2010 Christmas fallout

Well, Christmas is over, and the normal routines will fall back into place.  As always, this Christmas was lots of fun.  Over at X-entertainment, Matt has had a Christmas Fallout thread(hence this post’s title), where everyone lists the gifts that they received(he’s been doing this for years).  I decided that it would be fun to list everything I received here, with pictures of the goodness that was got(is that proper English?).

I’ll start with what is not pictured.  My wife and I received some cash, as well as some gift cards.  The gift cards are as follows…2 $15.00 Applebee’s gift cards(thank you Aunt Judy), a $50.00 Cheesecake Factory gift card(thank you mother and father-in-law), and a $25.00 Regal Cinemas gift card(a second thank you to the in-laws).

Now we’ll get to the gifts that have pictures.  They are in no particular order, but I will save my favorite gift for last.

First up we have Transformers Generations Thrust.  Now technically this was not a Christmas gift, as I used some of the cash we received to buy it.  So, on a different technicality, it is a gift.  As I have mentioned before, I love the seekers from G1.  Thrust wasn’t one of the original three(Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker), but, still, you gotta love the “conehead” seekers as well.  He’s already opened and transformed, ready for review(I might review him before Cybertronian Bumblebee).

Here’s a few gifts from my wife.  First, we have Uncle Johns Briefs.  This is part of “The Bathroom Reader” series.  It’s smaller(in mass, not content), and the articles within are smaller, for a quick read.  Then there’s the Pac-Man air freshener.  Simple in design, but the strawberry scent smells great.  An that little ? block is a metal container filled with coin candies.  Remember my last post, where I said I didn’t get some candies because the price wasn’t fair?  Well, this was one of those candies.  My wife must have kept that in mind, because I really did want this.

Here, we have a snowman Pez that was in my stocking at the in-laws house.  All I can say is, you can’t go wrong with Pez.  Next, my wife got me a bottle of Nautica Blue.  Nautica is one of my favorite colognes, and this version is no different.  It smells great!  Ghostbusters 2 is another gift my wife got me.  She actually bought the first movie for me at a yard sale this past summer.  What’s great about this is, it contains 2 episodes from the animated series!

Another 3 gifts from my stocking.  I love Chef Boyardee.  These things are great when I don’t feel like making my lunch for work.  Just throw them in the cooler and we’re ready to go.

This Glitter Lamp was a gift from my wife’s grandparents.  There’s not much I can say about it, except that I like novelty lamps such as this.  My wife framed the photo in this picture for me as a gift.  Its a picture of myself, my best man(my nephew, Victor) and my other best man(Clark), in her father’s garage, a few hours after the wedding at our reception.

The TMNT clock was another of the stellar gifts my wife got for me.  She knows I’m a huge fan, and when we finally get a house, and I get my own game room, this will be the time piece that will adorn it’s walls.  The giant musical Leonardo Pez, was a gift from my wife’s aunt Dawn.  She knows I’m a fan of TMNT as well as various other 80’s properties, and thought that this was perfect for me.  How right she was!  The funny thing is, is that she didn’t know that it played music.

The beer pictured is a gift from my wife’s grandparents.  Every year for the past 5 years, her grandparents always get me a variety case of beer.  It’s a perfect gift, and it has different persuasions, that make them stand out among your typical domestic beer.  Plus, you gotta love the painting of the dogs on the side of the case.

Collector’s Edition Nintendo Monopoly.  Does my wife know me or what?  I’ve had my eye on this baby for years.  When I saw the box after it was wrapped, I said “My guess would be Nintendo Monopoly.”  Not even thinking she would have gotten such a thing.  I based my guess on the dimensions of the gift.  I can only describe this in one word…Awesome!

So, we come to the end of the post, and it’s time for me to reveal my favorite gift.  If you look at the first picture, it should be obvious.

The Turtle Party Wagon!  I never had this as a kid, and I’m overjoyed to now have it in my clutches.  I spotted this in Toys R Us Express in the mall, and told my wife that I wanted it.  It was the last one and she said that she was not going to spend 23 dollars on a toy.  That day, while I was in line waiting to pay for Rodimus Minor, she doubled back in(I didn’t even see her), and had one of the clerks put it behind the counter, for her to pick up later.  She had it wrapped in a bigger box.  Needless to say, I was shocked and extremely happy.  I will do a full review on it, once I get to opening and assembling it.

I hope you all had a merry Christmas, and if you didn’t get everything you wanted, well, there’s always next year.

Friday

This past Friday, my wife and I ventured out to Albany to do our Christmas shopping.  We went to the mall and to Wal-Mart, which is where we’ll start the acquistions.

Last Friday, we had our annual Christmas lunch at work.  We have a sort of Secret Santa exchange of gifts(more like a Chinese auction), and I wound up receiving a $5 Wal-Mart gift card.  The first thing I thought about were the Legends Class Transformers that Wal-Mart routinely has for right around five bucks.  I had a choice of three, total.  Granted, they we’re all different, but I kinda felt let down.  But out of the three available, one sounded familiar.

Not only did his name sound familiar.  But, a green dump truck, meant this guy was a Constructicon!  He’s not very detailed and doesn’t have a great range of motion, but for five bucks, he’s a decent pocket sized toy.

While in the mall, I stopped in Hot Topic to see if they had any toys on clearance.  No luck.  But they did have a pretty good selection of candies.  I picked up 3 different ones, but only left with 1(I don’t think $4.99 is a fair price for candy in a collectible container).

So I paid $2.99 for Bob-omb here.  He has a Fun-Dip like, cola flavored candy dust, with a cherry flavored candy stick.  Sounds like a winner to me.

And next up is the great deal that I hyped in the previous post.

First off, I want to show you the receipt for the item purchased.

I had to show you the receipt, because there is an interesting story that goes with this.

I went to the Toys R Us Express in the mall, to check out their selection of Transformers.  And to my surprise, there was a decent selection to choose from.  I had to pass on a few figures that I would have purchased, if we we’re not in the midst of the holiday season.  But, there was a sign on the Transformers rack that more or less said, “Friday and Saturday only: Transformers Animated Deluxe Class figures $6.49.”.  Holy shit!!  The original price they had on these guys was 12 bucks.  The had Oil Slick, Cybertonian Mode Ratchet and 1 or 2 others, including this guy.

I brought him up to the register and he rung up at $18.49.  I explained the sign and showed that this indeed was a Voyager Class Transformers Animated figure.  They looked at the sign and brought over an Oil Slick figure to scan for comparison.  Oil Slick rang up at $6.49.  Oil Slick was also originally priced at $12.00, while Rodimus Minor was priced at $14.99.  And I wasn’t going to buy that figure at any price other than the advertised $6.49.  And that’s exactly what I paid for him.  My guess is that being that Rodimus and Cybertronian Mode Ratchet are Toys R Us exclusives and are priced higher.  I don’t know why they didn’t state an exclusion, but it worked out in my favor and I got this great figure for a penny more than seven dollars!

I love how the sculptors paid tribute to G1 Hot Rod.  It’s the styling of this car that drew me to the figure in the first place.  And in Robot mode, he looks great as well.

I don’t have a full blown review, but if you guys want one I can try.  I was just really happy with such a great Friday that I felt like sharing.

Here are the new guys.  The Batman in the picture was given to me on Saturday from my buddy Clark.  He found him on a beach when he was in Florida and gave him to me.  Now I have to figure out where I’m going to display my new additions.

Keep an eye on this…

I got all of my Christmas shopping done!  I was at the mall and got an awesome deal on an awesome figure(you’ll find out later), and I used a $5 gift card I received, and transformed that gift card into another figure(hint, hint).  Also 2 more random pieces.  Like I said, you’ll find out later.

Toy collecting goals 2011

So, there are a bunch of other blogs that are listing their toy collecting achievements(this year) and goals(for next year).  And I figured I’d throw in my hat.

I can’t really say I had any achievements this year, because I didn’t really have any goals.  If I saw something at a yard sale or garage sale, or on the pegs for that matter, I bought it(within my price range).  There are tons of toys I would love to add to my collection.  There are plenty of lines, where I wouldn’t mind having the entire line.  But I am going to be reasonable and only list the ones at the top of my ever growing list.  So, let’s get to it.

TMNT(original)- Storage Shell Donatello, Slash, Invisible Man Mike, Bebop, Krang(with walker or android body or loose), and a Foot Soldier.

Rock Lords- Slimestone and Marbles.

G.I. Joe(80’s)- Shockwave(V1), Low Light, Tunnel Rat(V1), Cobra Officer, Techno-Viper, B.A.T. and Crimson Guard.

Food Fighters- Burgerdier General and Mean Weener.

Battle Beasts- Delta Chameleon, Sawtooth Shark, Killer Carp, Cutthroat Cuttlefish, Tarsier Tyrant and Leapin’ Lizard.

Thundercats- S-S-Slithe, Snowman of Hook Mountain and Lion-O.

Star Wars- Jawa(any).

Super Naturals- Mr. Lucky(ghostling).

DC Super Powers- Batman.

Transformers(G1)- Soundwave, Cosmos and Motormaster.

MOTU(80’s)- Skeletor, Mantenna, Moss Man, Modulok, Thunder Punch He-Man and Stinkor.

Okkkaaayy.  Now I think I better stop there.  The bar is set high enough.  Now, there are lots of other items I would love to add to the list, but it will be a challenge to get half of this list next year.  Like I said, these are the figures at the top of my want list.  I’m sure if I look in the right places, I should have no problem.  The problem will be getting them for a fair price.  Wish me luck.  And I hope we all achieve our collecting goals in the upcoming year.  And good luck to all of you who are participating in this.

It feels wrong to do a post without posting a picture or two, so here you go!

Transformers Animated Skywarp

So, the day after our wedding, I found myself at a Marshall’s in Albany, NY.  I haven’t been to a Marshall’s in a really long time.  I’ve always known them to be a place to get brand name clothing at a discount price.  Even back in the day, I only ever seem to recall them as a clothing outlet.  So I went in thinking I would see if they had any clothes that caught my eye.  I walked around for about 2 minutes, and saw an overhead sign that said Toys.  I didn’t expect to see anything great, but, to my surprise, they had top shelve lines at a great price!  The G.I. Joe and Transformers toys immediately caught my eye.

While a few new G.I. Joes would have been great to add to the collection, I was interested in the Transformers Animated(Voyager Class) figures they had at $12.99.  These figures, when new, run in the $19.99+ range.  So seven dollars off of the retail price is quite a discount!  I remember trying do decide(briefly), between Skywarp and some other figure(maybe Lugnut?).  And had Swindle been available, it may have been a tough decision.

Beautiful, isn’t it?

I have always thought that the seeker jets from Transformers were some of the best looking characters.  I recall playing with Starscream as a child, but I don’t think that the figure belonged to me.  Skywarp here is basically a repaint of the Starscream that came out earlier in the line.  Which makes perfect sense!  Because, according to the back of the box, Skywarp is a clone of Starscream.

 The seeker mode is a little different from the classic style, but looks good, none the less.  The biggest differences are that these guys are wider than their 80’s counterparts and the wings are facing towards the front of the plane as opposed to the rear.  And the color schemes for the most part are close(Starscream is missing blue from his color scheme, and I think makes him look a bit dull).

But in robot mode is where this figure shines.

 I think the design of this figure is great!  The articulation is great as well.  It allows you to put the figure in all sorts of action poses.  And as a toy, I would think that it has top notch playability.  I give it a 5/5.

 

Two of my favorite figures.

If only they were on the same side, this would make an awesome team!

Skywarp will now introduce the next(hopefully) review piece(coming soon).

Skywarp:  I would vaporize you if Jay didn’t have to review you next!

 Bumblebee:  Thanks!  What can I do to repay you?                                        

                                                                                                                                 Skywarp:  Well…since were in front of a Super Nintendo…I think reenacting a scene from one of my favorite Nintendo games will do.

                                                                                                                                                                  Bumblebee:  Oookkaaaayy…what do you have in mind?                              

Bumblebee:  So what is the scene that this is supposed to represent? 

                                                                                                                                                                Skywarp:  Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!  You’re Lil’ Mac, Nuggit is Referee Mario and I’m Mike Tyson.  The only difference is that I always win!  Because 

the speed of your fingers can’t match the strength of my fists!                

Bumblebee:  You’re such a dork!                                                                           

Skywarp:  Well, I thought it was amusing.                                                         

 The commentary from the toys does not seem to publish the same way that the draft looks.  I hope that doesn’t detract to the little bit of humor I attempted.  As I was taking the pictures, the last one really reminded me of Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!

It’s great to be back!!

Wow!  It feels like I’ve been gone forever.  I don’t have a specific idea to go in depth about, but a few of you made some suggestion as to what you would like to hear about upon my return.  The 3 suggestions were toys, video games and something Christmassy(maybe catoons another time Bobby).

First up…toys.  During my absence, I did aquire a few things to add to the collection.  The first is the large plush ALF(officially licensed), my buddy Clark traded to me.  I also managed to find a Transformers Animated Voyager Class Skywarp(review coming soon) for the low price of $12.99 at Marshall’s.  And lastly, my step brother bought me Cybertonian Bumblebee as a Christmas gift(review coming soon as well…as soon as I figure out how to transform the friggin’ thing).

Next up, we have video games.  Jboypacman suggested that I discuss some of my video game interests.  Well, three letters define my favorite video games…N.E.S.  That’s not saying that I don’t play other systems though.  I still play SNES, gameboy, Gamecube and PS2(as well as a few PS1 games).  I just prefer the old school games.  I would love to get a Sega Master System or a Turbo Grafx 16 or even a Wii.  I collect Nintendo games for all of their systems, up to the Gamecube, but primarily for the NES.  Here are a few pics of my growing NES collection.

And lastly, Bobby suggeted cartoons and something Christmassy.  And while I don’t have anything cartoon related to post, it is Christmas time, so I decided to post a picture of our little Christmas tree.  I want to get a few Christmas related posts up, so I’ll see what I can do.  If you’re a fan of Christmas, I reccomend you check out the Advent Calendar over at X-entertainment, I promise, you won’t regret it.  I’ll see you guys in a few days(when I have something else to write about).

Keep your eyes peeled!!

Right here.  Before 10:00PM(I don’t know exactly when).  Toys, video games and Christmas all in one post(that covers all the suggestions).  Be there or be square!!

I’ll be back.

Our computer has been fixed.  I hope to pick it up today.  I have missed writing and sharing pictures a lot lately.  I am happy that you guys have been popping in now and then, hoping for new content.  So, here’s what I’ll do…give me some suggestions, and that will be a topic or item that I will write about(whenever comments roll in).  Even if I get something up in the next day or two(hopefully something tonight), I’ll still accept suggestions.  See you guys shortly!!  🙂