Days of the Dead Atlanta 2013

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 30^th 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Toy Review – Metal Gear Solid Meryl Silverburgh By Square Enix

I’ll go right ahead and admit I shouldn’t have ordered this figure.

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.

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.

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.