Despite my reservations regarding tag clouds and their aesthetics, I realized there was no easy way to browse this site for specific content, so I’ve added a tag cloud below the Recent Comments box. If you hate it, let me know–I can explore other ways of making the site easier to navigate.
Christmas & birthday haulage
Now that both Christmas and my birthday are over and done with, it’s time to catalog the loot.
(NOTE: All the product links below and elsewhere on the site are via my partnership with Amazon, so even if you don’t order the thing you click on, if you could click on one of my links first and then buy something else, I’ll still get a little kickback from Amazon to help me pay the bills for this site.)
Action figures
- 7″ Indiana Jones (Disney parks exclusive)
- NECA Aliens vs. Predator Requiem Alien Warrior
- Identity Crisis Batman
- DC Superheroes Azrael
- Rocky III Clubber Lang
- Bandai vinyl 6″ 1975 Godzilla
Comics
- The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told
- The DC Universe Stories of Alan Moore
- LXG: The Black Dossier
- The Dark Knight Archives Volume 1
- Mignola Hellboy II poster
- Batman t-shirt
Videogames
- Mass Effect (Xbox 360)
- Godzilla Unleashed (Wii)
- Super Mario Galaxy (technically this belongs to Mrs. Ghostal-to-Be, but she lets me play it)
- Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure
Miscellaneous
- New digital camera
- Isotoners!
Whoops…almost missed a day!
And on my birthday, no less!
Yes, this is a cheap entry, but at least I got it up before midnight…
My Gentle Giant Hellboy finally arrives…
…after months and months of delays, and I get the dang variant! The figure looks awesome, but I prefer to own the iconic versions of characters, so it looks like I’ll have to sell or trade this guy and wait for my other order to arrive.
Still, he looks fantastic. He’s looks to be in a six-inch scale, has Marvel Legends-style articulation and great sculpting, and comes with two alternate hands and his giant revolver (which fits in the holster).
Battle of the Batmen
I posted a poll over on Action Figure Insider to see which Mattel 6″ Batman figure is considered the best. As of this moment, the black-and-gray series 8 repaint (see my Flickr photostream) has a big 33% lead. My review of that figure for OAFE should be posted soon.
Merry Christmas!
After filling this site’s stocking to the brim with posts over the last twenty-four days, I’m going to take a little break and just wish everyone a very merry Christmas and happy holidays.
PoA will be back tomorrow with more interviews, photos, and other fun stuff. Until then, enjoy the day!
DC Universe in the house
I had originally intended to ask Mrs. Ghostal-to-Be to wrap up the figures from my case of DC Universe Classics before I looked at them, so I could open them under the Christmas tree. But after realizing that this would be profoundly anticlimactic and possibly also overshadow the real gifts I receive Tuesday morning…I tossed a coin and it told me to open them.
And they’re fantastic. In terms of design and quality, this is my ideal action figure line. I’ll be reviewing some or all of the figures for OAFE fairly soon, and you can expect a good number of photos to pop up on my photostream.
By the way, now that ToyFare Week is over, be sure to peruse the entries I posted in-between–they would have showed up below the TF Week sticky-posts, but now that TF Week is over, I’ve removed the sticky-ness so they’re interspersed among the interviews (you can also click on the “Blog” link to list them separately from the interviews).
DC Universe Classics – what do you think?
Michael Crawford has posted his review of the first wave of DC Universe Classics. I should be receiving my case from Cornerstorecomics.
I’ll freely admit, while I had a Batman period when the movie came out in 1989, I was never really that into the comics (until recently). I did have a pretty significant Marvel period around the same time, but DC comics were probably, on the whole, a bit too mature for me then. This is certainly not the first time a toy line has gotten me interested in a licensed property, rather than the reverse.
Over on Action Figure Insider, Toy Otter wonders whether DC Universe Classics is the true successor to Kenner’s 1980s Super Powers Line. I know what I think…but I’m curious, what are your thoughts on the line? It’s a bit under-articulated for many Marvel Legends fans, while the Horsemen’s unique style puts off some DC Direct collectors.
What are your thoughts? Could this be, as Michael Crawford suggests in his review, the best line of the year?
For reference, check out these articles:
Michael Crawford’s DC Universe Classics 1 review
(Click for larger version–poster by Christophe)
The Christmas spirit
I just wanted to point this out. A toy collector, who goes by “Man-Bat1” on The Fwoosh forums, has had a very rough time of it this year, and he was disappointed to learn that he wouldn’t be receiving the first wave of DC Universe Classics by Christmas.
Well, another Fwoosher–from the military overseas, no less–gave his order to Man-Bat1 so that he would get it in time for Christmas.
During the holiday season, people often do things like donate to charity, volunteer and so forth–and these are all important. But I think it’s important to point out the little things we do for each other, too.
OK, sappiness off.
The Specials Before Christmas
In addition to all these interviews and whatnot, I like to try to throw in a little casual commentary here and there.
On Friday, I hung out with Red Kryptonite and we watched some Rankin/Bass specials–specifically, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town and Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey, which could only be withstood via the magic of Rifftrax. We also watched the holiday episode of Psych, a Gumby short from Mystery Science Theater 3000, and Cabin Boy, which I consider an under-appreciated cult classic.