HeroDistrict

Comic book fans are notorious collectors. I myself collect the comics themselves and tons of merchandise related to comic books. As I have stated before, the most rewarding part of collecting is the hunt, as you spend hours scouring websites, stores, and garage sales for that hard to find item. Out of all these options, garage sales are the most exciting because of their unpredictability. You could come up empty handed, and often will at these kinds of sales, but everyone has heard stories about the guy who found an action comics #1 for $5 at a garage sale, or picked up a rare action figure for pennies on the dollar. Now there is a website built around replicating this experience.

But without the smell of the elderly.

Yardsellr advertises itself as an online yard sale, and that is quite the accurate description. There is a ton of crap on this website, and a few shining gems to be found. There is a search function to help narrow down results, but the blocks feature on Yardsellr is pretty awesome as well. The blocks are basically categories, such as Action Figures, Comic Books, and Batman. From there you can scroll through pictures of various items people have put up for sale. I have seen everything from action figures missing various limbs to early issues of Detective Comics. The fun is in the search.

Still better spelling than most yard sales.

Perhaps the coolest feature about things on Yardsellr is the fact that anybody looking at the items can leave comments right there. There have been some long discussions on higher tier items, and they can in fact be quite useful at times. People discuss fair market prices, point out good deals, and often talk about the history of an item. It is also exceptionally easy to contact a seller with any questions and have the answers posted publicly for all to see. All in all, Yardsellr is a great resource for collectors on the search, whether they are looking for something specific or just browsing to see what catches their eye.

Sideshow Collectibles puts out some of the greatest statues a comic book fan could dream of. Well, at least a Marvel comic book fan. That is because, until recently, Sideshow held the license for Marvel characters but not DC. Now that they have the DC license, there is sure to be aweomeness in the future. There have already been some pretty cool pieces made with the DC license, but nothing I have had to jump on yet. Here are some pieces that, should they be made, I would mortgage fellow Hero District writer Billy’s home in order to purchase them.

Bane Breaks the Bat

Please make this, Sideshow. Please.

Yes, Bane is my favorite Batman villain. He is a super strong badass with a highly underrated intellect. The most iconic image of him is definitely the time when he cornered Batman in the Batcave and proceeded to break that fragile little bat-back over his knee. He managed to beat Batman both physically and mentally, officially making him one of the elite villains in Batman’s rogue gallery. A large diorama-like statue of that moment by Sideshow would surely be put in a place of prominence among my collection.

Flash at Full Speed

This makes a much better statue than Flash waiting around for a bus.

I’ve never been a big fan of statues that were made of characters in mundane poses. We like these characters because of their actions, so I want to see them in some dynamic poses. One character that I feel is too often portrayed in a standard hands on his hips pose is Flash. That is because this should never happen. He’s Flash! His whole gimmick is that he is always moving really fast! I want a statue of him in full sprint, lightning from the speed force flashing out all around him. With the level of detail that Sideshow puts into their creations, we could get a definitive collectible for when Barry Allen pushes himself to the limit at the end of Flashpoint.

Batman, The Question, and J’onn J’onzz on the Case

2/3 of the way there.

While it is always cool to see a superhero swoop in and pound a criminal into submission, I have always been particularly fond of the stories where they have to follow clues to reach a villain. I enjoy the journey of Batman sifting through evidence to solve a crime more than when he swings through Gotham and just happens to stumble upon a bank robbery. My three favorite detectives in the DC universe are Batman (duh), The Question, and the Martian Manhunter AKA J’onn J’onzz AKA John Jones. This would have to be a fairly large statue incorporating all three of these characters examining a crime scene. The toughest part would be how to sculpt J’onn J’onzz. He is nondescript when he disguises himself as human detective John Jones, but his martian appearance doesn’t fit into the detective motif as well. Sideshow should come up with an answer to that issue and then make this statue, it would definitely be a high seller.

Captain America is the golden boy of Marvel Comics. He stands for all that is good, and he has been that way since his inception in comics. It is hard not to like a guy whose first appearance featured a cover of him socking Hitler in the jaw. Since then, Marvel has pumped out some truly classic Captain America storylines, such as the one that featured him being turned into a werewolf. In honor of Joe Simon, one of the late creators of Captain America, we will be taking a look at the Marvel Legends First Appearance Captain America. If only the toymakers had decided to honor Simon as well by making a better action figure. Check out my review below:

The DC Universe Classics line of action figures has been around for a while and put out numerous figures of pretty much every DC character you can think of. These 6″ action figures generally feature good detail, decent articulation, and very comic accurate appearances. One of my favorite figures from this line is the one we will be taking a look at today: Sinestro Corps Mongul. This larger figure features great detail and stays true to one of the coolest villains in comics today. I’m looking forward to see how Mongul stacks up in the new Green Lantern comics, but for now you can enjoy the review of this action figure below.

How many people remember Beast Wars? I was reminded of that series a week or so ago when I was sorting through a box of comics with a friend and we came across some IDW Beast Wars comics. For those unfamiliar with this awesomeness, Beast Wars was a Transformers series where all the robots turned into animals instead of vehicles. Optimus Prime became the gorilla, Optimus Primal and Megatron remained Megatron and turned into a badass tyrannosaurus rex. I need to pick that figure up. Megatron always seems to have the coolest vehicle/animal modes. Anyways, my nostalgia led me to pick up some Beast Wars figures, one of which is Drill Bit, the Predacon bore weevil Transformer. Check out my review of this figure below:

There have been numerous incarnations of the Hulk over the years. He started out gray, then he became green, sometimes he is smart, but usually not so much. One of my favorite versions of the Hulk is Joe Fixit. Basically he is every dickish aspect of Bruce Banner’s personality put into a giant gray Hulk body. Joe Fixit found his place in Las Vegas, where he worked as a sort of enforcer. He spent his days being paid to beat the crap out of people and spent his spare time hitting on the showgirls. In other words, Joe Fixit is awesome. The Hulk Classics toy line came out with a 6″ scale version of Joe Fixit that lives up to the reputation of the character. If you need a muscle bound Las Vegas thug to add to your toy collection, you can’t go wrong with this guy.

We are getting close to the holiday season and, much like radio stations and convenience stores everywhere, I’m going to get in on the action a month early. As a special treat for Hero District readers, today’s review will cover three action figures for triple the Sunday dose. We will be looking at figures for Juggernaut, Lizard, and Iron Spider-Man. Obviously they were picked for their Christmas colors, Iron Spider-Man for red, Lizard for green, and Juggernaut for being awesome. They are all great characters, but how do the action figure representations stack up? Check out the video below and see if they would make a better gift for a friend or an enemy.

Colossus has always been one of my favorite X-Men. He is a big old softy from Russia who is always trying to do what’s right. And he can turn into living metal and bench press an airplane. It is interesting to see how writers handle his softer and more quieter side, and then see how he can tear people apart when they get on his bad side. That is why the Marvel Legends Colossus has been on my wish list for a while now. I have plenty of the other X-Men, but my collection wouldn’t be complete without Colossus. Check out my review on this figure below.

Deadpool is, at least in my opinion, one of the best comic characters ever created. He kicks ass, cracks jokes, and is 100% pure entertainment. It is hard to not have fun while reading a Deadpool story. Some of the best involve Deadpool trying to join the X-Men, despite the fact he isn’t a mutant. Of course he is often rebuked, but that doesn’t keep him from being an X-Man in his own eyes. He even has a team uniform! This makes it awesome that the Marvel Legends toy line actually made a variant Deadpool action figure in that X-Men uniform. Check it out below.

Uncanny X-Force is one of the best comics out right now, mainly because it has one of the best rosters of comic characters ever assembled. It is pretty hard to not be entertaining when you have Deadpool, Wolverine, Archangel, Psylocke, and Fantomex working together. It is no surprise that toy makers would want to build off of the success and popularity of the comic book series, so Diamond Select decided that the team would make a great Minimates box set. The biggest issue is the lack of Fantomex in the box set, but overall it is pretty nice. Check out the review below.