Yipee Kay Yay Mr. FALCON... Thanks for everything Bruce Willis.

 Bruce Willis, you know, Bruce Willis... has retired from acting due to an actually serious medical condition: Aphasia.

Due to this condition impacting his cognitive abilities, he has chosen to retire. Unlike the  condition of Baldness  (Alopecia) that Willis also suffers from, Aphasia diminishes the capability of understanding language, verbally or written. This also reduces speaking and writing abilities... Head Traumas, strokes, or tumors in the brain are some of the possible causes for Aphasia.

I hope for strength and clarity for his family in these trying times. For Bruce, I hope he can get all the help he needs and when the time comes, thar he can go peacefully and hopefully before the condition advances too far that he's trapped in his body without the capability of communication.

Thank you for everything Mr. Willis. From Die Hard to Hudson Hawk, from Bruno the Kid... yeah, I was one of the 3 people who remembers that show... to Look who's talking. From The Fifth Element all the way to Death Wish remake... the hits, the flops, everything in between, thank you for everything.

Farewell 30s... This is a scary time!!

 It's a bit scary to think that when my Parents were my age, they were dealing with a teenager... They were in relatively stable executive jobs, and had life figured out (or at least they knew how to fake it)...

Me? I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm struggling with depression, PTSD from my Mom's death, my relationship with my father is better when we have no contact; despite my subconscious attempts at self-sabotage, I have a minuscule bit of a romantic life... 98.73% of it has been failure, but I may have found someone who doesn't want anything SERIOUS SERIOUS (settling down, marriage, that type of thing.) I hated dating in my 20s... I hate it in my 30s... and now I'll have to do it in my 40s... Shit... I'm  in my 40s... 

 

It doesn't help that I stutter and that I'm socially awkward, but when family and friends keep asking WHEN I'm going to settle down and have kids... or when I'm coming out of the closet... or if I'm like Steve Carell

It really grinds my gears... I don't want kids. I don't think it would be fair for them with my depression. Same reason I don't want to get married. I don't want to have others trying to carry my burdens. I KNOW it's a bit messed up, but  I don't want to pass on my accursed genes. I want the freedom of being alone whenever I want to... being married would trap me in a relationship where it would be VERY unhealthy for me to pack up and go if a situation arose.

Yeah, social interactions and relationships are cool, but I NEED A LOT OF ME TIME by that I mean disconnect from the world at large and retreating into "my fortress of solitude"...  Hell, I'd probably fall in love with them Sensory deprivation tanks.

I'm "not doing as well as my parents did at my age" but you know what, screw it! I'M NOT MY PARENTS!! I'm doing the best I can with what I've got and looking for my happiness while keeping my Responsibilities! But, damn! I'm in my 40s now... My twilight has begun... I'm getting closer to 2040... and I'm afraid... (Batman beyond is supposed to be somewhere around 2039-2040)  The 24th Phantom is active in 2040...

But my 2040 will be a lot more disappointing... October 21st 2015 was disappointing and I won't make it to 2099... as that would make me over 100 and I'm sure I WON'T reach a 100th Birthday... unless I get cursed with immortality, which honestly wouldn't surprise me, as I'm the universe's punching bag!! 

Growing old, feeling lost, it's such a weird feeling.

It came from the Toy Chest: Old and Older made new Turtley Blimpy

 

Not mine... Ace Ventura
delivered mine.

The time of my Birthday has come and I got an Early Present... The TMNT Blimp... Sadly, my box was beaten up badly and I cannot take a MOC pic.

 The 1980s Blimp was badass, especially the Glider...

The 2012 one? Not so much... the toy is a bad adaptation of the 80s one. It looks bad without the balloon attached.  It lacks the badass wings that allows the Turtles to hang on it.

The 2022 Blimp is the 2012 Glider and fins on then1980s Balloon.

It KINDA fits all Super7 Turtles.
This is made for 2012, which are a tad smaller.

While it's not a perfect fit for the Super 7 Ultimate figures, you can kind of make them fit. Personally I would go for using it as a single Turtle vehicle. A few days after I took that original picture, I finished giving it a crappy repaint, in order to make it pop a little bit. Basically painting a lot of the details that Playmates left in plain green. I was tempted to painted mostly gray silver and black as a nod through the cartoon, but I opted for some green elements to keep it as a turtles themed toy. 

I honestly wish I had seen reviews before buying it... it doesn't work that well with the vintage figures either. They can't properly hang on to the controls. If you still want to buy it, better have a bike pump ready... it's a bitch to blow the balloon and smoking hasn't done me any favors. I quit a few years ago, but still, my 40 year old lungs aren't as good as my 9 year old lungs. Emptying the balloon is as much as a pain as inflating it.

It's almost passable as a Single Turtle
Vehicle

Now that I'm stuck with it, I could use it as a background item on Don's workshop if I ever make a turtle lair for the S7 figures. Thinking of a "pile of failed projects" where I can add tons of kibble, broken bits and ends from other toys. Maybe even make a tarp to partially cover the glider as a failed project. 

This only works with the Turtles 
themselves.  April won't fit or hold the controls... (they're a bit too thick for her hands)

I'm going to flat out say it:

Do NOT BUY THIS!!!

While the Balloon looks vintage it was modified to fit the 2012 glider and it WILL NOT WORK on the 1988 Blimp glider. The box shows some tabs to hang the blimp... they were eliminated on the final product.

The glider body is incompatible with 1988 parts, so you won't be able to replace the front wheels with the 1988 lower wings.

As I mentioned before it barely works with vintage Turtles and Super7's. If you can live with all those issues, then you could get it... but if you get disappointed by it, don't blame me! I tried to warn you!!

Splinter: Are you Winning, son?
Donatello: WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW!
Splinter: Unbelievable...
Donatello: I-it's not what it looks like...
Splinter: You were having sex with that turbine...
Donatello: OK. It WAS what it looked like...
Splinter: Teenagers...

Fresh Cuck Slaps Chris Rock over joke: an entangled rant

 We've all seen the Slap that gave life to the 2022 ACADEMY AWARDS. Where Will "Fresh Cuck of Bel Air" slaps comedian Chris Rock... I guess Everybody Hates Chris, especially Jada "Entanglement with a man young enough to be her son" Pinkett Smith, who was the butt of a GI Jane joke... Thing is that Will LAUGHED at the Joke, then suddenly he stands up, gives a slap to Chris Rock and tells the comedian to keep his wife's name out of his mouth. Chris Rock moves on with the show.

Chris Rock was barely fazed by that slap. He literally said that he he could go... OK. This showed that he could've unloaded a bunch of jokes about the Smiths all the way to August... and other entanglements. 

Let us remember how 2 years ago, Jada humiliated Will in public.

And as a man who had lost all his dignity, Will stayed with her and now this whole Chris Rock thing stinks of Will trying too hard to please Jada. Hell, if I was really as pissed as Will was trying to look, Chris Rock should've been knocked down on the floor. Chris Rock laughed this outburst off and Will Smith ended up looking like a bigger fool. That was barely a slap. It almost felt scripted. 

This has backfired on Will Smith big time... sure, one might consider Chris Rock's joke "tasteless", but instead of being the bigger man, Will assaulted Rock and now if Jada wants to divorce, she can use Will's rage against Chris Rock as an excuse. Will is lucky that Chris Rock isn't pressing charges. If he had, then Jada's divorce would be much more favorable to her despite the Entanglements she had on the 8th Month.

Will could've used this as a teachable moment. Calling Chris Rock out about his tasteless joke. Then at the acceptance speech, he could've mentioned how he wanted to hit Rock for the joke, but didn't, since he "wants to be a vessel of love"... Unfortunately, Will chose poorly and acted immaturely. If only someone had taught Will about using your brain, not your brawn...

Huh... Will Smith already knew that and still chose to fight...

People are using the misogyny card to defend Will... problem is that the victims here are Chris Rock and Will Smith. The real villain is Jada Pinkett-Smith. Again, let's bring back the fact that she had an "entanglement" with a "kid slightly older than Jaden with mental issues". Jada broke Will. She has implied that Will didn't satisfied her among other things... or that Will had to compete with the ghost of Tupac... she broke Will and now the broken man is trying to rebuild himself, not as he should be but as Jada wants him... Rock is a victim too since he was assaulted by Jada's puppet... but putting the blame where it belongs, Jada... is misogynistic or something.

Action Figure Woes: the plight of the female characters

 Female figures don't sell... we've heard that song and dance countless of times. Most recently, some dude gave his opinion on this topic... you probably never heard of him. He's Todd McFarlane, Creator of Spawn, the big boss at McFarlane Toys. A guy who knows less than Jon Snow... He made his point in a hyperbolic and somewhat crass way, but he is right...

... from a certain point of view, as Obi-Wan said.

Historically speaking female characters "Don't sell" as well as male characters. There are a couple of reasons why:

-They are the easiest figure to get wrong and hardest to get right. 

I mean look at 80s Scarlett from GI Joe... most of the April figures from the OG TMNT by Playmates, or NECA's Toon April, some of the MOTUC females (Double Trouble, Frosta, Glimmer, Point Dread Teela, Club Grayskull Teela) ToyBiz Marvel Legends Black Cat, Rogue, Scarlet Witch, Hasbro's Emma Frost, the recent Jean Grey, Famke Jansen Dark Phoenix, Retro sue Storm, etc... the point is that we could nitpick female figures a lot more than male figures.

I rest my case...

-The sexist mentality surrounding female characters...

There are many layers here. The ones I personally faced were the following:

"Playing with female figures would make me gay". As stupid as it sounds, this was one of the reasons I was unable to have a Teela, Evil Lyn, Sorceress, Cheetara, Steelhart, NONE of the She-Ra figures... April somehow managed to avoid the ban for the fact that she packed heat...

A subset of this was: "Female figures are dolls, not action figures and boys don't play with dolls".

Playing with figures that represent the female body was bad, but Playing with scantily clad well-oiled men who "grope each other on a giant four post bed" is totally straight. So, if I stayed at my aunt's and didn't bring a few MOTU figures with me, I would be stuck playing as Bow, bored out of my mind because She-Ra and friends were having sleepovers at Crystal Castle talking about Bow and stopping Catra from getting in. I couldn't play as Glimmer, Mermista, or hell, even Catra because "dolls are for Girls, not boys"...  Playing as Filmation intended was mostly reserved for the times my cousin took her naps and she left her POP unattended. 

It was made worse when my cousin wanted to play Barbies with me... I was Ken, of course, but Barbie and her friends went to the mall in her car, or in crazy Adventures while Ken stayed at home watching TV and hanging out with the guys. Couldn't drive the corvette because it was Barbie Pink and Ken  can't drive a pink car "because he's a boy..." and I was like "It's a Corvette! I don't care if it's pink. I WANNA DRIVE IT!!" IF I was lucky, I could drive the yellow camper van and my cousin was one to remind Ken WHOSE camper that was. The few times I could use the camper, it always ended up with Ken and the guys going on a camping trip up in the mountains... in retrospect, my Ken was either a closet homosexual or a MGTOW...

With TMNT on the other hand she was more involved in gameplay and April was more actiony... until "she outgrew toys". April fought the foot and kicked ass with her gun...

Point is that some outdated mentalities on both males and females have an adverse effect on children's playtime. Especially from "very macho" cultures like in various Latin American countries.

-"They don't sell"... There have been cases where some female figures end up being peg warmers, due to a combination of the above issues... OR the character is incredibly unlikable (like Rey Palpatine). 

A subset of the "they don't sell" mindset comes from the people making a stink about "lack of female representation" in toys... I mean the people who whined about it on Twitter like the where's Natasha? Campaign that ended up with a Marvel Legends Black Widow peg warming for some time... or the excess of Rey Palpatine from both TFA and TLJ clogging pegs with Jyn Erso. Or how much the "internet darling" I am Elemental hasn't had a wave 3 since the 2017 wave 2 and most of the figures canceled be bought WELL UNDER THE MSRP on eBay and other sites for collectibles. I know I bitched a lot about the toys being more focused on being a Social Justice Experiment than actual toys, but after 2 years and a bunch of hype, this line faded away, fueling the "female figures don't sell" angle.

Netflix's She-Ra: First the Twitter and Tumblr folks attacked fans of the True She-Ra because it was "a 30 minute commercial" and that the "better She-Ra didn't need to sell toys"...

Mattel made toys that ended up in clearance rather quickly... the same Twitter and Tumblr folks whined about collectors not supporting the new She-Ra... while THEY didn't buy the toys either.

When Disney got a hold of Star Wars, they tried to hype the female characters and everybody on Twitter, Tumblr and various websites and blogs were hyping the female characters, but none of them was buying the toys.

-Last but not least, They're short-packed. To compensate for the potential Peg-warming, Female figures often get short-packed. You can say that Teela sold less figures than He-Man if for every 1 Teela figure there are 4 He-Man figures. 

So most of the issues stem from a self-fulfilling prophecy...

Female figures don't sell, so the companies put less effort on the female figures, which end up looking far worse than the male figures. They don't sell.

So yeah, Todd IS right that female figures "don't sell"... I hate it, but it's true. If the slacktivists put their money where their mouths are, MAYBE we'd see positive change.

Action figures and guns: a rant

 Recently, Todd McFarlane, creator of Spawn, made an interview where he made a bunch of comments that could be considered inflammatory. He mentioned that Marvel and DC have put an effort on phasing out guns from their toys... This is a symbolic act of solidarity towards the victims of shootouts and other gun crimes made by irresponsible gun owners. That's why Hammerhead has a bat, Jason todd a Crowbar or Gunfingers... companies like Mattel or Hasbro can't bypass, licensor requests of not having guns on the licensed lines... Well, hasbro could do a GI Joe Classified accessories set and have plenty of guns for their 6" Joes that the customers could use on other 1:12 lines IF they chose to. They most likely won't to avoid the ire of the Mouse.

If Only Todd was the owner of an unconventional Superhero from Hell that used Guns and other fire arms to fight evil and avoid using his limited Powers...

Would you look at that? He DOES OWN an Unconventional Superhero from Hell that uses guns and other Firearms to fight evil and avoid using his limited powers!

He could make accessory packs for Spawn that also happen to have plenty of generic firearms that Adult Customers that buy this Spawn accessory pack exclusive to McFarlane Toys and not sold on your average retailers could use on non-spawn toys that happen to be on the 1/10 scale. While Super Specific things like Peacemaker's Special Desert Eagle couldn't be on this set, there could be a pair of M1911s that a Jason Todd could borrow. Deadshot, Deathstroke, and Bloodsport could borrow some of Spawn's more sci-fi guns even if they weren't specifically made for them. The idea is to have an aresnal or two for Spawn if you want a display with realistic weapons or more comicbooky sci-fi guns... NOTHING MORE...

Just as the Slambulance is NOT a TMNTU vehicle, the guns in my proposed accessory packs ARE NOT DC Universe items. Or me using old Jakks Pacific WWF stuff for TMNTU or GI JOE Ultimates doesn't make the Jakks stuff TMNT or GI Joe... or how I had Origins Teela and Evil-Lyn use the 3 party unbranded Wands... or the Wooden Horse that I used with a putty patroller. You get the idea. I'm the one "violating any sort of agreement", not Todd.

Sure, fans could make 3d models and print them, but that doesn't give McFarlane any additional money. I'm offering an option where Both Todd and the consumers win. Even WB wins because they can still take the high road about no guns in their official toys.  

Playmates is being lazy... AGAIN!! 2012 EDITION

 Remember the Mirage Boxset I bought and the 2 vintage Boxsets I skipped? Playmates is at it again with 2012 Turtles this time... No love for 2003 it seems... or 2009 for that matter. I'm not even going to mention the Next Mutation.

This set has the Turtles, Splinter, and Shredder...

There is a peculiar thing I remember from this line's Shredder figureS. Each Shredder was missing a Key point of articulation: The Normal Shredder has elbow articulation but no KNEE articulation. The SDCC Shredder with vac metal helmet and spikes has articulated knees but no ELBOW articulation... Playmates could've fixed the issue by mixing and matching BOTH Shredder figures and giving fans a more worthy Shredder... but no. It's the same first release Shredder.

Can I get a naked gun clip now?

Really, Playmates? You had to go the super lazy route and you couldn't do a mix and match like you did with the Blimp? 

I don't want to be making fun of your laziness, but you leave me no choice. You could be doing so much better but for some reason you don't even want to put any effort on your toys. You're reaching the point where I'm starting to wish that y'all didn't have the master toy license anymore. You're doing jack shit with the license. So you don't want to do the superarticulated toy thing, fine... How about a continuation to the original line? The "Lost Waves" if you will. 

Like say a wave with Karai, Elite Foot Ninja, Granitor, the basic four turtles (with red bandanas, brown belts and pads), and after dealing with Stan Sakai, a proper Ronin version of Usagi.

Second wave could have a Mirage repaint of Normal shredder but instead of a cape he gets a cloth shirt. A Red Sky inspired April, a Mirage Casey with removable mask, Lord Dregg, a Silver and white Fugitoid, toon color repaint of Burne, a proper toon Splinter, and a Genghis repaint for Rasputin.

Then reissue the Mutatin figures and add a Mutatin Baxter to the mix...

Put on some freaking effort!!

Making a case for Human Baxter Stockman in Super7's TMNTU

 In my previous TMNT Ultimates list, I mentioned Human Baxter. But I didn't realize something: 

Human Baxter COULD SHARE PARTS WITH VERNON... Mainly the legs.

The arms, hands and crotchpiece could be reused from Baxter. The torso and heads would have to be new. The new torso is needed because of the interchangeable head and necks... remember that my suggestion for Baxter is to have the ability to change him from Mirage inspired to Toon inspired and viceversa. 

So I have a few proposals on how Baxter could be tackled:

Basic version:

New heads with necks (as seen on the Cobra Troopers), new torso with the toon vest and tie sculpted on, New Coat Torso overlay Based on Fly Baxter, preusing the Vernon legs and feet. The accessories would be hands for Caucasian and African American Baxter. A single Mouser.

Semi Deluxe version:

Similar to the previous Baxter BUT with a slight change: 

Torso needs the capability to swap arms and neck. The reason for the swappable arms is to be able to remove them to swap the "shirts" under the labcoat. One of the "shirts" is inspired by the toon, while the other is the sweater from Mirage comics. Both are meant to fit under the labcoat... (not at the same time.) The accessories would be the same as the basic version.

The Deluxe version is slightly more elaborate on the transformation betweem Baxters. Same Torso as the previous version, but this time he has 2 sets of arms:

The first set is The same as fly Baxter for Caucasian Baxter, then the other set is Vernon's arms with African American flesh for Mirage Baxter.

He would have the 2 overlays mentioned before for both versions. That way you have 4 display options:

Toon inspired Baxter

Mirage inspired Baxter

Mirage Baxter with lab coat

Toon Baxter with Mirage sweater and labcoat.

The only option unavailable is fully mirage Baxter because of the sleeves.

Due to the extra arms and overlays, there is no Mouser. He could always come sith some smaller accessories. Thinking of the Model scale building that Mirage Baxter destroys. 

The reason why I'm keeping the accessories low is to keep the price tag as low as possible. 

But back to the WHY a Human Baxter. The answer is simple:  it gives us options for Baxter.

If we like the cartoon version, we can have Pre-Fly and Fly Baxter. If we like Mirage, we can have Mirage Pre-Cyborg Baxter. If we like the Batman vs TMNT African American Fly Baxter, we give Fly Baxter Africab American hands.

 If I'm into TMNT Multiversal crossovers, I can have Both Fly Baxter and Mirage Baxter working together against the Turtles. At least this is a variant that makes sense... unlike Discord Mod Leo, Tumblr Mikey, Twitter Don, and Myspace Raph.

GTA Trilogy: Vice City: first thoughts

 After finding a way to make The Exchange stupid easy... by going to the shoreside vale Safehouse and taking the weapons available (100 packages + firefighter mission) and looping around the hideout swiftly so the weapons would respawn and take extra ammo. With the weapons in tow, quickly heading to the dam and defeating the Colombian Cartel with the Sniper, RPG, Famethrower, AK, and M16... it's Vice City's turn.

Right now I'm "in the beginning..." since I just saved after being told to go to the hotel on Ocean Beach... I know that it sounds like "I haven't done ANYTHING" but I AM doing stuff. I finished the Pizza Boy Missions to have 150 Health, I've done some Rampages and collected 20-something packages. I'm collecting stuff for money to buy weapons and hideouts early on... Need to collect as many Almost invincible Admirals as possible. Some frustrating missions require that car.

I will not use cheat codes, but using in-game exploits that's a different story. What I'm trying to get at is that I'm tasting the game before fully playing the game. Since I can't use cheat codes, utilize a Cheating device like codebreaker or GameShark; I have to do things the hard way... I'm trying to make things less hard for me.

Musically the game hurt me... We have no Michael Jackson!! No Ozzy Osbourne... No Kate Bush!! No Lionel Ritchie... No Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force, but the most noticeable one for me was Irakere's Añunga Ñunga!!

Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force - Looking for the Perfect Beat

Herbie Hancock - Rockit

Irakere - Añunga Ñunga

Kate Bush - Wow

Michael Jackson - Billie Jean

Michael Jackson - Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'

Ozzy Osbourne - Bark at the Moon

Tyrone Brunson - The Smurf

These are the songs officially removed due to licensing issues. I know that there are only eight songs but their absence Robs a little bit of the whole Vice City experience. 

Driving a cab through Little Havana as you complete the Taxi Missions is not the same without Añunga Ñunga .

Cruising on a Deluxo at twilight near Escobar International Airport while listening to Lionel Ritchie Running with the Night.

At least I still have A Flock of Seagulls...

The game obviously feels more polished than GTA3. We still haven't reached the San Andreas levels, which are the Pinnacle of 3D era of Grand Theft Auto, but there is a reasonable difference between Vice City and 3. Once I beat the game or reach the final mission I shall do the full review of the game. Let's hope the game isn't as merciless as GTA3... I need to save the Nearly invincible Admirals for Death Row...

Maury Povich is retiring...

 Maury Povich is a talk show host. Some would say the last of the shocking TV Talk show hosts... think a less trashier version of Jerry Springer. He is also the source of the "You ARE NOT the father" videos  where men do victory dances as the women who tried ro deceive them cry and throw tantrums. 

He also had special days where the late Jack Hanna would show animals. 

He also had episodes of people with weird phobias... Bring out the Olives!!

The glee on Maury's face when he summons the item the people fear in the phobia episodes is borderline Psychotic!!!

But he also ran episodes of problematic kids who are sent to Boot Camp to be scared straight.

If I recall correctly, I've mentioned Maury before back when this blog was in diapers. I seem to remember something about saying that this show and Springer were mind rotting Television and that I loved them for it. Sadly around 09 the local Fox Network and  what is now CW started broadcasting "local" programing from the Virgin Islands... so, Maury, Springer, and other brain rotting talk shows were out! Needless to say that aside from Random clips seen on YouTube, I haven't seen the Maury Show in over 13 years... Now the old man is retiring! Also he's been doing this for 31 years... starting 3 weeks earlier than Springer ans lasting nearly 4 years after Springer being over... meaning that I watched close to 18 years of This... garbage. I love it, but it still is garbage!

This getting old thing kinda sucks...

Halo TV Show us gonna suck ass!

 I am NOT a Halo fan. With that said, the Showrunner already said something that if I WAS a Halo fan, I'd be scared for the show and pissed at the Showrunner.

Basically, the showrunner is ignoring the games to make the series. First, let's start with the most obvious part: Dismissing the Source Material "because it's a videogame". You know what happems when you disregard the source Material? 

Super Mario Bros.

Resident Evil

Street Fighter 

Street Fighter the Legend of Chun Li

Mortal Kombat (2021)

I could understand ignoring the games' lack of story if we're adapting something like Super Mario Brothers or Sonic the Hedgehog, who are games with more focus on gameplay than story.  But Halo has a shit ton of lore WITHIN THE GAMES THAT SHOULDN'T BE DISCARDED!! I don't even LIKE Halo and this bullshit pisses me off!

Seriously, could you imagine if Francis Ford Coppola was like: We're. Aking The Godfather movie, bit we are not reading Puzo's book! We want to take his characters and tell a new story. We don't want to be limited by the book!!

Goddammit! A 1:1 translation is not what people want... it's understandable that a book cannot be 100% covered in a 2 hour film. What is expected from a movie based on a book is a mostly faithful adaptation of the book with small changes for the sake of condensing a story to fit the 2 hour-ish runtime, with the changes being respectful to the source Material... the same thing applies to Comics, Anime, Western Cartoons, and videogames.

I don't want to read some fanfiction where the main character plays second fiddle to some Mary Sue... if I wanted to do that, I could always go to fanfiction websites. And THAT is the main issue with a lot of these showrunners. They take a popular property, they take a shit on the source material, deliver a subpar product, and then they have the gall to blame fans of the property for not supporting the adaptation...

These bozos would give guns to Harry Potter...

The Halo fans don't deserve this kind of bullshit.

New Eternia and the 40th... a chance for Masterverse to surpass Classics?

 The New Eternia and 40th Anniversary sublines are the shot in the arm that Masterverse needs. Revelation had a limited cast and in some cases some questionable designs. Also Revelation was a bit controversial and not many fans want a reminder of that on their shelves. 

New Eternia brings forth an Ethically Questionable  take on the characters that borrows from unused concepts created by former employees. Like taking the late Mark Taylor's "Battle Bear" concept for Beastman and making it a pelt that the New Eternia Beastman wears... Kinda feels like a "screw you" to Mark Taylor's contributions. It looks cool, not going to lie, but at the same time it kinda feels a bit petty.

The 40th He-Man could spawn off a Sub-line of "Masterverse styled" tributes to key characters.

My guess would be The first 12-back, in addition to Adam, Evil-Lyn, Faker, Sorceress, Randor, and Orko.

Let's try and tackle the remaining "Core Characters" in a "New Eternia" or "40th"

I will not do Skeletor, since he already has a New Eternia and it's VERY likely that a 40th will show up. Beastman already has a New Eternia so he is out of the game. I'll thank the Battle Ram blog for a lot of the info used on this rant.

Man-at-Arms:

If a New Eternia version is made, Taking influences from the Arms Man and Paladin are mandatory. Pelt cape made from the same fur as Grizzlor is a start. Personally I'd take the Paladin Cape, Helmet and Rifle and use them on the Arms Man Body. Give him the chained mace and a traditional mace. Extra "Vintage MAA head with mustache".  Viking He-Man boots are needed and a new loincloth that can have the mace hanging on the side with a loop or a peg. (That's for the designers to figure out)

Stratos:

He needs two Harnesses: 

Harness 1 is based on the concept art with the feather necklace. Harness 2 something closer to Traditional Stratos Harness... Perhaps the incorrectly put on Harness in a criss cross pattern seen here. The huge wings from the Errol McCarthy art. He needs toes. The 40th can tackle the more traditional Stratos. (Sock feet, his normal harness, smaller wings)

Mer-Man:

This one can be a bit complicated. Let the 40th have the Cat head. Cross sell art is needed for this one. The Sea Man concept or LOP Merman translated to Masterverse. Maybe using the Back fins from the Golden Books as part of his armor.

Zodac:

He's a 40th Figure. There wasn't any really big differences between concept to final products that could justify a NEW ETERNIA Zodac.

Man-E-Faces:

Hoo boy! Now here's a Complicated one... so many concepts to mix and match... a Purely traditional MEF could come in the 40th. The New Eternia should borrow from a lot of the unused concepts.

First the Poncho. I WANT it because it give options to "hide" Man-E-Faces in a disguise. The forearms of the insectoid concept combined with the shoulders and biceps of the "Flipshot" MEF concept with a traditional head, torso, and legs. His faces should be based on the concept art and giving him the scepter and blaster. Personally, I'd combine the Flipshot and insectoid crotches for this MEF. The 40th takes care of a Purely traditional MEF.

Ram Man:

He didn't change much from Concept to final figure.

The Origins Figure seems like a good Starting point. HE can easily be a 40th Figure with the extra head and combining Axe to make him feel special.

Tri-Klops:

The problem with Tri-Klops is that he only has 2 known looks: Vintage, or Vintahe Mini-Comics.

I honestly don't know how a New Eternia Tri-Klops would look like. Would it be straight up mini comics or would it borrow elements from 200X? I know what a 40th would look like and don't know if it would be worth it since Revelation has a near Vintage looking Tri-Klops.

Trap Jaw:

He has the Tri-Klops issue. 2 VERY Distinct Looks and kinda hard to choose. Personally, I feel that Mini Comics Trap Jaw would be "Too Lazy". A 40th Trap Jaw would be too close to the Revelation figure.

Faker:

Once He-Man and Skeletor get their 40th Figures, a 40th Faker is obviously next... Now a New Eternia Faker, how could he be made? Lazy answer is barbarian Skeletor Harness on Viking He-Man's body. 

If the 40th is a brand spanking new Faker, how about the New Eternia being a Battle Damaged Faker. Kinda like the Revelation one but with blue Skin and the Metallic innards... Reoainting the Revelation Faker, But with the New Eternia Skeletor and He-Man Armors in Faker colors. I know it still sounds a bit lazy, but it's Faker...

Teela:

No Snake Armor or staff here. Shield, sword, and Spear are her accessories. Her head should have the longer ponytail and spiked headdress. She should come with an extra redhead uh, head. The main head would be Blonde. 

A more traditional Teela should be made in the 40th line.

Evil-Lyn:

She should borrow a lot from Teela and Sorceress (Green Goddess). The concept Helmet for Goddess on Evil-Lyn's head could make for a nice New Eternia head. Borrowing the Cape from Filmation is a good idea to spice up the Goddess torso, which should be different from the leafy Teela armor. The head with the more Traditional Evil-Lyn helmet should have a much woder crest like the concept.

Sorceress:

The 40th can have the Bird Lady we know and love. This Sorceress is The Green Goddess from the Mini Comics. As an added gimmick, her plastic could glow in the dark. She'd have the Snake Armor and share oarts with both Teela and Evil-Lyn. A second head could be the Caucasian head that should Match Teela's skin tone for those who wish to give Teela the Snake Armor.

King Randor:

Randor was basically a character who came from other media into the toys. The Jitsu Armored Randor can show up on the 40th... but can a New Eternia Randor be possible? 

A new Upper torso SIMILAR to BA He-Man: reusing the Lower Torso and crotch from BA He-Man. Barbarian Skeletor greaves and He-Ro Feet. Ba-He-Man's bracers with a new head with crown and a second head with a circlet (for battle) give him a new cape, sword, and shield that can plug into the left BA He-Man bracer. Maybe even have symmetrical MAA Styled armor for Randor.

Orko:

Straight to 40th. There's no need for a new Eternia Orko, unless he looks more like a Fantasy Mage than a floating shirt and pointy hat.

Prince Adam:

You know the Foppish Adam concept of him wearing a huge hat and a sort of pirate vest? That should be the base for New Eternia Adam.

For the 40th, reusing the slightly slimmer Masterverse body have Adam be basically a slightly less muscular He-Man. Not as wimpy as revelation, but looking slightly less bulky (the vest will add some unwanted bulkiness)

There we have a possibility of the 12 back and a few others. By combining Old and New, we could get a definitive MOTU line that COULD surpass Classics, if done right.

The 40th Anniversary He-Man figure: a rant

 Mattel revealed their 40th Anniversary He-Man figure. It's literally a Traditional He-Man done in Masterverse style. This was supposed to be a plain repaint of the normal Masterverse He-Man with  Viking He-Man spare head. 

The end result would've been super lazy as hell and kinda lame... Luckily for Mattel, Terry Higuchi fought a bit more for us and made this low budget bonus figure into something better...

So old yet so new

It seems rather interesting that we got these many new pieces:

Head

Torso

Harness

Shield

Left bracer

I'm glad that Higuchi fought against Mattel to get us a proper He-Man in Masterverse. I hope I can get one just for the new chest alone. This new Torso should become the standard in future Masterverse figures.

The only "disappointment" I have with the figure is that it's Vanilla He-Man. I mean, he could've gotten the boots from Viking He-Man and the knife to make a true OG He-Man based on the minicomics...

Other than that I love this figure. I wouldn't be opposed to a 40th Teela and Evil Lyn.

Hell, between New Eternia and 40th Anniversary, I'm feeling the urge to do some MOTU Themed Rants 

GTA Trilogy: Definitve Edition: GTA3: the review: the rant

 Ah, GTA3... the game that accidentally brought me back to MOTU. I've commented about the game feeling weird. They fixed the Vigilante glitch from GTA3 where you paused next to the target and the target would get off the car, making Vigilante a bit harder. I gave up on Ambulance missions, because, it's too freaking hard to beat without cheats... but I'm getting ahead of myself... let's do the usual review. I'll use the 10 point system because videogames 

Graphics:

One shouldn't expect PS4 graphics here. Sure there are upgraded elements, but it doesn't look as good as say, GTAV for PS4.

Here's a YouTube video showcasing the difference in graphics.

They're decent... almost first third of the PS3 era.

Taking in consideration that this is a PS2 game, I give it a 7.0

Sounds and Music:

So, GTA3 kept ALL the tracks intact. Even Flashback FM kept the entire Scarface Playlist.

To my knowledge No Voice Actors were replaced and none were brought back to redo lines.

10.0

Controls:

Here the game shows its age. Being the first 3D game of the series, meant it experimented with some things that were polished or changed on further games. I tried both classic and modern controls and my brain gets confused. Muscle memory sometimes goes to the opposite version.  You can notice how rough thongs were in GTA 3 in conparison to the more responsive GTAV.

6.5

Gameplay:

Open world game with rudimentary melee fighting and gunplay. Rudimentary driving and let's not talk about flying... fucking Dodo!! You'd have to sell your left testicle to Satan to fly that thing.

Holy Ass crackers!! It actually flies!! Back on topic: So you were betrayed and left for dead by your psycho now Ex-girlfriend... she kinda broke up with you with a shotgun to your chest. Wade through Liberty City's underworld, wreaking chaos amongst the criminal gangs and organizations in your quest for revenge... Whoops! Got ahead of myself here... Escort missions, fetch quests, asssassinations  you name it. But more often than not these missions will have things like: unforgiving time limits, paper vehicles that need to be undamaged, moronic AI partners with suicidal tendencies. Also, everything is rough, since it's the first 3D game and Rockstar was experimenting a lot here. So I have to give it a 7.5

Fun Factor:

Despite it being VERY ROUGH around the corners and having some Unforgiving Missions:

Espresso 2 Go

S.A.M.

Kingdom Come

Grand Theft Auto 

Rigged to Blow

The Exchange...

Fuck The Exchange with a rusty spoon... I just can't beat it without cheating... I can't  use cheats, because that blocks the trophies. While I don't care about reaching Platinum in every game, I kinda want to beat them the first time without cheating to obtain the most trophies possible.

Despite the high level of frustration that the game brings forth, it IS quite fun on the stuff that gives you some leeway... 8.0

Overall:

Nostalgia goggles did a huge number on the game. It's a lot clunkier than ai remembered. A lot harder too... then again, on PS2 I abused of the cheats or my little disc friend called Codebreaker. Despite all that, the game gets a 7.8 as its final score. It's good, just not as good as I remembered. In addition that the Remaster has a couple of issues on its own 

Custom Alternative to the Super7 Party Wagon

 Let me preface this with a couple of Warnings:

I am a mega crappy Customizer. I don't have a steady hand for painting, cutting, or sculpting. You probably are a much better customizer than I am. Even following standard procedure of washing, drying, sanding, priming, painting, sealing, I fucked up MANY times.

This is a Work In Progress and I don't know If I'll be able to finish it before 2023. I need to make a replacement Hood, make a Hood Ornament to hide a WWE logo. 

Also, it's kinda hard to be a customizer when you have no time, no skills, and no money...

Without further ado here's the Shellbulance:

The hood is literally a piece of clear plastic painted and held with tape. It's a placeholder until I can obtain or make something better.

I kinda want to get a manhole cover to cover the WWE Logo. Yes, the button that fires the gurney is painted with a Turtle smirk as a nod to the original paerty wagon.

The reason that the interior isn't painted yet, is that the slambulance is a pain in the ass to disassemble. I couldn't locate two screws that made the cabin pop off completely. Guess I'll have to captain paintbrush it and it's a bit awkward since I can't remove the seats.

Oh, I wish the turtles had foot holes.

I haven't finished decorating the right side since it has the Breakaway piece. The passenger door has the classic foot stinks but with a Google Translate twist, I'm not sure if it's 100% accurate... I also drew a smelly foot soldier for those of us who cannot read Japanese.

The right Fender has a couple of mouser killcounts... I got the inspiration from pilot killcounts. Each Mouser tag= 100 IRL Mousers.

The black stripe is a colorshift stripe. Well, it was before the sealer. I'LL HAVE to go over it so it recovers the effect. It goes from black to gold.

Here you can see the back. I need to retouch the door with the Metallic Green.  The License Plate is an obvious nod to the Turtles. The I❤NY is obvious. Pizza Time is not just a nod to their love of Pizza. It's also a nod to the TMNT games... NOT SPIDER-MAN!!

The Footbusters is a nod to the Other New Yorkers that bust things...

The Channel 6 Logo is because they're fans, OK?

Inside, I've padded the walls with Foam sheets, because in case of bumpy rides, it's better for the passengers in the back to bump to sonething soft...

The left side has the Kanji for Turtle, and the 4 bous tagged their initial.

A simple COWABUNGA fills tge empty space.

The Door has the TMNT branding because TOYS... just look at the glider for crying out loud!

I wish I was better skilled and could 3D print stuff, because I would've made a new hood, added other touches to personalize it better.

More Masterverse stuff with potential?

 Mattel revealed some upcoming Masterverse heroic figures. He-Ro who looks based on revelation... blegh! There's a Masterverse Sun-Man. It's decent for Masterverse, but Sun-Man deserved the MOTUC treatment and be sculpted by the Fourhorsemen... not Mattel's in-house team.

Apparently Ruben Martinez is being focused on Origins, despite being the new Toyguru. This leaves Masterverse mostly to Terry Higuchi, which is a good thing. The problem is that Higuchi still has to report to Ruben...

The She-Ra figure is One step forward two steps back figure...

Not going to say the fabric looks like shit but the fabric looks like shit. Thank goodness there is no rooted hair. I also see a one piece plastic skirt and we know what that meant last time they did a one piece plastic skirt...

They didn't learn from the mistakes of having a one piece plastic skirt in classics. Remember how they had to do a bubble power She-Ra to release a fix to the normal She-Ra? Pepperidge Farm remembers. Higuchi you had one job...

This is what I wanted of a NEW MOTU line. Take the vintage toys and plus them up in cool redesigns that still evoke the original. The only thing that worries me is the Tasset blocking the articulation. I'm not feeling that Old Man He-Man head though.

Playmates is doing some Reissues-ish...

 I've made fun of Playmates and their excessive reuse of the 80s-90s TMNT molds. They're rereleasing the Party Wagon again! This time the Wagon is not alone... They are adding a friend:

The second most iconic TMNT Vehicle that is NOT THE PIZZA TOSSER!

Stop, you don't need to tell me. I'm well aware that this is not the Vintage glider, it's the 2012 glider using the Vintage balloon. It's a weird combination, to be honest. I don't know if I like it or not, but one thing is certain: it will be far cheaper than whatever Brian Flynn from Super7 would produce. I can almost see a $950 price tag on the blimp if it's made by Super7. I'll try to get one next month because it MIGHT work with the Super7 Turtles, even if they're bigger.

I know I poked fun at Super 7 for their excessively high price tags, but if they made a turtle blimp their balloon would be really interesting with all the drawn Parts on the vintage toy being made 3D Super7. It's probably would not be inflatable I would require a hell lot of assembly but it would look awesome! Not over $1000 plus shipping and taxes awesome, but you know...

Mattel is desperate for my money...

 Masterverse reveals are kinda tempting...

Hordak and Catra are coming!! Very Filmation-like... hoping for a Shadow Weaver.

The Cloth Cape is not a bad idea in Theory, but the cape currently looks a bit on the crappy side. Also it seems that Catra has a rooted Ponytail... 

The photo may not make it justice, but so far it looks like an inferior copy of Classics but with better articulation. I like the bigger shield though.

Hordak seems decent, but I might have to Captain Paintbrush some details. Sadly, his cloth cape looks like Garbage. Might have to buy better fabric to make the capes... No Pleather, because that cracks easily...

I was a bit excited for Beastman when this pic showed hp. I was loving the extra armores bits... 

The one that actually showed up isn't that bad, but...

I KINDA WISH he had the extra leg armor. Supposedly, he's Skelegod sized.

Loving the new Whip, BTW.

Disappointment, thy name is Jitsu... He looks pathetic. The face is wrong, the hand looks wimpy even for Origins... the only somewhar cool thing is the Samurai mask. They need to go back and make a Jitsu with the proper goatee.

But wait, there's more disappointment coming.

Remember Scott Neitlich and hos Classicizer Machine? We were led to believe that it got an upgrade for Masterverse, hence these "New Eternia" figures looking like they fit with Revelation... also the Filmation stuff is getting Masterverse level of detail... well the machine is broken because we're getting Netflix Skeletor in Netflix proportions and not Masterverse style...

We should've gotten a PROPER Masterverse Figure with Masterverse proportions not slightly more articulated Netflix MOTU toys...

He-Man movie rumors keep going on and on but nothing happens.

 After the horrible rumor about Adam being isekai'd to Eternia, the Nee brothers are talking about being respectful to the source material and the movie being like Thor Ragnarok...

In a way, they are correct. The world of MOTU can't be too serious when you have such toyetic/silly names as Mekaneck, Stinkor, Ram Man, or Two-Bad... having to embrace the sillier aspects and accept them is heading in the right direction. The part that scares me is the "Humor aspect". Last person who promised humor and reverence to the brand, had Fisto talking about using his prosthetic hand to stimulate Skeletor's prostate. That cynical and jaded humor is NOT what a MOTU movie needs. 

Humor is a dangerous thing to implement. Badly implemented humor makes it cringy (Fisto Fisting joke, or Bat Credit card)... using it as a crutch can steal the movie's gravitas. A great visual of this would be comparing Ghostbusters 2016 to Ghostbusters 1984.

Personally, the Over the top humor should be kept to a minimum and Orko be the main source of this, as he's the Court Jester and magically incompetent. That doesn't mean that witty humor, sarcasm, and sass shouldn't be in the movie. Skeletor should have a rapier tongue and plenty of wit to properly give some proper burns. Evil-Lyn should be able to do the same. A character like Man-at-Arms shouldn't be quipping left and right. His humor should come from him being the straight man. For example, a casual conversation between him and Randor (who were friends for years before Randor became King) has Duncan speaking with all the formalities and protocols of addressing the King, while Randor is addressing Duncan as his Childhood friend and not his General. IT'S NOT MEANT to be a guffawing moment, but a slight chuckle at the situation of Duncan being a stickler to Protocol and being fully aware of his class and rank. Meanwhile, Teela can be the opposite, while mostly capable of keeping Class and rank protocol, sometimes she could slip up when Addressing Adam or Duncan. 

In Adam's case, he could ham it up a little bit as He-Man on the "Superhero aspect" AT FIRST and be a bit "cheesy" in some of his lines, since Adam is a teen playing a grown-up. As he grows comfortable with being He-Man, his "Heroic voice" shouldn't sound as hammy. Some of the situations for playing the "aloof, irresponsible, and cowardly prince" could be used for humor.

There are options for humor, but it's not a requirement. The main emotional forces pushing the movie, should be awe and wonder. Kinda like the Original Star Wars Trilogy... which had the better balance of seriousness and humor than The Disney Sequels or the Prequels.

The Nee Brothers have a hard battle against them... Hopefully they won't blow it.

March 15th Odds and Ends: NWO's Scott Hall and MCU's William Hurt were seen by HJO

 As you may have guessed by the title, Haley Joel Osment's Necrosight has reached William Hurt, who played General Thaddeus Ross on the MCU and former WRESTLING LEGEND Scott "Razor Ramon" Hall.

My condolences to both of their families.

Hurt passed peacefully due to natural causes and his fimily is asking for Privacy. Funny thing about my Haley Joel Osment sees dead people joke, they both were in a movie together... Also, I need to check the Dune Mini series, since Hurt was in it. Not to mention that I have to Rewatch Kiss of the Spider Woman... 

Scott Hall passed due to complications after a hip surgery. The weird thing is that out of all the NWO members no one was expecting Hall to be the first one to die. After Last Year's health scare with The Hulkster, people were worried that Hulkamania would no longer run wild, brother! And everybody jokes about how fragile and brittle Kevin Nash is... one wrong look and Nash gets hurt. Honestly. People expected Kevin Nash to be the first one to die. I know it sounds moderately cruel, but fandoms can be weird at times, and that includes wrestling... also, I need to point out the obvious: No one here at the house of rants is wishing for the deaths of any 80s-90s idols. We're sad that our childhood heroes are REALLY OLD, but that's mostly out of being forced to accept that we're in our 40s... (or will be in a few weeks) My condolences go to Hall's family, doubly so, since they had to pull the plug on him after complications. THAT is the toughest choice a person has to make... to let a loved one go and stop their suffering, or to keep them suffering tied to a machine, due to an "inflexible moral code"... 

I know I swore off MOTU Origins... with Palace Guard being the "Final Figure" (he's currently on the Pile of Loot that I have to get shipped before my Birthday) but the recent Orogons wave that was leaked has a single figure that I HAVE to HAVE:

200X He-Man!! There is NO WAY I can pass this up! Mostly for 3 reasons:

1: it's 200X and I support 200X in any other media.

2: I could borrow the harness and weapons for MOTUC 200X He-Man...

3: Custom fodder to make my MOTUO Nefty-kun.

Update:

There is a 200X Skeletor as well...

Headsculpt is odd... not bad for Origins, but bad ina compared to what the 4Horsemen could've done.

Also Masterverse is releasing a Badass New Eternia Beastman, that looks like normal Beastman wearing a pelt of the Mark Taylor concept Beastman... kinda feels like a dick move towards Mark Taylor's estate. 

The New Eternia SUBLINE MIGHT be what pulls me out of my "No Masterverse stuff" line of thought. A Frosta and a She-Ra figure have been rumored, but nothing official yet.

I don't think I'm going to go balls deep with Masterverse even with the sublines...

I'm thinking core Heroic Warriors,core Evil Warriors, core Great Rebellion, core Evil Horde.

But if I have to limit myself to five of each faction these are the ones I would pick:

Heroic Warriors that aren't He-Man:

Teela

MAN-AT-ARMS

Stratos

Man-E-Faces 

Ram Man

Evil Warriors that aren't Skeletor:

Evil-Lyn 

Beastman

Tri-Klops 

Trap Jaw

Merman

Great Rebellion that aren't She-Ra:

Bow

Glimmer

Frosta

Castaspella

Angella

Evil Horde that aren't Hordak:

Mantenna

Grizzlor

Catra

Leech

Shadow Weaver/Modulok (depends on how those Filmation rights allowing Shadow Weaver or not...)

Additional folks to round up:

Horde Troopers (2-4)

Sorceress

Adam

Adora

Orko

Randor

Marlena

Zodac

Phone apps gobbling up storage: a rant.

 Barely a year ago, I had to get a "new phone". It has 32Gb of storage, which ISN'T Much... especially, when I have a 256 Gb Micro SD card, which I've used 17Gb from it. That's less than 10% of its capacity. When I got the phone I had to delete a shit ton of useless apps that were filling up the phone's scarce storage space. My previous phone had this nifty little feature that let most apps operate from the SD card (without rooting or hacking the phone) The newer phone didn't allow for that. So, that means that Netflix, Uber Eats, Facebook, and other applications that on my elder phone could operate from the far roomier 256Gb SD card must operate from the 32Gb Internal memory that already has 10Gb designated for the Operating System and 9Gb on "Other" stuff that cannot be interacted with, unless you root or hack the phone. 

I'm aware that more modern phones are giving users More storage, but no SD port... (but even more bloatware) No need to hear "GeT a BeTtEr PhOnE, yA dOuChE"! My issue is how freaking bloated these Apps get. Let's  use Netflix as an example: When you download the app from the store it says it's like 18Mb. You download it and once installed is 59Mb. Few weeks later Netflix is now occupying 1.13Gb same thing with Uber Eats. From both having 300Mb combined, they've ballooned up to 2.45GB.  That is some ridiculous Bullshit! 

Yes, I'm also aware of the whole having to make a "one size fits all" solution for different kinda of hardware justification. But at the same time it's funny how less cluttered these apps are if they're manually uninstalled and just downloading a more updated version 4-6 months later. Sure, the data + update bloat is staved off for a little bit, but it'll always creep back. It seems that the days of streamlined code due to storage limitations is a thing of the past...  what's the point of having 256GB in storage, if phones are overloaded with useless apps that can't be removed that love to eat up precious storage space. Why should my phone come with unremovable Amazon apps if I don't use Prime, or shop enough through Amazon to have their app, or use kindle? Why can't I check my mail through the browser and instead have to load an App... Outlook, yahoo! mail, Gmail... all require an app. Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram... hell, even Reddit is pushing an app. With everyone and everything having an app that is not streamlined to save space, the phones will get overstuffed pretty fast. 

Get your tinfoil hats on, because it's Crazy conspiracy theory time!

The apps are purposely bloated in order to fill up your phone memory's faster and force you to get a newer model ASAP.

Take off the tinfoil hats now.  But the thing is that by bloating apps and forcing to pugrade phones, we the customers lose. For example, the Tappers of Grayskull app. I used to have it two phones ago... now it no longer exists and neither does the phone I used to have before the one before my current phone. So, if I wanted to play, well I'm shit out of luck... unless I root a phone and download a dubious copy of the .apk from a теневой русский сайт, a Shady Russian Website... Спасибо, товарищ Дора Исследователь... Thank you, Comrade Dora the Explorer... This not only happens with games, sometimes it happens with company proprietary apps that are needed for special jobs. I mean how many companies remained stuck on Windows XP for years because they couldn't keep up with upgrading their PCs every few years to be able to keep up with the newer OS from Windows?

The more storage we get, the more bloated apps get and with phones ditching the Micro SD slot, transferring data from one phone to the next is a hassle, if you don't trust The Cloud...