Looking for some R&R? Well look no further. I have got some rants and randomness for the week. Let's start off with a rant, shall we? I hate driving. If I could teleport to the places I needed to be, I would be one happy chick. People have no concept of safety or etiquette on the road. It drives me insane.
Here is the scoop. Earlier in the week I was driving to work dealing with the usual morning rush hour traffic and the like. I was listening to a local radio morning show, finding out that this past week has been National Pet Peeve Week. Which was very interesting because as I was hearing this, I noticed this newish SUV speeding by in the left lane with a crack in the passenger drive window.
At first I was like, "They should fix that." Then I started to notice something strange. The cracked window started to rattle and all of a sudden part of the window flew out towards my car! As in glass, flying, at my car. It was such a weird experience to see glass hit my wind shield. It got worse though as the rest of the window flew out and hit my car. It was like put my car on a pole, because the glass was makin it rain all over the place. All I could do was scream.
My screams turned into anger as I realized that some moron was close to causing a major accident! To make matters worse the SUV drove off faster. I had no idea if there was some kidnapped fool in the front seat. Or maybe they were having a health problem occur on the freeway. I had no clue, but I couldn't catch up. So I just went to work. A little jittery, but I went to work. Of course I totally memorized the license plate number and texted it to myself. I will put my Nancy Drew skills to good use and find out the mystery of the SUV with the busted window. In fact that will be the title of the caper, "The Mystery of the Busted SUV Window."
Alright on to my next rant. I hate romance movies. I really do. I just had to sit through Love and Other Drugs, and I feel like I need some drugs. So let me get this straight, Anne Hathaway has perfect orgasms with Jake Gyllenhaal, and gets to have him romantically profess his love to her on a bus with old people? And he will take care of her with her health problems? Oh, and get this, it is based off of a true story. Really? That is not real life. People do not get perfect orgasms and over the top professions of love by Jake Gyllenhaal. Maybe one or the other, but not both. I mean really.
On to the randomness, does anyone ever wonder if they will cross paths with the people they bid against on Ebay? I was thinking about this, I have had a few Ebay death matches over some serious items in the past. And I have no clue what happens for the people that lose. Do they punch a wall? Do they stop by Dairy Queen and get a tub of soft serve ice cream? I have lost some auctions, and it did not feel good. At all. You just feel defeated.
So I wonder what would happen if warring bidders ever crossed paths in real life? Like would a real life death match actually ensue? I would like to think that the other bidders would be nice. I'm sure we'd have a lot in common. After all we would be bidding on the same item. Who knows though? I hope I never have to find out. I am not entering into Mortal Kombat over Ebay bidding wars. I just won't.
Speaking of death matches and Mortal Kombat, I thought you all might be interested in some random factoids. One of the neat things about blogspot is that I can view which of my posts get the most clicks. So drum roll please... Trashy or Timeless? Velvet Sky is my most popular post! I don't know what to think about that, I just hope that if the real Velvet Sky (and not the toy) ever reads it that she won't think I am actually calling her trashy. Just her action figure. That's all. No need for a wrestler to want to kick my dorkette behind or anything. Though I will say this, I can mimic a mean Catra voice, so hypothetically I could put up a good fight. I think.
Anyways moving along. Here is the thing, good things are about to happen. (Lord knows there needs to be some luck around me right now) New York Comic Con has begun and I have already seen a picture of Hasbro's Preview Night. They have a nice section for Jem and the Holograms featuring old Jem items. The most exciting thing is that Hasbro is actually going to be showing new Jem product at some point this weekend! This is really big. I am just hoping that the new Jem stuff will be truly outrageous. After all the speculation, it looks like Jem's relaunch is actually going to happen. I feel like it is the late eighties all over again. Now I just need some hot pink boom boom shorts and I am good to go!
Friday, October 14, 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Toy Chest Tuesday! Entrapta
Hello extravagant toy lovers! How is everyone? I am doing perfectly well, because it is a new Toy Chest Tuesday! And this week's edition finds me talking about a toy I never thought I would own. Ever. I know some of you have probably been wondering, "Miss M, when are you going to tackle any Princess of Power toys for a Toy Chest Tuesday?" Well here is the thing, before I could talk Princess of Power (POP), I needed to make sure I had a special POP toy to serve up for Toy Chest. Enter the tricky golden beauty: Entrapta. I think she is a perfect POP start for Toy Chest Tuesday!
It takes some dorks and dorkettes many years to hone and craft their toy edge. They may spend decades learning the ways of the toy store shelves, trying to figure out how to find rare items, even which toys are rare, all kinds of nerd knowledge. Others, like myself, have known at an early age the joyous wonders and collectible market value of rare and hard to find toys. I'm a natural, that, or it is just pure luck. I have always known where to go to find certain items. I am a genius at hiding certain rarities in a store hopefully saving it for a later date (yes I am one of those people.) I once hid a Marvel Legends Invisible Woman in a Wal-Mart for 5 months until I was finally ready to decide on making the purchase. No one found it. For 5 months. I don't play.
Anyways when I was little I loved nothing more than getting separated from my mom or dad at any given store and "finding" my way to the toy aisle. One day while grocery shopping with my mom I "wandered off" innocently enough to the makeshift toy aisle. There before me was Entrapta. As in the tricky golden beauty. This had been my first time ever to witness seeing a real life Entrapta. In a package, for sale. I instantly formulated a sob story that would pull at my mother's heart strings until she found no other way but to place Entrapta safely in the cart. After all, Entrapta would need a good home.
Well here is the thing, sob stories never worked on my mom. My dad was always another story. I could have gotten him to purchase every POP toy at the grocery store with just a bat of my eyes. However my mom was not having it, "I'm not buying this toy, you have enough She-Ra dolls!" I begged to differ, "But I don't have Entrapta! She is so hard to find Mom!" I pleaded. Made promises I knew I'd never keep. Swore I wasn't moving until Entrapta was with me. Nothing worked. I had to keep on walking. I was even reprimanded for running away from my mom when we first got to the store! As if I was some common villain!
Anyways time would pass and eventually there would be another chance in my life to own Entrapta. Now 20+ years later and an Ebay auction death match to end all death matches, I am now a very happy owner of Entrapta! Let's take a look!
It takes some dorks and dorkettes many years to hone and craft their toy edge. They may spend decades learning the ways of the toy store shelves, trying to figure out how to find rare items, even which toys are rare, all kinds of nerd knowledge. Others, like myself, have known at an early age the joyous wonders and collectible market value of rare and hard to find toys. I'm a natural, that, or it is just pure luck. I have always known where to go to find certain items. I am a genius at hiding certain rarities in a store hopefully saving it for a later date (yes I am one of those people.) I once hid a Marvel Legends Invisible Woman in a Wal-Mart for 5 months until I was finally ready to decide on making the purchase. No one found it. For 5 months. I don't play.
Anyways when I was little I loved nothing more than getting separated from my mom or dad at any given store and "finding" my way to the toy aisle. One day while grocery shopping with my mom I "wandered off" innocently enough to the makeshift toy aisle. There before me was Entrapta. As in the tricky golden beauty. This had been my first time ever to witness seeing a real life Entrapta. In a package, for sale. I instantly formulated a sob story that would pull at my mother's heart strings until she found no other way but to place Entrapta safely in the cart. After all, Entrapta would need a good home.
Well here is the thing, sob stories never worked on my mom. My dad was always another story. I could have gotten him to purchase every POP toy at the grocery store with just a bat of my eyes. However my mom was not having it, "I'm not buying this toy, you have enough She-Ra dolls!" I begged to differ, "But I don't have Entrapta! She is so hard to find Mom!" I pleaded. Made promises I knew I'd never keep. Swore I wasn't moving until Entrapta was with me. Nothing worked. I had to keep on walking. I was even reprimanded for running away from my mom when we first got to the store! As if I was some common villain!
Anyways time would pass and eventually there would be another chance in my life to own Entrapta. Now 20+ years later and an Ebay auction death match to end all death matches, I am now a very happy owner of Entrapta! Let's take a look!
Here is the front of Entrapta and her packaging. Entrapta was from the second series of POP toys. On the second series card, there is a smaller photo of Starburst She-Ra riding Swift Wind to the side. The colors are just bright and beautiful. I loved the Princess of Power font. It was just really great packaging and marketing. And look at Entrapta. She came with a shield, brush, and comic.
Do not adjust your eyes, you are looking at a toy with long braided pink and purple hair. Above the plastic dome is a statement about her infamous hair, "With hair that traps." Her extensions are deadly. Seriously. Parts of her are also painted chrome! How cool is she?
The back of the toy consists of a larger photo of Entrapta above a list of the other POP characters, and playsets in series 2. This picture of Entrapta is so great.
Upon closer inspection, we find out that Entrapta is a tricky golden beauty (as I have stated on repeat.) Her bio also states, "I help Catra make mischief in Etheria. With my golden beauty, I trick She-Ra and her friends into coming near. When they get close, I trap them in my long, colorful braids." She is vicious! In the cartoon, her hair was like extentions of her actual body. The braids moved like whips and helped operate machinery. Just awesome!
Also in the mini-comics that came with the toys, Catra and Entrapta were just the best partners in vile crime. Catra had a thing for Bow (She-Ra's special friend, i.e. booty call) and would always enlist Entrapta to help her try and capture Bow's affections. Bow wanted nothing to do with Catra, which always enraged Catra. Either way Entrapta was a true friend, she'd help Catra do whatever it took to snag that guy. Kidnapping. Death threats. Evil plots. She kept it real. I mean what a great friend!
Here is the back of the card! Series 2 was a really great series for POP. There were some heavy hitters, like:
Starburst She-Ra- Most powerful woman in the universe
Entrapta- Tricky golden beauty
Sweetbee- Honey of a guide
Peekablue- Watchful "feathered" friend
Crystal Swift Wind- She-Ra doll's "flying" crystal unicorn
Crystal Moonbeam- Nighttime protector of Crystal Castle
Perfuma- Scent-sational flower maiden
Mermista- Mist-i-fying mermaid
Scratchin Sound Catra- Jealous beauty, hear her scratch!
Flutterina- Beautiful flying lookout
Crystal Sun Dancer- Daytime protector of Crystal Castle
Clawdeen- Catra doll's glamorous cat
Sea Harp- Traveling melody maker
Butterflyer- Winged carrier for She-Ra and her friends
Crystal Falls- Refreshing water wonderland
So that is it for Toy Chest Tuesday! A look at Entrapta! The tricky golden beauty who gives good hair! I love her! And be sure to check back this week, there should be some great stuff!
As for next week's Toy Chest, prepare to meet Alf's girlfriend Rhonda! It's gonna be so great!
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Trashy or Timeless? Prince Adam of the House of Randor
Alright today we are checking out Prince Adam from the Masters of the Universe Classics line brought to you by Mattel. What do we know about him?
Let's see, he has really big biceps...
There are many women who fight over him...
Though his heart belongs to only one...
His sister is also the most powerful woman in the universe...
Which isn't such a bad thing when the Evil Lord of Destruction and his minions want Adam dead all the time...
Prince Adam is even cool with having a scaredy cat for a pet, not to mention a sometimes-annoying sidekick (thank goodness Orko is cute)
He is Prince Adam of the House of Randor. He is royalty! What else do we really need to know? I guess the biggest thing would be this: is He-Man's alter ego trashy or timeless? Alright toy fans, let's be serious here!
I would imagine there are good arguments for either side. Honestly, he is wearing lavender pants. It can't get trashier than that. Of course Prince Adam is from another planet (Eternia.) It is possible that princes just happen to wear skin tight lavender pants on Eternia. The original Prince Adam was made in the '80s so it wasn't far fetched for a toy to wear lavender pants at that time. Of course let's all make a pact to never ever wear lavender pants. I say this now, but watch me want a pair after they become trendy jeggings in the near future. Who's the trashy one now?
Moving past the lavender pants some could also argue that Prince Adam comes from a toy line that is no longer relevant to collectors and society at large aside from a group of rabid fans. How can he be timeless if no one remembers him? This could be true, but would that mean he is trashy by default? I don't think so.
If anything Prince Adam has no other choice but to be timeless, regardless if people know of him or not. Hello, he turns into He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe! This guy has appeared, in some form or another, in every decade since the '80s. That is kinda cool, and so far equals timeless to me. We won't truly know his timelessness potential until hundreds of years from now. Though I am going to guess that in those hundreds of years from now some dorky person will be holding a sword aloft and shouting, "By the power of Grayskull, I have the power!" That may be slightly far fetched, but I believe it! Of course what no one really knows yet is that He-Man's sister She-Ra will have a huge resurgence in popularity and actually become the more memorable twin. (Let's hope this comes true over the whole lavender jegging trend I spoke of earlier.)
That is it for now. Prince Adam is timeless, even if the lavender pants aren't. Until next time! Be sure to also look at some outtake pictures below. I had a blast taking all kinds of pictures in preperation for this edition of Trashy or Timeless. It was actually hard to decide which pictures to use. My favorite are the ones with Frosta and Sweet Bee. I even like a few of the Skeletor photos, though I am by no means a photographer.
Let's see, he has really big biceps...
There are many women who fight over him...
Though his heart belongs to only one...
His sister is also the most powerful woman in the universe...
Which isn't such a bad thing when the Evil Lord of Destruction and his minions want Adam dead all the time...
Prince Adam is even cool with having a scaredy cat for a pet, not to mention a sometimes-annoying sidekick (thank goodness Orko is cute)
He is Prince Adam of the House of Randor. He is royalty! What else do we really need to know? I guess the biggest thing would be this: is He-Man's alter ego trashy or timeless? Alright toy fans, let's be serious here!
I would imagine there are good arguments for either side. Honestly, he is wearing lavender pants. It can't get trashier than that. Of course Prince Adam is from another planet (Eternia.) It is possible that princes just happen to wear skin tight lavender pants on Eternia. The original Prince Adam was made in the '80s so it wasn't far fetched for a toy to wear lavender pants at that time. Of course let's all make a pact to never ever wear lavender pants. I say this now, but watch me want a pair after they become trendy jeggings in the near future. Who's the trashy one now?
Moving past the lavender pants some could also argue that Prince Adam comes from a toy line that is no longer relevant to collectors and society at large aside from a group of rabid fans. How can he be timeless if no one remembers him? This could be true, but would that mean he is trashy by default? I don't think so.
If anything Prince Adam has no other choice but to be timeless, regardless if people know of him or not. Hello, he turns into He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe! This guy has appeared, in some form or another, in every decade since the '80s. That is kinda cool, and so far equals timeless to me. We won't truly know his timelessness potential until hundreds of years from now. Though I am going to guess that in those hundreds of years from now some dorky person will be holding a sword aloft and shouting, "By the power of Grayskull, I have the power!" That may be slightly far fetched, but I believe it! Of course what no one really knows yet is that He-Man's sister She-Ra will have a huge resurgence in popularity and actually become the more memorable twin. (Let's hope this comes true over the whole lavender jegging trend I spoke of earlier.)
That is it for now. Prince Adam is timeless, even if the lavender pants aren't. Until next time! Be sure to also look at some outtake pictures below. I had a blast taking all kinds of pictures in preperation for this edition of Trashy or Timeless. It was actually hard to decide which pictures to use. My favorite are the ones with Frosta and Sweet Bee. I even like a few of the Skeletor photos, though I am by no means a photographer.
Who knew that Prince Adam could cause a royal rumble?
Prince Adam and Cringer, braving a new decade.
Evil glows in the dark.
Skeletor, all by himself.
The Evil Lord of Destruction gets some help.
Sweet Bee never knew what hit her.
Frosta never stood a chance...
Adam isn't sure what he should be doing, maybe he needs to call He-Man?
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Halloween Horror Stories
I love this time of year. October is such a fun month with Halloween and all. Halloween is like my second or third favorite holiday. First off there is the candy, all that yummy candy. Also one of my best friends was born on Halloween so there is always a fun birthday party every year. Of course there are the horror movies too. I will watch a good scary movie any time of the year, but I will really do my best to have a whole horror movie marathon to get me ready for Halloween.
The heavy hitters are all there, the Halloweens, Friday the 13ths, Nightmare on Elm Streets, and a few other fun fright films. I love a good scary movie. Even a good cheesy scary movie, hence the list I just mentioned. I love slasher films and monster movies. I love anything with zombies. Pile on the suspense please, but don't give me a ton of needless gross out gore. Torture films bother me, there tends to be too much excessive violence. I know the popular idea is that major horror equals major violence, but the thing is this, I watch a horror movie to be scared. Not grossed out. Bloody stumps and fake lifeless rubber heads do not scare me. So the whole jigsaw puzzle piece madman and grody hostel environments do nothing for me.
It seems that the majority of horror movies that have come out in the past ten years have been heavy on torture and gore. I rarely see any new movies that really freak me out. There have been a few. The Strangers freaked me out. The House of the Devil was really creepy (until the lackluster end) and had a nice vintage feel. However it seemed easier to be scared when I was younger than as an adult.
Of course I just recently saw Insidious. Can I just say, that movie freaked me out big time. If you have not seen it, run out and Netflix it, stream it or whatever! Just watch it! I really liked it. I'm not going to act like I am some know-it-all with horror movies, but I do know a thing or two. Or three. And this was a good scary movie.
So if you have not seen this movie, do not read anymore. If you have seen the movie, or don't care one way or another, by all means, keep on reading. The basic premise of the movie is this, a family freaks out when their son falls into a mysterious coma when all signs say he shouldn't be in one. Mom and dad freak out. The other two children are sad that their brother is in a coma.
Weird stuff soon starts happening as mom starts seeing and hearing scary things. Soon everyone in the family is dealing with crazy horrific events. All of a sudden the grandmother pops up and starts to shed some light on stuff after seeing a creepy Darth Maul like demon, that is purely terrifying. Anyway so what we find out is that the boy is not really in a coma. His spirit is stuck in the astral plane, with ghosts and all kinds of bad stuff trying to find their way into the little boy's body. Well the only real threat to the boy is the Darth Maul demon, who has the potential to inhabit the boy's body and cause havoc in the real world.
That is all I will say, but my goodness the movie was good. I was so scared, mostly because of the whole idea of the astral plane. I mean I read X-Men, so I am vaguely familiar with how the astral plane works. And it got me thinking about my own life, and all I could think of was, "Do I ever travel to the astral plane?"
Ok so check this out. I have many experiences where I am sleeping at night and it feels like I am floating in the air. Then there will be this feeling like I am falling onto my bed. Like I feel as if I really hit my bed and it jolts me awake. What if that is really my spirit going back into my body after chillin on the astral plane?
And then get this, when I was little, (like 3 or 4) I vividly remember being in my room at night. There was this strange man outside of my bedroom window and he was coming for me, like I don't know how I knew this. I just did. I knew he was coming after me and I remember screaming for my parents to help me, but there was no noise coming out of my mouth. It was so scary. Now I always believed that was a dream, though the strange thing is why would I have a dream like that at the age of 3 or 4? Unless, after seeing Insidious, maybe I was really on the astral plane and some grody old man demon was trying to inhabit my child body so he could own all my cool stuff. I mean this is real people! Now as an adult, I'm not losing my body so some demon can mess with my She-Ra toys ok? It didn't happen back then and it won't happen now.
I can't sleep at night! I am so scared that I am really going to some astral plane. I mean could it be possible that the astral plane is really a place where people's spirits just hang out and chill with other spirits while we are all sleeping at night? Maybe there aren't demons or anything, it's just people wanting to hang when they sleep? Maybe? Sleeping is seriously so difficult right now. I am so scared!
All I can see is that damn Darth Maul demon thing with the stubby Freddy Krueger claws humming to Tiny Tim. I can't take it! I just want to sleep. Of course I wouldn't trade it for anything. It is Halloween time. Scary movies come with the territory. So if it means I will have problems sleeping for the rest of the month, oh well. I will have all my Halloween candy ready to go as I pop in the next scary movie. Bring it on scary stuff! I love this time of year!
The heavy hitters are all there, the Halloweens, Friday the 13ths, Nightmare on Elm Streets, and a few other fun fright films. I love a good scary movie. Even a good cheesy scary movie, hence the list I just mentioned. I love slasher films and monster movies. I love anything with zombies. Pile on the suspense please, but don't give me a ton of needless gross out gore. Torture films bother me, there tends to be too much excessive violence. I know the popular idea is that major horror equals major violence, but the thing is this, I watch a horror movie to be scared. Not grossed out. Bloody stumps and fake lifeless rubber heads do not scare me. So the whole jigsaw puzzle piece madman and grody hostel environments do nothing for me.
It seems that the majority of horror movies that have come out in the past ten years have been heavy on torture and gore. I rarely see any new movies that really freak me out. There have been a few. The Strangers freaked me out. The House of the Devil was really creepy (until the lackluster end) and had a nice vintage feel. However it seemed easier to be scared when I was younger than as an adult.
Of course I just recently saw Insidious. Can I just say, that movie freaked me out big time. If you have not seen it, run out and Netflix it, stream it or whatever! Just watch it! I really liked it. I'm not going to act like I am some know-it-all with horror movies, but I do know a thing or two. Or three. And this was a good scary movie.
So if you have not seen this movie, do not read anymore. If you have seen the movie, or don't care one way or another, by all means, keep on reading. The basic premise of the movie is this, a family freaks out when their son falls into a mysterious coma when all signs say he shouldn't be in one. Mom and dad freak out. The other two children are sad that their brother is in a coma.
Weird stuff soon starts happening as mom starts seeing and hearing scary things. Soon everyone in the family is dealing with crazy horrific events. All of a sudden the grandmother pops up and starts to shed some light on stuff after seeing a creepy Darth Maul like demon, that is purely terrifying. Anyway so what we find out is that the boy is not really in a coma. His spirit is stuck in the astral plane, with ghosts and all kinds of bad stuff trying to find their way into the little boy's body. Well the only real threat to the boy is the Darth Maul demon, who has the potential to inhabit the boy's body and cause havoc in the real world.
That is all I will say, but my goodness the movie was good. I was so scared, mostly because of the whole idea of the astral plane. I mean I read X-Men, so I am vaguely familiar with how the astral plane works. And it got me thinking about my own life, and all I could think of was, "Do I ever travel to the astral plane?"
Ok so check this out. I have many experiences where I am sleeping at night and it feels like I am floating in the air. Then there will be this feeling like I am falling onto my bed. Like I feel as if I really hit my bed and it jolts me awake. What if that is really my spirit going back into my body after chillin on the astral plane?
And then get this, when I was little, (like 3 or 4) I vividly remember being in my room at night. There was this strange man outside of my bedroom window and he was coming for me, like I don't know how I knew this. I just did. I knew he was coming after me and I remember screaming for my parents to help me, but there was no noise coming out of my mouth. It was so scary. Now I always believed that was a dream, though the strange thing is why would I have a dream like that at the age of 3 or 4? Unless, after seeing Insidious, maybe I was really on the astral plane and some grody old man demon was trying to inhabit my child body so he could own all my cool stuff. I mean this is real people! Now as an adult, I'm not losing my body so some demon can mess with my She-Ra toys ok? It didn't happen back then and it won't happen now.
I can't sleep at night! I am so scared that I am really going to some astral plane. I mean could it be possible that the astral plane is really a place where people's spirits just hang out and chill with other spirits while we are all sleeping at night? Maybe there aren't demons or anything, it's just people wanting to hang when they sleep? Maybe? Sleeping is seriously so difficult right now. I am so scared!
All I can see is that damn Darth Maul demon thing with the stubby Freddy Krueger claws humming to Tiny Tim. I can't take it! I just want to sleep. Of course I wouldn't trade it for anything. It is Halloween time. Scary movies come with the territory. So if it means I will have problems sleeping for the rest of the month, oh well. I will have all my Halloween candy ready to go as I pop in the next scary movie. Bring it on scary stuff! I love this time of year!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Toy Chest Tuesday! Sour Grapes
Hello toy lovers! I have a new edition of Toy Chest Tuesday ready to go! Today we will be looking back on toys that smelled. More specifically from Strawberry Shortcake. Something strange has occured throughout Strawberry Shortcake's various incarnations and reboots. She hasn't really faced many enemies. Unless you count diabetes. I mean the only time that Shortcake and her friends had any real threats were from the original toyline. The Peculiar Purple Pie Man and Sour Grapes were the only villians to ever live in Strawberry Land. The Peculiar Purple Pie Man was an old guy that looked like a cross between Dr. Wiley and Luigi. Sour Grapes was his old partner in crime and always kind've reminded me of Ms. Havisham.
So here's the thing, old cranky people do not really make great enemies to kids that smell like fruit. Right? I don't see the threat. Unless the old cranky people are planning on baking Shortcake's friends into a dessert, I never understood why these folks were bad. In fact I always loved Sour Grapes. She smelled like grapes and her hair was purple with electric blue streaks. How could she not be cool?
I am going to show you pictures of my Sour Grapes mint in box. The one I had as a kid is at the bottom of a bin somewhere in my archival room. I have had a hard time trying to get everything out to display perfectly.
So here's the thing, old cranky people do not really make great enemies to kids that smell like fruit. Right? I don't see the threat. Unless the old cranky people are planning on baking Shortcake's friends into a dessert, I never understood why these folks were bad. In fact I always loved Sour Grapes. She smelled like grapes and her hair was purple with electric blue streaks. How could she not be cool?
I am going to show you pictures of my Sour Grapes mint in box. The one I had as a kid is at the bottom of a bin somewhere in my archival room. I have had a hard time trying to get everything out to display perfectly.
So there ya go. Sour Grapes. I could see how she might be somewhat frightening to the fruity kids of Strawberry Land. She has a pet snake wrapped around her shoulders, way before Britney Spears even knew what a snake was. The snakes name is Dregs. Her face also has those "I'm in a state of surprise" eye brows. Let's look closer...
I mean I love her. She has this tacky hot pink eye shadow on, and earrings that are clusters of grapes. She is like a crazy old grape lady. This is how I envision myself when I am Sour Grape's age. Drawn on eye brows, tacky hot pink eye shadow that I know I shouldn't be wearing. Finding ways to scare children that smell like baked goods. Wearing a live reptile for a stole. I will be the epitome of aging gracefully.
The side box explains that Sour Grapes' gown can be removed for dressing fun. I'm not sure but I think she'd slap someone for wanting to dress her up in anything other than a grape maxi dress. It also mentions that Dregs can be draped over her shoulders. Well at least she is not cruel to animals. This broad could be killing animals and wearing their furs like Cruella. No, she is more hardcore than that. She keeps the snake alive and wears him for fashion. Lady Gaga where are you? You've got your next performance outfit ready to go. Forget a meat dress, tape some real animals to you and see what happens!
Here is the back of the box. I don't know what Sour Grapes is trying to do with her arms, but she looks like she is stumbling through that broken down gate. I can't help but think, maybe the reason she loves grapes so much is that she uses the grapes to make her own special moonshine wine? Wouldn't that be great if Sour Grapes was really some wino? That would explain so much. The pet snake, the tacky make up. It all would make so much sense! Now all I need is a Robot Chicken episode to tackle Sour Grapes and her drinking ways. It would be awesome!
Anyways, that is it for this week of Toy Chest Tuesday! If all goes according to the postal service, next week should be a really cool Toy Chest Tuesday! I'm thinking something golden. And tricky...
Monday, October 3, 2011
Why aren't you watching?! New Fall TV!
Hi dear readers! Let's talk about TV today. Fall is a special time of year for my television. The networks and cable stations all rally together and throw a ton of new shows my way. It can be hard for a girl to keep up. So with a few weeks until the return of the Walking Dead and premier of Once Upon a Time, I thought it'd be nice to look at some of the offerings that are already airing. Or rather, the ones I am watching. With soaps and all, I can't watch everything people!
New Girl (Fox)- I am on the fence with this new show that sees Zooey Deschanel play a really awkard nerd girl who moves in with three really awkward-in-their-own-way guys after she suffers a break up. I love Zooey, she is really funny and always looks so pretty. However her humor with the show can be a bit much. I have only seen two episodes so far, and there are times where the nerd girl humor is slapped on a bit thick. I don't know exactly how to explain it, but with nerdy quirky humor you have to be careful. The character can become too cartoonish and silly. The three guys are pretty funny though too. In fact the guys have a "douche bag jar." Whenever a roommate says or does something "douchey" they have to put money in the douche bag jar. I love it! I want to carry a small douche bag coin purse and pull it out whenever I see some douchey stuff go down. I will be rich! (I'll have a new car in no time!) Also the storyline makes me wonder if at some point a couple or all three of the guys are going to end up falling for the "new girl" and she will be forced to choose. I say give the show a shot though, it isn't that bad.
2 Broke Girls (CBS)- Love this show. Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs are just pure comic goodness. I just love this show! The premise is simple enough, Kat and Beth become an unlikely pair as they end up working and living together. The writing and acting are both fantastic. The show makes fun of everything and has a real wicked sense of humor going with it. If there is one comedy show that must be added to your DVR list, it has to be 2 Broke Girls.
Suburgatory (ABC)- This is a promising show. I have only seen one episode, but it was cute and funny. Basically the show is a satire of suburban life. Sometimes satire can be awful and just eye rollingly unoriginal. However this show adds some heart to it so it is still engaging without swallowing itself up. Plus the actor who plays the dad (Jeremy Sisto) is Elton from Clueless! That is enough to make me want to watch! Plus Cheryl Hines plays a suburban mom that is just hilarious.
Dirty Soap (E!)- Ok I do not usually follow a lot of reality shows. I tend to prefer my scripted stories. Dirty Soap though is the perfect reality show for me to jump on board with. This show follows a group of soap stars as the deal with their lives and relationships. It is amazing. First of all some of the stars are from soaps I watch, so you just know I will be hooked. I always roll my eyes when non-soap people groan, "Oh soap actors can't act." That is total bull crap. Watch this show, you will see. Farah Fath and John-Paul Lavosier are nothing like their characters on One Life to Live. John-Paul seems really geeky and cool in real life, unlike his character Rex who is kinda goofy but was also a huge player. And Farah seems like a lot of fun in real life. Regardless if you love soaps or not, this is a really good show. The first episode has a scene with the son of a soap actor totally pounding his fist on the family dog after the dog bit him. It was so funny! Not because the kid got bit, that is never good. But that little kid was ready to go after that dog! This show is out of control, DVR it now!
Pan Am (ABC)- There was definitely a trend this Fall TV season with period dramas. Especially period dramas taking place in the '60s similar to Mad Men. The big issue I had would be, do I watch Pan Am or the Playboy Club? I gave both a chance but Pan Am won hands down. Why? The Playboy Club just could not interest me. I didn't really care about what the characters were going through. The show reminded me of Dick Tracy, except without the cool colorful mob guys with facial deformities. Whereas Pan Am has really been a good show so far. I cared about the characters after the first episode, which is always a good thing. It is also a visually great movie. I feel like if there were to be a cross over between Mad Men and Pan Am, it would flow well and look good. I don't see that with the Playboy Club and Mad Men. I even like the whole spy storyline on Pan Am. I wasn't sure how I'd like that, but it is working for me.
Charlie's Angels (ABC)- Ok so I grew up watching reruns of the original Charlie's Angels and it was always fun and campy. I also loved the movies that came out recently. I mean when Demi Moore walked out of the ocean in Full Throttle all I could think was, "I pray I look as good as her when I am her age." So it was only natural that I would give the new Charlie's Angels a try. I have to say, it isn't bad. I do like it. However, I do see myself getting bored with the show. Each episode is like a repeat. The Angels have a case to solve and through some action and glamorous scenes the case is eventually solved. I like cliffhangers. And serial story telling! I can't help it. So the jury is still out with this reboot. I will keep watching for now though.
Ringer (CW)- My favorite new show of the Fall season! Here is why: Sarah Michelle Gellar. I loved her on All My Children and of course followed her to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She is great, and Ringer is such a fun show. There is so much drama, mystery, and intrigue! I'm not gonna even try to explain the plot, you just have to watch it. It is so good. I really hope it continues and people tune in. The show is a playground for former soap actors making cameos as well. And Ion Gruffudd (Mr. Fantastic from the Fantastic Four movies) is awesome in the show too! I can't stop talking to people about the episodes! Another thing I love about Ringer is the music. There is always great music in each episode. In fact, check out Lana Del Rey. Her "Video Games" song is so gorgeous. I love it!
So that is it for the new Fall shows. I have a lot added to my TV schedule. Of course this isn't counting the shows I watch that have returned for the 2011-12 season, along with my soaps. That all needs to be saved for another post, the DVR is busy! I am excited though for the Walking Dead to come back, and I am really interested in the new show Once Upon a Time. It seems like Lost meets a fairy tale. I think I will be hooked!
New Girl (Fox)- I am on the fence with this new show that sees Zooey Deschanel play a really awkard nerd girl who moves in with three really awkward-in-their-own-way guys after she suffers a break up. I love Zooey, she is really funny and always looks so pretty. However her humor with the show can be a bit much. I have only seen two episodes so far, and there are times where the nerd girl humor is slapped on a bit thick. I don't know exactly how to explain it, but with nerdy quirky humor you have to be careful. The character can become too cartoonish and silly. The three guys are pretty funny though too. In fact the guys have a "douche bag jar." Whenever a roommate says or does something "douchey" they have to put money in the douche bag jar. I love it! I want to carry a small douche bag coin purse and pull it out whenever I see some douchey stuff go down. I will be rich! (I'll have a new car in no time!) Also the storyline makes me wonder if at some point a couple or all three of the guys are going to end up falling for the "new girl" and she will be forced to choose. I say give the show a shot though, it isn't that bad.
2 Broke Girls (CBS)- Love this show. Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs are just pure comic goodness. I just love this show! The premise is simple enough, Kat and Beth become an unlikely pair as they end up working and living together. The writing and acting are both fantastic. The show makes fun of everything and has a real wicked sense of humor going with it. If there is one comedy show that must be added to your DVR list, it has to be 2 Broke Girls.
Suburgatory (ABC)- This is a promising show. I have only seen one episode, but it was cute and funny. Basically the show is a satire of suburban life. Sometimes satire can be awful and just eye rollingly unoriginal. However this show adds some heart to it so it is still engaging without swallowing itself up. Plus the actor who plays the dad (Jeremy Sisto) is Elton from Clueless! That is enough to make me want to watch! Plus Cheryl Hines plays a suburban mom that is just hilarious.
Dirty Soap (E!)- Ok I do not usually follow a lot of reality shows. I tend to prefer my scripted stories. Dirty Soap though is the perfect reality show for me to jump on board with. This show follows a group of soap stars as the deal with their lives and relationships. It is amazing. First of all some of the stars are from soaps I watch, so you just know I will be hooked. I always roll my eyes when non-soap people groan, "Oh soap actors can't act." That is total bull crap. Watch this show, you will see. Farah Fath and John-Paul Lavosier are nothing like their characters on One Life to Live. John-Paul seems really geeky and cool in real life, unlike his character Rex who is kinda goofy but was also a huge player. And Farah seems like a lot of fun in real life. Regardless if you love soaps or not, this is a really good show. The first episode has a scene with the son of a soap actor totally pounding his fist on the family dog after the dog bit him. It was so funny! Not because the kid got bit, that is never good. But that little kid was ready to go after that dog! This show is out of control, DVR it now!
Pan Am (ABC)- There was definitely a trend this Fall TV season with period dramas. Especially period dramas taking place in the '60s similar to Mad Men. The big issue I had would be, do I watch Pan Am or the Playboy Club? I gave both a chance but Pan Am won hands down. Why? The Playboy Club just could not interest me. I didn't really care about what the characters were going through. The show reminded me of Dick Tracy, except without the cool colorful mob guys with facial deformities. Whereas Pan Am has really been a good show so far. I cared about the characters after the first episode, which is always a good thing. It is also a visually great movie. I feel like if there were to be a cross over between Mad Men and Pan Am, it would flow well and look good. I don't see that with the Playboy Club and Mad Men. I even like the whole spy storyline on Pan Am. I wasn't sure how I'd like that, but it is working for me.
Charlie's Angels (ABC)- Ok so I grew up watching reruns of the original Charlie's Angels and it was always fun and campy. I also loved the movies that came out recently. I mean when Demi Moore walked out of the ocean in Full Throttle all I could think was, "I pray I look as good as her when I am her age." So it was only natural that I would give the new Charlie's Angels a try. I have to say, it isn't bad. I do like it. However, I do see myself getting bored with the show. Each episode is like a repeat. The Angels have a case to solve and through some action and glamorous scenes the case is eventually solved. I like cliffhangers. And serial story telling! I can't help it. So the jury is still out with this reboot. I will keep watching for now though.
Ringer (CW)- My favorite new show of the Fall season! Here is why: Sarah Michelle Gellar. I loved her on All My Children and of course followed her to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She is great, and Ringer is such a fun show. There is so much drama, mystery, and intrigue! I'm not gonna even try to explain the plot, you just have to watch it. It is so good. I really hope it continues and people tune in. The show is a playground for former soap actors making cameos as well. And Ion Gruffudd (Mr. Fantastic from the Fantastic Four movies) is awesome in the show too! I can't stop talking to people about the episodes! Another thing I love about Ringer is the music. There is always great music in each episode. In fact, check out Lana Del Rey. Her "Video Games" song is so gorgeous. I love it!
So that is it for the new Fall shows. I have a lot added to my TV schedule. Of course this isn't counting the shows I watch that have returned for the 2011-12 season, along with my soaps. That all needs to be saved for another post, the DVR is busy! I am excited though for the Walking Dead to come back, and I am really interested in the new show Once Upon a Time. It seems like Lost meets a fairy tale. I think I will be hooked!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Custom Jem dolls!
Alright I have fantastic news for you all. I have it on high authority that Jem is coming back. And by high authority I mean Wikipedia. Rumor has it that Hasbro is planning on showing some new Jem dolls and I am assuming a new cartoon. None if this has been validated, but what we do know is that Hasbro will have a booth at the upcoming New York Comic Convention this month. They released a statement detailing that they will be showing new product and Jem and the Holograms was included as new product.
So what does this mean? It means that I am reliving the past and may actually have the chance to own some new Jem stuff. Back when the original dolls were out, I never really wanted any. I loved the cartoon, but the actual dolls were rather odd. As an adult I am kicking myself for never owning any, but when I was little all I could think was, "The Jem dolls are much bigger than my Barbie dolls, so how on Earth will they fit into the same imaginary world?" It just didn't work.
Now around last May when the Hub started airing old Jem episodes I got the idea to make my own custom Jem dolls. I got tired of waiting for Hasbro to make a move with new stuff. I just had to have a Jem doll, like ASAP. I will be first in line to get any new Jem stuff, however I am rather pleased with my custom Jem dolls. I will share some of the ones I have put together with you all! It is your lucky day!
First up is Jem:
So what does this mean? It means that I am reliving the past and may actually have the chance to own some new Jem stuff. Back when the original dolls were out, I never really wanted any. I loved the cartoon, but the actual dolls were rather odd. As an adult I am kicking myself for never owning any, but when I was little all I could think was, "The Jem dolls are much bigger than my Barbie dolls, so how on Earth will they fit into the same imaginary world?" It just didn't work.
Now around last May when the Hub started airing old Jem episodes I got the idea to make my own custom Jem dolls. I got tired of waiting for Hasbro to make a move with new stuff. I just had to have a Jem doll, like ASAP. I will be first in line to get any new Jem stuff, however I am rather pleased with my custom Jem dolls. I will share some of the ones I have put together with you all! It is your lucky day!
First up is Jem:
As you can see, this is more like an updated 2011 type Jem doll. She still has a shiny metallic pink dress, but it is strapless. She has a shorter pink hair-do and some sparkly tights. All she needs is a sound stage. Or a rockin roadster.
Here is a closer photo. I did not bother painting the crazy face make-up stuff like the old Jem either. I mean what is the point? I have no idea how to paint a doll's face and I am certainly not going to start now. And for those of you who are wondering, this Jem doll is courtesy of Barbie. I used a Swappin Style Barbie doll and a Swappin Style (SS) head. This line of Barbie dolls from Mattel are amazing because you can create all kinds of new characters. Let's just not say anything to Mattel about using their Barbie dolls to make my own special Hasbro Jem dolls, ok? I do not want to start a toy civil war. Most of the clothing is new, except for the silver belt and tights, those are vintage Barbie clothes (from a 1985 astronaut Barbie.)
Now we shall move on to Kimber!
Here we have Kimber, good 'ol messy Kimber. Kimber was made courtesy of the SS barbie dolls. Her pink hair is spot on for Kimber. I tried to find some blue pants, but instead this newly updated Kimber has a pink pair. The pants are actually vintage and come from the astronaut Barbie mentioned earlier. I love how in the '80s Mattel made an astronaut Barbie doll with a pink and silver color scheme (Barbie was highly fashionable in space.) The white tuxedo jacket and shoes are new Barbie clothes. I am actually thrilled, the jacket came from a new doctor Barbie, and it was perfect for Kimber's jacket!
The only thing this Kimber needs is two men fighting over. And a keyboard.
Next up is the lovely Shana:
Now I know what you are thinking, isn't Shana supposed to have a light purple hair color? She is, however I had a very hard time finding an African American Barbie doll with purple hair. I know there are a few, but for now Shana is just going to have a normal hair color. This was not a SS Barbie, but the actual '80s Astronaut Barbie doll! She is sporting a nice purple dress though and oversized '80s style jacket. I think she embodies Shana rather well, even though the hair isn't right.
Her hair color may be wrong, but look at her electric blue eye shadow! That is totally something that Shana would have worn on the show. In fact I think she did. The dress and shoes are new, but the jacket was a reproduction from a vintage Barbie doll. I love reproductions.
The final custom I have is Raya:
Ok I will admit, out of all the custom Jem dolls I made, Raya is the biggest mess. Her pink hair is perfect, but this doll was a part of some Barbie butterfly show, so the mold has a much smaller frame than a regular Barbie doll. All the clothes I tried to put on her were way too big. This outfit was the only one I could find that fit decently and looked like a fun tacky '80s Jem get up. I also tried to make her veil into an interesting Gaga-esque hat. I just hope she doesn't look like a hooker extra from Pretty Woman. That was not my goal.
Here is another photo of her. Her makeup is subdued, but I think Raya (from the cartoon) had a less-is-more approach to makeup anyway. The dress, belt, and jacket are from a Barbie vintage reproduction. Actually the clothes came from a Barbie and the Rockers reproduction, which makes the whole custom so ironic. Barbie and the Rockers was a line of dolls made to rival Jem and the Holograms. So I find it quite funny that I am using a Barbie doll and some Barbie and the Rockers clothes to make a Jem doll. Somewhere my old Barbie and the Rockers dolls are rolling over in their plastic bin.
Finally here is a picture of the set. I know I am missing Aja, but I have had the toughest time finding a teal haired doll. I have not given up my search though and will find one! I mean these Holograms are missing their bandmate! Aja just has to join them!
I have also been thinking of how to customize some Misfit dolls. I think that would be so cool. I mean everyone needs a custom Pizzazz doll. She hates hippies and Jem. What more could you ask for?
So until next time folks! I hope you liked the custom Jem dolls, and if you want more information about any of these dolls or any tips on customizing Barbie dolls, just ask!
Also, be sure to check back, because I will be addressing the new Jem stuff once there is any news from Hasbro!
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