LEGO Monster Fighters - Coffin Car 30200

I picked up this polybag set awhile ago but with Halloween, Christmas and everything between I hadn't had a chance to post it yet. The Coffin Car is a Toys R Us exclusive set that was offered for free if you spent X amount on LEGOs or you could just buy it for $5.49.
It's a little pricey for a 32 piece set but worth it. If it were sold anywhere else, I figure it would have been around $4.

I gave up trying to photograph the bag and scanned it, still didn't come out great but you can see it. The body of the car is made from a coffin-shaped piece which is what makes the vehicle worth getting. There's also flame-spitting exhaust pipes in the back.

Here you have a better look at the Coffin Car's driver: a zombie chauffeur! Most of his skin is grey. His right hand is brown so I'm guessing he must have had it replaced at some point. It would have been great if the hat was the same color as his uniform.

There was a similar exclusive set only available from the LEGO Store which was Zombie Car #40076. I'm not sure if they let you buy these sets without the minimum purchase you'd need to make though. It has the same zombie figure and the minifigs are the only reason I get these small sets anyway so I'm not too worried about missing out on this one.

Since this zombie has a shovel, I imagine the buggy ramping over hills in a cemetery while he's looking for graves to dig up. It also came with a glow-in-the-dark spider which is pretty neat.

Toon Alert - SheZow

Here's a neat new cartoon I found out about this week.
I don't know if we'll get to see it here in the US but here's a little history on it.

In 2007, Disney aired a series of shorts called "Shorty McShorts' Shorts," one of those shorts was called "SheZow." It's about a boy named Guy that becomes a superhero when he puts on a magic ring he finds in his basement. The twist is that it turns Guy into a female superhero when danger is near and he can't remove the ring.

Fast forward to December 15, 2012. SheZow is now an Australian cartoon series, airing on Network Ten and is planned to run for 26 episodes. Here's the opening...

SheZow! Opening Sequence by lordmmx

I've seen the original short and I liked what they did with the concept. It's an interesting idea and a bold step to take a kids cartoon. I don't know how this would fly in the US and frankly I'm a bit surprised it originally aired on Disney. With such specific, but changing, gender marketing here I don't know that studio bigwigs would be able to figure out how to market this to kids...or parents! And which aisle would the toys go in?

WAWProductionsAU has put episode 6 on their YouTube channel. It didn't seem as much fun as the older one I watched but I'm always willing to give cartoons a couple episodes before deciding to stay tuned or not.

Someone has been posting episodes on Dailymotion so you can check out more there! Almost every episode has Guy's friend suit up as some crazy sidekick like Shaverine. Also, if you have an odd aversion to the word "she" do not watch this. At every conceivable turn, they work it in like shemergency. The lair's computer is even named Sheila.

One final word, if you go searching the internets for images of SheZow, make sure your safe filtering is fully on. Otherwise, be ready for some dirty toon images!

Christmas Past & Present

I hope everyone had a great couple of days no matter what you were doing or celebrating. Christmas Eve we visited with my brother-in-law's family and my 3 year old nephew and 6 year old niece. They both got early gifts in the form of kid-friendly Nabi tablets.
Let me tell you, for a "kid's" tablet, it looks pretty good under the hood!
My niece and I had fun playing Vs. Fruit Ninja.

Back in my day (pipe down old man!), the equivalent gift of the time would have been an Atari 2600. It's crazy to think how tech savvy today's kids will group up to be. Speaking of Christmases long, long ago, here's a Polaroid from 1980 of me opening a still mint in box 12" IG-88 action figure. If you squint really hard, there's an Atari 2600 under the TV back there.

Here's a little visual rundown of the goodies from this year...

An Adventure Time calendar to replace my 2012 one and lots of magnets! I have the large Finn and Jake ones on my car now but they're sun faded so I think I'm going to replace them with the one of them together.

A very cool Doctor Who calendar and pen. As you can see, this calendar is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Doctor in 2013. Each month features a large head silhouette of a Doctor containing images related to him. The month of December is a TARDIS silhouette with all the Doctors in it.

The Halloween Kid dons a mask to keep Trick or Treaters safe from monsters.
I talked back in February about Liō and I can't wait to go through his latest book.
The subtitle of The Stupidest Angel reads "A heartwarming tale of Christmas terror."
That Halloween book is a monstrous anthology weighing in around 520 pages.

Yay! I'm so excited to finally get to see Cartoon Lagoon! From everything I've heard it's supposed to be a great tribute to all things Saturday morning.
I'm equally thrilled (and chilled) to be able to dive into Spine Tingler! The William Castle story. If you follow my monthly movie recaps, you know I'm a fan of Castle's films. This guy was the P.T. Barnum of movies. There's also some footage from the premier of Vincent Price's The Tingler which should be interesting as well.
I've seen American Graffiti more than a few times and I love it. I have a crazy love of 50s/60s hot rod culture and music.

Ghost Castle is the newest in a long line of remakes of the game Which Witch? from 1970. I've had a thing for board games with traps since I picked up Superstition as a kid at a yard sale. I have a copy of the 1985 European release of this, also called Ghost Castle. You can read a history of the game's incarnations over at Monsterfink's blog. I'm sure I'll do a post in the future about this game and if I'm feeling ambitious, compare the two Ghost Castles.

EDIT: I just realized I forgot to post the stuff I got from my parents! Oops! 

The Tales of the Red Panda books are based on the podcast of the same name from Decoder Ring Theater. If you enjoy old time radio shows of pulp heroes and hard boiled noir detectives, check out their shows. They're all free!
Zombie Pulp is an anthology.
The Logan's Run tv series will be interesting to check out after all this time. I'll have to see if I can snag the movie BluRay for $10 at Target now.

Happy Holiday Wishes from AEIOU

From our crazy, creepy family to yours, have a fang-tastic holiday season! 

Here's a little Rob Zombie Jingle Bells remix to start your night.

Friday Funnies - Dexverse #6: Farewell to Heroes

Since the last issue of Dexverse came out in May, let me give new visitors the scoop: It's just me talking about and showing off characters I created for MMOs. I found out last week that the sun had set for its last time over Paragon City in City of Heroes at the end of November.

While I haven't played it in a long time, I did play for the first couple years it was around. I played with real life friends. I adventured with a supergroup/guild that was mainly European based (the only time I've ever used voice chat in online gaming). I met lots of other people from around the world . It was a good time.

I wanted to give my own send off to the original superhero MMO, so here's some quick shots of a few more of the characters I created to inhabit that world.

That's Nova Force. Go figure, the name Nova was already taken! She's kinda 90s' in her design. Her powers included gravity manipulation which is why her costume has all those funky lines on it. Her origin (finding part of a meteor that gives her powers) was inspired/stolen from the Zombina and the Skeletones song, Meteorite.

Meet Jacko Lantern, the living pumpkin born from a chemical accident in a pumpkin patch! His body is supposed to be made up from dirt and plants and his head is a pumpkin. He's a Bruiser/tank that wields a giant stone hammer and can light himself on fire.

Now on to a couple of bad guys created for City of Villains.

Necrobella is a bit like Poison Ivy.
She can control plants but can also raise the dead to fight for her.

Finally, we have Psychotron. I created him as the archenemy to Captain Blaze. His is a classic comic origin. He used to be one of the good guys working with Blaze but something went wrong on a mission destroying most of his body. His brain was put into a Terminator-like skeleton and now he's out for vengeance! He's got a multi-function laser rifle and an army of robots to back him up.

Here's Psychotron in the DC Universe game...

This will probably be the last issue of Dexverse unless I get roped into another MMO or decide to post more embarrassing superhero art from grade school.

Classic Favorites Halloween Bobbleheads

Here's a couple of cool bobbleheads I picked up post-Halloween on clearance for $2 each! 

You can see all the Classic Favorites line at Entertainment Earth, unfortunately, they're all back up to regular price now. I grabbed these two because I liked them best.
They each stand about 7" tall.

First is the spooktacular Jack O'Lantern scarecrow!

Although he's not one of the more vibrant in the line, I have a thing for pumpkin-headed people, even if it's only a scarecrow and not a real person. But there's always that chance that it'll come to life! I blame this obsession on Disney's Headless Horseman.

Next is the very dapper, Bone Daddy!

This guy was a must have! He ready to party with his cufflinks, walking stick, and matching bow tie and cummerbund (and I just learned that's an alternate spelling for cumberbund).

Here are side shots of the box they come in. I really like the graphics on them, it just adds to the fun factor. The graphics one the right would make a nice Halloween card, without the words of course. I'm kinda kicking myself now for not getting the vampire and witch when they were only $2 apiece. The "Goth" costumed ones were an easy pass though.
Ok, the Goth Vampire isn't horrible.

Mail Order Monday - ICEE Club (1981)

This is about as close to a Christmas related Mail Order Monday as you'll get.

What a deal! You can join the ICEE Bear Club for life for only $10. FOR LIFE, yo!
And just look at all that swag: a t-shirt, a frisbee, magnets, a list of prizes you can also send away for with enough bear points. You even get 100 bear points to get you started on the path to ICEE mail order mastery!

Perhaps most impressive is the certificate suitable for framing. I'd love to see a vintage photo of some kid's bedroom with this and another "suitable for framing" certificates on their walls.

When I was growing up, ICEE was always associated with the K-Mart snack bar. As a kid, that was the only place I remember seeing it available. The oddly textured carbonated frozen treat was only available in flavors blue or red. I still don't know what actual flavors they were, berry and cherry maybe?

According to Wikipedia:

• ICEE machines can be found in all kinds of stores nowadays (I haven't see any)
• 7-11 licenses ICEE and uses it for their Slurpee product line
• The creator originally wanted to call it "scoldasice"

You might be asking, what makes this even close to Christmas related? Or maybe you forgot I even mentioned it by now because you're imagining the sweet, sweet brain freeze you'd have if you ran out to get a Slurpee right now. Either way, it's the polar bear.

His look has changed since wearing that overly long turtleneck that doesn't quite go below the waist line (what up with that?). I know they want to make him more "modern" but I can't see his recent incarnation without thinking of Poochie from The Simpsons.
At least he has pants now.

Holiday Cheer

In light of the horrors of the real world, here's a few holiday cards I've received this week.

First is one from Claymation Werewolf aka @ClaymationHowl

Next up is one from the staff at Underscoopfire.com

And the last one is from local (to me) artist Mister Reusch.
I mentioned him during last year's Creepmas countdown
Check out his Etsy shop for this and other awesome prints!

And here's the back...

13th Day of Creepmas

Here we are on the final day of Creepmas 2012!

A huge thanks to all the bloggers that joined us on our second Creepmas!!

Spread the word and let's get even more people to join our ranks next year.

Coincidentally, the 13th Day of Creepmas in 2013 is on FRIDAY!

To finish out my official Creepmas posts, here's a couple pics of the display window from Witch City Consignment & Thrift. And in case you couldn't tell from the name, it's located in Salem MA. For the rest of the year, there are usually an assortment of pumpkins and other witchy things in the windows to make sure the tourists stop in. 

If you follow me on Twitter and have caught any of my weird thrift store photo posts, this is usually where I am. They always have an interesting selection of stuff!
Like this and this 

I like the top photo a little better because the witch's face is more in the dark.

But you can get a better look at her below.
I'm guessing she's NOT who the kids were expecting.

Be sure to head over to the Creepmas site and visit all the participating blogs!
Hope to see you all next December (if not sooner!).

Creepmas Readings

Here's a couple of books I've read recently that might put you in a Creepmas mood.
They're published by Living Dead Press and Open Casket Press respectively and edited by Anthony Giangregorio. He also does the forwards in each book in the form of a zombie Christmas poem.

Christmas is Dead: A Zombie Anthology

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a...zombie? That's right; this anthology explores what would happen at Christmas time if there was a full blown zombie outbreak. Reanimated turkeys, zombie Santas, and demon reindeer that turn people to flesh-eating ghouls are just some of the tales you will find in this merry undead book.

This one was ok. I found as I was reading it there was definitely a diminishing returns effect with one zombie Christmas tale after another. I guess there's only so many zombie mall Santas and infected reindeer I can take before it gets ho-hum. That's not to say the stories aren't good, but for me, reading them one or two a night sort of made them loose their individuality. There were a couple that stand out for me:

Randolph the Red Nosed Reindeer - a demonic beast that turns living beings at the North Pole into zombies and indirectly influences the birth of a more famous reindeer.

It's a Wonderful Death - Turkeys start coming back to life on Christmas day. 'Nuff said!

Made in China - Mail order zombies? How could that go wrong?

Dead Christmas: A Zombie Anthology

Share the most special time of the year with someone you love, or better yet, with an animated corpse! The living dead love Christmas. Whether they're hanging their entrails like garland, using severed heads like stockings, or hanging body parts like ornaments, even zombies enjoy the most wonderful time of the year. Santa Claus isn't immune to the walking dead, either. Zombie elves, killer reindeer and undead hordes, all seek to share in the joy of the holiday . . . and tear Santa apart and feed on his flesh!

Either I was in the zombie mood with this one or there was a better variety to the stories. I didn't get the same humdrum feeling with this book. The forwards in each book are done by the editor in the form of a zombie Christmas poem. Here's a few of my favorites from this one:

How Slappy Ended Christmas - One elf discovers what happens to other elves that aren't up to par and accidentally unleashes a zombie epidemic at the North Pole.

A White Christmas: Live from 1941! - A previously lost live Christmas recording of Bing Crosby when a zombie outbreak occurs.

A Christmas Card for Kathy - In a post zombie apocalypse world, one man endeavors to deliver a holiday card to the woman he was in love with before the world changed.

With publisher names like Open Casket Press and Living Dead Press, you can imagine they put out quite a bit of zombie fiction. They also put out full length novels and other monstrous anthologies. If you're looking for a new avenue to discover indie authors, you should check out their offerings.

Should you find anything you like, please click on one of the books above or use the search over on the right to get to Amazon and find what you want. You get a book, I get a small percentage of your purchase! Thanks!

Be sure to head over to the Creepmas site and visit all the participating blogs!

13 Days of Creepmas - Festive Images

Here's a collection of some festive Creepmas images for Day 11.

(source)

Be sure to head over to the Creepmas site and visit all the participating blogs!

SLUG Holiday Zombies - Santa Claws

Day 10 of Creepmas brings us to the final holiday SLUG Zombie!

He comes packed with Eli the Expired Elf and Gator Jones.

You better watch out  you better not cry,

But if I were you, I'd light up that chimney to get ready for...Santa Claws!

Previous Job: Father Christmas
Likes: Online shopping with free delivery
Dislikes: Small chimneys & picking up reindeer poop
Favorite Food: Cartilage cookies with sour milk

Ol' Saint Nick looks like he's had a bit too much eggnog. His clothes are a little torn, he's missing part of his right boot and he's got a sort of spaced out look on his face.

Having looked at all 8 holiday SLUG Zombies now it seems a bit odd that very few of them are zombified to the same extent as some of the figures from the regular line. Maybe they were figuring since these are holiday characters they'd just make them look monstrous instead of gross...except for Frozen Fright with his ribcage.

Have a look at what Brian from Cool and Collected did with his Santa Claws!
More pics at the link.

Someone recently sold a whole customized set on Ebay

I hoped you enjoyed these tiny terrors as much as I did photographing them.
There's still 3 more days of Creepmas to come so don't touch that dial!

Be sure to head over to the Creepmas site and visit all the participating blogs!

League Post - Merry Geekmas

This week's (ok, actually last week's, this is just under the wire) League of Extraordinary Bloggers assignment is holiday themed: 

Merry Geekmas! Write or photograph something festive and pop culture oriented.

We have lots more Peanuts/Snoopy stuff and just about every Hallmark Star Wars ornament every produced...at least up to last year. You can read why I stopped being a complete collector here. And we also have a pair of rambunctious cats that would likely attack and/or chew on the larger tree we're substituting this smaller one for, but it works and it's got built-in lights. Bonus!

Here's what some of the other League members posted

Infinite Hollywood has a giant terrapin holiday

Give a listen to the 1st annual Random Nerdness "Chris Lockhart Christmas Special"
It's Batman vs Justin Timberlake over at Toyriffic!

SLUG Holiday Zombies - Eli the Expired Elf

We're getting close to the end of the holiday SLUG Zombies!

Today we have former helper Eli the Expired Elf.

He comes packed with Santa Claws and Gator Jones.

Previous Job: Production Manager at North Pole Industries

Likes: Buttons & shiny things

Dislikes: Height requirements

Favorite Food: Candy brain canes

Eli doesn't look so much undead as overworked and stressed out. Personally in that pose, I think he could be a lost Festrunk brother that moved from Czechoslovakia to the North Pole.

Be sure to head over to the Creepmas site and visit all the participating blogs!

SLUG Holiday Zombies - Frozen Fright

Today's post was planned in advance and I happened to watch Jack Frost last night. Not the Micheal Keaton one, the one with the killer mutant snowman. They could have put this guy in the movie and it would have made a more convincing snowman.

They say revenge is a dish best served cold and Frozen Fright would probably agree.

He comes packed with Johnny Hammer-Stix and Buck Wilde (no, he's not a porn star).

Previous Job: A cumulus cloud
Likes: Skiing & bird watching
Dislikes: Springtime
Favorite Food: Spleen sorbet

Much like Nutty Nate, I'm guessing the zombification process can't happen until the normally inanimate object is brought to life by some holiday magic. But that doesn't explain the ribcage on a snowman!

Could this have been someone in a snowman costume?
Did he eat someone?
Or were the kids that built him anatomy majors?

Be sure to head over to the Creepmas site and visit all the participating blogs!

SLUG Holiday Zombies - Johnny Hammer-Stix

Today's SLUG Zombie marches to the beat of a different drummer.

Johnny Hammer-Stix comes packed with Frozen Fright and Buck Wilde

Previous Job: Drummer Boy

Likes: Fresh cut grass

Dislikes: Rain on his parade & broken drumsticks

Favorite Food: Carcass casserole

Johnny has a wonderfully manic look on his face. His drum is falling apart but I think he's having so much fun with his drum sticks, which ironically aren't drumsticks, he won't notice.

Be sure to head over to the Creepmas site and visit all the participating blogs!