2010 collecting achievements and goals for 2011

I'd like to preface this by apologizing for the lack of a presence here. Unfortunately on New Years Day my Grandmother passed away so I haven't been keeping up with this blog. Things have slowly been getting back to normal though, so I'll start posting regularly soon.

We now join our show already in progress.
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Following Eclectorama and Doc Atomic's Attic of Astounding Artifacts, who got this from Rebelscum (great Star Wars site btw!) and listed their achievements for the year and goals for next, so in that spirit I will do the same. Plus it's a nice way to look back at the year in this blog.

ACHIEVEMENTS

While I didn't set out to do anything this year as far as toy collecting goes because other than the schedule of new toys coming out I’m usually at the whim of my pocket and how much money is available and I really don't go to cons other than Botcon or swap meets and whatnot but there are a few things that I'm happy about.

Inhumanoids - not only did I finish the whole Earth Corps. Team but I got my first Inhumanoid, Metlar. Considering how many incomplete figures are available and Liquidator seeming to be the hardest, I'm glad I finished the team.

Visionaries, Knights of the Magical Light - I managed to get a few this year after finding one in a local toy shop years ago. The fact that I found one without an o-ring but complete otherwise helps. Thank the gods that Hasbro constructed these figures just like G.I. Joes. So from one figure I moved up to seven and never paying more than ten dollars!

Dungeons & Dragons - I got a complete Warduke! While he is a common figure, he is popular and I always did want him. He is just SO badass with that skull shield while being half armored. This is also another collection that I'm glad has increased even if it's only to a few figures, as I only owned Kelek and a 2 monsters previously.

Star Wars - I'm just glad I got back into collecting them. The increased point of articulation and beautiful sculpting is what brought me back. Build-A-Droid helped too and thanks to eBay I managed to finish a handful, which makes me happy. Unfortunately Hasbro has stopped this but it doesn't deter me.

We should have made that left at Albuquerque!
Dammit!

G.I. Joe - while not an achievement for me I'm happy the line has switched to Pursuit of Cobra. I love this line! As far as achievements I'll go with getting the attending exclusive figures from this year's Joecon, the troop building I've done for Cobra and getting Big Lob from the fan club. The Joecon and Big Lob figures represent in my honest opinion a wonderful merging of the a more unified Joe universe and I hope I can cement this even further with the Adventure Team Joes. Troop building in this line was amazing to me because I was lucky to find troops at Marshalls at rock bottom prices.

Transformers - getting the Cobalt Sentries is an achievement here as they filled the hole in my collection of Soundwave's cassettes. Which is a big deal to me being that Soundwave is my favorite Transformer. Oh and I almost forgot that I got a BUMBLEJUMPER for a really good price! He is SO cool and a beautiful addition to my minibot collection.

Marvel Universe - Galactus and X-Force Archangel would be my achievements here. For a while I wasn't sure if I was going to the NY Comic Con or even make it there in time to get one. Fortunately I did and even if I didn't I think I would've because I saw an old friend from my intern days at Marvel who would've hooked me up. Galactus is just expensive so I didn't think I'd get one but a friend made me an offer I couldn't refuse.

DC Universe - this is kind of a mixed bag as I made purchases I didn't think I’d make. First and for most I got a Retro Action Green Lantern, I haven't had an 8" action figure since the early 80's. Getting the "Superfriends" 3-pack from the Justice League collection is another "haven't since" as I haven't bought a DCUA figure since 1998 (Batman Rogues Gallery). This is SO cool to me that I haven't even opened them yet but eventually I'll free them from their plastic prison. And finally, the Doomsday 6-pack from the Infinite Heroes line, to be honest I didn't even think Doomsday existed and was a figure that was just unreleased. Luckily I found the set at a National Wholesale Liquidators on a random trip there.

On a whim I got Brock Samson and the Monarch from the Venture Bros. 8" line and I think I'm hooked on 8" again! Like I said before, I haven't a figure in this scale since the early 80's. Let's hope my wallet holds out!

GOALS FOR 2011

Other than keeping up as best as I can with the current lines and getting the new Green Lantern, Captain America and Thor figures the rest of my goals are all vintage action figure related.

- I'd like to get at least one more Inhumanoid figure, probably Tendril as D'Compose seems to be harder to find on eBay and usually also goes for more.

- A few more Visionaries would be nice, at least another 2 or 3.

- Drex is another badass looking character from the Dungeons & Dragons line and I think he'd look awesome just hanging out with Warduke.

- More droids from Star Wars, vintage and/ or build-a-droid. I don't know what it is but I like SW droids, especially astromech droids. Which reminds me that I REALLY want a "Goldie" astromech. I like the fact that he was an "evil" droid counterpart to Artoo.

- More troop building for G.I. Joe! Other than that a Quarrel would be nice. Does anyone know if she was released as a 25th figure? I'd settle for a vintage as I really don't care which era she is from.

- Omega Supreme or Sky Lynx re-issue or vintage are nice lofty goals but may be a bit out of reach. Getting Trailbreaker and Sideswipe are more attainable and would complete the 1984 collection for me. Of course there's SO much more I'd like to have but those are the primary goals for Transformers.

- Like I said before, Cap and Thor movie figures. Especially Destroyer, who looks AMAZING, and Crossbones and from what I hear the Captain America line is starting off with comic figures which is nice and different from the Iron Man line that started off with movie figures. Not that I don't like them, I just like the comic ones better, plus they blend in better with the Marvel U figures.

- From my understanding Mattel is rebooting DCU Infinite Heroes with the Green Lantern line and hopefully I can get everyone.

- As far as 8" figures go, I want a Mego Spidey at least. I had one as a kid and I want one again. That was my favorite Spidey as a kid and I think it would fit in better with the Retro Action GL and Venture Bros figs. Speaking of Retro Action a Batman would be my goal there. I could add more but space is also an issue, even though I love my dollies!

On a related note I’d also like to get more carrying cases for my figures. After reading Reis' article on caring for them on About.com I noticed that most of my toys are in cardboard boxes, which is not good. I got a case that can be sectioned off into different sized but it's kind of pricey as they can hold 16 figures on the average and run about $13. Carrying case that holds 24 figures on eBay, about $10. Not a bad deal huh?

Well I hope you enjoyed reading this and it's been great year on this blog. I appreciate all the responses and new friends I've made here. Hopefully I can continue to have fun with this blog and share more with you in the year to come.

Thanks and Happy New Year!