Thrift Justice – What You Leave Behind
It's funny when people find out about my whole thrifting obsession. One of the first questions I get is "Where do you keep all of the stuff?" Well, it's spread across the state of Maryland in various strongholds. Or am I lying? The point I wanted to make today is that, contrary to popular belief, I don't buy every quirky little thing that I come across. In fact, there are a lot of items that I'm simply thrilled to see, and don't really need to go through the trouble of lugging them home. There have been many items that caught my eye for various reasons, but I had to leave them where they were. I thought I'd share a few of those with you today.
If this isn't your first time here, then you already know that I have an unhealthy affinity for boybands. It is what it is. That said, it was a lot worse when I was in high school. I bought more YM and Teen People than any heterosexual male should ever purchase. I couldn't help it, though - every issue seemed to focus on some boyband du jour, and I LOVED the embarrassing stories letter columns. Those chicks were TOTALLY MORTIFIED!
Anyway, I just found the cover to this to be hilarious. 98 Degrees were in a weird place, as they actually came out prior to the boyband explosion, and then had to change their image to fit with the times. Just look at the nerdlinger in the middle. I STILL don't know how he got in that group. Was he just a really old Make-A-Wish patient or something?
Once upon a time, Haim Saban gave birth to a really gifted child, known as the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Since Haim had a success on his hands, and he LOVED money, he decided to give birth to another child. This second child would take advantage of the world's new fascination with the concept of "virtual reality". He created VR Troopers, in which a bro, his black friend, and the chick who won't let him bang, all have the ability to enter a VR world, where they fight a white businessman who hasn't yet learned that the real fun is in foreclosures. Oh, and there's also a talking dog. Anyway, Saban's second child was seen as the retard of the dynasty, and we done away with after 2 seasons. What you're seeing is a GIANT figure of main character Ryan Steele in his VR form. This thing is a good 15 inches, at least. It was made by Kenner, so it boasts minimal articulation. There was a part of me that felt it would make a quirky mantle piece, but I just didn't want such a totem of failure messing up my chi. So, I had to leave Ryan behind.
OK, now this one is a real kicker. I was in an antique mall, and stumbled upon this little piece of history. You're not going to be able to read the text, so let me spell it out for you. On the left is a letter written to James Earl Ray, who you might know from history class as Martin Luther King's convicted assassin. I put the word "convicted" in there, as an article featured in the New Times magazine on the right implied that King's death was part of a vast conspiracy. If you want to know more about that, there's always Google and Wikipedia. No, the interesting part is on the left. It was a letter sent to Ray while he was in prision. The author of the letter was giving Ray his support, saying that the article had provided enough evidence that the case should be reopened. At the bottom of this letter, Ray actually wrote a reply, with prisoner number, signature, and all. It's also funny that he writes "Ray" the same way it was written on the movie poster for the Ray Charles biopic. Now, THAT would be a conspiracy!
Before he became an internet meme and Texas Ranger, Chuck Norris was just a dude with a beard who starred in borderline shitty movies. He also had a actually shitty 80s cartoon, called Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos. Ya know, considering how many shows kept replacing "C" with "K" in their titles, it's no wonder our generation can barely read. Hell, one of your friends might be reading this aloud to you as we speak! But I digress...The 80s were an odd time, what with deregulation and all, where you could have a 5-episode miniseries that's rerun throughout an entire season and also spawns a toy line. FIVE EPISODES! But that's exactly what happened here.
I got one of the figures when they first came out. Still have him. You can't imagine the torture I inflicted on that thing. The one toy that I always wanted, however, was his car (or would that be "kar"?). Actually, its proper name is the "Karate Corvette." I honestly can't believe they didn't go with "Korvette"; who was steering this ship?! Oddly enough, I've been having dreams about this toy lately. Don't ask why - I couldn't tell you myself. The dreams must have been an omen, however, that the Karate Corvette would soon enter my life. Ever since I started doing these thrift runs, I had a mental list of toys that I expected to see, and this car was always on it. Last week, my search was over, as it was right before my eyes. This car is 80s badassery cranked up to 11. Not only is it a Corvette, which was THE pussydrencher automobile of the decade, but it had fucking ninja blades that popped out of the sides and hood! It's like a 4-wheeled assault on homeless guys who try to wash your windows at red lights! I always wanted this car, but this one wasn't in the best shape, plus it's almost the size of a Barbie Corvette. No, I would have to leave it behind. After all, Chuck can't drive it in the World of Warcraft, anyway.
Back when I was 12, and before I learned that they showed boobs during Masterpiece Theatre, Ghostwriter was the coolest thing on PBS. Basically, it's about a bunch of New York tweens who solve mysteries through the power of literacy. They were aided by Ghostwriter, who appeared like a karaoke ball and would rearrange available letters to send them messages. Sure, it sounds pretty dumb now, but it was pretty engrossing, especially when most story arcs were 4-5 episodes long - somewhat unheard of in children's programming. None of those kids went anywhere, except for Spanish Kid #2 who ended up as Token Gay Guy on The Real World: Philadelphia. Nope, no room for this in my lair. Plus, I'm still kinda pissed off that they never got around to telling Ghostwriter's origin!
Blue Collar Ninja! How awesome is that?! It's like something out of The Adventures of Dr. McNinja. I'm STILL kicking myself for leaving him behind. He would've looked GREAT on a shelf, but I was put off by his bootleg nature. He looked like the kind of thing that would just fall apart once I got him out of the bag. Blue collar ninja! He pays bills, drives a truck, and SILENTLY KILLS PEOPLE!
So, on that note, I think I'll wrap this up. This is most likely the last Thrift Justice post of 2011, so I thank you all for joining me for the ride. Be sure to come back in 2012, when I'll be another year older, yet hopefully just as funny. Until next time, keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars!
Thrift Justice: YSE – Yard FAILS
So, you read all of these posts, and you simply MUST wonder at all of the luck that I seem to have. "Where does he get all those wonderful toys?" Well, my friends, it's not all sunshine and sloppy joes over here at Casa West. You see I, like you, sometimes fail. I've been trying to put this post together for a while, but recent events seemed to dictate that now was the time. During my last real yard sale run, I decided to bring trooperlite along with me. Known as "Special Forces" from my TRU days, we both share a love of thrifting and Power Rangers. I figured it'd be fun to have a partner in crime, so off we went. And this was single-handedly the worst yard sale run I've ever experienced. He apologized for jinxing me - while I don't blame him for my misfortune, it probably was his fault. I mean, when I'm alone, I'm UNSTOPPABLE! All kidding aside, though, I've found that "you can't win 'em all", and every trip is still a learning experience. I figured I'd let you in on a few of my biggest yard fails. NOTE: The pictures are crappy to hide my shame.
Transformers are proving to be my blind spot. I can't pretend to know more about Transformers than Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, and Megatron. I have the Transformers knowledge of a suburban soccer mom - "Ooh, look how cool and yellow this little guy is!" That said, I know that TF toys are highly collectible, so I find myself taking chances on things that I really shouldn't. If there's one thing I've learned, it's "stick with what you know". I don't yet have a TF expert in the fold, so this had led to quite a few disappointments. Mainly, I've learned that you'll NEVER find a complete Transformer in a yard sale/thrift store capacity. That being said, for me the main criterion is "Can it still transform?" Basically, if it can still be changed from mode to mode, and isn't missing important appendages, it's good enough for me. Even worse is when dealing with Beast Wars/Beast Machines toys. About a month ago, I bought around 12 Beast Wars figures, and after sorting through them I could say that only 3 of them were anywhere near a "complete" state. That's why there are very few Transformers items coming to Will's World of Wonder - I don't want to pass off crap to people. If you see a TF toy on there, it's been extensively researched to make sure it's worthy of someone's collection. *end of shameless plug*
ALWAYS check DVD packages! If it's open, make sure the disc is in there! You see, a few months back, I discovered the USA show PSYCH, and fell in love. Where had this show been all my life? So, as luck would have it, the following week I ran across a yard sale near my house. This yard sale was a bit shady, based on the quality of items I saw. A recent trend I've noticed is that the popularity of Storage Wars has gotten more people into the storage auction game. Unfortunately for them, most units aren't filled with rare artifacts, but rather the personal effects of some single mom as she left town under the cover of night. So, they win these lockers, and then host yard sales to make their money back. Everything is usually a dollar, because it's dirty and/or there's no guarantee that it works. That's exactly the kind of sale that this was. However, I conveniently forgot all of this when I looked on his DVD table and saw PSYCH Season 1. I can experience this magical show from the beginning! And for a mere American dollar! God bless America! So, I snatched it up, along with some other things, and I paid the man. So, I got home, and threw it on the shelf with the rest of the unwatched DVDs. A few weeks later, I decided to check it out, and I noticed that there was a disc missing. Damn it! And not just any disc, but Disc ONE - with the pilot episode. Double Damn it! I wanted to see how it all began. If I wanted to see any random ass episode, I'd just watch ION late at night. So, I can't sell it without a Disc 1, but it'd also be foolish to buy a new one just for one disc (which I almost did on Black Friday). Curse you, yard sale guy!!!!
You'd think I'd learned my lesson with that yard sale guy, right? Wrong. You see, he managed to approach me in such a way that I found myself visiting his weekly sale throughout the season. Here's how he did it: I wanted some IKEA desk lamps that he had, but I wasn't sure if they worked. I asked him about them, but he answered that he didn't know. Great sales pitch, right? He, then, followed up with this pearl of wisdom: "Think of it like a scratch-off ticket. It's only a dollar. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but you're only out a dollar." The greasy prophet was RIGHT! And I LOVE scratch-off tickets! Seriously, my aunt started buying them for me when I was 8, and I've loved a good scratcher since then. In fact, it's part of the reason that I don't regularly carry cash - if I end up at a 7/11, I'm wasting that money on scratch-off tickets. I wouldn't say I have a gambling addiction, as I'm not betting on the ponies, nor have I been to a casino. I will say that I'm addicted to "chance". So, after that beautiful soliloquy, he had me as a loyal customer.
So, what did I end up foolishly buying? A used Super Nintendo. I never had one growing up, but I figured it would fit in nicely with the rest of my antiquated gaming systems, like my Sega Saturn and my Gamecube. Again, I asked him if it worked, and because it was higher than the $1 price, he guaranteed me that it worked. He even threw in some games, like Super Mario All-Stars and some other notable stuff. At the end of it all, I threw down $10. OK, audience: who knows what happened when I got home? Did the SNES work? OF COURSE IT DIDN'T! My dumb fault, I know. So, the next week, I went back to his sale (remember, these were a weekly occurrence) and told him how the system didn't work. He feigned surprise, and was like, "Here, take some more games." He grabbed all the SNES games he had left, and piled them up in my arms. Excellent customer service, right? Well, yeah, unless you realize one small tidbit: I DIDN'T HAVE A WORKING SYSTEM ON WHICH TO PLAY THEM! So, now I've got a shitload of SNES games that I can't play, nor can I even test them to sell. I'll tell you this, though: the minute yard sale season starts back up, I'll be right back there at his sale. I'm a sucker.
Epiloque
So, based on the weather, the "yard sale season" is pretty much over. Even still, mixed in with various holiday and church bazaars, I've managed to find a few yard sales. Last week, I made somewhat of a dumb purchase. It's not exactly a "fail", but it's hardly a success. Yes, I bought a Disney animation cell. It's from Robin Hood, and on the back it's signed by the voice actor for the character. Pretty nice, right? Except for 2 things: 1) they stored it in their attic, so it has sustained some sort of heat damage and 2) the autograph is made out to "the Levitts". So, I spent money on a damaged item that was personalized for someone else. But it's a Disney animation cell!!! I've spent $25 on worse, and at least I didn't have to get tested afterwards!
So, the yard sale season may be over, but I've still got more stories you haven't heard. Summer may be over, but Thrift Justice: YSE is just getting started!
Back & Fourth: My Journey Into The Classroom
In my attempt to turn a negative situation into a positive one, I've found myself saddled with watching a 4th grade class during their lunch period. First, let's roll it back a little. You see, the school where I work had 2 campuses. That quake that everyone made fun of for being weak and puny? Well, it destroyed our second campus. We've all been under one roof for the past 2 months, but our board just decided to call it a day, and officially made us one school. This also resulted in 25 staff members being laid off. But still we move forward or some jazz. So, we all gotta pitch in like the war effort, and I've been given Mrs Doubtfire duty (I dress like a woman for kicks). What I found, however, is that it's not that bad. I mean, fourth graders are almost like real people. It's really fascinating. They don't even eat their meals out of feed bowls. I tell ya, I'm learning all sorts of Discovery Channel shit from this! So, since I had them at my disposal, I figured I'd try to get to know them - ya know, really get into the head of a typical 4th grader in America.
First up, they're all really into werewolves and vampires. Half the class has already read Twilight, which is shocking and sad at the same time. I asked if they were Team Edward or Team Jacob. They totally had some opinions there. Predominantly, however, it seems to be a werewolf skewing class. In fact, yesterday they explained to me how they'd been sired. Apparently, Sean was bitten, and then he scratched Mike, who then bit Carter, and so on. I can't wait to hear their thoughts on cooties and the AIDS epidemic. Anyway, I asked if their parents every caught them turning into werewolves at night. They said no, but that a few of their parents suspected they might be werewolves.
Next, they showed me a Scholastic book that was a Who's Who of the monster scene. I'm talking chupacabra, vampires, werewolves, snakewomen harpies, the works! When we got to the page of a succubus, Ken said "That's my girlfriend right there." "Oh, really?" I asked. "How did you two meet?" He said "Well, she was sick and in the hospital. I turned her into a vampire and saved her." Kid never missed a beat. Like Kenneth from 30 Rock, "In 5 years, we'll either be working for him, or dead by his hand."
Today, I asked them about the movies they'd seen recently, which they'd always counter with a "Did you see ____?" One girl told me that she had seen Black Swan. Yes, THAT Black Swan. I asked who let her watch that thing, and she said she'd watched it with her grandpa. I asked her what she thought of it. I loved her response: "It was scary...and inappropriate." From the mouths of babes!
Since they were the correct demographic, I decided to allow them to settle an online debate for me: what did they think of Power Rangers Samurai? After all, adult fans hate it, but it's not for us. It's for the kids. Apparently, and I quote, "Power Rangers Samurai is the most awesome Power Rangers ever!" Keep in mind, they also lost their collective shit when I mentioned Supah Ninjas. Plus, I don't trust any kid that doesn't watch iCarly (half of the class is comprised of girls, and none of them watch iCarly!).
I also found out that WAY too many of them are watching Family Guy, American Dad, and The Boondocks. I told one, "You're too young for The Boondocks!" he just shook his head and said "I know. When I go over to my cousin's house, he's always watching it."
Once we got on the topic of animation, one of them mentioned The Simpsons, which one girl called "the most boringest show in the history of ever."
So, it looks like The Cos was right - kids really DO say the darnedest things! Anyway, I figure if I've gotta be stuck with them, I might as well use them for comedy material. Tune in next time, when we tackle comics, video games, and Nicki Minaj!
Thrift Justice – Strapped For Cash
I've got a great haul from the weekend to share with you, but I'm still writing that up. In the meantime, feast your eyes on some great stuff I've picked up recently. Let's jump right in, shall we?
First up, we've got these tabloid-sized specials, know as History of Comics Vols 1 & 2. These were created by fan favorite comic artist Jim Steranko, and they used to be advertised as mail-away items in old comics from the 70s (I guess they were also sold in book stores, but I don't really know much about the 70s books tore scene). Anyway, from what I've ben able to find out, the versions I got are known as Volume 1B and Volume 2B, since they don't have the title written on the cover. What makes this buy even more special, however, is the fact that my copy of Volume 1 is signed and numbered by renowned Italian filmmaker, Frederico Fellini. You see, he wrote the foreword to the series, as he had been a big fan of Steranko. Now, do I have a certificate of authenticity? No, but I don't really care. If I need to, I can just take it to Gold & Silver Pawn and have Frankenstein Randy Travis do some handwriting analysis on the signature.
I love the Power Rangers. Now that we got that out of the way, I've been tracking down old morphers like it's my job. I'm not even looking for them, but they keep popping up at thrift stores. I stopped buying most PR toys about 15 years ago (which was still too late in the minds of most people), but I used to really be into the Zords and morphers. Hands down, Power Rangers morphers were my favorite role playing toys. These used to retail anywhere from $10-15, but I've been finding these for roughly $1 each. Still operational and everything. To top it off, they're models that came out after I stopped buying, so I've been able to restart my collections where I left off. What you see here, from left to right, is the Time Force Morpher, Ninja Storm Wind Morpher, some kinda bootleg Dino Thunder Morpher, and the Overdrive Tracker.
My love of Batman is pretty well-known. I thought I had stumbled upon something awesome with this lunch box, as the date on the decal is 1982. It certainly looked pre-Super Powers, which would place it before 1985. That said, the decal doesn't jibe with the rest of the package. You see, the latch is incorrect. I stopped getting these lunch boxes in the very early 90s, at which point they were still using a metal latch. The latch on this one is completely plastic, placing it later in the decade. Still, aside from all that Pawn Stars babble you didn't ask for, it was still a nice find for 99 cents!
This is Max Ray, from the 80s cartoon The Centurions. I've been on the lookout for these because, just like Radiohead albums, you never see them at yards sales and thrift stores. This figure was pretty incomplete, as he didn't come with any of the accessories that fit into the holes situated all over his body. Despite all that, I'm still pretty happy to own this guy, as he always reminded me of Tony Stark.
I always told myself that if I ever won the lottery, I'd buy one of those replica wrestling belts that costs $300. I'd wear it to church, court, to the bathroom. Don't care. Referred to as "The Strap" by the professionals, I'd always have it slung over my shoulder (no one ever wears it as an actual belt!). Well, I've yet to win the lottery, so I don't have one of those belts. I never wanted to pay the $15 for the crappy kids version at retail, but I had no problem paying 99 cents for one! The belt that I chose was the Intercontinental Title, and I did so for a reason. You see, everybody wants to be The Champ. Everyone thinks they're Triple H, or John Cena or The Rock. I'm honest with myself. If I joined the WWE tomorrow, I'd NEVER get a shot at the WWE Title. I could, however, get the Intercontinental belt. That was the belt you used to get for beating Goldust or The Mountie. That's more my speed.
I hated leaving these guys behind, as I think I'm probably America's biggest straight male boyband fan. That said, I didn't want these at $10 apiece. I'm pretty sure they didn't cost that much when they were originally offered by Best Buy (they were promo items), and 'NSYNC merchandise isn't really on the rise. So, I had to say bye bye bye to them. Yup, I just said that.
Thanks for tuning in, and come back on Thursday for a special Thrift Justice surprise!
Thrift Justice – The Case of the Three Jokers
So, last weekend the rain was too much of a nuisance for any of the local yard sales to take place, but I was still jonesing for a treasure hunt. That meant that I had to find someplace indoors, which led me to the Civitan Flea Market. Located in Arlington, VA, the Civitan Flea Market occurs on the first Saturday of each month, from the months of April to November. I checked it out for the first time a few months back, and I liked what I saw. Since it takes place in a multilevel parking garage, it's open rain or shine. Basically, a vendor pays about $20 to set up in a parking space, and you're left to just make the rounds. From what I could tell, vendors don't seem to have "regular" spots, so I walked around to see if I noticed any of the good vendors from my first trip. But we know you're not here for the words - you're here for the haul!
Recently, I've been buying up all the cheap Calvin & Hobbes books I run across. Here's a little confession: I really hated C&H up until about 2 months ago. I know most of my peers fondly look back on the series, but I just never "got" it. I think I had the misfortune of always tuning in when it was one of the, for lack of a better word, "preachier" strips, so I just always felt it was overrated. That said, as someone who had a myriad of imaginary friends, this series was pretty much right up my alley. So, I found a collection at a yard sale a few weeks back, which has led to the acquisition of 2 more collections.
As a fanboy, this is one of those things that I guess I'm expected to have read. I'd never really come across it, and it always seemed a little too much of a Sandman gateway book anyway. Since I'm neither a cutter, nor do I work at Hot Topic, I always shied away. Well, on this particular day, I guess I was kinda desperate to buy a comic, and this was the best I could do. The vendor wanted $3 for it, which I felt was kinda steep. Then, she told me that it was for her grandson's college fund. I couldn't let the guy suffer through student loans as I had. I forked over the three Georges. Then, I asked her where he was thinking of going for college. She replied, "Well, he's only 16 months old right now." Huh. All I could say was, "Well, I guess you've got a couple more sales ahead of you."
I'd seen this book during one of the Borders liquidation sales, but couldn't bring myself to pay what they were asking at 25% off. This, however, is not only an advance reader's copy but it was also a quarter! I'm a sucker for preview and promo items, so this was just what the doctor ordered. The seller had placed a sticky note on it, saying it was "Perfect for fans of Family Guy and The Daily Show". This might just be an oversell - kinda like how every comedy compared itself to The Hangover for a whole year.
If you dare claim there was a better game for the Nintendo Entertainment System, I will slap you in the face and kidnap your dog.
Stallone was supposed to be in Beverly Hills Cop. They decided they wanted to go in another, more comedic direction. He made this instead. And it was GLORIOUS. I love this movie for the odd product placement. Just imagine: Pepsi paid to have one of their soda fountains shot up in a standoff; a Christmas-themed Toys "R" Us commercial is playing in the background, as Stallone cleans his gun and eats cold pizza!
I wouldn't buy season sets of this show, but I am sucker enough to fall for "The Mike Judge Collection". Sure, it's a best of collection, but it's a multi-disc best of. Plus, I trust Mike Judge. The man went on to give us Office Space and King of the Hill. It'll be worth it if "Teen Talk" is one of the episodes featured. "I'm Lolita, and this here's Tanqueray. You boys wanna go back behind the bleachers and make out?"
And now we come to the reason for this post's title. You may not be able to tell, but this is a deck of Batman Begins playing cards. It was purchased for three reasons:
1) I love Batman
2) I love shiny things/holograms
3) They were $0.25
Now, I knew what I was getting into. The seller told me that someone earlier in the day had counted the cards and that while the deck was missing an Ace, there were THREE Jokers. Now, I'm used to quirky merchandise, so I wondered if it was supposed to have 3 Jokers. I mean, "Joker" kinda means a little more in a Batman-themed card deck, so maybe that was the novelty. Still don't know. I don't even play cards!
This is Tri-Klops. He's from He-Man. That is all.
This is Lothor - the "big bad" from Power Rangers Ninja Storm. While he was far from the most menacing villain, I always loved his aesthetic. It's not everyday you see an evil alien ninja in a luchadore mask. The articulation sucks, like most Power Rangers villain figures, but he still looks cool standing around.
A Nightwing doll! How cool is that?! Yes, I'm calling it a "doll" because that's basically what this is. Sure, his body is probably based on a G.I. Joe style body, but he's got a cloth outfit and hard plastic head. He appears to have mustard or something on his chest, but I don't care. Nightwing doll for $1!
I got this from my favorite vendor. Last time, she had some great Batman stuff, and this was just as cool. If you're not a comic person, this is an unused cover from X-Men: Alpha, which kicked off The Age of Apocalypse. This event started just as I was getting into comics, and I haven't experienced something that riveting since. A lot of comic crossovers are cyclical now, but this was actually a fresh idea. Anyway, this appeals to my love of comics, as well as my love of shiny thing/holograms. Oddly enough, I don't remember this as having a holographic cover gimmick; it shipped with a foil cover gimmick, so I wonder if this was some sort of retailer exclusive.
These came from the same vendor as the X-Men cover. It may not be immediately apparent, but the "Vote DC" poster is actually a promotional item from the Marvel vs. DC event. You'll notice Batman hiding Captain America's shield in his cape, as Superman brandishes The Hulk's pants. Below that is a poster for 1991's X-Men #1. I collect comic promo items that are typically only available to retailers, so these 2 posters were great finds.
Well, that's all she wrote for the flea market. Next month is the last one of the season, so I'm pretty sure I'll go check it out one last time. In the meantime, I've got my hands full with the thrift stores. Tune in next time, where I'll show ya some autographed stuff I came across!
Thrift Justice: Ranger Danger
So, I had an experience last week that was cute yet troubling. While everything turned out OK in the end, I've still been thinking about it for the last few days. Let's see what y'all think.
A few of the thrift stores I frequent have what you might call "grab bags" in the toy aisle. Standard plastic bags hanging from pegs, these bags contain anything from kids meal toys to actual retail action figures. Part of the fun is identifying all of the random stuff you might find inside. I've often wondered if there's a system as to how the bags are packed, or if they're weighed or something. It's just odd to see a Looney Tunes/DC Comics McDonalds toy from '91 in the bag with a Ron Weasley and a broken Megatron.
Anyway, on this particular day, I found a nice bag packed with Power Rangers. If you've read the site before, you'll know that I hav a bit of a thing for the Rangers. Seeing as how I stopped buying the figures about 10 years ago, I've missed out on the more recent stuff. This bag, oddly enough, was filled with things I didn't own. YOINK!
I walked around the rest of the store, clutching my conquest, trying to see if there was anything else of interest. Not paying much attention to the people around me, I walked right past a little boy who immediately noticed the bag in my hand. His face lit up, as my heart said "Oh, shiiit." Every kid in that place might as well be an orphan, as they've all run off from their parents. True to form, his parents didn't seem to be around, either.
I took a few steps, and the boy followed me. He caught up to me, pointed at the bag and said "I want that." I replied, "It's mine, though. I already got it." Don't judge me! I found it fair and square!
He said, "Yeah, but I want it." I started wondering if this kid was gonna jump me for these toys, or if he'd make a scene. I'm already the grownup in the toy aisle, so Lord knows what people think anyway! I, once again, replied, "You can't have them, though. I found them over there." At this point, I gestured over in the general direction of the toy aisle.
"They have more?" he asked. I knew full well that they didn't have anything quite like the bag I was holding, but I still said, "Yeah, there's more." I was hoping he'd run off and join the rest of the little El Salvadorean Oliver Twists running through the store. What he did next, however, broke my heart.
He reached up his little hand, and said "Come on!". He wanted me to take him over to the toy aisle. I guess he wasn't so independent after all. Now, at this point, I felt I'd been talking to this child way longer than a grown man should, and I was already hating being seen in discussion with this kid. Now, he wanted me to hold his hand, and walk him over to the toy aisle. Oh, HELL naw! Sweet gesture, but not a good idea.
I started to walk away, but he ran up, still reaching his little hand up for me to take it. So, this was his endgame, huh? Well played. I sighed, and put the bag of Rangers in his outstretched hand. After all, that's what he wanted in the first place. I can be cold, but I'm not taking toys from a kid. I didn't even really want the things, and he clearly did.
He smiled, and just turned the bag around in his hands, marveling at everything inside. I was just going to throw 'em in a box, while he was going to enjoy them. I'd made the right choice. So, as he was mesmerized, I got the Hell out of that aisle before he tried to enlist me to go help him look for more!
Now, here's my issue: that kid needs to be warned about Stranger Danger. Luckily, he found me and I'm far from a threat, but he didn't know that. He sees a guy with a bag of toys, and he's all "Sign me up, cap'n!" That's not cool. That could've ended really poorly for him. For me, the takeaway was that I'm not happy to know I'm not enough of a bastard to take toys away from a little kid, but the B-plot was definitely the fact that this kid, and many like him, could be subjected to danger without even thinking about it. If you've got kids, teach them the proper way to deal with strangers - especially at the thrift store.
My Life with the Power Rangers – Reader Response
So, we don't get a lot of audience participation here at Casa West. Before I moved over to WordPress, I had written about 1,025 posts over the last 8 years, and I only had comments on about 100 of them. Of those comments, many of them were just spammers whom I approved because I was impressed by their syntax and/or flattery. What I'm saying is that it brings a little e-tear to my eye when I write something that encourages participation, and it just sits there like that half-empty Starbucks cup on the shelf at Ross. Anyway, a few months ago, I wrote this post detailing my experiences as an adult fan of the Power Rangers. In that post, I mentioned Jason Bray, who had been featured on an episode of MTV's True Life called "I'm A Fanboy". I discussed how the way he was portrayed contributed to the reasons as to why I keep my Ranger love in the closet. Well, if there's anything I should've learned about the Internet by now, it's that anyone can read this stuff. It turns out he read my post. Not only that, he responded! Now, if you keep up with the Comments sidebar, you've already read this, but I felt his response deserved its own post. So, without further ado, I give you the only interaction I've had with anyone who's been on MTV (other than my tweet from Serena Altschul):
I was actually quite impressed with this article as it describes how about a third of Power Ranger fans really are. When Power Rangers first started to dwindle in popularity, I managed to avoid ridicule by keeping my appreciation for it a secret.
The Power Rangers fandom, like many fandoms out there have three sections to them. The “socially awkward” section, the “This is one of the things I like” section, and the “I know everything, and if you misquote one line I will KILL you” section. The socially awkward people tend to not interact enough with regular people and spend most of their time writing BAD fan-fictions, and confessing their love for one of their favorite characters.
In case anyone reading this was wondering, I am the person from “True Life: I’m a Fanboy” that was mentioned in this blog post. Almost two years later from when the episode aired and I STILL see my name come up at some point when Power Rangers is mentioned. I guess that’s both the beauty and the curse of existing in the re-run world.
I have to admit though every time it airs my friends and I get a huge laugh out of the episode. This is mainly because we know of everything that went on during filming. I love how many people don’t even recognize me after talking to me for a few minutes because I am nowhere near as awkward as I was made out to be in the episode. I even got a comment at a convention I attended from a person who said “you know, you look a lot like that guy from the true life episode” and when I told her I WAS the guy from the True Life episode she didn’t believe me.
That’s one of the dangers of editing. I will admit there were parts captured on film where I was acting awkward, mainly when I was dancing, because I can’t dance worth S**t. Also, the Dragon Dagger moment where I say “Oh my GOD, How much is that?” Also genuine me. But everyone who is in some type of fandom has that moment where they see something they have always wanted and want to know if they are able to buy it. The other Danger of editing is taking out ANYTHING that made me seem even remotely like a regular person. To give you an idea, I was only on the episode for about 15-20 minutes total, yet MTV Shot over 35 HOURS of footage.
When someone films for for so many hours, most people would not want that time to be wasted. I could quickly tell the direction they were going with the episode though when EVERY question they asked was about Gemma. First they would ask the question “how do you feel about Gemma? and I would say “She’s a really good friend and I’m glad I met someone else from the fandom” They would then say something like “Yeah, we know that part, but how to you really? feel about her? could you simplfy it?” So, eventually you figure out the response they are looking for is “I really like Gemma.” I wasn’t really surprised by that. The basic structure of TV is they are looking to tell a story, and they already had the “Fanfilm” side from Travis. In other words, even though this might disappoint some people, the “Asking Gemma out” scene was staged by Gemma and myself. if you watch carefully, it is quite obvious we are both acting.
On Another note though I am still somewhat a Power Rangers Fan, and I still have MOST of the stuff that was shown during that episode (which was actually hard to gather together to make it seem like I had a huge collection. My collection isn’t nearly as large as others from Power Rangers fandom.) But if anyone watches the episode carefully there were hints of my other fandoms that couldn’t be edited out. The WWE foam titles in the background showing I am a WWE fan, The Suit I was wearing during some of the DC scenes was part of a 10th Doctor, Doctor who costume (Because that is also another one of my fandoms) I was originally told the episode was going to be about how I balace my fandoms with my normal life, yet there was virtually NOTHING from my normal life shown on screen.
The last thing I say before I rush out into oblivion until the next time my episode reruns and I do a search again, is I noticed how the blog mentioned some fans looking up the Japanese episodes and watching them with subtitles. I would actually consider that a totally different fandom. With Samurai, I ALMOST hate Power Rangers now, but Sentai has almost always kept me entertained, especially the new Series, Gokaiger, which if you haven’t seen any of yet is worth checking out. Just thing GIANT POWER RANGER WAR.
So, there you have it. Not only was he a good sport about the whole thing, but he even gave us a little behind-the-scenes info regarding the episode. I hope I wasn't too hard on him, as I think we all know the liberties they take with reality show editing. After reading that, however, he doesn't seem like a weird dude at all. Jason, if you're reading this, thanks for your input, and I'm sorry I bunched you in with the other weirdo Ranger fans. I stand by my opinion of Rangerboard, though. Those fuckers scare the shit out of me.
Comical Thoughts: Super Dinosaur
...Annnd it only took me seven days - seven days to break the vow that I made in my last post. I swore I was done with Image comics, outside of collected editions, until they got their act together. But then, they had to go and release a book called Super Dinosaur. Motherfucking SUPER DINOSAUR! Look at that cover! How do you pass on a concept like that? Simple answer: you don't.
I've got to start by saying that Robert Kirkman isn't exactly my favorite creator. He's got a lot of great ideas, but I kinda soured on him after he became a giant creator-owned evangelist. To him, you're wasting your time in comics if all you're doing is working on X-Men or Batman. Instead, you should be creating new concepts that you OWN, rather than making money for Marvel and DC on decades old characters. He's on to something there, but he reached a point where he became somewhat of a bully in trying to get that message across. There's no doubt that he practices what he preaches; he's so prolific that I either believe his stuff is being handled by ghostwriters, or he's a tortured artist who beats his wife between ideas. He's already crossed media with The Walking Dead, but I get the feeling that Super Dinosaur will be another crossover hit.
It's clear that Super Dinosaur is meant to be one of those rare "all ages" gems that we don't get very often in comics these days. That said, it appears that Kirkman went to the well of a lot of sources, both familiar and unfamiliar, to pull this all together. Basically, Super Dinosaur is what you get when you throw Ben 10, Power Rangers: Dino Thunder, and a little known Image comic called Johnny Monster into a blender. Derek Dynamo is the son of a famous scientist who discovered dinosaurs living 100 miles underground. Dr Dynamo also discovered a powerful mineral, which he named "Dynore". Now, his former partner is trying to claim the Dynore for himself, but his attempts are thwarted by Derek and his best friend, Super Dinosaur. Derek's got a healthy ego (he thinks everything about himself is "awesome"), and Super Dinosaur is able to be "super" due to a special tech harness designed by Dr Dynamo. It's high stakes fun and adventure, as tomorrow's technology is introduced to the lost world of the past.
The Super Dinosaur concept is VERY toyetic, which has a somewhat negative effect on the premiere issue. Instead of feeling like a true introduction to that world, it feels more like a comic book adaptation of a TV show that might be called Derek Dynamo & Super Dinosaur. I can't put my finger on why, but it just doesn't feel genuine. At the end of the book, there's a blurb where Kirkman goes on about how this is an all ages book and how he's excited about that. While that may be true, it's an all ages book with an agenda. If handled correctly, this is the kind of concept that pays for summer homes. The 8 year old boy inside me thinks it's a kickass concept just from the title alone, but he'd much rather wait for the cartoon that the book seems to be adapting. The same way some publishers are using comics as a cheap way to create movie pitches (I'm looking at you, Radical Publishing!), this book feels like Kirkman's audition to join Man of Action at the big boy table of Nicktoons and the like.
Apparently, a special origin issue of Super Dinosaur will be offered on Free Comic Book Day. I'm not sure if it's going to change my opinion of the book, but I'm definitely willing to give it a chance. It's not that I don't like Super Dinosaur - in fact, I love the idea. I just feel that it has enough potential that it almost seems like a waste to tell the story as a comic. It's very reminiscent of the done-in-one-season animated concepts of the late 80s/early 90s. Maybe Kirkman's hoping for more of a shelf life for this one, but it's hard to tell where this falls on his full plate that already includes Invincible, The Walking Dead, and various other projects.
5 Corners of Pop Culture That I Don’t Understand
Yeah, so I go around boasting that I know so much about pop culture, but even I have my blind spots. For example, I'm not much of a movie guy. I've never been one for going to movies, and I used to just tell myself "I'll catch it when it comes on TV". As a result, there are tons of movies that have become modern day classics (Titanic, Shrek, Avatar) that I've never seen. So, don't recruit me for your trivia team if you need a Movie Guy. Outside of movies, though, there are 5 particular areas of pop culture that I just don't "get".
Now, I'm not exactly trying to be controversial, but I just know I'm opening the gates for a flame war. That said, I'm not necessarily saying there's anything wrong with these five things, but they just don't really hold much meaning for me. If you can think of a way to change my mind, or can point out great aspects that I've missed, then I certainly invite you to do so. This isn't a bash session, but rather a cry for help: help me understand the big deal about these things.
1) The Big Lebowski - I've had people tell me "You don't get The Big Lebowski 'cause you're black." Um, OK...That's never really affected my interpretation of movies before (although Bamboozled did make me hate white people for a day or so). Since college, I've had people tell me that Lebowski is the most quotable movie ever, while extolling the virtues of The Dude. It was an entertaining movie, quirky in the vein of Fargo. It's a fine movie, but I don't get the *phenomenon*. I don't get why there are action figures of crew-cut John Goodman and Jeff Bridges looking like stoner Jesus in a bathrobe. I don't get the uptick in White Russian consumption.
In terms of pop culture clout, The Big Lebowski has basically become the White Scarface. Scarface has become somewhat inspirational in urban circles, especially to a generation of rappers. Sure, Tony Montana ends up dead, but before that, he came from nothing and ended up having everything. With that, you can kind of understand why he has become the poster child for those who also come from very little. On the flip side, I don't see anything aspirational about the story of The Dude. They occupy the same levels of pop culture, for different demographics, for different reasons. Maybe those folks were right: I understand Scarface, but I don't understand The Dude. Maybe it is because I'm black...
2) The Muppets - Don't get me wrong: I love Muppet Babies, and the Muppets version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is one of my favorite Christmas songs. That said, I just never really got into the movies. In college, I spent time around a sketch comedy group, and that was the first time I learned how much comedy circles revered the Muppets. Maybe I haven't seen the right movies, and I'm missing out. I just don't get the appeal. In some ways, I think I may have the same issues with the Muppets that I have with Alvin & The Chipmunks - I can suspend my disbelief, but I have a problem with these "creatures" coexisting with humans. The same way that I'm slightly disgusted by the idea that humans girls have the same kind of crushes on 4 foot singing chipmunks as they would on Justin Bieber, I also can't really deal with the Muppets gallivanting around the "real world". Sure, it works for Sesame Street, but I don't see why adults are entertained by this, unless they're high. And yes, do understand the irony of this statement coming from the guy who still watches Power Rangers.
3) Jersey Shore - Sorry, folks. Watching the premiere of Jersey Shore felt like a chore. Everyone who knows my love of bad television thought that I'd simply fall in love with the show, but they were wrong. I think I may have a different threshold than others. It seems that Jersey Shore is a guilty pleasure for quite a number of young professionals who love the show, but would never admit to it. It also seems that quite a few educated people love tuning in. That's great. It's just not my cup of tea. I LOVED the True Life episodes that spawned the show, but I really found nothing likable or engrossing about the cast of Jersey Shore. I did, however, enjoy watching that guy punch the shit out of Snookie 'cause, really, how often do you see something like that? Jersey Shore is like going to the zoo - people feel superior as they ogle the "dumb" animals, but that shit eventually gets old and you find yourself looking for the hot dog cart.
4) Harry Potter - They're cute books. I get that. They're not, however, a worthy basis of what has become a literary juggernaut. Let's rewind a bit, though. I missed the genesis of the Harry Potter phenomenon because I was somewhat off the grid. I went to Summer College at Cornell the summer that the first book started picking up steam. Now, if you're not familiar with Cornell or Ithaca, its almost like its own little world. Generally, you have to really seek out information from the "outside world", or else you won't know of anything outside the Ithaca city limits. These were the early days of the internet, and there was no social networking just pushing information at you. When I got back to civilization, I started hearing rumblings of this "Harry Potter" thing, but really didn't know what folks were talking about.
A big reason that I was resistant to Harry Potter was that I didn't like the caliber of the early adopters. Sure, everyone reads Harry Potter now, but in the beginning, it was a certain group of people: the kids who weren't allowed to watch TV, who only played with no-name educational toys from mom & pop stores, whose parents drove hybrids. Mainly, Harry Potter was the entertainment of yuppie children, and I hated all that they stood for. I can't ignore what the franchise has done for literacy, which has actually been a great by-product of the phenomenon. It truly got people into reading, and that's the one thing I like about it. That said, I've never found it all that original.
I grew up in a Roald Dahl household, so it was quite obvious when I started seeing his ideas popping up in the Harry Potter books. The extent of most people's knowledge of Dahl is typically Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, and maybe Matilda or James & The Giant Peach. If you've more than just those, however, you'll see what I'm talking about. It angered me that people felt that Rowling's ideas were so groundbreaking, when I'd seen many of them before. For the people who saw where I was coming from, they still brushed me off with a "Well, nothing's original anymore" or "Well, Rowling did a great job putting all of those Dahl concepts into one series". Whatever. Like I said, they're cute books, but I don't see why they took the world by storm.
5) Star Wars - Basically, this comes down to the fact that I grew up with the philosophy that "Trekkies Can't Be Warsies". I latched onto the late 80s Star Trek revival, and that was where I put my focus. Unlike the other things I've mentioned, I "get" Star Wars, but I just don't have the patience for it, nor do I have the desire to learn.
Star Wars just feels downright inaccessible to me. A few years ago, the only stuff that was "canon" consisted of 3 movies (and a holiday special that no one likes to acknowledge). Later on, there were 3 more movies, which was still manageable, especially since the "real fans" hated the new films and flipflopped on whether they acknowledged the events portrayed in them. Then, however, there was the Clone Wars cartoon, which bothers me because you can't get attached to any characters, knowing they're ALL gonna die. Then, there's all the Expanded Universe stuff (which may not be considered canon, but is still held in high regard amongst the hardcore fans) and don't get me started on all the comic series. So, at the end of the day, it's still just 6 movies and some shows, but it feels so much more daunting. In terms of fandom, I like to go ALL IN. You can't just tell me, "Oh, there are these books, but they don't count." If they exist, I'm going to feel like I need to read them and decide for myself if they count. And it's just too much. The same argument could be made for Star Trek, but I got in early on that stuff, while Star Wars got rolling before I was a gleaming "surprise" in my father's eye. I know it's all psychological, but it just feels like being a Star Wars fan requires too much damn legwork. If you've got an "Star Wars in 3 Minutes" primer you want to send me, I'm all ears. Otherwise, I don't think I'm ever gonna have that soft spot for The Force that so many of you seem to have.
So, there you have it. I hope we can all still be friends. I didn't set out to bash the stuff that people hold dear, but I simply wanted to give my impression of these things. I welcome you to try to convince me otherwise, as I will admit that I do feel a bit left out at times. However, I fear that I'll just get a bunch of comments like "Ur a fuckin' moron!" Oh well, at least you're leaving comments!
My History with the Power Rangers
Every now and then, over the past 18 years, there have been certain points where I felt I had reached an age/level of "cool" where I probably shouldn't bother with Power Rangers anymore. That said, you really can't forget where you came from, so here I am talking about them again. While I don't write about it often, I am a 29 year old Power Rangers fan. If you knew me growing up, you probably came to my house and saw my "shrine" of PR toys and collectibles. I know my love for Power Rangers isn't natural, but it's still there, and I'd like to try to explain why it exists.
Bouncing around the internet, I've found that I'm not alone in my love for the Power Rangers franchise. Allow me to say this, however: I've been involved in a LOT of fandoms over the course of my 29 years - from Trekkies to comic fanboys to a cappella nerds. Out of all of that, no one group scares me more than adult Power Rangers fans. This is probably why I don't wear it on my sleeve like some. I've never posted on Rangerboard nor have I written fanfic to fill-in those missing years where Tommy apparently earned his PhD. I'll admit that a part of me is probably jealous of their dedication. I mean, some of them track down the original Japanese shows and watch them with subtitles. Even yet, some learn Japanese just so they can watch *without* subtitles. A lot of what I'm mentioning could also be said about anime, but that's still seen as this "fringe" thing, while we tend to think of PR as simply a "kids show".
So, I can admit their dedication scares me. At the same time, they also tend to be some of the most socially awkward people I've encountered (and I worked in comics). A good example of this is the episode of MTV's True Life which was called "I'm A Fanboy" (full disclosure: I actually applied for this episode, not even for Power Rangers, but for comics. After watching, I'm SO glad they didn't deem me worthy). There, we met Jason, who was a 26 year old Power Rangers fan. I was so happy that I wasn't alone! That is, until he met this sweet 16 year old at a convention, and then things got creepy. All of a sudden, he was trying to convince her to be his girlfriend, while she was telling him that she was too young and didn't want to be tied down. You haven't lived till you've seen a grown man get turned down by a geeky minor!
True Life: I'm a Fanboy from Punched in the Head Productions on Vimeo.
Sure, that's just one scenario, but the point is that I haven't seen many positive public depictions of adult PR fandom, so I've kinda kept it to myself, outside of a few tweets and the occasional blog post that I figure no one will read. They're not all like him, though. as I've still got good friends from my Toys "R" Us days who enjoy a good Ranger conversation AND I don't mind being seen in public with them!
Anyway, I find my interest in PR spikes whenever a new series is about to premiere. It's like when your girlfriend gets new clothes, and you suddenly think, "Where have YOU been hiding?!" I tend to lose my connection with the franchise, but I always find my way back. It wasn't always like this, though. Back in the early days of the internet, I believe I was one of the foremost PR experts in my age category. Yes, I'm audacious enough to say that. I mean, I was already on the cusp of being too old for it when it began, so I had this adolescent obsession driving me to learn more. I dunno. I remember I used a LOT of my school's paper supply to print out anything and everything I could find about Power Rangers. I still have binders filled with printouts of old Geocities and Xanga sites. What can I say? When I get into something, I tend to go ALL IN.
Through all of this breaking of the ice, however, we still haven't covered the "why" of my PR obsession. Mainly, and I'm not ashamed to say this, I like bad television. Sure, you've got your TV snobs who lament the loss of Arrested Development and Sports Night but that's not me. I enjoy guilty pleasure TV. Hell, if Baywatch Nights was still on, I'd still be watching. I'm still waiting for Team Knight Rider to come out on DVD. I'm not looking for Shakespeare - I just like good escapist television. That's what Power Rangers was in the beginning. Over time, however, the story actually got...good. Most people gave up after early Mighty Morphin', so they wouldn't know about this.
(As an aside, I'm a bit of snob when it comes to my hobbies. With comics, if you tell me that you love Batman, I'll ask you "Who killed Bruce Wayne's parents?" If you answer "the Joker", we have nothing else to discuss. The same could be said about PR. If I mention Power Rangers, and all you can say is "Man, it was messed up how the black guy was the BLACK RANGER!", I already know the extent of your Ranger knowledge.)
Anyway, for those of us who held on, the storylines got really good. Power Rangers in Space was more suspenseful and dark than many primetime dramas. Power Rangers RPM was set in a post-apocalyptic world, where most of humanity had been destroyed by a computer virus - and that shit was from Disney! Anyway, I guess you could say that I came for the schlock, but I stayed for the story.
I made a promise to myself that I would keep watching Power Rangers as long as they kept making it. I mean, who knew it would last this long?! As time went on, internet connections got faster, I went off to college, Power Rangers moved to cable, and my obsession somewhat waned as other fans began to outpace me. I was raised, however, to never make a promise that you can't keep - for this reason, I don't make many promises. I had made that Power Rangers promise, so I had to make good on it.
In college, do you know how hard it was to watch Power Rangers?! Kicking drunks out of the Common Room on a Saturday morning so that I could watch Lightspeed Rescue? Being laughed at by the Walk of Shame strumpets?! I held on, though, til Saban sold the franchise, along with the rest of Fox Kids, to Disney. Not only was it harder to find on the air (ABC affiliates tended to air it at odd hours), but Buena Vista TV had a mad on for going after piracy, so links were taken down almost immediately. As far as I was concerned, I had upheld my end of the promise: I was trying to watch, but Disney was thwarting me. So, I took a few years away from Power Rangers. Sure, I checked in when I could (how the Hell did Tommy ever become a doctor?!), but there are some incarnations that I've never even seen (I'm sorry, but Mystic Force just sounded dumb).
As for the toys and memorabilia, it really comes down to the fact that I'm a speculator. Sure, there's no baseball card market anymore, and comics are just glorified toilet paper, but I didn't know any better growing up. As far as I was concerned, I was gonna be a fucking Rockefeller in the world of collectibles. I jumped on every bandwagon that came along, and Power Rangers was no different. To be perfectly honest, I was like most of you in the beginning. I thought the first episode was kinda lame ("Day of the Dumpster" was dated even by 1993 standards), but I had seen some of the toy ads in the Fox Kids Magazine, and thought they looked kinda cool. Little did I know that they would reach Cabbage Patch/Tickle Me Elmo heights of popularity. They were THE toy of Christmas 1993, and my mom, for all of her fretting and evangelical ways, has always supported my pursuit of hard-to-find stuff. So, I got my first batch of Power Rangers toys as "an investment". She made me keep all the boxes, since they might become "collectors' items". Over time, though, speculating gave way to sheer enjoyment. If you've ever enjoyed playing with Transformers, then you'd enjoy playing with Zords. It's pretty much the same thing. Eventually, however, my collecting got out of control. I finally weened myself off of the toys once I went to college, but that doesn't change the fact that I still have a shit-ton of Saban-era Power Rangers toys. And all their original boxes.
So, what's the reason for this trip down memory lane? Well, as I mentioned, my interest spikes when the debut of a new Ranger series is upon us. Next Monday, Power Rangers Samurai makes its debut on Nickelodeon. When I first heard that Haim Saban had bought the franchise back from Disney, I felt that he was really just going to sit on it for the licensing money. Instead, it seems like he's really putting a lot of effort into Samurai. It's being heralded as a back-to-basics approach, as he has gotten the old band back together on the production side. Plus, not only is the theme a remixed version of the original "Go Go Power Rangers", but they've even got Bulk back for comic relief! While young kids may just see it as a fun action-packed show, it's really almost a homecoming for those of us who remember the early days of the franchise. Something that really should've been a flash-in-the pan fad has become something of a multigenerational franchise. It has reached that age where parents are watching with their kids, saying "I used to watch this when I was little". Whether you like the show or not, that's still an accomplishment worthy of applause. There doesn't seem to be an end in sight, as Japan is still cranking out the source material. Anyway, I've spent a LOT of time and money on what most people consider to be "a dumb kids show", but I've gotta say...I'm kinda starting to look forward to the day when I share it with my kids.
- RT @MeisterShake: Seriously folks, WHY THE FUCK would I care about YOUR horoscope? Stop tweeting it.
- A midget!!! #SNL
- I love how that Bon Iver photo was like Find The Black Guy. Oh, there he is! Between Chad and Tyler!
- If y'all wanna make fun of Lana Del Ray, you can make fun of this dude's Eunuch Wails.
- This dude is just making noises - like the kind you make when you catch your balls in the zipper. I hope the internet takes notice!
- This Bon Iver song sounds like Johnny Hates Jazz. Not complaining. I just need bigger shoulder pads.
- That's why Harlem Nights is such a good movie - it passes the torch, but you'll never get that much black talent in the same movie again.
- When is Tyler Perry gonna get cracking on the black version of The Expendables?
- If I investigated rape cases, like on SVU, my first question to the vic (that's Cop Talk) would be "Did he look like Guy Fieri?"
- Ten seconds, gun to your head - who won The Voice last season?
From The Vault
- The Digital Revolution Is Being Televised
- Life Lessons of "As Long As You Love Me" & My Introduction to Hulu
- But I Like Warm Beverages...
- Jim Aparo Drew MY Batman
- Gonna Make A Go At The Music Industry
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