Summer Swap Box 2015 Comes Home!

At the end of the holiday season, the 2015 Summer Swap Box made its way back to the AEIOU home base. It's traveled to 11 other people all around the country and logged over 9000 miles in the US postal system!

Somehow, it was still in the original box that I mailed out oh so long ago with stickers placed on it by the various participants. And yet, I forgot to take photos of it. D'oh!

The other shocking thing is that there were less than five items I put in it that were still in there. Dracula made it back safe and sound as well.

So, what was in this mystery box that had been bouncing around the country for a little bit longer than a summer?

There was a whole lotta plastic people...

Plenty of army men, a good amount of Indians and just a few cowboys. Were there more cowboys in there when they got shipped out? I didn't find any tiny plastic scalps in the box so I don't think so.

A smattering of various kids meal toys, a couple of Street Fighter GI Joe figures, some Duck Tales figures, and even an old school Fisher-Price Adventure People fireman.

Perhaps the most disturbing find in the box was the nude-looking Sly Stallone figure (top right). A good cross section of the best 80s toys.

Someone chucked in a heaping handful of 70s Star Wars cards! I've been doing a lot of online trading with the new Topps sets that have come out and I'm going to start tossing a few of these into each trade. Whoever put those in, know that they will be finding a new home with Star Wars fans around the country.

I hadn't heard of Once Upon a Zombie (center) before but maybe that's because it looks like they were put out by a UK company. They look sort of Monster High-ish but are still pretty neat. A quick search shows they also made dolls of the characters.

Five, count em, five movie novelizations! And unlike the ones I had as a kid, they still have their photo pages in them. I have no idea what possessed little me to cut out the photo pages from my movie novelizations, but I did. The Batman book is an illustrated story, not a comic. And the A-Team book doesn't even have the puzzles already done, score!

More books in the top row including a Pigs in Space adventure! Voltron up there is a few party hats folded flat. And this is just a small sample of the stack of comics that were in the box: TMNT movie adaptation, GI Joe, and Sleepwalker!
You can't go wrong with Sleepwalker!

Speaking of art...

There was also some pretty rad art inside! I have no idea who did any of these, so if you want to make yourself known, go for it. Not sure what happened to the page on the left. I heard there was a toxic slime spill in the box, maybe it was a victim of that. I really dig the horizontal piece at the top.

More kooky art. Dinosaurs and Mars Attacks?! Shut up and make that movie!

Here's the stuff that really grabbed my attention.

I don't know why but I'm definitely going to check out this book, it looks like fun.  But is Hitch really in the book like the title suggests? Is he hanging out with a trio of aspiring boy detectives? Not that there's anything...no, wait. There is something wrong with that.

These are the first Monster in my Pocket figures I've ever owned. I really can't figure out how that is the case considering I have a good sized army of Battle Beasts. There was some other figure I pulled out to put in the photo but I must have forgotten it...oh well.

This isn't everything that was in the box. It was really packed to bursting! A huge thanks to everyone that joined in the fun on this. And if you're still planning to post about your experience with the box, just let me know and I'll pass the word along.

SummerSwap2015 - Stop 7

Now that Halloween has been put in the books, here's a Summer Swap retro update!

Pop culture guru William Bruce West was stop 7 on the Summer Swap 2015 US Tour.

Head on over to his site and check out his experience with the Swap Box.

Stay tuned for future updates from the field!

SummerSwap2015 Update 8

For those following along at home, you may be saying "Update 8? What happened to 7?" The host of stop 7 is going to blog his experience with the SwapBox and when he does, I'll be sure to post a link to it here!

For now, head on over to Cool and Collected to check out the latest SwapBox field report.

PS - If you're planning on joining in on the Halloween Web interview series, try to get that in as soon as you can. Thanks!

SummerSwap 2015 Update 6: The Dark Prince of Bel Air

The most recent host for the SummerSwap box is one of my the people that inspired me to start blogging: Mr. Shawn Robare who runs the awesome Branded in the 80s.

The box has now traveled around 7500 miles!

Shawn did a post about one of the cool things he pulled out of the Swap Box, the MASK-inspired Laserpunks. You can check that post out here.

He also sent along a few photos of Drac around Bel Air.

It was a sunny day around town, and Shawn just happened to have a pair of Drac-sized sunglasses he could lend.

Drac sampling the local cuisine.

Drac at the local armory, which reminded him of home.

That's a wrap for this update! 

The remaining stops for the box are on the East coast, but it's heading West next....

SummerSwap2015 Stop 5

The Swap Box made it's most recent stop in Terre Haute having travelled around 6900 miles! This stop was hosted by Morbius Kromwell. He's a fellow Halloween fiend and occasionally posts some fantastic mixes over on Gravecast.com. Here's some of the ghoulish goodies Morbius swapped in.

Morbius took Drac out and about for a few days.

Here's some of the highlights of his travel journal.

Day 1

Drac was a day late in arriving and was pretty tired from the trip. He met a couple of friends of mine and they seemed to hit it off.

My home town was the birthplace of the coke bottle. I offered Drac some special edition bottles but he told me he never drinks…Coca Cola. Maybe he is a Pepsi person.
I was a little embarrassed.

A photo with Drac and my wife and I in our casual wear. 

He said it made him feel “Velcome.”

Drac liked my Halloween themed Truck but couldn’t drive it without a license. He thought it was “Wary nice.” It was a bit sunny out and the SPF 1,000,000 didn’t help much so he spent most of the day inside.

Day 2

How nice that “Take a Vampire to Work Day” in our town was a dark and stormy day. You couldn’t have asked for anything better. He thought that the fact that my office is in Stalker Hall was “most appropriate.” 

 

 Drac pointing out an error I made in my Drupal programming. He said he is very familiar with webs and gave me a nice story about spiders. He said a former employee was quite the expert on the subject. Wow, he will chew your ear off if you let him. 

Day 3

Drac was a little bored the next day. He wanted to listen to some music. He asked about a band called Children of the Night but I didn’t have any of their stuff. He also had some issues with the ear buds.

We found some better headphones and he was happy listening to music. 

He loved my Halloween sound effects collection. 

 All in all, it was a nice visit. Drac really loves watching old horror movies. He especially loved Tim Burton’s Ed Wood. I guess he is quite the fan of Martin Landau. Thanks for letting me invite you into my home, Count. You are always welcome to drop in whenever you like. I hope the next person to get the Drac Pack finds his visit as delightful.

#SummerSwap2015 Goes West

The Swap Box has gone way out West! Which should not be confused with the Swap Box going to Will West, although that will happen at some point.

The box has traveled approximately 5200 miles already and it's just shy of visiting half the folks that it's going to!

Creepy Globugg wrote up the first Summer Swap 2015 blog post.

Please head on over to her site and check out what she found, what she's contributing and where the Swap Box is heading next!

Summer Swap 2015 Field Update

I'm happy to present the first #SummerSwap2015 update from the field!

This Swap Box report is brought to you from Rondal of Strange Kids Club.

PSA

If you're still in line to get the box, please don't send any liquid-ish substances. We had a slight incident with some slime getting out of containment but all is well because Rondal just happened to have some CDC approved hazardous material cleaner upper.

Here's what he pulled out of the Swap Box courtesy of his Instagram.

He said he and his daughter had a lot of fun going through the contents.

And here's a few things he tossed into the Box.

If you've already had the box, it's still not too late to post a report or send me a couple pics to put up. I know life gets in the way of fun, I won't judge you for being late!

This week, the Swap Box is heading way out West.

Stay tuned!

Monthly Movie Recap - June 2015

A quick #SummerSwap2015 update before we dive into June's movies.

The Swap Box has hit it's third destination: the Strange Kids Clubhouse!

Although the box appears to have encountered an ectoplasmic entity and got slimed, it's still going strong. If you've had the box, I'm still waiting on an update! :)

On to the Main Feature...

Atari: Game Over (2014, Netflix)
Great documentary not only about the search for the long rumored Atari cartridge dumping ground but also the collapse of the industry. The ending feels a bit too dramatically staged but that's a very minor complaint.

Rating: 9/10, but I'm severely biased being an Atari kid

Robocop (2014, Netflix)
I have to admit, I was expecting this to suck out loud but was pleasantly surprised. This is probably the best way to do a remake/reboot of a series; making it its own thing and a new take on the basic story. It's just too bad his connection to his family felt as emotionless.

Cool: I actually warmed up to the new look; a little more "thinking" sci-fi than expected
Lame: Why would you keep one human hand? The reuse of lines from the original often fell flat.
Rating: 7/10

Mortdecai (2015)
A second delight that wasn't as bad as I feared. It's not great but it was entertaining. Very Mr Bean meets James Bond.

Cool: I may complain about Depp being in everything, I can't deny he disappears into his characters.
Lame: There's a much better non-comedic movie in here somewhere
Rating: 5.5/10

Cowboys Vs Dinosaurs (2015) aka Jurassic Hunters
If the title didn't clue you in, this is the kind of trash you'd expect to find on SyFy. It's all here: horrendous acting, bad CGI gore and creatures, a crazy over the top climax, and if that wasn't enough...Eric Roberts.

Cool: Ok, the dinos aren't that bad when they're not moving. If this movie did nothing else for me, it makes me really want to finally see Valley of the Gwangi.
Lame: Pretty much covered it all up there.
Rating: 3/10, could have been a good bad movie but they try to put too much story in it.

Jurassic World (2015)
While a whole lot of it seemed to be ringing the nostalgia bell for JP, I loved it. Well, 99% of it. Seeing the park open was amazing and delightful. It's a solid monster movie and I'd just about call it a horror movie due to the intensity of some scenes.

Cool: Tons of callbacks and Easter eggs
Lame: My big problem with this is how the big fight ends. It had me 10 year old me laughing with joy and adult me rolling his eyes because it felt like they wrote themselves into a corner and said "Well, this will work."
Rating: 8/10

Monsters (2010, Netflix)
This is like the polar opposite of Jurassic World. It's all about the characters and you barely see the creatures, but in a good way.

Cool: The director created the effects using off the shelf software!
Lame: The ending feels a little silly in the world they've built up.
Rating: 6.5/10

Deathstalker IV: Match of Titans (1990)
So glad to be done with this series that continues to drop in quality. Imagine Game of Thrones produced by your local cable access channel.

Cool: The original Deathstalker is back
Lame: This movie
Rating: 2/10

Gone Girl (2014)
If I were to draw you a Venn diagram of critically acclaimed movies and the movies I watch, there would be a very small overlap. You read this blog, you know I lean more to genre flicks, that's just me. But man, am I glad I saw this movie without having any of it spoiled in advance!

Cool: Fantastic performances all around; Darkly awesome!
Lame: The ending might leave you a little uneasy...but that's why I like it
Rating: 8/10

Month Total

 New: 8  Rewatch:0

Year Total

 New: 39  Rewatch: 3

#SummerSwap2015 Update

Hey folks! I know some of you are wondering what's going on with the Swap Box and I can assure you, it's out there and making its way to you!

While I'm waiting to give you full updates, here's where it's been.

The first leg of the Swap Box's national tour brought it to LA. Not the Cal-i-forn-i-a LA, but the state. It stayed for a bit with Awake Oh Sleeper before heading further West.

Currently the SwapBox is with ditreasures in the UT and being prepped for launch to its next destination, which is oddly close to where it just came from. 

Such is the way of randomly choosing a path!

More updates to come as I get them.

Stay tuned!

Summer Swap 2015 Update

A huge thanks to everyone who signed up for Summer Swap 2015. Most of the spots were filled in the first 24 hours! Ladies and gents, here are your Summer Swap 2015 participants:

Creepy Glow Bug
Pop Pop It's Trash Culture
Wonderful Wonder Blog
Good Will Hunting 4 Geeks
Awake Oh Sleeper
William Bruce West
DI Treasures
Branded in the 80s & Shezcrafti (a two-fer!)
Cool and Collected
Strange Kids Club

and my Twitter pal Morbius Kromwell

And here's where the Swap Box will be traveling in no particular order.



A little more than half of you voted Dracula in as the Summer Swap 2015 mascot! Donatello came in second, Zak Saturday and Rinzler tied for last place with only one vote each.

 How about a little peek inside the box?



It may not look like much, but I can assure you, there are plenty of goodies buried under what you see here. The box will be going out on Saturday. There will be an envelope laying flat on the bottom with instructions/guidelines so be sure to look for that.

Where is the box headed first? I haven't decided yet but I will email that person on Saturday.

Summer Swap 2015

To paraphrase Picasso, "Good bloggers copy, great bloggers steal." In honor of this, I'm stealing an idea from the Retroist/I See Robots where they had a "Junk Box" that made its way around the country. I signed up for it twice and the box never made its way to me. The point of this sad tale is that I have stuff that I've been picking up that would have been sent to someone out in the blogsphere and that stuff is still sitting around along with several months worth of Loot Crate loot that's just collecting dust.

So the question that came to me is: "Why am I keeping this stuff?" 

The answer is "I have no idea!" but that's great for you!

What I'm doing is putting the call out to fellow pop culture nerds, bloggers, toy geeks, and all around cool people that want to swap their dust collecting stuff for different stuff. In short, if you're reading this, you're the intended audience! Funny how that works.

So what exactly am I going on about?

Summer Swap 2015 or #SummerSwap2015 as it shall be known!

If you've got a better name, I'm open to suggestions.

How's it work?

I'll start it off with a Large Flat Rate Priority Box packed with stuff. That box will get mailed to the first person. They'll take some stuff out of the box and put some of their stuff in and send it on to the next person. Rinse and repeat until everyone on the list has gotten the box and it comes back to me. You can use a new large flat rate priority box if the original is too beat up but I think it'd be cool if it looked like a suitcase from an old movie with people decorating it with doodles, stickers, or what have you.

When does it start?

Either after 10 people sign up or several days go by without a new sign up but I'd like to get at least 5 people.

What can I send?

Whatever you want that fits in the box! Trading cards, magazines, comics, figures, books, oddities, pretty much anything you think someone else might enjoy. Or whatever stuff you're tired of looking at and want to get out of your house!

Who can join in?

I'd say anyone, but there's a catch. Because we're sending a box full of goodies, I want to make sure it gets to all intended destinations, so there's some trust involved. If you're someone that's done mail exchanges with me before or if you're someone I consider in my Circle of the Blogosphere, you're good. If you don't fit either of those, maybe you know someone that is and they can vouch for you or I'll figure something out.

What do I need to participate?

Some stuff to donate to the cause

$18, the cost of shipping the box 

Good communication skillz! You'll need to check in with me when you get the box as well as when you send it and provide your tracking number.

What do I do when I get the box?

Open it! Bask in the glory of surprise stuff!

Also, it'd be really cool if you could shoot a couple photos of what you scored and what you're putting in. It doesn't need to be a full blown post if you don't want, Instagram works too. Send me a link to your post and I'll post it here, tweet it and basically get it out there. Take a shot of the mascot with your collection, at a favorite eatery, or a local landmark. 

Have fun with it! 

The Mascot

Currently, these guys are vying for the coveted spot of Summer Swap 2015 Mascot. They'll travel in the box to your home. Who do you want hanging out with you and your collection?

How do I sign up?

Sign ups are now closed but you can keep up with Summer Swap 2015 by clicking on it on the right under topics.