Take This Job And Shove It.... and Fairies!

Hello there, you random internet people!

I decided to post another of these wonderful blog posts again! Any specific reason for my decision? How about a new job? Well, probably less 'new' than employment status at a current one...

The other day I was offered the opportunity at a full-time position at the certain online toy retailer.

Now, I've enjoyed my time at Target, getting to work with some great people; but (truth-be-told?) it
should be no surprise that I quite enjoy my job with the certain online toy retailer... The only thing that truly kept me from working with them as a full-time employee was the distance & gas money, since they're about 40 miles away from the apartment! -That's 80 miles put on the car in a day! Gladly, my car gets about 28-30mpg; but it was still a full (10gallon) tank a week... I didn't think that I could afford to fill it up twice a week & work (essentially) the same number of hours a week... With the current pile of bills & what-not that Smurfette & I have at the moment, I just couldn't 'pull the trigger' and do it...

However, I was informed that they'd taken that into account, and came up with a great option for me!
Not only would I get full-time hours, but I'd also get a raise; as well as the opportunity to do a day out of the apartment! This basically equates to me only having to drive into work ONE extra day a week! Needless to say, I was a bit excited that we thought this would work out for both them & me! Now, only time will tell; of course... But, I'm pretty hopeful none-the-less!

The only thing I'm going to be sad to lose out on at Target?
Working with the awesome group of people I've gotten to work with the last two years!.... and the 10% employee discount... yeah... that too... ;)

Outside of that... Last weekend, Smurfette & I were able to attend the MN RenFest! As I had mentioned in the last blog entry, it was *really* iffy as to if we'd even be able to afford to go; but all went well in the end!

Now, the image to the left is me; in my happy-go-lucky RenFest costume! I really do have to say 'thank you' again to Karin for taking the time & effort to make the shirt & pants for me... She'd done a wonderful job on Smurfette's costume a few years ago (though she was sadly unable to wear it this year), and I was more than happy to accept the offer for her to make me one as well! The cloak has been in my possession for years now, the macrame belt was a gift from the old roommate, Brute Bronco, the small pouch you see I'd picked up nearly a decade ago & holds a small 'worry stone' inside it, I have another larger leather pouch (that you can't see) -which normally holds my Roleplaying dice the rest of the year, *another* pouch to the back (which was actually a western-themed purse until I cut the shoulder strap & did some sewing of my own), and finally - the walking stick; which was purchased at the MN RenFest 3 years back from "Faces In Wood" (which is across from another favorite shop of mine the "Magic of Valinor Wax Works", which makes some exquisite wax dragons, wizards, & unicorns!)...

As is a kind of recent tradition, we went with Ouija & his two children, their grandmother(s -one from both sides!), & a few others... We all had fun, Smurfette picked up a few trinkets from Twig Oaklyn Flewinia Thistlebottom's booth, though you may know her better as "Twig the Fairy"....


Now, we missed out on seeing her *at* her booth (literally by minutes, said the pickle vendor near her booth); but we had hopes to find her yet! -Since we've managed to see her at least once each of the years we've gone to the MN RenFest... However, it was not the case to be this time around... WELL, almost; anyways! ;)

As the day came to a close, the canon fired (well, I'm not sure I heard that actually), and the shops began to close; I found myself seperated from the group. I'd stopped to wait with Karin for one of our party members (who was with her boyfriend, finishing up the wax hand they'd had cast), when the others went on ahead. I soon realized that Smurfette had left me with the Fairy Dust necklace & Twig postcard she'd picked up earlier in the day. Wanting to make sure she was able to get the card signed (and a photo taken with Twig),  I soon trekked off after them. Arriving at the front gate, I heard the sounds of music playing outside the gate, the trickle of people leaving the grounds (most of which had long been gone by this time); and... Twig!

Now, I couldn't see Smurfette or the others anywhere; but I walked up towards Twig (who was interacting with a couple of gentlemen, who were taking her picture for themselves). When they'd finished (and I had taken the image above (well, and another one where she was actually looking at me & blowing a kiss; but the photo was taken too early & her hands were obscuring her face)), I quickly told her my tale about being seperated from my wife; but I had the postcard that she'd wanted to get signed.... She smiled widely, pulled a pen from one of her many pouches, & gladly signed it; as well as handed me a clear, blue, heart-shaped stone/trinket for Smurfette...

Needless to say, Twig is *the* person/persons/act/etc that we actively try to see at the RenFest each year, and next year will be no different! ;)

But, that's enough from me for now... I'm heading off to do a little more 'homework'... :)

The One Where I Look Forward To Something...

OK, so Smurfette & I have been going to the MN Renaissance Festival for the last 5 years or so... Sadly, we missed out going at the last minute because Smurfette got sick, but que sera, sera...

This year, however; I was pretty sure that we wouldn't be able to go at all because of the recent-ish move to the new apartment & the fallout that came from it... You see, Comcast double - billed us for last month & threw our bank account into turmoil... Happily though, I have a contact who's been able to secure us with a pair of tickets (which would have been the bulk of any money we'd have had at all after paying bills on Friday, let alone having anything at all to actually use while we were there)!

...while another friend was kind enough to complete a shirt & pants for my costume (after doing the same for Smurfette a few years ago!)...

I say, I'm feeling pretty lucky, all things considered... ;)

More to be posted in a few days after RenFest... :-)

Mammoth's Aren't Extinct... They're Just Made Of Plastic!

So, I have a Universe Nemesis Prime figure in my collection, who has been without his counter-part since I picked him up... Now, I started picking up various black repaints of Optimus Prime (but only those that I already *had* of the original Optimus molds); but they quickly began to multiply like little Petrorabbits & I decided to display them on a shelf -mirrored on the other half by their original Optimus Prime counter-parts... Now, normally; Nemesis Prime is a black repaint of the semi-truck based Optimus Prime... But this one?

Photo from Seibertron.com, by way of TFWIKI.NET

Yes folks, he's indeed a black Wooly Mammoth... What? Did you think I was talking about the Classics Nemesis Prime figure?

I don't know why I like this mold so much, as it's not like I actually toyed around him when he was originally released as a Target Exclusive back in 2004...

Heck, back then I was barely aware that there was a continuation of the *G1* series in Japan, let *alone* the Beast Wars line that this one's mold is from!

But when I started working at A Certain Online Transformers Retailer, I was lucky enough to pick up one of

Why go to the store?

these guys for a reasonable price. I don't really know why I felt compelled to purchase him, since I didn't have the "Convoy/Optimus" the figure takes his mold from; but I knew I wanted him in my collection!  -I fondly recall the shock/horror on (I'll call her) D's face when I pulled out my razor knife & cut the tape on the MISB box after I'd paid for him... :)

As soon as I'd gotten him home, he was freed from his plastic prison. Having been aware of the confusion around this figure upon one's first transformation (IE: The instructions are from Mammoth-to-Robot, while he's packaged in Robot Mode. -And to top it off, his legs are turned around 180* with the legs turned to point the front!), I took my sweet time transforming him...

Now, for those of you who don't know this figure; he's considered of being guilty of being one of *the* biggest Shellformers in the entire Transformers line-up... You can seriously *MAKE* a near-complete Mammoth from all those pieces of Mammoth kibble hanging off of his Robot Mode!

Photo also shamelessly stolen from www.oafe.net

Yeah, that gaping hole in the side there? Those panels are removable from the Robot Mode's legs, but don't actually 'snap together' to the rest of the figure; but there's photographic proof of the nature of the figure's shellforming nature! :)

Even taking that into consideration though, I would highly recommend adding the figure (or one of his repaints) into your collection! The figure's Mammoth Alt Mode may not be anything *super* special, as it has no articulation outside of the ears & tail. But the figure *does* make use of that articulation! 

Pulling back on each of the figure's ears raises the corresponding, blood-soaked tusk to raise up & down in a 'goring' motion, and pulling the lever on the top of the Mammoth's head moves the figure's trunk in a 'trumpeting' motion... Very cool...

The Robot Mode, however; is an early example of a GREAT figure... He is a very posable figure from his time, which features many ball-jointed points of articulation; which can be repositioned in a number of poses (as long as you're not hindered by the Mammoth kibble hanging off the limbs). He is also able to wield his BFG, which is made up from the head & back of the Mammoth. This alone I find to be ridiculously cool!

But, speaking of the other repaints... It was announced that the  Transformers Collectors' Club (the "TFCC") will be releasing a version of this mold in Ultra Magnus colors, dubbed "Ultra Mammoth". While I find the pictures of the figure online to be pretty interesting, have no current intentions of adding that figure to my collection (as I've sold off my other Ultra Magnus figures). However, it *has* pushed me to pick up the original Big Convoy. I figured that the release of Ultra Mammoth will drive the prices up on both Nemesis Prime & Big Convoy & I'd like to get Big Convoy before he gets outside my meager price range... 

Thankfully, a friend of mine named (I will call him) "MJ" has already picked one up for me on eBay. He'd borrowed a few of my figures to review on his Youtube channel a few weeks back, and had mentioned an interest in going out and buying a few of the smaller ones for himself... Since I had started cutting back the focus of my Transformer collection, and as the ones he'd mentioned kinda fell out of that focus; I had offered to sell them to him "for whatever he felt was a fair price for the both of us"... So, he essentially picked the figure up for me in lieu of payment for the figures he wanted... All-in-all, we're both happy with the deal... :)

He gets a few figures that *he* wanted, and helped me to get one of the ones that I'd been wanting to get for the last year or so (and before the price of the figure starts to go up)! 

So, thank you again to MJ; and expect a couple pictures of both my Nemesis Prime & Big Convoy once I've gotten them *both* in hand... (Heck, I'm even planning on sending him both the Nemesis Prime & Big Convoy to review when he gets his Ultra Mammoth from the TFCC! -so I may even link to those video reviews when the time comes!)

Anyway, that's enough from me for the evening...
This little blog of mine is definitely a nice reprise from the recent events that are going on around here... So, expect a little more venting from me, as well as a few more little reviews of some of these figures I have...
(Next time I may even put a few pictures of *my* actual toys in here too, instead of swiping them from other sources!)

-Methusalen

eBay Victories & Friends...

So, here I am... Back on the 2nd of August, I won an auction on eBay for an MIB Go-Bot Bug Bite. I was relatively excited about this, because I used to have one of these guys  as a kid; & that I managed to get it for a whopping $4.99+shipping...

Kinda looks like a Wasp, or a hornet; doesn't it?

Now, for those of you who don't remember (or even *knew*), Bug Bite was a Renegade (ie: "Bad Guy") from the 80's cartoon "The Go-Bots!". Yup, that's him over there on the right hand side of this column... 

Bug Bite turned into a VW Bug, much like a certain little yellow Transformer... There were a few differences though... 

1) Transformers was the more popular cartoon
2) In general, Gobots were usually cheaper than their TF counterparts
3) Lots of people had Go-Bots mixed into their Transformers collections, since the Go-Bots were your "Poor man's Transformers"...  

Now, sadly to say; I never received said figure... The seller never shipped it out to me, nor even responded to my inquiries about the figure. I eventually opened a case against them, & earlier today I was able to escalate it. Happily, a few scant hours after I escalated the case; I was refunded my money & the seller now has a bit of negative feedback against them.  Justice has been served.

Definitely not the little Minibot!

But what does that mean for me? I didn't get my Bug Bite, so I ended up losing out; right?

Nope! For you see, on the day of the 4th; there was a small meet-up of a few of us Dairyland Transfan members... Prior to this meet-up, I had inquired to Fred about a few junker Bug Bite figures I'd happened to have seen in one of his previous eBay auctions. I'd asked, if they hadn't sold; if he'd bring them along to the meet-up for me... Well, he *was* kind enough to have brought me the junker Bug Bite figures, from which I was able to complete a working figure (well, sans his weapon; but that's not important!)...  So, I am happy with the figure on the shelf next to Terasa's Bumblebee collection....

I mean, he  *DWARFS* all of her Bumblebee figures! I can't help but snicker every time I look at the shelf & see him on there!  ;)

So, while I was unable to get the figure I originally wanted; I am more than happy to accept what I can get my hands on! In some cases, that's quite a bit better way to add a figure to one's collection... I'll never forget the story behind my 'new' Bug Bite figure! ;)

-Photos shamelessly stolen from Toyarchive.com

Pondering the Ponderable...

So, yeah... It's been a long, long week...
Terasa's been sick since the Thursday-before-last, which leads me to be very burned out...
She's taken to banging on her nightstand,
-tapping on her glass,
-Taking her fork & clanking it against her plate; to get my attention... (So i can get her  cough syrup, so I can get her a glass of water, so I can take away the plate 'cuz she's full...)

Don't get me wrong, I understand she really *isn't* feeling good; but enough is enough... I still lean towards the thought that she's actually doing better now, but she's milking it for attention / sheer laziness...

Argh! OK, perhaps that just the bitterness getting the better of me... But I'm worn out, bored (we were possibly planning on going to the MN Ren Fest on Opening Weekend, but since that was THIS weekend... *Sigh*), and just beat... I can't even get a good night's sleep without her waking me up for some bullshit reason, even though she's perfectly capable of doing whatever task she'd requested of me... *Bigger sigh*


Alright, rant done... I've gotta get the dog out and get some sleep...
'Night all...

Pictures of Figures That Aren't Mine...

So, I decided to take a gamble & take a picture of these two together...
I thought they made a cute pair...And if they weren't so expensive, maybe I'd have a reason to go and pick them up someday...

 Hey, do I know you?

The one on the left is a vintage G1 Gnaw, who sadly has a broken left arm in it's alternate mode...
The one on the right is a new third-party figure called "Alicon", made by Impossible Toys... He's definitely a neat figure, who fits in nicely with the vintage G1 aesthetic...  Like many third-party figures, he has his flaws; but if you've got any of their other QUINT figures, then it's definitely worth your while to go pick one up...

Death & Taxes & Dairycon

Another day, another update...

So, nevermind how long it's been since I've posted last... It's been a while, some noteworthy things happened, more un-noteworthy things have happened...

Right now, it's quarter-to-ten at night. I worked my shift at the Target, came home, toyed around on the computer for a bit, went BACK to Target to pick up a prescription for the wife, did some cleaning, she gave the Beagle a bath, and she's now in the shower, and I've finally begun cooking dinner (something simple, some tacos)...

Dairycon's coming up in another month-and-a-half & I'm looking forward to it. However, I'm a bit nervous about us being able to *afford* going this year... Money's been tight since we've had the apartment to ourselves & I haven't filed the taxes yet. I'm a little worried about them, as the money I made at my second job (at that online Transformer retailer) was paid to me as a "Contract Employee" (meaning I was considered 'self-employed'), with no taxes taken out...

Now, we've always had a pretty decent return, probably due to the fact that we're a bit lower on the income table... So I should just get off my rear and file them already... :)

So, we'll see... :D

I'll update again once I've finally gotten around to taking care of them! ;)

Has it been another year?

So, what's happened to me during the last year?
Most recently, Terasa & I have the apartment to ourselves; as Chad has moved in with his finace. We're enjoying having the apartment to ourselves, though I haven't gotten around to turning his room into my little office/photo area/toy collection area for both my TFs & Terasa's Care Bears...

Target's still going well. After two years, I'm still enjoying coming into work and working with my co-workers on the team. I'm working the 4am Flow shift with the Open Market (ie: the grocery area) on Sunday, Tuesday, & Thursdays... I enjoy it, though not as much of a fan of the early hours! But you know, I wouldn't mind going full time at my *other* job...

Oh, I haven't mentioned it? I started working for an online Transformers retailer back in February of 2011!

They're located up in Forest Lake, so it's a little bit of a drive up and back; but well worth it! I do a lot of the site's photography for their loose items on the site, I help with customer inquiries/emails, as well as help to pack orders for shipping. I also help with Customer Issues (IE: A factory defect on someone's toy needs replacement/repair), which is a good feeling; being able to help someone be able to enjoy their figure (most of which cost quite a bit of money more than most retail figures). -It's a gig that I hope to enjoy for a long, long time!

Dairycon is coming up at the end of April. Sadly, the big official Transformers Convention announced that their show was going to be the same dates down in Texas... It's a shame, but as they say; "The Show Must Go On"... Dairycon moves onward as planned.

Anyway, that's it for the time being; I have to get some stuff done around here before it gets too late...