More Than Meets the Eye Week :: Voltron Yellow Lion

I scored a handful of transforming (but not necessarily Transformer) toys at garage sales and the flea market this past weekend, and had the chance to photograph them all too!

So I decided to make this week 'More Than Meets the Eye' week' here at Toyriffic. Starting with another piece of my slowly building Voltron pie: Yellow Lion:

I'm not sure if this Yellow Lion even goes with the Black Lion I already have (I haven't paired them up yet) or if he goes to a different Voltron release.

Yellow Lion has a silver sticker on his base with some Japanese writing on it and 'GB-36', '1981', 'Y&K', and 'Made in Japan.'

He 'transforms' into...well...a foot. Not too exciting on his own, but a robot Lion is exciting enough so no need to transform him. He has some play wear and the tip of his tail is broken off, but for less than a dollar, I couldn't pass him up!

Tune in the rest of this week to see more robots that turn into other junk!

Flea Market Haul

'Throw him to the robot lions!'

I set out to take pictures of this past weekend's gems from my visit to the local Flea Market and a downtown used book store, but my Intern had other ideas. So I ran with it.

As you can see, I scored some great 80s heavy hitters - Voltron's black lion and Perseus from Clash of the Titans (the original GOOD movie, not the crappy re-make.)

I got both for around .75 each.

'Hey robot lion, don't eat me, I'm your friend!'

I also scored a Super Hero Squad Hulkbuster Iron Man which is missing a couple bits on his shoulders but is otherwise pretty neat. He was only .50. I scored my Intern a Fisher Price Little People Helicopter for .50 too, but she left it in the car so I didn't get a chance to take it's picture this time around. Clearly she could care less and is fine playing with my toys instead anyways.

But incredibly, all of these toys pale in comparison to the Plastic Man Archives Volume 1 I scored at a downtown used bookstore for only $20!

'Okay Perseus, we can be friends. Want a ride?'

I have been wanting this book for years but have never seen it go for less than the cover price of $49.99, and sometimes significantly more, and have never been willing to pull the trigger at that price. Originally published in 1998, this Archive edition re-prints Plastic Man 's first 20 appearances in Police Comics, beginning with the August 1941 issue #1 that introduced Plastic Man to the masses.

I always hoped Plastic Man's early adventures would get a reprinting, or a less expensive paperback printing, but it hasn't happened since this volume's printing in '98 that I am aware of, so finding this volume in mint shape for a mere $20 is incredible! The bookstore had all 8 volumes, but most beyond Volume 1 can be had for around $20 or less, so I only nabbed Volume 1 on the spot. I'll probably pop back in sporadically and see if any of the rest drop in price now that the store's collection is incomplete and missing the most valuable component!

I can't tell you how excited I am to finally have this volume in my collection. I've already read about half of it and am loving every crazy panel. I'll be sure to blog more specifically about this one in the near future.

The Voltron black lion was a pretty good score too - he's got a lot of play wear but is complete and in good shape with no broken pieces. My first Voltron lion ever! Perseus is in great shape too but needs a cleaning.

A great weekend haul indeed!

Row Row Row Your Robeast

I spotted two Voltron villains at the flea market this past weekend and I simply could not pass on their ridiculousness!

I actually like the look of this guy - Robeast Scorpious - he looks very 1960s sci-fi. But what's with that whistle around his neck? Is this guy an intergalactic lifeguard? Baby blue skin and a yellow trimmed black speedo are not very threatening to the cosmos. Maybe to the swimming pool's locker room, but not the cosmos.

The second Robeast I found was Robeast Mutilor! Apparently this guy won a gold medal once and, like me if I ever won a gold medal for anything, proudly wears it everywhere he goes.

These guys were made by Panosh Place back in 1984. I never followed the toyline and cared little about the cartoon, but I immediately recognized these guys as Voltron toys when I spotted them this week (thus is the mind of a toy geek.)