I remember the olden days of Amiibo collecting, when they hadn’t yet proved themselves in the market. Those who loved these little things had to cope with the fear that more obscure Nintendo characters wouldn’t get their time in the spotlight.
Those aren’t those days anymore. Here is the Retro Three Pack, a GameStop exclusive product available for $35.
Past college dorms, museums and restaurants, attached to a quaint craft store up a flight of stairs, filled with posters of caped crusaders and cowled vigilantes, is Phantom of the Attic, a comic book speciality store. Located on 3766 William Penn Highway, it specializes in new release comic books and graphic novels, but there are more available on its shelves and displays.
Relevant to this blog is its selection of action figures, Pop! figures, statues and more.
I spoke with Jim Guerriero, a manager who was manning the store with another worker on a Sunday afternoon. He’d chat with his co-worker in between helping any customer who needed help, like a woman asking him for comics he’d recommend for her six year-old son.
Phantom of the Attic is mainly a haven for readers and collectors looking to snag new comic book releases each week. It’s certainly not a toy-speciality store, and not a place they typically buy toys and collectibles for resale.
“We don’t sell a whole lot in here,” Guerriero admitted, when I asked about the store’s toy selection. It seems like the toys are there to compliment the comics, all geared toward the type of customer who comes in looking for new issues of Avengers, Spider-Man and whatever else.
The action figures are what sell the best out of all the toys, and they sell to younger adults, according to his off-the-cuff estimations. They tend to be based off of popular superheroes, too.
“The mainstays are always good to sell,” explained Guerriero, referring to popular superheroes like Batman and Deadpool.
He imagines those customers pick up those figures as collectibles to display, given their age. Children don’t come in as often, mainly coming in with their parents on the weekends.
There is an interesting pattern to the age of the folks who visit the store, based off of the explanation he gave me. It all makes sense; for example, six or seven months out of the year he gets college-aged kids, for a single reason I’m sure you can guess, dear reader.
At the start of the fall they sell a lot of posters, most of which sell for $8.99.
“Kids are moving in, buying something for their dorm,” he explained.
He does hope the store gets a better variety of posters. It can be hard for them to get posters from DC Comics, he explained, so you’ll see a lot more posters of Iron Man and Captain America rather than Batman and Superman for sale
The store sells statues too, like the one seen here:
These bad boys go for anywhere between $50 and $250, this one of the high end of that spectrum, Guerriero explained. Because of their hefty price tags, they don’t get purchased frequently; often, customers fork over the cash during the holidays.
Again, the toys aren’t purchased as much as the main event: the comics. For my money, it isn’t a bad place to buy statues, figures or whatever you’re in the market for. The ladies and gentlemen who run the store are always really nice, helpful, and offer pleasant chat. Nothing is worse than a comic shop filled with elitist workers who treat their customers like idiots who don’t get the hobby.
Phantom of the Attic isn’t one of those. There are closer comics shops to me, but I always try to work my way over to this one.
I resisted toy-to-life games and figures until the Nintendo fan inside me ruined any chances of staying away whenever the Amiibo figures started rolling out. I thought, at that point, I was free from any other toy-to-life games, but I was wrong. Nintendo decided to team up with Activision, bringing to the world two Skylanders that also function as Amiibo figures and are based off of the Nintendo characters Donkey Kong and Bowzer.
So, here I am, a new fan of Skylanders.
My whole Skylanders collection.
The game itself is fun. It’s sort of like Ratchet and Clank, a popular Playstation series. There is a mixture of platforming and action gameplay, along with some other diversions like puzzles. It is a lot of fun, with colorful, inventive environments that consistently introduce new gameplay mechanics to keep things fresh. The story is geared toward younger players, but the production values are impressive, with voice acting from Richard Steven Horvitz (who plays the titular protagonist of Invader Zim) and Patrick Warburton (who plays Joe on Family Guy).
It’s a dangerous new life of mine, as it opens up opportunities for spending lots and lots of cash. I have already spent around $70 on top of the original $75 spent on the starter pack.
These are from the “Sea Racing Action Pack.” Included is a new character, Deep Dive Grill Grunt, to use in the game, a water-based vehicle, called Reef Ripper, and a trophy that unlocks more sea-themed race tracks.
I also got another figure, Stormblade, and the air-based vehicle that goes with him, the Sky Slicer.
I am hooked, unfortunately.
Pittsburgh is a pretty big city, and that isn’t even accounting for the surrounding area. Naturally, there are lots of places to find toys and collectibles, whether it be Pop! Figures, collector’s statues, toys-to-life figures for video games, action figures, or whatever else! All of these retailers sell toys and some of them will also buy them for either cash or store credit. Here is a map of twelve of my recommendations in the area, which can be accessed in a fuller capacity by clicking here.
GameStop locations are best for finding toy-to-life figures for video games, but they also have Pop! Figures, action figures, statues, plush toys and more.
The Exchange locations are good for toy-to-life figures but each is also home to their own, special selection of used collectibles, like bobble heads, dolls and much more.
Eidies Entertainment is mainly a massive comic book store with additional big selections of used and new toys, movies and music. The store has a notorious reputation for having some very mean employees and generally strict rules, which I can attest to. The selection is fantastic, but be careful!
Bill and Walt’s is a small store with a limited selection, but it’s run by a single, amiable man.
Phantom of the Attic is a superb place to buy new comics despite its small size, thanks to great selection of new releases and incredibly nice staff. Toys available are action figures, statues, Pop! figures, and lots more.
Cash-in Culture is a chain of Mom and Pop’s style stores with an entirely used selection of toys, collectibles, movies and other pop culture related goodies. See what you can find!
Target and Toys R Us are names everyone is familiar with. If you somehow aren’t, get out from under your rock!
All of these locations are valuable tools, but always remember to price-check on websites like Amazon and eBay to be sure you are getting a good deal.
I went down to Oakland to buy Skylanders: Superchargers, the new entry in the popular series. I actually just went down to Oakland to look around at a few stores, but then I realized that this game, which I’ve been excited for, came out. This game series was the first to capitalize on the now-popular trend of video games that unlock more content with actual plastic figures. I have never gotten into it because the price tag scared me, but now the series has crossed over with Nintendo’s Amiibo figures, so I have jumped in!
All of the pictures are taken by me.
It’s a bit of a stretch, but I’d like to own every one of Nintendo’s Amiibo figures. I love these little guys, with their great, dynamic poses, solid detail, and generally cool sense of style. The other day I got three more in the mail:
That picture was taken in my college cafeteria because I picked them up from the mailroom beforehand and couldn’t wait to get them out of their packaging. I looked pretty dumb with the ludicrously-sized boxes they came in. A friend I was sitting with used to work at Target, the retailer I ordered these from, and explained that he would have to get massive boxes for any group of two items, no matter how small they actually are.
Pretty dumb! But let’s take a closer look at these guys:
Dr. Mario, from the Super Smash Bros. Line – $12.99
Zero Suit Samus, from the Super Smash Bros. Line $12.99
Classic 8-Bit Mario, from the Super Mario Maker Line – $12.99
It’s hard to dislike Funko’s Pop! figures. They’re adorable, lovingly detailed, and are based off of so many varied and cool franchises. If you like any aspect of pop culture, whether it be television, film, video games or what have you, you’re sure to find some of these little guys worth throwing on your shelf or desk.
I have 24 of these little guys at the moment; here are my 10 favorites.
Ant-Man
It took this Pop! figure for me to realize just how cool the costume is for Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man. With all of the meticulously detailed leather and metal, translucent red goggles, and pointed antennas, it’s almost forgettable that dorky Paul Rudd is supposed to be under there.
Sadness
The level of subtle expression evident in this figure is really special. The frown and the curves of the eyebrows are more apparent, but check out the conflicted, aimless clasping of the hands, and the uneven positioning of the feet.
Anger
Another Inside Out figure, Anger is especially cool because of his unorthodox form factor. He is a fat brick, breaking down the conventional thin-bodied, big-headed style of most Pop! figures. He’s also my favorite character from the film, thanks to Lewis Black’s awesome performance.
Dancing Baby Groot
This figure is fan-service incarnate. After the release of Guardians of the Galaxy, the internet fell in love with the scene at the end of the movie featuring a newly grown, smiling and grooving Groot, moving around to Jackson 5 music. Thus, a cute, bobbling figure.
Danny Laruso
The Karate Kid is one of my favorite movies of all-time. There isn’t any particularly special about it from a cold, film-craft perspective, and the story is far from original. The movie sticks with me because of how warm, pleasant, and easy to watch it is. It isn’t challenging, it’s just fun. So I had to have all of the Pop! figures for the movie, the coolest being the protagonist Danny.
Claptrap
It seems like video game companies are more protective of their intellectual property than movie and television companies, because there aren’t many Pop! figures based off of gaming. One really cool one is Claptrap, the hilarious and cute little robot from the series Borderlands, which started in 2009. I have the blue one, which is an exclusive through the GameStop Power-Up Rewards program.
Chucky
I was terrified of Chucky when I was a kid; for a young, anxiety-riddled kid, there’s something obviously freaky about a toy that comes to life to murder and torment. My sister once had my dad buy her a Chucky statue just so she could scare me; she never even liked the Child’s Play movies much. Me buying this cutesy version of the character is my way of beating my childhood fear.
Harry Potter
I had to nab Harry when he came out, as a big fan of the books. I went through all of the Harry Potter books in the summer after my 5th grade year of school into the beginning of my 6th grade year. It’s an incredible series, and something I’m happy to own merchandise for now.
Carl
One of Pixar’s best characters is Carl, a cranky old man who still has an inner passion for adventure and loving memories of his dead wife. This figure delivers, with a big frown, his tennis-ball-laden walker, and his big, chunky glasses.
Howard the Duck
Isn’t it lovely a character as goofy and obscure as Howard the Duck has a Pop! figure?
It’s happening, guys. It is finally happening. Funko is releasing Pop! Figures themed around Napoleon Dynamite, my favorite movie of all-time, this month. There’s going to be one for Napoleon, Pedro, Kip, Deb and Uncle Rico, all of which can be seen here.
Image owned by Funko, taken from popvinyls.com
Image owned by Funko, taken from popvinyls.com
Napoleon Dynamite has been long overdue for Pop! Figures, with way less interesting and beloved movies like Talladega Nights getting their own figures already. Thankfully, the figures are as lovingly-crafted as consumers have come to expect from Funko. Kip, for example, is complete with his “La Fawnduh” sign from the second half of the movie, perhaps his most memorable moment in the film. Little details like this are unnecessary but fantastic.
It’s a downright fascinating movie filled with strange yet lovable weirdos. It’s comedy is characteristically slow and in its own plane of existence. It made a big cultural splash when it came out in 2004 despite its low-production values and unconventional comedy. It’s an incredibly quotable movie and simply a joy to watch, however many times it’s already been watched.
I’m going to buy them all, is what I’m saying.
Source: popvinyls.com
I have a problem with collecting Amiibo figures. They can be tough to get but the rush of finding a good deal and getting my hands on these awesome, dynamic figure is just too good. Click here to view a slideshow of my little guys.
Collectible Communion 