Happy Aquasitions!

I've been telling you to keep an eye on HappyMeal.com for the Batman: Brave and the Bold toys. Well, I finally got 'em for myself. Hubby and I went down to our local McDonald's and asked if I could just get the Manta Ship and Aquaman toy. The manager nicely found one of each for me, and we were done. Couldn't have been any easier.


As I really can't eat any McDonald's foodstuff anymore, I just got the toys. Hence the receipt saying "2 HAPPY TOY NO FOOD". I would have liked to get a second set of the two toys to keep in package, but we can't really swing it right now. So after photographing the two for this post, I unwrapped them and played around a little. Then posed them for another photo.


As you can see, the toys are number 3 (Aquaman) and number 6 (Black Manta Sub Launcher). The Mantaship is not to scale with Aquaman, but is still really cool. I wouldn't be at all surprised if it is recalled due to the danger of the launching spear. It flies a nice distance! The Aquaman figure has a switch in back: you hold the switch down, put the water ball on his hands, then let go and he throws it. Not nearly as satisfying as the sub launcher, but if you say, "OUTRAGEOUS!" as you have him throw, it helps a little.

I kind of wish I got a full Happy Meal so I could get the box as well... but that's for another attempt I guess.

Aquasitions! part III

The last of my August Aquasitions has a little bit of a story behind it. See, I went to this Wizard of Oz convention with my husband this summer. One of the events was a contest for decorating green glasses. I won a prize unexpectedly, and the prize was a $15 gift certificate to Toys'R'Us. I used that prize to purchase my next Aquasition online.

I originally intended to get an Aquaman action figure. But then I spotted Batman: The Brave and The Bold Wall Stickers and realized I just had to get them.


The full set contains some very cool Batman images from Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Like Colorforms, these are vinyl cut-outs that stick to smooth surfaces, including most walls, doors, and some foreheads.


Who better than Plastic Man to protect the doorknob?


Blue Beetle protects the closet from marauding ... um, closet monsters?


Batman protects the router from viruses and other nasties.

Of course, there are five stickers in the set that are Aquaman related. There's these four awesome stickers, shown here protecting my bedside:


Aquaman gets his own sticker, and Black Manta is one of only two villains in the set. There's also a circle sticker of Aquaman and an Aquaman logo. The other Aquaman appearance in the set is a tad more subtle.


He's also on this Batman sticker, along with Green Arrow and Plastic Man. I decided to have this one guard another door in the house.

The best fun is that these can be pulled off and moved around, allowing me to constantly redecorate the house (much to my husband's annoyance). I really feel like I got my money's worth out of this, especially since I only really had to pay shipping costs.

Aquasitions! part II

This next Aquasition was a complete surprise to me. I got a strange note from a friend and Aquaman artist, and then a few days later this arrived in the mail. An Oz friend by the name of Freddy had been wandering garage sales while staying with the Aquaman artist, found this item, and thought of me!

It's a DC Comics lunchbox, classic Super Friends era!


The front has our standard trio with a tagalong. Superman! Wonder Woman! Batman! Oh, yeah, and Robin. Each one nicely labeled in case you don't know them by sight. And I LOVE the purple trim!


And here's the back of the lunchbox! We get Flash, Batgirl, and Green Arrow. Very cool! But... where's Aquaman?


Here's a side of the lunchbox. The Riddler, Catwoman, and the Joker. Still no Aquaman.


Here's the other side. Supergirl... and hey, wait a minute! Batman and Robin again? Why not give somebody else a chance, you super-attention hogs!


Well, here's the top of the lunchbox, looking under the nifty purple handle. Here we get "Kitten" and the Penguin. I thought her name was Cheetah? Still no Aquaman... But wait, there's one more side to look at:


Ah! There he is! On the bottom with the good company of Hawkman and Green Lantern. It's Aquaman's standard diving pose, but it means he's bigger and front and center from the other two.

I'm really pleased to add this to my collection. I vaguely recall only one lunchbox I had as a kid, and it wasn't a superhero one. But I like to think that little me would have wanted this box and would have delighted in having it. Now, I wonder if there's any chance at all of finding the thermos that went with it? Hrm. I think I'm only interested if that thermos has Aquaman on it...

Aquasitions! part I

It's been a big month for me getting Aquaman stuff, both by purchasing it and other means. So I thought I'd do a multi-part post that shows off some of the stuff I've gotten recently that's Aquaman related. This is Aquasitions!


First up is the Entourage Aquaman Poster. I told you about the fan who made this poster based on the Variety ad in the show itself. He limited the run of posters to 25 copies, and only made it so that he could have one for himself. In gratitude for me mentioning the poster, he sent one to me. I got lucky 13 of 25.


I have to admit, it's a really nice little poster, the exact thing I wish HBO had made for the series. I don't think they realized that merchandising the fake Aquaman movie would have worked so well. The demand was, and is, there for posters and T-shirts. Back to the poster, it really needs to be properly framed.

Next up is the Commissioned Artwork that Tom Beland produced of Aquaman and Mera.


All the way from Puerto Rico, this artwork is great to have in my collection. Like the poster, it needs to be properly framed. I have a great desire to get my artwork up on my walls again, and just haven't done it.

The third object of interest for this post is my Starro Aquaman Heroclix.


I'm sorry about the fuzzy image. My phone doesn't take good close-up pictures, I'm afraid. This one came about because I noticed it on eBay going for cheaper than I'd seen it at any convention. I wanted it, and I indulged just a little and got it. I'm still missing a few Aquaman-related HeroClix, including the Crisis Aqualad, Garth, and Tempest, the Arkham Asylum Black Manta, and the two pogs. But I'll get 'em eventually. I hope.

Moving on, let's hit one more from the bit picture before I go. This is the San Diego Comic Con convention bag.


I asked if someone going to San Diego happened to run across one of these, if they might get it for me. The wonderful David Oakes found one while wandering (apparently a little girl didn't want to lug it around any more) and sent it to me after the con, with jokes about how the little girl might still be in it because it weighed so much!

Inside were the program guide for the convention and the souvenir book. The bag itself is HUGE, as you might be able to tell from this picture:


It's apparently designed to hang on your chest so you can just drop all the stuff you are buying and picking up into it. There's even a side pocket that appears to be designed to hold posters.

So that's it for this edition of Aquasitions. Watch this space. In a day or so, I'll reveal something else.