Haul-iday Highlights 2025

 This used to be an annual tradition but it looks like I haven't done one since 2022. At any rate, here's a look at some of the goodies left under my holiday tree by various supernatural beings.

 

 We'll start off with these awesome gift tags that Mrs Dex found. Perfect for me!

 

 Sadly, this art print from Spooky Cat Press isn't a full comic magazine!

 

 Speaking of Krampus, here's a weird plush from the Pinhead Monsters line.

 

 Throwing this in here because it's on theme. This was a gift to myself after we saw the author, Jeff Belanger, do his "The Fright Before Christmas" show. It's just him and some slides talking about the origin of Christmas as a holiday in addition to all the weird dark folklore from different countries. Can't recommend this enough if you want to dive into the darker side of winter traditions.

 

 A great set of figures from Disney's Haunted Mansion. All the most popular characters are here and I found it interesting that they picked the mummy to round out the set.

 

 And to go with them, a Disney Racers Haunted Mansion Hot Rod! Love the details on this: Mdme. Leota's headstone on the front and the pipe organ in the back.

 

 The Indy Temple Trekker is sporting the famous hat and whip. The vehicle is based on the design used for the ride vehicle from the Disneyland attraction.

 

 While we're talking Disney, Mrs Dex got me this very cool Tron: Ares light up popcorn...bucket? container? It's pretty sizeable at just over a foot tall!

 

I was very excited to unwrap this Funko of one of my favorite Muppets: Pepe the King Prawn. There's not enough Pepe merch out there! And he's flocked!

 

 Rounding things out with a pair of Star Wars card games. This Solo Solitaire game comes in a tin that looks like Han in carbonite. It's basic "Patience" solitaire with a themed deck of cards. There's a Jedi Master mode where you add two additional cards: Carbon Freeze which "freezes" the lane when it reveals, preventing you from playing or moving cards there, until you play Save Solo on it to remove it.

 

 Finally is the Stay on Target card game, which I really wanted because it comes in that cool Death Star! Each player takes a squadron color and battles their way through Imperial defenses to take a shot at that exhaust port to score victory points.

Bicycle - Nightmare Before Christmas Playing Cards

 Unintentionally saved the best deck for last. I found this one on the 5th and had the other playing card posts done already.

This is what I'd call a premium deck straight out of the wrapper! The tuckbox is a matte black with silver and purple foil that makes the front really pop.

Even the inside of the box has graphics! Just getting this far in opening it, I was already impressed.

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

Alice in Wonderland Tarot Deck

 While I was shooting pics for last week's Spooky Tarot post, I happened to glance over and see this deck that I got for my birthday. Having a birthday right before the Countdown to Halloween kicks off, I sometimes forget to show off birthday loot.

I have to admit I haven't see the movie a lot but I'm very much enamored with the idea of Wonderland itself and all the craziness that goes with it.

 

Let's go down the rabbit hole!

The deck is definitely inspired by the Disney version of Alice, in case the logo on the box didn't clue you in. While the inspiration comes from the movie, the cards have their own art style that fits well with Wonderland. It's like a fairy tale comic book.

LEGO Disney's Haunted Mansion (40521)

Welcome, foolish mortals to the mini Haunted Mansion!

I'm a huge fan of the Haunted Mansion attraction in all its incarnations so naturally this was a must have. However, I do have to say this is not "my" mansion. I mainly visit DisneyWorld and prefer that exterior over the original DisneyLand version.

 

Did you know the original Haunted Mansion concept was for it to be a walk through attraction which included an encounter with the Headless Horseman?

Kindly keep your appendages inside your Doombuggy as you click the jump bar.

Funko's Return of the Headless Horseman Game

 If you're a fan of both Disney and tabletop games, you may have noticed Funko has been cranking out games like crazy. Most of them have been based on park attractions like last year's Haunted Mansion game. They've put out so many in recent years, I'm not sure if this is the first one not inspired by an attraction.

Now, I've only fully seen this one and the Haunted Mansion unboxed but I'm guessing they all have the same great level of art and care put into them.

 

Gallop on after the break!

Disney Doorables - Haunted Mansion

 Disney Doorables is a series of blind packed characters that are around 1.5 inches tall with big, glittery eyes. This line has been going for years and while Mrs Dex has picked up the occasional Beauty & the Beast or Frozen set, I haven't paid much attention to them until this recent Amazon exclusive set. I didn't even know this was a thing until it appeared on my doorstep. Thanks, Mom!

Doorables are so named because there's usually a door involved, either in the packaging or a mini-playset, and they're adorable. I would love it if they'd do a mini Mansion playset! Or better yet, a series of connectable mini playsets.

Let's go around the back...

Monthly Media Recap - January 2022

 I somehow managed to movie myself out early in the month. About halfway through, I just didn't feel like watching movies! That was kind of an odd feeling for me because I'm almost always down for something.

Anyway, here's what I did watch last month. If you saw something worth mentioning, let me know in the comments.

Series

Cobra Kai (S4, Netflix)
The dude soap opera continues with more fighting and more drama! How many more Under 18 Tournaments do these kids have left in them? Not extremely familiar with the movies so the end of this season was a mystery but I'll figure it out.

80s Top Ten (Disney+)
Each episode of the series covers a specific Top 10 topic like Ads, Fashion, Toys, etc. If you weren't around in the 80s, I don't know if you'd even find this interesting. So much of this is being in the culture at the time. I suppose it'd be good for younger folks to laugh at their parents.

Crime Scene: The Times Square Killer (2021, Netflix)
This is split about 40/60 between the titular killer and how sleazy Time Square was back in the 70s. Oddly, the murder part wasn't as interesting to me as the history of Times Square.

A Trip to Galaxy's Edge - Part 2

 As they say on Batuu, Bright Suns, traveler!

If you missed Part 1 of this trip, click here.

I mentioned in my last post how the theming of the area really makes you feel like you've stepped into a Star Wars movie, this is especially true in the marketplace and shops.

This is the main entrance to the market area. While most of it is open air, the shops themselves are are sort of like large alcoves that you can just wander into without having to open a door.

This stall is just to the right as you walk under the arch. It's not a retail shop but is made to look like a vendor stall. There's just so much detail here from the wood carvings to the tools on the wall rack. It feels like someone just stepped away for a minute and would be right back. Another cool thing about the marketplace is that most anything you can buy here is made to look like an in-universe item.

 

These shelves are in the Toydarian Toymaker shop. Not all of this stuff is actually for sale but it gives you an idea of the detail they put into the space.

In addition to the regular shops, there are two shop "experiences" you can do: Savi's Workshop to build a lightsaber and the Droid Depot, I'll let you figure out what that's for! The funny thing is, awhile back before we knew the trip would have to be postponed, I had gone to a casino and hit enough on a slot machine to get a lightsaber and that's what I put the money away for. As the actual planning got closer to reality, I just wasn't feeling it, even though it's a whole ceremony type thing that you go through to build it. I felt a droid calling me.

This is the Droid Depot! There are a few pre-built droids you can pick up but where's the fun in that when you can build your own? You can choose to make an R-series or BB-series. Along the right wall is a conveyor belt with all the head, bodies, and legs you can pick from in different colors and styles.

The series wasn't even a question, R for me! The real dilemma was what colors to use. I decided to make a Halloween scheme unit only to find out they didn't make the specific head I wanted in black and orange. That's okay though, I really like the head I ended up with. You don't see transparent domes too often in the films but I really like them!

 

Once you have your parts picked out, they bring you over to a workstation. I forgot to mention, you can choose to add a "personality chip" to your droid. If you don't, it makes standard default sounds like R2 or BB-8. There are two different chips each for Resistance, First Order, or Scoundrel. In addition to giving them a different "voice", it also makes them react differently depending on your location.

 

A tech assists you with your build and you get to use this neat screwdriver like thing to connect the legs to the body. The tech also gives you choices of colored panels for your droid. The basic ones are black, white, red, or blue. They have other color sets for sale, of course. The Depot only had purple panels in stock, and I mean all the pegs were stocked with only purple. I'd have to wait until I got home to special order the orange panels.

I got this Poe Dameron X-Wing inspired carry bag from Etsy before the trip and got a few compliments on it. The Depot will give you a Build-a-Bear style cardboard box or you can spend $50 for a Droid Depot backpack to carry your new buddy. I liked the should bag because he was riding on my hip and I could tell when he was making sounds or his head was moving.

I had some fun taking pics of him around the park. It took a couple days to land on a name and I went with R3-IO31, or Eye-Oh for short.

Here's IO with the orange panels, just in time for Halloween!

 

I have way more pictures than I could ever blog so if you'd like to see them, head over to my Flickr album. There are a few pics in there with minor spoilers for Rise of the Resistance so if you haven't been and want to be as spoiler free as possible, you may not want to see them.

A Trip to Galaxy's Edge - Part 1

 Back in September, I got to realize an almost life long dream of being in Star Wars, on my birthday no less! Okay, I wasn't technically in a movie but I think Disney's Galaxy's Edge is the closest most of us will ever get to experiencing the galaxy far, far away.

 

So, we were supposed to go last year, and we all remember 2020, right? Well, it got to a point where if we didn't go we were going to lose some of the money that had been put down already. Believe me, I was a little trepidatious but you know what? It all worked out. Despite it being DisneyWorld it was easy to stay distanced outside and being indoors or in a line required masking up.

 

The night before my birthday, we were able to snag a reservation at Black Spire Outpost's popular watering hole, Oga's Cantina.

 The whole Galaxy's Edge experience is just mind blowingly awesome! The attention to detail everywhere puts you in Star Wars. The first thing you see upon entering (that I didn't take a photo of!) is a droid detector, just like the one inside the Mos Eisley Cantina. I hadn't made my droid yet (more on that later!) so I'm not sure what happens if you bring one inside.

Disney's Haunted Mansion Playing Cards

 Disney has an odd way of merchandising their product. I don't recall seeing these playing cards when visiting Memento Mori, the Haunted Mansion gift shop. Instead, I found these in a shop in Animal Kingdom. Either way, I was happy to add them to my collection.

I do have to commend them for the packaging. They could have released this in a standard box but went with a cool coffin shaped box. Just like they did with this set I picked up in 2014.

Monthly Media Recap - July 2021

July was quite the month for new content releases!

What have you seen lately that was good? Let me know in the comments.

Streaming

 

Black Summer (S2, Netflix) - I'm still struggling to get through this season. The first was a breath of fresh air after the Walking Dead soap opera but I'm just not into this season. I think part of it is the Pulp Fiction non-linear story telling.

Gilmore Girls (S3, Netflix) - You may recall last month when I said I wasn't addicted or anything and I was trying to watch an episode a day? Well, it's now pretty much the nightly routine to watch one before bed.

 

Loki (S1, Disney+) - I really enjoyed my time with Loki, Sylvie, and the other Lokis but it's hard to make a final verdict when there's still more to come. I'm sure it will all make more sense down the road.

Masters of the Universe: Revelation (Netflix) - The extent of my MotU fandom was watching the cartoon when it originally aired and owning a Skeletor figure. Despite the massive toy line, I never got far into it so I didn't have any expectations here. To keep this short, I really enjoyed it and LOVE how it ended! Bring on the next season. Tri-klops and his tech cult were awesome!

Behind the Attraction (Disney+) - From the folks that brought you The Toys/Movies That Made Us! If you enjoy the Disney parks, this is look behind the "making of" some of the biggest attractions is a no brainer! Page Brewster is perfection as narrator.

 

Tron Legacy Boots into Fortnite

It seems like the folks at Epic Games are out to get me. Get me to play Fortnite that is. I had somehow held back when previous Star Wars and Marvel events invaded the game. This past December, they brought in the Mandalorian (and Grogu!) so I decided to finally check it out. I've been enjoying the game a lot. I'm not great at it by any means (building still confuses me) but I'm okay.

Even with the Predator, Sarah Connor, and T-800 Terminator recently released, I thought the Mandalorian would be the end all of collaborations. Then they go and drop this on me last week.

Disney's Haunted Mansion Attic Diorama

 I didn't want to do another Haunted Mansion post and start it off with "Welcome, Foolish Mortals!" but what are you going to do? That's like THE thing.

I got this diorama set for Christmas and couldn't wait until October to post it! (Only 285 days til Halloween!) This is one of two sets that are available in parks or on ShopDisney, when they're in stock. The other one is of Madame Leota's seance room and it looks pretty sweet.

Inside the box is a floor, three walls, some connectors to hold them together, the bride, and a whole lot of attic stuff.

I mean, this isn't even everything! I love the chaise lounge with the tiger pelt draped over it. It's hard to see in the pics, but the wedding cake topper has a headless groom. And yes, there's an axe on the table with the tea setting. It wold have been cool if they had a hole in the bride's hands so she could hold it.

There isn't an "official" story of the Haunted Mansion but if you see the attic bride on the ride, she's surrounded by reminders of her previous husbands and they definitely "lost their heads" over her. You can see some of that on the walls, there are portraits of her with different men.

The left wall has a banner that's dated 1872 and says Love Forever, Frank and Constance. The room is more narrow at the back and widens as it gets toward you which angles out the side walls so you can see them without having to stick your head in there to peek at them.

 

 

Adding a little blue light for a ghostly effect.

I really like the way this one came out. If I was more skilled with Photoshop, I could have done a transparency thing to make her a little see through.

This is a really cool set and hopefully ShopDisney will get the other one back in stock so I can get that one too.

I did this one for scale so you can get an idea of the size. I don't have any "spooky" 3.75" figures but I think the scale is close enough.

LEGO on the left, Playmobil on the right.

Hauilday Excerpts

I usually try to do the after Christmas post before the New Year. At least I think I do, I'm not going to go back and check. Here's a few highlights from my gift haul 2020.

Starting off with a couple of really cool shirts. I love the art style on the Strange one, plus is kind of a subtle reference that non-Marvel people will miss. We'll get back to Mando & Son, there's a lot more of them coming up!

I got my first Funko Soda ever. I've always held off on getting any of these because I usually want the 'regular' version and don't want to take the chance on getting a variant. I like the kinda chunky, solid figure design.

The other thing is a Disney's Haunted Mansion diorama set. I've seen pictures of these from the parks and was definitely going to pick one up on my next trip (Which would have been September 2020, thanks Covid.) It's part of the attic scene and there's lots of little bits and pieces to it. This will likely get its own blog post whenever I get around to putting it together. Looks very cool! I also got the Hallmark Hitchhiking Ghost ornament.

 

 

In recent years, the Disney Store has been selling these collector keys. They come in all sorts of themes and characters. This is a pretty cool set that covers a few different aspects of Disney. The Marvel one has Avengers symbols and the Star Wars one has Vader and Luke on it.
 

There's just something really fun about having a "Star Wars Christmas" again and this year was definitely one of those! On the Pop front, we have Moff Gideon with Darksaber and Mando & Son in the desert. Top right is a pair of Mando and IG-11 Cosbaby bobblehead figures. Not pictured, a Mandalorian 2020 wall calendar.

For when you need to shoot and capture your bounty alive: the Mandalorian Polaroid camera! It's the odd perfect combination of modern day Star Wars with 1970s technology. It might be the 21st century but the photos still look like how you remember Polaroids from back in the day.

 

 

The camera itself looks like it would fit right in with Mando's armor and even has a Mudhorn skull on the back. Do you remember the last time you had to look through a viewfinder to take a photo? Me either! My one minor complaint with the setup is the position of the shutter button below the flash. You have to pay attention to your hand position when snapping those pics otherwise you're going to get finger shadows on your subject. The original cameras didn't have a flash, or if they did it was on an additional part of the camera that flipped up.

The film has Mandalorian themed borders and graphics on it. What's really cool is that when you prep a new film cartridge, there is a film protector that gets ejected (bottom right). This one of the Armorer is numbered 5/8 so I'm guessing there's 8 different cards to collect as well.

So that's some of the stuff I got over the holidays. 

What kind of cool stuff did you get? 

Let me know in the comments!

Haunted Mansion - Call of the Spirits Game

 Just released at the end of September, The Haunted Mansion Call of the Spirits Game from Funko may be just the place to get your Mansion fix if you're missing the ride.

This is the fourth official board game based on the attraction and only the second that wasn't a Disney exclusive. The first was simply the Haunted Mansion Game in 1972 which is a work of art in and of itself. The Disney exclusives were re-themes of existing games: Clue (2002) and The Game of Life (2010).

Enough history, let us call in the spirits! I haven't had a chance to play the game yet but the art design all around gets an A+.

This is the inside of the box lid featuring the stretching portrait room. How perfect!

The interior sides of the box each have a different set of portraits that can be found in the ride. I also love the way the game board folds so that when you open the box, you are greeting by the Mansion and "Welcome, foolish mortals".

This is the back of the board, the back! How great is this scene?

And here is the front of the board with different areas of the ride. Madame Leota sits in the seance room in the middle. It has a rotating feature which is why you see that large circle opening on the back of the board. The endless hallway surrounds the room and connects to the ballroom, dining room, attic, graveyard, mausoleums, and crypt.

 

Players are represented by these bat stanchion tokens. If you're not familiar with these, they are in the ride's loading area queue holding up the chains. More info here. I love that they included this guy but why not make the player tokens Doombuggies?

To win, you move around the mansion socializing with the ghosts (collecting them). At the end of the game, you score points based on the sets of ghosts you have. Ghosts of the same color score more points depending on how many you have. Some special ghosts, like the Bride, don't have a set but score better if you collect specific other ghosts. The art on the cards does a great job of capturing the...spirit of the ride.

You didn't think there would be a Haunted Mansion game without the Hitchhiking Ghosts, did you? These guys move around the board haunting the players. Whoever has the highest haunt score at the end loses some of their collected ghosts.

Unlike other Funko games, I haven't seen this one hit a major retailer in my area yet. I couldn't wait so I got my copy from Amazon.

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