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Weekend Acquisitions: Weekend of September 6-8 2019

Posted on September 9, 2019 by Walt

Over the weekend, I wound up with a lot of "extra" purchasing that’s a bit beyond "normal." In addition to weekend comic shop visits, I had an InStockTrades order come in, as well as having gone to Cleveland Comic Con 2019 (that’ll be detailed in another post).

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I jumped on the chance to get Savage Sword of Conan #1. As this was a "regular-priced back-issue" (and not a 25-cent/50-cent/$1 bargain-bin issue) I had no qualms with "just" getting #1 since it was available. Plus, it’s from a time when #1 MEANT something and was "special"–in this case kicking off an over 200-issue series! (Whereas modern Marvel seems to MOSTLY max-out at 50 issues before a new #1, if not multiple #1s for the same title (renumbered/new volume) within a single year (or 12-month span).

I also snagged Deathmate: Black, having seen something recently noting it as the first appearance of Gen13. And then at another shop, snagged 2 copies of Gen13 #1. These are for the ongoing series, and not the original mini-series of the same title…but still, for the novelty of it, I was happy to spend the $1.25 (total!) for the 3 issues (again).

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Being on an Aliens kick recently, I’d ordered some recent-ish collected volumes. Though I have the single issues for all but Aliens: Resistance, I was willing to pay the discounted online price, where the full price was not worth it to me. I’ve also been a bit resistant to these "skinny" paperback volumes in light of the various omnibus volumes and library-edition oversized hardbacks and such.

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I was, however, quite willing to pay full price for Spawn: Origins vol. 1 as it was already one of the "Image $9.99 vol. 1s" and so a bargain at cover price.

And Classic G.I.Joe vol. 15, which I believe is TECHNICALLY out-of-print and unavailable online except for massively over-jacked-up third-party scalper prices. This still leaves me missing vols. 10-14.

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Filed under: 2019 Non-Review posts, 2019 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

A Peek at the "Comic Cave"

Posted on June 27, 2018 by Walt

I’ve mentioned new/additional shelving and rearranging for months now. I still haven’t gotten things 100% the way I want them, but with touching things up here, rearranging there, etc. I’ve had the overall space essentially set up.

And falling behind on writing reviews–Ultraverse Revisited and otherwise–today I decided to show off the bulk of my "comic cave" space. However, it’ll likely be awhile yet before I get into a detailed "tour" or shelf by shelf show-off, etc.

And even these photos show some of the rough edges and unfinished messiness…though do not show the huge mess that is my longboxes, shortboxes, "desk" and table.

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Above: an "outer" view of the main "library" (I’ll show the "inner" view further down). The bulk of the action figures on the front, with a corner piece for some of the Build-A-Figures and giant Heroclix; and presently some general storage/mess.

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Here’s a better look at the bookcases from the above photo. The far right is graphic novels, and then other things on the shelves to the left beyond "just" graphic novels.

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Opposite of these is my "media and games" space, as well as my Magic: The Gathering books, and Aliens and Predator books, as well as movies and tv…plus some storage.

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…And here’s a view from the other side–the small bookcase is my Dragonlance paperbacks. The bookcase behind the chair has boardgames, card games, and even trading card binders.

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This bookcase is seen looking out from the "inner" view of the main ‘library’ and includes the Thanos Shelf I’ve shown off a couple times.

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And here’s an "inner" view of the first photo of this post, with primarily my DC and Marvel stuff, plus some storage with some of the bottom shelves. The cropping here is to avoid much of the mess I’m not ready to show.

As said…I’ll probably show off a more detailed look sometime later–including the staircase down to the basement, a few things I didn’t specifically show here, and a better sense of the space as a whole.

For now, this is a peek at the heart of my collection and where/how most of it is stored at present…at least, outside of the single-issues collection…the longboxes and shortboxes are quite the mess at the moment, as well as my "workspace" and "desk" and such.

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Filed under: 2018 Non-Review Posts, 2018 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Alien(s) Day 2018

Posted on April 26, 2018 by Walt

April 26, 4/26–chosen for the planet designation LV-426 where the Alien was found and then the larger outbreak in Aliens–marks the day to observe the franchise.

For my part…sharing my latest shelf configurations!

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I believe I have all of the Aliens paperback novels at this point. Including the Predator stuff, I’m still missing a Predator Omnibus from Titan; but I’m not in a huge rush to get that. There’s also a Predator counterpart to the Aliens: Bug Hunt volume; but again, not in a rush to get that.

Along with the books themselves on the shelves, I’ve got the various Pops and Mystery Minis and Minimates and whatnot. Seems the most appropriate place for the figures to be!

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Along with the various paperback novels, of course I have a number of comics volumes for Aliens, Predator, and Aliens vs. Predator. And rather than have them lost in with everything else, I opted to move my Blu-rays to this shelf (with the added benefit that they help keep everything standing up for the moment). I was counting on a matching volume to the Fire and Stone stuff with Life and Death, but never having seen anything about a hardcover and recently-ish seeing a paperback…I’m quite disappointed at the lack of proper "library edition" volume.

With my recent reconfiguring of the entire "comics space" I wasn’t able to find a good way to have the novels together with the graphic novels…so they are actually completely different bookcases in different parts of the overall space. I imagine I’ll get into more on that whenever I get to actually re-photographing the entire space and shelves and working up a huge post showing it all off!

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

More Ollie’s Haul 2018 (to February 13)

Posted on February 14, 2018 by Walt

"The Ollie’s sale" has been an ongoing thing for a few weeks now. And while I’d assumed "everything was out" to diminishing stock…that seems to NOT have been the case.

While I’d picked up a couple more books from "remnants," I then saw some Facebook posts about several individuals’ Ollie’s stores having NEW selection.

So, between "remnants" and visiting four different locations across the area, I’ve added another significant stack.

Though I’m still very much looking for the Lex Luthor: A Celebration of 75 Years volume that I have seen photos posted of as something that’s "out there."

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I’d also visited a Half-Price Books and found the Avengers Forever oversized hardcover–with a somewhat battered-all-around-the-edges dustjacket–that I recognized as being leftover from the closest one that closed January 3rd. It had a new sticker over the regular, marking the book down by at least $10. Because it’s "Out-of-Print" it worked out to only being about 43% off. But that’s still a darned sight better than I’d expect online!

Now if only Marvel would do a small-ish (27 or so issues with the #0 and if there was a #1/2 I’m forgetting) Captain Marvel Omnibus of the Peter David run from 1999. (Or just a couple of "regular" Oversized Hardcovers, since the Omnibus designation seems to translate to "add $30-50 to cover price despite size" in some cases). One for the "first run," and then one for the "U-Decide"-launched run.

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Filed under: 2018 posts, 2018 Reviews, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

New Hardcovers! JLI, Darkseid War, and The Button

Posted on October 26, 2017 by Walt

I think this may have been my single largest (or at least expensive!) purchase of collected volumes in one go!

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I’d been particularly waiting for the Justice League International Omnibus (oops, it’s "only" vol. 1!) and was eager to get it. The book is one of the thicker omnibus volumes, and a bit unwieldy at its size, but for all it contains, seems well worthwhile!

Then there’s the Justice League: The Darkseid War Saga Omnibus, collecting the Darkseid War from a couple years ago. I’d balked at the "skinny books" collecting it in multiple parts–I’ve grown really sick and tired of specific, finite stories being broken up into numerous skinny editions JUST for the sake of having "standard 6-issue collected editions." I was curious about the story and interested enough to want it…but not in multiple volumes. Finding out it was getting an omnibus solved that–it’s a nice, thick book and having the entire storyline is a huge plus!

Finally, the Batman/Flash: The Button deluxe hardcover…there’s just something to it for me, the Batman and Flash teamed up, and being the "next step" of sorts from the Rebirth special…and given how much I was already spending, tossing it on was virtually negligible (and cheaper than 2-3 Marvel single-issues!)

Now, we just need a Thy Kingdom Come omnibus of that 12-issue story and 4 specials! (And if they need to pad it out to be thicker, include the original Kingdom Come itself. And if they want to totally go for broke, include The Kingdom along with the New Year’s Evil: Gog special!)

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Interestingly enough, I’m still really not a fan of Darkseid, and DC has gotten me to triple-dip on several things since Rebirth started. I’ve got a couple of JLI skinny hardcovers from awhile back, but missed vol. 2, and was annoyed so didn’t get any of the later ones that there may have been. Now, this way, I’m getting those and more in one volume! (and we’ll see on a volume 2, hopefully not too soon!)

Filed under: 2017 Non-Review Posts, 2017 Posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Showing Off the Shelves: Batman (December 2016)

Posted on December 9, 2016 by Walt

I’ve been getting newer stuff worked in and generally re-situating my shelves, leading to showing off the current configuration.

Lagging a bit behind my Superman collection, which is well onto its third shelf, my Batman collection still has a little way to go to fill its second shelf and creep onto its third.

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While The Dark Knight Returns is more of an "ending" to the story (or should’ve been, but Strikes Again and III are another subject/post entirely) I ended up starting the shelf off with it–I have the story in numerous editions, much like other favorites The Death of Superman and Kingdom Come.

Then, following what I did with the Superman stuff, I lead with the "survey" collections spanning the years, then try to approximate rough chronological order from the Silver Age into modern times. The Batman run seems a lot more solidly event-oriented, with the bulk of the "inches" on the shelf being the event collections.

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Following the event stuff, I ease a bit into the New 52 era, and then back out into broad stuff. Even as I type this, it crosses my mind that the Batman Arkham volumes actually belong up in the earlier volumes as ‘survey’ books that are not collecting any singular story but a broad range of issues featuring a particular character.

The glaring gaps in my Batman collection are all the more glaring compared to Superman; but that’s not terribly surprising, as I’ve been a much more solid Superman fan than Batman over the years. No great dislike of the character; just a far deeper like of Superman.

The few hardcovers that I have are largely glaring stick-outs to me, such that I’d be somewhat interested in trying to replace them with paperbacks; particularly Heart of Hush and Batman: R.I.P. I’d ordered Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader at the same time as the Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow counterpart, so am somewhat hesitant to replace one, as they tie together in my mind; perhaps someday I’ll replace ’em both.

It’s simply astounding to consider the vast library of Bat-stuff out there…I have a relatively large collection here, but I swear I don’t have a fraction of what’s (been) available!

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

Showing Off the Shelves: The Flash (November 2016)

Posted on November 30, 2016 by Walt

My Flash stuff is the most recent "subcollection" to take off for me, having "started" with The Secret of Barry Allen and not really counting the Flashpoint volumes to pulling those in, and adding a number of other volumes in 2016…including having pre-ordered the Flash by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato Omnibus prior to being laid off.

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As Flashpoint was an "event," I’d had those books grouped with my other "event books," but decided that as the only "event series" that I have like this (and keeping what I do have of Blackest Night with the Green Lantern stuff, made sense to me to move Flashpoint over to fit in right after the Road to Flashpoint volume, leading directly to the Omnibus (which has the first 25 or so issues of the New 52 run).

I would hope that there’ll be another omnibus collecting the back half of the series, but for now, I’m more interested in/looking forward to The Flash by Geoff Johns vol. 3 and The Flash by Mark Waid vol. 1!

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Showing Off the Shelves: TMNT (November 2016)

Posted on November 28, 2016 by Walt

I’m showing off the latest configurations of "sub collections" on my shelves.

Here, today, are my TMNT and Usagi stuff. While not officially tied together, I’ve long associated Usagi Yojimbo with the TMNT stuff; and so they fit together well on a shelf. Though I’m basically maxed-out on this shelf now, so the Usagi stuff might end up getting moved to fit elsewhere before too long.

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I’d jumped on the TMNT Ultimate Edition line as soon as it started, and "kept up" with it, including the surprise/addition of the 6th volume. Then I have the 1First graphic novel series, collecting the early Mirage stuff in color the first time. These were my initial introduction to the original/Mirage version of the characters, having had my start with the classic cartoon and the Archie-published TMNT Adventures.

After those we have stuff from Mirage itself over the years–first some of the generic collected volumes; then a bunch of the mid-2000s collected volumes up to the cgi-TMNT film just before Laird sold the property.

From there, the Archie edition of the original TMNT Adventures mini, collected; along with 4 of the 6 TMNT Classics Digest that reprinted the earlier TMNT Adventures issues; and then the current run of IDW‘s volumes collecting the TMNT Adventures run. From there, some other versions of the TMNT Adventures collections, the IDW TMNT hardcover, the 30th Anniversary Special and the 2012 & 2014 Annuals.

Finally, the first 4 Usagi Yojimbo mega-collections from Dark Horse.

I’d had a number of the earlier IDW TPBs of their TMNT series; but stopped with those as soon as I found out about the oversized hardcovers–and though I’m a couple volumes behind, my aim is to use THOSE for my "double-dipping" on the series. They’re the far better value, with about 3 paperbacks’ contents for about/slightly over the cost of 2.

I had at one point figured I’d be getting some of the various other large hardcovers IDW has been putting out for the various TMNT stuff…but they’re all different dimensions, and just don’t look like they go together that well, and thus are quite unattractive to me as a group of books.

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Then, of course, there are the TMNT toys. While this is not the entirety of my TMNT toys collection…it is a full shelf’s worth, laid out for display at present.

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

Showing Off the Shelves: Superman (November 2016)

Posted on November 14, 2016 by Walt

My collection is constantly growing and shifting, with gaps filled in here and there, a new/superior or preferred edition replacing another, and so on.

I have a large DC collection overall, though primary within that are my Superman, Batman, and Green Lantern collections. I think from there it drops down to The Flash and then the remainder of DC stuff and events.

Today, I’m showing off my updated Superman collection!

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I start the section with the two Archives volumes I have, and then other general/history-spanning volumes. Then the Superman Chronicles of the Golden Age stuff, then the Showcase Presents kicking off the Silver Age/Middle stuff; the "themed" volumes, then the Superman vs. _____ books; several other collections, to Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? Kicking off "my" Superman we have the World of Krypton and The Kents, both (to my understanding) taking place before we jumped in with the Byrne reboot. Then For All Seasons as a general beginning/Year One/Origin thing. Next, the Man of Steel series collecting the entirety (I believe) of the Byrne run. I have stuff as much in order as possible from there; roughly publication order, working within existing structure.

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We quickly get into the Death of Superman stuff, and the few volumes of stories after, before jumping to the weird semi-complete-ish (sorta) run of stuff from 1999-2001ish with the numbered Superman volumes (and Emperor Joker) to Our Worlds at War, the "new" "origin" in Birthright, and then stuff from around Infinite Crisis and into the New Krypton era, Black Ring, skipping the New 52, and I’ve got the Superman: Lois and Clark volume here. I have my Death and Return of Superman Omnibus as a "divider" to other quasi-miscellaneous stuff–the Superman: Doomsday tpb, the Gil Kane and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez volumes, then what I have of the various Superman/Batman collections.

While I’ve no significant interest in the older, incomplete "omnibus" that had a lot of the Death/Return stuff, I do also have my original volumes collecting the stories, including several editions of the Death of Superman volume itself–the original edition, the updated edition, and the hardcover edition they put out "recently" for the Book/Blu-Ray/Digital combo packs.

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Spilling onto a third shelf, my two Superman hardcovers from the New 52 era–Unchained and Superman: Doomed. From there, the Earth One volumes, All-Star Superman, and other semi-isolated volumes into Supergirl and Superboy stuff, before getting into general-DC Universe stuff.

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And while showing off "the Superman collection," I can’t leave out the shelf of 3D depictions of the character!

Of course, this is a "snapshot" of the collection at present–I have several figures packed away from moving; and several paperbacks have gotten shuffled around and pulled and not re-filed to read…and there are plenty of others I’d like to get as able.

But for now, November 2016, this is the core of my bookshelf-able Superman collection!

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

Unplanned Books-A-Million Clearance Purchases 11/3

Posted on November 4, 2016 by Walt

Thursday evening, I found myself at a Books-A-Million for the first time in quite awhile. Where I’d figured maybe I would find a cheap book or a comic frame…I didn’t expect to find a giant stack of books that had my interest for the price.

I eventually pared a stack of about a dozen books down to three:

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I got all three books for the price of 5 standard Marvel issues and a True Believers issue.

I was disappointed that Captain America and the Falcon by Priest that I found in the clearance section was not actually on (discounted) sale. And while they had a bunch of the Secret Wars (2015) skinny volumes for $4.97 apiece, they weren’t the greatest condition nor interest to me. I absolutely would have gotten the Age of Apocalypse one if that’d been there for that price, though!

The Wolverine volume is Wolverine; and collects a few issues from the latter part of The Essential Wolverine vol. 5 and the earlier issues from The Essential Wolverine vol. 6…but in full color. I quite like the Essentials line, but for this period of the title, the black and white/graytone effect gets very muddy and doesn’t work nearly as well, so getting this run in this format is very cool. All the moreso for the price!

The Avengers: Scarlet Witch fits thematically with my Avengers: Quicksilver volume. And I’ve been interested in reading Powers: Who Killed Retro Girl for awhile, especially since getting/watching the first season of the tv show last year (though I’ve yet to be able to see the second/final season).

It’s amazing, though, to consider just how highly-priced most Marvel volumes are, such that I virtually never buy any at "full price," because that price is just not worth it to me; while DC has had a number of volumes that I’m willing to pay full price for (even though I’d prefer cheaper means!)

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

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