The Christmas Fallout: 2024!

Welp, that wraps up another holiday season. (Pun intended.) I sincerely hope that the last week was at least pleasant for all of you. Everyone deserves a nice Christmas. (Or whatever it is you personally celebrate.)

Welcome to the annual Christmas Fallout post, where I share the bounty of goodies that I've been blessed with this December by my loved ones. You're all also free to join in via the comments, of course. We're inching toward 2024's finale, so let's see if we can't squeeze out one last little bit of holiday goodness. On to the booty!

$20 Nintendo eShop Card

Lots of Candy

Starting off with the stocking filling, in addition to a generous supply of sweet treats (which include Hershey's Kisses, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, M&Ms Minis, Nerds of all kinds, a buildable Hershey's Chocolate Santa, and a plastic candy cane filled with gummy Krabby Patties), I also received 20 bucks of eShop cash to spend however I wish. (I used it to score DLC for one of the games mentioned in the next section, as well as a temporarily discounted Persona 4 Golden. This'll be my first time playing any version of P4, so I'm excited to finally see what all the hubbub's about.)

Mario & Luigi: Brothership (With Best Buy-Exclusive Shareable Pin Set)

Sonic X Shadow Generations: Day One Edition (Switch)

Super Mario Party Jamboree

Princess Peach: Showtime!

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics (Switch)

Astro Bot 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed Deluxe Edition (Switch) (Includes the Game itself, a Steelbook, an Artbook, four Weapon Keychains, and a set of four Belt Buckle Pins)

This year's gaming haul promises to keep me busy for quite a while. On top of my FAVORITE RPG SERIES EVER returning this year, 2024 also saw Shadow raising Sonic Generations to new heights with his own solo campaign, Mario Party's latest (and supposedly greatest) shindig, Nintendo's two biggest leading ladies embarking on adventures of their own, a comprehensive collection of Marvel vs. Capcom's greatest hits, a GOTY-winning full-length sequel to probably the greatest free pack-in game ever, and the Mutant Mayhem Turtles taking to the streets in their very first video game outing. Just those first two alone are sure to keep me smiling well into spring, so I'm really excited to start digging into everything.

Sgt. Frog: The Complete Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Seasons (SD Blu-ray)

Pokémon the Series: XY The Complete Season

Pokémon the Series: XY Kalos Quest The Complete Season

On to a little DVD and Blu-ray action, Viz actually released more than one Pokémon set this year, so I was able to add two-thirds of the Kalos arc to my shelf all at once. (Should make for very appropriate 2025 entertainment, what with the region returning in Legends form next year.) Joining those is the final Sgt. Frog collection from Discotek, promising 153 MORE EPISODES (!) of procrastinating space frog fun. (Kululu also FINALLY got his spotlight on the spine of this one, meaning that Dororo can't even catch a break on Blu-ray packaging. 😂)

Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 16: Misadventures

Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 17: Adventure Awaits

Moving on to some new reading material, my annual IDW Sonic fix is a bit lighter this year, but these two trades are still packed with plenty of Hedgehog-flavored goodness, including Sonic's 900th English comic adventure overall, a "beach episode" co-starring the Babylon Rogues, a Chaotix Halloween treat, as well as a handful of smaller stories either serving as fun one-offs or as setup for the next major arc of the book. (Which you'll likely see here next Christmas.)

Mighty Morphin/Power Rangers Book Two Deluxe Edition 

Mighty Morphin/Power Rangers Book Three Deluxe Edition 

Keeping the licensed comic train a-going, these two hardcovers finish off the "Mighty Morphin/Power Rangers" era of the Boom MMPR comics, alongside Ryan Parrott's tenure as the book's main writer. Only two arcs remain uncollected in Deluxe Edition form, so we're heading toward this universe's climax! (Hopefully, Prime lasts long enough to receive its own collections like these. I need all the new Power Rangers fiction that I can get.)

DC Versus Marvel Omnibus

Topping off this year's reading pile is this beautiful hardcover collection of Marvel and DC's classic crossovers. Given how both companies are these days, I NEVER thought that they'd collaborate on anything EVER again, but I'm VERY happy to be proven wrong. Now I can finally add these legendary team-ups to my shelf and read them all for the first time. (I'm especially interested in checking out the two times that Bats and Spidey crossed paths.)

NECA TMNT (1987 Cartoon) Vacation Bebop & Vacation Rocksteady 

Funko Bitty POP! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Collector Pack

My family also surprised me with some TMNT goodies! First off, a couple new faces for my growing NECA figure collection: Bebop and Rocksteady in their delightfully silly vacation outfits from the episode, "Napoleon Bonafrog: Colossus of the Swamps." These guys are actually the very first Bop and Rock that I've gotten from any of NECA's Turtles lines, so it's very fitting to finally add them to the shelf in such a unique way.

I was also gifted a set of Funko's adorably tiny Bitty POPs. They're like what would happen if you shrank the regular TMNT POPs down to the size of a quarter, and they can even be removed from their tiny plastic boxes! The only thing that I'm not super crazy about with them is that this Collector Pack only includes the "common" rarity figures from the overall set, meaning that you awkwardly have three out of four 8-bit Turtles and Rocksteady without Bebop (not to mention no Leatherhead). Still, they're pretty fun little things and will make for a cool display regardless.

The Book of Bill (Barnes & Noble Exclusive Edition)

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game (Switch)

My sister's family also treated me very well. They not only added to my reading pile with the latest Gravity Falls book exploring the innermost thoughts of professional weirdo, Bill Cipher, but also contributed to my gaming backlog with a sandbox adventure starring everyone's favorite incredibly dense starfish. I look forward to diving (literally, in Patrick's case) into both eventually.

ALF: The Complete Series Deluxe Edition (Amazon)

Finally, my grandma gave me 50 bucks, which I used to score Shout's new ALF DVD set. While I already had the previous Lionsgate releases of the show, the episodes on this particular set are the original broadcast versions, meaning that many scenes that were cut out for syndicated airings are fully restored. Shout also included both of ALF's cartoons, as well as the Project ALF TV movie that concluded the show, making this the definitive DVD collection for the Melmacian culture enthusiast. I can think of no better entertainment to kick off 2025 with than an old sitcom about a wisecracking alien who breaks things.

That wraps up 2024! Thank you all so much for reading, and I'll see you in 2025!

Hauls: The Robo Knight Before Black Friday

Surprise! Wasn't expecting to make another post until Christmas proper, but Black Friday (and thrifting) works in mysterious ways. Here's some more stuff:

Power Rangers Megaforce: Robo Knight Before Christmas (DVD)

Another of my parents' thrifting finds, and a very seasonally appropriate one at that! Megaforce isn't exactly a well-liked season by a lot of people, but Robo Knight will ALWAYS be a major highlight of it, so I'm happy to finally have his Christmas special on DVD. (Despite it mostly amounting to a REALLY weird clip show.) Also included are two random, un-Christmassy episodes from Wild Force and Jungle Fury because I don't know and a digital copy that was still redeemable despite it being secondhand! Score!

Vintage TMNT Bandana

Persona 5 Royal (Switch) (Best Buy)

Yet another thrifting gem was this TMNT bandana. I'm not really a person who would wear a bandana, but the vintage art is so cool and it makes for a neat addition to my collection of random Turtle ephemera. (Still thinking of where/how to display it.)

The Phantom Thieves strike again! While I already bought Persona 5 Royal for PS4 LAST Black Friday, I've had my eyes on the Switch version since it was released last month, craving the ability to eventually replay it portably. However, the full $60 price tag for a game I already owned and recently played, even one as fantastic as P5R, made me shy away and decide to wait. Well, Black Friday 2022 came along and did me a solid! Despite the fact that the Switch version launched so recently, Best Buy had it at HALF PRICE, which I couldn't pass up. Probably not going to replay it for a while, but I'm definitely excited to eventually re-experience this amazing game in a new way, with ALL of the DLC along for the ride!

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Switch) (Walmart)

THIS was a long time coming. I'm a VERY casual Zelda guy, but after very much enjoying A Link Between Worlds almost a decade ago, I've been drawn particularly to the simple puzzle-solving, adventuring fun of the 2D overhead titles. So, when a remake of Link's Awakening was announced, I was excited to check it out. However, the full $60 price tag despite it originally being a Game Boy title and the modest length that comes from that origin made me prioritize other things and wait for a price drop. Said price drop certainly took its sweet time, though, as the best Amazon had it for at any one point was like $40. (Which eventually reverted back to either $50 or straight-up full price.) I got so impatient waiting for a good enough drop that I recently just decided to play the DX Game Boy Color version on my 3DS instead. In fact, I was already several dungeons into said DX version before I heard about Walmart's Black Friday deals FINALLY offering the Switch version for just $30. Needless to say, I jumped on that instantly and restarted my Koholint adventure with lots of wonderful modern quality-of-life improvements. (It's AMAZING playing an old game and its modern remake back-to-back and noticing just how many tiny tweaks improve the game immensely. Especially love how the remake gave the warp points their own map screen so you can actually CHOOSE where you want to go instead of hopping in and out of holes, continually warping until you arrive at your destination.) Having a lot of fun and very happy to finally have this game on my shelf.

That's it for the last of the pre-Christmas hauls, but I miiiiiiiiiiiight have something special planned for December, so you might hear from me a little sooner than I had originally planned. (Not counting this post, of course.) Stay tuned. 🎅🦔

Hauls: Space Frogs and Cowardly Dogs

You know the drill by now: Playing haul catch-up again before any bells start jingling and we're hit with another year change. Let's skip any additional preamble and get to some nerd ephemera!

Banjo-Kazooie (N64)

This one was unexpected! See, my Mom was thrifting and came across a random box of gaming-related goods. After a bit of badgering from my Dad (he loves fiddling with retro gaming tech), she decided to buy it. After she brought it home, I was surprised to find THIS gem nestled in said box. The original Bear/Bird adventure! Needless to say, I wasted no time in re-adding it to the small N64 collection that I've been rebuilding ever since my original console and carts fell to the cruel mistress of being sold during the Gamecube era. Still works perfectly, too! (After a bit of cleaning.) Feels super nice to have this original cart again after the duo's big comeback in Smash.

Pokémon Adventures Black 2 and White 2 Volume 4

This one was actually a stray Birthday present that was delayed past the actual day after it was already pre-ordered. This volume (finally) brings the B2W2 arc of the manga to an end. Excited to finally head to Kalos in 2022!

The Disney Afternoon Adventures Volume 1: Just Us Justice Ducks and Other Stories (Amazon)

Invader Zim Volume 4 Deluxe Edition (Amazon)

This batch of books is courtesy of a rather nice Amazon deal from a while back where you could get 15 bucks off an item priced at $25 or more TWICE IN A ROW. Thanks to that, I was able to score both for less than the full price of just one! 

Now I'm only one hardcover short of owning all of Oni Press' Invader Zim Deluxe Editions and I've finally dipped my toe into the ocean of Fantagraphics' Disney comic collections! When I heard that not only were they collecting the strips based on the Disney Afternoon shows that ran in Disney Adventures magazine back in the day in nice hardcover collections, but also that they were STARTING with the multi-part Legend of the Chaos God crossover, I knew that I HAD to score this! (Not sure why they buried the Chaos God inclusion behind adaptations of a Darkwing Duck episode and A Goofy Movie in the marketing, but hey, I don't know the ins and outs of selling hardcover Duck books.)

Michelangelo Plush

This guy was another of my Mom's thrift finds! His mask has a hard time actually covering his eyes, but he makes a nice companion to my IDW TMNT collection on my bookshelf. (Which is also flanked by a Raphael bobblehead.)

Wreck-It Ralph: Ultimate Collector's Edition (4K UHD + Blu-ray + Digital Code) (Disney Movie Insiders)

I already own Wreck-It Ralph on Blu-ray and don't yet have the means to play 4K discs, but being able to finally add my favorite movie to my digital collection (my old copy was just a BD/DVD combo pack) while at the same time future proofing it for my physical shelf all for the best price of free courtesy of DMI? Yeah, that's amazing. Now I can watch it anywhere and the sequel doesn't have to look so lonely alongside my other digital copies!

Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo meets Courage the Cowardly Dog (DVD) (Amazon)

STUPID DOG(S)!! I don't really pick up Scooby-Doo films that often, but I'm a sucker for crossovers, so any time they throw an unexpected mash-up into their future projects, my interest becomes piqued. (Like when they resurrected Batman: The Brave and the Bold for a team-up back in 2018.) This year's mix is one that A LOT of people would probably be surprised that they haven't done earlier (barring a few Cartoon Network promos): Scooby-Doo and Courage the Cowardly Dog. Despite it being almost two decades since the series ended, the Courage characters are still as charming/twisted as ever and they mix well with the Mystery Inc. gang despite the disparate art styles. It's a really fun little nostalgia trip of a movie filled with a lot of what you'd expect from both sides and a TON of fanservice. I'd recommend it if you grew up watching either or both of these dogs' escapades on the tube. Just a fun, wacky little cartoon crossover film.

Jakks Pacific Mighty and Mecha Sonic Figures (Amazon)

Hadn't picked up any of Jakks Pacific's new Sonic the Hedgehog figures, but the second that they announced that MIGHTY THE ARMADILLO would be one of the first Classic characters added to the line, I KNEW that would have to change. The fact that they also decided to release MECHA SONIC (the semi-final boss from Sonic 2 not to be confused with his more well-known brother from Sonic CD) for the 30th Anniversary made getting into them EVEN MORE irresistible. These aren't always the easiest to score online for a decent price, but thanks to Amazon, I was able to get them both for retail! (Ten bucks a pop!) They're both SUPER cool (though Mecha's a little small compared to the other Classic characters and Mighty has trouble standing with his huge head and weaker legs) and I'm always pumped to add more characters without previous figure representation to my collection! (Here's hoping Fang and the Hooligans aren't far behind.)

Hot Wheels Mario Kart Blind Box Vehicle (Got Monty Mole!)

My Mom bought this for me. My chasers were the Cow and Trophy, but Monty certainly isn't a bad score.

Sgt. Frog: The Complete First Season (SD Blu-ray) (Rightstuf Anime)

Ohhhhhhhhhh man, this is a big one. Haven't really brought it up around these parts, but I'm a HUGE Sgt. Frog fan and there's always been a little gap in my heart ever since Funimation abandoned releasing the anime on DVD after 2011. Well, earlier this year, that hole was at last filled! Discotek announced that they had acquired EVERY SINGLE EPISODE of the show and had plans to release it on Blu-ray! The long-dormant Keronian sympathizer within me burst forth like an explosion and started obsessing over Space Frogs once again! I eagerly awaited every bit of information on their first release while finally reading through the manga. Now, at last, the start of a new era for the show has arrived.

While it's a Blu-ray, Sgt. Frog (mostly) isn't an HD show, so that means they could squeeze all 51 episodes of the show's first season on to just two discs and STILL have room for extras! (That's the equivalent of EIGHT DVDs from Funimation's previous release.) Speaking of extras, there's a nice selection of neat ones! There's, of course, the prerequisite clean opening and endings, but also promos for the show's original airing in Japan, the test episode of Funimation's dub that was originally up on YouTube and featured some differing voices and localized names ("Pekopon" became "Planet Wuss" and "Natsumi" became "Natalie," etc.), and even the trailer for ADV's aborted dub! Throw in a bunch of super nice touches like improved English subtitles for both the original Japanese and Funimation English dub, full English credits for every episode at the end of each disc, and the use of different art for both the slip and inside covers of the case and you've got a release that I was just THOROUGHLY impressed by. Needless to say, I can't freaking wait for the other six seasons. (Especially to finally experience all of those previously-unreleased-in-the-states episodes!)

Marvel Legends Retro Collection Spider-Man 2099 Figure (Big Bad Toy Store)

Capping things off with another addition to the Marvel Legends collection! Miguel O'Hara, AKA, Spider-Man 2099, is one of my personal favorite Spider-Men, but I missed out on his previous Marvel Legends figures when they were new and they quickly soared in price. Lucky for me, then, that they finally announced a rerelease (in 90's Spider-Man TAS-style packaging) a short while ago. Feels great to finally have a Miggy on my shelf! (Though, now I want them to rerelease his later suit. I actually REALLY like it.)

That'll do! I might post again before Christmas depending on if a certain item comes in around then, but we'll just see how things shake out. Either way, I hope ya'll enjoy the upcoming holiday season to its utmost! 🦃🎄

Hauls: Pre-Holiday Clean-Up 2: The Secret of the Ooze

Man, where did THIS year go? Oh...right. Regardless, Christmas is nearing ever closer and I've got some hauls to catch up on. Let's have a run through those, shall we?

$25 Amazon Gift Card

A straggler Birthday haul, courtesy of some dear family friends. (Who are currently going through some COVID-related nastiness, so I wish their household the quickest of recoveries.) Spent it on something I'll get to at the very bottom of this post...and this:

Sonic Select Book 2 (Amazon)

Pure Sonic comic nostalgia! This particular out-of-print collection features some of the very first Archie Sonic books I remember sending away for via the order form pages back in the day. (Because how could I resist titles like "Super Sonic vs. Hyper Knuckles" and "Sonic & Knuckles: Mecha Madness?") 

Also, true story: the little "32X adaptation" blurb on the cover of the Knuckles Chaotix special was my very first exposure to that add-on's existence and I was shocked when I later discovered that Chaotix was a full-on Sonic spin-off game that I was completely unaware of before this comic planted the seed in my head. Got a 32X and the game off Ebay a little after that and started taking in the charming, colorful graphics, the crazy Ring chain gimmick, and the absolutely KILLER soundtrack. (Door into Summer. 'nuff said.) That Genesis and 32X probably went the way of some yard sale of years past, but I STILL have that Chaotix cartridge in my collection (along with the ravaged cardboard box it came in.) Whatever Sonic's 30th brings next year, I'm hoping that includes a new game collection with a long-awaited port of Chaotix. It's well overdue. 

Anyway, Chaotix tangent aside, I've been meaning to get this book for a while due to my previously-mentioned nostalgia associated with said comics. However, since it went out-of-print following Archie's loss of the Sonic license, the prices have been kinda varied on Amazon. (Probably since it's one of the earliest Sonic Select books, but I remember it was even a bit difficult to find in stock even before the license changed hands. Popularity, maybe?) Luckily the prices were in my favor when that Amazon card fell into my hands and I was able to grab this in very nice condition for about ten bucks. Now I'm only missing two Selects for my collection, 3 and 7! (The former of which also has a bit of odd price variation.)

NECA Super Shredder Figure (NECA Store)

Ohhhhhhhhhh yeaaaaaaaaaah. You might remember my fairly recent acquisition of the original Playmates Super Shredder figure where I made a comment that he'd compliment NECA's then-upcoming film accurate version very nicely if I could manage to score one. Well, I did! Took like two restocks of NECA's site on the same day and the shipping was a bit ridiculous, but KEVIN NASH IS HERE! Dude is a MONSTER, towering over his Playmates counterpart as well as even other large NECA figures like Leatherhead. Combine that with the sheer amount of detail put into his sculpt and his instantly workable articulation points (this is my first NECA TMNT fig where I didn't have to take a hairdryer to the joints to get them moving) and you've got just a fantastic piece for the little NECA Turtles display I'm building up and my favorite of everything they've put out so far. Makes me even more excited for Tokka and Rahzar. (Who should be here pretty soon...)

Pop-Up Mobile External DVD-RW Drive (Amazon)

THIS was a long time coming. Y'see, back in 2017, the disc drive on my laptop crapped out and I've been unable to read CDs or DVDs on it ever since. After years of just living with it not wanting to deal with complicated or expensive repairs, a short while ago I FINALLY managed to have the bright notion in my head to ask "wait, do they make external disc drives like they do hard drives?" THEY DO. IT WAS ALWAYS THIS EASY AND THE IDEA JUST HADN'T DAWNED ON ME THIS WHOLE TIME. THEY'RE CHEAP, TOO. So, I quickly sent away for one and I was quickly reunited with the joys of being able to easily screencap DVDs, rip Space Ghost and SpongeBob songs off of CDs, and burn discs full of English dubs of anime shows based off of American franchises like The Avengers and The Powerpuff Girls. Because that's the kinda stuff that goes on in my head on an average day.

Power Rangers Lightning Collection Dino Thunder White Ranger (Walgreens)

w/Replacement Helmet (Hasbro Customer Service)

Another Lightning Collection addition and one that I was particularly excited for...until actual photos of the final figure got out and the sorry state of its paint job was made apparent. The lack of the extra black detailing on the Dino Thunder White Ranger's helmet on the Lightning figure made it look extremely off, weird, and WAY too plain and for one of my (and many other fans') personal favorite Ranger suits, this was a huge disappointment. I WAS going to pass on it and hope that Hasbro would fix the helmet in a potential future Dino Thunder team pack...but I didn't have to! The fan outcry reached them and they quickly offered free corrected replacement helmets through their customer service! 

So, I quickly ordered one of the figures from Walgreens and was able to get in my replacement request super easily. After a while, I got both the figure and helmet in and now the Dino Thunder White Ranger stands proudly in my display, complete with his fully-detailed, sick-looking helmet. Good on Hasbro's part for both correcting their mistake and doing it WELL. The black detailing on the replacement is IMMACULATE and I'm extremely happy to finally have a great plastic representation of this Ranger in my collection. (All I had of him before was one of those weird bike figures with those random pointy shoulders.)

Super Mario Plush

Gonna keep this one nice and simple. Just a Mario plush that my parents found for me while thrifting.

Power Rangers Lightning Collection Psycho Green Ranger (Hasbro Pulse)

More Lightning Collection fun with another story of complications! When Psycho Green went up on Hasbro Pulse, I quickly pre-ordered him (I'm a sucker for stuff originating from the comics) and awaited his ship date. When that finally came in July, I started tracking the shipment on FedEx and waited...and waited....and waited...aaaaaand waited. Keeping up with the tracker, it originally pegged a specific delivery date...which quickly switched to a big "PENDING" when that date arrived. After weeks of waiting and staring at the now-pending tracker, I had enough and contacted Hasbro Pulse about replacing or refunding my order, guessing it had gotten lost in the mail. They weren't able to replace it (Psycho Green was out of stock at the time), but they WERE able to refund the base cost of the figure.

However, this story isn't quite over. Cut to a random Thursday when the FedEx tracker finally changed from its pending state, giving a new delivery date and current location! I was shocked that it was even still out there after being inactive for so long, so I awaited the new date to see if it would actually come. It didn't and went back to pending. Cut to the NEXT Thursday where it did the exact same thing. (New date that I waited for only for it to revert to pending.) This weekly cycle went on for a little while, the figure bouncing between two locations near my state until FINALLY, IN SEPTEMBER, it moved to a completely new location right near me. The time had actually arrived. It took TWO MONTHS of being lost in the mail, but Psycho Green's journey finally ended. It's great to FINALLY have him and neat that I got him for just shipping cost because of that refund, but this was A LOT of unnecessary monkey business over a repaint with a new weapon. I hope this was just isolated FedEx pandemic craziness and any future purchases I make from Hasbro Pulse don't end up going similarly, because that's enough to put a guy off from ordering off of there, regardless of exclusives.

Prep & Landing Totally Tinsel Collection (Blu-ray Combo) (Amazon)

Mickey Mouse: Merry & Scary (Amazon)

Moving on to a simpler situation, I ordered these great festive Disney specials that I had my eye on for a while off of Amazon for one reason besides adding to my DVD shelf: DISNEY MOVIE INSIDERS POINTS. What could I want to spend said points on so badly that I ordered two Blu-rays/DVDs suddenly just to have enough points to afford it? You'll see a bit further down.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Amazon)

Birthday cash pre-order time! Been anticipating this one for a while. Two of my favorite franchises collide for a super fun crossover tale full of action, fanservice, and gorgeous artwork. It also finishes kind of open-ended, so I'm REALLY hoping there's eventually a sequel. I'd love to see all the elements they could possibly mix together in a follow-up. I mean, this one had a Green Ranger Shredder (I repeat. A GREEN RANGER SHREDDER.) and that wasn't even the craziest part of it. I need more.

Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna (Blu-ray Combo)

Moving from a Birthday cash order to a delayed Birthday present, Kizuna provides a fun yet bittersweet pre-epilogue ending to the Digimon Adventure saga (at least for now.) While a lot of the Digidestined are mostly left out to focus mainly on Tai and Matt, the animation is absolutely a step-up from tri. with my favorite moments being at the beginning and near the end.

Joker amiibo (Amazon)

Hero amiibo (Best Buy)

Smash DLC amiibo arrive with another story of delivery frustration. I originally pre-ordered both Joker AND Hero from Best Buy and they shipped out the same day. However, Hero was coming from UPS...and Joker from FedEx. I kept my eyes on both trackers, them both quickly switching to delivered. I ran out to get them and...found only Hero. I still don't know what happened to Joker. He either wasn't delivered at all and they still have yet to attempt a re-delivery or, perhaps THE MOST ironic fate of all for the leader of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, he was stolen. Still don't have a clue but Best Buy and FedEx were calling him delivered. I waited a couple days after that to see if he'd eventually show up, but no dice. Luckily, Amazon restocked and I was able to grab him there, but MAN, is FedEx not doing me any favors this year.

Now about that Disney Movie Insiders item from before...

Wreck-It Ralph Final Theatrical Poster (Disney Movie Insiders)

IT'S STILL SO FREAKING BEAUTIFUL. Yep, this is what had me scrambling to buy DVDs just to be able to afford it before it went out of stock. Being a huge Wreck-It Ralph fan, I have ALWAYS wanted a copy of its theatrical poster for my room ever since it was first revealed. Why? Well, how many theatrical posters for Disney films can YOU think of that double as video game crossover collages featuring everyone from Sonic and Zangief to Coily and Neff? Factor in Wreck-It Ralph becoming pretty much my favorite movie ever and it was a no-brainer to desire this heavily. That's why my #1 goal when Ralph Breaks the Internet came out was to own a poster for it, chiefly because I didn't have an opportunity to get one for the original film and I wanted to flaunt my Ralph love somehow. NOW I HAVE FOUR INCLUDING THE ORIGINAL.

After the previous shipping mishaps, I kinda lucked out on this one. Despite DMI's transition back to offering physical rewards being a little shaky (with shipping notifications just not being sent out at all and certain members' items being damaged or missing altogether), my poster arrived in tip-top condition about a month after I redeemed it despite no follow-up email. This was a HUGE relief, as I had heard horror stories of other members who ordered this particular item mistakenly getting Pop figures from the Mulan remake instead and was prepared for the worst. So glad that luck was on my side in this particular case.

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G

Upgraded my phone! Been rocking the same Galaxy S8+ since 2017, so this was a definite step up in terms of both power and storage. (It's nice not having to worry about space anymore when I download a game or a new Purple Stuff Podcast.)

Latios and Latias (Bootleg?) Plushes

More of my parents' thrift finds! When they first showed me images of these guys, I thought they were super cool, especially since I didn't have anything representing either Eon Pokémon in my collection. However, when I looked them up on Google, I couldn't find any official plushes that matched them and when I DID find the plushes themselves, they had completely different tags than the ones I had. That, plus their slightly off-model designs and generic Pokémon Best Wishes anime art tags lead me to believe that they're bootlegs. Still super neat plushes that I really appreciate them picking up for me, but bootlegs nonetheless. Whatever their origin, they still make for neat entertainment center decorations.

Darkwing Duck Popsocket (Amazon)

Starlow and Geno Stickers (RedBubble)

Phone Case (Amazon)

Some protection for my new phone along with a couple sticky things to personalize it! Sadly, Starlow was too big to be used, so I substituted a sticker of her I already had from a Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Sonic Wacky Pack promotion (because the Mario & Luigi series is my heart and soul and I cherish every part of it) and was even able to transfer my Ralph and Vanellope sticker from my old case to my new one. Also Geno, because I needed the perfect case to go into the year of Super Mario RPG's 25th Anniversary (2021) with and I thought teaming him with Starlow, a fellow messenger of the stars from a Mario RPG, was a neat idea.

x4 Digimon Card Game Ver. 0.0 Promotion Packs

x4 Perforated Demo Half-Deck Sheets

Premium Bandai was having two different Digimon sweepstakes and I entered both. One offered figures while another had a larger chance at scoring some swag from the upcoming English version of the new Digimon Card Game. I won the latter, completely surprising me when the package of all this stuff came in the mail. (This was the kinda giveaway where they just send you your winnings without informing you of your win.) 

Having played the demo app, it's a pretty fun game and kinda gives me Duel Masters vibes. I hope they can go big places with it and we can actually have a fun, long-running English Digimon card game for a change. Anyway, for now, these are all super neat collector's items for me as a Digimon fan and the promo cards are nice and shiny. I'm currently torn between opening only half of the packs and keeping the others sealed (since they all have the same six cards) or throwing caution to the wind and opening all of 'em, though.

My Little Pony: Holiday Memories (Amazon)

Let's end on something festive! Holiday Memories collects all of the IDW MLP Holiday Special comics in one compact trade that fits nicely next to the Omnibuses on my shelf. This is what I spent the rest of the Amazon card that opened this post on because I figured what better way to kick off the Christmas season than a thematic collection of colorful magical equine funnies?

Speaking of Christmas, that should be the next time you hear from me, so I hope ya'll have as peaceful and happy a holiday as you can given the circumstances and I'll see you for the Fallout post next month!