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Leonardos – July 2014

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Walt

Seems there’s a new TMNT movie (or should I say NT movie, based on the toys’ packaging) coming out soon…

leonardosjuly2014

And so while I don’t like variants on figures within the same line, I’m willing to get the same character from different lines.

The new 2014 Movie Leonardo is front ‘n center. Current (2012-) cartoon Leo on the right. 2003 cartoon Leo 2nd row left, “classic” Leo in the middle, and the oversized deluxe Leo in back.

While trailers make it seem that the movie turtles are huge, frankly, based on the toys, it looks like any of the other Leos could take this one, easily…

I’ve also got the Raphael, and will likely also go ahead and snag Donnie and Mikey at least; probably April and the Shredder, thoguh I don’t like the look of Splinter (movie unseen) and not sure I’m all that inclined to try to get multiple Foot, and one lone Foot hardly seems worth it to me.

Time will tell, though…

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Bargain Bin Haul: GI Joe and Quantum & Woody

Posted on July 2, 2014 by Walt

This week proved to be another fantastic week for bargain finds, as the local shop had just recently bought a huge collection.

Having bought a large run of GI Joe comics recently, I was offered another SIGNIFICANTLY larger run…

gijoe150_155

The “gem” of the run is easily the final few issues of the original Marvel-published series. If I were to attempt to purchase these off eBay, these six issues alone–#s 150-155–would cost more than I paid for what (in today’s single purchase) is an instant major “subcollection” in my overall collection.

quantumandwoodyTPBs

The store owner also–though putting most of the collected volumes out for general sale–pulled these four Quantum and Woody Acclaim Comics volumes for me. These worked out to about $2.50 per volume, and seem to have at least 4 issues’ content each.

gijoelongbox_sideview

All told, the GI Joe collection more than filled a longbox, and what didn’t fit–when combined with what I bought last month and allowing room to fill in a handful of minor “gaps” in the collection–will surely almost fill another. This collection is: Original Marvel #s 21-155, Devil’s Due 1-43 and America’s Elite 1-36, IDW‘s first volume 1-24, Origins 1-18ish, Cobra 1-13 and Cobra II 1-4, plus a bunch of other mini-series, specials, one-shots, etc.

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Bargain Bin Haul: Kid Eternity

Posted on June 25, 2014 by Walt

Flipping through the quarter-bin today, I found two volumes of the Grant Morrison Kid Eternity mini-series. A bit furtrher into the bin, I found the third. I thought I was missing a fourth until I saw the “of 3” and satisfied, pulled all three.

kideternity1to3

I didn’t even notice until I got the issues home and was taking the photo seen above that the three covers form a singular image. Definitely an added “bonus” of sorts. This is ALSO the way such things SHOULD be done, in my opinion–any multi-part non-wrap-around cover image should be DIFFERENT ISSUES, not multiple variants of the SAME issue. But then, these were published some 23 years ago, before all that cropped up.

kideternity1to16

Along with the original mini, I also found the full 16-issue run of the Vertigo ongoing series. The first issue of this is the first Vertigo comic I remember ever being “aware of” AS Vertigo, as an “adult” or “mature readers” comic.

And while I almost left these in the bin, I figured 16 issues was a pretty good chunk of the series. Come to realize looking in the back of #16 that it was the series finale, thus giving me the full series.

This entire run cost me $4.75…hardly more than a Marvel, and cheaper than the cover price of one of the Morrison issues, even all these years later.

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More Than Doubling my GI Joe Collection

Posted on June 20, 2014 by Walt

full_stackThough I had limited exposure as a younger kid, I consider my true “introduction” to GI Joe to be the Image/Devil’s Due relaunch back in 2001 (as a friend pointed out, it was interesting timing, debuting September 12th, 2001).

Even letting the series go after a few issues, I got pulled back in for the Serpentor story around issues 22-25, and stuck around as Devil’s Due struck out on its own, its logo replacing the Image “I” on the covers. I was going to let it go again, but my friend suckered me with a copy of GI Joe: Master & Apprentice #1, and I was hooked through into the early few issues of America’s Elite before I did trail off.

I dabbled with jumping back in when the license moved to IDW (though I was rather irked at “losing” the Devil’s Due continuity and the property “starting over”). Of course, my aversion to $3.99-priced books led to my refusing to follow MULTIPLE ongoing series, and I lapsed.

Interesting as things seemed to be from “watching from the outside,” I just couldn’t talk myself into the investment, thinking “someday” I might get the paperbacks…but IDW‘s pricing on their paperback volumes rivals Marvel‘s these days in the “excessive pricing” area, so I’ve stuck to bargain bin finds.

I hit the figurative “jackpot” this week.

day1_old_joes

I decided to flip through some issues in the bargain bin, despite a heavy week of “regular” new comics, and noticed a number of GI Joe comics, and figured hey, why not? Maybe I’d find a small run, a full story.

day1_misc01

After a handful of scattered issues, I noticed a bunch of issues of the GI Joe: A Real American Hero (ARAH) series (that continues the numbering from the classic Marvel series).

day1_arah01

As I was pulling these, the owner–still sorting through a collection–said something about maybe finding someone interested in all the GI Joe comics, which caught my attention…as if my mind had been read.

day1_arah02

So I wound up with most of the issues of ARAH from #162-190 or so…

day1_gijoe

Most of the first year of the GI Joe relaunch from Cobra Civil War…

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Most of the first year of the Snake-Eyes series…

day1_cobra

And most of the first year of the Cobra series from Cobra Civil War including the 2012 Annual.

day2_arah

Given my interest in them, the rest of the GI Joe comics from the collection were held for me, and I picked them up Thursday. A scattering of ARAH issues, that filled in what I was missing, giving me a run of #162-191 (30 issues).

day2_gijoe

What turned out to be the latter half of the GI Joe run from the Cobra Civil War era, giving me a full run of #s 0-21.

day2_snakeeyes

The latter half of Snake-Eyes, which co-starred Storm Shadow for most of the latter issues, giving me a complete run of #s 1-21.

day2_cobra

And the latter half of Cobra, for a complete run of #s 1-21.

day2_misc1

I also wound up with both of the Infestation 2: GI Joe issues, a couple of the “classic” Image/Devil’s Due series, and the GI Joe: Retaliation Prequel, as well as early issues of the next relaunch of the franchise post-Cobra Civil War era…

day2_misc2

GI Joe #s 1-3 or so; GI Joe Special Missions #s 1-4 or so, and the first couple issues of GI Joe: Cobra Files.

full_stack

All told, just over 100 GI Joe comics–over $399.00 cover price–for just over $26. That’s less than the price of two PAPERBACK collections from IDW (or for that matter, Marvel).

Not a bad haul, and now I’m truly interested in the earlier issues of the pre-Cobra Civil War books, and might consider picking up the more current stuff. Of course, time will tell in the end…

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Let’s Try This Again: New Line of DC Toys

Posted on June 16, 2014 by Walt

Total_Heroes_June_16th

Back in 2008, I got in “at the beginning” of Mattel’s Infinite Heroes line of 3.75″ DC toys. Sadly, lack of selection and other factors seemed to quickly doom that line (whereas the Marvel 3.75″ figures from another company are doing quite well, or at least are still around with a much more significant presence than DC stuff).

Several weeks ago, I happend across this new line of DC character figures for quite a great price: larger than the 3.75″ figures, but still “only” $9.99. I wound up buying the three that I’ve found thus far: Batman, Superman, and Sinestro. I look forward to finding Flash, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), and Aquaman…as well as hopefully plenty of other DC characters.

Total_Heroes_Batman_Front

Total_Heroes_Superman_Front

Total_Heroes_Sinestro_Front

While VERY basic, I do appreciate the cards being unique to the figures, including a brief/minimal profile:

Total_Heroes_Batman_Profile

Total_Heroes_Superman_Profile

Total_Heroes_Sinestro_Profile

And I know of the existence of Flash, Green Lantern, and Aquaman because of the gallery on the figures’ cards:

Total_Heroes_More_01

Total_Heroes_More_02

Total_Heroes_More_03

Here’s hoping the other characters come out relatively quickly without shortpacking, and without any single character becoming a “peg warmer” and all that. I’m in at the beginning for now–give me a steady pace of figures that I can get for $9.99 at Warlmart/Target/Meijer, and I’ll probably keep buying…

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Great Find: ‘The Batman Vault’

Posted on June 13, 2014 by Walt

I’d come across this volume at Barnes & Noble quite unexpectedly. It was on a bargain table labeled as “up to 75% off publishers’ prices.” For the price of 3-4 single issues, this is a $50 volume, and though it’s rather outdated (2009 copyright), it has proved its worth alone in the time I spent unwrapping and “flipping through” the thing.

batmanvaultfrontcover

While it hasn’t always been reflected in my following the character in contemporary comics–having left off partway into the post-R.I.P. Red Robin run and only stuck with the New 52 Teen Titans for a couple issues–Robin is arguably one of my favorite characters in comics (well, the Tim Drake / Robin III version). It was actually the “promise” of the inclusion of a promo piece from the early Tim Drake solo stuff that truly “sold” me on this volume. Not intending to spend a lengthy time reading initially, I paged through, but really look forward to “digging in” on the Robin section.

batmanvaultrobinpage

The volume includes a number of these archival pocket pages (right-hand side above) with removable “artifacts,” from that piece to a DC promotional mobile sent to comic shops to replicated brochures, booklets, and so on…even a reprint of the “infamous” Batcave “poster” from an issue of All-Star Batman and Robin…something I never got to hold, having never bought the issue in question (that I can recall).

batmanvaultbackcover

Though a lot of the general info is “old news” to me, it’s interesting to see such a broad overview of Batman’s history (to 2009) encompassed in a single publication. As of this typing (though it probably won’t actually translate to purchases) I’m considering tracking down some of the DK volumes, as this reminded me a lot of what I’ve seen from a couple of those when I’ve flipped through them in stores or a library.

I don’t know if there’s a Superman volume like this–if there is, I’ll certainly be on the hunt–but in the middle of the 75th anniversary year of Batman, this was far too great an opportunity to have passed up, and I’m quite glad to have spent the money.

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Valiant Chromium Returns: Armor Hunters #1

Posted on June 11, 2014 by Walt

It’s been some twenty years since I first got a copy of the original X-O Manowar #0 from the original Valiant. It was the first “chromium” cover I recall, though it was soon followed by the likes of Superman #82 (the “return” of Superman), X-Men: Alpha, X-Men: Omega, Ninjak #1, and others.

In more recent years, such “enhanced covers” have been pretty few and far between, in my observation (though can’t go two steps without tripping over variants!). [EDITED TO ADD: Last September’s 3-D covers from DC obviously were a huge quantity of such covers, but that was a specific event and really beside the point of this post]

When Valiant announced it was bringing back the chromium covers for Armor Hunters #1 and several of the tie-ins…I was actually sorta enthused (QUITE the exception to my usual attitude toward variants and such). But then, these chromium covers hold a certain nostalgia for me beyond all the other gimmicky/”enhanced” covers.

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Unfortunately, I found myself rather disappointed in this particular version of “chromium.” Taken side-by-side, I feel like there’s clearer detail on the regular cover (pictured above on the right).

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Comparing this new Armor Hunters #1 to X-O Manowar #0, I feel like the classic takes the win as well, between the two with brighter, bolder detail and coloring. Granted, that may not be so much the fault of the chromium effect, but it’s there.

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At an angle, the new seems more reflective, picking up glare from an overhead light in a way that somewhat obscures details where the old does not…

…to say nothing of the imprinting showing through on the new where it doesn’t the old.

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Armor Hunters #1–at an angle in the light–gets this dotted, sparkly effect going on.

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At the same sort of angle, X-O Manowar #0 does not give that effect.

To me, part of what made chromium covers what they are was being able to see the outlines on the inside/back of the cover. Armor Hunters does have that effect, so unlike Marvel‘s Age of Ultron #1 last year, I can’t really “disqualify” it from my own personal “chromium collection.” But the muted coloring/subdued tones, the “flat” reflectiveness, and the thicker cover stock of Armor Hunters leaves me truly disappointed, and planning on sticking with the regular covers from here on out.

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT, Valiant | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

A New Gundam Phase Begun

Posted on June 10, 2014 by Walt

oldgundams11-some years ago (my senior year of college) several friends and I would meet up pretty much weekly for Friday dinner and a trip to at least one of three local game/toy stores. Toward the latter part of spring semester, we found a deal on a couple basic Gundam models for about $2/ea. So thoroughly enjoying putting them together, I bought a couple more expensive ones (the $2 bait models worked, apparently), and eventually tracked down a couple more that I assembled that summer after graduation.

Those fell by the wayside, though, until this year. A few weeks ago I came across a couple models at a Barnes & Noble that caught my eye. A couple weeks later at another B&N I saw another, and seeing them triggered something for me.

A couple weeks ago I decided I was going to try another model, so I went to JC’s, knowing he had a much better assortment of models than B&N. Looking through them, I found one that I thought looked cool (and by “looked cool” I mean “basis of choosing which one to buy”) and bought that.

shenlonggundam_box

Of course, while I recalled all the tiny bits ‘n pieces, I’d forgotten just how many…though I believe this one’s one of the larger models I’ve (yet) assembled.

shenlonggundam_pieces

I spent awhile one weekend getting the legs assembled; spent time over a couple lunch breaks at work with further assembly, and then this past weekend finally finished assembling the thing.

shenlonggundam_assembled

And somewhat predictably, I’m rather eager to get another to assemble…though I’m forcing myself to wait til my next payday and when I’m more likely to actually have and take the time to put one together, rather than the immediate gratification of buying one “now” but then not even starting assembly for another week or two.

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(Most of) No Man’s Land…Finally

Posted on June 6, 2014 by Walt

Somewhere during my junior year of high school, I ended up following the multi-part crossover Cataclysm in the Batman family of titles.

It was early in my senior year that things took off; I was on a senior class field trip when I picked up a couple issues of the Mr. Wayne Goes to Washington prelude arc. And it was during the latter part of my senior year and early freshman year of college that I followed most of the year-long No Man’s Land mega-arc.

batmannomanslandvols1-3b

However, to this day, I’ve yet to read the entire thing. And I never did wind up snagging the 5 or 6 volume set of the TPBs that’ve been out. Of course, that turned out to be fortuitous as DC‘s in the last couple years re-issued the arc in new editions–this time collecting more, and doing so in 4 volumes.

batmannomanslandvols1-3a

I ordered the first three volumes last week in a bit of a “retail-therapy” splurge, restraining myself by sticking “just” to these three volumes. I intend to snag the 4th before too much longer, and have also had my eye on the new editions of the Knightfall/KnightQuest/KnightsEnd volumes. Batman’s 75th, and it’s looking like a significant Batman investment for me already for the year.

It helps, perhaps, having also bought and listened to the two GraphicAudio volumes adapting Greg Rucka‘s novelization of the series, which was a real treat to listen to the last few weeks.

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Ultraforce Action Figures…After All This Time

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Walt

While I’ve been aware of them for at least 15 years (and I’m pretty sure I was aware of them earlier than that), it’s taken until just this Spring for me to finally acquire any of the Ultraforce action figures.

ultraforcenightmanandprime

Several years ago I ordered a Prime and Hardcase figure on eBay, but that never quite worked out (and shame on me for never pursuing the issue). But then just a couple weeks ago, a friend led me to a vintage toy store, where I found the Night Man figure for $3. And then barely a week later at a local one-day show, I found Prime also for $3.

Certainly a couple of my coolest “finds” in a long while…and can’t beat the price (especially with them still being on the card!) Thing is, my apartment’s such a mess, while I don’t relish leaving them packaged, I probably will until I can do some major cleaning and rearranging to properly display the various figures–including these.

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