New Year's Haul

Last weekend was a perfect storm of clearance sales in my area. My main goal was to attend the end-of-year sale at a local comic book shop, but I found that other stores were also discounting items I had been considering for some time. Here's a rundown of my great weekend haul.

Target

Target's Christmas supplies were on clearance, and they had already started putting out their Valentine's Day merch, so I picked up a Stormtrooper helmet ornament by Hallmark and a BB-8 candy dispenser by Galerie. The latter, one of the Valentine's Day products, plays sounds when a button on the front is pushed.

Stormtrooper helmet ornament by Hallmark

BB-8 Candy Dispenser by Galerie

Rubber Chicken Comics (Bellingham, MA)

Rubber Chicken capped off 2016 with their annual sale week, which starts the day after Christmas with 20% off most everything in the store; the discount is increased incrementally each day through New Year's Eve. I waited until the last day, when the discount was 50%, and walked away with some great bargains. I hadn't been to the Chicken in a while, so I had nothing specific in mind, though I was hoping to grab some Godzilla merch, which tends to be a bit pricey. And I lucked out!

1974 Godzilla Vinyl Figure Bank

Godzilla Classic 1989 Vinyl Figure Bank

I also picked up a few Star Wars and Star Trek action figures, marked down from Rubber Chicken's already-low prices. It's hard to resist $2.50 action figures.

Obi-Wan Kenobi (Cold Weather Gear)

Ensign Ro Laren (Former Bajoran Freedom Fighter)

Esoqq (A member of the Chalnoth race)

Q in Judges Robe

Darwyn Cooke was such a great artist and character designer, so I was happy to pick up the DC Comics Designer Series action figure based upon his Wonder Woman at half-price.

DC Comics Designer Series Wonder Woman action figure (based upon artwork by Darwyn Cooke)

I'd also had my eye on Funko's Doctor Strange Pop Vinyl, so this was the perfect opportunity to grab that as well.

Funko Pop! Doctor Strange vinyl bobble-head

I am a fan of both jungle girls and Frank Cho, so at $2.50, this 2014 calendar featuring Cho's Jungle Girl character was an easy "Yes!"

Jungle Girl 2014 Calendar by Frank Cho

I also added to my Heavy Metal collection with the movie's 1996 LaserDisc.

Heavy Metal LaserDisc

Newbury Comics

Newbury Comics is a New England chain that started as a comic book store and has evolved into an all-around pop culture emporium. I had been checking in with them for many weeks in anticipation of Funko's latest "Specialty Series" Pop figure, Max Rebo. Their Bellingham, MA store finally put my long wait to an end.

Funko Pop! Max Rebo bobble-head (Funko Specialty Series)

As luck would have it, they were having a BOGO 50% off sale on Pops, so I was finally able to pick up the 6" Davros from the Doctor Who line.

Funko Pop Davros

And I was surprised -- but happy -- to find the Danger Girl "adult" coloring book on clearance for $2.99!

Danger Girl Permission to Thrill Coloring Book

Barnes & Noble

B&N had a bunch of stuff at 50% off, and I was happy to find the Air Hogs Speeder Bike on the clearance table. I had been eyeing that for a while, hoping I would be able to get it at less than full price. I was!

Remote Control Speeder Bike by Air Hogs

And I was able to pick up the "regular" version of the Vinyl Vixens Wonder Woman to go along with the B&N exclusive version I had bought for full price back in 2015.

Vinyl Vixens Wonder Woman (Barnes & Noble Pre-Release)

Finally, one note

While clearance sales allow some of us to spend more than usual, it's a good thing to shop at these stores year-round, especially at small, single-location, independent comic book stores. These stores are critical suppliers not only of comic books, but of all manner of collectibles. Keeping them in business is important to the future of collecting. Ross Richie of Boom! Studios has more to say on this below.