The Christmas haul, 2014

These posts make me seem superficial, I'll bet.  But what better place to show off the stuff I got for Christmas?  It is a conundrum, I tell you.  Off we go!

I got some great comics and comic-related items this year.  I finally picked up the Fantastic Four cartoon series on DVD.  From what I remember, it wasn't a great adaptation, but I hear that the second season is actually pretty good.  We'll see.  I also got a copy of Jennie Wood's new book, "A Boy Like Me!"  Jennie's doing a lot of promotion for this book, so I'm happy to be able to grab one.  You can get one, too, here: http://smile.amazon.com/Boy-Like-Me-Jennie-Wood/dp/0692238069/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1421198014&sr=1-1&keywords=a+boy+like+me+jennie+wood

I got a bunch of DVDs.  You know I've managed to get most of the shows I actually want to watch when I start asking for shows like the 1990s Flash TV series.  It's fun to have but I'll put it in the player and probably immediately regret the decision.  I also landed the complete Caprica series, True Detective and the reissue version of The Tick live-action series.  It's basically the same as the one I already have, but this is a one disc release.  Now you can hit "play all" and watch 'em all in a row without that pesky task of changing discs.

I only got a couple comics for Christmas, but I'd like to think that I did a good job at the ones I did get.  On the left is a reprint of a DC Treasury book from the '70s.  It features some great creators, most notably Joe Kubert.  The content is watered down a bit for a younger audience but it's still a treat to read.  On the right is the second volume of the gigantic Sandman collection from Neil Gaiman.  I got the first volume last year.  Each volume contains over a thousand pages and, if I'm not mistaken, the entire Gaiman run on the character (until last year's prequel miniseries).

I'm not sure if the picture does this justice.  It's a huge collection.  I've never read this series, but now I can read it in style, I guess.

It's not Christmas without a few new Steelers items.  I got a hat for the top of my body and socks for the bottom.

Larry and I went to the playoff game at the beginning of the new year.  It was disappointing.  But the Ravens lost last week so they can officially eat it.

I got some electronics...most notably a GoPro camera.  I imagine this will be used for both Comic-Con and Franks and Beans.  I also got a new flash drive and a 2TB backup hard drive.

Funko has the license to every brand in the world.  Here's a Firefly bobble head.

Every December, Gallery 1988 has a sale on their prints.  I got these two for myself, but they're too cool not to show off.  They are both limited, high quality prints.  Of course I go for the Weird Al prints, of which there are many.  This year I picked up two with a UHF theme.

This blue poster had a run of 200.  This one was a bit more rare.

Only 12 made.  Yikes.

This was an eBay find...but still too cool not to show here.  This is a postcard that was given out in advance of the movie's release in 1989 advertising a sneak preview at a college campus in California.

Larry got me some cool things this year.  Anyone can now pretty much dress up entirely like the Thing, thanks to the new jacket.  Grab the fists and feet that were made for the first movie and you're well on your way.  Please note that my dog totally did not see that clobberin' coming.

Lastly, we have this Fantastic Four storybook from the late '60s.  It's part of a series of licensed kids books, and Larry managed to get one that's in pretty nice shape.  It was made for younger readers, but now, of course, it's a collector's item.  Nearly ever page spread has some art, such as...

...the Thing beating up a chair.  Or...

...the Thing beating up Dr. Weird, who I think was created just for the book.  It's goofy madness, but I love it.

But my best gift of all was you, dear blog reader.  Okay, I'm kidding (but only a little).  Take your pick from these pictures.

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.

Pictures from the 2012 Comic-Con, part 8

At this point, you're probably thinking, "holy crap, why not just dump the rest of your Comic-Con pictures in one fell swoop and get it over with?"  This would be unacceptable.  But thanks for asking.  Honestly, there are only a few left to post.  But what great ones they are, those that are still to come.  Let's get started!

Petco Park, home to the San Diego Padres (who are terrible but still managed to take three of four from the Pirates in a recent series), housed the "Walking Dead Escape", in which you paid $70 to run from zombies through a gigantic obstacle course.  On Friday night we walked by and talked to some of the people who took the challenge.  As we were wearing sandals at the time, there was no chance we could sign up, so we decided to come back ready to go on Saturday.  In anticipation for an upcoming baseball game, however, the attraction shut down early on Saturday - just as we were walking up to the gates, in fact.  That was pretty dumb.  Oh well.

Hey, look!  Famous people!  Eating!!

Hey, look!  Giant dog!!

This was a pretty impressive effect.  The guys driving the van were advertising their Halloween decoration/effect company outside of the convention...I'd say they were pretty successful.

Maybe Pac Man can eat Pikachu as a substitute power pellet.

This guy's makeup was pretty good.  I wonder if he had to keep his mouth like that the entire time.

Dr. Horrible!  Nice job.

I loved these guys.  They got to spread their message about social conformity and dress up in cool zombie masks at the same time.  It must have been the best of both worlds for them.

I made it to Ben Edlund's panel on Sunday, which was lots of fun and over too soon.  He talked Tick, Venture Bros. and Supernatural, and had fun guests all throughout the panel.  It was a funny 60 minutes.

Multipass.

These three had the scariest costumes at the show.  I didn't recognize them other than being generally terrifying.  I see them as three of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.  But where's the fourth?

Ah, there he is!  It's Earthworm Jim, who probably represents Pestilence or something.

This guy (I think it was a guy) walked around with duct tape rolls around his wrists and had people tape business cards and flyers to him.  You'll see several of my own added to the collection.

Did Panthro wear jeans?  I don't care - this was very well done.

This guy looks more like Will Riker than Jonathan Frakes these days.  He's even got that smug confidence down.

Was the guy in the background with her?

I'm...not sure if this was a costume or not.  The two women in the background look sufficiently unsure of the situation.

Silver Surfer & Son.  This should be a Marvel book just because of the alliteration.

On Saturday, Marvel unveiled the new Iron Man 3 armor.  I'm not a fan of so much gold, but it looks pretty cool regardless.

We took this picture to prove that people actually did come to the Wagon Wheel Comics booth from time to time.  Sure, I happen to be giving out free movie posters in this image, but booth traffic is booth traffic!

This is easily the best Galactus costume I've ever seen.

And here's a shot of the floor from another level.  The WWC booth is pretty much directly below this.

Until next time...and there will be a next time...