A giant sign for tiny heroes.

The main attraction: the wall of action.

Superman, Captain Marvel, Robbie the Robot and a cast of thousands, literally.

Michael Vance's well publicized contribution.

This exhibit is so huge, it dwarfs both Galactus and the World Trade Center.

No Batcave can be complete without a bag of delicious Batman Tortilla Chips.

The Balroc rules his roost in this exhibit that showcases the model's creation from prototype to completion.

The Action Figure & Toy Museum. Last month (December), I made the three and a half hour trek from Dallas to Oklahoma City to visit my grandfather. Usually, this is a trip for the whole family but this time it was just me and my younger son, Dan. Before setting out, I decided to make one more deviation from our usual journey. This time I would seek to discover what kind of Comic Book Store goodness has been growing in the largest city (based on land covered) in America. A quick bit of searching online before leaving and I had the address and directions to four comic book stores that would each be conveniently located along our route. Little did I know that our Oklahoma comic book experience would begin miles before we ever reached the outskirts of OK City.

Dan and I left Dallas that morning early enough to have breakfast on the road. We stopped at Sonic. I'm partial to their SuperSonic Breakfast Burrito but I had seen advertised recently their new Denver Omelette Burrito so I decided to get one of those instead. Dan went for his traditional Toaster Sandwich while I suffered with the regret of my decision to try something new. The SuperSonic Breakfast Burrito just can't be beat.

A couple of burritos later and about a hundred miles or so and Dan and I began to notice signs on the highway touting the Toy and Action Figure Museum in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma. I have made the trip from Dallas to Oklahoma City for over 30 years and Pauls Valley has never once registered on my radar. Now it was making my radar go off like crazy. By the time I caught the third billboard, it started to dan on me that I had seen a reference to this Action Figure Museum before. As a matter of fact, I had seen this reference many times before right here at positiveBrand.net.

Michael Vance and Mark Allen are a couple of comic book reviewers from Oklahoma who have been contributing stories to this Review section for the last four months. Michael Vance always adds a plug to the end of his articles that goes like this, " Interested in the exciting Oklahoma Cartoonists Collection and Toy and Action Figure Museum? Go to fourcolorcommentary.blogspot.com/"

By the time we passed the fourth billboard, Dan and I both agreed that we had to take a detour through Pauls Valley to see what this Action Figure Museum was all about. And before we could change our minds, the Pauls Valley exit was upon us. We left the familiar trappings of US-75 and started heading east into unknown territory and after a few minutes, we had entered the brick paved streets of old downtown Pauls Valley.

It was virtually impossible to miss the Museum. Their sign stands like a giant monument atop the retail strip facade of Pauls Valley's downtown shopping attractions. The sign's grande dimensions ironically mark the location of a fantasy universe in miniature.

We stepped into the museum and were instantly greeted by a retail storefront selling action figures and comic books and other merchandising paraphenalia. Of course this was to be expected. To our disappointment, our second greeting came from the attendant who charged us $12 to enter the museum. We were on a mission now so I reluctantly paid the fine for my curiosity. Before entering the museum, I asked the attendant if she knew of Michael Vance or Mark Allen. She looked at me like I had Teletubbies crawling out of my ears. I quickly dropped the query and we went into the museum.

The Toy and Action Figure Museum is kind of what you expect. It is both silly and sensational. Absurd and amazing. My first impression was one of fascination with what appears to be at least one person's obsession with collecting action figures gone wild like drunk co-eds on Spring Break in Cancun.

If you've ever been in a grade school boy's bedroom or playroom, you probably noticed how the carpet seemed to be replaced with the arms, legs, torsos, heads, weapons, vehicles, boxes, and brochures of countless little super heroes, villains, monsters, spacemen, aliens, robots, and dinosaurs. That's what this place is like, except like a thousand times more so.

The main attraction is this huge wall to the left that is completely covered with action figures still in their boxes and stacked from the floor to the ceiling some 30 feet high. In front of this wall display is the most amazing still life of actionfigures posed around and on top of a wide variety of city and terrain models, vehicles, and other appropriately action-themed props. Action figures meant for flying are hanging in place over this spectacle by fishing line, poised to reign vengeance from above on moments notice.

Other exhibits include cereal boxes and other food packaging sporting the likeness of super heroes. A Batcave full of everything Batman. One large glass display shows off the prototype of the Balroc, the fire demon from Lord of the Rings. I remember seeing this cool model at Zeus Comics in Dallas when they first got theirs. Apparently the guy that designs this toy and many, many others is one of the contributors to this museum's awe nspiring collection.

And the I noticed a very familiar site. On a large wall near the exit is a huge sign for the Oklahoma Cartoonists Collection. This is what Michael Vance had been referring to in his articles and on his website. It is a collection of original Dick Tracy comic strips from the newspaper dating back to the 1940's along with original art and other, companion pieces.

After we had gotten an eyeful, we stopped to talk with the manager before leaving. He explained how the museum was started by a toy designer who lives in Pauls Valley and wanted to help create an attraction for their downtown. With funding from the city and help from other contributors like the Balroc designer and Michael Vance, the Toy and Action Figure Museum became a reality, helping to put Pauls Valley on the map.

Now if your reading this from your crowded New York City apartment, I don't recommend that you rush off to Laguardia Airport and book a flight to Pauls Valley anytime soon. But if you live in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, Colorado, or New Mexico, it might be a nice addition to one of your weekend vacations when you include Pauls Valley on your next trip.