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The Weekly Haul: Week of December 12, 2018

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 curiosityDC 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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The Imaginext Collection Begins…

Well, technically my Imaginext collection had already begun, but at this point, safe to say it’s begun in earnest now. At least compared to then.

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Here we have what REALLY had my eye: a Doomsday, with a battle-damaged Superman. Overall, I like this set…though Doomsday is significantly larger in scale than I’d prefer. Still…he should be a hulking behemoth that even Superman would have trouble with, so…it works. I definitely like how it has parts of the "classic" green suit as well as the bony protrusions and such…also lets ’em get away with not having a giant naked monster…

And though his suit is a bit messed up…there’s no "blood" on Superman. And there are no trunks, so it’s not quite "my" Superman, but I don’t miss the trunks all that much…especially with a solid red belt, the cape, and red boots!

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Then we have Goldar and Lord Zedd. These were a Power Rangers 2-pack.

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And here we have the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers themselves. For the sake of completeness and my OCD, I tracked down the White Tigerzord set in order to get the White Ranger.

The rest of the Rangers were 2-packs, and surprisingly easy to find (and/or I got lucky!).


There are a few more Imaginext things I’m particularly interested in…chief among them, the Megazord that is somewhat in scale with these Rangers. There’s also a giant Goldar with its own version of Rita Repulsa that I’m waffling on seeking out.

On the DC side, there are a couple Robin/Red Robin figures…but unfortunately, none as parts of any of the cheaper 2-packs…they’re part of larger sets or vehicle/figure packs…which when I really just want the figure, make ’em more expensive than they’re worth. (At least with the White Ranger, I really dig the Tigerzord, too; and Doomsday was the primary draw for that pack!)

I guess time’ll tell…and I may have another post on these Imaginext toys soon…I really love the variety to the multiple licenses available! Much like Funko‘s Pop line, these allow multiple franchises to co-exist and seem to fit well together. And they’re much more "available" and reasonably-priced than the "adult collector" toys for either Marvel or DC!

White Ranger Tiger Power…

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Though it’s been several years since the “return” of the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, when I finally got myself a Megazord…a number of factors brought the toys back to my attention, and I learned of this Legacy line. And while I’d’ve preferred the Dragonzord, this is the only one I could find at a quasi-sorta-reasonable price, and pulled the trigger on buying it.

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I really like the front of the box, spotlighting the mighty White Tigerzord in Tiger Mode, though we get a little inset of the thing in Fighter Mode. The photo doesn’t do the box justice–the shiny gold of the logo lettering is nicely offset from the sparking green background.

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The sides are also nicely designed with the White Ranger himself on one side, and a small diagram of the White Tigerzord’s ability to “play nicely” with the Megazord. This is a bit out of continuity, though–as the Tigerzord didn’t come onto the scene until after the original Zords were done, though it worked with the Thunderzords. Still…if I get the Legacy Megazord, you won’t find me complaining about its compatibility here!

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The back of the box shows the two primary modes of the zord, with a snippet of information about Tommy and the zord.

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The packaging is nice and simple–a tray to hold the zord, the sword/tail, and the folder paper instructions. No fancy ties, no rubber bands, no tape to cut, no real HASSLE (unlike many toys nowadays!)

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A single sheet of paper shows a diagram of how to switch the model between its primary modes…as well as how to connect it to other Zords (sold separately). I had some slight trouble with the legs and a heart-stopping moment thinking I’d broken the thing before realizing how great the combination of plastic and metal parts could be.

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The Warrior Mode of White Tigerzord (and truly, my favorite…as a fan of Mechs and giant robots…). View from the front…

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View from the side…

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Continuing the rotation, view from the back…

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…and view from the other side.

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Tiger Mode from the front…

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…and Tiger Mode from the side.

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And finally, White Tigerzord next to the 2010 edition of the Megazord.

While I’d’ve preferred the Dragonzord at present, I’m going to have to wait as that one is well outside any sort of reasonable price range to me at the moment. I believe there’s a new version of the Megazord due out soon as part of the Legacy line, and I may try to get that at some point. That may be at least partially dependent upon finding the Legacy Dragonzord for a decent price. I know there’s also Titanus, but that is significantly further outside my price range, and though I do recall the occasional appearance and formation of the Ultrazord…I don’t care enough about that one.

This Legacy zord is a good bit heavier than the all-plastic Megazord, and definitely a higher quality by weight and feel, as well as the moving parts. This is easily one of the single most expensive toys I’ve bought, but it’s also one of the larger ones, which somewhat offsets things a bit.

While there’s a little bit of buyer’s remorse in how I’d so prefer the Dragonzord…ultimately I’m glad I did buy this, and it’s going to be a great addition to my collection.

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