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The Greater York Toy Extravaganza 2011

Sunday, December 4th, 2011

A few years back, I discovered the Greater York Toy Extravaganza – a huge toy show which takes place Thanksgiving weekend in York, PA. Each year the show is packed with everything – 800 tables of modern stuff, vintage stuff and even historical stuff. Plastic crap or diecast metal crap. All types of toys for all types of people. Of course, I’m looking for the “weirdo” stuff.

I said it in my 2008 and 2009 York Toy Show articles and I’ll say it again – the trip is soooo long and challenging for me. I’m in South Carolina where there are no real toy shows, and if there ever were, they would involve NASCAR most likely. This trek to York is definitely not worth it financially, and yet, I’m compelled to go. Is it the intrigue of the mystery toys yet to be discovered? The miraculous great deal I may find? Or more realistically – the annual invitation I get from my father-in-law to join him at the toy show (thanks Monty).

I think Monty and I have learned our lesson over the years not to drive up to Pennsylvania as early and waste so much or our precious holiday weekend. Being the two toy-obsessed family men we are, we devised a plan to minimize the pain of the long-ass drive and wasteful stay in Pennsylvania. The plan of attack this year was get up super-early Saturday morning, drive up to PA and arrive in time for the dealer’s early buyer’s admission that evening. The next morning, we’d do early buyers again and then hit the road just before the show opens to the public. (These “early buyers” admissions will cost ya $20, so only consider if you’re serious… or if you write your own toy blog. Ha.)

(The plan worked perfectly. The only thing is, with such a rushed timeline, I was more interested in scoring some weirdo toys and less concerned about taking photos. You’ll notice my actual documentation of the toy show floor is pretty sparse this year. Sorry about that.)

On Saturday night we got in at the same time as the dealers. This is good and bad. It’s good, because we get first dibs on toys as dealers set up. It’s bad because not everyone actually sets up Saturday night, and definitely not everyone wants us hanging around, pestering them, as they unload their boxes.

Here’s a peak at what I picked up the first night.

Some funky-looking crow puppet and an alligator soap dish…

A recognizable-but-off-putting He-Man and Skeletor vintage soap holders…

…and a Huckleberry Hound hollow, plastic coin bank.

This small haul worried me a bit for the potential of the show. I knew some of the vendors hadn’t set up, so I was hoping they’d surprise me on Sunday.

At one point in that evening, as I stumbled through the show Saturday night, I literally did a double-take when I saw this super-cool, black skeleton warrior-type guy standing at one of the dealer’s tables.

I know I’ve seen him before. Was this some random bootleg?

Crossbones and Ribs

Oh yeah! He’s a direct copy of the skeletons from the Pirates of the Galaxseas toyline.

At least this bootleg has some cool, new accessories.

As it turns out, this figure is an in-progress prototype of a toyline the guys at ZoloWorld are putting together. It’s called Warlords and Warriors.

The line is more-or-less a throwback to the countless Masters of the Universe knockoffs of the 80s we all know and love. It’s so much of a throwback in fact, I think this is a direct recasting of the original molds by “Emco-Ray” (using pig latin to hide a keyword here). I guess he is a bootleg – a bootleg of a knockoff?

The characters may look familiar but they’ll be given a new storyline with all new accessories and paint variations and stuff. Looks like a lot of fun. If they don’t cost $30 each, I may pick some up!

Alright. Back to the rest of the show….

The next morning, Monty and I got in a couple hours before the show opened to the public. I know it doesn’t seem like much, but trust me, walking the floor with a bit more ease and ability go back and forth and just take it all in without the rush of the crowd makes the shopping so much easier.

Not only that, but you get first dibs. So many times I see dealers buying from one another. So as the general public, you will never see some of the toys or even have a shot at getting them for a fair price. I’ve seen dealers buy something cheap then double the price and sell it at their own table. It’s just nice to have that “insider’s” edge when doing your toy hunting.

I won’t give you a play by play of Saturday. But here’s a quick look at what I picked up that day. Sure it’s nothing mind blowing, but i like it.

First up, we have these clunky, vintage wind-up robots. They don’t really work, but I just got them to look at anyway. Heh.

Next we have the super-classic Mego figures. I know there are repro parts on ol’ Bats here, but I don’t care. I don’t have any Megos, and just having a few of the classic figures is good enough for me.

Next we have these cool, little minifigures. Seems like a mixture of sci-fi and fantasy creatures. I haven’t bothered to get the story on these guys yet.

Here we have some of the always-awesome Real Ghostbusters’ ghosts along with a Toxic Crusaders bad guy and a villain from Blackstarr.

Lastly we have a few carded Beetlejuice toys. I know no one gives a crap about Beetlejuice toys, but I liked these two “Neighborhood Nasties” figures. The street punk transforms into a rat and the hillbilly fat guy turns into a pig. I’d never seen them before, and I hear they are pretty uncommon. I also got the classic Beetlejuice figure with a spinning and shrunken head. So that’s good

I know my pics from the show are lacking, so just to give you a sense of what the show feels like, here are the videos I created for the last York show I attended. Not much has changed. In fact, a lot of the dealers are selling some of the same toys as they were 3 years ago. Sad really.

West Hall

East Hall

So there ya have it. The annual contradiction of the Greater York Toy Extravaganza – a show that excites me enough to drive 9.5 hours to see but also the show that forces me to take a 12-hour drive home in post-Thanksgiving traffic, staring at the unnecessary additions to my ever-growing, plastic, weirdo army giving me ample time to rethink the entire trip.

Would i do it again?

Of course.

Maybe next time I can meet up with some fellow bloggers who happened to visit the show this year as well. (Read about their adventures at CoolAndCollected.com and at TheSurfingPizza.com.)

Until next Thanksgiving… keep it weird.

Tags: 80s, beetlejuice, He-man, mego, MOTU, Toy Show, toys ghostbusters, Vintage
Posted in Antique, Holiday, Human?, Monsters, Prototypes, Robots, Superhero, Toy Shows | 20 Comments »

Weepy the Wee-Wee

Sunday, May 2nd, 2010

So, a couple of weeks ago, I was actually in South Africa visiting with my wife and some of her family (they’re all Afrikaners). We were all super-busy and touristy out there, but I did have one day dedicated to toy shopping (thanks Monty and Alec). I hit up a bunch of antique shops and toy stores. I didn’t find much, but here’s a little something I definitely want to show you.

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It’s Weepy the Wee-Wee!

I’ve seen this guy here and there at flea markets over the years, but according to the shop owner I bought this from, this one is from the 40s.

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I think I believe her. It does look like a vintage/antique Weepy. He has a better color scheme and paint job than the more modern reproductions.

Weepy the Wee-Wee

It appears that Weepy just gets re-released with new packaging and new color schemes every once in a while.

I have no clue who makes Weepy or where he comes from. I’m not sure of how long he’s been around, and I’m not even sure if Weepy is his original name. (Can anyone help me out with this?)

For those unfamiliar with Weepy, he’s basically a cute little kid with an innocent (yet sly) look on his face. Looks like he’s hiding something.

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Oh no!

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Wait!

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He’s peeing on everything!!

I never thought I’d own a urinating toy.

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Yep. Simply fill Weepy’s base/reservoir with water, pull down his shorts, and voila – the cutest, little urine stream you’ve ever seen in a toy.

Here’s Weepy in action.

As you might have noticed, this toy is pretty old and kinda cruddy.

He has stains and aged glue where some previous owner has made lame repair attempts. His pee action still works, but it’s a bit weak (I hear that happens with age).

While searching for info for Weepy, I came across a really disturbing version of him.

Weepy the Wee-Wee

This Weepy definitely doesn’t have the charm of the original Weepy.
He’s got his hands in his pockets, and he’s wearing shorts over his pants. Weird.

Tags: Antique, Pee, Toy, Wee-Wee
Posted in Antique, Cute, Funny, Used & Abused | 24 Comments »

2009 Greater York Toy Extravaganza

Sunday, December 6th, 2009

Well, it’s the holiday season. I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving a week or so ago. Did you celebrate it the way most Americans did? You know – rushing to the shops to find their super-great deals. Well, not me. I decided to spend nearly half a day on the road driving to York, Pennsylvania – home of the Greater York Toy Extravaganza, where I’m not guaranteed to find good prices or good toys at all. Worth the risk? I dunno. I’ll get back to you on that one.

I didn’t go to the York toy show alone. I actually went with my father-in-law. Yep. He’s into toys too. Luckily he’s a fan of old, die-cast cars and stuff (Dinky Toys mostly), so we don’t compete. Anyway, when traveling to York last year, we went by plane which turned out to be a nightmare. We had hellacious layovers and weather delays, so we figured this year we’d try to control our own destiny by driving.

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Not only did we drive to York, but we arrived to the toy show a day early. Some folks don’t know it, but they have an “Early Buyers” admission to the show. You can pay to get in the day before the show (or you can pay to get in a couple hours early the day of the public show). The dealers set up Saturday and sell to each other and other suckers like me that night. At last year’s show, we only knew about the Sunday opening. We were kind of rushed with our toy shopping, because we had to catch a flight. But now, we had plenty of time.

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And as you can see, maybe we had a bit too much time. Yeesh. Maybe getting there first thing really wasn’t the best use of our time or money. As it turns out, the dealers are getting there the same time as the early buyers. It’s kind of annoying actually. Why make the dealers wait until 5:30pm to set up shop?

Oh well. At least I bought a couple of things… maybe even stuff that would’ve been gone the next day had I not nabbed it first (at least that’s what I’m saying to convince myself it was worth the $20 early admission). Another good thing about getting in early is it gave me a good lay of the land. I figured out who and what I should be checking out the next day.

On Sunday morning, I got in early again, but this time more of the tables actually had toys on ‘em. Good thing, or I would been severely disappointed.

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I know I’ve always mentioned how the photos I take don’t really capture the essence of these large toy shows, so I actually took some video footage of each hall. What you’ll see here are walthrough clips of the two toy halls – The West Hall (which was filled with more antiquey and automotive stuff) and the East Hall (which seemed to be more kitschy and “modern”).

Don’t worry, the videos are really quick, but they’ll make you seasick. (Unfortunately, the East Hall video ends a bit too soon, because I ran out of space on my memory card. In fact, that’s the main reason I have so few photos to show you.) Enjoy.

West Hall

East Hall

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G.I. Joe Headquarters. Does it get any cooler than that? Nope? Then you should probably stop reading now.

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On the first night, I picked up this set of “Tales from the Cryptkeeper” toys. (Why do I have the sneaking suspicion that these are from a lame cartoon series trying to make the old EC Comics and HBO series fun and child-friendly? Sure looks like it.) I got a great deal on them… or at least I thought so. After I bought them I noticed their old price stickers. They were from Kay-Bee and sold 3 for $5.00. Ha!! If only I’d seen ‘em years ago.

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Next, I bought a handful of windups. The carded ones are some strange, celebrity caricatures. The only ones I recognize are Arnold Schwarzenegger and Michael Jackson (The rest must be fütbol stars or something ). I also picked up the Q*bert, the little, orange ball guy, and a freaky-looking Fozzie. Really freaky.

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The last set is probably what people would expect at these shows. Vintage 80s He-man toys. Well, as you can see, some are Masters of the Universe, but others are knockoffs or monsters from Dungeons and Dragons and Inhumanoids.

The coolest piece is the Conan figure. It’s pretty rare, and I got a pretty good deal on it. Unfortunately, it’s not even for me. In fact, most of those fantasy figures were for a buddy of mine (it pays to be buddies with Weirdo Toys I tell ya). Don’t worry. I didn’t do it out of the kindness of my heart. I did it for a trade

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I’m thinking this guy didn’t sell a single one of these Beanie Babies. Not sure what he was thinking.

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Looking back on it, I’m not sure if the show is really worth it. Well, lemme take that back. If you’re within an hour or two drive, it’d be great, but I drove from South Carolina. That’s a long-ass way (I type this knowing I’ll probably go next year. It wouldn’t be as bad if I could get a small group to share in the expenses).

It cost me more in food, shelter and gas than I spent on toys. And not only that, but most of the cool toys I wanted were way overpriced (I sure sound like a cheapskate huh?). I’m serious. This isn’t like the Allentown Antique Toy Show were the toys are inherently expensive. This is a case of selling a dirty, broken-armored, incomplete He-Man figure for $25 (the one I got was nicer and cheaper by the way). Gimme a break. I even had a guy laugh in my face when trying to negotiate a price on a toy (Oh well. Just another guy I’ll never buy from if I ever see him again). It’s almost as if some of the sellers are there just to show you what cool stuff they have, having no real intention of selling anything (you know… like I do on this blog ).

In the end, it wasn’t too bad. There were plenty of nice folks with great deals – all there to share in the joy of toys. I’m happy I had the opportunity to be in York to do a little toy shopping, and I’m glad I have this opportunity to share it with you all.

Maybe I will go again next year. Who’s with me?

• Buy antique toys on eBay!

Posted in Antique, Monsters, Toy Shows, Used & Abused, Wind-Ups | 15 Comments »

Man Surrounded by Toys He Can’t Afford at Antique Toy Show

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009

As you may or may not know, the Allentown Antique Toy Show was a couple weeks ago (November, 7 2009 to be exact). If you follow me on Twitter, you probably read all about my experiences there, but now it’s time for a quick recap of what actually went down that weekend.

Well, one thing I did differently this year, is I paid for the “early bird,” which allowed me access to the show a day early to shop with the toy dealers. It also allowed me to get in early the next morning for the public show. I’d like to say it was worth it, but I only bought three things.

These robots.

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They’re called Ding-a-Lings, but let’s save the details for another blog entry

Okay. I didn’t buy much at the show, but another good benefit of going, was my discovery of various toys that I may be able to pick up cheaper on eBay or something. In fact, I’ve already picked up a Halloween skeleton push puppet I wanted for $3 which was going for $48 at the show. Ridiculous huh?

(Oh, and I also got to catch up with a Weirdo Toys reader and fellow toy enthusiast, Ben, so that was really cool.)

I took a bunch of photos of the show. Instead of posting them all here, I’ve actually uploaded them to my Flickr Account. You can check ‘em out in this slideshow.

As I did the last time I went to Allentown, I think I’ll just break it all down into “lessons learned.”

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1. It is truly awe-inspiring to be surrounded by so much toy history.
I said it two years ago, and I’ll say it again – the toy show is awesome. There is just so much toy history everywhere. I wasn’t able to adequately take it all in. It’d be great to document every piece and hear its story… but that’s impossible. So, I’ve tried to do the quicky, day trip version. Ha! As you you’ll see in the slideshow, the toys ranged from old, handmade mammy dolls to more modern batman hairbrushes. The show was a weird mish-mash of stuff, but that’s what made it so interesting.

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2. Antique toys cost way too much.
Of course it’s pricey. Who the hell goes to an antique show looking for cheap, garage-sale-priced toys (me)? That’s not my complaint. My complaint is the apparent markup of so much stuff. A quick Google or eBay search of the same items on location resulted in my finding the pieces for twice or 10 times less than the dealers were asking. That’s the main reason I didn’t buy much. I know a lot of it is antique, so it’s bound to be pricey, but I’m talking about pieces that I know the value of – stuff from 70s/80s that have a triple or quadruple mark up. Maybe it’s because I’m a young, poor whipper-snapper, they don’t wanna haggle with me. They know they can get “Grampa Joe” to pay the hefty prices ‘cuz he has the money.

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3. Antique toys aren’t collected by anyone under 40.
I’m 32 (going on 33). I’m not super-young, but in this place, I felt like Baby New Year. I’m not even trying to be cruel. It was really great seeing such passion and interest in the toy hobby at an older age. I hope to be just as passionate about weirdo toys when I’m in my 70s. And hopefully I’ll have a bigger budget as well.

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4. Toy vendors don’t like their toys photographed.
I took several photos at the show, and toy vendors were pissed. I first tried to be cordial, and ask permission from every vendor whose table I shot. There was so much apprehension and awkwardness. The majority of them truly were bothered and upset with the mere thought of my photographing their collections. Eventually, instead of dealing with the grief of those interactions, I decided to just snap a shot and keep on moving.

I didn’t use a flash. I’m not posting these photos on eBay to act like I’m selling them. Sheesh. Let a man invade your privacy for just a millisecond

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Well, that’s about it. See ya around Allentown. Can’t say it was a nice visit, but the toy show was kinda cool. Not sure when I’ll see you again. Maybe in five years time or something.

• Buy antique toys on eBay!

Posted in Antique, Recap, Toy Shows | 10 Comments »

Greater York Toy Extravaganza 2008

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008

I’ve just returned from the Greater York Toy Extravaganza at the York Expo Center in York, Pennsylvania. I’ve never been to a toy “extravaganza” before, but I’d really have to say this seemed to be one.

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First of all, the show was freakin’ huge. Seriously, I’ve been to dinky, little, local toy shows a lot, but nothing prepared me for this thing. There were two huge banquet halls (a total of 28,202 square feet) filled with vintage-to-modern era toys and other collectibles. (There was also a train show going on somewhere else at the Expo Center, but screw that. This isn’t “weirdotrains.com.”) And to top it all off, they had music playing in both halls – non-stop Christmas songs. It was great. It felt like we were all going Christmas shopping for ourselves.