So it was a long while back, when I was still collecting
Sideshow's Universal Monsters among other
Sideshow figures back in the 2000s. I was searching for alternatives as I always did researching who's got the best prices. I loved buying directly from
Sideshow but sometimes what I wanted wasn't in stock as most of their items were quite affordable (compared to this androgynous pathetic day & age's offerings insane prices) but who else to buy from? Ebay of course was an fair option but they weren't always the most convenient as they wouldn't always have what your looking for. So digging around the net very thoroughly, I actually found many stores which most of them were smaller, independent shops that was on Yahoo shopping (it was extremely fun finding and seeing Yahoo stores back then especially for Godzilla & Star Wars figures, there is nothing like that now sadly) and just on there own servers. So, one day I came across a nice looking web store called
The Aboyd Company. I thought man, this store looks very different and quite old school which I'm liking right away. So I did My research about them and e-mailed them with questions and so forth to make sure items are in stock, prices are still valid and so forth. Not to long after that I was greeted by
Mr. A. Boyd Campbell himself (the owner of the company) and he was very nice and polite...something that is so missing during these times we are in. So with everything he told Me I was convinced he and his company was legit. His prices were so low and he had the lowest prices anywhere
So I had ordered many Universal monsters from him and in fact when I would place an order he would personally e-mail saying thanks for your order and it's on your way. I was always happy about this and thrilled whenever My order would arrive because it would always arrive within 2 days cause he was in Jackson, Mississippi and I'm in Saint Louie so it wasn't that far away. Of all the stores I've shopped at, his was the most enjoyable experience. So with much sadness and disgust, he went out of business long ago, I'm not sure when, I think around in between 2008 & 2010. Everything of his was gone, the web page, the domain, his history...ALL OF IT
I have much regret about this because ever since this happen I feel it's a bit My fault because I felt if I wouldn't have gotten into other types of figures and stuff and still would have bought from
Aboyd he might still be in business today
This is one of many of My regrets that always haunted Me
However, he's not forgotten
Maybe by most of his other customers and other people that just glanced at his store and doesn't give a rat's @$$ but NOT BY Me
He sent Me a couple, really adequate catalogs and I KEPT THEM BOTH
By Me keeping these, this keeps his history alive and relevant to Me as I hate it when a nice store goes out of business and you personally know the owner and then their nothing but a memory...if can help it one way or another I'm NOT gonna LET THAT HAPPEN...no siree bob
So here is them catalogs that
Aboyd sent Me
See what happens when you don't throw away things...you never know, you might be PRESERVING HISTORY so I advise anybody if their gut tells them NOT to throw it away...then listen to your gut and DON'T throw it away. I have found it astounding how much he had and how he specialized in vintage and modern monsters among Sci-Fi and Dinosauria among other great media items! His variety and choices were ideal and and his style old fashioned at it's finest
Every page isn't present, I have selected them to My liking and what is most important to showcase. With that being said let's get down to it
So we here go with the most apropos of the entire point of the matter. Here is the
Sideshow Universal Monsters, many I got from him but one thing I always regretted was NOT getting them variants of
Frankenstein of Lugosi, Chaney & Strange and Kaloff. I put them on the back burner for months that turned into years and it was all over
They were only $30.77 each
I mean that was absolutely a baragin
I also put off the
Young Frankenstein set as well which was only $67.16! I screwed-up here but at least I have this history
Now this stuff not so much then again in a different way. I have spoke about him before, there was a good comic shop on Hampton that I'd like to go too every now and then (I got a lot of great graphic novels and action figures there) and sometimes I'd just stop in there to see what's new and to check the bull$h!t level
Darn shame I can't recall his shop's name. Anyway he had those very same
X-Plus Godzilla statues that is in
Aboyd's catalog. I saw them in person and while they were awesome I couldn't afford them as he wanted over $100 for'em and
Aboyd wanted $93 for them. Anyway, I regret not shopping and getting more at My cool local comic shop as he also went out of business in around the same time perhaps a bit later which I will be talking about him more in time
Now while I'm a huge Kong fan and while much of these items were awesome looking, none of this stuff really interested Me then of owning, however, that
McFarlane Movie Maniacs Series 3 - 1933 King Kong I already have, My Mom got him for Me for Christmas when he first came out back in the year 2000 when horror was still great and people still actually loved it (I miss those times of the Movie Maniacs, it was so fun and people were so thrilled the in the late 90s and early 2000s...now it just seems so distant and how deplorable the situation has become over time is just so depressing). Amazing
Aboyd only wanted him for $14.15 and now this
Kong goes several times that now
Ah man, I really loved these
Dinosaurs by Battat! I never got any of them however I showcased My Vintage
Battat Dinosaur Set in My
Dinosaur Topic long ago. These would have been sweet to have but I never got to obtain them. On the back cover he had some cool
Lizards that I don't know who made them and that is the end of this book
So moving on to catalog number 2, it's actually the first issue of his ultra-fun
ZATSO! It was like
Aboyd's own little comic
Here is his small introduction, you can tell how nice of a man he was by reading it
Ah gosh, the
Ray Harryhausen collection
I wanted them guys so darn bad when they first were released in around 2001. However, When I realized that
X-PLUS USA was making them in different types of figurines such as vinyl figures, statues and even chess pieces, I had to choose which ones I was to collect cause there was no way in Sam "friggin" Hain I was skipping this series altogether because I loved those old movies that they were from as I grew up watching them. So I chose the awesome vinyl pieces because they were made in honor Japanese Kaiju figures and I saw that
Toyzz (another great defunct web store) had them for only around $4.99 each! I had bought the whole set and at that price WHO WOULDN'T
This was a while before I would discover
Aboyd however. His prices were still decent @ just $10.40 a pop and were the lowest when compared to most stores, its just that
Toyzz was a place that would get in rare and new things at super, nearly unbelievable prices and if you didn't get them within a few weeks or even days then their stock was depleted and 9 times outta 10 they'd wouldn't get it back in and you'd never know when they would get the stuff in either as it was best to check them out frequently
That's the place I got My beloved
Kenner Willow & Elora Danan set that I didn't even knew existed (see My great showcase on the first page of My Vintage Action Topic for My entire
Willow collection!)
I mean they were a great store and I loved their blue background. Anyway, these prices that
Aboyd offered was great and even then I consider them affordable...now by today's pitiful standards it's completely a different story. By the way, when I was a guest reviewer for
MWC long ago I reviewed
My great Ray Harryhausen set and you can SEE & READ IT HERE! I did showcase them briefly in My ginormous horror Halloween topic last year! Seeing these in
Aboyd's great book just reminded Me of those times and how cool they were then
This page is something else, there's the
GORT tin wind-up My Grandma got Me sometime ago (I briefly showed him in My Halloween topic as a preview) and there is R. Lee Ermey though as you already know I chose a different version and there is the
Army of Darkness figures that My mom got Me for Christmas that I have showcased with My
Universal Monsters. Gosh those prices were outstandingly low, see if you can get anything modern this good and this cheap NOW
Here is some sweet
Dinosaurs by Safari. I do not have these but I do have miniature ones in a great & fun tube set. With figures like them, they always ranged in different values but gosh
Aboyd's asking price was quite decent. You could get all of them and still be much lower than most retailers were wanting at the time
Here is a very brief look at
Aboyd's comic, it was really cool and such a shame that it has been lost to most except for Me who is trying to bring the memory back from inglorious limbo
Basically the same kaiju items as before except for
X-Plus' Gigan, amazing he had him and wasn't too high either
Oh boy here we go
This is arguably My most regretfully foolish non-obtaining of all of My stuff that I have gotten in the 2000s and that was
Sideshow's Twilight Zone & Outer Limits Basically I did the same stupid thing with them as I did with the
Frankenstein Monsters I previously stated. They were so cool and authentic looking and they were so darn cheap...gosh talk about a total bummer choice I made back then
Now these
Sideshow Brotherhood of Arms and Bayonets & Barbed Wire were great looking but they were never on My list. Nice prices though!
I was never into
Monty Python so I intentionally skipped
Sideshow's great looking figures. I think it was a shame I didn't get the superb
Dark Crystal figures however. Oh how about that,
Palisades Muppet's! Unfortunately I never got any of them (
MWC loved them then and as you know, I was quite high on
Palisades then as well
Oh the
Six Gun Legends by Sideshow! I have all of these guys that is on the page! They made them so fantastic! Gosh his prices were nice! Maybe one day I will showcase them. I also have the two first
Bond 007 figures too as well as other
Bonds by Sideshow and ya never know, I may showcase them as well in the future! Gosh, look at what he wanted for them, only $32...these figures were great and again, see if you get these for that price now or anything this good in current offering THIS AFFORDABLE
About the same as the page in the previous catalog, I just wanted to represent it once more
This is the back and the end of the second magazine. I still kinda find it surreal that these great figures were only $32 especially
London After Midnight & Nosferatu whom were THE ONES that I absolutely had to get in the beginning when I was first collecting My extraordinary
Sideshow Universal Monsters! Well, that'll do it for this unexpected surprise showcase of
Aboyd I hope you have enjoyed it and if this was your first time seeing these great catalogs of his and know about
Aboyd then I hope you were excited and amazed how it was back then in the 2000s or perhaps this brought back the memories of him and you were actually a customer of his as well. Either way. I thought that it was extremely imperative to showcase his great catalogs to relive them times and be excited once again about it but more crucially to bring back the existence of him and his great store that once was. IMO there isn't enough people that is doing anything to giveback or repay the homages of times of old of stores that was in local neighborhoods and/or online with their good experiences. By not doing that...sadly they are gone forever cause nobody is doing anything about it but I cannot say that about Myself as I feel I am doing a great deed here
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are someway, somehow reading this
Mr A.Boyd Campbell or anyone that is/was affiliated with him, I hope that you have liked what I have done and appreciate My effort of what I am trying to accomplish here