X-mas Haul 2014

Double T's X-mas Haul 2014 Part 01

Had various things I wanted to post here in December,but never finished any of them. Had planned on the night after I got back from my trip to the coast for the holidays to do my normal X-mas Haul posting. But put it off,mostly cause I got a bunch of gift cards and was waiting on stuff to arrive at the house. Here it finally is. Might end up breaking this up into multiple posts.

Assorted stuff

Most of what I got falls into 3 categories. So I am gonna start with the few items that don't. I am leaving out one item. Mostly cause it will get a special look at the end.

Yep got the At Games Handheld Genesis system I reviewed back in November.At Games Genesis handheld review. One thing I discovered after my original review is you CAN play Genesis games off an SD card. All you need is the roms in .BIN file type. It works great.

As a kid my paternal grandmother would get me a snowglobe or two each holiday season. I lost most of them over the years. So starting 8  years ago one of my Aunts started getting me ones for X-mas,Halloween and other holidays. 

Got this Atari Flashback 5 console early in December. And I love it. It has 80 games,with some of them being homebrews that never got released during the 2600's lifespan. The wireless controllers are decent. You got to point them in the general direction of the system. But it has ports for the old school Atari joysticks or paddles.

The same Aunt that got me the snow globe got me this creepy clown statue. I just gotta figure out on what shelf it is going.

Another assorted item. My crazy Aunt,and I mean that in the most loving way she is the fun kind of crazy and reminds me of myself all the time, has gotten into making crafts. So this year she made me and my new dog X-mas tree ornaments. Mine was a green tree with my name on it. Maggie's was a dog bone with her name on it. When I opened Maggie's she ran over smelled it and tried to bite it. But she is barely over 6 months old so she tries to bite everything.I don't have pictures of either because they are already packed away with the X-mas decorations.

And one final item for this category. My crazy Aunt got me a shirt. As a kid she hated how my grandparents and other aunts and uncles would give me clothes for my birthday and X-mas. I can clearly remember her ,when I had to be 4 or 5,talking how you should get kids toys and stuff instead of clothes. "Gifts for people of that age are suppose to be fun. Socks and underwear aren't really that fun. No kid asks Santa for clothes." So every year since I became an adult as a cute little nod to this she gets me a shirt or hat. Last year she got me a really cool zombie shirt. This year I got one,and if it wasn't currently in the washing machine I would take a pic,of a baby chicken looking at a sunny side up egg. The chick is saying "Holy Crap! Larry is that you??!!?" I did ask her that for next year try to find me a shirt that isn't black. I noticed a few years back that most of my clothing is black and I a slowly injecting some color into my wardrobe.

DVDS

I love the wish list features at various online retailers. For years,pre-internet,my various family members would ask me what I wanted for my birthday or X-mas. So I would tell them either a film or book I wanted. And would get just that. But it took the surprise out of opening the gifts. So once the internet became more common place I started keeping wishlists at various sites. A few of my Aunts are nice enough to go look at the lists and buying my gifts off the list. This way I get something I want and it is a surprise. Most years the lists are full of DVDs,books and comics. With the Aunts getting me piles of DVDS. This year it was a bit different. I got 2 DVDs  weeks before X-mas day. 2 on X-mas day. Then got another one that I ordered using a giftcard a friend had sent me.

I love Boardwalk Empire.So each year I get whatever season has just come out. Confession time,I don't have HBO. When Boardwalk Empire started I was tempted to pay for HBO for the few months a year that Boardwalk aired. I called up Dish Network and asked the price for HBO. It is something like 10 bucks a month. Normal seasons of Boardwalk are 12 episodes. So 3 months at 10 a month is 30 bucks. So instead of doing that,I get my friend Brian Torrens to send me each episode the day after it airs. Then the following year when HBO releases the season set I get it. With most of the time the season set costing between 40 and 50 bucks. So sure I am pirating the show. But HBO is getting between 10 and 20 bucks more out of me,by my bootlegging the episodes then buying the sets when released. Anyways,with the season that aired in the fall of 2014 being the final season,I am going to have to find another TV show to replace Boardwalk as my X-mas gift from my parents each year.I would have taken a picture of the set,but I have gotten my crazy Aunt into the show. So I brought her down the set at X-mas.

Now this is far from my favorite of the Chainsaw. But I don't hate it like many others do. When I was ordering the Boardwalk set my father mentioned how he wanted to see this sequel. The chainsaw films are one of the few things we bond over. So I added it to the order. The blu looks great and sounds pretty good. And it was for a fairly cheap price.

 Yeah the flash makes it hard to read. But this is all 40 episodes of the one season wonder "Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills". This obscure Power Rangers ripoff aired in the fall of 94 on the USA network. With a budget so low it looks like a high school play of a Sentai show.I saw a handful of episodes when this was originally airing 20 years ago. Then in 2013 I couldn't sleep and saw that the digital sub channel THISTV was airing TTAFfBH as part of it's morning kids block. I watched and episode and loved it. Imagine if Ed Wood or Fred Olen Ray made a Power Rangers rip off show. I was shocked when I saw the complete series on Amazon and for a really cheap price.

 The other DVD I got X-mas day. My favorite Uncle,who is partially responsible for making me into as big of a science ficition/Horror/comic book geek as I am today,normally helps one of my Aunts to pick out my gifts. And since we share a similar sense of humor,he likes to pick out sleazy movies that look somewhat innocent. Like how 10 years ago,thanks to a friend playing a prank on me,a DVD of the Italian ripoff of the infamous 70s sleaze classic Caligula popped up on my DVD Empire wishlist. Well good ole Uncle thought it would be funny if I got that DVD from my then 83 year old grandmother and 91 year old grandfather. I actually do not remember putting Decoys on my wishlist. But looking at the back of the case and reading a few reviews online,it appears to be kind of a sleazy Sci Fi/T&A movie.

Somehow I had never owned a copy of this DVD. I own all the other Evening with Smith DVDs. So when I got a surprise 5 days before X-mas of a Amazon giftcard from a good friend I went looking for cheap dvds/comics/books. Mostly shooting for stuff that was under a  buck and no more than 2 bucks for shipping. I saw this used for 5 cents and 3 bucks shipping. I ordered it and just got it in today. I got one tiny complaint the way the outercase is made it makes it a bit hard to get the dvds out. Being a big Smith fan all these Q&A dvds are great. I can throw one in and doze off while listening.

COMICS

Another great thing about wishlists is now I get way more comics for gifts. Everyone that knows me knows how strong my fandom of the comic book media is. But with the size of my collection people would never buy me comics,fearing it would be something I already owned, And with my taste in comics running towards the more non-mainstream,well known stuff it made it hard to find something for me. So my Amazon wishlist is always loaded up with trades,Graphic novels and Hardcovers. Then I usually keep a wishlist at Mycomicshop.

Alien Legion Piecemaker trade from Checker Books. I can remember seeing issues of Alien Legion on the spinner rack at K&B drugs in Pascagoula MS when I was younger. I have been a science fiction fan since a very very young age,so I don't understand why I never bought an issue of Alien Legion. Maybe it was because of the higher cover price. At the time most comics were 75 cents. IIRC Alien Legion was $1.50. Last year at Coast Con I got 3 or so issues of one of the many Alien Legion runs cheap. I not only enjoyed the stories but really loved the Larry Stroman artwork. I prefer having trades or hardcovers to having the so called floppy copies now a days. After doing some research I saw that Dark Horse had published 1 or 2 volumes of their Omnibus line dealing with Alien Legion.I do like the Dark Horse Omnibus line. But I am not a fan of how they shrink the art some. I understand that they do this to cut down on the cover price. I also saw that Checker Books put of a few trades. Well after ordering the Evening with Kevin Smith DVD I still had a few bucks left on the gift card. The person that gave me the gift card jokingly said "OK Newt please don't spend this all on DVDs. Maybe get you a book or comic. " I had earlier that day found my Jugger Grimrod,the most famous member of the Alien Legion,one shot and looked on Amazon for the trades from Checker books. Found this trade,which reprints a bit over the last year of the second Alien Legion ongoing series from the Marvel comics sub imprint EPIC comics. By this time in Alien Legion history Chuck Dixon is writing most issues and Larry Stroman is handling the pencils. The best thing was the trade was 10 cents plus 3 bucks shipping. I am pretty sure Checker Books has went out of business. So that means technically everything they published is out of print.It is gonna be a long time before I read this trade. I try to read my comics in their chronological order. And this trade has a list in the front of what order you should read the various ongoing,oneshots,mini series and OGNs. From glancing at the list I got at least 12 or so comics I own I need to read before this trade. But if you enjoy military based sci fi and/or would like to see a set in the far future science fiction based "Dirty Dozen" give Alien Legion a try. I am always seeing the single issues in cheap bins. And outside of the Dark Horse Omnibus trades,the others can be had cheap if you don't mind used copies.

This is the first collection of Rick Veitch's cult hit "Roaring Rick's Rarebit Fiends" comic book. Before I get into the trade I want to mention something. As you can see on the cover there is some kind of sticker residue on the upper right. I always tell my relatives if they are buying me books or DVDs at Amazon get me used copies if they are available. It saved money. In some cases saves a bunch of money.Like this trade,the cover price is right at 15 bucks. But this used copy was under 3 bucks. And it is in good shape. Now back to the comic. Rarebit Fiends was Mr Veitch's dreamjournal comic. Each morning when he woke up he would quickly jot down what he remembered of his previous night's dreams. Then he would turn these notes into a comic book. IIRC it came out every 2 months. With most issues being around 30 pages. Most of the time each dream is one page long. So it is like a new story each page. But sometimes you can see underlying things that connect one dream to another. Since I have vivid dreams,I have always been interested into dream research and interpretation. Mr Veitch rarely interprets his dreams in the comic.Still this is a unique comic that has great artwork.

This early 90s 7 issue mini series was either the first or one of the first things Rick Veitch published when he started his own company. My midget Aunt,who also got me the Rarebit Fiends trade,grabbed this one used. And it is obviously an ex-library book. I personally like ex-library book versions of trade paperbacks. Whatever the plastic like stuff they coat the covers with holds up so good. Maximortal is two stories in one. The first story is a very 80s version of Superman and his origin. But taken to a violent place that no Superman story I have read has ever went. The second story is about how the original creators or True-Man AKA Maximortal got fucked over by the comic company they worked for. And their struggles,while the hero they created is making the comic company millions. I had read this trade one time before almost 4 years ago. And re-reading it on the 3 hour car ride back home the day after X-mas made me question once again why this comic isn't talked about as much and in as high regard as other 80's comic classics like Dark Knight Returns,Watchmen or Miracleman. And once again since this was used Aunt Midget got it extremely cheap. She told me that as each package was arriving at her home from Amazon,my Uncle was asking her how much stuff she got me. She told him,then she showed him how cheap each item was. He quickly sat down with his laptop and ended up ordering right at $50 worth of comics. That if he had bought them new would have been over $200 bucks.

Judgement Day trade written by Alan Moore published by Checker Books.Speaking of great comics by great talent that people either aren't that aware of or just don't talk about. In 1997 Rob Liefeld was wanting to boost sales of his various titles. After getting kicked out/let go from Image,Rob took all his books and started up Awesome Comics.He knew cause of his rep he had to do something revive the sagging sales on titles like Youngblood,Supreme,Glory and Newmen.So he gave Alan Moore total control. And Mr Moore set about revamping the entire Extreme/Awesome universe of comics. Judgement Day was ,outside of his run on Supreme,Alan Moore cleaning of the slate. He had come up with the idea of a being with superhuman powers,a hero even,having to go to trial. And what would happen in a celeb/cult of personality obsessed society if a member of Youngblood was murdered and the main suspect was another Youngblood member. Real quick for people who don't know Youngblood is the Extreme/Awesome comics universe's version of the Justice League or Avengers. Now when this was coming out I was still in comics. And I have been fan of Mr Moore since his run on Swamp Thing.But somehow this series coming out totally escaped my notice. I love how the trade not only reprints the Judgement Day mini series but the few other things Alan Moore wrote for Awesome comics. I also really enjoy how he creates a fully realized world with lots of history. Which is something most comics from Image and especially from Mr Liefeld were missing This seems to be the forgotten Alan Moore comic work Maybe it is because by this time that hated of Liefeld and his comics were at an all time high. Doesn't matter,if you love good comics give this trade a read.Once again with Checker Books being out of business you can find this trade extremely cheap. It is actually cheaper to buy this trade than to go buy the issues that are contained in it. I was told that Aunt Midget got this one for me because my Uncle knew the name Alan Moore and wanted to read it.

Warriors of Plasm Special Edition tin set from the Rivers Group. Warriors of Plasm is the start of the Defiant comic universe. I have been collecting all the comics Defiant put out in the short time they were around. They did something that I had never seen before. Warriors of Plasm issue 0 was put out as a trading card set. You bought the packs,built yourself a set. Then once you put the full set into the trading card pages you got a full length comic. I loved the idea. But by the time it was coming out I was getting out of comics. And didn't want to have to buy who knows how many packs of cards to get a full set. Then a month or so later I was flipping thru the Advance Comic catalog. I see that Rivers group is putting out a tin set that not only has all the cards needed to make up issue 0. Plus it has a card you can only get in this tin. And each set is numbered. One draw back. It cost ,and this 21 years ago so I might be remembering this a bit off,$150. Way more than I wanted to pay. Over the past 3 years I have gotten an almost complete set of the Defiant comics. I looked on Amazon and saw I could get a sealed box of packs of the Plasm issue 0 series. But getting a sealed box didn't mean I would get a full set.So I looked up this tin set. Thinking it had to be at least $50 still. Nope,it was $5. I threw it on my wishlist.

That is the back of the tin. There was 25,000 sets made. Which back then when the demand was high is a low number. But 21 years later when only the most diehard comic fans even remember Defiant,it is a decent number.I seem to recall hearing that the cards in the tin are made of better materials than the ones you would get in the packs. You also get a coupon for a free Plasm comic book. Of course I can't use that now. Cause not only is Defiant out of business but so is The Rivers Group.And like most manufactured collectibles in the 90s you get a certificate letting you know this is a legit honest to Steve limited edition.

Mine is number 20082.Well as soon as I got home on the 26th,I quickly unpacked. Then kicked back on my bed. Grabbed my trading card album. Checked to make sure I got enough empty pages. Then started opening the 3 stacks of cards inside the tin. I was sorting the cards and noticed that I had 3 copies of one card."Fuck I bet that means I am missing 2 cards." I had heard that some of the sets were missing a few cards. After sorting everything I saw I am missing 6 cards. But the good news,I went to a comic forum that I enjoy reading. Made a post offering to pay a buck a card plus shipping for the 6 I need. Less than an hour later someone PMed me offering to send me the cards I needed for free. I once again offered to pay a buck a card plus shipping.The person turned that down. "We call it comic book karma around here. If you have any comics you don't want anymore,check around here and if someone wants them.Send them to them for free." So sometime later this month I am making a list of comics and trades I don't want anymore and gonna offer them up. I do like this comic book karma idea. Once I get those 6 cards I can finally read a comic I have been wanting to read for all my adult life. This was another gift from my Aunt Midget. I am not kidding when I say the box she put everything into had to weigh at least 10lbs.

Now these last two gifts are very special to me. Mostly cause of who got them for me.

Mr Monster's Hi-Octane Horror #1 from Eclipse Comics. Sometime in the early 90s I grabbed one of the Mr Monster True Crime comics. Eclipse did a series of Mr Monster specials,each one with a theme,and each of them reprinting public domain pre-code comics. Now these comics are not rare or expensive. But I rarely see copies. And this one is one I have been searching for,for a decent amount of time. Sure I could just order if from MilehighPRICES.. I mean Mile High Comics. Or from MyComicShop. But for something like this I rather buy it in a comic shop or at a con. We get 3 pre code horror stories. With one drawn by the late great comics legend Basil Wolverton. Mr Monster creator Micheal Gilbert does a few pages or wraparound. With Mr Gilbert hosting the comics like the Cryptkeeper did back in the EC days. Then we get a history piece on one of the artist of the pre-code stuff. Plus more info on all three stories. And an interesting letters page.Found out that someone went to 4 comic shops tracking down this issue for me. All because they know that I wanted to get this from a shop.

Most years someone super close to me makes me a stocking and sends it down to my family on the coast.Last year it was full of Pez. This year it had 3 envelopes and the above comic digest. I sadly rarely see the Archie digests in my town anymore. So had no idea they had brought back Archie's Funhouse.  Plus it is a Jumbo Comic. It is 5 times the thickness of a normal Archie digest. And over 2 times the size of the old Double Digests.One thing that I love is most of the stories in this digest actually have credits. I do not remember seeing credits on Archie stuff before. I haven't read much of this yet. But I use Archie Digest for bathroom reading. Think about it,each story is 3 to 5 pages. Perfect for when you have to go take a dump.The three envelopes each had 20 bucks in them. With a note telling me that each 20 was only to be spent at a certain store. "Consider them giftcards for stores that don't have them." The thought and care that went into the various items in the stocking just show me how much I am loved.

Ok I am wrapping this up for part 1. I only got one category left,but it is a huge one. Plus I got one item that would have fallen into the assorted category. But I wanted to save it for the end.