my odd collecting continues.

earlier, i had chatted about my odd collecting habits here.

my family was in a store called family dollar... oddly not a dollar store, more like a big lots. i didn't find any hidden treasures, so i was about to leave the store a little sullen. but i stopped at the front to look at the toy machines to see if there were any cute 50¢ toys for my daughter. i happened upon a machine with toys called "strange collection" (how appropo). what struck me about these little guys was that they really resemble the odds and ends creations you might find at places like kid robot where they specifically make toys for hipsters, very artsy fartsy and fun. but those toys will run you $5-$8 for a 4 inch figure. these guys were only 50¢ each:



to elaborate for those who are blind, or incapable of discerning different figures from my "wonderful" photography, there are tall hunchbacked skull mouthed bunnies, babies in mech highchairs with robot heads, cubist aligators, baby's riding on the backs of mobile easter island-like heads, gunslinging robots in need of dental care, & robots with pincher hands that remind me of the alphie toy from the 80s.

after a couple of google searches, i wasn't able to find anything on them, but i currently have all but one of the molds, and it looks like each one is produced in 4 different colors. i spent $9 to amass the collection above, and i think they're perfect for the hip toy collector living off the budget that i do.

this is on a completely different thought, but i designed a sign for the electric fetus (a duluth staple, a downtown music store) a couple weeks ago and i thought i'd share that as well:

i am an addict

i have a history of being a habitual collector.

it started after i got into the beast wars transformers cartoon long after watching cartoons was socially acceptable, and let me state it here; anyone who says beast wars wasn't real transformers or dismisses it has either never seen it or is a complete idiot. beast wars saved the line and had the best story lines to date.

at any rate, i started buying toys, and now, over 10 years later, I have 9 tubs at home filled with transformers from all generations and our tiny bedroom walls look like a toy store stocked with packaged transformers.

after my wife and i got a dvd player late in the game, i started my viewing with clerks, and tht snowballed into a 300+ dvd collection.

yesterday morning, i stopped into a gas station and happened upon some mountain dew bottles that i had seen on the national ad. turns out they're kinda cool, kitschy and trendy in a good way.



i have found that i will collect anything and everything. i blame it all on being a straight edge punk rock teenager (not the vegan bastardization that was amended in the 90's) and to this day i don't drink smoke or do drugs. it seems, instead, i collect arbitrary things. i suppose the beer would have cost me more over the years anyways.

regardless, like a college kid, i now have a collection of bottles started. though mine aren't lined up above my bed, i have them mixed in amongst the transformers and family guy figures adorning my work desk.