Mail Call!

 

Boy, it's been two years since I've done a mail call, and today is quite the haul!

 There's a whole lot of girth to those boxes!

You'll notice a theme today as I open and share box number one. Yes, a lot of them are comic books. However, they're not just any particular ones. Rather, this is me making a gallant effort to complete my Todd McFarlane collection.

McFarlane penciled both issue one and two of Invasion, but left the book prior to the third and final installment of the mini-series. I ended up purchasing the full run because it was simply easier and cheaper to get them all together than to pick and choose issues.

This next box encased a consecutive run of Infinity, Inc. issues one through forty-five, plus annual one.

The McFarlane sweet spot in these issues is number fourteen through thirty-seven, plus annual one and two, the latter of which I didn't get in this bunch. In doing the math, it actually worked out to be sixty dollars cheaper to buy this lot than to simply focus on the issues I wanted. Kind of a no brainer to grab it.

There are only nine more issues in the series, one of which is the second annual that I'm going to get. I may or may not just go ahead and finish the run.

Don't check out on my yet, toy lovers. They're coming up next. But, first, this lot contained a consecutive run of issues one through fifty of Todd McFarlane's Spawn.

This is a series I wouldn't mind catching up on, but with over three hundred issues out there, this literally is just the tip of the iceberg. I don't know that it will be feasible at this point to try and grab issues fifty-one through three hundred thirty-three. That's a lot of money, not to mention bags and boards. 

Initially, I picked these figures up because I was going to take them to Big Lick Comic Con in Roanoake this August, and have them signed by Billy West. Then I looked and saw how far Roanoake was from me, and scrapped that idea right away. Unfortunately, I had already purchased the figures.

Despite autographs, they'll still serve a purpose as added decorations to my wall above my cartoon DVD's.

Before any of you flip out that I opened these, fret not. What I also found out was that the bubbles on both were already open, and not so nicely in the case of Stimpy. His entire bubble was given the x-acto knife treatment.

They fit in nicely on top of my autographed complete series of G.I. Joe. Boy, what a great day that was.

On June 30, 2022, I told several people, "If Hasbro doesn't send me something G.I. Joe related by the end of July, I'm cancelling ALL of my pre-orders, and selling off all my Classified figures. On July 1, 2022, I got confirmation that the Fortnight Snake Eyes Zero Edition had shipped.

I've had this thing on order since January 30, 2020. No, that's not a typo. I don't know why it took Hasbro over a year to produce and ship this thing, but that wait time was ridiculous!

While I'm happy to finally have it, I can certainly understand from my own experience why so many fans of the series are upset by Hasbro continuing to offer pre-orders for 2023 when they've yet to even fulfill orders from over a year ago.

Popping the box open, it's really just another Snake Eyes with minor deco. This is what, the fifth or sixth one in the series so far? Well, I guess I have to take that back. This is technically not a Classified figure. Well, not in name anyway.

The bubble comes out of the cardboard, making it easier to pop the accessories out, and man oh man, this is where this thing shines.

Ten different bits and pieces allow for a lot of uniqueness, in terms of displaying the figure. Sadly, there isn't enough storage space on Snake Eyes to accommodate half of them. So disappointingly, most of these are going back to the box to ensure they don't get lost.

It's neat looking when all decked out, but there's still that part of me that says, "It's just another Snake Eyes."

Still, I suppose Hasbro has fulfilled my need to have something delivered prior to the end of July, so I'll stick it out...for now. I'm not happy that prices on the figure are rising to make up for their lackluster sales as a result of their failure to put product on shelves.

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Mail Call!

 

It's been a minute since we've last had a mail call here at The Toy Box. No better time than now.

First up, let's go back about a month to a trip to Target. It was here that I came across a yellow box of cereal that halted me in my tracks.

Now, I do enjoy me some Peeps. In fact, any marshmallow treat will do me just fine. So when I saw this cereal staring at me, I was all over it. However, it wasn't until just a week or so ago that I finally cracked it open and had a taste.

I poured it into my brand new cereal bowl, an awesome Fallout themed Sugar Bombs design and snapped a few photos.

Yes, the cereal was amazing. 

Delicious yellow, blue and red hoops encompass the majority of the cereal. This is complimented by bunny and chicks shaped marshmallows of the same color scheme.

As a whole, the cereal just works. It's lightly sweetened, offering a nice flavor, while not being a sugar overload, or bland mess.

Though it does say, "Limited Edition" on the box, I have to wonder if this is limited to Easter time, but will still be available annually. You know, much like the Count and his pals are cordoned off to Halloween, though their boxes never say anything about being limited. I hope these will be back next year (and beyond). I need a new seasonal tradition breakfast cereal.

To compliment my cereal moments, I got the perfect mugs for enjoying my coffee in. They're only to the greatest (fictional) amusement park of all time, Nuka-World!

Boy, who wouldn't love if this place was real? I mean, not with the wasteland setting and Raiders everywhere. Rather, a fully functional theme park.

I also finally got around to plugging a gap in my original The Amazing Spider-Man run.

I've had issues 31 and 33 for a while now, but never procured issue 32 until just now. I'm not sure why I waited so long. It just kind of fell off my radar.

I'm still missing seventy-six issues between number one and two-hundred, and while I suspect I will finish up 100 - 199, which comprises of eighteen of those seventy-six, Though I'll fill in gaps where I feasibly can, I don't ever foresee myself getting all fifty-eight of the issues between 1 and 99. I don't have thousands of dollars to spend on one comic book.

Last up is for you Joe fans!

Yeah, buddy, the new wave of G.I. Joe Classified, featuring Lady Jaye and Flint are cropping up. While I had these pre-ordered from Pulse, I keep tabs on one particular seller who not only seems to get figures well in advance of their arrival in stores, but doesn't rake people over the coals in selling them. To me, it's just worth it to grab them all in advance, and not wait months for Hasbro to receive, box and ship everything out. Honestly, I don't know why I even bother pre-ordering anymore.

I'm going to do an unboxing post here soon, and in doing so will scrutinize over that Cobra Commander one to see if there are any differences from prior released versions to this one. I'll let you know if I find anything. Until then, that wraps it up for me.

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A Barbecue Kind Of Box

 

Nothing says fun like a box on your doorstep.

This one came to me from blogger Action Figure Barbecue, who took the time out of a span of his own busy days to track down something fun for me.

Ooh! So fun!

Jerry was kind enough to go on the hunt for fourteen of the sixteen series one and two Eternia Minis. I'm so excited to have these. Unfortunately, this is as far as I'm going to get to them at this point in time. These will be headed under the tree for me to open on Christmas day. Fortunately, that's right around the corner.

Thanks again, Jerry! 

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Mail Call!

 

Ah, a good day for some fun packages. 

First up was a selection of CD's.

Greg Kihn Band's Kihnspiracy wasn't ever a high profile CD on my list. In fact, I wouldn't even have bothered with it were it not for Weird Al Yankovic's parody of the song Jeopardy. This 1983 album falls in that sweet spot of "early" CD's that were in low print, and therefore, rather expensive for its rarity.

Next up was a CD which came to me all the way from down under.

Juice Newton's albums from the early 80's are incredibly rare in the USA. As such, I had to track this one down from Australia. Truth be told, I don't know if a CD pressing was ever released in the US. I've never found one.

Last up is a fairly common, but unknown one.

Having not heard of Bangles prior to their monster hit, Walk Like An Egyptian, I wasn't ever aware that they had an album prior to that. However, when it recently came across my radar, I wanted to check it out.

Which leads us into today's comic book haul.

I recently made a push to complete two more Spider-Man related lines. These included, Spider-Man 2099 and Marvel-Team Up. While I'm still waiting on a few of the Spider-Man 2099 issues, these particular ones below showcase three of the four issues which encompassed the first appearance of Venom 2099 story arc, beginning in 35 and ending in 38.

Issues 36 through 38 feature two covers that can be placed together to form one picture. Below are 36 and 38's covers, but I'm still waiting on 37 to arrive (among others).

Last up is one of the two boxes I was expecting from MyComicShop.com.

This treasure of issues features the remaining several issues of Marvel-Team Up, as well as the annual for Spider-Man 2099. With this haul, I can cross off Marvel Team-Up as complete. Once I receive the other box, as well as a handful of additional issues I had to get off of ebay, Spider-Man 2099 will be completed. That marks off The Spectacular Spider-Man, Web of Spider-Man, Untold Tales of Spider-Man, and of course the two lines here.

And that wraps up today's mail call.

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Mail Call!

Continuing yesterday's post is another batch of CD's begrudgingly lugged to my house by the mailman. This time, he was seriously annoyed. I could tell by how he once again crammed every single package into my mailbox. It was so tight I had to play tug-o-war to get the first one out, then work my way all the way to the back of the box to fish the last one out.

Alright....so let's address the elephant in the room. Yes, that is a Chex mix box, and yes, the seller of this item thought this was an appropriate box to ship my item in. I was not happy when I saw this.

The seller got one saving grace from me appropriate feedback, and that was how well he packed the CD inside of a padded envelope in side the box.

I don't know much about Scritti Politti beyond their song, Perfect Way. I did a quick search of their greatest hits, and couldn't come up with anything else. I'm hoping the album will offer something more than one "good" track.

Next up is one of those obscure CD's that I found by mere luck and somehow realized I knew a song off of it.

Benny Mardones' Never Run Never Hide features his greatest hit of all time, Into The Night. Sadly, Benny appears to have passed away just a few days ago. Unfortunately, the singer had been known for having continuous health issues, including parkinsons disease. It's speculated this was from heavy abuse of drugs and alcohol throughout his career.

Next up was this little box of mystery. Mind you, I use the word box liberally. This was literally just a piece of cardboard that the seller folded in on itself and taped everywhere.

Madonna's Madame X wasn't a CD on my want list, but I knew it was an album I would have eventually gotten around to. Despite my not listening to anything from the singer in a long time, she is an artist I've kept current with. Don't get me wrong, I'll get around to this one, and many of her others, eventually.

Which leads me to CD's I actually wanted to listen to in this deliciously thick two pack.

If you recall my post from yesterday, you may remember me mentioning the Thompson Twins. Yesterday's album, In The Name Of Love, is actually my second one from the group. Today's album, Here's To Future Days, is number three of four (the final is still in the mail).

The second album was Def Leppard's High 'n' Dry. The only track on this one I know is, Bringing On The Heartache. Unfortunately, I'll probably end up replacing this one in the long run. It appears I somehow mistakenly purchased a re-issue with bonus tracks. Lame!

Speaking of bonus tracks...

...One of the things that always annoyed me was having Ozzy Osborne's No More Tears re-issue, which included bonus tracks. I had wanted to replace this one for a long time.

And again speaking of bonus tracks...

Looks like I accidentally bought the re-issue of Level 42's World Machine as well. Sigh. Let that be a lesson for you. Don't be too quick to click the, "Buy It Now" button.

Last up was this very thin cardboard envelope. I admittedly was worried of how busted up this one would be. It fortunately didn't have one default.

Lady Gaga's latest album, Chromatic. Though this will sit in my collection, it's honestly not for me. I know someone who likes her music. When I saw this one for just six dollars, brand new, I figured I would go ahead and get it for her.

And that wraps up today's mail call. There are still a few CD's in route. However, a couple of them are coming from the UK, so those, I assume, will take a while. I also have one in route from Russia. The last album I bought from there took two months to get. Just have to play the waiting game.

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