November Hauls!

[138 Scourge]

Oh, Dom. You act like you've never seen Goatse before. Sheesh.

[Dominic]

Well, now I see it ever time I close my eyes.

"I don't wanna close my eyes! I don't wanna fall asleep! Cuz I see Goatse, every time I blink! I cannot believe its true, thats the hole where he makes poo! I see Goatse, every time I blink! His ass is open real wide, bigger than a grown man's fist......."


In other news, I picked up the score for "Real Steel". I have not seen the movie, but heard good things about it. And, Danny Elfman did the music, so....


Dom
-Goatse is a fascinating study in rectal anatomy.

[Onslaught Six]

Real Steel is a pretty good movie. Spoilers ahoy:

Spoiler

The main robot, Atom (who I seriously thought was spelled "Adam" because that would have given him so much more symbolism) can apparently understand English completely uninhibited--the kid tells him to do things, without a voice recognition unit in him, and he does it. Then...the kid puts in a voice recognition unit later. And nothing is done with this robot's ability to understand language--just mimic human body language by watching them do it. It's kind of meh; a fair bit of setup for no payoff.

Everyone is a good enough actor for this kind of movie; especially the kid who is never annoying or out of place. The only failing is the bad guys, kind of, and it's more the way they're written and characterised than anything else. (They're generic "We are the best at the sport, but money and technology have made us lazy and content," types. They would rather buy Atom than fight him in a legit match.)

My biggest problem is that the movie is obviously set in the Future (an exact year is never explicitly stated, I don't think, but there are enough contextual clues to indicate it is somewhere in the mid-2020s) but almost nothing is done with the setting. Everyone is still driving cars from the late-90s and 2000s. Very rarely do we see anything resembling a "futuristic" arena or cityscape, and when we do it looks no more futuristic than it might today. With the exception of some fancy (though generic) handheld control devices for the robots, almost everything looks like it was filmed now--or even a few years ago. I didn't even notice this until midway through the film, when the contextual clues made it clear this was in the mid-2020s or beyond; I was at first convinced it was taking place in an alternate present. ("Human boxing was outlawed in 1997," kind of thing.

The toys look pretty decent but are waaaay overpriced--definitely gonna wait for the bins on them. $9 for a 4" figure? Fuck that.

[Dominic]

SW and GI Joe figures cost ~$10 most places, so the prices you are quoting are not too far off.

I will look in to it.

Futurism is hard to pull off. It is just easier to use contemporary to filming tech and settings. How much like 2005 did TFTM look? I have lived in the same area for over three decades. Aside from a few changes (that are non-time specific), the area looks much the same now as it did in the mid 1980s.


Dom
-has not listened to the score yet.

[BWprowl]

SW and GI Joe figures cost ~$10 most places, so the prices you are quoting are not too far off.

I consistently worry about the cost of living in your area, Dom. SW and Joes are 6-7 bucks tops over here.

Do you buy action figures at Tiffany's, or what?

[Dominic]

Target, Walgreens and similar places. (There is less price difference than you would think.) And, keep in mind that I factor in sales tax. So, if a Deluxe TF costs $13 and some change, the tax would bring it up to just shy of $15. Joes are generally $8-ish, (maybe a bit higher), so their real cost is $10-ish.

For those wondering:
-Legends: just shy of $5
-Scouts: $8 ish, closer to $10 than I would like.
-Deluxes: I plan of $15.
-Voyagers: Plan on $25.
-Ultras: Been so long since I bought one at proper retail that I do not know.
-Leaders: $50.

And, yes, Boston is kind of known for gauging.


Dom

[Onslaught Six]

How bad is sales tax up there? PA has 6% flat rate, so add six cents for every dollar...usually not more than 60 cents for anything under $10.

Joe's suggested MSRP is, what, $7?

[BWprowl]

How bad is sales tax up there? PA has 6% flat rate, so add six cents for every dollar...usually not more than 60 cents for anything under $10.

This. I live in the supposedly high-taxed CA, and our sales tax is just under 8%, which keeps the price increase a little below a dollar, in most cases. Hardly enough to bump a seven-dollar toy up past $10, at any rate.

And anyway, wasn't your comment about the Reel Steal toys' prices regarding their MSRP anyway? So it would only be fair to compare just the MSRP of other like-sized toys.

EDIT: And regarding that bit about $13 Deluxes, Dom, all I can say is that your stores blow. All the Targets, Wal-Marts, and TRUs around here STILL have Deluxes at least at the ten-dollar-mark. Hell, Target and Wal-Mart have them for nine dollars and change.

[Dominic]

We get occassional sales. But, the real price is generally $12 or $13. If I cannot afford to drop $15, I do not even look at the TFs.

And, yeah, our stores do kinda suck.


Dom
-another advantage to having a high skip rate...

[Shockwave]

Sacramento must blow too because deluxes are all 11.99 plus tax. Unless there's a sale or something.