November Hauls!

[138 Scourge]

Well, I started the month off with a fancy new computer chair. It's got way better back support than my old one, and since it's not a twenty-buck Target job, it isn't falling apart. And it was for free, so that's all right.

Also, screwing around in Half Price Books got me Essential Fantastic Four #6. I'd meant to quit with #5, since that was the last one with Jack Kirby's art, but sumbitch if that didn't end on a cliffhanger, and what the hell, it's still fun Stan Lee comics even if it isn't fun Stan Lee comics with Jack Kirby art. Marvel's not doing Essentials anymore, are they? Damn shame, it'd be fun to try and get the whole damn thing. There'd be some bullshit along the way, but there'd be gems like Byrne's run (which, screw the haters, Byrne did good FF) and especially Simonson's run, the second best point in FF history.

While I was there I also found a comic adaptation of "Demon With a Glass Hand", a Harlan Ellison story done up in comics form by a fella named Marshall Rogers, whose work I was previously unfamiliar with. It's some nice artwork, though, and he avoids the worst pitfall of short-story into comic adaptations: A lot of 'em transcribe the entire story as narration boxes, worked awkwardly into the comics panel design. Maybe it's because dude was working from a script for the old Outer Limits show, but there's none of that nonsense going on here. It's good stuff all the way through, the story itself feels a little dated, but in a cool way.

Then today I grabbed another damn Captain America shirt from Wal-Mart. It's just like the other one I've got, but it's got Cap's shield on a blue shirt instead of a red one. I like Captain America, and I like this shirt design, so screw it.

And finally, two more of those damn Mega Blok mini-fig guys. Wound up with Wolverine, which is sort of cool. He's in the original yellow and blue, which is all right. Still like the orange and brown better, but this'll do. And found another Loki. I see the downside of blindpacking now. Anyone want a free Loki?

[andersonh1]

Great little haul tonight at Wal-Mart. I was looking for Beast Wars season 1 on DVD, and of course they didn't have it. What they did have, which I picked right up, was the first part of Robotech, the Macross storyline, on DVD. 36 episodes for $12.00. I have been meaning to pick up this series on DVD for years and never have, but at that price I couldn't pass it up.

Edit: watched a few episodes, and this is the "souped up" version of Robotech, not the as broadcast episodes from the 80s. The opening titles have been reworked just for the Macross part of the story, and the whole thing has been remixed into stereo sound. In addition, they've added scenes that must have been in the original Macross series that were cut for Robotech, such as Roy Fokker watching Minmei's rear as she walks away, or showing his back covered in blood when he collapses and dies later on. So this is an extended version as well.

[Onslaught Six]

-Beavis & Butthead: Mike Judge Collection vol. 1. $10! Couldn't pass up! Hnngh. Of course, this is as close as we'll ever get to a full-series release of Beavis & Butthead, so I figured, fuck it. Especially for that price.
-Chucky compilation DVD: Child's Play 2 & 3, Bride of Chucky and Seed of Chucky. SIX BUCKS. Awesome. Now I just need the original.
-Jackie Brown, because I need more Tarantino in my life.
-Big Daddy! The film. Where Adam Sandler has to take care of a kid who wipes his own ass. I need like, two more movies and I have all the good Adam Sandler movies ever made.
-A Super Mario Bros. 2 Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book. Yes.
-New Xbox 360 Afterglow controller, in green. These things have a shelf life of maybe six or eight months before they break, but they're cheaper than a regular controller and look cooler, so fuck it.
-Paid off Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, to be picked up tomorrow...

[Dominic]

-TF UK Classics: reprinting various UK strips and extras. The James Roberts introductions would have been enough to tempt me. But, "Man of Iron" sealed the deal.

-cruddy copy of "Final Crisis": might use it as a wrestling prop.

-extra copy of "The Outcast Dead": because I am nearly done with "Red Star Rogue" and would rather not read my good copy of this on the train.

-half assed custom: Swapped out a couple of stickers and made Drench in to Dark Steel. I also experimented a bit with Gundam pens....no good result here.

-started work on Magnificus.


Dom
-hopes to have that done by Thanksgiving.

[Onslaught Six]

You doing a Ganymede to go with him? I have no idea what you could do to achieve it, but it's there.

[Dominic]

I am considering it. But, I am having trouble coming up with a good base figure. What would be thematically, if not proportionately, consistent?

[Onslaught Six]

There's a few GI Joes who could make a servicable base figure. Scale isn't really an issue as Ga'mede (thought his name had the Y, I was wrong) is an alien and could theoretically be any size. (Remember the giant humanoids Nightbeat met in Matrix Quest?) Just off the top of my head, I'm seeing the Battle Armour Cobra Commander could theoretically work as a decent enough base. (Even the Fred head could work, he has the right hair.)

[Dominic]

I was hoping for something that could credibly fit in the vehicle mode. But, yeah, that is not bad.

[Dominic]

And....

GI Joe "Fixwing" action figure....


What, you have never heard of Fixwing? He is one of the greatest, nay, the greatest, Joe of all time.

Okay, okay.....

"Fixwing" was the name of my "Steel Brigade" mail-away figure all those many years back. The basic idea of the "Steel Brigade" promotion was that Hasbro would sell a trooop-builder style figure with custom file data, effectively making each figure a unique character that was named by the kid who ordered it. (There was a certain amount of moulding variation. Check YoJoe's archive for all the of the known Steel Brigadier variants.)

Fixwing was, to put it bluntly, my god-moded Marty Stu. He was a pilot in the Marines. And, if memory serves, he held medals and honors that were unique to other branches of the military. But, that was okay, because Fixwing was awesome. You see, he was both a rebel, and a valuable part of the established chain of command. He was an artist, a soldier, a rogue and a team player. He did not lead, but leaders followed his council. And, he trained with Snake Eyes to become a ninja. Yes, Fixwing was on his way to becoming a ninja. Because, you see, ninjas are awesome. (Do I smell a custom idea?)

My Fixwing was packaged with a bayonet. Of course, as I knew, that particular bayonet was the standard weapon of the Crimson Guard. So, there was only one way that Fixwing would have been able to get one of those....he killed a Crimson Guardsman and took it. And, the Joes let him keep it (even though it would fire non-standard ammunition) because Fixwing was da man.

As his name impies, Fixwing was an expert pilot, and specialized in flying the Conquest X-30. But, he could handle most any Joe or Cobra vehicle.


The current Steel Brigade figure is a good modificatio nof the original. It is sold as part of the main "GI Joe" line, (similar to the RTS "Transformers" sub-line). While the moulding seems to be uniform on all of the Steel Brigade figures that I have seen, they are packaged with 3 rifles, a tripod and two backpacks, which allows for some customizing. Definitely worth picking up.


Dom
-tempted to customize a ninja Fixwing. Maybe, "Shattered Glass" Fixwing"? Maybe, Cobra Infiltrator Fixwing? Maybe.....

[BWprowl]

I finally scored a Guzzle at Wal-Mart! Maybe I hyped myself up about him too much, or just didn’t check out pics and stuff of him enough beforehand, but I’m slightly underwhelmed. I thought he would turn out to be more Basic-ish, but he’s a pretty standard Cyberverse Commander (Though unlike most of those, his head CAN turn, it’s just paintlocked to hell and mostly blocked by surrounding parts). I appreciate the various panels that fold up in robot mode to expose things and make it more robot-ish, and an homage to a Last Stand of the Wreckers character is nothing to be unhappy about, but then there’s stuff like his weapons seeming king of puny, or the way that hinge sticking up from the turret in vehicle mode forces you to mount his otherwise Gundam-licious missile pod backwards. I also wish his eyes were actually painted distinctly from his face. I’m nitpicking, but like I said, I think it’s because he turned out to just be a *good* toy when for some reason I was expecting a *great* one. At least he goes really well with Flak, I’d like to see more additions to this little Cyberverse military team.