More to the point, let's cap off the year with another glorious dive into my annual gift pile. As always, you can shout out your own blessings in the comments below. This is our big chance to use up any last little bit of Christmas in our tanks before a loooooooong wait, so go nuts! Here's what I got:
Beginning with the treasure found in the depths of my festive sock, mixed in with a variety of snacks was a $20 eShop card, which is always greatly appreciated. (Used it to score the Sonic Collab DLC for a certain game you'll see a bit further down.)
This was probably my biggest surprise this year (even discounting the fact that my family gave it to me a bit before Christmas because they miscalculated how soon they'd need to trade in my old one): a shiny new phone! I've only been using it for a little bit, but I'm already VERY pleased by the MUCH improved battery life and storage compared to my last phone. (Case in point: I had to delete Persona 5 The Phantom X off of my previous model because I wasn't playing it enough to justify its 20+ GB size taking up a grand majority of my remaining storage. However, with THIS one, I can actually keep P5X downloaded in addition to all of my other files and still have WAY more space left over than my last phone did WITHOUT it! Ain't tech advances just grand?)
Also got a new pair of earbuds with it! (Tried those out, too. Loving them so far!)
Video game haul was VERY heavy on the 3D platformers and RPGs this year, with a sprinkle of racing and first-person adventure thrown in for good measure. I look forward to frittering away the first chunk of 2026 taming both pocket AND digital monsters, combing Viewros for collectibles, launching back into space with Yoshi, reclaiming the One Book's Pagies with my favorite lizard and bat duo, chomping my way through Pac-Land (and Green Hill Zone), saving Bikini Bottom from a feud of godly (and ghostly) proportions, LARPing with some of my favorite Nicktoons characters, and unlocking absolutely EVERYTHING in Mr. Sakurai's latest immensely addictive masterpiece.
I already picked up the latest Pokémon DVD set during my Florida vacation, so this year's home media batch was all about MOVIES! Not only did I score the last of the Pokémon Movies that I needed for my collection (including the only one that I've never seen, the Volcanion movie), but also the next three Digimon Movies from Discotek (including my personal favorite, Runaway Locomon, which they somehow made EVEN BETTER) and THE FIRST LEGITIMATELY GREAT HOME RELEASE OF THE ORIGINAL TMNT FILM TRILOGY EVER. Seriously, it has new 4K restorations of each film, tons of bonus physical items like posters and a booklet full of essays, and most importantly, TONS OF ACTUAL SPECIAL FEATURES ON DISC!! I don't know why it took so long for these films to get a release in the states that includes more than just their original trailers as bonus content, but better late than never, I guess. (Bless Arrow Video.) Excited to soak up every last minute of these discs in the new year!
On to some comics, my annual IDW Sonic fix went multiversal this year with the wild new DC crossover mini-series. (Which features everything from Shadow and Batman having a heart to heart to Beast Boy turning into a green Knuckles.) Accompanying that is the "Phantom Riders" storyline, which should make for very appropriate reading material as Sega releases more CrossWorlds content.
Speaking of Sega, these were a fun surprise! I had seen these little Mighty Max-esque playsets based on different Genesis games before, but I'd never actually picked up any of them. Now I can build a collection! While I had a few issues assembling the Sonic 1 diorama (pro-tip: make sure Dr. Eggman is securely attached to the little plastic rod BEFORE you try to stick it on one of the playset's pegs), I still REALLY dig the mini-figures. (Especially the Mecha Sonic MKII included in the Supervillain Bundle. This is actually his very first toy!)
My first McFarlane figure AND my first IDW TMNT toy (that I actually opened, anyway), this is a pretty cool Leo. While his accessories aren't too interesting, he's decently-articulated and does a good job of repping the IDW universe on my shelf. Now I'll have to grab the other Turtles from this line. (Especially Raph and Mikey. They come with Pepperoni and Klunk!) I also really hope they make Slash eventually.
This probably got the biggest reaction out of me of all of my gifts. (Which is saying something!) Ever since I first saw that Playmates were actually making the hilariously derpy "Tubular Tortoise Karate Warriors" knockoffs from the new TMNT theatrical short, I knew that I HAD. TO. HAVE. THEM. I mean, they come on their own separate bootleggy packaging and everything! That's amazing! Still, at 25 bucks a pop, I couldn't really justify pre-ordering all four two-packs just for the sheer novelty of officially-licensed knockoffs, so they sold out on Target's site and I've been kicking myself for letting them slip away ever since. Cut to Christmas, and I finally own one of them! Needless to say, Danny here is getting a place of prominence on my wall, and I REALLY hope that the others go back in stock at Target eventually so I can complete the team. As one of Playmates' last ever outings with the Turtles, these are seriously cool. Horse-a-bunga!
Finishing things off, my sister's family also gifted me a few things. Not only did they add the expanded edition of the TMNT visual history book (now with a chapter dedicated to TMNT video games, which I'm really excited to check out) to my already-towering reading pile, but my little niece and nephew also contributed a bit to my snack stash.
That closes the curtain on 2025! Sad to see it end without any spandex-clad police forces being established, but ya can't have everything, I guess! Thanks for reading, and I'll see you guys in 2026!
