When innocent blood is spilled, a spirit of vengeance is born, and Danny Ketch finds himself transformed! As a collector, I am sure you are like me, in the way you set goals. Ghost Rider has been something I wanted to collect, seemingly easy to find and low barrier for entry, carded figures are still mostly around $20. I told myself the same thing I always do though, you have to find some in the wild to start the collection.  While I mainly collect vintage action figures and VHS, I often find myself flipping through long boxes when I see comic vendors at markets. I wanted to read ..read more

 Yesterday I was in the line at the dump and it was taking forever so I checked out Marketplace and saw a $2 VHS sale not far away so I thought I should have a peek. I wasn’t expecting to find a tape I have been seeking for over a decade. The totally thrashed Super Mario Bros! I’m picky about where my tapes come from, I could easily go on eBay and get this, but it’s not $2, shipping on tapes sucks and it’s just not the same. These tapes have stickers from the local video store, to me that makes it even better. One day I am going to see if I have a sticker from everywhere I have lived si ..read more

How excited are you for X-Men 97? Seeing random toys pop up with the new but old branding, and the packaging is awesome. Theres Marvel Legends, GI Joe scale, and big 12” figures.  I feel like the 3 3/4 guys are in an oddly oversized box and Storm only comes with the new jet?  Actually I take that back, I always complain about vehicles and play-sets coming without a figure, so I like that. It should be mandatory that they come with a figure, like the Origins Castle Grayskull.  What I had not seen and did not know existed was this Sentinel!  I got a package in the mail ..read more

One of my fondest memories about being of the video store generation, was the art and stickers of the VHS tapes. Just tapes in general are such a wonderful way to consume media, these black slabs have a heft to them that a DVD or Steelbook doesn't capture, and don't get me started on streaming... My kids often ask me to do art projects with them, merely supplying the materials for their ideas is not enough. I thought it might be fun to make a scaled down VHS tape. It's not made to any specific scale or based off any tape in particular, just what I felt like I could competently make, and fe ..read more

Stay safe tonight folks, you never know where a grey at the temples werewolf may be lurking!  Speaking of, have you ever watched the movie about a werewolf in a seniors villa called Late Phases? I would highly recommend you check it out!    ..read more

Friday night, you just rented Jack Frost, after playing with the lenticular cover for 20 minutes at Speedee Video, you got a Jolt Cola and a box of Salt n Vinegar chips, your friends are coming over any minute now.  This was the peak of adolescence for many of us, and I still haven't let it go.  Jolt Cola hasn't been in my hand for over 20 years but I still try to watch VHS movies as often as I can, reserving Fridays for the schlockiest trash I can find. One day I had a crazy idea to make a side table for my remotes and snacks to go on, but make it out of tapes! Ok, so originally ..read more

 Teenage Mutant Ninja Mallrats… they seriously missed the opportunity to make Jubilee part of the Toy Biz Ninja Mutants line! Yeah yeah I know, it’s not Ninja Mutants, that’s too similar to a more popular toyline, it’s Ninja Force, that name has definitely never been used by a rival toy company… Around this time last year, I saw someone selling a carded Ninja Psylocke on marketplace. I hemmed and hawed and decided to pass on it even though it was cheap and cool. My Toy Biz collection is pretty tiny and I wasn't planning to expand it.  I also hadn't really come up with a good ..read more

Remember how we all went absolutely nuts for Boo Buckets and then new Nugget buddies in late 2023? Well I used up all my McDonalds points on the Kerwin Frost meals because I was caught in the hype myself and then ended up getting Don Bernice for 3 of our 4 nuggets. Hype stopped there, because the meals in Canada cost $18 after tax. Without my surplus of Monopoly points I was out. As far as I am concerned Uptown Moe was the best one anyways, and my oldest got him.  Imagine my surprise when I found a 4 piece nugget bagged up at Value Village, for $3.99!? (I’m not actually that surprised ..read more

What’s better than skateboarding? Skateboarding being referenced in pop culture of course! We’re just one kickflip away from a new series in The Nostalgic Basement! Exploring skateboarding through the lens of toys and media. Grab the bumper and try to keep up.  ..read more

My son sculpted like 20 of these action figure sized VHS tapes so I thought I should make him a little TV to go with them, but I wasn't expecting the "Why is the screen a rainbow?" comment. Dang kids. I am surprised there is no Fireplace Channel version of this though, for us older millenials that all woke up to this screen after falling asleep watching Army of Darkness on TV Friday night.    This post is just sort of off the hip, no rhyme or reason anymore, but here's a pile of tapes I sold or traded. I never regret downsizing but sometimes I reach for something and it's not t ..read more