If you’re a collector in the New York, tri-state area, and have an impressive collection, here’s something that might be of interest to you… I was recently contacted by a photographer who is working on a photo project that highlights collectors and their collections. I’ve seen several of the photos from some previous photo shoots, [...]
Yard Sale Haul — Construx, Playmobil, and “You Sank my Battleship!”
April 29, 2012 By 24 Comments
Do you smell that? Yep, it’s the smell of wet cardboard, and moth-eaten sweaters–yard sale season has finally returned! If you’re new to Cool & Collected, I should warn you that the next few months are likely to be filled with posts like this one, where I show off the treasures I find at the [...]
When I was 12…
April 28, 2012 By 9 Comments
Pardon the interruption, but this post will stray a bit from being entirely pop-culture oriented. You have been warned. When I was 12, my family was stationed in Seoul, South Korea. We lived in a small apartment in government housing, 10 miles or so from the main military base. We were pretty much living with [...]
Book Report: The Cabin in the Woods — double feature!
April 27, 2012 By 1 Comment
Consider this a bonus book report, because you get not one, but TWO books reviewed, all for the low, low price of just your time. First up, is Tim Lebbon’s The Cabin in the Woods: The Official Movie Novelization, based on Josh Whedon’s and Drew Goddard’s screenplay. I was looking forward to reading this since there [...]
Beatles Yellow Submarine art prints by Tom Whalen
April 26, 2012 By 1 Comment
Illustrator-extraordinaire, Tom Whalen, is a busy guy! It seems like every day, a new piece of his work zooms around the interwebs. Today’s dose of Mr. Whalen comes to us from Dark Hall Mansion, which strikes gold (er, yellow) again with their latest release of art prints, this time celebrating the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine. This is first [...]
Avengers Assembled by Mondo
April 25, 2012 By 7 Comments
The final posters in Mondo’s Avengers series were revealed today, and the Avengers have officially assembled. While each of these posters is fantastic in its own right, I really wish Mondo would have gone with one artist for the series. It would have been great to see a series similar to Olly Moss’ or Tyler [...]
First-ever Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles illustration by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird to be auctioned
April 23, 2012 By 4 Comments
Consigned by Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman; the first full artwork of the TMNT, which led to one of the most successful comics character franchises in history DALLAS – The first-ever artwork of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – the illustration that launched one of the most successful character franchises in history – created for fun one night in [...]
My Prized Possession
April 20, 2012 By 16 Comments
This week’s League topic is a show and tell event, where you’re asked to show off your prized possession. Many of my fellow bloggers have already chimed in with sentimental objects that tug at your heart strings and ooze nostalgia… I’m not going to do that. Believe me, It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s [...]
DIY Forest Diorama for Action Figure Photography — Part 3 — Let’s take some pictures!
April 18, 2012 By 6 Comments
The last two posts showed how I made the forest diorama, and now it’s time to see it in action… G.I. Joe action figures fit right into the landscape. By adding a few sticks to the scene, the photo has more depth. A red light bulb was used to simulate the brake lights of the [...]
DIY Forest Diorama for Action Figure Photography — Part 2
April 17, 2012 By 7 Comments
In the first part of this series, I showed you how to make the diorama base out of styrofoam insulation board, glue and paint. The fun continues here with the addition of the trees… Insulation foam is a great material for dioramas because it is so easy to work with. After doing a little yard [...]
