Retro Spins: Ruthless People

Ruthless People. That's the movie where Bette Middler starts out fat, and gets skinny by the end of it. Commendable, but not a very strong plot point aspect. Granted, the other half of said story is that she's been kidnapped.

In this fiendishly funny comedy from the creators of Airplane!, loathesome millionaire Sam Stone (Danny DeVito) is RUTHLESS. How ruthless? When his shrill wife Barbara (Bette Midler) is nabbed by inept kidnappers (Judge Reinhold, Helen Slater), Sam cries tears of joy...and refuses to pay the ransom. And when the abductors threaten to kill the abrasive heiress, Sam takes immediate action - he celebrates! Ruthless People. Raucous...outlandish...one of the top box office hits of the year! - Back of the original VHS

The draw to this soundtrack, for me, was the inclusion of Mick Jagger's Ruthless People (song). Mind you, I'm no big Mick Jagger fan. Not by any means. However, as a fan of 80's music, this track popped into my head one day, and the as a result, the album got added to my want list.

With contributors such as Billy Joel, Paul Young, Kool And The Gang, Bruce Springsteen, and of course, Mick Jagger, there are tracks worth checking this album out for. However, it's not limited to the big name artists for good tracks.

My personal favorites include the title track, Ruthless People from Mick Jagger, Modern Woman by Billy Joel, Where I Lay My Hat (That's My Home) by Paul Young and No Say In It by Machinations. I will give an honorable mention to Dan Hartman's Waiting To See You and Nicole McCloud's Don't You Want My Love. These weren't bad songs, but I don't know just yet if I liked them enough to add them to my shuffles.

The thing I enjoyed the most about this soundtrack is actually the memories it brought back of the film. I've only seen it once, but as the soundtrack played, I found myself remembering quite a bit of it.

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Married...With Children (Funko)

Married...With Children
Funko
2018 

Whoops. In looking at my blog today, I apparently took a vacation when it came to writing up an actual article for this one. So, in hindsight, here goes a little something to accompany it.

I actually own this set of figures, and did a write up on them before. However, for cataloging purposes, I thought I would go ahead and create a post strictly in that regard. That would be this post that you see before you.

As with Funko's MO, they've created a fantastic set up the Bundy family. However, what they've failed to do is keep things consistent with which era the figures fall in. If you look at my above noted post, I lay out just exactly what episode these characters were first seen wearing these types of clothes. Log story short, they span from season one, two, three and even six.

With that said, this is still one of my all time favorite 3 3/4 lines from Funko. I would love for them to expand on it with Steve, Marcy, Jefferson, so No Ma'am variations, Griff and even Gary. Of course, if Funko really wanted to capture my heart, they'd release Al's faithful Dodge, which was actually a Plymouth Duster.

I'm hopeful more will come from this license, but I'm doubtful it will at the same time. Still, fingers crossed.

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Hasbro Pulsecon Update: Pay For The Opportunity To Try To Get Exclusives

Just when you thought Hasbro couldn't get any dumber, they go and do something like this...I wish I could make a Dumb and Dumber reference and follow that up with, "And totally redeem themselves!" Sadly, that's not the case.

If you had an inkling of hope that you'd stand a chance of obtaining one of the San Diego Comic Con 2020 exclusives, now turned Hasbo Pulse exclusives, this year, you may want to go sit down. Hasbo has found yet another way to give you, the average collector, the finger.

It wasn't bad enough that we'd all be competing against the scalpers and other rabid fans on September 24th, 2020. Now, as it turns out, product may not even be available that day. Why? Because Hasbro is selling early access to the exclusives to anyone willing to pay $50.00 to join Hasbro Pulse Premium. With your purchase of their annual membership, you'll also get early access on September 23rd, 2020 to try and buy the exclusives.

Here in lies the next problem. That fifty dollar fee doesn't guarantee you anything in terms of the actual items. Just the opportunity to shop one day earlier. You still have to sign in, grab the item, get through checkout and get your pre-order confirmation before they sell out. Not only that, but there's no limit to how many Hasbro Pulse Premium memberships are being sold. In fact many, if not most, Hasbro Pulse customers already have a Premium account for the free shipping benefits.

"But Hasbro is limiting one (of each) exclusive per customer," you say. Okay, fine. But, simply do the math in that equation.

If there are five thousand memberships to Hasbro Pulse Premium, but only two thousand pieces of each exclusive, that still means they're going to be sold out instantly on the 23rd. In fact, I pretty much guarantee it. I'll be incredibly surprised if this isn't the case.

The only thing Hasbro is going to accomplish here is angering thousands of collectors who had no chance unless they wanted to be extorted for an extra fifty bucks. Mark my words, the internet will be ablaze on September 24th with angry rants directed at Hasbro, and Hasbro Pulsecon will be labeled an utter failure.

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In loving memory of all of the innocent people who lost their lives, and all who answered the call to help. They were the true real American heroes.

We will never forget 9/11.

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Nintendo Entertainment System (Lego)

Ah Lego. How I hate thee. Don't get me wrong. Lego has a lot of creative sets. I just don't have the patience or desire to build any of them. It's work. Annoying work. Fragile work.

A set that I was intrigued with when I saw it today at the local Lego Store was this amazing looking Nintendo Entertainment System. However, for how cool it looked, I simply lost interest in it fast. That was when I saw the price tag of $230.00. Coupled with my lack of desire to build it, I had to walk away.

Here was my biggest problem. The price may have been justifiable if it was a functional console. However, it's not. Not at all. While the television boasts a crank feature to scroll through a level, playing a physical cartridge is a no go. You could also potentially get sound effects out of the set. BUT, in order to do so, you have to have a Lego Mario figure...Which is going to cost you more money since it's only available in the Adventures of Mario starter set. Go ahead and drop another sixty dollars for that.

Lego has always been far more expensive than it really needs to be, and the bottom line is that it's driven by greed. Lego knows customers will pay up, so what is their incentive to lower prices?

Hear me out.

In business, a standard line of profit is considered ten percent. High profit is twenty percent and low profit is five percent. Lego not only collects higher than the standard ten percent profit, but in most cases, exceeds high profits at a whopping twenty-five percent profit margin per set. That means for every one hundred dollars you spend, twenty-five dollars is all profit to Lego. That's crazy!

To make matters worse, most of their "toys" are no more than glorified display pieces. Even the ones that can be played with are typically so fragile that a lot of people wouldn't - Unless they want to keep rebuilding them.

Maybe it's just me. I mean, I've long since accepted that Lego isn't a toy for me. Maybe this is just a continuation of that understanding. What do you think of sets like this, or Lego in general?

Since I'm on a role of complaining about things I hate, I'll go ahead and throw out there that I hate the new Blogger. It's irritating to use. I reverted back to the "Legacy" format. However, if they make it so I have to use the new version down the road, I can honestly see myself parting ways with the site. The new model is garbage.

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Retro Spin: Miami Vice

During its prime, Miami Vice was a bit out of my wheel house. I was busy watching shows like He-Man and G.I. Joe and not prime time police dramas. Mind you, it wasn't for lack of trying. It was just over my head.

One thing I did retain from the show was that killer theme song. It's instantly recognizable from the first set of notes.

I'd known for quite some time there was a soundtrack out for the show, but never really bothered getting around to it. It wasn't until I went looking for Glenn Frey's You Belong To The City that this album really landed on my radar. The reason for this was, while it's available on compilation albums, this was the first album you could get it from. Couple with all the other great tracks I saw on the back of the CD, it became a, pretty much, instant buy at that point.

While the majority of the soundtrack has instrumental music from Jan Hammer, other stand out contributions are Phil Collin's In The Air Tonight and Tina Turner's Better Be Good To Me. True, these songs are available on these artists respective solo albums. However, it's great to have them here too as a break between the instrumental tracks.

Overall, the album is by no means mind blowing. I added the Miami Vice Theme and You Belong To The City to my iTunes and iPod shuffle. I didn't add Collin's or Turner's contributions as these tracks are already there from their above mentioned solo albums. Still, the album is worth, at least, a listen.

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Flip And Fold Fashions (Tomy)

Flip And Fold Fashions
Tomy
1978 - 1980

 1978 Flip And Fold Fashion

 1980 Flip And Fold Fashion

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Nintendo Wins The 2020 Cash Grab Awards

Wouldn't it be great if such an award actually existed? A way of calling out companies for boneheaded decisions to release a cash grab on their fans?

If such an award did exist, I'd definitely nominate Nintendo for the win this year. For what you ask? Their 35th anniversary Super Mario Bros. Game & Watch.

In and of itself, this is a cool item. One that I initially considered getting. Then I saw the price. Fifty dollars! What? Are you kidding me?

This little handheld device may tout that it has the original Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 2: The Lost Levels. However, fifty dollars it is worth not. At most, I would have paid ten bucks. Twenty if you caught me on a good day.

It's nothing but a handheld emulator, and one with a mere three games at that. The two mentioned above, and an updated version of Ball with a Mario makeover. There is no way this thing is worth a fifty dollar price tag. Not in a million years. You could buy a used Nintendo Entertainment system with the original Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt cardtridge for that price.

Though I'd say I can't believe they would have the audacity to try and get this price for such a simplistic thing, it is Nintendo after all that we're talking about. They're notorious for having no clue about their market. They seem to think their simps will buy anything, regardless of the price. Maybe they're right. Needless to say, I won't be one of those people.

Cool item. Way over priced rip off. If it's your thing, look for it to come out on November 13, 2020...FOR FIFTY DOLLARS!

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Must Be Something In The Water

I don't know where these people come from, but man are they on something.

Fifty thousand dollars for a G.I. Joe Classified Baroness with C.O.I.L. bike because it's missing a yellow stripe on the wheel. You know, the wheel of the bike that nobody even really wants. This could be a one of a kind variant and I promise you I would never pay that kind of money for it. Based on the fact that the item ended without purchase, nobody would.

But, that's okay. If at first you don't succeed, lower the price and try, try again.

Believe it or not, upon lowering the price to $13,500.00, the item is denoted as being "sold". Someone actually bought this thing.

Hey, you know what? Congratulations to the seller. He found that one person out there as crazy as him. Good for him.

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G.I. Joe Classified: Run Changes And Variants

Just when you thought it wouldn't get any more difficult to find the new G.I. Joe Classified series, Hasbro throws a curve ball. Both a run change and variant have been identified for the line, and hardcore collectors are on the hunt.

Before I get into this, let me be fair and give credit to sources where credit is due. These were reported by MCUcollector24 on his YouTube channel several weeks ago. The images below are also screen grabs from his actual videos. They're worth watching if you want to get in depth information on the figures.

First up is a run change to the first wave Destro. It appears that the first production run featured a circle sculpted into the top of its head, while later runs removed this "detail". It's worth noting that the upcoming Profit Director Destro figure will not include the circle on it.

As collectors find out about this, prices are beginning to fluctuate a bit. The first run, or circle head, as I'll call it, is seeing a price point of forty to sixty dollars. The flat head, as I'll call it, stays relatively around retail at twenty to twenty three dollars.

The variant figure comes from the elusive Target exclusive Cobra Island wave. Beach Head has been found to be released with both brown and blue eyes. However, it is unknown which version was produced first, or which is more rare. The reason being is that both versions have been reported as being in the same case.

In regards to this figure, the blue eyed version was the one shown in the production photos. However, fans of the original toy line and vintage cartoon series have been quick to point out that the character's eyes are indeed brown.

Oh boy, just what we needed, right? Difficult figures being made more difficult to find with run changes and variants. I'm sure several others will materialize as the line continues to chugs along. 

Where do you stand on this? Are you a run change and / or variant hunter? Do you care which version you get? Do you prefer a specific one? The comments section is your place to keep the conversation going.

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Retro Spins: Spaceballs The Soundtrack

I remember my dad taking me to the movie theaters to see this film. He knew how big of a Star Wars fan I was, and felt this movie would be right up my alley. It was. I loved it, and to this day make it one of my many rotating films.

The gags and spoofy special effects fly at "ludicrous speed" as Mel Brooks (Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein) boldly go where no comic genius has gone before!

The 'Spaceballs,' a ruthless alien raced led by the dastardly President Skroob (Mel Brooks), are out to steal the air supply from the neighboring planet Druidia. Enter Barf the dog-man (John Candy) and handsome space bum-for-hire, Lone Starr (Bill Pullman of Ruthless People) - and their souped up, intergalactic Winnebago battle cruiser! Can they save Druidia while rescuing a spoiled Druish princess from a whining little runt named Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis) in time to pay off a mountainous mound of mozzarella known as Pizza the Hutt? Well, that depends on whether you truely believe in Yogurt (Brooks again!) and the power of "The Schwartz!"

So explore Spaceballs - and may "The Farce" be with you! - Back of the original VHS

Nostalgia wise, this album breaks the needle as it skyrockets past a ten. Musically, it's not a very memorable soundtrack. This is a shame because Spaceballs The Soundtrack is not only pretty scarce on CD, but also expensive. It will easily cost you $50.00 to $100.00 depending on the condition.

I enjoyed the instrumental opening theme from John Morris and also Spaceballs (the song) from The Spinners - Which is just pure fun. However, beyond that, I wasn't really thrilled with any of the tracks I heard.

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Stan Lee Presents The Mighty Marvel Superheros' Cookbook

One of the things I picked up around my birthday was The Mighty Marvel Superheros' Cookbook. The plan was to take the book, and over the course of however long it took, make everything from page one to whatever the last page was.

Size wise, the book was much thinner than I expected. I'm used to tome size cookbooks that are hundreds of pages. However, this one came in shy of just a hundred. Mind you, many of those pages are taken up with glossaries, splash pages of artwork, cooking tips, and what I'll call throw away pages (copyright, blank, etc.).

The artwork inside was really cool. On par with the great comics of the era. It was this that was really driving my interest in which each hero got assigned to which recipe. I was getting rather excited.

Then a problem set in.

As I thumbed through the book, I found myself frowning at the ingredients for the dishes. Most of these recipes were made by simply opening cans and condiments and mixing them together. Many of which include the use of Cream of Mushroom Soup. That stuff is so nasty.

Not only that, but in general, the recipes sounded disgusting. Here's a particular nasty one that made me want to barf:

Deviled Dip (as in Dare Devil)

• 1 Package Cream Cheese
• 1 Can Condensed Tomato Soup
• 2 Cans Deviled Ham
• 1 Tablespoons Chopped Onion
• 1/4 Cup Cucumber

GAG! Did people really eat this stuff in 1977? The book is filled with this kind of garbage.

Between that and the overall simplification of other recipes, such as open various cans of fruit and throw it in a bowl - bam - fruit cocktail, I have zero interest in making any of these recipes. It would simply be a waste of food.

I expected so much more from this book. While I didn't necessarily know what I was going to get, I certainly hoped for something edible. These recipes definitely don't qualify for that. I'm so disappointed. 

To make matters worse, this book wasn't what I would call cheap. Getting one (used), will cost you forty to sixty dollars. Mind you, for about half that price, you could get a two to three hundred page cookbook, with far greater recipes.

Well, since this is a cookbook, let's figure out a way to take this lemon and make lemonade. Rather than chalk it up as a loss, I'm instead going to still go through this book and make all the dishes inside. However, instead of following these nasty recipes, I'm going to reinvent them for a more refined pallet. Don't get me wrong, these won't by any means be five star dining recipes, but they'll certainly be better than these, which I would equate to digging through a garbage can. So stay tuned. We're going to be cooking soon.

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Hasbro PulseCon

Hasbro Pulse has announced that they'll host a Youtube channel con, aptly entitled Hasbro PulseCon. The virtual convention will take place on September 25th and 26th, and while not much is known right now, I'm sure as the next twenty-four days will provide further details. In the interim, look to their website for upcoming information.

Hasbro has an official YouTube page, but it's unknown if this is where the convention will stream. Like I said above, keep in tune with their official site for further details. Additionally, you can also check them out on Facebook.

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