Funko Mystery Boxes Reviewed!

I don't normally participate in Black Friday and this year was no exception. However, if you're able to wake up buttcrack early to buy Inside Out for 2 bucks at 6 am, then in all seriousness, you're better than me. But honestly, I used to do Black Friday, but I can't anymore. Plus, there just isn't anything that ever catches my eye.

Ok, there's that. I'd pay any price to own a Arn Anderson figure with fist pumping action. But nothing else.

That is, until yesterday. And even then, I'm a little late.  It's my fault for being late to the party though. But in this case, it still paid off. See, Funko decided to put their all into a fun exclusive with Gamestop and gave us a great reason to wake up early(or in my case, wait three days later) with these amazing Mystery Boxes...

Ahhhh....the mysterious allure of the Mystery Box. Remember the scene in UHF where some shmuck on Wheel of Fish gave up their delicious red snapper for a mystery box containing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING?!?!?!? That's the power of a mystery box. But what if, for 20 bucks each, you were guaranteed an EXCLUSIVE FUNKO POP, TWO Reaction Figures, One pin, and a Pocket Pop! Even better, 1 in 8 boxes contained a GOLDEN Pop! Yessir. Thank you, I'll take 2! 

What exclusive Funko Pop Vinyl's were being offered, you may think? Take a look below...

Holy crap, check those out! No wonder a lot of fans went crazy over these!

So after discovering my local Gamestop had a few leftover, In fact, the clerk told me that he started with 40 and after my purchase, they were now down to 4. Not bad, actually! I had to at least pick two up just for chance of receiving a Batgirl or a 1989 Batman, my two biggest wants. (But after looking on Ebay, I wouldn't mind a gold chase variant!) I knew whatever I'd receive, I'd still have something that others just kick themselves for missing out on. So, I came home, gave my fiancee one to open and I opened the other. The contents, were a real shocker.

Laurie's Mystery Box:

Could it be...?

HOLY CRAP! BATGIRL! Score!!!! Yessss! Trying to find a Batgirl Pop Vinyl for under 50 bucks is a pain in the butt, and who doesn't love Batgirl? Laurie was very excited to pick this one out, because she likes Batgirl too! We can now put a Batgirl up on our Funko shelf next to Batman and Robin. Finally. The Terrific Trio has been assembled!

Next up, the ReAction figures. First off, Laurie is the biggest Breaking Bad fan you'll ever meet. I mean, for a good month after last Christmas, all her time was consumed in watching the entire bluray set. So, when she laid eyes on Jesse Pinkman, she was even more excited. Much like Batgirl, you can't hate Aaron Paul or his lovable druggie character of Jesse. Plus, it could be used as Todd from Bojack Horseman!


The other ReAction figure we received was a character named Dave Clark from Tomorrowland, Disney's summer flop. I literally know nothing about the movie, but he looks like he's been punched in the face or his face turned into a melty Nestle Buncha Crunch, so he's ok with me.

Ahhh...the Pocket Pop! Yes! Mrs Voorhees' baby boy himself, Jason! It was fate! Of course we'd end up with at least one horror icon. I'd prefer Freddy, but I'll accept Jason as an easy victory!

The pin isn't too spectacular. It's Deadpool, who I like, but I'm not crazy over. I prefer his old X-Force days where he was Spider-Man with a gun and swords.


Ok, so that box was pretty spectacular! A truly spectacular package to be assured. It's gonna be a hard box to beat, but I'll give it my best:

Oh my gosh...

OH CRAP, IT'S 1989 BATMAN! HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP! YES!

I had been hoping for a Batman 89 since I started my Funko Collecting so I'm very happy to finally own one! Sure it's just an all black repaint, but look at it. IT'S KEATON'S BATMAN.
Now I just need a Bob the Goon.

The ReAction figures were also a nice score! Another Jesse Pinkman and Ali from Karate Kid! Woo! Karate Kid is one of my faves and I have Daniel and Johnny hanging up, but to be perfectly honest, Ali(well, Elizabeth Shue in general) always annoyed me. But I guess I have to keep her by default. Plus, you never know when she could do a convention.

The Pocket Pop turned out to be Elsa from Frozen. Now, I'm normally an Princess Jasmine kinda guy, but I know what's hot. Frozen may be one of the most popular Disney movies I've ever seen, and my love of Disney forbids me to say anything negatory. I will say, if I got Olaf, I probably would've been able to sleep better. Snowmen, son.

And rounding out the box was a Harley Quinn pin. Two of the most popular comic mascots represented in these boxes in pin form. Not bad, actually, especially  considering Christmas could lead these pins to becoming fun stocking stuffers for friends!

So, are these a hit? In my opinion, YES. These are awesome. Didn't walk away with a gold one, but hey, we both got Funko's we liked! So really, that's what matters!

I don't know if they're going to be a monthly offering through Gamestop, but if they are, I'll gladly be lining up early to get these.

Also, check out your local Gamestop. Maybe there's a few leftover boxes in stock! Who knows, maybe you'll get a golden Pop!


-Chad

Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Home Alone!

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the beloved family film Home Alone which is not easy to accept. It makes me feel old. I mean, I saw this movie in the theater! But, I guess when I think about it,seeing Masters of the Universe in the theater at age 4 was 28 years ago, so it's not as bad I guess. But still, combined with the thinning hair, and back issues, this doesn't help me feel any younger.  Whatever, I guess everyone gets to that point. Pass the Geritol!

Anyway, for most if not all of us, it was love at first sight for Home Alone. We all found a new holiday movie to watch and found a new favorite star in Macauly Culkin. I remember laughing hysterically when seeing it in the theater that year and loving every second! And hey, my mom and older brother(who was at that age of "everything is dumb" phase) loved it too. It was very easy to love this movie.

Not only is Home Alone a great family film and Christmas film, but it finally hit me, it's a great ACTION movie! Yes! I know it sounds crazy and in no way am I comparing Kevin McCallister to Charles Bronson but I am saying it's one of the best family friendly-Christmas-action flicks ever and here's why...


The City:

This movie took place in the city of Chicago, which makes sense. Two cities were the setting for essentially every Christmas movie in 80s and 90s: Chicago or New York. Why not? Big beautiful cities look great in the snow with big colorful lights. It's a perfect combo. I mean, I lived in the suburbs most of my life and they look great, but seeing the lights on Rockefeller Center is much more impressive than that of a barn in Davidsonville. Just saying.

Ok, ok, ok so it's not Chicago proper, more of a suburb but it's still in the area and it is a John Hughes production, so it's already in your head that it is. You can't see John Hughes and think "oh boy, I bet this one is going to take place in my hometown of Ho-Ho-Kus New Jersey!". Just won't happen. Sorry. Although I'd love to see a John Hughes movie with all Jersey accents. How great would that be?

So, we've got the great city of Chicago to set this place. But, now we need something huge...

The Story:

Kevin McCallister is the black sheep of a rather huge family. I mean, HUGE.  So large, they had to cast Big Pete Wrigley from Adventures of Pete and Pete as one of the oldest kids.  Yup. Sadly, no cameo for Arrie the Strongest Man in the Word. Pipe! So, deciding they needed to trek the whole family across country for Christmas, they rush to the airport and whoops! they left Kevin! So, that sets up our whole movie. What's a kid to do when he has a huge house to himself on Christmas? Eat crap, destroy his brother's possessions and get in trouble. That's what I'd do! So, now we have our setup. Now to establish our hero.

The Hero:

Kevin McAllister. Professional 7 year old boy. Pizza and Pepsi lover. Burglar eliminator. This was his town, his house and his movie. Macauly Culkin became the fresh faced, lovable pint sized hero that we as movie fans were itching for in the early 90s. Well, ok. Maybe just us kids. Not all of us were fortunate enough to have access to movies like Die Hard or Predator or whatever. I mean, I did, but some didn't. From here, it also gave Mac his own career. He'd go from this to Good Son to Party Monster to eating pizza in YouTube videos. Mac was hot in the early 90s, much like any kid star that would shoot adults with a bb gun.

So in a way Kevin's ingenuity was as close to a MacGuyver/JohnMcClain as some kids could get, therefore setting them up for a love of things exploding and burning people's hair. I mean, not a lot of adults would think to use an old movie from the 1940s to put the fear of death into burglars.

Kevin's confidence in himself is rather low after his family accidentally(most likely deserved) abandons him. He goes from down int he dumps to The Punisher in no time flat. And what a great job he did at defending his house from the Sticky Bandits...

The Villains:

Marv and Harry. The Sticky/Wet Bandits. You know them already. As hilarious as they are, you'd be very foolish to overlook them as villains. They may seem silly, but they're scheme of posing as police officers and finding out who is out of town for Christmas is a rather ingenious ploy on their part. Plus, the funster in me can't resist the jolly prankster in Marv who leaves faucets running. It's just too darned awesome and funny.

Also to be noted is their ferocity. I mean, they became downright obsessed with killing a 7 year old boy who they became suspicious of. I mean, they were close to killing him too if it weren't for the old South Bend Shovel Slayer. But if they're going to do that to a kid, imagine what would've happened to an adult who pissed them off? Prolly disfigurement. Yeah, gotta be disfigurement.

The Booby Traps:

Most will remember the booby traps. It's pretty much the centerpiece of ANY good action movie. So, it should make all the sense int he world to see how The Sticky Bandits getting their comeuppance  would be the favorite of fans everywhere. My favorite? The swinging paint cans on the stairway. Check out this great montage of all the fun traps!

The Climax:

Now that the Sticky Bandit's have been been disposed of, Kevin is now reunited with his frantic mother and eventually his family. Christmas movies usually are perfect movies for those emotional "awwwww" moments that if used by other movies, they'd be made fun of so much. But with snow and Santa in it, it's ok. You won't be pushed in a locker if you say to your buddies at school for revealing you cried when Kevin saw his family walk in the door. I mean, you'll get a wedgie, but it won't be as severe.

So there you have it, my breakdown of Home Alone. Happy 25th anniversary to a fun movie that made me laugh as a kid and even now! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a pizza from Little Nero's arriving any minute...


-Chad

PS-NECA is putting out some great Home Alone figures this year. Check these out!

Mail Call From Pop! Pop! It's Trash Culture(Halloween Edition!)

My friend and fellow blogger and all around great human being, Brian Farrell of Pop! Pop! It's Trash Culture! sent me a package of surprising randomness back in April as a kind gesture. Filled with cards, books, toys, magazines and comics. It was a very kind gesture that I still appreciate very much and didn't take for granted.

So what happens when he decides to message me and tell me he had another package prepared for me?

Oh. Snap.

So, after coming home from work, I run into a package from KingTrash himself...

Oh yes. Halloween AND Christmas had arrived early. A beautiful bounty filled with happiness and joy. Let's take a gander, shall we?

Ahhh...Otho The Obnoxious from Beetlejuice, a Catwoman PVC figure, and the Mummy From Real Ghostbusters. A nice variety of toys that I can keep around just in case I get the flu again and need someone to talk to while I'm delirious. And there's no three things I'd rather talk to while low on energy and hocking up mucus.

Ooooooh....a button and a sticker! Two of my favorite things ever. A button featuring the poster from the first TMNT movie(which happens to be one of my all time favorite movie posters) and a sticker from amazing art company Pizza Party Printing, who do some of the most amazing pop culture art you'll ever feast your eyes on. Indeed, every print they do is like a pizza party for your eyes!

Ok, this came out a little blurry, but it's obvious what these are. A WWE StackDown mystery mini figure, a pack of Elm Street stickers, Dinosaurs Attack sticker pack and TWO. YES TWO SAVED BY THE BELL CARD PACKS.


Now, last time Brian sent me a package it contained WWF cards and I reviewed the entire pack. You better believe a review of Saved By The Bell cards is coming soon...


Oh and as far as who the WWE Myster Mini was...

THIS IS STING! YES. I don't know how Brian did it, but he found me an exclusive Sting mini figure. Which goes great with my nWo mini figures that my friend Paul sent me a few weeks later. But then this happened...

Come on, guys...It's been 19 years since Starrcade...Get over it.

Then there were these. GIANT Garbage Pail Kids Stickers. A lifelong devotee of everything GPK(yes, including the movie), I had never owned these. But thankfully, this solves that. And boy oh boy, the stuff inside will come in handy for decorating my new office...

Oh if only I had a locker or something. These need to be stuck on something like yesterday...

Much like before, Brian sent me a magazine and a minibook. A digest sized Snoopy collection and an old Twilight Zone magazine featuring some fun scifi stories and info on the old tv show. Definitely some nice lunch time reading for out on the balcony of my apartment.

Brian knew how to cap this off, so he had to include an old McDonald McBoo pail! I got a McJack, which is perhaps the most disgruntled and maniacal of any McBoo pail. I mean, he just looks super angry and ready to pounce a mutha for stealing his fries and McNuggets. Beware, folks.

As you see above, he also looks like he should be in the remake of Inside Herman's Head. I think Inside McJack's Skull will do just fine on AMC. Let's make this happen...

Rounding out the package was a copy of the Wizard. My copy of the Wizard never had a copy but a former rental case. I've always wanted to own a copy with the cover and huzzah! Brian made that come true. This was very generous of him as it is a rather perfect copy. The DVD copy is nice and crystal clear, but watching this on vhs on a sick day at home? Even better!

Much thanks to Brian for his very, very gracious care package. I can't say enough about how much I appreciate this and his kindness. Please visit his blog at Pop! Pop! It's Trash Culture! for all sorts of fun stuff about pop culture!


-Chad