The Complicated life of Tom Khayos

The complicated life of Tom Khayos is a collection of writings I'll be releasing in no particular order. It mainly is to explain how I became me and it will always involve toys, comics, video games and other nonsense.

The Complicated life of Tom Khayos

                                         The Ballad of Frankenstein Snake Eyes

To tell you the story of Frankenstein Snake Eyes, I have to give you some background on my life. My knowledge of the toy world wasn't divine intuition, it was cultivated by some key people in my life. My mother and grandmother were very integral in my background as a toy collector and dealer. I would be brought to doll shows as a young child and roam around with them and scout out good finds and when they were set up selling dolls, I could be found under the table taking a nap in between my scouting trips. Both my mother and grandmother taught me how to identify dolls, clothing, accessories and other collectibles as well as know the difference between reproductions and originals. 

But there was three other people who taught me just as much as my immediate family members did, those three I considered close enough that I would call them family. One of those three is my friend Doug, a man who has been buying and selling toys longer than I've been alive. I met Doug formally in my late teens and he helped me refine my skills as a negotiator and helped me become more savvy when tracking down collections to buy and sell. With his help, I learned just about every trick in the book in the toy world and the convention circuit. With the knowledge I gained from him I consider myself one of the most knowledgeable individuals in the collectible toy industry.  

The other two on my short list of honing my skills and cultivating my knowledge of toys and collectibles was my mom’s friends Dena and Helen. Both of them collectors in their own right, I got to know them through their collectibles shop Re-Play Toys. Being young, I looked up to both of them. “This is what I want to do when I grow up!” I thought.Over the years, I grew up hanging around the store pretty much every free moment I had. After school, on the weekends and during the summer I could be found helping out, cleaning, assembling, pricing and selling toys that were brought in and bought by the store. Both ladies were very sweet and treated me very well and I still consider them family to this day and have spent lots of time with them and their families over the years. I learned a lot at the store and still look back fondly at that time in my life. While I may not be doing what I said I wanted to do all those years ago, I’m still involved in the toy world and it probably wouldn't be that way if they hadn't helped fuel my passion for this field.

And the moment this has all been leading to: The story behind Frankenstein Snake Eyes

Recently, Dena had passed away. It was rough on my mother and I, we hadn't had a family member or someone we considered a family member die since my grandmother’s passing in 2003 and Helen and Dena’s father passing in 2005. Dena had a big impact on my life, she encouraged me to learn more about what was sold in the store and always rewarded my hard work both on store projects and school work. I’d sit around the store with my nose in a collectibles book or Toy Shop magazine and use my recently gained knowledge to piece together dozens of GI Joes, Star Wars figures and vehicles and boxes of loose Transformers. I feel it’s important not to mourn someone’s passing but celebrate their life the way they would have wanted to have been remembered so I dedicated a weekend worth of toy hunting at the flea market to her and went for lunch with my mom to Dena’s favorite restaurant, a little Italian restaurant known as Gino’s. The funeral and wake came and went, the family had their moment of grieving behind them and so came the task of cleaning out Dena’s house. 

Re-Play Toys had been closed for nearly 12 years and Dena had decided to take her business online through eBay. I had no idea how business went or even if the title of Re-Play Toys was still being used in any capacity. Dena’s sister Helen still bought and sold toys, collectibles and other nicknacks online but had branched out under her own name online and as I mentioned before I still do conventions and occasionally sell online under my own name but had kind of lost track of what Dena was doing or if she was still involved in the business. I feel kind of bad in a way, like many of you I have grown apart from some of my friends and family.

What was left at her house was distributed among family and friends that it would mean the most to. What I received was something I hadn't seen in nearly over a decade, Frankenstein Snake Eyes. What I received brought back so many good memories, to the average person it just looks like a cobbled together figure just kind of slapped together but to me it’s a prized possession. The kind of thing I’d run into a burning building to save. I felt it needed to be shared in the only way I felt it could be described, a lengthy blog posting involving a bit of my personal history and a kind of a last tribute to a friend/ family member now gone.

No one knows the story behind Frankenstein Snake Eyes. I was under the impression that I had created it out of a pile of leftovers from a GI Joe collection but I found out that I was mistaken. Then I thought possibly Dena had made it during a slow day at the store out of the store’s random pieces box but no one could verify that either. For all I know, Frankie could have showed up this way in a collection but his origin remains a mystery. I had memories of Frankie hanging out at the register at Re-Play Toys and remembering Dena was quite attached to it. People offered money on numerous occasions and even I asked if my day’s work could be paid for with Frankenstein Snake Eyes, but all offers were turned down. No matter wherever it came from, it was very special to her and I felt very honored to inherit this legendary figure. 

The only thing I’d like to do with the figure is make a vehicle and do a throwback package to put it all in. Let’s face it, most of the cool GI Joe figures came as a pack in with the vehicles in the line. The feel I get from the toy is Frankenstein would command a fairly impressive vehicle that looks  like something out of Mad Max, not so much the missiles and machine guns but something with some muscle and armor. Something along the lines of a modified dump truck with a shovel or cow catcher on the front with armored or spiked hub caps. And then package it up in a classic style box, I feel it would be a fitting tribute to the toy.

And here I sit with this epic figure, still admiring it like I did all those years ago. An heirloom piece of local toy history from what I gather. I wouldn't change anything about it’s scratched paint job, loose joints or anything else about it; it’s this way for a reason and I’d only fix it if it became broken for some reason. I happen to be significantly younger than a good portion of the local toy collectors in the Tampa area but they all remember the rag tag unofficial mascot of Re-Play Toys hanging out by the register, holding on to the business cards or hanging off of the cup full of pens. Just commenting on it to my small group of friends who are toy collectors brought up a lot of nostalgic moments with them as well. They all remembered how cool the store was and how nice Dena and her sister Helen were to anyone who came in the shop. It had traveled from their original shop at the Floriland Mall Flea Market to their shop off of Busch boulevard to Dena’s house and finally into my possession. I’ll really cherish it for the rest of my life and it will always remind me of one of the key people in my life who helped me develop the deep appreciation I have for toys and their history.


**written June 2012

GI Joe Retaliation : Blind Master figure review

Off the bat I'm going to admit I have not seen this movie all the way through. I can't get through it, I walked out of the movie in the theater out of boredom. Out of what I have seen in the movie that I like is the Cobra flag going up over the White House and the RZA as the Blind Master. I would have never bet on them making a figure of the Blind Master, not unless it was a convention exclusive. The figure might as well have been an exclusive because it's not that easy to find. Apparently this figure has been out since October and I just stumbled onto it just this last week. After seeing him loose in someone's collection made me want this figure even more, I nearly bought it off eBay just to avoid searching for it.

I lucked into the figure at Toys R Us on an impromptu trip this week out of total boredom. The likeness is fairly good for the line, looks like RZA from his role in the GI Joe movie. I've always been hard on Hasbro's head sculpts on 3 3/4 inch figures but some of their figures from 30 years ago have better likenesses than the current figures on the shelf. I hate to use a number scale but this is a solid 8 out of 10 on the likeness. The figure reuses a lot of GI Joe figure pieces, which is most obvious on the Blind Master's hip where you find a gun holster. You may think it's a small thing but once I noticed it I couldn't do anything but just stare at it. Glaring mistakes are hard for me to overlook sometimes, I get all hung up. The accessories are abundant; bamboo cane that splits into a sword, the nine ring sword, a flute, a mask, a hat that doubles as a shield (and has positional blades) and a ring / Frisbee that looks like something from Master of the Flying Guillotine.

Overall, I'm satisfied with the figure. I think I'm more satisfied in the novelty of it being a figure of the RZA than it being a good GI Joe figure. This line kind of suffered that, at least in my opinion. The Joe Colton figure was an awesome 3 3/4 inch Bruce Willis figure but it was a mediocre GI Joe figure. If you like the Wu Tang Clan this is a treat to pick up and add to your collection. I've had 3 friends come over and see this and buy one online just on impulse.

Raging Nerdgasm: My soft spot for glow in the dark toys

I collect a lot of toys. That should be appearant when fans watch my videos, read my blogs or visit my website. Most of the time I have a list of requirements a toy has to meet before I buy it. Monsters, robots, Japanese/Import toys, DC comics, Batman's rogues gallery, Batman the animated series, bootleg, knock off, obscure, unique looking, vintage (older than 25 years), Mego, sci-fi movie, horror movie, ETC. That's just a small example of these requirements, it goes on and on and it's reflected in the diversity of my collection. Mr. Freeze standing next to Blanka from Street Fighter 2, Batman pulling the arm off of a Resident Evil zombie and Godzilla fighting Schwarzenegger from Commando is just a portion of the madness you might witness on my shelves. But there is one stipulation alone that beats all, the elusive glow-in-the-dark feature.

(green glowing gun from Toxic Crusaders)

(glowing boobs, always a fan favorite)

(mint in package, guaranteed to keep your virginity the same way) 

(a send off to the original)

(groovy green glow)

(Atomic Cornholio!)

I can't explain it, I really like toys that glow in the dark. Whether it's the full figure or just a part of it (hands, face, eyes, weapons), I'm strangely drawn to it like a moth to a flame. I've bought toys I normally would pass up and kept toys I'd normally sell or trade just because it glows. I recently picked up a Bison from the Street Fighter movie figures that I would have probably sold or traded but when I noticed his hands glowed in the dark, he found himself sitting on top of my dresser. I've bought and kept kids meal toys, blind boxed vinyl, GI Joes and other lines I'd normally pass over just because it said glow-in-the-dark on the box. I've even bought silly repaints/repackaged figures because it glowed (i.e- "Radioactive" Cornholio from the Beavis and Butthead figure series).

(one of the few MOTUC figures I kept)

(good to point out to many folks who are just as interested in GITD toys, kids meals often have them)

(reissued Marx Universal monsters set)

(Burger King Kid's Meal Kid Vid)

(glowing trolls, you can die happy)

(exposed skin and guts glow, just the right ambient light for a horror marathon)

(didn't even know that his hands glowed till I was sorting the weekend's finds)

Maybe it's slight insanity, possibly it's the pleasant green color that radiates out from the toy or it could just be a mental defect in me caused by the lead in the plastic but I enjoy my glow-in-the-dark toys. I know everyone has their toy quirks, not that I feel bad about mine. Some people like mini figure toys, some collect exclusively 1/6th scale figures; while I don't restrict myself to one genre I do enjoy hunting down GITD figures. There aren't many of them out there, so it makes it a fun challenge and I can't say I'm obsessed because I have passed up toys that glowed that I thought were less than interesting in my time. What's your toy collecting quirk? I want to know, I know every collector has one and now I'm curious what my fellow readers like.

(it must run in the family, this is in my mom's collection of dolls)

Your weekly Nerdgasm 03/18/2013

                    Jurassic Park IV, Beetlejuice II and The Rock Says he wants to be in Star Wars Ep. VII




Pack a snack, we're going back to the park-

Just after the first of the year, Universal Studios released a statement that indeed Jurassic Park IV was once again a go. There's been at least 3 false starts to the ever looming 4th part to the saga, even Spielberg himself wanted to end the movies on a better note than we were left with in Jurassic Park III (which had plot holes big enough to swallow a T-Rex whole). Colin Trevorrow has been selected as director while script writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, of Rise of the Planet of the Apes fame, have already finished the script. With bearded McBillions himself Steven Spielberg as executive producer the movie has been slated for a mid June release next year.

It still leaves a lot of question brewing in fan's heads. Where will it take place? Who from the original cast will return for their "jump the shark" last hurrah? How deeply buried is that awful screenplay that involved human/dinosaur DNA mixing? And if all these questions have you itching to pull out your DVD or VHS of Jurassic Park, just wait till April 5th and you can see the film that spawned two really poorly planned sequels in theaters in 3D!

(what could have been......you hope.)

It's showtime! (again?)

Yes, the end of last week brought some exciting news to fans still holding on to the hope of a sequel to the 1988 paranormal comedy Beetlejuice. The picture below was posted on Seth Grahame-Smith's Twitter account to tease fans always asking about the fate of his script for the upcoming movie. With his past penning of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, I'm sure he's doing a fine job breathing life into the corpse of this over-hashed sequel. Two years ago when someone somewhere mentioned it; Geena Davis, Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder all said they were game to reprise their roles in some capacity. Let's face it, those three haven't seen legit work in years and would probably do Frosted Flakes commercial cameo if you promised a warm meal and gas money. Keaton is supposed to have something to the effect of a supporting role in the RoboCop reboot but that has yet to be seen in more than production stills.

Now talks of a Beetlejuice sequel have been floating in the air since the movie made back it's initial investment five times over, spawned a toy line and a Saturday morning cartoon as well as catapulted Tim Burton to superstar director status. That led Burton into the director's chair of the first two Batman movies, Edward Scissorhands, Nightmare Before Christmas and Mars Attacks. While his work as of late hasn't charmed us like it used to, if they allowed the original idea for the impending sequel "Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian", his body of work would have far less impressive and the world may have never gotten to know Johnny Depp which I'm not sure if that would have been a good thing or a bad thing. Anyways, Burton has expressed interest in directing another adventure into the hereafter. Beetlejuice is available on DVD and Bluray.

Skywalker, can you smell what the Rock is cookin'?

Yes, former WWF multiple time champion Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has expressed a serious interest in getting a role in the upcoming Disney/LucasFilms Star Wars Ep VII. Doesn't that sound like a bad idea? Well, not just the whole Rock wanting to be in the new Star Wars movie but the whole there's going to be new Star Wars movies in general. Doesn't it sound like a bad idea the more and more it's brought up? With the Star Wars saga rich with existing characters and all the new ones they'll be creating just for the next 3 films, not too many of them call for a giant, muscle-bound mountain of man meat. I mean, we all remember his breakout role in the Mummy 2 as the Scorpion King? Even the spin-off franchise only starred Dwayne Johnson for the first movie and moved on to some other professional fighter reprising the role for the second part. I'll be honest, I never watched the second film and only have fragmented memories of the first movie. All I remember is I was far from amused and even the action figures were lackluster and dull.

Anyways, the Rock won't be satisfied till he's ruined everything from your childhood. First GI Joe, then Star Wars.....what's next? He-Man? M.A.S.K? Power Rangers? My Little Pony?

On a side note, Dave Bautista of former WWF fame has been confirmed as Drax the Destroyer for the upcoming Disney/Marvel release Guardians of the Galaxy and I'm totally cool with that. Seriously, paint Dave Bautista green and there you go.....DONE!

5 Best action figure cases ever!

Once upon a time when I was a wee little nerd nugget, I never owned a collector's case for any of my action figure lines. I was too cheap to spend allowance money, chore money or waste space on Christmas list to ask for one. I always thought they were awesome, but I had more pressing matters like getting that new Batmobile....because last years model didn't match the new movie version. I kept them in shoe boxes, tupperware or (my favorite) a tacklebox I got from my dad one year when he noticed I was having issues storing my figures. I put stickers on the outside of it and painted the whole thing black, but it wasn't the same.

Honestly I was a young adult before I owned a collector case from any line. At a convention I bought a beat up C3PO case in a junk bin for $5. After the first one I was hooked. I loved the fact I could store figures in their own separate cubby and all the artwork and detail. Soon after C3PO I had the Darth Vader case, then the lazer rifle, the bandoleer strap and then I set my sights on getting the ones from all the other line of toys I owned.

I give you the top 5 action figure cases of all time, in no particular order.

Battle Bones

(epic box art)

(shockingly, one that's still in one piece)

Battle Bones goes down as my most favorite case I wish I still had. Bought at a collectibles store in the late 90's for what back then seemed like a small fortune ($20) considering most of my He-Man collection came out of .50 cent bins at the flea market and clearance racks at Lionel Playworld. For the longest time it sat on a very prestigious spot atop the highest shelf in my room until one day I decided to bring it down for a closer inspection. As I brought it down from Mt Olympus, the whole body snapped in half. I think it was the first time I swore aloud in my mother's house while she was home.

(the kid in the commercial does Skeletor's voice pretty well)

It was this great bone color which made it seem like it was more than a figure carrier but some sort of museum piece. Battle Bones had places among the ribs to snap figures into place (12) and the mouth of the mighty beast opened so you could place all of your figure accessories there for safe keeping. The whole thing was topped off with a handle so a child could triumphantly tote along his small army of Masters of the Universe figures. Needless to say it was only plastic and I have older toy collector friends who had the pleasure of owning one shortly after it was made and they said it was the  most brittle thing they'd even seen made for a toy line.



Star Wars Lazer Rifle case

Now this was an amazing figure case. It was both a role play toy and a place to stash your figures in between play. Kenner had a way of making some really nice cases that were just as much fun to display on their own as they were useful in cleaning up and storing my collection. The figural bust cases of Darth and C-3PO were just as much fun to hang up as decoration like the vinyl cases were There was such amazing artwork on each case that I couldn't just stow them away under my bed. On a side note, there was always talk of a third case (Storm Trooper or Snow Trooper) but I cannot find the artwork I once saw to confirm or deny it's existence, even in prototype form.

(most of the vinyl cases had two releases, one with movie clips and one like this with mostly artist drawings)

(loved the JCP catalog)

The rifle case was sturdy like the Darth and C-3PO cases and big enough that a child could have used it to pretend they were fighting the Empire along side the other rebel troopers. It held over a dozen figures with the basic cubby system and black plastic bar across the middle from the previous cases listed. Also it had a storage compartment to place any weapons you were afraid of loosing. The rifle had a scope on the top of it that actually had a cross hairs in it and it doubled as a handle to carry the case.

Super Powers Comic Book case

(if you didn't know Superman's origin by this point, you should probably stick with the Star Wars figures)

(if you look closely you can see Batman's parents die everytime you play with your toys)

The Super Powers case was misleading at first glance. Just about every figure line in the 80's and early 90's had its own vinyl carrying cases but this was more than that. The outside of the case looked like a book and looked totally wicked awesome on a shelf with the spine reading "VOL 1". Inside the case was rigid plastic and nothing like the competition's cases where they gave you flimsy plastic trays to fit your figures into. On the inside front and back flaps were single column origin stories of your favorite DC Super Heroes. The case  fit about 10 figures and had two storage drawers for accessories.

GI JOE APC

(box art)

GI JOE gave kids of the 1980's an army they could easily store under their bed. Now, you could just buy a basic vinyl case from Hasbro or you could buy the APC. The APC was a troop transport vehicle that doubled as a carrying case. This six wheeled behemoth could carry up to 20 Joes under it's camouflage canopy to raid the Terrordrome or you could secure the figures in their restraints and pull out the handle (concealed as the back bumper) and carry the troops into battle next door.

M.U.S.C.L.E. Battlin' Belt

(M.U.S.C.L.E. men garbage can grab bag)

(there ain't enough room for the two of us)

When Mattel brought the Kinnikuman line to America and renamed it M.U.S.C.L.E., the only thing they kept about the line of these kinkeshi figurines was that they were wrestlers. Mattel decided that the original figure case, a Ramen Man figurine with a huge "Mardi Gras" head, was just a little impractical and wouldn't have the selling power on American shelves. So Mattel created a wearable championship title belt complete with compartments for you figures (only 10 out of the over 200 figures) and a ring (albeit very small) in the center of the belt. Also the belt was the M.U.S.C.L.E. championship belt, which means to wear it you had to have defeated humanoid walruses, giants hands and living buildings.