• March 2023
    S M T W T F S
     1234
    567891011
    12131415161718
    19202122232425
    262728293031  

  • On Facebook

    On Facebook

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Comic Blog Elite

    Comic Blogs - BlogCatalog Blog Directory

Too Many Unopened Figures?

Posted on March 30, 2021 by Walt

My purchasing of various figures has vastly outstripped my opening of said figures.

For that matter, it’s outgrown my available display space.

too_many_figures02

I’d gotten the Age of Apocalypse wave of Marvel Legends last year, and 6/7 in the House of X wave this year (still looking for that 7th). I’ve also snagged some others "randomly" over the last couple years; plus the Rogue and Gambit retro-style figures. I suppose more than "random" the better word is "isolated." Citizen V, Thunderstrike, Doom and Thing, Genis-Vell and Mar-Vell.

too_many_figures01

Three of my favorite Mortal Kombat characters; these based on MK11 from a couple years back–Raiden, Scorpion, and Sub-Zero. SPAWN got a figure for the line (and a role in the game as DLC). For as much Batman-Fatigue as I have, other than The Flash and an Action Comics #1000 Superman figure, all of my DC Multiverse figures from McFarlane Toys have been Batman related. 3 Batman, 2 Azrael, and Nightwing. (And I’ll likely get Robin if I come across it for "retail price"). Annnnd a Warhammer 40k figure that just…simply…looked cool.

And I showed off the Lightning Collection Mighty Morphin figures a few weeks back.

I finally realized recently that I had stacks of figures…and decided to stick ’em on shelves so I can at least see what I’ve got. No plans of getting rid of any anytime soon…but another factor in getting so many in short order is the toy landscape these days where you can see stuff ONCE and never, ever again "on the shelves" and have to go to the secondary market if you don’t "snap it up" the first time you see something.

That’s a topic for another post sometime.

To answer the question posed as the subject of this post:

Too many unopened figures?

From a certain perspective, sure. On the other hand, as I joked to someone recently…I don’t have ALL OF THE TOYS, so…?

too_many_figures_blogtrailer

Filed under: 2021 Non-Review Posts, 2021 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

True Believers – Wolverine: The Dying Game

Posted on May 29, 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: The Dying Game reprints the 1990s Wolverine #90, part of the lead-up to the Age of Apocalypse saga. This is a bit of a key issue as it’s the issue where Wolverine actually popped a claw through Sabertooth’s brain, leaving the villain in rather poor condition for quite awhile. The issue ended with the "snikt" and then everything "crystalized" and shattered, representing reality/Time being changed in the past, and this one disappearing.

I originally covered this issue back in 2014 when I covered Legion Quest and then the entirety of the original Age of Apocalypse saga.

true_believers_wolverine_dying_game

wolverine090This is one of the more "iconic" issues of this series for me–and certainly harnesses the "feel" of this "era" of the comic for me. The cover is the first thing that stands out, with a hybrid Kubert/Hildebrandt Bros. image–the distinctive Hildebrandts image that would be great on its own, with Kubert‘s art overlaid to the side, and the series logo is almost an afterthought or a formality.

The issue’s story is fairly simplistic, with Wolverine returning to the X-Mansion to keep an eye on the imprisoned Sabretooth while everyone else is away. Wolverine starts out refusing to fight, but pieces things together about the time Sabretooth pulls an escape, and the two brawl. Ultimately they wind up with Wolverine on top, having popped two claws, one to either side of Sabretooth’s head. The villain taunts Wolverine, threatening everyone he loves and cares about, and right as Wolverine pops the third claw–into Sabretooth’s brain–the crystallization wave hits and this never happened, as this universe ends.

true_believers_wolverine_back

I don’t care for this ad from the back cover–other than Fatal Attractions I would not consider these to be the "best" of Wolverine’s stories, with several others I’d place in their stead.

It’s subjective, though!

true_believers_wolverine_dying_game_blogtrailer

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

The Weekend Haul and Completing Subcollections

Posted on October 16, 2017 by Walt

This past weekend was Comic Heaven‘s anniversary sale (Well, last Thursday and Friday! So into the weekend). I stopped in, and took advantage of the sale to snag some cool stuff!

weekendhaul_10142017a

For what worked out to be LESS THAN the price of 3 Marvel regular, standard, non-fancy, run-of-the-mill, boring comics, snagged these three paperbacks! They were already bargain-priced…but for the sale, it was buy-2-get-1-free!

The Majestic one fits in with my Superman collection as this is the story from 2004 or so when Majestic crossed over into the DCU and for the arc "replaced" Superman in his own titles! (a fun sorta meta-textual thing, as I believe there was a lawsuit years earlier over Majestic’s similarities to Superman). The Iron Man: Disassembled is the final arc on the Heroes Reborn iteration of the title before leaping into the renumber-every-year-or-few era of Marvel. And Five Ghosts I’ve heard of, and as an Image volume one, certainly worthwhile for me to get to read/try.

weekendhaul_10142017b

For 30% off back-issues, I picked up this Savage Dragon Companion, which I’d swear was not there the last time I looked at Savage Dragon stuff (orrrrrr I may have been so focused on stuff between issues 50-100 that I neglected to look through the whole of the SD collection available). The marked price was cheaper or similar to what I’d seen on Midtown, and with the 30% off, extremely worthwhile to me!

And nearly 25 years (give or take a month) after the fact, a bagged/boarded FIRST PRINT of Superman #75 that even back then was quickly going for $5+ was marked at a mere $4…the price of a current/contemporary standard/boring Marvel comic. At 30% off, it was cheaper than a current well-priced DC issue, and well worth getting for the "convenience" (and I’m a sucker for these). Especially as I remembered my other "handy/convenient" copy of the first print was a barcoded edition, not the "direct edition".

weekendhaul_10142017c

Then, another gem was this set of (3rd print) individual issues of the original Batman: The Dark Knight Returns series (back when The Dark Knight Returns was actually only the title of the first issue). With the 30% off, this set cost me less than the original collected edition paperback I bought half a lifetime ago!

Additionally, this set "completes" my "subcollection" of "key" Batman single issues that stood out. I now have single issues for Batman: Year One, Batman: Year Two, Batman: A Death in the Family, and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.

I have never held any illusion/intent of getting first prints of TDKR…but have long held that I want a set of the single issues. ESPECIALLY since the cover images remain the same–it’s only (I believe/assume) the color of the title text that changed between printings, these absolutely fulfill my personal requirements for "qualifying" as single issues fit for "completing" this part of my collection!

weekendhaul_10142017d

Finally, on a whim, I’d stopped into a Books-a-Million to check their "bargain shelf," on the UNexpected minimal slight off-chance that they’d have the X-Men – The Age of Apocalypse: Alpha volume on sale, as they never have for the past year/almost-year that I’ve been checking…but they did this time, so I grabbed that for sure!

And thus, "completed" this "subcollection" of thick paperbacks. I’m pretty sure by hitting the bargain shelves and a couple bargain bins at comic shops, I managed to get these six for about the cost of 15-16 Marvel single-issues. Or in other words, got the set for essentially about 70% off cover price. Of course, to do so, it’s been across at least 10 months or so, maybe more.

Filed under: 2017 Non-Review Posts, 2017 Posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Showing off the Shelves: X-Men January 2017

Posted on January 24, 2017 by Walt

Today, I’m showing off my current X-Men shelf configuration, with some volumes "weeded out" for present, possibly permanently, or to be added back in once I expand my shelving, which my collection has pretty much outgrown at the moment.

showing_off_the_shelves_xmen_shelf01

One of my earliest collected volumes ever was that original The Essential Uncanny X-Men 1 that I bought right before leaving for college back in 1999. Obviously, my X-collection has grown significantly in the last 17 1/2 to 18 years!

I have stuff largely in chronological–or near-chronological–order, moving through the franchise’s history, with this first shelf pretty much covering 1963-1994-ish.

showing_off_the_shelves_xmen_shelf02

Picking up in 1995, this second shelf pretty much takes us through the later ’90s, early 2000s, Morrison, Whedon, and up to 2010 or so.

showing_off_the_shelves_xmen_shelf03

And moving beyond Second Coming and the Fraction run, a bunch of the miscellaneous/skinnier volumes taper off the X-Men proper, and get into other stuff…primarily Wolverine and X-Factor.

Of course, with Marvel discontinuing the Essential line in favor of the Epic line, I may eventually be swappign out some of the Wolverine and X-Factor stuff, or pay inflated prices to fill the Wolverine run in. Time will tell!

The X-books are–next to Superman–the most significant part of my entire collection, and certainly out-do the rest of my Marvel collection; while not exact, I’d say these account for at least 35% of my entire Marvel collection.

Impressive as they can be…knowing the "gaps" in content from the various X-Men oversized hardcovers and omnibus volumes…I find it kinda hard to imagine sticking just to the omnibus/OHC format…there’s so much more to be had by combining the formats. That said…I’d be interested in the Inferno and Inferno Crossovers volumes if I could get them relatively cheaply…though more immediately I’ll probably be content to just get the paperbacks as those’ll be much cheaper, period, and there are several other paperbacks that I want that do not (to my knowledge) have hardcover counterparts…including several Gambit volumes!

But that all gets off on other topics (like "wishlists")…

Filed under: 2017 Non-Review Posts, 2017 Posts, 2017 Reviews, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Weekly Haul – Week of April 20, 2016 (new stuff)

Posted on April 20, 2016 by Walt

This week ended up being a huge week for new comics stuff…far bigger than I’d had any intention or inkling before mid-day.

weekly_haul_week_of_20160420a

DC‘s obviously getting back into my good graces (or at least attention) based on this week’s stuff. A JLA book for my $1-or-under/promo-priced pulls; Legends of Tomorrow since I enjoyed the first issue enough; Superman: Lois and Clark (seems to be prelude to stuff on a much larger scale than I’d imagined when the title started). Action Comics because I’m OCD and am interested in seeing what DOES actually happen with the New 52 Superman as well as sincerely wanting to ‘support’ an outwardly-indicated (aka “triangle numbering”) system of continuity in Super-books. And then Power Man and Iron Fist cuz ok, I’m a sucker.

Of course, I need to figure out and then track down whatever would be “triangle number” #2, as I have 1 and this is 3…where the heck is 2?!?

weekly_haul_week_of_20160420b

Scored the two Essentials volumes from a $3 box…figuered hey, 25% cheaper than a single issue of a new Marvel comic…you betcha! I believe the X-Men one is all-new to me. The Classic X-Men is a replacement copy so I’ll have 2 of 3 volumes in the same trade dress instead of 3 volumes and 3 different trade dress styles.

And for the price of any of the recent DC #50s (or the Barnes & Noble/BaM! standard price of most issues) got a second print of Dark Knight Returns #2 (Dark Knight Triumphant)!

weekly_haul_week_of_20160420_aoa_omnibus

And finally (of new stuff), the book I’ve been waiting for since last August finally came out (in a new/second printing), but now being ‘current’ and NOT “out of print” it was discounted significantly through instocktrades and thus “affordable” in a way that cover price–for me–is not.

I’d ordered this last week and it arrived today, neatly coinciding with New Comic Day.

Second print? Looks fine to me! Looks like it’ll match the Companion volume? That’s what I wanted. Saved nearly $60 off cover price? I’m great with that!

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

Recent Omnibii Acquisitions

Posted on August 31, 2015 by Walt

Last December or so, or maybe late November, I ordered the Trial of Captain America omnibus. And I recently threw in and got the Age of Apocalypse Companion volume…and then Onslaught.

omnibii_this_year

While I don’t like the pricing (and have only gone in with significant discounts online)…I have a number of Marvel omnibus volumes…but thus far have only ever bought one DC omnibus. And I have never bought an Absolute Edition despite a couple somewhat having my interest.

I’m a sucker for nostalgia. For the ’90s.

Brubaker‘s Captain America being a bit of an exception. And the Marvel volumes fit much better in with other volumes on the shelf…they’re just significantly thicker.

I’m thinking the Onslaught volume hopefully caps a bunch of large purchases for a bit. Outside of a handful of out-of-print X-Men volumes…I’m largely content to wait–as far as omnibii–for the actual Age of Apocalypse volume next year.

Meantime, some thicker paperbacks have my growing attention on the DC side.

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Cover Gallery: Weapon X

Posted on August 24, 2015 by Walt

Amidst all the reviews and such, for me (at least) sometimes it’s just really fun to look at a bunch of comics’ covers together, whether it’s admiring a run of a series, or seeing a full story, or some other ‘theme’. Here are the covers to the Weapon X issues from the original Age of Apocalypse event in 1995 (and as a shameless plug, click on the cover and that should take you to my Age of Apocalypse Revisited coverage of the issue).

 

weaponx001 weaponx002
weaponx003 weaponx004

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts | Tagged: , , , | Leave a comment »

Recent Acquisitions

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Walt

It’s been an interesting week with several things ‘converging’ for me: a forgotten pre-order item, a purchase substituting for a convention, and my largest single “back issue” purchase ever.

First off, last weekend I happened to to see a link on Facebook to some group called Something Valiant. I clicked through, and found some stuff involving classic Valiant stuff, so did not immediately click away.

I noticed a post offering Harbinger #s 2-5 for a very reasonable price, shipped–and messaged the poster to inquire if they were still available (not seeing any comments on the post). They were, so arrangements were made.

harbinger_90s_2thru5

Easily my biggest “back issue” purchase in this regard–for what I paid for “only” 4 issues. However, considering I’d expected to pay significantly more per issue and not get them all but dropped in my lap from one source, I’m very happy with the purchase, and will certainly reach out to this seller again in the future as I whittle down my “missing” list of classic Valiant.

Another surprise arrival this week was the new Hellblazer volume.

hellblazer_tpb_11

This is the 11th volume in this incarnation of the series, reprinting it from its start including key tie-ins and such, and incorporating a numbering so it’s not just a bunch of random volumes.

hellblazer_tpb_thicknessIt turns out that I apparently had pre-ordered this from Amazon several months ago and forgot about it. So when it showed up, it was a very pleasant surprise.

I continue to be quite impressed with the size of these volumes, particularly for the cover price. Though this would easily be a $40+ volume from Marvel, this one carries a $24.99 cover price…and thanks to Amazon I got it for less than $12.

Though I grouse about Marvel‘s pricing, they make up a significant chunk of my graphic novels collection due to various clearance and blowout sales and such through the years, as well as having a lot of stuff I’m truly interested in.

A couple years ago, I was quite impressed when I came across the X-Men: The Age of Apocalypse Omnibus at Carol and John’s. It was very far out of my price range, though more recently I’d lamented realizing it was out of print, and so had been jacked up astronomically beyond my price range by “third party sellers.” So when I more recently learned of the Age of Apocalypse Companion I didn’t even consider pre-ordering it from anyone…no sense having the companion volume without the main.

age_of_apocalypse_companion_omnibus_01

I was listening to a recent episode of the Collected Comics Library and learned that there’s to be a new printing of the main omnibus in the first part of next year, in time for the new movie. So, rather than beat around the bush and put it off, I found a mostly-reasonable price online and bought this volume, knowing I’ll be able to pair it up in the spring (and for what that’s gonna cost me, I certainly would not want to be trying to buy TWO omnibii nor “risk” this one going out of print!).

Plus, I had decided that I was not going to be attempting to attend a particular convention I had been considering, so with gas money and admission I would not be spending, as well as other random purchases I would not be making…I was able to justify (to myself) this rather large singular purchase.

age_of_apocalypse_companion_omnibus_02

If you look to the right in the photo above, you’ll see a quarter leaned up against the volume–showing just how thick this companion edition is.

And below, it currently has a place on a shelf with the last Omnibus I’d bought, as well as the recent TMNT by IDW hardcover.

tmnt_cap_aoa_hardcovers

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Cover Gallery: Factor X

Posted on August 14, 2015 by Walt

Amidst all the reviews and such, for me (at least) sometimes it’s just really fun to look at a bunch of comics’ covers together, whether it’s admiring a run of a series, or seeing a full story, or some other ‘theme’. Here are the covers to the Factor X issues from the original Age of Apocalypse event in 1995 (and as a shameless plug, click on the cover and that should take you to my Age of Apocalypse Revisited coverage of the issue).

 

factorx001 factorx002
factorx003 factorx004

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts | Tagged: , , , | Leave a comment »

The Weekly Haul – Week of August 5th, 2015

Posted on August 6, 2015 by Walt

Though the photo looks contrary, this was my smallest week yet since dropping all Valiant several weeks ago.

weekly_haul_20150805a

The only thing on my pull list is the TMNT issue. The Age of Apocalypse mini is one that I’ll buy even though I’m primarily waiting for Secret Wars to make its way to Marvel‘s Digital Comics Unlimited.

The Eclipso: The Darkness Within issue is from the quarter bin, and really only caught my eye due to being one of the issues with the plastic 3-D diamon shard…a nifty artifact of the ’90s.

The Savage Dragon, the Strangers in Paradise, and Ultimate Spider-Man tpbs were in a 90% off bin…combined, the three were still cheaper than a contemporary single issue!

Finally, the Nightwing volume. This has the original 4-issue mini-series and then the first 8 issues of the ongoing (sadly, the Return of Alfred issue is not included). While I’d prefer to get something like this for a discount, I’m so completely fed up with Amazon right now that they’re not even a consideration. Plus, lacking Valiant, I wanted to get something I wouldn’t otherwise, and continue to support the LCS, so I bought this volume. 12 issues’ content for roughly original cover price, even a bit cheaper…nto bad at all.

I’m looking forward to the Robin volumes like this, and have had my eye on the Spectre ones as well as Saga of the Swamp Thing. These hit a sweet spot of having quite a number of issues while holding to a $20 price point. Sure, tax makes ’em a bit more, but to mentally settle at “$20” works, where even “$21” seems a lot steeper to me.

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Next Page »
%d bloggers like this: