Mark Bellomo is the author of some of my favorite books for collectors, including Totally Tubular 80′s Toys and The Ultimate Guide to G.I. Joe. I guarantee you that he has more toys than you and me. Mark has put together some videos that showcase his collection and give a good idea of the vast [...]
Photo backdrop in action
July 13, 2011 By 7 Comments
The other day, I showed you how I made a new photo backdrop for some action figure pictures I wanted to shoot for my new online shop. Here are some of the results so far… I really like the way these are turning out, especially how the “cheap” Burger King Dr. Doom looks like he’s [...]
DIY photo backdrop for better toy photography
July 11, 2011 By 12 Comments
Well, I got a little crafty again this weekend, and did some hot glue gun slinging to make a new backdrop for action figure photographs. The fun thing about making a backdrop like this is that you don’t need to be precise, and you can use pretty much anything you have laying around. The first [...]
More tips on taking better photos of your toys and action figures
June 14, 2011 By 2 Comments
In my last post, I showed you to assemble a simple backdrop that gives some pretty dramatic results to your action figure photos. I wanted to show you some of the different ways the backdrop can be used. The hardware store sells colored party light bulbs for around $2.50. Check out the effect a different [...]
DIY project: Take better photos of your action figures
June 14, 2011 By 6 Comments
I wanted to find a way to photograph smaller items, like action figures, in a more exiting manner than just snapping a picture of them against a white background. If you buy or sell toys on eBay, you know how important a good photo can be. So, I went down to the basement and got [...]
Preserve your vintage toy boxes and packaging
May 1, 2011 By 3 Comments
A lot of times, I’ll find a sweet vintage toy at a yard sale and am always excited when it has the original box. Unfortunately, most of the boxes have seen better days, and are bent, ripped, taped, and mildewed, but I’m always optimistic that there is something worth salvaging. For many vintage toys, the [...]
How to Remove Tape and Price Sticker Residue
April 30, 2011 By 9 Comments
I recently bought an empty box for ten bucks. Yep. It’s what I do. This is a huge box that once held the GI Joe Killer WHALE Hovercraft, and it has some awesome graphics. Unfortunately, the box had been taped on all sides with ugly brown packing tape and many of the graphics were completely [...]
How to Photograph Your Toys – Video Tutorial by WeirdoToys
September 16, 2010 By 4 Comments
Justin Gammon of WeirdoToys fame put together this creative little video to show how he shoots those great photos for his site. You might not collect weird toys, but you can certainly learn from Justin how to take better photos of your action figures and other toys. You can see some of his photos on [...]
Is it AU55 or MS63?
January 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment
If that headline made no sense to you, then this article probably isn’t up your collecting alley, but read on anyway and get a little education! Coins are graded like every other collectible, but they are graded on a scale from “poor 1″ to “mint state 70″ with many levels in between. The grading of [...]
Keep Your Heroes In The Bag
October 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Every time a mother goes to clean out her son’s bedroom and puts his comics in the trash, a heart is broken, a memory is made and collectors everywhere smile. Partly, because they remember the painful day it happened to them, and partly because the value of their collection just went up. Comic book collecting [...]
