Gallery: First New Arrivals at LeBrain HQ for the of Summer 2017

We have had a solid rain in Kitchener, Ontario. Not only are the banks of the Grand swollen to the limit, but there has also been a steady rainfall of new arrivals at LeBrain HQ! Summer has officially arrived, and what is summer without new rock?

First we have some gratuity for Mr. Geoff “1001” Stephen. Some surprise mail arrived from him this week: two 7″ singles and some Leafs memorabilia. As Mrs. LeBrain said, “Thank you Geoff Stephen for the wonderful surprise this morning. The calendar brought back so many memories of my favourite hockey year. Go Leafs Go!”

For myself, a Kiss “Christine Sixteen”/”Shock Me” single, which alas is too late to fit into my Love Gun re-review!  Those two songs make it virtually a double A-side.  The other single he sent has a similar standing:  Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back In Town”/”Jailbreak”.  Two singles, four amazing cuts of rock history.

On the same day, I received this from a Discogs seller in Japan:  a CD that has been on my wishlist a long time.  Despite the long wait, I managed to hold off from buying the domestic edition of Ghost’s debut Opus Eponymous all this time.  A sealed copy finally came up on Discogs within my buying threshold, so I jumped at it.  For my rewards, I got “Here Comes the Sun”, Ghost’s Beatles cover…and a very different one it is.

We will jump briefly to new arrivals in the toy department.  Thanks to J. at Resurrection Songs we recently covered the ins and outs of Third Party products.  Behold!  Badcube has released their take on Masterpiece Transformer Insecticons.  These are heavy, heavy toys with lots of diecast and G1 accurate insect modes, with robot modes an homage to the cartoon.  Check them out with their leader Megatron (third party Apollyon) and their original 1985 toys below.  These, by the way, are deluxe collector’s editions with clear plastic and chromed parts for added value.  I’d love to compare them to an official Hasbro Masterpiece Insecticon, but such a thing does not exist.  That’s why third party companies have a niche.  Labels by Toyhax.

Apollyon by X-Transbots with Evil Bug Corps by Badcube

Badcube Claymore and Transformers G1 Shrapnel

Badcube Hypno and Transformers G1 Bombshell

Badcube Kickbutt and Transformers G1 Kickback

Last new entry in the toy Department: I found some new Star Wars Black Series 6″ releases kicking around at the local Toys R Us on Sunday.  I should have grabbed more of the Imperial AT-ACT driver, that one being a Target/TRU exclusive, but sometimes you find those to still be warming the pegs a few weeks later.  The Imperial Death Squad commander will look great with my Stormtroopers, but I feel to ask $30 for one little tiny Jawa figure is a bit much.  They should have included two Jawas or a droid in there for that price.

 

The same day as the Toys R Us trip, I also dropped in at the newly re-opened Sunrise Records at Fairview Mall, which is really starting to come along with great customer service and an improving selection.  I couldn’t browse long, so I leaped immediately to the metal section and grabbed two CDs that I was missing by The Sword:  Low Country (2016) and the new live album Greetings From… (2017).   I am slowly getting caught up on that band — loving everything I have heard so far.

A wonderful week to be sure, but it’s time to stop buying music and toys for a short while, and get ready for Sausagefest 2017.  I finished recording my parts yesterday, and I have inside information that suggests that this Sausagefest countdown will be pretty awesome.

Stay tuned.

 

 

80 comments

  4. Wowzers, what a haul! Fantastic stuff Mike! I mean, Geoff strikes again?! That dude’s on fire in the community! Ghost and Sword is awesome. Love the Transformers though I know nothing about them. I was shocked that the Star Wars figures are $30 each when I found that one guy for you. That’s crazy. When did it go from being for kids to being for grown-up kids with jobs?

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        10. Well….

          Remember last time you went off on such a tangential tirade I said I wasn’t going to mention radio anymore and said Craig worked in “newspaper”.

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  5. Very cool haul! I didn’t know Ghost has covered a Beatles song. Just checked it out and it sounds great. Also, The Sword is fantastic. Looks like you had an amazing week! :)

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  7. Lawd ha’ murcy! That’s a trove of delights there! The Sword are awesome, huh? I still need to pick up a bunch of their stuff, but I love Age Of Winters. Unreservedly so.

    Those Transformers look ace… and I’m remembering the days when I bought Star Wars toys with my pocket money!

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    1. Just finished listening to Low Country. I prefer High Country obviously but I don’t think that’s the point.

      The Transformers toys are awesome! This post gives you an ever better idea of why they are so popular. Total G1 accuracy and Hasbro don’t have an official version.

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  8. Nice score Mikey funny how less than two weeks ago I knew of Ghost and as of today I’m a fan due to there live show.
    Nice to get stuff in the mail and not bill’s!
    Lawd ha’ murcy! To quote Mr J!

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    1. Lawdy lawdy!

      Uncle Meat will tell you this is their best album…and it was him who got me into Ghost. We were on my porch recording for Sausagefest 2013, and he said “You have to hear this band called Ghost.”

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      1. Thats cool. My brother as soon as he got Maiden tix back in January told me right away he was stoked as well to see Ghost on the bill. I’m to old school to change most of the time but Ghost did it, Great songs period!

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        1. Ghost are very old school. Their music is a hybrid of all kinds of classic metal, but it so happens it all seems to be the kind of metal I like. It took me a while to wrap my head around the lyrics. They are pretty wild. They certainly sell their own image very well.

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        4. Yeah he had a few good lines at the show …bit of a comedic angle in introducing the songs. But the musicianship was off the charts! The two Ghouls on guitar were a show amongst themselves. They carried the live show lots….

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        5. I wonder if any of the ghouls are original. Since we now know a bunch of them are suing Papa and I think the bassist ghoul is female…at least they had a female bassist recently….

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        6. Not sure Mikey. But they all could play. The Keyboard player was all over the place. Loved it when he jumped out front with the Keytar. Not once but twice!

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        7. Who doesn’t love the keytar? I like that Dream Theater do that too.

          Personally I hope that Ghost never do a “take off the makeup” moment like Kiss, even if we do know who Papa is now. I like the image of what they have, and the idea that the singer changes from album to album but it’s actually the same guy. I love all that stuff, I think it’s unique and adds a lot to the mystique of the band. I especially loved with Papa was “Papa II” dressed like an old man.

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      1. They did. It’s a very rare, Japanese import. It even has an ultra rare bonus track with absolutely no cliches or hints of sleaziness.
        The band of course has tried to hide its existence.

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  10. Nice haul Mike.. I got one today also. Samson box set. Nicky Moore era. Soundgarden Superunknown. First time buy. Rainbow live at Birmingham Nec 2016. Bad Company Burning Sky Deluxe and a cheap Sabbath comp called Iron Man, for the car. Gonna order some Kiss Shm discs from Japan soon. Lick It Up, Creatures and Animalize. Ghost are definitely worth investigating. Their latest album is magnificent.

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    1. Samson BOX SET???

      I want that Rainbow too, but wow…that Samson box set has me intrigued. Nicky Moore was awesome.

      The only Shm KISS CD I have is Rocks Vegas.

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        3. Ah ok. That makes sense. Beware Paul’s voice!

          I saw a video of Peter Criss’ final solo gig last week. A good farewell. But it’s sad when I can say Peter is now a better singer than Paul. By far.

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        5. Yeah and he’s done so much damage to his voice now. He’s actually the worst singer in Kiss. The current Paul is the worst singer they ever had.

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  11. Nice score. I just finished playin lego star wars The Force Awakens on vita, does that count? I’m listening to Soundgarden Ultramega Ok at the moment. Have a good trip! No, better make that have a great trip!!! Take plenty of pictures, kill tons of mosquitos, go easy on the sausages and beer(imported or domestic?). Wish we could all go.

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  12. My pleasure Mike – I like when the singles are so strong that there really isn’t an A/B, like you said, a double A!
    Glad to hear the Sunrise re-open is looking promising so far too – it looks like our mall is getting a store ‘now and then’ where HMV was, it had a filmstrip & LP in the logo, I’m optimistic!

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