29th Birthday Haul

Birthday number 29 is in the can. Hard to believe that 30's only a year away. Something tells me it won't feel much different, though. Had a fun time yesterday with friends, family, pizza, and ice cream cake. (All the classic makings for exhaustion and an overly full belly.) Anyway, let's share some Birthday loot!

Paper Mario: The Origami King 

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX

Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection (Switch)

SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated (Switch)

A Hat in Time (Switch)

Another Birthday, another crop of games! This year we've kind of got a theme going with "old games on new systems and 3D platformers." Y'know, aside from Origami King. 

I've already 100%'d it, BTW. Got it early on its actual release date and put SOOOO much time into it. It's so fun. I wasn't that great at a lot of the more complex ring puzzles even by game's end because I'm just terrible at thinking on my feet, but the graphics, music, writing, sheer variety, charm, and explorative nature all came together to create just a joyful experience overall. Olivia is also a precious ray of sunshine and I have so many more emotions associated with Bob-Ombs than I did previously.

As for the others, I'm always up for more Mystery Dungeon, I've never actually played the ZX games before, THQ SpongeBob games give me joy, and I heard a lot of good things about the last one and I LOVE me some 3D platformers, so it was finally time to see what all the fuss is about.

Spider-Man: Miles Morales Omnibus

Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III

COMICS! Skipped out on my usual yearly dose of IDW TMNT volumes yet again (thinking about finally starting to catch up at Christmas) in favor of a HUGE Omnibus of the 2016 Miles Morales Spider-Man series which both brings him into the main 616 Marvel universe for the first time and finishes out his original writer, Brian Michael Bendis', run with him. (Before he jumped ship to DC to create some very controversial runs with established characters.) Best thing is that I already have the first volume of Saladin Ahmed's run digitally so I can immediately check his stuff out after I finish this and decide if I like it enough to keep up with it.

The Turts aren't fully left out, though, as the final chapter of the Batman/TMNT trilogy represents them with probably my favorite of these team-ups they've done. Seriously, if you check out ONE Batman/TMNT comic crossover, make it THIS one. Where else are you gonna get a tale where Krang takes control of the freaking Anti-Monitor to combine the Batman and TMNT multiverses together and Mirage Raphael from Turtle Prime has to venture into the combined world to convince the heroes that their entire world is a lie before Krang can make his move? Also the Joker (called the Laughing Man in the new world) is leader of a ninja crime empire called the "Smile Clan." God, I love comic books.

Sonic the Hedgehog (Blu-ray Combo)

Sonic the Hedgehog: Tangle & Whisper

Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 4: Infection

Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 5: Crisis City

Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 6: The Last Minute

I looooove that Hedgehog! Being that Sonic recently made the shift to headlining a film franchise (after a career of nothing but cameos in stuff like Ready Player One as well as his bit parts in the Wreck-It Ralph movies), of course I had to grab his new movie on Blu-ray. (It'll probably end up being the only movie I'll see in theaters all year at this rate.) 

Continuing the Blue Blur train, we have more of the excellent IDW comics including both a buddy adventure dedicated to original comic characters Tangle and Whisper as well as the majority of the Metal Virus Saga storyline that's been running for a while. (Yes, the Sonic comics have a major story arc about a contagious pandemic that turns everyone into robot zombies. It's the very definition of "morbid coincidence.")

Banpresto DBZ Grandista Resolution of Soldiers Gotenks Figure

Bandai Spirits Mewtwo Model Kit

Funko Marvel Venomized Mystery Minis Blind Box (Captain Marvel)

Sailor Moon Blind Bag Magnet (Luna)

Finishing things off, we have the pile of stuff my Sis and brother-in-law got me courtesy of Hot Topic sales. Pretty nice collection of nerdy bric-a-brac, representing a variety of franchises I'm into. I got into DBZ through the Buu saga, so Gotenks here is a nice choice for my very first high-end DBZ collectible, I've been keeping up with Spider-Man: Maximum Venom on TV, so one of these Minis was a no-brainer (Kinda wish I had gotten Spidey, Deadpool, or Miles though), I hadn't built a model kit since the old Yu-Gi-Oh! ones that Mattel brought over back in the day, so Mewtwo was a fun little project (I want the Lugia one now), and Luna does an adorable job of guarding my manga shelf.

That about wraps it up! Next post shouldn't be until the Fall, but expect to see a couple of really neat comics as well as the odd figure and maybe even a Blu-ray in it when it arrives. I'll see ya then!

28th Birthday Haul

Welp, another Birthday has come and gone and I'm still a bit tired. Spent most of yesterday in town celebrating with Ice Cream and Spider-Man: Far from Home, but it always feels really nice to get home and just lounge for a bit. Anyway, enough preamble, let's get to my Birthday goodies!

Funko Pop! Games Howard the Duck (Contest of Champions)

This first gift's a bit special. Y'see, I actually got this guy back in June when me and my Sister were stocking up for OMGcon. I saw this at Walmart and was, of course, in awe at a Pop figure of Howard the Duck in a mech suit, but also a bit conflicted to spend my con funds on it. My Sister, being as fantastic as she is, decided to grab it for me as an early Birthday gift. (That also saved her from having to worry about getting a gift later.) Now Howard stands as the tallest figure on my Pop shelf. Appropriate.

Super Mario Maker 2

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled Nitros Oxide and Pin Bundle (Switch)

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled Dashboard Bobble

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order

Marvel's Spider-Man

Detective Pikachu

This year's crop of games is a good'n, with several that I've already sunk WAY too many hours into. (I may have gotten some things a bit early.) I'm completely addicted to unlocking things in Nitro-Fueled, I've completed MUA3's story (REALLY cool Final Boss, BTW) and am currently grinding Infinity Rifts to unlock Thanos, and I'm so enamored with swinging around and doing all the side stuff in Spidey PS4 that I've barely progressed in the story! (Already have all the Backpacks, Landmarks, Fisk Hideouts, and Towers.) Plus, that's not even getting to Mario Maker and Detective Pikachu, both of which I've barely scratched the surface of. (Well, mostly creation in Mario Maker's case. Already beat the Story Mode.) Heck, just Nitro-Fueled's Grand Prixs alone are going to make sure I'm busy for quite a while.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Blu-ray Combo)

Spider-Geddon

Spider-Geddon: Covert Ops

More Spidey fun straight from the Spider-Verse! Miles finally gets mainstream spotlight in his Academy Award-winning film from last year (still need to watch the Alternate Universe mode) while the Inheritors return to destroy the Web in the sequel to the original comic Spider-Verse. (The latter was an absolute must, considering PS4 Spidey plays a big role in it.) Also included is Covert Ops, a Spider-Geddon tie-in trade that I mostly got because Kaine leads a team in the first series included and I love me some Kaine. 

Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II

Bebop and Rocksteady Hit the Road

Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 2: The Fate of Dr. Eggman

Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 3: Battle for Angel Island

Wrapping things up with some books! IDW TMNT representation is a bit lighter this year to fit in the Spidey stuff, but I couldn't resist grabbing the sequel to the absolutely hysterical Bebop and Rocksteady Destroy Everything regardless. Batman/TMNT II was a series I held off on picking up mostly because I heard bad things, but when the animated movie and third series were announced, I figured there wasn't a better time to finally take the plunge. (It's okay. There's a lot less crazy fun crossover stuff, though, so it's pretty dull in comparison to the first series.) More IDW Sonic from my main man Ian Flynn rounds things out! (Lots of Sonic Heroes callbacks in this batch!)

That's all she wrote for this year's Birthday haul, but I'll have a couple things coming soon, so stay tuned to hear all about those!

Hauls, OMGcon Fallout, and My Major Award Volume 2019

Been a while, hasn't it? Well, I did say that the next post would probably not be until after OMGcon and I stuck to that! (Y'know, despite the fact that I had acquired quite a few things between the previous post and the con that I could've easily turned into more posts, but hey, blog's called The LAZY Shell, what do you expect?)

Anyhoo, let's get down to business. These hauls comprise late April through June and I'll be grouping some related stuff together despite obtaining them in different months, so please excuse the not-exactly chronological order.

Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG: Duel Power Box (Walmart)

Starting things off with something I bought quickly after finishing the previous post, I picked up the newest "Legendary Collection-esque" Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG collection because those free cards my brother-in-law gifted me last time lit a bit of a fire in the card game part of my brain. A very brief fire, since that want kinda petered back to normal a little after the purchase, but a fire nonetheless. Got some pretty good pulls, too, with the highlights being Card of Demise and Infinite Impermanence.

Ken amiibo (Best Buy)

Daisy amiibo (Gamestop)

More amiibo! Ken adds to my third-party lineup while Daisy completes the Smash Mario roster. (For now, anyway. The final Fighters Pass DLC could be Friendly Floyd for all we know.)

Power Rangers Lightning Collection SPD Shadow Ranger (Amazon)

Definitely had to pre-order THIS guy as soon as he went up, as Doggie is one of my personal favorite Rangers and this figure is siiiiiiiick. Hasbro have done a bang-up job on the Lightning Collection so far and this most likely won't be my last purchase from it. (Especially if what I've been hearing about Magna Defender being a part of Wave 2 is true.)

TMNT 2012 Shellraiser (Goodwill)

Time for something a bit more random! My Mom actually found this at a Goodwill while she was out thrifting and asked if I'd be interested in it. It's missing a few pieces, but I own quite a few 2012 Turtles figures, so I figured adding this to that collection would be a no-brainer. Also can't beat a two-dollar price tag.

Team Sonic Racing (Switch) (Amazon)

This was actually originally a part of my Christmas list last year, but then they delayed it to the next May after it was already pre-ordered and here it is at last. Very fun game that provides more Sumo arcade racing goodness. When this was first announced, I admit that I was a little unsure of the team racing aspect of it and hoped for a traditional racing mode, but honestly, even though there IS one in the game, I NEVER use it because the team mechanics are just so much fun. It really reinvents the literal-and-hypothetical wheel of racing games and actually succeeds with making something super fun and unique among mascot racers. There's a lesson here: Never doubt Sumo Digital when it comes to racing games. 

Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Blu-ray Combo) (Best Buy)

This was actually one of this year's Birthday presents that I managed to get early because reasons. It also came like three days before the official release date, so there's a tip: always pre-order your DC animated films from Best Buy. Very fun little movie that adapts the comic while at the same time not making it obsolete by being an exact adaptation. It's also an animated crossover between Batman and the TMNT, so you kinda can't not buy it. (Unless you're a super purist or THAT indifferent to both parties, of course.)

OMGcon Swag

$20 Nintendo eShop Card (Target)

Ralph Breaks the Internet Domez Blind Bag Figure - 8-Bit Felix (Target)

KNEX Super Mario Series 10 Blind Bag Figure (Luigi with Poltergust 5000)

Nintendo Power Volume 6

Nintendo Power Volume 36

KNEX Super Mario Series 9 Blind Bag Figure (Maker/Builder Mario)

Time for the OMGcon stuff! My Sister and I started off our weekend with our traditional Target run to get snacks for our trip. As is usually the case, I found a couple things while we were there.

Seeing a Target toy shopping vlog on YouTube a couple months ago with clearanced Ralph Breaks the Internet stuff in it made my mouth water, so one of my goals was to hopefully find some on this run. No dice, unfortunately, but I DID manage to find a SINGLE Domez blind bag mixed in with all the other similar stuff. Buying it and cracking it open netted me the figure I most wanted of all the ones I didn't already have (8-Bit Felix), so I guess it was fate. Also picked up a $20 eShop card because Duck Game recently released for Switch and I wanted in on that silly party action. (Though, ironically, I've been most addicted to the single-player mode. Spent 10 hours on it!)

Then came the actual con and I also had a particular purchasing goal in mind for it: the Builder Mario and Poltergust Luigi KNEX Mario blind bag figures, mostly because Mario Maker 2 and Luigi's Mansion 3 are on the way and it seemed too perfect a chance to pass up. Took a try or two, but I managed to accomplish said goal and netted both figures from the same dealer that I bought the Bowser Jr. from last year. Luigi's Mansion merch always makes me happy.

Last but certainly not least on my list of purchases is my coolest find: vintage Nintendo Power issues! I NEVER find these in the wild and in such good condition, so to find an entire STAND of them going for five and ten dollars a piece was a dream I simply couldn't pass up. In terms of which issues I picked, I mostly purchased based on the covers since I didn't exactly have a photographic memory of what each issue covered. I think I did pretty well, with the original TMNT NES issue being a highlight. (I NEVER thought I would EVER own one of the first ten issues, let alone the one with the Turtles on it!) The other I got just based on DW being on the cover, but going by its entry on a wiki, it was definitely the weaker of the two. Kinda wish I had went for that Mario Paint issue instead because it covered Turtles in Time, but eh, at least 36 has a cool cover.

To finish off the OMGcon section, another voice actor was a guest this year and very relevant to my interests: Michael Sinterniklaas! (Voice of Mahad/Dark Magician in Yu-Gi-Oh!, Seviper and some bit players in the 4Kids dub of Pokemon, and Leonardo in the 2003 TMNT series!) Naturally, I asked him to sign some things:

Extremely cool guy. Despite the fact that he was a little late to his signing, he chatted it up with everyone who came to see him and shared some fun anecdotes about Yu-Gi-Oh! cards and TMNT with me and Sis. (He was also rather surprised when I brought up his reprisal of Leonardo from a sketch on the CN MAD cartoon.)

To wrap things up, let's talk about an insane bit of luck I've been having with Twitter giveaways in the past month. Y'see, ever since 2010, I've tried and succeeded with winning something from an online giveaway at least once every single year. (How do I do it? Well, it's simple: I just enter every giveaway that has something relevant to my interests up for grabs but requires little to no effort in entering. If you enter EVERYTHING, you've got to win SOMETHING, right?) However, I rarely, if ever win Twitter giveaways due to the usually-high volume of people retweeting to enter. This year changed that when I won THREE different Twitter giveaways within the span of a month. Here's my winnings:

Power Rangers Lightning Collection Dino Charge Red Ranger

First off is another Lightning Collection figure that I won from the lovely folks over at Ranger Command Power Hour. (Check them out!) This allowed me to add a more recent Ranger to my Hasbro shelf and the future Beast Morphers Red in Wave 2 will compliment him nicely what with the recent team-up pics that leaked.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Pink

Next up is another PR prize with the MMPR Pink Boom mini-series trade courtesy of razzle1337 on Twitter. (Follow him if you're a PR fan. He shares tons of Ranger news and pics and constantly has giveaways. He also packages prizes extremely well.) This was a great thing to win mostly because I could never find an opportunity to fit this into my PR comic purchases because of its weird position as a mini. In my opinion, it's just okay (would've better served as a graphic novel rather than being stretched out to a mini), but it's nice to finally own it.

The Art of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 

Finally is probably the coolest thing I won: the Art of TMNT book from Dark Horse Comics! Ever since this was first announced, I've been interested. The 2012 TMNT had so many unique characters and visuals that an art book was a foregone conclusion and to have Ciro Nieli writing it to give background on each and every aspect of the series is a great bonus. Haven't read it yet, but I've already gleaned some pretty interesting trivia bits. (For instance, did you know that Spike was originally going to be Klunk, Mikey's kitty from other incarnations, but changed because they thought it would just be funnier for a mutant turtle to have a pet turtle? Or that his mutated form as Slash was based on Godzilla and a Koopa, giving him a canonical connection to Bowser and making my brain rocket out of my head in delight? Yeah, it's good stuff.)

That's all she wrote for this post, but I'm expecting a couple of things in the mail next month, so I might make a smaller post before my 28th Birthday the next. Until then!