The PopCulteer
March 22, 2019
Full disclosure time: Your PopCulteer is still having trouble with his eyes. In the grand scheme of things, it’s but a minor inconvenience, but for PopCult, it means that I’m going to delay the photo essay of the ToyLanta Dioramas and Custom Vehicles until next week. I hate to keep pushing back this photo essay, but I want to be able to do it right when I do it.
When I bring you photo essays here in PopCult, I don’t just slap up raw images. There’s cropping, rotating, color balance and other minor and major tweaks that have to go into each image. When dealing with pictures of detailed miniatures, this is a very important step.
However, I need to take a couple or three days off from spending hours in front of a computer monitor, so as much as I hate it, I’m going to have to wait until next week to bring you the ToyLanta Diorama goodies. In the meantime, you can see them on the video I posted last weekend.
That doesn’t mean that you won’t get any photos today, though. I did manage to edit a sizable batch of pictures I took of the stuff I found on the trip, and those are ready for you to see today. I should have posted them more than a week ago, but hey, whattya gonna do?
At the head of this post you see this year’s custom figure for Commander’s Package attendees of ToyLanta, displayed on Bryan Tatum’s very limited edition mini-diorama accessory set. Today we’re going to look at what your PopCulteer scored for his personal collection on the road to (and from) ToyLanta. Photos were taken by yours truly in the living room at Stately Radio Free Charleston Manor, using our rolling luggage as a glamorous backdrop.
The Trip Down
On the way to ToyLanta, we stopped at the Peddler’s Mall in Winchester, KY, and picked up two figures for our low-rent Western collection.
Closer in, we discovered a new cheesy knockoff, a 12″ Army Action Figure with minimal articulation, at Five Below in Kennessaw, GA.
At ToyLanta
This year’s custom figure that came with the Commander’s Package was a Mountain Man,, packaged in a cool box made by Sgt. Van, with an inner sleeve, and illustrated by Buddy Finethy.
There was also this cool custom figure for the Lobby Swap, made by E.J. White.
A bonus figure this year was sold by Mike Gardner, based on a CDC Officer, as seen in his epic World War Z diorama.
Bulletdog, the chromed canine crimefighter, came from 3rd Son Books. The footlocker was from Scott Wilde, who was relieved that I didn’t bring a talker for him to repair.
The Defender is modeling a cool 3-D printed Super Joe chest piece that I picked up from Aaron Luck.
This is actually for Mel’s collection, a Chicago cop, courtesy of Terry Stair.
Scott Stewart, of Stewart’s Attic fame, provided me with a box for a future custom project.
Part of my Cotswold Collectibles purchase; an outfit set from Captain Cosmos (in France) and one of Randall Wall‘s assemble-yourself diorama pieces.
Individual figures bought on the dealer’s floor (or in the case of the boxed Pilot, traded with Andy McGrady). This is almost a 1/6 version of an old SNL skit.
Many Thanks to Dave “Tanker” Matteson, a friend for many years, who hooked me up with this huge Enemy Ace set that I’ve been wanting for 16 years.
Two more great display boxes from Sgt. Van’s.
I snagged a coule of SCUBA suits from 6 Scale USA, for a future project. We’ll see these guys again in Hershey in August.
I got a great deal on this MEGO-scale Daredevil set, designed by Dr. MEGO himself, Paul Clarke.
I also got a great deal on this figure, which was much, much more expensive just a couple of years ago.
As we were preparing to leave Sunday morning, I broke down and bought Action Boy, Captain Action’s sidekick. He may not look like much to you, but I’ve wanted one for 52 years.
After ToyLanta
The day after we did The Walking Dead Tour, we ran to Newnan and stopped at Full Circle, where I filled in a few holes in the collection.
We also found a few cool Hot Wheels on the trip.
This odd batch came from three different stores. The fuzzy dude was found in a Goodwill, the soccer player came from a Bargain Hunt, and the two nude figures were found in a thrift store in Peachtree City. Of note is that the doll on the far right is Julia Littlechap, made by Ideal Toys…in 1963. She was in the two for a dollar bin.
Finally, we have this…thing…that I couldn’t pass up in Morehead, KY. I have not yet worked up the nerve to put batteries in it to see if it still works.
And that’s this week’s PopCulteer. Wish me luck with the eyes, which will be resting all weekend, but don’t worry…our regular features will still be posted here.
Not sure about Crapping Cathy, but otherwise, I’d say you got some seriously cool stuff! I’m especially impressed with Action Boy, Enemy Ace, Natalie from Action Man, and that cool Mego-style Daredevil!
Wow! Great haul. The Enemy Ace looks amazing! And I’ve never seen an Action Man Natalie in the flesh – never on sale down here.