The most expensive piece of my mate collection

[arnim zola]

Ok, So I know a lot of you have holy grails and stuff like that and might think Im retarded for this. But I passed on the javelin, manbat, and a lot of other stuff multiple times. The only reason I have the flash, manhunter or manbat is because my friend gave me his. So this is my most expensive piece of my minimate collection.

The Batcave

"A stupid 40 dollar lego set that can be found cheaper at places online is what this is about?"

Nay I say to thee. This is about my love for minimates. And how far i will go for toys I love.

The batcave, I had been putting off buying ever since it came out. I got the joker mates for free when it came out, so it was just a matter of getting the cave and bruce later. Even when I had money, I watched it slip in price everywhere and even go on clearance. I even passed up 20 bucks buy it nows with free shiping due to laziness.

So now that Im doing all right for myself and can afford nice things, I decided, I have every wave of the dc mates and nowhere cool to display them like my marvel mates. There was no justice to that. I could have bought the one advertised on the forum for 19.95, but I wanted this too much to have it be delivered when I am at work and have some shady gansta jack it off of my porch. So I decided to take a trip.

Last year I went to a cousins wedding in Oklahoma city. I live in dallas texas. It is a 3+ hour drive from one to the other. I discovered after crossing the border that the is an actual Toy and Action figure museum in a small town called Pauls Valley. Me and my sister drove over there on the way to the wedding and it was awesome. But that is a different story. The point is, they had a lot of batcaves last year for the retail price. So in the last 2 months, I decided that one week, after I get paid, the next day I had off would be taking a roadtrip.

Here is the good stuff. I remembered the trip was long, but pauls valley was only an hour north of dallas. I got 2 friends of mine to go with me and enjoy the trip. The trip was long and arduous, and had many dangers. We aso drove past the winstar casino. We eventually get to the museum, take a guided tour, and go home after purchasing my batcave and taking a bunch of side trips.

So why is this the most expensive piece you might be asking? Here is why.

At the time of the trip, It took me 35 dollars to fill my tank. An hour trip would maybe take a quarter of a tank in my car. I get good highway mileage. I remembered wrong. Pauls Valley was an hour SOUTH of Oklahoma city, not an hour north. Also, even though they were very nice, the owners of the museum were very small town. They hadnt ever heard of a clearance and upped the cost of the cave to 50 bucks. 55 with tax. I used a full tank of gas that day and I had to fill it again to get to work for the next week. 55+35+35=125. I also got pulled over and got a ticket for driving with 2 registrations and no inspection (dont ask). I still havent paid the tickect, so that will add to the price of the cave.

So far, this batcave cost me a day, and $125. More than my galactus mate, more than most people pay for the rediculously under distributed javelin, and more than a lot of rare toys. On the plus side, it was the amended version from Play Along, and it is bad ass!

The funny part is this isnt even my holy grail.

Enjoy the invasion, and I think every should mod there joker the way I did. Also, if you are near north texas (dinobot, I'm looking at you), you should google the Action Figure and Toy Museum. Its worth going to at least once.

[Mattallica]

whoa, quite the adventure!

two questions

whats the amended version of the batcave?

what did you do to your Joker? do you have a better/closer pic of him? -M

[boyd]

The Toy and Action Figure Museum is a great place to visit. My wife and I stopped there last year when we were moving back to Iowa and were impressed. Where else can you see this many action figures?

I remember the batcave being there when I stopped, but I bought a Bruce Banner / Hulk set and two Twlight Frodo / Aragon sets instead.

[arnim zola]

They still have plenty more batcaves. And they have been updating the displays every month or so. Oddly, they have more minimates in the gift shop than in the museum, and there isnt a whole lot in the gift shop.

Amended Batcave: Play Along released a batcave that fell apart a lot and lacked a lot of structural integrity. It was still cool, so they released it again in the same box, but added a few parts and amended instructions mixed in with the regular instructions. It was nice to do but it was still inaccurate since they didnt update everything. They also sent out amended stuff through their customer service line from what I remember.

My joker is the new joker without the coat piece or hat piece. And I put the hairpiece from the batcave joker on him.

[link 46]

The Toy and Action Figure Museum is a great place to visit. My wife and I stopped there last year when we were moving back to Iowa and were impressed. Where else can you see this many action figures?

I remember the batcave being there when I stopped, but I bought a Bruce Banner / Hulk set and two Twlight Frodo / Aragon sets instead.

I saw minimates!

[Dan]

That's quite a journey.

I'd love to go there one day, though it seems unlikely.

[Zombieboyfiend]

How odd that I live the closest to this and still haven't made the trip. I live in Ok City and if anyone needs some couch space or even floor space and doesn't mind kids feel free to let me know.