Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Comics - Reboot - Vol. 1 'Change is constant'

TMNT feels quite 'in' atm... I don't know if this is just me or if it is really that case. The last few months I got so hooked on TMNT even though I wasn't the hugest fan back in the day. I mean, I watched the show on TV and liked it and I saw the movies and liked them, but I never had any figures or other merchandise. IDW started last year a new Comic series, retelling the story from the beginning with many changes, but it really shows that the people working on it love the source material. I'm really open to changes, but of course there will always be things, that I prefer in the original version as well as stuff that I prefer in other adaptions.

At first I got the first two issues and then decided to buy the first tradepaperback when it came out. It collects the first 4 issues, so I didn't read anything from issue 5 and later.

The story deals with how the Turtles and Splinter got mutated and introduces April, Casey Jones and a new enemy, a street cat that got mutated as well. Here April is a scientist like in the original comics, but is younger and works with the not yet mutated Turtles and Splinter. She even gets to name them. So the four boys are not from a pet shop, but held in the labaratory and Splinter is already experimented on. He is not mutated, but has enhanced brain power (or whatever you call it) to explain why is so clever and knows so much to teach the Turtles later.
Another change is that Raphael got seperated from his brothers. I kinda like this idea as it explains his loner status in the group. Like in the original he is also the one who meets Casey Jones. Like April he is younger and has (in contrast to the original) a dark backstory. Now....Casey Jones is my favourite character and I'm not sure if I like this version or not. Here my thoughts on it :

This will be a bit spoilery.

In the IDW series Casey has a father who drinks and beats him, because he can't get over the death of his wife (Caseys mom). I'm a sucker for tragic and dark backstories, but this sounds so very, very clicheed and gets presented so fast and without feeling. Just BAMM dead mother and father who drinks on the first few pages that he is introduced. I know such things exist and it can work in a story, but that needs a bit time and development or anything.
For example it's just told trhough Casey that his father drinks because he can't deal with his wifes death, but it is never showed. There is no sense of sympathy or of his suffering. He acts and is presented just like the 'cannonfodder' thugs that normally appear. Without the dialog I would have thought he is just some guy who likes to fight and would have never guessed that he is supposed to be Caseys father, or that he is supppossed to be a drunk.
It just seems like a uninspired sob-story that way and doesn't make Casey a deeper character nor does it really explains Caseys behaviour. Casey generally appears just like a normal guy , just a clever kid and not more jaded than any other one of that age. The hockey mask and vigilante stuff doesn't really fit him.
You know who he totally reminded me of? Cyclops from X-Men Evolution! Really! Read the first issue of the comics where he is introduced to the X-Men. He has the same way of smiling.
Normally I don't have such harsh words...it isn't even meant in a harsh way. That were only the first few issues and not really time for development yet. Generally I think there is potential to this new version of Casey and I'm gratefull that he has so much 'screentime'.
For now I'm just missing the crazyness. In the original comic he didn't have a backstory, the creaters didn't want any because they thought such dark backstories where so overused. Casey is just some guy who watches to much TV and is kinda crazy, but means well. Like April puts it, he is just like a kid inside. I think that makes him such a fun character.

rant. end.

Flea market haul #14

Today was the big flea market I kept ranting on the whole last month. The wheater was great and we went quite early before it got too crowded. I went all out on buying. Sadly only one G1 Pony and a handful of G3s. Not not single G4. Videogames were wuite rare too....wellt at least older ones. Only 4 SNES games and a few controllers. What I could have bought tons of were Barbies, Barbies, Barbies, but I picked up only 3 that I liked.

- A whole bunch of Nintendo plushies :) I only wanted to pick up the Yoshi, but they sold it so cheap that I took all of them and paid them a bit more than they wanted (I'm like that...) - SNES games : 'Donkey Kong Country' and 'Zombies ate my Neighbours' Two very good games I used to play when I was younegr at friends place. Glad to finally own them myself :) - 3 Barbies I haven't looked up yet - 4 G3 Ponies - G1 Baby Pony Snookums - Polly Pocket (incomplete) - Two Teenage Mutant NInja Turtles sets Polly Pocket style (only one has some figures...those thigns are awesome) - 3 TMNT figures : Casey Jones, Fugitoid and Usagi Yojimbo !! Byebye money!

My little Pony G1 - Macau Jenny

Another Pony I bought as a child at a flea market and untill recently I didn't know she was a special version. To be honest when I was young I didn't like this pose that much and found her a bit boring. But now I love her :) She really stands out among the other Ponies and the bwon-white color combination looks pretty neat, especially with her lovely sky-blue eyes <3

Yes her hair has been cut. I don't remember if I bought her like this or if I did it myself (I wanted to give my Lemon Drop the same haircut but messed it up -__-;). While it's sad that she isn't in her original condition I like the haircut on her because you can see her eyes better.

Flea market haul #13

Normally I don't buy stuff this expensive, but I really, really like boxed NES and SNES games. Okay...I found Mega Man 2 glittering in the sun. I really hope the guy would sell it very cheap, but I wasn't so lucky. Well...it was an okay prize.

It's the Germany box in case you are wondering. The European box art doesn't look as....uh...strange as the US one. Mega Man himself looks a bit strange, but Dr. Wily looks really awesome! I also picked up a whole bag of Barbie stuff for very little money. At first I just searched for a few dresses and stuff and wanted to take a beheaded Phone Fun Courtney with me, but I ended up just taking everything. Sadly that stuff smells bad! BAD! I'm still working on cleaning everything. But when I'm finished I'll have a complete Hollywood Hair Ken a Phone Fun Courtney with her top and dress and many outfits. I also saw a guy with lots of Lil' Miss dolls, even the singing Mermaid one, but they were too expensive for my taste.

My little Pony G1 - Twinkle-Eyed Ponies

More Ponies that where released before I was born :p

Sky Rocket (Edelsteinchen)  was released in 1985. Sadly the first few plugs of her mane are completely cut off, but as a child I HAD to pick up every pony I saw at flea markets and I think the short haircut looks cute on her.

 Locket (Schlüsselblume)I picked up the same day. While her mane is still intact, she has age spots all over her.
I still really loved both of them as a child as I generally prefered the earlier Pony designs and these two really stood out among my other Ponies.

Tic-Tac-Toe (Trixi) I bought just two months ago for very cheap and I'm so happy to have her! Love the vibrant yellow color :) I got her so cheap because she has slight scratches at her mouth and an age spot, but that doesn't bother me at all! :D Bother her and Locket where from the second wave of Twinkle-Eyed Ponies from 1986.

I really wish I had more of the older Ponies!

Thanks for looking!

Random Post

More and more stuff keeps adding up. I need more space!

Mattel Girls of all generations, a G3 Pony, a sheep nici plush and a wonderful plush of my favourite Pony handmade by Moonbubble :3

Flea market haul #12

Oops...what about no more flea markets?

Well, I got all this My little Pony G3 stuff from the same lady I bought the Polly Pocket stuff before. Everytime I walk by she talks to me and tells me what new stuff she has and I'm so bad at saying 'no'. It wasn't super cheap, but it was MLP and I rarely see MLP stuff at the flea market here. I really like the Boutique with the sewing machine, sadly its missing most of the other stuff that belonged to it :(

I'm starting to grow on the G3 Ponies a bit...can't wait to clean them and do their hair.

Japanese Super Nintendo Games / Super Famikom games

Japanese Snes games are actually very fun to collect. It's so hard to get boxed games here and when you find them, they are often totally over-priced. Even loose games tend to be 8€ and up depending if it's rare and popular or not. Try getting a game like Terranigma or Secret of Mana or Castlevania 4 for a decent prize!

In Japan used games are so much more cheaper. Seeing seemingly endless shelves of boxed games for good prices is like gamers heaven :p Well...game stores in Tokyo are often more expensive, but still cheap compared to prices here.

Still I only own 10 games so far because I just got a (su)fami-clone console just two years ago.

Sorry for the crappy photo...but here they are!

 Romancing SaGa 1 & 3, Final Fantasy VI, Madara 2, Dark Half and Breath of Fire 2 I got in Japan. Romancing SaGa 2, Mystic Ark and Lennus I got from ebay.com for 7€ each including shipping from Japan. And Battle Robot Retsuden I picked up at an online game shop where I made a bigger order. It was cheap and I felt sorry for it :p

 As you can see...all of them are RPGs of some sort. I'm a fan of the SaGa series, so of course I had to pick them all up and FF6 is one of my all-time favourite games and for 2€ it was a no-brainer. Other than that I just pick up what is cheap and looks interessting. I love to stumple upon games I had never heard of before. Often it's worth it simply for the nice box art. The box art from Madara really caught my eye because the art is by Hiroyuki Asada who is responsible for the basketball Manga 'I'll / Generation basket'. Never read all volumes but I really like the art style (and basket ball!).

 Dark Half has some really nice box-art, too and it's from Enix. (Still remember when Squaresoft was still Squaresoft and Enix was still Enix? And both made good games?? ) Well...according to the boy you play both the good guy and the bad guy and see both sides of the story.

 The back of FF6 looks really plain compared to the awesome art on the front. I really love this artwork!

 Breath of Fire 2 always had a special place in my heart :) When I first saw it featured in a videogame magazine I totally fell in love with it. That awesome artwork!!! Loooook at it! Colors! Yay! It still took a few years till I finally got it from a flea market. It was without the box, but now I have the japanese version in perfect condition so all is fine ;)

  Here is the back with a cute artwork of Ryu and his sister as children. Aw~

 Here next to the european version with my beat up manial. I now how much people hate new artwork for the "western taste" and while I love (LOVE!!!) and prefer the original artwork I still think the artist for the western version did a really great job changing the manga-style into a us comic style and stayed true to the original designs. Especially Rand looks awesome :)
The artwork inside the manual the original one, so I don't mind a different style for the cover at all.

 This post was really random....Thanks for looking anyway :D

Final Fantasy Trading Arts Vol. 1

Some years ago I was collecting Final Fantasy figures like crazy and I wanted to take a small break from doll and pony posts :p

There were two types of these figures. The japanese ones who included Cloud, Sephiroth (both FF7), Yuna, Lulu (both FF10), Rinoa (FF8), Vivi (FF9) and Zack (FF7) as a secret bonus figure. The figures were sold in boxes and you did not know which figure would be inside them...hence the name Trading Arts. In the US (and the rest of the world) only Cloud, Sephiroth, Rinoa and Yuna (I think) were released. They were on cardstock with clear plastic bubble packaging (um...there is a word for it) like most action figures are sold, so you could actually see what figure you were buying.

Well...here is what the japanese boxes look like...I don't know if I still have some of the us packaging somewhere.

 A group shot from my figures. Sadly I have neither Zack nor Vivi. The Vivi figure looks very cute though... Yuna and Lulu are from the japanese figures while the others are US ones. The molds are the same, but the paint job is different. The US figures have a skin-colored plastic as base with the clothes and details painted on. The Japanese figures are completly painted. You can clearly see in this picture how the skin-tones differ. Another difference is that the japanese version of the figures need assembly, not much, just a head or arms here and there.

 Now, let's take a closer look and start with Lulu from Final Fantasy X  :) I have to say I really love the pose they chose for her. It makes her really stand out from the rest. The paint job on the other hand...I don't like so much. The white face and red eye make her kinda creepy looking and the paint on the rest of her body looks smudged. It still looks neat, but with a nicer paint job it would have been such an awesome Lulu figure.

 Rinoa...what have they done to you?! And I don't even like the character! I don't know what's up with her stance...she just don't stands up straight. The attempted the knitted look on long vest, but not on the armwarmers. They look really loose and have these strange stripes in a diffrent type of blue that don't make any sense. The boots look lazy and nothing like her original design. Her face looks really off, too. Bad paint job over all. The only thing that looks good is her skirt :/

 Just a bit less worse than the Rinoa figure is the one of Yuna. But the only thing that makes her look slightly better is her more detailed design. She has this long neck and tiny face that makes her look really off. Her dress should be longer... but other than that they at least tried on the details like the gradient on her sleeves.

 The last two figures look as if they belonged to a different set. Really.... Sephiroth and Cloud look awesome! I don't understand why they couldn't make the others as good as these. And I don't even really like Sephiroth (there! I said it! Don't hit me :p ). For me these two figures look a bit as if they stepped right out of a dojinshi. Especially Cloud looks quite fragile and lookes more feminine than the female figures in the line. Well... I still really like it.

 My only complaint is the wobly sword, but better this way than it breaking of at first touch.

 Really neat, right!?

There exit FF Trading Art Vol. 2 Figures, but it seems there never was a Vol. 3 released. Instead we got Mini Figures, Dissidia ones and (gasp!) FF Tactics figures.

Well...I hope this was a nice break from ponys and stuff :p

Monster High Dolls!

Oh my... do you know this moment when your brain kinda snaps and you just buy out of impulse because you are so damn frustrated? Well... that happened last friday. Normally I buy only from flea markets and I generally hate spending money. Now I bought not only one but two Monster High dolls. 20€ each... I still feel bad about it and really want to spend as little money as possible this months to make up for it (let's see how that plan will turn out...).

But here they are! Toralei Stripes and Laguna Blue!

 At first I wanted to get only Toralei, because I love tigers and I think she looks great! It's so rare to have dolls with a short haircut. But the first store did not have her and I did not want to go back empty handed so I picked up the pretty Laguna....later I saw Toralei at a super market and just had to take her home.
For now a few shots of Laguna :)

 I love freckles! Also note her little fins on the legs and arms and the fishweb between her fingers. She also has matching ears, not normal human ones.

 She has big eyes that kinda seem fishlike.

Her face is really different from Toraleis. I like that the dolls have individual faces that fit to their monster types.

More pics will follow :)

Littlest Pet Shop # 2341 - Shimmer 'n Shine Fox

I picked up this cute little guy because he was only 2€ at a local toys store. While I find them really cute I normally don't buy LPS toys because they are too expensive and there are just way too many of them. But 2€ isn't so bad and it's a fox and foxes are cute :) I also liked the plastic box, because you can remove him and still have him in nearly MIB.

I was a bit shocked when I found out that the normal retail prize for those are 12€ !? Wow..... So I guess I made a good find. If there are still some left at the store I might pick up another one next time I go there :)