Christmas 2009

Our holidays was a simple affair. I catered at Wood Ranch and my family brought the rest of the food.
I only got gifts for the kids but I managed to get Nate something. He knew I had something for him but he didn't know what.

Red Invader Cumberlain

I loved seeing his face when he opened his present and he saw the Cumberlain in there. He was genuinely surprised which is not easy to accomplish since we both know each other's passwords to emails, accounts etc.

He managed to slip one past me as well and got an Uamou I thought I would never find. It was the ice cream filled one.

Ice Cream Uamou

I love the filled Uamous. They are so cute! I'm slowly building my Uamou collection. Nate now has two Cumberlains but they are hard to come by as they are older pieces.

Our Christmas was a simpler affair. Times are tight and I know my whole clan is doing all they can to save money. I am thankful that everyone has managed to weather through the recession. We ate our fill and spent the rest of the night playing board and card games.

As I think of 2010 and what it can hold for us, I can't help but look back at 2009. It's not one of the best years of our life as I can recall. Losing P-Chan and Pudgy Boy is still difficult to accept. The economy affected us all.

For 2010 I am hoping for better times. We have a wedding in the horizon the possibility of children are also in the picture and a new fur kid is in the works for our family. Hopefully, we'll all bounce back from these grim economic times and be in better footing for 2010. That's what we hope for, for everyone.

January is already looking busy and Nate and I are looking forward to a trip planned by his family for his birthday. A nice well deserved break.

Dreams

I've always remembered my dreams. The scary ones, the funny ones and the downright weird ones, they all swirl around me like smoke as I wake up.

For the second time in my life I woke up in tears because of a dream. I can recall everything vividly, it was short.

It was a summer day, in a dark room. All the blinds are drawn, they were the horizontal ones and the sun was peeking through so there was light. It was a small bedroom. I've never seen this room but I could dimly see stuff lying around. I was napping or attempting to in the heat. The bed was small it was maybe a full size. Someone was sleeping next to me it wasn't Nate I get the strong feeling it was my mom. Everything was in a brownish light like afternoon sun.

I was on my tummy trying to sleep and in my arms was P-Chan. She was on her back. Her most favorite sleeping position. She had all her hair and she was looking at me her tail wagging and her arms folded in front of her. I gasped in surprise as even in my dreams, and I am aware I am dreaming, I knew she was gone. I held her tightly and she snuggled up putting her head under my chin and nudging with her nose. As I held her in my arms I started crying. I could feel my tears rolling down my face and getting her face wet which annoyed her as she repositioned her face to look directly into mine.

Those chocolate brown eyes, her white face and the feeling of holding her again was overwhelming and I cried harder. She was panting and looking at me like, "Why are you crying I'm trying to nap with you!"

I knew I was waking up. Because as I held her she started fading. The afternoon light that was in my dream was being replaced by dawn. I held on to her and my dream as long as I could and I woke up slowly and she faded away like one of those movie type fades and as I woke up my arms were in the same position but empty and I was in tears.

I was crying so hard that I woke up Nate in alarm and he was asking me what's wrong. It was so hard to tell him what I was dreaming about as I could still feel her in my arms.

I thought I was done crying for her. It's been almost two months. I was moving on but the loss is still as painful as the first few days without her. I've told family and friends that I am ready for another dog in the spring. But am I really? Every time I see a dog or hold one I have to fight back the tears as memories of P-Chan come pouring in.

Almost sixteen years we were together. That's a long time. I still miss her so much.

I know I am still heartsick over the loss of such a great companion but I know that even when we get another dog to share our lives with, that dog wont fill the space in my heart that P-Chan occupied. Not completely. That new dog will create her own space in my heart. (I plan to get a girl!)

I am glad I had this dream. I got to hold my baby again even though it was only for a moment.

I love Itokin Park!

I didn't think I would complete this set so soon. I put up a wanted thread and the last two I needed, the Kaleyard and Moca came from the same seller. So as far as I know the Rabyuuns are complete.

They look great together. I wish there were more of them released but only four. It might be unlikely that anymore will be produced as Itokin Park is working with a Chinese company and concentrating on other characters. The Rabyuuns along with the Himalans were all produced by One-Up.

Speaking of the Himalan, I came across a grail piece last week. I honestly did not think I would one this particular Himalan at all due to the rarity and the price it is commanding. Last I checked, Ebay had one for $400 and it hardly showed up on the board.

I was able to purchase it for a good price. I spoke to the seller and he indicated the only reason he let it go was he was also after a grail so it worked out for both of us.

Glacier Himalan! Only 44 produced. It's a gorgeous piece and I love clear vinyl. There's about four more Himalans I am after but unless I get as lucky as when I got this one, the wait for them will be long and pricey.

Either way, I am thankful to have what I have and hope I get just as lucky in the future. ^____^

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

This game is amazing! I tried doing some of the Special Ops missions with Nate and I can only do Hardened level. I'm no good with all out combat as I get disoriented and I do better at the stealth missions.

We picked up the game a couple of days after release. Nate's brothers were already on it and they have been wanting to play together.

Story-wise it is very good. Not going to do any storyline spoilers. Love the voice actors! Lance Henriksen has always been a favorite ever since Alien and Millennium.

Even though I am not playing the multi-player online, I love watching Nate do so. It's like watching a movie because of the realism and the smooth game play. Lots of things to do in this game and he's been spending a lot of time hanging out with his brothers so there's that family time as well.

Love Ghost! He's an awesome character in the game.

Its going to be a long time before Nate will put down this game. Even if he gets tired of the online play he can always go do the campaign.

Being a Cat Mom means being responsible...

Time passes so slowly when you're mourning. Reading up on the disease that claimed P-Chan has opened my eyes to the proper dietary needs of my pets. Preventing liver disease has much to do with diet.

I look at the cats and I see a great opportunity to make sure that they are getting the proper nutrition they need to live long and healthy lives. I started researching online to see what would be the best food that is appropriate for them. So I can prevent what happened with P-Chan to happen to them.

Many sites recommended a raw diet. But that is not an option I am willing to take. I don't have the time and the equipment for it. So I looked for the next best thing and I stumbled on Innova. I was going to do their EVO cat food but the protein content might have been too high so I settled for the Innova line.

What attracted me to it was the ingredients. Here's the ingredient list for the Chicken and Brown Rice Stew Adult Cat Food:

Chicken, Chicken Broth, Turkey Broth, Dried Egg Whites, Potato Starch, Brown Rice, Carrots, Apples, Oat Fiber, Natural Flavors, Guar Gum, Whole Eggs, Sodium Phosphate, Herring Oil, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate, Salt, Dl Methionine, Choline Chloride, Taurine, Potassium Chloride, Butter, Tricalcium Phosphate, Vitamins and Minerals.

Familiar ingredients. No by products or fillers like corn or wheat. Whoever heard of a cat eating corn?

Here's the ingredient list of Fancy Feast Grilled Chicken Feast:

Chicken Broth, Chicken, Liver, Wheat Gluten, Meat By-Products, Corn Starch-Modified, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Tricalcium Phosphate, Salt, Soy Protein, Concentrate, Titanium Dioxide, Potassium Chloride, Taurine, Choline Chloride, Vitamin Supplements (E, A, D3, B12), Thiamin Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B2), Copper Sulfate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Menadione Sodium Bisulfate Complex (Source of Vitamin K Activity) Folic Acid, Cobalt Carbonate, Potassium Iodide, Biotin.

That's a lot of stuff that's unrecognizable, say the least.

If you look at store bought pet food they rank the lowest in nutritional value for your pets. I remember the recall that happened several years ago that resulted in many pets dying because of contaminated corn in their foods.

They used to eat a mix of Fancy Feast and Purina Dry Cat Food. Now I just buy a big bag of Purina dry food for the stray cats we feed in our neighborhood.

Now that I've chosen the diet it was a matter of introducing the food to the cats. I knew it was going to be difficult as cats are finicky eaters. Especially Nodame, whose personality is as finicky as it gets.

Innova is somewhat hard to find. You wont find it in PETCO. It's only available at feed stores and online. Since I live in the valley where horse property abounds it wasn't too difficult to find a local feed store. I still have to order the can variety that the cats like online at a feed store up in Northern California though.

The Cat & Kitten Food has a very strong odor that Nodame hated. The first time he sniffed it, he turned around and started doing the cover-the-food motion with his paws. Dhani, who will eat anything, and Pickles ate it without complaint. I mix wet and dry food for their meals.

Since Nodame refused to eat, I had to buy a couple cans of the EVO brand. I got the venison and beef flavors. He ate them without being picky.

I got a couple of cans of the beef and chicken stew and I am will re-order those instead of the cat and kitten wet food. They seem to like it more and it's not as fragrant.

To make the transition with the food easier, I started heating the portions I serve them in the microwave to give it that cooked texture. I take a couple of spoonfuls and put them in a tupperware container labeled cat only and heat for 10 seconds. I then mix a bit of the Innova dry food to bulk up the wet food.

I used to heat P-Chan's food and the cats always gravitated to her food bowl much to her consternation. She always growled at them when they did that. XD So I don't mind doing the same for the cats. I find it comforting really as it is a routine I used to do for P-Chan.

They love it heated! As soon as I get home from work they greet me at the door and follow me in the kitchen. Dhani always stands up and leans on the counter meowing softly because he wants to eat.
It's the first thing we take care of when we get home. I feed our cats and Nate goes outside and in the backyard to feed the strays.

After a little over a month of feeding them the new food I noticed changes in their coat, eyes and behavior. Their coats look so much better and their eyes shine bright. They are active and play often. Running up and down the stairs. They poo less. I believe it's because most of their food now is being absorbed. They drink less water as well since they are getting the water in their food.

When they were on Purina and Fancy Feast the cat box was always full and they ate like pigs and drank a lot of water.

Pickles, who I was afraid was getting overweight actually looks leaner. He's still a bit chunky but he's got more energy now. I don't want to have fat cats. I want lean and healthy ones. According to my vet, my cats are big cats and if they were overweight they would look like Jabba the Hut cats or I is a fluffy white cloud type and I don't want those kind of cats.

Dhani always looks annoyed when I take pics of him. He does not like the camera but his coloring is so cute that I pester him anyway. He has a slight pink nose now and a brownish tinge throughout his fur. He has given me the least problems with the new food. Not only will he eat his share, he will eat Nodame's and Pickles. He will be a bigger cat than Nodame no doubt.

Pickles or Piglet as I call him sometimes due to his large appetite. He still eats like a pig but he looks tighter and not as flabby. Despite my efforts to keep him lean I have already told my sister as he grows to an adult cat, he will probably need the weight control food. He tends to eat too much. He likes the food but likes what I give Nodame more and he will patiently wait for Nodame to finish eating and eat his left overs. Only then will he go to his bowl and eat his food.

The Alpha Cat, Nodame. He is very clear to let us know when he does not like his food or the condition of the litter box. He was insistent in showing his displeasure at his new food and I accommodated his request to change it to a flavor and smell he liked. Then I catch him eating the food he turned his nose up to after he eats his favorite. I was like, "Nodame you liar!".

They've taken to the food very well which is a relief. I also got them a automated water fountain. I got the PETCO brand one which broke in two months so I ordered a replacement from another company. The cats love the fountain, when it worked. I see them drinking more often. They were at first frightened by the noise it makes but they got used to it.

I've ordered a new case of their food, a new pet water fountain that I hope wont break and Da Bird. A feather wand toy that I know they will go bananas for when they see it. Considering they broke their last one due to intense play.

Am I going overboard with the cats? Maybe I am. But taking care of them now means less vet bills due to ill health and the benefits are a longer life with my family. The loss of P-Chan has made me determined to be more responsible as a pet owner. Our pets give us so much pleasure and comfort that the least I can do for them is to keep them healthy and happy.

They wont be so happy with me in a bit though...as it is bath time!

Orange Goodness

Around the second worst week in my life, first being the week I lost my beloved P-Chan, Bwana dropped his Autumnal Offerings. It was a nice way to end a horrid week.

I haven't been blogging as much due to all the stuff that's happened this month. The most traumatic being P-Chan's sudden death which my family and I are still coping with. I still have my moments where I would break down and cry every time I see her things and her pictures. I've been planning to write a long eulogy of sorts to remember her. I don't want to lose my memories of her and I want to write it down for posterity. I just couldn't do it with her birthday looming in front of me. She would have been 16 on the 23rd of this month. Now that it has passed and I am not as distraught I think I'll be able to accomplish that goal.

Dealing with that plus a horrible work week I was pretty much in a rotten mood as the weekend approached. I saw the pictures Bwana posted and the #13 caught my eye. I loved the color and the eyes were cute. I thought I was too late for it but managed to score and here he is:

I got him a couple of hours ago and I just had to take pics. I just love the spray work and the hand painted embellishments on the figure. The colors all blend and work well with each other. All in all I was quite pleased with this one.

It'll be a long time before I feel like my usual self again and seeing this in hand makes me feel like the old times and I am slowly moving away from mourning and walking the path to healing.

SDCC 2009 Day 3: On a mission.

I know this post is long overdue, but I've just been busy with school, work, xbox and addicted to netflix lately that I haven't had time to blog. Haha Either way, let's get started before I end up forgetting what happened on our last day at SDCC.

When we got to the con on Friday, I had only one thing in mind that day. I wasn't leaving SDCC without buying a one-off custom. For the past three days at SDCC, I had several in mind that I would pick up if I didn't manage to score a Pushead HP. There were several nice customs by Le Merde at the Grasshut booth. I was considering either one of his custom Tango resins or Bangals that were available. There were also some cool Gargamel customs still leftover from Preview night's madness. Indeed I still had a hard decision to make.

Before making my decision, there were still a few signings I wanted to check out before deciding on what to buy. There was Kazu-san's signing and Joel's signing happening on Friday at S7. Their signings weren't happening for awhile, so Maddie and I wandered around the convention hall until the time came.

Maddie and I have always loved collected things. Before Japanese soft vinyl, we collected a lot of Japanese anime collectibles. Maddie still has a big collection of Anime Plush, while I was more into Anime Gashapon figures and DVD's. Although I don't collect much Anime anymore, I still love to watch anime whenever I have time to. Some of my favorites are still One Piece and Naruto.(Yes, I am a Naru-tard. XD) When we pass booths that have some Anime displays or toys, we usually stop by to look because we still have some interest in them.

We also got a chance to stop by other booths that weren't around the normal toy area. The Mindstyle booth which was showcasing many of the custom Stitch figures wasn't too far, but it wasn't exactly in the Toygrower's area. I'm not a big fan of the platform, but there were some interesting customs that many artist's submitted. I believe Maddie took a pic of some of the ones that we really liked.

I wasn't all that impressed with Tim's submission for this showcase, but I still love his work. I love more of the customs he does with his own figures, but I've never liked any platform customs he's done.

This was probably my favorite custom in the Stitch showcase. I'm a big fan of Camilla D'Errico's work, and I thought what she did with the Stitch platform was great. I think the reason I love her work is because it has some Anime characteristics, such as big eyes.

After checking out the Mindstyle booth, I decided to head back to the S7 booth to see if they were setting up for Kazu-san's signing. Maddie wanted to go on ahead and head over to the other side of the convention hall. She too was also on a mission. She was hunting for some NECA action figures mainly of Resident Evil and Gears of War.

Nodame's 1st Birthday

On a cold Sunday morning, sometime last year, MomCat was huddled on top of a nest of twigs and leaves in our backyard. My mom found her and lifted her gingerly and discovered kittens!

Three large kittens. BoyCat, Nodame and Marley. I do not know the order of who came out first but Nodame was definitely the smallest one. We immediately relocated the lot into our guest bathroom. MomCat did not resist as I think she knew she would be safer in our house.

Months pass by, MomCat was fixed and released, BoyCat and Marley found homes and we opened our house to our first ever cat.

Today is his first birthday. We celebrated it with bubbles. His favorite toy. Nodame and the cats have been a great comfort for us especially since we are dealing with the loss of P-Chan. I am trying not to focus on her so much but it's hard and today is a bitter sweet day.

Red Metallic Rub Bop Dragon by LASH (MutantVinylHardcore)

Our first custom from LASH! The Bop Dragon arrived in the middle of the week but with Nate's fall semester starting and preparing for survey at work, I really didn't have time to take pictures till now.

He is gorgeous. The colors of the Bop Dragon blend well together. One thing we noticed about LASH's work is that when he wants toys to look metallic it really does look natural, metallic and light.

It's hard to explain.

I've seen metallic that look thick and heavy, it looks like the paint is on top of the toy thickly but his handiwork is smooth. I am not afraid to turn the head or joints. It's playable!

We only have these three Bop Dragons but they kick so much ass it's insane. Just need a Sutfin custom to round it out.

Just wanted to add to Maddie's post that I agree about everything she said about LASH's paint jobs. You can easily see his skill with metallic paints on a lot of his customs and also some of the limited run figures. You can definitely see how well he blends the metallic blue and purple on the Invading Virus Popsoda.

I'm really excited for the MVH figure he is sculpting. The initial body and head sculpts look great. Oh yeah, the Red Metallic Rub Bop Dragon was a such a great treat at the end of the day, especially after a day of bullshit "serving" for jury duty. Haha

I got wood!

Well...faux wood but they look awesome! I'm asking Nate what was the last 8 inch dunny we bought and he thinks it was the Tristan Eaton Tag Team Dunny. He eventually sold it. After that no big dunnys came through our doors. Until Amanda owned the platform with this release.

She completely made the dunny figure her own. When I first saw this I told Nate we're buying a dunny and after looking at it for a bit he agreed. The box for this thing was huge! Love the smiling stump with the little leaf!

We also managed to get the Wood Labbit. We were supposed to back on Saturday during SDCC but seeing how the lines were for Kidrobot's releases we decided to just pass.

My cousin April had this as a grail and she was determined to get it. Her determination yielded her an extra which she traded for some choice dunnys from our collection. Thanks April!

Our favorite decade....the 80s!

Every time VH1 has this damned show even though we've seen it over and over we still watch the whole thing.Nate and I first connected to each other through music. Napster, free Napster, was a haven for us. Until Metallica had a hissy fit and drove everyone off to the nether regions of IRC, the wilderness of FTPs and beyond the far reaches of the internets.

Seeing VH1's special on the 80's is such a flashback for me in particular. I think of 1984 as the year my mind and my ears opened up to the music I was hearing. It was awesome. I don't quite remember the significance of that particular year. It might have been the first time I got or bought a cassette tape.

Some of the choices on that count down I don't really agree with and I think other songs that should have been in there are not. But it had me running to notepad to write out the song for later to download or search at Amoeba, a local used record store Nate and I hit up when we're in the neighborhood.

Nate's recollection of the 80's isn't as clear as mine as he was born in 1982. His perspective on the decade is how heavily sampled the songs are in later music.

As we watch the bands and the songs the question of if we had a chance to see a band live, which one would it be comes up. Nate and I both agree on Queen. Queen with Freddy Mercury. Guilty pleasure would be to see Journey. LOL

I think tonight I'll break out my iPOD and listen to some powwa ballads and remember the 80s.

Dhani Neutered

Dhani's vet appointment was yesterday. I recall I fixed Nodame at 5 months and he does not spray. I don't think he even knows how which is a good thing.

I heard that's one of the bad things about owning a male cat. They get territorial and they start scent marking or spraying and according to Nate it's not a pleasant smell. Nate said he can best describe it as acrid.

Nodame got fixed when he started showing aggression and I didn't even wait for Dhani to start that. As soon as he reached 5 months it was done.

Dhani was already laid back before he may be even more so now that he got snip snip. Dhani has a very quiet meow. On our way home he was quietly complaining with his little meows. He was not allowed dinner last night but I didn't think he was hungry as he was sleepy all evening.

Our poor boy. He just wanted to rest. As he lay sleeping, Nodame came up on our bed and he sniffed him for a bit and started grooming him. He slept most of the night alternating between sleeping with Nodame and sleeping on my head. Dhani tends to sleep on my pillow or have his arms and legs wrapped around my head. Sort of like a cat tiara. =D

The effects of neutering is gradual and Dhani is feeling a bit weird. He'll be fine by next week.

It's Pickles turn tomorrow. XD

Oh Xbox, how we've missed you!!!

Our Xbox was finally returned to us and boy are we happy. (Considering it was only about a week and a half, haha). We sent it out for repairs the day before leaving for SDCC, and we were quite surprised to hear that it was being shipped back to us in about a week. My brother had the Red Ring of Death about two months ago and it took him almost three weeks to get his back. Sucks!!

I missed the Xbox soooo much, not just to be able to play games, but also being able to stream movies and tv shows through Netflix. It's pretty awesome not to have to wait for Netflix to send you a new dvd. Just peep the movies or tv shows they have for instant queue, add it to your list, and you're ready to go. Been catching up on South Park episodes that I've missed. I've watched from season 1 and just finished season 7.

I also finally picked up our pre-order for Resident Evil 5. I know it's pretty old now, but Maddie and I are big RE fans, and we can't wait to play this one. Maddie's glad there's a co-op mode, cause she knows she's gonna need my help. Especially since she gets scared most of the time playing these types of games. =P Also heard MVC2 has been released recently for Xbox Arcade as well. I'm not extremely good at the game, but it is a blast to play. So here's hoping we don't have to send it off for repairs again. ::Knocks on wood::

SDCC 2009 Day 2: Nothing else matters but Pushead!!

Thursday July 23, 2009. The day I have been waiting and saving my money for was finally here. Pushead & Mike Sutfin signing at the Toy Tokyo booth. I was definitely excited the moment I woke up that day.

We got to the Con at about 7:30 am. We knew from last year that we had to get to the parking garages early or else we would have to walk quite a distance to get to the convention center. As soon as we got in, we decided to just sit it out and not even bother lining up. Waiting till the exhibit hall doors opened, Maddie and I were just discussing the events of preview night and what to expect at the Pushead event.

About an hour later, I get a text from Heng (baronacasino) asking if we were already inside. Maddie likes to tease me about my friendship with Heng calling it a "bromance". lol Heng and I pretty much talk to each other on AIM a lot, about nothing but toys, both Western and Japanese. If there's anyone to blame for my transition to J-vinyl, it would be Heng. I have to thank him though, because if he didn't open my eyes to J-vinyl, I would still be collecting what I now consider to be mediocre toys.

After meeting up with Heng, we pretty much hung out the rest of the day until the time of the Pushead event. As we walked around, everybody we knew was looking forward to the signing as well. Most of them knew Heng already, so thats how I pretty much met a bunch of other Skull Brainers who were waiting just like us. I got to meet rhinomilk and I believe Arin C. from the boards. We got together and pretty much hung around the Toy Tokyo booth just waiting in anticipation.

We all headed over to the Onell Design booth, because Paul Kaiju let us know about a toy release that him, L'amour Supreme and Dead Presidents all collaborated on. When we got there it was already set out on the table. Our buddy Connell picked up a set and took some great pics. The Millenal Masters Dia Kaiju Card Monsters Set. I took some pics but they came out blurry. Connell's pics on his FLICKR page are a lot better and you can also see each individual figure that the artists painted. I believe each set was different from the rest, so no two sets were alike. I considered picking these up, but you know I had to save my money for what was coming up in a few hours. Heng and I ended up going back to wait near Toy Tokyo while everyone went on to do their own thing.

When we got there, we could already see Pushead & Mike chatting and hanging out with people. Me and Heng had a little "conversation" with Pushead. (More like me and Heng were ear hustling while Pushead was talking to Chris Trevino. LMAO). Heng and I were seriously geeking out after hearing what Pushead said. We went to sit down with Maddie and just wait it out. At that time we met up with BobDuher and Henry (not Jordan23) and just hung out, while watching the crew bring in boxes which we knew had nothing but goodies. Around the 2:30 pm the madness had begun.

A group of us went over to start picking our numbers for our place in line. If you weren't part of this group, or had no idea what was going on, you really had no business being there until 4:00 pm. We all lined up to take our turns picking numbers. When I got up to the front, I reached in and pulled my number, 36. At the time I was pulling my number, Jon was talking to Lorne, so he didn't see what number I had. Jokingly, Ryan (melek_taus) told me to "Put it back, he's not looking...". XD

Being the person I am, I couldn't do that so I just waited till Jon was done talking with Lorne and showed him the number I pulled. Afterwards, he gave me the Crowsnest Copa FHP 4 Captain I pre-ordered and the special bandana for us. If this was just the exclusive for the signing, I could only imagine what the hand paints looked like once they were revealed.

After the group pretty much picked out their numbers, we all got together showing what numbers we picked to one another. I knew my number was pretty far back in the line, but I was hoping to be one of the lucky ones who wins the raffle and moves up in the line. I got to met Stealthtank for the first time as he came over to say what's up to Heng and I. We ended up talking about the recent EVO championships that happened the weekend before SDCC. We also congratulated him on planning to open up a brick and mortar store in Florida. At that time he also let us know that the Florida store that Super 7 was opening up was his. After chatting a bit more, all of us caught a glimpse of the crew getting ready to unveil the case of goodies. We could already see some cool production figures at the bottom.

Oh man was I excited. Before the unveiling, the raffle began. The winners were given a small booty sack which I believe had the GID Skull Captain with hook arm. My number wasn't picked for the first three spots, so I was hoping to be the wild card. Pushead brought out an envelope and told us being this is the 40th Anniversary, the number 40 was significant, so whoever that was ended up being the first in line. Congrats to PusAddict, as I know he was stoked to find out to be the first in line. Pus handed him a bigger booty sack, and Kirkland said as tradition, he was to open it in front of everyone. As soon as he opened, my eyes jumped out of my head. He had gotten not only a GID Hook Captain, but also a GID Bird Catcher and unpainted Journey Pirate. NICE!!!!

As soon as they unveiled the case, all you heard from the crowd was "OHHHHHH!!!!". Everybody began looking inside to see all the hand paints. My jaw literally dropped as I saw the Cococroc, and Stipple Captains and Pirates. The top shelf had some HSP-X Pirates and other production figures, such as the silver KvP Companion, and Circus Punk. (As much as I love Pus' artwork, I still fuckin' hate the Circus Punk platform, bleh).

The Croc and Stipples were on the second shelf. Below them were a bunch of hand painted Captains. Below those were the Bop Dragon/ Mini Damnedron sets Mike painted, which were followed by the Entity 13's he painted on the lower shelf. And on the last shelf, we had more Pushead production pieces. I tried my best to take pics, but it was difficult to get any decent angles because I was behind a table preventing people cutting in line. I only managed to get a decent pic of the hand paint Captains, but the angle sucks.

Even though the angle sucks, it did pretty much capture the best part of the HP Captains which is their backs. Alright, now that I've seen the goods, two things went through my mind:

1. HOLY SHIT!! These customs are fucking sick!!!
2. Fuck....I don't think any hand paints will be left once I get up there. =P

Well, I won't know till I get up there, so I stayed in line to see what happens. Stealthtank tried to cheer me up telling me that he was actually number 40-something two years back, and was still able to pick up a hand paint, so he said there still might be hope. That's all I needed to feel good about my chances.

As the line went one by one, the people already done choosing what they wanted came over to the rest of the people in line to show what they picked up. Kngwiz was kind enough to come over to us poor saps in the back of the line to show what he picked up. I remember him showing us his Bop/Damn set, which IMO was the best one there, and also the HSP-X Pirate he picked up as well. I couldn't help myself anymore, and was just dying to see what I could possibly pick up. Once I got in front of the case, pretty much all the HP's were almost gone except for the ones Mike did. I was happy to hear that there were some HP's that were not showcased, and if purchased they will be shipped to you. Awesome, I might have chance. Unfortunately, the guy in front of me bought the last one. NOOOOOOOO!!!!

Oh well, its all good. You win some, you lose some. I still had a chance to pick up some of the HP's Mike did. After getting a good look at them, I really did like the Bop Dragons, but not so much the mini dams. I didn't want to spend all my money on something that I wasn't going to be completely happy with. Next, I took a look at the Entity 13's. These weren't too bad, I really had my eyes on the one that had crows on it. It also had a anime-ish girl painted on the front, so that also caught my eye as I'm a big anime fan. The only thing that held me back was the Entity 13 itself. Not a big fan of the sculpt, and to be honest, if anything I want a Sutfin HP Bop more than anything. Instead, I came away with these.

The two FHP's I've been hunting for the longest time! Definitely stoked on these, as they both came with their bandanas, signed tags, pins and stickers. On top of that, I also got them for retail. They're no HPs, but I'm still happy with what I came away with. Definite score for me!!

After completing my purchases, I went back to Maddie and Heng to show 'em what I got. Maddie felt bad that I didn't get a HP, but I told her it was alright. There's always a next time, and hopefully then I'll be able to score one that I'll really like.

Well, like I said on preview night, I needed a backup plan if I didn't score a HP. With that said, I had to have this. Seriously, I was tired of passing on it every time I saw it.

This Kaizer Head has got to be the best to date IMO. The metallic red on this bad boy is amazing. It's so bright and vibrant. Mori-san was there when I picked it up, and he recognized both me and Madeline from the preview night dinner. He shook both of our hands and said thank you. I gave him a thumbs up on his new Mutant Zone Series 3 figures, and told him I couldn't wait to see more. I could have bought more, but I was planning once again to hold out for another signing on Friday. Either I would be able to pick up a custom from Itokin Park's signing or L'amour Supreme's signing.
Pretty much called it a day for toy purchases.

We headed back over to the Toy Tokyo booth to wait for Mike Sutfin's mini session. Here we thought it was just going to be a signing and I figured Mike would also have maybe a special something for purchase. As the time came, he began to pull out some HP Pharoahs Babys. These were pretty neat, as he did an awesome job painting them. Like I said earlier though. I only want and HP Bop. Mike still has some of these available on his website. What I didn't expect, was this awesome prototype.

Mad Battle Man by Mike Sutfin. GAWD DAMN it's huge!!! I know it's just a proto, so its made big to account for shrinkage. We were told though, that it will still be about 9.5 inches tall. Awesome. Cannot wait to see the finished product, especially when it gets all painted up. And you know we'll obviously see some HPs in the future as well.

By this time, Maddie and I were starving. I only had an apple the whole day. I guess my energy for the day came from my anxiety, but as soon as the event was over, I was getting incredibly hungry. We called it a day, said peace to everyone we met and told them we'll see them tomorrow. We were seriously hungry, and the only place we knew where we could get a good amount of food for both of us was one place, Hooters. XD Maddie and I love chicken wings and we gotta say, Hooters has some pretty good ones. After eating, we headed to the hotel, and pretty much like the last night, looked over our haul and talked about the day at the con. Watched a bit of television and got a good night sleep for our last day at the con.

Amanda Visell - Wood Donkey

Wow. Nate and I are buying a full size dunny after such a long time. It's Amanda Visell so she is the exception.

But I can't believe the price hike on the full size dunnys now. We still remember when 8 inch dunnys were $30 at release day. WTF. That's a sizeable increase in two years. Despite the price hike we love her work and will add this to our Amanda shelf.

Her style complements the platform and makes it her own. Time and time again we've missed out on her resin and wood pieces so we have to make do with what we can get.

The Itokin Park collaboration is a must have and we're hoping she doesn't drop that too soon. As we are still recovering from SDCC.

Nate's SDCC 2009 Preview Night Experience

Well, another SDCC has come and gone once again. I think both Madeline and I can say this was definitely the best comic con we have experienced. It's not like we didn't have fun at previous comic cons, it's just that this year was exceptional.

On preview night, I didn't really plan on picking up anything because I wanted to save most of my money for the Pushead event happening on Thursday. I only planned on buying the Jade Mongolion from Super 7 because I was afraid it might sell out before I could score one.

After that, I spent the rest of the night walking around, and just taking in all the awesome other exclusives that vendors were offering. First stop, Gargamel booth. HOLY..SHIT..

Just look at those awesome customs. It was so hard to pass up on these but I was too determined for Thursday. I just decided to hang out and talk to a few people I knew who also showed me some of the things they scored at the booth. Big thanks to Kris (wtfunks) for hooking up Madeline with the one main want from this booth, the Camo Killer.

The rest of the night, I wandered around some more, passing up on so many great exclusives. I'm actually quite proud of myself, because last year on preview night, I ran amok just picking up figures I wanted on impulse. I was like a little kid in a candy store buying everything that looked good to me. XD

I did however see somebody with a Gold Rebel Ink, and at that instant, I already knew where I had to go next. I ran straight to Toy Tokyo's booth, only too see a horde of people there shopping. I thought I was screwed and had no chance of scoring one, but I noticed around the side another smaller line. Secret Base had a small table set up and this is where they were selling the Gold Rebel Ink. SCORE!!!

I know I was holding out for Thursday, but I had to have this one. I was seriously stoked to be able to pick this one up because they only had a few available. I totally spaced out though because I was all juiced to score one, that I didn't even think to pick one up for my homie Heng. By the time I realized this and went with Maddie to see if I can have her buy him one, they were already sold out. Ugh, I felt so bad not being able to hook Heng up.

Madeline and I continued to walk around checking out the rest of the toy garden, and lo and behold, Mori-san was in attendance at the Onell Design booth.

It was a pleasure meeting Mori-san. He was such a nice guy, and I think he was very happy to be at comic con to meet a lot of his fans. We enjoy his Mutant Zone figures, and are really impressed with the new sculpts he has been working on for the Mutant Zone Series 3 line. Check 'em out. These were just a few of the exclusives that was hard for me to pass on.

The amount of awesome figures at this con was insane. I kept circling my main booths of interest. Gargamel, Grass Hut, Super 7, Onell Design and Toy Tokyo (only because they had some other cool Japanese vinyl figures). There were a lot of other great booths to check out, but I was only scoping these out for one main reason. If I wasn't able to score a hand paint at the Pushead event, I had to have a backup plan on what toys I wanted to buy. Haha!

As Preview night came to a close, we headed over to Yardhouse for the Skull Brain dinner. As we walked down I believe 5th Street, we witnessed a couple having a fight, and the girl was just wailing on the guy, punching him in the face. She then ran past us in tears. It was pretty crazy to see, but I kind of wonder if it was a sign of something bad happening at the Yardhouse gathering. Either way, we continued on. Once we got there, we met up with Hank and also met CannibalKaiju. It was great meeting a bunch of new people and putting faces to screen names. We had a lot of fun talking about toys and what we liked to collect.

The experience did get a bit interesting, as Mori, Ayako from Uamou, Hossy from Popsoda and Kazu-san (Itokin Park) at one point were all sitting at the table we were at. Sometimes I wish I knew how to speak Japanese. XD It was also awkward and disappointing a bit of the time, but I'm not really gonna go into much detail about that. Let's just say Madeline and I felt a little out of place at the table. Nothing to do with any of the Japanese designers, but we kind of wished we were sitting at another table.

All in all, Madeline and I had fun at the dinner, and would like to thank Joe for organizing the gathering. He and a bunch of other Skull Brainers brought a gang of goodies for sale. It was hard to choose from the variety of goodies, but I was able to pick up a Cure Suck Fly for Heng and I. I know this doesn't make up for the Rebel Ink, but I was glad I could hook him up with something he was looking for.

If you purchased something at the dinner, you were also given a raffle ticket for the prizes that were brought as well. I was hoping for one of the RealxHead figures datadub brought to be raffled. I didn't win any of them, but we came away with some cool T-shirts. Got a Mutant Massacre x Vinyl Fiends tee, and also a Pop Monster tee. I wasn't disappointed about losing out on the RxH figures because they went to a few awesome boardies who we met previously inside the con. Monkey & Sappy scored the Mutant Head and Kevlo9 scored the Yamazakura one-off. Congrats to all three of them. After the raffle, we were pretty pooped and decided to call it a night.

On our way back to the hotel as we were leaving the parking garage, we were driving behind somebody who I believe was drunk. They didn't seem to know where they were going, and didn't even bother looking at any of the signs which pointed to the exit. As the driver came to an exit that was closed, they began to back up, nearly hitting me in the process. Thank God I reacted quickly and backed up to get out of their way. Although they missed me, instead they backed up into a parked car. BAM!!! The impact wasn't hard, but I don't think they even noticed they hit the car. Thinking everything was a-ok, they proceeded towards the attendant at the exit. Little did they know, the car they hit was the car of the attendant. Busted!!

The attendant told them to go back and park next to the car, cause she was pissed and was going to call the police if they tried to leave. Once we got to the attendant, we told her that I believe the driver was drunk and that we were sorry to see her car get hit. Fortunately she said it was just a rental, but she was still extremely pissed. Wow, crazy night indeed.

Once we got back to the hotel, Madeline and I were still so excited, it was hard to go to sleep even though we were dead tired. We looked over our preview night haul, talked about the con, and also the dinner. Finally we feel asleep, only to wake up in a few hours for Day 2.

Writing on the wall...

e⋅piph⋅a⋅ny
–noun, plural -nies.
1. (initial capital letter) a Christian festival, observed on January 6, commemorating the manifestation of Christ to the gentiles in the persons of the Magi; Twelfth-day.

2. an appearance or manifestation, esp. of a deity.

3. a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.

4. a literary work or section of a work presenting, usually symbolically, such a moment of revelation and insight.

There is no other word to describe how it felt as we looked around our fourth room where the majority of our toys are located. After geeking out at SDCC and seeing what we brought back and looking at what we have on our shelves, Nate has reached the point of just wanting to sell the dunnys. All of them.

I've been holding him back as I think about all the effort we put into these toys. But if that's what's holding me back, just thinking about the effort, then I know that effort is not a good enough reason to keep something if there is no love for it.

We collect intensely, and our collection has to have that same intensity that we feel for our toys. This isn't easy to even contemplate. I know I spoke about our changing tastes constantly but actually having the guts to go through and sell what we searched so hard for at times is HARD.

We're collectors! We collect and letting go is not easy. I think talking about it helps me focus on what I need to do. Nate can make this decision easier than I can. I so drag my feet about this and I know I try his patience by my indecisiveness but once I start rolling down the hill, so to speak, I tend to go all the way. I just have to feel right about it. I have to feel that I am ready to say goodbye.

So is this the first step to saying goodbye? Maybe. I hope so. I mean I suppose it is.

Nate's off this weekend. I think this will be time our proverbial Fire Sale will commence.

SDCC Aftermath

We got home late last night! Even though we have a four day pass, our SDCC was over in the first couple of days. I think Nate and I did well. On the way back home we talked about our experience and we had a lot fun this year.

I'll post pics on my FLICKR but right now all we want to do is just give our aching feet a much needed rest.

SDCC 2009

The eve before SDCC madness is always exciting for us. I have to work half day tomorrow though. So we are leaving later than planned.

P-Chan sitting on our money for the Con. I wish I made my target savings but failed. I have about the same amount as last year.

Every time we are upstairs all the animals tend to gather in our room to either sleep or keep us company as we relax, watch TV or play video games.

Nate's already packed and is harassing me to do the same. I kind of hate packing and tend to shove clothes in the bag to Nate's exasperation. He'll take them out and fold it neatly. At least I got the food shopping done. We plan to pack lunches during the Con to save money.

Tomorrow is going to be a hectic day. I'm looking forward to it but at the same time I am not as it will be exhausting.

Feral Cats

We have a lot of feral cats in our area. Two actually became tame after we started taking care of them. That was MomCat and Impostor Cat.

Both became pregnant and we nursed them throughout their pregnancy and they gave us our much loved kittens. Nodame, Dhani, Pickles and Marley were adopted by family. BoyCat, Tono-Chan and Mariposa went to friends.

Although we've been fortunate to be able to place them all in loving homes that's not always going to be the case. We've learned through this experience that taking care of a pregnant cat and her kittens cost a lot of time and money.

As much as we've enjoyed taking care of them it's more practical to get them fixed to control the pet population.

My sister found an organization in our area that spays and neuters stray cats for free. They are FIXNATION.ORG. They provide low cost vaccination for your pet cats as well.

My sister took Myaah and her two companions over to be checked. Unfortunately, they have a case of upper respiratory infection and had to have antibiotics first. Until they are better is when they can get fixed. She had to release the gray cats again as they have a really severe case of infection.

Mom has to take care of Myaa for a couple of days and as soon as we return from SDCC and if she is well, Myaah can be fixed. Hopefully the gray cats will be better too.

GR2 Bwana Spoons WTF Tour

It was sizzling in the valley. Temps were 103 but it felt hotter. Nate and I had things to do to prepare for SDCC and Bwana's show at GR2 was today too. Despite the debilitating heat we got going a little after 12.

After a brief stop at Little Tokyo we headed off to GR2 for the show. We were the first people there for the show. They were setting up a BBQ and the four square games.

The Killers and Stevens were already out on display but not for sale yet so I had time to decide what I wanted.

When Bwana appeared I got to ask him about how he feels about the airbrush. He said he loves using it. The Gargamel guys got him his airbrush and paints. He does acknowledge that he is still getting used to it and will plan a day with the guys at Gargamel for further learning of techniques when he goes to Thrashout in September.

I was happy to hear that as there is a lot of potential for amazing airbrush customs from Bwana and his playful palette of colors will work well with the medium. Which led to the question of how did he airbrush before, as I have a sprayed custom from him and he said it was done via spray paint. Which explains the somewhat sticky nature of my custom but with a lot of time with the spray paint medium, Bwana was able to master that and I am hoping his airbrushing skills will reach that level. I have no doubts that it will.

Which was why I was undecided with the Killer. The show was not starting for another hour and Nate and I decided to get some drinks. We walked and talked about it for a bit. We got our drinks and came back and hung outside the store. It was hot at GR2 but not as bad as the valley. Plus there was a pleasant, strong breeze blowing to keep us cool.

Went back in again and looked at the Killer. After sometime I decided to get it. I liked how the top of the KIller was done. I can see Bwana experimenting with vertical lines.

I did pass on the Steven. You really have to pick and choose and following a completist mindset with the WTF Killers and Stevens is just sheer foolishness financially and asthetically as Bwana is still learning to use the airbrush. Right now it's hit or miss with each one for me and it's mostly miss at the moment. I have to really love it. I am not being an ass but I know Bwana has the talent to pwnd the airbrush but it's not going to happen overnight.

But he's a quick learner as pictured below with the SDCC Steven.

Everything about this particular Steven shows big improvements. I love the fade on the hands. The back has an awesome pink fade on the wings.

Now that's the kind of fading I want to see! It's gorgeous and the color choices work together instead of against each other. I am so relieved that I don't have to chase this one.

I won the Pencil Fight Tournament at GR2! This was my prize.

I didn't think I would do well as I have never played this game before. Nate taught me a few pointers like aiming and hitting hard. There were three rounds. I did well on the first and met Nate for the semi-finals. Which was ironic as the other pair at the semi-finals were boyfriend and girlfriend as well. It was a couple showdown! I told Nate sorry but I am going to beat your ass in this game. LOL

Bwana said the Grasshut finals was between Le Merde and his wife. XD

Nate's pencil broke as he attempted to hit mine so I won that round and faced off with Danielle. I hope I got her name correctly.

We were hitting hard. But after four minutes of little or no progess we decided to do it sudden death and just gripped our pencils and pushed at each other. Her pencil broke and I was like...EH?!

I could not believe I won. I was exhausted. In a daze I received my prize from Bwana and I recall my hands were still shaking and fingers numb I held up the prizes and smiled like a dumbass. I decided to share pics of me since, well... people were taking pics of me with the prizes and I was like oh well. I don't really like to have my picture taken but it couldn't be avoided.

Shortly after, I said bye bye to Bwana and Nate and I topped off our day with a quiet dinner at Curry House. We had a blast!

I can't wait for SDCC. Bwana and Gargamel are bringing so much good stuff that it's going to be difficult to decide what to buy. I think it will be a spirited foot race to the Gargamel booth for many people on Preview Night.

Well....shit.

We knew it would happen someday but didn't think that it would be so soon. Less than seven months of XBOX 360 I would say medium playing and we get this:

An estimated 33% of XBOX 360 owners will experience the Red Ring of Death. That's a high percentage. I think Zach, Nate's younger brother, has had this happen to him earlier this year and he had to send it off to be fixed.

I was playing UNO in the morning, watched several movies on Netflix, played UNO again, played 1 vs 100 Beta, got ready to watch another Netflix movie, went downstairs to get a snack and I come back the screen is pixelated in squares. Turned it off and turned it on and voila... teh rings.

I called Nate at work to let him know and he said he'll take care of it on Monday. ::SIGH::

I can always catch up on my PS2 games.

Itokin Park

I love Himalans! Unfortunately there's not going to be any more produced as far as I've heard. I've been able to gather what I have by patiently waiting for sales to show up. The latest one I got was the Kaleyard. Excellent price too!

Still missing about five production ones and these are the ones that are going to be very hard to find. Impossible would be the hand paints. T____T

I also like the Rabyuuns. Just because there's only four figures released doesn't mean it's going to be easy to find them because there's hardly any that go on sale.

The Lucha Bears are nice but there's something about it that doesn't compel me to collect it. I think it's his face and long arms.

I am quite interested in Robby the Space Man but missed the release below due to time confusion on my part. The first release was a red one too.

Meh! It's too close to SDCC and I'm sure this particular version will cross my path someday. Nate and I are looking forward to seeing Ito-san in San Diego. I wonder if he's bringing goodies.