Julie McCullough Autographed 1992 Playboy Trading Card by Star Pics

On September 24, 1985 the first episode of Growing Pains aired featuring the quirky day-to-day predicaments of an idealistic wholesome family unit of like no other since the Brady Bunch. Kirk Cameron who played Mike Seaver quickly grew to become the star of the show and literally a growing pain for the cast and crew, especially for that of actress Julie McCullough. Julie Costello played by Julie McCullough first appeared on the show as Chrissy’s nanny and quickly became a regular character on the show found her way into the heart of Mike Seaver as his girlfriend and fiancée. However, in real life the relationship of the two co-stars was quite the opposite. It is widely believed that Kirk Cameron called for the firing of Julie McCullough due to her previously posing nude for Playboy.

Damn you Kirk! Julie was the best thing to happen to that show and you ruined it for all the young boys across the country! Sorry I digress.

Though Julie McCullough would go on to appear in several more television shows and movies, it would appear that the controversy surrounding her firing from Growing Pains had a profound effect on the potential prospect of her acting career. She has yet to reconcile her differences with Kirk Cameron to this day.

Well, for all those who have ever wondered what another 2 years of Julie Costello on Growing Pains would have been like here is a Julie McCullough Autographed 1992 Playboy trading card by Star Pics.

This a very rare autographed chase card by Star Pics for their 1992 Playboy trading card series featuring the alluring Julie McCullough who has been featured on the covers of Playboy in February 1985 for their Girls of Texas pictorial and in September 1986 for their Farmer’s Daughters pictorial. She was also Playmate of the Month for February of 1986.

Julie McCullough has had a varied career over the years as a model, actress, and stand-up comedian. Some of the more notable television shows she has played a role in throughout her career include Beverly Hills, 90210, Drexell’s Class, Growing Pains, Harry and the Hendersons, Jake and the Fatman, Relic Hunter, and The Drew Carey Show. Though she continues to work as an actress, she has more recently moved on to doing stand-up comedy and has performed at several venues including the Hollywood Improv, the Palms hotel and Casino, and the Laugh Factory.

For those of you wondering if there could possibly be any comic book related tie-in to be found here, she just so happens to also play the role of romantic interest for the most recognizable superhero of all time, Superman, in the 1988 episode of The Adventures of Superboy: A Kind of Princess.

If you are interested in this autographed card of Julie McCullough you can find it for sale on eBay by clicking here.

Star Wars 1997 Micro Machines Collection Set VIII

Here is Set VIII from the Star Wars 1997 Micro Machine Collection.

This set includes:
1 - Speeder Bike with Imperial Pilot
1 - Imperial Shuttle: Tydirium
1 - Tie Starfighter

All 3 vehicles where featured in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.You know the film, that most fans felt was the worse among the original trilogy. However, watching it as child I thought it was awesome! Maybe people were just mad because it brought an end to the trilogy.

The backboard has some wear from storage. However, the package has never been opened.

If you are interested in this item, you can find it for sale on... Will be posting soon.

Marvel's X-men 1993 ToyBiz figure: Strong Guy with Power Punch Action!

I must admit that I was never much of a Strong Guy fan when he first appeared in the New Mutants or even after he joined X-Factor in the early 90’s. It was mainly because I found him to be too much of an odd looking character. He had the frame of the Hulk but only in the upper half of his body. He looked as if he was drawn by Rob Liefeld in every comic book even when Liefeld wasn’t the artist. I could have probably looked past his deformed body but why did they also have to draw him with such a deformed face? He was usually drawn with a small pug nose and a huge philtrum (the area between your upper lip and your nostrils) which made him look like a hairless chimpanzee. Well, I guess I should say “almost” hairless. What was the deal with the few strands of white hair sprouting out from the center of his forehead? He had to have the worst hairdo of any character I have known to date. Fortunately, these days he is drawn much better and he has even lost that strange hairdo of his.

Despite his odd looking characteristics, Strong Guy wasn’t short on fans due largely impart to the character’s story. Guido Carosella, a.k.a. Strong Guy, is not your typical guido from Jersey Shore nor is he your typical superhero. As a nerd in school he never fit in with the rest of his classmates though he desperately tried to. During an incident in school in which he received a beating from several kids after being laughed at by his childhood crush his mutant power began to manifest and he was hit by a bus. Talk about your bad luck. Not knowing how to control his powers his body become permanently disfigured. Not only did this make him more of an outcast but his powers now cause him to be in constant pain. Forever trying to fit in though, he hides the pain from his X-Factor teammates fearing that they may only end up pitying him. Strong Guy is the hero you are constantly routing for as an underdog and is the soul of X-factor. Unfortunately however, he recently lost his soul after confessing his love for Monet. Dang, the poor guy has never had an easy time with the ladies.

Well, for all the Strong Guy fans out there here is a Toy Biz 1993 Marvel X-men action figure of Strong Guy with Power Punch action!

The backboard has some wear and is slightly warped from storage. However, the package has never been opened. The X-men: Series 2 card that comes in the package features his X-factor teammate Rictor.

Strong Guy’s mutant powers allow him to increase his physical strength and durability by absorbing kinetic energy. Unfortunately, as his strength grows so does portions of his body which can result in permanent disfigurement if he doesn’t release that energy in a timely manner. The incident in which he was hit by a buy as a child resulted in his disproportionately larger upper body. At full power Strong Guy has managed to move the immovable Blob and briefly trade blows with a rampaging Hulk before the side effects of his powers put a strain on his heart.

If you are interested in this figure of X-Factor's strong guy, Strong Guy, you can find it for sale on... Will be posting soon.

Marvel's X-men 1994 ToyBiz figure: Silver Samurai with Metal Samurai Armor!

Several Marvel characters have flip-flopped between playing hero and villain including Deadpool, Magneto, Sabertooth, and Venom. Another character who falls in to that group but who is not quite as popular as those that I’ve mention, though I have always thought he had the potential to be, is the Silver Samurai.

Why do I think so highly of this character who couldn’t even get it together long enough to decide whether he wants to play the good guy or the bad guy? Well, there are a number of reasons. First of all he has a cool color scheme. His costume maybe simple but the silver and red makes it look good. Even if you don’t like his original costume it can be easily tweaked a bit to make him look more badass without it falling way out of line with his character. He is a mutant and samurai. Both archetypes equate to cool in the comic book world, so he has double the coolness factor! Oh, and let’s not forget he fights with a samurai sword. Well, I guess wielding a katana goes with him being a samurai and all but who else has a sword that cut through almost every know substance to man? Ok, there may have been over 10,000 Jedi and Sith warriors once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away and then there’s Voltron’s Blazing Sword which signaled the death of every foe the giant robot has ever faced. None the less, to be placed in a category alongside Darth Vader and Voltron just shows how much of a badass he is.

Unfortunately, Marvel hasn’t been very kind to Kenuichio Harada otherwise known as the first Silver Samurai. First he had one of his hands chopped off by Wolverine. Then a group of imitation samurai drove by his home and killed him. And as if that wasn’t enough, Satan then lopped off his head while in hell. Sigh.

Well, for all those who have imagined what the character could have been here’s a Toy Biz 1994 Marvel X-men action figure of the Silver Samurai!

Disclaimer: The armor is not actually made of metal. The backboard has some wear and is slightly warped from storage. The package however has never been opened. The Fleer Ultra Marvel Universe Trading Card that comes in the package features X-Force team members Cannonball, Rictor, Siryn, and Sunspot.

The Silver Samurai’s power is somewhat similar to that of Gambit’s in that he can charge anything touches with energy. However, instead of the object exploding on contact the Silver Samurai can use a charged object like his katana to slice through everything other than the adamantium laced skeleton of his arch nemesis, Wolverine.

Though primarily known as an enemy of Wolverine, the Silver Samurai first appeared in 1974 in the pages of Daredevil #111. The Silver Samurai is expected to be the villain in the upcoming Wolverine 2 movie.

If you are interested in this figure of the Silver Samurai you can find it for sale on... Will be posting soon.

Marvel’s X-men 1994 ToyBiz figure: Pyro the Mutant Flame Thrower!

I read that in a report done by the University College of the Fraser Valley they found that more than 80% of children in British Columbia played with fire by the time they reached high school. I wouldn’t be surprised if the numbers where similar in other countries. It got me thinking as to what is so fascinating about fire that children what to play with it. Is it the color? The way the flames move? Or is it its ability to turn everything to ash?

Well, as for the Marvel Universe there seems to be no shortage of characters that like to play with fire. One in particular has been a major thorn in the side of the X-men since the early 1980’s and appropriately goes by the name of Pyro.

And with that, for you Pyro fans out there I have a Toy Biz 1994 Marvel X-men action figure of the infamous mutant villain.

The backboard has some wear and is warped from storage. The package however has never been opened. The Fleer Ultra Marvel Universe Trading Card that is included in the package features Gideon.

Pyro’s mutant ability does not give him the power to create fire without a box of matches however he is able to take control of any flame he sees by shaping it to his will.

Unlike in the three X-men films in which Pyro is portrayed as an American teenager who was recruited into Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Pyro is Australian who was recruited to into Mystique's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in the comics. In the comics Pyro would eventually die as a hero in a fight against his former teammates. However, everyone’s favorite mutant pyromaniac wouldn’t stay dead for long. Whoever does in comics? He was eventually resurrected by the psychic vampire Selene as a mutant techno-zombie but has since disappeared after Selene's demise at the end of the Necrosha story arc. Ah, the life and death and rebirth of a Marvel character.

If you are interested in this figure of Pyro you can find it for sale on eBay by clicking here.

An eBay Star

I’ve noticed that, though some of my items get quite a few looks and may generate a couple of watchers, the items still don’t sell. I have been wondering why. Are people just messing with me? Or are people scared to make that commitment because I’m new to eBay? I’ll admit that if I were to buy something eBay I would probably be hesitant to bid on an item from someone without much feedback. People tend to subconsciously view a seller’s feedback as indication of how trust worthy they are. That is something I can understand even if it is a little frustrating for us newcomers. After all, if we are going to get feedback someone has to first take a chance on buying something from us right?

After surfing for a little while through some eBay auctions my perception of those with thousands of feedback responses began to change, however. Now I started to question if it would really be wise to put more faith into that seller with over a 1,000 feedbacks versus that new guy?  I noticed that several eBay “star” sellers post items with a bid price of 1 cent and offer free shipping if the buyer comes to pick it up.  While some of the auctions look legit others make you wonder “who really wants to buy a single paper clip for 1 cent?” It’s my guess that most of the time these items up for auction don’t even exchange hands. After going through hundreds of 1 cent auctions I began questioning if this so called feedback system is of any use at all. 

Sure eBay allows you to view all of a seller’s feedback for the past 12 months and it may help you in somewhat determining how the seller actually operates by allowing you view to whatever negative feedback remarks the seller may have gotten. However, when someone has sold several thousand items I’m going to expect there will be a few negative feedback remarks. That’s just the way it is. People do make accidental mistakes. No one is perfect and some people are just never satisfied. 

What I really want to look for is the percentage of negative feedback remarks versus positive remarks to determine how good of a seller this person is but in there lays the problem. With the thousands of 1 cent auctions for the exchange of positive feedback remarks taking place every day how can you tell for sure how many positive remarks a seller has is really genuine. If a seller had received 1,010 feedback replies, 10 of them being negative reviews due to the item being slightly damaged on arrival and some due to unusually long shipping times but the rest are all outstanding positive reviews from completely satisfied customers that is someone who I might be willing to take a chance on with my money. Now, if I found out that 990 of those so called satisfied customers wrote positive reviews for the purchase of a 1 cent paperclip I wouldn’t even waste my time to ever look at another auction posted by that seller. Because a buyer does not have to mention the item they bought when giving feedback you may be completely clueless as to how the seller actually conducts business until it’s too late. The feedback system was supposed to help sellers and buyers ensure a smooth transaction. Now it’s helping to lead people astray. 

I have to admit, however, there was one 1 cent auction that I came across last night that I actually had admiration for. This seller was selling one used slightly wrinkled USPS receipt. The seller was very up front with his or her intention of selling this item which was to boost selling numbers by 1 in order to meet a quota set by eBay that would remove the 3 week hold on their money. While I can’t be 100% sure what was stated to be the true reason for the sale of this receipt I have no reason to doubt it. 

I can remember myself wondering why I had to wait 3 weeks to receive money for the first 2 items I sold on eBay. I did understand that holding the money can help deter sellers from trying to scam people with bogus auctions. However, after my customers had received their items and had left positive reviews I did not understand why I had to wait another 2 weeks to get my money when it was already sitting in the hands of PayPal. Was eBay trying to tell me if I wanted to receive my money instantly all I had to do was make 23 bogus auctions for a single paperclip? Would that insure them I was not out to scam people? The seller of the USPS receipt stated “this receipt symbolizes what is wrong with [eBay] selling policies” and, though I have only been using eBay for a short while, to some degree I agree.  EBay needs to consider taking a long look at some of their policies.  

You can find the auction for the USPS receipt here.

Mega Boost Limit Increase!

The eBay gods with all their wisdom have increased my selling limits by 999%!! Instead of only being allowed to post 10 items at a time for no more than a total of $500 I can now post 100 items for a total of $5,000!!

I find it a little odd that all I had to do to receive this new limit increase, though, was answer a set of questions that looked very similar to ones I had answered before when I had first requested a limit increase. After all, I was turned down that first time. While, I don't believe I answered the questions any differently this second time around, lo and behold I was granted the Mega Boost Limit Increase!

Now, it's not that I'm ungrateful for having my limits increased. I do have a lot of items waiting to be sold, after all. However, things seem a little whimsical.