F For Fake

Very nice! I'm wondering if with the news of cancelation, and the general market turndown, we won't see prices come down a bit. Seems likely. Maybe I can upgrade my 9.4s and 9.6s! I think a 9.8 of Primer is going to be out of my range for some time, but the rest may become attainable at a reasonable price once again.

Oh man that is a beaut. I’d love to see as many of them as you feel like sharing. I’ve contemplated many times pursuing these, as they bring back such memories. I have a full size vintage Pac-Man machine, I’d like to get the mini someday to go with it!

I think Mage would be a killer series, and should be easy enough to translate, as you said. With Grendel it looks like they’ve already shot a few episodes, so I hope someone will pick it up. Of course, in an era when studios are scrapping entire big budget movies, I guess it’s possible this will never see the out of day. Here’s to hoping!

Oh no! I'm sad that we're not getting it, but mostly I'm sad for Matt. He seemed so excited, with the weekly Monday Grendel posts and excitement over the new projects and all. It's been such a long road for him. I hope someone picks it up, I think it could be something really cool!

Here's a screengrab of EmGo's review of the Ultimates Optimus, side by side with RED, gives you an idea. They're pretty big figures!

Yeah, the ultimates are quite a bit bigger. I think the Ultimates are roughly 7" scale, while RED is more like 6". I only have the Megatron RED in front of me, and he stands a hair over 6", whereas the Optimus ultimates has to be more like 8". He's the tallest in the line so far, though, Bombshell is a bit shorter. But that's really what I like best about the Ultimates, is that they're a big, satisfying chunk of plastic.

I really love the one RED figure I picked up, Megatron. He's here on my desk at work. I will eventually pick the rest up, I've just been lazy, and since they're not flying off the shelves, I haven't been in a hurry. But for the price, they are really nice figures. Much smaller than the Ultimates, standing around the height of a Hasbro Deluxe. But lots of nice accessories, and great posing as well.

Oops, looks like I spoke too soon about the NERF Pulse rifle. or rather, Hasbro spoke too soon: Thanks for your recent order on HasbroPulse.com. We understand that you purchased the below item: F5729 NERF LMTD ALIENS M41-A Blaster We recently sent you an email about this product shipping soon. Unfortunately that was a mistake on our end - technology, am I right?! The product is currently in production and has encountered some unexpected delays in the process. The new approx. ship date for this item is November 1, 2022. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your patience! - Hasbro Pulse What's fascinating to me about these "unexpected delays" is that I originally placed the preorder back in August of 2021. So it's been well over a year since the orders were taken, and they're STILL having trouble. Oy!

I'm wondering if the Transformers Ultimates line isn't already in trouble. The first wave is the only one out, and it's already being discounted. Meanwhile, the fourth wave solicited cut the selection down to three figures from four, and two of the three were repaints. I'm thinking this line may not be long for the world. Hope I'm wrong, because I'm digging them, but the writing seems to be on the wall.

Picked up another Transformers Ultimate from Super 7 on the cheap. $29 and change from Amazon, for Action Masters Bombshell. I really dig the bright colors, simple geometry, and thick plastic chunkiness of this line. Its the price that's a killer. Four figures would have run me $220 or so, had I ordered through the usual outlets. Patience has paid off, as I've manage to get three of them for under $40 now, which is much more palatable. Still waiting for Banzai-tron to drop a bit more. Also, oddly enough, just saw that BBTS is running a one day sale, $169 for the set. Much better price, but still not as good as what I've gotten through Amazon. https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/151631

Oh cool, didn't realize Gamestop was carrying these as well. I ordered mine from Hasbro Pulse last year, and had honestly forgotten about it. Received an email this morning from Pulse saying it will be shipping soon!

A couple of packages arrived from IST this weekend. My Hulk and Captain Britain sale volumes were up first. I don't usually go with modern covers on these books, but I liked this Alex Ross image. And the Captain Britain book is one that I desperately wanted reprinted, as I sold my original 10 years ago or so, so it's nice to have it back in the collection. Also, I'm thrilled to finally have the No Man's Land omnibus set complete! This book sold like gangbusters, has already sold out at IST not even a week later. All of these volumes have been hot. This run, from Knightfall, into the Moench/Jones run, then Cataclysm, Contagion, and NML, was really the height of my Bat-fandom. I just really loved that era. It falls off pretty drastically after NML wraps up, though I'd probably pick up omnis of Bruce Wayne Murderer/Fugitiver, War Drums/Crimes, etc if they released them. The Larry Hama run is, oof, rough stuff. I know most folks would say the title returned to greatness with Hush, but that story is pretty overrated, imo. For me, things don't get cooking again until the Morrison run. My biggest hope is that they'll collect the post-Crisis copper age stuff in HC soon. Those epic-style trade lines, Caped Crusader and Dark Detective, have all sold out almost instantly, so the demand for the material is certainly there. Here's to hoping!

Omar had a sneak peak of this book during his Q&A this weekend. Looking forward to it. It'll be the Davis cover for me as well. IST should have them all day of, and with CGN, though they'll oftentimes show a book is "sold out" ahead of time, they USUALLY (though not 100%) have all of the books when they actually release.

I am woefully far behind. With this latest addition, I believe I'm up to about 350 for the year. Yikes! Doomsday Clock Vol 1 & 2 (comes to 12 issues) - There is a part of me that is very much in the "Can we just leave Watchmen alone?" camp. It is a great piece that stands on its own, and it cheapens the legacy a bit to have it constantly trotted out, and now tied into DC's larger marketing events like 52. Meh. That being said, as a story unto itself, it wasn't terrible, and I do like Gary Frank's artwork quite a bit. I'd say the first half was nothing exceptional, but the second half became significantly more interesting, as it tied more directly into the real "meaning" and significance of Superman. So, not terrible, I enjoyed parts of it, but, again, let's leave Watchmen alone, ok? (That being said, I loved the HBO television series, and found it a truly fitting sequel to the book.) The Amazing Spider-Man - Penguin Classics Library: So, we've all read these story multiple times, though, for me, I'd guess it's probably been 15 years or so since I've read the Ditko stuff. It's always so interesting to be reminded of just how odd those early issues were. The Ditko/Lee Peter Parker was kind of a jerk, a real anti-social hothead. Ditko's worlds are filled with paranoia and weirdos, and honestly, it makes Spider-man all the more interesting. These volume is beautifully printed and bound, nice large margins, lovely paper. The problem is that is skips around a bit like a "greatest hits" version of the early stuff. If you're looking for a pure chronological Spidey volume, save those pennies for the upcoming reprint of the Marvel Masterworks volumes. Most interesting here were the scholarly essays that preface the stories, along with the descriptions of the events between the selected issues. I'm all for a scholarly discourse and appreciation of the books. These new pieces, in particular, don't really break new ground, or really illuminate anything new that most of us haven't read about for decades. Still, it's always nice to read a sincere appreciation of the material.

Wow, well that's very kind of you, I appreciate it! I have a tendency to be longwinded, so it's nice to hear that I wrote something worth reading! Thanks!

This opinion displeases me!

Of these three, I'd pick the SME 15, just because the character still seems to have great upside and room to grow. The first movie did surprisingly well coming out of the pandemic, so the follow up should do great. Iron Fist is damaged goods for the forseeable future, and Gambit, well, I have always hated Gambit. But my best advice would be to save your money until you find something you desperately want. If all three of these are really speaking to you, and the money is burning a hole in your pocket, sure, get the SME 15. But if that's not the case, hold onto the cash until you see the thing that you instantly know is "the one".

Along the lines of toy soldiers, one day, in the future, someone is going to have to reckon with my toy collection. We don't have children, and my niece isn't interested in any of that stuff, so either I'll end up selling, or my wife will have to sell it if I'm gone. And by that point, will anyone out there care about G.I. Joe? They're already EXTREMELY fragile. The idea of these brittle plastic toys surviving another 10-20 years or more...doesn't seem likely. However, I love them. And while I've put a lot of money into them, I never thought of them as an investment. They're just something I collect. Transformers may do better. Transformers have endured in pop culture in ways that Joes and He-Man etc have not. They still make big-budget motion pictures, they're still making new cartoons, they're still making video games, and most importantly, they're still making a ton of toys. So I believe there will still be generations behind me that will care about Transformers. But Joes? Not likely. As for the comics and other stuff, my wife has my spreadsheet inventory which also includes a list of who to contact. Hopefully it won't come to that. In a perfect world, I'll live to sell the stuff, I'll make a little money, and we can retire in peace. but whatever happens, I've loved HAVING the stuff, and that is what matters.

I was all about Mile High as a kid. They'd send that big newsprint catalog, and I'd spend hours, if not days, paging through it, looking for "bargains". I'd circle the ones I wanted, always on the hunt for cheap, low grade first appearance books, or stuff that just sounded weird and fun. This was during the height of the 80's indie explosion, so there were a ton of odd new titles out to try. I also loved how you could pick out a free book from a small selection with your order, if you hit a certain threshold. I'd collect tin cans, mow the lawn, do whatever it took, to save up enough cash to make an order. Had to have my Mom write a check for me, and send it off. Then the wait! It was interminable! But I was always so thrilled when that box showed up, and I'd flip through my selections. Sometimes you got stuck with an alternative, which was disappointing, but I still loved seeing those bags and tiny white grading stickers. When I got a bit older, in the early internet days, there really weren't very many options for comics. I had to hit local shops, travel out of town, or there was the Mile High site. Prices had already started to get a bit silly, but there were still a number of $1 common books, enough to make orders worthwhile, particularly when there was a sale. Today, no, there's no way I'd place an order. Even the garbage is crazy expensive. But I can never deny (nor would I want to) the impact that Chuck and MHC had on me as a kid collector, learning the ropes. Lots of great memories of those catalogs.

I would agree 100%. This looks exactly like the kind of lot that is going to get the estate sale comic-dabblers all hot and bothered. "They're old, so they're worth $$$." This could get silly really fast.

Also, I noticed this yesterday: i used to be able to go to a "leave more feedback" page where I could see ALL of my transactions, both purchases and sales, that need feedback, but I can't find that as of yesterday. Very odd. Meanwhile, I just won an auction, and i DO have the option to leave feedback for that. Just not my sales. More dumb guy stuff, though I am leaving it up to atone for my stupidity.

Is anyone else having trouble leaving feedback on eBay today? The option has been removed from my sold listings. I've looked under several different menus, all of the places I'd normally be able to access it, but suddenly...in ain't there. On the desktop site OR the mobile app. Just need to leave positive feedback for a buyer who just paid me this afternoon and I can't, for some odd reason. Never mind, I'm a big dummy. I apparently turned on "automatic feedback" yesterday while I was clicking around. What a ma-roon. Carry about your business, nothing to see here!

See, I was just thinking that things were picking up! I've been placing an order every week for the last several weeks, and they seem to be growing .This week was a big one with the long awaited Batman: No Man's Land Vol 2 Omni, the reprint of the Gotham City Sirens omni, and the reprint of the Grendel Omnibus v 2. Meanwhile, I spent most of my money on clearance stuff last week, so I am still needing to grab Madman Library Edition 3. I think the latest MMW's FF and Werewolf By Night are hitting in the next week or two as well. I can't keep up!

And honestly, even if I have the messed up version, I don't care that much. I realize that's a mortal sin in some corners, but a couple of pages out of order is not going to drive me insane.

Congrats! It's a volume I want in the permanent library, but I also knew I wouldn't be reading it again before the new version came out, so I'm glad I was also able to flip mine, fund this new copy, and pocket a little extra!