It’s that time of year again…and I received my very first Christmas present from a student. General Mills Count Chocula Action Figure by Jada toys.
Now I have eaten this cereal, and if you read the SpartanNerd blog, you also probably have also. It is WAY too chocolate…more like a dessert really. Chocolate cereal pieces with marshmallows. So much nutrition! And if you haven’t eaten it (plenty of international readers it seems,) check out this article, that when I read I learned a lot myself.
I am going to review this figure, but not offer a rating as it is a Christmas gift, and I am very appreciative! (Check out my review of the San Diego Comic Con Ninja Turtles from last year)
PACKAGING
The packaging looks like a more squat and fat version of the cereal box.
You have an image Count Chocula and the General Mills branding featured prominently.
As you turn it around, you can find the nutrition labels, which aren’t that at all, are they? Instead more like a contents list.
On the back you have some Jim Lee DC Comics featuring the Monster Cereal characters up to the point of the early 2020’s. (Carmella Creeper has been added to the family in the past couple of years.). But there is Count Chocula, Franken Berry, Berry Boo, Frute Brute, and Yummy Mummy all featured in this comic, which actually doesn’t seem to pull together a coherent story. But it does kind of show off the personality of each character.
There is a flap that you open to see the figure on the inside. And a large “groovy” image of Count Chocula on the back of the flap. (It turns out that this was a mask to cut out on vintage cereal boxes. I didn’t know! Keep reading!)
You can see Count Chocula inside the window, stuck in his blister card. He has an alternate head with a more surprised expression, and a box of Count Chocula cereal.
FIGURE REVIEW
Normally I would give a photo about what is in the package, but this time the above items are it.
Jada toys made this, and as far as I know the only thing I have with Jada toys is a carded set of micro-machine style GI Joe vehicles.
If Jada would make more of these, I would buy them.
But I know that Jada has been putting out high-level Street Fighter figures for awhile. This action figure is supposedly 1/12 scale, so in scale with vintage Masters of the Universe figures for a small comparison, but kind of in scale with Mythic Legions for a large comparison.
PICTURED: Masters of the Universe Origins TMNT Stealth Ninja He-Man, Jada Toys General Mills Count Chocula action figure, and Mythic Legions Legendary Barbarian. Showing off the 1/12 scale of Count Chocula with the variance of sizes in that scale.
The box says 21 points of articulation on the nutrition panel. So here they are…
Rotating head on a ball joint that can also look up
shoulders that can swivel up and down and out
swivel-hinged elbows
Rotating wrists
waist twist
Upper-thigh joints
thigh cuts
double-jointed knees
Vertical up-and-down ankle
Rocker feet on a swivel at the ankle
So I only count 20 points. BUT, they could be counting the cape. By the way, it is a removable cape and probably should count as an accessory. You could put it on almost any other figure.
ACCESSORIES
Count Chocula came with an alternate head that shows an expression that he seems to make a lot in animation. It is a google-eyed surprise face…the same face a kid is making when served this food of course.
What is happening here?
There is a miniature box of cereal with images on the front and back but no side labels or nutrition facts. One side basically is the same image from vintage boxes. The back is the same mask from the inside of the package, but this time with the instructions “Cut out mask! Fool your friends! Play monsters!” And that is how I knew this mask was a feature.
PICTURED: Figura Obscura Father Christmas brings joy to the orphanage, while MASTERVERSE Revelation Orko babysits. Looks like Count Chocula is donating some cereal! (Last year’s gift, Loyal Subjects San Diego Comic Con TMNT set is shown here)
PLAYING WITH COUNT CHOCULA
You just don’t get more 1980’s than this.DC Comics literally did the comic panels on the back of the box. It is funny…this is a different kind of Batman Off-World. Count Chocula fits right over Batman.
SPARTANNERD RATING
I am going to rate this…FUN/FUN. That’s right! Thanks for the gift! I love it, and Count Chocula isn’t anything but fun. Spending time with this action figure made me think of how actually goofy this character. Is. I mean…a vampire with no fangs…instead buck teeth. He kind of looks like a 1950’s host of a show or something, but then you see all the chocolate coloring all over him. he has an instant appeal as a cartoon character. So many vampires instantly look threatening. No fear is possible when looking at this guy. And now I am getting too philosophical!
So let me know in the comments Hub City Geeks if you eat this cereal. Do you have other action figures in this line? Let me know in the comments! Merry Christmas!
Below is what I sent in to “The Matrix of Lettership” in reference to Transformers #8 after I was moved by the character development. This was an issue about grief.This letter was printed in issue #10.
Dear Matrix of Lettership,
I have been reading comics for years and years. I barely remember not reading comics (I am 45.). But I’ve never written in. This is my first time.
When I saw advertisements for the Energon Universe reboot…I was very excited. But Transformers now stands a head taller than all other comics in recent memory. I mean…since Flashpoint and The New 52. Since McFarlane’s Spider-Man and Spawn 1-100. And it works better than the comic book versions before it for some good reasons…you are bringing real life to these characters. Every one introduced so far has some reason for you to care about what happens to them. From Megatron in the hands of Cobra Commander to Soundwave taking revenge against Starscream for kicking Ravage.
But issue #8 is plumbing some even deeper depths. There is real grief from Carly and Spike. And it all weighs so heavy on Optimus. I wonder if personal experiences from the writers are going into this character development? I know it spoke to me because I have had some intense grief in the past few years. But one panel in particular stuck out. I felt like this small panel should have been a cover. (Can it be? Is there a way?) Optimus sits beside Jetfire, who is barely alive and evidently on his way out. He says “I cannot see the stars anymore.” And “Don’t leave! It’s so dark. Please…”.
Yes. We all read it. But for me, it struck a nerve. I have sat beside too many dying saints who just needed or would have wanted someone to be there. You mentioned the issue was very hard to write and you didn’t know why. I think I know. There was so much conscience in this work. From this touching panel to SkyWarp changing his mind to Thundercracker wishing to spare the humans.
I think the last book that got to me like this was Action Comics #13 WAY BACK in the New 52 (The Krypton issue.) The moment between Optimus and Jetfire also reminded me of “I don’t feel so good Mr. Stark!” And we all sit there feeling so many emotions as Tom Holland/Peter Parker fades away. It weighed that much. And full disclosure, I never have been that big of a fan of Jetfire. (Loved the Revenge of the Fallen version). You made me care. Mission accomplished!
Here is the printed response I received from The Matrix of Lettership
Thanks so much for recognizing myself in the pages, [SpartanNerd], and for recognizing the struggle! By no means do I try to put my actual feelings into TF, but we all have things we go through that influence how we feel about the world, and it’s my personal opinion that storytelling is very bland and one note without this individual human perspective. I’m hoping that TRANSFORMERS is a little like a reader taking some “DWJ goggles” and seeing what the filter does to the world around them. I’m trying my best to put myself in the worlds’ shoes, and what better way to do that than with Optimus friggin Prime? Maybe that’s embarrassing to say out loud. OH WELL.
NOTES AND THOUGHTS (for the benefit of friends who don’t regularly read SpartanNerd.Com)
What happened?
Comic books traditionally have a “letters page” at the end, where readers can write the creators and provide feedback and ask questions. Transformers has named their letters page “The Matrix of Lettership” which is a riff on the “Matrix of Leadership” item that Optimus Prime has installed in his chest. (Also, in case you don’t know…this item is a symbolic totem offering the wisdom of the past to the chosen leader who has it…It is a great honor to have it then!) Usually the feedback offered by fans is positive, but sometimes constructive criticism is offered. I have no idea how many letters were sent in to Transformers, but I bet they get a ton. (Letters nowadays means e-mails). But I CAN say that it seems like every issue of Transformers on this Image/Skybound run has gone to reprints. I’ll be getting every variant cover I can now of issue #10 since I am published out there to readers of Transformers comics.
I am very blessed to have my letter printed. The topic of grief is one that I am soon to be leading church devotions in. I read this issue right as I was being called to do that, so it hit the right notes for me.
What am I talking about in my letter?What does the response mean?
On announcing to Facebook and to others about my letter being published, I was unaware that people outside of comics wouldn’t know exactly what I was talking about, pretty much at all. For instance a librarian that I know didn’t realize it. My wife’s aunt didn’t. So here is some explanation.
Transformers- This was a toyline by Hasbro in the 1980’s of vehicles that transformed into robots. There were two teams…The Autobots and the Decepticons. The battle between the two sides was on a syndicated cartoon show modeled after what Mattel did with He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Optimus Prime was the Autobot leader and is the enduring symbol of the franchise. Other notable transformers are Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave, Bumblebee, and for purposes of this letter, Jetfire. (Transformers is the American adaptation of the Japanese “Giant Robot” genre. So they are an offshoot of Gundam.)
The SpartanNerd can list on one hand how many of these toys he owned as a kid. They were so expensive I didn’t have many. He-Man figures were $5, while Transformers were usually more like $20, except for the mini-cars. Mini-cars were the same size as Hot Wheels and featured simple transformations. These were about $5 each, but a Hot Wheels was less than a dollar, so…The point is, I didn’t have many, and most of the ones I had were Decepticons. These were Schrapnel (Insecticon), Weird Wolf (Headmaster), Scattershot (a part of Computron), and Shockwave. Eventually one of my brothers got Powermaster Optimus Prime for Christmas. It seems like one of us might have had Ratchet.
There was an iconic and tragic Transformers movie where Optimus Prime was killed and the show “jumped the shark” in my opinion then and now. Transformers regained popularity in the 2000’s when Micheal Bay began to make live-action movies using CGI. Modern Transformers toys aren’t as solid as the classics from the 1980’s, but they seem to be more categorically affordable. (I don’t have any of these, but my children did. Modern collectors versions are BONKERS AWESOME.)
The Letters.
Flashpoint and New 52 were DC Comics “reboots” within the past 15 years. Flashpoint truly re-mixed the classic characters like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman. The New 52 is basically where the story continued after “The Flashpoint.” (It’s kind of the same story they have going on now.)
In my letter I referenced the New 52 Action Comics #13 and made a typo…that should have been the “Krypto” issue, not “Krypton.” Cut me some slack…it was 11:30 PM! This is the issue that Krypto gets locked in the phantom zone while the planet explodes. But he is like an angel watching Clark Kent grow up. Until eventually they learn to use the Phantom Zone (this story was maybe ten years ago…I don’t remember the details,) but Krypto jumps out ready to play. The way the story was written was very emotional, and unexpected. It was a fresh take on what was sometimes a corny character.
Spawn issues 1-100…this was Todd McFarlane’s comic book character after he left Marvel. The first 100 issues are what most Spawn fans consider the best story. This still is an ongoing story, but most fans believe the best days are behind it way back in those issues. I have read these 100 issues many times. I also like an offshoot book, Spawn: The Dark Ages. All around, Spawn is kind of a combination of Batman, Ghost Rider, Hobgoblin, Spider-Man. This was a comic written for an adult audience…it left the trappings and restraints of usual super-hero comics behind in favor of “extreme” art, violence, and language. It also handled religious and social issues as “comedy” in the sense of Dante’s Inferno.
Jetfire– I remember watching the Transformers cartoon as a kid and realizing that Jetfire was a Decepticon who turned Autobot. I felt it was some kind of brainwashing or something. I mean…I was young, so this was how I understood it. the Transformers movie sequel Revenge of the Fallen portrayed him in a military museum disguised as a plane, dormant from lack of energon. He scans a more modern Blackbird to transform into when Sam activates him with his shard of the Allspark. My father thought this was hilarious on account of the writers made Jetfire into an old senile man with gas. (We watched this movie together in the theater, a rare treat as an adult and a good memory of my dad laughing). Upon hearing the state of the war, he switches sides from Decepticon to Autobot right there in front of us. But Jetfire eventually saves the day, sacrificing his spark and parts to revive Optimus Prime, making the two of them combiners at least temporarily.
In the Energon Universe, which is essentially what we used to call Transformers vs. GI JOE, Jetfire is the first Transformer we saw in Void Rivals #1. And then he re-appears in Transformers #8 depleted of energon and essentially dying. And this is the component of the story I was addressing when I wrote in. There is grief and introspection from most of the characters in this issue, not just about Jetfire, but the human characters Carly and Spike have also lost loved ones, and Spike is in a wheelchair for getting involved in the Autobot/Decepticon affairs.
DWJ goggles…this is Daniel Warren Johnson, the writer of the current Image “Skybound” Transformers comic. He is saying he hopes to portray the fantasy world of Transformers to the real modern world in a way that he sees it. He said something else in this letters column (not in response to me), that has me worried. He said “Why am I working so hard on licensed characters.” He also responded to someone else’s letter that there wouldn’t be any spinoff series while he was the writer. I certainly hope he doesn’t go anywhere! He is doing a great job of bringing alot of soul to this book! (Image has a history of taking pride in original characters. They are a mainstream “indy” publisher if such a thing can exist.)
Complaint
I have had this one for a few issues. They have printed the letters in light pink on white paper. My failing eyes gave me a lot of trouble reading this. It seems like some other Energon Universe letters had yellow on white. Come on guys!
Final Thoughts
I truly find it an honor to have my letter published. This book has been great, and the Energon Universe is new and exciting. I like how it was put in a recent GI Joe comic’s letter section…the Energon Universe is comparable to Marvel’s Ultimate comics of the early 2000’s. It is a re-thinking of Transformers and GI Joe. Void Rivals is space opera, that is beginning to trickle down into Transformers, which is a contextual story, and GI Joe is effected by it on a human military level. If you like Transformers and GI Joe, you should jump into this new universe. There is an ongoing GI Joe story not in the Energon universe…don’t get confused! The Energon Universe GI Joe books have been named after main characters so far. Duke, Cobra Commander, Scarlett, and Destro. I recommend all of these as a great place to jump in to what I hope is a universe that lasts a LONG TIME.
I finally got the Cover B of issue 2, so now I have a complete collection of Masters of the Universe MASTERVERSE comics.
I am going to discuss in a little bit of detail my feelings about these, so there will be spoilers. I am going to leave some dead spaces for your protection, readers!
So the MASTERVERSE comics start off with a rather weak and throw-away connecting story. Zodac has visited the Sorceress to discuss the balance of the universe, and how He-Man might be unnecessary or dangerous. She shows him the Nexus of Realities, which looks like a portal crossed with some kind of screen, and they watch He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, and their consequences across a variety of settings.
Which encapsulates what they have been trying to do with this brand recently, doesn’t it? They are trying to kind of say, “It doesn’t have to be what you remember it being.” The prevailing stories that people have are Filmation and Mini-Comics. I would say the movie, New Adventures, 200x, box art, and others are out there, but not the main stories that people have. Mattel wants to skew this view maybe as marketing, maybe as philosophy…who knows.
Issue 1 is one of my favorites! Prince Adam and Orko have ventured into the forest or something, and they are attacked by Webstor, Batros, and finally Scare Glow. And you keep thinking, “Why doesn’t he change?” It is like he is putting it off, or hesitating. Finally, as Scare Glow has him down, he transforms by saying “By the horror of Grayskull!” into…”Castle Grayskull Man!” What? And then he beats down scareglow and absorbs his soul. The final panel shows Castle Grayskull with shining eyes, and there is narrative saying “The castle must feast again.” or similar.
This is a FREAKY angle. I loved it!
The second story is based on the art and style of Groo the Wanderer. I have never read that comic before, but I could just kind of tell the gist of what it might be like to read it by the cover art. So…This is basically a newspaper comic strip style of story. It is told with slapstick elements…He-Man and Skeletor are just goofballs. It ends with them playing video games together…I mean. I think it is cute. But it just isn’t for me.
Issue 2 both surprised and disappointed me.
The first story, the surprise, is a pirate story. Basically General Adam is leading the ship on a treasure hunt to find the power sword. Keldor is the one who had the king send them, and you can tell he has the king hypnotized. Sending Adam away served two purposes…get him out of the way of the usurping scheme, and then either have Adam killed on the journey, or he comes back successfully and gives up the treasure. This story presents us with Jitsu as a prisoner who knows how to access the island, and we get a sympathetic look at him. This was something different and nice. Essentially a monster destroys the ship and kills everyone on board, but Adam saves Jitsu and swims to shore, dragging him and cursing about the giant metal hand. When he finds the sword, he transforms, and then it is revealed Keldor’s true intentions, for the Power Sword reveals what its potential users would do with it.
The second story is the one that disappointed me. Here is why…Cover B shows a character. It is a noir style drawing, and that is fine. I thought it must be EXTENDAR. Look at what you see there.
That mask looks like Extendar’s mask. And so I thought maybe we would have a rare Extendar Story. Nope…it’s dust Man At Arms. This story presents Duncan as a detective, with Evil Lyn as his lady sidekick/secretary/lover? We get a glimpse that both of them have been exiled from their team of good guys or bad guys. This story doesn’t even have He-Man or Skeletor in it…Orko comes in saying he cast a spell that made Kind Randor disappear, and so he created a fake Randor to prevent alarm. But his imperfect copy says “meow.” Evil Lyn brings him his “tools” so he can collect evidence, and he finds an orange hair on Orko. So of course they go to a bar to find Beast Man. (Of course in this noir style they had to visit a bar). It is Trap Jaw’s bar, and all the bad guys are there, but they don’t seem very healthy, and they are drinking to forget how bad things have become without Skeletor. They also accuse Evil Lyn of being a traitor. So Man-At-Arms kicks all their butts. Evil Lyn chases Beast Man outside where it is discovered that he is high and hallucinating the good ole days from inhaling magic fumes that shouldn’t be there. So detective Duncan figures it out. There are unstable dimensional portals popping up because of “overuse.” The magic fumes were transported to outside the bar from wherevere their origin was. Man-At-Arms figures out that another portal must have done the same thing, causing Orko to hallucinate that the king was missing. And that Beast Man must have been there by accident, wandering between the locations using the portals while hallucinating himself. Oh yes, Duncan also implies that Evil Lyn might have had some hand in that portal being open like that, just so they could get some business. Meaning they are in cahoots flim-flamming people!
Really, a dumb story. The last noir Masters of the Universe story we had was SO GOOD. It was the one where Evil Lyn seduces the guy to get the Eye of Grayskull. Hub City Geeks…look this story up. It is terrific! I believe it was a web-only DC comic, setting up the New 52 He-Man books. That story was one of the best Evil Lyn stories, but also in that black and white style, it was wonderful. The story presented in MASTERVERSE is just dumb.
The third issue was probably the darkest of them all. Story one presents an “end of time” story, where Teela and her unicorn (this keeps coming up…that she rides a unicorn…an artifact from the original minicomics) are lone survivors. That great wars have come and gone, and the world is savage. She happens upon a lynching. Beast Man is tied to a stake to be executed. She starts to not intervene, but then her “ancestor spirits” tell her she must. These include Veena from 200x, and other former sorceresses. So she attempts a rescue, but as she begins to be successful, out of nowhere Savage He-Man attacks her! She comments that they are equal combatives, but she outsmarts him with a headbutt. When she is about to kill him, she is warned that she must not, that he is essential to the survival of the universe. Beast Man came to this world to find her because as a shaman, he also has ancestor spirits that told him to seek out the two of them.
The second story is highly enjoyable. But so dark. I became interested in this artist…David Rubin. He publishes something called “Ether.” This one is a riff on Thor. He-Man is with his drunk viking friends Ram Man, Man-E-Faces, and Stratos. They are adventuring around looking for their next drink, when they happen upon Skeletor about to sacrifice The Temple of Darkness Sorceress in a pit of fire. He is doing this to obtain more power apparently, and holds the Sword of Chaos. He-Man just says, “Oh Well. Not our problem!” though the other drunken masters believe they should intervene. They all set up camp and get into a fight over some beer that Ram Man had stashed in his armor. Obviously He-Man won the fight, and got drunk and passed out. When he woke up, he found the Masters were gone. He followed their tracks back to Skeletor, where he found them dead or dying. They implored him that he must save her! He-Man goes into a black rage and recounts being banished by Randor, (as he was once Adam Randorson,) and then beats Skeletor down and takes the sword. He actually catches the blade and rips it out of Skeletor’s hands, and beats him with the hilt, causing him to fall into the fire he was trying to use for the sacrifice. It turns out that the Sorceress could have left the whole time, as she was an astral projection. This all happened so that He-Man could wield and contain the power of the Sword of Chaos and save the universe.
I like both of these stories, especially the viking one. He-Man and the Drunken Masters of the Universe is a very strange twist for the story. (I mean…it is Thor and the Warriors Three, right?)
And the final issue. This issue doesn’t so much seem like a Masterverse presentation as it is a re-assertion of more recent stories. One thing both stories have in common, however is “We have the power!” I really just can’t bear the Netflix designs, the story pacing and dialogue, the character portrayals…None of it. To me it is just awful. I don’t even want to try and explain it here. I got a headache just reading it, similar to watching “Transformers, Dark of the Moon.” The other is a He-Force story. The He-Force was given to us at the end of the comic series “He-Man and the Masters of the Multiverse.” They are kind of a Justice League made of He-warriors from different universes…Hence “The Multiverse.” It is notable that the first thing we see in this story is He-Sol beating Skeletor in what appears to be a movie accurate Eternia. (He-Sol is basically the African American He-Man). He gets called away from this fight to join the rest of the He-Force to take on a Red Menace. It turns out to be Multiverse Modulok becoming inter-dimensionally present (They even call him Megabeast) as well as his brain, and this is causing everyone to be on his side to take over all universes. The original He-Man, dressed in his New 52 end of series armor, says that the He-Force has to give him his power back so that he can take out Modulok. This happens out of the story, where we see He-Man meet with Zodac and the Sorceress, as Modulok comes in to attack. And it is over pretty much in one punch.
Ok. The He-Force. I am not against it. I think all of the characters in it are interesting. Why can’t we have individual comics detailing each one by themselves?
I’m proud of my complete collection. Now i need to get some of them signed!
Has it really been three years since I posted anything?
This means that throughout Corona…throughout the last several MTG releases…Throughout the ending of MOTUC and the new Masters of the Universe lines that have come out. I have written zilch.
Well, it isn’t because I stopped being nerdy. Believe it or not, online teaching and also attending classes took all of my energy out for this project.
So here’s a few new things that have happened.
Masters of the Universe.– As the Classics line ended, I began to realize I just didn’t have enough space anymore. MOTUC items are pretty large. And I got lots of joy especially from my He-Man and Battlecat and also Skeletor and Panthor. But also the Griffin was one of my favorites. Vikor. But some of the others…I decided I could part with them. And then I decided when I saw the price I could fetch to go ahead and sell my core items. All I have left is Vikor and my custom Battleground Teela. I sold it all in May 2020. For $600. I use that money to re-invest in MOTU Mega Construx. I have the Castle Grayskull and basically every item they have released in that line. A downsize in square footage, it is easier to get these just by walking into a store. There are other advantages.
Sorry about the backdrop-less pic. This is a very large item. Kitchen table will have to do.
I decided early on that the MOTU Origins figures look too crappy…I don’t like the colors. And the Masterverse figures on first reveal, I thought “That He-Man looks “gutsy.” Meaning, the way the belt is that pale color yellow, it blends in too well with He-Man’s skin color on his belly. It looks like he has a gut. The other figures, the one that came out with the new CGI Anime line, do not appeal to me at all. I hear fans (Scott Neitlich) accepting what is going on apologetically, that this line is meant to appeal to the kids. But kids just don’t watch the cartoons anymore. Trust me. I know. Middle school teacher. So they are messing around with beloved source material and creating something “corrupt.”
I have picked up some of the MOTU Minis, and the Hot Wheels.
Magic the Gathering- For something that took up so much of my life and my children’s time, this has become a much rarer treat. Since the COVID-19 lockdowns, there haven’t been as many tournaments. We pretty much decided that SpellTable pretty much stinks. Arena isn’t a strong alternative. Now some tournaments have returned, but we have to drive a long way to get to them. Mostly these are Commander League events. And we haven’t really paid into the leagues on account we can’t reliably attend. Just the same, we have played EDH some. But the thrill of the old Modern tournaments is gone. I have done a few drafts and sealed. But it is doubtful that we will go and draft Double Masters II this weekend. That is $50 or more. To play maybe three rounds. Which I will have to drive a distance to get to … meaning I can’t stay out late in my old age driving home sleepy.
Oh yes…Secret Lair. At first I bought it all. I bought the super bundle…the one with the cats and the goblins. The Walking Dead. After awhile, I realized that this isn’t sustainable for me. They have churned out so many Secret Lairs, each with an enticing value usually, but then if you start adding all that up, you better be rich if you are a completist. I figure the Wizards/Hasbro weren’t achieving their bread and butter anymore on packs because people stopped playing. And Commander is so popular, but you can play virtually any cards you can find competitively even, that they had to capitalize on that crowd the best they could by dangling lots of shiny, pretty, artsy, and seemingly charitable carrots in front of them. So I certainly had to start pacing myself on this one. The last one I got was the Dracula one. I got my kid the pixel art lands. These things…they take forever to arrive. All the shipping delays and production delays that have plagued the past couple of years…Which brings me to the next big one.
Playstation 5. I got the money together for this…in fact some of the money from my MOTUC collection, plus some gifts, etc. I had the funds in hand right before Christmas 2020. And went to buy it, only to find…THERE WERE NONE. ANYWHERE. When did I finally get mine? OCTOBER 2021. Used! I am grateful…it has performed like a champ! You wouldn’t know. It didn’t come with a proper stand, so I had to get a third party one, which was supposed to charge the controllers and add extra fan-power. But none of that seems to be working. Still, it stands very well. The best two games for me have been Horizon: Zero Dawn, Horizon: Forbidden West, and Gran Tourismo. But I have lots more games. Spider-Man, Terraria, Mortal Kombat. I paid for the streaming services, but haven’t hardly used them…which brings me to
DISNEY+. Since this launched, I bundled with HULU (Which I already watched) and this has been what I have watched on TV. I have hung on to NetFlix for Stranger Things and Masters of the Universe: Revelation. (More on that on a different day.). The Mandalorian has been a terrific show! Obi Wan was pretty good. The Book of Boba Fett might as well have been season 3 of the Mandalorian. I haven’t watched anything else much on the service, though.
Comics- I have moved back into collecting these. I picked up IDW’s “Best of” TMNT books. I am looking to get a frame to display them in.
I have been collecting all of the IDW Transformers books…this was actually how I got back into collecting comics. IDW decided to reboot the franchise, and I felt it was a good “jumping in” place. Highlights of this have been “Shattered Glass” and “King Grimlock.” The main story kind of meandered a little bit. I was introduced to a bunch of characters I didn’t know or had forgotten. I also got into “Beast Wars”… which was admittedly NOT MY CARTOON. Unfortunately, IDW passed on the license, and all of these stories have come to a wrap up, which has seemed very rushed. But my love of getting the covers and important/valuable books has become rooted again. I collected up all of the “Batman/Catwoman” story, got back into Spider-Man and Ghost Rider. But I have dropped DC for the most part. In fact, almost everything they have been publishing in any form is tripe that panders to anyone except the classic fan. I thought “The Batman” was a much slower slog than it needed to be. My next problem is the amount of room this hobby is taking up…
Gundam- I built my first Master Grade…EW EPYON. I am still applying decals. But this has been a terrific project! I eill post pictures when I finish.
It is good to be coming back to the blogosphere…an I hope to have a review tomorrow!
spartannerd 