Month: October 2019

Is Star Wars toy collecting really in trouble?

The other day I was watching a YouTube video depicting the scarcity of Star Wars action figures. But the video didn’t focus on how hard items are to find, but how many where sitting in clearance bins. I was at a loss for words at first thinking this must be wrong. Then I decided to check out a few of my local toy shops. needless to say I didn’t find much at all in the way of Star Wars product on shelves, clearance or otherwise.

I have always attributed Star Wars action figure scarcity to the massive number of collectors in the world seeking a limited supply of product. At first, my explanation was simple, most other people are like me not interested in the spin off or animated stuff so naturally those toys aren’t selling. But then it occurred to me, when I was shopping for Phantom Menace stuff it was everywhere and retro stuff was hard to find. The collectors were very vocal about how they just wanted OT toys nothing from the new movie. I have felt this way myself about the Clone Wars, Rebels and other animated programs. Frankly I refuse to buy any product branded with the name Star Wars that features those designs and characters. For me, it’s obvious that is not my Star Wars.

But the animated shows remained popular as do the new Disney movies. Since the individual making the toy video I saw made really negative comments about the Disney Star Wars as a whole, indicating to me there was some bias, I decided to dismiss it as such and move on. My instinct was kids today will see this as their Star Wars and buy the toys accordingly. But I did notice something unusual. If the trend is for collectors to snatch up retro stuff and young kids to snatch up the new stuff, it would stand to reason the retro stuff would also be scarce. If, on the other hand, nobody was buying Star Wars stuff, or if the retro collectors were as they say burned out, then it would stand to reason the new stuff would be hard to get and the retro stuff would be in the clearance bins.

That was it. I decided to investigate. I didn’t come to the same conclusion as the person making the obviously biased, entirely negative video, but I did notice a trend. The stores I went to had an equal number of PT, OT, and Disney Trilogy toys for sale. The characters from the animated shows were nowhere to be found with only a few side characters from the new films available. My initial conclusion, based on this being the first day the toyline was refreshed and there was new stock in store made me question a few things.

I was shopping early in the morning. I headed to Walmart around 7:30 a.m. If the new toys were put out around say Midnight then the collectors must have camped out and picked them bone dry. All that was left were a few of the side characters I am sure nobody cared about. The one thing that stood out was the Return of the Jedi Skiff vehicle retailing for just under $40. That seemed excessive for me considering what it was. Especially since I recently picked up a decked out Rise of the TMNT Turtle Tank for about that and even a Scooby Doo 50th Birthday Mystery Van with Fred for half that price. This told me that the OT stuff still fetches a premium price tag and that the collectors were on the ball.

If there was a shortage of toys the first day it came out that doesn’t indicate to me a lack of interest, on the contrary it tells me the collectors, or at the very least scalpers, are out in full force. I will be keeping an eye on this trend now that it’s been brought to my attention. Of course, keep in mind I am only now getting back into toy collecting so my knowledge of the current landscape is fairly limited. Stay Cool.

Retropalooza is now two weeks away

I am two weeks away from attending my first ever convention. This year I will be going to Retropalooza, a retro video game convention held in Alrington, Texas. I chose this one to be my first because it was the easiest one to get to considering I am about an hour away from Arlington.

I decided since this will be my first convention I would double it as an opportunity to do my first cosplay. Since that is the case I will be going both as THERAT and Stephanie to this thing. I am not sure what it will be like walking around in public for the first time dressed as a woman but I am excited for it. I am trying to build up anticipation so that I don’t chicken out.

Gearing up for the trip I have set up an interview with a YouTuber who is known as a Transgender gamer. She will be making an appearance on my podcast to talk about being trans and a geek, plus gamer stuff and other topics. I am so looking forward to this much needed vacation. Stay Cool.

Displaying painted nails in public, a personal breakthrough

I will keep this short and sweet. Saturday afternoon I drove to town on three different occasions wearing flip flops without socks. This isn’t a particularly out of the ordinary thing for me, except I had previously painted my toe nails purple and decided I wasn’t hiding it anymore.

It was a little awkward walking around town displaying my painted toes. I tried to hide them by curling my toes everywhere but by the time I got to the third store I had stopped doing this. I decided I wasn’t looking at other people’s feet, why would they be looking at mine? Well that was how I got through it. I even walked over to my sisters house that same day still displaying my painted nails. It was a small breakthrough for me. Consider it a minor victory for Stephanie Bri. Stay Cool.

My cat hates Barbie!

I brought a Barbie doll into my life recently among dozens of other toys, cars, action figures and collectibles. For the most part my cat has adjusted quite well to all the new clutter in our tiny house. But there is one toy she can’t keep her paws, or teeth, away from, my Barbie doll.

At first I thought maybe she just liked the plastic. She does chew on plastic. But I discovered I could distract her from all my other toys no matter where they were with toys of her own, usually her little stuffed mouse that she loves to chew on. Not so with Barbie. She refuses to accept it in her house.

I know she gets jealous of things that take my attention away from her. She makes her presence known if I spend too much time looking at the TV, phone or computer. I can sit and assemble a puzzle and she pretty much minds her own business. When I was opening the new toys as they arrived she immediately took to tearing up the plastic bubbles or cardboard containers they were packaged in. Still, there is something different about Barbie.

For starters, it’s the only toy I have demonstrated some level of affection towards. Sure I will admit I play with my action figures. I transform the Transformers. My Ninja Turtles fight bad guys. Even my Scooby Doo is known to run from a villain or two. The Barbie is different. It’s special for a lot of reasons. I brush her hair. I buy her new outfits and of course dress her up. I even take her to bed with me where she sleeps under my pillow next to my head. That is the problem. The cat doesn’t like to sleep that close to my head. She prefers tucked into my side or laying directly entangled into my feet. When I snuggle with the Barbie before bed she gets jealous and attacks it. If I am brushing its hair she bites the dolls face, then hands, then my hands. She goes out of her way to make sure I know she does not approve of me having a Barbie doll in her house.

This is becoming somewhat of an issue because, frankly, I don’t want her tearing up the doll that means so much to me. Obviously they are fairly inexpensive to replace so it would be easy to get another one. The truth is, I don’t want to do that. This doll is special because it was my first. It was the one I picked out and I made sure I selected the exact one I wanted in my collection for my own reason.

My current plan is to get her some chew toys to see if she might prefer those. If she doesn’t learn to keep her paws off Barbie I might resort to a more extreme measure such as coating the doll with some spray or another to repel the cat. The only reason I am hesitant to do that is I want my cat to know she can snuggle with me too if she is in that mood, but I don’t want to ruin the doll or hurt the cat at the same time. I guess me, Chloe and Barbie are all going to have to learn how to live together.