Not to belabor the point, but it’s been a while since anything has been written around here, so how are things? I’ve missed writing and photographing my collection, and have wanted to get back to it for a while, but honestly, my collecting has slowed down considerably. I still add items to the collection, but the items I am looking for rarely show themselves.
So, to shake off the cobwebs, I thought I would just jump back in as if I never left and give a recap of my recent pop culture escapades and escapes. As always, feel free to jump into the comments section with any thoughts or happenings in your neck of the woods.
Watched:
Black Sails
When this pirate series set sail, it doesn’t know if it wants to be serious or campy, so it throws in some gratuitous bordello shots to keep you interested until it figures it out. As the show evolves, it turns into an engrossing dark and violent pirate saga — I will never forget watching the fate of Captain Teach (AKA Blackbeard). While I enjoyed the series quite a bit, the fate of our antagonist Captain Flint sure ends with a whimper.
Hunger Games Trilogy
My son just read this trilogy and wanted to watch the movies, so twist my arm, let’s get the popcorn. Of course, I’ve seen these before, but I forgot how emotional they were — of course, I’m getting old and seeing my kids as the ages of those in the movie probably caused that reaction. Great first and second movies but that last one sure goes off the rails.
Infinite
“Infinite” could have been an interesting comic book or TV series, where it was given time to develop its world of invincible Highlanders, but it was overly ambitious for an hour and a half. I’m a big fan of movies like John Wick and the Kingsman that create a second society of “super humans” that live among us, but this one fell pretty flat.
The Offer
This is one of the best things I’ve watched in a long time. Who would have thought a show about making a movie could be so engaging. I loved everything about this show and can’t recommend it enough to anyone who loves movies (especially the Godfather).
Licorice Pizza
I went into this one blind, and it’s weird because I still don’t know if I enjoyed it or not. It stuck in my head for days but I don’t know why. The cameos were fun, but the best part for me was seeing life in the 70’s recreated. It kept reminding me of a quirky Almost Famous.
Ping Pong Summer
Immediately after Licorice Pizza, I watched this homage to the 80’s, which is much more in my wheelhouse. As a teenager, I traveled to Ocean City, MD during the summers, and the nostalgia of this movie hit me like a ton of bricks. The movie is only going to appeal to the smallest of audiences, but man did I enjoy it. If you grew up with the Karate Kid and Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo, this one’s for you.
The Postman
Put Kevin Costner in a post-apocalyptic or western setting, and you have my attention. While this movie may not be perfect, it is pretty fun. I don’t really like the thought of remakes, but how great would it be to see this David Brin novel turned into a TV series today?
Red Sonja
After dredging the depths of streaming services, I landed on this gem. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ernie Reyes Jr. in one flick? Yes, yes, and yes. You gotta love how Arnie gets top billing while the lead character who appears in 90% of the movie, Brigitte Neilson, gets mentioned second. This is probably not a film watched in many acting schools, but there are some fun fight scenes and cheesy scenery, if that’s your thing. (It is definitely my thing.)
For All Mankind
The best thing I’m watching that no one seems to be talking about. The season 3 finale dropped this week and it was a doozy. Let’s just say, the actors on this show shouldn’t get too confident in having their contracts renewed. The tension in this series is palpable, and I’ve grown to love (and hate) the characters with a passion. I always count down the days for the next episode, and the long wait for another season is going to be a challenge!
Played:
Yedo
I like to think I am pretty familiar with most games out there, but when our gaming group host brought this to the table, I was baffled. A beautiful worker placement game about ancient Japan with Samurai and Ninjas? How have I never heard of this? Despite all the pieces and cards, Yedo was easy to grasp after a round of two. I had horrible luck and couldn’t get anything going until the fourth round (out of eight) so let’s just say I didn’t win, but once things started clicking, it was a blast. I’m looking forward to trying this one again in the future.
Brass Birmingham
I played this for the first time this week, and immediately set it up for another round. I then went on to play three more times this week, which never happens, since game time is so limited, but the mechanics in this game are just perfection. Brass Birmingham has skyrocketed to the top of my list, and is a “must have” if you like a good resource management game.
Made:
Scythe miniatures
I’ve been meaning to paint the minis for Scythe for a while but never got around to it. There’s a chance we’ll be playing a game this week, so I figured a quick and dirty paint job had to be done. I based these with the airbrush and then just applied a dark wash and some dry brushing to bring out the details. Painting the entire set took less than a couple of hours. One day, I’ll go back and paint these for real, but this will do for now.
Bought:
Vintage Robin Commonwealth doll
I know I started this post saying that I don’t buy much these days, but I did manage to add this guy to the vintage Batman Commonwealth doll collection. This Robin doll is insanely rare, meaning I have been actively searching for Commonwealth Batman dolls for years, and have never seen one of these. There are lots of variants for the Batman doll, but before this one showed up on eBay, I have only seen one version of the Robin doll, and that one uses the same rubber face that was used on the Superman doll. While that one is rare (I still don’t have one), it does show up every now and then, but this one that I just got is a true unicorn. As soon as the auction was listed, I knew it had to be mine, and now that it’s here, I am thrilled.
So, that’s what I’ve been up to lately. It’s good to be back.
Brian!!!! So good to “see” you. Hope all is well. Welcome back.
Glad to be back. Hope all is well with you George!
Glad to see you back Brian. I was just re-looking at your C&C magazine the other day
Thanks Matt! Good to hear from you again!
Welcome back, big fan of this post format. It’s fun seeing what other collectors are watching and doing with recommendations, something social channels tend to miss. Seeing you post makes me want to get back into it, unfortunately I let my site go dark. Maybe time for something new…