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The Weekly Haul: Week of May 23, 2018 #NCBD

Posted on May 24, 2018 by Walt

This week proved to be a rather small week comic-wise, which allowed for me to make a purchase I’d eyed last week but held off on financially.

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First off, IDW is reprinting the original Image run of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles under the subtitle Urban Legends. This is a sort of “forgotten volume” a la Devil’s Due‘s GI Joe series, itself having been reprinted some years back under the Disavowed subtitle. Per usual, the TMNT are an exception to my usual rules for pretty much anything/everything comics–I will “double-dip” at least on this first issue, eventually going with both the A and the B covers–the B covers apparently being the “original” cover images. Since the rest of the Color Classics had the “original” cover image, if nothing else, it might simply be my exception by way of me actually going for the B covers where the rest of the time I try to go exclusively with the A cover.

From what I can tell, this week’s Detective Comics caps the Rebirth run on the title, and I think the title passes to (a) new creative team(s) with the next issue and going forward. As such this might be my last issue until #1000 as I’m so far behind reading anyway that I’d just as soon wait for collected volumes until then, but already had enough of this run to want to keep going, and having assumed the creative team was going to be on the book longer.

And we finally have the start of The Flash War, which I “should have” passed on, but figured I’d get even though I’m far behind on reading Flash stuff, and actually had finally “let the title go” when this story was hyped a bit but didn’t actually materialize! Now it’s here, but I might wait for the collected edition for anything past this issue.

I picked up the Executive Assistant Iris Primer and the new #1 on being 25 cents and writer Blake Northcott‘s name, respectively. I don’t remember if I knew she would be writing this, and certainly didn’t remember or recognize that it was going to be out this week… a well-timed post on Twitter Tuesday (or maybe Wednesday morning–I can’t actually remember and it’s not important enough to go look it up) put it on my radar. AND since the “A” cover was available, rather than a B or any OTHER cover.

And though I’d seen it last week, I passed on Myth Adventures One. But having the week to consider, and this week being a smaller week, for the price of  2 1/2 standard-price comics, I got this graphic novel edition–33ish years old–collecting the first four issues (and in color!) of Myth Adventures. (And as I said regarding my purchase of the single issue #10 back in March, I must blame fellow blogger Michael Carlyle, writer of The Crapbox of Son of Cthulu firstly for “inspiration” to get that issue, and then his recommendation of the series that helped prompt this purchase). I also like that its size should be a nice match to the original TMNT color editions.

Finally, this week’s CSN and a checklist for the issues leading to/including the Bat-Wedding and Catwoman #1 this summer.

All in all, I feel like this is one of the highest-quality weeks for me in awhile; with most of the issues being stuff I can/will dive right into reading. First issues/primers/start of stuff, and even the Detective Comics issue I’ll probably read despite not being current with reading the series…like losing track of a tv show but watching the finale to at least have that experience rather than trying to avoid spoilers or being spoiled without context of the episode/issue itself.

I believe next week (finally!) kicks off the new Man of Steel weekly, and I’ve yet to decide if I’m going “all in” on the Bat-Wedding stuff or if I’m just sticking with the core Batman title, as I know the tie-ins will be a collected edition in several months.

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Filed under: 2018 Non-Review Posts, 2018 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Jace’s Spellbook and Why to NOT #ShopLocal

Posted on May 23, 2018 by Walt

I’ve been pulled back to Magic The Gathering recently, at least in terms of story, the art, the cards, the books–if not yet getting to actually PLAY the game itself. There’s been so much to it–from my history with the game 23 years ago, through the years, and the general nostalgia–that it’s been a real "thing" in my life, in my own way, the last few weeks.

While I have mixed feelings on pricing with stuff, the Signature Spellbook: Jace is quite a thing with Magic, and Wizards of the Coast (the publisher of the game).

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It’s this small boxed set with several cards reprinted with new artwork focused on the Planeswalker character Jace Beleren.

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This set is not even actually out yet–I believe it’s scheduled to become available June 15. That’s…nearly 3 1/2 weeks away. Almost a month.

The publisher’s website shows off the set–the box and its contents. It also shows off–PROMINENTLY–their MSRP of $19.99 (which applies to the US only, but seeing as I am in the US and not seeking it outside the US, that’s a moot note).

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Thing is…to pre-order this online (because it’s not out yet, any transaction regarding this would BE a pre-order) it’s pretty much UNAVAILABLE for anything under $45 or so.

That’s online stores, that’s eBay, that’s Amazon, that’s the various MTG community selling sites.

I asked the local comic shop about ordering this, and their distributors apparently don’t have this.

On further research, seems this is only available to certain retailers that are somehow associated with the publisher, in a way that apparently the local comic shop is not. (Ditto another shop I asked).

After attempting to support my local comic shop (which also does Magic) I tried the local game shop. They were happy to put my name down for it…but when I asked the price, to confirm that it was indeed this $20, they had to call someone to check.

I was told it’s $40. The reason being–and I quote–"It’s already going for $45 on eBay."

I opted to "pass on it," then.

There’s the notion of "supporting the local game store" or #ShopLocal. Shouldn’t this then be something to entice someone exactly like me to come INTO the FLGS?

Seeing the ridiculous prices online, that prompted me to actually take action "live" and "in person." So if it was some sort of "force people to #ShopLocal" thing, one could say it worked: it spurred me into action, ready to put out my $20 on the spot today. Yes, I first approached the comic shops–I’m a comics guy first, gamer second.

But then I visited the "actual games store" and…well, $40 MAY be slightly less than eBay or Amazon, but that’s STILL double-MSRP.

While they were checking on the pre-order price, I was looking at the wall, and was getting ready to "splurge" and buy $20 of boosters on the spot, in addition to committing to the $20 later for the product.

I was also strongly considering asking if they were taking pre-orders on booster boxes for M19, the next main set.

And of course, a positive experience would be a good prompt toward going back in randomly for other stuff, as well as maybe spurring me into taking the plunge into Friday Night Magic.

Instead, given the $40 price, I simply thanked them for their time, and walked out.

For that extra $20 on the price of one item that successfully drew me into a local game store:

  • I did NOT buy $20 in boosters (a $20 sale)
  • I am NOT buying the Jace set from them (ought to have been a $20 sale)
  • I am NOT buying a booster box from them
  • It’s put me off from their Friday Night Magic and any subsequent impulse buys and "support the FLGS" sales that would result simply from being in the store for FNM.

And it basically means that rather than transitioning to purchasing through this local game store, I’ll be purchasing stuff (that I can) online or through "the Big Box stores" assuming further purchasing.

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Filed under: 2018 Non-Review Posts, 2018 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

The Weekly Haul: Week of May 16, 2018

Posted on May 22, 2018 by Walt

Another week has flown by in quite a hurry!

Here’s the stuff from the week of May 16!

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The Superman Special to cap off Rebirth and pave the way for Bendis‘ takeover. Batman has the conclusion to the Booster Gold 3-parter. And after what feels like a bunch of months, New Challengers finally premiered. But I’ve since learned that it’s apparently “only” a 6-issue mini-series, which is really annoying to me as I’ve been SPECIFICALLY trying to AVOID new mini-series, as backed up as I am on reading and minis being concluded before I even get to reading the singles.

I’m even months behind on reading on both TMNT and TMNT Universe.

I continue to like the $1 reprints from various publishers. Marvel has actually reprinted two very “iconic” (to me) issues in the current round of Wolverine issues, under their True Believers #1 banner. (Reprinting X-Men (1991) #25 and Wolverine (first ongoing series) #90.

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Hitting bargain bins, I thought I was grabbing all four issues of the Secret City Saga but in opting to NOT buy duplicates, I apparently grabbed TeenAgents #3 instead. The Legend of the Shield issue grabbed my attention by the cover, and since all four issues were present I grabbed the Legends of the Legion.

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I pretty much do not pass up Superman #75 in the bargain bins. In this case, a copy of the 2nd printing of the “Newsstand Edition.” I distinctly remember this Kamandi: At Earth’s End issue from 1993ish because of the Superman cover.

I don’t recall being consciously aware of the Dino Island comics offhand…but it’s by Mirage and Jim Lawson, so had my attention for the TMNT connection!

And then because there were 6 issues in a row…snagged the first volume of Rune, #s 1-6 for less than half the cost of a standard new comic.

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Finally, rounding things out, grabbed a Lady Pendragon #1…no idea at this point which iteration of the series this was–I remember there being several brief minis–but a bit of nostalgia there. And since it was in the quarter-bin, grabbed Savage Dragon 232 since I think I left off around #230 or #231 with buying regularly, as I’d fallen behind on my reading.

And apparently an extra copy of Rune #1 made it into the stack. But hey…an extra copy of Rune #1’s better than doubling up (or more) on new issues with variant covers!

Here’s hoping the new comics for May 23 are a small bunch and nothing too plentiful.

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Filed under: 2018 Non-Review Posts, 2018 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

True Believers – Wolverine: Fatal Attractions

Posted on May 17, 2018 by Walt

With all of the Return of Wolverine stuff going on and more mini-series and such than I can keep track of, Marvel has also been putting out a wave of Wolverine-centric True Believers issues lately.

True Believers – Wolverine: Fatal Attractions reprints the 1990s X-Men #25, part of the 30th-anniversary celebration/story arc X-Men: Fatal Attractions. This is also a key issue as it’s the actual issue where Wolverine lost his adamantium–this was where Magneto had had enough, and liquified the metal and forcibly removed it from Wolverine’s body…nearly killing him in the process.

My original post about X-Men #25 is archived here.

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I covered this issue back in 2012, when I covered the entire Fatal Attractions event.

This issue–the “final battle” between Xavier and Magneto, was along with Magneto’s character in Age of Apocalypse and the 1990s animated series a crucial part of my understanding of Magneto. It’s actually kind of fascinating to me to consider that the Magneto in contemporary X-Men comics is the same character that appears here. Of course, we’re talking nearly two full decades of character development between this and now–but it goes to show what can be done with these characters and time. (While I’ve yet to really read any of the classic Rogue issues, I’m also interested in the fact that the Rogue I grew up reading was herself once a villain in the Marvel Universe. If her character can be handled as it has, it’s not too far fetched to think the same can be done with Magneto.)

I also recall thinking it sort of odd that such a huge thing would happen to Wolverine here rather than in his own title…but then, Wolverine wouldn’t even have a title of his own without the X-men.

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On the back cover, we have an ad for some current-ish volumes featuring Wolverine that Marvel wants to push at the moment.

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Though it’s sorta odd to be glad to pay a whole $1.00 for an issue I’ve pulled multiple copies of from 25-cent bins…this issue has such a place in my memory from reading it as a kid that I’m happy to get this “new edition.” There’s something cool to seeing it with a “regular” cover, too, and not the cardstock of the original; and just to see it as a new issue again for the first time in nearly a quarter-century.

I don’t agree with the ad here claiming these to be some of the “best” stories. I think I’d leave Fatal Attractions on there; I’d put the Larsen story with Wolverine going into space in here; probably Not Dead Yet, and almost certainly the stuff from when he got the adamantium back and the whole Death thing from 1999. I might even put the early Greg Rucka stuff from the renumbering back in 2003/4 or so.

I also don’t care for them pushing a vol. 2 over a vol. 1 (suggests to me that vol. 1 is already out of print). The Venom volume doesn’t even look to be Wolverine-focused, just that maybe it guest-stars the character…Wolverine doesn’t even make the cover (unless in that tiny image it’s actually a “Venom-ized” Wolverine). And I don’t remember the actual Wolverine being a major part of the early Exiles issues, though I think I remember there being a story where they guest-starred a bunch of Wolverines?

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Filed under: 2018 Non-Review Posts, 2018 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Avengers Hot Wheels and Shelf Displays Update

Posted on May 15, 2018 by Walt

This comes a couple weeks later than intended, but that’s just how things are!

At a Walmart, I’d come across another bin of Hot Wheels cars. Much as with several previous Marvel waves, I was able to find the entire numbered series, and given the small price point each (all 8 for less than the price of two Marvel comics), I went ahead and bought them.

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These were numbered 1 through 7 of 7…and then the Infinity Gauntlet car was unnumbered. Of course, had I only bought one, I definitely would have gone with that. Only two, and I’d’ve gone with that and #4; three I’d have gone with that and #s 4 & 5.

As usual, these are kinda neat, spotlighting the Avengers through history. As I was primarily into them for Heroes Reborn and Heroes Return, #s 4 & 5 are my favorite here because of the cards!

And with this as a bit of a filler post–new content weekdays–here’s an update to the toy shelves/displays!

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On top is the bulk of the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers collection.

Then the TMNT (’80s/’90s) villains; then TMNT (’80s/’90s) "good guys" (non-turtles).

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On the other side, the Power Rangers extend on over at the top, joining an AT-AT and Fin Fang Foom.

Below that’s the Superman shelf.

And finally, the newest shelf, with the Doomsdays and then mostly ’90s-ish miscellaneous figures.

I’d intended to do a similar display for my Marvel Legends, but they won’t fit, doing the three-tier, so I’m going to have to figure out something else!

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Filed under: 2018 Non-Review Posts, 2018 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

The Weekly Haul: Week of May 9, 2018

Posted on May 10, 2018 by Walt

Offhand, this might be the smallest week for new comics that I’ve had in a year or more…and that’s with “taking a chance on” two of the issues!

Here we go:

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Still keeping up with getting Detective Comics. If nothing else, if it keeps to the biweekly shipping, we’re less than a year from that hitting #1000. Otherwise, could be a couple more years.

I feel like it’s been awhile since seeing a Spawn crossover like this…so figured I’d at least get this first issue of Medieval Spawn/Witchblade. Maybe it’s a one-shot, I’m not actually sure. It’s Spawn, and it’s only $2.99. And that’s what got me following “modern Spawn” in the first place–it was a $2.99 book even as Savage Dragon had gone to $3.99, Marvel was defaulting to $3.99 when they didn’t have some lame “excuse” to do $4.99 or $5.99+; and shorly prior to the start of the Rebirth stuff, even DC was mostly $3.99!

I “took a chance” on Sideways #4 as I’m not actually sure if I got #3, or if I’d pulled the trigger on letting the title go. And I “took a chance” on Oblivion Song as I was pretty sure I was gonna let it go, but not yet having read #2 from last month, I don’t wanna have to “chase” the darned thing if I get to it sooner than not.

I don’t know if I’ll make a separate post of it later or not, but I guess I’m already sorta getting to it with my phrasing above: I’m finding that DC even has squandered a lot of the “good will” they’d built up with me.

I feel like the Action Comics and Superman specials’ existence suggest that the creative teams were not actually ready (or quite ready) for their runs to end, but The Powers That Be wanted to clear the deck for bringing Bendis in and try to mirror 1986’s Byrne relaunch of the Superman stuff. It’s too soon for me to judge on his stuff, but with the Action Comics piece and last week’s DC Nation piece, I’m feeling stuff as being a lot more For Tomorrow (the Brian Azzarello/Jim Lee 12-issue run back in 2004) than Byrne‘s Man of Steel (1986ish).

Justice League apparently going to a new #1 after the 4-part weekly No Justice has made that title rather “lame duck” for me, and I’m feeling increased trepidation toward the longevity of DC‘s other titles outside of Action and Detective getting to keep their Rebirth-to-present numbering. It’s a little late to go back to any original numbering with only one chunk breaking it up, as Action and Detective both have; most other titles that would be ‘worth’ ‘legacy’ numbering at minimum have two breaks (New 52 and Rebirth).

And though DC seems to have taken steps to differentiate their variants from the regular editions, and in the back of my mind I think I saw something somewhere about them re-evaluating the every-single-issue-must-have-at-minimum-2-covers thing, even if that’s the case it’s a bit late.

I’m so burned out on variants and renumbering, period, that I just want to wash my hands of even being exposed to the stuff.

I followed Metal and its main tie-ins, but got behind after just a couple issues…and have yet to “double back” to actually read the things…and at this point by the time I do, the collected edition will likely be out.

I realized shortly before starting this post, that we’re basically AT the 2-year mark for Rebirth, and as I recall it, we were told there’d be a 2-year through-line of stuff; that it would essentially be a big two-year story. But here we are, 2 years later, and Doomsday Clock has switched to bi-monthly, extending it by another year or so…and since it seems that IT is the vehicle by which the stuff begun in the Rebirth special will wrap up and move forward…the 2 year story’s become 3 at least, and the original plan’s been derailed.

Adding to all of this is things going on in my personal life, and I think I’m just burning out a fair bit on trying to keep up with new/current comics. Meanwhile, where I can spend $4 to $5+ for a single new issue, that same $4-5+ can buy me a 16-20+ issue run from quarter bins, or 4-5 dollar issues (most of a six-issue mini-series, if not an entire 4-5 issue mini-series).

Given I’d’ve been happy with just Detective and Spawn/Witchblade, and that the latter was something I just found out about existing on Tuesday…and the piles and stacks of new/recent comics that I’ve not gotten around to reading…

I’m just glad it was a small week.

We’ll see what next week holds.

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Filed under: 2018 Non-Review Posts, 2018 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

The Weekly Haul: Week of May 2, 2018

Posted on May 8, 2018 by Walt

The week of May 2nd was an interesting one for comics for me. Not that big a week in itself, but the week did provide a couple of "firsts" for me!

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This week had the release of DC Nation #0, kicking off 3 events. A Batman one, a Superman one, and a Justice League. I was also able to get a store-exclusive edition that I’ve been looking forward to…I’m a sucker for art like this featuring the shop-cat, Winston. I also snagged the Superman cover with an excellent shirt-rip, as it was "only" $3. I virtually never buy such variants, let alone one marked with such a high ratio…but while something 12 times the cover price is usually prohibitive for me…$3 was not prohibitive.

Then there’s the Action Comics Special, which gave Dan Jurgens a final issue to wrap stuff up before Bendis takes over the franchise. The new issue of Batman has the second issue of this Booster Gold arc. And the second chapter of the Batman vs. Deathstroke story in Deathstroke.

I wasn’t sure if I was gonna continue with GI Joe: A Real American Hero, but like the look of this Special Missions arc focusing on solo characters. Being able to get the "A" cover was also a good thing.

The final issue of this Rogue & Gambit series I think finishes off my Marvel buying in terms of new issues for awhile. I passed on Avengers due to the renumbering, and am so sick and tired of renumbering that I just have near-zero interest in Marvel, period, at this point.

An exception to that is the True Believers $1 issues.

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I think the highlight of the week for me, though, is the Action Comics #1000 poster–in one giant sheet, it shows all 1000 standard/regular/"A"/basic covers from #1 to #1000. I promptly framed this, and mounted it to the door down to my comic space. The poster represents history of the "super-hero," of the longest-running comic book series, and Superman. It’s also extra-appropriate leading into a comic space, even though 1,000 comics are but a fraction of what I own.

It’s also excellent to be able to look at this thing up close, and visually track all these years, from my first issue at #651 to the latest in #1000. Recognizing covers from this event or that event; from when I was a kid, to a teenager; high school; college; grad school, beyond.

And I got this from Comic Heaven, the comic shop I have the most history with, period–going back to 1993 or so!

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Along with the Winston edition of DC Nation, snagged the four-issue Heroes Reborn: The Return from 50-cent bins. Though I own the series already, these are a convenience copy for reading. No clue when I’ll get my main collection organized, so this means that at least for a time, I know where these four issues are, so I have more chance of actually getting to them than if I had to dig through umpteen longboxes to find my existing copies.

And hey…for half the price of a cheap new Marvel issue, I get this complete 4-issue mini-series/event! Really can’t beat that, these days! And this series represented the start of my first real foray into attempting to follow a large chunk of Marvel, albeit 21 or so years ago!

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Filed under: 2018 Non-Review Posts, 2018 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

ForgedBy4: Memories on the World of Magic the Gathering

Posted on May 7, 2018 by Walt

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Memories on the World of Magic: The Gathering

I was introduced to Magic: The Gathering in Spring of 1995…and as I remember it, that was within just a few weeks of the end of the Revised ("3rd") Edition. I’d missed Arabian Nights, Antiquities, Legends, and The Dark…and the then-current expansion was Fallen Empires.

I was there for the arrival of 4th Edition, and the first new expansion I was there for was Ice Age. Shortly after, we got Chronicles, and I remember that the card I most wanted from that set was Chromium–the Elder Dragon. (Which I got in my first purchase of several boosters!) Those gave way to Homelands, which was the first/only set I ever got to get an entire booster box–I remember getting that as a Christmas present that year.

I remember the release of Alliances, and Mirage…and remember being aware of Visions and then even Weatherlight…though as I recall it, I only got a few boosters of Alliances, and I think only a "starter deck" and a couple boosters of Mirage. (After that, my next cards were obtained through purchasing 10-cent common cards after the fact, to go with a couple of pre-constructed decks I’d bought (one for Tempest, one for Urza’s Saga). These likely included Weatherlight, Visions, and whatever other sets had come out, but I’ll get to that later). […]

Full article posted over at Forgedby4! My "history" with Magic: The Gathering.

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Filed under: 2018 Non-Review Posts, 2018 posts, Forgedby4 | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Unboxing a Dominaria Bundle Pack

Posted on May 3, 2018 by Walt

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2018 is Magic the Gathering‘s 25th anniversary year. And with the anniversary comes a new set going back to the world of Dominaria–the plane (or world) that most of the game’s story was set on for its first several years and card sets.

Though this post is looking at cards, if you want comics content, here are some links to posts I did a few years ago (and stuff I may revisit again in the near future–but time will tell!)

The Shadow Mage | Ice Age | Fallen Empires |  Arabian Nights | Nightmare | Antiquities War | Urza-Mishra War | Elder Dragons | Homelands | Dakkon Blackblade

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Chloe insisted on visiting with me as I began opening packs, and even made quite a fuss when I wouldn’t let her onto the table. The photo above shows her on her "pedestal" looking around, having come running at the sound of me opening the first booster pack…which admittedly probably sounded very similar to me opening a packet of kitty-treats.

When I opened the first booster, I was just curious to really look at the spread of cards, where I first really noticed that there seemed to be a great mix, with each booster having at least one of each color and an artifact! I knew already that there’s specifically at least one "Legendary" character in each pack, but I hadn’t fully paid attention to the mix in individual boosters. I was impressed, and decided to "document" the entire bundle…mostly for myself, enjoying going through such a huge stack of boosters, and curious about being able to look back and see what I’d gotten with what else in which pack(s).

Then I realized that even though I am NOT a video blogger, I could show off an "unboxing" in this way. So…as said above, if you don’t care about Magic: The Gathering as a card game and such, there are some links to my 2012 coverage of a bunch of the original comic books, published by Armada (Acclaim Comics).

I’ll show the cards from each pack, note the Rare, and whatever other thoughts occur to me from going through.

Pack #1:

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This pack was where I first noticed the "balance" in the packs specifically. Artifact, Black, Blue, Green, Red, White–even a multi-color Legend as the Rare!

I wasn’t overly thrilled with this one, as I already had a Grand Warlord Radha and would have preferred some others I didn’t already have…but that’s a theme that’ll run through opening most booster packs!

Rare: Grand Warlord Radha

Pack #2:

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The second pack yielded a foil as well as a rare. This is my second foil Island of Dominaria; not bad, though, as I tend to like Blue. Not much else of huge note to the pack. The rare is the Legendary. While not as cool as some other stuff, it’s got some potential to me, especially in a White deck.

Rare: Evra, Halcyon Witness

Foil: Island

Pack #3:

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I think this pack was the first I got Tetsuko Umezawa in a booster. Also got another Serra Angel, which I believe gives me a full 4-copy "playset" of the card in this edition. I like the art on the Urza’s Ruinous Blast; and it certainly represents a key moment in MTG history!

Rare: Urza’s Ruinous Blast

Pack #4:

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This was definitely the best pack of the bundle! An Artifact, at least one card for each color, a multicolor, two of the Memorial to ____ lands… AND a foil!

And the foil, at that, is a rare. FURTHER…it’s a Mythic Rare!

This is the first time I’ve gotten a foil-anything that wasn’t common; for it to be a foil of a Mythic Rare is fantastic! It’d probably be asking way too much for it to have been a foil of Karn, Scion of Urza, but as Jhoira was a card I’d started out wanting, I’m quite happy with it. (though I have two non-foils of her previously).

Added bonus to this pack is it also came with a non-foil Rare, the Helm of the Host, which creates a token copy of whatever creature has it equipped…which has some fun potential to it!

Rare: Helm of the Host

Foil Rare (Mythic): Johira, Weatherlight Captain

Pack #5:

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Very little could "hold up" to the previous pack! Some fun for this one, though, includes the Rat Colony, which I definitely want to build a deck around. I built my first "Rat Deck" back in July 1995, when the only rats in the entire game were Plague Rats, Pestilence Rats, and Bog Rats. I even had to use Vampire Bats to flesh the deck out a bit, reasoning that bats were "rats with wings." Since this new Rat Colony allows one to have any number of it in a deck…for purely casual play, I don’t even need any other rats. Just load up with this, have some support spells, and basic lands, and voila!

This pack gives me a new token as well, with the Cleric. I’ve got plenty-ish of the Saproling and Knight tokens (verrrry glad I had not ordered any Saprolings online.

I’m not overly keen on lands as the rare card I a pack…but at least the Cabal Stronghold is new-to-me!

Rare: Cabal Stronghold

Pack #6:

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This pack has a couple of cards for my inevitable "Fungus Deck" from the set. Fungal Infection essentially deals a damage while also generating a Saproling; while Sporecrown Thallid gives +1/+1 to Saproling and other Fungus creatures.

Aryel, Knight of Windgrace will be a nice addition for a "Knights deck."

And look–another foil! Shiny…

I’m a bit amused at the art for Arcane Flight…perhaps simply the ridiculousness of a cat sprouting wings and taking flight. Talk about a nightmare for birds!

Rare: Aryel, Knight of Windgrace

Pack #7:

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Not much to stand out for this pack. Jaya’s Immolating Inferno definitely has a lotta potential in a Red deck, and definitely makes me want to get Jaya herself all the more!

Rare: Jaya’s Immolating Inferno

Pack #8:

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The timing for getting the Dread Shade here was good…I’d just been reading part of the serialized fiction on WotC‘s website that had characters pondering facing one of these. So that makes for a "fun" pull. Also cool to get Llanowar anything for the nostalgia (though I’d prefer the "classic" Llanowar Elves by name–another card in this set, but not this booster).

This pack also yields my first Knight of Grace, which is a counterpart to the Knight of Malice, and I look forward to using them in a "Knights deck."

Rare: Dread Shade

Pack #9:

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Here’s another fun pack! For one, Traxos, Scourge of Kroog is a card I liked the look of and was definitely interested in! I believe it’s basically a dragon engine…regardless, it puts me in mind of them, which is a great bit of nostalgia.

After just marveling at my first Knight of Grace, this pack had another one. Better yet, this time in the same pack I also got the Knight of Malice. Nice little pairing, there!

And this pack has another Token I hadn’t realized existing: Jaya‘s Emblem, I believe from her "main" Planeswalker ability. Now that I have this…definitely want the actual card all the more!

(Note for this photo: I had Traxos on the Black pile rather than the Artifacts pile. Oops!)

Rare: Traxos, Scourge of Kroog

Pack #10:

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Final pack of the box, last one to get anything "good!"

And…not much of interest for me in terms of opening-the-pack excitement. I believe the saga card The Mending of Dominaria is new to me; but it didn’t really live up to the "potential" that a "final pack" COULD have had.

I don’t think I’d particularly noted if I got any of the other ones, but I’ve realized/am guessing that the handful of cards with the "planeswalker" symbol watermark (like seen above on Final Parting) denote key "story moments" for the set.

Based on an "ad card" (backside of a token) there’d been something about "following the story" that referenced several cards including Final Parting; one of which is either a holdover or a "spoiler" for the set’s serialized story!

Rare: The Mending of Dominaria

The Rares:

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Ten boosters, 11 rares…the "extra" being a Mythic Rare…not bad!

And of course, beyond simply being 10 boosters…the bundle came with a "spindown counter" (20-sided die/D20 with the Dominaria set symbol as the "20"), a pack of 80 or so basic lands (which’ll be quite handy for building decks!) as well as a "fancy" storage box that I really like the art for.

Given the price of the bundle’s basically the same as buying 10 individual boosters…I’m liking the bundle better for the "extras" it comes with…and that it seems like each bundle has a Mythic Rare in it, plus several foils.

Favorite Pull of the Bunch:

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And of course, for "rarity" as well as just being a really pretty Blue/Red card combined with the foil effect, and being a character I was interested in getting from the start, Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain is my favorite pull of the bundle!

While I "suspect" there’s a fair bit of "value" to the card as a foil of a Mythic Rare…I figure the "sentimental value" is enough for me to hang onto the card. I pulled her from a booster, and how many Mythic Rare foils are there really out there like this? (other than specially-packaged Planeswalker Deck cards)

For me…this card is extra-unique in/for my collection.

That’s that for now… ten boosters in a bundle; the bundle now "unboxed!"

It’s cool that the Dominaria set came out RIGHT as I was getting pulled back into the game/story/etc. Even if just feeding the OCD and money I shouldn’t really spend…this was a worthwhile purchase for the time, and likely future time actually going through the cards, deckbuilding, and hopefully actually playing the game.

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Filed under: 2018 Non-Review Posts, 2018 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, Unboxing | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Weekly Haul: Week of April 25, 2018

Posted on May 1, 2018 by Walt

This is an odd week. For one thing…it’s Marvel-heavy, which almost never happens–not for new issues, anyway. Secondly, I managed to initially flat-out forget to grab (or otherwise missed) a couple issues I’d specifically intended to get!

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I believe this week’s issue of The Mighty Thor is the final issue…well, for a few weeks, as we’re already getting another Thor #1 soon! Thinking it looks a bit standalone, and though I detest the $4.99 price point, it IS 12 more pages for “only” an extra $1 (compared to the 20-page $3.99 Marvel issues) I grabbed my second Thanos Annual #1 of the last several years. What can I say? It would feel odd not to snag the issue, given the movie that premieres this week!

Of the various True Believers issues…I have to say that the Infinity Gauntlet #1 and now this Infinity War #1 are easily a couple of the best values given the size. And of course, I greatly enjoy that they retain their original logo and (mostly) original cover. After all…these are rather “iconic” covers, from some ancient time when variants were rare, and specific comics were actually recognizable BY their covers.

The newest issue of The Terrifics is here, as is the final issue of the Demon: Hell is Earth mini (which is one less title to be picking up, slightly easing the monthly outspend).

And of course, the newest issue of Previews…which at this point is just an odd catalog, with separate publications for Marvel and DC and whatever else is contained.

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Somehow I missed Detective Comics for the week, as well as the start of the newest Aliens mini-series: Dust to Dust (and just before Alien Day 2018, to boot!).

I also realized I’d either missed, or skipped, the newest issue of Batman: Creature of the Night. I feel like this issue was really late, and suspect the next of being the same…such that this has really lost some of its momentum for me.

C’est la vie!

Once again, here it is the day before the next New Comic Book Day. But then, I’m also getting used to a “schedule” of having Ultraverse Revisited posts on Monday/Wednesday/Friday…so the other couple posts of the week are balancing differently than once upon a time.

Also some other stuff coming up that I should be sharing in the near future!

Meanwhile…tomorrow is another Wednesday for new comics, and this upcoming Saturday is Free Comic Book Day at participating local comic shops!

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Filed under: 2018 Non-Review Posts, 2018 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

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