Farewell

I’m constantly embarrassed by how much I like toys, but I find it more funny than anything else.

Just today I was at Target, gawking at Bionicles toys on display. As I looked at each figure behind the glass display, and picked up all of the cardboard boxes trying to suck in every last bit of detail, I realized how goofy the whole scene is. Not only am staring at pieces of plastic often recommended for a maximum age of 14 years old or so when I’m actually almost old enough to drink, but I’m throwing my small amount of disposable income away partially at this junk when I know full well I’d be happier without relying on material possessions and instead spending my energy on helping orphans or something. It’s ugly consumerism, baby, and I’m living in it.

It’s fun though, and I’m glad I spend time posting about it. 

Let’s Play Skylanders: Superchargers

I haven’t played Skylanders: Superchargers in awhile, so let’s do that. I’m gonna sit down and play with my friend Pat. I am going to play primarily as my bird pal, and he got Donkey Kong. He’s never played, and I might be at the end if the game. 

  
Let’s do this! 

Updates:

#1. (7:57 PM) We got our characters in and are diving into a “derby” level. Cut scene before hand is really cool. Looks to be a big, thrilling derby with huge robots. 

#2. (8:00 PM)  Just did a hacking minigame. Three star victory! 

#3. (8:04) Jumpimg in the car for the first time. Should be  fun! Using Donkey Kong’s “Barrell Blaster” car. 

#4. (8:08) Bested that section! Not hard at all. 

#5. (8:12)  It’s his first time and the controls for driving aren’t awesome, so I’m doing most of the driving. One person drives, the other shoots. 

#6. (8:15) High fives exchanged. The durby is beat. Abnormally-short mission. There was only a car portion. Usually there is also a plane and boat section. 

#7. (8:17) Moving on to another level now. This one seems like a normal length one and seems really cool. Lush, green, forest colors. 

#8: (8:25) Neat level. You can use “push” and “pull” magic to interact with objects in the environment. 

#9: (8:34) Now we’re moving on to the plane section of this level. We’re using the Aeroslicer toy. 

#10: (8:39) Cool section! We had to shoot wind chimes. 

#11: (8:51) Other roommate home. Goads my player pal to intentionally screw things up to anger me. Blast, Dan! 

#12: (8:56) Decided to hand the controls over to Dan. They have to deal with it now! 

#13: (9:04) Took a pee break and came back to the boys struggling. They are doing better now. 

#14: (9:07) Scratch that. I gotta take over. 

#15: (9:15) Had to take over and beat it myself. More efficient!

#16: (9:21) Think I’m gonna quit. Had fun, not sur but they did! Haha. 

Eric Petras relives his childhood with Matchbox toy collection

My father Eric Petras told his kids and wife he’d never use a cell phone, but as soon as we forced him, he became glued to it. Perhaps his favorite thing to do on it is check up on eBay auctions, the prime vender for his toy car purchases.

He’s a collector of Matchbox cars, mostly fire vehicles. Mattel still puts out new Matchbox cars, but he likes the old ones, and isn’t into collecting the competitor, Hot Wheelz. 

He puts a lot of thought into organizing and choosing them, looking for what he likes at the right price. All of the cars are from the 70s, when he was at the age that he would buy the toys to play with.

He doesn’t exactly play with them anymore. 

Matthew Natsis keeps collecting comic books and toys

I spoke with Matthew Natsis, a collector of comic books and toys. Matt can be followed on Twitter @MattNat2000. Here are some photos of his colleciton, all pulled from his Twitter:

https://twitter.com/MattNat2000/status/482705643552272384

https://twitter.com/MattNat2000/status/342392842901155840

https://twitter.com/MattNat2000/status/629781663900250112

I got new Nintendo toys (not just Amiibo! [but there is Amiibo, yeah])

Sure, I don’t know what it’s like to experience actual hunger, I wear high quality clothes, and am comfortably enrolled in a reputable university, but I think it’s fair to say I’ve been a bit tight on cash lately. By that, I mean I really don’t have much, at all.

At all.

I can certainly say that I don’t have the kind of income that allows me to throw bones around on toys, but I did manage to snag two lately for little to no cost.

I actually got that Wario figure on the right the night before Halloween, because I live an extraordinarily exciting life. I didn’t have much of anything to do that night, so one of my roommates and I went down to Target and bought clearance candy to eat and not give to children. During our ransacking of the department store (and by “ransacking” I simply mean buying a few bags of inexpensive treats), I came across the Wario figure for just a few bucks and decided to snag him.

It’s an awesome figure for what I paid. He has a solid amount of detail and a great, funny pose.

Another day, I traded some games in at GameStop, with a plan to buy a game, but when I saw this pink beauty on the shelf, I had to have him.

He’s adorable, right? He is a little hefty in price, sitting at $16.99, three bucks more than a standard Amiibo figure, but he’s probably worth it. It’s very nicely textured and is delightfully covered in bits of fuzz.

I have a good life with zero regrets, is what I’m trying to say.

FIVE toys I want

I’m a 19 year old college student who does a lot of work for free in the hopes of eventually getting paid for doing the same work, and one who doesn’t have many friends, so I spend a lot of time wishing I owned toys I don’t own.

It makes sense, right?

It seems like every day I hear about a new collectible to blow cash on and then look at, so I can’t tell you all about every single one I would like, even though I know you, dear reader, would love that. So, I’ll give you the other thing you want: a handy-dandy numbered list of the things I want the most, based off of very subjective and ultimately arbitrary measurements!

Let’s get started.

1. Bob’s Burgers Pop! Vinyl

Owned by Funko

The new Bob’s Burgers Pop! Figures are fantastic, and excite me only a little bit less than the recently released Napoleon Dynamite ones. Each of them have the unique style and little touches that the Pop! Figures are known for. Linda has her hands pressed together, applying the excited emotion to her straight out of the show. Gene has his little keytar that he loves pulling out in the show to shred some sweet tunes. The figures are well-made, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that Bob’s Burgers is one of the best modern adult cartoons.

I want all of them by the way.

2. Arkham Knight Professor Pyg Action Figure

Owned by DC Comics

Batman’s villains are hugely celebrated, but most of the well-known ones were created decades and decades ago. Professor Pyg was created in the 2000s era and is perhaps the most likely villain of that decade to become a new household name. This Hannibal Lector-like character created by Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert in 2007 has already appeared (toned down substantially for children) in a 2013 episode of the short-lived children’s cartoon Beware the Batman as well as in the blockbuster video game Batman Arkham Knight this year. This upcoming action figure is based off of the version of the character in that video game, and it looks so, so creepy and cool.

There are other figures in this wave but I just want Pyg.

3: Yoshi’s Wooly World Amiibo Figures

Owned by Nintendo

Much of this blog has turned into a glorified advertisement for Nintendo’s Amiibo figures, because, yeah, I love them. I want just about all of them and won’t apologize for it. The plush toys based off of Nintendo’s latest game, Yoshi’s Wooly World, have been universally loved and I’m no exception. These chubby, colorful little guys are too gosh-darn adorable not to want to consume, consume and consume some more because there are three of them.

I want all of them, to be clear.

4. New Bionicle Figures

Owned by Lego

Hands down one of my most beloved if not my absolute most beloved toys from my youth are Bionicles. These buildable action figures from Lego were gone from store shelves for years and years, far past the years when I would pine for my mom to buy me new ones after I saw the commercial featuring All-American Reject’s “Move Along,” thematically about getting past suicide but appropriated to sell toys. They recently returned and when they did I had to buy a few, but now I’ve been noticing even more on store shelves, and are you kidding me?! Holy crap, the “Skull Scoprio” and “Skull Warrior” ones look downright awesome.

I just want those two, or at least that is what I am telling myself.

5. NECA God of War III Ultimate Kratos Action Figure

Owned by NECA

There are loads of valid criticism over its misogyny and overall dull and unengaging storytelling, but God of War III remains one of my favorite action games of all-time. The character of Kratos doesn’t speak to me much in terms of how he is written, but it’s a freakin’ cool character design that is iconic enough to make me think of the game he comes from. This upcoming action figure from NECA is awesome, with lots of articulation, solid detail, and great expression on the well-sculpted face. There are also lots of interchangeable parts, allowing customers to make just the Kratos they want.

There’s only one figure here and I want it.

Toys to Life – A History

It’s not often that new genres are added to video games, but I think it is fair to say that a genre was created with the release of Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure in 2011, commonly dubbed “toys to life.” The Skylanders video game launched with physical toys bought separately that come to life on the TV screen when put on a “portal” attached to players’ game console of choice. If you want more content, you have to buy more toys.

Image owned by Activision

Since then, Disney Infinity, Nintendo Amiibo, and Lego Dimension figures have also released, piggy-backing off of Activision’s genius.

Check out a timeline I created on the “toys to life” phenomenon here. It is interesting to see just how cluttered the events get the further one gets to the present.

Chibi Robo Amiibo Releases to Zero Controversy At All from Anyone

The new Chibi Robo video game has been receiving some middling reviews, going as low as GameSpot’s 4/10 score within the overall Metacritic rating of 63. It was already suspicious to have yet another spin-off release on the Nintendo 3DS that has nothing to do with the original game’s unique adventure gameplay, but for many critics, the game isn’t even very good on its own merits.

Things are looking dire for the game’s plucky, goofy protagonist. To coincide with the release of this new game, Jonathan Holmes of Destructoid put out a piece calling for readers to pray for the adorable little guy. “If he doesn’t make it this time, he likely never will,” Holmes writes.

What isn’t causing controversy, however, is the Amiibo figuring that hit retailers along with the game. It’s so gosh-darn cute that it’s impossible not to smile about.

His charm is undeniable. The simple character design itself is unchanged from its origin in the 2004 GameCube game, and what a brilliant design it is. The lack of a mouth is a particularly smart design decision, forcing players (and onlookers of this figure) to superimpose their own idea of how he feels onto his face.

Sadly, Nintendo’s often-forgotten robot is going to have to do some introspective thinking. He is having a rough time.

I finally snagged a Pit Amiibo

I’m not a fan of any if the Kid Icarus games, but I have always really wanted to own the amiibo of the star of the series, Pit. He was restocked recently at Walmart, which allowed me to snag him online. I had it shipped to my home address rather than my college address, because that is the address attached to my PayPal; when you’re quickly trying to complete an online order, you don’t want to get fancy with addresses. 

So, it’s been at home for weeks. My family visited me this weekend, so I got my hands on him. 

   
   
I like him a lot! The detail on the wings is nice, and I think the decision to make the plastic bit holding him up light blue is a good one. Sometimes the color has seemed arbitrary and weird on other figures, like the infamous urine-yellow of the Link figure, but light blue makes sense for this flying character. 

Now, I really need to get my mitts on the Dark Pit figure; it is the only one that my friend Nick has that I don’t, and it is way cooler looking than the regular Pit. He chose to camp out at Best Buy; I didn’t.

Survey Results: Toys, Collectibles, and YOU!

I recently conducted a survey on the topic of toys and collectibles, which can be accessed here. It was advertised to my classmates in my Multimedia class at Point Park University as welI as on my personal Twitter and Facebook pages. I got 24 responses as of 10 PM on October 11, 2015. However, three of those were not fully finished, and I decided to only use the first 20 completed results. That means that one poor soul didn’t make the cut. Sorry!

While the sample size of just 20 doesn’t make for relevant results on any incredibly notable scale, what I got is interesting, nonetheless.

Check out this first graph, which is in regards to the number of childhood toys responders still own.

Regardless of gender, none of the responders own all or even most of their childhood toys. I suppose there isn’t really a reason for owning old toys, unless:

1. You hope to eventually pass them onto your kids
2. You like to keep them for memories and/or display

The difference between genders is more or less non-existent. About half of each gender surveyed own a few, with the other half owning some. The only none answer was from a female; that person’s favorite childhood toy out of a choice of five (more on that question later) was building blocks/Lego’s/etc., so it makes sense why those were thrown out, sold, or whatever; having a bunch of building pieces lying around sounds like a hassle more than anything.

I had a majority of females as respondents (13-7), so that explains that double chose dolls as their favorite childhood toy over action figures.

What reigned supreme, however, were building blocks, Lego’s, etc. I don’t know about you, but I still love playing with Lego’s; I find the cut-off date on most of them ending at around 14 years old rather insulting!

Another interesting bunch of responses were for the question about respondents’ desks.

Turns out most people went for the “somewhat” option. Knick-Knacks is a very vague term, granted. A Knick-Knack could be things like framed pictures that have little to nothing to do with my topic of toys and collectibles. I do think that a willingness to have a cluttered desk is a solid gateway to becoming a toy fiend, though!

For that ideal day when they all love toys, it looks like they would like their purchases to be based off of movies, more than television shows, comic books, and video games.

I like to think that the responses reflect the general tastes of Americans today: movies, then TV shows, then video games, then comic books.

There’s hope in these respondents becoming future fanatics, thanks to their response to the following question:

Interestingly enough, the respondent who said toys are only for kids aged 17-21 has a “very” cluttered desk and bought a toy, statue, bobble head, etc. for himself within the past month. It was within a year for the other person who said they’re just for kids, who is at least 22 years old.

I think the world is ready to become a bunch of snot-nosed nerds.