I have really struggled this month to write a blahg.
Work has been incredibly busy so time off in the evenings or on weekends are therefore that much more precious. Flowery sentence, I know, but I’ve said before I was an English Major so what do you expect? I haven’t even done any other writing this past while. Ideas are floating around in my head but nothing’s getting written down. For this blahg, I thought I’d pick up a thread from my last blahg, WHAT PRICE HOLIDAYS?, when I mentioned getting Terry McGovern’s autograph when I went to the Transformers convention. Terry McGovern did voice work as Launchpad McQuack in the old Darkwing Duck series and I’m a huge Darkwing Duck fan. That’s the thread I’m picking up again.
Last time I posted a photo of my Terry McGovern autograph:
I had yet to hang the photo in the proper location above the shelf that displays my Darkwing Duck figures collection. Here’s a proper photo showing the figures and the photo hanging above:
If you click on the photo to view a larger image, you will see Darkwing Duck and Launchpad riding on the Ratcatcher motorcycle surrounded by mini figures of Launchpad and Gosalyn. Darkwing is facing down enemies such as Bushroot, Megavolt, Steelbeak, Tuskernini, as well as a Megaduck (yellow version of Darkwing Duck which I painted myself), and Negatron. Negatron is a more recent release in the last five years. There’s also a mini figure of Megaduck. All of the minis were also released in the last year. The Ratcatcher and all of the Darkwing Duck figures on my shelf were put out in the early 90s by Playmates. To the far right on the shelf is a figure of Gizmoduck who showed up in the Darkwing Duck cartoon but that figure, too, is a fairly recent release. Playmates also released a Thunderquack jet and separate Honker Muddlefoot and Gosalyn figures in the 1990s. I have those was well, just to the right above my Darkwing shelf:
These are not my only Darkwing Duck figures. I also have the Funko Pop releases of Darkwing Duck figures as well. Here are the ones in my collection:
There was also a Gizmoduck release but some classify it as Ducktales because the character originated on the Ducktales cartoon but also made appearances on Darkwing Duck. That’s why he’s in my collection:
You would think that would be enough in terms of Funko Pop releases but earlier this Summer, Funko teased us with this image:
I’m interested in all of the figures above but Liquidator and Quackerjack are the Darkwing Duck villains that didn’t even receive Playmates releases back in the day. Liquidator and Quackerjack were part of the “Fearsome Five” set of villains from the Darkwing Duck cartoon along with Negaduck, Megavolt, and Bushroot:
If you’re counting, that leaves only Bushroot, of the Fearsome Five, to not receive a Funko Pop release.
I’ve been collecting Disney Afternoon Cartoon Funko Pops but certain lines have had less releases than others. Here’s a photo of most of my Funko Pops that also include releases from the Disney Afternoon cartoons like Ducktales, Darkwing Duck, Talespin, Goof Troop, and Rescue Rangers:
Here are close-ups of my Talespin figures:
I have two different Shere Khan Funko Pops because there was a variant where his hands were pressed together and I managed to obtain it. There were two other variants from this series that I didn’t pick up. There’s another version of Wildcat where he has grease on his overalls:
There was also a variant of Louie with a different shirt:
I also have the Ducktales series that include Scrooge McDuck, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Webby, Magica De Spell, and the aforementioned Gizmo Duck:
There’s also a 10 inch version of Scrooge McDuck in his gold coins, like the one above, that I didn’t feel I needed to pick up and a variant of him in a red suit which I think I might try and track down.
When it comes to Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers there have only been two releases. They are Monterey Jack and Monterey Jack variant where his eyes are bugged out as if he’s hypnotized by the cheese:
I have the regular Monterey Jack but the variant with the crazy eyes might also be something I’ll purchase some day.
So, what about that Funko tease of other figures from Disney Afternoon shows? Well, I definitely want them all. Fat Cat is the only other Rescue Rangers to be announced other than the two Monterey Jack Funko Pops. Don Karnage, featured under the Coming Soon banner, would add another figure to my Talespin Funkos. Ma Beagle and Flintheart Glomgold would add two more to my Duck Tales collection and of course Liquidator and Quackerjack would complete my Dark Wing Duck collection (for now, until they release a Bushroot). The problem in getting all these is you have to understand the world of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) and how it’s really a cash grab if you want to get what you want.
NFTs don’t exist. What happens is you get to purchase mystery packs with digital trading cards and if you get an Ultra, Legendary, or Grail card then you will eventually get a digital token that you can later redeem to get your real hold in your hand funko pop. Here’s what the Ultra, Legendary, and Grail cards look like:
All of the cards are digital so they have animation but the image captures above are just still images. There are also Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Epic cards. I believe there are around 64 cards across those categories. You have to collect all 64 to be able to get a token for a Don Karnage. You purchase packs and open them to reveal your cards and then this special website tracks your cards and tells you what you need to complete the set to get the redeemable token. Clear? Not really. Here’s a YouTube video of someone opening some of the digital packs:
How did I make out? I bought a few packs and managed to snag the Flintheart Glomgold Ultra for a redeemable as well as the Legendary Quackerjack card that also is redeemable. This left me with a lot of Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Epic cards and some of those were duplicates. Luckily there’s an online Marketplace where you can sell your duplicates as well as purchase cards you need. That’s another whole process where you have to purchase USDC (US Dollar Coins) which are also digital money and they you load it in your wallet and you can purchase the cards you are missing. I sold some of my duplicates and then purchased the missing Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Epic cards to be able to get the digital redeemable token for Don Karnage. I ended up purchasing the cards for Ma Beagle and Fat Cat.
Liquidator was a different story. His was a Grail card and there were only 999 of those so people who managed to reveal one from their packs either kept them or put them up for sale. Ma Beagle and Fat Cat were only around $25 US each so that wasn’t bad. The Liquidator Grail card was also available for purchase from the Marketplace and I had to shell out $210 US. Unfortunately my USDC account was frozen because they thought I was being scammed and it took three weeks to get it unlocked. By then, the cheapest version of Liquidator had gone from $200 US to $210. That wasn’t that bad but if you convert this to Canadian funds, it’s getting up near $300 Canadian. Definitely the most expensive Funk Pop I’ve purchased and I still don’t have it my hand. Redemption is in October so hopefully I’ll write a blahg around that time and reveal my new additions.
That’s it for now. Maybe I’ll dive into my other Funko Pops in my collection. Darkwing Duck is cool. I’ll have the most complete collection of Pops from the Darkwing Duck series and only 998 other people will be able to say that. Was it worth it? Stay tuned!