K-Mart rules.

Not because it's a great store... more often than not K-Mart stores are cluttered, messy, and filthy, and the prices are usually about a buck more than Walmart's regular prices. No, K-Mart rules because their clearance prices are FABULOUS!!!!

One thing I have found is that K-Mart's stuff sits in clearance for ages without being touched because the initial "clearance" price is only a bit less than the retail price. What many people don't realise is that the prices in the store computers continue to go down as the stuff sits there and rots on the shelf.
Chances are that if you see something on clearance and you're patient enough you can get it dirt cheap down the road. I saw a huge $44.99 G I JOE Rise of Cobra fighter jet today that rang up as $11.00!

Walmart plainly marks their clearance prices on their products and people snap them up before you even know they're gone. I was in a Walmart one day when they put the Avatar figures on clearance, and they marked them down from 9 bucks to 1 buck in one fell swoop. People flocked to the clearance rack and pretty much picked the meat from the bones. I managed to grab one figure.... the one figure left. K-Mart, on the other hand, keeps the same clearance price on the toy even though the price has dropped below the floor.

My regular practice is to grab a buggy, head to the clearance section, fill up the buggy with stuff, and scoot over to the price checker. Sometimes you don't find much... other days are better. Today was one of the good days.

I picked up an armful of stuff today for 10 bucks. The retail price on it all was supposed to be 39.99. I think I did ok!

First up is this Batman: The Brave and The Bold deluxe figure set. Retail $11.99... I paid $1.50!!!



It has Batman with Nth Metal Bat Knuckles, the Gentleman Ghost and his Ghost Steed.



Whatever... I bought it for the horse. That thing is awesome! Forget everything else in the set-- that horse RULES! The Gentleman Ghost isn't so bad either, but the horse-- yeah... the horse, man.



Best part of all? THEY GLOW! YEAH-YUH!!!!



This is supposed to be Batman with Nth Metal doodads.. yeah, whatever... I'm calling him Prison Beat-Down Batman and that's final.



Next up? Crappy Wolverine Origins figures. Retail $8.99 each... I paid $2.00 each!

Yay. I bought em to use as customs. I liked their pants.
We have Logan and "Deadpool."



Yay. The guys on 4chan's /toy/ who pretty much hated the character of Deadpool in the movie started calling him "Dudepeel." I agree with this practice. After having him a while I might just keep him as is because it's just a stupid looking toy.



But this is the highlight of my haul. I've been wanting this Bandai Creation (the American end of Bandai) Destroyah figure for a while now, but it's just never been worth 10 bucks to me, really. I'm cheap... sue me. He's never been one of my favorite Godzilla villains, so he wasn't a top priority. But when it's only 4 bucks? YEAH!



It's not as nice as the Japanese figure, but that figure can run you around 15-20 bucks (which it is totally worth because the paint on that beast is a beauty).



One thing it has over the Japanese version is the extra articulation. From what I have read the wings on this version have a much better range of movement, and the legs and arms are articulated as well. In total he has 9 points of articulation which is pretty darn rare with vinyl kaiju figures.



After actually getting him out of the package and goofing around with him, I can say he'd be well worth the full retail! He's a fun, creepy looking guy who'd look great in any kaiju collection! His wing-span is impressive!



On the way out I found these little dudes! Bok Choy Boys! These little suckers were 50 cents each and they are adorable! Keep an eye out for them in your area!

art

I don't post sketches very often. One of my professors in college liked my sketches, but hated my finished work. He kinda hated me too, but that's cool. Fun times. I figured: "Why not show some sketches?"

So here are some sketches of a Godzilla redesign I've been working on for a while now. I'm trying to make him more like an animal without making him like the giant lizard in the American Godzilla movie. I'm trying hard not to copy the look that William Stout created when he was commissioned to redesign Godzilla for a never produced American remake. That creature was a thing of beauty.

Enough yacking:





I hope those aren't too yucky. Metal makes me draw all crazy-like.

I'm going to be taking a break from creating for a while. I've been having some personal difficulties lately, and I need to do some soul searching about my future as an artist. I don't think I get what art is all about-- I don't get what it means to be an artist. I've been making things since I could hold a crayon in hand, but I'm seeing more and more every day that I just don't understand art. I don't identify with artists like everyone else does. I've never claimed to be a smart person, and I've never really made good decisions. Maybe this is the right decision for me.

This will be the last blog entry

Godzilla vs. The Sickness Monster

So I've been pretty darn sick. Every year around this time I usually get sick, so it's no real shocker. My mom picked up some medicine for me today because I can't even go outside. On the way back she stopped by the local thrift store and grabbed me this Godzilla kiddie book for 25 cents. It's goofy as heck, but the illustrations are pretty nice (I have no idea who the Motown Animation crew are, but they do nice work!). It really made my day and brightened my spirits. Moms are awesome!

I figured I'd share it with everyone (click on the pics to see them bigger):



















Pretty violent for a kiddie book! I love it!
Hope you guys enjoy it!

Mixed-up Monsters!!!

A lesson about eBay and carefully researching the items up for bid:

I won an auction for a 7 inch tall "Bandai" Godzilla from Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack. The only similar sized figure of the GMK Godzilla that Bandai put out in Japan was the 9 inch standard scale figure. It looks a little something like this:



That particular figure is pretty darn popular among Godzilla collectors. The fact that I won it for a lot less than it was currently worth tickled me pink. When I got the package in the mail today... I noticed it was a good bit smaller than I expected. I figured the guy was guestimating the size when he said 7 inches... he was. Turns out he was guestimating that it was made by Bandai as well.

This is what I got in the mail:



Turns out that this is the X-Plus rotocast GMK Godzilla figure.

It's not a bad Godzilla figure at all... as a matter of fact, it's a VERY nice figure. It's just not the one I had hoped I had won. I went back and looked at the auction and realize that the figure in the picture is the one I got in the mail... it just wasn't a very clear picture, and I was excited to find it at such a low, low price. Turns out I paid exactly what this figure usually runs for on clearance at most stores. So I'm not horrible disappointed... I'll eventually find the Godzilla figure I was looking for, but i hope this is a lesson to all those folks who are hunting for deals on eBay: know your stuff and assume the seller doesn't. I don't think the guy was intentionally trying to scam anyone. He didn't seem to be a Godzilla expert or anything, and he had a lot of other Godzilla figures for sale that were Bandai figures. I think he just assumed it was the same thing.

The figure is a nice, well-sculpted piece that looks JUST like the costume in the movie. The paint apps are extremely nice-- a LOT nicer than the paint apps on any of my Bandai figures. It's not so much a figure as it is a statuette... it has 1 point of articulation that isn't really a joint... he comes with his tail detached and the junction allows for a tiny bit of rotation. Overall a very nice addition to my shelf, and at the price i got him I can live quite comfortably with him. He fits right in with my smaller scale Godzilla figures.





A shot comparing him with the other 6 inch figures:




I'll still wind up giving the seller a positive, because he packaged it well and shipped it out as fast as humanly possible. I'm going to send him an email and let him know there was a mistake in the listing, though, because I know some collectors are not as easy to please as I am, and he could get damaging feedback in the future for similar mistakes. I know it was his responsibility as a seller to know what he was selling, but I just don't feel like he deserved a negative. I know what it's like being a seller.

So let this be a lesson... be aware of what you are bidding on and don't be afraid to ask questions!!! I usually do, but I let excitement get the best of me.

Godzilla gets his nails did.

Regular readers will recall that I recently purchased a bootleg Bandai Godzilla figure.



I was torn about the figure: the vinyl color and the paintjob were goofy and very "bootleggish," but the sculpt was exceptional. If it had a goofy looking sculpt, I would have kept it as is for the LOL factor. As it was, I couldn't stand to see such an awesome sculpt go withought a better paintjob. So... well... here ya go:






I tried my best to bring out the sculpt with some drybrushing and washes. I hope I did the Big G justice.[/quote]