Tonight
is the unofficial official start of the 2013 Days of the Dead horror
convention. Like last year, it is starting away from the actual host
hotel with a concert by First Jason – the thrashing metal band
fronted by none other than Ari Lehman; the actual
first Jason. Once you see First Jason in action, you will believe a
man on a keytar can wail. We had a blast at the pre-party last year
and will be attending this year’s as well.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Days of the Dead Atlanta 2013

Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Toy Review – Doctor Who Rory Williams By Character Options/Underground Toys
Anybody that has been collecting modern
Doctor Who toys has been dying for a proper Rory Williams figure.
Barring the brief stints of Mickey Smith, Captain Jack, and that guy
that ended up with the computer interface in his forehead; Rory is
the first male companion since Turlough accompanied Doctor Five all
those years ago.
Labels:
action figures,
doctor who,
underground toys

Tuesday, January 29, 2013
I've Got 99 Problems, But Not Really
I
feel like writing, but I don’t feel like writing about toys. I am
currently caught up through Monday – a rare occurrence for me –
and need to do something else. This is unfortunate because I still
have a ton of toys to review – Platinum, Lead, Rambo Gizmo, a
RoboCop, two Four Horsemen originals, and a few others. That’s not
including the new stack of stuff waiting to be opened – the Big Red
Predator (from Batman:
Dead End!),
a new Doctor Who set, and some of the new Battle Beasts.
I’m
thoroughly disgusted with MattyCollector.com right now, and not just
a little bit disgusted with myself. I keep going back to them even
though I find so much about what they do absolutely unacceptable. I
know me and Beau were mostly positive on the podcast,
but Matty has some big fucking problems that I simply should not be
tolerating.

Monday, January 28, 2013
Television Review: The Following
***SPOILERS
WITHIN, but maybe not too many***
I
watched the new FOX show The
Following
the other night and it made enough of an impression on me that I
wanted to write some stuff.
Also,
to be clear, I had planned on watching the show even before I knew
fellow ESO Network host Bobby Nash was in it. For approximately
eight-tenths of a second. But I’ll get to his vital role in the
show in a bit.
Side
Note: As with most things I review, I will be calling characters by
the actors’ names. I can’t usually remember a character’s name
until at least the third season.
The
show stars Kevin Bacon as a retired FBI agent who gets called back
into the field to consult when a serial killer he put away breaks out
of jail. The killer is played by James Purefoy, who I recognize but
couldn’t tell you from what. The reason the FBI has to call Bacon’s
character out of retirement is that the FBI is staffed with fucking
dum-dums. The local police are not any better. I’ll get to that.

Thursday, January 24, 2013
Toy Review – DC Signature Collection John Constantine By Mattel
I think I'm going to stop taking pictures of these Matty DC figures' packaging. I don't know what the problem is, but every one I take is awful.
This started off as a review of DC Signature Collections’ Uncle Sam, but I don’t know jack-squat about DC Comics’ version of Uncle Sam. I like the figure, but it’s honestly kind of boring. It’s good, I just don’t want to talk about it.
This started off as a review of DC Signature Collections’ Uncle Sam, but I don’t know jack-squat about DC Comics’ version of Uncle Sam. I like the figure, but it’s honestly kind of boring. It’s good, I just don’t want to talk about it.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013
V/H/S, Wake Wood, and The Possession
Thanks
to a completely jacked-up sleep schedule I recently had the
opportunity to enjoy three horror movies in a single day. A few years
ago this wouldn’t have been a big deal or even worth mentioning,
but nowadays it’s a remarkable event.
I’ve
been craving horror ever since seeing Texas
Chainsaw 3D.
Well, that’s not quite right – ever since writing about Texas
Chainsaw 3D.
It wasn’t until I wrote my review
that I realized how much I had enjoyed the movie. I think my initial
uncertainty came from the not-awesome experience of watching a movie
at the Studio Movie Grill.
But anyway, writing about that fun and odd movie made me want to see
more good stuff.
Netflix
is good for that. I was awake at 4 AM the other day. This isn’t
unusual for me, but I had woken up a couple of hours before. My
shifts have been switching between days and nights more often than is
normal, so I got home at 5 PM after working twelve hours, fell asleep
around 9, and woke up at 2 AM or so. After putting together my post
for later that day, I decided it would be a good time to watch V/H/S.
Labels:
horror,
movie reviews

Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Toy Review – Doctor Who Flight Control TARDIS By Character Options/Underground Toys
The first toy TARDIS I ever owned was
actually a bank that my parents brought back from a trip to the UK.
Mom had asked if there was anything I wanted and I told her Doctor
Who toys. This was back in 2006 right after David Tennant had taken
over as the Doctor and before Americans had the access to Doctor Who
merchandise that we do now.
Labels:
doctor who,
TARDIS,
toys,
underground toys

Monday, January 21, 2013
Toy Review – Masters of the Universe Classics Procrustus By Mattel
I was totally stoked about this guy
from the second I saw him during the SDCC coverage. I am a big fan of
this size and format of MOTUC figures and couldn’t wait to get
another one. Especially one with four arms.
My excitement about Procrustus stemmed
purely from his appearance. I don’t know dick about the character,
and even after reading the bio I’m not too clear about what the
deal is. I think he’s sort of like Atlas and Zeus rolled into one
or something. I dunno. I think he showed up in one of the old
minicomics.

Friday, January 18, 2013
They’re Comic Books, You Twat
I
stated on my Facebook page
that anybody who refers to comic books as graphic novels is a twat.
I’m not saying that it is never appropriate to use the term
“graphic novels”, but if you’re the sort of person who is
uncomfortable saying “comic books” because of how you think other
people are going to perceive you; well then you’re a twat. Anyway,
I thought the conversation that followed was interesting enough to
reproduce here, if only for the fact that Varis was right about
something for once.

Thursday, January 17, 2013
Peter David
If
you don’t know, author and comic book writer Peter David suffered a
stroke right before the beginning of the New Year. I’m a huge fan
of his work and wanted to repost something his extremely sweet wife,
Kathleen, posted on his website. It’s a way you can help Peter out
with medical expenses and get something awesome for yourself at the
same time.
Labels:
comic books,
marvel,
Peter David,
serious stuff,
X-Factor

Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Comic Book Wednesday - January 2013
This
Comic Book Update will be a little disjointed. Well, it might be to
those of you that read any of the comics I’m talking about. I
started writing it prior to Saturday because I wanted to break up
this week’s toy reviews. I thought for sure I’d be able to stop
by the comic shop on Saturday and catch up on what’s happening, but
I wasn’t able to.
So
my impressions here are about a month old. Add to that the fact that
I experienced somewhat of an epiphany on Sunday morning and you get a
post that may not be worth posting. I dunno.
Labels:
comic books,
dc comics,
idw,
image comics,
marvel

Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Toy Review – Masters of the Universe Classics Mosquitor By Mattel
I’m honestly not too sure how I feel
about Mosquitor. I mean, I like him well enough that I feel he is a
must-have figure. He is a part of the Evil Horde, after all. And no
matter how many Mansquito jokes you might want to make the
thought of a human-sized, bloodsucking insect is pretty terrifying.
But Mosquitor is a tertiary character at best and is simply not all
that essential to Horde operations. I am working on two different
stories – for my own amusement – involving the Evil Horde and
Mosquitor has yet to show up in either of them. And I’ve mentioned
Multi-Bot and Peekablue.

Monday, January 14, 2013
Movie Review – Texas Chainsaw 3D
*WARNING:
THERE ARE SPOILERS ALL UP IN THIS*
I was so stoked about seeing this movie. I love the Texas Chainsaw franchise. I mean, I’ve got Leatherface tattooed on my arm:
No, I didn’t really consider the actual gruesomeness of a girl suspended from a meathook when I got it. I’m a child of violent 80’s movies and video games; I don’t have any empathy or a moral compass.
Anyway, I’ve been following along with the marketing for this one since I first heard about it and have been getting more excited with each and every new trailer, poster, and internet ad. It is a direct sequel to the original 1975 movie and completely disregards all of the previous sequels and remakes. While I love each and every one of those movies, I don’t mind this approach. It said to me that the people making this movie had a very specific idea and vision in mind and weren’t just throwing this together to cash in on the well-known property. Well, it suggested that, anyway.

Friday, January 11, 2013
Studio Movie Grill – A Review
Me and my wife are both big fans of the Movie Tavern. If you don’t know, the Movie Tavern is a national chain of movie theaters that offer a good quality movie experience along with reasonably-priced food and adult beverages. The food is above-average bar food and – for us, anyway – the great part of the adult beverages is that you can purchase a 39-ounce beer stein and have it refilled for seven bucks on subsequent visits. And believe me – thirty-nine ounces of beer is as much as you need for one 90 – 120 minute movie.
A few months ago a competitor to the Movie Tavern franchise opened up a location that is slightly closer to home. It’s called Studio Movie Grill and it is in Duluth near Gwinnett Place Mall. I don’t like trying new things, so we hadn’t gone there. Then I ended up with a couple of passes a week or so ago and we decided that we’d give the place a try when we went to see Texas Chainsaw 3D. That may not seem like a very good dinner movie, but it was one that was relatively low risk as far as a bad movie-going experience screwing it up. It was going to be awesome or not awesome on its own merits. Not the sort of thing you’re going to be too bent out of shape about if your food is cold or the picture is shitty.

Thursday, January 10, 2013
Toy Review – Masters of the Universe Classics Castle Grayskullman By Mattel
This review is later than I would have
liked, but I hit this weird stretch where I wrote about a bunch of
stuff that wasn’t toys.
When I first heard the name “Castle
Grayskullman” announced as the winner of the 30th
Anniversary contest to let a fan design a figure, I groaned. It
sounded fucking absurd. But then we got a visual of the design and he
actually looked kind of cool. Maybe a little ridiculous, but since
when has that been a bad thing in Masters of the Universe? And the
more I looked at the design, the more I liked it. If the bio somehow
managed to be cool enough this guy might actually be a big win.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Monstrosity Championship Wrestling 1/4/2013
It’s
very difficult to do these recaps when I actually worked the event,
but last Friday night was such a great time I want to try and write
something.
I think I can at least give you a feel for how much fun the whole
thing was. Besides, it’s not like my regular recaps are all that
great anyway. Like last time, today’s coverage will be accompanied
by pictures taken by Headlocks and Headshots,
the very best photographic journalism covering Georgia professional
wrestling.
MCW
has found a new home in the form of East Atlanta Village’s The
Asylum. The setup is fairly similar to what we had at Club Famous Pub
for the last show,
except this place actually has a pretty massive dressing room/prep
area. It’s behind a door next to the stage, and I can already
envision a huge, Shane Morton-crafted set of jaws or something
surrounding that door at some point since that’s where the
wrestlers (and yours truly) come out.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Toy Review – S.L.U.G. Zombies Series 4 By JAKKS Pacific
Holy cow, JAKKS Pacific is cranking
these little guys out! I can’t believe we’re already have four
series and a Christmas set. Considering the line debuted at Toy Fair
in February of last year and showed up at retail around May (I think)
that’s impressive. When I first saw them I thought for sure they’d
last maybe a couple of series and then be replaced by something else.
Labels:
JAKKS,
minifigs,
SLUG Zombies,
zombies

Monday, January 7, 2013
Toy Review – Batman: Arkham City Mr. Freeze By DC Collectibles
On Friday I talked about my
secret collection of un-reviewed Arkham Asylum/City action
figures. I feel like it is a superior line with few disappointments
(wildly leaning Joker aside) and I’m happy to be collecting.
When Mattel announced their own line of
Arkham figures I was a little irritated, as I would usually
prefer to collect Mattel’s products over DC Direct/Collectibles’.
They’re sturdier and typically articulated a bit better. But it is
now apparent that the DC offerings are where it’s at. They are much
more committed to the property and are offering a much wider array of
characters. They’re also keeping them all in scale with one another
(midget Bane aside), something Mattel can’t be bothered to do.
Labels:
action figures,
batman,
DC Collectibles,
DC Direct

Friday, January 4, 2013
Toy Review – Batman: Arkham City Killer Croc By DC Collectibles
I don’t think I have reviewed a
single one of them yet, but I have been quietly collecting DC
Direct/DC Collectibles’ Arkham Asylum and Arkham City
action figures.
I swore off of DC Direct figures a
while ago. They are nice to look at, but eventually they are going to
fall apart. More than half of the DC Direct figures that I own have
super glue somewhere on them. Once I became a full-on DC Universe
Classics collector I decided that DCD versions of characters could
go. It got to the point where I started selling them off on eBay at a
rapid pace – trying to get rid of them before they broke. I still
have most of the characters directly related to Batman, but most
everything else is gone. If Mattel ever gets around to a Stephanie
Brown Batgirl – which seems extremely unlikely at this point –
those Batman DCD figures will likely be gone as well and I’ll just
be left with the twenty or so post-super glue surgery victims.

Thursday, January 3, 2013
Toy Review – Metal Gear Solid Meryl Silverburgh By Square Enix
It doesn’t fit with any scale of
figure I have, I don’t plan on collecting any further MGS figures,
and it was ridiculously expensive. But I’ve been curious about the
Play Arts Kai figures from Square Enix for a while now and when they
announced a figure of the hot redhead from one of my favorite video
games that I absolutely suck at I decided to give one a try. It was
more curiosity about the line than anything.
Labels:
action figures,
Metal Gear,
Play Arts Kai,
redheads,
video games

Wednesday, January 2, 2013
13 Questions With Matt "Sex" Sells
I feel lucky to have stumbled into getting to know Matt Sells.
I’ll qualify that by saying this is the Facebook/social networking version of “getting to know”, so when I say that I mean we have gotten to know the funniest and best aspects of one another. All of the stuff that’s worth taking twenty seconds to type on your keyboard or your phone.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013
The Needless Things Podcast Episode 1: Masters of the Universe 30th Anniversary
I guess this was bound to happen sooner or later. I knew at some point I would have to do my own thing.
Labels:
Beau Brown,
masters of the universe classics,
mattel,
Needless Things Podcast,
podcasts,
toys

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