Marvel Collector Corps

I'm sure by now you've all realized how much I love collectibles and toys, so I figured I'd tell you about my new obsession: Marvel Collector Corps.

My first little foray into nerdy subscription boxes was thanks to my sister-in-law who had gotten me a 3 month subscription to Loot Crate last year. I had continued with it for a few months and I did like it, but it got to the point where I would only really like about one or two things in the box, so it kinda ended up being a waste.

Then I heard about this one which was solely based around Marvel items and I knew I had to sign up. Unlike Loot Crate, this one is bi-monthly, but it has the same premise of one specific theme per box. This one is the second I've gotten, the first one was centered around the Avengers and came with the best Funko Hulkbuster figure. That's what also completely sold me on this subscription- I freakin' love Funko figures, and one comes in every box.

Along with a Funko figure, there's a shirt, a comic, a pin and patch, and a few other bits and bobs. This Ant-Man one also came with two blind box toys (which are exactly how they sound, you don't know what's inside until you open it) which ended up being Yellowjacket and Scott Lang.

Basically, you spend $25 for the subscription and every other month you get sent a box containing $50 worth of Marvel/Funko collectibles which are only available in said box. I'd definitely recommend checking it out if you're a Marvel fan or just a fan of fun stuff.

Check out more on the website, here!

Eternal Con

Hello all!

So today my brother and I had a sibling adventure to Eternal Con, which is a pop culture convention on Long Island. I had never gone before this year, and I have to admit I was super impressed with how well the entire thing was executed.

It was at the Cradle of Aviation Center (which is just a museum of, you guessed it, aviation) and so it was kind of funny to see people dressed up as Stormtroopers and Ghostbusters and Avengers all hanging around replicas of space shuttles and WWII planes. Since the space is filled with all those normal attractions, not a lot of room is left over in the 3 floor building, but they really worked everything out well so that everything was spaced out and nothing really seemed on top of each other.

I was super pumped when I found out that some of the original Power Rangers were gonna be there. I grew up obsessed with the Power Rangers; I was the Pink Ranger at least three Halloweens in a row and when we did Show and Tell in kindergarten I only ever brought in Power Rangers VHS's, to which my teacher kindly used to ask me to please bring in something different. I couldn't get a picture of the Black or Yellow Rangers, curse too many crowds!

I also heard that a few of the old school WWF wrestlers were going to be there, like Mick Foley, Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Jake "The Snake" Roberts. Growing up with an older brother meant I watched a lot of wrestling. I even took a fifth grade class picture wearing a Stone Cold Steve Austin t-shirt. Those three were some of my favorites and then I found out they were only appearing tomorrow, and me and my brother got super bummed.

Aside from the Power Rangers, I also got to see Gigi Edgley who played Chiana on Farscape. I had to hold myself back from asking her what Ben Browder smells like because I figured it's probably delightful.

There were also a ton of great artists there, some of whose work I purchased, others which I wish I would've purchased. I got to talk to one artist as I was buying some of his work, who was telling us about how he's writing/illustrating a new Bebop and Rocksteady comic where they go on a road trip across the US wreaking havoc which sounded awesome.

All in all, it was a super fun day and makes me that much more antsy for NYC Comic Con in October. Here are some pictures I took for you all to enjoy:

Blue Ranger

Red Ranger, my first love

Marky Ramone. Hey ho, let's go!

Gigi Edgley

Casey Jones and Boba Fett done by Tom Travers.
Check out his Instagram: @tomtraverspics

Gambit and Harley Quinn done by Patrick Reilly. He makes wonderful little
drawings of chubby superheroes and then frames them.
Check out his Twitter: @NotPatReilly and Tumblr: Me-comic.tumblr.com

Book Haul

I recently went to Barnes and Noble and spent a ridiculous amount of money, as per usual, so I figured it might be fun to do a little post about what I got. And, here we go!

1. Fairy Tail #4: I started reading this because of one of my co-workers. He and I bonded over our mutual love of Sailor Moon, and he told me I had to read this series. He started telling me about it, and all he got through was that it was about a wizard guild and there was a talking cat, and I was sold. There is so many in this series that I haven't even scratched the surface, but I like it so far.

2. The Lovecraft Anthology Volume 1: I started reading H.P. Lovecraft when I was in about middle school after someone mentioned I should since I love all things weird and creepy. This is a collection of his stories done in a graphic novel style and it's amazing. I found it nestled all the way in the back of one of the shelves and quickly grabbed it. The artwork is amazing and I'd definitely recommend picking it up if you're a fan. I hope there's other volumes because I'm gonna need all of them.

3. Sailor Moon #10: I've always been a huge Sailor Moon fan. I used to wake up at 6 in the morning on Saturdays just to watch the cartoon, I would run around screaming along to the theme song (which is so great, by the way), and to this day, I still wish I was Sailor Mars. After saying that, I'm a little ashamed to admit I only started reading the manga a few months ago, but I love them. I was also pretty surprised with just how much the cartoon followed along with them. If you were a girl (or a boy!) growing up in the 90s and you didn't watch Sailor Moon, firstly--what were you thinking?, secondly--get these because they're the best.

4. Codename Sailor V #1: This is basically just following the story of Sailor Venus. I don't know if the B&N by me just started stocking this because I haven't seen it there before, but I just had to pick it up. Everything I just said about the above Sailor Moon manga applies to this one too, just pick it up Moonies!

5. Yes Please- Amy Poehler: I just love Amy Poehler, I think she's great. A lot of people I know read this and said it was really good, I'm not sure what's taking me so long to pick it up, but better late than never! I also heard she mentions Fugazi and Ian MacKaye in it which I'm all about. Fun fact: I used to work at a college which she and Tina Fey (my doppelganger) used as a home base for a movie they were shooting and she walked past my office while going to eat lunch. She's like a tiny little ray of sunshine.

6. First Frost- Sarah Addison Allen: The one thing I really like about her books, is she always adds an element of magic to her characters. It's nothing so over the top where it comes off as cheesy or unbelievable, but almost like Practical Magic-esque subtle little quirks. This book follows the same characters as in her book Garden Spells, only this one takes place 10 years later. It's nice to revisit these characters and see how their stories have played out and whatnot.

7. The Phantom of Menace- Ian Doescher: In simplest terms, this is the retelling of Star Wars done in a Shakespearean style, and I love it. I read all of the ones he's put out for the original trilogy and was a big fan of those, so I had to pick this one up as well. I have to admit though, Shakespeare doesn't make Jar Jar any less annoying. I also really like that there's drawings every few pages depicting the characters/scenes in the same sort of Shakespearean style which is fun. I wish these were around when I was in high school, they would've made that time in English class way better.

If any of you are reading anything good, let me know! I'm always up for suggestions.