Skip to main content

Vintage Masters of the Universe - Commemorative Man at Arms and Zodac, Horde Trooper, Moss Man, Roboto, Sy-Klone, and Stratos

A new vintage toy shop opened up in my area this week. I'm not going to mention names but I didn't have a great time.

A few weeks ago, a toy shop that I had frequented in the past began to share the posts of a new store that was opening near their location. As the pictures scrolled across my feed, my anticipation began to build. Just the thought of a new vintage toy store gave me the excitement that I used to have when I had birthday money to spend as a child. You know the feeling, it's the joy of open ended opportunities just being a fingertip away.

As the days continued on, my joy began to turn into concern, no price tags. The store was posting lots of great stuff but there wasn't a single price listing to be seen. I don't know about you, but I have always found that disconcerting. I understand that the vintage toy industry has really become a sellers' market these days. I also completely understand that a brick and mortar store has to pay their bills so I already expect to pay a much higher price than I would from an online seller. However, I feel a seller should at least be out in the open about what their expectations are. Either way, I tried to put my worries out of my head and just be ready to enjoy the experience.

The 8 AM alarm went off on my cell phone and I was off to prepare for my journey. The store was about 45 minutes away from my home so I planned my morning around this trip. I printed off shipping labels for my recently sold items on Ebay, dropped them off at the post office, grabbed a McDonalds breakfast and hit the open road.

As I ventured into my destination, I took moment just to smile while my eyes took in the hundreds of great memories that hung across the walls: G.I. Joe, Silverhawks, Star Wars, Toy Biz Marvel, Transformers, and, my quarry for the day, Masters of the Universe.

Complete in Box Castle Grayskull, Snake Mountain, and the Fright Zone.

Loose but complete Eternia.

Lots of carded 200X and some loose vintage.

I walked up to the owner, shook his hand, and thanked him for bringing us a new shop. It's a risky venture and I truly appreciated him for it. Then, I took some time just to walk around and admire the memories before zeroing in on things I would want to purchase. After narrowing it down, I asked the man in charge how much he was expecting for certain things. Some prices I expected and some surprised me, but there were a few I genuinely liked.

He also had some things that were being sold by his co-owner but he went ahead and gave me a price that I agreed with but I had to wait for his partner to come in to the shop. I browsed a few minutes more before he also arrived. The two owners chatted about business a moment before he motioned his partner my way. He let him know that I was interested in purchasing one of his items and then quoted a price that was double what he told me.

It took a moment for that to sink in. I kindly asked if he misspoke and reminded him of the price he gave me. He laughingly shook his head and disagreed. I apologized, mentioning that I must have misheard. I went ahead and purchased two loose figures instead and decided to try my luck at the neighboring stores.

Now, maybe it was an honest mistake and maybe he was trying to intentionally snag me with a switch up. Either way, my thoughts went right back to my ill at ease concerns from earlier. I don't think I will be doing business with this gentleman again.

On to some more positive news, the other shops had some great finds - including mint on card commemorative figures! I decided to spend the exact amount I had intended at the new shop with the more intentionally honest store. I am very glad that I did because the owner mentioned that he had some more MOTU stuff in the back that he was going to bring up in the next few weeks.

My buys:

 - Commemorative Man at Arms and Zodac











Master Mechanics


Brothers in Arms


Cosmic Rivals


I know some people might be upset with me for opening these up but I've never been a mint on card collector. Now had these been original 82s, I wouldn't have even purchased them. Am I a monster? Maybe, but I'm not completely awful. I don't know why, but the fact that these came with a warranty just kind of makes me chuckle.


- Loose Roboto, Sy-Klone, Moss Man, Stratos, and Horde Trooper







The life we save.






A bit of the old 200X ultra violence? Honestly, this blaster was way too heavy for the MOTUC Man at Arms. I might try to get a true 200X version and see how compatible it is with this vintage Man at Arms.


Heroic Warriors?


Or Masters of the Universe?


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Toy Biz Batman Batmobile

 Recently, I learned that the Toy Biz Batmobile was a two seater! Talk about a game changer. I loved my Kenner Batmobile, it had the engine missile, machine guns, and the pop out/rotating fire effect, but it could only hold Batman. As a 1966 Batman devotee, I always wanted Robin to ride batarang so that he could hear lectures about automobile safety as he approached his 16th birthday. It took a bit of searching but I found a pretty good one in $50 range on Ebay. The stickers were included but I decided not to apply them. I love the chrome features over the gold hubcaps on the Kenner Batmobile. The passenger seat is everything for me with this. The gear shift opens secret missile launchers in the front.  The Bat Trunk was an interesting feature. It has a lot of depth, which I guess can be useful for taking criminals to Arkham, or disposing of their bodies. I guess everyone has competing views of the Caped Crusaders thes...
Post a Comment
Read more

Carry Cases - X-Men, Batman Returns, Marvel Superheroes

Since I got back into collecting a few years ago, I have been keeping my figures in boxes or tubs but within the last few months I decided to go with something different. I always loved having Carry/Collector Cases growing up. It was the ultimate way to say that not only do I have these toys but I'm a HUGE fan as well. It definitely gave you some street cred on the playground and during sleepovers. Using these now, there are some pros and cons. The pros being how great they look. The art on these things were always wonderful. Having these on your shelf rather than tubs just adds a little bit of flair to your collection. The cons, however, is the fact that they don't hold very many figures. Most Cases have two trays that are made to hold 6 figures each. That gives you 12 per case if you follow the suggestion. Luckily, there is always more wiggle room than they mention and a lot of us were able to get up to 24 figures in some of our Carry Cases. I decided to go ahead with getti...
Post a Comment
Read more

Star Wars Power of the Force Red Box Vehicles X-Wing, AT-ST, and Speeder Bike with Scout Trooper

Speeder Bike with Scout Trooper This was the only one of these three vehicles that my brother and I had as kids. We had two vintage scout troopers so finally having a speeder bike was a big deal. An added plus was that it was the same mold as the vintage line so our original scouts could finally feel the air fog up their goggles. The new scout figure introduced one of my least favorite things about the new Power of the Force line: wide stance, bending knee figures. They just look awkward off of their vehicles and besides the speeder bike, no one else could ride unless they had similar legs. Say what you will about the vintage vehicles and beasts but the trap door mechanism made it possible for most anyone to ride. Thankfully, like I mentioned, this was a vintage mold so we didn't face that issue YET. AT-ST My best friend had the AT-ST so I never felt the rush to go buy one. Though, if it had been in stores longer I probably would have. Return of the Jedi was my favorite Star Wars m...
Post a Comment
Read more

Kenner Silverhawks

Around 1990, my family moved to Indiana, near my mom's hometown. Every so often, we would go shopping at the local mall with my Grandparents. During that first year, we visited Kay Bee Toys and they had a giant lot of Silverhawks that they were liquidating. At this time, neither my brother or I really knew what they were but we were immediately captivated by what we saw. We walked out of the store that day with Quicksilver, Flashback, Mon*Star, Mumbo Jumbo, Buzz Saw, Mo-Lec-U-Lar, and the giant Tallyhawk. Not a bad haul at all!  Even without knowing the backstory, we really enjoyed these figures. My mom was really great at keeping her finger on the pulse of what interested us and always kept an eye out for things that would fit the bill. Not much later, she found a Silverhawks coloring book that covered the story of Darkbird. This book was my first real introduction to the world of Silverhawks. I broke my childhood Quicksilver but kept the other figures in pretty...
Post a Comment
Read more

Funko Primal Age Batcave

With these toys hitting clearance prices, I decided to pick up the Batcave. You can tell from the above pictures, that the packaging is clearly evoking MOTU. Even with the cross sell on the back. Very nice artwork. However, what is on the inside is far cooler. First, let me say that all of the details on this playset are amazing. And, despite what you may have heard, this is some pretty good plastic and has some weight to it. Now, I am not a fan of the Primal Age series but I plan on using this as a stand in for Castle Plun Darr. I really like that standing area behind the Bat's head.  The Cave opens up just like Castle Grayskull and as some really nice features. The spine/ladder is really well made with nice details and it has some weight to it. I love the depth of the dungeon. I could honestly fit two more figures in there. I have to say, though, that while the overall set is very sturdy, the cage doors and the front door ...
Post a Comment
Read more