Daydreams

Am I the only one who keeps a list of "impossible wants"? You know, things that I would hardly even dream of getting in real life but yet enjoy making lists of. Some things are just too expensive or crazy rare in reality, but an excel file is more than nothing now isn't it?

I thought it could be fun if I, just for the heck of it, let myself loose and listed some (quite many) of these crazy, unrealistic wants that are on my list of impossibilities. After writing so many posts on the things I do own it might be refreshing to focus on what i don't.

Let's take baby steps first and start with the things that are (maybe) not MEGA CRAZY DIFFICULT to find. Things that come with a glimpse of hope, I might say.

1,2,3,4

Wouldn't it be cool to run into a shiny Pokémon? Around 70 Bandai Kid figures of the total ~2000 were made shiny and as you might imagine, I have never ever seen one anywhere outside the internet. If encountering a shiny toy is even half as fun as encountering an in-game shiny (and I imagine it is), the unusually colored Pokémon would instantly become the crown to my collection. But yeaaah I don't really think I'll find one anytime soon. If ever.

Speaking of soon, I found one item on my wants list last weekend!!! I dreamed of owning a complete Zukan figure set, stand and all, and I found one! Now I can proudly say I own a Zenkoku Collection 4, complete capsule 9 set of Ledyba, Ledian, Spinarak, and Ariados. And worry not, you will be seeing plenty of pictures, guaranteed. The Spinarak is so tiny I can't even! I found out that my zukan hunger only grows while eating since I could still imagine wanting the original ghost trio showcased up in the picture... and a few others.

I'll tell you, numero tres is pretty darn high in the impossible wants list. I owned that set of Love and sparkle Puppy in my pocket puppies in the 90's but my mom force-donated them to my younger cousin when I grew out of the playing phase. I LOVED those glittery dogs and I still do. To ease the pain I keep the lonely trophy (that I still have) in my collection cabinet, but I'm pretty desperate to find the puppies to go with it.

Number four is plain and simple: I would go crazy over anything Baymax. Big Hero 6 is awesome and Baymax is one of those love at first sight characters. He's on this list because either people don't own any Baymax merch or they don't want to sell it forward since I have never seen anything having even remote resemblance to him in thrift stores. Luckily the movie is fairly recent so there's still hope.

1,2,3,4,5

And then to the totally crazy business. First, it would be awesome to get my hands on the Pokémon pins that are coming out with the 20th anniversary trading card game Mythical Collection Boxes! I've watched many unboxing videos on YouTube and the pins look so nicely made and shimmery and glossy and everything ♡ The boxes are being sold in Finland, but they are not too cheap and I don't think the people who spend their money on them will be selling their pins anytime soon.

Because I'm a sucker for quality, I would love to own a few Amiibos such as the beauuuuutiful Princess Peach. I have a thing for figures whose dresses are not solid lumps but show some leg underneath ..but not in a perverted way. Also, I'm not even ashamed to admit that I'm a complete narutard and would love me some nice looking Naruto figures. I don't care what the rest of the world thinks: I'm cool for knowing jutsu hand signs!

When I found out the lucky people of the UK were getting Adventure Time Happy Meal toys I was super jealous! The whole set consists of 28 different Adventure Time characters and if you want to you can mix and match their heads and bodies to get even more cool looking figurines. I've seen these in videos, too, and as far as I can tell they look super nicely made! Adventure Time is one of my favorite things ever so these toys are definitely high up on my list.

High up is also Zootopia, or Zootropolis depending on where you live. Very much like with Baymax I would enjoy anything Zootopia related since the movie is in the category of the greatest things ever made. I even went to see it twice. If I could get any Zootopia merchandise I wanted, I would pick the Funko mystery minis simply because they look nice, feel nice and are nice (period).

1,2,3,4

Tokidoki figures are great as they are but when you combine tokidoki with Hello Kitty my impossible wants list catches fire (♡ o ♡). Just look at the Donutella Kitty (second row second) or the octo-Kitty (second to last), just LOOK at them!

Quite interestingly, also a Kinder Surprise figure got on my list. The golden hippo in the picture is Marylinchen, a limited edition surprise toy made to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Kinder eggs. Ferrero made 40K gold Marylinchens so it's not super extreme over-the-top rare but still, I don't think I'll find one thrifting.

I get really excited when I run into Sanrio figures other than Hello Kitty. Not because I don't like Hello Kitty but because she is so much more common than any of her friends. To be honest the famous cat isn't even my favorite of the bunch - 1st place goes to Gudetama, the lazy egg. The very concept of the character is so me that Gudetama climbed up on my list the first moment I saw him. Them. I don't know, it's an egg.

The latest addition to my unrealistic dream team is anything from the Disney Traditions line. I love the "old fashioned" finish of the figurines and just by looking at pictures I can tell that the quality is top notch. I would love to get my hands on Belle. Or Cinderella. Or maybe Aurora. Or Stitch. Every single figure is beyond words beautiful that's for sure.

So there you have it. These figures and toys may be mundane to some, but for me they exist firmly on the fun but unlikely realistic wishlist. And you know what, I don't really mind. Even though I drool over these things, I really don't feel like I have to own everything. It's so much fun to daydream and there's always YouTubers and fellow toy bloggers who share their finds and the resultant happiness with us☺

Speaking of finds, I spent half a day at a huge flea-market-type event last weekend and boy did I find things. I was already all settled for the next thrifted treasures and since I'm trying not to make my blog posts obscenely long (great success so far, pfft) I don't really know what to do, heh. Maybe a brief, haul-like thing? Here's a little sneak peek, yikes:

At least I'm not running out of things to write about!

Byes!

✿Tuuli

Thrifted Treasures - part 2

There's a big, biannual flea market event taking place at my home town this weekend which is why I've lately been purposely avoiding thrifting. However, a few weeks ago a local child welfare organization hosted an all-things-children thrift event that was just too good to pass. Also, I might have bought a little something something online... Anyways, I have plenty to show in this second coming of TT!

The child welfare event took place at a shopping mall and was swarming with people from the moment the doors opened. Luckily, most shoppers were mainly interested in children's clothes and I could dig through the toy bins in peace. I could have easily spent triple the amount of money I spent, but I kept my cool and stayed reasonable. Well done me!

First, I found a set of fourteen PokéKids in very good condition. Fourteen! For 6 euros! Most often I see kids priced at 2 € a figure. There was even an attack figure in the lot (see my previous post on kid figures) so I was a pretty happy camper after finding these.

These five figures were amazingly from the same release, which is the Best Wishes: Pignite Set from 2011. Comically, the sets name character Pignite, the coffin Pokémon Cofagrigus and the multiplying Pokémon Reuniclus are all rocking the same pose. Purrloin and Darmanitan, on the other hand, have the same exact eyebrow shape and are both eye-candy worthy with their pretty colors. All of these, except for Cofagrigus, are the only Kid figures made of their representative Pokémon.

2011 was not only the year of Pignite but also Servine and Dewott got their own releases. I was really satisfied to find out my bag of Kids came with all the mid-evolutions of the Unova starters! Tranquill is from the Servine set and Victini from the Dewott set. Servine and Dewott figures are, too, the only Servine and Dewott Kids ever made.

I could have sworn this Roselia was an attack figure but sadly it isn't. It is too pretty though! It's from the very first Diamond and Pearl release from 2006 that includes the cute stretchy face Pikachu. Wouldn't mind finding that one too! Quite surprisingly the Magmortar here is, instead, an attack figure (Attack Pokémon Kids DP 2, 2009). Apparently it's about to blast out flamethrower which suits me totally fine don't get me wrong. This Yamask (Best Wishes: Reshiram Zekrom Set, 2010) is also the only Yamask Kid ever made.

Misdreavus is the oldest of the bunch, from the third set of New Pokémon Kids II from 2000. It's "hair" is pretty funky but I don't really mind, especially when it is in such good condition despite the figure's old age. Mime Jr. was the last figure in the Kids bag and it's from the 8th Diamond & Pearl release from 2008.

Mime Jr. is cute, I guess, but truthfully it is the Vaporeon that grabs my attention. I got it from another seller and it was a total steal priced at 1 € INCLUDING a Topps Lucario that I was also missing (see below). Vaporeon is indeed one of the top 25 Pokémon that I mentioned in my PokéKids blog post. This figure is from the National Pokédex 3 set from 2009 but there are in total six different Vaporeon Kids (+ clear versions) and uuuugh I want them all! I am not complaining though - this one is especially nice looking with the puppy-like playful pose. And again, it is in near-mint condition!

Since these new ones make up for most of my still very small Kids collection, I thought I might as well so the rest here too, even if these following Kids are not recent finds.

This Zapdos is by far my oldest Kid and I somewhat consider it as a grail of some sort. It's from 1998, from the fifth release of Kids AND my only clear Kid! AND a legendary. AND from the 1st generation. Oh the possibilities of collecting... Rampardos is in pretty worn-out condition but its pose is super dynamic and it's just fun to look at.  ◕‿◕ It's from the Diamond & Pearl 4 -set, from 2007.

Corsola and Buneary are also from my favorites list ❤ and that Pikachu is one of my favorite Pikachu Kids. I found Corsola and Buneary from a thrift shop that had sooo overpriced them but I still think I would have regretted not buying them. Corsola is from 2000 (New Pokémon Kids II 2) and Buneary is an attack Kid from 2009 (Attack Pokémon Kids DP 2). Oh, and the attack it's making is healing wish (cccuuuute!). The Pikachu I got from my dad ages ago and it's from 2002 (Advance 1 set).

These are all the PokéKids I've found so far. It's actually really exciting to have so few, since my collection could still go anywhere from here. And it still feels really special to find a new one.☺Next I would love to find a grass-type favorite since it's fo sheez my favorite type. Maybe a Bulbasaur or a Cherubi hm hm...

I already know this is going to be a monster of a post so let's keep on going:

The Lucario Topps figure (2007) came with the Vaporeon Kid and I did not have it yet so it was a nice bonus. The teensy Topps Taillow (2005) was a 20 cent find from basically a box of trash. The Koffing is an awesome find - it's from the first release of Tomy's Monster Collection and my second ever MonColle figure! Also, it was cheap, yesss. Besides, how cool is that smokey stand? Love it (even if it's a little too clear to be something that came out of a Koffing, hah)!

My final purchase of the day was one of the Zodiac Hello Kitty figures (by Dolci Preziosi). These came out of Hello Kitty surprise eggs this Easter and I was missing the scorpio, so this was definitely a happy find.

Like I've told, my dad also actively thrifts nice things for me. The credit for this 2009 Topps Hippowdon and the armless and tailless Electivire Zukan goes 100% to him. Zukan figures are really cool: zukan is Japanese for Pokédex and the figures are all in scale according to their Pokédex measurements. Can I just say the Wailord is HUGE!

The last but boy oh boy not the least treasures I've thrifted lately are these beautiful Zizzlinger Disney princesses I snatched from a second hand group on Facebook. Zizzlingers are quite hard to explain so it's best that you just watch this video. They were sold back in the day and I'm devastated that I wasn't a toy collector then because these are gorgeous! They are glittery, they are princesses, the sculpts and paint jobs are spot on and each figure looks completely different from the facial expression to the pose. I also adore the "secondary outfits" of Disney princesses and Zizzlingers is all about those from the end scene wedding dresses to the outfits shown for ten seconds during random songs. Aurora's peasant "Briar Rose" dress has to be one of my favorites. I have noticed it's really hard to find Zizzlingers, but that, sort of, makes the hunt even more exciting. I love these to bits.

Hope this wasn't too much of a TL;DR situation. What can I say, I like talking about the things I like.

Anyways, Google Analytics tells me I've got readers all the way from Venezuela to Russia and lots of places in between. Many of you come from e.g. Denmark, Switzerland and the UK. Like I said, I really enjoy the occasional toy-talk, now I just need to get you guys commenting for it to not be one sided. I know you're out there, the ball is in your court!

✿Tuuli

We need to talk about Kids

And by Kids I mean Pokémon Kids by Bandai!

I started this blog talking about Topps candy figures, but just because they are available doesn't mean they are my favorites. I know many people, including my SO, regard that the Monster Collection by Takara Tomy is the set to collect when it comes to pokéfigures, but even so my heart beats for Kids.

Unlike Topps, PokéKids come in hundreds. I kid you not, my personal checklist consists of 1823 different figures (excluding the clear Kids!) and I'm pretty sure my list is not absolute. So if you knew nothing about these fine artifacts before, now you know at least this: there are plenty.

pic from here

Pokémon Kids have been around for 20 years now. Bandai started making them when Pokémon became a thing in 1996 and haven't stopped since. To my knowledge, Kids haven't ever been sold as surprise figures but come individually in boxes or in sets of varying sizes. There has even been a number of special promotional figures that could be obtained from special events, places or through campaigns.

Kid figures are remarkably easy to identify from other figures out there since they are basically finger puppets. They are hollow, ~5 cm (1.5-2 inches) tall, made of semi-hard plastic and have a distinct hole in the bottom.

pic from here

I really enjoy the plump, even chibi-ish look that PokéKids have. There are plenty of funky and creative releases out there. There is also absolutely nothing to complain about the quality of the figures. Their encounter rate in second hand places is nice: they are not everywhere like Topps are but are somewhere unlike Tomys. Indeed, the trouble that I have with Kids has nothing to do with post-purchase business and everything to do with the pre-hunt. In English: I can't decide what to collect!

Essentially, there are endless possibilities for a Kids collector. You could focus on a single Pokémon or an evolution line (there are for example at least 54 different Pikachus), you could try to collect complete release sets or rustle up specialties. Majority of the Kids figures have rarer clear versions and some even have shinies (see picture below). There is even a line of larger "DX-Kids" that I personally am not interested in.

pic from here (cropped + added text)

However, I am super duper interested in the Kids from the various Attack, or Kimezawa, sets. There's something about the dynamic poses and the added flames, vines, shadow balls, you name it, that make the attack figures really special in comparison to other (plainer) figures. It feels like not only collecting the Pokémon themselves but the different attacks too!

Attack Kids from 2014, pics from Ebay

I have bumped into a few attack kids whilst thrifting so they are somewhat accessible whereas the adorable Anime Kids are quite possibly completely out of my reach. As the name has it, Anime Kids represent the very specific Pokémon individuals from the famous anime series. Who could not fall in love with the Squirtle from the Squirtle Squad, the Mankey that stole Ash's cap or the mailman Dragonite? These are pure nostalgia and childhood if you ask me.

pics from here

As I mentioned I'm still struggling with the decision on where to focus on these Kiddies. I really like the clear Kids, I'm toying with the idea of collecting a whole generation of Pokémon, all starters or all legendaries could be cool, owning all figures of a single Pokémon sounds exciting... The possibilities truly are endless. I guess buying these second hand from thrift stores makes things easier since I most often have to stick to the figures that I can find, regardless of what they are. Even so, I like to have a collection waiting to be completed and there is no way I'm collecting every single Kid. So for now, I am trying to get a Kid of each of my 25 favorite Pokémon. So far I have three ❤❤❤

My favorite Pokémon. From left to right: Bulbasaur, Sandshrew, Clefairy, Vileplume, Dewgong, Gengar, Vaporeon, Dragonair, Chikorita, Ampharos, Jumpluff, Corsola, Phanpy, Suicune, Skitty, Altaria, Milotic, Combee, Pachirisu, Cherubi, Buneary, Glaceon, Leafeon, Shaymin and Sylveon
pics from Bulbapedia

Any guesses what they are? I have quite a few Kids to show in my next part of thrifted treasures and I might introduce the top25 trio then as well. Is anyone interested in me going through the different releases of PokéKids from the basic sets to the movie specials and reprints? Or wanting to see my best picks, highest wants and coolest individual figures? I would also really want to know yours ●ᴥ●

Laters! 

✿Tuuli

Nuts about Natoons

Holla!

I realize Kinder's Natoons sets have come up in my posts a few times but I have yet to delve into them properly. Natoons have a special place in my collection since getting a moose-Natoon from the arctic animals set in 2012 was probably what got me into toy figurines in the first place.

I've mentioned before that I'm a biology student (on the brink of graduating, I might add!) so when I opened an egg, half certain I was gonna get a puzzle or something just as lame, I was ecstatic to find out Natoons existed! The moose itself was a solid figure and it came with additional information on the species. What else can an emerging biologist wish for?

Natoons is a fairly recent series of Kinder toys. The first sets came out in 2011 and since then, new ones have cropped up frequently. Because I refuse to hoard, I don't go after every single one but rather carefully select the nicest sets - usually the ones that showcase realistic animals. My sources tell that as of now there are 23 different sets of Natoons in total and I collect twelve. Not too terrible.

I planned to advance in chronological order but I noticed I had inadvertently merged two sets in the same photos. Apparently i'm not only a moron but also lazy so we'll just have to go with that.

The very first Natoons were the Animals of Africa. It is a huge set of eleven figures, seven of which I own. They came out in 2011 and belong to Kinder's "DC-series" (a serial number of sorts, nothing to do with superheroes). The ones I have are the elephant (DC 007), rhino (DC 001), buffalo (DC 010), lion (DC 003), crocodile (DC 006), dromedary (DC 011) and chimpanzee (DC 009). The set is missing a hippo (DC 002), leopard (DC 004), gorilla (DC 005) and a gorgeous tortoise (DC 008).

The remaining five in the pictures below are from the Animals Around the World set, from the FT-series released in 2013. These are the platypus (FT 005), tiger (FT 002), black panther (FT 003), ostrich (FT 008) and panda (FT 006). I'm still looking for a kangaroo (FT 001) and a koala (FT 007). You might notice that FT 004 is missing and that is because for some reason Ferrero decided to reuse the crocodile (DC 006) from the African animals in this set. Now back to being chronological.

Another set from year one of Natoons that I'm collecting is the Plush Animals set (DC-release, 2011). These fuzzy cutsie wootsies are all flocked and SUPER ADORABLE. Full set has seven figures and currently I own four: the elephant (DC 018), rhino (DC 024), panda (DC 022) and polar bear (DC 023). Can I just say that the rhino is my favorite Natoon so far and it is so. stinking. cute. that I feel like clawing my eyes out. The hunt is still on for a (lion) cub (DC 019), little monkey (DC 020) and hippo (DC 021).

So far I have completed only one set of Natoons and it is indeed the Arctic Animals set that initiated my Kinder-craze. The set is a part of Kinder's TR-series, came out in 2012 and consists of the following figures: Moose (TR 008), Seal (TR 003), Arctic Fox (TR 004), Polar Bear (TR 005), Otter (TR 006), Wolf (TR 002), Walrus (TR 007) and Penguin (TR 001). As to why there is a Penguin in an arctic animal set - I have no clue. It's cute though!

In 2012 Ferrero had undoubtedly some smart employees making toy decisions, since they came up with the "Young Arctic Animals" set. These little bebes are made of a nice plastic with a rubbery finish and they just scream collect meeeeeeeeeee. It is also pretty peachy that they sticked with the same species as in the "adult line" because now all my little animal babies can have animal mommies, too! I have the polar bear (TR 013), arctic fox (TR 012), otter (TR 014), penguin (TR 009), walrus (TR 015) and seal (TR 011). I'm only missing wolf (TR 013) and moose (TR 016). Somehow I find it comforting that my adult figures are missing their babies and not the other way around since it would be sadder to have offspring without parents than parents without offspring. I really do think about these things, yes.

Because young animals are the bee's knees, I also collect the baby versions of the Animals Around the World set I showed earlier (also from 2013). Again, the young animals are the exact same species as the adults, including the crocodile already familiar from the very first Natoons set. These have not been too easy to encounter and I only have the platypus (FT 013), panda (FT 014) and kangaroo (FT 009). I do not yet own an adult kangaroo and it breaks my heart a little ☹. Sure enough, I am missing the tiger (FT 010), panther (FT 011), crocodile (FT 012), koala (FT 015) and ostrich (FT 016).

2013 did not fall short on the Natoons front since a set of hugging, flocked pet friends, the Plush Pets, was released. Next year the pets were followed by their wild counterparts in the form of Natoons Forest Animals (inspired by Discovery). It is perhaps quite obvious I collect them both. With a passion. I said before that the flocked rhino was my favorite Natoon, but I really can't decide between it and these hugging hamsters (FT 025) from the pet set. The rabbits (FT 024) are also adorable and I cannot wait to get my hands on the missing doggies (FT 022) and kittens (FT 023). From the forest animals I own squirrels (FF 006) and foxes (FF 007) and am missing ducklings (FF 008) and bears (FF 005). 

2014 also introduced felted Natoons with another "Animals Inspired by Discovery" set. The koala (FF 149 [don't ask]) has felt ears, the fox (FF 001) a felt collar, the monkey (FF 004) felt ...hair and the lion (FF 002) a felt mane. I am only missing a parrot (FF 003) also rocking a felt collar.

The next set is from 2015 and was one of my top wants this Easter. I believe the sets name is Dangerous Predators even though I think maybe "big cats" would have suited it better. Anyways, as I stated in my Kinder Surprise Spectacle, I own the lynx (FS 019) and the lion (FS 022) and am very much looking forward to finding the tiger (FS 023), cougar (FS 020) and black panther (FS 021). The lion and the tiger can also be found in a flocked form which is suuper nice!

The remaining set is likewise an old friend from the Easter blog post. Natoons Junglebabies (2015) was an instant hit for me - now I can get the parents AND the babies simultaneously! I really hope it will not be a pain to find the duos intact second hand, since I only managed to get the "lioness with cub" (FS 147) and the "male chimpanzee with young" (FS 151) from my own Easter eggs. I'm still missing the "lion with cub" (FS 146) the "female chimpanzee with young" (FS 150) and all the ring-tailed lemurs (FS 148 and 149).

The 12th set of Natoons I collect is one of which I'm still missing every single figure. It is the Natoons Jurassic Minis set from 2015 with six different dinosaur figures (FS 152, 153, 154, 238, 238 and 240).

Picture from Catawiki

Like I said, I have not taken a liking to every set of Natoons. They really come in all styles and forms and generally I enjoy the simpler sets without a "catch" such as an additional water color pan. Here's a few examples of Natoons that I am not particularly fond of:

Pictures from Catawiki

I think its pretty amazing Kinder has come up with a series of figures that are a 100 % playable, educational and nice to look at. In my opinion, not many sets tick all three boxes. Different sets of Natoons are very combinable and kids and collectors alike can expand their animal collections each year with the new sets. The quality of Natoons figures is generally A-OK, whether we're talking about the hard plastic figures that need a little assembling (e.g. the Animals of Africa) or the rubbery ones that we're seeing more and more often with the new sets (e.g. Junglebabies).

I've noticed there are quite a few species of animals that repeatedly appear in different sets, such as lions, rhinos or elephants, and this could be boring to some. I myself think it is sort of fun to see different representations of the same animals in different sets.

As for my own collection, I don't think it's the biggest or most dashing of Natoons collections, but considering I don't find excitement in buying complete sets off of Ebay and rather enjoy the treasure hunt, I think I'm doing really well!

I'd like to hear your thoughts on Natoons and Kinder Surprise toys in general. Are they worth collecting? Do you have favorites?

✿Tuuli

Thrifted Treasures - part 1

Hello peeps!

I thought it was about time for me to start a blog post series, how exciting! I figured it could be somewhat cool to every once in a while show what things I have brought home with me from thrift shops and such. Since I was feeling more practical than creative, I decided to name the series thrifted treasures. Without further ado, let's get started!

These teddy in my pockets (or teddies in my pocket?) I actually sneaked out of my dads convention table. I was eyeing the pair from the get-go and decided that if nobody had purchased them after two days I would have to give them a home. So that I did. The one sitting and holding a sailboat is Harry from the 1995 Bear Watch set and the honey holder is Sarah from the Birthday set. The original Sarah from the Birthday toy set holds a yellow honey jar and this blue colored variation could be found in Kellogg's cereal boxes in 1996 alongside four other color variation teddies from different sets.

Mr. (or Mrs...) Tepig here is from the same convention lot but this one I snatched for myself right away. It is from the McDonald's Pokémon Black and White Happy Meal toy set from 2011. It's tail is supposed to light up, I believe, but mine is out of battery. A totally fixable imperfection, of course.

Picture from McDonald's Wikia

Then to the actual thrift finds. On Easter Saturday I dragged my unwilling sister and boyfriend to go for a little thrift round and maaan was I happy that I did. I found these two maneki-neko Hello Kitties from a Red Cross charity store and they are so insanely awesome that I had to get both. I believe that the yellow one grants good luck with money and the green one with school success but I might be totally wrong and am open for corrections. Google tells me these came from a set of seven and I am missing a pink, white, black, blue and red kitty. Oh and also these are in near perfect condition and cost me 2 €. Happy!

The final sextet came in a bag of figures. The seller had a number of Pokémon figures for sale but unfortunately most of them were clear booties and this bag was by far the best and the only one worth buying. One bag contained a Dragonair kid figure that is high up on my wants list but 5 € was just too salty for one kid and a few worthless bootlegs. The most exciting figures that I got were these Topps candy Heatran and Abomasnow. They are both in near mint condition and these figures from the 2009 Pikachu edition (check out my Topps Pokémon figure blog post if you haven't already) are just so well made, nice and heavy. I once ran into the clear, limited edition version or the set's Pikachu and DIDN'T BUY IT. Yeah what's up with that?

These Topps' Sceptile and Latias were also missing from my collection and thereby great finds. Sceptile is from the 2004 Advanced-2 release and Latias from the 2003 Advanced release which were both underrepresented sets in my collection. Both are also in great condition. Sceptile even looks really cool and the paint job is done very nicely, but Latias looks a little sad for a legendary Pokémon. Come on, look at it. It is also a tad weird that they didn't make a Latios to go with it.

The final two figures in the bag were booties. I found the same Zekrom being sold on various web sites as a "Pokémon Black and White Action Figure" but the figure's paint job is so off that it just can't be legit, right?  The Entei on the other hand is a much clearer case. The actual sculpt is not too bad and the material is quite nice so I'm kind of toying with the idea of getting acrylic paint and turning it into a nice custom.

So there's my first set of thrifted treasures! Right after I took the pictures for this post I made more finds so it might be that part two is out sooner than later. As always, comments and opinions would be great! Also feel free to just leave a hello if you come across this young blog of mine, that would be cool☺

✿Tuuli