Something That Will Interest No One

OK, like one of you reading this MIGHT care. My current Top 25 iTunes list, which doesn't seem to have changed all that much since ever. I'm more or less surprised that the Mummies aren't up there yet, nor more Devo. I guess that's what happens when the same song exists on a dozen albums on live or demo forms.

It's all largely good stuff-- you'd all do well to check out most of this stuff. Although I don't think Oingo Boingo's Forbidden Zone soundtrack is really what any of you are looking for, I think most people should listen to more Blast Off Country Style.

FOTD2 Going OK, I think

So in the past week and change, the column was launched and I even figured out how to rig up a comments section of questionable value. (Does it count if it's only two or three dudes posting?) I'm not even sure what to expect-- my Galactic Hunter Q&A columns get nearly 2,000 reads a week and nobody ever writes ANYTHING.

Also, Google seems to like it, or I know the exact words to type in to make Google like it. This is, of course, a big part of the point. If I review enough weirdness that nobody else touches, the two guys who want to know about it will eventually find my page. It'd be nice if more people clicked the banners and bought stuff... because, well, I don't get paid per article on any of these sites I write for.

I've got about 50 16bit FOTDs in the can (with lots more in various stages of completion) which sounded pretty good until I remembered that the Star Wars one I write is closer to 1,400. 1,424 actually.

I figure that soon-- and by "soon" I mean "after I get a house"-- I'll shift away from new figures and go back into the archives, writing about the weird stuff that I bought in college and high school nobody should ever see let alone own. You know, back when toys were still meant to be played with by kids. It's probably mostly going to be an excuse to tack on stories at the end of the reviews about how I found those figures which, for at least a chunk of them, will be more interesting than the toys.

FOTD 2 Launched

16bit.com's Figure of the Day is live, right now. It's going to be 5 days a week and you should read it and click on all the banners.

A reminder, this is not going to feature Star Wars, nor is the Star Wars one going to stop because of the new one.



Somehow, it looks like you'll be reading a lot about Marvel and Transformers.

Meet the New Column

Nobody reads this blog, so that's why I post announcements here.

On October 14, I'm doing something stupid. Since 2006 I've written "Figure of the Day" for Galactic Hunter, which has gone from 7 reviews per week to 5 because, well, who cares.

Starting October 14, I'll be adding a second daily Figure of the Day column. This one will be on 16bit.com and have no Star Wars content. It's a lot of extra work, but there are some differences which will make this one interesting.
1. I've already written 31 entries
2. If push comes to shove, I'm going to let myself skip a day (or three)
3. I'll review pretty much anything

The basic focus is "what can I get cheap?" or "what's on my desk right now?" rather than a unified focus. If I had to do "FOTD" as a concept over again, I'd have done it 7 days a week with literally any line rather than just Star Wars. Because, crap, I've written over 1,400 of the damn things. If you saw what I got paid for ad clickthroughs, you probably wouldn't do it. But hey, I've got toys, and I need more pageviews, so let's make some more pages.

What are we covering in the first 31? Marvel, Transformers, Masters of the Universe Classics, Funko Pop Heroes, LEGO Minifigures, and G.I. Joe amongst other goodies.

Eventually I might do a "guest week" or see if an open call for toy donations for coverage works out, but my guess is probably not. Although Mattel and Hasbro have already sent me stuff, so who the hell knows. They don't know it's for the column though. (Also: thank you very much, Hasbro and Mattel.)

Uniqlo Canned T-Shirts

My friend Pete went to Japan recently and apparently is obsessed with Uniqlo, a company which sells a pretty diverse array of T-shirts in Japan. They don't stop at Japanese licenses-- apparently they had a lot of stuff like Marvel and Lucasfilm too.

This time around he got me a canned (I like the can, I must say) Neon Genesis Evangelion tee. You can see more images here.

I think more companies should sell their T-shirts like LEGO does Bionicle and like Pringles does potato chips. Clearly, a missed opportunity.

5 Surprising High Points

So after moving back to Phoenix I'm still doing the eatery/toy store/record shop tour. Usually when visiting Phoenix I do this in about 3 days. (They're long days.) Here are some noted notables in the retail and food space.

Tokyo Express Now Kicks Ass
Stopped by for lunch to be greeted by a highly expanded menu with large boxes of meats. If you want shrimp, two kinds of chicken, and beef, you're covered. Congratulations, steadily decreasing Japanese food chain, you have a new customer for life.

There Are Rooms Of People Singing Along With Andrew Jackson Jihad
This is both awesome and terrifying. I like going to a concert with people who like the band, but the show I saw had a good half to three-fourths of the audience knowing all the words. That's just nuts. Or at least after years of going to see the Polysics or Man or Astro-Man or the Aquabats or something, it wasn't expected.

Despite Closing All Locations, Kmart Is Abundant
Pretty much every Kmart I went to growing up is gone-- as are most of the ones I shopped at as an adult. But somehow, there are still four within reasonable distance from me. Who cares? Well, they have this exclusive Jodo Kast figure, and...

Crazy Clearances Still Happen
I bought a G.I. Joe figure for $0.88. Just one so far, which is probably the only one I'll see. But this sort of crap makes my month.

Esplinade Is Dead
Wanna see a movie? Nobody goes to the theater hidden in the office buildings adjacent to the Biltmore. VICTORY. I hate crowds. Rot at Desert Ridge, you poor fools.

Malls

So yeah, before moving to Los Angeles I spent a lot of time in shopping malls. Not for clothes or shoes or socializing, but for recon, for info, for toys and games. Phoenix malls were these strange pop culture buffets, and you were pretty much guaranteed to find some pretty cool stuff at some surprising locales. They closed those stores, so the malls have been increasingly not-worth-my-time as I visited. Now that I'm back, here are some complaints you won't want to read. (Go to the next post.)

Paradise Valley Mall
I lived across the street from here for over 2 years, at which point it was glorious. Hobby Bench, Kay-Bee Toys, and Suncoast Motion Picture Company made the place kick ass. All three are gone-- if you want toys now, you might find something in the board game store or GameStop. Maybe Sears. Nothing remains that's toy-specific. There is a new (to me) movie theater chain called "Picture Show" which, appropriately enough, opened where the old Harkins theater used to be near the food court.

Metrocenter
I've heard this mall is dying since... geez, forever. It's still open but a lot of stuff is gone-- all the toy stores, the board game store, etc. It used to have 3 video game stores, now it doesn't. The remainging Point Of Interest is really the Suncoast, which may be the only one around in the state. I'll need to investigate. The mall has a lot of empty stores, which, I hope, means some wacky thing might open up as rents inevitably decline. Someone should open a cool record store or something you don't see every day. It's pretty silent when you get in it, though, and I've been twice since getting back. (Errands, lunch, you know the drill.)

Arrowhead
Not much for toys. Nor music. There's a GameStop and a 2-story sporting goods store where tackle boxes are too expensive for toy storage purposes. It's been dull for a while, and remains dull today.

Have not yet dropped in Scottsdale Fashion Square, Fiesta, Desert Sky, Superstition Springs, or ChrisTown malls. I've been near ChrisTown mall but it's been predominantly sucky for pretty much as long as I've been able to drive there, particularly since the Kay-Bee (and 60% of the mall) was removed.

I'm in the midst of a shit toy run season. There's always something to research and go after, but as far as action figures go, it's pretty dull unless you're in to the big summer movies which, this season, are either a) over or b) skewing younger than my interests. (Not gonna care about Last Airbender stuff.) But that starts in August officially, and if Kmart does more of what they're reportedly doing, it might start a lot sooner.