Thursday, April 29, 2010

Goody Haul Report: Small Finds This Time

I didn't get many goodies this time around. Since my last report, I've gotten two items. I guess that's nice, since it gives my wallet a break.

Repulsor Power Iron Man: This is a neat little kids meal toy I got from Burger King. It's pretty much a static figure of Iron Man (I believe Mark VI), whose only feature is an adjustable light-up feature in his torso. His arms do move around though.

WWE Triple H: I know practically nothing about professional(?) wrestling, and my knowledge of the sport(??) goes back to Hulk Hogan and Andre The Giant from the '80s. A couple of days ago I received my Toys R Us Rewards coupons in the mail, and one of the coupons was a 40% off discount on certain WWE figures (there were four assortment codes listed). I went to TRU yesterday, and took a peek at the wrestling/fighting aisle. I normally don't go down that aisle, and was drowned by the countless figs of wrestlers and fighters I didn't recognize. I picked up Triple H, the only wrestler I had vaguely seen or heard of (I forget what series he's from, there were too many to remember). I guess I lucked out, since this fig was on sale for $6.99, and with my 40% Rewards coupon, I only paid about $4.50 for the fig. Woohoo!

Until next time, keep it casual!

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

C'mon, Target! Promote Your Stuff Better!

During my lunch breaks from work, I like to hit the mass retailer stores in the area to check out the latest (or pegwarming) stuff in the toy aisles. Today, I was at a Target headed towards the action figure section, when I passed an endcap and I had this odd feeling where something just wasn't right (spider-sense, maybe?). I actually took a few steps back towards the endcap to discover this:

Photobucket

Did you see it? Yup, those are Public Enemies figs mixed in there with an entire endcap devoted to gaming and collectible cards! At first I thought it was either a clearance shelf, or someone had changed their mind about buying a PE fig and just dropped the fig off, but as I inspected the figs and shelf more, I found out the Target employees purposefully put these figs there! Just take a look at the shelf tag:

Photobucket

Now we in the action figure community have pretty much all agreed that Target has done a crappy job in promoting the Public Enemies line (their own exclusive line at that!), not to mention the lack of wave 2 distribution. But sticking PE figs with a bunch of Pokemon and MTG cards won't help sell these guys better! Or is it marketing genius? Nahhhhhh!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Goody Haul Report: Fortune Favors the Bol- Err.. Lucky!

Not much with this week's Goody Haul Report, but it's a nice one!

Target's exclusive Public Enemies 6-inch line is a set of figures I always thought was interesting; in-scale with DC Universe Classics (well almost), and unique enough with the Ed McGuinness sculpts. But with it's virtually non-existent showing of wave 2 figs, I was hesitant to be spending more money on another incomplete line. So I made a promise to myself, "I won't start collecting the Public Enemies line until I can find either the Major Force or Black Lightning figures". Hey, I set a conditional promise I thought I couldn't satisfy, so I'd save some money in the process. Well, guess what?

I was at a not-so-local Target during lunch yesterday, and to my shock, I found a Black Lightning fig sitting on the shelf! Even bigger shocker? a Major Force fig right next to it! Without hesitation, I scooped these guys up! The metallic Supes was there too, but I'm more interested in the wave 1 Superman. No Bats however.

OK, the condition has been met, and a promise is a promise. So now I'm on the the road to getting more Public Enemies figs...

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

My 100th YouTube Video...

Being the casual person that I am, I never thought I'd be reaching my 100th posted video on YouTube. I've got 81 vids up there now, with about seven or eight already shot and ready to upload, so I'm just about ten shy of reaching my 100th video. Woohoo!

Some may think reaching a certain number of subscribers is a better milestone than the number of video uploads that one posts. Sure, it's nice to have tons of people watching your videos, but I never got into the YouTube thing for the subscriber counts.

I actually got into YouTube when I was looking for a review of certain action figure (I had gotten back into action figure collecting), and after seeing a few people reviewing their personal collections, I thought it was a pretty neat thing to do. So, I gave it a shot as well. I liked it well enough that I continued to do more. If people like my vids, then cool. If they don't, then I'm OK with it too, since there is certainly alot more on YouTube they can enjoy for themselves.

Anyways, I've been debating on whether I should make a special video for my 100th or not. I don't know what it would be just yet if I did, but the thought has been nagging at me as I get closer and closer. Don't expect something spectacular when or if it arrives, just have some fun! I certainly am.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Flashforward: Is He OK?

Alright, last night I just caught up with the recent episodes of Flashforward, and it's pretty good so far; exciting, suspensful, and mysterious. But there's one thing nagging at me: Is Seth McFarlane's character OK? Is he still alive? Will he be able to continue playing his WOW clone RPG on his computer? Mark mentioned six fellow agents were "shot" (he didn't say "killed"), so is he OK?

Friday, April 16, 2010

24: Setting Up For An Epic Final Hour!

I currently record five TV shows through my DVR, and with my haphazard schedule, I haven't gotten around to watching most of the episodes yet, and I'm beginning to run out of space! To clear up some room (I can't afford missing a recording of Lost!), I decided to devote some time to catching up on 24.

I heard about the cancellation of 24. It sucks. I think S6 was the death knell (atrocious season!), but I thought S7's better story (and away from LA!) would have revived interest in the show, but I guess not. And it doesn't help that the first half of S8 just plodded along. But man, the last three hours were kick-ass! (No, that's wasn't a plug of today's movie!).

Two consecutive silent clocks? (RIP, Renee and Hassan) Chloe in charge of CTU? (This'll be funny) Lick-lipping Logan returning? (I'm cautious about this one) Finally some motivation for Jack to start taking names again? (YES!) And they're cancelling this show?!? At least it's looking like 24 will end on a thrill. I can't wait to watch these final hours, and Jack, bring that hacksaw when you next meet with Dana...

The Achilles' Heel Of Figs: The Heel!

Of all the joints to be loosy goosy, the ankles have to be the worst and most annoying. While free standing, these joints support the entire figure (unless the fig is either upside down or supported elsewhere), and if the ankle joints are wobbly, then expect the figure to be constantly either on the flat of its back or faceplanted on the ground.

Last night, I opened up my DC Universe Classics green Parademon, and I noticed his weak ankles, but it didn't seem that bad. He stood alright when I recorded my Casual Peek Into video on him, and he posed well when I took pics of him for the video. But this morning I discovered the Apokoliptic(?) grunt had fallen off the shelf and was prone on the floor. Arrrgh! I hate loose ankles! Since propping him back up, he's fallen over three more times. At least he hasn't fallen back to knock over any figs behind him!

When I used to frequent the Xevoz forums, I read a tip to tighten up a Xevoz's loose ball joints by applying some clear nail polish into the sockets. I've never actually done this to any of my Xevoz figs since all of their joints are still nice and tight. But I'm considering doing this to the Parademon. The only problem right now is that I don't have any nail polish, and if you haven't seen the nail polish aisle at your local Walmart or Target, it's going to be like looking for that rare fig amongst the pegs of commons and peg warmers! Wish me luck....

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Goody Haul Report: Shopping On The Interwebs

After the NECA finds of Akuma and Lt. Kim, I decided to look online for what I could find on the cheap. Besides NECA, I was also looking for any Star Trek figs after my cool finds at WonderCon.

All I can say is that you have to look deep and hard to find a good buy. Too many places have figs for way too much, especially the Gears Of War line (which I should've expected). I did find one place, Urban Collector, which had some pretty neat finds. Urban specializes in pop culture collectibles, where action figures are only a part. One order came in at the end last week, and the other arrived only several days ago. Everything was packed alright and weren'y damaged, so I'd recommend this site for future ordering (which reminds me that I need to post some feedback for them!). Here's some of my goody hauls through Urban Collector:

Captain Picard with Captain's Chair: This was a very nice find for only $10! This set has been discounted throughout the interwebs, but I've only seen it this cheap at Urban. This set looks really cool, so I don't know why he's so cheap (but I haven't opened him up yet). Maybe he's just been overproduced.

The Spirit: Based off the movie, I thought this looked nice when I saw it at TRU (although I do wish he came in the Eisner blue). I was considering ordering him through TRU online (they had him on clearance for about $7), but Urban was selling him for only $5.

Chun-Li: After my Akuma find that week, I started to look for more of the NECA Street Fighter IV figs. Urban had the newer figs as well as the wave 2 figs, so I ordered Thunder Thighs for $12. But this was before I found out NECA has no current plans to go beyond the alternate costumes (Nooooo!), so this may be my last NECA SFIV fig. I may have to look to the SOTA figs, especially for the Sagat that I want.

Marcus Fenix: Urban had this guy for only $7 so I took a bite. This is the Version 2 of Fenix, which at the time I didn't know was prone to limb breakage. He looks OK in the package, so I guess I have to be extra careful. If he breaks (I hear it's common in the arm), I've seen a vid on YouTube for a fix where I can try to apply it if needed.

As far as other goody hauls this week, it's been very light. The only figure I bought through a physical store was a DC Universe Classics Black Canary I found at a Target today. One step closer towards Chemo, yeah!

Until next time, keep it casual!

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Another Goody Haul Already?

Yeah, I know I posted a goody haul just yesterday, but the action figure gods were smiling upon me today, so I couldn't wait to share this.

Just last week at WonderCon, I was on the lookout for action figures, specifically superhero ones, to fill holes in my collection. But I guess going to a comic convention looking for great deals on comic figures is not the way to go. Figs I was looking for were simply overpriced by at least $10 over retail, some by $20! I went home with some good deals on figs, but all of them were non-superhero.

Today, while on my lunch break, I visited another of the TRUs I frequent, and they happened to restock the DC Universe Classics pegs! This was the first sign the action figure gods had smiled upon me.

Of course, the usual suspects were there; Captain Colds, Booster Golds, and a Blue Beetle (I really don't know why Beetle would peg warm, but he was there). But accompanying the peg warmers today was a set of DCUC Wave 11s! Every figure from that wave (minus a Deadman variant) was in front of me, begging to be bought at retail, where almost a week ago they were being sold for $20 - $30 at WonderCon. This was the second sign the action figure gods had smiled upon me.

With retail distribution being severely lacking, I couldn't just pick up a figure here or there, but I didn't go into TRU prepared to buy an entire a wave of figures (The action gods had only smiled upon me, they weren't downright joyous). So I only picked up the figs I needed to complete my Kilowog Collect And Connect, which was still alot since I only had one wave 11 fig at this point. I left The Question and the two Steppenwolves (I really didn't want to) to keep the peg warmers company.

It was kind of weird (and bulky) holding five figure sets in my hands while in line at the checkout (I've never purchased this many DCUC at one time). I wonder if the checkout person thought I was some sort of scalper? I didn't really care at this point, since all I was thinking of was that "Kilowog will soon be mine!"

So that's my Goody Haul for today. I've got five new DCUC figures and the parts needed for Kilowog, so expect to see Casual Peeks Into these guys and gal in the next week or so (I'm going to try and spread them out). Oh happy day! :)

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Goody Haul Report

If you've seen my WonderCon 2010 video on my YouTube channel, you know that I purchased several action figures (none of them from the superhero genre). I thought it would be neat if I started a regular schedule of posts here to a least tell you of my goody hauls, and to at least give you a preview of what may be coming soon to my Casual Peek Into videos. So here goes.

Street Fighter IV Akuma: I found this guy at TRU after looking at SFIV figures at WonderCon. TRU is now selling the alternate costumed versions of the characters, and I lucked out in finding Akuma in his original costume.

Gears of War Lt. Minh Young Kim: While at the TRU I also picked up this TRU exclusive. I've read this figure has improved articulation over the version that came in the 2-pack.

Marvel Universe Storm and Nightcrawler: I actually found two of these Secret Wars Comic Packs at another TRU! I got one for myself and one for a friend of mine.

Incredible Hulk Series Bi-Beast and Ironclad: Normally the figs from the Incredible Hulk line are based from the Ed Norton movie, but the two I found are from the video game based off the movie. I found both of these guys for only $5 each at a Tuesday Morning while on my lunch break(it was on a Tuesday, but not in the morning).

Infinite Heroes Joker: At the same Tuesday Morning I found the IH Joker for only $2! I already have one of these, but I want to keep my first one in the package.


Well, that's it for now. I'll try to post more in the future (if I get more goodies that is).

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

NECA, I Love You and I Hate You



I was at WonderCon this weekend, and while browsing through the various vendors, I noticed Street Fighter IV figures for sale. I remembered seeing a few of these at Toys R Us in the past, but never gave them more than a passing glance. As I looked at these figures in detail, I was bitten by the interest bug. I passed on the figs at WonderCon, knowing that I could probably find them at TRU for much cheaper.

After the Saturday at WonderCon, I went to several TRUs to look for these figures. Apparently, I had passed on the SFIV figs for too long, since TRU is already selling the alternate costumed figures, and the original costumed figures have mostly been sold for a while now. I was able to find an Akuma however, and picked him up (expect to see a review of him on my YouTube channel sometime this week!).

For whatever reason, I didn't notice that these Street Fighter IV figures are being produced by NECA (I really should have noticed). As soon as I found out, I let out a cheer and groan at the same time.

I Love You: NECA has always produced amazingly detailed figures. Detail on a figure has never been the main selling point for me in buying an action figure, but I have to admit it really does add that certain "pop" to a figure. NECA are really good at capturing the likeness of the characters they build the figure around, whether it be from a movie, video game, or other media. And it's not just the likeness, but it's in the "little" details on the figures that NECA adds that other companies would easily pass on sculpting or painting. NECA, I love you for that.

I Hate You: Yeah, I know that getting all those detailed bits on a figure while selling them at a similar pricepoint to figures from the big guys is tough, but could you at least finish a line of figures, NECA? NECA has been known to produce a wave or two of a figure line, and then just stop. SFIV seems to be no exception. While doing some research on when a Sagat would be coming, I found out that beyond the alternate costumed figures, NECA has nothing planned for SFIV. Well, there goes my chances of snagging a Sagat figure. NECA, I hate you for that.

At least there's another good thing going at the moment for you and me, NECA: Gears of War. I've bitten by that figure line too, and they are selling well enough for NECA to announce production of at least a sixth wave by the end of this year. NECA, I love you for that.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Don't Cross The Ninja With The Crossbow

My next Casual Peek is Into the G.I. Joe Sigma 6 Storm Shadow action figure set. This particular set is from the Soldier Class of Sigma 6 sets, and contains the ninja with a flora of weapons accessories, espcially the Shouri Crossbow, which I think is one of the best accessories to come with a figure. Take a peek at the Storm Shadow set.