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 - November 2022

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Streaming

Andor (Disney+)

Star Wars or not, this is just great television! If your Star Wars needs to have Jedi, aliens, and lots of action, this may not be for you. But if you enjoy good writing and personal stories it's absolutely worth your time. It may seem slow at the start, but I promise you it all pays off. Cannot wait for the next season!

 

Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities (Netflix)

Overall a pretty solid anthology of eight horror stories. I've seen Lovecraft fans not happy with the two adaptations here but I haven't read those stories in quite some time and thought they were decent.

Unsolved Mysteries (S3, Netflix)

Even though they spaced out the new episodes, I still went through them quickly. I don't think I knew I had a thing for true crime until this series started up. They're not all crime, a couple are unexplained phenomenon and the UFO episode is pretty wild!

 

Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022, Disney+)

This was a good way to revisit the Guardians again while waiting for the next movie. They do get into  "wacky antics" but it's all good holiday fun. My one problem with it is what the flark happened to Groot?! He looks like he came from a third rate theme park.

Star Wars Black Series - Nalan Cheel

 Who knew it was going to be a cantina band member that got me to order a figure from Hasbro Pulse? I just had to get him!

Why this one? What is it about a cantina band guy? As a kid, there were three figures I felt were sorely missing from the original Kenner Star Wars line-up: the Rebel Fleet Trooper, Tarkin, and the cantina band! They had Hammerhead and Snaggletooth, aliens that were barely in the movie, but no band!?

Square Enix's Guardians of the Galaxy Game

 Square Enix recently announced an upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy game slated for late October. I'm excited about it but at the same time a little hesitant.

As someone that loves the Guardians, why would I be anything but over the moon about their second video game? Part of it is these weird 90s X-treme character designs. I get that you want to give the game characters a unique look, make them your own, but I'm not loving most of these. 

Gamora and Rocket are the most "normal" looking out of the group. Full size Groot doesn't need to wear anything (you can't see it hidden behind the space llama but check the footage), Drax just looks weird with his tats all bunched up, and speaking of bunched up...what's up with Quill's jacket? It looks like he's perma-shrugging. Although, I do love the rock n roll look of it with pins and patches everywhere.

Have a look at the reveal trailer.

The other part is in articles I've read, they are comparing this to the recent Avengers game. I only played the demo of that for about an hour and I felt it was pretty bland. On the other hand, it also looks like they've mixed in the story choices from the Telltale Games series which is absolutely good news. Even though that style is more of an interactive movie, your choices matter and can effect your relationships.

Here's a little more behind the scenes.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little let down that you'll be playing strictly as Star-Lord in the adventure. I'd definitely prefer having a little change up between levels. But maybe that will make for a stronger story telling experience. The way you can command the crew during a fight looks interesting.

Check out this game play video and see what you think.

At the end of the day, this is one of my all time favorite Marvel teams and not even these weird costume designs are going to keep me away from the game.

Salem So Sweet Ice Sculptures 2020

This past weekend was the 18th Annual Salem's So Sweet Chocolate & Ice Sculpture Festival. It's a great event to get people into local businesses with shopping discounts and food sampling. But the main reason I go is for the ice sculptures...and maybe a bit of free chocolate tasting.

This year there were 26 ice sculptures on display around the downtown Salem area. The weather was perfect...if you're an ice sculpture. It was around 30F with the occasional bitter cold wind. Due to that, I didn't walk around to see all the sculptures but I do have a few photos to share.

This Baby Yoda (or The Child if you prefer) looks like he may be a little younger than 50 with his chubby cheeks.

The thing you've been waiting for all your life...Godzilla on Ice! Okay, so it's more Godzilla in ice. Something about the way the spikes/plates on his neck was making me think of the House Stark banner.

Licensed properties actually are in the minority, but happen to be the ones I'm more excited to see. Most of the others are representing local businesses, like this one for Coon's Card & Gift Shop.

Here's a pair of large heart shaped glasses in front of Old Town Hall, which is the oldest surviving municipal structure in Salem, dating back to 1816 or 1817. It was also featured in Hocus Pocus as the exterior of the building where the big party takes place.

This Baby Groot was my favorite of the ones I saw.
It has an amazing likeness and the detail work on the face is crazy.

I happened to go earlier in the day and they were still working on getting some of the ice in place. There's a small chainsaw on the left and if you look in the truck, you'll see a couple of large blocks of ice.

When night rolls around, the sculptures are illuminated with colored lights. If you want to see more ice sculpture pics (lit and unlit), check out CreativeNorthShore on Facebook and DerekMillen on YouTube.

Oh! I almost forgot to mention, several of the Salem monsters were out and about on Saturday for Monster Hugs. During October, you can find them on the streets to take photos with for a donation. This time, they're donating all their tip money to Boston Childrens' Hospital. With it being so cold, I was pretty bundled up so I didn't take any pics with them but good on them for toughing it out for a good cause! You can find plenty of pics of them with one of my favorite monsters: Salem_Satan on IG.

Marvel Toybox - Star-Lord Figure

I hit the Disney store last weekend to see if they had any interesting Solo merch. While I wasn't let down at the amount of stuff they had, I was a little disappointed that a lot of it didn't appeal to me. But as I wandered around the store, I found some new Toybox figures!

I know some people aren't crazy about the cartoony design of the Toybox figures when it comes to Star Wars (I happen to like it) but with comic book characters it just seems natural. While I can appreciate giving the figure a dynamic pose in package, I am so not a fan of the tray that's molded to fit around the figure to the point where you have to cut parts of it to pop the figure out. It should not be this hard!

The figures are Disney Store exclusive and are priced at $12.99, but there was a sale going on where it you bought two or more, they were only $10 each. Who was the other figure? 

Stay tuned on Thursday!

The price is about the going rate for a 3.75" figure but these are chunkier than your average figure and a bit taller at 5.5". All the figures have a little hole in the back for accessories. For example, Cap can wear his shield. And they also have peg holes in their feet that will fit a modern 3.75" figure stand, something I was pretty excited to discover.

For a toy that looks more aimed at kids, they have articulation in just about every place you'd want including swivel wrists and rocker ankles. The only thing he can't really do is sit down. His legs just won't go out straight.

They also have a lot of detail where they could have skimped. He's got the boosters on the sides of his boots and there's some doodads on the jacket lapel that gives it a little something extra. The gloves are also a great touch.

One of my favorite little things is that they gave him a gun belt with pegs so you can "holster" the guns. The guns themselves are a little too bendy for my personal taste. You can see above, the gun pointing at you is a little bent.

Here's a better shot of the holstered guns and you can see how bent that one on the left is. And yes, Disney owns his ass. 

My only other minor complaint with the figure is the color they chose for the hair. I think it's a little too close to the jacket color. When I first saw it in the store I was wondering if he had some kind of weird thing on his head. Nope, just hair.

I'm really hoping they decide to do the other Guardians in this line because I'd love to get the whole team in this style. I can only imaging what Rocket and Groot might look like.

Marvel Legends - Nebula and Rocket Raccoon

I've had these figures sitting around for a bit and really wanted to shoot them outside so I decided to get off my butt and do it while the weather is still decent. Plus I also wanted to play around with my new iPhone 7 Plus to see what it can do.

First up is Nebula.

This is a great figure! It really captures her weirdness. She comes with a pistol and two different left forearms. One of them is cybernetic with her normal hand, the other is the replacement arm with a claw-hand (above). If I have to nitpick, the odd belt-thing she has is where I'd do it. I feel like it should sit lower and it looks weird where it rests on her.

You can see the claw-arm better here as Rocket is running away with it. 

The Vol.2 Rocket is a big improvement over the Vol.1 figure.

It's not that I didn't like the first figure. Hell, I was thrilled just to be able to buy a Rocket figure, having been a fan of him since his mini-series in the 80s. I never thought they quite got the head right though. Rocket should not have that passive an expression!

They went a little more subtle with the fur coloration this time around. You can barely see the stripes on his tail but they did pepper in some gray on his arms. The new figure also has some crazy articulation considering his size. He comes with two pistols, two heads (mouth open/mouth closed), and a Baby Groot in Ravager outfit.

In keeping with the figures 6" scale, Baby Groot is just 1.5" tall! They did pretty good with his paint apps considering his small stature.

Except for one spot on his right foot that looks like he decided to paint on of his toenails. 

But hey, everyone's entitled to feel pretty, right?

Guardians of the Galaxy Hot Wheels - Milano

After months of scouring the pegs, the Milano has finally landed!

I don't know if everyone else finally got one or if I got lucky and walked in shortly after a fresh case was put out, but I counted at least three of these. I snagged two of them so I could keep one carded. I knew if I only got one, I'd regret opening it and ruining the card art and for a buck each? Why not.

It comes with a little clear plastic stand so the ship can be displayed in flight. The paint job is pretty good. You can't see from this angle but they did skimp a little on the underside along the nose by leaving out the orange, but hey, for a buck I'll live with it! Something pretty cool that I didn't notice until looking at the pics: the name of the ship on the left wing! Or maybe it's port. Am I supposed to use port when referring to a spaceship?

The flaps (I don't know what they're actually called) are done in plastic but the rest of the body is die cast. The particular color of plastic used is a little off to me, I think it's the almost pearlescent sheen. But again, for a dollar it looks pretty great on display.

Side note: my spell check didn't have pearlescent as a word, what up with that?

I don't imagine we'll be getting Hot Wheels of any other ships but there is a new set of Volume 2 character cars out there featuring Yondu, Nebula, Mantis, and a new Groot go-kart. They also re-released the originals on Volume 2 cards. As far as I've seen, Rocket is the only one that is different from the original release with a repaint in blue to match his new outfit.

Aside from the TRU exclusive Rocket/Groot 2-pack, these have been difficult to find in my local stores. I have managed to grab Groot and Yondu and am still on the hunt for the rest.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol2 Trading Cards - Retail

As I mentioned in Tuesday's post about the GotG Hobby cards, companies will also make a series of "retail" trading cards. Normally, they release the same base set of cards to mass market outlets with lower chances of pulling hits but at a lower price which makes it more affordable to get the base set of cards. But not here. The cards you get at retail are completely different than the hobby cards.

Why would you make trading cards for one of the biggest summer movies and limit them to WalMart? The stores in my area are the absolute worst if you're looking for cards that are not sports or gaming related. And to put more salt in the wound, there were also promo cards released which are different still from the hobby or retail versions. Basically, there are three different sets of cards!

I don't have any of the promo cards because to get them, you had to buy a pack of underwear or t-shirts. $10-$15 for a 4 cards is not exactly cost efficient. Although individual non-insert promos are going for $3-5 each now.

The 50(!) card promo set has different inserts like blue or gold foils, die-cut cards, chrome-cut (think shiny silver), and super lucky people get a Dave Bautista or Stan Lee autograph! The promo cards have a WP before the number for Walmart Promo. These use a different layout than the hobby/retail cards, opting for a borderless look.

Promo cards (Image from Cardboard Connection)

Then we come to the regular, non-hobby, non-promo retail set. I haven't been able to find a checklist for these so I have no idea how many are in this set. The retail cards are numbered with the prefix RB for...retail box, I guess?

Retail cards

From the few packs I've managed to find, these seem to be character focused. The re-use of art (top row) almost makes me think these are aimed at a slightly younger audience. There are cards that look like they should be stickers (bottom left and right) and also blue foils that really make the images pop.

From what I've been able to gather online, the retail set also has their own hits.

Image from eBay

Honestly, I think these look better than the hobby wardrobe cards, such a cool way to do it.

The good news is, while researching the cards on eBay, it looks like the prices of a complete hobby set are coming down so I may be able to get them after all. It's just not as much fun buying it all at once as it is opening packs though.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol2 Trading Cards - Hobby

The movie may have come and gone but that doesn't mean I'm done talking all things Guardians just quite yet!

I picked up some packs of trading cards when the first movie came out but never got around to getting a complete set. This time, I decided to treat myself to a hobby box. If you're not up on your trading card lingo, they will usually release retail cards (what you'd find at places like Target) and hobby cards (which if you don't have a specialty shop nearby, means mail order).

The difference is what you get in packs. Hobby packs have "premium hits" in them. You're generally guaranteed a couple of these if you buy a box. These can be things like sketch cards or autographs.

I found a decent price from an online retailer. As you might imagine, I was very excited the day my box of cards arrived. My first thought on opening it was, wow there's a lot of styrofoam packing in here. You see, in my giddiness to order the cards I didn't read the fine print. Well, it's not really fine, it's right there if you actually read. I'm used to seeing boxes of Star Wars cards which are usually 24 packs per box. This box has only 10 packs...for almost what I'd expect to pay for twice as many packs.

With the main set having 90 cards, there's no chance of even getting close to a complete set from this box of 80 cards. That was disappointing but I did get some cool stuff.

5x7 box topper & pack wrapper

Every box comes with a one of nine oversized 5x7 cards. Random boxes will have an oversized sketch instead. These are pretty cool and relatively cheap on the secondary market so I'm planning on picking up a couple more.

The 90 card base set covers the characters and movie story. Very similar to any movie trading cards you'd get when you were a kid. The cards themselves are great quality. Unfortunately, I won't be finishing the set anytime soon because I'm not buying any more boxes and there's nowhere around selling individual packs. Considering what I paid for this box of 10, I'm afraid to see what a store would charge for single packs.

And then there is what I consider the blight of the hobby...parallels.

Bronze, Blue, and Purple

I know people out there collect parallels but I have no use for them. To me, they're just taking advantage of collector OCD and using up a slot in the pack that could be a standard card to finish the set. They're called parallels because they, stay with me here, parallel the base set cards but are slightly different. In this case, they jazz up a base card with colored foil graphics. In the hobby set, there are five levels of foil parallels: Bronze (1:1.45 packs), Blue (x/199), Purple (x/99), Red (x/49), and Pink (x/10).

They didn't photograph great but the foil looks pretty good in person. I did get a few Bronze, couple Blue, and a Purple. The numbers up above mean they are limited print run. For example, the Purple I have is stamped on the back that it is 72/99, so there are only 98 other purple foils of that card. In that respect, it's kind of cool to have one of 99 in existence.

Then come the inserts. These are mini-sets of cards with a specific theme. They are: 15 card Behind the Lens, 12 card Family of Oddballs focusing on the characters, and 6 cards on the ships. These inserts are about 1:3 packs. I got a total of 8 in my 10 packs so that ain't bad!

Now we're into the really good stuff: the hits!

These were pretty thrilling to pull! They're Galactic Garb cards featuring a piece of  wardrobe used in production! I got the one on the right in the first pack I opened. It's pretty cool to get even a small piece of something that was used in the movie.

Here's a closer look at Drax's card.

There's nothing covering the fabric so you can feel the texture on it.

There's quite a variation in these cards. They can have up to four characters on one card. Some of them have an autograph on the card of the actor as well. I didn't get any of those but am pretty happy with what I did get. There is also another super-rare hit called Groot's Roots. It's a piece of real maple in card shape with an image burned into it!

There are 10 different ones and the odds are 1:65 packs, or one per 6.5 boxes! They have a range of $25-$100 on eBay. I might be tempted to pick one up at some point.

Speaking of eBay and picking stuff up, I did do a bit of online shopping to snag a few more wardrobe cards. I'd like to get one with each cast member.

I'm a little confused on the Rocket one because he's CGI. I know there is a stand in actor and I think I remember from Vol 1 behind the scenes that there is a physical Rocket stand-in as well. Maybe that's what this is from.

Tune in again Thursday when I'll be talking about the retail Guardians cards. It will be a much shorter post, I promise!

Monthly Movie Recap - May 2017

This is shaping up to be quite the year for movies! It seems like there's more coming to theaters this year that I actually want to see in a theater.

Let's dive into May!

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017, IMAX 3D)
Loved it! I mean, what else were you expecting from me? I was a little concerned that it seemed to lean more towards the comedic side, especially with a couple of short bits that felt like they went from comic book to cartoon. As odd as these moments felt, I still enjoyed them. I'm going to skip the Cool/Lame section because the first would be a whole post and the second, I already mentioned.

Rating: 8/10

*Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017, 4D)
I'm not a repeat movie goer. The only things I've gone back for in recent history were either Star Wars or the first Guardians flick. I knew if I liked this one I'd want to see it again, so why not 4D? It was kind of fun to "ride the movie" but I don't recommend it for a first time viewing.

Beyond the Gates (2016, Netflix)

A movie about a haunted VHS board game? Sign me up! If you love 80s horror, this is totally for you. It sort of felt like something Full Moon would have put out back in the day. The full on horror doesn't really get going til the final third but it's creepy enough that it's worth it.

Cool: Barbara Crampton!

Lame: Most of the movie is played straight but the gore effects are comically over the top which is a bit uneven.

Rating: 6/10

Lord of Tears (2013, Amazon Prime)

This was interesting, sort of an urban legend by way of Lovecraft with a pinch of J-horror. I didn't know much about it before going in other than seeing the Owlman pop up in my Facebook feed and absolutely loving the look of him...it? For a low budget flick, it's well done and different enough to stand out among horror movies.

Cool: The Owlman is just awesome

Lame: It's a slow, cerebral horror (Lovecraft) so if you're looking for a monster movie, this is not that.

Rating: 7/10

Avengers Grimm (2015, Netflix and Amazon Prime)
After watching some entertaining movies this month, I decided to punish myself by watching Avengers Grimm from The Asylum. I've had it on my Netflix list since I joined and finally bit the bullet...or poisoned apple. Is it a bad movie? Yes! Is it a bad movie you might enjoy? Probably with some friends and maybe some drinks.

Cool: Lou Ferrigno in make-up again? Ok, so he's silver and not green but still.
Lame: They are bad at setting up the princesses! Red cloak? Red Riding Hood. Long hair? Rapunzel. Snow White? They actually say her name. I didn't even know one of the girls was supposed to be Cinderella until watching the trailer just now.

Rating: 3/10

Sing (2016)
It's no Zootopia but it's not trying to be. It's fun, cute, and has got plenty of tunes to appeal to everyone. I really enjoyed that there were a lot of characters with different story lines.

Cool: The little Asian girl group cracked me up
Lame: Nothing bad to say!

Rating: 6/10

10 Cloverfield Lane (2016, Amazon Prime)
Didn't see Cloverfield? Not a big deal as this seems to have nothing to do with that movie as of right now. After Guardians, this is my next favorite pick of the month. Great suspense and mystery of whether or not John Goodman is a doomsday crackpot or not. I would probably sit through anything that man is in. Considering there are three people in the movie and it takes place in essentially one location, it really kept my attention.

Cool: Fantastic performances by everyone. When the climax kicked off I wasn't sure they'd be able to end the movie satisfactorily but they did it!
Lame: Somewhere out there are people just like John Goodman's character

Rating: 8/10

Month Total

 New: 6  Rewatch:1

Year Total

 New: 24  Rewatch:3

A Galaxy of Guardians Books

If you need more Guardians in your life after leaving the theater this weekend (and who doesn't?) there are plenty more adventures to check out on the printed page. And I'm not even talking comic books! Clicking on an image will take you to Amazon where you can place an order that would make the Collector envious.

Let's start off with numero uno on my "to get" list. DK always does an amazing job with these books. Whether you're a long time fan or a newbie, there's a lot to love. They pack plenty of info in about the characters and major story lines. I flipped through this in the store and about 98% is covering the modern Guardians. They have a small section up front about the original Guardians team and then it goes up to recent comic history including Quill's romance with the X-Men's Kitty Pryde and The Thing's short membership with the group.

Next are a pair of prose novels. The one on the left came out around the time of the first movie and the other was just released about a week ago. I've read the Rocket and Groot one and it's a fun adventure starring the two of them doing their own thing. It also has a full production audio book which I picked up awhile back and should probably listen to sometime.

I passed by this in the store the other day and thought it was neat. A junior novelization with pages of photos kind of takes me back to books I'd get as a kid. And then I noticed the Bonus at the bottom: an exclusive Guardians story that's not part of the movie! It's not very long and takes place between the movies. It might be enough to get me to pick this up at some point.

But Dex, you say, I have younger kids that like the movies, is there anything for them? Well, of course there is! These two middle grade novels are by Tom Angelberger, the man behind the Origami Yoda series (something else I should probably check out). I checked out the first one from the library (yes those are still a thing!) and it was...okay. I'm sure the target age range, 8-12, will get more kicks out of it. I don't have anything against kids books, this just isn't what I want from a Rocket and Groot story.

You've got even younger readers, or ones that like lots of pictures? These Golden Books should be just right. Marvel has been putting out Golden Books for awhile now for Avengers characters and even Doctor Strange! I think it's a great way for kids to enjoy their favorite characters without having to dive into comics.

There are also Passport to Reading books featuring the Guardians.



If you're looking for a little more interactivity with your Guardians, check out Doodles! Personally, I don't know if I could bring myself to deface a book that I paid for. Photocopy maybe, but not write on the pages. I suck at drawing but I do like the art style in the book.

And the one I'm really looking forward to is the art book. Ever since I was a kid and got into Star Wars, I have loved looking at concept art for sci-fi movies. It amazes me that there are so many ideas that have to happen to arrive at the final concept. If you want this one, I would suggest getting it as soon as you can. The art book from the first movie is now going for $120 from third party sellers on Amazon!