Officer Carl

May the Force be with you...

 

Roommates!

Thanks again for reading!

May the Force be with you...

Of Hobbits and Fish-Men

 

Until next time:

May the Force be with you...

The Silver Surfer and the Last Airbender

 

May the Force be with you...

Disgruntled She-Hulk

May the Force be with you...

A Day in the Life of Jean-Luc Picard

Blatantly Subliminal Advertising

(Buy comics! They're great!)

That time has come again - time to unload some comics, games, toys and other cool stuff. Just so you know in advance, this post is cleverly designed to subliminally persuade you to buy my comics and action figures at the upcoming Victoria's Ultimate Hobby and Toy Fair , April 1st @ the Pearkes Arena in Victoria BC, presented by Cherry Bomb Toys. I'm afraid resistance is futile against this particular Jedi mind trick.

(Cherry Bomb Toys is awesome!)

Rebel Alliance Canada lives again!! In case you haven't figured it out - Rebel Alliance Canada is pretty much just me - Andy. An 'Alliance of One', as it were.

(Andy of Rebel Alliance Canada is the coolest guy you will ever meet.)

I had the pleasure of selling at the last toy show in Victoria in  September, and this time around promises to be even better! It turns out that selling comics and stuff and going to conventions is just as much fun here on Vancouver Island as it was in Winnipeg. The faces may have changed, but there seems to be no shortage of sci-fi/comic geeks like myself out here. In fact, some of y'all put me to shame! Anyone reading this that is not able to make it to the show for geographical reasons (because you're like, in Winnipeg or the UK or something), I can forgive you. For those of you who live on Vancouver Island, you'd better have a damn good excuse for not being there!

(You want to buy as many toys and comics as you can... from Rebel Alliance Canada...)

In any case, here's a small sampling of some of the stuff that will be for sale at the show. After the show, whatever is left over is likely to end up on ebay, and I'm sure I'll let you know about that too...

(You want to buy every item on this page - from me.)

 Let's see... I've got some Silver Age DC's...

(Although not nearly as cool as Marvel Comics, DC Comics are still pretty bitchin'.)

I have a schwack-load of Savage Sword of Conan magazines...
(Conan is awesome - even nailed to a tree, he's still awesome. You wish you could be Conan.)

 

(Alliance of One is the best blog you have ever read.)

 

The Tantive IV

(You are a true Star Wars fan... you know what the Tantive IV is. You don't have one yet.)

  Godzillas to spare...

(Godzilla is the coolest rubber monster to ever walk the earth... You love Godzilla.)

 Tons of carded SW figs

(You will never have enough Star Wars figures - you need multiples of your favorites)

 

(He-Man Rules!)

 

 (You need a Pinnochio figure to complete your Shrek collection.)

 

(No price is too high to pay for your very own Captain Picard figure...)

 A staggering amount of loose figures... including but not limited to Marvel Legends, MacFarlane Toys, Star Wars, Masters of the Universe, Transformers, Muppets, Star Trek, McDonald's Happy Meal toys, etc, etc... 

(You wish you owned every McDonalds Happy Meal toy from every movie you've ever liked. You will buy them at the Toy Fair. From me.)

Over 1000 great comics - Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image and more - Silver Age to Current - tons of blowout $1 comics...
(Rebel Alliance Canada has the best comics at the best prices anywhere. Marvel is still better than DC.)

Heroclix figures at $1 a pop...
(You want to play Heroclix - with figures you will buy from me.)

More Conan magazines and comics... I have so much Conan stuff right now that I think I'll be remembered as 'the Conan Guy'.
(You will bring a bag large enough to hold the 20+ lbs of awesome comics and toys you will buy from Rebel Alliance Canada. You especially love Conan the Barbarian.)

 I will have prints of my homemade comic Everyday Heroes for sale - autographed for free if you like...
(Everyday Heroes is the awesomest of all the awesome things available from Rebel Alliance Canada.)

But of course, there's lots of comics of all kinds... and toys of all kinds.
(The Avengers is coming to theaters very soon. You need to stock up on Avengers, Hulk, Iron Man and Captain America comics so you'll know what's going on. You will purchase said comics from me.)

Instead of my listing everything for you, I think you'd get a better idea of what you can find available from Rebel Alliance Canada when you arrive at my table in the Pearkes Arena, April 1st at Victoria's Ultimate Hobby & Toy Fair.

(Ultimate Hobby & Toy Fair April 1st in Victoria. No moment in your life will ever be better than this day.)

You are coming, right? The hypnosis should have kicked in by now... 

May the Force be with you... 

(Sucker.)

Sex, Ducks & Rock n' Roll

Now, of course, I am an action figure nut. No, I'm not that guy who has his entire collection carefully preserved to be MOC (mint on card, to the layman). I am something much worse. I actually still play with my toys, and you all should too.

For what are action figures without a little action?  If we've learned anything from the trilogy of Toy Story films, it's that toys only want to be played with. Imagine the hellish life Buzz Lightyear would've had if Andy had left him in his original box...

Well, this Andy could never do that. My toys need to stretch their legs, to be free to go on adventures and live their lives... as dictated by me of course.

My vision for my toys is a wee bit different from that of the aforementioned Andy of the films. I like to explore the things that I think toys would really be doing if no one was looking... the seedier, uglier side of toy life. Check out some of these older posts to see what I'm talking about:

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Jerk

Trashed!

Nunchuks and Cactus Juice

The Flying Circus of Evil

...and of course there's more on the way. In upcoming installments of Everyday Heroes, you will witness:

UNLIKELY ROMANCES!!

EVIL POOL PARTIES!!

ILLICIT DRUG USE!!

MALE BONDING!!

TORTURE AND HUMILIATION!!

...and MORE!!!

So stay tuned, will ya? The fun is just beginning!



Until then:

May the Force be with you...

EVERYDAY HEROES #3 - The Flying Circus of Evil

Before I present to you the long-awaited (yeah, right...) third issue of Everyday Heroes, let me explain a few things. First off, the action does not take place within the structure of what you know as the Marvel or D.C. Universe. I'll borrow some details here and there, but I'm just working off of what I know about these characters, and which ones look funny together. There's no real framework for stories at all - it's all pretty ad lib. Let's just say it's all happening within the universe of the mind of a man who is far too old to be playing with toys.

Secondly, the pictures are all shot first (all off the top of my head), before any writing is done  and certain 'story threads' may or may not be completely resolved.....and there will probably be numerous 'continuity errors'. No, you don't get a prize for pointing them out.

Thirdly, these are toys, people. Don't get all pissed at me if I ridicule your favorite heroes. Wake up! They're not real anyway!

Anyway - hope you like it.

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(Click on the images to view larger)

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BACK ISSUES:

Everyday Heroes #1

Everyday Heroes #2



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Thank you once again for reading (and it's OK if you just look at the pictures).

May the Force be with you...

Git R Done!

Okay - tons of stuff to blog about today...bear with me.

 First off, my hit counter just went over 1900, and that feels good. Less than 100 to close out the second millenium of posts! (I know it's not proper use of the word, but I love the word millenium - sounds so epic). Thanks again for reading! Normally, I get the most hits from Canada (being my Home and Native Land, eh) but this last month or so has seen far more views from the US. Thanks guys! I just want to say that, even though Americans sometimes get a bad rap on the world stage, I haven't met a single one that I didn't like, and I've been to your country about a bzillion times...I have seen a few on TV that I didn't like though.... Also a special shout out to all the people in other countries who visited. Some noteable ones include Russia, Denmark, Brazil, Netherlands, France and Slovenia. I wish I could say thank you in all your native languages, but that involves a lot of research for which I have no time. Thanks anyway! Unless, of course, you're just phishing or trying to spam me or steal my identity or something....in that case, please don't come back.

Just like everyone else, I found myself extremely busy over the Holidays, and thus haven't had a lot of free time to blog. Regardless, all of the family get-togethers and general good cheer all around me were well worth it. As a special side note to my relatives who came to spend their Holidays here in cold-ass Winnipeg, thanks again. Great seeing y'all! Shaken off that frostbite yet?

So let's take care of business. I want to talk about my toys, my comics and the movies I've seen. Since there's so much in every department, I'm going to skim over some highlights and try to cover as much as possible in one post. Here goes:

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Action Figures

I've got a lot of material for the next installment of Everyday Heroes, but I need a little time to actually put together the layout of the comic. I've already introduced some of the new cast members in my last post, but as a special sneak preview, here's some stuff you can expect to see in upcoming issues:

A new gang in town

Trouble in Springfield

A new Axis of Evil

A Silver Age Reunion

Sokka and Momo in Rehab

I'd show you more of what I'm working on, but that would ruin the suspense. (Trust me, it gets even stupider from here on in...)

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Comics

I've picked up over 200 new books in the last two months, and I've put a few of them up on EBay, but mostly I just want to show off some of my favorites.... such as:

Shogun Warriors #1

Not really a landmark series or a particularly valuable comic (although my copy of #1 is worth a few bucks in its condition), but Shogun Warriors is a comic that I grew up with. Remember those bagged 3-Paks of comics they sold in the 70s? No? Well, I do. That's right, I'm old. This comic was released in one of those but I can't remember what else came in the bag. I do remember that Marvel also packaged the first 3 issues of Star Wars in one of those 3-Paks.... and I think Micronauts too. Anyway, I have a few issues of Shogun Warriors, and I've always loved the series. It features great Herb Trimpe art and has giant robots and monsters in it. Its all good.

Devil Dinosaur #1

Roaring forth from the kooky 70s era of Jack Kirby classics comes Devil Dinosaur - an epic tale of hairy ape-men, raging dinos and alien invaders all struggling for power in a prehistoric world where science and simple logic haven't been invented yet. Pretty silly, but very cool if you can shut your brain off for a while. Not a very long running series (I think it only hit 9 issues or so), but it contains some of Kirby's best art since his Silver Age runs of Fantastic Four and Thor. I remember reading this way back when I was a wee lad - I still get tears in my eyes when I read Devil Dinosaur.

The Tomb of Dracula #16

I have a whole bunch of issues of this series, having only recently discovered it. This particular one has a very cool cover and a neat little story inside. I've always found Dracula to be a cheesy character, and he doesn't get much cheesier than this. Although the art in the series is good, I think it's the writing that really stands out in T.O.D. Sometimes its a little wordy, but this comic reads like no other Marvel title from its time. It doesn't have the rapid pacing of a superhero book, but its laid out like a true horror comic should be - full of great suspense and shocking revelations. Good build of the characters too - even if they all die before the end of the issue. Tomb of Dracula comics are hard to find and are of relatively high value. That being said, I have a whole bunch more issues in the FN to NM range that will be up for sale in upcoming months.

Daredevil #39

This one is up for auction RIGHT NOW! (Or at least until Sun. January 9th 2011 if you're reading this late.) I love the art in these old Daredevil issues - big panels full of colorful action. D.D. kicks ass in this one. I have about a half dozen Silver Age issues that are going to be listed on EBay very soon. #39 is a great example of the conditions that they are in - nice bright cover with little to no flaws and crisp clean pages - nothing below the FN (6.0) range. Keep an eye on my EBay store if you're interested in owning any of them.

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Movies

Despicable Me

Got this for X-Mas, and it turned out to be a little better than I expected. I love Steve Carell's accent in the movie, and Jason Siegel does a pretty good job of the voice over too. Also very touching with Gru's interaction with the three little girls and their bonding by the end. My kids loved it and it made them laugh a lot - good job Universal!

A-

Fubar

Caught this one on Netflix. I'd seen it when it first hit the video store in 2002, but by this time I'd forgotten just how funny it is. I swear I knew two guys exactly like Dean & Terry back in the day, and I even see a little bit of my teen/early 20s self in them, all of which makes it all the more hilarious. If you ever grew up as a 'banger' in Western Canada, you'd relate to this film....and you've probably already seen it and loved it. The whole 'mockumentary' format really works here. I can't wait to see the sequel!

B

Gremlins

Yeah, we've all seen it. I saw it for the first time in the theatre in 1984 and loved it, but grew a little tired of it by the time I'd hit my twenties. It's got all of the expected Spielbergian cuteness, sappiness, product placement, morality lessons and 'kids vs adults' dynamics to it, but it also has a surprising amount of colorful language, violence and goriness for its era and rating. I guess it just goes to show what Hollywood's top filmaker could get away with at the top of his game in the 80s... Just like Back to the Future and The Goonies, Gremlins presents us with a whole bunch of exaggerated one-dimensional characters in the adult roles while playing out all the younger characters as the diverse and intelligent ones in the story. All that aside, Gremlins is still quite a funny and imaginative film.... and we've got it on Blu-Ray, so I have to like it or I'll feel like I wasted the extra money.

...And there aren't too many other movies where you get to see a bunch of puppets smoking and drinking and flopping around like idiots... that is until we get to see The Muppets Take Las Vegas.

B+

Up

Great movie! Worthy of all the awards. Like all Pixar films, it's sad and heartwarming while being exciting and funny all at once. Dug the dog steals the show throughout, and Kevin the bird looks hilarious. Good use of the digital scenery and great detail in the animation. This is a wonderful film for both young and old alike. It really does make you feel good by the time its over. Just a shade less sad than Toy Story 3, but just as funny and entertaining.

A+

(You may have noticed that I don't give a lot of negative reviews for movies on my blog. This is mainly because I'm so picky with movies and have so little time to write about them that only the really noteworthy stuff gets through. I highly recommend you read My Year in Movies if you want to get a more objective opinion on a more diverse selection of movies than you'll find here. That blog belongs to friend of mine who knows a lot more about movies and filmmaking than I do.)

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Okay, I guess that'll do it for today. I think I covered a grat deal of material in just one post. I'll consider it an honor if you've actually read this far... I'm impressed by your stamina. Stay tuned for more soon!!

May the Force be with you...