Show

This past weekend the whole family loaded up (Grandma and Grandpa included!) and headed to the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds in San Jose for the San Jose Super Toy, Comic and Collectible Show!

The place was HUGE and PACKED! When I attended this thing two years ago it was in a different building on the fairgrounds and seemed to be less than half this size.

It was so crowded this time that one could barely peruse the toys on offer! We walked the whole thing but had to pass over the majority of booths due to the sheer overwhelming numbers of people in front of them. In fact, even though I and my Dad are huge toy fans, he bought nothing and I only bought one toy! Maybe it's the economy, maybe our tastes are getting more refined, but I think it had more to do with the overwhelming effort it would have taken to actually stop and look closely at any particular booth or toy. Of course it is always tough when you attend these things with other people too; when I am alone I can zig and zag and dart in and out of the throngs to my heart's content.

Whatever...the real reason we attended was so my daughter (who celebrates her 10th birthday today!) could meet the one and only Batgirl, Yvonne Craig! Yvonne was so super nice to us and everyone who came up to say 'hi' or get an autograph or a picture.

Natalie even got a special 'Bat Birthday' greeting along with Yvonne aka Batgirl's signature on a sweet pic Natalie chose of Batgirl on her Motorcycle:

Which now hangs in the living room next to the signed pic I found at the Flea Market a few months back and a picture Natalie drew of a bat and baby bat for when her sister was born.

And speaking of her sister, Darla was able to find someone to pose with as well:

This guy had a sweet Adam West Batman costume and even a bat bicycle fashioned after the sixties Batcycle!

Oh, here's the toy I bought: Rumble Ready Riddler from The New Batman Adventures Mission Masters line. And it was only five bucks!

I'll post more about this one soon: Same Toyriffic time, same Toyriffic channel!

I'm just a skater cat, said "see ya' later rat."

Remember back in 1996 when Playmates released a new line of Flash Gordon action figures, based on a cartoon which attempted to relaunch the franchise to a younger, hipper audience?

Me neither.

Which is why this action figure intrigued me when I spotted it at the toy show I attended a couple weeks back.

"Kobalt the Mercenary comes with everything you see here! Dignity sold separately."

The funny thing is, I spotted this cat loose in a box of toys at the same toy show and was intrigued by his design and my inability to recall from whence he came. He does have a cool Thundercat-ish vibe going for him, and spiked knee pads are always cool (just ask Gene Simmons.) I moved on to another booth and lo, they had him carded for a couple bucks, along with a few more characters from the line!

I talked the vendor down to a buck and bought old Kobalt for the pure novelty of owning the odd figure.

Kobalt was made by Playmates in '96. There were eight figures from the line (according to the cardback,) and honestly they aren't half bad from a design and mid nineties toyline perspective. The cartoon was probably crap though, which is sad because more kids need to know the classics, and Flash Gordon is a classic and an important sci-fi icon who really deserves respect.

In order to stay hip and keen and far out and all that jazz, Kobalt came with a "jet powered" rolling skateboard. Silly yes, but let's face it; all your toys would be more fun if they came with skateboards.

Admit it.

From a design perspective, Kobalt would fit right in with the Thundercats or the X-Men or even the New Adventures of He-Man. He's actually pretty cool. The skateboard really adds to his fun factor, and I am glad I found him MOC in order to enjoy him to his full capacity.