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Scoring All-American Prime for $2

Posted on August 8, 2014 by Walt

After half-heartedly “keeping an eye out” for UltraForce toys, this year’s been pretty good actually finding them in-person. Typically I’m not a huge fan of variant figures (duh) but for $2 and it’s Prime? Yeah. Now, I still definitely want several of the other figures from the line–Hardcase, NM-E, and Prototype for sure.

I found this in a toy bin at JC’s in Cuyahoga Falls…a very pleasant surprise, which offsets a LITTLE bit of my frustration at the hassle of tracking down a NON-variant copy of Action Comics #34 this week.

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Though the packaging is worn, doesn’t particularly bother me–I’m not looking for “mint in package” or “mint on card” or whatever…I just want to have the figures themselves.

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I wouldn’t mind getting the whole line–Ghoul, Topaz, and Attalon–though I have no interest in the “vehicles”…it’s the characters that have meaning, not some random (pointless) vehicle(s).

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Not My Ninja Turtles…

Posted on August 7, 2014 by Walt

No fancy post. No photos, not even very much to say. Just…that was NOT “my” Ninja Turtles. Teenage Mutant or otherwise.

I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to re-watch the 1990 and 2007 films as a palette cleanser.

Yeah, some good stuff, small things. But I am really NOT impressed, and didn’t particularly enjoy the thing, and even the stuff that apparently was supposed to be funny…wasn’t. To me, anyway.

I won’t go so far as to suggest I “understand” Transformers fans.

This just certainly was not an incarnation that I care anything about, offhand. Maybe sleeping on it and further pondering will change my mind some or open to other insights and feelings on the thing.

Filed under: Movie Reviews | Tagged: , , , , | 7 Comments »

The Weekly Haul – Week of August 6th, 2014

Posted on August 6, 2014 by Walt

Not a horrible week, but not a tiny one, either…

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Funny…for as much as I consider myself officially “Valiant-and-TMNT-only” I only had one issue fitting that this week.

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A couple weeks with no new chapter of Doomed and now THREE chapters out today…

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I skipped Infinite Crisis when it came out a couple weeks back, but my curiosity got the better of me…figure I can at least check it out, though I’ve little intention of following it.

Honestly rather frustrated with stuff this week–I had to go to two shops in order to get the NON-variant editions of all 3 of the Doomed chapters. And there were 3 chapters–two of them $5 annuals and a $3.99–all in the SAME week.

And yet, here I am buying a bunch of DC and wondering why I’m spending so much after getting back down pretty close to pull-list-stuff-only…

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Concluding the Angry Birds Star Wars 2 Collection

Posted on August 5, 2014 by Walt

Well, I never did find the Boba Fett pig in the 2-packs as advertised on the back of the packaging. But I think I got everything else I was interested in.

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Picked up this bunch on clearance. After many, many months of just the same packs, there was finally a 2nd series…but hardly impressive, and certainly not nearly as interesting or seeming to be “worth” getting.

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But with a $10 pack marked down to $3, and the $20 collector’s case marked down to $6…and this being clearance pricing obviously intended to clear the things out, I went ahead and got ’em, figuring I might regret it later, especially for the price.

angry_birds_star_wars2_august14_case

And with these being cleared out (at least at Target, I’m not sure about Walmart), it’s a good time for me to call it quits. Plus, my entire collection of the birds themselves and the stands fits in the case and then some (I picked up a bunch of the non-playable birds for the characters).

Even if this goes on a shelf somewhere for awhile…rather cool little collection, and quite cool to have the “official” case for ’em as well…

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The Five Valiant Chromiums

Posted on August 4, 2014 by Walt

I was going to pass on the later ones after not being particularly thrilled with the initial Armor Hunters #1 Chromium cover, comparing it thoroughly to my favorite “old-school” Valiant chromium cover: 1993’s X-O Manowar #0.

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But I’d requested them, and though the store owner gave me an out–I went ahead and snagged ’em all.

Yeah, I loathe variants on principle, but even I have to make exceptions here or there, and these go with the “old school” “regular and collectors’ editions” format, rather than different images.

Whether one goes with the regular cover or the chromium cover…it’s still the same image and such…one’s “just” paper and the other’s this much thicker, sturdier material. But the fairly “iconic” images–Armor Hunters #1 and X-O Manowar #26–are still consistent. There’s not some random cover by a random artist, or some “theme of the month” or such.

Of course, now that I do have these…it’s back to standard most regular “A” cover available for the foreseeable future!

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The ’90s Revisited: Ninjak Yearbook #1

Posted on August 1, 2014 by Walt

ninjakyearbook001Writer: Mike Baron
Penciller: Bryan Hitch
Colorist: Steve Whitaker
Letterer: Adam Niedzwiecki
Editor: Maurice Fontenot
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Layton
Cover: Stu Suchit
Published by: Valiant
Cover Price: $3.95

After having recently read the Trapped by Webnet arc in the current Unity series,when I was flipping through a quarter-bin the other day, I bought this issue and actually read it same-day, even though I already had it. It was the immediacy, and I wasn’t sure what to expect, except a Ninjak story and the cover had a headshot of someone that I couldn’t imagine being anyone other than Dr. Silk.

For as many of the original Valiant books as I’ve amassed the last couple years, I’ve read surprisingly few so far (telling myself I’m waiting til I can read the entire Valiant universe start to finish with no gaps). So I didn’t quite know what to expect here. The issue is labeled as a Yearbook…I’ve come to realize that would be original Valiant‘s way of saying “Annual.” So this is the 1994 Annual for the Ninjak ongoing, and while I half expected a big To Be Continued, I was pleasantly “surprised” to find that this issue is self-contained.

I didn’t think about the art all that much as I read the issue, but I really didn’t have any problem with it. Nothing jumped out in any negative way, and I didn’t feel “distracted” by it, either. It just got the visuals across and told that side of the whole of the story. In typing this post I see Bryan Hitch was the penciler, so in retrospect I kind of “see” it, though it definitely (obviously) predates his work on The Ultimates by a number of years. Combined with the coloring, I’d have to say I prefer Ultimates to this, but there’s also the fact of reading this 20-year-old single issue, and that Hitch and comics/printing in general had a good 8-some years of development between when this issue was published and when The Ultimates came along.

The story is relatively simple: Ninjak’s out and about in his civilian guise, and gets recruited for a mission. Dr. Silk’s making trouble, and of course needs to be stopped. Ninjak encounters a rather personal foe en route to stopping Dr. Silk, and by issue’s end we’ve reached the adventure’s end.

Perhaps over-simplifying, I’d say this issue is basically a single-issue Ninja-Spy story: part ninja-guy in Ninjak, but he’s also a spy. And it sure as heck beats being just some kick-off to a longer story, or a concluding chapter of a longer story, or being a middle chapter of a story…etc.

I quite enjoyed reading the issue, and it was CERTAINLY worth the 25 cents, if solely for the amount of time it took to read. I’ve maybe read one or two other Ninjak issues through the years, though I’m honestly not even sure if I’ve read the first issue…I think I know more of the contemporary version of the character from the last couple years in current Valiant‘s X-O Manowar, Unity, and Armor Hunters titles. 

That being said…I never felt lost or taken out of the story by my lack of knowledge; though I’m consciously aware of “continuity” and such, this worked just fine for me as a single-issue “episode” of stuff. Perhaps it’s a bit formulaic…but for me, that worked in the issue’s favor.

While this is a sort of Annual as opposed to an arbitrarily-chosen issue of the ongoing series, it’s very satisfying to be able to just pick up one issue and have an enjoyable story, good art, and no burning desire to go grab another issue immediately to continue or finish the story.

Now recognizing the Yearbook issues as basically being annuals, I may actually target them for reading prior to getting down to any solid “reading projects” for classic Valiant.

If you come across this in a bargain bin, it’s certainly worth 25 cents to $1. While it’s good, it’s not any issue of particular or singular significance, and as a “generic ’90s book” I wouldn’t suggest paying more than $1 for a copy, and personally consider it truly 25-cent-bin fare.

Filed under: 1990s, Ninjak, The '90s Revisited, Valiant | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Weekly Haul – Week of July 30th, 2014

Posted on July 31, 2014 by Walt

This week’s haul was rather moderate–not tiny, but not particularly huge or overwhelming in either cost or quantity.

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Since I’d requested them sight unseen, I’ve continued with the Chromium covers, and with these being a VERY RARE EXCEPTION to my usual no-variants rule, I’ve got both editions of Armor Hunters: Harbinger. And I’ve continued with Futures End and Batman Eternal…

weeklyhaul20140730b

I half-heartedly flipped through the quarter-bins for anything new or interesting. I probably already have the X-Factor issue, but not certain–it’s from near the end of the original run, where my collection remains sparser than earlier in the series. I don’t consciously remember the War Story issue, but had the first couple “waves” of War Story issues, so why not. And several Werewolf issues that I believe will make a fine addition to the Vampire issues I bought last week.

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And because–at 90% off cover, Scalped vols. 2 & 3 (I got vol. 1 back in 2007) cost less than $4–I figured why not? I don’t recall how long the series ran, but I haven’t (yet) read the first volume, even, so these’ll add to a hopefully good, interesting reading when I get around to it. And with the discount I’d had on that one seven years ago, I don’t think I’ve topped $12 for the 3 so far.

I am going to have to decide soon if I *really* want to keep up with the DC Weeklies. They’ve not been bad, but I’ve had no problem going several weeks without READING, between actually reading the issues. And with Zero Year ending, I don’t know if the Batman Eternal will start having more direct tie-ins to the main title or not, and I don’t want to be forced (or enticed) into buying yet MORE series on a regular bases, especially when they’d likely be $3.99 to the weeklies’ $2.99.

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Updating the Hellblazer Library before Constantine

Posted on July 30, 2014 by Walt

I virtually NEVER buy collected volumes “in-person,” sticking to single issues for in-person purchases, due to pricing. However, I have been quite highly impressed with the re-issued Hellblazer volumes the last year or two.

hellblazer_new_vol_8_a

This week, I picked up volume 8, which is a rather thick volume, and very certainly physically FEELS like a big book, well worth its cover price. As with the earlier volumes, this one is basically a merging of two of the “original edition” volumes into a single book.

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The new Hellblazer vol. 8: Rake at the Gates of Hell contains the issues previously collected as the un-numbered volumes Hellblazer: Damnation’s Flame and Hellblazer: Rake at the Gates of Hell. This volume is rather significant for ME, as the original Damnation’s Flame was the first Hellblazer book I ever read and it–along with a Secret Files and Origins issue–were my initial introduction to the series and the John Constantine character.

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Part of the heft of the physicality of the volume seems to be that the paper might be slightly thicker…or somehow less compressed. Even with less covers, this new volume is actually fatter than the two original volumes whose issues this contains.

hellblazer_new_vol_8_d

Now, if I was looking at a Marvel volume collecting this many issues, or simply being this thick, I would certainly expect it to be–at MINIMUM–a $35 book, more likely $40, if not a $50 paperback. But here from DC (well, Vertigo) this is a “mere” $19.99 or to use my above rounding, it’s a $20 book. What makes that EXTRA appealing is looking at the two older editions that I bought over ten years ago.

hellblazer_new_vol_8_e

When I bought Damnation’s Flame back somewhere in 2003 or so, it was $16.95…and as that predated my online ordering and such, I actually paid cover price plus tax at Comic Heaven.

And in 2004 or so when Rake at the Gates of Hell was put out, it was itself $19.95. A $17 book and a $20 book–$37ish total–yet now in this new edition the entirety is only $20.

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Given that these new editions are actually NUMBERED and contain extra issues the original volumes did not (the original edition of vol. 1 did not contain the Swamp Thing issues, for example. Vol. 1 now has them so you’re NOT left on some cliffhanger that you have to leave the series of volumes to resolve. And this time through–at least so far, in July 2014–the volumes share a cohesive trade-dress so they actually look like a series.

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I’m still missing several of the later volumes of the series, though still filling in those holes, despite the chance that I’ll be double-dipping, “upgrading” to the new editions if the entire series actually gets collected. As-is, vol. 8 takes us up to #83…at this rate, I do imagine we’re looking at an eventual 30 or so volumes if these make it through to the 300th issue; possibly 31-32 if various specials and such get factored in, maybe more if any of the spotlight minis (Lady Constantine, Chaz, Papa Midnight) get mixed in.

The next question is going to be how to “recycle” my old editions. Sell ’em on eBay? Sell them as a lot? Sell them individually? With these new editions, those old ones are technically out of print–so based on the APPARENT “logic” of Amazon 3rd-party resellers, I should probably sell them for about $50-$140 apiece, right*?

(*Actually I’d consider looking toward roughly $10/ea if I could sell ’em all at once, maybe put that into the new editions of Preacher or even Lucifer, with Lucifer having the weight as I already have old editions of Preacher but have yet to read Lucifer at all)..

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Half-Price Books "Mini-Vacation" Haul

Posted on July 29, 2014 by Walt

While visiting with a friend at the start of a “mini vacation” last week, we wound up in a Half-Price Books. Her idea, but I’d already had some thoughts of going to one. And the fact that we both can enjoy browsing a book store is an added plus of the friendship. Of course, despite my pointing out a bunch of stuff in suggestion to her, I still wound up spending more than she did…though in my defense I went through about 3 “phases” as I put stuff back to hang onto other stuff, before finally settling on what I actually bought and walked out with.

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The bulk of my purchase was Aliens Omnibus volume 4 and Aliens Omnibus volume 5…which add to my existing volumes 1-3. I’ll have to look ’em up but I’m thinking there may only be 6 of these, so it’d definitely be cool to have the run.

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I also bought 3 $1 comics–a reprint of Star Wars #1 from Marvel; the still-sealed Batman: Shadow of the Bat #1 collector’s set (bought it for the posters). and a slightly beat-up copy of Prime #1/2 because hey…it’s Prime #1/2 and it’s definitely not nearly as common as #1, or even the majority of #s 1-15 or so.

I was quite amazed at the bulk of the $1 stock–it was all stuff I’d generally consider to be 25-cent stock, with very few exceptions (including what I deemed “worth” my $1/ea).

However, they had a bunch of 25-cent “clearance” stock…each individual issue tagged with a break-apart price sticker directly on the covers, meaning one’s either stuck with that sticker, or very likely would have to rip a hole in the cover trying to peel the thing off. Much of the 25-cent stock was NUMEROUS copies of VERY FEW issues. I pulled a stack of about 15 copies of an Image foil cover….Something #2. Saw at least a dozen copies of Rai and the Future Force #11. May have been a bunch of #9 as well. It was both disgusting yet morbidly fascinating at the same time.

I made a point of showing these to my friend, explaining that apparently they’d bought a collection from someone who finally realized these were near-worthless.

Of course, Turok: Dinosaur Hunter #1 was in the $1 stock, when I’ve heard stories of entire longboxes full of the thing being hoarded. Maybe a good thing I don’t work at HPB as I would NOT in good conscience be able to sell most of the issues for $1!

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Stolen Comics and Requiem for a Jacket

Posted on July 28, 2014 by Walt

Remember last month when I posted about initially more than doubling my GI Joe collection?

That post is now all that remains of that particular purchase.

frowneySomeone got into my car overnight, and among other stuff that they stole, they stole this bunch of GI Joe comics that were there waiting to be loaned to a friend.

Along with the comics and a GPS, lost my favorite jacket that my dad gave to me in late 2003, which I wore from that point through last year before taking on a less comfortable one that actually zipped (I broke the zipper on the older one the first time I wore it, but never got it fixed even though I wore it through ten winters–nearly 1/3 of my life, and the majority of my ADULT life).

And really, it’s the loss of that jacket that has me most upset, because the thing had a lotta sentimental value to it. That first night I wore it, when I broke the zipper was the night I saw The Return of the King with friends, and was my last day at the job I had at the time, after a transitional summer from undergrad to “real world,” and heading toward my first solo apartment, and everything that happened before I went to grad school.

I wore it all through grad school; it’s the one I wore visiting New York and my sister Thanksgiving 2004, and again with a couple of my best friends in late December 2009. It was with me the first few winters of my current job.

And instead of a longer, more cheerful post, I’m just sticking with that. Not exactly what I expected of my Monday (or, y’know, of EVER).

Here’s hoping the rest of the week is much better.

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