Hauls: OMGcon 2022 and Other Bits

Well, my Birthday is next week, so it's time for another one of those tried-and-true haul roundup posts!

Power Rangers Super Legends (DS) (Amazon)

THIS was the definition of an impulse purchase. Super Legends was a game made for Power Rangers' 15th Anniversary in 2007 and it was released for PS2 and DS. I only had the PS2 version before because it had voice-acting and comic-style cutscenes, but I always regretted not getting both, as the DS version had its own roster of Rangers (including reps from Time Force, a season NOT featured in its PS2 equivalent) and some neat unlockables. (The best of which being the ability to play as Boom the Orange SPD Ranger if you perfect every stage.) Anyway, I saw that someone on RangerBoard had picked it up recently and that made me curious if I could pick it up cheap used on Amazon. Sure enough, I found the right seller and here we have it. I spent the latter half of May completing it. Was fun, though things got a bit stressful trying to beat every stage without dying. (Stingwingers were the bane of my existence.)

Funko POP! Animation SpongeBob SquarePants (Holiday)

Funko POP! Animation Patrick Star (Holiday)

SpongeBob Hula Bobble Figures

Invincible Mario and Red Shell McDonald's Toys

Here's a bunch of stuff my parents grabbed me at a yard sale. Been a while since I've collected any POP figures, but they definitely made a wise call getting this particular set, as SpongeBob, Christmas and Christmas-themed SpongeBob stuff are three of my favorite things.

OMGcon 2022 Swag

Beast Wars II Mini-Figures (Tasmania Kid and Bighorn)

Jakks Pacific Sonic the Hedgehog (Modern) Figure

Funko POP! Movies Tokka

Ash-Greninja Shirt

Retro Digimon Magazines

Kululu, Totodile and Fuecoco Mini-Buttons (Fil Romero)

Digimon Card Game Starter Deck: Ultimate Ancient Dragon

OMGcon returned after a pandemic-related delay and my Sister and I enjoyed our usual fun weekend of buying stuff and watching anime in the comfort of our hotel room. (Despite a hiccup near the end. Never have Mexican take-out the night before you have to travel for like an hour. Nuff said.) I didn't find anything quite as cool as the Nintendo Power issues I got at the last one, but I still wound up with some rad stuff in the end.

Best finds were definitely the little Beast Wars II guys (though I wish the seller I purchased them from had a better selection, as it's odd having two different Tasmania Kids,) the really neat mini-buttons (FINALLY SOMETHING KULULU-RELATED) and, of course, the old Digimon magazines, especially the two issues of Beckett Digimon Collector. I found them at the same seller I got the NPs from before and I was particularly happy to see the one with the Digimon the Movie cover story, as I remember having that one back in the day. Flipping through them brought back some great memories and reminded me of certain old Digimon happenings that I had COMPLETELY forgotten about, like the Taco Bell promotion. That Movie issue should sit comfortably on my shelf next to my issue of Beckett YU-GI-OH! Collector that covered THEIR movie. (The one with the incredibly silly hypothetical live-action Yu-Gi-Oh! movie cast. Adam Sandler as Tristan Taylor, anyone?)

Was also able to pick up a couple of things I've had my eye on for a bit, like more Digimon cards to finally support my small collection of mostly identical promo cards and Tokka's POP figure. (CRAZY that out of ALL the possible TMNT POP figures that could've been at this thing, one of the only TWO that I REALLY wanted was the one that I found. Talk about a lucky break.) Also added a base Modern Sonic to my growing Jakks Pacific figure collection, but honestly, I overpaid for it. He was the one from the OMEGA WAVE, too! Omega I would've GLADLY paid twenty bucks for, but nope. All they had were Sonics. Feh. Rounding things out are a pretty sweet Greninja shirt. However, we're not quite done with OMGcon yet. As this was a con and cons typically have guests...

...I got to meet Xander Mobus again! (After previously getting him to sign my Smash Wii U copy and Smash 4 Soundtrack at the 2015 convention.) This time, I had a lot more game fodder for him as I've recently become a Persona 5 fan (brought Strikers rather than Royal because the other two games were on Switch as of this particular weekend) AND he happened to voice a character in NEO TWEWY. Ultimate completed the trio nicely. (Though, I'm a bit surprised he signed it for JUST the Announcer role and not also Joker. Eh, probably didn't want to cover the art in text.) Still a great guy.

Power Rangers X Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Lightning Collection - Morphed Shredder (Dorkside Toys)

Oh YESSSSS. Remember when I hinted that someone was missing from my PR/TMNT figure blow-out in the last post? Well, he's finally here. GREEN. RANGER. SHREDDER. Took a while for Dorkside to get him in (he's the ONE pre-order I kept there,) but after many delays, June turned out to be his month. (He also just so happened to ship on the day that I left for OMGcon, so that got me even MORE jazzed for the weekend ahead.) He's an absolutely WICKED figure as well. Probably one of the best Shredders I own. I especially love how the cloth cape drapes on him. Gives him a really badass look. With the crossover crew finally complete, there's nothing more to do than wait for the recently-announced SEQUEL mini-series and see what craziness pops out of THAT.

Kuribabylon (Troll and Toad)

Kuribah (Troll and Toad)

Kuriboo (Troll and Toad)

Kuribee (Troll and Toad)

Kuribeh (Troll and Toad)

Five-Star Twilight (Troll and Toad)

HerculesKabuterimon (Troll and Toad)

Ending things off with a card haul! As a huge fan of the original Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, I always get super excited when they bring more of Yugi's anime-exclusive cards to the game itself. I was particularly amped-up about THESE as he HEAVILY used the Kuriboh Brothers and Kuribabylon in Season 4, which I have a huge soft spot for despite its fillery nature. Also grabbed a HerculesKabuterimon promo card both because I just love that Digimon and because I believe that it's actually compatible with the Starter Deck I picked up earlier. As a great bonus, I got a $5 Amazon Card for making this purchase with Amazon Pay, allowing me to add to my IDW TMNT collection with the digital version of the 30th Anniversary Special. (Which was NEVER available in trade form, yet featured brand new stories from the Mirage, Archie, Image, and IDW continuities.) Not too shabby for under four bucks.

That'll wrap things up! See ya next week for the big Birthday post!

Hauls: I like Turtles.

2022 hits The Lazy Shell! (In mid-April, naturally.) Must mean I've finally built up enough fresh hauls to share!

Captain America: Civil War Collector's Edition (Blu-ray 3D Combo) (Disney Movie Insiders)

Kicking things off, we have the results of a point splurge on DMI because of a sale. I'm not exactly a comprehensive collector of the MCU films, but after seeing Spider-Man: No Way Home, I got the sudden urge to own every piece of cinematic webhead that existed. (Hence why I got the Venom films for Christmas despite having "ehhhh" feelings on them in general.) I already owned Homecoming and Far From Home, but I lacked every other appearance that Peter Parker's made in the MCU, which brings us to this. Since I was mostly interested in adding this to my collection for Tom Holland's debut as Petey, "free" was kinda the perfect price. Now I just need to find a way to snag Infinity War and Endgame for a song!

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Complete Banner Print (PIXELs2dio on Etsy)

Ever since this GORGEOUS artwork showcasing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's extensive, dream come true character roster was first shown at E3 in 2018, I've never stopped thinking, "imma need that amazingness in my room when it's completed." Fast forward to almost four years later after the base game announcements and two waves of DLC have come and gone and said artwork was finally completed and ripe for my purchasing. (Well, after finding the right Etsy store that had a good quality print at the right size and price since Ninty themselves never thought to capitalize on this gold mine.) It took its sweet time getting here (four weeks after shipping,) but it was OHHHHH SOOOOOO WOOOOOORTH IIIIIIIIIIIIT. Just having a poster of OFFICIAL artwork of the likes of Mario, Sonic, Mega Man, PAC-Man, Ryu, Cloud Strife, Sephiroth, Banjo and Kazooie, King K. Rool, Mewtwo, STEVE MINECRAFT, FREAKING SORA and SOOOOOOOO many others ALL TOGETHER above my TV just makes my heart so, soooooooooooooo happy. It's like a direct window to my love of gaming and it's definitely my new favorite decoration.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures Volume 11 & 12 (IDW Publishing)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures Volume 13, 14, 15 & 16 (Atomic Empire)

Now we come to what I guess could be considered the "feature presentation" of this post. See, I'm presently on a TMNT kick fueled by a couple recent flat-out AMAZING announcements. One of said announcements got me to thinking that I should REALLY get around to completing my collection of IDW's trade paperback releases of the Archie series, TMNT Adventures. I had picked up Volumes 2 through 10 (since 1 is entirely composed of direct adaptations of Fred Wolf cartoon episodes rather than original stories) back in 2015, but I never got around to picking up the rest. Doing a bit of digging on a couple different online shops, I found that stocks were getting pretty low on a lot of the ones that I needed (particularly Volume 12, which was completely out of new copies on Amazon,) so I decided to order the next two directly from IDW to make sure that I COULD get them. I was originally going to stop there for the time being, but as the Amazon stock was also pretty low on the remaining four Volumes (with fluctuating prices,) I decided to do even MORE digging and found a comic shop that had the rest of the books available to order for cheaper than anywhere else. So yeah, I'm all set to read the rest of this series. I'm particularly looking forward to finally getting to enjoy some Future Turtle Cyber Samurai action and Slash's last few appearances.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles The Movie (VHS)

Power Rangers Super Megaforce: The Complete Season (DVD)

American Dad Volume 5 (DVD)

The Official Ninja Turtle Handbook (Book)

Jakks Pacific Goomba Plush

Funko Black Ranger Plush

Funko Yellow Ranger Plush

Some thrift store spoils from my now-annual post-dentist appointment pilgrimage there. My favorite find is probably the Super Megaforce set since it still included the code for a free digital copy of the entire season. Speaking on the TMNT items, I don't really have easy access to a VCR anymore, but how could I resist a copy of the original film WITH THE BOX??? I mean, c'mon. Also, the entire reason I picked up that Nickelodeon TMNT book was because it had a page on Slash in it. (I have a problem.)

Transformers: Beast Wars Volume 1 (Amazon)

BEAST WARS!!!! Been waiting to add this trade to my shelf for quite a while since I've been loving IDW's BW book ever since it started last year. (Especially some of the new twists brought in related to the new Predacon, Skold.) It's a huge shame that they'll be losing the TF license next year and the book'll be ending at 17 issues. (Figures they'd pull the rug out from under me right after they finally gave me a reason to read Transformers comics.) Oh well, at least it'll have an actual conclusion to the story and they communicated that they were losing it ahead of time unlike some...other dropped licenses of theirs I could mention. *COUGHghostbustersCOUGH*

Mephiles the Dark Plush (Amazon)

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

Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 might not be the best game in the series (to put it lightly,) but I've always loved Shadow's story in it and, by extension, MEPHILES THE DARK. Love the design, love the powers, love the gleefully wicked voice supplied by one of my favorites, Dan Green, just love, love, LOVE him. So, when word first got out that Great Eastern was making the FIRST EVER PLUSH REPRESENTATION OF HIM, OF COURSE I had to make sure I grabbed him! Naturally, I now have him hanging out over my Shadow GE plush. (Now I want to grab the Infinite they put out a year or two back so I can surround Shadow with two guys who canonically hate his guts. 😂)

As for Coco, I've been meaning to add it to my modest Pixar collection since I first saw it in theaters, but I never got around to it. However, when it was added to the DMI catalog, I saw that as the perfect opportunity and a bunch of unredeemed Disney codes I found on that previously-mentioned thrift store trip helped me seal the deal. Now to start saving up for another on my to-buy list! (Especially since they just added like FOUR I've had my eye on to the catalog in the last update.)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Micro-Series Volume 1 & 2 (IDW Publishing)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Villains Micro-Series Volume 1 (IDW Publishing)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Secret History of the Foot Clan (IDW Publishing)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Utrom Empire (IDW Publishing)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Casey & April (IDW Publishing)

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Volume 10, 11 & 12 (IDW Publishing)

My Little Pony/Transformers: Friendship in Disguise (IDW Publishing)

More comics and toitles! Recently, IDW's site ran a Spring Sale that resulted in a TON of their trade paperbacks dropping to like six bucks a pop, so, of course, I went a little nuts and filled pretty much every major hole in my pre-issue 100 IDW TMNT collection. Also grabbed the next couple MLP FIM Volumes I needed and the first part of the historic MLP/Transformers crossover. Needless to say, I got A LOT to read.

Power Rangers X Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Lightning Collection - Foot Soldier Tommy & Morphed Raphael Two-Pack (Gamestop)

Power Rangers X Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Lightning Collection - Morphed Donatello & Morphed Leonardo Two-Pack (Gamestop)

Power Rangers X Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Lightning Collection - Morphed April O'Neil & Morphed Michelangelo Two-Pack (Gamestop)

Can you say "MORE TURTLES?!" OF COURSE you can! Originally pre-ordered these guys from Gamestop, but they randomly decided to cancel my order like four months later. Then I pre-ordered them at Dorkside Toys, but their policy of waiting until every item in your order is in-stock before shipping them made me unsure of when and if they WOULD ship. (Especially since they got in the Raph set, but it quickly went out of stock before the listing for it disappeared altogether without explanation.) So, I cancelled my Dorkside order and who should have them in-stock and ready to ship but GAMESTOP. It was a real full-circle kinda moment in the most exceedingly stupid way possible. But it's over! I got my Turts!

Anyway, I spent so much time on the ridiculous process I went through ordering these guys that I still haven't actually talked about them! THEY'RE NINJA TURTLES MORPHED INTO POWER RANGERS AND THAT'S AMAZING. Based on the comic book crossover from a couple years back, Hasbro has done a fantastic job of capturing each Turtle's (and April's) Ranger form in plastic. One of my favorite aspects of the Turtle Ranger designs from the comic were the custom versions of the Power Weapons based on each Turtle's signature weapon and I'm happy to report that they look EVEN COOLER in toy form. (Especially the Power Sais.) Throw in the optional unhelmeted Turtle/April heads, the Foot Soldier Tommy who can either specifically represent that part of the comic or just be a general super-articulated Foot Soldier for your collection (my preference) and all the different hand and effect parts and such and you've got three must-have sets for fans of both TMNT and Power Rangers. The comic was already an extremely nerdy dream come true and these figures have easily TRANSCENDED IT. Definitely a fitting choice for my only complete Lightning Collection team.

However, those of you who've read the comic and/or originally found out about these figures when they were first announced may have noticed something...or someone missing from my haul. Stay tuned for the next post. 🐲🥷

Sonic the Hedgehog Archives Volume 13 (Amazon)

Finally, we have yet another hole-filler for my comic collection. I've previously mentioned that Sonic Archives 13 was ridiculously expensive on the secondhand market. (Presumably owing to both it being out-of-print as well as the major point in the comic's story that it collected.) I honestly thought that it was just one of those books that I outright missed out on altogether, but as I was browsing Amazon a little while ago, I noticed ONE decently-priced used copy had popped up on the original listing. Needless to say, I jumped on it ASAP. It's only acceptable condition with a good amount of wear on the spine, but it's still perfectly readable and looks great lined up on the shelf next to Volumes 0 through 12, 14, 15 and 16. Now I just need to get 17 for a good price and I'll have almost every main Archie Sonic issue in some form!

That's all for now, but I'll see ya'll next time. Heading back to OMGcon in June after a decent-sized pandemic delay, so that's probably when you'll hear from me next. Until then!

The Christmas Fallout: 2021!

Might've been a little late this year, but I finally finished my merry-making yesterday and ended up with a gut full of various Chicken dishes and a fresh pile of loot by the end. Hope ya'll were able to have a fun one this season, too. 

Now then, on to the business at hand! This is the annual Fallout post where I share my holiday haul with you guys and you can also shout out your own blessings in the comments below. We've been doing this whole shebang for four years now and it's one of my personal favorite blog traditions, so let's get 2021 wrapped (pun intended) up before next year comes a calling!

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (PS4)

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (Blu-ray Combo)

Venom 2-Movie Collection (Blu-ray)

$20 Nintendo eShop Card

Nintendo Switch Online 12-Month Individual Membership Card

Fire Mario Plush

Rolos and Reese's Trees

Spicy Slim Jims

First comes the stocking! A nice selection of the usual goodies I love to see filling it (movies, eShop cash, candy, toys) along with a surprise or two. Didn't think I'd be getting the GOTG game THIS year, but hearing all the positive buzz around it (and also that it apparently plays a bit like FFVII Remake) makes me very eager to give it a roll soon. I have also already nearly emptied that box of Slim Jims. (I usually go for the Mild ones, so I'd forgotten how friggin' ADDICTIVE the Spicy ones are.)

Sonic Colors: Ultimate Launch Edition (Switch)

Mario Party Superstars 

Metroid Dread

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond 

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl (Switch)

Pretty varied selection of games this year as far as genres go. We've got a remake of a Wii platformer, a party game celebrating the past, the first completely original 2D Metroid in over a decade, a platform fighter where you can make Garfield battle Ren and Stimpy, and another remake, this time of a DS RPG. Very much looking forward to digging into it all (ESPECIALLY Dread) once I'm finished with the Phantom Thieves' road trip.

Pokémon: Black and White The Complete Season

Sonic Boom The Complete Season 1 (Blu-ray)

Sonic Boom The Complete Season 2 (Blu-ray)

Gotta love some physical media!

Since they recently capped off the DP seasons, the Pokémon DVD sets have begun heading into Unova. Always fun to move on to a whole new arc in my ongoing rewatch of the anime and this one in particular should prove to be an interesting one under fresh eyes. (Especially given the DP elements that return in later Unova seasons that I can now fully appreciate.)

Plus, since it's Sonic's 30th Anniversary and he's got a new cartoon coming to Netflix next year, I figured it was the perfect time to finally add his last (hilarious) televised exploit, Sonic Boom, to my shelf. (Especially since NCircle decided to put it on Blu-ray, which is an unfortunate rarity among modern cartoon releases.)

Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 7: All or Nothing

Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 8: Out of the Blue

Sonic the Hedgehog 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition 

Sonic the Hedgehog: Bad Guys

Speaking of Sonic, here's my yearly dose of his awesome IDW comic series. Accompanying the conclusion of the Metal Virus Saga from a while back are a mini-series starring a few of the major non-Eggman antagonists from the run as well as a special one-shot celebrating the 30th Anniversary with a collection of Classic Universe stories. (Particularly itching to dig into that last one, as the art I've seen from it looks fantastic.)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles The IDW Collection Volume 13

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Necessary Evil Part 1 Deluxe Edition 

Sonic the Hedgehog Encyclo-speed-ia 

More Sonic AND comics! TMNT's 13th collection caps off the first 100 issues of the IDW ongoing while Part 1 of MMPR's Necessary Evil finally picks back up with the original Rangers after the events of Shattered Grid. The Sonic book is pretty special, though. Written by Ian Flynn, writer of most Sonic comics in recent memory (as well as the upcoming Sonic Frontiers, much to my delight), the Encyclo-speed-ia provides very comprehensive coverage of pretty much every Sonic game. (Including titles like Knuckles Chaotix, Sonic Labyrinth, Tails Adventure, Waku Waku Sonic Patrol Car, and almost everything in between!) Each game's story, characters, enemies, stages, and whatnot are all touched upon and there's also a nice amount of artwork and trivia for good measure, all wrapped together in a package oozing with the usual wit and personality that Ian's writing exudes. There's even a WHOLE SECTION dedicated to the Sonic franchise stuff in Smash Bros! (Which even includes a joke about the infamous Melee rumors.) Needless to say, if you love Sonic, this is a great book to add to your collection. I can't wait to absorb every single tidbit from it in the new year.

SpongeBob Shirt

Super Mario Shirt

Some cool nerd shirts! The SpongeBob one was especially nice to see because I previously only owned one garment tribute to Sponge and his crew.

Geno Sprite Standee

Disney Classic Games Collection (Switch)

My Sister's family knocked it out of the park with my gifts this year, as not only did they get me a collection of classic 16-bit Disney games on Switch (which even included a physical manual for my favorite of the included games, the SNES version of Aladdin), but they also ordered me that AWESOME custom Geno standee! I've NEVER had any Geno representation for my shelf before (as all of the OFFICIAL merch is super rare and expensive old import stuff), so this makes the Super Mario RPG fanboy part of me EXTREMELY happy. Just seeing that standee next to my Paper Jam papercrafts makes me smile harder and harder every time.

$35 Nintendo eShop Card

As usual, my fave Cousin got me some eShop cash. Used it along with the card from my stocking to catch up on Power Rangers Battle for the Grid's DLC as well as to snag the Digital Deluxe goodies for Colors Ultimate.

$50 Amazon Gift Card

SpongeBob Comics Treasure Chest

Headphones

Last but certainly not least, the family friends who usually drop by around the holidays flat out spoiled me with Amazon cash, SpongeBob Comics, and spare headphones. Pooling the Amazon card together with the usual $50 my Grandma gave me for Christmas allowed me to order a few things (which I'll elaborate on in a future post) as well as snag the new Yu-Gi-Oh! game on the eShop. (Excited to learn the ways of the Rush Duel!)

Thus ends Christmas 2021 a week later as well as 2021 as a whole. Wishing everyone all the best in the new year!

Hauls: How the Phantom Thieves Stole Black Friday

Time to squeeze in one last tiny haul post before the annual Christmas one! (Which probably won't be posted until New Year's Eve, as my family are celebrating on the 30th this year because reasons.) I was originally awaiting something specific that was SAID to be coming in December, but I think at this point, we can safely say that it's not happening. You'll see what I've been eluding to posted here eventually, though. 🦈📦

Anyway, I probably wouldn't have even ended up making this post if not for Gamestop's great Black Friday sale this year. Not only were a lot of games discounted, but they were also running a "Buy Two, Get One Free" promotion at the same time, meaning it was the perfect chance to finally snatch up some titles I've had my eye on for a while:

New Super Lucky's Tale (Switch) (Gamestop)

Persona 5 Royal (Gamestop)

Persona 5 Strikers (Switch) (Gamestop)

The Phantom Thieves of Hearts have arrived! When Joker joined Smash Ultimate, I became pretty curious about him and the ensemble cast that supported him. So, eventually, I checked out the English dub of the anime and quite enjoyed it! I loved the entire cast, the concept of a group of abused misfits coming together to become heroes for societal reform, the music (Dark Sun. Nuff said.), and just the sheer style of everything. It was just so, SO freakin' cool. So, of course, I had to own the definitive version of the original game! Already Platted it, too! Even though I already knew the general plot from watching the anime, I was still completely sucked in by the unique RPG/life sim mix, all the different little mechanics thrown into every nook and cranny, the Confidant side plots that were largely ignored in the anime, and of course, the extra content exclusive to Royal. If you love RPGs and stories with really fleshed out, extremely likeable characters, get this game STAT. (It's still just 25 bucks on Gamestop's website! That's a STEAL for this much content!)

However, even though Royal was easily the main event, I couldn't pass up another Phantom Thieves adventure even in a different, Musou-style package, so the Strikers spin-off that released earlier this year became my second game of the deal. Rounding things out is New Super Lucky's Tale, a cute, polished little platformer I've been interested in since Nintendo showcased it at their 2019 E3 Treehouse stream. Altogether, I got everything for just a little over the full price of Royal or Strikers by themselves. Not too shabby. 

I hope you all have an amazing holiday weekend! Since my celebrations are going to be a bit late this year, I'm likely going to spend it watching the new Disney and Doraemon movies hitting the various streaming platforms on Friday. See you on the other side next week! 🎅🎄

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! 🦃🎄