The haul, 2012

Perhaps one year, I'll ask for practical things for Christmas.  A nice potato masher, for example.  But not this year.  Every year I show off some of the cool things that I got for Christmas to share the excitement with random people over the Internet, and this year is no different.  So sit back and check out some of the stuff I got for Christmas!

In the picture at top, there are actually two Thing toys, though one isn't as obvious.  Larry (your friend and mine) got me '90s-era Marvel Universe Thing figure, denoted with a Roman numeral because he comes with his "disguise" outfit.  On the right of the picture you can see a "Bonk Zonk" Thing toy, which is part of a large game that I have no interest in.  Both of these are really cool!

As you all should know by now, I love me some TV shows on DVD, and I did all right this year.  I got the final two season of Star Trek: Voyager, which means that I now have every season of every Star Trek series (including the cartoon) ever created.  Took me long enough!  I also got "Freaks and Geeks", which I hear good things about.  I hope it lives up to the hype.

Hey, it's a new Wii game!

My friend Caitlin from Alaska (that is her designation; if you had a friend from Alaska, you'd call that person something similar) got me this great Adventure Time figure!

More DVDs: the latest volume of Futurama and the second volume of Space Ghost: Coast to Coast!

Remember when I predicted that the Steelers would win the Super Bowl this year?  Boy did I have that wrong.  I'm not quite sure what happened to produce an 8-8 season, but I still love the black and gold, and I got a few neat Steeler items for Christmas.  First on the slate is the Hines Ward Dark Knight Rises figure, which is soooooooo awesome.  I also picked up the new Steelers DVD, highlighting the impenetrable defense of the 1970s.

I can finally start reading the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen thanks to these two trades!

This gift was completely frivolous - more so than most of my other ones, even, but it holds a special place in my heart to be sure.  It's a neon light-enhanced Pac Man sign!  This one is Inky, if I remember correctly.  Since I've got my Ms. Pac Man arcade game set up at Evil Genius Comics in California, PA, I took this there and asked the folks there if they'd be willing to hang it up and display itin one of their windows.

They agreed!  And it's got a prime location in the window.  If you look at the bottom right of the picture, you can even see the Ms. Pac Man cabinet.  Hooray!

This item was actually bought for my wife, but it's too cool not to show off here on the blog.  It's a Star Trek Enterprise pizza cutter!  The saucer section is, of course, the cutter, and it looks ten times as awesome in real life.  It comes in its own case and everything!  It's almost too cool to actually use it...almost.

I bought this display piece for my wife, so it's not technically mine, but again...too cool to leave out, if I say so.  This is a metal-plated replica of the gun Mal Reynolds uses on Firefly!  It's got a nice heft to it and it comes with its own stand.

Even the box is great.  This beauty came from Quantum Mechanix, which makes tons of sci-fi collectibles, most of which I want to own.

Lastly, here's another item that's not mine, but it's something I thought really turned out well.  One of my nephews is a big fan of Jeff Smith's Bone from reading the Scholastic reprints, so my wife crocheted Fone Bone for him!  Needless to say, it was a big hit - she even made one of Bartleby as well!

That's a bunch of what I got for Christmas in 2012.  Great times, and thanks to everyone for the gifts.

Some lucky finds - Fantastic Four and more!

I've been watching a few episodes of Syfy's "Collection Intervention" show lately, and while it has a number of cliched attributes that make me loathe most reality programming - obviously scripted moments, a flair for the overdramatic, a handful of people who don't know what they're talking about - I will say that, overall, I enjoy it.  Beyond being a fairly entertaining show, I think that the host's message of smart collecting, as opposed to just grabbing everything in sight, is something more collectors, including myself, should pay attention to.

Over the past month or two, I've managed to land a number of items that'll fit right into my collection.  Is it smart collecting?  In some cases, I don't know.  Some of the additions might indicate some kind of completist OCD tendencies, but I will say that I was excited to get each piece, and ecstatic for a few.

McMurray's Pittsburgh Comics, as you might have heard, is awesome.  It's one of the best stores I've ever been to.  It seems that the store always has some great dollar books on sale, which leads to me spending more time there than I plan.  Above are some of the books I got, each with a Fantastic Four theme, for a buck a piece.  The Thing image on the bottom right is that of an oversized Fleer trading card.

This cover looks familiar - it's the ubiquitous Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #60, otherwise known as the nine-cent issue.  Marvel sold somewhere around 600,000 of these things when they came out a number of years ago due to the minuscule price tag.  This particular version, however, was sold on the newsstand - i.e. places like the now-defunct Waldenbooks - for the regular $2.25.

As nine cents is a much better deal, almost no one bought this version, making it one of the most rare FF comics around.  I finally managed to track down a copy and got it for a decent price.

This comic is also a rare variant, but it's more of the manufactured rather than the market driven type.  It's the "premiere" variant of FF #1, which was given out to stores participating in a release party-type thing (how weird must those be??) at a strict limit of one per participating store.  What's different about it as compared to the regular edition?  VERY LITTLE!  The logo is in a different font...

...there's a montage on the back cover...

...and there's a personalized message on the inside cover from Marvel editor Tom Brevoort.  Otherwise, it's the same thing.  I now have each different FF #1 cover (out of the 10,000 released, which says something about Marvel's marketing strategies as well as my hopelessness).  I feel a strange sense of accomplishment.

From the land of eBay (wait...they changed their logo?) comes this 1970s book and record set, which, if it corresponds with the issue that the cover art is from, is of a retelling of Fantastic Four #1.  Why not just include the original first issue?  Oh well.  It's still pretty cool.

Minimates, for all their Lego-ness, are pretty cool (I wonder why noses are seemingly forbidden on their toys, though).  As the Thing has many changes of costume, it's absolutely necessary for there to be a Minimate depicting each one - and even more necessary for me to get them all.  The exclusive Future Foundation set comes with accessories for every character except the Thing, because the Thing doesn't need accessories.

...except if it's a trench coat.  And now I have two Doombots as well!  In case one gets broken.

The earlier mentioned Pittsburgh Comics sale also brought forth this gem, with Spider-Man 2099 on the front cover.  Hey, kids, it's even formatted for your three-ring binder!  The insides are basically character sheets for artists of the company.  I'll assume that these were mass produced regardless of the look, but either way, this is certainly an interesting item.

I hear good things about the new TMNT cartoon - I'll check it out soon.  In celebration (and since Nickelodeon is undertaking a huge marketing push), there are new "classic" TMNT figures on sale and they are really spiffy.  Larry (your friend and mine) got me this figure that features a manhole cover as a base.

There's a new "Weird Al" Yankovic book out!  It's called...Weird Al the Book!  Clever.  It's a semi-biographical book with insight from Al himself and tons of pictures.  You should buy two.

Everything else that was listed here - the books, the figures, whatever, pale in comparison to these final two items.  You could get everything else fairly easily if you really wanted them (and you do, you do), regardless of their level of awesomeness.  But I managed to score a couple rarer pieces in the last few weeks, and OH! how I've wanted to show them off a little bit.

Above is a picture of a seven foot tall, tri-cornered movie theater standee for the Dark Knight Rises.  The other two sides showcase Catwoman and Bane.  Where in the world do you put a seven foot tall movie display?  Anywhere you want!  Because that's just how it is.  I had to borrow a truck to haul this thing away, but it was worth it.  Perhaps I'll put it in front of a window, but only at night as to scare people walking by.

I saved the best for last.  A friend of mine sent me this original animation cell from the 1967 Hanna-Barbera Fantastic Four cartoon!  It's ten times cooler in person.  In this picture, it looks like the Thing is fighting a chair or even perhaps my dog.  I'm going to get this framed sometime soon because this is a museum quality piece, and I'm grateful to get it.  It's automatically one of the centerpieces of my collection.

Dark Knight Returns filming at Heinz Field - pictures galore!

When comic book movies come to theaters, I sometimes write reviews of them.  It's at this point that I realize that I'm a sucker just like everyone else - the movie industry produces 100-minute films, more bad than good and often aimed at the lowest common denominator, and proceeds to charge outrageous fees to experience them, banking on the fact that I've been indoctrinated like everyone else into accepting movies as an ingrained part of the American experience or whatever.  Big, leather chairs, the center row, a $10 tub of popcorn?  It's all part of the "experience", but like someone who has realized that the Matrix is real (there's irony in this statement), I like to think that I'm aware of the grip that the entertainment industry has on us and can thus avoid such terrible movie experiences by just not going to see most of them.  But then crapfests like the Green Lantern movie or Amazing Spider-Man comes out and hey!  I go and see them because they're both comic book movies.  I even watched Bulletproof Monk.

Suffice it to say, I don't feel the need to write a review for the Dark Knight Rises.  Because it was AWESOME.  Christopher Nolan should write/direct/produce/ingest every single movie from now until forever, because here's the thing separating his movies from most others, and certainly most comic book movies: Nolan's movies are actually good.  Dark Knight Rises is no exception.  It's fantastic.  If you haven't gone to see it, do it and join in with apparently the only thing we here in America can agree on: watching stuff on a screen.

A while ago, I wrote a big ol' post about my experience on the set of the movie, some of which filmed in Pittsburgh.  I got called to be an extra in a few different scenes, but for different reasons (mostly because everyone wanted to be in this) I only made it to one day, the huge Heinz Field scene with Hines Ward running away from exploding things.  I didn't post pictures of the field (except for the "Batman Parking" sign at the very top, which was hilarious, trust me) at the time because of the potential, ah hem, legal repercussions we were all constantly made aware of.  I believe that with the movie out for over a month now, the litigious period has passed, so I wanted to post what pictures taken this day.

Seeing these pictures reminds me of what a crappy phone I used to have and how reliable my Camry was.  Both of those have left this world.  On to pictures!

Directly above is a blurry image of the bus that shuttled us from the parking lot to Heinz Field, home of the six time Super Bowl champion (this season, we rev up for #7) Pittsburgh Steelers.

Ur...

Well, suffice it to say that I saw plenty of cameras, logos, Steelers gear and Batman paraphernalia all day.  Not much you can do with 14,000 extras on set.

This was my view of the field, otherwise known as "the place that had absolutely no shot of getting on camera.  The raised area of the field caused much speculation.  The consensus was that the movie would include a "No Man's Land"-style earthquake, which didn't happen, of course.  Note the Gotham Rogues logo on the 50 yard line.

Here's a cloudy picture, but for the most day it was sunny and very, very hot.  We all had to wear jackets and long pants because this was supposed to take place during the winter.  Lots of sweaty people were milling about.  You could see the huge UPMC logo on the scoreboard during the movie.  I thought they'd maybe change it to UGMC or something, but no big deal.

Most of the Steelers left after the first few shots, but players from both sides hung around all day.  Bill Cowher even shouted at the crowd for half an hour or so.  Oh, Cowher.

As a treat, the movie Tumblers rolled around the field at one point.  It's neat to know that they're functional as far as driving is concerned.  They looked really cool.

All of the little hills on the field are the explosives for the upcoming scene.

Hines Ward even got to ride on top of one for a while.  Why?  Because he's Hines Ward, Super Bowl XL MVP and future Hall of Famer.  That's why.

The debris on the field is the remnants of the explosives.  All of them went off but one, which caused some consternation with the effects crew.  The guy on the right is swinging one of the faux Terrible Towels that were handed out to everyone as he or she entered the stadium.

At the end of the day, one person in the crowd won a car.  Tom Hardy, in full Bane costume, called out the number and took a picture with the winner.  It was weird.

There was a brief rain shower toward the end of the day.  You can see Bane on the Jumbotron, scaring the rain back into the clouds.

At the end of the day, as they were clearing out most of the stadium, I walked over to the end zone, otherwise known as "the section that DID get on camera, and why the heck didn't I just leave my section to come here in the first place because it would be impossible to know who's supposed to be where, and I could have got a Gotham Rogues shirt that haven't been mass produced yet".  Maybe it's now known as that.

This was last year, so these pictures brought back a lot of memories of the day.  It was fun, but it could have been much better (read this if you want to know more about the actual experience).  Even so, I'm glad that I got to play a little part (no, I didn't get on camera except as a microscopic blurry dot) in one of the best comic-based movies I've ever seen.

Pictures from the 2012 Comic-Con, part 7

Perhaps you are getting tired of seeing the endless photos from this year's Comic-Con, which as of today has been over for an entire month already.  But perhaps you are also crazy, because this is great stuff.  I mean, just look at that Kid Voltron picture!  Adorable, right?  Right.  For some unimaginable reason, I've also got lots more in the queue as well, so like it or not, there'll be more to come.  So let's forge ahead.

This picture was sent to me by someone who came by the booth.  Crappy knockoff stuff of popular properties is in no short supply, but wow!  This might take the cake.

I admittedly don't know a lot about Dr. Who, but this dress is pretty awesome no matter how you cut it.

Here's another picture of the booth!  Can't get enough of those.

This was about as empty as the hallway got at any point.

I don't think the ferris wheel worked.  It should have.

I love this bike.

When you're a guy and a redhead, your costume choices can be a bit limited.  This guy makes the most of it.

There were more than a few Marty McFlys at Comic-Con this year.  This guy did a good job with movie #1 Marty.

Game of Thrones had a pretty noticeable presence at the show.

This might be the greatest picture of all time.  This makes me want to order face placards of myself.

The expressions on my and Larry's faces are in no way exaggerated.  Rather, this is genuine elation at seeing a Beast Wars costume.  The guy was in character, even.  What a thrill.  Beast Wars!!

Jackson Publick can, apparently, walk around Comic-Con without getting mobbed.  I certainly recognized him, though, and Larry got this great snapshot with him.  That's a classy hat, Mr. Publick.

It's another Marty McFly, this time from the second movie!  He even made his own Hover Board, and it looked like it was professionally made.  Great job.

"I am, how you say, Russian Guyovich?"

One of the highlights for me at this show was getting to meet Ben Edlund, who is one of my creative idols, without a doubt.  The things he's created and been involved with might as well be a list of the most inventive, enjoyable entertainment I've ever come across, from Firefly, the Venture Bros., and of course the Tick.  I was able to chat with Mr. Edlund, get a Thing AND and Tick sketch, and hear some great stories about creations that I love.  He's a unique individual who has a lot of big ideas.  What a thrill.

And finally, here I am punching the Rotten Tomatoes girl in a way that is less than flattering.  Oh well, I got a free t-shirt out of it.  Score!

That's it for now, but there'll be more to come soon.  I'll write about something different for the next post, but before you know it, it'll be back to more Comic-Con pictures!  YESSSSS!!!