I Think This May Be Bigger Than A Womp Rat

Ever since I was 6 years old, Luke Skywalker has been my favorite Star Wars character. Whenever I would get Star Wars toys as a kid, somewhere in the lot there would be a Luke Skywalker I would gravitate to and play with above all the others. I wish I still had them all, but I lost them in the great war of 1982 when my sister and I were at war and destroyed each others toys. She threw out all my Star Wars stuff and I played skydiving with her Barbies from our 6th floor window.

Ever since I decided to restart my Star Wars collecting, I made sure I focused on Luke Skywalker, picking up as many pieces of him as possible. From puzzles to action figures to cups to calendars, anything that has Luke on it, I usually picked up. But I can't say I'm doing it all by myself.

My buddy, George, gave me some late Christmas presents and one of the items fits right into my Skywalker collection.

Recently, Hasbro released some Star Wars Titan figures in their Star Wars: Rebels line. I've never seen the show on Disney XD, so I don't know if it's any good. To me, if it has nothing to do with my beloved characters from Episodes III, IV and V, I have no interest. I gave the Prequel characters a chance and wasn't crazy about them. Also, I'm not sure why Luke was released in this line, unless he will make an appearance on the show or will at some point. All I care about is I get a new Luke Skywalker in my collection.

As with all Titan figures, they come in a box with a cellophane front and some art underneath. In this case, we get a Stormtrooper with the classic Star Wars lettering under the Stormtrooper, which is enough to make me squeal like a 10 year old.

I love the back of the box as it a has a great action shot of the final battle between Luke and Darth Vader in Return Of The Jedi. The picture captures Vader down for the count with Luke about to deliver that final blow that chops Vader's hand off. If I was Luke, I would have been like "A hand for a hand, eh Daddy"? That is probably why I will never be a Jedi. Much anger in this one. Then again, there is no such thing as a Jedi Knight, no matter what those cos players tell you at conventions.

I had wanted to keep the box for display purposes, especially since I was digging that picture on the back so much. Unfortunately, Hasbro did not make getting the figure out all that easily. I would have hoped I could have slide the figure out, but no. It was tied down to a piece of cardboard that was glued to the box. What the heck?? I had to tear apart the box to get the figure out so I could cut the elastic like strings off to set him free. After I was done, there was no box. just one long piece of cardboard. It looked like a piece of the skin off an orange if you peel it right.

Here is Luke out of the package. Right off the bat, I like that he's wearing his Jedi outfit from Return. He also looks enough like Mark Hamill for this figure to work out well.

I did say he looked enough like Hamill, not totally like him. There's enough there where you can look at the figure and say, "OK. I see it." Only thing I might have done was darken his hair just a little. Mark Hamill has dark blonde hair. Not very light blonde that the companies have been putting on him since the 70's. I never got that.

The only accessory that came with the figure was his green lightsaber, which I'm glad we got. Of the two lightsabers Luke had, the green by far is my favorite. Not sure why since blue is my favorite color. I thought, and still do, that the green made Luke more of a bad ass than the blue one did. The hilt on this lightsaber is a little bit bent, so I will have to figure out a way to straighten it out since I'm pretty sure Luke had a straight hilt and not the curve on the end that I have seen on some lightsabers.

There is barely any articulation to this figure. Luke's head turns slightly from left to right, the arms do a full 360 rotation at the shoulder and the legs go up in front and that's it. That's not a problem for me. My problem is if we weren't going to get wrist articulation, why is Luke's hand out stretched instead of at his size? It's not like we can pose this figure, so I fail to see the reasoning for the palms out theory with this figure.

Maybe Luke is asking Vader for some long overdue child support? No wonder he chopped Vaders hand off. The cheap Sith Lord.

The paint on the back of the figure is as good as the front is. Hasbro did a bang up job on the paint application. I did not see any splotches or messed up paint on any part of the figure.

That's as much posing as your going to get out of this figure, but I really don't care. It's a new Luke Skywalker figure that has been added to my collection and I am very glad to have it. Once I am able to display my collection, I figure (Pun intended, heh heh) this will have a prominent spot next to my other larger Skywalker figures.

Like most of the free world, I am looking forward to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I usually avoid seeing a newer release with crowds, but I may break that rule just to see this movie. I have been on such a Star Wars kick lately. I've watched New Hope, Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi all weekend get my Star Wars mojo flowing. The 2 best things about The Force Awakens? We get the original cast back and we are sure to get more Skywalker collectables for me to pick up. That's a win win...for me at least.

I'm Baaaaaaack! And I Have A Figure To Show!

It's been a while. 4 months to be exact. 2014 was not the greatest year for this Sexy Geek. I lost a lot and one of the things I lost was the passion I had to blog about pop culture. It's not that I didn't love all the things I wrote about. I still love Batman and have been dying to get the '66 series on Blu-Ray. I still love comic books, even though I haven't really bought any in a long time and I am really lost. I went to buy all the Spider-Verse issues last weekend to catch up and was told there was another story line along with it to read. Way to confuse me Marvel! I've also been following the big announcement that Marvel made last week regarding Secret Wars and the impact it will have on the Marvel Universe after, which was what I was going to blog initially. But two things happened. I realized that I am out of the comic book flow, so I may not be the best person to state any opinions on this topic.

And I won a contest.

Let me explain, over on Facebook, I follow Funko and every Friday, they run a contest. I have entered a few, never winning any. Then during New Year's week, I get a notification from Funko on Facebook that I won the last contest I entered. I was beyond thrilled, to say the least. When the package arrived last Saturday, I was beside myself with joy.

Look what I won.

I won a Distressed Amazing Spider-Man 2 Funko Hikari. How freaking awesome is this thing? I had seen Hikari figures in Barnes N Noble before, but never picked any up because I really couldn't afford the 50.00 price tag these figures carry. But thanks to the kindness of the good folks over at Funko, I now have a Hikari of my very own. Let's take a look at the box.

I absolutely love the back light effect this box gives off. Spidey looks amazing (no pun intended) against the black of the box.

Now, against my better judgement, lets take Spidey out of the box and take a closer look at him.

Wow, this keeps getting better and better. This figure is numbered 1 of 750. I have the very first figure made. Even if it's not, I'm sticking to that story.

Right out of the box I can tell you this one awesome figure. The figure seems to be made of a heavy plastic. It feels heavier than a POP or one of their bobbleheads would. The fact that it's taller may have something to do with that as well. I also like how the colors pop out on this figure with some backwash on it as well. You can definitely see the Japanese influence in these figures.

The back of this figure looks great as well. If your wondering about articulation, There is very little, much like with a POP. The head does a full rotation and the arms will rotate as well, but that's pretty much it. Who cares? This figure is pretty damn sweet.

Just in case you wanted to see the tag on the figure.

And a close up of Spidey's mug. You can really see the fantastic work that went into this figure when you look at it up close. Ok, I'll stop drooling now.

For size comparison, I bought out my Spider-Man and Amazing Spider-Man 2 POP vinyl figures and you can see the Hikari Spider-Man towers over his smaller brothers. I wanted to have my Amazing Spider-Man POP join the others for this picture but it was too busy avoiding Sony executives.

Again, I cannot thank Funko enough for this awesome figure. It made this Spider-Man collector a very happy geek and it will have a prominent place in my Spider-Man Funko collection forever.

By the way, The Sexy Geek's House Of Swag is now on Facebook. Please swing by and like the page. I plan to add my blog posts from the House of Swag and The Sports Room on to the page as well as have conversations and post pictures of newsworthy items. You can check it out here:
https://www.facebook.com/TheSexyGeeksHouseOfSwag

I hope this is the beginning of my return to blogging. As long as I have something to say or a new item to show off, I will still continue to post blogs. It's one of the few things I feel I am good at and as long as I enjoy blogging (and I do), I will keep at it.

So I Walked Into A Bookstore The Other Day...

Don't you hate it when you go out some place, not looking to pick anything up, yet you walk out spending a some of your hard earned green backs? Neither do I.

I went to pick up some photos over by Union Square yesterday. Since I was in the area I decided to stop off in Barnes N Noble to use their facilities and see if there was anything interesting.While there, I stopped by the section that had POP figures. Unfortunately, I didn't see anything there so I moved along. While passing by this section where the Walking Dead stuff was, tucked between a couple of zombies I found this cool Spider-Man item:

Not sure where I would put this as I don't own a computer monitor, but it's going to look pretty sweet with the rest of my Spider-Man Funko collection.

So, I went to pay for the Spider-Man computer sitter when I noticed a huge display of POP figures right by the registers. Yeah, go ahead and put a huge collection of items that I'm going to want to purchase right by the register. Genius.

While standing on line, I peruse the Funko Pops on display when I saw them right next to each other. I knew it was fate that they would be coming home with me.

Anytime I can pick up a new Luke Skywalker item for my Skywalker collection, I am grabbing it. I had heard of a new Luke Skywalker POP in his Hoth gear paired up with a Wampa and I saw it at Barnes N Noble, but I decided to pass on it as it was a bit pricey. But I did find this Luke solo (No, not Han), so he came home with me.

But Luke was not alone. Right next to him was a POP I had been looking for:

Spider-Man, of course. Duh.

I had been looking for this Amazing Spider-Man 2 POP ever since the movie came out, yet I had trouble finding it. I was all set to order it from eBay like I did with the first Spidey POP, but lucky for me, he and Luke were chilling out, waiting for this sexy geek to grab them both and bring them home.

Since I'm here, Let's take a look at Spidey out of the box and check him out.

Right off the bat, I love the sculpt on this POP. unlike the last Spider-Man, the web lines are not colored in, but it doesn't take anything away from this figure. The Spider symbol is also larger on this POP then the last one as well.

Check out the eyes on him. Awesome job Funko.

Here's the back of Spidey. The paint on this figure is fantastic. There is nary a sploch, messed up line or anything negative to say about the paint application on this POP.

Heck, I even like the Spider on his back.

I always said two Spideys are better than one. I initially thought that the blue on the ASM 2 was lighter, but that isn't the case. The eyes are also wider on this POP. To tell you guys the truth, I can't decide which POP I like better. To me, both have great qualities that I love and because of that, I'm not going to even try to figure out which I like better, so NAHHHH!

What made this trip to Barnes N Noble even sweeter was that I had a 30 % off coupon, so this sweet shopping spree cost me less than $20.00. As Mel Brooks once said, "It's Good To Be The King".

Infinite Marvel Legends Superior Spider-Man

When Marvel announced that they would be cancelling the Amazing Spider-Man book and replacing it with a new title called "Superior Spider-Man", I remembered feeling outraged. How dare you cancel one of the cornerstone titles in your universe, I remembered thinking. Then I found out that Peter Parker wouldn't be Spider-Man in the new book, It would be a reformed Doctor Octopus, inhabiting Parker's body. My radioactive spider blood boiled over and reached critical mass. I was pissed, to say the least.

Then I calmed down and read the book. I have to admit, Dan Slott did a good job writing this book, While I could never find myself rooting for Doc Ock, I kind of liked a more darker Spider-Man/Peter Parker who thought he was better than everyone else. I always knew that Peter Parker would return, so I just enjoyed the book until the return of my beloved hero.

One of the things I liked about the new Spider-Man was the costume. It's a pretty bad ass suit and I was kind of hoping that Parker would have kept it a bit longer before returning to the traditional red and blue suit, but that didn't happen. Still, I was glad to have the real Spider-Man back and didn't give a second thought to the Superior Spider-Man suit. Plus, we didn't have to see those spider legs that Ock put on the suit late. Thank God.

When Hasbro announced a new line of Spider-Man figures, I of course was interested in seeing which characters we were getting. When I saw that a Superior Spider-Man figure was getting made, I knew I would be adding one to my Spider-Man collection. When I saw the prices of the figures, I knew I would be finding another way to add one to my collection. Thankfully, I found one on eBay for 10.00, shipped, that was out of the package. I didn't mind cause I would be opening it anyway. I put in a bit and won it, saving myself 10.00 in the process.

Seeing this figure in person, out of the package, I was pleasantly surprised how good this figure looked. This has to be one of the cleanest Spider-Man figures I have seen in quite some time. The paint is brilliant. There is not one sploch or messed up line to be found on this figure. Because it was an opened figure, it did not come with the Goblin's leg like it did in the package.

I love the eyes Hasbro gave this figure. Almost translucent, Almost like the Spider-Man figure that was released a few years back that had light up eyes that conveyed Spider Sense (Still looking for the figure, btw). As you can see, the paint on this figure looks great. The red just pops out at you and complements the black paint well. They did a good job painting the spider on his chest, but the webs doesn't look right, especially on his head. They look crooked in the most noticeable place on the figure, so there's a strike right there.

The back looks as good as the front. Well painted and the spider on his back is painted as well as the one on the front is. But you can see the messed up web lines on the back of the head also. I guess the guy who painted them on has a problem with heads.

The articulation on this figure is pretty good. The head has a full head spin and can look up and down. The shoulders can go back and forth, but has limited up and down movement due to the neck piece on this figure. There are biceps swivel, bend at the elbows and wrist spin. There is an ab crunch, hip swivel, thigh swivel, knee bend, ankle swivel. The leg can also kick up, but can't go back at all. It just goes off to the side a bit. I'm not a huge fan of posing my figures, but it's nice to know that I can get some cool poses with this figure if I really wanted to.

Even though I didn't get the Goblin's leg, I did get the interchangeable hands that came with the figure. As you can see, I got a pair of thwipping hands to swap out with the figure. The hands come off rather easily, so I had no trouble sticking these onto the figure.

I like the idea of having interchangeable hands. I would have also liked it if this figure came with a set of closed fists and some webbing that could be slid under the wrists so it could look as if he was shooting webs from his web shooters, but I guess we can't have everything we want.

Plus, would it kill Hasbro if they added stands to these figures again?

Overall, I like the figure. I think Hasbro did a great job with this figure, some minor issues aside. I like the sculpting and paint job on this figure. The articulation on this figure is just enough for me and the interchangeable hands help me with posing, if I chose to a some point. I would recommend this figure to any Spider-Man/Marvel fan for their collection. Aside from the Marvel Select Disney Store Exclusive, this might be the only time this figure is made for a while, so get yours before, like Doctor Octopus, it fades away.

I Want To Collect And Save Money

As of late, I've had to make a few tough decisions regarding my collection. As most collectors, I always want to add more goodies to my collection. I want to buy as much as I can. But, I recently had to come to the realization that I don't have the money I had a year ago. My new job doesn't pay me the same salary and after paying bills, my disposable income for my collecting habits has shrunk. So, I had a conversation with myself (Who doesn't have lengthy conversations with themselves?) and realized a few things.

I Can't Collect Everything

I never really considered myself to be a completest. I don't have to collect every figure in a particular line. But ever since I watched a couple of collection videos on YouTube, I've been trying to grab everything. If there was a Batman figure I wasn't crazy about, I grabbed it anyway. If I saw a small Spider-Man figure, I'd still pick it up, even though I'm not a fan of 3 1/4 figures. I was trying to get a collection as large as some of the collections I saw. That's no way to collect. I wasn't collecting. I was acquiring. I realized that no matter what, I'm not going to be able to get everything. I love the Hot Toys figures and I have been dying to pick up some, especially the Spider-Man, Batman and soon to be released Marty McFly figure. I can't afford them, so I am going to have to find a way to have an awesome collection without them.

Plus, I'm not really digging a lot of the stuff that has been released. I think for the price we are forced to pay for these figures at Toys R Us you would think they would be of better quality. Better likenesses. But as long as us collectors continue to buy these figures, the toy companies won't make the necessary adjustments us toy collectors deserve.

All I really want now is the 34 inch Spider-Man, the Marvel Mashers Spider-Man figures and the Spider-Man Titan figures. And the Luke Skywalker Bespin Star Wars Black Series 3 figure. That's it. The stuff I really want (statues, high price point figures) are too expensive for my wallet right now.

Good Bye Comic Books, Hello Trades

I love to read comic books. I have been doing so since I could read and never really stopped. Unfortunately, The time to stop buying comics has come. Why? I'm not really interested in some of the titles that have been released lately. Plus, some of the stories has been less than stellar.

So, for now, the only titles I will buy on a monthly basis will be the Spider-Man titles and Batman books. The rest I will pick up on trade. There a lot of stories I miss out on or want to re-read without paying the premium prices for the actual books.

Another reason is room. I hate boxes and I would rather buy a bookcase for the trade books I will be picking up and minimize the long and short boxes in my space. I still want to try and collect a run of Amazing Spider-Man and Peter Parker books. But that's it. Everything else, trade.

Save And Sacrifice

Like I had mentioned earlier, I would love, love, love to add a couple of Hot Toys to my collection. But really, I don't have $200.00 plus to shell out for one. I could live without them. I have no problem with having a collection sans Hot Toys. I could pick up a couple of Batman DC Direct 12 inch figures for the price of one Hot Toy . But if I really want a Hot Toy, then I will have to do what I did as a kid when I wanted a Star Wars action figure or CD.

Save for it.

Instead of buying that $30.00 Spider-Man Ipod case, put that money away. Instead of buying a 6 pack of Blue Moon, put that money away. In a couple of months, I could have the money for an Amazing Spider-Man Hot Toy or a Spidey statue. Or maybe save that money for a comic con and see if I can get a deal on some of the pricey stuff I covet.

Focus On What I Really Want To Collect

For the longest time, I was picking up whatever I liked. It didn't have to fit into my collection. If I thought it was cool, I was buying it. Now, I can't afford to do that anymore. If I want to be able to add new stuff to the House Of Swag, it's going to be something related to what I collect. As of late, I have been focusing on nothing but Spider-Man and I don't see that changing for a while. Everything I want is Spider-Man related, so it's going to be nothing but Spider-Man for a while.

It's not like I need anything new to review. I am woefully behind on my reviews and I need to start catching up. Here's a sneak peek at just some of the figures I will be reviewing soon.

I have been chomping at the bit to open up these and other figures I have been wanting to review for a while. I hope to have at least one review up this week.

After seriously considering all avenues and options, I think these are the best ways for me to still have a great collection and save a little bit of money in the process. It will be rough. There will be times when my instincts will be to grab that cheaply made figure for 20.00. But if I keep my eyes on the goals, then I will be able to add what I want in no time and still have a full pocket.

As Doctor Emmit Brown Would Say, Great Scott!

If you know anything about me, either from personally knowing me or by reading this blog, you would know what a Back To The Future fan I am. It's in my top 2 favorite movies of all time. I have watched all three movies countless times, I have a small Back To The Future Collection, have a few of the cartoon episodes and have been praying we would get a BTTF animated movie so that Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd can reprise their roles and not have them recast.

Then last night, my buddy tagged me on a post on Facebook and what I saw sent me into a frenzy.

I must have looked like Doc Brown when the model of the DeLorean caught on fire and raced into the garbage.

Are you freaking kidding me?? I had no idea Hot Toys had a Back To The Future license. and look at how good this figure looks.

This will be a part of Hot Toys's Movie Masterpiece Series and will be released in the first part of 2015 to coincide with the film's 30th anniversary. The figure has an authentic and detailed likeness to Michael J. Fox, including movie accurate facial expressions with detailed wrinkles and skin texture.

Not only am I a huge Back To The Future fan, but I am a huge Michael J. Fox fan as well. I've watched him on TV on Family Ties, Poison Ivy, Spin City and The Michael J. Fox Show (I can't believe that show got cancelled. I LOVED that show) as well as movies like Secret Of My Success, Casualties Of War, The Hard Way, Doc Hollywood, Greedy, The American President and The Frighteners. Heck, I even liked Bright Lights, Big City. This figure will be a must have for me.


I shouldn't be shocked at how good this figure looks. I mean, it's Hot Toys. We all know how good they make their figures.

I have been wanting to start buying Hot Toys figures. I'm not too crazy about the figures I see at Toys R Us or Target anymore. We are paying too much for crappy figures. If I'm going to spend my money on figures I want good stuff. So, I figure (no pun intended) that instead of spending 12-20 bucks for a six inch figure, I should save that money and put it towards Hot Toys. I've been wanting to pick up the Amazing Spider-Man and the Adam West Batman first and gradually build my collection from there. Now, I may have to pick up this Marty McFly Hot Toys right after those two. There hasn't been a price announced just yet, but I'm guessing it will be around $200.00.

Knowing that Back To The Future will be 30 years old next year makes me feel really ancient. But having this figure come out will soften that blow. I'm just waiting for a Hovercraft, flying DeLorean, A Flux Capacitor, A Mr. Fusion and my self tying power laces pair of Nike's. Oh, and abolish all lawyers.

Add Another To My Must Have List

Just when I thought I had made my Batman pick up list for the year, I get thrown a curve.

As we know, this year we are celebrating the 75th anniversary of our favorite Caped Crusader, The Batman. So far, we got a great issue of Detective Comics #27 earlier this year to commemorate the event and we got the 1968 Filmation Batman on DVD. Later this year, we will be getting some nice Batman goodies like the 1966 Batman TV Series on Blu Ray and DVD in November, Herocross is releasing an awesome Hybrid Metal Figuration of the 1966 Batman in October, which you can see down below:

You can preorder this from Big Bad Toy Store for $89.99. But earlier this week, I got my first look at the newest Kotobukyia Art-FX statue and it's a must have for me and for probably every Batman fan out there.

We are getting a First Appearance Batman by Bob Kane Limited Edition Statue and I think this looks sick.

I think this is a San Diego Comic Con Exclusive, but kotous.com has a pre-sale going on for this for a cool $39.99. They wouldn't be shipped out until a week or two after SDCC, but that's a small price to pay to get something this cool. Seriously, when I first saw these images I thought this would be a $75-100.00 statue. At $39.99, I will be jumping on this.

And to this all I wanted from SDCC initially was the Spider-Man/Iron Man NECA Scalers dual pack.