V
@v137a.bsky.social
Trying to spin this up to replace the bird site. I'm a reader, not much of a poster.
created December 18, 2023
134 followers 654 following 151 posts
view profile on Bluesky Posts
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
The paper stuff, I collected and played in college, and then again with my kids. Anything bought after, say, 2004 was just for playing. The digital card game, I mostly just open the free packs and occasionally play.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
In places, they're the reliable "meat and three (vegetables/sides)" close to the highway, and the gift shop makes a nice family break on a road trip. They're also popular with local seniors who want the older-style food without cooking. Like most places, they're not as good as they once were.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
All other smoke aside, this is a good call.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Honestly, I'd love to see him give something more civilian/generic a shot after the DC license goes away at the end of the year. Those Batmobiles have been great, especially the sheer variety. I just don't know how many basic vehicles you have to sell to make the tooling worth it.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Ramen Toy has tried to an extent with their basic van, but never got the price point that low. It only got down to $100 for the basic version during the early bird phase. The wrestling toys have managed it before (with action features!), but never with a fidelity to realism or scale.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Reduced Power earned for a given grade in Solo Ops by one compared to Fireteam Ops. Encore End-activity engrams reduced to two. Mid-activity chests reduced to two. Starcrossed End-activity engrams reduced to one. Mid-activity chests reduced to one. Whisper Mid-activity chest removed.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Honestly, as a low 400s player whose friends have basically bailed out sub-200 power, telling me you're making both solo play and play in general less rewarding, it sounds like a series of terrible choices. The game's going in the wrong direction, and it's not worth my time investment any more.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
See, I was thinking the same thing about the Wolverine vs the other brown suit Wolvies. Is he an upgrade?
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Walmart kindly sent mine, knowing that I live in a scalper-heavy zone and would never find one at retail.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
If your experience is like mine, the day after it shipped, something new arrived to start your next pile of loot.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
One of the many things that bring my wife and I together is how intensely we each dislike A Christmas Story.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
The new one reminded me of Ana de Armas the first time I saw it.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
The internet says even adorable cat bites can be pretty gnarly from an infection standpoint, so keep an eye on it.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
That's a bummer to hear. It's a fun series of books.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
This checks out. Later, he has a race car AND a big truck in one toy.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Comics at Comic-Con? There's no room for such silliness. Comic-Con is for the serious marketing business of pushing ancillary merch and products like toys and movies and TV shows. (I miss the old days)
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Usually not, but the Rattler says I'll need to, but it hasn't arrived yet.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
I'd certainly give it a go.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
It's a matter of time before we all run out...
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Clothes? Tatters. Makeup? Flawless.
V (@v137a.bsky.social)
To me, the new Destiny expansion is terrible gameplay. I've played this franchise since D1 beta and this is the first time that I straight up do not want to continue playing. It's not fun, and it feels like a waste of my time and money.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
I had one of these and a similar Spider-Man with velcro on his mitten hands that we got from a thrift store in Nashville when I was a kid. The Spider-Man went with me everywhere. Superman, not so much.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
There's also a whole thing with card grading and condition that was imported from other collectibles - sports cards, Magic, and comics - so if you have an intersection of really good condition and really valuable, it can be worth it to have it professionally graded and slabbed.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
I think the market peaked during the "everyone stay home" period of Covid. www.tcgplayer.com is a pretty good reference, and as you mentioned, eBay sold listings.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
I'm not super current - I hang out in a couple of Reddit collector groups because I also have old cards. This was a pretty good re-introduction when I was trying to catch up, but I'm not sure how well it's maintained: www.reddit.com/user/Lyleber...
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Depending on how gently, some of the original ones are worth quite a lot. Base set Charizard is megabucks in really nice condition, even more for shadowless or 1st edition.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
I think I found my treadmill motivation poster...
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Inadvertently. I got a degree in Comp Sci and, via a long and circuitous route, ended up in cybersecurity.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Iron Man 3.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
TDKR shoved the plot arcs of like 7 different comics events into one movie and called it good. It was not.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
I've always described it as oscillation. They can diverge for a certain amount of time before snapping back to the status quo required by marketing before the next wave. Sometimes the oscillation is powerful enough to add elements to the baseline, but usually not.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Worse comes to worse, lots of great artists re-use their canvas if they don't like the result.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Oh boy...
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
"Destro’s Journal – June 30th, 2025 Cobra Commander has tasked me with a thorough analysis of the full battlefield capabilities imbued within the latest attempt by G.I. Joe forces to match my weapons manufacturing acumen"
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
On the page it mentions Destro's Journal, so I assume it's Destro. The order on the page is a little off - the unlocks are above where it says it.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Could you snag me a New Coke while you're there? And maybe swing by '89 for an Ecto Cooler?
V (@v137a.bsky.social)
I went to a mystery movie at my local theater. Turns out it was the new Jurassic World movie. Very worthy of your summer movie dollars.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Consider: John Cena with a "bulk down" phase
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Fair.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Add in a pair of shorts or a hoodie, perhaps? Just for some temperature options.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Unless it was a cocktail recipe involving a lit rag, but that seems unlikely for that sort of email.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
In my house it goes "Shipping box -> boxed figure sitting around -> storage box". I should upgrade to totes, but the medium bank boxes are very well-suited to Legends. Some do get opened, but a lot go into an amorphous "I'll open that later" zone, where later never arrives.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
It has been my experience that anyone who collects action figures lives perpetually in a haphazard house full of boxes.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
I discovered I was a pretty good cook in my late 30s.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
With a beating, probably.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
No it's not. Jokes are funny. Nothing about this is funny.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Probably 98% are digital through the Marvel Unlimited thing. Physical comics - I did the old school mail order subscription to Nightwing and Titans for a couple of years recently.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Would you consider Gangnam Style an improvement?
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
No other era had quite the unique combination of marketing, captive audience, development spend, and unstructured play to create such a toy-oriented mindset. There are, what, more than 100 uniquely-developed GI Joe characters? No toy company is going to do that now. No toy company could.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Thanks! I'll have to check it out when I'm on that side of town.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
As a person in Atlanta, retro toy store?
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Ah, you want to win regional capitalism.
V (@v137a.bsky.social)
Does anyone else have uncertainty about the new Superman movie? I like a lot of James Gunn's work, but even the new trailer makes me more concerned, not less. It looks well-shot, but not good?
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Eumenides nuts.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Now I'm concerned that I'm unwittingly watching trashcan person toy videos.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
I stopped actively collecting comics in the early 2000's and this would never have occurred to me if I had walked up on it. I had to Google to understand. Unless there are other red flags, I'd think ignorance.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
How is it better than the original swivel arm '83?
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
I'm sure science will do its thing. I've got a nightshade intolerance, and it's funny how much knowing that recontextualized problems I've had my whole life but didn't understand why.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
In the late 80's/early 90's, Applebee's (at least in Nashville) had a very unique chicken tender and it was my absolute favorite restaurant food as a kid. They changed it to be more like every other restaurant, and it was a terrible disappointment. I still hold a grudge about it.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Ooh, I'll have to try to find that place next time I'm over for work.
NWS Atlanta - Bot (@nwsatlantabot.bsky.social) reposted
📢 Just a Reminder All NOAA Weather Radio transmitters covering north and central GA will be offline Today due to a prolonged system update. We apologize for the disruption. In the meantime, weather information remains available at weather.gov... https://x.com/NWSAtlanta/status/1915044669664448548
Teen Vogue (@teenvogue.com) reposted
When older adults lose access to vital services, the ripple effects are vast. The Trump admin is trying to do just that. Here's why young people should care: www.teenvogue.com/story/trump-...
Arjun Basu (@arjun.bsky.social) reposted
Teen Vogue has long understood its audience, understood the climate and context, and acted upon it with surgical precision. If all media were this smart and willing to go there the world might be a better place.
V (@v137a.bsky.social)
The Maximum Spider-Man figure is actually pretty great. Still too expensive, but if you get one with no QA issues, it's a lot of fun.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
That "when will our women come first" sign, though. Surely someone spotted how it might be sending a different message.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
It never was. The hate is the reason.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
This is especially true these days, because if someone has the rare bit, they're going to make a complete figure out of it and sell that. Vehicles you can still do piecemeal, but when I was filling in my 82-86 figure run, I ended up spending more getting gear together.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
I'm busy right now, but I'll try to look it up tonight. Tonight. Tonight.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
It's not a dramatic answer, but when gay rights messaging changed to a more inclusive construct, I just expanded my area of concern to include more folks. As for why I care at all, I've always thought folks should be free to do what they want and I hate bullies.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Even 5-year-old me knew it was Lisa over Minmei.
V (@v137a.bsky.social)
I'm going to skip the Maximum Hulk. It doesn't differentiate itself in a way that matters to me and the price point of the Maximum line is still excessive.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Yeah, I don't blame them for any of this. They've been rock solid for as long as I've bought from them.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Eh, I'm not one to gatekeep the fun of superhero day. However, a case could be made that they were granted martial arts powers, costumes, and tools by an alien, which is not that far off Hal Jordan's origin story.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
It looks great! It did make me realize that the Murderbot I visualize when I read is very different, which isn't unexpected generally, but still surprised me because I didn't realize I had that firm a mental construct.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Remember when our great concern as a nation was the ability to spell potato?
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Also works when vaguely British - "Why, Vern, it's Ernest."
V (@v137a.bsky.social)
Waiting for Godot: Citizens on Patrot
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Congratulations on a massive career. You can finally settle down from adventuring and open a shop where you buy for half price and sell for full price.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
More importantly, if it works anything like it did for me, your collection will outgrow whatever room you pick out now. I've been gradually trading up to larger and larger rooms in the 15 years we've been in this house.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
The animals are the best Classified figures, so I support this.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Ram-Man is my guy.
V (@v137a.bsky.social)
Please, Lord, let them finally do right by James Marsden.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
I had the car. And the water drop one in the comments.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
I'm still trying to decide if this is a significant upgrade if I've got the Executive Replicas version.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Retro-card Dark Phoenix? Can't recall if she's pinless. I have no idea how challenging a pinless swap is, though.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Man's out here dressing like he's in Tiger Force...
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Dhillie suit.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
They do look pretty definitive.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
I can't remember where I've seen that particular watch before. I recognized it immediately, but not from where.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Look, they cast Marisa Tomei. It's not my fault that I got mesmerized.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
I am sorely tempted. It's like the bigger Haslabs - it's unlikely to ever be cheaper and it might be the only example to get made. It's a ton of money, though. Might be an early April last-minute decision for me.
V (@v137a.bsky.social)
That Archangel figure looks very good, but I never read that arc and don't have the figures for that team, so I'm going to hold off and wait for the eventual proper 90's pink and purple version with those wings.
V (@v137a.bsky.social)
Daredevil, why you gotta do me like this?
Peter Clines (@peterclines.bsky.social) reposted reply parent
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
Star Wars was never my main line, even going back to the 80s, but I have a Black Series set of core original trilogy figures and then a Mando and Grogu and Cassian Andor, but most of it I'm fine leaving on the shelf.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
The deeper truth - all action figures are dolls. We just don't like calling them that.
V (@v137a.bsky.social) reply parent
It's going around. Since the first of February, I quite literally have re-read the first 8 and then bought and read the remainder. Granted, I had a work trip with some long flights in there, but still.