I don't allow myself to splurge very much. Most of my modest income goes toward providing the bare essentials for my two ungrateful, mooching children. That said, the allure of DC Direct's Batman Black and White statues is often too much for me to ignore, particularly when based on a design by an artist I like. Now, I've got probably close to 20 of them, and almost NO shelf room whatsoever left for new ones, however when I flipped through the new Previews at work Thursday and saw this...

well, the rest of this blog post pretty much writes itself then, doesn't it? The third statue in the series based on a Neal "God" Adams design, and it's the Zombie Batman design! This beauty is limited to 5,200 pieces, so if you want one for yourself, and of course you do, pre-ordering in the way to go. I've of course already got mine ordered. It will be a few months before it actually ships, and I have it here in the Batcave, but rest assured there will be more pics coming when it does. 

New VonKlingele Customs!

I talked a bit before about VonKlingele Customs back when I ordered a Death Trooper for my brother. To say the least, this guy's work impresses the hell out of me. I'm also insanely jealous, as this is something that I would fill my every free moment doing if I had the skill.

Those of you lucky enough to be in the Seattle area can get your hands on some brand new stuff VonKlingele Customs has been working on exclusively for Crypticon Seattle which takes place on May 24th -26th. All of them are badass, and I would love to add to my shelves, but there's just one in particular that I'm dying to own....

Remember the movie Rubber? Of course you do. It was awesome. What's even more awesome than the movie? A motherfucking Robert the Tire action figure!!! Complete with victim! My God how I love this...

If you're going to Crypticon, seriously, feel free to pick this up for me. For those of us not attending, be sure and check out the rest of what will be available from VonKlingele Customs at the Guts and Grog table on their Facebook page. While you're there be sure and give them a "like" and tell them how awesome their figures are.

This shipped unexpectedly quickly, and as such has become yet another early Xmas gift for myself. This DC Universe Supervillains Joker bust is giving my Brian Bolland Black and White Joker a serious run for it's money as my favorite Joker piece from my collection. I'm in love with the sculpt and paint job on this one, not to mention the pose. Another fantastic statue from DC Direct, they never disappoint. 

Haven't done one of these posts in a while, but I'm overly excited about the newest Batman Black and White statue, which came in this week, Joker designed by Brian Bolland. Comic fans need no introduction, but for those who may not be familiar, Bolland is the genius artist behind The Killing Joke, amongst other things, and more comic book cover art than I could possibly name. He's long been a favorite of mine, and to this day whenever I'm asked what my favorite Batman story of all time is, I answer Killing Joke.

Anyway, the statue itself is simply magnificent. The sculpt is superb, I love the design, love the posing, and there is some insane detail in the paint job. These Black and White's aren't cheap, but when they look this good, I definitely feel like it justifies the price tag. There have been several statues in the series that weren't Batman, but other characters like Catwoman, ManBat, Bane, etc., and this is the first I've actually ordered. I passed on a Jim Lee Joker, another Bolland statue of Penguin, and I came very close to ordering a Lee Bermejo Joker, but decided against it at the last minute. I couldn't resist this one though, knew I had to have it as soon as I saw it. One final side note, this is Brian's third Black and White statue, which puts him in the lead as far as number of times artists have been asked to contribute designs. Makes sense to me.

Huge thanks once again to Frank Browning for yet another graphic. He hooked up the all new "WDHGTWT" banner at the top of this post.

VonKlingele Customs

Do you enjoy highly detailed, hand painted custom action figures, most of which are based upon obscure horror and exploitation films? Of COURSE you do. Well friend, allow me to point you in the direction of VonKlingele Kustoms. I found out about these custom action figures via a mutual friend on Facebook who was running a contest for a VonKlingele "Dear God No!" figure, which I of course mentioned earlier here. Once I saw the Nixon Vixen figure, I decided to check out some of their other work.

The very first pic I saw was this beauty:

This zombie Storm Trooper, or "Death Trooper" based upon the novel Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber, made my jaw drop. As you may or may not know, my brother is as into Star Wars as I am into Batman. In fact it's because of him that I even know of the existence of this book, and I knew I had to get him one. I contacted VonKlingele Kustoms to see if they did commissions, and fortunately they in fact do. Long story short, I told them what I wanted and a couple of weeks later, this beautiful beast is sitting proudly on my brother's shelf:

How amazingly badass is this? I knew I would be getting my money's worth when I asked for the commission, but damn, this went above and beyond what I was expecting. Needless to say, my bro was extremely happy with it. He was surprised too, as all I did was tell him that something awesome was heading his way and to clear a spot on his shelf for it. Never even hinted as to what it was. I can be a bastard like that, haha.

Here are some more of my favorite pics from previous work. These are just in random order, taken with permission from their Facebook page.

Exterminator 2

60's, 70's, and 80's era zombies

Invincible

Caption N: The Game Master

Invincible isn't the only comic property getting some love, check out these Batman villains!

Finally, my personal favorite. Ladies and Gentlemen, feast your eyes upon the amazing SHARKTOPUS! I don't just want one of these in my life, I fucking need it. I want a Sharktopus diorama, complete with Eric Roberts figure and bungee jumping bikini girl! Make it happen VonKlingele!

Do yourself a favor and visit the official VonKlingele Kustoms Facebook page for even more photos. They are currently taking commissions, so if you want a Death Trooper for yourself be sure and hit them up, or make a request for something different. I guarantee you will get nothing but quality work, done in a timely manner at a very reasonable price. Tell Jacob that Mister Bones sent ya!

My Newest Addiction

Being that I'm clearly in need of a new obsession, I've recently taken up collecting shot glasses. I'm still just starting out, so I only have a few but I ran across a set on Amazon that are absolutely perfect and I wanted to share....

How badass are these?! I don't have them yet, I literally just ordered them today but I can't wait to throw them up on my shelf. If anybody knows of any more like this, or that are just cool looking, please point me toward them. I hate an empty shelf.

Newest Addition to Batcave...CUTEST EVER?

I'm afraid it just might be. Last week I got an email out of the blue from my brother from another mother, Mister Binky, formerly of Disparate Elements fame, and currently of No High Scores fame, stating that a mysterious package was on it's way to me through the mail. There was a bit of a mix-up with the address, which almost landed the package in the nefarious claws of my evil ex, but thankfully things worked out and what you see below is the contents of said package, a Freddy Kreuger Living Dead Doll!!! I swear I have the best friends in the world.

Look at how damn cute he is, hanging out on top of my dvd shelf. I absolutely love it. I've admired the Living Dead Dolls forever, but never actually bought one. I think Binky may have created a monster with his act of kindness as I've been looking at them online today and see quite a few that I feel like Freddy needs to keep him company. Thanks again B, I love, love, love it.

Newest Shelf Additions

Haven't shown off any statues in a while, and lately I've added two new ones to the shelf, so I thought...why not?

First up is the new version of Mike Mignola's Black and White statue. For whatever reason, probably due to money issues, I never ordered the original Mignola B&W and have kicked myself in the ass since. It's one of the rarest of the series. As you can imagine, the news that there was going to be a re-release, with a minor tweak, made me extremely happy. Not only was I going to be able to finally get this statue, but the tweak in question was to the logo on Batman's chest, and instead of the regular black bat logo that he's currently sporting, he would be wearing the yellow oval logo, which is my personal favorite. Beautiful statue, and I especially dig the detail on the batarang and it's rope, and the paint job is phenomenal, almost making it look like an animated character brought to life.

Only one minor nitpick here, and that's with the base. The top is the exact same as every other statue in this series, but for some reason this one has white around the edge of the base, where all the others have black. It's a minor thing, but it really stands out every time I look at my Black and White shelf.

Next is my Heroes of the DC Universe Batman bust design from one of my all-time favorite artists, Gary Frank. Up until now, nobody has made the "Batman, Inc." costume design look as badass as Gary does on this bust. The detail is gorgeous, the paint job is gorgeous, and I can find absolutely nothing to complain about with this bust, other than maybe I wish I had a bigger one. Only one size on these busts though, bummer. For the money, you aren't going to find a better looking collectible to display in your Batcave. I'm still in the middle of that "new statue smell" phase, so calling it a favorite is easy, but I fully expect this bust to stand the test of time. It's probably the second best looking piece I own, behind only my Kotobukiya vinyl Japanese import Batman statue.

Long timers who actually read my old blog might remember that right before I deleted it, I actually did a post that showed off all of my Black and White statues. With the addition of the Mignola, my grand total now sits at 10. I only buy the ones designed by artists that I dig, don't get all of them. I think I might re-do that post at some point this week, if I feel like getting them all down and taking pics. I've already seen a photo of the Black and White statue that's coming in next month's Previews, and I will most certainly be ordering it as well. No secret that I consider Jock to be one of the most talented artists currently working in comics, and he was asked to design a statue for the series. No-brainer there, it will be mine.

I have the BEST friends.

Recently had a friend tell me via facebook that he was looking to get rid of something that I would likely pay well and/or kill for, and he was willing to let me have it for free, as long as I would come pick it up. His vagueness, coupled with the allure of free shit, was all it took to pique my interest. All he required in exchange for them was photographic proof that I was proudly displaying them in my home, and a complimentary blog post. Yeah, like I needed him to ask for a blog post about this, pfft.

I couldn't wait to get a blog post up, so I went ahead and sent a photo to him via facebook, but of course I'm going to show them off here at the blog too. Behold in all their glory, my shiny new vinyl banners from the theatrical release of Freddy vs Jason! Don't care how you felt about the movie (personally I dug it), there's no denying the bad-assery that is on display here. Just to give a little perspective on the size of these monsters, they stretch from the crown molding on my 10' ceilings almost all the way the floor, a full 9' at their longest point, and they're each 4' wide. Notice that tiny bed in the photo? Yeah, that's my king size bed. Holy Hell these things are impressive.

Sean, I can't thank you enough brother. I am forever in your debt. Believe me when I tell you, they've found a good home in my Batcave, and they will remain on display until the house falls down around them.

McFarlane's Cam Newton Figures

I can't even tell you the last time I bought a figure for myself, toys have been put on the backburner as the ones I'm into aren't exactly cheap, and out of all my vices they're the first that I'm willing to give up. Sure, I still order the occasional bust or statue, but as far as figures go, nothing in a good while. Enter this blog post from Jim Smash!!! yesterday. 

I dig Jim's blog quite a bit, from his comic rants to his insane mission to own as many copies of the Aliens novelization as humanly possible. I don't remember exactly how it came up, but I would eventually learn that Jim also shared my love for Auburn University. Yesterday he posted about McFarlane toys releasing Cam Newton figures soon, three of them to be exact (two Auburn and one Carolina Panthers), and despite the fact that I probably shouldn't have, I went ahead and pre-ordered mine. The McFarlane Sports Picks aren't readily available at many retailers down here, and the one or two places I've been able to find them aren't exactly local, more like an hour or so away. Add that to the fact that these are going to disappear from shelves quickly, and I didn't like my chances at finding one in store.

I only ordered one though, the Auburn blue home jersey version. It seems that the away white jersey is going to be a chase, and is already fetching an asking price of at least $75 from what I could find, and it doesn't even ship for another four months. Not particularly interested in the Carolina Panthers figure, although if I run up on it at Toys R Us or somewhere, I would likely grab it. But I'm not a Panthers fan, so I won't pre-order it or anything. 

Big thanks to Jim for drawing my attention to these figures though. Even at pre-order price, with shipping it was a bit more than I normally like to spend on a figure, but it will be worth it in the end I think. Can't wait to display him on my shelf. War Eagle!

Arkham Asylum Black and White and DCU Online Batman Statue

DC Direct decided that it had been too long since anything I ordered came in, so they shipped not one, but TWO statues this week. One of which I was pretty excited about, the other of which I came close to not even ordering to begin with, but once I got it out of the box, I was glad I did. Pics were taken with my Droid, because it's so much easier to just take them and email them to myself, forgive the quality.

First up, the one I knew I almost didn't order, the DC Universe Online statue. It was the fact that it was based off of Jim Lee's art that eventually persuaded me to order it, despite the fairly generic look in the picture in Previews. I was pleasantly surprised in the amount of detail in the sculpt.

Still prefer the black cape and cowl, but that's my only real nitpick. I like that it looks like they used two different kinds of paint, I suppose in an attempt to give the gloves, boots, cape, and cowl a "leathery" look. It actually works pretty well, but again I think would've looked better in black. And of course I always prefer the yellow oval logo to the plain black bat. 

Next up, the Black and White based on the costume in the Arkham Asylum video game. This thing is gorgeous! There are things about it that the comic book fan doesn't like all that much, but being that it's based off the game and not a comic, there's no arguing that it's pretty spot-on.

 As stated, no real issues with this one, I'm very pleased with it. Any complaints I have are with the design of the costume in the game, and I can't hold against the statue. The pose is pretty close to the one on the front of the game's boxart, but his head is turned more to the side, and the cape is flowing instead of just draping down. Some subtle difference, but it looks fantastic. Great detail in the sculpting on the costume, I wish I had a better camera to get some close up shots of it. This one is surprisingly one of the better looking statues in the Black and White series, and one that I'm sure a bunch of people skipped over due to the video game origin.

I'm going to play a little catch-up at some point this week, I have one more statue that I never posted any pics of from last summer. It was back when I got my DC Dynamics Batman statue and Villains of the DCU Joker mini-bust, the Black and White Frank Quitely statue also came in and I never got around to the post about it. So that's coming up soon, and as far as I can remember that only leaves one statue that I still have on order, the Dave Finch Black and White from a couple months ago. My absolute favorite artist right now, Jock, tweeted a while back that he was asked to design a Black and White though, and that bad boy is getting ordered as soon as it hits Previews, can't wait to see what his will look like.

Dave Finch Batman Black and White Statue

Been a couple months since I put in an order for a statue. There have been a couple of my favorites, the Batman Black and Whites, but they were either by artists I don't particularly care for, or of characters that I might like, but don't necessarily want statues of. Itching to add more to my collection though, and thankfully in this month's Previews, DC Direct came through for me.

There are a lot of Dave Finch haters out there, though aside from being consistently struck by the tardy bug, I always enjoy his art. It's normally dark and gritty looking, and he's definitely a superhero artist, but dude can draw. In the past he's worked with Top Cow, then on to Marvel, where he did a brief stint on one of the worst Moon Knight series' of all time. He's currently working on a new Batman ongoing, The Dark Knight, which he's also writing so if this one sucks we can't blame anybody else.

This statue is from the Batman, Inc. story that's currently draining every single bit of money I have from my bank account. There are two Batmen now, one Dick Grayson, and the other a just returned from the timestream Bruce Wayne. The costume in this statue is the new one that Bruce is wearing. I kinda dig it, I love that the yellow oval logo is back, but I could do without the lines on it. Either way, this is a really good looking statue, can't wait to add it to my Black and White shelf.

Villains of the DCU Joker bust

I promised this a while back, but have since then been through 3 different phones, so I apologize for the delay. I know you were all very excited about seeing more pics of my toys.

So here's DC Direct's "Villains of the DC Universe Joker bust". I gotta say, it looks identical to the picture in Previews, which sadly isn't always the case, and is absolutely gorgeous. I love the pose, I love the Jack-in-the-Box, and the sculpt is really well done.



It looks like they went with the Joker from Grant Morrison's current Batman stuff, which is a bit of a cross between the traditional Joker, and the Dark Knight movie Joker with the scarred mouth. I guess that's ok, though I like regular old Joker just fine. He's scary enough without adding horrendous scars to his mouth and face.



The bust is based off of the art of Gary Frank, who as you might remember, I believe is a God of some sort. He is being SORELY missed on the Superman books right now. I don't know that I've ever seen his Joker before though, and after buying this bust, I'd definitely like to see more.



And that's the Villains of the DCU Joker bust. A fine addition to the Batcave in my opinion. This is only my second Joker statue, but is my favorite by far.



Next up should be the Villains of the DCU Bizarro bust that I ordered, which will by my 3rd Bizarro statue. It's also based on a Gary Frank design, and thus will be amazing. Stay tuned!