Thursday, January 06, 2011

My latest toy obsession


I’ve been hitting 3 of the Toy Vaults rather frequently of late. The newest store is the best (and largest) one yet and it has inspired me to focus my collecting efforts on the Kenner Indiana Jones collection.

I largely ignored the Indiana Jones figures/play sets when they were originally released, most likely because I was still collecting Star Wars figures and in comparison the Indiana Jones figures were less exciting. Over the years I have thought about the Indiana Jones figures from time to time but I’ve never made any serious effort to collect any of them. The closest I came to starting a collection was to pick up an Indy for $25 a year ago. For whatever reason, perhaps my disgust at the current state of toys or maybe just boredom, I’ve become obsessed with picking up everything from the Kenner collection.

On an impulse last week I dropped a ton of dough and grabbed the following items;

The Well of the Souls playset



The Streets of Cairo playset


Cairo Swordsman


Belloq (Ceremonial Robes – mail-away)


Sallah


Indiana Jones (from the Map Room playset, which I do not own)


I still need the following items;

The Map Room Adventure play set


Desert Convoy Truck


Arabian Horse


Toht


Indiana Jones (German Uniform)


Belloq


Marion Ravenwood


German Mechanic


I am very charmed by this collection and I want to acquire every piece. I just love the old Kenner stuff and this collection dovetails nicely with the Kenner Star Wars stuff. The problem is that the items generally range anywhere from $30-$100 each so I’ll have to take it slow and look for bargains. I’ll keep you updated on my progress!



All pictures come from Cool Toy Review and you can see even more here

6 comments:

Octopunk said...

I love this post! For some reason I thought you had an interest in Indy figures from further back than a year, but I guess not. I seem to remember you and I looking at Indy merchandise in the now-defunct Love Saves The Day. Looking as if you were actively seeking.

Anyway, I'm delighted to hear you've tackled another vintage realm! Good luck!

JPX said...

Brent had an Indiana Jones figure back in the day - it's what we first used to test our movie camera's ability to do stop action animation. Much like most of Brent's stuff it got lost somewhere along the way.

I think from time to tome I've entertained the idea of collecting this series but I've never had the capital to do so - the figures have always been expensive. I wonder why? They must've made less of them than Star Wars at the time.

I hated that Love Saves the Day store because it had AWESOME stuff but was WAY over-priced all the time.

My current dilemma is whether or not to open the playsets, they're both mint in the box. On the one hand I'd like to set them up with the figures but on the other hand these sets will onjly appreciate in price over time, especially because Indiana Jones is as iconic as Mickey Mouse at this point. Perhaps I'll hold out for loose sets in the future...

Octopunk said...

I just watched the commercial, and noticed that at the 9 second mark the kids' mom is way back there bringing them lunch. It's weird because the bad composition makes it look like she's one of the action figures.

Johnny Sweatpants said...

I had Indy, the Cairo swordsman and Toht. I also seem to recall having the ark which had to have been part of the playset. Alas, I did not take care of my toys the way JPX did. Indy lost his thumb and could no longer wield his whip and then they all kind of disappeared.

But I WHOLLY support this endeavor and I look forward to its completion. Those figures are awesome (and also the same size as the Star Wars figures.)

As much as I hate to say this - don't open the playsets! You'll find loose sets eventually.

The commercial is brilliant too. It reminded me of the way I used to seek out cliff-like environments to play with my toys. [Clay Mountain] Toht is a great figure too because he has the medallion scar imprinted on his palm.

JPX said...

You guys are getting me jazzed about collecting all this stuff! I forgot that JSP had those other figures. I still don't know why I didn't collect them because I really dig them now.

I think I tend to agree with you about not opening the play sets. I can always get them loose in the future and there’s something cool about the original packaging. Also if I fall on hard times I could easily sell the unopened playsets for a ton of dough some day. Thank god for the era of Ebay and the Toy Vault. It would’ve been virtually impossible to get all this stuff so quickly even 10 years ago. Now it’s not about the ability to find the stuff, it’s just about spending the $ to do so. I need to limit my future Indy purchases to once/month. By time 2011 is over with I will have the entire collection.

I love the old Kenner commercials. When I get bored I often YouTube old Kenner Star Wars commercials. They get me excited all over again.

JPX said...

JSP, you definitely had the Streets of Cairo playset - I still have the Marion figure as well as one basket and the wheelbarrow.