Wowsers! No updates for a while...what with the hustle and bustle of the holidays and all. I coulda covered a lot of personal stuff...but naw...Christmas was okay, as usual...was bitter about having to work Christmas Eve, but it's nuthin' new. Did get home in time to hang with the extended family a bit. Got a bunch of trade paperback comics from "Santa" the next day and pretty much rolled around all day in typical restful holiday fashion. Got sick the next morn and am still sickly to this day. Thankfully, it's a functional sickness...I wasn't bed-ridden and still ain't (just coughed, by the way). Work has been Hell after Christmas...the after holiday clearance seems extra pain-in-the-ass this year...I just wish everyone would stay the Hell home and play with the gifts Santa got 'em instead of wasting the days at their local shopping spots...not enough gifties, eh society?! Well, I shouldn't talk...was off yesterday and decided to go for comics, since Wednesday was new comic day. I figured the clearance hawks would be just about done, but no...every damn body was still out and about. The comic shop in Scranton, PA (Comics on the Green) was nice...everywhere else was a bitch. I usually park at the mall lot and walk uptown since I hate paying to park and am not down with the whole parallel park scene...forget it! I've never seen that damn parking lot so busy...you'd swear it was Christmas Eve instead of three days or so after...sheezuz! I was sad since some friends went in a group yesterday...up to the same comic shop in a rare mass trip. I did not go since I was the only one working. No one could wait until Thursday...*sigh*...so, after my lonely comic adventure, got a sweet half-price Japanese woodblock print calendar and more trade paperbacks at Barnes & Noble (tee hee hee...to much is never enough with comics). Also scored a GI Joe Sci-Fi figure at Wally World...from the last wave (?) of the year. No Lifeline or Zombie Vipers, though...some lucky bastard beat me to 'em! None in sight, yet I combed the whole toy department like the huge dork I am just in case they were laying around...nope. On the way home, I opted to wait and get gas at a small local station instead of stopping in Wilkes Barre...I was almost on "E", but I guess there must have been water in the tank, since I stopped dead on the hill leading up into my home area...son of a bitch! How humiliating! I was just thinking that maybe that might happen...psychic jinx! I reversed the dead car down a hill into a "safe spot" and hoofed it home. No cell phones for me...bah! Devil's work! Hey, got my walk in early, anyway. Only took an hour and a half, too...got home, my bro gave me a ride to pick up gas, filled up, and drove home...my two brothers were going with friends for wings. I'll admit, was kinda jealous, but ended up going for wings with some people, myself...huh...how 'bout that for a day off?

Oh, and work today continued to suck ass...when are these damn kids goin' back to school? When are their damn parents going back to work? Does anyone work!?

G.I. JOE Techno Vipers

Hey, it's mys first GI Joe post! Wow! Yeah, I'm a long-time Joe fan. They were the first action figures, you know...grand daddy of 'em all. Now, I'm not into the 12 inchers...I'm a 3 3/4 inch man...what can I say, I was an 80s kid...I grew up with those things. Of course, the modern small-scale Joes are now 4 inches, technically. Anyhow, the modern day stuff started out with the 25th Anniversary of GI Joe and Hasbro basically remade classic 80s characters into "improved" modern versions...mainly geared toward geeky older fans as opposed to younger kiddies...at least in my opinion. Then cam the movie stuff which semi-evolved into the Pursuit of Cobra line and into the general mish-mash today...a plain GI Joe line with classic stuff, new stuff, and based-off-of stuff from cartoons or comics. The last couple of figure waves of 2011 were heavy on the characters from the new cartoon. A few were more "classical" characters. I've been avoiding the cartoon stuff, just because these guys are getting expensive, so I'm stayin' mostly old school, here!

Okay...this is Techno Viper...no, he isn't some guy who plays lots of electronic music and does ecstasy...he's an engineer...an evil engineer! See his purple suit, his weird helmet, those dangerous "tools"? Yep, totally evil. I shoulda snapped a photo of the packaging...next time. I'll also hafta start saving the files on these guys again, too! Eh, next time. Well, this new version of Techno Viper is pretty damn sweet. I don't have the older 80s version, nor did I ever have one. I always admired it, though. Techno Viper is always a fan favorite. He just looks so cool...and he's an evil engineer! They really did a great job with keeping the faith on this guy's design. A great modern version that stays true to the classic design. All the old accessories are even there, plus some new ones. I never had the old one, so I never played with one before. If I did, I'd have loved screwing around with all those cool tool/weapon attachments. The side pistol is new for this guy as is the hazard cone. Nice touch, the hazard cone...adds a "real world" element to the toy. Even an evil organization like Cobra likes to stay safe, I suppose. I love the Cobra logo on the cone...so cheezy, yet so awesome. Makes me wonder if Hasbro re-purposed that cone from something else, since it has a hexagonal peg hole in the top as if made to hold something. There are also grooves at the base as if they were made to link or interlock together. If you had the cones en mass, they'd all fit together...weird. I only have two Techno Vipers...pfffft..."only"? Yeah, I army build to an extent. Some collectors have huge amounts of troops. I try to be selective. I figured, as cool and these boys are, I really don't need or want a horde of glorified evil grease monkeys. I'll save my money for armies of...er...other guys. I'm plenty happy with these two guys...again, very cool figure...nice retro style with a modern touch.

3 for 1 Deal

I figured that since I've been getting too behind in talking about cool plastic crap, I'd do a 3 for 1 post about some vending machine toys! Yeah! First pic are some Bok Choy Boys...neat...used to have more, but got rid of 'em and renewed my collection with those four. Eh, I don't feel like getting more, though. Second, are some mystery guys...I forget what they were called...a bunch of monster-themed or maybe even Halloween figures. I remember getting 'em for a quarter in Big Lots...I know I had more, but did I get rid of 'em? And why did I keep those two, only? They can be used as pencil toppers, which is pretty cool, but they are not erasers. I know there was a skeleton, a zombie or something, a bat/gargoyle, and maybe a witch. Last are Freaky Geeks. They are pretty cool...eight made. For some reason, they made colored ones and partially colored ones. Guess which ones seem to be made in greater quantity...BINGO...the ones I like the least, the partials! Damn! I do have one of each guy, but didn't feel like trying to get all eight in full, glorious color...it'd get too expensive.

Yech! All wet! Yep, I just got back from a cut-in-half walk...due to rain. I don't believe I mentioned this, but I try to get some exercise, usually in the form of walking or occasionally some jogging in the summer months. I just so happened to forget an umbrella tonight. It was kinda warm out for the latter part of December and foggy out, so I figured it'd be neat to run around outside in the creeeeepy fog-filled night...it ended up starting to rain and I got soaked. I tired to tough it out, but I got really uncomfortable and cold, so I did the unthinkable and hightailed it home to change. Ah! Much better! Still...this was the first time I really had to cut a walk short. I'm just concerned since I've been hitting the snacks a lot lately and have been gaining some weight...and of course, the holidays are bearing down too, and that brings assorted treats and junk food out the ass...so *whoo*...don't need that crap! I've had a lot of disruptions in my nightly walk schedule lately and it seems to be coming to a fever pitch. I'm just worried I'm gonna start getting too lazy. God, I'm such a girl.

Jeez...another long stretch without blog updates...what's happening! I either end up falling asleep early or just plain not feeling like it. All for the better...I've been so bitter at work, that all my posts and updates would be too rant-heavy. Eh. Anyway...I "need" to go shopping today on my beloved day off. Bah! Christmas! Humbug! I hate shopping, especially last-minute Christmas shopping. Not my fault, though. See, my pain-in-the-ass family that just insists upon the tradition of gift-giving can't make up their minds until the last shopping week. Dammit. I'll be going later on...I'm actually procrastinating right now by surfing the 'net and blog updating...*sigh*...I don't wanna go! I hate mindless tradition...no one even wants anything that badly, including me! I wish my family would finally just give it up. I yearn for a giftless Christmas...a worry-free holiday!

I hate out society and it's shippy-shoppy crap...everyone can just go ahead and blow it out their ass...bah, gifts!

G.I. Joe RETALIATION Trailer!!!I

Whoa, been almost a week since I updated, huh? Well, I've had a busy week last week...most of it was not necessarily "fun" stuff either, and the last couple of days at work have been the usual pain in the butt. Eh. Last night I actually konked out before seven o'clock...damn! Wasted night! I was kinda pissed when I woke up for work...it's like coming home from work, eating, then falling asleep so you can go to work again...ROTTEN!!!

Anyway...day off tomorrow...and it had better be good! I had almost forgotten about the new trailer for the second G.I. Joe flick dropping last night...you know...me sleeping and all. Here she blows:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSX2oxLdcWA&feature=youtu.be

I know the first one caught some flack...well, a lot of flack...most everyone had something bad to say about it that it makes you wonder why they bothered with a second one. Me? I liked the first one...I am a big Joe fan, so maybe I'm just biased, but I really got me a good ol' kick outta the original and have high hopes for the sequel. I noticed Cobra Commander has a more "accurate" design, a HISS tank may be made use of, and even what I believe to be B.A.T.s are shown...you know, battle android troopers? Cobra's resident robot soldiers?  I have a hunch they are probably some synthetic humanoids programmed or even cloned from Storm Shadow...just sayin'...I mean, with Star Wars: The Clone Wars around, maybe they're trying to appeal to that generation? I also liked the appearance of the red ninjas and have hopes that the actual movie battles will be hopefully mid-blowing. I haven't really "read up" on all the stuff, but apparently a lot of the first cast is caputsky...gone...unfortunate. Seems it's hinted that all or most of the Joe team gets killed, so fresh start? I'm worried Destro might be gone! I just hope not.

Oh, and if Dr. Mindbender gets used in this flick again...I better be seein' a monocle, and shirtless with metal suspenders and a cape combo, here! No, I'm not like that...I'm just a sucker for kitsch!

Yet another crappy dinosaur toy! Check out those hangnails...God...horrible! I love it! I've seen this style of crappy dino but with a better, cleaner sculpt. Eh, I kinda like the more horrible ones better...a little bit more character to 'em.

Mini Frog Warriors

Eh, I suppose I coulda took a better photo...but here are five out of six known mini frog warrior figures. I'm not sure about dates or names or manufacturers, but for the most part no one knows any of that stuff near as I can tell. Most people (myself included) report these as being sold loose, often in bins as opposed to in packaging. Me? I got my original ones as arcade prizes waaaaay back when. I had sold 'em years ago and came to regret it...now I found 'em again. I had five as a kid and five again. The guy on the bottom right is new to me. Now I know at least six styles exist. I just gotta wrangle the sixth...in time, though...in time. I had often speculated these might be miniature knock offs of the bullywugs of the bog from the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons figures from the 80s.

Vinyl Stingray...or skate...or whatever...

See this thing? This thing......is sexy...dead sexy! I love it! Just got him in today from a fellow collector. It's about a foot long, and about eight or so inches wide. Made of solid vinyl, like the old school Imperial dinosaurs and animals. No date or manufacturer's mark...dang! I shoulda shot a pic of the underside...it's all white but has an open mouth with teeth! Awesome! It can totally swallow G.I. Joes! If only I woulda had this as a kid...if only.

Well, ended up wasting some money today. Not to much...I just wasted in principle! See, I noticed a new vending machine in the vestibule at work. It had some of those mini rubber duckies in it. I had seen 'em before, so they weren't really "all new" to me. I figured I'd get a few. Whoa? We had a row of 75 cent machines now where the 50 cent ones were, and 50 cent ones where the 25 cent ones were...what the Hell?! Jeez, things are getting tough! Even cheap plastic crap toys are going up in price. Anyway, figured I'd get at least one. SHIT!!! I didn't realize there were stickers and ducks...apparently, as I truly examined the glass window of the machine, you could see some of the capsules had rolls of stickers instead of ducks. Son of a bitch...75 cents for three crappy stickers...the aesthetics weren't even that great...total crap. I didn't even bother shooting a photo. I was pissed. I blew another three quarters, determined to get a duck and thankfully I did...one painted up to look kinda like a doctor. Nice. Lesson learned, until the next time. Yeah, and while I was in a money wastin' mood, I saw this good-sized plush Slimer (from Ghostbusters) in the claw machine. I screw with those every once in a blue moon. Hey, I needed a new piece on junk to plop on my car's rear dash. Wasted a damn dollar and a half on that nonsense.I'm a stubborn ass...those things always get you...you think the plush goodies are so easy to get, and they ain't. Slimer was just sitting there, right at the edge, screaming "win me"...so I couldn't resist! BAH! Never again...until next time. Felt like crap for wasting money so threw some in the Salvation Army bucket outside. I shoulda just gave 'em all of it.

Oh, and while I'm on this subject......saw these cool little wind-up toys near the registers near the impulse-buy sections. They were in t large PDQ display with a 2/$3 sign right on it. Picked out a few. I'd have rather spent the dollar they were actually worth, but I figured they were an okay purchase for a dollar and a half. Got to the checkout...the bastards rang up for three damn dollars. Say what, playah hater?! Hells no...no foolin' around with price checks and what not...I just turned 'em down, flat out! Again, cheap crap that ain't cheap. What's the world comin' to? How my supposed to get my fix!