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TMNT at Work: The Leonardo Collection

Posted on July 1, 2016 by Walt

It’s easy to locate my desk/work-area at work: just look for the toys displayed on a cabinet above a cubespace. I tend to go in phases, over a period of weeks/months of adding to or building a ‘collection’; after a lengthy Robin (Tim Drake) run, I cleared the cabinet, and restarted with Leonardo, Ninja Turtle.

leonardos_01

Initially I started with taking in several of the "basic" figures from the various toy lines over the years. 1980s, 2003, 2012, the "Original Comic" line, and even the 2014 film line. Then I found the Classics figure, the Funko Mystery Mini, and the miniature version of the 2003 figure.

Since starting, I’ve acquired the miniature 1980s figure, the two mini 2016 film figures, and the MegaBlox 2012 figure along with the plush.

And while helping clean out my parents’ garage, I found what I think was some sort of Kids’ Meal toy, presumably from Burger King back in the day (based on the 2003 animate series.

leonardos_02

In addition to these I have quite a few Leonardo "variant" figures primarily from the 1980s line.

leonardos_03

The larger quantity of figures I started with of Leo is why I went with him as the focus…and he’s "traditionally" been my favorite Turtle (though I’d say in recent–the last 10 or so–years that has shifted to Raphael).

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

After 12 Years…Finally: The Complete Classic TMNT!

Posted on June 30, 2016 by Walt

Twelve years ago, Summer 2004, I was excited at the (then-finally) release of the original episodes of the "classic" TMNT cartoon on dvd. Prior to this, there was only old VHS tapes (That were hardly complete runs) or less-than-stellar downloads and such.

So when a dvd of the first season–the original 5-episode "mini-series"–was released, I was stoked! (Even though I still prefer the 2003 series above the 1980s and current shows).

Not too long after there were a number of other releases, as Volume Two and Volume Three and so on…simply collecting a few more episodes at a time, but stuff was spotty…and then there was crap like a season being released as four parts, four different units to purchase instead of just one, and so on. More recently, stores have seemed spotty on carrying stuff (by "stores" I primarily mean Target and Walmart with a bit of Toys R Us thrown in) with a mix of the "volumes" and "seasons". Finding them for around $5 each, I’d (over a period of months) acquired seasons 10, 8, and 9) after buying the season 3 set (which duplicated several of the early "volumes"–and the discs actually still bear the "volume" labels).

I was thrilled recently fo find a full Season 7 unit (containing the entire season, not just a "slice" of the season) for a good price (about $15).

Of course…that still left me with a gaping, expensive hole: I had seasons 1-3 and 7-10…but no 4, 5, or 6.

tmnt_classic_series_full

Presumably to capitalize on the new live-action movie, Walmart seems to have at least temporarily stocked more TMNT stuff…including new double-season editions.

Over the weekend, when I literally came face-to-face with the Season Four box set and then spotted the double-season edition with Season 5 and Season 6 and realized I could complete the series for a "mere" $25, I jumped on it. (In an age when single 2-hour films cost $20-$25+…to get 3 seasons for that same pricing was fantastic!)

And now, "only" 12 YEARS later, I finally own the entire "classic" Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series.

I’ve also "kept up with" the releases of the current series…and may "splurge" on the live-action series now…as that’ll just leave the 2003 series missing. I have some of those dvds…but hardly the full series, and those were horrible as they only had 3-5 episodes each (even splitting a 5-part story labeled parts 1-5 onto two different releases!).

Time and "patience," I guess!

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Rant of Disgust on Animated Ghostbusters DVDs

Posted on June 29, 2016 by Walt

I was pleasantly surprised (initially) and then highly disappointed with the discovery of the classic animated series The Real Ghostbusters on dvd.

I’ve never known of it being on dvd before this, but I have very fond memories of the show–I may never have watched EVERY episode or gone totally ga-ga for the toys and such, but it was definitely a show I enjoyed (more than the movies, even, at the time!).

But my pleasant surprise quickly turned to disgust, and despite being in the “I’m gonna buy SOMEthing to watch tonight!” mood that might’ve seen me spend $20-$30, even, on a box set of The Complete The Real Ghostbusters or such, or $15-$20 on a “box 1 of 2″…the publisher did what I hate as much as variant covers.

They have the entire series. There’s no current release (that I’m aware of) ahead of these, say, from 10+ years ago. All the episodes are available to them and ready to go, right now. ALL FOUR are put out at the same time, together. As FOUR INDIVIDUAL RELEASES, we have all these episodes.

There’s no box set that I’m aware of for the whole thing.

real_ghostbusters_volumes_instead_of_set

And while I’ve nothing concrete to go on at the moment or anything for a “works cited” page–I’m quite confident that a large part of dvd PRICING relates to manufacturing–the discs, the dvd case liners, the cost of the cases, and then assembly (liner into the case, disc(s) in to the case, whatever shrink wrappage over everything). Then stuff like individual bar codes, soliciting to stores on four different SKUs or whatever, all that for FOUR things when they could easily just do 1.

As a comparison–12 episodes each for vols 1-2 and 11 each for 3-4…that’s 46 episodes. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles season 3 has 47 episodes, and sells (via Target at least, and much less at Walmart) for $15. So it’s far from impossible to do a bulk release in a single, small package.

What’s worse with the Ghostbusters release is that they commit another thing: these are marked as “vol. 1” and “vol. 2,” and NOT as SEASON 1 or SEASON 2.

I don’t know–and not interested for the principle of this rant–how many seasons the show ran, but “vol. 1” suggests “intentional series” to me while “season 1” suggests to me a grouping by season. (Over with Disney/Marvel–rather than restrict themselves to “just” season 1 that was 13 episodes for X-Men the Animated Series, the VOLUME 1 release was 13 episodes–the complete first season–and then several episodes of the 2nd season!)

I allow SOME difference, say, for Nickelodeon‘s TMNT releases being incomplete seasons each–but they’re often putting out a release of 6-10 or 12 episodes from the current season WHILE the current season is STILL GOING ON. I’d PREFER to have FULL SEASON SETS (they recently released complete seasons 1 and 2…but I already have all of the individual releases) so for present I’ve continued on.

So, despite fond memories, nostalgia, and definite INTEREST–I did not buy ANY of the Ghostbusters sets. Sure, they’re “only” $10, and buying “vol. 1” for $10 for immediate gratification would be CHEAPER THAN blowing $30 in one go…FOUR releases at $10 each mean an eventual $40. And I was not prepared to spend $40 (even $30 would have REALLY pushed boundaries). At the same time, this being OBVIOUSLY timed to coincide with the new movie about to hit…if I bought vol. 1 now, and even vol. 2 next week and then held for several weeks–would I even be ABLE TO complete the set, or would these be flash-in-the-pan, here-today-gone-tomorrow?

In an age where more and more is being condensed–Double-Feature packs, Triple-Feature/Trilogy packs, 4 Film Favorites packs, franchise box sets, anthology sets, even double-season and FULL SERIES box sets–here they are splitting stuff out into mini-releases.

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

More New Flash–But With Damage

Posted on June 27, 2016 by Walt

Sadly, I’m not referencing the ’90s character Damage.

Amazon Prime continues to astound me at their lack of use of shipping materials in mailing stuff–particularly paperback graphic novels–that are already oversized and much more subject to easy damage and dingings and such than say, a tight-wrapped “brick” of a mass-market paperback edition.

new_flash_books_damage

This damage is to the bottom of the back…on the shelf it won’t even be noticeable! But to me, it’s the principle of the thing. I pay for Amazon Prime for the shipping; both books were hardly discounted (like 20%)…and they were just stuck into a basic padded mailer, no cardboard, no plastic wrap, no anything really to help protect them in shipping.

The envelope was oversized–and almost big enough the two books could have been inside, side-by-side. And the envelope looked like it had tire treads on it–hardly the first time I’ve received packages that way–so…I am not a particularly enthused camper right now.

new_flash_books

But look! New (to me) Flash books! With these, and last week’s The Flash: Rebirth, and my already having the Flashpoint complete event in collected volumes…I’m definitely building my “Flash collection.”

Once I get the replacement copies for these–once I get satisfactory replacement copies*–I’ll be set for a bit. And at this point I think it’s safe to say that I’ll be adding the New 52 stuff…I already pre-ordered some sort of omnibus with the first 25 issues, and I guess I’ll see what’s what from there.

(* Numerous times over the past few years, I’ve wound up with 3, even 4 or 5 copies of something in-hand due to requesting replacements when Amazon refuses to use packing materials and stuff does not arrive in pristine condition. Shrink-wrap the books to a piece of cardboard in a box? Cool. Shrinkwrap the books and toss a couple bubbles in to minimize stuff moving around? Ok. Put cardboard in and ship in a stiff mailer? Great. Show some effort. Show me that the books were NOT just chucked in something and thrown down a conveyer belt.)

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Didn’t Know Then What I Do Know Now

Posted on June 24, 2016 by Walt

I “returned” to comics in 1992 based partly on an American Entertainment or Entertainment This Month catalog as well as a friend discovering a store that was just for comics (as opposed to a spinner rack in a bookstore or grocery store). 1992 ended with stuff like The Death of Superman, Batman: Sword of Azrael, Robin III: Cry of the Huntress, and Spider-Man 2099 (to name a few). Throughout 1993 I expanded into Marvel after Uncanny X-Men #300, followed the core Fatal Attractions event (at least to Wolverine #75)…and what had been a heavy dose of “dabbling in” comics became a truly actual “thing” for me, in my life.

By 1994, comics were my thing. I was primarily following the Superman and Batman books, as well as having gotten into Green Lantern (with Emerald Twilight and the introduction of Kyle) and a decent run with Archie‘s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures.

But everything was pretty isolated within the given characters’ realms. I knew there was a shared universe (well, the TMNT were their own thing!) but I hadn’t ventured that far out into the deeper waters of continuity and the like.

So ads like the following were lost on me “in the moment” at original publication.

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I certainly was not “put off” by the ads or anything…but I didn’t know what this ad was for, as it didn’t directly/solely impact anything I was reading. Crisis on Infinite Earths was at best something that I had heard of and read about; and even including the time between my initial, brief run with comics in 1990-1991 and getting back into them in 1992, when this ad was new, I had barely–if even–5 years of “history” with contemporary comics.

So for me, there was no huge hype driving the pending crossover…and though I was aware of it and bought it and such, I don’t recall any particular anticipation for it.

I got the main Zero Hour series, and then basically “just” the tie-in issues in the Superman and Batman titles as well as Green Lantern–stuff that I was getting anyway.

That I’m finally getting around to reading the entirety of the crossover–the core series, the issues I’d read back then, plus all the other tie-ins I’m aware of/can find now–is something 22 years in the making.

Like my issue-by-issue covering of the original X-Men: Age of Apocalypse stuff… I’ll soon be launching into the Zero Hour equivalent.

As I stare down the barrel of a major change to my personal status quo–the largest such in nearly a decade–Zero Hour‘s tagline fits.

The end of today…

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The '90s Revisited | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

#TBT Throwback Thursday: Entertainment This Month and American Entertainment

Posted on June 23, 2016 by Walt

Once upon a time–over 21 years ago–I would occasionally get mail like this:

etm_ae_envelope

And I looked forward to this. It meant a new catalog–or catalogs plural–for mail-order comics! As of this typing, I don’t remember for certain, but I’m pretty sure there’d be a new Entertainment This Month catalog with the current month’s worth of "new, hot comics" available for pre-order with an accompanying general catalog of "back issues" and such in the American Entertainment catalog.

etm_ae_entertainment_this_month_catalogs

While some might say "hoarder," at the moment I’m taking to the term "master of ephemera" in finding a box of these old catalogs. Of course, growing up in the ’90s with the collectorism and such, I "saved everything." It helped that it was pre-internet and so outside of getting the actual issues, stuff like this was the only way to get and see some pieces of art…and with some of the promo images (like the Batman one in the lower left above) these may not have even made onto the covers or been finalized images…so might only have been here.

etm_ae_american_entertainment_catalogs

Still on other ones there are just favorite images–like the Superman one above taken from the "newsstand edition" of Adventures of Superman #505.

While I was very definitely aware of the advance-order cycle in comics–I recently re-discovered that I have a 2+ year "run" of Advance Comics from 1993 into 1995ish–I do recall American Entertainment and Entertainment This Month being a key part of my awareness.

Additionally, I credit them as getting me back into comics in 1992, after letting comics slip outta my life in 1990/early 1991. (Long origin story told briefly: my sister got a subscription to Barbie through a school magazine drive, which got her onto a mailing list for an Entertainment This Month mailing, which led to my "return" to comics.)

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

The Weekly Haul – Week of June 22, 2016

Posted on June 22, 2016 by Walt

The other night, I went ahead and place an Amazon order for a couple of Flash books. I keep finding myself drawn to them at the bookstores, but they’re a lot cheaper via the site…so I finally convinced myself it was more than worthwhile to order them to have them and not be so tempted to “just” pay full cover price to a bookstore chain when it’s not like I’ll even actually get around to reading them immediately (unless I change my mind, in which case it’ll be more than worthwhile to have them on hand for sheer convenience!)

weekly_haul_week_of_20160622_

I have a couple single-issues of the Grant Morrison story but still missing an issue. This volume will let me more than cover that for now and get to just simply read the thing. And then amidst all the awesomeness of DC Rebirth, and finding myself really drawn to The Flash lately, I figured it was high time to “finally” get The Flash: Rebirth both to have and just to read without having to find the single issues scattered throughout my longboxes.

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This would have been a tiny week with only the Bebop and Rockstead issue, except that so far Rebirth has been excellent and so my weeks have been quite heavily padded out. I’m not sure if there are any due next week or not…and I think my bundles kick in, so I should be back to relatively small weeks again, with a monster shipment at the end of July and a bunch of catch-up reading then.

Chances are I’ll still at least pick up Action Comics and Superman for the immediacy and enjoyment, despite the duplicate purchasing…for what I’m saving on the bundles I can handle it.

weekly_haul_week_of_20160622b

I snagged a mix of stuff from the quarter bins that I’d swear was not there last week, and yet to glance at the bins, they look like nothing much has been added…but I found a whole treasure trove! Rai #1 from original Valiant, “pre-Unity” even! A Dreadstar #1/2 issue that was apparently originally included with an issue of Hero Illustrated. And a some random stuff that seemed worthwhile/caught my attention for being only 25 cents.

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Though missing an Advance Comics preview leaflet, the complete “official” Deathmate saga from Valiant and Image from 1993.

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Also from 1993, the Jack Kirby’s Secret City Saga 4-issue mini, with (apparently) three lead-in one-shots. I’ve seen all of these in the past, usually passing on them, but seeing them all together, I snagged ’em today–despite their NOT being in their original polybags with Kirbychrome cards.

weekly_haul_week_of_20160622e

Initially I thought I’d be snagging an “old” GLC issue #35 as well as a New 52 #35. Though I then realized one’s a variant cover, for 50 cents (total) I figured why not? It’s a novelty. Much as I hate, loathe, detest, and avoid variants most of the time…here it is relegated to a 25-cent bin. At this point in its existence…I’ll buy it.

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Finally, about 16 (of 27-28, I believe) issues of Manga X-Men from Marvel Imports from back in the day. The entirety of this series–that I’m aware of without looking anything up or confirming it “only” ran 27-28 issues or not–adapts in manga the first season of the ’90s animated series. I know I have the first issue somewhere and possibly the 2nd, so I’m not terribly bothered at this stack of issues starting at #6. And the first season being possibly the most “iconic” and best-remembered (for me as well as based on what I hear from anyone else who mentions/talks about the series) I’d say it’s not that bad.

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

New "Old" MiniMates: Wolverine and Sabretooth

Posted on June 21, 2016 by Walt

I’m definitely a fan of miniature figures of favorite characters. Tonight while checking a local Barnes and Noble for the squarebound edition of DC Universe: Rebirth, I spotted a huge clearance table…and ultimately settled on a couple things.

minimates_wolverine_sabertooth_box01

I have not much cared for the newer iterations of the costumes for Wolverine or Sabretooth…I’m very much rooted in their early-1990s appearance, as depicted on the X-Men animated series. While there may be slight differences in details, I’m quite happy with this pack.

minimates_wolverine_sabertooth_loose01

I’d forgotten that MiniMates come with stands…I’ll definitely need to utilize them to display these guys at work. They barely balanced for this photo, and would topple if a slight breeze hit them, it seems.

For $5…I’m quite happy with ’em…even though they were not something I’d set out to locate/purchase.

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

New Arrivals: Shadow of the Bat 1 and The Infinity Watch 2

Posted on June 20, 2016 by Walt

Just a quick post for today. These two books arrived. I’d ordered them back on the 10th or so, but they only just arrived today…ugh.

new_tpbs_arrived_06202016

Batman: Shadow of the Bat was the first “legit” Batman series I got in on from #1 back in the day. I really dug the covers–and they stood out quite a bit to me with their solid borders around distinctive images…it was a cover dress that really worked.

And proving that not all of their books have to have crap-pricing, Marvel collects the back half-ish of its Warlock and the Infinity Watch series (dropping Warlock from the title for the collected book). The entire 42-issue run and then some is collected across two volumes, making an excellent set of paperbacks!

Unfortunately, DC‘s Rebirth stuff the last few weeks has cut into my spending on collected volumes…though once the “bundles” kick in and such I’ll have several other volumes I’m eyeballing.

Then there’s also the fact that DC actually keeps their books in-print unlike Marvel. But that rant is a subject for some other time.

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Weekly Haul – Week of June 15, 2016

Posted on June 15, 2016 by Walt

For the fourth week in a row, DC has topped my new-issues pile, which is such a refreshing thing!

weekly_haul_week_of_20160615a

This week there’s only one ___: Rebirth issue…but we get four actual new #1 issues for ongoing series as part of the whole Rebirth initiative.

weekly_haul_week_of_20160615b

Then there are a couple more TMNT books clustered…though I really cannot complain about it as Bebop and Rocksteady is a mini-series…and weekly for its run. (And how long now have I been saying I’d love a weekly TMNT book???). We also have an issue of Darkwing Duck that I had not consciously realized I’d missed, though I’d pretty much decided I had to have missed it. Bought it as “back in stock,” and added it to my pull list so I don’t have to worry about watching for and/or missing it again. And then for the fact of its physical format–prestige format, squarebound, cardstock cover, feels like it fits right in with the “original issues” of Dark Knight and Dark Knight Strikes Again…yeah, it got me. (Even while DKIII continues to hold zero interest for me).

weekly_haul_week_of_20160615c

I took a cursory glance at the bargain bins…the shiny-ness of the “chromium” Shadowman #0 grabbed my attention, and as a sucker for these “chromium” covers, I added it to the stack. Also spotted the #100 issue of The Warlord–I believe I might own an Annual and possibly one or two other issues…but figured “why not?” and snagged it, too.

Even with DC‘s lower price point per “regular” Rebirth/single issue, the fact I’ve really ramped up my quantity still made this week more expensive than some of the times I’ve walked out with a huge stack of quarter-books.

There’s something very positive (to me) about the fact that I’ve already read over half of the entirety of my purchase this week, enjoying everything I’ve read so far–slowing only really to get this post up today, and to prepare some thoughts on the specific, individual Rebirth issues.

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

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