Merry Christmas To Me

 

You work hard all year for your money. You manage your responsibilities well, and you pay all your bills. So what better way to say, "Congratulations," to yourself then to give yourself a little something under the tree.

This year, my gifts to me, from me, took a whole lot of thinking and consideration. In fact, it took so much thought that I was surprised that the second item even arrived on time. It was looking like it wouldn't get here until the following Monday, then suddenly changed status to out for delivery on the 23rd.

I can now set up all my Drednoks, and have them play around on their brand new Thunder Machine!

This thing is so rad! You can pack so many figures in, on, and around it!

Yikes, how would you like to be stuck on a road trip with these lot?

Regarding the second item, that was a complete nine issue set of Secret Wars II. I just haven't opened the box yet to take photos.

***UPDATE*** You can see them "HERE".

While this mini-series has been on my want list for a while, it wasn't a high priority. That is until Disney started talking about casting the Beyonder, and issue number one being his first appearance. I had no interest in this relatively "cheap" set skyrocketing in price for that simple fact, and decided to grab it while it was affordable.

As an "Honorable Mention", I also got my box from Valaverse which (unless there was an error) should contain my six inch Sgt. Slaughter figure.

This figure wasn't intended to be a Christmas gift, but the timing worked out perfectly that it arrived just in time to go under the tree. I'm looking forward to opening this one, and adding it to my Classified series. I just don't see Hasbro making a Sgt. Slaughter figure any time soon, if at all, and this one is pure awesome looking.

More Christmas related posts will come as the day progresses, so if you find yourself with a little down time today, please do feel free to come take a look!

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It's Finally Here!

 

Merry Christmas!

As you fill your day with family, friends, fun and festivities, take a moment to remember the true meaning of the day. The birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Praise his name.

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Christmas Eve 2021

 

The tree and stockings are up, the presents are wrapped, and there's nothing left to do but enjoy the day before Christmas. For those of you who caught my Christmas Traditions post last year, you know I'm not about to let this day come and go in the blink of an eye.

With the pandemic hopefully behind us, this year we'll be playing host to Sandy's youngest son and his wife, which should make things fun. Their mom went way overboard for them, but I suppose that's to be expected.

On Christmas I'll be in the kitchen as usual for most of it, making up lunch and dinner. As of this writing, I'm still fine tuning my menu for the day, which doesn't leave me much time to get it together. Fortunately, her kids volunteered to take care of breakfast, so I don't have to worry about that one.

In addition to pacing the day of presents, I've come up with a fun scavenger hunt for her kids. I'll be hiding six envelopes around the house, each one with a clue as to where the next is. To help incentivize them to keep on the hunt, each envelope also has a gift card inside. At the end of it, there will be a twist, which I won't spoil just yet.

What I'm struggling with the most is what movie we'll watch midday. With theaters open, streaming options are not as plentiful as they were last year. Hopefully I'll come up with something because I have zero interest in going to the theater.

Leading up to the day, I also went on my annual trip to Toy Exchange to meet up with my brother and exchange gifts. It was here that I picked up my traditional Christmas Eve item(s). Again, going back to my Christmas Tradition's post, I always give myself a gift on Christmas Eve to help get me through the excitement. This year's selection was awesome, if I do say so myself!

The Cobra S.N.A.K.E. Battle Armor was a "figure" I had wanted to add to my collection for the longest time, but I never took the plunge on ebay. It was just never the right time when I came across one.

Finding this one in the wild, 100% complete, was certainly a no brainer to nab up, and I'm glad to finally have it in my collection. I was a little shocked at how small it was, but I suppose it makes sense considering the size of the figures. Had I known this, I can't help but feel like I would have made it a larger priority to get sooner.

Legendary Wings was a game my brother and I got to rent from the local grocery store back in the day, and while I remember it being difficult, was still fun. I'm trying to be careful with my NES game buying because I have a tendency to get out of control with it, and I really do want to focus on the games we actually had as kids prior to branching out. There are actually only five or six games left on my list from my childhood, so I'm not doing too bad.

This one I did have as a kid, and no, it's not accounted for in my above note of five or six games. I had already deducted The Punisher from the list. This game was so difficult back in the day, but so much fun. It's a side scrolling rail shooter, and one that would have been so much better if it was compatible with the Zapper. Sadly, it wasn't.

While I was at Toy Exchange, I knew I wanted to pick up something Star Wars related, but I didn't know what. I looked at a few vehicles and creatures, but ended up passing on them because I already had my heart set on a G.I. Joe vehicle. Then my eyes caught these two double sided mugs from Deka.

I actually had the one below for the longest time as a kid, and used it to rinse my mouth after brushing. It eventually got incredibly dirty, and thrown out. I'll be adding these to my collection of Burger King glasses, keeping them all in the same display case together.

I had to walk away from Toy Exchange before I ended up with A Cobra Rattler and Serpentor Air Chariot. They're on my list, but not something I needed right away. Of course, I rectified the Air Chariot during my trip to Echo Base.

All of this stuff is awesome, and in and of itself would have made for a fantastic Christmas! I'm fortunate to be blessed with the ability to buy these kinds of things for myself, and thank God for every minute of it.

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Christmas In The 90's

 

Christmas in the 90's for me weren't as memorable as the ones in the 80's, or the last ten I've had with my girl. Instead, this was a time when a lot of change was taking place. I was changing from a child to a young adult, and with it, my tastes heavily skewing from my days of playing with action figures.

My family was changing too. Years of being shifted from country to country, and state to state for our parent's jobs had taken its toll. My parents were on the verge of an inevitable divorce, my brother and sister, who were also older, were also very different people. My sister was a young woman, having graduated high school years ahead of my brother and I. As for my brother, while we were only a year apart in school, he too was trying to find his own way in life, not really having any time or desire to hang out with his younger brother.

It was very obvious that the Christmas's we were accustomed to as young kids were over. While we still woke up and opened presents together, it was hardly the family experience we once had. However, this didn't stop my mom from doing the best she could.

Some of my favorite gifts of my mid to older teenage years came in the 90's, and despite the overall sadder memories associated with those years, I still look back fondly on very specific items. They were important to me because while I didn't know it at the time, they were integral in a way to things I cherished as a child, or that continued to shape me as an adult.

Star Wars was something that connected me to my childhood as a young adult. It was the one thing that I carried with me for a lifetime, only parting ways with it in my forties when I finally burned out.

However, in December of 1992 when I got this awesome letterbox VHS set, it also started my desire with collecting home video releases of the films. In essence, with the exception of comic books, this is what I collected for the longest time.

Christmas of 1992 was also the year I got my leather jacket. Yeah, I was one of those kids.

As an overweight and awkward teen, I had a difficult time my first two years of high school. Then I found my people. It's funny how when I look back on it, people used to frown upon us. We had long hair and / or facial hair, we smoked cigarettes, and we often listened to our heavy metal.

Despite our questionable image, we weren't bad kids. We didn't steal, vandalize or fight. We were the best of friends, and would give each other the shirt off our backs if asked. We just wanted to live our lives, and were fortunate enough to find like minded people to do that with.

I was big into Metallica by 1993, and all over their massive Live Sh*t: Binge and Purge CD / VHS box set. I played the heck out of the whole thing, and eventually gave it to my brother. However, when he got out of physical media in the early 2000's, it came full circle back to me, and remains in my music collection to this day.

All the more of an integral part of this tale is that I got into Metallica as a result of one of my buddies in high school. He actually gave me a CD version of Metallica's Kill 'Em All from his own collection.

I spent most of my time in my bedroom...well, when I was home. Whether I was listening to music or not, one thing I was most definitely doing was playing my Sega Genesis. Christmas of 1994 brought with it the Sega 32X attachment, and a slew of terrible games.

Yes, much like many others, I had a behemoth of a Sega setup. The core console sat on the large deck, which also housed the Sega CD, and on top of all this sat the 32X. It was a pain to configure, sporadically worked, and as I said above, had terrible games, but I loved it!

1994 was the last Christmas my family spent together as a whole, and with all us kids over the age of eighteen, those days of gathering together and sitting around a tree opening presents ended. Over a decade would pass before I found myself in a position to really get back into the Christmas spirit.

For me, it is first and foremost a time to reflect on the true meaning of the day. A time to thank our savior Jesus, reflecting on all he's done for us through his birth, death and resurrection. To enjoy all of his blessings through a holiday that brings with it a special time to spend with loved ones, to enjoy the spirit of giving to others, and revel in the delight of receiving.

Though we are still a couple days away, I wish a Merry Christmas to you all!

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A Christmas Story...And Its Forgotten Sequels

 

Ah, A Christmas Story. It's that timeless classic shown every year by Turner Broadcasting, and the film that many people truly associate with the holidays. It's heartwarming, bringing a viewpoint from a time when things were just simpler. It also spawned three horrific sequels / spin-offs that people often forget about.

The original film was released on November 18th, 1983, and while it made an impressive twenty million dollars at the box off on a three million dollar budget, left theaters after its run with little to no lasting impact. A Christmas Story was vaguely remembered by fans, but not the coveted cult classic it would become. In fact, your average person on the street wouldn't even know about the movie.

While it would occasionally appear on cable television throughout the 80's and 90's, this endowment of equating the film to the holiday season wasn't ushered in until 1994. This was when Turner Broadcasting acquired the rights to run it in syndication, and did so by airing it across all three of its networks that year. Popularity quickly increased, and in 1997 TNT began airing the film for twenty-four hours straight starting at 8:00 PM on Christmas Eve. Despite all the streaming services that have come over the recent years, this is a tradition TNT still holds, and will be doing so again in two days.

What many people don't seem to remember is the oddly titled Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven Of Bliss, which came and went in the blink of an eye in 1988. The made for TV special followed the Parker family (of A Christmas Story) on a summer vacation, and stars a young Jerry O'Connell as fourteen year old Ralph.

At first the film only aired on The Disney Channel, but was soon also showing on PBS. It would eventually see a VHS release in 1993, but remained relatively forgotten.

With the popularity of Turner's broadcasting of the original film in 1994, Hollywood once again returned to the Parker family. This time for the film, My Summer Story. This film takes place the following summer of the events which occurred in A Christmas Story, and this time stars a young Kieren Culkin as Ralphie. Other notable cast members included Charles Grodin as The Old Man (AKA Mr. Parker), and Mary Steenburgen as Mrs. Parker.

While it manages to capture the tone of A Christmas Story, it ultimately suffers for simply just not being good. Though the cast members are trying, they simply don't hold up to the originals. The film inevitably flopped.

Then came the ultimate abomination. The official true sequel to the film. 2012's A Christmas Story 2.

This abysmal failure ignores everything established in My Summer Story, possibly for the best, and instead churns out a script very liberally borrowed from the original. It copies and pastes every landmark from the first film from "Oh fudge," to a grumpy Santa Claus, a leg lamp, Chinese food for Christmas dinner, and Flick getting his tongue stuck.

It's horrific in every sense of the word, and truly shocking that despite Hollywood's best efforts, they weren't able to tarnish the beloved original cult classic. It's fortunate that not many people know about these films.

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Retro Spins: Adam And The Ants - Prince Charming

With how much I enjoyed Bow Wow Wow's EP The Last Of The Mohicans, and knowing it was the Ants from Adam and the Ants who were the musicians on the record, I thought it was time to dabble a bit more into Adam Ant himself. I've had a greatest hits album from him for quite some time, but I honestly never listened to it. Instead, I stayed confined to the handful of tracks I knew off of it, which aren't actually all that many.

As I began researching this album, I found that his prior record, Kings of the Final Frontier is actually regarded as his best work. With that said, I'm a bit disappointed I neither picked that album up, or knew this until writing this up for my review of Prince Charming.

With regards to Prince Charming, I found the songs to be a little silly, quite frankly. At least lyrically. There's a bunch of odd lyrics, and a whole lot of chanting and hollering. It was all rather peculiar.

I was at least pleased to get tracks Prince Charming and Stand and Deliver from the album. I'll take Ant Rap as a plus (if I have to), but it's by far from what I would call a "good" song. I really wanted to hear something on this album which stood out among everything else as the definitive track from it. Sadly, this never happened.

The biggest disappointment to this is that I actually bought Prince Charming along with two other Adam Ant CD's. However, after hearing this one, I don't necessarily feel like I have to hear any more from him.

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Cartoons Of The 80's: 1988

 

Christmas is just around the corner. Is everyone ready for the holiday? I know I am! It's my favorite holiday of the year!

To help ease the holiday tensions, let's jump back into our series looking at all those fantastic cartoons of the 80's. Today, we're looking at 1988, a relatively obscure one for me. Due to my age at the time, I wasn't watching too many cartoons. Instead, I was spending a whole lot of time playing Nintendo, getting sucked into the coming digital age. As such, for me, a lot of this is going to be retrospective.

Title: A Pup Named Scooby-Doo
Air Date: September 1988 - August 1991
Seasons: Four
Episodes: Twenty-Seven
DVD Release: Yes

While I enjoyed Scooby-Doo as a kid, I checked out long before this iteration came around. In my adult years, I'm playing quite a bit of catch up with the various Doo based series, and I've been enjoying making my way through them. I hope to get around to this one soon.

The title says it all. The show brings back the classic gang, following them in their pre-teen years. The premise is the same. Chasing ghosts that turn out to be common criminals.

It's been released in a couple iterations of DVD's, so grabbing this one shouldn't be too difficult. For now, it's relatively affordable.

Title: Alf Tales
Air Date: September 1988 - December 1989
Seasons: Two
Episodes: Twenty-One
DVD Release: Incomplete (updated below to yes)

Alf Tales continues the stories of everyone's favorite alien from Melmac, not only from his live action series, but also previous animated one. However, rather than focus on Alf and his own specific adventures, this series instead featured a variety of segments based on popular fairy tales.

While the first seven episodes have been released on DVD, there has been no word that the remaining fourteen will come to light. Considering the first set came out in 2006, it's highly unlikely.

UPDATE: In 2023, Shout Factory released the Alf: The Complete Series - Deluxe Edition, which included not only the entire live action series of Alf, but also the complete Animated Series, as well as the complete Alf Tales series.

Title: COPS
Air Date: September - December 1988
Seasons: One
Episodes: Sixty-Five
DVD Release: Yes

I didn't watch too many episodes of COPS as a kid, nor did I have many toys from the series. In fact, I only had one. However, when I caught this series as an adult, it quickly became one of my favorites. The variety of characters, their unique skills and attributes, it all just came together perfectly.

It's been released on DVD a couple times, and remains in print, so this is definitely one you want to grab sooner than later. I highly recommend it.

Title: Count Duckula
Air Date: September 1988 - February 1993
Seasons: Four
Episodes: Sixty-Five
DVD Release: Sort Of

I didn't catch Count Duckula too frequently back in the day. It was one of those shows that didn't really resonate with me. It just felt too...British. Very slow paced, with humor I couldn't relate to. I just didn't like it.

While the first season was released on DVD in 2005, the remaining three have not. That is, unless you look to PAL formats, where the entire series has been made available, but is out of print.

Title: Denver The Last Dinosaur
Air Date: September - November 1988
Seasons: Two
Episodes: Fifty
DVD Release: Yes

Denver is an interesting premise to say the least. It seemingly has it all. Teenagers hiding a dinosaur, an evil scientist, and even time travel. If it sounds like an odd combination, that's because it is.

The series got its biggest boost in popularity as a result of riding the waves of The Land Before Time. Dinosaur related shows were big business in the 80's, and Denver was just one more to add to the pile.

The series has been released on DVD in its entirety, but is long out of print. As a result, it's quite pricey, and will easily set you back about $150.00.

Update: As of 2024, the complete series has been reissued, and can currently be grabbed for under $25.00.

Title: Fantastic Max
Air Date: September 1988 - January 1990
Seasons: Two
Episodes: Twenty-Six
DVD Release: No

Fantastic what? I don't think I've ever seen this one, even while flipping channels. In fact, I don't think I've ever heard of it. I won't lie, the show sounds interesting enough. A young baby that has adventures in space with his alien and robot friends. Actually, now that I type that, I may have caught this one at some point. I don't know.

Fantastic Max has never been released on DVD, so unfortunately, I won't have the chance just yet to catch up on this one.

Title: Garfield And Friends
Air Date: September 1988 - December 1994
Seasons: Seven
Episodes: One Hundred Twenty-One
DVD Release: Yes

Though I wasn't a fan of the farm segments, or the friends, as they were, I did enjoy watching Garfield. The show captured the fun of the cartoon cat, and brought with it all that great sarcasm the character is known for. I mean, seriously, what's not to love?

In response to the feature film being so well received, the entire animated series was released in its entirety across five volumes. What's even better is that you can grab them all for around $40.00!

Title: Marvel Action Universe
Air Date: October 1988 - September 1991
Seasons: Unknown
Episodes: Unknown
DVD Release: No

Dino-Riders? Robocop? X-Men? YES PLEASE!

Marvel Action Universe featured some of the greatest series in this ninety minute segment show, and that was just in the first seasons. When the show launched again in rebroadcasted re-runs, it incorporated in even more classics, such as Defenders Of The Earth, Dungeons And Dragons, The Incredible Hulk, The New Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends, and Spider-Woman! Talk about a powerhouse of a show!

While you can find some (and I mean very few) of the series which made this show what it was on DVD, sadly, you won't find Robocop or Dino-Riders.

Title: Police Academy: The Series
Air Date: September 1988 - September 1989
Seasons: Two
Episodes: Sixty-Five
DVD Release: Not All Of It

Police Academy is one of my favorite film franchises...Well, up through the fourth one, anyway. As such, it was odd that when an animated series hit the air in 1988 that I missed all of it. Even more odd since I was right back in theaters this year watching part five of the films.

Part of the series has been released on DVD as of 2012, but with only thirty episodes currently available, and nine years since its initial shelf date, it seems highly unlikely that the remaining thirty-five episodes will come to light. What a shame.

Title: Robotech II
Air Date: 1986
Seasons: One
Episodes: Three
DVD Release: Yes

Robotech II, or as it's better known, Robotech II: The Sentinels was initially planned to be continuation of the original series, spread across sixty-five episodes. However, after three episodes were completed, the series was unceremoniously cancelled. The footage was salvaged, and cobbled into a home video release as a full length feature film.

Much like the original series, Robotech II has been released on DVD numerous times, and it remains readily available in some form or fashion. Depending on how elaborate you want your collection, it can range in price from cheap to ridiculously expensive. Much like the original series, you can also get this on the popular Protoculture set.

Title: Superman
Air Date: September - December 1988
Seasons: One
Episodes: Thirteen
DVD Release: Yes

It was a classic animated series featuring Superman against his greatest arch enemy, Lex Luthor. Being released after the highly popular John Byrne relaunch of the character in comics, this series tends to follow this redeveloped mythos closely, making it a fairly true to source material series.

All thirteen episodes were released on DVD, and remain readily available as of this writing. However, at $25.00, it's rather expensive for what you get.

Title: This Is America Charlie Brown
Air Date: October 1988 - May 1989
Seasons: One
Episodes: Eight
DVD Release: Yes

In terms of its original airing, it wasn't released traditionally. The first four episodes came out weekly, but then the remaining four were released once per month. Because the show featured iconic historic figures, it also deviated from the traditional Peanuts motif, where these particular adult characters were shown from head to toe. 

This is one of the few Charlie Brown shows to be out of print on DVD, and because of this, it can easily set you back sixty dollars. Man, you have to be a major Peanuts fan to pay that price. 

Title: The Adventures Of Raggedy Ann And Andy
Air Date: September 1988 - September 1990
Seasons: One
Episodes: Thirteen
DVD Release: Yes

Raggedy Ann has been a children's favorite since 1915 when the doll was first invented. Since then, she and her friend Andy, have been featured in multiple forms of media, and returned in 1988 to lead an all star cast of their friends in this all new series. Though it featured action and adventure, for the most part, The Adventures Of Raggedy Ann And Andy remained lighthearted, and very family friendly.

It has been released in its entirety on DVD, and can currently be grabbed for under ten bucks. Definitely a good time to grab this one if you collect 80's cartoons.

Title: The Completely Mental Misadventures Of Ed Grimley
Air Date: September - December 1988
Seasons: One
Episodes: Thirteen
DVD Release: Yes

I'm not ashamed to admit that I watched a lot of this show. So much that when I was posting this blurb about it that I was shocked to discover it was only thirteen episodes long. I feel like I watched way more than that, but obviously couldn't have. My favorite segments were by far the ones featuring Count Floyd. 

The Completely Mental Misadventures Of Ed Grimley has been released in full as part of Warner's manufacture on demand series, and this one is definitely on my list to grab soon. You should too.

Title: The New Adventures Of Beany And Cecil
Air Date: September - October 1988
Seasons: One
Episodes: Five
DVD Release: No

Wait. John Kricfalusi made another show that wasn't Ren and Stimpy related? Huh. I didn't know that.

Based on the drama I read surrounding this one, whereas Kricfalusi was constantly fighting with the studio to allow him to add more and more offensive humor, while they pushed back for family friendly content, the more I want to see it. Too bad it's never been released on DVD.

Title: The New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh
Air Date: January 1988 - October 1991
Seasons: Four
Episodes: Fifty
DVD Release: Sort Of

Man, 1988 was all about the "new adventures" of someone, and Winnie The Pooh wanted in on that action too! If you're a fan of all the cuddly characters of the 100 Acre Woods, then this show was definitely up your alley.

Though it hasn't been released in its entirety, part of the series has been released on DVD under the revised name, Growing Up With Winnie The Pooh. Not only was the name changed, but so too was the intro to the series. 

Title: The New Yogi Bear Show
Air Date: September - November 1988
Seasons: One
Episodes: Forty-Five
DVD Release: No

Fans of Yogi were happy to hear in 1988 that he would be off on new adventures. While new characters were also incorporated into the series, those looking for a fix of their original beloved bear were also treated to original shorts inner cut into the series. It was a nice mix mash of new meets old, all segmented together in a half hour block.

Unfortunately, it's not available on DVD, and no plans have been announced to do so.

And with that, we wrap up 1988, and poise ourselves for one last visit to the world of 80's cartoons. Join me next week as we close the book on 2021 with a look at the cartoons of 1989. I hope to see you there! 

This series of posts encompasses the following:

1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989

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