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Is the Plural of ‘Galactus’ ‘Galacti’?

Posted on March 5, 2021 by Walt

I recently learned of a new 10" Funko Pop 10" figure of Galactus. When I went to (pre?)order it, I discovered a new-ish Heroclix Galactus as well, and wound up ordering that. Had a bit of a mishap but eventually sorted stuff out and got it from Amazon.

I then finally ‘pulled the trigger’ and ordered the Labbit figure, spending more than I should for something so tiny but figured it was cheaper than 2 individual blind boxes, where I’d still only have a 2:20 chance of even getting Galactus.

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And so the Galactus sub-collection stands updated. There’s another newer Mystery Mini that I’ve been unable to find to purchase individually online, and I am not about to drop $6/box on a bunch of blind boxes for characters I’m not even interested in. There’s also a large Galactus from the toy line for the 1990s Fantastic Four cartoon that I don’t have. And From pictures online, I think there may be another Heroclix Galactus that I’m missing.

But I’m quite happy with the collection I have…there’s a fair bit of memories wrapped up in these, as well as the relative coolness (to me) of having even this many in one place.

I have memories of visiting a Big Lots with a friend probably senior year of high school or my freshman year of college and getting the Galactus from the Silver Surfer animated series line. And there was the botched Origins Game Fair trip that helped lead to my first Gen Con trip to Indianapolis that also kicked off what’s been 16+ years of guys’ weekends with those friends.

I’m pretty sure the Marvel Legends Galactus was my first build-a-figure (with the Sentinel and Apocalypse waves following). And the (I believe) Toys R Us-exclusive electronic talking Galactus from the 3.75" Marvel line at the time remains one of my earliest most expensive toy purchases prior to 2019.

The Mighty Muggs figure is one of my favorites from that line and reminds me of the friend that introduced me to the figures. This is the same friend who bought one single Labbit box on a whim and pulled the Galactus one (As I recall, he only wanted Galactus or Deadpool).

The Mystery Mini is one of my best-luck "pulls," from buying a single blind box of some villains wave. And the regular-size Funko Pop Galactus involved a pre-order and then driving to a GameStop to buy in-person thus getting the figure a couple weeks earlier than projected from the order, where-ever that was through.

While I have far more Robins, Supermen, and Thanos…Thanoses…Thanosi…figures of Thanos…Galactus seems to be a sort of premium, epic sub collection on my shelves, and thus showing off this latest configuration of the display!

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Filed under: 2021 Non-Review Posts, 2021 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, showing off the shelves | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Rearranging Some of the Toys (Early March 2018)

Posted on March 13, 2018 by Walt

Over the past couple weeks, I’ve been working on re-doing my comic-space in the basement. New/additional bookcases, sectioning out the space, and to do all that has involved (temporarily) packing up a bunch of the non-book stuff that found a home on shelves over the previous 2 1/2 years or so.

Though I’m still "in-process" with it all, here are some photos of stuff that either didn’t get "packed away" or has found its way back out.

"Showing off some shelves," if you will.

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Some of my Heroclix oversized figures. "Plastic statues" for lack of other description. I think Galactus remains my favorite, though I like Spectre, the Sentinels, Dark Phoenix, and Sinestro with his yellow construct, as well! (If I didn’t, they wouldn’t be here on display!)

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I have two different Mongul figures. The one on the left is from a line of DC/Superman toys some years back; the one on the right is (I believe) a DC Direct figure. I think this sculpt was re-used for a Sinestro Corps version…mine’s from the Infinite Crisis series, offhand.

The Galactus figures are from the 1990s SIlver Surfer line; Funko‘s Marvel Mystery Minis; and the old iteration of Mighty Muggs, respectively.

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Kilowog is a DC Direct figure, one of my favorites! Hulk is a Marvel Legends figure. The Skrull Giant Man is from the Marvel 3.75" line–I believe he was a Walmart-exclusive giant figure. This Galactus is the Marvel Legends build-a-figure, when these were large and special and cost less than half of what Marvel Legends figures go for present-day.

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I continue to add to the "Thanos collection," most recently adding the finally-taken-out-of-packaging-after-several-years Marvel 3.75" iteration and the Lego mini-figure that I got the other day.

I have a lot of other toys/figures/etc. that I’ll likely show off in the near-future as I continue the re-arranging project. I’ll also almost certainly show off the up-to-date graphic novel collection/library, and maybe even an overall "tour" of the basement space. Time shall definitely tell!

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

Fantasticon and B&N Haul from March 10, 2018

Posted on March 12, 2018 by Walt

Over the weekend, I attended a local-ish convention–Fantasticon, in Toledo/Ohio. I went with several friends, stuff was good, and got a few things, and then more at a Barnes & Noble we went to after dinner.

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Probably the main thing for going was that Dirk Manning was going to be there. Always great to see him…probably the best creator I’ve interacted with over the years in terms of enthusiasm, approachability, and all that.

And having just debuted it in the last couple weeks or so, I was able to get a couple copies of Hope #1 by him and K. Lynn Smith (one for me, one for a friend). Busy rest of the weekend so haven’t read it yet, but I hope to have a review up in the near future!

Then there was a randomish back-issue-bin-dive where I came across a still-sealed black-bag-edition of Superman #75–the Death of Superman issue. (Yeah, that issue!). It was marked $3, and cost $3, and is the first copy of this edition that I’ve bought in over 25 years. The bag’s a bit wrinkly and some color damage to it like it had stuck to something or something had stuck to it…but darnit, for $3, the stuff inside is more than worth it, and I very definitely intend to open this thing…perhaps that will also be a near-future-ish post!

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Outside of (re) meeting Dirk and getting that issue of Hope, my "back issue comics goal" was several issues of New 52-era Action Comics…which wound up being a miserable failure. Ditto for issues of the Marz/Banks early-Kyle-era Green Lantern run.

However, I did find a run of Green Lantern: Mosaic…that when combined with the issues I got a couple weeks ago, give me a complete run of the 18-issue series, right here, right where I know where all eighteen issues are right this moment together.

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To some degree, this is a small culmination of 23+ years, having been aware of this series from a friend getting issues from #1 back in 1992. I wasn’t immediately interested myself until later in the run or shortly after. Though I’ve often seen #1 or a handful of issues, I’ve never in all this time (until now) managed to come across or assemble a complete run. From these last several weeks, I now definitely have at least 3 copies of #1, if not more…and certainly several duplicates…but at least I have a single, full run now in one place and I am comfortable not having any further inclination to buy more copies of any of the issues!

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For less than the price of two modern Marvel comics, snagged this Emerald Twilight Parallax figure from the Kenner Total Justice line. This was basically half the cost of a contemporary 3.75" figure, cheaper than basically any "basic" figure, period, these days, and 1/3 the cost of a DC Multiverse "full-size" figure. I’ll need to get this outta the packaging before I change my mind…he’s gonna look quite good against a backdrop of my Green Lantern shelf!

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I’d long since resigned myself to never getting the Thanos "mini-figure" from Lego as I was not spending the money for the set that he came with, and I wasn’t even gonna begin considering "online prices" for a single figure, as any reasonable price would be obliterated by factoring in shipping. But finding this large mini-fig for the price of only 2 modern Marvel comics was a no-brainer for me…especially as I’m keen on Thanos at present, anyway!

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At a Barnes & Noble, found these three Funko Dorbz figures of the TMNT in a $2 bin on clearance. Quite disappointed not to have found all 4…but these were the ones that were present, and my friend even did an extra dig-through to make sure I hadn’t overlooked it!

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And then, partly because they were half-off so I could get both for the price of one, I got Sam I Am and his friend cuz…why not? I’d considered getting them a couple other times, and found them individually other times without the other; and figured I’d wind up kicking myself if I passed on these.

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Turned out that these were also only $2 apiece. Since they’re usually $6+ each, and I didn’t have any of the DC and am still missing several of the TMNT, 8 boxes worked out to be like buy-3-get-5-free (but slightly cheaper).

Of course, me being me, my first choice would be wanting Superman, and then ideally blue-and-grey Batman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter. For the TMNT I was most interested in Bebop, Casey Jones, or Splinter.

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I wound up with three specific ones I was interested in most, and glad to at least have gotten a Batman to go with Superman and Wonder Woman. April O’Neil is a duplicate from the TMNT wave; and I’m not thrilled with Power Girl, and would have a number of the other minis ahead of Black Manta and Harley Quinn. But for the cost, it was well worthwhile (though also means I probably won’t buy any more as I now have extremely-high odds of getting a duplicate!).

All in all, including admission and the Barnes & Noble stuff, I spent about $8 more than what it would have cost me just to get in the door into Wizard World Cleveland had I gone to that the weekend before.

So…not bad at all!

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

More Recent Toys (As Of February 13th)

Posted on February 13, 2018 by Walt

I’ve been accumulating some new toys lately. So, I’ll keep showing ’em off, whether or not I get to any lengthier "spotlights" on any of them.

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Several weeks back, I finally "gave in" and bought a blind-box of the Disney Afternoon Mystery Minis. I got Shere Khan from TaleSpin, I believe a Toys R Us exclusive for the set. Initially, I wasn’t all that thrilled, but he’s grown on me…especially as I liken this version to the mid-’80s Lex Luthor. I’ve got this at my desk at work, and have yet to hear any complaint!

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The mini I especially wanted from the set was Darkwing Duck himself. However, for the price of these, I decided it’d be much more economical to just order the loose figure online. While it was more than I’d prefer to pay for any single one of these…it was cheaper than buying two more blind-boxes. And this way, I have a cool figure from the set in Shere Khan, and I have THE figure I most wanted. No dupes, no fuss.

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I did not know the Justice League Action Mighty Minis line had continued until I happened across several packs at a Half-Price Books. I bought two, and wound up with these two Supermen. Some sort of "gold variant" and a "holographic". Not overly keen on ’em (I especially wanted The Atom!) but they go on my Superman shelf, so…could be worse?

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While I’m totally hit or miss on actually keeping up with Twitter, one time that I was on, saw a post from FigureFan Zero about a deal at ThinkGeek for a Mirror Univers Spock figure, apparently usually in the $80 range, on sale for a ridiculously great price. I followed the link, liked what I saw, and ordered it. I especially like that the figure came with a base, though I have yet to figure out a semi-permanent place to display it. Of course, I’m having that issue with a lot lately…really need to get around to assembling some bookcases I bought last year.

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Then there’s my favorite of late, and the one I’m most excited to have (FINALLY!) managed to get: the Legacy Dragonzord! I’ve been wanting this for years (it’s been over 2 1/2 years since I got the White Tigerzord) and just happened across one being sold via Walmart‘s third-party stuff. While a lot more expensive than I wanted to spend at the time, it was (including shipping) roughly what I paid for the White Tigerzord, and about $10 under my "upper limit" that I’d set for myself for this awhile back. Here it’s pictured with an Imaginext Green Ranger.

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Here’s the plastic 2010 Megazord next to the White Tigerzord in robot mode (and the visor was down when I took the photo without realizing it).

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And here’s a shot of the Dragonzord with the White Tigerzord in Tiger mode.

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…And the three Zords together. I would not mind getting the Thunder Megazord…but that’s a BIT pricy right now…especially with some other expensive stuff I’m very interested in at present, amidst all my other spending with comics and such!

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I happened across some blind boxes of the Loyal Subjects Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers in a clearance aisle, 75% off. I got the T-Rex Zord, Saber-Toothed Tiger Zord, Red Ranger, and Blue Ranger.

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The Zords came with these teeny-tiny ultra-miniature figures. I thought that was great, as it actually gives the Zords some scale! And I never imagined such tiny Ranger figures…with removable helmets and poseability themselves!

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Here’s the full-size Red Ranger…more articulation than the tiny-mini.

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And the Blue Ranger. The helmets have hinge/clasps, and remove to show the human face of the Ranger inside. Of course, I prefer the helmets on, as these are the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, and I’m not going for the cartoony human side.

To say that I’m on a Power Rangers kick lately would probably be an understatement. And I’m rather amazed to see how my MMPR collection has grown in the last 12-13 months!

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

Frustration With Blind Boxes – The Loyal Subjects MMPR and TMNT

Posted on June 5, 2015 by Walt

I’m not a huge fan of "blind box" things…I’d rather know exactly what I’m buying. But sometimes they can be kinda fun, especially when the odds of getting at least one that I want from a line is pretty good.

I recently bought one each of the Loyal Subjects‘ "Action VInyls" blindboxes TMNT and MIghty Morphin’ Power Rangers lines.

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Overall, there’s a 50% chance of getting one of the turtles themselves in the TMNT line, as all 4 are each 2/16 for a total of 8/16 rarities…

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I’m still missing Casey from the Funko Mystery Minis line, so at least having this version would be cool. And thanks to some NON-blind keychains, I know Splinter and Shredder would be cool to have…withOUT a chain coming from the back of their heads.

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On the Power Rangers side, though I’d prefer Green or Red, Blue or Pink wouldn’t be bad, and even Yellow would be cool for at least being one of the Rangers.

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Goldar would be cool as well…at least in appearance…and Lord Zedd would be quite cool, as far as I’m concerned.

For the MMPR line, the Black Ranger is 1/24, with a 1/48 White Ranger, and a 1/96 Red Ranger with Green Ranger gold shield. The odds certainly would not be in my favor whatsoever to get those (of those I’d want the White Ranger.

For the TMNT line, I believe there are also "chase" rare figures, but with the higher-than-1/16 rarity, again with the odds not being at all in my favor so not really a consideration.

Of all of the 2/16 figures for TMNT, the only one I really would not be interested in having as a lone/single figure is Karai.

And of all of the 2/16 figures for MMPR, the only one I really would not be interested in (lone/single or otherwise) is Rita.

I bought one single box from each line.

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I should have just bought the TMNT Party Wagon or Batman ’66 Batmobile from the Funko Pops line, for the money I spent on these.

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Funko TMNT Blind Box Minis

Posted on March 2, 2015 by Walt

I’m still missing Bebop, Splinter, and Casey Jones from this line of the Funko minis…I’m not really interested in buying more of the boxes blindly due to the odds of “just” getting a duplicate (the only one I wouldn’t mind getting duplicates of would be the Foot Soldier).

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I really like the four turtles…especially as these are so much more expressive than the full-size Pop line.

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I didn’t like the Foot Soldier at first…but when I wound up with a second one and realized how great they look flanking Shredder, I decided I do like ’em. And I far prefer this Shredder to the classic action figure!

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While I’d love the Krang having an actual piece as Krang himself (that’s just a sticker on the gut), I do like the size/bulk of the figure. Rocksteady looks smaller here than he actually is, and is a good size himself…all of these are.

For the most part, I’ve had little interest in any full “wave” of Funko figures…but this TMNT one is a definite exception as yet again, the TMNT prove a weakness for me.

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

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