Here are some new sh*te photies to start your new year right!
How did you spend your New Year’s Eve? I spent it unconventionally, for me. While Mrs. LeBrain snuck in some early evening Bingo, I went down to City Hall with my buddy Jason and his family. Apparently, there was going to be a toy show and sale / 80’s retro night going on. One of my favourite Transformers vendors in the whole wide world, B&K Collectibles, was going to be there!
There were a ton of people there. Also present was the DeLorean from Back to the Future, and K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider. Although I didn’t stick around to see him, Todd Bridges from 80’s sitcom Diff’rent Strokes was also on hand last night. Yee-haw.
After the toy show I got Jen at Bingo and we headed home to watch the Leafs barely beat the Bruins. I fell asleep well before midnight.
But…toys!
My two scores: Transformers Masterpiece Smokescreen. Similar to, but different from, Masterpiece Prowl. I also snagged some snazzy new missiles for my Prowl figure, from third party company Before and After. The kit includes the “Omega Launch” weapons which snap over Prowl’s normally teeny ones, and a decal sheet which I have not yet applied (if I do).
In Getting More Tale #347.5: Days of Christmas Past, you may recall our good buddy Aaron sent me another Mystery Aaron Mail (M.A.M.) parcel. It finally arrived, several days behind schedule, but safe and sound which is the main thing. With Aaron’s encouraging “Give’r!” I tore into the packaging, to discover the treasure seen below.
Raise the Dead – Live From Wacken is Alice Cooper’s latest offering, one I had been excited to get! One thing you have to credit Alice Cooper with is changing up his setlist tour after tour. No two tours offer the same highlights, hits and surprises. At a glance, I can see this 2 CD/1 Blu-ray set contains the following interesting choices: “House of Fire” from 1989’s Trash, “Caffeine” from the recent Welcome 2 My Nightmare, the favourite “Department of Youth” from the original 1975 Nightmare, and oldies-but-goodies “Killer”, “Dwight Fry” and “Go To Hell”. This is rounded out by numerous covers, perhaps from Alice’s soon-to-be-unleashed covers album? “Break On Through” outta be good.
Finally this is Alice’s last release with Orianthi on guitar, who has since split to play with Richie Sambora. I’m glad she has been captured live in concert in hi-def on Blu-ray. Thank you, Aaron, for this gift! The 2 CD format means that I can listen to it in the car, and the Blu-ray gives me Orianthi in 1080i hi-def, according to the specs! There’s also a 20 minute interview and 5.1 surround mix. Gonna be a rockin’ Christmas if this is any indication!
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
This last set of pictures is a Christmas gift to myself, from myself! I ordered this guy back on November 11, and he only just arrived today. His name is Ratbat, and he is the Decepticon fuel auditor. In the Marvel comics series, Ratbat emerged as a bureaucrat on Cybertron who eventually came to Earth and took leadership of the Decepticons, a title he held for 11 issues of the series. For this reason, and for the reason that he transforms into a cassette, he is always high on my collecting priority list. I have a Masterpiece edition Soundwave figure, and I had five of his cassettes. All but Ratbat. Ratbat was only available with a special black Masterpiece Soundwave figure called Soundblaster. Although I would love to, I can’t afford to buy the same toy over again in a different colour just to get Ratbat. So I figured I’d never get one.
My buddy Jason then suggested I check out some the sellers on eBay, selling KO (knock-off) Ratbat figures. Knock-off figures are exactly what the sound like. Somebody copied the mold and made their own figures. Some are shit quality. Some are much better. Ratbat is one of the figures. There are two flaws in the paint of the cassette, but I’ve bought official Hasbro and Takara items new out of the package with similar flaws, so I can’t that’s particularly troublesome. There was also a teeny tiny extra bit of plastic in the jetpack assembly that I had to lightly shave down in order to transform nice and straight. Again, this can happen with a KO toy, but it can also happen with official Hasbro toys too. Ratbat (KO) came with no box, but did come with a microcassette case, and only cost me $20 plus shipping from China. MP13B Masterpiece Soundblaster, the official Takara release including Ratbat, is “on sale” right now at Big Bad Toy Store for $129.99, plus shipping. I think I made a good choice. Here’s Ratbat with Soundwave and all his cassette buddies!
mikeladano.com 