SpartanNerd thoughts on MOTUC and COMIC CON reveals.

 JULY 23, 2014 BY SPARTANNERD

Ok.!

SQUEEEEEEE!

Seriously.  I must have this.!!!.

When will they make an Attack Track?

About Tongue Lasher, he is my favorite Snake Man.  But the tongue here just looks wrong.  I prefer the paper-ish tongue on the vintage figure.

The new She-Ra looks cool…

Eldor always has looked cool.  Way better than He-Ro.

I won’t bother posting a pic of Sweet Bee.  Not interested.

SpartanNerd Review...BCW Snap-It Comic Book Display System

A first-world problem.  I have so many comic books!  I have begun putting them into those boxes...the kind they use at the comic book stores!

But I have a few on display as well.  Some of my favorites!  One of the problems I have been having is that the shelf space that I use has a little "daylight" space behind it.  It is just a small crack, but it is big enough that my bagged and boarded comics that were on display kept falling down and behind the shelf.

I decided to invest in a more substantial display.  The BCW Snap-It display.  Here is my review!

I bought a 12 pack.  This is all they had at the store.  I didn't see any larger packs, or smaller.
They did have six comics on display in one of these setups, hanging on the front counter.  This package is un-sexy.  In fact, the stack of 12 stands are bent in the package.  And it appears that is was done this way on purpose.

Here is what you see when you open the packaging.  The displays are bent, seemingly permanently.  This was worrisome.  The other thing is a package of button snaps which make it work.

Here are the snaps.  One is male.  The other female.

here is my first assembly.  The edges of the displays have pre-punched holes, and you snap a male and female button through the hole of two of them.  the problem is, the pre-punched holes are often not punched through enough.  Some of them come right off.  The others, did not.  And so I resorted to the big guns!

Smith and Wesson Urban Camo Serrated Titanium Blade!

It took me about an hour to get five displays together.  Before putting them on display,
I decided to read this gem.  After that hard work, I deserved a break.  It was great!  (Scare glow was prominent in this issue.  Oddly, no shadow beasts!)

A panorama of my Masters of the Universe shelf.  You can see that the five comics are displayed nicely.  Also some limitations of the display are evident.

So, it was worth the $15.  There are some problems.  The hole punch thing is the biggest problem.  Next time, when I put together the other 7 pieces, I am going to use a hole puncher.  This shouldn't be necessary.  So I have to take a point off for that.  (I was afraid I would mutilate the display.)

Another limitation.  The way the panels of the display are built, it produces a pronounced line between comics.  And this is fine.  But if you notice my shelf has two on the end not in the display. These two are meant to make a scene when displayed together.  (These are DC Universe VS. Masters of the Universe #1, both covers)

Also notice, the second comic in the display is sealed...never opened.  This is the special cover of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #1.  But the sealed packaging hangs out of the top of the display.  In fact, the comic can't go all the way down into the display panel.  Because I know I have at least one more sealed #1 to put on display, I am going to have to take another point off.

On the upside,  I can display my comics in a pleasant way for the most part, and they are evenly spaced, and they won't fall down into the daylight space behind the shelf.  Notice that comic on the end of the display.  That is an EARL NOREM!  (Earl Norem is my favorite He-Man artist.  EVER!)  I also have a Conan the Barbarian Earl Norem.  I wish they were signed!

So what is my rating?  3\5.  Do you agree?  Let me know!

SpartanNerd Blog....right at 2100 pageviews!

Thanks for all the support, oh Hub City Geeks, whoever you are!

Information about my blog....

Most traffic comes from the USA, but some comes from almost everywhere around the world!

Shadow Era reviews generated the most hits right from the beginning.  My reviews of the Magic The Gathering Event decks are right behind those....

The SpartanSmurf #1 is requesting a name change.....We'll see....

I have been pretty good at keeping my identity secret....I mean there are some people who have figured it out, and I have given some pretty strong hints out there to those who know me.  My sister in law said, "So you're the SpartanNerd....Wierd."  Good.  I hope that's what she thinks.

The review of the Sonic the Hedgehog figures is the one that I am most proud of the photos.  I really should look into a better situation for photographing my stuff.

My favorite thing to cover is Masters of the Universe...everything!  You would see a lot more of this if I had more time. My review of Masters of the Universe #5 got a bunch of hits...(the one about She-Ra)

I want to start doing some top ten lists.  I need to do more things like the Groovy Dork lists.

SpartanNerd Sundays have been a mild hit.  I am still trying to work that out in my heart and mind.

I still have no followers or subscribers...out of all this traffic?  I haven't figured that out yet.  One thing, Google doesn't make it easy to be anonymous.  I have had a few comments.  But no people interested in my give-aways....

So this is where I stand as a blogger.  May I write something similar in when I get 2100 more hits!  Thank You all!

MOTUC Figure Review....Count Marzo

Count Marzo is one of those Big Lots deals....I scored him for only $10, and promptly gave him to SpartanSmurf #1.  He is a figure I had contemplated purchasing before....but somethng always held me back.  But at $10, he was an instant nab.  And I didn't think twice about giving him to one of my children, so that they can love Masters of the Universe as I do.

The Four Horsemen have said that they received criticism from Mattel about the design of the figure.  He resembled the anime style too much.  That is definitely here....At the time he was released, there Mattel did not have the rights to Filmation, and could not design him to look like that version...So they punted and went with the more Russian version from the Mike Young cartoon, which took its design cues from anime.....and so on.

But I like anime.  See my previous posts!  And I wouldn't want a Filmation Marzo, who appears to be a "frumpy old man."  (Yes I said "frumpy," and meant it.)

Marzo is one of the few characters to get his own torso sculpt.  He's totally ripped!  His head has big hair, that does hinder the movement of his head.  His cape is very cool, made of rubber that looks like cloth!  It is very nice, and is removeable if you take off Marzo's head.  One of the first things I did with the cape was try it out on Skeletor!

With this cape, and the powered up staff fro The Faceless One, Skeletor, looks like an anime character!

Marzo comes with an awesome spear-tipped sword.  You could really do some damage with that!

And he comes with the amulet he used in the cartoon to transform him from an old peddler into the powerful wizard!  The Amulet is made of translucent plastic.   Nice touch!  He was the first figure to come with a gripping hand, and holds the amulet nicely with that grip hand.

You will both learn to share...OR ELSE!

I have nothing bad to say about Count Marzo.  He's boss.  I DO wish we would get the old man version of Marzo, that is the version that transforms with an amulet.  But this figure is certainly welcome as he is.  He gets a 5/5. What is your rating?  I'm waiting to give out some prizes!

Best News EVER!!!!

MOTU+DC New 52!!!!  (click to link to the story)

HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE FIT RIGHT IN WITH THE NEW52 LOOK!

Do I even need to say more?

Have you been reading this blog?  If so, then you know that I am into both properties BIG TIME!

I'm going to celebrate by playing MTG tonight.  A new AZORIUS strategy!

Spider-Man...The Birth of the SpartanNerd

What is my origin story?

Here goes!  My nerd life officially began with the purchase of a Value Pack of marvel comics at
Wal-Mart, in about....1990ish.  (Also....Wal-Mart was sort of new in Spartanburg at this time, on trivia buffs and historians!)

If you have been reading my blog, and some people have been apparently, (I am very grateful!), then in my post about "How I see comics..." I mention some of my history with the medium.  So here is a more detailed story, and how Spider-Man #6 and #7 were the official birth of the SpartanNerd!

1.  My first comics were without a doubt, the Mini-Comics that came with Masters of the Universe figures.  I was three or four years old at this point.

2.  I stumbled across the Sunday Funnies page at some point around six or seven years old.  It became a sort of ritual to read them every Sunday.  I remember reading "The Phantom," as my first "serious" taste of comics, but to this day I can't remember a single story.  All I remember was his swag.

3.  At about eight or nine years old, I got some collected editions of Masters of the Universe comics, and Transformers comics.  Oh if I still had these today!  But I remember them!  The He-Man stuff featured some nasty vine creatures.  To this day I have not seen this story archived or discussed on the internet.  The Transformers book had what was apparently the Marvel origins story of the Transformers...This was also my first Spider-Man book....It featured Spidey in the black costume, Pre-Venom!  So this was that brief stint of time between Secret Wars and Venom.  (I know this now....Back then I had no clue!)  Spidey mentions that the costume is a "cinch," and that all he has to do is think about becoming Spider-Man in order to change.  I'm sure this was purposely reviewed so that non-comics regulars like me at the time might understand why he was in a black costume, and some of the powers it had.

4.  Knowing that I was trying to get into reading comics, my uncle got me some for Christmas at around the age of 8 or 9 as well.  I read them a few times, then my mom caught me.  They were "WWIII."  Highly gory and lots of foul language.  She put those things in the garbage!  Sorry, Uncle!
This was my first awareness that not only kids were out there reading comics.

5.  So at around 12 years old I got this value pack of Spider-Man books.  This was a collection of five random books.  I'm pretty sure one of them was Wolverine, one of them was ghost rider, and then there were the real gems....Spider-Man #6 and #7.  There was also an re-print of a vintage crossover book that featured both Spider-Man and Ghost-Rider.  (You see, there was some rhyme and reason to this little packet!)

6.  I became a full blown comics addict, buying these value packs every time I could go to Wal-Mart, or off newstands when I could find them, eventually amassing a few hundred books. Eventually my interest waned a little and I sold them off to the Tangled Web for gas money, (which was a new store at the time.)

7.  Spurts of interest in comics would come and go.  I got all into "The Death of Superman," and "Reign of the Supermen."  I was allergic to the Spider-Man clone saga.  But I read it anyway, at least some of it.

8.  And now I am an old SpartanNerd who subscribes to lots of comics.  But I weigh every single comic I read against my two favorite comics, Spider-Man #6 and Spider-Man #7, either conciously or subconsciously.  To me, these are the pinnacle of the medium!

My next entry will be a review of why these two are so special to me!

"Gobbling like a Hobgoblin!"

SpartanNerd's MOTUC He-Man Review

My first ever TOY REVIEW!!!!

Masters of the Universe Classics He-Man!

I really hoped my boys would dig into this.  I bought them a few, but they simply don't have that much interest.  They like the way they look.  But the magic isn't there that existed when I was a kid.  Every once in a while if I put on a MOTU cartoon, their interest will spark up.  But that is it.  They are just not as into the property as I am.

I mention being into the property....I have followed He-Man.org since I got onto the internet!  (It was Adam Tyner's page then!  )  I was thrilled to find others that longed for the days of MOTU.  And I was so happy when they put out the 200x cartoon, and I got a few of the toys then.  (I was REALLY BROKE then.)


I don't own many of these new figures....I mean, they cost nearly $40 a pop from Mattel!  But I fell in love with the idea as soon as it was announced, and it wasn't long before I had a tiny collection of basic figures.  I am going to start with He-Man!  (Where else would I start?)

I don't care much about the packaging....I usually look at it for a second, and then throw it away.  The MOTUC bios are OK with me, but I can read those anytime on the internet.  AND, I can also look at the packaging if I want to look at it for some reason.  So I normally feed the packaging to Oscar the Grouch!

My He-Man figure is the first "re-issue" of He-Man.  Apparently the "first edition" had backwards shoulders, and too much red around the eyes.  (He has been given the loving nickname of "Pepper Spray He-Man!)  Mine has none of these problems...Mattel saw to go ahead and fix their flagship character.

I have been playing with this guy for about....10 months?   He is properly broken in!  I can still hear a tight little click sometimes when I move his joints after he has sat for awhile.  His ankles are getting a little loose, though.  (He has "pin" style ankles.  You can see the pin in his shoes at the joint.

But WOW.  What an update!  You only had five articulation points on the vintage He-Man figure.  Basically on all of them.  But the MOTUC design has an articulation point on every major human joint!  There is also an ab crunch, and boot cuts so that you can point He-Man's shins.  So a MOTUC figure is more like a vintage Gi-Joe figure, only exploded to a 6 inch (7 inch) scale.  This is the greatest He-Man we've ever seen,.....Heck, it is just about the greatest action figure we've ever seen!

Ab Crunch!

He came with the same accessories that the vintage one came with, with an updated "full" power-sword, so that you can properly display him when he is alone.  He also came with a half power sword, a throwback to the vintage figure who had a sword that could combine with Skeletor's to open Castle Grayskull's door.  This idea remains....but the swords do not fit together so well  :(

He also comes with his iconic battle axe, shield, and power harness.  (armor)  I think I prefer seeing He-Man hold the Battle Axe nowadays in my old age.

So what don't I like about it?  Well, I feel guilty about owning such a luxury item....I mean, I paid nearly $50 for my He-Man in the after-market.  I have bills to pay, family to feed, and I'm a grown up.  I don't really "play" with toys.  I think they are cool.  I like to display them.  He-Man makes a good Magic the Gathering table piece.  I even like to poke around with them, which I guess IS playing with it.  But I don't play with it like I did as a kid.  SpartanNerd though I am, to have a full on Eternian War is sort of beneath me, I suppose I am sad to say.  To display such a war would be cool, if I was rich.  I could display him at work, but I found out quickly that he is a bit to naked for my clientele.  (Elementary School)   Maybe during a movie year!

So how will I rate my He-Man figure.....He gets a 4/5.  The point was lost because the ankle joints have become weak.  This won't do on THE MOST POWERFUL MAN IN THE UNIVERSE!

I will bring more of these figure reviews in the future!

“With great power there must also come — great responsibility.”  – Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962)

My promise to Pixel Dan....My Top Ten MOTU characters!

I grew up with He-Man.  I saw every aspect of He-Man until "The New Adventures."  Even then I had a few of those figures.

So who were my favorite characters?  I promised Pixel Dan in my comment for his contest that I would list my top ten.  So here we go!  I love these guys probably more than the others.  But it is so hard to choose.  I did not even consider Battle Cat or Panthor.  But I love them too!

10.  Hordak.  In my mind Hordak is the goofy villain from She-Ra.  But I also love the MYP interpretation where he is a powerful threatening wizard.  I don't love the Hindu-ish looking Hordak from the current comics, however.

9.  Tongue Lasher.  Cool name.  Cool action feature in his toy.  Loved his color scheme.  I prefer this guy to any of the other snake men.

8.  Scare Glow.  Old Scare Glow is especially bad in the dark!

7.  Mosquitor.  This guy is just awesome!  I loved the blood sucking feature.  Ironically, as a kid, I got Mosquitor in my Easter basket......

6.  Man-At-Arms.  Ever loyal to He-Man and Eternia.  I am not fond of the idea of Duncan dying a snake man.  To me, Duncan is the mastermind behind all of the vehicles and such.  He also appeals to me as the sort of priest for the good guys.  That might strike some readers as weird, but here's why.  If you study anthropological formation of religion, you find that the first religious figures were the ones who could predict nature, build fire, and heal people.  Man-At-Arms has the secret of the lost technology from Eternia's ancient past.  And he communes with the Sorceress, who is also a religious figure.  So there you have it!

5.  Rio Blast.  The guy has more guns than Swartzeneger.  What's not to like?

4.  Evil Lynn.  She has such depth of character.  More than many other villains in this universe.  Everything from the white hair under the helmet, to the contrast with Teela, to the classic yellow skin, faceless dad, and even the seductive story in the digital comics.  Evil Lynn is an agent that generates story.  I also used to love to put the figure on Tyrantisaurus.

3.  Roboto.  The gears in the chest get me every time.  AND you can swap his weapon hands.  How cool is that?

2.  Skeletor.  Not for the same reason as He-Man.  I just think he is AWESOME.  A barbarian wizard dude with a skull face, goat staff, and lives in a mountain shaped like a snake.  Skeletor is THE DEFINITIVE bad guy,

1. He-Man  (Does this need explanation?)  He-Man caught my imagination.  He helped solidify my view of "good guy."


So what is yours, Hub City Geeks?  Do you agree with me or disagree?  Comment!