A Huge Personal Setback.

You may have noticed that there has been a slight slowdown here at the House of Rants. Sadly, my personal life has hit a rather huge setback between work, dealing with my mom's issue and this has reduced my ranting time. It's not easy, I am hoping for the best, but during the time being I will be ranting a little bit less frequently. Not by choice, but out of necessity. The first section that will take a hit will be the It Came From the Toy Chest reviews. For reasons outside my control, my Toy Budget will be redirected to other things higher in the Totem Pole of Priorities. I will finish the 2015 sub, but most likely not buy the Out of Sub Items, meaning Thong Hssss and Point Dread. This will stop my Black Friday shopping and will have to see what I'll do for 2016.

I had to cancel my preorders for the MOTU Halloween Swords and the Mini comic Anthology book.

I'm not posting this to get people to feel bad or for pity. I am simply pointing out why my Activity here has decreased a bit and why it will decrease for a little while longer.

Transparency and the Neitlich-less goof ups!

We still don't know how much Point Dread will cost... We still don't know when or how much the Filmation Sub Line will cost. We still don't know how much Euro Vacation Hssss will cost. Mattel pretty much deleted all complaints about Point Dread and Teela from their forums.

Transparency... Now means complete silence. Arm Wrestling with Megabeast seems easier than prying info from Mattel. Thing is we're not even trying to get some top secret info. We want to know how much will Point Dread (coming in October or November... I think November, but some rumors are pointing to an Earlier October Release) cost. People want to GIVE MONEY TO MATTEL for an item that was announced to come and the fwoosh! even has a review sample of it!

Why the Secrecy!? We know the item is coming either in a few weeks or a month. They surely have a price point but decided to keep it secret for reasons unknown...

Maybe it has to do with the backlash they received? Now I wonder, why wasn't Teela shown at SDCC? They had Point Dread there...

Probably because they messed up and did not want to tell us about it especially after the whole Attack on Neitlich slideshow...

Products are not Cheap/Sub-Par/Compromised... Point Dread and Teela beg to differ.
But that's not the only goof they have done so far... Rotar and Twistoid were NOT in Early Access

yet, Mattel claimed that SDCC Items were not meant to be EA Candidates...

 Just leaving that pic there... for no reason at all. Ignore the Highlighted text that promoted the 200X sub with the reward of being able to buy SDCC items via Early Access if you subscribed.

Add the Major case of Derpeye on the female figures to the mix and you see a rather unfortunate record of boners in 9 months... Made Worse with the 3 months of boners ever since SDCC and their Attack the Neitlch slideshow. Now there are rumors of International Fans not being able to get the upcoming Laser 2 pack. The hits keep piling up and this may damage the chances for Future subs...
What if the Actual He-Man and the Masters of the Universe end up looking as bad as PD Teela, but people find out AFTER they have subbed? 2017 will not look good...

Standing with Ahmed?

Yes, the Kid who disassembled a digital clock and put it inside a briefcase shaped pencil case who was detained by the police after a Teacher reported that said clock kinda looked like a bomb.

Here's the thing: People have jumped on the racism bandwagon pretty fast. They forget one thing:
Remember the Pop Tart Gun?

Gun Fingers kid?

The Tsarnaev brothers and their Pressure Cooker Bombs on Boston?

Nine Eleven?

Ever since that fateful day in 2001, the US has been a bit edgy, which is understandable. I have to admit that the Pop Tart gun or the Gun fingers kid are a bit ridiculous. Due to real dangerous events like the Boston Marathon Bombing, 9/11/2001, Sandy Hook, etc. the schools have been forced to enforce some laws that seem ridiculous.




Now we bring the Attaché case clock. whether or not it is a bomb is now irrelevant. We live in an era where pointing gun fingers at some kid means suspension. To have a kid disassemble a clock and attach it to a pencil case that coincidentally makes it look like a bomb is a bit fishy.

Why choose a Brief Case looking case to put it in? Why not choose something that looked less like a 1980s movie Bomb, like, i don't know attaching the clock guts to a wooden panel?

The Kid is 14... He has been called names due to his name and religion. (This is wrong and it shouldn't happen) but being so oblivious to not know that people would react badly to a Briefcase shaped clock with wires and bits dangling about? Especially, knowing that he had been called names due to him being Muslim and the last few years of Terrorist acts that had been perpetrated by people who happened to be Muslims as well. Is it racist to think that all Muslims are terrorists, yes. What we cannot deny is that recent terrorist attacks have been made by people who have been identified as Muslim. To me this reeks of a stunt to get a reaction. Similar to how Simon Gruber forced McLane to wear the infamous sign on Die Hard 3.

The House of Rants staff does not agree with the words
on the Sandwich board sign from Die Hard 3.

Yeah... I mean it's not like his father has tried to become President of Sudan or anything... Oh wait! He has! Supposedly, Ahmed is no stranger to controversy, according to one of his teachers. He has supposedly tinkered with Electronics to prank teachers or help them. (A remote to interfere with a projector, or making a MacGyver Cellphone charger)

According to the Dallas Morning News (archived link)

The teacher remembered talking about the Islamic State and other terrorist groups, agreeing with Ahmed that they twisted Muslim scripture to control ignorant people.
“I said, ‘Don’t they read their own Quran?’ Kubiak recalled. “He said, ‘A lot of folks don’t.’”

The child was aware of Terrorists who are Muslim and how they pervert their religion to justify their ends. The kid also blames Islamophobia for bullying by students and staff.

Let's rewind here. A 14 year old kid, who has been known to be some sort of prankster; who is aware of Muslim Terrorists and how America reacts to possible Terrorist threats decides to put a clock inside a briefcase shaped pencil case and did not expect people to think it was some sort of bomb!? It looks like it was a stunt to "point out bigotry against Muslims". This also could be some sort of Hoax Bomb, which are illegal in Texas.

Point is, I disagree with the harassment he claims he's gotten. I do not agree that his behavior should be rewarded. If he simply disassembled a clock and attached it to a pencil case, he invented nothing. Doing it despite being called "Terrorist" by other classmates was looking for trouble. He is old enough to have known that it could have been misinterpreted. Heck! One of his teachers told him that

He showed it to his engineering teacher first thing Monday morning and didn’t get quite the reaction he’d hoped for.
“He was like, ‘That’s really nice,’” Ahmed said. “‘I would advise you not to show any other teachers.’”

To me it looks like he was looking for trouble. The School did the right thing. To err on the side of caution. If it had truly been a bomb, the school would have been praised. Instead, it's gathering hate like Pop Tart Kid's or Gun Fingers Kid's because it was not a bomb.

I cannot stand with him, because this seems to be manufactured to incite something. the shame is that kids are being used by manipulative adults.

a quiet rant...

Sniper, Silent assassin, Super Powered Mutant Freak who pisses off Sock Juice Whiners because she wears skimpy clothes and has big boobs.


We know that the SJWs were angry about the action figure, because of her softer breasts to help with poses.

Now after playing the game, I still think they are a bunch of perennially offended crybabies that need to shut the Hell up! Slut-shaming a Fictional Character... Ridiculous! Wanting to stifle creativity because "it offends them" is ludicrous!

They are overreacting NOW!? About a character from a Hideo Kojima game!? The Same Hideo that is extremely subtle and does not beat you his message with a blunt instrument!?

Quiet has Fan Service written all over her. She is not the first fan-service-y character in the series. Ever since 1998's MGS we've had some fan service... Meryl's Nipples poking through her top and the scenes of her in her panties. Sniper Wolf to a small point. Then Came VR Missions with Naomi Panties! We get to MGS2 and we have EE who is basically covering the Little Sister fetish and Meganekko all in one. We can't forget Jennifer on the Big Shell!


We have EVA on Snake Eater and the whole B&B corps. from MGS4. Not forgetting Naomi's return and Rose's magical Six Axis boob jiggle!

BTW...

Can't forget PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZ!!!
Then there is also Cécile... to complete the Peace Walker combo... wait, does Strangelove being... a lesbian count?

All of these ladies had some pantyshot or some sort of Fan Service-y action related to them. Quiet is no different. Her lack of clothing has a somewhat silly reason to exist, but is not as far-fetched as...

Liquid Snake's talking arm! Parasites on her skin acting as lungs is nothing compared to Demonic Possession by an Arm... Sure in the end it was nanomachines, therapy and a buttload of acting, but Hideo did throw the Psychic Medium angle at us for a few years.

Quiet is mostly naked due to her "condition" after the Prologue. She's making the most of it. She could be 100% naked, but that could have brought up an Adults Only rating, due to the US having a slightly more puritanical approach to nudity. Then again, the Pin-up poses and coquette playfulness could be cataloged as porn if she was fully naked.



Now this scene is "offensive" because it "infantilizes" Quiet... or so they say. While, yes, Quiet is behaving in a child-like manner playing in the rain, she also coaxes Big Boss to play in the rain like a child as well. She is trying to bring the Humanity back to Big Boss in her own way, trying to stop him from becoming a full monster. Then we have the whole Quiet falling in love with Snake... There is a long list of people falling in love with the Legend of Big Boss and Solid Snake.
EVA, Paz, Quiet for Big Boss. (Not too sure about Cecile though) then we had Meryl and Mei Ling falling for Snake. Raiden was a Solid Snake fanboy while Ocelot was a Big Boss fanboy... a theme that has been repeated for some time on the Franchise's story... Come to think of it REPETITION is a main theme throughout the saga. Back to Quiet. Her design is meant to be sexy and kind of arousing to straight men, lesbians (depends on the person and if they can get aroused by virtual characters) and cosplayers.

Is this video empowering or misogynistic?

Beyond her Outfit and somewhat flimsy justification, Quiet is a LOT MORE than a cute girl with big boobs in a Bikini. She becomes a reliable ally during her tenure in the game. She seems to leave the game for a reason not mentioned because Spoilers (and haven't completed it). This caused a petition to Konami to bring her back, whether by a patch or DLC.

Isn't it funny that the people who want "equality" are the first ones to demonize stuff they don't like?

videogame Voice Actors may go on Strike...

Troy Baker, John DiMaggio, Tara Strong, Cree Summer, Jennifer Hale, Cam Clarke... Do any of those names ring a bell? All of them are Voice Actors who have done voices in popular videogame series... They also do Cartoons... Well, the Union may go on strike.

This is what they want:

This is what they're fighting against:

You know what, I am kinda siding with the Voice Actors here. Their job is a REALLY HARD JOB TO DO. It gets no respect especially when you have asshats like Chris Rock dissing the job "for comedy".


People saying screw them, don't see how bad this will be if the good Voice Actors are skipped over because they want to protect themselves while working.


Bad voice Acting...

Or we could have celebrities being themselves and get a buttload of money... Like Chris Rock "joked" about.

I now kinda understand One More Day...

But Joe Quesada is still a douche. I'm currently going through a REALLY rough patch that made me realize Peter's reasoning for accepting the deal with the Devil is something that ANYONE would do in that situation... A son willing to sacrifice himself for his mother... (I know that she's his Aunt, but she's like a mother to him.) It's somewhat relatable if one ignores the superpowers and the literal deal with the Devil.

While the situation of having a mother figure in a delicate health condition and the son figure feeling powerless to help, can create a moving story; the problem is that it's Aunt May... She has died once already and had so many close encounters with Death to have it as a Friend on Facebook.

It's not Peter's soul that Mephisto wants, so making a deal ALMOST seems OK... I guess that's the angle Quesada was going for. I still believe it's a stupid move, because of the whole Divorce Evil, Deals with the Devil Good mentality from JoeQ.

It's funny what the mind can do when one is going through a really stressful situation. I still can't believe that I'm saying something somewhat positive about OMD.

The Twiggets of Etheria rant.

The Twiggets, they're like wood... uh, sprites... of Etheria? I don't want to call them Etherian non-furry Ewoks, but it kinda works too!

Mattel says and a I quote their answer from a recent He-Man.org Q&A

3. Penny Dreadful: Will you ever release the three main Twiggets from the She-Ra cartoon, perhaps as a 3-pack? They were in almost every episode. If you make them, I'll totally buy you ice cream sandwiches at Power-Con next year. Thanks!

Maybe! That's a tough request but would make a great 3-pack.

That's a TOUGH Request!? TOUGH REQUEST!? From a Tooling standpoint is the only way this request is tough. Otherwise, they're kinda easy to do. Mattel has worked making mostly articulated 3 3/4" figures before... Twiggets are close to that, but on a 7" articulated line. The FourHorsemen CAN MAKE 3 3/4" figures.

Why are these cartoony vertically impaired tree people so important to the lore?

Let's start with She-Ra's intro, shall we? Would you look at that? Next to Queen Angella we have a Twigget!

They're on the Freaking Intro, so in a way they ARE ON EVERY FREAKING EPISODE!!

Not only that, but if we ignore the intro, they appear in MANY Episodes, seeing that the Great Rebellion shares a home with THEIR Habitat, the Whispering Woods. Come to think of it, the Rebellion are basically GUESTS at the Twiggets' home. So that kinda makes up the main reasons to have them... Now the question is where?

The answer's simple: Masters of the Universe Classics: Collector's Choice, of course!
The Filmation Sub-Line is called He-Man and the Masters of the Universe... Which limits a lot of the characters that can be made there... Also, after looking at a lot of twigget pics, We don't need them in that underdetailed style. They seem to have more detail than meets the eye...

As we can see on this pic and the notes attached, the clothes have some added detail that varies from scene to scene and in episodes. Going the pure plain green kinda cloth clothes would defeat the uniqueness that the Twiggets have.

For Sprocker's somewhat furry Clothing I am proposing Flock for his tunic and pants. While I'm not a fan of Flocking, it would suit him. It helps sell the plant motif that they have and Sprocker being the hairy one, well, deserves becoming the "hairy plant".

Spragg and Spritina's leafy clothing can be made in plastic with no gimmicks like flocking.

Articulationwise, Spragg and Spritina should be as close to the same articulation as normal figures. Sprocker COULD Lose some leg articulation, due to his specific shape. (OK, now I'm interested in a Sprocker that can pull off a JCVD split)

I know this is stating the obvious. But we NEED these guys and gal in MOTUC. Without them the Rebellion is not complete. Besides, they could also toss in 3 Generic Heads with them so we can kind of Army build Twiggets by buying a second set. Toss in some Sword to... Accessories and people will buy them... Heck toss in a transformed Imp and people will still bite.

Ernie Hudson has no dignity... but Disney is doing something good!

He was in Congo and on the Miss Congeniality movies... but the little dignity he had after that has been flushed down the drain. Ernie Hudson will make a cameo in Paul Feig's Ghostbusters with a vagina gimmick.

It's official: The Remaining 3 living Ghostbusters are sellouts. I know that Hudson had already caved in to pressure after he did admit that the remake was a bad idea, especially a genderbent one... Appearing as a cameo in this thing is betraying the fans of the Original.

This remake is not respectful of the movies that inspired it. The Director is not respectful of the movie he had to direct.

It grinds my gears that the Real Ghostbusters are OK with this gimmicky abomination. This is not a somewhat respectful tribute like The A-Team. (Where the Cameos of Dirk Benedict and Dwight Schultz were welcome... and even if Mr. T disagreed to appear, at least he stuck to his convictions.)


The Force is strong with the Mouse. So strong that they're releasing the Theatrical Cuts of the Original Trilogy...

No more Wesa Free!


No Greedo shooting first!


The Trilogy as us old farts remember it!!

odds and ends 9/17/15

Clara is finally leaving The Doctor... Jenna Louise Coleman is leaving Doctor Who... Now if only she could take Moffat with her. I'm not to sure how I should feel about this. I don't like Clara that much to begin with, but New Companions!! And The Doctor Returning...


Gamestop is flipping the bird at Console Digital Bundles. This is of course to protect their revenue stream with Physical Copy resales, but they ARE Correct in a way. A Physical Copy in a Console Bundle is better than a Digital one.
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is roughly 21 GB

So, picture this: You get a Bundle with a Digital game and you have a rather slow Internet Connection. Try downloading 21 GB worth of data on that connection...
OK so it took you more than a day and then the added patches.

So ASSCreed4 is 21 GB, then Battlefield 4 is almost 34 GB, Injustice is 22 GB, Call of Duty Ghosts is 31GB and your PS4 hard drive is 500GB.You've spent roughly 108GB out of your less than 500GB available in 4 games.(I'm assuming the PS4 uses some of that HD space for other stuff) That's not counting the additional patches that could eat up more space and the save data for those games. With Physical copies, the burden on the system is reduced.

That's why I agree to an extent with Gamestop's stance.


Jesse Eisenberg is trying hard to sell us Batman: Justice League Prep Time... I think Not so Superman is in it, cause I saw him in the trailer. Of course, Jesse Eisenberg makes it sound even more pretentious... and One MORE THING... He forgets that Zack Snyder is directing and he sucks at understanding Superman... Also... Eisenberg is responsible for this:

Final Fantasy Record Keeper rant

I have been playing Final Fantasy Record Keeper on my phone for some time... Or I should say HAD, because I stopped playing it for roughly a week. (This has nothing to do with The Phantom Pain, because I cannot play TPP during break time at work.) The game stopped being fun...

Why did this happen?

I think I may know the answer, but for those of you who are not aware, Final Fantasy: Record Keeper is a free to play game available for iOS and Android. You are basically a record keeper tasked to reassemble events from the various Final Fantasy Games (The Numerical ones)

Problem is that since this is a PHONE Game, it LIMITS YOU from playing the game how you WANT TO, but are forced to have "cooling off periods" to "recover your Stamina" to play. If you want to keep on playing Pay Real Money to regain stamina. Also one more thing. Depending on which "Realm" you decide to restore, the Stamina Prices are different. Missions in VII may be a lot less taxing than missions on III.
Sure you can have a cast of characters from ALL Numeric FF games on the game... Like Terra, Lightning, Rinoa, Cecil and Cloud on one team while fighting off Sin.

I used to play the game as much as it allowed me to, especially the events to unlock characters like Golbez or Sephiroth... (OK I had already stopped when the Golbez event started, but he was unlockable via event.) but I couldn't play it as much as I WANTED TO.

In the end, the whole ordeal became a daily grind... play normal levels until an event started. Play Event, back to normal... just to get hyper abridged bits of the games I was "restoring". It's not a bad game, but it has very little story, for a game that is an anthology of 13 games, the story department is lacking.

It's not a bad game, but it's pretty much grinding, more grinding, and even more grinding that do not yield too many rewards.

Pilot Teela Screw Up... Solution was too obvious that Mattel didn't think about it.

That's why the Design team can't see why kids love Cinnamon Toast Crunch!
I'm not going to talk about the Head goof up... I'm going to address the Dress:
The issue about her Body Suit looking all messed up had an easier solution staring at us right in the face. No it's not the Battleground Teela idea I posted last time. The Route that they should have taken comes right after the jump!

Point Dread: the gift that keeps on giving...

Yesterday, I rambled about Teela being damn ugly... Today...

You can see some better pics at He-Man.org but, I swiped one of their pics to make my point:

Honey, Matty Shrunk Down Point Dread!

It's not simply the added wall to the top part of the playset for support... It's the size of it.  On the Prototype He-Man AND Teela fit in comfortably inside the lower part... Now they TOWER OVER THE LOWER PART and can go in only one at a time.
The figure inside can look through the window outside...

Point Dread has become the Castle Grayskull Latrine.
Or a bit better for Vintage Figures and not MOTUC.



On a positive note: Love the sword and shield... not to mention the Talon Fighter, which is now the Only Reason to buy this Teela... This better not cost over $170 shipped...

He-Man needs the Origin story in the movie...

Some writer at Forbes, thinks that we don't need an Origin Story for He-Man. I could take the low brow route and call him an idiot that looks like the Creepy Uncle Stereotype...  Luckily for him I will not, because that would be ad hominem and not attacking the argument. (That would be the SJW move.) My issue with him is that in his articles he often misses, like in this case, but in other cases he hits it... Like the one time he actually complained about the Bat-Shaped Crutch; but you know what they say about broken clocks.
What bothers me is how these Opinion Pieces are taking as fact... Journalism Ethics are not needed...

 No, I will not link to the article in question, because I don't want to give hits to that nincompoop. OK, so I called him a nincompoop... but I needed some release, because his stupidity on that opinion piece pisses me off so badly. Saying that the Justin Marks script was loved by everyone is a sure sign that we're dealing with a special kind of writer here.

Here's the thing: Hardcore He-Man fans know the origin. Or Origins depending on which continuity we have the movie. Hell, we don't know if the movie will CHANGE the Origin.

The Origin is NEEDED because John or Jane Q. Public are very likely to NOT KNOW what He-Man is aside a perennial Gay Joke


The Origin is needed, but he is right in one point: The Entire Movie DOES NOT NEED to be the Origin Story. That would be the movie's first act. Then Act 2 is He-Man beginning to become the Hero he is meant to be and the Final Act of the movie is ONE FINAL Showdown between He-Man and Skeletor until the sequel.

He claims that the Keldor Angle is not necessarily needed, but it IS kind of needed in order to make Skeletor a three dimensional character and not a 2D Villain.
Also, it's not a good thing to start a He-Man movie right in the middle of it and have a small narration setting us up to what we're about to see...


Because Last time it worked so well!

Filmation Teela was officially revealed at Grayskull Con...

My reaction to seeing her.

Only one word can describe her, but A Picture is worth a thousand words.

Teela has now beaten Frosta and Double Trouble on the Ugliest Female MOTUC Figure Contest...

How Ugly is this Teela? Pics after the jump.

Trigger Warning:
Keep Large Plastic bags on a container next to you in case you need to throw up... This will get ugly... and I'm talking Tommy Wiseau's naked ass levels of Ugly...
Hell, I think this matches Toy Biz Scarlet Witch and X-Men Legends Rogue levels of ugly...

Any way DO THE MARIO! 

A Shapeways MOTU Cinematic Tribute!

Another Shapeways sale happened where shipping was free for orders over $35... I caved in and got a few MOTU Items... All of them have appeared in a movie.

I'll start with Blade's well, Blades! We know that the Horsemen kinda messed up Blade's swords... Or at least the Movie Sword. They used a Highlander pic as reference and the sculpt wasn't as accurate. Luckily der Waffenmeister has us covered.

 They are slightly shorter than the Mattel Sword, so Blade can Bend his legs without the sword blocking his articulation. I must warn thee: The handle is still a bit thick.













The next Set of Items is a pair of Swords made by Evil Mike.

Where are they? Where are your friends now?
Tell me about the loneliness of good, He-Man.
 Is it equal to the loneliness of evil?

Once Again, The fans do what Mattel Won't... or Can't!
Swords based on the 1987 Movie for He-Man and Skeletor... Mike has a Havoc Staff as well...

The incredible thing is how well these blades fit the Toy Inspired Classics Figures. (Sure I may be cheating a bit by using a Spare Carnivus Cape on He-Man to make him more Dolph-Like.)

I am almost tempted to get a second set of these just to paint them in a more Toy Inspired Palette.






The next Item is not from the 1987 Movie, but the 1985 movie: The Secret of The Sword.

The Horde Blaster Gun held by Adora. It's not 100% Filmation Accurate because a Square Gun Grip could damage Adora's hands. Speaking of Grips and Damage BE SUPER DUPER CAREFUL!!
The Front Grip can be a bit troublesome and it's FRAGILE. There is some potential of breakage.

Also, the gun is made to be held with the left hand on the Trigger and the Right Hand on the front grip.
Other than that, DJ Force knocked it out of the park! I did take some liberties with the coloring, but that's just me.

Every time the fans do these Amazing Pieces, you get to expand MOTUC and in some cases Improve upon the toys.
We get cool additions, from movies, cartoons, even some brand new original things (like the Cool Horde Leader Sword crafted by Evil Mike based on a design by Chris S. and Yours Truly... Yeah, I'll keep promoting that sexy trident of doom!!)

From getting custom weapons to heads and I've seen FIGURES made via 3D Printing... This never ceases to Amaze me!!

Zack Snyder has the hurt in the butt!

Zack Snyder... Director of only 2 decent movies, a Rehash of a George Romero film, and a bunch of movies with a lukewarm reception... Especially Man of Steel... That movie IS very controversial. Well, Zacky-boy has some words about the Batffleck sequel:

He basically says that Batman and Superman are not your average Superhero flicks because they are Batman and Superman. He also calls Ant-Man a "Flavor of the Week"...

not to be mean, but whatever it is. What is the next Blank-Man?

Here's the thing Zacky poo!  Warner Brothers and DC Comics have had ONE HELL OF A TIME  in trying to make DC Superhero movies. Heck! Last two times they tried to make a SUPERMAN Movie they had not achieved a Real success... Singer's Superman Returns made DC shelf Superman until they gave it to a hot shot director that managed an OK Watchmen movie. That guy misunderstood what made Superman, well, Superman and decided to Christopher Nolan-ize Superman... Mostly because Christopher Nolan made 2.5 Decent Batman Movies with Christian "Rabid Dog Bat-Voice" Bale. Nolan had to come in after Batman was shelved for quite some time...


DC had a Fluke with Watchmen, but other Non-Batman or Superman movies weren't that well received... Jonah Hex? Green Lantern, anyone? The same Green Lantern that almost ended up being a Jack Black Movie? NOW, after Marvel was able to bring Ironman, Captain America, Thor, and an Avengers movie, it's when DC tries to bring the Justice League. Zacky-Poo's comments about the next blank-man reek of butt-hurt. He struggled to bring THE ICONIC Superhero to the big screen, meanwhile, Marvel made an Ant-Man movie and a Guardians of the Galaxy movie... FREAKING GotG! with a Tree and a talking Raccoon... DC has, Mopey Superman and now Mopey Batman... We recently had Jason Momoa trying to sell us Underwater Khal Drogo. It all reeks of desperation...


Batman and Superman ARE Iconic, but they have been overdone and not all recent versions have been that great. We need to get an explanation on what makes Batman tick!?

This sums it all up!

Superman is supposed to be the ANTI-BATMAN, but Snyder is trying to Outbatman, uh BATMAN!! This is why he'll fail, (and why MOS 2 was shelved and Batffleck got more movies coming out... The Bat shaped Crutch...) Snyder's comments seem like the rants of a petulant child who isn't getting his way...

Odds and ends Sept. 9, 2015: Quiet can be deadly and Marvel is still afraid of SJW BS.

Hulk is now Asian... Banner's "Curse" will be on Amadeus Cho's shoulders and he's going to be OK with it... It'll be like a feather on his shoulder, says the piece... Another Established character replaced by a minority... because Social Justice... Marvel, you're going to run yourself into the ground... Now, while it bugs me that an established character is going to be replaced by a minority to appease the Sock Juice Whiners, the thing that bugs me the most is that "This Hulk will carry the burden of being the Hulk like if it weighs a feather." This shows me that this new team doesn't understand The Hulk.

The Hulk's biggest issue, or at least Banner's issue is that he needs to find a way to control the raging Spirit that Dwells within him... Since that won't be an issue for Cho, then where's the struggle that makes the character so appealing. Hulk smash! is fun for the action scenes, but the real action is how Banner deals with being a freaking Time Bomb that ANYTHING could set him off on a rampage. Then not mentioning how psychologically damaged Banner is and his multiple Hulk Personas can be.

Quiet can mess up your save files, yo! If you bring Quiet as a Mission Buddy to Missions 29: Metallic Archaea or 42: Metallic Archaea (Extreme) your save files can become unusable. some strategy sites say bring Quiet, DON'T! Do you wanna risk losing the save file and have to start over?

Jay Garrick is in Season 2 of Flash!! Helmet wasn't simply an Easter Egg...

Holy crap!!

It Came from the Toy chest: Quit while you're ahead... or six

The following It Came from the Toy Chest is an awkward one because it's "Too Morbid" and it's the 200X Sub Accessory (head) pack: Clawful, Grizzlor, Roboto, Snout Spout, Buzz Off, and Sy-Klone are all getting Updates in the Head Area!! Will I use these new heads, or will I stick to Vintage?
Of course I'm swapping the heads!

Now, put on those Mario Caps and JUMP!

I guess it's time to review The Phantom Pain...

Quiet Playing with herself...

This review will not have spoilers because, A: I've not beaten the game,
B: The story so far packs some punches that I don't want to ruin... Unlike Ground Zeroes... I'm sorry, but "Vagina Bomb" sounds like the perfect name for a Feminist Rock Band!

I found Ground Zeroes to be a bit underwhelming, because it was a freaking Demo to The Phantom Pain, but it seems that TPP brought some of the fun that was sucked out of Ground Zeroes...
Child Soldiers are messed up, yo! But don't worry about them until you reach Africa.


Long story short: Peace Walker  on Steroids + GTA + Hideo's subtlety + ACTUAL BOSS BATTLES WITH STRANGE SUPERHUMAN CHARACTERS = The Phantom Pain

If you played Ground Zeroes, then you know the drill.
Same Gameplay with added elements, (Cardboard box, "Knocking" noises, bodily functions as seen on the D-Horse clip, and others).

Same thing can be said for the controls. Just like Ground Zeroes, but with Added functions.

Graphically speaking, I cannot say much. I'm going with the "inferior PS3 version", but they looks real nice. Afghanistan looks very Desert-like and I get a few RDR flashbacks...

Africa, well. Very Discovery Channel Africa kind of thing. Big Boss looks like crap, BECAUSE The Explosion from Ground Zeroes' Vagina Bomb let him looking like an Oni.

That is also a topic on the story. We're seeing the change from the Hero of Operation Snake Eater descend into the role of Madman from Operation Intrude N313... Once again, this is a bit of that Hideo Subtlety I've made fun of. All he needs is a shirt saying EVIL!! On him... Seriously.

Musically speaking... 1980s music, can ride stolen vehicles... Kids in America? Am I playing Vice City or Metal Gear? Though there are a few songs out of place, seeing that the game is in 1984 and we have songs from 1985, 1986  and even 1992? That's not counting the pieces made specifically for the game.

The voicework... I still hate the Queef as Big Boss...

Wait, a Drunk Queefer Sutherland with a slightly sore throat is his Big Boss voice! No wonder it sucks!

I seem to be forgetting the numeric value on the review...
It's on purpose. I am not putting the numeric score until I beat it and can tackle the entire story... think of this as the Tanker Chapter of the Review... The Big Shell will come soon!
All I can say is this: If you like Metal Gear Solid and haven't played it, then What the Hell are you waiting for!? Also, who am I kidding? The scores are below!

OK, Story so far... (Just got to Africa. Sadly I will not be able to bless the rains seeing that Toto's song did not make it to the list. I googled it...) BTW this one may change if they do something M.Night levels of stupid... which could force a change in the rating.
I'd say a 7.5
Mostly because it's been beating me hard with WE MUST TAKE REVENGE ON CIPHER stick... The rest, well, it has been set up in the midst of the incidents in Africa and Afghanistan of the Era.

Gameplay:
Ground Zeroes and Peace Walker on Steroids. It even has weird freaky bosses so a 8.5 Some of the Repetitive things can get, well Repetitive... Also, Freaking Game Learns your tactics and begins to counter them. Soldiers in my game tend to be more aware of Fulton Balloons, began to put mines around the base and the are more prone to shoot in my direction when tranquilizers hit them. Also damn those Helmets, damn those Helmets to Hell!

Controls:
Same as GZ. This time, I replayed GZ before Playing TPP so I wasn't caught off guard that much.
7.5
Graphics:
For an outdated console, the graphics are amazing. I suppose the XBOne and PS4 versions are better.
9.5

Fun Factor:
Here the game gets a Solid 7.0. The game is fun, but like Peace Walker, some things can get a bit annoying and repetitive.

Sounds and Music:I said the music and sounds are good. I mentioned that the VA is great except the Queef, Another tiny nitpick that I have about the sounds involves the cassettes. You either sit your ass on the chopper and listen to them without interruption, or listen to them while in gameplay. If you do the latter, new convos from other characters from Mother Base will override the tape's audio, and you'll miss information.
8.5

Overall:
The Phantom Pain gets a 8.08 as it's Nearly final score. I know that this will cause people to get pissed off, but hear me out: the Story rating is not set in stone, we could say that the Story section has a Liquid rating... I'm not a fan of the GZ Control Scheme. Feels un-Metal Gear to me. It's a damn good game... no, a damn GREAT game, but it does have some things that *I* consider flaws... (Starting with the Queef.) Hideo's Final Metal Gear is FREAKING AWESOME, but it's not perfect... No game is Perfect.

Odds and ends Sept.7, 2015: Underwater Khal Drogo wants people to take him seriously.

Aquaman is a joke thanks to The Super Friends, but he's no joke in the comic... Jason Momoa wants you to take Aquaman seriously, because he's playing Khal Drogo underwater. Well, Aquaman is no joke, but now JASON MOMOA IS THE JOKE. He thinks that... you know what, I'll pull up the quote:

 We don’t want to just reinvent it, but [Snyder has] got a whole idea of what Aquaman should be and I’m really honoured to be playing it. I’m excited for the world to see it.

He believes in Zack Snyder... Also read key words Reinvent, Snyder, What AQUAMAN SHOULD BE... Zack Snyder couldn't even get Superman right and we're expected to believe that he can make Aquaman? By Making him an Underwater Khal Drogo? Ooh! That's edgy! I've heard rumors that Snyder's solution to WW and Aquaman will be...

Yup, Aliens, Kryptonians to be specific.
If this ends up to be true, then it would be a giant load of crap... I'm so angry that not even the Goldblum clip can cheer me up!!!

That rumor gives me fear... Sadly it would make sense if they go that way, seeing the ZSverse is trying to emulate the Nolanverse...(Not sure if Batffleck will be part of the Nolanverse continuity, or if MOS started a New Reboot of the DCCU)

Snyder not getting DC's greatest hero gives me little hope in the rest... Aside Batman, seeing that Affleck gets the character and will do his damned best to Apologize for Dare Devil... (Also we're stuck with him for 5 movies, better start liking Affleck, cause we'll get a ton of him.)

Seeing the pic of Momoa and how he's been typecast in "barbarian" roles, we can predict what we can expect from him... Yes, I once was interested in Momoa playing the role. Sadly, my attitude has shifted after reading Momoa's thoughts on the matter. I have no faith in him as Aquaman.

Aquaman NEEDS to show off his badassery on the mainstream. I'm just now more worried about the damage Snyder can do now... Please Batffleck, don't suck... We don't need to have another:


You know what? There is no way I can outdo this level of WTF... Only thing that could do it is Tommy Wiseau wanting to Direct Fantastic Four 2... Oh may Lawd he does! This is so messed up, Wiseau, completely known for directing a HORRIBLE MOVIE wants to make a sequel to another Horrible movie... You could make something pretty out of something horrible.

But this is Tommy Wiseau we're speaking of... Fox wouldn't give HIM a Chance... Honestly, he should go to Sony or Marvel and Demand to be Morbius.

For the Honor of Shapeways!!

I am reviewing the DC She-Ra Sword of Protection that I won from the Where is Loo-Kee? Contest from Man at Arms' Workshop. You should check them out. They review Third Party MOTU Custom stuff, whether Shapeways 3D Printed Stuff or Normally sculpted stuff. I am a regular reader/commenter there.

The DC Powersword comes from derWaffenmeister's shop. The Gems were an added extra from Team at MAAW... You rock!

As you can see on this final pic, the beauty of this Sword is that it fits Traditional She-Ra pretty well.
I wouldn't be opposed to a Pointy Crotch She-Ra made by Mattel, because we ARE getting Despara.

I wouldn't say no to an Ironman Pants He-Man...
Yes, that's right, I said I want an Ironman Pants He-Man.
I HATE The Design... I hate the PANTS, but I warmed up to the DC Sword and now I kinda need a He-Man worthy of carrying said Sword. (Aside King He-Man)
Back To She-Ra and her DC Sword. I like that it's big and strong. It looks like a weapon to be wielded by THE STRONGEST WOMAN IN THE UNIVERSE. I also enjoy that it doesn't look like any other sword in MOTUC... The Sword of Protection looks a bit puny next to Angella's sword.

The gems I got are slightly bigger than the socket on the sword, but they look great and are roughly MOTUC Sword of Protection size. Now, you can go with any color combos, but going DC Accurate gives it an edge. You should try them if you want your She-Ra to have a sword that looks different from Adora's.

It Came from the Toy Chest: Mara of Primus

It's a bit hard to come with anything witty about this figure for an It Came from the Toy Chest, seeing that she shares a name with my cousin... Her name is Primus... My cousin's...

OK, so here's the deal: I've mentioned my cousin on a previous rant. She was my gateway to POP toys. Thing is that she scared me as a kid. I could only play with her POP toys the Filmation inspired way whenever she took a nap or something else caught her interest long enough for me to sneak around and play with MOTU and POP toys. She preferred the Mattel way... which was pretty much Barbie-inspired. To this day her laugh gives me the willies. Then again, she is the reason why I can't watch Slayers... My cousin laughs like Naga the Serpent. But, we're not here to talk about Cousin Primus...

So, Mara is basically the "Teela" of New Adventures... You know, Female, possible love interest for Adam, kinda has her suspicions about He-Man... She's Master Sebrian's Assistant and we got a toy of her.

Articulation:
Sopinsky Dropped the Ball Here. Battleground Teela Thighs!? No Rocker Ankles AND NO BOOT CUT!?

Females get the Short end of the stick, but DAYUM!
2.5

Bow is channeling his inner K-Pop singing power.

Paint and Sculpt:
Maras have a case of Derp-Eye. mine luckily doesn't, but some of her gold is a bit off... and by that I mean SLOPPY AS HECK!
The Sculpt is cool, but weird Child Safety Laws on Adult Collectibles ruin Mara's Spiked Bracelet. On the Other hand she has some extra ASSets sculpted on her.
4.0

Accessories:
She has a Pugil stick! and a shield... Her secret weapon? Make fun of Will Smith's children... Or at least the one that was in bed with RRRRRRRRRRICO! (It's been a while since I've pulled a Hannah Reference) Mara uses Extensions and a spiked ball at the end... You tell her that her Extensions look fake... I'll call a medic!
4.0

Overall:
Mara gets a 3.5 as her final score. I blame her Articulation for the lower score...

Personally, I prefer the Toga Version of the character, but we got this one, which is a pleasant surprise. Can't wait for Crita Next year.
Just to diminish the Sausagefest in Space.

Part of this story is on the Evil Seed Review.

It came from the Toy chest: *bleep* you, Artichoke!

I'm aware that Chokey the Artichoke is a sub exclusive for the Filmation Sub-Line, but the REALLY COOL Looking Evil Seed made it to MOTUC First!

Who is Evil Seed? Basically Evil Mossman... The End!
He is also a douchebag... Who looks like Carnage if the symbiote had bonded with Asparagus.


The 200X Evil Seed has something to make him stand out...

Guess who else is a douchebag?

MOTUC Douchebros!

Articulation:
The Plant Douche has Normal Articulation... Be careful with the thighs... One bad move could tear the vines. Other than that, it's standard Articulation without Bootcut. I can't stress this enough, don't be an idiot with the thigh Articulation, you might break your figure.
4.0
Paint and Sculpt:
Surprisingly he got a ton of welcome new parts! His colors look more plant-like in real life. One nifty thing is that he has 2 spikes on his back that can kinda hold an accessory on it. Not sure if Intentional or not.
5.0

Accessories:
A Filmation Scepter of Power... on a 200X Figure... Weird, huh? A little Vine Viper.
Shame that they didn't add a Clip-On Vine Spike.
2.5

Say ello' to my lil' friend!

Overall:
Evil Seed gets a 3.83 because he needed something extra to make him pop. a SINGLE Accessory, seeing that the other one if for EP Randor takes a lot from him. Hopefully some Shapeways Master will make something for him.

It Came From the Toy Chest: Ohai Hordak!

I did not hit her, it's not true! and Why am I quoting Tommy Wiseau? Is it because now My Hordak's voice is currently Played by Tommy Wiseau or is it that this Hordak is Bull- an unpopular variant that makes me AS angry as Tommy Wiseau in The Room? don't make me look for More WISEAU MASTERPIECES!!

Who is BS Hordak... whose BS Stands for Buzz Saw... Officially, but fans have taken another term to BS... Well, I got the results of the test back - Hordak definitely has breast cancer and the Tumor is shaped like a Buzzsaw Dumbbell. In the vintage Toyline, this was the third Hordak Figure: He looked Just like the first Hordak with 3 minor differences: Shorter Cape, Different Belt and the Obvious Chest Opening. Well, In Classics we get 1.5 out of those: His chest opens and his belt is KINDA Different... Same belt as everyone else, but this Time Hordak has a short loincloth.

Articulation:

High Quality Control... From Mattel!

AB CRUNCH IS MISSING FOR OBVIOUS REASONS! My Hordak's left Elbow is useless thanks to Poor QC... Lucky for Me I was going to customize BS Hordak and put in some God Damn Forearms on him. 3.0 with the QC issue, 3.5 for a normal BS Hordak

Paint and Sculpt:
The Sculpt is boring... but the paints make this Hordak more appealing. Yes, that's right, I said BS Hordak is appealing without using a NOT in the sentence. I kinda like the look of him. 3.0 Normal Figure. 4.5 after tweaking (third party Staction head and GD Forearms) I don't care much for the Buzz Saw Cavity... BTW, his armband is white and either the paint or glue got it stuck on him.

BS In action!

Now he looks so much better!

Accessories:
Buzz Saw and Vintage White Crossbow... Yawn.
2.5

Overall:
BS Hordikins gets a 3.0... or would have if he was a non-QC issue figure. MINE gets a 2.83 BEFORE Customization. After Customization he gets a: 3.5 so, he's not THAT Bad, but aside the nice colors, he is kinda crappy. He is now my Default Hordak... I am confused by this as well, but whatever.

Odds and ends Sept. 4 2015. I haven't forgotten my duty at the House of Rants!

Me? Still Playing the Phantom Pain on my free time (mostly fooling around and not going into the story), hence the reduced activity at the House of Rants, but the past few days have delivered some strange bits of news:

Gay people can now marry in Rowan County, Ky.... Ouch! Kentucky's got the unluckiest State abbreviation, for such a Sex Negative state... Back on topic, Kim Davis, the stubborn county clerk who wouldn't deliver Civil Marriage Licenses because Gay People can get Civil Marriages now, was sent to jail for contempt  of court. She was told that she HAD TO DO HER JOB, regardless of her religious convictions, but she refused. She is now in jail for that. It's not "an attack on Christianity."
If Laypeople like you and me don't do our jobs, we get fired. She was an elected official so she can't be fired. The court told her that she HAD TO DO HER JOB, or else there would be consequences for her inaction. She didn't and she is now paying the price. She could have easily resigned if her "Religious Convictions" couldn't allow her to do her job. She didn't. She's now paying the price.

Oh my Lawd! What have they done to Diggle!?  There is no way that I cannot look at that picture and take it seriously. He looks like a Black Biker Magneto... Is he supposed to be The Guardian?

Speaking of people who look like Other People... Miss Piggy and Kermit broke up and now Kermit is Porking another pork... One that happens to look a lot like Natalie Dormer... Others say Olivia Wilde, but I see Dormer, not Wilde in her... But that's not the real issue here. The real issue is that guess who is offended by Kermit getting a new Girlfriend? If you guessed SJWs and Feminists, you have won a No-Prize! The Perennially Offended are mad because Kermit is dating the Natalie Dormer of Pigs, Seriously? (and yes, I am aware that Lady Plaid did 2 videos one on highlighting Jade from Beyond Good and Evil. but as always it's skewed as heck. She ignores the fighting done in the game to push the "exploring side" and misses the whole "Underground group of people exposing massive media conspiracy" echoes the GamerGate side of, well GamerGate. The latest one, I've not seen... Because Play MGS 5 or watch a half hour video full of half-truths, misconceptions that would expand into a 7 hour deal to verify each claim and possibly refute any wrong information and breaks
to stop my eyes from rolling out of my head.

Hell no! Fox wants to rape Mega Man!! What the Hell is Crapcom thinking? Of all the Movie Studios available, they go to 20th Century Fox? Prediction? This movie will suck ASS! Thsi movie will make the Infamous Ruby Spears Cartoon look like a Masterpiece.


Also, calling it now: Don Cheadle as Mega Man, Jack Black as Dr. Light, Zendaya as Roll. Let's have Miles Teller as Wily cause Why the Hell not!? Crapcom and Fox will take a massive dump on the movie anyway...  Let's give it to Uwe Boll to complete the Crap Sandwich!

Odds and ends Sept. 2, 2015

I FINALLY got to play The Phantom Pain... Damn that Prologue, damn that Prologue to Hell!
Don't get me wrong, it's so freaking awesome, and so freaking tedious at the same time. The Rest fo the game? What little I have played... mostly fooling around Afghanistan, but basically:

Peace Walker is Bruce Banner and Phantom Pain is The Hulk.

I still hate Queefer Sutherland as Big Boss. Now I'm going to hit you right in the Feels!


Won't be bale to get my Matty Package until Saturday. Eh, gives me a few more days of Phantom Paining... Not really. It's that RLJob duties interfere with my Toy Collecting...

Now that Jmmy Snuka is being charged with Third Degree Murder... I guess that Vince will say that Mr. T ALONE WTH NO ONE ELSE IN THE RING OR AS A Manager/Escort/valet, whatever you want to call it. def. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper & "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff w/ Cowboy Bob Orton on an Unnamed Wrestling Pay Per View... Just like Andre the Giant decided to flop around the ring on his own on a third edition of the Unnamed Wrestling Pay Per View.

Fifteen years too late, but now the Dreamcast is selling like hotcakes! People are looking into what the hell is the appeal of Shenmue... They're ebaying Dreamcasts, the game... guess what SEGA is doing to capitalize on this?


NOTHING!!

Pre-Phantom Pain Blues...

This is it... A Journey that started in 1987 (I got in it for real in February, 1999) The FINAL METAL GEAR GAME IS NOW... Or will be in a few hours after Gamestop Opens up and I can get the game... Yes, I still support Gamestop and I've heard the horror stories. Only thing is that Gamestop is a convenient stop for me... But, we're talking MGS V, not Gamestop...

So, in a few hours, I'll be getting my copy of The Phantom Pain...
What am I expecting?
Long Installation time...
Day One Content Download...
Oops! I have to work...
Not play the game on DAY ONE because of this...

Hell! Ground Zeroes got a recent 197 MB Update Yesterday... FREAKING GROUND ZEROES...

HOPEFULLY the Install and Day One Content Download will be short enough for me to play at least 1 mission...

This rant is also a warning about the possibility of decreased activity during this week and the next. I Promise, the August Matty Stuff will come out of the Toy Chest ASAP... I need to get them first. Also, I'll eventually review The Phantom Pain.

Update!!!
Got the game for PS3. Day 1 update 154MB right out the bat...

And yes, I was suckered into buying a Strategy guide... can't use my phone as an iDroid and surf the web for hints at the same time...

28 minutes until I can play the game...

Update #2:
Installed the game. Started it up... Power failure by the time the first playable moment shows up...