Nintendo is Mini 10-Doh

When I was a kid, I had a Nintendo.  Or a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) if you want to get technical.  The 8 bit graphics were cutting edge at the time.  And what other gaming system made you perform rituals (blowing with all your breath into the cartridge) before you could play?  Millions of kids had different techniques to get their NES games working.  It was worth the hassle because it was fun.

Speaking of fun, I was cruising the mean streets of Ebay when I found these mini NES cartridge-like figurines.  They are called Mini 10-Doh (sounds like Nintendo) and they look an awful lot like the old NES games.  Of course, my old games didn't have hands or feet.  (The feet would have made the ritual of air blowing a little awkward.)

They are sold in blind boxes (much like Funko's Mystery Minis) so you can roll the dice and take a chance.  Or go on Ebay, pay a little extra and get the figure you want from an already opened box.

Unlike what I usually do, I decided to roll the dice and get a blind box.  I'm glad I did.  From my blind box, I got Wood & Vinyl Rage (pictured at the top of this post) which is a take on the original Wood & Water Rage (Town & Country Surf Designs) game.  I never understood why T&C Surf Designs had a video game but I didn't question it.  Being a Hawaii boy, I took pride in a cultural staple being featured on a mighty Nintendo game (even if the surfing part with Thrilla Gorilla sucked).  Anyway, I was hoping for the T&C knockoff and got it!

I would have been okay with the Super Panda 3 (Super Mario Bros 3) and the Mousy Link (Zelda) or the Bossy Bear (???).  Hell, I'd be okay with half of them.  Zonbey Kong looks pretty cool too.  Anyway, Mini 10-Doh figures are fun.  And you don't have to blow on them to make them work.  That's a plus, right?        

Happy Labor Day! (A No Duh Special)

Happy Labor Day!  Sit back, relax, and enjoy the performance!  (As always, please save the rotten tomatoes for the end.)

Show continues after the jump.  Enjoy!

That's All, Folks

Funko Mini Week is coming to an end.  An average, run-of-the-mill week only lasts seven measly days.  But a Funko Mini Week lasted a lot longer than that!  At least that's my excuse for running with it as long as I did.  The real reason?  Mini figures are fun.  With that in mind, I'll still post about new mini figures from time-to-time.  (I've got two on the way now that I can't wait to blog about.)  It just won't be minis, 24/7.  That's all.  No need to panic, Mini-Fanatics!

Anyway, I recently got a Tyco Dixie's Diner playset and decided to put it to good use.  I stuffed it with all the mini figures that I've recently acquired and had a little fun.  (Shipwreck was included because none of the minis were tall enough to cook.)  Anyway, order up!

Mal shoots first

Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto (Kidrobot)

Don't worry, Music Aficionados.  I don't really like that Mister Roboto song.  No music links will be posted here.  Your ears are safe!  But this IS a post about Kidrobot's mini figures.  And that's why I used the title.  Anyway, let's get on with it. 

With all the blathering I've been doing about Funko, Kidrobot fans had to wonder when I was going to mention their favorite mini figures.  Well, let the wonderment begin end!

picture @vinyltap_11

I was blindly wandering the streets of ebay when I found this!  It's Ryu from Street Fighter as a Kidrobot mini figure.  That's when I realized that I had stumbled onto something cool and different.  (The Michelle Trachtenberg autographed trading cards would just have to wait.)  Street Fighter had blind box mini figures.  Street Fighter was back! 

As a kid growing up in the age of NES/SNES, I played the hell out of Street Fighter.  Many of my dad's hard earned quarters got lost in arcades to fuel another turn as my favorite player, Ryu.  Memories, man.  Sweet memories.  I suppose Street Fighter was never gone in the first place.  But it was for me.  Until I realized they were making cute mini figures of them.

picture @vinyltap_11

      
Like Ryu, Dhalsim looks pretty cool too.  And so does Zangief (not pictured).  But I feel a lot of the other figures aren't as cute as they could be, particularly the girl figures (Cammy and Chun Li).  I didn't take a screenshot of them, but trust me, they look clunky.

That's my one complaint about Kidrobot.  Their figures don't look as cute as the competition.

Left: Funko Bebop.  Right: Kidrobot Bebop

Will it stop me from buying their stuff?  No.  In addition to Street Fighter, I've already added some Kidrobot Futurama mini figures to my watch list.  But if Funko started making Street Fighter or Futurama figures, that would be a game changer. 

What do you think?  Funko or Kidrobot?  Who's your favorite?      
     

Fallout Mini Figures and Other Ramblings

Let's start with the ramblings first.

It seems like last week's Pulp Craft Fiction was a huge success.  Readership was way up.  So thank you for reading!  I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.  I'll definitely do something like that again in the future.  Did you have a good weekend?  Get anything cool?  I got some pretty cool stuff over the weekend, but none of them were mini figures.  (Since it's still officially Mini Week, I'll do a post on my weekend loot at a later time.)

Okay, nuff rambling.  Mark your calendars for November 10, 2015.  That is when Fallout 4 is released.  Not that we needed to add to the excitement, but Funko is releasing Fallout Mystery Minis to coincide with the release of the game.  So yeah, a lot of cool is coming out this November.

If you dragged your feet on getting a Fallout 4 PipBoy Special Edition (like I did!), these mini figures should help take out some of the sting.  They are super cute!  Already I'm hoping for a Brotherhood of Steel, Mysterious Stranger, and Nerd Rage (depicts a player perk from the game).

While Funko isn't doing companions now, wouldn't it be awesome if they did!  I'd love a mini Cass and ED-E (from Fallout New Vegas).  Boone too.  Veronica wouldn't be so bad.  Okay, I'd take them all!  Fallout and Funko, you can't go wrong.       

Pulp Craft Fiction (A No Duh Special)

Welcome ladies and gentlemen!  Sit back, relax, and try to save the rotten tomatoes for the very end of the performance.  No Duh Toys presents a reenactment of Bruce Willis' and Maria De Medeiros famous scene from Pulp Fiction. 

 This is a parody.  All rights reserved yada yada yada.  Show starts after the jump!

Trials and Tribulations of Mini Minecraft

Funko isn't the only game in town when it comes to mini figures.  Longtime toy maker Mattel has gotten into the market with their Minecraft Mini-Figures.  I may sound all knowledgeable and smarty-pants-ish, but I didn't know Mattel made minis until I found blind boxes at the Barnes & Nobles in Pittsburgh.

This was Stone Series (Series 2).  I was hoping to get a Chicken or a Zombie because they looked the coolest.  An Undead Horse would've been okay too.   

Instead I got Electrified Creeper which was my second to last choice.  (Really didn't want a Wither either.)  As if I wasn't disappointed enough, Electrified Creepers are difficult to photograph because of the blue "electric" shell.  I bet the Chicken would have been photogenic, super cute, and laid golden eggs to boot.  Anyway, to rid myself of disappointment, I took to the streets of Ebay! 

And got myself a Zombie!  It was just a click (and some Paypal $$) away.  The Zombie is a super cute figure!  Enough that I featured him riding a Funko Mini Motorcycle Chopper in my last post.  So to answer your question, the undead figure on the motorbike is a Minecraft Zombie.  And lottery numbers are 14, 22, 27, 51, 55 and 2.

The Minecraft Zombie is very photogenic (HINT: You may see him again soon).  Anyway, Minecraft Mini-Figures are pretty cool, even the lame ones.  Next time I take to the streets of Ebay, I'll get my Chicken.  Until then, happy crafting!            

Daryl's Funko Mini Chopper

Is it a motorcycle or a chopper?  Is Zed dead?  Can Funko Mini Week keep on rolling?  Yes, it can.  Especially when we've got cool toys like Daryl's Chopper. 

The chopper is part of Funko's Walking Dead Mystery Mini Series 3.  According to sellers on Ebay, there is a 1/24 chance of randomly getting one.  Or you can do what I did and just buy the sucker on Ebay.  I know, it's less fun that way.  But sometimes you just want a chopper and don't feel like fooling around.

I really like the details.  For a small thing, it doesn't skimp on chrome and leather.  I could almost hear the buckles snapping on the saddle bag and feel the worn leather on the seats.  It's small.  A 3 3/4 GI Joe cannot fit on the chopper (in case anyone was getting ideas).  But the small size should be expected.  After all, it had to fit in a Mystery Mini blind box.

It doesn't matter that it's small.  You can still have fun with it!  Who is the undead figure riding "shotgun"?  Is Zed really dead or just faking?  Should we call it a chopper or a motorcycle?  How about Daryl's Bike?  Would that work?  We'll have these answers and more after a word from our sponsors!

Tokidoki Milk Does A Body Good

Since milk does a body good, it only makes sense that mini milk does a body great!  With that in mind, let's pour a glass of Moofia Milk and celebrate Funko Tokidoki Mini Week.  That has a nice ring to it.  Bet you can't say it five times fast.....while chugging a gallon of milk.  (DISCLAIMER: Chugging milk while talking may cause a choking hazard.  Friends don't let friends Chug and Talk.)     

Bocconcino is rare

According to the Tokidoki website, "Mozzarella leads the Moofia.  The Moofia was assembled to extort milk from the lunchboxes of schoolyard bullies.  Mozzarella is loving and kind to good kids but ruthless and feared by those who harass the innocent.  By taking the milk from the bad and giving it to the good, the Moofia know the good will grow up strong and healthy to protect themselves.  Milk is power.  Milk is protection."

I didn't know all that when I bought it.  I just thought the outside packaging was super cute.

   
So cute that I wasn't sure how to open the box without ruining it.  I didn't want to open it like an actual milk carton.  That would've ruining the look.  In the end, I used my pocket knife and gently cut along the bottom.

It worked.  I didn't destroy the box.  The figure was in a sealed bag.  I ripped it open and pulled out this little guy.  (You know, in a different context, that sentence could probably land you in jail.)   

Anyway, the figure is too cute.  The package is too cute.  Milk is power.  Milk is protection.  Milk does a body good.      

Funko Adventure Time!

Funko Mini Week keeps on truckin' with this little ditty starring Jake from Adventure Time.  (I was trying to channel Steven Wright as the radio DJ from Reservoir Dogs.)  Anyway, Jake is too cool!  Found him at the local Hot Topic.  He was a little overpriced, but HT was running a special (buy one, get one 50% off) so I snagged him at a discount.

As you can see, Funko has its hands on many properties.  This is a good thing for those of us who appreciate cool (and cute) things.  You have to shop around to get the most bang for your buck.  Don't buy Funko Mystery Minis from a place like Hot Topic.  You'll save $3 by getting them at Barnes & Noble.  So be smart about it.   

After all, you'll want to save your money in order to collect them all.  The Adventure Time intro takes us to the break.  Adios!      

            

Who Can It Be Now? (TMNT Mystery Mini Edition)

It was totally unplanned, but this week has turned into a Funko-Mystery-Mini kind of week.  I'm visiting my sister in Pittsburgh, PA and we stumbled upon a Funko Mecca in the local Barnes & Noble.  Shelves of the cute little fun toys!  It was a beautiful thing, man. 

Some stores (like those Toys R Us jerks) specifically say No Photography Allow.  Not sure what the policy is at Barnes & Noble, but we didn't want to get kicked out before making our purchases.  Because of this, I didn't take any pics of the amazing amount of Funko toys.  But rest assured, true believer.  It existed.  And it was awesome to the max! 

The first thing that I grabbed was a Funko Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) Mystery Minis box.  I glanced at the possibilities on the back of the box and decided that I wouldn't mind a Krang or a Foot Soldier since they looked the cutest.

When I got home, I eagerly opened the box like I was five years old and it was Christmas morning.  The five year old me could've done a better job.  I had a hard time getting that sucker open.  Anyway, I eventually got the box open.  The figure was sealed in a black plastic baggie.  Ah, who could it be now?  Ripped that sucker open and found....

..............Bebop.  Not the worst figure you could get.  But not my cute Krang or Foot Soldier.  Oh well.  If you want a specific figure, head to Ebay.  If you want something fun and mysterious, get the Mystery Minis.

Men At Work's Who Can It Be Now? to complete the circle.  Cookies and punch to be served during intermission.  Have a great day.    

        

Captain Planet Schlamm-Copter Hubschrauber Der Oko-Bande

I don't know what most of the title means, but it's foreign themed week at No Duh Toys, so anything goes! 

photo @ichderdaniel

This is something cool that I found on ebay.co.uk (British Ebay) while pursuing my endless search for an Action Force Quarrel.  The seller lives in Austria and had a bunch of cool American toys that were sold in his/her country.  Since I don't know the person's gender, let's call the seller Doctor Hasselhoff.  Anyway, like I wrote, Doctor Hasselhoff had a ton of cool stuff for sale.  A Real Ghostbusters vehicle, Ecto 2, unopened in a German language box (sadly, I didn't take a screen shot of the Ecto 2).  Some other stuff that I can't remember.

And a couple of Captain Planet vehicles, unopened, in a German language box.

photo @ichderdaniel

Doctor Hasselhoff's auctions were in Euros, and I guess the gap between Euros and US Dollars have shrunk in recent years because the difference was small.  The Euro is still worth more than the Dollar, but nowhere near as much as the British Pound.

photo @ichderdaniel

Sadly, I didn't win any of Doctor Hasselhoff's auctions.  And I only took screenshots of the Schlamm-Copter (Skumm-O-Copter).  But it was a cool find and opened my eyes to the possibilities out there.  No duh about it, foreign toys are cool!  

Foreigner's Jukebox Hero takes us to the finish.  Adios amigos!  Have a good weekend! 

Major Bludd With Kung Fu Grip!

Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting!  In fact they were fast as lightening!  I love that song.  I could listen to it all the time.  In fact, I'm listening to it as I write this.

I have to come clean.  Major Bludd does NOT have Kung Fu Grip.  But he is the Chinese carded version.  That counts as something toward Kung Fu grippy-ness, right?

Anyway,  the Chinese carded GI Joes are pretty cool.  Most of the figures were made in the early 90's under license from Hasbro.  Some, like Major Bludd, were Frankensteined into new figures (Major Bludd v2 head, Gen. Flagg chest, Lamprey legs).  But most were the same as their US counterparts.   

The plastic and the cardstock are comparable to the US versions (unlike Funskool who skimped on quality).  

Chinese Major Bludd vs US Barricade

My only real complaint is that the Chinese cards are taller than the US ones (see above).  This means that they do not fit in a Protech Star Case.  Which forces me to rig some kind of protective setup using comic bags and the cardboard from old pizza boxes.  (Kidding about the pizza boxes...the old cheese gets rank after awhile.  Now I'm classy and use Amazon Prime boxes.)  But rigging up protective crap is one of the reasons I quit the hobby in the first place.

Okay, pity party is over.  This is foreign week, not crybaby week. 

In honor of Carl Douglas's great song, Kung Fu Fighting, let's end this post with the final scene from Bowfinger, the underrated 1999 comedy classic starring Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy.  Kung Fu Fighting plays around the 1:27 mark.     

        

Price Check On Takara Zartan

 Happy Hump Day, everyone!  Since I'm doing a foreign themed week, I had to forgo the usual picture of a posed action figure.  But never fear, true believers, your regularly scheduled Happy Hump Day will return next week.  (Uh, is that booing I hear?)


I enlisted Shipwreck for a fun pose anyway.  Couldn't help myself.  Well, I needed a title picture for the Price Check posts.  See?  Perfectly legitimate excuse for photographing toys in cute and humorous ways.   






Anyway, yesterday I mentioned how rare an unopened Takara Shipwreck can be on Ebay.  But even rarer than that is a Takara Zartan MOC.

photo @japanshop2015

The figure above ended up going for $150 which was a very good price even though the card had some shelf wear.  There are only two other Takara Zartans on Ebay as of this writing.  Both are BINS at $275.00 and $299.99.

Pricey stuff, but rare as well.  So you get what you pay for.  Anyway, hope you snag something cool and make it a happy Hump Day!  

Tuesday Has Been Shipwrecked

Let's do this backwards and start at the end.  I got a Takara Shipwreck in very nice condition!  Thank you, thank you.  It's a nice addition to my foreign collection.  But there were trials and tribulations.  And to cover that, we'll have to go to the beginning.  

Once upon a dark and stormy Sunday afternoon (okay, I'm lying--it was sunny and nice).  I'd found a seller who lives in England with a bunch of carded Takara GI Joes up for auction.  Let's call the seller Royal Baron.  The auctions were spaced out so each auction ended five minutes after the other.  I had all of Royal Baron's Takara stuff on my watch list.  I'd planned my day around the auction end times.  Got an oil change and a bite to eat and made it home with plenty of time to place a bid.  

Ebay does this cool thing with foreign auctions so even if the auction is in the seller's currency (in this case, Pounds), it will tell you what the equivalent is to your money (in my case, US Dollars).  I knew this, but got a little distracted.  I'm a huge Chicago Cubs fan and the Cub game was on.  I was flipping between the live stream of the game and the auctions on Ebay.  So yeah, confused and distracted.  To steal a baseball saying, some times it is better to be lucky than good.

I won two of Royal Baron's auctions at a price I was comfortable with paying.  But I had messed up, forgetting the whole Pound vs. Dollar exchange rate thing.  It was pure luck that I got the two Takara Joes at the price I wanted to pay (hey, the game was on and the Cubbies were winning!)

And then it was time for Shipwreck's auction.  Cue the dramatic music.

By this time, there was drama during the Cubs game.  The other team had loaded the bases so it was tense, nail-biting time.  But that's just an excuse since I forgot the whole conversion rate thing.  But it definitely added to the distracted confusion.  I felt that winning Shipwreck would have been icing on the cake.  It wasn't something that would make or break my day so I wasn't willing to break the bank.    

40 seconds left on the auction.  Flip to the Cubs game.  The other team made an out!  Flip to the auction.  15 seconds left.  It's go time! 

I do some quick mental math in my head.  I'd spent a decent amount already that day.  But it was rare finding a Takara Shipwreck in good condition.  I decided I was comfortable bidding a max of $115 in USD.  And.......

.....entered 115 Pounds instead.  Of course, I didn't realize my mistake.  So I was excited when I saw that I was the high bidder. 

5 seconds left on the auction.  Someone placed a last second bid.  But it wasn't high enough.  My max bid stood.  The auction ended and I was the winner!!  Oh yeah, baby!  Then I saw the final price.  115 Pounds was $180 USD.  And oh...as I got that sinking feeling in my stomach...that was not what I meant to pay.        

My savings account took a little beating that day.  But it wasn't anything super catastrophic or anything.  And the Cubs won their game so that helped.  Live and learn, I suppose.  I'm still willing to bid on foreign auctions (how else am I going to get my Action Force Quarrel?).  But I'm a lot more careful on the whole Pounds vs. Dollars thing.

My haul from Royal Baron pictured below.  Detailed posts on the other two figures...coming soon!

   

Roadblock Is An Action Force

It's a foreign toys week here at No Duh Toys!  None of that domestic crap.  Only high end exotic crap.  Anyway, I've mentioned the Action Force line by Palitoy in previous posts (here and here) but now I finally have one!

It's an Action Force Roadblock.  And for those of you keeping track at home, it means that I now have two carded Roadblocks.  One is a Takara, one is Action Force.  Sadly no domestic Roadblock MOC yet.  But it'll happen before too long.

It would seem like Roadblock my favorite GI Joe just based on the numbers.  But the reality is that Roadblock is one of the cheaper guys to get on a foreign card.  $30 to $40 will buy a nice Takara Roadblock.  And my Action Force Roadblock only cost $30 including shipping.  That's pretty cheap.  

If you've learned anything from reading this blog, you know that I like foreign GI Joes.  I still get the domestic GI Joes, of course.  I was kidding about it being crap.  But the foreign stuff is where my true passion lies.

I didn't forget about the Funskool GI Joes.  We'll see what I think about them once they arrive from Mother Russia.  But Funskool made their own figures so it's not the same as Takara and Palitoy's Action Force.  I like having the same figures in different packaging.  It gives me that whole, It's A Small World After All, kind of feeling.  

Anyway, since this will be a week spotlighting foreign GI Joes (and other toys too), here's "I Want To Know What Love Is" by 80's band, Foreigner.      

Cobra Rifle Range Part 2 (I Got A Box!)

I ended up getting a box for my 100% complete Cobra Rifle Range.  Like I mentioned before, I love the box art.  Just not enough to buy an unopened one at $150 or whatever they are going for these days.  

So my box came with a few pieces of the rifle range.  2 targets but only 1 sandbag, rifle rack, firing embankment, and instructions.  I took the incomplete set out of the box and set it aside for a rainy day.    

And put my 100% complete Cobra Rifle Range in the box.  It feels good completing something.  Sure, it's not unopened so my Rifle Range isn't magically worth $150 now.  But it's a complete set, box and all.  

Plus I get to look at the great box art!

Anyway, my complete set with newly acquired box.  It looks good, doesn't it?