Sunday, August 23, 2009

A very cool Transformer... Ghost Skywarp?

So, at that little TFW Minnesota Meet-up yesterday? I worked a little trade for this K.O. WST "Ghost" Skywarp (for my G1 Warpath). I was pretty happy with the trade, since I picked it up for Smurfette. She's really happy with it, but I think it might even be *me* who is getting a bigger kick out of the figure...

He's roughly the size of a G1 Minibot, but with the same transformation as a full-sized Seeker! He's even got the Nullray Cannons on him, and *tiny* little purple fists that are removeable!

I think I might have to track down a few more of these guys!

Vehicle Mode:
Size reference:
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No sun:
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In the sun:
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Robot Mode:
No sun:
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In the sun:
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She's the Fastest Ship In the Fleet

Some locals from TFW2005 decided to arrange a little Meet-up on the 22nd, and Smurfette & I decided it might be fun to go check it out. They were having a little swap meet as well, so I brought along the figures I've had on the auction block... I managed to sell a couple, trade a few others, and get a couple nifty figures...

One of which was the Star Wars Tranformers (SWTF) Millenium Falcon (Han & Chewie)... I originally passed on this figure when I saw it in the stores, and now that I have him in hand, I think he's definitely better than most people had let on.

Han is the weaker of the two mechs, but has enough detailing in robot mode to make it obvious it's supposed to be him, with the headsculpt and paint apps (which are supposed to reflect his jacket, pants, & boots). Chewie though? He looks *wonderful* in mech mode! Lots of copper/brown paint apps, the headsculpt is an ingenious bit of craftsmanship, with his 'fur' made up of pipes/wiring! And the combined Vehicle Mode? The Falcon is *obviously* the Falcon, just with an oversized radar dish & quad cannons... Very glad I was able to pick this guy up... Now hopefully this doesn't lead me down the darkside... I've always wanted to pick up the Vader/Deathstar to go along with Primus & Unicron... :D

Thank you again Shawn (Sean?) for your generosity!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Pictures of Toiletbot'sRampage!

Well, here are a few quick pictures of the water in the community room...
I've got a few more up on my Photobucket page, but I'm too freakin' tired to properly post them...

The first pic is from the FIRST floor of the building, and the water running out from one of the light fixtures... The others are of the community room itself on the THIRD floor!!! I'll try to get the rest of my pics up sometime and link to them, but it's about what you can expect, water leaking through the ceilings, and now those same ceilings have been ripped out, industrial dryers up and running, and a whole lot of fun!




And of course, a picture of the culprit!
Toiletbot's been a bad, bad little bot!


It really *is* a shame noone knows who did it, since two people have been forced out of their apartments because of the damages...

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

I think I *really* like Shout! Factory!

So, that G1 Season 1 DVD set I picked up on my last day at the Big Blue Box? I was reading something about there being some sort of error on the second disc, so I contacted Shout! Factory via email to get some info about what to keep an eye out for. They sent me back a reply the next day and just asked for my mailing address. Getting that to them, I thought that it'd take a week or so before I get my replacement disc. It only took 2 days. I got it today! I was NOT expecting to get the thing so quickly! -And I'm *still* not 100% sure about just what was wrong (although I suspect it is something about accidentally using the Rhino soundtrack in a couple episodes?)

So far, I'm really enjoying the dvd set. The packaging doesn't come off as impressively as the Rhino DVD sets, but I'm thinking the DVDs themselves more than make up for it!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

The Main Character's Realization

Every once in a while I get the feeling that I'm nothing more than a character in a novel (albeit a rather *boring* one). Right now, the main character (at least I *hope* I'm the main character) has realized that he's essentially unemployed. My last day at the "Big Blue Box" was the 16th, and school doesn't *truly* start until September 8th!

Now, of course I *should* be able to pick up a charter here & there over the next few weeks, and I've still got a couple paychecks coming from the Big Blue Box... And I guess I've still got unemployment coming for the time being... I should be fine, but I'm still nervous as hell that *SOMETHING* is going to go wrong and screw everything up. Maybe I was stupid to have ended my employment with Best Buy already, but I felt comfortable enough at the time in doing so.

Maybe things will work out in the end. I don't know... *sigh*

Anyways, besides that; on my last day I made one last purchase w/ my employee discount! I was deciding between a couple DVDs, be it the 4 TMNT movies in one tin collector's case, the Shout! Factory Transformers S1 dvd, their G.I. Joe set, or if I wanted to pick up something else or not... I was holding Tinman in my hands for a little while, since I really enjoyed that miniseries on SciFi a while back... My love for Transformers won out though and I picked up the first season of the Transformers cartoon. I really enjoyed the Rhino set, but think this one's better so far!

I'd heard something about a 'bad disc' a while back and decided to look into it. I'm still not 100% on just *what* the problem was, but think it had something to do with the audio track... I'm thinking it had something to do with the Rhino audio track used by mistake on a couple of the episodes on the second disk? I shot them an email yesterday and got a reply already. They didn't answer my question, but instead asked for my name and address... Maybe they're going to ship me the 'corrected disc'? I guess we'll find out soon! (Oh, for anyone who owns the complete Transformers DVD set, you have no need to worry, apparently they'd corrected the mistake by the time they put that collector's set together!)

What else is new and exciting? Oh, how about our recent FLOOD?????
Yup, you read that right. Seems that someone went and used the 3rd floor community room next door to my apartment rather late at night a few nights ago, and backed up the toilet! By the time I discovered it, the water in the community room was about an INCH HIGH! I grabbed my boots and turned the water off at the toilet, and tossed a few towels down to keep the water contained to the community room as best as I could...

Unfortunately, it appears that the damage had already been done by this time. The water had seeped through the floor, and began to flood the apartment below it! Heck, there was even water dripping from some light fixtures on the first floor!!!!!
It was pretty upsetting, that someone would do something like that and *NOT* do something about it... Noone knows who did it, but I'd sure like to punch them in the face, and I'm *sure* Accessable Space Inc. would like to have a word or three with them...

Luckily, since we're the next room over, and not the one below, we escaped relatively unharmed, with only a little bit of moisture creeping through the sheetrock... The apartments below have to have their ceilings ripped out, and the ceiling of the smaller community room on the first floor where the water was coming from the light fixtures? It's been completely ripped out! Tomorrow I'll try to remember to upload and post some pictures of the carnage...

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

And knowing's half the battle...



The Ballad of G.I. Joe
Starring: Olivia Wilde, Zach Galifianakis, Alexis Bledel, Billy Crudup, Julianne Moore, Chuck Liddell, Tony Hale, Laz Alonso, Joey Kern, Henry Rollins, Alan Tudyk, Vinnie Jones, Josh Simpson, and the one & only Sgt. Slaughter!!!!

I was introduced to this video yesterday by a friend ("Gil") when he came over to hang out & do dinner with us... I can't help but watch it over & over again... It's amazing how well done this thing is! -The costumes, the actors chosen for the roles, and the big names they got for it... But, I guess that's "Funny or Die" for you...

Sunday, August 9, 2009

An Update A Week In The Making...

So, what's new with me? Did I mention the fact I got my new figures of Powermaster Prime & the Walmart Exclusive Masterpiece Starscream? If I have, I appologize, but I'm going to reiterate how much I love these figures...

Powermaster Optimus Prime

OK, so I've *always* had a soft spot for Optimus Prime, and this G1-era figure is no exception! I had the first Optimus Prime figure, but never had one of the Powermaster variety, but have drooled over them over the last decade or so... I've always loved the concept of Prime joining with the trailer (ala Ultra Magnus), and when I saw this guy for the first time as a youngin'... Well, I fell in love!
-And now that I finally have one, I can say that I really *do* love this figure! The version of the figure that I got was the recent Toys'R'Us Commemorative reissue from early 2001-2, which I believe has actually *IMPROVED* upon the orignal figure, what with it's extendable trailer fists on the trailer & die-cast cab. The fact that I got to apply the stickers to the 8 year old figure really takes the cake though! There is nothing cooler than taking a figure out of the box and spending a half hour to an hour painstakingly applying each individual sticker to a toy! I'm currently displaying the figure on my shelves combined with his trailer, but the Apex Armor is sitting in the box in the closet... It's nice, but not the reason I wanted the figure.

The Walmart-exclusive Masterpiece Starscream

When the option to work a trade into one of my recent Transformer sales popped up a little while back, I was initially wary. At the time, the money from the sale was top priority, but we ended up working the deal so not only did I get the figure (plus a couple clips for my G1 Jetfire), but the much needed funds as well!
What can I say about this guy? Besides the reports of stress fractures on the wing hinges; I gotta say that this figure is a marvel of modern engineering! He's a near-perfect rendition G1 Starscream, and a WONDERFUL addition to my collection. Now all I need is the Grimlock figure and I'm good to go!

My sale threads on TFW are doing well, although at the moment it's been a bit quiet lately... I've had a few people who've had to either put off or back out of a sale... I've shipped out that one package destined for Northern Ireland though! I'm happy to have finally gotten that deal over with! That one was just a pain in the butt to get everything *just* right... -Now, if I can just get The Big Cheese to answer his emails regarding the stuff he's interested in!

In other news, I've passed the behind the wheel test for my school bus endorsement! Once again a licensed driver of school buses in the state of Minnesota, I'm looking forward to the start of this year's school year! -On the Big Blue Box-front, I've already put in my two weeks' notice; with my last day being on the 16th of this month (a week from today now). It'll be sad to leave some of the people I've been working with for the last 5 years, but what am I to do? I need to make sure I'm doing what's best for Smurfette & I; and being at a job where I'm working more hours and getting better pay is what's best for the two of us! :D

My sister, Fuzzy Bear; came up from Florida to visit this weekend. She brought up her fiance, finally giving most of us a chance to meet him. All-in-all, I liked him! He definitely seemed like a good guy, and seemed to fit in with the family up here in Minnesota!

So, the last week has been rather hectic, but a ton of fun! I can't wait to see what comes this fall behind the wheel again!