03/16/2006 Entry: "The Million Dollar Belt!"

It's been a long few weeks and I was in need of some Retail Therapy. Fortunately, I work across the street from Toys 'R' Us.

Jakks Pacific is a dumb name for a toy company, but these guys know how to rawk an action figure. They also know how to rawk Matt, because I am absolutely in love with the idea of a replica "Million Dollar Belt" in 2006. For those who never watched wrestling, I apologize for bringing it up so many times lately. The Million Dollar Belt was purchased by, who else, the "Million Dollar Man," Ted DiBiase. Ted was all pissed off that his bribes and wrestling ability weren't getting him any real world titles, so he just bought his own. The belt sometimes became a factor in his matches, but it was more just for decoration and to give the WWF an excuse to create about 60,000 vignettes where DiBiase and manservant Virgil lived at a jewelry store for a month while some random jewelry dude built the stupid belt. It's a pretty good replica, or I should say, it's as good as it could possibly look for a replica that costs 11 bucks and is made entirely of plastic. They even got the dollar sign strap right. Awesome.

More interesting than that was the sight of me trying to hide said Million Dollar Belt when I got back to the office, because I just didn't think people needed to know that that's what I do on my lunch breaks.

Chestnuts roasted by Rhino @ 03/16/2006 10:08 PM EST

Sorry, I just can't help but laugh.

Chestnuts roasted by Ryane @ 03/16/2006 10:08 PM EST

Oh, I just remembered. If your TRU's have anything that is still "green tagged" from way back when, it should now be 90% off.

Chestnuts roasted by Ryane @ 03/16/2006 10:10 PM EST

I need to go to Toys R' Us. I don't think I could resist anything with that kind of a discount. Heck, I'd buy a flu if it was 90% off.

Incidentally, for those of you who still think the internet should be educational: diatoms. We mine the empty shells of billions of long-deceased microscopic critters from the ocean floor because they form natural retroreflectors, and thus extremely shiny paint for road signs. The world rocks.

Chestnuts roasted by Jedoc @ 03/16/2006 10:15 PM EST

You should have worn it around for the rest of the day and pulled some of MDM's classic stunts, like promising to pay small children hundreds of dollars if they can dribble a basketball 15 times, letting them get to 14, and then kicking the ball into the audience.

Chestnuts roasted by The Wukong Effect @ 03/16/2006 10:17 PM EST

So they don't still make the belt replicas out of that shitty foam that breaks as soon as you smack your siblings with it? Awesome!

Chestnuts roasted by Mystie @ 03/16/2006 10:34 PM EST

Eighth! Or however that is spelled. Man, Im lame. But this is as early as I can get.

Chestnuts roasted by Terror Claws Cole @ 03/16/2006 11:03 PM EST

Thats cool Matt. I loved Million dollar man's themes song. Money money money money money Every body's got a price everybody's gonna pay. I can't wait till I finish college and I can go on toy runs at lunch. Thanks to this video http://www.thatvideosite.com/view/850.html
and your site I'm totally back into the ninja turtles from both eras. I'm gonna spend my spring break going to all the second hand toy stores and new toy stores to buy them all. I watched the first movie yesterday. Was anyone else who saw it for the first time when it first came out really surprised to see that Casey Jones was in it? I remember going nuts when that happened because it was before the internet and you didn't know everything about a movie before you saw it.

Chestnuts roasted by Pat @ 03/16/2006 11:19 PM EST

I got one of these awhile ago in a special pack with a Million Dollar Man figure in a snazzy silver suit. Now my Harry talking doll from Harry and the Hendersons proudly wears it.

Chestnuts roasted by Mike @ 03/16/2006 11:20 PM EST

Lucky me I loooved wrestling when I was a youngster. Lousy Million Dollar Man.

Chestnuts roasted by mrjayberry @ 03/16/2006 11:31 PM EST

Matt, Plan on defending that belt?

Cause it's time to DANCE!

Chestnuts roasted by Fox @ 03/16/2006 11:31 PM EST

You hid the belt from your co-workers? If it were me, I'd have probably been wearing it for the rest of the week. But, everyone I've ever worked with knows that I'm a little off, so they wouldn't be surprised.

Chestnuts roasted by TE-Ryan @ 03/17/2006 12:13 AM EST

hahaha that rocks. i see nerds in the bg! awesome!

Chestnuts roasted by Eddie Lightning Frog @ 03/17/2006 12:30 AM EST

Ted DiBase was in one of my NES wrestling games.

He SUCKED. Hogan was where it was at, man.

But to be fair, Teddy hasn't subjected us to any crappy reality TV shows yet. He's got that much going for him.

Chestnuts roasted by The ORIGINAL Paul @ 03/17/2006 01:20 AM EST

That belt rawks! Actually, that's bringing back some mems, esp. Virgil...he's got those crazy psycho eyes...yawsh! He's gonna getcha!!

i just saw the Hogan Arby's ad today for the first time and laughed my ass off!! It was freaky, but really funny too.

Encore was playing some killer shit tonight...Millenium with Kris Kristofferson, then Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, then Runaway with Magnum!! Some craazy futuristic/rock n' roll stars feature...but that's just what I think...

Kris Kristofferson
Tina Turner
Gene Simmons

huh.

Chestnuts roasted by kidneyboy @ 03/17/2006 01:35 AM EST

That video sucked. Bad. That kid was trying way too hard to look goofy, and the quality suffered.

When I perform occasionally, I tell people that I'm getting ready to play this song that really means a lot to me and that has helped me throughout the years, and really sap it up, and then I just play the TMNT theme song.

Chestnuts roasted by Tommy @ 03/17/2006 03:35 AM EST

do those belts still come with the disclamer "one size fits most" ?

Chestnuts roasted by dohopoki @ 03/17/2006 04:59 AM EST

wow, this reminds me of that one time I met Virgil (he was in WCW at the time) and he wanted me to 'talk to that girl and ask if she wants to come to the hotel with me'. I told him to go do it himself. Damn, I ain't no pimp!

Chestnuts roasted by Sjoerd Zegers @ 03/17/2006 05:18 AM EST

"Money, money, money (diabolic laugh)." One of the great themes in wrestling history. Simplicity defined.

Mystie, it is nothing to do with popularity. I think you do a good job over at your place and you deserve at least some recognition.

Chestnuts roasted by The Manimal @ 03/17/2006 05:35 AM EST

St. Patrick was always my favorite saint. I'd spend CCD just dreaming about this great big bearded bastard in a green robe, beating Celts with his shillelagh and drunkenly bellowing things like "Stop yer worshippin' o' th' feckin' fairies, ye pagan gobshites!" And it was my private theory that there weren't actually any snakes on Ireland, he just had a wicked case of the night terrors.

Of course, then it turns out that it doesn't make any sense for him to be Irish in the first place, and that he was probably Welsh, and just went around using too many consonants at people. Then again, a Welsh missionary to the Irish makes a certain amount of sense. "Oi--you there. Be Catholic. Piss the English off a treat."

Sliante.

Chestnuts roasted by Jedoc @ 03/17/2006 07:57 AM EST

Yeah, but at least it's to the point now that the site just about pays for itselt. Everything I make off it I put right back in. Recognition is nice, too, though. I figure either I suck a lot more than I think I do, or it's as I feared and no one cares about woman on the internet that aren't taking their tops off. Either way, I keep chugging along.

Chestnuts roasted by Mystie @ 03/17/2006 08:02 AM EST

I was just at TRU the other day and I didn't see that. If I would have saw it, it would have been mine. I don't know if anybody else had them but those hasbro wwf figures were great and I see them, from ebay, in my future.

Chestnuts roasted by Geoffinsanity @ 03/17/2006 08:05 AM EST

Happy St. Patrick's Day, all! I am at school (dressed in green, of course) and waiting patiently for 3rd class= we're showing the students "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" for a Patty's Day treat. Yes! So, less teaching for me, and HP too!

That belt is awesome. I always wanted one of the belts...any one would do, but that one is more original than most. Nice find.

Ever notice that the Million Dollar Man spent most of his matches in the continuous act of pulling up his wrestling trunks? He was always pulling up his trunks...

Chestnuts roasted by Muppet Baby @ 03/17/2006 08:23 AM EST

Is today the actual St. Patricks Day? Huh. I just happened to grab a green shirt this morning. Must've been subconcious.

At least that makes this not totally OT: I decided to check my local McDonalds for the (in)famous shamrock shakes last night, and was pretty disappointed that they didn't have any. My solution? I bought a vanilla, took it home, added peppermint extract and green food coloring. BAM! Made my own shamrock shake, bitches! And it was delicious.

Chestnuts roasted by ZiZak @ 03/17/2006 08:41 AM EST

"More interesting than that was the sight of me trying to hide said Million Dollar Belt when I got back to the office, because I just didn't think people needed to know that that's what I do on my lunch breaks."

haha... I know exactly what that's like. I take the 1 train to TRU at least twice a week during lunch, will almost always buy something.. and then have to try and smuggle it back into the office without wary eyes spying my bag. Otherwise I hear "Can we play with your toys too!?" or the like. I know your plight Matt...

Chestnuts roasted by Double G @ 03/17/2006 08:48 AM EST

I own a green shirt that I only wear on St. Patty's day. It says "dublin". I totally forgot it today. Dammit.
There's a girl that's been sitting in the coffee shop for a couple of hours, burping up a storm, not trying to hide them at all. It's really funny. Makes me forget about not wearing greens.

Chestnuts roasted by kb @ 03/17/2006 10:00 AM EST

I enjoy toys. When I worked at Target a couple of years ago I got one of those Kinex amusement park roller coasters that are almost as big as actual roller coasters. It was on super-clearance and it was about 20 bucks. I got to get made fun of by my coworkers and try to lug it home on the bus. Ah well.

Chestnuts roasted by Rhino @ 03/17/2006 11:13 AM EST

Lick a leprechaun for St. Pat! May the good Lord take a liking to ya, and blow ya up real good!
Anyway, I remember when DiBiase was in Mid-South Wrestling, and was known as "The Big Cheese." Not an actual moniker, but a nickname for being the top guy for a bunch of malcontents. Now, I'm all weepy for an old-fashioned Jim Duggan/Butch Reed "Hacksaw vs Hacksaw" match.

eminentfreak says "Hi!"

Chestnuts roasted by kingklash @ 03/17/2006 12:00 PM EST

Matt, hide the belt? Heck, I would have worn the belt to work after I bought it. If I were one of your coworkers, I would have been so jealous!

I give Ted BiBiase a lot of credit. He is one of the few oldschool 80s that is still respected, admired, still in the business and sucessful, and most of all managed to maintain his dignity (unlike Ultimate Warrior, Hogan, Macho Man etc, as much as I loved them back in the day and I hate to say it, most of them have not made the best decisions and/or have just flipped out)

Chestnuts roasted by Destro @ 03/17/2006 01:51 PM EST

Speaking of celebs and reality, I heard that the new edition of CBS' Rock Star will be a search for a vocalist for some new band that contains members of some other bands. Butch Walker has written and produced a record for that group but needs a vocalist.

That sounds very sad that they are expecting us to buy into that (just look at how INXS lost its credibility), but look on the bright side of things - at least it's not Rock Star Van Halen or Rock Star Queen like it was rumored. Thank goodness!

Chestnuts roasted by mjf7583 @ 03/17/2006 02:31 PM EST

http://funmansion.com/html/Can-Creations.html

This guy made a bunch of stuff out of soda and beer cans. Check it out, its pretty cool.

Chestnuts roasted by Tommy @ 03/17/2006 04:51 PM EST

Big Boss Man was the best wwf wrestler ever!

RIP BBM

Chestnuts roasted by Greg @ 03/17/2006 04:51 PM EST

Oh you americans are so lucky with your million dollar belts and he-mans! Us brave finnish lads play with knives and booze!
I'm jealous.

Chestnuts roasted by dudefromfinland @ 03/17/2006 06:42 PM EST

Lately I've been catching snippets of my husband's Brett Hart DVDs. When I was little, I thought wrestling was for hicks, but now I kind of like it in spite of myself. Especially after watching The Rise and Fall of ECW.

Chestnuts roasted by Jessica Marie @ 03/17/2006 07:01 PM EST

Yes, the 90% green tagged stuff at TRU is going on now. My sis in law got a Little Tykes plastic slide and swing set for 12 BUCKS! It was originally 120. She also got a smaller OCC bike for 18. Craziness... I, personally, haven't found anything yet though. :/

Chestnuts roasted by Ryane @ 03/17/2006 07:38 PM EST

Happy St. Paddy’s day. This is completely off topic but I saw V for Vendetta, today was its release in the States. I thought that it was one of the best films that I have ever seen. Portman did an excellent job and they said bullocks quite a bit. Some parts seemed rushed but other than that it was a work of art. I give it a fuckin' A.

Chestnuts roasted by Darth Poop @ 03/17/2006 07:46 PM EST

Matt: For $400, you could buy the "real" million dollar belt. Have you seen this? http://shopzone.wwe.com/Product_detail.asp?productId=06-00786

I was an old skool WWF fan. Then got back into pro wrestling in the mid 90s. I follow WWE and its at times over priced merchandise.

I'm a frequent visitor to your site and finally felt I could contribute somewhat. 8)

Richard

Chestnuts roasted by MrRich @ 03/17/2006 08:41 PM EST

Happy St. Patrick's Day, folks. As it turns out, the Westmont McDonald's DID have Shamrock Shakes. I got to have my minty green St. Patty's goodness while riding home across a gorgeous park nestled around hills and creeks; beats the view of two gas stations and an MAB Paint Store at the Wildwood McDonald's. Yes, I wore my green, too (well, yellow-green - my dark-green shirt was in the wash).

And with all this talk of 90% off toys, I MUST find my closest Toys R Us. I'm not a wrestling fan, but TRU's usually pretty good to me, and I want to see if the ones around here are bigger than the fair-sized TRU near the Hamilton Mall.

Chestnuts roasted by starwenn @ 03/17/2006 09:26 PM EST

Nightmare on Elm Street - AMC - 10M EST & 2:AM EST.

Guess that's my friday night.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt(#2?) @ 03/17/2006 09:34 PM EST

My closest Toys R Us is DEAD and it's depressing to go into.

Also I wish I could go out this St Patty's Day. Stupid work. Plus I have no one to go out with. I actually ran into my old drinking buddy just yesterday but seeing as she's 8 months pregnant noooot a good idea to go out drinking. I told her I'd call her in 2 months and we'd go to the club and get drunk and crazy like we used to.

Working overtime tomorrow. 11 hours. Bleck. I hope the crazy pantyhose man doesn't call me again. ;.;

Chestnuts roasted by Mystie @ 03/17/2006 09:41 PM EST

starwenn - I'm not sure about other TRU's, but I know our selection of green tagged items is rather random and scattered. We used to have a section for those specific items, but we had to move it all back into their respective departments thanks to Sizzlin Summer toys and dumb ass looking easter baskets taking up so much space.

I know there's alot of our stuff that isn't even tagged, so if you wanna check something, scan it on the price checker. It *should* tell you. If the price ends in an 8, it's clearance, and is more likely to be green tagged.

Ok, I'm rambling, or at least I feel like I am!

Chestnuts roasted by Ryane @ 03/17/2006 09:45 PM EST

Write whatever makes you want to write. Please
Happy Saint Pat's everybody! About to catch Frank Vincent on last night's Colbert Report...really glad it's Friday.

Chestnuts roasted by squee4242 @ 03/17/2006 11:42 PM EST

Wow, you all make me so jealous. My nearest Toys R Us is about a 6 hour drive away, so getting any of these sale toys probably isn't going to happen for me. But on the bright side, the McDonalds in my small town has Shamrock Shakes, so I was able to enjoy one of those this St. Pat's Day.

BTW, I've been visiting the site for about 2 years now and love it, just never felt the need to comment before.

Chestnuts roasted by snowpsycho @ 03/18/2006 01:48 AM EST

Rick Flair is turbo gay. Andre the Giant is where it is at...that's old school wrestling there, man.

Chestnuts roasted by Rachel the Undying @ 03/18/2006 09:43 AM EST

Talk about timing...somebody had mentioned earlier in the thread the skit with Million Dollar Man kicking the basketball away from the kid, and now there is an entry up at Wrestlecrap about it, here: http://www.wrestlecrap.com/jotw.html

Chestnuts roasted by Y2JB78 @ 03/18/2006 10:27 AM EST

This post was perfect since Saturday Night Main Event is on tonight!! Although the WWE (its still hard for me to call it that) has gone in a zany direction and is running out of good ideas (and wrestlers) it made me smile because it reminds me of the heyday of wrestling circa '87. Saturday Night Main Event was a semi-frequent event. The one that stood out in my mind was where Macho Man Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan became enemies because Hogan was a dickhead and didn't help out Miss Elizabeth when she was squashed by Akeem the Dream or something like that. Matt remembered it better than I did when I mentioned this in a post a while ago. I don't know if I could stomach John Cena and The Spirit Squad or any of those other bullshit wrestlers they have nowadays.

Chestnuts roasted by phunqsauce @ 03/18/2006 12:07 PM EST

here is my humble opinion of how I think Vince's stagnent monster could be revitalized:
Titan Sports should be the the overall entity, like the NFL.
The divisions: WCW and WWE.
Basically run it with the model for the XFL. Have most of the normal shows for division bouts. Split the PPVs for "Division Tourneys" and use WrestleMania as a Super Bowl to determine overall Titan Champion, both Indivdual and Division. Added drama during the player "Drafts."

Chestnuts roasted by kingklash @ 03/18/2006 02:39 PM EST

Not on topic, but Target has exclusive red Peeps! Maybe Mystie is interested, maybe she's not, and maybe someone else out there is. But they're there, and my collection has grown.

Chestnuts roasted by mtrox @ 03/18/2006 02:56 PM EST

Also not on the awesome topic of wrestling, but:

The SFI Lifetime Achevement award is being given to George Lucas RIGHT NOW from 3PM-5PM. Looks good so far: William Shatner is hosting and did a song and dance with a chorus line of storm troopers. Very weird. Anyways, the Star Wars casts are going to reunite, and Chewbacca is there too. Good stuff.

It's on the STAR channel, by the way (up in the 600s with a Bell satellite dish).

At the head table, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford (with Ally McBeal) are all sitting together...what about Mark Hamill, I say!?

Chestnuts roasted by Muppet Baby @ 03/18/2006 03:14 PM EST

Hamill gets the shaft? Bogus!!!!

Chestnuts roasted by phuqsauce @ 03/18/2006 04:35 PM EST

Man, that is cold (insert Hoth joke here)! Makes me really wish I had that channel.
I don't have the link handy but there was a priceless article on starwars.com with the Project Runway contestants talking about the impact the movies have had on them and fashion in general that was incredibly entertaining.

Chestnuts roasted by squee4242 @ 03/18/2006 05:24 PM EST

I watched Doctor Who last night on Sci-Fi, and I'm happy with it. Story-wise it's pretty well paced. Eccelston make a good Doctor. As for continuity, for now I see it as kind of a G-Gundam or Gundam Wing kind of alternate, not actually Prime Who Continuity, but a good place for stories nonetheless.

Chestnuts roasted by kingklash @ 03/18/2006 05:42 PM EST

And to think that all I can do on my lunch breaks is hit up the nearest quarter vending machine. I usually just end up with a cheap TF keychain. Got a little rubber Pikachu once, though. I really need a life.

Chestnuts roasted by Nate @ 03/20/2006 02:43 PM EST

Oh yeah. I forgot to mention that I have a blog now. I apologize if you're offended by it. Click name to view.

Chestnuts roasted by Nate @ 03/20/2006 02:46 PM EST

Matt, m'man, you need to EMBRACE your fanboyishness.....

don't hide from it, because the longer you hide from it, the more ashamed you will feel, if these co-workers are gonna be your colleagues for life, then you should let them know that you're the head-honcho of one of the greatest pop culture websites on planet earth.....

the sooner they know, the sooner the ridicule will be over, and you can get on with your lives....

otherwise, you will spend years, hiding your shame, only to be found out (they always find out), and made fun of endlessly, for not telling them sooner.....

spare your career!, X-Entertainment is worth it!

Chestnuts roasted by Justin @ 03/21/2006 04:06 PM EST

That belt is great. You definately need to wear that to work and challenge your boss to a steel cage match.

Chestnuts roasted by The Adamantium Elbow @ 03/31/2006 08:19 PM EST