Retro Spins: John Mellencamp - Scarecrow

 

Whoa, what have I been denying myself and missing as a result of not getting around to listening to a lot of the music I have in my collection? Today I fired up John Mellencamp's 1985 album, Scarecrow, and was blasted in the face with the starting track, Rain On The Scarecrow. Holy crap, this song was fantastic! With a slight interlude of Grandma's Theme, the album jumped into Small Town, one of the tracks I purchased this for.

With a bar set that high, how could this album not deliver?

Minutes To Memories was a decent track, but somewhat started me coming down from the Mellencamp high I was currently on. While I fully anticipated this would be the case until I reached the second track I bought the album for, R.O.C.K. In The USA (A Salute To 60's Rock), I was quickly reminded of the rock I had apparently been living under when Lonely Ol' Night sprung into action. How on Earth did I forget this song? It wasn't even on my shuffle list. 

From there, the album did taper down a bit. Mind you, I didn't hear anything bad. I just didn't hear anything that blew me away and had to be added to my shuffle list.

John Mellencamp was an artist I shied away from in the 80's, and I'm kind of kicking myself for it. I feel like I missed something special that I could have been a part of, versus checking out after the impact and aftermath. I'd like to get to a point where I'm listening to the albums I get as they arrive, as opposed to catching up with piles of CD's. I don't honestly know if I'll ever reach that point.

Regardless, listening to this album did one important thing. It invigorated me mentally to want to plow through as many albums as I could for the day.

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Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.

 

Batman - Hush (DC Direct)

Hush is a series that took place in the monthly Batman comics between 2002 and 2003 (Issues 608-616). The series was written by Jeph Loeb, and penciled by Jim Lee. The series was a major success among Batman fans, and since its release has been collected and reproduced numerous times in trade paperback format.

The series intertwines between the various villains in the world of Gotham City, and even takes readers into Metropolis for a cross over with Superman. Eventually the series climaxes in the true plot where it is revealed that The Riddler, now cured of his cancer, knows the true identity of Batman.

The story has been praised for having a lot of unforgettable moments in Batman history, and at the same time been criticized heavily for a lot of the simplistic plot points that leave Batman looking inept and unable to handle a basic situation - Such as his rope being cut in the very first pages of the series which results in him falling to the ground, and cracking his skull open. Still, the series has sold several individual books, and collected graphic novels, so the story clearly was highly received by fans.

While a sequel was planned, it never came to be. Several of the plot points were followed out and/or continued in later books by various comic alumni, but an offical sequel was never released.

In 2004, DC Direct launched a line of figures based on the series. Sixteen figures, and one (repacked) exclusive were released over the three waves of toys produced between 2004 (series 1 and 2) and 2005 (series 3).

The exclusive figure, Jason Todd, which was released through ToyFare magazine was nothing more than a figure from the upcoming second series. While this version contained the ToyFare logo at the top of the package, there are no differences between the exclusive and retail versions of the toy.


Batman*Hush*Jason Todd (ToyFare Exclusive)*The Joker*Poison Ivy*Huntress


Superman*Nightwing*Jason Todd*The Riddler*Catwoman*Harley Quinn


Stealth Jumper Batman*Alfred*Commissioner Gordon*Ra's al Ghul*Scarecrow

The series has some of the best scuplts available for Batman figures and villains, and therefore is highly sought after by collectors of both the comic and toy variety. It's also one of the only places you'll find a figure based on Alfred the Butler. If there are any complaints, it was that the series ended too soon. The potential for more key villains was there, such as The Penguin, Two-Face, Clayface, Killer Croc and even heroes such as Batgirl and Robin. Even if they didn't necessarily appear in the actual "Hush" story, the figures would have been great to see produced.

The majority of the figures can be purchased for between ten and twenty dollars, while some of the villains can fetch as much as forty to fifty dollars each - Such as Catwoman and Poison Ivy.

This is a great series of toys based on Batman, and ones that surely shouldn't be passed up.

Join us next time for our look at V!

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