The Christmas Fallout: 2022!

It's that time again. Santa's back at the North Pole for another year and I've got a spread of shiny new goodies to enjoy. Hope you all had a nice season or at the very least found a tiny bit of peace or happiness some time during it.

This is our FIFTH Fallout post, so you should know the score by now. I share my gifts with you, you can share yours in the comments, and we're able to have one last bit of materialistic holiday fun before the new year comes. Always love doing these each year, so let's put a cap on The Lazy Shell's 2022 in the most proper way!

$20 Nintendo eShop Card 

Peanut Butter M&Ms

Fudge Brownie M&Ms

Reese's Pieces Candy Cane

A Whole Squad of Mini Reese's Nutcrackers

Palmer Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Milk Chocolate Bumble

Sour Big Chewy Nerds

Stocking pickings were a bit less varied this year, but they still provided me with a HUGE pile of candy, including personal favorites (can never go wrong with Peanut Butter and Fudge Brownie M&Ms) as well as some more interesting inclusions. (Those Nerds in particular I'm intrigued by.) Rounding out the sock filling was eShop cash, which I used to score some Switch DLC and an old gem or two on the 3DS and Wii U Virtual Consoles.

Sonic Frontiers (Switch)

Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope Gold Edition

Pokémon Violet

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion (Switch)

Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway (Switch)

Digimon Survive (Switch)

Was treated VERY well this year on the video game front, as every one of these titles promises to engross me for hours upon hours. Currently alternating between Sonic Frontiers (it's like 3D Sonic mixed with a collectathon and an action RPG!) and Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3. (It's understandably janky, but I've been having a TON of fun mastering each course and unlocking the LOADS of customization options. Plus, any game where I can have Invader Zim drive a hover version of the Turtle Van complete with tailpipes that look like Sal Ami from Wacky Delly is a GOTY contender by default.) Definitely excited to start digging into the other titles as well. (Especially the NEW OPEN-WORLD POKÉMON WITH A CROCODILE STARTER and the MARIO + RABBIDS SEQUEL WITH MORE RPG ELEMENTS AND PLAYABLE BOWSER. Can you tell that those two in particular have me a bit psyched?)

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog: The Complete Series (SD Blu-ray)

Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm (Blu-ray + Digital Code)

Sonic X (English): The Complete Series (SD Blu-ray)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012): The Complete Series

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Half-Shell Heroes: Blast to the Past

Pokémon BW Rival Destinies: The Complete Season

Went big on the physical media this year!

Starting with the Blu-rays up top, despite growing up with the show as my primary televised Sonic entertainment, I had never actually gotten around to picking up any previous disc release of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog for a variety of reasons. Well, Discotek recently provided the PERFECT opportunity to finally add it to the collection. Their amazing set features the ENTIRE series (including the Christmas special) on just two Blu-ray discs with a ton of special features all wrapped up in a gorgeous case complete with multiple pieces of brand new artwork based directly on the old Sega Genesis Sonic game covers. I certainly couldn't pass the series up again with THAT kinda extra mile physical presentation. Adding to the animated Sonic fun, Discotek had ALSO previously released the English dub of Sonic X on SD Blu-ray and despite already owning the entire show on DVD, I figured there'd be no better time to finally pick the set up than now alongside AoStH. (Especially since it features all 78 eps on just TWO discs, making it ideal for a marathon rewatch, AND includes the previously-unreleased US pitch pilot.) Rounding out the BDs is the new Aqua Teen movie. Didn't quite measure up to the first in terms of hilarious insanity IMO, but this release has one BIG advantage over the first film's DVD: IT FREAKING WORKS. (AND it included a digital code so even if the disc DID stop working, I'd still have access to the movie. PLEASE rerelease the original movie with these upgrades, WB, I'm begging ya.)

Moving on to the DVDs, I had been collecting the 2012 TMNT sets pretty casually throughout the series' run, owning only Season 1, the first chunk of Season 2, and the Wanted: Bebop & Rocksteady part of Season 5. When a budget rerelease of ALL of those old discs in one set surfaced on Amazon, however, I knew that it would be the PERFECT way to complete the show on my shelf all at once. (Sure, the new packaging has several of the discs stacked, but since this is 124 episodes of Turtles for less than forty bucks, I ain't complaining.) Also threw in the Half-Shell Heroes special for the sake of absolute completion. (It wasn't included in the Complete set because it wasn't technically part of the series proper.) Wrapping up this section is the latest Pokémon set, featuring Ash's remaining Unova gym battles, the return of Dawn and Cynthia, and the awesome debut of Krookodile.

Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 9: Chao Races & Badnik Bases 

Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 10: Test Run!

Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 11: Zeti Hunt!

Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 12: Trial by Fire

Sonic the Hedgehog: Imposter Syndrome

More Sonic action with my yearly dose of super speedy comics! Multiple new characters are introduced in this batch as part of the leadup to the milestone Issue 50. (Which will be available in trade form itself next year.) Evan Stanley also joins the book as a writer. (Alongside mainstay Ian Flynn, of course.) Excited to finally check out some of her stories. (Especially the first one where she introduces Shadow's little Chao buddy from the Sonic Channel artwork into proper canon.)

Invader Zim Volume 5 Deluxe Edition

Invader Zim: Oodles of Doom

More comics by way of the Irken Empire! Volume 5 completes the 50-issue ongoing run of the Oni Press Invader Zim series while the Oodles of Doom trade collects the four Quarterly issues that released after. Provided that they never reprint the Dookie Loop Horror one-shot in a trade (which I picked up digitally,) these should be the final Oni Press Zim books that I pick up. Looking forward to finishing up Zim's adventures on the printed page!

Sonic Mania Shirt

Shadow the Hedgehog Shirt

Kirby Shirt

Squirtle Shirt

Nerd shirts! My favorite's the Shadow one. (My sister's too, who helped pick it out.) The Kirby one's also really neat since I didn't really own any shirts representing the franchise before. (Aside from a cameo on a Smash parody shirt or two.)

Jakks Pacific Shadow the Hedgehog Figure 

Jakks Pacific Rouge the Bat Figure

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Amazing Adventures: Robotanimals!

Finishing things up, my sister's family added to my Jakks Pacific Sonic collection with Shadow and Rouge, allowing me to represent two-thirds of Team Dark on my shelf. (It's ESPECIALLY nice to finally own a plastic representation of Rouge, who had only ONE previous action figure to her name.) Now all I need me is an Omega! They also gifted me the final mini-series that IDW did based off of the 2012 TMNT show, Robotanimals, which, as evidenced by the title, features the Mighty Mutanimals being turned into evil robots. The irony of that particular book being included alongside SONIC figures is not lost on me.

That does it for the last of this year's Lazy Shell posts! Hoping you all have a great 2023!

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: Self-Isolation Stuff

Sooooooooooo the world certainly took a turn since my last post, didn't it? Hope ya'll are staying safe out there. Anyway, got some more hauls, so it's time to catalogue them!

Fangamer Banjo-Kazooie Plush Necklace

Following up on my last post, Fangamer got in more stock of their Banjo plush and as such, sent me the necklace missing from mine as promised. So nice to see it complete!

Power Rangers Lightning Collection Beast Morphers Gold Ranger (Walmart)

Another sort-of follow-up to the last post, I found Nate's Lightning figure, completing my Beast Morphers good guys so far. Looks quite nice next to his buddies and now I NEED a Steel to complement him.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (Amazon)

Invader Zim Volume 3 Deluxe Edition (Amazon)

Pokemon DP: Battle Dimension The Complete Season (Amazon)

Sonic the Hedgehog Ticket Stub 

A little while ago, Amazon had a buy-two-get-one-free offer on games, books, and DVDs, so I had to take advantage while it lasted. 

Mario and Sonic Tokyo was on my radar, but I was apprehensive about the $60 price tag. (Especially after owning most of the previous, very similar installments already.) Luckily, a $20 discount just happened to fall around the time of said Amazon deal, so this was the perfect chance to finally pick it up. It's a lot of fun, with the highlights being the goofy Story Mode and the neat retro events.

Also decided to continue collecting the Invader Zim comics with the deluxe version of Volume 3 becoming item #2 of the deal. Highlight of this particular collection is the Virooz four-parter, especially the second part where Zim basically spends the entire time criticizing the logic of AI.

Last but not least, I claimed the Battle Dimension set as my free item, bringing my Pokemon DVD collection up-to-date and continuing to prove that any negative opinions I may have expressed about the Sinnoh arc in my past on the internet was just a lot of hoosafudge and misplaced aggression. I'm quite enjoying my time with it. (Though, Pika and Goliath still frayed my nerves a bit. Mostly Sho. Why would you write a character to speak this way for an entire episode? No wonder Team Skull don't have their gangsta linguistics in the anime. They used them all up on this one annoying filler character.)

Also saw the Sonic movie the same day I got this stuff in and now I want ALL the sequels.

TOO BAD. WALUIGI TIME (Kickstarter)

Waluigi/Daisy Bookmark (Kickstarter)

Also finally got this in a couple weeks ago from Kickstarter. If you're a Nintendo fan and have never read the adorable/gut-busting web comic, Brawl in the Family, then I suggest you remedy that quickly. This book is the latest hardcover release from its creator focusing mainly on his extremely distinctive take on Waluigi and the numerous hijinks he gets up to. It not only reprints all of Waluigi's Brawl in the Family starring roles, but also throws in a good number of brand new comics, making it a worthy addition to any BITF fan's library. It definitely looks quite nice on my shelf next to my three hardcover BITF volumes and it's always nice to see more of this silly world following its end in 2014.

NECA Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Slash (Megalopolis City of Collectibles)

Oh man, as you can probably tell by the number of shots dedicated to the above item, this is a HUGE one for me. People who know me well are already quite aware of this, but this is the first time I'm bringing it up on the blog: I LOVE SLASH. He's my favorite TMNT character and everything about him from his black mask to his gnarly spikes to his claws I am ALL ABOUT. 

So, when NECA announced that they were not only making a collector-quality figure of him, but ALSO basing it off of his appearance from the SNES version of Turtles in Time (a game I grew up on that introduced me to Slash in the first place), I don't think I had ever experienced such intense NEED for a toy. 

It was a LONG road from his initial reveal in like 2017 to his eventual scheduling for November 2019 to my asking of him for Christmas to him getting delayed a few months to me switching around where I had him pre-ordered two separate times based on factors like pricing and stock waits to him finally getting here yesterday, but WOW, was it worth it. He's the first NECA TMNT item that I've owned and he absolutely will not be the last. Just handling him and feeling the quality of the material at hand combined with all the neat little touches like his rotatable bandana knot just impress me so much and he's easily the nicest plastic representation that Slash has ever received. I can't friggin' WAIT to get NECA's '87 cartoon versions of both Slash and Leatherhead as well as their recently-revealed Tokka, Rahzar, and Super Shredder so I can start building a collection.

That's all I've got. Hope all of this gushing over Turtles with spikes brought you some entertainment and escape from this difficult time and I hope that the next time I get back to ya'll, we'll all be in a much better place. Until then.

The Christmas Fallout - 2018!

Hope ya'll have had a fun and fulfilling holiday so far. I had an absolutely fantastic Christmas yesterday with the family and from the food to the games to the gifts, everything hit a homerun this year. Definitely one of my favorites in recent memory, even despite the like four hours of sleep I had gotten the night before. (Sleeping schedules, amiright?)

Anyway, on to the purpose of this post: showing off my loot! Welcome to my first Christmas Fallout, an old tradition of Matt of XE/Dino Drac that I always loved, so I couldn't pass up making it a thing on my blog as well! How it works: I share off my Christmas haul and ya'll can even join in with yours in the comments below. Let the fun begin!

$25 Amazon Gift Card

The first thing I got for Christmas I had actually gotten a week or two before thanks to some family friends who dropped by for some pre-holiday celebrations. Saving this puppy for that one movie about Zangief's specifically-shaven body and Sonic's book club.

Deadpool 2 (Blu-ray)

Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (Blu-ray Combo)

Ralph Breaks the Internet Domez Blind Bags (Got 8-Bit Ralph and Vanellope!)

Kingdom Hearts Domez Blind Bags (Got Mickey and Goofy!)

Peanut Butter M&Ms

Stocking loot usually treats me pretty well and this year was no exception. Four Domez figures based on Disney-related things I love (Even got my most wanted fig out of the Ralph bags!), Blu-rays for movies I enjoyed, and when it comes to M&Ms, few are finer (or more addictive) than Peanut Butter.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 

Pokemon Let's Go! Eevee

Super Mario Party 

Mario Tennis Aces 

Kirby Star Allies 

The World Ends With You Final Remix 

Dragon Ball FighterZ (Switch)

Gamecube Controller Smash Ultimate Edition

Christmas and Birthdays are where I play catch-up on video games, so as expected, I got a lot of them. Obviously Smash Ultimate was the first one I jumped into and I've already unlocked all of my mains through Classic Mode. Also played a little bit of FighterZ and looking forward to getting into the real meat of the original story.

Not exactly a game but related is a Smash Ultimate Gamecube Controller, because I can never resist refreshing my stock whenever they become available again.

Digimon Adventure tri. Loss (Blu-ray Combo)

Digimon Adventure tri. Coexistence (Blu-ray Combo)

Digimon Adventure tri. Future (Blu-ray Combo)

Pokemon Advanced Battle the Complete Collection 

All the Mons! The Digimon Adventure saga is at last completed on my DVD shelves (for now) and all of 4Kids' original Pokemon seasons are finally at my beck and call. (Now all we need are rereleases for Chronicles, the Winter Vacations, Mewtwo Returns, and the Pikachu shorts. HINT HINT VIZ!)

Miles Morales the Ultimate Spider-Man Ultimate Collection Volume 3

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Volume 5

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Volume 6

Invader Zim Volume 1 Deluxe Edition 

Invader Zim Volume 2 Deluxe Edition 

Also typically add to my comic collection on such occasions. Finally completed Miles Morales' adventures in the Ultimate Universe (Minus Secret Wars, but eh), started preparations for collecting Shattered Grid this time next year, and what with me finishing off my Invader Zim house box earlier in the year, I thought these HUGE Deluxe Edition books would be a good place to start collecting the comics.

Ralph Breaks the Internet: Click Start

The Art of Ralph Breaks the Internet 

Ralph Breaks the Internet 2019 Calendar 

Your favorite movie ever only gets a sequel once in a blue moon (especially if it's a Disney animated movie), so had to get as much Ralph Breaks the Internet stuff as I could before the franchise went back into hibernation. 

Click Start reimagines early parts of the movie with extra bits in a fun choose-your-own adventure style comic. (Plus an extra story by Amy Mebberson of Princess Comics fame that takes place AFTER the movie.)

I already had the art book for the first movie, so of course, I had to complete the duo. Only skimmed it, but really interesting stuff so far. (It's funny how BOTH movies cut scenes where Ralph was thrown in jail.)

Always get a Calendar for Christmas, so I couldn't pass up the chance to give my walls some more Ralph love.

Tomy Metal Sonic Plush

Now THIS guy was a surprise! My Sister and parents picked him up for me at Target while Black Friday shopping. My Mom was actually leaning towards a Mario plush, but my Sis told her I'd like Metal better. Considering I didn't have a Metal plush of ANY KIND before, I'd say she was right on the money.

Funko Pop! Ralph Breaks the Internet Wreck-It Ralph Vinyl Figure

Bowser and Geno T-Shirt

Ralph and Vanellope Sticker

That wasn't the only time this year that my Sis had the right instincts in picking out Christmas gifts, as her and her husband's formal gifts to me completely delighted me. I wanted to add that updated Ralph Pop to my collection ever since it was revealed and that T-Shirt absolutely made my day. Might be my favorite gift this year, in fact. IT'S GENO AND BOWZ, GUYS! FREAKING GENO ON MY SHIRT!

$35 Nintendo eShop Card

My favorite Cousin also dropped by as she usually does around the holidays and provided me the means to pick up the Smash Ultimate Fighters Pass and both of South Park Fractured but Whole's story DLC packs. 

Not pictured, but my Grandma also gave me the usual 50 bucks she always does at her dinner which I've already used to pre-order a certain upcoming 3DS remake and also procure something that I might go into on the blog eventually...

Finally, I won Sockemer Boppers in a random gift swap game.

Told ya it was one for the books.

How were YOUR celebrations and hauls this year? Drop a comment and get in on the Christmas Fallout spirit! 

4/28/2018 Haul

Took advantage of a deal on DVDs at FYE's site to finally snag these two out-of-print beauties:

Invader Zim Volume 1: Doom Doom Doom

Invader Zim Volume 2: Progressive Stupidity

SOOOOOOOOOOOO nice to finally complete this collection!