Building my Nerd Cave

[MagnaPrime]

Hey there everyone!  Been debating doing this for a while and think I'm finally going to pull the trigger.  Basically this is me just showing my nerd cave off and why I have it the way that I do, talking about what the different displays mean to me and such.  It's sort of just a chance for me to geek out about the awesome collection I've been blessed to build over the years.  Not to mention the amazingly understanding wife God gave me.  Is that okay, would y'all like to geek out with me, and bust my chips when you think something is a horrid display?

[LordVenger]

Let’s see it. 

[MagnaPrime]

So let's start with this display.  While some of my collection takes the form of souvenirism, this is just a character I've always collected.  As I reflected on how many of these were purchased at initial release, I couldn't help but smile.  I know they aren't all technically Hot Rod/Rodimus, but if we are being honest it's just because they lost the copywriter then.  I just always loved the red car and gold/yellow flames.  While some might speculate it's because I am a Chiefs fan, the truth is I think it boils down to that first time I saw him transform in 86, and saying "If you're gonna ride Dano, ride in style." Sharing the name Dani l, to my young mind, sparked a connection with Hot Rod.  In general I tend to like the bot modes more than the alt modes.  But for him it was the alt mode that really captivated me.  And at the time, it was easier to collect him than other characters.  There is the notable exception of road rage here, I was just tardy to that party.  There are plenty more to get here, some I certainly plan to acquire and who knows what is in the future.  The picture is signed by Judd Nelson.  I was able to acquire that when Botcon was closing up shop. You can see hints of other parts of the collection hanging out.  This is just something I've actively been involved in building over the years.

[MagnaPrime]

Next we move to a display that was mostly packed away for about 20 years or so.  I came by being a nerd honestly.  While I always associates Star Trek with Dad, the truth is Mom was one of the ones reserving the TV in college to watch the show.  Maybe it's because Dad took me to my first convention where we listened to High the Borg.  Or my second con with Shatner.  Either way, I loved these as a kid.  The packaging and the breadth of characters available.  This was the first line I did any army building with, looking at you Romulans. Technically these weren't all mine growing up.  Troi and Dr. Crusher belonged to my sister, just don't tell her I've got them now.  The ships of course came later, and the comm badge pin was my Dad's.  The goblet I got on a trip to Vegas back when Star Trek the Experience was there, another fun set of memories with Dad.  Truthfully, it deserves more display space.  Maybe Playmates will give me a nice new Enterprise D I can hang from the ceiling soon, or a bridge set rerelease.. But even though it's a little corner display, it's one that makes me smile fondly.

 

[LordVenger]

Keep it coming magna. 

[MagnaPrime]

On 2/20/2023 at 5:51 PM, LordVenger said:

Keep it coming magna. 

Will do.  If nothing else it's fun to think about, why do I love this one anyway.  Next up we are moving over to a different wall.  Here I have my Lantern Corps display.  This was the most fun time I ever had collecting and reading comics.  I know some folks don't care for Geoff Johns writing, but I loved it. I was all in on Blackest Night.  All the tie ins, every book.  I would finish reading an issue and be aghast that I was going to have to wait a month for the next part of the story.  I got the figures, I was luckily able to collect all the rings.  I'm still waiting on the true white lantern, Kyle Rayner action figure.  (C'mon Todd!). Seriously, I may have to custom one. 

Adding something a bit more recent to my enjoyment of this, is this is how my daughter learned her colors.  She would have me lift her up and we would go through what each color was.  Good luck getting a little one to distinguish indigo and purple by the way.  And yeah, I know I need to get a blackest night Hal Jordan instead of DCUC but...

 

 

 

 

Anyway, more to come tomorrow I hope.

[MagnaPrime]

Okay so let's do something a little fun today.  I sold off much of my Bravestarr collection last year.  Had to get funds for haslabs and such.  But these I kept.  My mom loved the show because she grew up on westerns.  She would tape the episodes and always tried to capture the opening whip crack.  My sister and I both had neutralasers.  Despite the flaws in the line, I just couldn't part with these two figures.  I'm really looking forward to what Ramen toys has coming.  And I'm still crossing my fingers for an official release from Super 7 or Neca.  Just have to keep the eyes of a hawk and ears of a wolf open for the time being.  This is definitely one of those parts of the collection that ties to souvenirism.  A small connection to that part of my life, and my mom, that I will probably always be pretty fond of.

[MagnaPrime]

Alrighty, let's jump from one filmation property to another.  For some reason, I really reconnected with MOTU during grad school.  Maybe it's cause MOTU classics were way more affordable than they are now.  I didn't want to get all the He-Man variants, but one from each series seemed reasonable.  And I really just liked Galactic Protector She-Ra. Then of course I couldn't pass on the William Stout He-man.

I thought I was done. Truthfully, I love the MOTU Classics buck.  Add some butterfly joints and it'd be perfect. But then Mattel went and did that 40th anniversary figure... So good.  I've always enjoyed MOTU.  Maybe it's because I'm only 10 days older than He-Man.  There's even an article on my antiquated blog about this: http://quayzone.blogspot.com/2015/02/why-i-still-love-masters-of-universe.html?m=1

Getting to add a battle cat from the masterverse line, thanks to a damaged box Amazon find, was really the final piece to pull this all together.  As a display.  Well, almost the final piece.  I've started experimenting with some lighting solutions.

[InvisibleStormtrooper]

Ooo, very nice! I love seeing collections and especially hearing some of the backstory as to why you collect certain figures or lines. I've never seen that William Stout He-man before but I like the look a lot. Anyway, great collection and display!

[veryfigurefans]

It's a good start for you. There are many popular characters. Especially old figures caught my attention. Congratulations.

[MagnaPrime]

Sheesh, life really can just sweep you downstream in a hurry.  Okay back to this fun finally.  Let's go vintage!

I have plenty of old ninja turtles figures, most are missing pieces.  A couple have... Authentic Battle Damage. But this set is unique in my collection.  This is the only set of turtles variants where I got the entire set.  We won't discuss how old I was when I finally figured out playmates had the license to both and that's how this crossover happened. As a kid all I knew was these were awesome.  And I still love the delta shell stands. I found these again a couple years ago and just had to put em in the cave, including their trading cards.  What I didn't expect is my toddler being as fascinated by them as she was.

[LordVenger]

Authentic damage. Lol. I can’t seem to remember this set. Not sure if I never saw them or more likely my faulty brain . 

[MagnaPrime]

So I didn't plan this one.  But all of a sudden I found myself with a Deadpool collection.  I had the original as a kid, because he looked cool.  Got the 3.75 when they did that because I liked him scaling with Star Wars figures.  Got the diamond selects as office decor on clearance.  Then the variants came and duck pool was just too fun.  Plus the vespa with squirrel pool and dog pool.  And then they did a dino pool and I couldn't pass.  Next thing I know, I have a small corner full of pool.

 

Down in the bottom middle, that is a Deadpool print signed by Liefeld.

[MagnaPrime]

And I'm stuck flying today so let's do another post.  To the left of the Deadpool collection are my G1 and G2 combiners.  Really hoping for a good new Defensor as he was my first.  Not displayed is my G2 Superior.  Still tracking down his pieces.  The combiners were always cool.  They've had to hide in a bucket in a closet for years.  And no, I was not aware of what sunlight did to plastic as a kid.  These are YELLOWED!  But they were mine and I'm glad I get to have them out to see and enjoy.

[MagnaPrime]

On the other side of my Deadpool figures is a collection I'm really happy with.  Wheeljack.  My favorite from season 1/2 ....well that wasn't Optimus.

Seriously, who doesn't love a mad scientist with a good heart.  There is a metal model that I'm still working on building but he's only half built.  i still need to get a Cybertron downshift, because we all know who he really was.  And ild love to get the bayverse Wheeljack but those go for stupid money these dàys. 

[MagnaPrime]

Okay let's step away from that shelf for a bit and to something a little more maimainstream.

I tried not to get I to marvel legends.  I did.  Finally the appeal of having my 92 X-Men line was just too great.  This is my own ensemble.  I know it's mostly gold team with some other cartoon elements.  Basically I wanted to be able to recreate the end #1 four cover spread.  Then the bottom shelf is my MCU display with the silver surfer on top.  My personal favorite because I love that character.  In no small part because my dad loved the character. Thanks to the warehouse sale I have a lot more heralds coming soon. If anyone wants to get rid of Nova and Morg I'm working on a herald ordeal display now it seems. And the retro packaging just sucked me in as well I'm using that to get characters that are important but that I normally would pass on otherwise.  Like war machine.  It started with ghost rider, he was just too cool to resist.  

 

[LordVenger]

4 hours ago, MagnaPrime said:

Okay let's step away from that shelf for a bit and to something a little more maimainstream.

I tried not to get I to marvel legends.  I did.  Finally the appeal of having my 92 X-Men line was just too great.  This is my own ensemble.  I know it's mostly gold team with some other cartoon elements.  Basically I wanted to be able to recreate the end #1 four cover spread.  Then the bottom shelf is my MCU display with the silver surfer on top.  My personal favorite because I love that character.  In no small part because my dad loved the character. Thanks to the warehouse sale I have a lot more heralds coming soon. If anyone wants to get rid of Nova and Morg I'm working on a herald ordeal display now it seems. And the retro packaging just sucked me in as well I'm using that to get characters that are important but that I normally would pass on otherwise.  Like war machine.  It started with ghost rider, he was just too cool to resist.  

 

What type of furniture is that?  Is it holding comics ?

[MagnaPrime]

On 3/7/2023 at 11:34 PM, LordVenger said:

What type of furniture is that?  Is it holding comics ?

Good eye!  That is an old comic shelf from Hastings.  Was able to acquire it when they went out of business.  Modified by putting shelving on the outer face specifically for this display.

[MagnaPrime]

Well, since we are going with #motumonday been savinfg this one.  So at a con, several years ago, I got a good deal on a couple of skeletor motuc figures.  And I thought it would be a fun way to decorate for Halloween.  I had my vintage one.  I grew up with battle armor skeletor.  And I got the 200x skeletor.  I was a big fan of the MYP series, which landed when I was in college.  But with that splurge I started a collection.  I decided to get every MOTUC skeletor.  With masterverse I'm going to be cherry picking (why on earth did they make the 40th anniversary one an exclusive).  I'm still getting some of the origins figures.  (Wish I'd gotten the reissue one they did around 2003).   Now if I can just get them to give me an origins disco skeletor.  The filmation one is signed by Alan Oppenheimer. Oh and the Netflix CGI series is a package error, labelled as trap jaw that I found in the wild.  

[MagnaPrime]

You know the problem with doing this is, I keep adding stuff and so pictures are going out of date.  Ah well, finally have a hot second.  

 

 

 

So let's show off the Royal Guard collection.  Im also TR8285 of the 501st Legion.  For years I was the merchandise and branding officer for the Sovereign Protectors detachment.  At one point I was able to actually claim I'd made as much Royal Guard stuff as Hasbro with the pins, patches, coins and shirts.  Plus the art at cons, rare to find but I found enough that I've got a wall full.  And the large shelf doubles as a display of the funkos for shows the wife and I enjoy, my small Chopper collection, and some of her Harry Potter Legos.  Honestly, hard to really display it all properly in the format, kinda just have to see it.  From my muppet chicken guard to my Dave dorman sketch cover, to a lot of royal guard themed patches to my first one, the POTF guard that I got when I was a kid.  It all started simple enough, and it just kept growing.

[MagnaPrime]

 

 

 

 

Time to start on the bulk of my collection.  Deep down, I'm a transformers fan first.  I wasn't going to get into the new figures but Ross sucked me in.  There are a couple vintage figures here that I didn't feel a need to upgrade.  And some from a few different eras.  Honestly, the thing I love most about the current figures is that they scale with each other.  But some of these characters still fit in very well and I'm rolling with it.  Got dirge on preorder, and hoping for Ramjet.  Plus add bombshell and I'm willing to call the deceptions generally completed.  This is an autobot house after all.

[MagnaPrime]

So in honor of the diamond selects darkwing duck series, I'm going with this part of my collection.  I can't even really explain why, I just love cartoon ducks.  Still waiting on count duckula pops.  It's a smaller part of the nerd cave, a fella has to have some limits and such.  But it's a really fun part corner in my cacophony of comic themed collecting.

[LordVenger]

On 3/20/2023 at 11:19 PM, MagnaPrime said:

Well, since we are going with #motumonday been savinfg this one.  So at a con, several years ago, I got a good deal on a couple of skeletor motuc figures.  And I thought it would be a fun way to decorate for Halloween.  I had my vintage one.  I grew up with battle armor skeletor.  And I got the 200x skeletor.  I was a big fan of the MYP series, which landed when I was in college.  But with that splurge I started a collection.  I decided to get every MOTUC skeletor.  With masterverse I'm going to be cherry picking (why on earth did they make the 40th anniversary one an exclusive).  I'm still getting some of the origins figures.  (Wish I'd gotten the reissue one they did around 2003).   Now if I can just get them to give me an origins disco skeletor.  The filmation one is signed by Alan Oppenheimer. Oh and the Netflix CGI series is a package error, labelled as trap jaw that I found in the wild.  

Love old bonehead. 

 

On 4/2/2023 at 8:16 PM, MagnaPrime said:

You know the problem with doing this is, I keep adding stuff and so pictures are going out of date.  Ah well, finally have a hot second.  

 

 

 

So let's show off the Royal Guard collection.  Im also TR8285 of the 501st Legion.  For years I was the merchandise and branding officer for the Sovereign Protectors detachment.  At one point I was able to actually claim I'd made as much Royal Guard stuff as Hasbro with the pins, patches, coins and shirts.  Plus the art at cons, rare to find but I found enough that I've got a wall full.  And the large shelf doubles as a display of the funkos for shows the wife and I enjoy, my small Chopper collection, and some of her Harry Potter Legos.  Honestly, hard to really display it all properly in the format, kinda just have to see it.  From my muppet chicken guard to my Dave dorman sketch cover, to a lot of royal guard themed patches to my first one, the POTF guard that I got when I was a kid.  It all started simple enough, and it just kept growing.

Crikey that is one hell of a Royal guard collection. I’m addled by it. So amazing. I remember the 501 being at dragon cons I attended years ago. Fun stuff. 

[MagnaPrime]

Thanks, the guard collection does capture attention pretty quickly.

Now we move to the greatest toy find I've ever had.  I got this fortress maximus at a Ross for $30.  The fact that with Sureshot coming out next year means I'll be able to get all of the headmasters, well the autobots anyway, is just cool.  I never thought that would be a thing.  It's also a spot to put some vintage up, as I just didn't feel a need to replace my clones.

Funny story about the clones.  The stickers are wrong.  It was the first time I got to put them on by myself and I somehow mixed up their sticker sheet with my vintage highbrow.

On the other tower I have the amazingness that is Omega Supreme.  With this display I was focused on showcasing bots from different series.  So we have the Unicron Trilogy, RID01, power core combiners, and some others here.

[MagnaPrime]

The nerd cave isn't solely devoted to action figures.  I wanted a way to show off some of my other stuff as well.  I have a lot of autographed comics that I never get to enjoy.  And when I got a signed Frank Weller and signed Peter Cullen comic, I had to display them.  Along with the Jim Cummings sig on DW#1.  I've basically decided that I'll be collecting voice actor signatures on comics it seems, at least from now on. There's a couple figures that just made me laugh.  I wish I could've scored a sgt slaughter from the motwweu line but ah well.  My favorite old MOTU book is up.  I still need to get my signed Dare to be Stupid CD on display somewhere.  Yes that is a Kevin Eastman TMNT sketch, a Larry Hama snake-eyes sketch, and a Herb Trimpe wolverine sketch.  Might as well include this more random shelf here.  This was a sketch I had Tim Seeley do back when he was on the Joe books.  Homaging the 77 Star Wars poater.  If I knew them what I know now, I'd also have had him do MOTU and Thindercats.  But I was kinda broke at the time.  This is the ninja shelf.  Though sadly it seems ill never get a reptile to go with scorpion and subzero.  I'm gonna keep hoping I see ninja force Scarlett though, someday.