My prior cons (SDCC and MegoMeet/Zolocon) both had problematic beginnings (I have severe travel anxiety) and well, now I have a complete set. It took me over an hour and 10,000 steps to find my pass, as every volunteer sent me a different way. Once inside, I would compound this issue by not knowing where the theatre was (shame on me.)

I was late, lost, and stuck in a massive, slow-moving crowd (another nightmare I frequently have.) I began to panic.

My friend Sam phoned me from the panel and, unbeknownst to me, shared our conversation with the audience; he ingeniously made it part of the panel. He tried hard to guide me, but being vision impaired, he was unable to find me himself. A voice piped up on the phone saying, “I’ll find him,” and Sam handed his phone to the man who said, “Look for the guy dressed as Spider-Man!” Which made me chuckle, at a con, that’s like look for the guy with a nerdy t-shirt.

As I made my way down, I asked the first guy dressed as Spider-Man if he was “looking for a Brian,” and he was! He led me to the panel, where a very sweaty, anxious man got a hero’s welcome thanks to Sam’s crowd warm-up skills.

I wish I had the time to set up a camera, but we gave 25 minutes of the tightest comedy we’ve ever done. It was infectious and wonderful. In less than an hour, I went from wanting to cry to… well…wanting to cry for better reasons. My sincerest thanks to that audience; you were INCREDIBLE!

From L to R: Sam Noir, The Amazing Spider-Man, Sweaty Man.

Spider-Man joined us on stage and never revealed his secret identity. All I know is this was his first cosplay, and yes, he was quite hot in that get-up.

I cannot think of a better allegory for this summer; I’ve had some real lows and some incredible highs. Despite some of the troubles, conflicts and disappointments, every experience ended with me being glad I came.

“The PlaidStallions Summer Tour” was not financially successful ( I knew that going in), but it was the best thing I could have done for my mental health and well-being.

After the panel, I sat with Sam (a true warrior of the convention scene) and watched him give the same enthusiasm to each Sunday afternoon table visitor he probably had on the first day. His voice was gone by this point, but he kept talking away.

I said, “I did three of these things, and I’m exhausted; I don’t know how you keep going every other weekend.” His answer was “I latch on to the people with good energy and enjoy the conversation, it’s like a recharge.”

That stuck with me. I’ve always been public about my struggles with depression and anxiety, and I’ve been in some dark spaces. However, this past summer has taught me that if you show good people some kindness, they will return it in droves. Thank you everybody for this summer who popped by and made my worldview better, I can hope I did the same.

Speaking of Debt, Spidey, if you’re reading this, I would like to send you something, so reach out if you can.

Sincerely,

BrAiN

The post Saved by Spider-Man (True Story!) appeared first on PS.

In honour of the release of Furiosa, Toy-Ventures looks at the most excellent 1980s Post-Apocalyptic Toy Line: Tonka’s Steel Monsters. It was all things “Mad Max” except for the name. How did such a gorgeous toy line fail? What didn’t get made? We get the scoop from the creators.
#toyventures #tonka #MadMax

Get Issue 12 of Toy-Ventures shipping this week!

Click Here for past installments of 5 Awesome Things on eBay this week

5 Awesome Things on eBay this week

Join our weekly newsletter.

The Super Collector Newsletter combines all the news from Mego Museum and Plaid Stallions and a lot of other fun stuff across the Interwebs. It’s got customs, new action figures, vintage finds and a lot of pop culture. Sign Up Here!

Mad Max, The Road Warrior, Tonka, Tonka Steel Monsters, 80s toys, 1986, Tonka Trucks, Post Nuke movies, Mad Mad Rip-Offs, Tonka Supernaturals, Tonka Spiral Zone, Ray Zera, Metal Face, Plaid Stallions, Toy-Ventures, Toy-Ventures Magazine, 80s post-apocalyptic films, George Miller, Ben Cooper, Go-Bots, Play People, Italian Mad Max movies, The Highwayman, Dreadknocks, Weird Science,

The post Toy-Ventures: The Saga of Tonka’s STEEL MONSTERS appeared first on PS.

Sniffys Iron-On Smelly Patches

From the “Weird Concepts from the 1980s” file, I bring you Sniffys Iron-On Smelly Patches, a series of scratch and sniff patches. First, let’s address the elephant in the room, this was intended for children to put on their clothing, so they would smell each other. Also, the ad features a child; at least, I think that’s supposed to be a child with one on her butt. That’s kind of weird, even for 1981.

There’s also the name “Smelly Patch,” which has incredible connotations, and I’m super surprised one of my dorm mates didn’t coin it in the 90s. Oh, and if you were wondering, these made it to market and probably sold well; I may be overthinking it. If you excuse me, I plan to purchase some and make my butt smell like gingerbread. 

Toy-Ventures Magazine Issue 6- PlaidStallions

Issue 6 of Toy-Ventures ships next week, order now from our shop and get a free Star Team Poster by legendary artist Dave Waugh!

Our newest book “Knock-Offs: Totally, Unauthorized Action Figures” is now available. It’s 130 pages of bootleg goodness.
You can get this new book via the PlaidStallions Shop , On Amazon (Affiliate Link) or on eBay (eBay Link)

Our book Rack Toys, Cheap, Crazed Playthings is now available again! Order through our Affiliate Link

Order Rack Toys 2.0 Here through our Affiliate Link►https://amzn.to/3Bkm9z1

FACEBOOK GROUPS FROM PLAIDSTALLIONS

Pod Stallions is one of the most fun groups on Facebook. Toys, Comics, Movies, TV, it’s all up for grabs and remember, you keep the glass!

Mego Knock Off Headquarters– The leading group discussing 70s Dime store knock-offs of Mego action figures, we talk vintage toys and not others. We know the difference between Astro Apes and Action Apeman! It’s a really fun group where we talk about Lincoln International, AHI, Tomland, Bogi, Demo Man, Mortoy, and other generic greats.

The post Strange 80s- Sniffy’s Iron-On Smelly Patches appeared first on PS.