Zero Lives: 2023/04/09
I hope this weekend finds you well. Did you know that I typically write my intros last? Well, now you do.
There was some late-night impulsiveness that led me down an expensive trip to the Big Bad Toy Store. I haven’t purchased an actual action figure in some time. The last batch was some Mandalorian Figures from Hasbro’s Black Series. They came out incredibly well and now that I have some hindsight, were reasonably priced at $35 apiece.
This most recent purchase was a more eclectic selection. I’ve been after some decent Spider-Man figures for some time now. It kicked off with the first Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse film and has reared its head again with the trailers dropping for the new film. So, I found the Amazing Yamaguchi Revoltech series figures. I’m not the biggest fan of the original Spider-Man costume, but the Spider-Gwen and Venom figures looked amazing. I also threw in a Vegeta and Anya Forger for good measure.
The figures themselves aren’t awful quality, but they’re definitely not worth what I paid for them. Venom and Spider-Gwen were in the neighborhood of $95 each whereas Vegeta and Anya were about $35 each. All four came with different faces, hands, and a few accessories. For the price, Vegeta and Anya weren’t bad. The quality wasn’t as good as the Black Series figures, but they’re otherwise decent, considering.
Venom and Spider-Gwen weren’t worth the money by a long shot. To start, Spider-Gwen has a big thumbprint on her hip that I can’t do anything about. Despite having a ton of joints, their flexibility is limited and the joints themselves are incredibly ugly.
Overall, I’m disappointed and probably won’t be diving back into action figure collecting. Gundam models are much cheaper, are fun to build, and come out looking great. It was an expensive lesson to learn, but at least it’s learned.
Ah, Easter Sunday. The Cosmic Jewish Zombie has risen and Ghost celebrates with a spectacular cover of Genesis’ Jesus He Knows Me. Not only that, but we’re getting a full EP of cover songs coming in May. From Iron Maiden to Tina Turner, Papa and the Ghouls have been busy. It took a few listens to grow on me, but it’s an absolute banger of a track.
What I’m Playing
Resident Evil 4 Remake - Horror fans are eating well in 2023. The Dead Space remake was fantastic and the Resident Evil 4 remake is just as good. It felt like playing the original for the first time. Now that I’ve completed the first playthrough, I’ve set to modding the hell out of it and am having a blast with how broken it is. I’ve yet to touch The Mercenaries but am looking forward to that.
Dragon Ball Fighter Z - Not sure how, but I definitely found myself in a mood for Dragon Ball. It’s been decades since I’ve played a game featuring the Z Fighters and this one was on sale. So I nabbed it, completed the tutorial, and likely won’t touch it again. It’s not a bad game, but it’s not great. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by Street Fighter and Guilty Gear as of late.
Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered - I loved it on PlayStation 4 and have been mulling it over about buying it again on PC. I finally pulled the trigger and have been greatly enjoying how great it looks on the ultrawide with maxed-out settings at a much higher refresh rate. The only thing that bugs me is the occasional stutter. Otherwise, this will be a great one for simply relaxing.
Stardew Valley - Speaking of relaxing, the wife wanted something for us to play together and I’ve heard nothing but good things about Stardew Valley. Before we knew it, several hours of our lives had disappeared and we had the beginnings of a farm.
What I’m Watching
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves - This was much better than I expected. I don’t exactly have the warmest feelings toward D&D after a DM ruined it for me. That being said, this was a fun little romp in a fantasy land full of laughs. I don’t know that I’ll watch it again, but it wasn’t the worst way to kill a Saturday afternoon.
The Way of the House Husband - I didn’t give this one a fair shake at first due to the animation style. It’s like someone took a batch of still frames and did a bunch of pans and zooms with it. It’s definitely unlike traditional animation. That being said, it’s utterly hilarious and definitely great for background entertainment while working on a model kit.
Gunpla
While we were at C2E2, there was a booth selling Gundam and Gundam accessories. I wasn’t really interested in any of the 1/144 scale models and I have all of the 1/100 scale models I want for the moment. That left the 1/60 scale Pro Grade models. I mulled it over for several hours before pulling the trigger on the 00 Raiser model. It’s a slow build but isn’t as painful as the Judge was. I’ll hopefully have it done in the next week or so. The fucker is going to be huge.
Art
I found a couple of great models and went to town this week. It was fun to do the different variations of Vegeta. That led me to tinker with shadows and highlights, which I think came out well for the Lilith piece. I want to get better about making backgrounds. I was watching some Bob Ross, which led to the more painterly background.
