Peter Parker, for a moment, is willing to sacrifice Flash Thompson's life at the hands of Doctor Doom, just so he'll never be bothered by the bully again
Uninspiring story, showcasing Doctor Doom as nothing more than a villain of the week
Oddities
Betty Bryant, J. Jonah Jameson's adult secretary, makes a flirtatious remark towards high school student, Peter Parker
Rating (based on a 1 through 5 Stans grading system)
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This year, Retro Spins is going to the movies! ...and television! Join me as I take a listen to some of the classic soundtracks of the 1980's! Exclamation points!!!!!!
I remember sitting in a hotel back in 1990 watching Footloose for the first time on cable. I didn't remember much about the film at all after that day.
Fast forward to 2018, and I'm finding a whole bunch of classic movies from the 80's which I have soundtracks for, but have honestly never taken the time to actually watch. Hanging out among this crowd is Footloose. I decide to go ahead and fire it up.
Footloose jumps with spirit, dazzling dance numbers and an electrifying musical score. It portrays the timeless struggle between innocent pleasure and rigid morality, when city-boy Ren McCormick (Kevin Bacon) finds himself in an uptight Midwestern town where dancing-and therefore all youthful joy-has been banned. Ren revolts with best friend Willard (Chris Penn) and the minister's daughter (Lori Singer). A treasury of Top 10 songs-Kenny Loggins "Footloose," Shalamar "Dancing In The Sheets," Deniece Williams "Let's Hear It For The Boy," Bonnie Tyler "Holding Out For A Hero," and the Footloose love theme, "Almost Paradise." - Back cover of the original VHS
Boy, the back cover of the VHS really spells out what you're getting on the soundtrack, doesn't it? In fact, for the most part it captures all of the better songs. The only one it really misses is "I'm Free (Heaven Helps The Man)", another classic tune from Mr. 80's Soundtrack Man himself, Kenny Loggins.
I have to say, I much prefer the soundtrack to the actual film. Not that it's a bad movie, but quite frankly, the music is just that much more superior. People in general love this album. Case in point, I remember driving home from work in the summer of 2018, and as I pulled in the parking lot of my complex, Footloose just happened to be on my iPod. People in the parking lot literally started dancing to it as I pulled into my space. Because of this, I did the only thing I could think to do. I turned it up.
Footloose is a solid and timeless album with so many of my favorite hits from 1984. Footloose (the song), Let's Hear It For The Boy, Almost Paradise, Holding Out For A Hero, Dancing In The Sheets, I'm Free (Heaven Helps The Man), Somebody's Eyes and Never are all staples in my iTunes 80's shuffle and on my iPod rotation. They all take me back to a time where things were so much happier, innocent and fun in my life.
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The Tick has been bashing his way through the pages of comic books since his inception and first publication by creator / artist Ben Edlund. Since then, he's been featured in his own cartoon, a couple iterations of live action television shows and across numerous pieces of merchandise. He's a hero from an era where indie creators were starting to be noticed in the world of comics, and as time has gone by, he's become a pop culture icon unto himself.
Which is why I'm somewhat sad to say I never really paid that much attention to the character.
It's only been as of recent that I started watching the Amazon series, and quite frankly, I could take it or leave it. It's okay for a chuckle here and there, but it's by no means sucking me in as "must see TV". In fact, at this point, it's been several months since I've even seen an episode, and I'm several behind.
However, my personal viewpoint of something doesn't negate its overall popularity across the world. Not by a long shot. That's why I can still appreciate the figures produced by N2 Toys back in 2002 based on the first live action series staring Patrick Warburton and David Burke.
The Tick*Arthur
Though the show found mild success with an audience, Fox seemed sparsely interested in promoting the show. This wasn't helped by the overall cost of each episode as a result of tight filming schedules which resulted in a lot of overtime on behalf of the cast and crew. At the end of the day, Warburton himself said it best. He claimed Fox mismanaged the entire series, leading to its inevitable cancellation. In hindsight, that seems pretty accurate. It lasted for only one season of nine episodes.
Batmanuel*Captain Liberty
N2 Toys planned a second series of figures which unfortunately never went into production. This wave would have included Champio, Destroyo, Red Scare and The Terror. Obviously, with no television series to back the line, N2 Toys, which was a company full of toy isle struggles to begin with, cancelled the line.
Last in the line was the seventeen inch Talking Tick. This was a soft body "figure" with a sculpted plastic head. Give his tummy a little squeeze, and The Tick will say one of eight sayings - or Tick-isms as the back of the package calls them:
* "I am the wild blue yonder!" * "Absadoodle!" * "Wicked men...You Face the TICK!" * "Good Gravy!" * "That's icky to infinity!" * "Man you are creeping me out..." * "Do you want me to kick your behind?" * "Cool!"
At roughly six to fifteen dollars on secondary markets, the figures haven't yet found a foothold in the collector's market. That may be great news for you if you're looking to add these to your collection, that's definitely not a bad buy in price.
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Spider-Man returns in his own bi-monthly series after six months of fans waiting and writing to Marvel headquarters
First appearance of J. Jonah Jameson
First appearance of Chameleon
Spider-Man meets all four members of the Fantastic Four
Low Points
Peter Parker's main drive seems be nothing more than to make money, granted he wants to get it to help Aunt May, but still a very bland launching point
Peter is arrogant, especially when first meeting the Fantastic Four
Oddities
Chameleon's disguises come from various pockets on a vest he wears - an outfit for every occasion?
Second story in the book keeps referring to Peter as, Peter "Palmer", not Parker
Rating (based on a 1 through 5 Stans grading system)
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For those of you who recall, I got the 3rd edition of Mark Bellomo's tome on G.I.Joe figures for Christmas last year. You know, that holiday that was just last week. Well today, I thought I would give my thoughts on the book.
With three versions, or prints if you will, now in the mix, what exactly is Mark offering that this book is consistently being produced? Why do we need a third edition?
I suppose, first and foremost, considering volumes one and two are now out of print, a third edition offers new collectors an opportunity to get this guide at a much lower price than what you'll find on secondary markets. Further, this print offers a nice hardback cover. Where as prior editions were in paperback format. This in and of itself might make it far superior. If for nothing else, the durability of it.
Additionally, it's a convenient way to relive childhood memories without investing a small fortune. One figure can easily set you back the thirty-five dollars you're going to pay for this book (for now).
Layout wise, it's done so by year, noting all the toys associated with that particular era. While this keeps the book consecutively organized, it creates a problem of its own.
Unless you know the year a specific toy was released, casual fans or new collectors may not be able to quickly find and reference what they're looking for. Instead, they're going to be thumbing through page after page until they find it. An alphabetical index for quick reference to the appropriate page(s) would go a long way in this book.
What doesn't make sense to me is the inclusion of price points, or values, for the various toys. Not only does this fluctuate consistently, rendering it obsolete before the book probably even shipped, but it also very subjective. Values are always and only determined by what someone else will pay for it.
I bought a lot of G.I. Joe figures in 2018, the year this book was published, and I can attest personally a lot of these prices are way off from what I paid - In both too little or too much.
Basically what I'm saying is that this aspect of the book is useless. Space filler. A waste of time and ink. Much more useful and fun information would have been the inclusion of the text from the file cards - Or just the file cards themselves.
Additionally, with all the photographs in the book, it's a glaring omission to not include all of the cardbacks and boxes. These were some great pieces of art, sometimes better than the toys within.
While it's been a while since I thumbed through the first and second editions, I dare say none of the photographs may have been updated, but I can't confirm. This aspect is where I still have one of my two biggest gripes with Mark's work. It's sloppy and inconsistent.
Great care seems to always be taken of the figures, ensuring pure white background to showcase all that wonderful paint and detail, plus an overall "clean" look to the book. However, the vehicles and playsets, once again, are neglected - Sporadically anyway. The grey boxes surrounding some of them detracts from the book, adding a layer of laziness and sloppiness to it. Not only that, but some photos are noticeably blurry. The ones of the U.S.S. Flagg standing out among them.
Does it affect the overall presentation? Absolutely. If you're going to take the time to meticulously crop the figures and some of the vehicles, then do the same for all of them. As for the blurry ones, that's just a lack of quality control, and dare I say it, care. Maybe it's just me, but take some pride in your work. Especially if you're charging people for it. Don't halfheartedly do it.
My last, and biggest gripe with this book, takes us first to the Youtube page of formbx257. In his video review of the second edition, Kevin mentions several errors he's found in the book (video below). If you read the comments, apparently Mark Bellomo even watched said review, commented on it, yet did little to nothing to correct his errors in the third edition.
It all comes back to sloppy and lazy work. Much like Kevin, I don't envy the time and effort Mark initially put into this book. I know it's a lot of work. However, you know there's errors from your prior edition. You've acknowledge them. Yet you blatantly ignore the majority of them and then release another printing of the book? Am I the only one who sees a problem here?
Formbx257 went into greater detail of yet even more errors he found when posting his predictions video of the third edition (video below). These errors too were not corrected upon the books release.
It's because of these unfixed errors that I wouldn't recommend this book to collectors who are looking to utilize it for accurately accumulating their own G.I. Joe toys. It's going to lead you astray if you're looking for complete items. If you're looking for an alternative reference guide, I would point you
towards Yo.Joe.com, or the videos of formbx257. While the latter doesn't necessarily cover everything, what you will get with each video is thoroughness. Plus, both sources are free.
Look, I get it. Mistakes get made, errors happen. In the world of writing these end up on the printed page. However, use the opportunity of a new edition, especially in the case of a book such as this, to address and correct those errors. You are after all touting the book as the "ultimate" guide. Not very ultimate if other collectors are pointing out errors to you that you're ignoring.
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Great origin story for a soon to be, all new, fan favorite super hero
First appearance of Peter Parker / Spider-Man
First appearance of The Burglar
First appearance of Aunt May
First appearance of Uncle Ben
Low Points
Remaining two stories, unrelated to Spider-Man, are uninspiring and rather bland
Promised continued adventures of Spider-Man in Amazing Fantasy 16 never came to fruition because the series was cancelled shortly after publication of issue 15
Oddities
Characters have noticeably large and disproportionate heads
Rating (based on a 1 through 5 Stans grading system)
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Though I've had it for many years now, and have listened to it many times, Oingo Boing's 1983 album, "Good For Your Soul" was actually the last album from the band I got. The reason being, when I was looking for it, you know, back in the days of record stores (1990's), I couldn't find it. I quickly learned this was because the album was out of print. As such, it became the first CD I ever bought off of Amazon, and at $120.00, brand new / sealed, it was the most expensive album (at the time) I had ever bought.
Times have sadly changed since then, and this CD was reissued, making the price I paid for it somewhat disappointing. However, considering I would have had to wait about fifteen to twenty years for this, perhaps I'm not so heartbroken over this.
Good For Your Soul is the 3rd studio album from Oingo Boingo, and comes two years prior to the band really breaking with their most popular hit, "Weird Science", still on the horizon. However, with it also comes a group who have honed their style together, making it also a well polished release. It brings with it all the great multi-instrument variety and odd nature that was Oingo Boingo. It even features a bit of backtracking.
Because of how and when I was introduced to Oingo Boingo, I have to admit I don't honestly like the "original" cuts of many of their songs. Instead, I prefer the uptempo re-recorded / updated versions as heard on their Best O' Boingo and Alive albums. Still, I appreciate the originals for what they are, and have come to enjoy them more than I used to as the years have passed.
As such, when I listen to Boingo albums, what I enjoy the most is hearing those tracks you won't find on their greatest hits albums. Songs like, Cry of the Vatos, Fill the Void, Nothing Bad Ever Happens to Me and Little Guns, all of which are featured on Good For Your Soul.
These tracks, in addition to the "hits", make for a well rounded album, and honestly while it's not my all time favorite from them, it ranks pretty high up there. I suppose though I am a little biased when it comes to reviewing anything from them since they are essentially my second favorite band of all time (Queen being the first).
With that said, this wraps up Retro Spins for 2019.
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Highlights
