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Robins Update

Posted on April 2, 2021 by Walt

It’s been awhile, but I have a new Robin in the collection. It’s actually been several weeks now, but…whatever.

I don’t even remember now how I came across it, but I was able to order it from Amazon (and it actually came in decent shape!)

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I’m not all that familiar with this costume, or even if it’s "canon." The shape of the "R" tells me this is Damian, though, so not AS much preference on my part. I prefer the Tim Drake Robin…but have found that for me, to SOME degree…"Robin is Robin," regardless of WHICH Robin it is.

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So this new Funko Pop vinyl joins a dusty display-top that is dominated by Robins, while sharing with some excess Supermen.

In their own way, these Robins are themselves "excess," not really fitting well with stuff inside the display case.

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I’m keener to have the smaller figures and figurines and minis and such in a display case so they’re better ‘contained’ should any fall over or such and start a domino-effect or such.

But as of this typing, as of this post, this is the updated Robin collection (with a glimpse of some Supermen and some other miniatures and figurines).

robins_update_april_blogtrailer

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

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 »

The Weekly Haul: Week of December 12, 2018

Posted on December 17, 2018 by Walt

This past week was a rather large week, especially as single issues go. Maybe not huge, but large.

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Supergirl hits its 25th issue, which is an extra-sized $4.99 issue. Considering the series had apparently been cancelled for several months but came back with the existing numbering has been a huge selling point for me…and I’m willing to turn a “blind eye” to a $4.99 #25 much more than I am a #1! Though I’ve skipped several months’ worth of Detective Comics, I’ve opted to get back in for the run-up to #1,000. We’ll see what I think on that after I get around to actually reading #994, though!. While it seems most often that DC saves up its annuals for a 5th week, we get the Batman Annual this week, and it is another $4.99 issue. Again, I’m willing to accept that as this IS an annual, a special issue, and not intended as the premiere issue for a new series!

Then there’s the second issue of the Alien3 adaptation from William Gibson; I haven’t read the first issue yet, and actually need to figure out where it wound up. I probably “ought” to just wait for a collected volume at the rate I’m going, but then, I’m also preferring oversized stuff to skinny-as-heck paperbacks that fit in a comic bag and board that my regular comics fit in. I need to consolidate my Mr. and Mrs. X issues and read…but as a fan of Rogue and Gambit, and of Rogue and Gambit, it’s one Marvel series I’ll actually support. And at least conceptually, their being married is a welcome change, to me! And no particular interest for me in an Archie-published Archie special…buuuuuut it’s “only” $2.99 compared to virtually everything ELSE Archie publishes these days being $3.99 with umpteen variant covers. So I definitely wanted to support the $2.99 price point!

I’d jumped onto Spawn several years ago for the same reason: supporting something with a $2.99 price point! I suppose I ought to check on the price of the main title…and while I’d assumed this Spawn Kills Everyone was $2.99, it’s actually $3.99…and the first issue of a 4-issue mini-series, apparently. Still…I’m ok with it, given virtually everything else is $3.99, so not like it’s standing out, and “at least it’s not a Marvel.”

And as always, the TMNT stuff has long been my “exception” on stuff…including pricing. $7.99 for each of these “prestige format”/squarebound Macro-Series issues doesn’t really phase me. The more good, in-continuity quality TMNT content from IDW, the better!

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And speaking of TMNT…oh, here’s Chloe! Sarah photobombed last time…apaprently it’s Chloe’s turn! She did not care that I was taking photos for this blog…she saw me there, and insisted on some attention!

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So, speaking of TMNT…I don’t even know what to make of this Rise of the TMNT cover. And despite virtually everything else published by IDW having at LEAST one variant, I don’t believe these have had variants. I don’t really care about this series…but have to admit to the “habit” aspect, and knowing that it’s still actually TMNT content, and I’d kick myself if I had to “hunt down” “missing” issues later, so I’ll just get ’em as they come out and be done.

Finally…after however many weeks/months, we get the second issue of Batman: Damned. [ok, it’s been 12 weeks since #1 came out.] 12 weeks…3 months. I don’t remember the original schedule, but I think this is at least a MONTH late, maybe 6+ weeks. I got the first issue out of curiosity—DC Black Label, a new Azzarello/Bermejo piece involving the Joker; the magazine-sized format…and if it wasn’t for all the stupid online “HYPE” I never would have even noticed a certain anatomical portrayal graphically present. Having the first issue and not hating it, I got the second issue; and as I believe it’s to be a 3-issue thing, I’m quite likely to also get the third/final issue as well.

Along with these issues, I also during the week snagged the Thanos Mighty Mugg figure from Hasbro. I’ve previously passed on all of these due to how small these are compared to the original line as well as not caring for the “gimmick” of the multiple faces. But hey…this is Thanos, so I went ahead and got it.

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And speaking of Thanos…thanks to an online sale from Hot Topic, I was able to get a significant discount on the Thanos-on-his-throne Pop vinyl…with FREE shipping by having it delivered to the local Hot Topic at the mall. Unexpectedly for me, Hot Topic also had a sale going of buy-1-get-1-50%-off for everything in the store includingPops. I happened across the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers White Tigerzord, which I would have bought “anyway” just for what it IS. That the store had the Grindelwald-and-Thestral already marked down 50%, and eligible for the further discount, it made for quite the “steal.”

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Aaaaaand that’s about enough for this week.

Two more New Comic Days for 2018…that means this was the 50th. And the final will be “interesting,” falling as it does the day right after Christmas…I’m not even sure what (if anything) will really be out that week or if it’ll warrant its own trip to the comics shop(s).

Time will tell…and we’ll see what the week of the 19th holds!

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

The Weekend Haul – Weekend of June 2-4 2017

Posted on June 5, 2017 by Walt

While everyone else is covering Wonder Woman‘s opening weekend (I saw the film and thought it was fantastic, far more enjoyable and such than Man of Steel or Batman v Superman, and above Suicide Squad) I’m gonna continue on for now. Maybe I’ll write up lengthier, more in-depth thoughts, maybe not.

Prior to seeing the film, I made it to Kenmore to pick up my pulls, and after earlier in the day seeing a staff photo with the statues in the background (and still annoyed that someone bought the Robin statue I had intended to buy a week or two before I went to buy it) I opted to splurge big-time (for me) on this Superman statue.

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This is my first statue, at least as I’d consider stuff to be statues. I suppose the Super Powers Robin and Super Powers Superman that I have might be considered some sort of statue, but I don’t count ’em as such.

The box for this Icon Heroes Superman says "collectible statue paperweight" and I don’t quite get where "paperweight" comes in, but whatever. This is larger than any other Superman I’ve yet got, heavier, and has a base, and is very much a statue in my book!

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Though the face is a bit generic, and the "S" seems to be more New 52 to me offhand than not, it works (and the costume is more the classic–including the trunks!). I like the pose, and the "movement" of the cape…that it’s not just "flat" hanging off him.

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The "detail" of the yellow S on the back of the cape doesn’t seem to be a sticker, but does not seem to be "painted" on…probably some sort of transfer. No bother, though–it looks good to me!

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Comics-wise, had Letter 44, Highlander: The American Dream, and TMNT Universe on my pulls, and couldn’t remember if I’d had Aliens: Dead Orbit but managed to grab that from the shelf. And seeing this other Spawn cover (an updated take on the classic, original #1 issue cover), I bought it to pair with one of my copies of the original first issue for my wall. I’m treating it functionally like buying a small print, and not as a variant cover; regardless of nitpicking on words, though–it’s going to be displayed and not just simply be filed into some box o’ variants or such.

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I also snagged the Wonder Woman Day issues–a reprint of the first issue of the Rebirth run, and a chapter of SuperHero Girls: Summer Olympus. (Then on Saturday, I also snagged the cardboard tiara and bracers for a friend’s daughter from Comic Heaven along with an extra copy of the comics to go with ’em.)

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I spent a whopping $1 from the 25-cent bins on a couple older comics–The Flash and Brave and the Bold, then a ’90s Justice League Quarterly and the newsstand edition of Batman #500.

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Attending the Lake Effect Comic Con on Sunday, I completed my (now-vintage) original set of TMNT: City at War for the same price as some Marvel contemporary #1 issues. And got the X-Men Forever 2 volumes as a 3/$10 deal.

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I also snagged this Marvel Treasury Edition of Superman and Spider-Man for a whopping $5.

This is a bit of a "novelty" for me–I believe the only other "treasury" type issues I have are far more recent–a reprint of GI Joe #1 a friend gave me, and an IDW edition of TMNT #50.

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I got this Batman at a Barnes and Noble, and a Wolverine I had ordered arrived.

While at the Lake Effect Comic Con, I found a dealer than had a large selection of these Pop! figures…but they all seemed to be marked up quite high–far above anything I was willing to pay. I feel "vindicated" (so to speak) on having ordered this Wolverine, and I bought the Batman in a foolish sort of passive-spite, being able to get it at a "regular" price.

Overall, an extremely expensive weekend, particularly with some other stuff I’d ordered (and forgot about).

Here’s hoping this week’s new comics are another very light load!

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

New Robins of Spring

Posted on April 6, 2017 by Walt

I’ve added some new Robins to my collection this year…and most recently, my first-ever “new in package” Eaglemoss figurine!

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I’ve been contemplating ordering this one for awhile, but held off awhile. I finally pulled the trigger and ordered it, actually expecting it to be “loose,” though hopefully well-packed. I was pleasantly-surprised to get it still in its package, which afforded me a little more context on these figures than I’d seen so far.

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For one thing, definitely cool to see more, including a number of ones I do not have. I’d gotten the Penguin and Ra’s Al Ghul, but the rest of these are new (to me). Definitely VERY interested in the Superman one, as well as Green Arrow and this version of Batgirl!

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Along with the Eaglemoss figurine, other recent additions include the Batman: The Animated Series Robin from Funko, though this one’s one of my Tim Drake exceptions, as I’ve found myself increasingly interested in figures and such of all the Robins, not just Tim.

Then there’s the Imaginext version of Tim’s Robin, as well as the Imaginext version of Red Robin. And finally, the elusive Mighty Minis version of Red Robin.

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These join a few of my other Robins, as well as the other Eaglemoss figurines and other Mighty Minis and such. Not in this particular photo are a 12″ Robin from the Batman Unlimited “Titan Heroes” line, a Robin bust bank, a huge version of that Dorbz Robin, and at least one shot glass.

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This is the booklet that came with the Eaglemoss figure…while this is not my favorite version of the costume, it is Tim Drake, and I want to say he was in it for several years before going to the Red Robin thing for a couple years, before the New 52 stuff.

I do look forward to actually reading through this booklet, though I wonder at its take on the character, and what I’ll learn from it or if it’ll seem “off” to me, considering I’ve largely followed the character (off and on) since 1989. (Just think: in 2 more years, Tim Drake will have been around for 30 years! More than 1/3 the entire existence of the Batman comics!)

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Filed under: 2017 Non-Review Posts, 2017 Posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Latest Aliens and Predators Shelf Configuration – September 12, 2016

Posted on September 12, 2016 by Walt

aliens_shelf_sept12a

aliens_shelf_sept12bWe’re into September, which means a couple of new Aliens related books due out.

I believe this week will see the release of The Complete Aliens Omnibus volume two, collecting two of the Dark Horse novels after the initial trilogy.

And the end of the month will see the release of Alien vs. Predator: Armageddon (Book 3 of a "crossover trilogy" called The Rage War by Tim Lebbon.

We also have the current Dark Horse Comics series Aliens: Defiance in progress, as well as a new Judge Dredd/Aliens/Predator series with an upcoming Aliens: Life and Death (though after 2014’s Aliens/Predator/AvP/Prometheus event and subsequent one-volume collection, I’m just waiting for the one-volume collection this time around, most likely).

There was also a recent collection of general DC Comics/Dark Horse Aliens stuff put out, and more recently a volume of DC Comics/Dark Horse Superman stuff (of primary interest to me, the Superman/Aliens and Superman/Aliens 2 material) published.

Along with the various books and comics, there’s the new Aliens Queen 6" Funko Pop figure that just came out (at least according to a months-old Amazon pre-order that just arrived). While I’ve had the "regular" Alien, this Queen is one of the larger oversized figures… and I quite like it, all things considered.

A couple weeks ago, I found one of the mid-2000s Dark Horse Press Predator novels at a used book shop*. Rather crummy condition, but at half cover price and to have it, I won’t complain much for the moment.

(* not Half-Price Books. I figure it could be missing the cover and they’d mark it up to at least $50 just because it’s out of print and not necessarily due to any great demand beyond myself…)

I believe there are only 3 or so Predator novels I’m missing, now to have all of those; certainly still missing a bunch of comic/collected volumes, but I’ve found the novels a lot more satisfying for both Aliens and Predator, and certainly more "history" with the novels.

And as seen in the photos above, also some cool toys for them–primarily Funko product, with a couple Minimates creatures and a Neca figure thrown in for my kinda bookshelves…

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Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 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 »

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