Flea Market Finds: Whatever Happened to Dead-Eye Duck?

My Sundays off are mostly spent at the local flea market, a few towns over, twenty minutes or so from home-base. Attending so frequently, well, I don't usually find anything big enough worth sharing here. The vendors rarely change, their wares even less so, but I still go a couple times a month, more out of habit than anything else. This weekend, I was able to deviate from my normal, boring routine, thanks to the semi-annual Rotary Flea Market at the nearby Marshfield Fair Grounds.

This is the first one I've visited in several years; the last one was a particularly rainy Sunday, with few sellers and fewer attendees, and it kinda' soiled me on revisiting. Until today, where I spent a fair amount more than I was expecting to, but also walked away with quite a lot more goodies than I could have anticipated. We're gonna take a look at what exactly I scored, broken down by vendor.

The very first table to grab my attention, maybe five minutes in, was mostly knick-knacks and worn dinnerware, but stacked up on the far end were several board-games and puzzles. That pile happened to include three of the four G.I.Joe Mural Puzzles from 1987. The woman selling them said that she couldn't guarantee that they had all pieces accounted for, a detail I told her didn't matter, especially when she asked for two-bucks a pop. I was tempted to grab all three, but decided to settle on getting just one, because I'd only just arrived a few minutes before. No need to piss away what little cash I brought along on my first find of the day.

Of course, I picked the puzzle that happens to include one of my all-time favorite Cobra agents, Croc Master.

Table two was located directly across from the first, and I almost passed it by. It appeared to be just another seller with tchotchkes to spare, but sitting at the end of the booth, nearly tucked away under a table, was a storage bin full of loose action figures and vehicles. What you see above is the small selection that I secured for a mere seven dollars. A couple of them, Casey Jones and Walkabout [both from the original run of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles], are duplicates for me, but I couldn't pass them up for so cheap. Likewise, I wasn't super-interested in the generic Kung-fu master in the yellow gi, not until the seller named his price. Turns out that Mr. Karate Man is actually from an old Remco line called Secret of the Ninja. You may see more of him in a little bit. 

Snout-Spout, alias Hose-Nose, is obviously from the tail-end of the Masters of the Universe line, and he's actually a figure I was sorta' hoping to find today. I don't actively collect vintage MotU toys, but he's one of the few that I had to have. Another childhood favorite once more in my possession.

That just leaves Guile from the Street Fighter sub-set of G.I.Joe: A Real American Hero circa the early '90s. Sonic boom.

And here's the mini-haul, the bulk of what I purchased today, all snagged from a single seller. His booth was the most enticing at the show, with a complete set-up of vintage Star Wars and Space: 1999 toys to draw in collectors. I discovered that he also runs a comic and toy shop in the same town the flea market took place, and given the deals he cut me, I'll be stopping in sooner rather than later.

I wanna take a better look at this odd-ball menagerie, so bare with me as I discuss homicidal sheep and four-armed ducks in closer detail.

Power X-Treme!

I was a huge fan of The Centurions animated series back in the day, but was never able to score any of the accompanying toy-line. They were a little too expensive compared to smaller scaled contemporaries like GoBots or M.U.S.C.L.E, and I was content to collect cheaper stuff in bulk. Today, for a single dollar, I was finally able to add Jake Rockwell, the team's Land Operations Specialist, to my collection. I doubt that I'll ever be able to find any of his module armor for cheap, but I'm happy to settle for this guy sitting on a shelf as is.

I wasn't sure what this pair of Greaser-esque dinos actually were; I was, however, entirely enthralled at the mere sight of them. Completely ridiculous with their mohawks and sunglasses, looking like the cast of ABC's Dinosaurs recreating Happy Days, I couldn't leave them behind. A little bit of research revealed their identities, Crank and Tarr from the B.C Bikers line, originally released by Ace Novelty in 1993. I thought maybe figuring out who they were would jog my memory, but somehow this series managed to evade me during my pre-teen collecting years.

This guy I recognized immediately, but really, who could forget the true face of evil?

The Overlord was the main antagonist on the old Blackstar cartoon, Filmation's precursor to He-Man and The Masters of the Universe from the very early '80s. Again, here's a toy-line that I didn't collect as a kid, but have a total appreciation for these days. He'll look good hanging out with Skeletor, Mumm-Ra and the rest of his bad-guy brethren.

It's no coincidence that I keep mentioning Masters of the Universe and here we have one of Remco's many knock-offs of Mattel's blockbuster brand, Arak, Son of Thunder. He was part of a collection called The Lost World of Warlord, which featured several characters from DC Comics' Bronze Age fantasy titles line-up. I've somehow owned the first sixteen issues of Arak's self-titled series the last few years and have yet to read them. It looks like that is about to change, though.

Or, well, maybe not.

I told you before that we hadn't seen the last of Remco's Secret of the Ninja. Here's another master of ninjitsu, this one garbed in black, that I probably would have passed on if he hadn't been so damn inexpensive. There's, uh, not really a lot more to say about him outside of his cheapness. Cheap, I think, perfectly encapsulates Remco's toys as a whole, and especially this unnamed ninja warrior.

Oh yeah. 

Playmates Toys claim to fame may have been TMNT, but they produced a slew of equally bizarre and brilliant toy-lines during the same period as Ninja Turtles original run. Barnyard Commandos hasn't stood the test of time as well as their mutant peers, but it's a series that I was absolutely obsessed with for a brief time. I had a complete set of Series 1 figures, as well as a couple vehicles, but they quickly fell out of favor when I got more into comic books and video games. I remember selling them off at a family yard-sale, an act of betrayal that I wouldn't regret until a few years ago.

It's not a series that I've set out to reclaim, but when I saw a complete Woolly Pullover, the R.A.M.S resident would-be Rambo, there was no going back. He's easily one of my favorite finds from today.

Hooves down.

The number one position actually goes to this guy, Dead-Eye Duck, gunner extraordinaire and ship-mate to Captain Bucky O'Hare. Another series that owes its existence to TMNT, the Bucky O'Hare line was based on a small-press, black-and-white comic book created by the legendary Larry Hama and artist Mike Golden. It's also another staple toy-line from my youth, one I've slowly been rebuilding in secret the last couple years.

Like Snout-Spout, Dead-Eye was one of the action figures I was hoping to find while rifling through the cheap bins. He cost me a dollar, but I gladly would have paid twice that to take him home.

Moving into new territory, we're now looking at my finds from the last table I hit before calling it a day. The seller didn't have much, a half-box of .50-cent comics and some odd, loose collectibles. The two pieces that I had to have were a vintage G.I.Joe thermos, featuring the Class of '85 [which includes fan-favorites like Shipwreck, Quick-Kick and "Commando" Snake-Eyes], and an absolutely incredible Darkwing Duck night-light. The two packs of Dinosaurs Attack! trading cards were added to the mix to sweeten the deal, even though I already own a complete set.

I also grabbed an issue of Weird War Tales, because I can't resist The Creature Commandos facing off against Hitler. I like to imagine a retroactive continuity where The Commandos end the war after tearing Adolf limb-from-limb, and I'm hoping this comic somehow knows that.

Oh, right, the A-Team Action Activity Book. Yeah, despite being a huge fan of the TV series as a kid, I'm not particularly nostalgic for B.A and the gang. The guy only wanted a half-dollar for it, since I'd already bought the other items, so I handed him a couple quarters and wished him a good day of selling.

And the night-light works, which is probably the greatest thing ever.

Total Trash Tuesday: The Grim Adventures of Avengers Grimm

Join Earth's Mightiest Heroes as they battle an ancient evil hellbent on plunging the world into darkness.

Actually, no, sorry, wrong film. This is actually the one where Little Red Riding Hood becomes Casper Van Dien's mindless pawn in his war against Snow White and Rapunzel.

Yeah, by now, we should all be familiar with The Asylum and their unique brand of low-budget film-making. Best known for throwback monster-disaster hybrids like Sharknado (2013) and Mega Piranha (2010), their other claim to fame is an ongoing series of "mockbusters"; films that attempt to cash-in on the popularity of bigger budget, Hollywood-produced movies. Stuff like Snakes on a Train (2006), Transmorphers: Fall of Man (2009), and Atlantic Rim (2013).

Avengers Grimm (2015) falls into the latter category, obviously.

Released two weeks before Marvel Studio's Avengers: Age of Ultron, the film features a team of heroines, not ripped from the pages of comic books, but instead Grimm's Fairy Tales. A quartet of princesses, led by Snow White (Lauren Parkinson), are confronted by the evil of Rumpelstiltskin (Casper Van Dien), and they must save two worlds from his devious plot. Also along for the adventure is the non-princess Little Red Riding Hood (Elizabeth Peterson), whose only agenda is getting revenge on the creature responsible for killing her entire village, The Wolf (played by former MMA fighter, Kimo Leopoldo).

The bulk of the plot revolves around The Magic Mirror, which is able to open portals to the real world, a world without magic, a world that Rumpelstiltskin wants to claim as his own. Due to Snow White's interference, both herself and Rumpel end up stranded on Earth, and the remaining princesses must travel across dimensions to find their friend and put an end to their wicked enemy once and for all. Red's there, too, much to the others' chagrin, constantly on the hunt for The Wolf and somehow getting mixed up with a random gang led by "Iron John" (Lou Ferrigno).

It wasn't bad enough that The Asylum was ripping off The Avengers' name, they also had to include the original live-action Hulk in the proceedings to take it one step further. Still, it's probably a good thing that Lou was all too familiar with ridiculous body-paint throughout his career, because about half-way through the film, well, Rumpel's magic literally transforms him into an "Iron Man". Complete with shoddy make-up that makes him look sorta' like Schwarzenegger's Mr. Freeze from Batman & Robin (1997).

 Oh, and the magically-adept princesses all have their own special abilities. Snow White can control cold and form ice-daggers, naturally, because her name is Snow. Cinderella (Milynn Sarley) is able to transform items into other items [no idea why], and Sleeping Beauty (Marah Fairclough) casts spells that instantly put people to sleep [duh].

Also, Rapunzel (Rileah Vanderbilt) has long hair that's, like, a weapon, I guess?

I don't know, but she uses it to fight Iron-Hulk a few times. It's, uh, it's all pretty stupid.

Look, no one is going to argue that there's anything artistically redeeming in any of Asylum's output, least of all this particular entry. I doubt that anyone willing to subject themselves to Avengers Grimm (2015) is looking to discover some new cinematic masterpiece, but instead the opportunity to shutdown their brains and enjoy watching some harmless fantasy fluff. If that's what you're looking for, sure, there's probably better places to start, but the film is entertaining enough and mostly harmless. And with a brisk run-time of only 87-minutes, it's worth checking out at least once.

The short and sweet is that it's competently made and far from the studio's worst offense, which is about the best you can ask for with this sort of thing.

The 13 Days of Friday the 13th: Day Thirteen

Happy Friday the 13th, all.

Despite a few bumps in the road, we've finally arrived at our final destination; back to Camp Crystal Lake where it all began. The place where a young boy drowned once upon a time, and the monster known as Jason Voorhees was born.

Actually, that's not entirely true.

The part about Jason and Crystal Lake is totally true, but it's the talk about arrivals and destinations that's pretty much false. See, my own journey through the Friday the 13th series might be over, but the real adventure is just getting started. I should be, at the time of this scheduled posting, somewhere about half-way between my home and Cherry Hill, New Jersey. What's waiting for me there is Monster Mania XXX, a weekend long celebration of everything macabre.

Sean Cunningham, the man most responsible for creating the series, will be there. Kane Hodder, the most famous actor to portray Jason, will be there, too. So will the franchise's very first "final girl", Adrienne King. Oh, and let's not forget Ari Lehman, who was the original, water-logged, kid-version of Jason. There may also be a Tommy Jarvis or two, but since Corey Feldman won't be there, well, who cares?

Nah, I'm just playing, John Shepherd. You did the best you could with Part V.

So, obviously, with me away and no films left to cover [except for the ones I watched and neglected to write about?], today's entry is a festive place-holder. I'll be back from Monster Mania on Sunday, and I'm hoping to have lots to share following a weekend of horrors, cosplayers and Judge Reinhold.

Stay tuned, kids, and I hope you have the merriest of Friday the 13ths..!

The 13 Days of Friday the 13th: Day Seven

You may have noticed the sudden drop in posts, the daily updates that stopped several days back. I'll admit, I wasn't expecting The 13 Days of Friday the 13th to be such a daunting task. Really, how tough is it to watch one movie a day and then write a little something about it? Probably not that difficult if I'd been mixing up the play-list a little, but when you're tackling a twelve-film franchise, one where the basic formula doesn't change much from entry to entry, it gets old fast. I could only take so much murder and mayhem, so many jump scares and final girls and, man, that theme can get repetitive and obnoxious really fast.

So, yes, I cheated a little bit and skipped a few days. Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988) was viewed on Saturday, but I left a draft unfinished into the next day, and then the next one, and here we are on Day 12 and I've got to try and wrap this series up.

The rest of my day today will involve watching the remainder of the Friday the 13th films. I'll be posting about them later, though it will all be encompassed in a single entry, and it'll probably just be some quick thoughts and impressions. The idea was to familiarize myself with the entire series before tomorrow, because, well, I guess you'll just have to wait and see why. I promise not to skip out and leave you high and dry.

Oh, and here's what I had for Part VII so far.

--

Here we are, the seventh day, and we've reached the last of the series that's brand-new to me. Continuing on through the remainder will be retreading old territory, though it's been several years since I've watched the majority of them. Oddly enough, it's Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988) that I knew the least about going into. Except for the addition of Tina Shepard (Lar Park Lincoln), the girl with psychic abilities that put Carrie's to shame, I didn't know what else to expect.

Stunt-man turned actor, Kane Hodder, finally tackles the role of Jason Voorhees, picking up the mask and the machete for the first of his record four appearances. Where he's always been terrifying before, it's this particular entry that Jason becomes a much more intimidating physical presence. Hodder adds this weight to the character, his every step, and every swing of an axe or knife, feels heavy, powerful. Despite his decayed appearance, Jason has finally reached the pinnacle of his transformation through the series, becoming the unstoppable undead monster with superhuman strength.

No wonder the filmmakers had to give poor Tina her own special abilities in order to stand up to and to survive Jason's wrath.

The 13 Days of Friday the 13th: Day Six

Despite having never seen Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986) before today, the version of Jason Voorhees presented here is the one most familiar to me. Sure, he may have donned the trademark hockey mask a few films back, but it wasn't until his unnatural resurrection that he would become the Jason from my childhood. The undead killer with superhuman strength, impervious to pain and completely unstoppable. A shambling corpse, hellbent on murder and mayhem, who refuses to truly die.

The filmmakers, director Tom McLoughlin and the producers at Paramount, decided to ignore the events at the end of the previous installment. Tommy Jarvis is back, this time portrayed by Thom Mathews, but instead of picking up where he left off in A New Beginning (1985), taking up the mask and the mantle, instead he's determined to destroy the evil once and for all. Digging up Jason's grave in an attempt to burn the body, Tommy accidentally brings the killer back to life.

Hilarity ensues.

Actually, that's only partially untrue. I mean, really, talk about your drastic tonal shifts from film to film. Where Part V bordered on unpleasant, here the viewers are given an almost goofy, tongue-in-cheek slasher. It's still drenched in gore and death, but there's definitely more humor on display than any of the previous entries. There are even moments of breaking the fourth wall, like when the graveyard caretaker questions "why they had to go and dig up Jason" while looking directly at the audience.

It's all very meta.

One of my favorite elements is the inclusion of Sheriff Mike Garris (David Kagen) as one of the main characters. His daughter, Megan (Jennifer Cooke), fills the role of "final girl" for Part VI, but the sheriff himself is more than just another victim for Jason to slaughter. And while, no, he doesn't survive until the film's end, Sheriff Garris is the only adult in the franchise so far to truly take a stand against the relentless horror of Jason Voorhees.

The 13 Days of Friday the 13th: Day Five

Five films into the series and we've finally found one that I've seen before.

Flashback to September 13th, 2013. A younger Trash Man decides to properly celebrate the holiday by viewing Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985) on VHS. Don't question why he chose this particular entry, especially considering he already knew the "twist" that the killer [spoiler ahead, mates] wasn't Jason Voorhees at all, but instead someone else posing as him. Especially considering the fact he hadn't seen any of the four films that proceeded it. What a weird kid, that Trash Man, arbitrarily deciding to view this installment back then and really liking it, too.

Now, however, having seen it for a second time and less than twenty-four hours after watching Part IV (1984), I'm feeling a little less generous. It doesn't come close, not even remotely so, to being anywhere near as enjoyable as the films that came before. The movie's major flaw is its overwhelming cast of characters, many of whom add nothing to further the plot, and serve only to ensure a high body-count and constant, gruesome deaths. Taking the concept of throwaway characters to ludicrous extremes, the ensemble includes a coke-snorting hospital attendant and his random waitress girlfriend, an apparent red-herring who's killed off almost immediately, and two leather-clad greasers who appear to have stepped out of a completely different movie.

It's a stark contrast to the previous film in that there doesn't seem to be any likable characters present, especially the now older Tommy Jarvis (John Shepherd). There are moments when Tommy is almost sympathetic; his earlier confrontation with Jason has obviously left him emotionally and mentally battered. After spending years in an institution, he's finally released into the care of Pam Roberts (Melanie Kinnaman) and Matt (Richard Young), directors at Pinehurst, a halfway house designed to reintegrate him back into normal society. Tommy seems too far gone, though, and quickly goes from troubled kid to full-blown wreck; constantly hallucinating of Jason, and even attacking one of his housemates.

The only interesting character addition to the franchise is Reggie (Shavar Ross), a charismatic youth whose grandfather works at Pinehurst as a cook. Unfortunately, he's saddled with playing sidekick to Pam and Tommy, and, aside from a fantastic scene where he hits Faux-Jason with a tractor, does little else.

Speaking of The Jason Who Wasn't Really Jason.

I know that many fans didn't care for the fact that another character dressed up as and pretended to be Jason, but I'm not one of them. I sorta' enjoy what it adds to the franchise's mythos; that Jason Voorhees has become a notorious "celebrity" within this universe. So much a legend that it's inspired a copycat killer in Roy Burns (Dick Wieand). Plus, I love the fact that Roy is motivated to take on the mantle of Jason and murder the residents of Pinehurst in order to avenge the death of his son, Joey (Dominick Brascia). It echoes back to the original film, to Pamela Voorhees' rampage at Camp Crystal Lake, the very same event that lead to Jason's transformation into a masked murderer.

The 13 Days of Friday the 13th: Day Four

Holy Jesus jumping Christmas shit!

I was already aware the reputation of Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984) as the fan-favorite sequel. I've read multiple reviews; all the other blogs and sites raving about this particular installment. Hell, I even caught the last ten minutes or so a couple years back and really dug it. I was not, however, expecting it to instantly become one of my all-time favorite slasher films.

And yet, here we are.

Released two years after Part III (1982), it was originally billed as being the last in the series. One final trip to Camp Crystal Lake for all the not-so-good boys and girls, sitting around campfires and sneaking off to skinny dip when the sun goes down. Just enough time left to play some pranks, smoke some pot, and really enjoy all the fresh air and the crickets chirping. Oh, and bid a fond farewell to Jason Voorhees and his unparallelled murder record.

The film begins where the previous one left off, with Jason seemingly killed by an axe to the head thanks to Chris Higgins (Dana Kimmell). His body is brought to a local morgue, where we meet Axel, who is possibly the wackiest and creepiest mortician ever committed to film. A brief, comedic scene between Axel and a nurse leads into Jason's "resurrection", and the pairs' quick and violent demise. It's obvious from the film's first kill that the quota of gore has increased exponentially, due mostly to the return of special-effects master, Tom Savini. This would be the second time he'd team-up with director, Joseph Vito, after the atmospheric slasher The Prowler (1981), which was released a few years prior.

Before Jason is able to make his way back to Crystal Lake, the audience is introduced to the latest group of kids doomed to run afoul of the masked murderer. It's easily the most likable cast of characters so far in the series, and includes Crispin Glover in one of his earliest roles as the "dead-fuck" Jimmy. There's also the unlucky-in-love, Teddy (Lawrence Monoson), a pair of twins named Tina and Terri, and the absolutely adorable Samantha (Judie Aronson). Of course, they're all just there to die horribly at the hands of Jason after a night of drinking, sex and watching stag films.

Also present for the carnage and bloodshed is the Jarvis' family. The daughter, Trish (Kimberly Beck), is technically the "final girl" for this installment, but it's her brother, Tommy (Corey Feldman), who steals the show. It's in Tommy Jarvis that the audience can most relate; he's the odd kid obsessed with monster movies, video games and voyeurism. While the teens and twenty-somethings are being slaughtered, Tommy is safe from Jason's wrath, and it isn't until the film's final moments that he must step up and finally put the serial killer to rest.

The Final Chapter is regarded by some as one of the darker entries in the franchise and based on the brutality on display, it isn't difficult to see why. It's easier to feel sympathetic and sad when a character is killed off, because they're portrayed with a little more depth than in the previous films. The cast has a real chemistry, a camaraderie that's uncommon in most early slashers and practically non-existant in modern ones. Whether it's Teddy and Jimbo playfully bickering or the blossoming relationship between Doug (Peter Barton) and Sara (Barbara Howard), you finally care for a bunch of characters that would otherwise be considered cannon-fodder.

My only real complaint is Trish Jarvis' potential love-interest, Rob Dier (Erich Anderson), who claims to be out in the wild hunting bear. The truth is so much better; he's actually searching for Jason Voorhees, looking to avenge the death of his sister, Sandra, who was murdered in Friday the 13th Part II (1981). The character himself is fine, though nothing special, but it's the wasted potential of a pretty fantastic concept that bothers me. Adding this small thread, tying it back into the continuity of the original sequel, is a great way to honor the films that came before. Unfortunately, there's no real payoff to this subplot when Rob is unceremoniously beaten to death by Jason in the film's final act.

Besides that minor gripe, I have no zero reservations in naming The Final Chapter my favorite in the series so far. Of course, having already seen tomorrow's entry and several of the later sequels, well, I don't think I'm gonna find one that's gonna top this.

I think I'm in heaven.

I think I'm in love.