McDonald’s Treat Pails and My Jack-O-Lantern

With Halloween fast approaching, I finally got to getting a pumpkin to carve into a Jack-o-lantern.  I’ve been checking out pumpkins every time I go out somewhere, but there wasn’t a good selection this year.  Maybe all of the good ones were bought at the beginning of the month?  But if I wanted a Jack-O-Lantern this year, I had to act quickly.

This was the best looking of the ones I’ve seen over the past few weeks.  I picked it up a few days ago, and got to carving it tonight.  And the results were pretty nice.

I got most of his slimy guts out, but there’s only so much you can get out with just your bare hands.  I usually end up giving my Jack-o-lanterns sharp teeth, so I avoided that this year.  But in order to judge whether it was a good choice, I had to see it with the lights off.

Well, it passed my test.  It looks even nicer outdoors with all of the other decorations.

I also found these.

Back in the 80’s McDonald’s debuted their McBoo pails.  The pails replaced the toys that you would normally get, and the acted as the container your Happy Meal would come in.  There were 3 diiferent one, a witch, a ghost and a pumpkin(I only need the ghost to have all 3).  I believe that they were around almost every Halloween season through the early 90’s.  Then they jsut vanished.

Last year, McDonald’s had 2 different Mr. Potato Head Halloween pails.  And now we have these two pails this year.  This has me hoping that they’ll run similar promotions every year.  They could even release the same ones for a few years in row, to save me some space.  What would be even cooler is if they were to release some updated versions of the McNugget Buddies.

I didn’t put any of the stickers on them, yet.  I plan on doing that by this weekend.  I’ll share the results, hopefully by Saturday(but there should be a post or two before then).

‘Tis the Season

The Halloween season that is.

Like many of you out there, I am a huge fan of the Halloween season.  The movies, the candy, the costumes.  There are so many reasons to embrace the spooky season.  And the fall weather definitely helps with the ambiance.  With the exception of the last few days, it has been the perfect weather for the time that’s upon us.  So, we’ll take a look at a few things that tie into my most favorite holiday.

If you’re around my age, there should be no reason that you don’t know who this is.  This is Jason Voorhees from the end of the first Friday the 13th film.  This is the first glimpse we got to see of our favorite machete-wielding maniac.

This post card was sent to me courtesy of Shawn Robare from Branded in the Eighties.  Shawn is a Halloween fanatic, and he recently came across these horror post cards in an old Fangoria magazine.  As he has several times in the past, Shawn sent these to some of his readers(all you had to do was send an e-mail).

As Shawn states on the back, this would be (in comic terms), Jason’s first appearance.  Do magazines do stuff like this these days?  I think it’s awesome!  Here’s a funny story…

My wife thought this was a piece of mail depicting a child in some third world country.  I laughed my ass off when she asked me what the post card was, and even harder after she told me what she thought it was.  She has seen most of the movies(with me, of course), but she hasn’t seen them so many times that she would recognize this, so she gets a pass.  Thanks again, Shawn!

I also bought a Friday the 13th t-shirt this past Friday, at Wal-Mart of all places.  The reason I mention this is because, I found these right next to the register.

Yes!  I love it when I find shit that I’m not looking for!  Boo-Berry is my favorite of the monster cereals.  And this is coming from someone who ate his fair share of Fruity Yummy Mummy back in the eighties(it was good, but nothin’ special).  There were also Frankenberry ones, but they didn’t grab me the way these did.  Halloween has the greatest tie-ins ans seasonal products.

They’re pretty tasty to boot.  They’re sweet, but no overly sweet.  It’s hard to make it out in the picture, but there are a couple of Boo-Berry related graphics printed on the roll-up.  So they’re not just left over blue ones they had lying around(plus they taste closer to the cereal than the normal blue ones would).  For $2.50 you get 12 roll-ups, meaning they cost you less than 25 cents each.  And these are oh so worth it.

Happy Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween everyone!!  On Friday night, I went to Howe Caverns for their Haunted Cave event.  I would have posted it yesterday, but I went to my friend’s Halloween party.  So, I will have to post it in November, even though it will be irrelevant by that time.  But I will compensate for that with some totally relevant pictures today.

You may be aware that I haven’t posted the finale for my Cincinnati vacation.  Well, during that final day, I went over to my friend Scott’s house.  He is a horror fanatic.  And inside his house was a sight to behold!  I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

This is one of his two life-size Michael Myers.

 Freddy and Jason cardboard standees.

Animatronic Jason, and Freddy(non-animatronic).

And here we have Pinhead and Leprechaun.

Scott is also a huge Van Damme fan.  He has quite a few of those cardboard cut outs you would see in video stores back in the day.  The only picture I have is the first one with Michael Myers.  We’ll save the rest of my last day in Cincinnati for another day.

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Halloween candy & fast food

I originally planned on doing a post about some of the new Halloween decorations we have purchased over the past couple of weeks, but food doesn’t last as long as plastic and cardboard.

Last week, my wife and I were going to Wal-Mart to pick up some groceries, and on our way into the parking lot, we decided to go to the Dollar Tree in the same plaza first.  We had to pick up some thank you cards and electric candles for our pumpkins.  My sole purpose in there was to find Halloween goodies you can only find at a dollar store.  I wanted to find a candy for review, that I haven’t seen reviewed or mentioned on other sites that I frequent.  Well, the pickens were slim.  I either found something I’ve seen elsewhere, or something that just didn’t seem worthy of a review.  Just as I was about to say fuck it and randomly grab something blindly, I noticed this most excellent package!

Grave Gummies Candy!  For a dollar store candy, they went all out with the fancy Halloween theme.  Before we get down to business, I have to show you what I found on the reverse side of the package.  Remember, I picked this up at the dollar store.

Go ahead and click on it to make it larger.  You have to be able to soak it in.  Truly amazing!  I love the skeletons.  They gettin’ down with they bad self!  They’re even dressed up in costumes!  Now the same graphics can be found scattered around the front of the package, but, they went the extra mile and made a neat little scene on the back.  I’ll tell you right now, that is the best thing about this candy.

On the individual wrappers the gummies say “Yummy Gummie”.  We tasted each one individually, to see if there were different flavors, or just dyed differently with the same flavor.  I’m happy to report that they come in four flavors, all identified by a different colored gummie. We found that the orange is orange popsicle, the green is green apple, the yellow is pineapple and the white ones taste like perfume or Lysol(I can’t quite tell).  All are pleasing to the tastebuds, except for the white ones.  So we got 9 good pieces of candy for a dollar.  Not bad.

While they’re not terrible, these will be finding their way into trick-or-treaters bags on Sunday.  And while we’re on the subject of gummies…….here’s one my buddy Clark gave to me the night before my wedding.

It’s a gummy brain.  This one is from “Gummy Body Parts Candy”.  I saw these on my trip to the dollar store.  This was a pretty good tasting brain!  Very colorful, and very sweet.  I think this was a Neapolitan brain.  Here’s why.

A three colored brain!

Now, onto something that was tasty, but did not come from Dollar Tree.

McDonald’s Halloween pails!  I had first heard of these over at X-Entertainment, when Matt did his review of them a week and a half ago.  While they’re not on the same level as our beloved McBoo pails, they are not without their merits.  First of all, they’re Mr. Potato Head themed!  I would’ve preferred Halloween McNuggets on the pails, but I can roll with Mr. Poato Head.  Second, I love the detailed handles!  The orange one has the bad-ass skull and cross bone(?), while the green one has the cute pumpkin.  Each comes with stickers on the reverse side of the cardboard lid.  The stickers are of different spooky body parts for you to stick on the naked spuds that adorn the pail.  I give major props to whoever was responsible for this!  It’s something different than your standard food & toy in a box, or bag.  Just a fair warning, bad pun coming up………I’m lovin’ it!

And to think, I was gonna title this post as “Ronald McDollarstore”.

Some spookiness on deck

I don’t have any pictures to share from the wedding, yet.  We have them, but they’re on a disc and we are waiting for actual photos that should be delivered soon.  I do have some Halloween stuff that I would like to share, but that will have to wait until after the workday is finished.  I might even show you the Transformer that I picked up a couple of weeks ago(I freed him from his cardboard tomb, and transformed him too).  Until then, I will leave you with a happy thought.

(The picture above was borrowed from Arthappyhour)

Our pumpkins

First, I have to say thank you to everyone for the congratulations and well wishes.  Our day was sunny, but brisk, and a good time was had by all.

Back to the subject at hand.  Pumpkins.

One of my favorite Halloween activities is carving pumpkins.  The possibilities are infinite.  You are the artist and the pumpkin is your canvas.  Hell, if you wanted to, you could paint or draw on them.  But then it wouldn’t be carving, now would it?  We bought our pumpkins last week, and I’ve been chomping at the bit to make some jack-o-lanterns.

The pumpkins were purchased at Wal-Mart and BJ’s, at $3.98 and $4.99, respectively.  My wife picked out a picture perfect, round pumpkin, while I picked a tall slender pumpkin with a broken stem.  And that is exactly the pumpkin I was looking for.  My wife chose a stencil from the carving kit we have, while I decided to pencil in my own creation.  And the reults were fantastic!!

 My pumpkin is the Beast to her Beauty.  And they look pretty friggin’ sweet at night too.

I picked up some more decorations and some Halloween themed candy, that I plan on posting here.  So stay tunned!!(and spooky)

My spooktacular Saturday

My Saturday started out routinely, with me waking up and having a cup of coffee.  Shortly after, my fiancee woke up, and informed me we had to go to Albany to get my duds for our upcoming wedding.  While we were out there we would go to BJ’s to pick up a few groceries.

Now, I have to go off track for a minute.  After we left BJ’s, my fiancee asked me where I wanted to go for lunch.  We drove around for a few minutes and I had decided on Chili’s, and then she spotted a new establishment.  The place was Recovery Sports Grill.  She said that there was one near her job and she has heard a lot about the place.  So we go in, and there are flat screen tvs in all sizes, all over the place.  They have these little wireless receivers that emit sound from whatever tv number you select.  I decided on the only hockey game that was playing.  So I set my receiver to 6 and waited to order.  What I ordered was not important.  But what is, is what I found when I entered the rest room.

Yes.  There was a flat screen tv above the urinals.  Now, aside from Cribs, I have never see such a thing in person.  When I first went in, I wasn’t armed with a camera, so I made a second trip right before we left to snag a few pics.

Next up was Target, and I was there for only one reason.  And for a change, it wasn’t for toys.  It was for what my fiancee noticed immediately, that I would’ve walked right past, totally oblivious to it’s presence.  And it’s what I came specifically for.

The elusive monster cereals.  I’m pretty sure I’ve seen Count Chocula and Franken Berry in supermarkets even when it’s not around the Halloween season.  But in recent years, that doesn’t seem to be the case.  On the bottom of the back of the box it says, “Grab your boxes of monster cereals before they disappear for another year!”  Now they’re seasonal!?!?  While this was the purpose of the trip, I did check out their Halloween goodies and took a few shots.

I had to leave all of that behind, but I did leave with what I came for.

Now, I thought my day would be over after this, but shortly before we checked out, my fiancee asks me, “Do you want to go to Party City?, Because I don’t mind.”  Stunned, it took about 2 seconds for me to answer, “Hell yeah!”  While their selection isn’t  balls-out, it’s decent.  Hell, you might even find a deal.  I’ll show ya what I picked up after I show you a few pictures of their wares.

I started to get excited as we made our way to the entrance.

Off to a good start.

I have to come back for the bucket-o-eyeballs!

These guys are just creepy.  They would’ve scared the shit out of me when I was a child.

All in all.  Not too bad.

I left with the one thing(s) that I wasn’t sure they would have.

The Giant Lawn Stake Hands.  Matt over at X-E reviewed these this past September.  I thought they were neat, and I never imagined the opportunity would present itself.  I happened upon the last pair, on a hook way over my head.  I asked the nearest employee if they could help me.  I just had to wait while she went and got a ladder.  I wasn’t moving until I had those giant hands.  If I had a child, I would’ve hoisted him/her in the air and have them snag them for me.  Just like the Party City Matt picked his up at, these babies were ten bucks.  Considering their size, they are absolutely worth it.

 

 

***Bonus

On our way to Party City, I saw a guy dressed in a costume directing people to the Spirit Halloween store.  I got a shot of him, from a distance.  I thought he was Charmeleon from Pokemon, and my fiancee thought he was a goldfish.  Hey, we were moving kinda fast and we didn’t notice him until the last minute(hence the far away shot).

After zooming in, he looks an awful lot like Gumby’s pal, Pokey.  I could be wrong.  What do you think?

 

Who’s your mummy?

The past few days have been cloudy and a bit chilly.  Leaves have not started to change or fall to the ground, but Fall is creeping in.  This is just the perfect mix for me to start getting into the Halloween spirit.

The Christmas Tree Shop is a goldmine when it comes to seasonal decorations and whatnot.  This little buddy cost me only one dollar.

It’s a pen, with a pop off mummy guy.  Now you can click your pen with a purpose!  It’s kind of awkward to write with because it is top heavy.  Now honestly, I wouldn’t have bought this pen without the cute little mummy on top.  Just look at him.

This pen will be in my inner coat pocket everyday I need a coat.  The Christmas Tree Shop always comes through.  I strangely fell like doing a crossword puzzle.

I hope it’s not too early for Halloween

Okay.  So as I was thinking of some blogging fodder, I remembered something(s) I had that I wanted reviewed.  The thought that followed went something like this…”But that’s related to Halloween.  Why don’t you wait until at least late August to talk about these?”  I figured, what the hell?!  If I know the type of people who visit here, they will happily take something Halloween related any time of the year(except in December when we’re all consumed in Christmas and the X-E Advent Calendar 🙂 ).

I know that McDonald’s was a happy place when I was growing up.  But, there are quite a few differences.  I’m not going to turn this into a rant about how some people just want to suck the life out of everything, rather, help you remember a time when life was sweet and nothing really mattered.  That’s right, I’m talking about childhood and McDonald’s in the 80s!

Before we get to the meat of this article, I would just like to point out some differences and memories of McDonald’s then and now.  Back in the day there was no such thing as a Mighty Kids Meal.  If you wanted 6 chicken McNuggets, you ordered a chicken McNugget Happy Meal.  I was always a fan of their BBQ sauce, but my younger brother always got honey with his nuggets.  What ever happened to the honey?  What ever happened to the Fry Guys?  And, what ever happened to all Happy Meals coming in those cool boxes(bags are so BK)?  And lastly where are our McNugget Buddies?

Well I don’t have any answers for you.  But I do have a few things based on those last two questions that I would like to share with you.  For me, the McNugget Buddies are one of my favorite McDonald’s Happy Meal toys ever!  There was just something so simple, yet so fun with these guys.  Was it the fact that they were little representations of the living McNuggets we saw on television?  Or, was it the fact that they were kind of customizable?  I think the answer may be both.  I also think that part of it had to do with them first debuting as toys around the Halloween season.

If you visit X-Entertainment, you will know that Mumm-Ra crashed these guys’ Halloween Shindig last year.

But I’m not here to talk about the Halloween McNugget Buddies, rather the cardboard house they came in beore we took them to their new home.  Yes people.  I’m talking about the Happy Meal boxes that these guys came in with you meal.  Nowadys, when you go to McDonald’s, sometimes your Happy Meal will come in a paper bag.  What the fuck!!  Part of the appeal of a Happy Meal besides the toy and the food, was the neat box it was all packaged in.  Growing up, I don’t think a single Happy Meal I got didn’t come in one of those neat boxes.

These are said boxes that the Halloween McNugget buddies came in.

Now from what I remember, there are usually four different boxes to promote each different Happy Meal.  Well, I only have three of the boxes.  When I bought the set of the McNugget Buddies from a garage sale (still in their sealed packages), these three boxes came with them as well.  The woman I bought them from had hundreds of complete Happy Meal toy sets, some had the corresponding boxes sold with them.  She also gave me two of the McBoo pails for free.  Let me tell you, I was ecstatic!  Back to the boxes.

The picture above is of the front of the boxes.  As you can see they are completely covered in Halloween graphics.  There were puzzles, games and jokes all over these boxes.  They really went all out.  Click on any of the pictures to see exactly what I’m talking about.

Halloween and McDonald’s just seem to go together. But it just seems that some people don’t agree with me.  If they would just understand moderation.  And just so they know…I didn’t just tell my parents that I wanted McDonald’s cuz of the hot new toys they were peddling, but I actually enjoyed the food and the atmosphere.  The toys were kind of an extra.  An extra that I was Happy to have with my Meal.