Freaky Friday....Spell books and copycats

Today was supposed to be about the Monster Cafe.  But I spoke about that on Tuesday.  Such a shame.  I have thrown out my own personal schedule about this.  Friday is supposed to be about something freaky or ghoulish....Monster related....So here goes....

Wifey and I got a couple of things for the cafe.  Some of which I have covered before with the black and white Universal Monsters but today is this....

They had these great creepy plaster books at Micheal´s that I thought fit well in the bar area. 

They are so awesome!  You really get the sense that Monster Cafe mixes it´s drinks in a special way.

Look at em right at the bar!  So cool! 

Here is another shot of them.  I am always adding to the cafe little things here and there.  One can literally spend an hour looking at all the stuff I have added over our 4 year stint. 

I mean look!  We are so awesome that we even have a copycat in the area.  Museo de la Katrina.  Or Museum of the Katrina.  That doesn´t celebrate Hurricane Katrina I assure you.  It is a museum about skeletons and the day of the dead in Mexico.  What happened was the guy that owned the house got to see what I was doing with Monster Cafe.  His wife is a sculptor and he offered her services for us to make us something.  Well she did and I thought it didn´t look good.  He was offering it for free and THEN changed his mind and wanted to sell it to me!!  The nerve.  I thought the piece sucked to begin with so what does the guy do?  He decides to make a museum thus basically ripping off the Monster Cafe.  Somehow they conned the government of Saltillo to give them money and calling it a Museum even though the wife makes EVERYTHING in there!  I wouldn´t consider it a museum if you make the art.  A Museum should have viable artifacts etc..He even painted the outside of the building after I had done mine that way.

I mean look at this.  How is this a museum when obviously everything is handmade.  Mine is handmade too but you do not see me getting money from the government to run my place...

  I used to have my waiters stand outside the cafe wearing monster masks with flyers advertizing my cafe so what does this guy do?  He dresses teenagers up like skeletons in hooded robes and does the same thing.  What a joke!  Oh well as they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...

 

Oh and I am thinking about getting Keychains done.  Let me know what you think.  Cheesy or cool?

And here is a shot of Monster Cafe´s mascot Tarantula feasting on a big juicy cockroach....YUMMY!

Look how proud she is standing on her four legs in a triumphant moment of victory!  And I gotta tell ya´s....Crickets who are WAY small cost 40 cents apiece to feed my baby.  Cockroaches are free.  They crawl the streets of Saltillo.  My chef captures them for a free cafe every time.  So go Elvira and eat it up real good!

 

 

 

So there is freaky Friday for ya!

 

 

 

Controversial Thursday- army building

Controversial Thursday is just a personal point of view.  I realize that MANY people feel differently then I do and that is ok.  It is just for me to vent and maybe make others think.  This topic today started when I saw on another forum something that pissed me off.  That subject was army building.  Now I am ALL for army building......to a point.  In my opinion 5 is where one would stop.   I personally stop at 4.  This is the pic that did it.

Those are 19 Toybiz Build a figure Sentinels!  I cannot even begin to count up the cost in order to have ONE of these.  The Build a figure concept is simple in that one has to buy every normal figure from a series and each figure comes with one part to build another figure.  One might come with an arm for instance and you need to track down the other 8 figures to complete the build a figure.  I KNOW the old saying....¨It is my money and I´ll do what I want with it¨  and yes that is true in today´s world.  You can also be an ASS for thinking that way as well.

Another pic, same jerk.  16 MORE Sentinels from Hasbro.  It pisses me off that a kid cannot walk into a store and get one for himself because this guy has to hoarde ALL of them.  It pisses me off that I will never own a Toybiz Sentinel.  Not even one.  Now if he is buying them to sell later to make a ginormous profit, he is still an ass for doing so.  Toys are not stock options.  It is my own personal belief you do not treat them as such.

Ones may call me sour grapes for having such a thought in my head.  It is not jealousy I assure you.  I have plenty.  I feel for today´s youth or the old timer that wants to experience collecting again and get one Sentinel or whatever have you.

Now I know certain collectors buy them and they sit on their shelves gathering dust.  An occasionally the collector looks up and gets a nostalgic rush to see them.  I do it too.  But the above pic is OVERKILL with the tan battledroids...I do not wish to deprive my fellow collectors or kids who might discover this hobby because I was a jerk like this.

Here is another vermin...um...version of the collector.  The one that has to own EVERY SINGLE likeness of his favorite character.  Reminds me of Toy Story 2 where it was the exact same Buzz Lightyear figure but the new one had a belt.  Ridiculous!  I understand figures of the same character from different toy companies, like my LJN Hulk Hogan and my Jakks Hulk Hogan but to have 41 CM Punks is absolutly retarded.  He may get oohs and ahhs from his fellow wrestling fanatics but not from me.  I think it is irresponsible.

They all have the same head but different paint jobs.  How stupid are collectors?  This is my own personal rule of course but I choose one definitive version of a character and that is the one I go with.  IF the character changes his costume in a significant way then I will get ONE other one.  I.E. Red suited spidey becomes black suited spidey.  Pretty significant change.  Now if it is just spidey but with webbing under the armpit, I leave it alone.  Same with wrestling.  One Man Gang to Akeem is a significant change.  One man gang with or without a blue jean jacket I leave it alone. 

So that is it.  Feel free to agree or disagree.  These have been my views for many years etc.  Unlikely to change in the future but ya never know.

Edit:  So I was banned from the Facebook group Marvel Toylines because I took a picture from one of the members there and posted it here.  I broke no rules etc.  I just had an opinion about what I perceive as uncool.  Whereas the member in question Antwan threatened to find me and kill me and cussed like a sailor because I had said opinion.  Yet I am banned and he is a member in good standing.  Truly protecting the bully and hurting the victim in this case.  Guess some people cannot handle the truth.  And I should also add that none of the members had the guts to post here to offer a differing viewpoint.  Nor did this Antwan...

Wednesday Wishlist MU I wish they would make.

Well it is that time again.  This wishlist will deal with what I want to see in the 3.75 inch Marvel Universe line.  It was pretty easy to come up with this list.  This line is a dream come true for me.  I would like to start off saying I was an Amazing Spiderman freak!  214 was the first issue I ever saw.  First issue I ever bought however was 224 with the vulture.  The 1966 show was playing in reruns and I was in Spidey heaven.  So with that in mind this list will be Spidey strong!  I wasn´t into his earliest villains as they were not in the issues I read at the time. 

1. The Trapster!  He was on that first cover I ever saw with issue 214!  I just liked his look.  He looked deadly and serious.  Now I know he is a mockery in the comic book world and has been changed alot.  He even looked like a ninja once.  But I would want his classic updated suit as seen above.  The figure above is actually a Toybiz prototype that was due in the 1994 Fantastic Four line but was cut.  I would´ve held onto that figure had they released him.  I have mad love for the guy!

2. The Vulture!  I know what you are thinking....Old man vulture was in issue 224.  Well I considered him but there was one that Toybiz put out that is awesome!  I also figure that Hasbro is going to make him anyways.  So my pick is for the Blackie Drago version as seen in the 1966 Spiderman cartoon series.  He has never been made and I like his little helmet.

3. The Foolkiller!!!  One of Peter Parker´s peers was the villain in issue 225.  This was my second issue of Spiderman.  Wow.  His gun vaporized people he thought were fools.  Oh Greg Salinger!

Since Juggernaut has already been made and I was NEVER a fan of the Black Cat pick number 4 goes to the Cobra!  But I am cheating a little.  A couple of years later I was snooping around other comics.  Came across a GREAT arc in Captain America where he goes against the Serpent Society!  So I do want Cobra but also the rest of the Serpent Society.  And not any of the King Cobra crap.  I just want good old fashioned Cobra.

5. Mr. Hyde.  That is right.  If you read that issue of Amazing Spiderman 231 at the end was a GREAT revelation.  Hyde standing on top of the roof gazing down at Spidey.  Here it is...

That was the end of the issue.  It MADE me want the next one!  You can thank Mr. Roger Stern the writer of ASM for that!  In issue 232 Hyde is awesome!  Smashing things etc.  He is like the Hulk.  I was a young comic reader and we had just had the Juggernaut smash the city up good and here was Hyde doing to moreso!  It was a treat!

6. Mutated Tarantula  Oh yeah!  In issue 233 Spidey fights the Tarantula, in issue 234 he gets transformed into a monster tarantula.  In issue 236 he mutates more into a HUGE tarantula.  But I would not want that one.  I want this one!  He is half Tarantula half himself.  It is kind of like Doc Ock in a spider´s form.  He looks great!  Plus....I figure Hasbro will make Human Tarantula someday soon.

7. The StiltMan  Yeah I know.  He gets a bad rap in the comic world too.  BUT he was in issue 237 fighting Spidey.  Having no idea at the time he was primarily a Daredevil villain I was quite taken with him.  Would love to see an MU figure of him with interlocking legs so he could be the size of a Sentinel in height.  I heard the Punisher shot him dead in the comics.  Oh well...

8. HydroMan... At this point in my comic buying I started to explore back issues I had missed.  Morrie Bench makes his debut in issue 212 two issues before 214 with the Trapster.  He had such a simple origin!  He was created as a result of the SubMariner and Spidey fighting on a ship where he fell in the water and exposed to radioactivity.  Great villain.  Then just 5 issues later he fights the Sandman and turns into the mud monster!

9. Boomerang. Now out of everyone on my list so far this guy probably has the best chance of being made. After reading Amazing Spiderman for awhile I started to check out his sister...No....not that kind of sister.  I mean the other comic starring Spidey the Spectacular spiderman!  Issue 67 had Boomerang the killer who keeps coming back!  He was trying out to be the Kingpin´s new assassin!  Great gimmick!  All kinds of trick Boomerangs.  A sonicrang, etc.  This was before I knew anything of Hawkeye with his trick arrows etc.

10. The original Scorpion!  Yeah I know they already made one for the 3 inch line but I do not recognize him at all. Spectacular Spiderman 21 was where I was first introduced to the Scorpion.   And since I have not picked up a recent comic since 1998 all I know is not Mac Gargan is Venom.  WHAT?  Stupid....Toybiz even made the Scorpion but again....I want one with his original suit.  With NOTHING shooting out the end of it!!!  Just a blunt end would be great. 

So that´s my list!  We will see if it changes in the coming year as probably some of these get made. Would love to know what fellow collectors want for the Marvel Universe line that have not been made yet.  Leave a comment below!

Tuesday Trip to Monster Cafe!

I have covered Monster Cafe a couple of times now but I have never shown the MONSTERS on this blog before.  So without any hesitation and shameless self promotion I present....

Dracula was the first Monster we made at MC.  I wanted something at the entrance of the place that would stand out.  Invisible Man was considered but I wanted to make a statement with this one.  A gal named Bustamante made this.  Only $400!  That was pretty frickin expensive for Mexico but hey...I had to have it.  She next made a pink Frankenstein.  Yes pink.  She had seen a different picture of the Karloff frankenstein and painted him pink.  With gaudy eyelashes.  Wish I had a pic of that one.  I sent her back to the drawing board.  She refunded my money instead and in a huff never returned.  So I was without an artist.  We put out an ad in the local paper for another artist and found a gem!  Raymundo.  Great guy!  He also made the Dungeons and Dragons sign I had blogged about before.  Anyway he was MUCH cheaper than ole Bustamante.  I wanted figures that could mount to the walls and had a REASON for doing so.  Not just stick something on a wall.  So I came up with Phantom of the Opera sitting in his opera seat.

Now he is drilled into the wall hanging about 25 feet from the ground.  The head was from Cineart that I had acquired sometime ago and Raymundo just mounted the head onto the body he created.  So basically it is just the waist on up.  No legs. 

I am standing on a ladder to get this shot.  Ole Chaney looks pretty cool!

I wanted Frankenstein on the wall because really there was no other monster I could put standing up.  The only space I had was for Dracula.  All other spaces taken.  So then I thought of the scene where he is at the windmill. Had an artist paint the windmill in.  I am still not happy about the pants.  It is basically only made waist up...Oh and arms up!  Had no idea why Raymundo thought Franky should be doing the wave.  But hey, it works...

Wolfman was next.  I put him up a tree awaiting to pounce on an unexpected victim.  Remember, I had NO floor space.  That is for tables etc.  He works ok.  Even managed to put a little metal bat in there for kicks.

 

Loved the movie THEM! as a kid.  I can never get that ant noise out of my head.  So I had to incorporate them..haha get it them?  Anyway I had to put them into the place.  I wanted them busting out of the brick wall like they were invading but the artist had no idea what I was trying to say and drew it straight.  Oh well.  Perhaps one day.  That steel beam right below them I painted silver to look like something was breaking away...I included a shot of myself to give you an idea of the scale.  Yes that is a Willy Wonka autograph to my left and your right.  Or vice versa...I have more..

These aren´t real autographs but they ARE real pictures of autographs I found on Google.  I grabbed those autographs that meant something to me.

Again....Another one mounted on the wall.  I wanted to capture Chaney swinging from inside the church rafters.  Really pleased with this one. 

The Creature is our last Monster.  I wanted him coming up out of the lagoon so I did it waist up. 

Now this artist is NO Stan Winston but just a humble Mexican creator of awesomeness!  I didn´t have Universal´s budget to do this place.  I had no help.  I had no investors.  I had no partners to shoulder the responsibility.  I had my wife and I.  That is it.  I challenge anyone to do a better job with what we had to do this place with.  So I can say I am pretty proud of myself sometimes in what we did.  Hope you all enjoyed! 

 

Now off topic....my recent scores! 

See that price baby!  That is around $3 each!  WHOOO! Year One!  So stoked about it!  Saw Year One in Laredo for $15!  SO glad I waited.  I am a DVD junkie as well. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LEAGUE ASSIGNMENT: Ninjas and Russians...

                                                                         
Who would you take in an 80′s character fantasy draft? Your team’s goal will be to defeat a shady conglomerate of Russian businessmen and their team of hired ninjas. It’s go time.

I have no idea what russians have to do with ninjas but hey....Am I supposed to pick an army to go against the ninjas or one guy or what?  Has a russian ever hired a ninja before?  And I can only pick characters from the eighties?  Does that mean created in the eighties or were around in the eighties?  I mean it would just seem simpler to call the Avengers or the Defenders, XMen etc.  There are already a million teams to deal with ninja threats.  But I will give it a go in my own rascally way.

This week´s assignment is question worthy for sure.

Well lookie there.  There is Wolverine taking on all of them.  So I bring him.  I win.
I see where it says to limit it to 5....Well I have no idea what to do so I googled eighties ninjas so I will drop in another four images.....

There.  Karate Elvis will join Wolverine to clean up the ninjas and do a few ballads of Jailhouse rock...

This was another google image under the title of Eighties ninjas....Hansi Hinterseer....Well this gay guy can make sure everyone is dressed properly after Elvis and Wolverine have kicked butt....

2 more to go huh?

 

The game warden from Jurassic Park came up under Eighties Ninja references....Hmm....I guess he´ll do.  He can shoot the Russian businessmen from far away.

 

This image came up too....I guess if there are any surviving ninjas they can always be taught golf and avoid going back to their evil ninja ways...

 

Looks like I am the first one done so I cannot put links to others blogs as of this moment.  But I will once more are done.
Well here ya go!  One member is done so  far!
http://underscoopfire.com/league-of-extraordinary-bloggers-assignment-ninja-attack/  The author of said topic goes into it!
http://greenplasticsquirtgun.blogspot.mx/2012/08/ninja-attack.html  Our own Bro. Midnight goes insane with ninja goodness!

Memories Monday! Slurpee edition!

When I was a kid I lived near a 711.  It was a block from my house.  Discovered my first comics there.  But after that I found these.

Now I personally own NONE of these but I do miss them!  To drink your coke out of one of these things was awesome!  Even if I had no idea who the character was due to age.  I found out later who everyone was.  They were awesome!  Now the new Toon Tumblers have expanded on them.  They look great too!

Look at that!  Toon Tumblers even went retro with the seventies looks to them!  They made Marvel AND DC this time!  I have no Toon Tumblers at all.  Would love some someday.  But I did pick up at HEB in Laredo these cups!

 

99 cents a piece! 

There are 711´s ALL over Mexico.  Not one has a Slurpee machine!  I cry foul!  These cups are great but none will surpass the originals.