Estate Sale Adventure

 I went to my first ever estate sale this past weekend. Truth be told, it wasn't really an "adventure" but My First Estate Sale just didn't sound as catchy a title. Every time I hear the phrase estate sale, my brain instantly brings up images of a huge, mansion like home. Maybe it's Batman 66's fault for using "stately Wayne manor" all he time. But no, this was a two story house just down the street from me.

 

 Along with the mansion, I always pictured it being some kind of high falutin event. What it actually is, is random people walking through and scouring the house for items. Imagine one day, something unexpected happens to you then people walk into your house. That's it. No pomp, no circumstance, just strangers looking at your stuff. Now, I don't know what happened to the owner(s) of the house but they were obviously older folk(s) based on the contents of the house.

Now Hear This - Cybertronic Spree

Last year the Cybertronic Spree did a Kickstarter to fund a brand new album of original songs and it was successful! I got my rewards recently so I had to share them. But wait, do you know who The Cybertronic Spree are?

They're a band from the planet Canada made up of various Transformers! They put on a heck of a live show. This shot is from when I saw them in 2021, my first "post-pandemic" concert. Prior to this album, they mostly played covers but also had a couple of original songs. Back in 2019, they released a cover album of The Transformers 1986 movie. That's right, the covered the entire soundtrack album!

Let me tell you something about me...this soundtrack is one of my all time favorite albums. It came out just before I started my junior year in high school. I'd been into hard rock/metal and this album led me to new artists like Stan Bush and Lion. As you may remember, high school is a weird time and this album was there for me. Between Stan Bush's "Dare", "The Touch" and Spectre General's "Nothin's Gonna Stand in Our Way" this was my go to pick-me-up album.

Anyway, back Ravage, the new Cybertronic Spree album!

Monthly Media Recap - February 2023

Not a lot of trailers this month as I watched a lot more recent, mainstream stuff. As usual, links in this post are affiliated with Amazon.

Streaming

In Search of Darkness, Vol. 3 (2023, Shudder)

Another glorious 5 hours spent discussing 80s horror flicks. With this being the third installment, there were a lot more movies I wasn't familiar with. It's also got some nice mini-segments featuring horror stars talking about their careers.

School House Rock 50th Anniversary Sing-A-Long (2023, Disney+)

This was mostly pretty good. A couple of the song arrangements were so different from the originals that they lost the catchy bit which makes them easy to remember. Kermit & Fozzy drop in to Unpack their Adjectives and I am 100%  behind a Schoolhouse Rock/Muppets crossover! 

Red Rose (2022, Netflix)

Me on Friday: Hey, let's check out this BBC 8 episode teen horror looking thing. Me on Monday: Wow! That was not what I was expecting. I love all the young actors in this, they feel like a real group of friends and I was pleasantly surprised to see Isis Hainsworth from last year's Metal Lords on Netflix.

The Legend of Vox Machina (S1, Amazon Prime)

A cartoon based on a successful D&D podcast/campaign. While I will probably never listen to the podcast (it's been going for years) I was really surprised by the animated adaptation and greatly enjoyed it! It definitely has the feel of playing D&D. It may be animated but it ain't for young kids!

 

The Making of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2023, Disney+)

Obviously worth watching if you've seen the movie but man, who thought a making of documentary could get you teary eyed? There were a few spots in the movie where it looked like it was shot on a stage but seeing just how much they shot on stage where I didn't think that was is amazing.

Hasbro Dungeons & Dragons - Hank

 I was going to hold off on the next D&D figure installment but since the second wave just went up for pre-order (affiliate link) I figured it would be a good time to post.

Hank the Ranger is my second favorite kid in the series. Not so much because he's the leader but because he's got the coolest weapon, a bow that shoots endless energy arrows!

 

For those of you that haven't yet experienced the new windowless boxes, here's how the figures and accessories are packed.

 

Salem's So Sweet 2023

 This past weekend was the 21st annual Salem's So Sweet Chocolate and Ice Sculpture Festival in downtown Salem. It's an all weekend event for shopping, sampling, and seeing cool art...literally!

Every year there are 25-30 ice sculptures put up in the downtown area and at night, they're illuminated. I've never seen them lit up because it's February and it's usually cold enough during the day to be out and about walking. Although, this year was pretty comfortable.

Hasbro Dungeons & Dragons Figure - Bobby & Uni

 Come, traveler, let us return to the realm of Dungeons & Dragons to meet a boy and his dog...uh, unicorn.

Today we're joined by Bobby the Barbarian and his unicorn friend/pet Uni. Good job with the naming there, kid.

Again, loving the external package design even if the contents are wrapped in thin paper with nothing really to keep them from getting tossed around inside. Remember last time when I said how much I liked the way they were making a larger image with the box sides? Well, someone fell asleep on that.

Where is the top of Hank's bow or Diana's right foot?? I swear this line just gets more disappointing the further down the rabbit hole I go. I can't overstate how much I want to truly love this line but keep feel like I'm getting kicked in the teeth. Oh well, let's see what's in the box.

Monthly Media Recap - January 2023

Welcome to the first Media Recap in the far flung future of 2023! January was shockingly packed with a lot of movies for me. As always, movie titles below are Amazon affiliate links. And hey, Valentines Day is coming up so buy your sweetie a new horror flick! Or you can just use the link on the right to buy anything else.

Series

Wednesday (2022, Netflix)

A little late on the train but I mostly loved it. I feel it captured the "Addams vibe" very well and it was fun seeing that the family exists in a world where there are supernatural beings. I saw a lot of complaints that the show was like a CW show but what would you expect from the two guys that basically created the CW DC universe? Can't wait to see what the next season brings! RIP original Wednesday, Lisa Loring. I was hoping she would show up at some point.

 

That 90s Show (2022, Netflix)

I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected. Aside from Kitty and Red, they limit the original character appearances and establish a new group of kids pretty well. Thankfully, they're not bashing you over the head with 90s culture. One thing I'm not a fan of is the 90s-fied version of the theme. If you liked the original, you'll probably like this too.

Sean Äaberg's Halloween Book

Back in October of 2021 (has it been that long?!) I backed this project on Kickstarter. If you've been hanging around here any length of time, you know I LOVE Halloween. So this was a no-brainer!

 

Just looking at the art on the Kickstarter page was enough to sell me on this.

But, of course, it's more than just the art, it's also a sort of a mini-treatise on celebrating Halloween.

Hasbro Dungeons & Dragons Figure - Diana

 Well, it took almost 40 years but we are finally getting action figures based on the 80s Dungeons & Dragons cartoon! As soon as it was announced, I knew I was going to go all in on the line...even if I have no idea where I'm going to display them.

We're starting it off with the group's most agile member, Diana the Acrobat. By the way, if you're not familiar with this cartoon, you may at least want to watch the intro to get an idea about the series and characters.

Now, Acrobat itself wasn't really a class in D&D and I always thought it was an odd thing to be when you have Fighters, Thieves, Magic-Users, etc. Earlier the same year the show debuted, the class Thief-Acrobat was introduced in Dragon magazine. I'm guessing having a character be even part Thief was frowned on for a kids cartoon so they went with Acrobat.

This is my first purchase with the plastic-free packaging and I have to say, I like the look of it! The box art is fantastic. I understand some people's gripes with it and I think it's definitely going to lead to an increase of scumbags buying them, tossing some other figure in, and returning it. One thing I'm not a fan of is the figure and accessories are just wrapped in a thin paper and not held down inside the box. It feels really cheap.

Haul-iday Highlights 2022

 Back from the holiday break with the annual showing off of holiday loot!

We'll kick it off with the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special Funko Pops.

First up we have Groot and Peter Quill. Groot is looking better here than he did in the actual Special itself, I am not a fan of that costume. Quill's got a Santa hat (which you can't see much of here) and a wrapped gift. I'm glad they did these so I can bring them out every year to give a Guardians tweak to the holiday decorations.

Drax has his "little man" lawn ornament and I just love it! Also loving Mantis' festive headband. What I'm not loving? The fact that you can only get Holiday Rocket in an Amazon exclusive 5-pack. Booooo!

Monthly Media Recap - December 2022

Happy New Year!

 

It's time again for the annual tradition of cramming in as many holiday horror flicks as I can...no matter how bad they may seem. There are a ridiculous amount of Christmas themed horror movies and a lot of them are the visual equivalent of coal in your stocking. I found this list of what's on Tubi and after watching a couple, I don't think the author and I have the same taste.

I've said this before and it's worth mentioning again given the upcoming reviews. Indie, low budget horror can be a hard sell for me. I can get by bad effects and/or acting if there's something for me to grab on to.

Streaming

A Muppet Christmas: Letters to Santa (2008, Disney+)

It's Christmas, it's got Muppets, guest stars, and most importantly, Pepe the King Prawn. How can you go wrong? You can't!

Beauty & The Beast 30th Anniversary (2022, Disney+)

This was pretty cool! They showed the original movie intercut with live action performances when the musical numbers come up. It was very well done, especially the opening which looked to be done in a single shot while traversing a backlot.

Movies

*Scrooged (1988, Amazon Prime)

It's been so long since I first saw this, it was basically like watching again for the first time. Murray is good but feels like he went off script a lot. By far my favorite performance here has to be Carol Kane. She steals her whole segment! The TV movie within the movie is great too. As a Christmas Carol adaptation, I don't know that Murray's character quite experiences enough to make him change his ways but it's still a good time.

Rating: 6.5/10