Cool & Collected

My new covid mask... 😲

Motorized Iron Man Helmet in action.  The is the closest to a real Iron Man helmet you can get now.  

It also uses voice control to activate different modes. 😎

The face plate opens in multiple pieces in sequential steps. It also has a remote that allows opening and closing, and activation of light up effects. 👍

This is very cool, but if you have a big head it may not fit you 😁

It's a really cool toy for any Iron Man fan 👍

Doctor Octopus Statue by XM STUDIOS... Awesome statue for any Spider-Man collection 😍

Great next to the other Spider-Man villains 😁 Quick look at the CGC Graded Comics & Statue... What I like & Don't like this amazing statue 🧐 

The SINISTER 6 is finally here:   Doctor Octopus, Vulture, Electro, Mysterio, Sandman and Kraven the Hunter. 👍 It is really cool finally looking at all of them together. 

I also show a couple of my favorite Doc Ock comic books including the origin in Amazing Spider-Man #3 and my favorite ASM#55 😎
 #sinister6, #xmstudios, #doctoroctopus, #statuereview, #coolandcollected, #spiderman, #cgccomics

On 3/1/2021 at 6:36 PM, piper said:

These statues are all gorgeous. I think about buying one for my office but I’m pretty sure it’s a slippery slope.

I see a mix of 1:4 and 1:6 statues. I’m leaning towards the smaller statue size because they are cheaper and take up less space.

I assume that 1:4’s have better resale value?

What size statues do folks prefer?

I collect action figures and statues  As far as size, it really depends on how much money and space you have.

To me, 1/4 is the perfect size for statues.  1/2 and 1/3 is just too big and expensive to me.  1/6 are really cool too, but after looking at the 1/4 in person, I do prefer that larger size better.   Most of my collector friends go with 1/4 statues for detail/quality, and 1/6 -1/10 for quantity/price.  🙄  If my goal is 30+ statues, 1/4 scale may be too big/expensive; if my goal was 5-15 statues I'd go with the 1/4 scale... 🧐

My action figures (4", 6", and 12"" already meet the quantity/price requirements and I thought the 1/10 -1/6 statues would just get "lost" with the figures.  I really wanted the statues to be more noticeable and larger scale. 😱

Not the best comparison, but you can get an idea how much more "massive" the 1/4 Hulk statue is next to the 1/10 action figure (see pic below).  The 1/4 scale is great for "centerpieces" large room displays; the 1/6- 1/10 are usually better for desk/shelf, smaller displays.

Cost can be a big factor too... some 1/4 scale statues can be 2x, 3x+ the cost of a 1/6 statue.

I sold my used BowenDesigns Hydro-man for $400+ship, so smaller statues are cheaper, but you can find 1/4 statues for reasonable prices too; it really depends on how popular/rare the statue is.  The 1/4 XM studios Black Cat can be found for $600 shipped.  Sideshow has a good collection of 1/4 statues for a good price too.  I think the Prime1 Venom you see on my video/previous post was about $900 locally.

Iron Studios has a really cool collection of 1/10 statues that are around $100-200. 😁

I personally don't think there is a "best scale" for everyone, it's just what works best for your particular needs/display. 👍

👍 Final video on how I made this Custom Base for my PRIME1 VENOM statue.  All material can be found at most local hardware/craft stores.  😍

I'm not an artist or professional painter... but, this is very simple and inexpensive project that anyone can make at home.
The add-on base is completely removable and no permanent changes were made to the original statue. 🧐

The custom LIZARD base videos shows in more detail how to make the base using the foam 😬 and how it was painted.  The foam used was Owens Corning FOAMULAR Extruded Polystyrene (XPS) Rigid Foam Insulation.  
 

Video on how I made this Custom Base add-on for my PRIME1 VENOM statue. All material can be found at most local hardware/craft stores. This is the best Venom statue I've found, 😍 but I never liked the "silver border" around the base. I'm no artist, I just wanted do something different to make it look nicer next to my other statues on the display.

I've done a Custom Kraven Base, a large Lizard base, and I thought the Venom should be next 😎

I've tried to keep the video as short as possible since I've already shown some of the techniques in the LIZARD video 😁 This is something that many collectors can do at home so I still wanted to show all steps in case you want to something similar. The foam used was Owens Corning FOAMULAR Extruded Polystyrene (XPS) Rigid Foam Insulation.

It's an awesome statue and I'm glad I have it as part of my Spider-Man Statue Collection ! Hope you enjoy it ! 👍

You have some good points.  I don't know, maybe I'm just looking too much into it.    The reason I mentioned it is that I thought he would actually be good even without a "super-hero". 🤔  It couldn't be an animated series, but a live action/crime series would be cool.  I don't think you always have to have a super-hero and a lot of explosions in the story...  birds of pray was really bad, and joker was pretty interesting (I know they are not series).

Maybe some super-hero cameos, but more like a crime/mafia drama; not exactly like sopranos/godfather, but his own series with him still being a bad guy but also going against other crime bosses and criminals.

Well, maybe they can just bring back Daredevil and Punisher 😁👍

Well, I'm a big Spider-Man fan and the Kingpin is one of my favorite characters. 😎

I've been going over my collection and Kingpin collectibles and decided to also look at the Kingpin in animated series (that's why I made the video).

Why is the Spider-Woman Kingpin so different?  That's my least favorite design and "personality".  Maybe it's just my impression. 🙄😲  The 1967 and 1981 are my favorites.😁

Hope you enjoy it 👍

below: 1979 Spider-Woman Series

Below: 1967 Spider-Man series

Below: 1981 Spider-Man series

Below: 1994 Spider-Man Animated series

Below: 2003 Spider-Man New Animated Series (MTV Spider-Man)

After watching the animated series and the Netflix Daredevil series I really think that the Kingpin would be great on his own (live action) TV series.  💥👍 To me the Kingpin character/story was a big factor for the Netflix series success 😊

From all Spider-Man/Marvel villain, he seem to be one of the best to have his own TV series. no?

Quick look at my Marvel Retro Kingpin Figure by Hasbro.  🧐

This is a more in-depth review of the figure which is now the best Kingpin figure available in this class. 👍

Not a huge improvement over the Marvel Legends Kingpin BAF, but much better than the ToyBiz Kingpin figures as you can see in the video review & comparison. 😁

I really like the Gallery of Spider-Man's Most Famous Foes from the Spider-Man Annuals so I've included it in the video the Kingpin pinup from the Annual #13

Note that it shows Kingpin's first appearances on ASM #50, #51 and #59...

The Kingpin actually appeared on ASM#52 but I guess they forgot about it 😱

Hope you enjoy it !

Marvel Kingpin collection 😁  The statue and new Marvel Kingpin figure are awesome 👍

Really cool to see them side-by-side next to the even more awesome books; 
💥 Amazing Spider-Man #50 cgc 9.0 - First appearance of Kingpin
💥 Amazing Spider-Man #51 cgc 9.4 - Second appearance of Kingpin, First  Kingpin Cover !
💥 Marvel Legends Face Off (Daredevil vs. Kingpin) Figures by Toybiz
💥 Marvel Retro Collection Kingpin Figure by Hasbro
💥 XM Studios Kingpin Statue 1/4 Scale

This is just a quick intro video to my Kingpin collection and I'll show them in more detail in separate videos.  😎

This Marvel Retro Collection Kingpin Figure is my favorite Kingpin figure 👍  Hope you enjoy it !

46 minutes ago, bobotski said:

Just added new school Mario to old school handhelds.

WOW... We used to play with them when we were kids... 😁

My mom hated buying batteries for it  😨

They were expensive and we could only afford a couple of them so we used to "trade" them with our friends.

I had a couple of those and one with two screens.  Super cool !  👍

7 hours ago, Crops068 said:

This is fantastic.

Have you thought about adding either a glass or plastic UV protective to the front?  Thus making it more of an enclosed frame but also more protective against sunlight.

Hi Crops

Yes !  I actually have the UV acrylic at home but did not like the look of it   

I really like looking at the comics up-close and there is something about the glass or acrylic in front of them that makes it all look very "distant".  The glare is a issue with the glass and dirt/scratches can be an issue with acrylic that add to my bad perception of them...

My solution was to just install shutters on my windows, UV fim on the glass/windows, change the lights to LED, and install blackout curtains  

I did two videos to share the ideas of UV comic book protection...  One of them shows the UV film I used on my cgc slabs and installation.  I think it's the video right after this one.  I hope it helps...

Looks great 

I saw some at my local Target store that fit cgc graded books, but I needed one for multiple books.

I could not find anything that worked for me so I just built a simple frame... they do not look as nice as yours, but it did the job 

If I have to pick a book to be my 1st CGC Signature Series book for my collection...😁 Well, this is it ! 👍 

This Amazing Spider-Man #700 CGC 9.8 💥 variant is a relatively rare key, but this copy is even more special because it was one of the first Stan Lee CGC Signature Series books to be signed on his 90th birthday. 😁 It also has it's own "90th birthday" label. 🎂

That is why I chose this as my 1st signed Stan lee book in my collection (it's also the only signed book I have) 😱

I don't have many variant comics but this one is really cool variant.... I'm a big Spider-Man fan so I always wanted to have a key spider-man book signed by Stan Lee. This is a super cool one to have ! 😎 I hope you enjoy it too !   

53 minutes ago, silverweb said:

I only own this one and I wuv it!  Bought it in 2015. I always dug the Chromiums. This is not  listed on GPA. Only 5 in the census.

 

 

Awesome book !   

My only CGC 10 is the one I posted above... Also a Spider-Man book;

Marvel Authentix Amazing Spider-Man #1 CGC 10 

On 8/25/2020 at 11:57 AM, Rhymenoceros said:

On the note about asking for advice:

I have some of these and plan to get more if I need to. They have been on backorder for a long time since I'm pretty sure they are manufactured in China: 

https://www.bcwsupplies.com/graded-comic-book-bin

Not too bad if you buy a 5 pack at a time (or 8+ to get free shipping). This definitely would solve some of the issues involving quick grabbing and going. To that effect, any graded boxed would help vs. using any random boxes you can find. 

Thanks for the advice !

It still says backorder until 10/27/2020.