For Those Days When All You Want Is A Relaxing Game Of Chess

As a kid, I used to love playing Chess. I remember learning the game in elementary school at about 8 years old from one of my favorite teachers, Mr. Chappy. Funny enough, it didn't take me long to learn the game and whenever I wasn't playing sports, reading comics or watching TV, I was playing chess. I loved playing it and beating my friends and cousin on a regular basis.

Nowadays, I'm not the good chess player I was as a lad. I haven't really played a game in several years except for the time I played with my young nephew. I know your supposed to let the kids win, but that's not how I learned to play and I wanted to pass that along to my then 6 year old nephew. Unfortunately, that did not go according to plan. One arm swipe and the game was over. I haven't played a game since.

I never really considered collecting chess pieces at all, but that was before I started watching my good friend, Stew Murray's Superman videos on his YouTube channel. He has some very nice Superman Eaglemoss Superman related chess pieces in his collection. I liked them so much that I decided if Eaglemoss ever made a Spider-Man piece, it would be in my collection at some point.

Look what I found today:

I happened to find this at a comic book shop I shop at in Scarsdale, NY called Alternate Realities. There was a table with a ton of nice stuff and this beauty just happened to have been front and center. Of course, resistance was futile and I snatched this piece up to add to my collection.

The chess piece came with a magazine and a pamphlet, which is shown in the picture above. It pretty much gives you a run down of what pieces Marvel will have to offer at some point as well as gives you a description of what you can expect to see in the magazine.

Although I'm only interested in just the Spider-Man related pieces, there are some nice pieces in the Marvel collection. I'm really digging that Red Skull piece. I bet the detail in that sculpt is incredible.

Here are the pieces that will be released. First, the White Team (The Heroes).

And The Black Team (The Villains)

On the villain side, I will be picking up Venom, Lizard, Electro, Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus for the collection. Those Mandarin and Loki chess pieces look great though.

I am looking forward to reading the magazine. The magazine has a profile about Spidey as well as a poster of the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #40. It also has a section to teach you the game of chess as well as gives you some key phrases used in the game and the meaning behind them. The magazine even lists three key Spider-Man stories as well as strategy on beating Doc Ock.

The fact that the magazine uses the actual art from the comic books is a huge bonus for me. I could look at Spidey drawn by John Romita Sr., Steve Ditko and Todd McFarlane all day long, every day.

And here is the chess piece. I have to say I am quite impressed with it. These pieces are hand sculpted and painted so there is very little room for error when creating these pieces. I have seen some videos where there were some paint issues on them, but I can honestly say there wasn't any flaws on my piece. I was actually pretty worried about that, but was able to breathe a sigh of relief when I opened the package and saw that there was none to be found.

Take a look at that sculpting. I really think Eaglemoss and it's sculptors and painters did a fantastic job with this piece. Maybe they could have painted in the web-lines on his suit, but it's not that much of a big deal to me. Not big enough to detract how awesome a piece this is. The spider symbol on his chest s sculpted on. It's not painted on and I think that's awesome. It shows how much effort was made to make this a pretty quality chess piece.

The piece is made of metallic resin, so there is a bit of weight to him. He's not too heavy, you can easily feel that the weight is on the base of the piece. Still, I would try my best not to drop this piece as I don't know how sturdy it really is.

Here is a back view of Spider-Man. I love the black wash that's in the blue. Little things like that are what I am really digging on with this piece. The spider symbol on the back is not sculpted on. It seems to me that it was painted around, creating the symbol on his back. Am I making sense? Spidey Sense? No? Perhaps?

The base of each piece gives you the symbol of the chess piece it's representing on the chess board. In this case, Spidey will be one of the Knights on the chess board. The other Knight will be Wolverine.

Under, the base is lined with a felt material. This is to give the piece a better grip on whatever surface it's on. Or so I'm guessing. There also a number assigned to each piece. Not sure if the numbering means anything other what number piece you have off the production line. I really have to find out if these pieces are numbered to a certain amount and will cease being in production once it reaches that number.

Once again, I am thrilled to add a new and unique piece to my Spider-Man collection. Maybe if I start playing again, I will get a set just for play. Even if I don't, this piece is going to look insane on my shelf with my other Spider-Man items. I can't wait to hunt down the villains to add as well. Again, I never thought I would want to pick this up, but I'm glad I did. Having an open mind to certain things can really diversify a collection and really make it stand out.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I just downloaded a chess game to play on my tablet and I'm going to kick some computer tail. What, checkmate? Already? Damn!

I May Be Biased, But This Is An Awesome Bobblehead.

Yeah, I may be a bit Spider-Man crazy these days. Everything I've bought has been Spider-Man related. From figures to comics to statues to cups, I have been on the hunt for anything that has the Web Head's face plastered all over it. Must have something to do with the movie that was just released. Yes, I did see it and yes, I loved it. I won't say anything in case anyone who's reading this hasn't seen it. I will say that I strongly feel that this is the best Spider-Man movie period. Was it perfect? No, but the positives far out weigh the negatives. I will be seeing it again.

So, I'm sure by now you guys are wondering what bobblehead I bought. If you guessed it is Spider-Man related, your a winner of a No Prize.

A few months back I showed a preview picture of a Spider-Man bobblehead that NECA was releasing in April. I had seen it in the stores, but always left it behind. This past Friday, I couldn't resist it any longer. Plus, the price was better than I had seen in other stores and finally picked it up.

I love the box the bobblehead comes in. You have a classic John Romita-ish Spider-Man drawing in the upper left hand corner with a huge picture of the bobblehead your getting. This box is not in the greatest shape. Stupid me for not noticing it until I got home. I guess I was just too giddy about picking this up.

Look at how cool this bobblehead is. Classic Spidey pose, low to the ground. His left hand looks like it's getting ready to spin a web. I love how the sculpting looks vintage 1970's Spider-Man. This is just a great looking bobblehead.

The back looks great in the classic red and blue colors of the Wall Crawler. Love that big red spider on the back of his costume. I almost bought a t-shirt in this color blue with the red spider in front on the chest. Very cool shirt. I will pick it up eventually. The base may look dusty, but I'm guessing its from the packaging. This bobblehead is packaged inside styrofoam that covers the bobblehead from both sides. That was one snug bug.

Nothing great on the bottom of the base. Just the Marvel and NECA logos as well as their website addresses. Also, Spidey was made in China.

I think this bobblehead might be one of the best Spider-Man bobbles produced. NECA did a fantastic job with this one. This was not the only one in this line. I have seen Iron Man and Thor on the shelves of my local comic book shops and they also look fantastic. But for my money, and again maybe I am biased, but the Spider-Man bobble is the best of the three and it may be the best looking Spider-Man bobblehead ever made. This one is going to look great on the shelf.

Recent TTM Autographs

I know what your thinking. You're thinking, "Hey, geek! Where are the autograph successes. We know you're sending them out still. Put down the Spidey figure, turn off Raw and show them". Well, in my defense, they just haven't been coming in. I have a bunch out there right now and I have only been getting 1 in. Maybe 2. But that really about it. It's frustrating because I watch youtube and I see these guys getting in 7 packages at a time and I only get 1 and that's per week!

Well, I am not giving up! I will continue to send out requests and be happy with the one success a week, dagnabbit!

So, here are the more recent successes:

Not sure if I have shown this one already, but just in case. This is legendary comic book writer/artist Walter Simonson. Notable works include Thor, X-Factor, Fantastic Four, Superman, Star Wars, Batman and Battlestar Galactica. He introduced Beta Ray Bill to the Marvel Universe and turned Thor into a frog for a bit, Walter drew me a quick Thor sketch and signed it in about 2 weeks.

I gotta tell you, I love getting these cards back from the artists. They are so cool when you see them in person. I have about 7 requests still pending. Hope I get them back.

Bobby Shantz was kind enough to sign this photo for me in a few days time. I had originally sent out 2, but I was unaware he had a brother who also played for the Yankees. I did find a pic of him in a Yankee uniform so I will be sending another request out to him soon.

I have always been a Burt Reynolds fan so I was thrilled to get a nice return from Mr. Reynolds. Loved him in movies such as Deliverance, The End, Cannonball Run, Boogie Nights and even Sharkey's Machine. But to me, he will always be the Bandit. I was pleased he signed these 2 photos for me as well.

Those will stay in my collection, I can assure you.

When I heard Steve Garvey was signing through the mail I quickly jumped on the opportunity to send out this photo. As happy as I am that I got it back, I am a bit upset that who ever opened the letter in his end left a long scratch on the photo.

Yes, even the Fonz knows I am powerful!

I was thrilled when Henry Winkler signed my photos. I have been a fan since I was a kid, watching Happy Days and clutching my Fonzie Mego doll. God, I wish I still had that figure. And his Jalopy too. Also loved Night Shift. I can still hear Michael Keaton's obnoxious humming to "Jumping Jack Flash".

I was able to get the Honkey Tonk Man to sign these 2 photos for me. Had to get one of the longest reigning Intercontenental Champion holding the belt and I like how it came out. I miss the days when that title ment something.

Former Knicks guard Richie Guerin signed these 2 photos for me in about a weeks time. Guerin was a star for the Knicks in the 1950's and 60's, becoming a 6 time All Star. and became the first Knick to score 2,000 points in a season when he scored 2,303 in the 60-61 season. He also signed a bookplate for me so I could start my Knicks project.

I was able to add another legend to my collection when Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat signed these 2 photos. I wasn't the biggest Steamboat fan growing up. All my affections were for Roddy Piper. But I always respected "The Dragon". I watched that thrilling match he had with Randy Savage at WrestleMania 3 and was blown away. I think that was the greatest match in wrestling history and it's a shame the WWE doesn't give it the proper respect as such.

I marked out for this guy in the 80's. Ted DiBiase had one of the greatest gimmicks in the business as well as one of the greatest heel laughs of all time. His theme song still cracks me up. Money, Money, Money, Moneyyyyy. The WWE really should have let him be the champion for a little while. Not only was he a great heel, but he was also a great technical wrestler. A match he had against Bret Hart was one of the best and it wasn't even aired on TV. Mr. DiBiase signed these 2 photos sent in care of his ministry.


I have also had my share of failures:

I was thrilled that I got this return from Richard Dreyfuss, until I saw i didn't match up with any certified autographs of his. Upon further investigation, I found out his autos in the mail are secretarial.

This one is up for debate

I have heard that these are phonies while some say that they match up with some in person autos they have seen so who knows. I need to do some further investigating to come up with my own conclusion on if they are real or fakes.

I hope to be able to show off more through the mail successes in the very near future. I have a bunch of requests still pending and I plan to send off a bunch more this weekend. Hopefully, the mail will start picking up shortly and I will have my own 7 return days as well. There is nothing like the thrill of finding one of your self stamped addressed envelopes in your mailbox. Its why I continue to send out requests and I hope you too will experiance it for yourselves. Once you get that first return, you will never stop.