Price Check On Cobra-La!

Picture courtesy wigijoe

So I thought Cobra-La was a joke.  I thought it was stupid and lame.  The writers of Toyfare (the defunct toy magazine) certainly thought so.  But they were wrong.  I was wrong.   

I found this while digging around for more Sgt. Slaughter Renegades to bid on.  The Cobra-La Team 3 pack was around $60 so I added it to my watch list.  It had about 2 hours to go before ending.

This is where the auction ended:

When I saw the final price, I said "Golly, that's a lot of moolah!"  Actually I used some R rated words that pretty much expressed the same sentiment.  Anyway, I searched through the entire listings for Cobra-La.  I guess they are scarce if you're looking MOC.  Found a Buy It Now (BIN) at $285 with 14 watching.  And another BIN at $300.  That was it.  So in the end, the joke was on me.  Cobra-La is plastic gold.          

I Won This Auction...

Picture courtesy of raymondjona

Pretty excited.  Had my eye on this figure the whole weekend.  Skipped Mad Max Fury Road (might be the last week in theaters) for this auction.  1989 SGT Slaughter MOC.  The Slaughter's Marauders.  I tried to get the 3 pack of the Slaughter Renegades (same seller-I could've saved on shipping) but I was outbid.  It's cool though.  I got the one I really wanted.

You've got to spend money to make money.  I'm good at that first part.  How's that last part supposed to work again?  

Loot Crate, Brah

My sister blew my mind on Saturday by introducing me to this concept.  Have random new toys delivered to your house once a month.  It started like this.

My Sister (in a girly voice): Hey, do you want this Terminator skull collectable?  I got it in my monthly Loot Crate and I don't want it.

Me (in a manly James Earl Jones voice):  Terminator rocks, brah.  I'll take it.

Okay, the actual "conversation" happened in a FB message and I don't really sound like Darth Vader, but that's the gist of it.  I was like, What's Loot Crate?

Loot Crate is a monthly subscription that sends a box of cool stuff to your door.  You can go on their website and check out the past crates.  This is the September Crate.

I used September as an example because it looked the coolest.  But most of the months looked pretty cool and not too lame.  (I guess every month can't have a Malcolm Reynolds figurine.)  Cost of the subscription is $19.99 which includes shipping/handling.  Seems like a reasonable price to give it a try.

Then my sister added a plot twist.  She wants me to get a Nerd Block subscription so we can swap stuff.  Nerd Block doesn't have a "past crate" page to view old merchandise so I had to turn to ebay.  This Cowboy Bebop bandana is from their Ani-May box.

So Nerd Block has some cool stuff too.  I really like the bandana (and I'll probably buy it second hand off ebay).  But I kind of like what I've seen from Loot Crate a little better overall.  To loot or not to loot?  To Nerd or not to nerd?              

How To Get Divorced 101 or Collecting Again (D'oh)

So I decided to start collecting toys again.  It's a good thing I'm single because this could be the kind of life altering decision that led to a divorce.  I mean, it's hard to find space for all the unopened, Mint-on-Card (MOC) jedi, joes and friendly neighborhood spideys.  That's part of the reason why I stopped collecting 10 years ago.  I didn't have enough space.  I still don't have enough space but I'm giving it another go.

Anyway, the 1st GI Joe I ever got new from the store was Zandar.

Picture courtesy of linzkins

I didn't know Joe from Cobra and it wouldn't have mattered.  I liked that he was the same size as my hand-me-down Star Wars toys.  I really liked the extra points of articulation (he could bend at the knees and elbows!).  This, of course, made him a better fighter than my stiff jointed Luke and Han (what a bunch of nerf herders).  Even after I outgrew playing with toys, I kept Zandar through my teen years until I moved out of the house.  Not sure what happened to him after that.  Can't blame my mom.  She gave me a box of my crap that included him.  He might be in my first apartment for all I know, hidden away somewhere.

GI Joe collecting has become big business.  All of the prices have gone up since I last collected.  And I mean real world, ebay prices; not some guide book mumble jumble.  So I don't know if I'll be able to snag a MOC Zandar or not.  But I'm searching through ebay, watching items, and counting down the seconds till the auction ends, hoping I'm the high bidder.  In other words: I'm back (ugh!).   

 
 
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