3/25 Update: My wife is a big fan of the Studio Ghobli films, so we will watch Howell’s Moving Castle in theaters to celebrate the 15 year anniversary of this great anime film. I love you honey, find me in the future!
I normally wait until DVD, or even a Netflix release, but I will definitely these these in theater (dollar theater perhaps);
Sonic the Hedgehog - Starring Jim Carey as Dr. Ivo Robotnik, and Ben Schwartz as the voice of Sonic! I saw The Mario Bros. movie in theaters 26 years ago, so I definitely need to see Sonic!
Ghostbusters 3 - I am so hyped for this! I was really disappointed that the new Ghostbusters cartoon never panned out.
They were marked at $4.99, but they were actually rang up to at $2.
Here they are in the rotting flesh!
Psychopath Guy. With severed head a human flesh mask.
The Kids. Is she scared, or just hungry?
Hello Zombie Nurse. With arm in tow.
The Biter. Contrary to popular belief, zombies will eat more than brains.
The Freaks. No armed man and zombie Hulk Hogan with a flesh tear?
Tripod. Mangy mutt, zombie dogs seem to retain their speed in death.
AND, Barrel Full O' Zombie!
Overall a fantastic set of zombies! And for less than 25 cents a piece, you really can't go wrong here! Stay tuned for more new zombie minifigure reviews.
I heard through the grapevine that Playmobil will be creating franchised figures, including Ghostbusters and Dr. Who!? Wow, cool! I dug a little deeper and found out that we have Funko to thank for Playmobil's franchise themed figures.
Now for the bad news, the figures will be 200% bigger than normal Playmobil figures, sold as figures alone without playsets, and will retail for more at $14.99. So, they will not be in scale with other themes and will cost more. BOOOOOO! Take it away Pixel Dan!
Skip to 2:27-3:14 for a look at the Playmobil-Funko abominations.
What do you think? Do you like the looks of the new Playunko figures? Or did Playmobil sell their soul to Funko? Tell me in the comments below!
Before the Ghostbusters reboot we can watch this lovely little British knockoff, Ghosthunters! Again, this is another film that I just sort of stumbled upon recently. Will this be an amazing 5 star movie? No. Do I want to see it regardless? Yes! If they release toys based on the movie will I even want them? YES!! Slimer knockoff!!!
Chrono Trigger is one of the best video games ever created. The story is great, the battle system is fun, and there are loads of cool enemies to destroy. Lavos, the main antagonist, is no push over. I remember dying A LOT. I love the catchy battle theme and the psychedelic backgrounds. Obviously, the following videos contain SPOILERS! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
The Emperor of Blobonia
This boss was really fun to fight! Not only are you fighting a big blob monster, but you also get to wear your blob as a mech suit and punch the crap out of the boss's face!
Skip ahead to 7:17 to see The Emperor boss fight
Skip ahead to 4:17 to see the Emperor's final form!
Majora's Mask
I know, I know, I'm being a little heavy on final bosses. But aren't final bosses usually the best? They are if the game is any good! You have to experience the Majora's Mask boss battle! If you have the Fierce Diety Mask though the battle is a total cake walk.
Skip to 6:23 for the fight
Pumpkin-Ghost/Planet of The Apes
I'm going to count this is two different bosses. In the original Japanese version of Monster Party for the NES the final boss of level 1 was a Planet of The Apes parody. In the American version we got Pumpkin-Ghost. "Please don't pick on me!" he says, ha!
Skip to 5:55
Skip to 4:20
William Birkin
The coolest thing about William Birkin is you witness his gruesome transformations throughout the entire game!
Eye of Cthulu
A giant floating eye of death to has a large gaping mouth. Sounds like a winner!
Skip to 7:39 for battle
Bongo Bongo
The Shadow Temple boss. It is invisible to the naked eye.
Deku Frog
She's gross, and another awesome Zelda mini-boss!
Dooplis
Dooplis is a mischivious Boo that resides in the Creepy Steeple. He's a total hoot!
Ghost Train (Cuphead 2016)
Cuphead is an indie game set to release in 2016. The game is stylized to look like a cartoon from the 1930's. Cuphead and his friend Mugman made a bet with the devil and lost, so now must do his bidding. Pretty much every level in this game is a boss fight, and they all look pretty fun. We only catch a small glimpse of the Ghost Train boss from the trailers, but it looks amazing!
Dr. Zomboss
If you haven't played Plants Vs Zombies then you are missing out! I downloaded the free version a few years ago and I still play a quick game every now and again. It's surprisingly addicting! Dr. Zomboss is the only and final boss of the game.
Giygas
Considered by most to be the most disturbing video game boss of all time. You cannot grasp the true form of Giygas' attack. WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!
I can't believe it's almost here, Halloween 2015! I started a little early this year in September, but there's still plenty to go over! Be sure to check out The Count Down To Halloween and count along with me!
This year I would like to share with you the Allen Family Halloween Movie Night Marathon, a fun tradition that I stole from my good friend Mike. It's simply 31 straight nights of Halloween movies. Some movies I will review and/or discuss briefly in addition to my usual posts about Halloween junk food, toys, costumes, and decorations. Some of these movies might not be considered to be Halloween worthy, and some aren't even feature length movies. I don't care, I watch them anyway. Feel free to follow along with me and watch these great films on Netflix (titles in red are available to stream on Netflix), Hulu (titles in green are available to stream on Hulu, YouTube, or rent them from your local library (If you're going to rent them from the library reserve copies now! I once tried to reserve Halloween movies in October and wasn't able to watch them until after Thanksgiving!). Here's the list:
1.Matinee
2.Frankenstein (1931)
3.The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
4.The Wolf Man (1941)
5.The Goonies
6.The Burbs
7.Gods and Monsters (1998)
8.Mars Attacks
9.Pee-wee’s Big Adventure
10.Psycho (1960)
11.Hitchcock
12.Over The Garden Wall
13.The Trouble With Harry
14.Bernie
15.Coraline
16.Goosebumps (2015)
17.Will Vinton's Claymation Comedy of Horrors, and The Adventures of Mark Twain
18.Halloween of Horror (canonical Halloween episode of The Simpsons)
19.Frankenweenie (1984) and Vincent (1982)
20.Beetlejuice
21. Robot Monster
22.Ed Wood
23.The Night of The Living Dead (1968) (Also available to watchHERE)
24.Hocus Pocus
25.The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror I-XXVI
26.Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II
27.The X-Files, Season 5
28.Trick or Treat, Donald Duck and the Gorilla, Lonesome Ghosts, Duck Pimples, Donald’s Lucky Day, Pluto’s Judgement Day, and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (Disney animated short films)
Did I miss a critical Halloween movie/cartoon/show? What would your list look like? Don't forget to follow all the fun Halloweeny goings on on Instagram @spacemason, #Halloweenathon2015.
Not as cool as the Slimer version, but still very cool. I love the ectoplasm green tinted windows, sparkly orange paint, and shiny golden underbelly.
The orange paint has a hint of sparkle in it. I really like the green jack-o-lantern Hot Wheels seal.
The Ghostbusters symbol looks nice in green.
Later after dinner I discovered that all the equipment on top is easily removed revealing a secret sunroof! Stored away inside there are 4 proton packs!
If you look carefully you can see what looks like a ghost trap on top of the ladder.
So there you have it, Halloween Hot Wheels 2014 car #1. Cars #2-5 will be revealed later this week.
Marley & Marley from A Muppet Christmas Carol The Muppets' critical duo, Statler and Waldorf,get a ghostly make over and become Jacob & Robert Marley, the ghost's of scrooges late business partners. I love their musical number! It's a nice, catchy tune.
Zero from The Nightmare Before Christmas
If you take Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer, turn him into a dog and then kill him, what do you get? You get Zero, The Jack-O-Lantern Nose Ghost Dog!
The Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future in The Real Ghostbusters X-Mas Marks The Spot
Somehow he Ghostbusters travel back in time and straight into Charles Dickens' classic work of fiction, A Christmas Carol. Scrooge's spiritual tormentors are captured by the Ghostbusters and Christmas in the future gets all messed up and stuff. Bah, humbug!
Poor, unloved Strong Sad. Strong Sad is often spoken of as if he's is deceased. Strong Sad's brother, Strong Bad, refers to Strong Sad as "The Ghost of Christmas Suck" in The Homestar Runner Gets Something Stuck In His Craw. Poor sad, lonely, depressing Strong Sad!
Michael Keaton is Jack Frost
This movie is pure cheese! Michael Keaton (Batman) is a loving, rock n' roll daddy that is killed in a tragic car accident on Christmas night. A year later his ghost posses a creepy as heck snowman that his son built. Great movie for fans of campy, high budget Christmas movies.
You don't need to be a Minecraft fan to appreciate these amazing mine cart creations! You need to see these! Also, some interesting dubstep remixes. The Ghostbusters, or "Railbusters" roller coaster is by far the best of the three. They're all great coasters and took months to build! I could never build these, all credit goes to the creators. I do not own any footage. Enjoy!
When it's almost Halloween, or when I'm just in the mood for something spooky, these are the cartoons I love to watch; especially on a Saturday morning!
13. Courage The Cowardly Dog
I love the TMBG song about this show. My favorite episode has to be The Duck Brothers.
The gruesome cartoon based on the SEGA Genesis games Mutant League Football and Mutant League Hockey.
12. Scooby Doo
I'm sure You all saw this one coming, but I still have to watch this show every year, I simply must. I will not watch anything with Scrappy Doo, however! He can keep his "puppy power" to himself!
11. Disney's Gargoyles
Back in the day Disney came out with awesome cartoons like Gargoyles! Now we have Phineas and Ferb. Come on Disney, what happened!? Kenner made a great Gargoyles toy line and some of the figures are featured on Miss M's blog Diary of A Dorkette.
10. The Real Ghostbusters
Another obvious one, but an absolute must watch for Halloween. And that toy line, it was amazing! This should probably be closer to number one, but oh well. This episode is perfect for Creepsmas Garfield, is that you?
9. Homestar Runner Halloween Specials
Unarguably the best Flash animation site ever to grace the internet with it's presence! If you've never heard of or seen homestarrunner.com then what are you waiting for? Go watch some toons NOW! I looked forward to the holiday episodes every Halloween! It was always fun seeing all the characters dressed up and guessing who they were for Halloween. It's sad to see the site has been inactive for some time, but all the old cartoons are still posted, so if you haven't seen these go watch them now!
8. Looney Tunes Cartoons Featuring Witch Hazel and Gossamer The Monster
Gotta watch some classic Looney Tunes!
7. Disney's Classic Halloween Cartoons
I thought I'd cheat a bit and just clump these all together. I especially love the cartoons starring Donald Duck. Disney instilled a love of ducks in me with Darkwing Duck, Duck Tales, Quack Pack, and The Mighty Ducks from the Disney Afternoon. Also, who could forget when Pluto dreams he's in heck! That's some pretty heavy stuff for kids! Lastly, the Disney animated short, Sleepy Hollow, is also another must watch for me.
6. Mighty Max
Remember That amazing toy line, Mighty Max? Well, there's cartoon series, and get this, it's pretty good! I came across a great review on the Little Weirdos blog and I was reminded of this little gem that my brother and I watched religiously! Right now there are full episodes on Youtube. You're welcome!
5. Beetlejuice
Who didn't love this show as a kid? This was a great cartoon to watch during Halloween or any time of the year. And Let's not forget the awesome toys they made! Unfortunately they are all lost or possibly hidden away in my parents garage somewhere. Fantastic intro music too!
4. It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
Just classic, I have to watch this every year! I love Peanuts! Charles Schultz was a genius, plain and simple.
Ah, Bump In The Night. A show about a monster that lives under a boy's bed, Mr. Bumpy, and his 2 friends, the toilet dwelling monster, Squishington, and a rag doll gal, Miss Molly Coddle. I love stop-motion animation and I loved watching Bump In The Night as a kid. The series isn't technically in the horror genre, but it's about monsters, so that's close enough, right? My favorite episode was Night of The Living Bread.
2. The Simpsons Treehouse of Horrors
Kid's loved it and moms everywhere hated it. Good old Treehouse of Horror! We love the Simpsons and watching ALL of the Treehouse of Horrors episodes for Halloween continues to be a yearly tradition.
Best couch gag EVER! This year's gonna be good!
1. Invader Zim
Invader Zim holds a very special place in my heart. I remember borrowing Invader Zim from, my now wife, Laura. Any excuse to go over to her house and see her! I also started borrowing her Ender's Game books. It was a match made in heaven! While we were dating Laura got me the bestest Christmas present ever, The Invader Zim box set!
Every episode is messed up, disturbing, satirical, and very funny! The creepiest episodes have to be Dark Harvest and Bestest Friends. I don't really care for any of Jhonen Vasquez's comics, such as Johnny The Homicidal Maniac. They're just way too violent, gory, and "adult" for my tastes. Since Invader Zim was on Nickelodeon Vasquez was censored just the right amount, though he hated being censored and was always pushing the envelope.
Here's GIR, just chilling in front of the house/secret base
GIR being his goofy, insane self.
Every disturbing episode, plus special features!
GIR's head opens up for snack storage. Just like in the show!
The roof opens up for storage. Also just like in the show!
Some nice detail on the side here.
One thing that confuses me about the GIR figure is that he's in "duty mode" (his eyes are red) and yet he seems so relaxed. Whenever GIR is in duty mode in the show he becomes all intense an temporarily competent.
I'm sure I didn't even scratch the surface of Halloweeny cartoon goodness! Is there a great cartoon that didn't make the cut? Tell me about it in the comments below! Now, go pour yourself a nice big bowl of Boo Berry and watch some toons!
I do about 90% of my Frugal Friday shopping at the DI. It's just easier that way because there are DIs freaking everywhere in Utah! This week I thought I'd change things up a bit and try out our local Goodwill. I didn't even know there was a Goodwill nearby until we happened to spot one as we drove by. I probably wouldn't have even noticed it if it weren't for the Goodwill Geek. Go check out his blog, it's freaking awesome! I've read all about the awesome things the GWG has spotted at the Goodwill, so I thought I'd try my luck.
Very ominous weather.
When I arrived I noticed there was a Halloween Express next door and a Toys R Us just 2 stores down. Pretty neat. Inside there weren't many shoppers, which I love, more stuff for me. The DI is always swamped with people, it's brutal.
The prices seemed a tad higher here, which isn't all bad, because that means things will tend to stay on the shelf a little longer. I spotted an awesome Dragon Slayer coloring book for $1.
The back cover is pretty sweet!
Tons o' grab bags. Similar to what you might see at Savers.
There were a ton of toy grab bags priced between $2 and $4. Sitting on the shelf in the toy section I spotted a nice little gem.
Nothing to see here, just an unassuming, tiny-headed lumberjack.
This weird shrunken-headed lumberjack caught my eye. I could tell right away that it could transform. The transformation was a thing of beauty! BEHOLD!
My, what big feet you have!
After Mr. Lumberjack's true identity was revealed it was a no brainer that I had to have him, even though he was missing a wing. I wasn't 100% sure what he was from, but I had a pretty good hunch this was a Ghostbusters toy of some kind. My hunch was confirmed by a quick internet search later on. I had discovered a VINTAGE KENNER 1988 REAL GHOSTBUSTERS, THE HAUNTED HUMANS, HARD HAT HORROR GHOST ACTION FIGURE!
Now Slimer has a friend! I thought Hard Hat Horror was $1, but apparently every item with a yellow tag was half-off. I didn't know this, but everything at Goodwill is color coded, and every week one color is half-off for that week. Cool!
Look at that sinister face!
The "human" face is scarier though!
My last, and absolute favorite, find of the trip was this absolutely adorable Flower costume! It was just Ava's size and only 2 bucks! The Halloween selection at the Goodwill puts the DI to shame.
Look at this cutie! Melts my heart, I love her to pieces!
So, the verdict is in, the Goodwill will become one of my new haunts. All you Utahans, don't forget to check out a Goodwill near you every once and a while, you can find some great stuff!
SLIME TIME With Muck Man and special guest, Slimer!
As promised, October 1st is SLIME TIME! The secret special guest is none other than Slimer, as you can clearly see. I picked up 2 more "flavors" of slime for more slimy fun! After all, what's Halloween without a little slime? So, without much further ado, let's check out the new slimes and slime these slimy guys up, shall we?
Slimer dons his slime cap.
Wow Mason, "Have they made any Star Wars toys?" LOL, I don't know why that came out as Star Wars, I meant X-Files. You know, for the black ink.
