My Christmas Gift to You...

My Christmas gift to you...no blog entries the rest of the year!

And now enjoy a cheesy 80s Christmas song that was the basis for Meijer commercials back in 1985 or so.  The full version takes out the mentions of Meijer.  I think it's pretty catchy.

I couldn't find that to buy online, not even on eBay or Mercari.  But as usual I did buy a few XMas albums this year by Rob Thomas (formerly of Matchbox 20), Matt Nathanson, and the Goo Goo Dolls and a compilation of bluegrass XMas songs from 2002.  It was kind of a slow year for buying XMas music; usually I say I won't buy much and end up buying five or six (or more) albums.  I'm not a religious person but I'm a sucker for XMas music.  If it's by artists I regularly listen to (like most of those above) that's even better.

Though a couple of the ones I really enjoyed I actually bought last year.  A couple of comic ones were referenced at the end of Rifftrax Live shows.  One by Jonathan Coulton has some really good original songs that are funny and/or catchy.  The title track "One Christmas at a Time" has a catchy hook while also making light of people overspending and annoying relatives.  "2600" is about a kid's obsession with getting an Atari 2600, presumably in the late 70s or early 80s.  "Chanukah Wikipedia" is literally a reading of the Wikipedia entry on Chanukah (or Hanukah or whatever) to a techno beat.  An EP by the Doubleclicks only has 5 tracks so it's not really long but they're all pretty funny originals.  The title track "Christmas Ain't About Me" is probably more appropriate for my brother than me; as a middle child there was only a narrow window where Christmas would have been about me.  "The End of the World" is pretty funny if you think, "You thought things were bad in 2012?  Yeah, just wait..."

"The Songs the Season Brings" by Beta Radio is more traditional.  I loved Beta Radio's first two normal albums.  If you remember that brief period where Mumford & Sons was popular they're sort of like that, pretty much all acoustic instruments leaning more towards bluegrass than rock.  There are a couple of originals and traditional covers.

The ones I bought this year were all decent, but nothing really, really great.  Still, it's always nice to get some different things for a variety when I'm listening to XMas music.  Next year I have a blog entry that gets into some of the XMas movies I watched and like with the music I like to have a variety.  Anyway...

Happy Holidays!

Happy New Year!

May The Force Be With You!

Live Long & Prosper!

And so it goes...

Action Figures I Would Like: Phoenix

 This is the oldest one on my wishlist.  I've liked the green Phoenix costume since I unlocked it in X-Men Legends back in 2005 or so.  The red Phoenix is neat too, but I would just prefer green.  Anyway, this one is expensive because it's old.  Ironically the even older version made in the 2000s is usually cheaper but the molding is crappier.  I hope they'll come out with a new one.  But in the comics they brought Jean back in her lame "Marvel Girl" outfit, so it might be a while.

Another I probably will never have.  C'set la vie

I did get the old Toybiz version for like $10 loose on eBay, so there's that.  It was one of those times I just bid the bare minimum and surprisingly won.  The same happened with a loose version of that Deadpool/Negasonic Teenage Warhead two-pack I mentioned in another entry.  Sometimes you just have to take a shot.

Action Figures I Would Like: Clone Wars Obi-Wan and Anakin

 On my list at the end of my A to Z Challenge remembrance entry I listed some of the figures I would like.  Some of them I did finally get like Vader, Boba Fett, and Wolverine, but others I haven't gotten.  Like Clone Wars Anakin and Obi-Wan.

It's cool they made show-accurate figures but they've always been too expensive even on eBay and Mercari.

I might never get them.  Too bad, so sad, right?

Action Figures I Would Like: Captain Americas

 I already have a couple of Steve Rogers six-inch figures, though they're both WWII ones.  I don't have any Sam Wilson figures.  They make a retro-inspired Falcon one but it looks too 70s cheesy for me.  The MCU Falcon looks better but it's not really a great price at this point.  Then I saw they're coming out with a two-pack repackaging both Captain Americas.  There's the new Sam Wilson Captain America and the modern Steve Rogers one, so that would be cool--for the right price.

It's a little disappointing Sam doesn't have the wings but those are pretty big.  I think in the first series of figures from the Disney+ show they had that as a Build-A-Figure but that would mean getting all the figures--unless you can buy just the parts from eBay or something.  Sometimes that's cheaper.  Sometimes not.

Action Figures I Would Like: Sylvie

 For the most part I liked the Loki series on Disney+ and the best character in it wasn't the traditional Loki but Sylvie, the female alternate universe Loki.

She's pretty badass with the knife and all that.  Given what I write about, I would naturally be drawn to essentially a gender swapped character, right?  I could put her on my shelf next to the female Thor figure, lol.

My First Kindle Vella Story is Complete!

All episodes of my first-ever Kindle Vella story, Guardians of the Swapverse are now streaming!  The final count is 21 episodes totaling about 45,000 words.  By my count with the first 3 episodes free, you'd need 401 tokens to read it, which would cost $4.99. Just saying.  If you want to save money, you can sign up for my email newsletter and get Episodes 1-12 free in PDF, ePub, or Mobi format.

Action Figures I Would Like: T'Challa Star-Lord

 I mostly liked the animated What If series on Disney+.  One of the best episodes featured T'Challa as Star-Lord instead of Peter Quill.  There is a figure coming out for that next year:

It looks a little overly cartoony but still, it's pretty awesome.  I really like the purple better than Peter's red jacket.  I'm just saying.

Action Figures I Would Like: J Jonah Jameson

 When the batch of "retro" 90s packaging Spider-Man figures came out last year I got basic Spidey and Gwen/Mary Jane but the one I really wanted was J Jonah Jameson, just because I think that would be neat.  I like the off-beat characters; if they had made an Aunt May in that set I'd probably want her too.

Anyway, of course I couldn't get it for a reasonable price and it's always overpriced on Amazon, eBay, and Mercari.  You can sometimes get one from the old Raimi movies for cheaper.  They made a new bald one from the current movies but I like the traditional look of this one better.

For some reason all the JJJ figures have that weird oversized pointy finger.  If he's holding the paper it's fine, but on its own it looks really out of place.  At least this one has extra hands.

Action Figures I Would Like: Alfred Pennyworth

 This is another that's been on my list for a while.  I wish stores had actually carried the Mattel DC Multiverse so maybe I could have seen it in the store to get for regular price.  On Amazon and such it's always been overpriced--and more so every day.

I like how he has the different heads to represent different versions of the character over the years: a normal comic book one, the Batman '66 one, and the 1989 movie one. I'm not sure what that white face is.  I have the Batman '66 figure McFarlane released recently so that Alfred would go pretty well with him.  I'd like a Batman '89 one if they'd make one for a reasonable price.  

Anyway, I have Batman and Robin, but no Alfred.  Sad.  Who will get them tea and sew up their wounds and stuff?  And occasionally let someone into the cave because he wants Bruce to get laid...

Action Figures I Would Like: Deadpool & Negasonic

 I've had this two-pack on my wishlist for a while.  I almost bought it from Mercari once.  I made an offer on one that was an OK deal, but it got rejected and then sold to someone else.  I like that the two figures look pretty movie-accurate but I don't like the price tag is usually $60--or more.

This is one I keep looking for occasionally just in case someone has it for a decent price.  Probably never happen.  I still don't have a great Deadpool figure.  I have a cheap Chinese knockoff, a gray X-Force one, a really basic red one that I got for cheap with no accessories, and a weird one that has boxers with hearts on them instead of pants that came in a bag of random figures.  I'd still like one that doesn't look weird or stupid.  And getting Negasonic with it would be cool.  Though better would be getting her with her hot Asian girlfriend. 

Action Figures I Would Like: K-2SO

The last of the newer Rogue One figures I would like is the only one I think is actually available right now:  the snarky strategy droid K-2SO.

The only knock on this figure is it doesn't really come with anything.  But I already have Jyn and Caspian and small versions of Baze and Chirrut so this would complete the set, right?  Except the shuttle pilot guy, whom they also are making a figure of.  Just saying.

Action Figures I Would Like: Chirrut Îmwe

Monday I mentioned Baze Malbus and really having him wouldn't be cool without his good buddy Chirrut Îmwe.  That'd be like only having one Wonder Twin or something.  Like Baze, this is the six inch size with better detail than the smaller ones.

And on Friday there's one more Rogue One figure I would want.  Maybe you can guess which one?  Or not.