February Hauls

[Shockwave]

Oh yeah, and this.

Man, I understand the renovation thing all too well. That was my 2010. The 'rents and I spent literally every waking moment fixing this place up. What all did you guys do to your place. And congratulations by the way, on both counts. And welcome to home ownership.

Thanks, man. It's a pretty cool thing. Love being in my house. As to what all we did, well, Jesus. Patched all the holes in the walls the previous owner punched into 'em, for starters. Then we had to scrape all the popcorn texture crap off the ceiling, repaint the whole inside of the upper floor, including the entryway (and it's kind of a split-level, so that entryway is pretty high up there. Tear out the carpets and have these really nice hardwood floors put in. Replace the AC, water heater, and furnace. Fix some rotten boards in the deck. Tore out some rotten drywall in the bathroom, and then replaced it and retiled the thing. Tore out the old drop-in stove and a chunk of the kitchen cabinets to put in a new stove and new kitchen cabinets and crap. Added three ceiling fans to the place, too. And probably some other crap.

Next up is to replace the roof, and then there's an empty room where the previous tenants wanted to install a master bathroom, but then they quit after putting in the plumbing. So I'll have to drywall that, put in the bathroom stuff, and then tile the beast. No lie, I'm actually sort of looking forward to that one. And we'll probably change out the windows and doors, too. So within the next few years we'll have essentially built a new house on the site of this one. Which is kind of awesome, really.

We did most of that too although fortunately I haven't had to do the water heater or HVAC yet. But we did also get rid of the popcorn stuff, resheetrocked and tiled the bathrooms, tore down walls, built new walls, we did do the windows and doors. And yeah, my place had holes from the previous owner too (what is it with people punching things?). We also did the kitchen counters and even the sink and new appliances. It really does feel nice to have a place that feels almost entirely brand new. And having done a lot of the work personally leaves me with the feeling that I can fix something if anything goes wrong. Sounds like you got a nice place though, and again, congrats.

[JediTricks]

Non-Transformers haul: bought the 1964 Doctor Who story "The Reign of Terror" on DVD. ROT is missing two episodes out of six, but for this release they animated the two missing episodes. They tried this once before, and while animation never captures the essence and performances of the actors, if nothing else I finally get to watch these missing episodes in context with the rest of the story instead of having a gap between episodes 3 and 6. The animation isn't terribly impressive, but it's decent, it gets the job done and it tells the story.

It had the audio though? I remember reading that when the BBC burned up all those missing episodes, some had audio that survived.

Oh, and on the off chance anyone cares, I bought a few things whilst I was away, too.

Badass house: Went in with my girl on this one. It's in my favorite neighborhood in KC, is a lot bigger than I thought I could ever afford, and I've got no neighbors since the backyard is completely surrounded by woods. It was in completely shit condition when we bought it, so we put a ton of work into this beast, but it's paid off nicely.

Pair of rings: So I guess I'm getting married in August. Life is crazy.

Really, guess that's the big stuff. But y'all can see why I was gone for awhile.

Congratulations, man! That's awesome, glad to hear the house is coming together well. And marriage... mawwiage, that bwessed awwangement, that dweam wif-in a dweam.

Thanks, man. It's a pretty cool thing. Love being in my house. As to what all we did, well, Jesus. Patched all the holes in the walls the previous owner punched into 'em, for starters. Then we had to scrape all the popcorn texture crap off the ceiling, repaint the whole inside of the upper floor, including the entryway (and it's kind of a split-level, so that entryway is pretty high up there. Tear out the carpets and have these really nice hardwood floors put in. Replace the AC, water heater, and furnace. Fix some rotten boards in the deck. Tore out some rotten drywall in the bathroom, and then replaced it and retiled the thing. Tore out the old drop-in stove and a chunk of the kitchen cabinets to put in a new stove and new kitchen cabinets and crap. Added three ceiling fans to the place, too. And probably some other crap.

Next up is to replace the roof, and then there's an empty room where the previous tenants wanted to install a master bathroom, but then they quit after putting in the plumbing. So I'll have to drywall that, put in the bathroom stuff, and then tile the beast. No lie, I'm actually sort of looking forward to that one. And we'll probably change out the windows and doors, too. So within the next few years we'll have essentially built a new house on the site of this one. Which is kind of awesome, really.

You buy as a short-sale, that why the walls got punched in?

I hope you were super careful with the popcorn ceiling stuff, there's a chance it's asbestos, I was sad to learn recently (since everyplace I've lived in the last 20 years has had it, and in earthquake country it comes down easily and often).

Best of luck on the job. Gonna do the roof yourself too, or spring for pro on that one?

[JediTricks]

My recent hauls:

TFG FOC Grimlock - terrible item, if this isn't a bozo then it's the king of halfassed designs. The single thing going for it is the deco, they put a lot more money into that deco than usual. Dino mode is ass, hollow and immobile thanks to locked down hips, out of proportion, with accessories just plug onto the hips rather than under the gaping hole of an underside, tail is outsized and immobile, head lights up through the plastic and upper jaw doesn't move as much as it should. The light gimmick on the head is the closest thing to acceptable that the dino has though. Bot mode is a little better but suffers a very soft headsculpt, hollow limbs, stubby arms, awkward articulation, and shoulder transformation joints that don't lock down at all.

TFG FOC Soundblaster - surprisingly cool in both modes! I expected the worst after Grimlock, but this is a very competent design. Looks good and poses well, only real drawbacks are lack of pistol and the use of charcoal instead of black for the main color. Buzzsaw is a'ight too, just no legs so he can perch on Soundblaster's shoulder but not forearm. Not a lot of hollow parts. Yes, plunger on the back for data disk minions isn't perfect, but it's not a disaster either, and it works in both modes. I couldn't buy Soundwave because I already have WFC Soundwave and this wouldn't even be to scale with anybody, but as Soundblaster it's a different colorscheme so he can be a different scale for all I care.

TFG Ravage and Frumble - I knew these were going to suck, but after the success of Soundblaster and Buzzsaw I had to fill it out. Ravage is unbearably poor from floppiness and shitty design, and auto-transforms only halfway. Frumble is mediocre but at least is what he is, and only needs his toes folded out from the auto-transform.

Star Wars The Vintage Collection Special Action Figure Set 3-pack Droids - I got together with some Star Wars buddies and we did a "White Bantha" exchange, it was supposed to be for basic figures but someone brought that Target-exclusive 3-pack because they had just got it on clearance. I poached it because I was the only one at the table who didn't have it and because I wanted it, that's why. R5-D4 is the 2006 version with slightly better paint. Death Star Droid is a reissue of the build-a-droid version, so same strengths and weaknesses. Gonk power droid is all-new and really good, removable upper housing reveals painted sculpted details inside, legs are hinged at hips and ankles.

[BWprowl]

Super Robot Chogokin GunBuster came in yesterday and, oh man you guys, you guys, oh man, you guys. Okay, you remember that DaiZyuJin/Megazord I was going on about several months ago? Well this is from the same line, and I think it’s an even better toy. As I know I’ve mentioned before, GunBuster is pretty high up on my list of Favorite Things Ever, and this toy nails almost everything about the titular robot. The proportions are almost exactly how I prefer the GunBuster to look, and lend themselves greatly to the great posability of the piece (it’s just a lot more mobile in general than a design like DaiZyuJin lends itself to), it’s awesomely dynamic for such a characteristically gigantic robot. It doesn’t come with ALL of the GunBuster’s fabled accessories (of the ‘extra’ armaments only seen in supplementary materials, we just get two Buster Homerun bats, which at least allows for awesome bat dual-wielding), but the ones it gets are the best ones, in my opinion. Attachable foot-saw-blades for Inazuma Kick attacks (meaning I need to order a stand for this thing RIGHT NOW), full Buster Collider parts to attach to the arms and legs (a very ambitious idea for a figure of this scale that I’m surprised and impressed that they pulled off, and it looks great) and greatest of all, a switchable chest piece with a reactor on cables, along with a specific hand to recreate the GunBuster ripping the core out of its chest at the very end of the series, a tribute to one of my absolute favorite moments. The hips on the toy are a little limited (the design of the waist doesn’t lend itself to ‘skirt-armor’ style articulation) and the plastic feels a touch light in places, but otherwise this is just a wonderful figure, making me happy as hell to own it.

Also, seriously, GunBuster. If you like anime, or giant robots, or giant space monsters, or science, or science fiction, or relativity, or Gainax, or HARD WORK AND GUTS, or immensely satisfying endings, then watch this show. Fucking watch it! It’s only six episodes out of your day, just watch it!

[Gomess]

As I'm a quantity-over-quality guy, I did the entire opposite of Prowl this month and bought all 152 episodes of Hokuto no Ken (a.k.a. Fist of the North Star). Then I watched them. It's amazing that a series could be dragged out for that long and still have a good ending; makes me wonder how many episodes the G1 cartoon was, never thought about that. Pretty sure it was more than six, though.

And hardly a haul that cost me anything, but I happened to be round a mate's and they suddenly said, "Oh, I've got something for you, but it might not be any good-" and emerged with a shoebox full of G1 TF parts. And I mean *parts*. The funniest thing was that I sat down with this box, and managed to assemble a complete Inferno from them in the time it took my mate to get me a drink. So, +1 Inferno. Also Hot Rod's head and the Micromaster Combiner Space(?) Squad.

[Onslaught Six]

As I'm a quantity-over-quality guy, I did the entire opposite of Prowl this month and bought all 152 episodes of Hokuto no Ken (a.k.a. Fist of the North Star). Then I watched them. It's amazing that a series could be dragged out for that long and still have a good ending; makes me wonder how many episodes the G1 cartoon was, never thought about that. Pretty sure it was more than six, though.

98ish. Between 90 and 100. Definitely below 100.

And hardly a haul that cost me anything, but I happened to be round a mate's and they suddenly said, "Oh, I've got something for you, but it might not be any good-" and emerged with a shoebox full of G1 TF parts. And I mean *parts*. The funniest thing was that I sat down with this box, and managed to assemble a complete Inferno from them in the time it took my mate to get me a drink. So, +1 Inferno. Also Hot Rod's head and the Micromaster Combiner Space(?) Squad.

Hey, Inferno!

[Shockwave]

You were right the first time: 98 + the movie.

[JediTricks]

Got home last night after a long day to find a 12-inch Sideshow Snowtrooper box on my doorstep. It's a very nice piece, not without small flaws which at this price do drag it down from an A to a B grade, but overall looks very nice with fine sculpting and sewing, and an excellent deco. Very much taken from the films.

[Onslaught Six]

Got home last night after a long day to find a 12-inch Sideshow Snowtrooper box on my doorstep.

You're lucky it wasn't stolen!

...at least I can laugh at myself.

[Dominic]

Dude, I am still waiting on my tax return. (It likely has not even shipped yet, as the Feds are gummed up this year, but ya know. Mail fraud is a worry.)

So, +1 Inferno. Also Hot Rod's head and the Micromaster Combiner Space(?) Squad.

The irony being that you had a headless HotRod as a kid, right?


I grabbed FoC Soundwave and the Frenzy/Ratbat set. Soundwave looks good, and appeals to me on a digital forensics level. Ratbat, a bit less so, but he is also a favourtie character of mine (I also needed a disk case for Laserbeak, and had no desire to buy the Rumble/Ravage set.) The fact that Soundwave and Laserbeak look like they do in the comics sealed it for me.


Dom
-will post a review in a few days.