Hey, Guy! Happy Birthday!

Fifty is on the horizon, but every day I still feel like a kid. I'm looking forward to a day out with my girl, some good eats, and fun times. First, it kicks off with my annual allotment of gifts from me, to me, for being me.

I don't tend to drift too far from Spider-Man titles when it comes to collecting comics, but this year, I did just that. Fantastic Four issue 207 wasn't a book that would have been on my radar any other day of the week. It was only has I was making my way through the chronological order of Spider-Man reading that I became aware of it. Had it just been a run of the mill team-up, I would have skipped it. However, this book features a key event in the life of Peter Parker.

Next up is a book that in hindsight, I probably would have skipped in the long run. Deadpool number eleven was overhyped by a Youtuber, which led me to tracking it down. It's unique for sure, but after reading it, it's not at amazing as I hoped it would be. I definitely won't be actively tracking down any additional Deadpool books in the near future.

The main haul that I got for myself were some straggler titles in the very few remaining cartoons of the 80's available in the US on DVD.

Pound Puppies (1986) never saw a complete series release on DVD. Instead, there were a handful of episodes originally released on VHS back in the day. In 2007, Family Home Entertainment produced a batch of DVD's that contained the original 1985 special, which got packaged with select Pound Puppies plush toys. While the disc can be found these days, it's kind of scarce in good condition. These were, after all, packaged with toys for little kids. I'm definitely glad I was able to find and nab one.

There are an abundance of Charlie Brown / Peanuts related DVD's out there. So many, that I had to take a hiatus from them after getting the main / most commonly known holiday specials. This year, I decided that I would at least grab the two 80's series which aired in syndication.

The first, The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show, aired from 1983 to 1985. Over the course of two seasons, there were eighteen episodes produced, making it one of the smaller multi-season series. Unlike the popular specials, the series didn't resonate all that well with kids, which ultimately led to its low production run. It did see a bit of a revival in 1998 when Nickelodeon aired the episodes as part of its, You're On Nickelodeon, Charlie Brown umbrella.

I also picked up the 1988, This Is America Charlie Brown, which encompassed one season containing eight episodes. Unlike most Peanuts related cartoons, this one actually shows adults from head to toe, mainly because they were historical figures being depicted. This series too was aired in the aforementioned Nickelodeon series in 1998.

Saber Riders and the Star Sherrifs was a series that had been on my radar for quite some time. However, what often kept me away was its high price tag, typically around $125.00 to $150.00, as well as the overall premise. I'd be lying if I said I was in to Japanese style cartoons of the 80's. Shows like Voltron, which subsequently were the same makers of Saber Rider, never really resonated with me. Truthfully, the only reason I ended up with it now was because the seller accepted my offer of $100.00. I'll give it a try for sure. Hopefully, it hits a high note. Either way, I'm happy to have it.

Last up, in the realm of DVD, is another incredibly hard, and subsequently high priced, series, The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin. This was given a very limited DVD release from Image Entertainment in 2008 across three sets, which were then packaged together in 2009 under the title, Come Dream With Me - The Complete Series. It was released one final time, to date, in 2012 as The Complete Teddy Ruxpin Adventures. Regardless of which version you're on the hunt for, all are long out of print.

While you can find the three individual DVD sets more regularly than the box sets, only volume one is common, and as such, "affordable" (under ten dollars). The remaining two volumes can easily set you back fifty to eighty dollars each. Since this hit my radar, while I had seen the 2012 set come up occasionally, typically for close to $200.00, I had never seen the 2009 set. That is until early August when I came across one seller who not only had all the individual sets, but also the box set. I couldn't believe it when they accepted my offer of $95.00.

There's still some key titles I need to track down, but I'm honestly hesitant to get them. The biggest reason is that I know me too well. Once I finish getting everything I can from the 80's, I'll start looking at other eras. Everything is a rabbit hole.

At the last minute, I also ordered a few CD's. Frankly, I'm not surprised they all haven't arrived yet. What did show up were Janet Jackson's Control: The Remixes (1987), Icehouse's Sidewalk (1984), and Kansas's Vinyl Confessions (1982). Still in transit are Icehouse's Primitave (1982), and two albums from Sparks, 1982's Angst In My Pants, and 1983's In Outer Space.

The final item I got for myself was a log.

Hooray!

No, it's not the infamous log from The Ren & Stimpy Show. Rather, this is one of the few remaining accessories of the even fewer toys that I'm still actively collecting. Specifically, this is the break-away log, which came with the wave two Mr. Miyagi figure from the Remco The Karate Kid line.

This is the only line I have ever actively collected piecemeal. Meaning, figures which were incomplete. Fortunately, I bought all mine prior to the boom of Cobra Kai, but even then, I had to settle for several only having their karate gi.

The accessories are sparse, at best, with wave one being the most common to find. Once you get into the second series, forget about it. One pops up occasionally, and typically far overpriced. If the timing weren't right, my birthday, I would have probably passed on this one.

I just need one more break-away fighting pole for Sato (or Chosen - it was the same piece), one piece of the seat to, or a full replacement of the break-away chair for Kreese, the stand, or a full replacement of the break-away ice, version 2 for Daniel, and the weapon on a rope which came with Kreese. Of course, all of these are from wave 2, so the challenge and hunt remain active.

I suspect when Cobra Kai ends that all the fans who jumped on these figures will start to offload them in abundance once they've moved on to the next best thing. As such, I'm hopeful that the remaining pieces will eventually come to fruition. Until then, this is what I got myself for my birthday this year.

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The Karate Kid (NECA)

The Karate Kid
NECA
2019

HIYA! KA-POW! ZIPPAZIPPA SHA POOF!...and all those other karate like sounds.

It's surprising with how Cobra Kai has taken off that NECA has all but abandoned the concept of Karate Kid related figures. Such a missed opportunity to have figures not only form the show, but also the two sequel films.

Why does Daniel look like a linebacker with his shoulder pads on? Overall, not the best work I've seen from the likes of NECA.

While the figures look all right, and I would have loved to see more, they'll honestly never hold a candle to the original Remco line - which seems to be skyrocketing once again on secondary markets.

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Retro Spins: The Karate Kid Part II

One of my all time favorite sequels, The Karate Kid Part II brought with it a fantastic story of love, honor, and familiar friends in a new and exciting setting.

The price of honor. The power of friendship. "THE KARATE KID PART II." Ralph Macchio and Noriyuki "Pat" Morita recreate the roles that brought them international acclaim in "THE KARATE KID," when karate student Daniel LaRusso (Macchio) accompanies his wise and whimsical teacher Mr. Miyagi (Morita) to his ancestral home in Okinawa. For the boy, it's a jorney to an exotic, new world - and new clues to his mentor's secret past. For Miyagi it's an opportunity to see his father one last time, and to rekindle a romance with his childhood sweetheart (Nobu McCarthy). But Miyagi's return also re-ignites a bitter feud with long-time enemy Sato (Daniel Kamekona) - a feud that involves young Daniel in a brilliant collision of cultures and combat. Now, far away from the tournaments...the cheering crowds...the safety of home, Daniel will face his greatest challenge ever when teacher becomes student, and the price of honor is life itself. - Back of the original VHS

It was with The Karate Kid Part II that Peter Cetera became a name in my vocabulary. As a kid, I had no knowledge of his involvement with the band Chicago, and it's not like the internet was a thing for me to look it up. My knowledge of music relied heavily on the back and inner sleeves of album covers, and what ever I heard from the various DJ's and VJ's.

I remember having this album as a kid, and playing it frequently in my Walkman - with one catch. I never really got past the first two songs, Glory Of Love by Peter Cetera and Rock And Roll Over You by The Moody Blues. I'm sure I did once, but never bothered to beyond that. Why? Because I recall not really liking all that much.

Today seemed like the best time to check in on this gem from 1986 and see if my older, more mature mind had changed.

Not really, no. I still very much so enjoy the first two tracks, noted above. Fish For Life from Mancrab and Rock Around The Clock by Paul Rodgers weren't terrible, but not something I can see myself wanting to hear often.

The rest though, still going to have to take a hard pass on them. For as much as I love the movie itself, the soundtrack is a hard opposite spectrum. I just don't enjoy it. Further, I don't even honestly know where the majority of these songs are in the film itself. This makes them all the more less enjoyable because they just sound like random songs - Bad ones at that. New Edition massacres the classic Earth Angel making me wish they would have just used the original - Or even the version from Back To The Future. Anything would have been better.

I'll be watching The Karate Kid Part II for many more years. I won't, however, be listening to the soundtrack.

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Retro Spins: The Karate Kid

Much like pretty much every child of the 80's, The Karate Kid made me want to take karate so badly. I never did though. Still, that didn't stop me from mimicking everything I saw from the film. Daniel was my idol. So much so that I was the only kid I knew who actually had the toys from Remco.

Then I grew up. Watching the film from a mature perspective, I saw it for what it was. A film about a bully named Daniel, who moves to a new state, a new home, and starts a new life. There, young Daniel immediately starts harassing a local boy, terrorizing him as he stalks a young girl, who also happens to be said boy's ex-girlfriend. He consistently picks fights, which he loses, and then goes for the ultimate humiliation, challenging the boy to a fight in front of the entire town at the All Valley Tournament. Here, he goes for the ultimate dishonorable victory, as he wins the tournament with an illegal kick to his opponent's face.

Perspective is everything.

A fatherless teenager faces his moment of truth in "The Karate Kid." Daniel (Ralph Macchio) arrives in Los Angeles from the East coast and faces the difficult task of making new friends. However, he becomes the object of bullying by the Cobras, a menacing gang of karate students, when he strikes up a relationship with Ali (Elizabeth Shue), the Cobra leader's ex-girlfriend. Eager to fight back and impress his new girlfriend, but afraid to confront the dangerous gang, Daniel asks his handyman Miyagi (Noriyuki "Pat" Morita), whom he learns is a master of the martial arts, to teach him karate. Miyagi teaches Daniel that karate is a mastery over the self - mind and body - and that fighting is always the last answer to a problem. Under Miyagi's guidance, Daniel develops not only physical skills but also the faith and self-confidence to compete despite tremendous odds as he encounters the fight of his life in the exciting finale to this entertaining film. - The back cover of the original VHS

You're not going to find to forty hits on this soundtrack, but if you're a fan of the film, you're going to hear some tunes which will place you in the exact moment and time of the film's two hour seven minute running time. It also gives you the opportunity to hear these tracks in their entirety, without shifting them off to background noise. In doing so, you can actually find some which are pretty good.

Survivor doesn't bring their "A" game, but they deliver a decent track in the album opener, The Moment of Truth. (Bop Bop) At The Beach may be a little silly, but it's also decent enough to tap your foot to. No Shelter from Broken Edge drops you right into the scene where Daniel is running from the Cobra Kai's after humiliating Johnny at the school Halloween dance.

There are three tracks glaringly omitted from the soundtrack these are; The Ride, from Matches, which is the song played as Johnny and the gang arrive on the scene at the beach. Bananarama's Cruel Summer, as heard in the film when Daniel is on the soccer field at school. The last, Please Answer Me by Broken Edge, which is heard during the Halloween dance.

On the bright side, tracking down The Ride and Please Answer Me on Youtube to at least hear them didn't yield very good songs. Bananarama's Cruel Summer can easily be found on the trio's second and self titled album, as well as numerous greatest hits and 80's compilations. So, it's no real big loss in the long run.

Overall, The Karate Kid album serves a purpose of putting you in the place and time of the movie, but doesn't necessarily yield very memorable tracks beyond that. It's good, but it's not the best (around). Ha!

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Painted Memories: Finish Him!

Please share your own thoughts, memories and stories in the comment section.

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