Why do I love Halloween?

Being raised on a myriad of Christian sects due to family following different sects, I'm supposed to have mixed reactions to Halloween. From the "It's the Devil's birthday" to "it's an appropriation of pagan festivities and turned into something approved by the Church, like Christmas"
To me it's simply a commercialized day exploited by candy and costume companies. No religious connotations.
I've mentioned the candies already, so I won't get into that. What I love the most is the costumes. From the straight up store bought stuff, to the cosplay level stuff. Few years ago, I did Stay Puft. I've done Edward Cullen and Steven Seagal. This year, I went with an actor that is somehow very popular in Germany.

Yes, I went as a man who does not exist. Since not everyone got the reference I had the KR theme on loop for five hours... That can become annoying really fast, but I was having fun with it while I worked. When people figured out that I was the Hoff, they began laughing thanks to the absurdity of the situation. Seeing a Zombie Santa hanging out with Hello Kitty and Peter Quill is a hilarious situation. Even seeing Multiple Spideys can be fun or headache inducing if you were a Marvel fan in the 90s.
Seeing the effort or lack of it out into the costumes is amazing... Getting free candy is an added bonus. In any case I have to get home because of a curfew... I REALLY NEED POWER... of the electric kind. Next year I should be George Lucas...

Super 7 extending preorders.

Say what you will about Super7, but they are way more invested in MOTUC than Mattel. While yes, the Power Con exclusive items had some issues, which will be discussed when they come out the toy chest; Super7 is attempting to fix as many issues as possible. One of these issues is preordering wave 2 when wave 1 hasn't shipped. Some people are RIGHTFULLY APPREHENSIVE about committing to wave 2 without getting wave 1. Well, Preorders for wave 2 have been extended until Wave 1 ships.

Super7 NEEDS TO IMPROVE IN CERTAIN AREAS, but this act seems like it's done in good faith. I hope that the delays on Wave 1 to fix some of the issues they had won't have an adverse effect on wave 2. Hopefully, by the time of wave2's release, all the kinks get ironed out. Time will tell.

Spider-man Unlimited: the review

No, not the show but the mobile game by Gameloft... Yes the same Gameloft that made the MLP game that I quit 3 cellphones ago.
Well, the Spidey game is a Temple Run clone and seems to have been tied in with the Avengers Alliance Facebook game due to the mentions of Isotope 8.

Eh... Is all I got to say about the game.
It's a Pay to Win game, so that's a huge thing against it. Then it's a Temple Run clone so you have no control over Spidey aside from switching lanes to avoid hitting things. The 2D version for less powerful phone's is a side scrolling Temple Run clone. Here at least we have an attack button. On the "cool kids version" we have voice acting. I'm giving it 2 weeks before deletion. I better get to see Doc Ock before I delete this game.

Not sure if this is real or a troll...

Hugh Jackman posing with a Yellow Spandex Wolverine outfit?
He better be wearing that outfit on Tuesday. Not only that, record himself IN PUBLIC while wearing the outfit. After being a tease for 9 movies, we deserver, nay, NEED to see him wearing this suit, just because Wolverine.


I really hope he does...

Songster may be a bit likely to happen

A few days ago, Super7 commented on a post about the .org's character polls by Mentioning Songster.
A certain fan of Songster commented on the theoretical parts reuse heavy recipe to make him.

Songster IS ON THEIR Radar!!! The Power Tour COULD Get some representation in MOTUC... If we got the Newspaper Hssss, Duke Tiberon, or Miranda, then the Newspaper would have some representation as well. If we got Lt. Andra in Classics, then The Star Comics would have representation as well.

What a time to be a MOTUC Collector!!
I like that Super7 is looking beyond the obvious choices... Now if they looked at Skeleteen, just so Dare can have his "Skeletor"...

Top 5 games that are not Darkstalkers that Storm Collectibles could do...

Well, I am a masochist. I mention how Storm Collectibles is making stuff that will rape my wallet hard and I post about ideas that can rape it even harder...

5: Final Fight:
This line would complement the Street Fighter line by giving us some Alpha characters, some SFV, and SFIII folks. Not to mention Mike Freaking Haggar.


Oh my can indeed...

4: Double Dragon:
NO! NOT THE MOVIE WITH ROBERT PATRICK AND ALYSSA MILANO!

Not that either. I mean the original Bimmy and Jimmy... And Abobo... Mostly because of Abobo. Also, they Could use Double Dragon as an excuse for Battletoads.

3: Killer Instinct:
Since Storm does Fighting games and the C-c-c-combo breaker! Wasn't mentioned, I thought I should... Mmmm Spinal... What, you thought I'd mention orchid and her flashing finisher? Well that too!

2: Streets of Rage:
Double Dragon, Final Fight, heck, even Battletoads were mentioned here and not mentioning Streets of Rage is sinful.
1: Altered Beast:
Do I REALLY NEED TO EXPLAIN THIS?
Wolf, Dragon, Bear, Tiger...

China is giving me the UUDDLRLRBA treatment...

I will let the teaser do the talking for me.


Now that you saw it... Are you excited?
I have to be honest, my main fear is that China is doing it. Wirework will be top notch, but special effects might be a little cheesy.
I mean this is like Rambo + Aliens + Commando... It could be good, but it could be bad... At least it's further along than the Hollywood Metal Gear Solid movie.
They better have a 30 lives reference... Or sneak in the Konami Code somehow. Freaking Protector...

So Terminator will bring back Linda Hamilton...

And completely ignore Khaleesi, queen of Meereen, destroyer of chains... Yes, Sarah Connor, the REAL ONE, will be back and kicking ass... No word if Edward Furlong will return as the Atari ATM thief.
The movie will have some passing the torch thing, but still... The Real Sarah Connor is coming back. The aging Arnold is back, but I'm feeling like it's time to follow Prosecutor Sahdmadhi... Let it go and move on.

We already acknowledged Arnold's age in Genisys and we don't need yet another movie explaining the aging bioflesh.

Do we REALLY NEED ANOTHER TERMINATOR? I think I've been saying this for quite some time.

Odds and ends Oct 26, 2017

I  went to my very first Escape Room. It was an interesting experience. It made me realize that I'm not that cool Under Pressure. Thing is I went on my own and made it in the nick of time. I saw the "Master Clue" like 3 times before reaching for it. The Clue was in a rather obvious place and it felt like a trap. The other clues were a tad too cryptic for the allotted time. It was fun, I'd say, but I kinda wish we had more of those here.

It appears that Super7 is still working on waves 1 and 2. Granita will be getting added details to fit better with Stonedar and Rokkon...

I also found how to embed videos on my cellphone​...

Mom would've loved this figure.

Mafex is releasing an AstroBoy figure. BBTS has them on pre-order. He's a bit too expensive for my taste, but then again I'm pondering getting Zangief and that's like $100. Also, it's the only AstroBoy toy that I've seen with the butt guns... That IS tempting me to get him.

The Foreigner...

I saw the cinematic adaptation of The Chinaman (can see why they changed the title.) The overly PC crowd would've cried racism for obvious reasons.
It's a decent thriller that feels a bit dated with the whole IRA thing.
It had some cool action scenes, but at the same time it seems that age is starting to catch up to Mr. Chan... Or Western health and safety standards being more rigorous than Hong Kong's are stifling Jackie...

One more thing... This is not a Jackie Chan movie. It's a Pierce Brosnan thriller that happens to have Jackie Chan in it. The movie is super serious... If you're expecting a traditional Jackie Chan movie, this is not it.

Also, time is running out for a live action Jackie Chan Adventures movie.

It came from the Toy Chest: In memory of Raul Julia

For I beheld
Satan as he
Fell from Heaven
Like Lightning!

M. Bison, or Vega in Japan... Evil leader of Shadaloo, hellbent on ruling the world, some weird crap about changing bodies and desiring Ryu or something, but most memorable for the live action version...
Spike, that better not be a link to Damien Dahrk...
Well, Storm Collectibles has made a Bison and here's where he comes out the Toy Chest...

Articulation:

As we've seen with Ken and Ryu, the Mighty Bison can pull off some key poses from the games and live action movie... The one that's so bad it's unintentionally good, not the one with the chick from Smallville.
5.0

Paint and Sculpt:

Once again, Storm Collectibles manages to make the game version come to life. There's no visible slop on Master Bison. He even has translucent hands for some Psycho Powered moves.
5.0

Accessories:

Bison has:
SFV stand
-Alternate skirt
-2 alternate heads
-3 psycho power effects
-set of crossed arms
-8 extra hands.
Obvious 5.0 here.

Overall:
Bison gets a godly 5.0 here. I am in no way being bribed by Shadaloo. If I were to nitpick, I'd say that the

Bison dollars FTW!

hypermodularity of his interchangeable parts scares me a bit. Popping torsos to change skirts, popping arms, hands and heads on such an expensive toy is a bit terrifying. But he kicks so much ass...

And I preordered Chun Li... That review shall be Legendary... Get it, cause Legend of Chun Li?

Aw hell naw, No me jo***

I think that by having the title in English and en Español, your brain is thinking of Dora the Explorer. Dora Dora Dora live action Dora. She will be Exploding because BayDora...
That Cinematic Cancer will be producing Dora. ESE Cancer Cinematografico cagará a Dora.

Of all the crap he can destroy, WHY Dora... Who will now be a teenager... Cause Michael Bay. This goes from mind boggling to mind bottling.

Odds and ends Oct. 23, 2017

Wave 1 of Super7's MOTUC is getting some l3smast minute adjustments in order to fix SOME issues. Things like the wider crotch piece being replaced by a slightly thinner one to eliminate the Birthing hips problem. Teela received an update on her face. Hawke, sadly didn't get any detailing. Flynn is making Neitlich look like a massive tool. (And Neitlich's overlords are faring far worse)
IF we had gotten that kind of rapport from Mattel from the start, MOTUC would have most likely remained at Mattel.
The only thing that sucks a bit about this is the wait until November.

I'll be able to do laundry in the next two days. I caved in and ordered a hand powered washing machine... I'm so desperate for rants that I'll even review it just to have something to do besides laundry. Please return ASAP, my dear electric power.

Seems that my Ryoga will be coming soon... Theoretically speaking because this is Ryoga we're talking about. Feels like it's been ages since I preordered him. Wonder if any more Ranma characters will get made.

Super7 Halloween oddities are scary

This is the kind of stuff I feared would happen with Super7 and MOTU...

This one isn't THAT bad, but it cements one of my fears.
Resources being pulled to things that Hardcore Action Figure Collectors could deem as crap. A life size or close to life size cardboard Skeletor wall decoration is a nifty item, but I'm not feeling like THIS is something that Super7 should be doing. This seems more like Hallmark's alley. At least it's not Baby Skeletor...

Flinging popcorn at My Little Pony

I finally saw My Little Pony the movie or as I got to call it Pinkie's big Adventure. Right out of the bat, I got to say it... Take it away Rainbow Dash!
The movie was good, but not great...
Spoilers will be given. Back away of you don't want the movie to be spoiled for you...
OK?
You sure you want the spoilers?
Last chance to back away...
There's no turning back now...
Are you ready?
OK
Three
Two
One
Let's jam!
*funky Cowboy Bebop theme*

So, the movie. We start with Twilight Sparkle freaking out and feeling inferior to (Useless) Princess Sunbutt, (Useless, but socially awkward) Princess Moonbutt, and Princess Mi Amore a Cadenza... Who is also useless. Twilight wants to abuse the powers of the other princesses to please Sia in her concert. Sunbutt says no. Twilight is disappointed by this and the rest of the Mane 6 cheer her up with a song ending with a Mega Party Cannon shooting a jumbo cake that lands on Twilight. Sia's bodyguards seem familiar. Then they get invaded by forces from the best thing from Wolverine Origins. The force captain of the Evil Horde is an unicorn with a broken horn and a hedgehog version of Luis from Ant Man. The Storm King, (Sabretooth/Hordak) wants the magic of the 4 princesses to power up a staff to rule the world. They capture 3 out of 4 because Derpy saved the world. (After the S7 attack on bronies, why is the movie a love letter to them? Mixed Signals Hasbro) They need to the Queen of the Hippos... And the Mane 6 comment that Hippos can be Hungry Hungry... Well played Hasbro, well played. Pinkie basically moves the plot forward when they find what I can call the MLP version of Mos Eisley. There they find the love child of Han Solo and Puss in Boots who kinda helps them/betrays them in a very Lando Calrisian way and with a song. The Mane6 end up in an airship full of Pirates who lost their Mojo. Rainbow Dash helps them to get their groove back and accidentally makes a beacon for the bad guys to find them.
One makeshift balloon later, the Mane6 reach the Hippogriff city and my disappointment begins.
The Mane6 were in distress and called upon the sea ponies... WITHOUT ANY SHOOBEDOO SHOO SHOOBEDOO! How can you do Sea Ponies without doing a callback to that song? Blasphemy!
Anyway, the Sea Ponies at Hippogriffs in disguise... The Hippogriff queen turns Twatlight Waffle and friends into sea ponies. Twatlight tricks Pinkie into befriending the Sea Pony Princess as a distraction in order to steal the pearl of McGuffinton... If I didn't know Twatlight I'd say that move is out of character... But knowing the character, the move feels a bit too forced to generate artificial conflict. Twatlight's plan fails and the Mane6 are deported. There Twatlight blames Pinkie for her failure. The rest of the Mane6 try to console Pinkie, while Spike sees Twilight being kidnapped by Force Captain Tempest.
We get Tempest's back story. Sabertooth gets the power of Grayskull... Or the Equestrian version of it. Not Puss in Boots Solo gets the groove of the rest of the Mane6 back and with the help of Zoe Saldana's bird pirates, they attack Canterlot and rescue Twilight.
Tempest gets a change of heart and saves Twilight at the last minute. Twilight saves Tempest and everything is awesome. Sia gives her concert.

It wasn't bad. It was OK. Some of the conflict felt forced. Also a LOT of the issues would've been solved quite easily IF anypony would've remembered that Fluttershy has enslaved a god. Various bronies were questioning Discord's absense after I left the theater. (BTW on my showing the Bronies outnumbered little girls 13:1, but screw bronies, amirite Hasbro?)
I want to give it a 9 out of 10, but I can't. The movie is barely an 8. The new characters were basically props to sell new toys. The whole Sea Pony section screamed BUY OUR TOYS! a bit too loud. I almost felt Hasbro pointing their Oozinators at me in that section.
If you're not a hardcore fan of Friendship is Magic, the movie is not for you.

Odds and ends Oct. 21 Saturday is not Tuesday...

Saturday... Aside a John Travolta reference, or maybe Elton John but there are no references to Bison...

 Yes, boys and girls, Bison has finally graced my home. Due to me having no power, pics will have to wait until daytime. Will try to have the review for Tuesday for obvious reasons...

While I'm on the subject of toys, the dot org has been doing some fan polls as suggestions for Super7. I've only voted for New Adventures characters, because not many care for them. While there are a few variant I'd like to see (mostly 200X) New Adventures NEEDS to be completed in order to have a true Anthology line.
Worst case scenario we at least need to get Artilla, Sagitar, Hoove, and Staghorn since they have the more unique bodies in the NA roster and would be a lot harder to customize.
Sure it would be fun to have reverse colors misprint from a random comic from Europe version of Beastman, but Kayo should be a higher priority than miscolored beastman.

Top 20 things I will do once I have Power...

I am bored with this lack of electric power thing. I detest ranting by phone... Especially when things come out of the toy chest. Bison is still MIA. Power Con stuff shipped after a few issues with my kinetic card. Speech to text turned credit to kinetic. I left it like that after going through the rant to add punctuation because it was funny. So, things I'll do once the power returns.

1- Cook a hearty meal in the slow cooker.
I've been eating outside of home since I ran out of propane. Insert something Hank Hill here. I'm tired of that bastard Boiardi. I've eaten so much tuna that I feel like I'm an honorary Thundercat.

2-Let the updatethon begin.

PS3, PS4, PC, WiiU will be begging for updates... OK the PS3 will only ask an update for Netflix, but it's still an update. Once that's done.

3- Make a couple of rants on PC.
Got to finish a movie review, got some toys on backlog due to the hurricanes and my two jobs.

4-Use the internet properly.
I've been setting up hints that this reference was coming in a few rants before this one.

5- Ice Cold EVERYTHING!
Ice cold coke, ICED iced Tea, JD on the rocks. Ice cold Chocolate Milk.
Ice cold WATER!!!

6-ALL THE WARM SHOWERS.
No power = no water heater. No water heater = no showers.

7-Sleep.
By sleep I mean sleeping in the dark and with at least a fan for cool ventilation. Graveyard shift work means sleeping during the days and with no electricity, means having open windows in the middle of the day. Sweltering heat + Mosquitoes = bad sleep. Having to nap at work before or after my shifts sucks ass. I miss my bed.

8-Netflix and I still need someone to chill with so I can give her that look...
OK, I mean just watch Fuller House season 3 I can't promise no Stephanie's Fuller Blouse jokes, but the s3 review will have to wait for now.

9-Videogames that aren't Super Smash Bros. For 3DS.
I seriously need to upgrade my 3DS library. Also play videogames on home consoles.

10- Turn light switches on and off.
Sounds stupid but when you're over a month with no power, something as simple as turning a switch on and off can be amazing.

11- Charge my phone AT HOME!!
Again, something simple that feels huge due to the lack of power.

12- Use my electric razor to shave.
Nothing beats a manual razor, true, but I'm a bit lazy, so every now and then I want to use the electric razor... Also good for trimming sideburns without going to a barbershop.

13- Do laundry...

Washing clothes by hand sucks... Need I say more?

14- Hang out with Ben and Jerry...

Yes, I mean the Ice cream. Goes well with the Netflix binge watching.

15-Watch the meter...

Not all the things I plan to do are meant to be awesome. I need to watch the meter just to make sure that the PREPA won't try to rip me off.

16- Restock the fridge...

Meats, fruits, veggies... Stuff that is not canned. This kinda goes with 1 and 5 but I have to be specific here.

17-Upgrade my 3DS library.

Most of the stores that sell videogames in PR have remained closed. Once the Power returns, I can get eshop cards to get myself Ace Attorney the real games... (Screw Herr forehead) and maybe get me some N64 games for 3DS.

18- Watch YouTube videos on a 32-inch screen.

Phone screen is tiny. Need big ass screen to see Dachie rage, or Noble being cringey... Among other stuff.

19-Put Christmas decorations (assuming it returns before Christmas)

Self explanatory.

20-Return to normal.

The delays on my end with MLP and Normalcy...

As you may know, Hurricane Maria has made a mess out of PR. My Little Pony was delayed until today, but I was unable to see it due to work issues. (The only showing IN ENGLISH is during times I'm at work! Screw the Spanish dub. I want to see the show as I have seen it for the past 7 seasons... I mean, I didn't go through all the trouble of meeting Tara Strong just to avoid her voicework. Yes, I still can't believe I met Tara Strong. Where was I? Oh yeah! Normalcy. I still have no power or internet at home... The local adult store has been closed and ransacked... It wasn't me, alright! So, accessing free Wi-Fi from stores or coffeehouses. I drink coffee now. Means that certain sites are blocked off. So I feel like I'm in pre-internet Junior high era. Only difference is that I COULD BUY THE ADULT MAGAZINES if they were available. And I went a bit too far on that tangent. But let's face it. A LOT of internet usage is for porn. I'm getting off of this tangent (poor choice of words there) ASAP. Thing is for some, normalcy involves access to the internet (and porn) for others, being able to go to the cinema and watch an adventure starring pastel colored horses BEING pastel colored horses and not teenage girls who act like the pastel colored horses. Getting some MOTUC can also give me a sense of normalcy. But with every delay; whether it was the movie's premiere being pushed back, or my work schedule interfering with my movie time, or BBTS having issues with my credit card; it takes away a bit of normalcy and reminds me of the grim reality in PR. These little things that seem superficial when there are shortages of key items are what keep my sanity.
This Hurricane and its aftermath have been VERY demoralizing. It's the "silly things" what givestrangleall strength to keep on going. I am thankful for having a roof, two jobs, but "all work and no play" and all that. I know it's kind of running away, but I need some escape from the grim reality PR is going through, otherwise it will strangle me metaphorically speaking.

Super7 Update wave 2

It's incredible... Wave 2 is getting some stuff that I didn't expect.

• Karg: The ghoulish commander of Skeletor's army comes armed with Crucia - The Dagger of Agony and a Fleshburner Laser Gun.
• Granita: The superhuman heroine of the Rock People arrives with rock pieces and her Refraction Laser at the ready.
• Dylamug: The evil robotic Horde Trooper comes with rotating face pieces, Cartoon-style Horde crest, firing Horde Crest, and Toy-style Horde Crest.
• Wraptrap: The cursed undead creature emerges from the eons with the Khopesh of Kartan and Necrobow.

I might have to repaint Dylamug a bit, but that's cool enough for me.

• Mer-Man: The amphibious servant of Skeletor arrives armed with his Spear of Bakull, Sword of Rakash, and Freeze Ray Gun.
• Sorceress: The protector of Eternia and the secrets of Grayskull. Sorceress comes with 2 sets of interchangeable wings (one open and the other closed), an alternate head (Kaduk Ungol), and Zoar with perch.
• Tung Lashor: The venomous member of the Evil Horde comes equipped with a Horde Issue Jet Pack, a blaster, and an alternate head with mouth closed.
• Man-E-Faces: The redeemed member of the Heroic Warriors comes equipped with a Man-E-Weapons assortment.

Duuuuude now I NEED TO GET A SECOND SORCERESS AND MEF...


Cause weapons and fodder parts for Songster... Kodok Until is a bit of a cheat, but I'll allow it.

BBTS has the Power Con figures...

I can't believe that Finally I'm getting the Power Con figures and I'll be able to judge Super 7 a bit better, due to having a second sample BESIDES the Ultimates. (My SHFiguarts Ryoga is MIA, but Ryoga is Ryoga and it makes sense he's completely lost.)

Sadly, I'm aware of some QC issues with the PC figures. Hope mine aren't riddled with issues.

Bison has disappointed me. It's Tuesday and he didn't show up. There's hope for Wednesday but referencing the Addams Family movies would be the easy way out... Of course, I wouldn't just do that.
I'll just wait for Bison and if lucky I'll be publishing the review next Tuesday, cause Bison. (And a small backlog of toys to review, like NECA April and a few Marvel Legends.)

Hasbro should do a 90s X-Men wave

Y'know it's a great idea. You're thinking of the epic theme song right now...
Well, I originally had thought of a box set with the 9 figures and an X-Men logo that played a bit of the intro. But that would put it at the $200-ish range and wouldn't really sell on retail. So I thought that an 8 figure wave with 2 BaFs could work.
Many of the characters are repaints with only the head being the new piece. (Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Jean, Rogue come to mind.) Some would require a bit more new parts (Gambit and Jubilee) Charles would need a Hoverchair that should come disassembled to save space. Beast would have to be brand new.

Who would be the BaFs? Beast and Jubilee. She has plenty of experience as a BaF and a 90s Beast BaF is the perfect way to "Force you" into getting the repaints.
This is how I would split up the BaFs
Cyclops Jubilee fireworks
Wolverine Beast arms
Storm Beast Torso
Gambit Beast Legs
Rogue Jubilee's torso
Jean Jubilee's legs
Xavier Jubilee's arms
Morph (who would reuse the Forge and Wolverine 2 pack buck from years ago) He'd have both Beast's and Jubilee's heads... Cause Morph.

Yes, I added Morph to cement the 90s Cartoon wave as a 90s cartoon wave. Also he was a complete curveball.

2 BaFs in one wave is a bit dickish, but to get the 90s cartoon X-Men it's worth it.

NECA is doing a life sized Wonder Woman

I think it's another waste of time like the life size Arkham Batman or Harley Quinn. I mean each is $1000 and they're just foam statues. Who would buy that aside comic book shops (who are currently losing money due to a bunch of titles not selling. Not going to mention any companies that rhyme with Carvel.)
Seriously, for a thousand bucks, I'd rather get a sex doll and a WW outfit. The sex doll is at least articulated and provides more bang for my buck (pun totally intended) as I told a friend on Facebook. Then if I get tired of WW all I need is a new outfit and wig to have a different character. Red wig + some fake leaves = Poison Ivy. Blonde wig and a Supergirl outfit and we don't think I need to explain this. Red wig, glasses, normal female clothing and a wheelchair and we have Oracle.

This kind of stuff is among the weirdest things that toy/collectible companies do. Here we have NECA wasting their limited resources on stupid crap that practically no one will buy instead of fixing current quality control issues on the toys people ACTUALLY BUY. I won't mention the hyperfragility on their recent toys... But a Foam Life size WW is where it's at...

After Mattel's Snout Spout and Stay Puft debacles, I can't trust foam. Adding NECA's currently abysmal QC issues, you can see why I'm staying far away from this.

Toxic elements in fandoms...

I guess you've heard the Szechuan sauce rampages due to Rick and Morty. We saw the Hasbro mandate to attack bronies. We've heard the complaints from multiple female fans of (insert fandom here) and being tested by "gatekeepers".
We've also seen how virtue signalers have tried to piggyback the failure of Feig's Ghostbusters and blaming it on Toxic Fandom.

They are correct TO AN EXTENT. Yes, there are toxic elements to fandom's and they CAN BE harmful to, uh, the fandom. The problem is that being geeky is now mainstream. Old school geeks who were shunned in the past for liking (insert geeky thing here) are seeing their tormentors enjoying the very same thing that thy mocked the geeks years ago. Some people embrace them, others not so much. We also have the posers.

As in people who pose with items to "prove their geekiness" as seen on the pic above. I tend to doubt the veracity of a person's gaming capabilities if they bite the wires, or make kick starter campaigns pretending to be playing a game while having the controller off... Like a certain media critic who thinks penalties mean encouragement.

Now the point I want to touch is Ghostbusters. Most of the Toxicity wasn't from detractors, but from defenders. They tried to paint people who simply believed that the remake was a bad idea because it was a remake as misogynistic basement dwelling virgins who love Donald Trump.

Now that geekiness is mainstream, it has fallen victim to everything that is mainstream like Sports, politics, religion, etc. Add social media where people look for echo chambers instead of understanding and learning from opposite views.

Fan carefully, my friends... Otherwise they'd say you're a Britney Spears song.

It came from the toy Chest: Selling NERF guns to terrorists is bad.

Before you change the channel quickly, you might have guessed the reference.

Of Course! You know that I LOVE STREET FIGHTER (the games and the Raul Juliá movie. Legend of Lana Lang never happened.)
Yes, I have Ken Masters... And he arrived a bit earlier than the teaser by Storm Collectibles.

Articulation:

Ken sports the same articulation as Ryu, which makes sense. While Ryu's articulation is slightly hindered by the top of his gi, Ken suffers the same problem. The limitation is not that great but it's funny to point out that the top of their gi hinders articulation whether hanging or worn properly. His ponytail is super articulated...

5.0

Paint and Sculpt:
The sculpt is superb, he looks as he should... and that includes the awful banana hair. The paintjob is really well done with no visible sloppiness. As with Ryu, the Hadoken can chip off paint off Ken's hands.

4.0

Accessories:
-SFV stand
-2 extra face plates
-2 extra banana bangs
Hadoken (flaming red, cause Ken)
Fiery Shoryuken effect
Guren Enjinkyaku effects
6 extra hands
I can only give him a 5.0

Ken: Objection!
Ryu: WTF!? Why do you
have bananas on your head.
Ken: That's my new do.
Ryu: That's worse than the time we
tried to sell NERF guns to Shadaloo.

Overall:
Mr. Masters gets a 4.67 as his final score. So much for trying to differentiate himself from Ryu. I am kinda jealous of the amount of effects Ken has going on. He would be a superior figure to Ryu if we only look at accessories. If we look at the bigger picture both figures are really great, but suffer from the same issues. Hopefully Bison will be godly.

I hate having to do reviews on a phone... Now I shall wait for Tuesday...

Understanding MOTU

Supposedly, in two years we're getting a MOTU movie. I have a small problem with that. NO ONE seems to understand the property. Not me, not Hollywood, not even professional writers (that means REAL WRITERS, not guys who made up names for Hot Wheels cars... That person already proved he doesn't get the property). The simplest way to explain MOTU is saying Conan + Star Wars + Superman. Sadly, that's not enough.

The problem with the property is that being a hodgepodge of what was cool at the time, kinda makes it a bit dated. Hollywood WILL try to force MOTU into one of their paint-by-numbers formulaic movies... Then again, MOTU LENDS ITSELF TO THAT. Partially spoiled prince with a heart of gold gains a macguffin that gives him powers to stop bad guy who wants said powers to rule the universe. Prince grows as a character and becomes the hero he is meant to be.

I don't trust Hollywood to do MOTU justice. Just how they have screwed up so many cartoon, comic, anime, and videogame adaptations, He-Man will be messed up... That is IF the movie gets made. 2018 is creeping up on us and all we have is a release date with no cast, no director, nothing. 2019 will come and we will have nothing, NADA, zilch, the big goose egg!! Better get used to the idea that He-Man's only live action movie will be the 1987 movie.

Just preorderer the Super7 MOTUC wave 2

I have, well had been going back and forth on whether or not I should preorder these. Mostly because of the Hurricane's aftermath. But YOLO beat reason. Yes, I just used YOLO... In a non-mocking way. I should be ashamed of myself for that, but Karg, Granita, Dylamug, the completion of the Universal Monsters for the Horde. I even got the Filmation set despite only truly wanting Sorceress and Merman.

Unless Filmation wave 3 has Stratos, Ram Man, Prince Adam, and Mantenna or at least 2 of these, I'll skip it... Especially if the Anthropomorphic Cats from outer space irritate an old Egyptian man land on Super7's lap... (Hint: fast kitty, stoner tiger, angry old Egyptian man, and fat reptile with a peculiar "yes" should be wave one... Wave 2 is obviously vulture dude, monkey dude, token handicapped cat, token gay tiger...)

Collectors Choice is the one that I'm less likely to skip, but there have been a few QC issues with the Power-Con exclusive sets and that made me a bit wary... Speaking of the PC sets, wonder when BBTS will send mine.

I should try and finish the Ken review, but I barely had any time.

Tom Cruise's face is weirdly asymmetrical.

It really is. I intended to watch My Little Pony, but once again it was delayed, so I ended up watching American Made, starring a 50-something Tom Cruise. Whose age is starting to catch up to him. Spike, cue the Tom Cruise running from his gay thoughts clip.
The asymmetry of Tom's face bothered me through most of the movie. Once we move on from my hang up with Crazy Mini Tom face, the movie is pretty good. I'm not sure how accurate to reality that movie is, but it was entertaining.

I'm still pissed of that I couldn't watch Ponies on the big screen... But I now want to see The Foreigner with Jackie Chan and Remington Steele himself... Only after I've seen Sea Ponies on the silver screen... Something something Toyguru something. Just mentioning him so he doesn't feel left out.

Filmation line and odd choices.

Detailgate 3.0? I lost count... Has made me think if Super7 partially lost sight of what the lines are meant to be. With Hawke being a bit too Filmationy, one would've thought that she was meant for CG, which would be valid IF we had a 200X Hawke. Then we have Dylamug. He's supposedly going through the Classicized in order to fit better with MOTUC. We'll see about that...
Filmationites are in denial when they say that the Club Grayskull figures are as if the cartoon characters stepped off the TV. They are not.
But here's the thing: I'm not going to bitch and moan over this. Did plenty of times already. I'm going to bitch and moan about the Character selection.

Let's start with Man-E-Faces. 2 appearances on the Cartoon. One less than Mekaneck and HE GETS toy treatment? What about Prince Adam, who is literally a new vest (and if they wanted to cheat, the powercon vest in pink could work) or Stratos to catch up with the too Filmationy for her own good Hawke. Heck, even Ram Man is far more "core" than MEF.
I kinda get why Hordak is there, or Tunglashor... Even if it feels like they are padding with POP. But here's the thing: where is She-Ra? We don't have a TRUE Filmation version of her. We'd need a new sword with a sculpted gem as well. Where's the rebellion?  Or even better, Shadow Weaver...
I understand having left-field choices on CC, but on CG? This line is not meant to be a huge line. It's meant to be a lot smaller and controlled than MOTUC itself. It's meant to redo the more mainstream characters with  Filmation's looks.

The Classicizer and Super7

A long time ago, the Guru and I conceived a catch all term to explain the MOTUC aesthetic. While Neitlich used it as an excuse to justify Mattel's quarter ass efforts, I used it as a way to bring all the branches together. In a way, I believe in the Classicizer.
Let's take a look at how this "Neitlichian sophistry machine" works.
Original MOTU: takes most of the elements from the vintage toy, while sprinkling some elements from other sources (mini comics, Filmation, 200X, things that the Horsemen find cool, etc.)
POP: eliminate the frilly stuff from the original toyline, while taking most cues from Filmation. Add some details from the toys so they can kinda fit with MOTU.
NA: Bulk up those bodies and when possible, reuse vintage parts.
200X: eliminate the blockyand angular look as much as possible and tone down the detailing to somewhere somewhat close to vintage.
Filmation: Add details and textures to fit with MOTUC vintage. Keep the shapes similar to filmation.

That last one is the one I need to emphasize. After we got the sub-par sub-line, fans are demanding that the inferior looks should bleed into the true Classics.

That's a load of crap! I am a bit disappointed with Hawke because of this. Granita and Dylamug NEED to be 20% more detailed to truly feel like they belong in MOTUC.
Caving in to the demands of the Filmationites is wrong and bad.
This is putting a rift on the essence of MOTUC: all eras under one style inspired by the era who started it all.
I mean MOTUC has 200+ figures. Club Grayskull has 15? (Counting wave 2) so, Hawke, Granita, and Dylamug should fit the bigger line with the bigger roster.

What is it with super delayed sequels?

So we know about Rush Hour four coming, right? Well, hold on to your butts because Eddie Murphy... Yes, the same Eddie Murphy who hasn't been funny since the 80s is company ng back with a sequel.
No, I'm not talking about Beverly Hills Cop 4. I'm talking about Coming to America 2.
WHY?
I mean, Star Wars CAN get away with it, why can't these movies?
Let's ask Danny Glover.
That's why. With Star Wars you have an ongoing saga about the rise and fall of a Galactic Empire while following the story of a young boy who becomes a space wizard, then an Asthmatic Evil Cyborg Samurai Space Wizard, who is saved by a farm boy apprentice to a Space Wizard that happens to be his son. Now the farm boy is an old Space Wizard who has to train a Mary Sue to defeat the Space Wizard's nephew, who happens to be a fanboy of his grandpa and wants to be an Evil Space Wizard.

Unless Rush Hour 4 is Chan and Tucker coming to terms that they are Danny Glovers, then what story can they tell?

What kind of a compelling story can be told in Coming to America 2, or as how I expect them to call it: Coming 2 America?

Not to mention that this movie will not have 1980s Eddie Murphy. This will have 2010s Eddie Murphy whose last close to funny gig was being an ass. This is going to suck royally...

Odds and ends Oct. 6 2017

Storm Collectibles is also doing Tekken 7 toys. Seriously, they are becoming THE Fighting game toymakers. Luckily, I'm NOT a huge Tekken fan. (I'm more  into Soulcalibur) All they need to do now is Dead or Alive and they cover MOST of the important fighting games.

My brother is a dick. He shows up at my work and silently creeps up to me. I'm glad he's OK. He made me lose all sense of professionalism when I grabbed him in a bear hug and started bawling like a baby. I'm sad that I couldn't sense him sneaking up on me (old age is making me dull? Mom would be disappointed), but at the same time, I'm glad that he can still sneak up on people easily. It's all art of a game that Mom used to play with us when we were kids. She tied belly dancer bells on our feet and had us moving around until we could walk with them without making a sound. We had to reach Mom without making a noise. The one who got closest would win a prize (like say: trip to KB toys, choice for dinner, etc.)

Why? No, seriously, WHY ARE THEY MAKING RUSH HOUR 4?

Storm Collectibles is now trying to rape my wallet...

Just a few hours ago I said that KOF would be wallet rapey... What does Storm Collectibles do?

Right now I'm not sure if it's a figure or a statue. Still, it's freaking Rugal...
If this is an action figure line, don't tell my wallet... My achy breaky wallet. Better not suggest any more games to be turned into toys...

Moving on and Letting go

To me the concept of Moving on and Letting go can be a bit too hard. I mean like I still harbor feelings for the girl I had a crush on Third Grade and that's way over 20 years ago. Don't get me started on grudges.

They say time heals all wounds and stuff. I'm not a huge believer of that concept. The wounds still hurt as if they just had happened. There is not a single day that passes without me feeling the pain of losing Mom. If I could "let go" then I wouldn't feel the pain of losing Mom. What if I *DON'T WANT TO LET GO* of this pain? What if I USE THIS PAIN TO PUSH MYSELF FORWARD and strive to become a better person? I'm very likely to not leave a genetic legacy (mostly due to the fact that I don't want to be a father thanks to some of my inner demons... Metaphorical ones) The other legacy I have is the destruction of Mattycollector... And I'm losing my focus once again.
I've been dealing with my mother's death for a bit over two years. It doesn't get any easier, but I am surviving. I still feel like a lost child at times, but I am adulting mostly fine. Hurricane Maria has been a sobering experience. It opened my eyes to show me how lucky I've been in the bigger picture. While my life has reached about 63% of normalcy, seeing the sheer destruction that she left is eye opening. Having Military vehicles patrolling the streets is a scary image. It doesn't matter if they're on our side, the image is still a tad disturbing.

Things I took for granted feel a lot more special now... Drinking an ice cold soda, having a warm meal, being able to watch porn (yeah I went there... Having 2 jobs and virtually zero social life due to lack of time don't help.) Are privileges now.

All this makes it a bit harder to be my usual nitpicky self. I suspect that once my place gets power, old whiny and nitpicky me will return to normal. For now I'm going to try that optimism thing...

Oh yeah! I almost forgot. Saw Kingsman 2 and I laughed my ass off. Elton John... That's all I'll say.

Storm Collectibles is becoming my favorite toy company.

As you are aware by the Ryu review, I've been getting into Storm Collectibles. I need to take pics of Ken so he can come out the toy chest... also this:

Take a wild guess on who this figure is... It's not a Kombatant...
Hint, check the date HE WILL ARRIVE.

With the lull of MOTUC News and I shall preorder wave 2 next week, need to get paid first... There hasn't been much to catch my toy interest... Except Storm Collectibles with their Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat figures. I'm fearing the moment that they announce King of Fighters figures. I'm not a KOF completist, but there's plenty of characters that I'd like to have. Most of them being from Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting.

But, you know what would make my Wallet weep? I'll give you a hint.

If this is what I think it means...

My wallet is going to hate me...

Storm Collectibles doing USFII means getting a REAL Akuma minus the Matata, FREAKING DEE JAY, SAGAT, BLANKA, E.HONDA... a Ken without Banana hair!!
The Ultimate SFII toyline could be real...

MY BROTHER'S ALIVE!!!

Y'all know that Hurricane Maria left parts of Puerto Rico without any communications. My brother lives in one of those areas. Until yesterday night, he was MIA. I was preparing myself to receive some bad bews, due to the Hurricane's timing and September being a really turd of a month for me. Well, no. I did not get any awful news. I got the Best news ever!! My kid brother is ALIVE AND KICKING!! I HAVEN'T FELT SUCH HAPPINESS IN AGES AND THE FEELING IS OVERWHELMING!! BTW, once I can get a working phone, I'll ve able to rant semi-normally and I have a World Warrior to review... All I can say is that it's going to be bananas.

Apparently, Postal Service on PR is partially working.

Between the mostly lucky dodging Irma and facing Maria's wrath, I ordered a really cool jacket with a tiger on it.

Now, the point of this rant is not to showcase my Shenmue jacket. It's more than that. While it's been REALLY SLOW, we're still struggling to bounce back from Maria's wrath. The pics of San Juan's mayor deep in water are not Fake News. SOME SMALL AREAS in The Metropolitan Area are having a closer sense of normalcy, but there are communities WITHIN The Metro Area cities that are a disaster. It's great that President Trump is doing his duty by aiding American Citizens, but the response has been a bit too slow compared to other disasters. Hopefully, Governor Rossello will take Trump to the worst areas to show him how awful the situation truly is. (Supposedly, El Presidente is coming on Tuesday... and I'm feeling like making a Bison reference now.)

With that said, if you ARE sending care packages via mail, be aware that the entire system isn't working at 100%.
Any supplies sent from non-USA countries are forced to make a stop at the USA due to the Jones Act... which isn't being waived during the emergency.

If you're on the US, call your Representatives and put some pressure on them to not abandon American brothers and sisters, many who have fought for Uncle Sam and still do. Lives depend on getting help ASAP.