Die-Cars!

Hello there dear readers, if there actually is anyone else coming to this blog hehe. Its time for a new toy story. Now today I decided to feature my diecast car stuff. Again, like most of my collection, its not much. Just a few pieces I really thought were cool and had significance from my childhood. Most are all themed from some of my favorite 80's shows and movies. From Back to the future to Speed Racer. Let's get started, shall we?

First up, my Hotwheels. This first one isn't really that special. Not really considered as a "treasure hunt" car. I think its a pretty common Hotwheels car. The reason I got it was first; it was cheap, and second; it was from 1998 and anything from before y2k I consider vintage.

32' Ford


2nd Hotwheel is Speed Racer's Mach 5. Yes, I did watch Speed Racer when I was young and I know some of you did too. But since vintage Speed Racer toys are hard to come by and rather expensive I settled for the next best thing, the modern movie remake version of Speed Racer's race car.

Speed Racer Mach 5


Next is probably one of the most well-known cars from the 80's. The movie it came from launched Michael J. Fox's career. And this car garnered worldwide fame with him. Yup, its the car that had a need for 88 mph speed!

Back to the Future DeLorean


Here's another iconic 80's vehicle. And its from another awesome 80's movie. Egon,Ray,Winston and Peter rode this baby to get to their job sites...hunting ghosts!

Ghostbusters Ecto-1


My latest Hotwheels, which I hunted for last ToyCon but failed to catch. Another one of my favorite 80's vehicles. Mr.T made this van famous.Didn't really care about the other guys.

A-Team van


Now lets move on to other toy car lines

I know I already have a Speed Racer Mach 5 diecast car, but when I saw this thing I was just mesmerized by how clean and sleek its made.

Jada Speed Racer Mach 5


These next cars were a very awesome find. And one of those instances where I stumbled upon a real "treasure" in the most unassuming places. I actually bought this from a magazine stand near a local grocery store. They were some left-over stock from an old variety store that got demolished. And they were cheap too. Less than a P100. I wish I bought the other ones though, when I came back a couple days later they were gone. I guess everyone loves cheap quality toys. So, last but not the least, a real line from my childhood, those miniature wonders...

Micro Machines!


Well, that is all for now folks. Tune in next time, when I actually feel like posting again hehe. Oh, Happy Valentine to all of you!

-Cheers!

Lion-Hooooo!

Hello friends, its been a while since my last post but here I am about to share something else from my humble collection. Today I decided to feature my Thundercats figures. They're not much, I actually only have three figures and all of them of a single character. But he's not just any character, he's the Lord of the Thundercats himself, Lion-O!

Now for people like me who grew up in the 80's, Lion-O was probably one of the most well-known cartoon characters of the time. He is the leader of a group of cat-like alien beings called the Thundercats who've escaped the destruction of their home planet, Thundera. Pursued by a fleet of evil mutants from Plundarr, they eventually crash land on a planet called Third-Earth and soon make it their new home. But unknown to them, Third-Earth was also home to an evil warlord mummy named Mummra. So to make the story short, they fight battles on Third-Earth against Mummra and a bunch of different evil beings every episode and always win. Thanks to the Sword of Omens and the Eye of Thundera. I loved this show when I was a kid and never missed an episode. And like any awesome show that era, it came with an awesome toyline. But, unfortunately, I never got to own any of the Thundercats action figures. My parents thought they were too expensive which I thought was funny because they bought me stuff from other toy lines like Silverhawks and He-man which were pretty much the same price. I guess they just didn't want any more clutter in the house. Well so basically, Thundercats figs have become one of my most sought after toys. Even when I grew up. I always told myself that I would have one of those toys someday. No matter how long it took. And finally I did manage to get some. Took me a couple decades but its all good. And here they are. They're not much but I think they're the greatest pieces in my collection.

A red-haired battle-matic Lion-O

and an Orange-haired variant

I'm telling you, Lion-O didn't come easy. I lost quite a lot of money just trying to get a decent one. At first I wanted a mint-on-card one but looking around, I saw that they did not come cheap. They practically cost a fortune. The cheapest moc vintage Lion-O I saw cost around $300 and the most expensive ones range from $1-2000. So I lowered my standard a bit and opted for a loose but complete with accessories vintage Lion-O. They also weren't cheap. But because I really wanted one so bad I decided to buy one from ebay from a guy in Belgium. It cost about P3000 (shipping included) but I thought it was worth it. I was so wrong. What I thought was a dream come true became a nightmare. I never received that figure which I paid for. The seller said he already sent it and even gave proof. But I guess somewhere along the line and the allegedly thieving postal service, my Lion-O fell in a crack and was lost forever. I almost gave up on having a vintage Lion-O after that. I almost gave up on toy collecting completely. But I guess I really couldn't erase that childhood dream and so I kept looking again. And finally while sifting through a listing of figs on ebay I found a cheap but decent one. It was kinda roughed up a little, I envy the kid who played with it. He must've had an awesome time. Then after a couple days I found another one and bought it as well. And they were both from local sellers so I had better insurance that they'd get to me with no problem.

But my obsession with Lion-O didn't stop with the vintage line. I also managed to score a modern version of him. Bandai acquired the rights to the Thundercats line and released these 8" Classic Lion-O. More true to the way he looked in the 80's cartoon and with great details and articulation.

But this Classic Lion-O still cannot outweigh my two vintage Lion-O's in my heart. That show and toy line was a wonderful part of my childhood and it will continue to bring me joy and pride till the day I may have to pass it on to my children.

That's all for today. Hoped you enjoyed it. Tune in next post!

Cheers!