I found King Kong at the DC Big Flea (along with a ton of other great vintage toys)!

The DC Big Flea rolled into town again this weekend and it was crowded with people searching for vintage treasures, but I wonder if any of the other attendees was as happy to see this guy as I was…

I remember having one of these large Rom figures as a kid. I wonder what happened to him.

Mitch M.’s booth is always my first stop at the Flea. He always brings a great selection of vintage pop culture items to the show and Rom was just one of the highlights, but my absolute favorite item out of the hundreds of booths at the show was this amazing Munsters lunchbox and thermos. I might need to start saving some pennies to add this lunchbox to my collection…

If you know me, you know of my love for all things King Kong, so when I saw this poster in Henry Karp’s booth, I was more than a little excited…

I can’t tell you how difficult it was to pass up on this King Kong poster. I already have an original poster for the ’76 release, but mine is folded and a little worn, but this one was in excellent condition and it is the teaser version of the poster. Very tempting, but I just couldn’t do it (this time).

You gotta love vintage Soakie bottles, like the ones on this shelf…

I always save the best for last when I visit the Big Flea, and that booth is operated by Brent Stokes, who always has a huge selection of vintage toys and cars, and he is always busy selling something (e.g. his prices are right!).

Brent is always gracious with his time and I learn something new from him at every shpw. For example, did you know that this Bedknobs and Broomsticks Action Bed is highly sought after? I sure didn’t, but apparently it is an early battery-operated toy that was only available in a small number, so collectors crave it. And hey, it’s Angela Landsbury on an “Action Bed.” Rowr.

Check out this vintage Star Trek CSF Controlled Space Flight toy from Remco still in its original box…

…and this sweet Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Seaview Submarine Set…

I remember drooling over that submarine when I saw it at the York show in November. Someday, someday.

This Marx Sparking GMan Gun was also in its original box and the graphics on this thing were incredible. You can bet no kid ever played with this gun! I think I saw one of these on a recent episode of American Pickers.

Brent kept bringing items down from the shelves for me to photograph, and I can’t thank him enough for that, and also for introducing me to Dave Hart, who hooked me up with a free ticket to his toy show later this month in Timonium, Maryland (I hope I can make it but my son’s having a birthday party which might be tricky to skip).

At one point, Brent was trying to tell me how rare these Beatles figures were, but I was distracted by thinking how great the Alfred E. Neuman bust would look in my collection…

This vintage tin Space Patrol car was beautiful, and if I had unlimited funds, you can bet my house would be full of vintage space toys like this one…

The DC Big Flea is great because you really never know what you will find. There are probably only a half dozen toy and pop culture-specific booths but if you look a little, you can sometimes find some gems lurking amid all the Hummels and milk glass. Here is what came home with me this time around…

Most of my purchases were at a single booth where a guy had boxes of trading cards for a dollar apiece, and after moving around a few things, I saw he also had waxpacks for a buck each, but not just any wax packs, he had King Kong wax packs! Needless to say I bought them all, and I even bought a big stack of empty Kong wrappers. Don’t ask me why, because I don’t know that I could give you a good answer. From the same booth, I also picked up a few old Mad Magazines (including the King Kong issue!), and a Gremlins movie magazine.

The Nutty Mad Chief Lost Teepee is a prime candidate for Adam Pratt’s handiwork. And look, another King Kong! This one is a vintage windup King Kong from Hong Kong.

Pages like this one by Don Martin are the reason why I can’t stop buying old magazines, even if they smell like they were found in a port-a-potty on a hot summer day.

All in all, it was another fun day at the DC Big Flea, and I’m already looking forward to its return in March! Who’s with me?