Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Thanksgiving Sweaters

As part of my own little Thanksgiving tradition I like to hunt down a nice sweater to wear for Thanksgiving day. As I was searching cyber space for inspiration I came across one of the coolest things on the Internet, The Cosby Sweater Project.

Chicago illustrator Kelly Tucker beautifully recreates Mr. Huxtable's many sweaters while at the same time cataloging every episode of The Cosby show with a brief description. It's an amazing project and you should really check it out! 

I really wish I could hunt down a Cosby sweater, but I realize the chances are slime. Maybe I could have someone knit me one using one of Kelly's Cosby sweater illustrations. Until then I'll have to settle for this 3 dollar DI beauty. It's an Old Navy sweater and the thing looks brand new!

It kinda looks like Bert's sweater. You know, from Sesame Street.

What do you wear for Thanksgiving? Do you wear a nice sweater for the big Thanksgiving feast? Or is it T-shirts and jeans for you? Let me know in the comments below!

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

My Favorite Turkey


This week’s assignment from the League: Let’s talk turkey


I don’t know if anyone is around this week since it’s Thanksgiving and all, but if you are, let’s have a little fun with this week’s assignment for the League of Extraordinary Bloggers
What a turkey! 
REMEMBER!: The League is always open to new members! Got a blog? Write a post in response to the weekly challenge, and you’ll be included. It’s that easy!
Before I get started I just have to say Turkey Kramer is SO DANG CREEPY! Just look at him! Gives me the jibblies!
Now, let's get to talking about my favorite turkey, the mischievous, the lovable, Mr. Bean! (The dude with the turkey on his head reminded me of the Mr. Bean Christmas turkey scene) 



As I've said before, I'm a big fan of British comedy and Mr. Bean is the king of British comedy! I have PBS to thank for discovering many a great British show; such as Dr. Who, Keeping Up Appearances, The Black Adder, and of course, Mr. Bean. I even tried dressing up as Mr. Bean for Halloween one year. No one knew who I was supposed to be. I get that a lot with my Halloween costume choices.


That's me on the far left as Mr. Bean for Halloween.


A gift from my wife. She totally gets me!

But let's get serious. Where did this Mr. Bean character come from? Watch and listen as Rowan Atkinson shares the interesting, not so funny story of Mr. Bean's creation. Watch in childlike wonder as David Bowie analyses Mr. Bean! Also, find out whether or not Mr. Bean is really an extraterrestrial being.



Now wasn't that just delightful? Don't bugger off just yet, first check out these other extraordinary League members!


The Goodwill Geek shares his family's Top 10 Favorite Children's Thanksgiving Books, listed in order of Turkey-centricity!

Nerd out over some great Thanksgiving flicks at Nerd Out With Me!

Hang out with some of my favorite robots on Turkey Day, MST3K style over, at the Retro Robot Review!


HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

Sunday Reflections: What Are You Thankful For?




This week’s assignment from the League: Gee, thanks.


We took a week off for a sanity break on my part, but now it’s time to get back to business! This week’s assignment for the League of Extraordinary Bloggers
Next week, we gather to celebrate Thanksgiving. What are you thankful for this year?
REMEMBER!: The League is always open to new members! Got a blog? Write a post in response to the weekly challenge, and you’ll be included. It’s that easy!
This exact same topic was gonna be my next Sunday Reflection, so why not combine the two?You know I love a good list, so here goes!
MASON'S TOP 10 THINGS HE'S THANKFUL FOR LIST OF THANKFULNESS!
10. TOYS!

Can you imagine a world without toys? It would be a dark world indeed! We'd all just collect things like stamps, spoons, and thimbles and those are fine things to collect, but man, no toys would be BORING! I'd still have my movies, video games, tabletop games, cards, candy, and cereal, but there would be a huge void in my life without good old toys!
9. MUSIC!
As bad as a life without toys would be, a life without music would be a billion times worse! When I'm not actually listening to music it's still playing in my mind. My whole life is set to movie and video game soundtracks. When I'm doing something exciting, like scrubbing out my toilet, you can guarantee video game music will be blasting to make it that much more exciting and enjoyable. Video game music is also a great way to relive my glory days when I don't have time to play the games themselves.

8. Cereal and Candy!



Man, I love cereal! I honestly think that if it weren't for cereal I may very well have starved to death in my teen years, because that's all I ate! A close second to cereal is candy. Utahns are infamous for their sweet tooths (or is it sweet teeth?) and I'm certainly not exempt from that! I love PEZ dispensers, fancy soda pop and novelty candy tins (though the candy is usually terrible). I'm also a chain gum chewer. My brand is Orbit.
7. Food!

I'm especially thankful for food stuffs around Thanksgiving. Turkey, mashed potatoes n' gravy with peas mixed in, yams, green beans, you name it I love it. What do you eat for Turkey Day?

6. Holidays!


I really really like holidays, especially the big 3, Christmas, Easter, and Halloween. I love the traditions, decorating, partying with family and friends and wondering what the heck eggs and ducks have to do with Easter.
5. America The Beautiful


I am so grateful I live in such a beautiful, free nation! America truly is one nation, under God. It's the new Zion.

4. The League of Extreordinary Bloggers, followers, and Other Wonderful Bloggers!




I am totally overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of this little community. The gifts, prizes, trades, kind words and more make me feel so blessed and welcome. Thank you all so much! I am truly thankful!
3. Friends New and Old
I love all my friends like family,because, after all, we're all children of God and that makes us family. My favorite aspect of collecting is meeting new friends. I could lose every single thing I've collected over the years and it would suck, but it's no big deal as long as I still have my friends.
2. My Beautiful Family






We recently celebrated my 30th birthday and I had a blast! My entire family was able to attend the Halloween themed Birthday party and it was grand. I love my family, they're so good to me, I don't deserve it, but I appreciate them so much.
1. God's Ultimate Gift To Man, The Atonement

Without it I'd be darned to heck for all eternity, we all would! Jesus Christ suffered all that we might be washed clean and be found worthy to return to live with Him. I can never fully repay Him and I will always fall short. But through His grace anything is possible. For this I am eternally grateful!
I'm not the only thankful one this Thanksgiving. Go check out these other thankful bloggers.
Our newest League member, Retro Robot! Welcome!


Monday, November 18, 2013

Nerd Vs. Geek

I just wanted to share this Rhett and Link video that discusses the differences between nerds and geeks. I've always found subtle differences between the two, though the line can be blurry. 


So, which are you? Are you a nerd or geek, or perhaps a nerdy geek, or a geeky nerd? Maybe you're neither, or just a dork? Maybe you're a jock. But let's be honest, fantasy football is just a nerdy jock thing. I don't know what I am, but I don't think I'm smart enough to really be a nerd, though I enjoy some nerdy things. I think I fall under nerdy geek dork.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Sunday Reflections: Disaster Strikes In The Philippines


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The Philippines holds a very special place in my heart. For 2 years I served as a missionary in this beautiful country. The people are kind, hospitable, and deeply spiritual. I was blessed with the gift of tongues and shared the Gospel in the native language of Tagalog.  I love the Philippines and I love Filipinos!

Sadly, it seems like there is a horrible natural disaster every year in the Philippines. You may have heard about Typhoon Haiyan that struck in Tacloban city on November 6th. It is thought to be the strongest storm to ever make landfall anywhere in the world in modern records! An estimated 10,000 souls were lost and an estimated 600,000 have been displaced. Please, if you can spare anything, you can help the relief effort! Any amount counts and you will be blessing the lives of those in great need! You really can make a difference! You can follow one of the links below or donate to another relief fund of your choosing. Thank you all and God bless the Philippines in this their time of need!


Humanitarian Aid General Fund of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Samaritan's Purse International Relief

Philippine Red Cross

UNICEF United States Fund

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Steven Universe

I'm always scoping out new cartoons to watch as I stuff my face with cereal in the morning. Well, I found a real winner, Steven Universe!



I watched the first episode and I loved it! Not every new Cartoon Network show is totally crap, this one's a real gem! (pun totally intended!)




What do you think? I like it!


Thursday, November 14, 2013

Slime Winners



If you've been following the blog religiously then you may have caught a glimpse of the SLIMEUNION. As a party favor of sorts I decided to give away some Barrels-O-Slime to commemorate the moment. Here are our winners!


First Prize
Eric of Toyrrific!

Second Prize
John of The Clawful Punch!


I meant for there to be a third prize, but there were only two entrants! Either not many people saw the post or there is a general aversion to slime, or perhaps both?



Congratulations to our winners! Contact me at mason.john.allen@gmail.com and let me know what slime you want and where I should send the stuff. Remember, as our first prize winner, Eric gets first picks. Also, if you're reading this and you wish you had entered, then I may extend the give away a bit so we can have a third prize winner. Good luck!




Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Little Weirdos Of My Own

I recently traded a set of my Crimson Skeleton Pirates for some Skeleton Warriors from Frank of Little Weirdos. His blog is great, he features all sorts of mini figures, Madballs and obscure 80s fantasy toy lines. There's a great post on Little Weirdos that helped me discover who and what exactly Froggacuda is when I found him in an epic DI grab bag. The images on Little Weirdos are clear and crisp and they really capture these little weirdos!

I'm way excited to have some little weirdos of my own, so let's take a look at these little warriors!







Awesome!

The Skeleton Warrior are a tad bigger than my Crimson Crew guys, so they make for perfect ringleaders.




It's hard to choose a favorite, because they're all great, but the Warlock warrior is pretty cool! The Spearman comes in second because he looks so awesome with his little crimson minions.

As of now the Skeleton Warriors are unidentified, no one really knows where they came from, it's yet another toy mystery. If you have any knowledge of the origin of these amazing Skeleton Warriors, then please let me know!

I'd also like to thank Frank of Little Weirdos. Thank you for the trade, I love these Skeleton Warriors, they rule! Also, your blog is top notch! I really enjoy it, keep up the great work!

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Sunday Reflections: LOVE

A few days back I had a great day with my family. We were all raking the piles and piles of leaves in our backyard, completely daunted by the task, when my wife had a fun idea. We should spell something with the leaves! We weren't sure if it would work, or what we should spell, so we just kept raking away. Then it hit us, we should spell "LOVE"! We already kinda had an "L" by accident, why not finish it off? Well anyway, here is the result:


Pretty neat, huh? This fun filled day got me thinking about that wonderful 4-lettered word. What is love exactly? What does it mean to love someone? How do you show your love? How do you know you are loved? What are your thoughts on the matter?


Friday, November 8, 2013

Scarecrows In My Pocket

With Thanksgiving approaching I thought it appropriate to share my two little scarecrows.


Here we have the Playmobil Fi?ures Scarecrow and the recent LEGO Scarecrow from Minifigures Series 11. 


I love the Playmobil Scarecrow. He certainly is scary! His Jack-O-Lantern face is very menacing and I like his orange bull cut. His clothes and hat are nice and tattered as well. And what's not to like about a neon yellow pitchfork? This guy's just plain awesome.


The LEGO Scarecrow isn't scary at all, but he's still a great figure. He has a nice print on his torso and his legs. His pitchfork is really nice too. He's perfect for a LEGO Castle MOC or an easy custom Scarecrow figure from The Wizard of Oz. Speaking of which, LEGO Wizard of Oz is a possible future CUUSOO set!


He even has a detailed back-print, which is always a nice bonus with LEGO minifigures.


The fun little crow on his head was borrowed from the LEGO Lone Ranger figure Tonto. Pretty sweet.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Dad's Collection: Peewee Herman

Some of you may have noticed a little poll on the old blog, "What should I be for Halloween?" Well, the costume idea that won out in the end was Pee-Wee Herman! Hurray! Well, sadly, I couldn't for the life of me find a grey suit, a red bow tie, or a nice white pair of dress shoes for a decent Peewee costume. I feel like I totally jipped my loyal readers! I'm so sorry! Can you all ever forgive me!?


I apologize!!!...forgiven???



Man, Pee-Wee's house is so awesome! He doesn't care what time of year it is, he celebrates every holiday all at once. Pee-Wee's Big Adventure is just an amazing movie, I need to buy a copy already, what's wrong with me!

It's too bad, but my wife is absolutely terrified of Pee-Wee and hates him with a passion. So, maybe it's a good thing I wasn't able to get a costume together. 

So, to make it up to you, I decided to feature my Dad's vintage Pee-Wee Herman figure! That's just as cool, right?







The background looks like it's to scale with Pee-Wee! So weird, but cool!

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Fantasy Shopping Frenzy!



This week’s assignment from the League: Hake’s Auction #210 Shopping Spree!




You won the lottery and bought Tony Stark’s mansion, but the rec room could use a little help in the redecorating department after all the renovations. Lucky for you, Hake’s Americana & Collectibles just announced their latest auction. Check out the catalog and go on a  fictional shopping spree to set up the ultimate cave of collectibles.
Hake’s has given us permission to reuse their photos and descriptions in our responses to this week’s League challenge, just be sure to link back to their auction. One blog entry will be selected to receive $100 credit to spend at Hake’s! Good luck everyone!
As a new leaguer this is my very first fantasy shopping spree. I've never checked out Hake's Americana &Collectibles, so let's see what they've got that tickles my fancy.
Vintage Robots!
One of my holy grails of collectibles would be a nice vintage robot toy, so if I won the lottery I buy every single one! Here are my favorites:
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Now, the cool thing about this book, Robot by Pierre Boogaerts, is that my Dad owns a copy! It's a really nice book to have if you don't have loads of cash to spend on vintage wind-up robot toys. I was actually thinking of posting about it soon so stay tuned for that.
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Gotta get me an Action Planet Robot! This guy's so cool!
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This guy's just classic, gotta have 'im! 

Peanuts!

I love comic strips and Peanuts is one of my all time favorites. These are definitely going in the cart!




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These little figurines are like Precious Moments, only cooler and way more valuable.

Beautiful Little Dead Things!

If you know me well then you know I love dead things. Taxidermy, entomology specimens, skulls, skeletons, and most of all fossils. I have always wanted to own a legitimate fossil, so these beautiful specimens are definitely coming home with me.

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Dragonfly

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Sea Scorpion

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Mesosaurus

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Now, I've probably seen almost every episode of the Golden Girls, but I don't really care to have a signed picture of them. I just thought it was kinda funny that this item was categorized under the "Fossils and Minerals" section!

PEZ!

You know I love PEZ, so I'd snatch up every last dispenser they have! Here are my favorites:

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Spaceman PEZ!

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A couple of nice Witch PEZ dispensers.

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Gotta love these PEZ Pals! They kinda look like Elmer Fudd incognito.

MEGO!

Man, MEGO figures! I have always wanted to own at least one MEGO figure. I would snatch up every single figure! Here are my favorites:

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The name's Bond, MEGO Bond.

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Awww yeah, MEGO Batman!

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Just look at this guy, he's just amazing! To own this would be unreal!

I'm gonna have to stop myself there, this list could go on and on and on and on. What would you get? Here's what other Leaguers would grab:

The Mayor of Neato Coolville wants some monstrous and out-of-this-world swag!

Dex of AEIOU And Sometimes Why scopes out some haunting treasures.

Check out monsters, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Spy vs Spy at Grey's blog, Achievements In Gaming.