UFO Catcher Plushie Apocalypse

A long long time ago, sometime in the early 2000's, I used to collect UFO Catcher Dolls. It was a fun hobby. I loved getting plushies of the characters in anime that I adored. My first collection pic below:

Of course it didn't stay this "small" for long. When I collect, it's go big or go home. My collection grew to 12 plastic bins, Gallon sizes I believe. Full to the brim.

About three years into the hobby, the market got flooded with cheap bootlegs from China. It essentially ruined an entire genre of collecting. My collecting then slowed down and ground to a halt. I bagged and stored all my plush into bins and they have been sitting in the garage.

I had planned on displaying my collection but that changed when I picked up a Dunny in 2007 while Christmas shopping. Back then they were freaking $5 or something. Blind boxing ensnared Nate and I for approximately 2 years.

After growing out of that and purging our shared collection of western vinyl we arrive to now, which started in late 2008, to Sofubi. I must say I haven't been this happy and satisfied with a collection since I started collecting.

So what happens to the plushies? I still believe I have a kick ass collection. Unfortunately, it generates very little interest for me now and I am loathe in pursuing it any further.

It's time to sell.

Although seeing myself sorting them reminds me of the show Hoarders. My pile of what I want to keep and what I want to sell is very uneven. More keep. I need to snap out of that.

But I have awesome pieces! Like DX Edward Elric and lottery Sesshoumaru. I could go on and on but I really need to ask myself where will I be able to display them?

So the slow and painful process of letting go of this part of my collecting history begins. I am slowly putting pieces up on my Ebay store: Fuzen Toy Shoppe.

We already have the remnants of our western vinyl up at the store. I'll be adding more to that pile too as we begin The Culling. A much discussed topic between Nate and I and now we are finally taking action.

We are even culling some Sofubi but that will be sold at Skullbrain.

Because I was a UFO Catcher collector I knew better than to purchase bootlegs so all my plushies are authentic and not HK rip offs.

So this is an official notice! If you are interested in snagging some rare and authentic UFO Catcher plush, be sure to check my Ebay store. The bulk of my collection will be available there.

＼(＾▽＾*)LET THE CULLING COMMENCE! (*＾▽＾)／

Summer of Goodbyes

"There are things that we don't want to happen but have to accept, things we don't want to know but have to learn, and people we can't live without but have to let go." - Author Unknown

On July 1, 2011, approximately ten minutes before 11 o'clock that night, I lost my last remaining grandparent. My Grandpa, died surrounded by all of his children, most of his grandchildren, and two of his great grand children. It was probably one of the most emotional wringing events of my adult life.

He lived a full life of 95 years. I had the chance to say goodbye to Lolo and that memory does bring me comfort. A week later, we buried him with my Grandma. Now they are together.

Before we closed the casket, all the grandkids wrote him letters. April knitted him a small amigurumi rabbit. I pinned that along with all our letters on his jacket. Nate wrote Lolo a letter too but he wont tell me what he wrote down. He said he made a promise. I know better than to ask.

Three days after we buried my Grandpa, my oldest Uncle became seriously ill and was hospitalized. He hung on for almost a month but due to pre-existing health issues and his weak constitution he passed away at the end of August.

A double whammy for our small clan. We were already devastated by the loss of my Grandpa but with the death of my Uncle Bernard the devastation turned into a terrible tragedy.

Our finances stretched to the limit, a decision was made to cremate Uncle Bernard's remains and send his ashes home to his children. My Aunt went back home to the island a couple of weeks ago and had him interred in their family crypt. He is now home.

It's been a difficult summer. Which explains why I haven't been updating the blog and toy buying is at an all time low. We are quietly mourning, coping with the loss and moving on with our lives.

The holidays are coming up and it will be lonely one. Lolo was always here at my house to celebrate Christmas. He always started the feasting with a prayer.

I miss him a lot and think of him often.

A Quick Update

Well, forget about any further SDCC 2011 update. I already forgot the finer details of the Con. Just too many things have been happening in our personal life within a span of July to September.

I'll speak about it at a later time. When I am ready.

I can however, share some unfortunate news about the stray cats we take care of. We lost Lee and MomCat. Lee to injuries suffered from possibly being hit by a car. He survived but his injuries were extensive and we had no choice but to put him to sleep.

At the same time MomCat was not feeling well and after we took care of Lee, we took her to get checked up. She had feline coronavirus. Something she acquired when she was outside. She was at the last stages. I saw her x-ray. Her lungs were full of fluid. We also had no choice but to put her to sleep as she was suffering, unable to eat and breath properly.

MomCat was inside the house but she was isolated from our cats. Transmission is low but I still took Nodame, Dhani and Marley to get checked out to make sure. I need to call tomorrow to see what the test results are. Pickles is fully immunized so I didn't have to worry about him.

It's been a deadly year for our stray cat colony. Impostor Cat died due to being hit by a car, Lee may have died because of the same reason and now MomCat is gone due to her disease. We are down to three stray cats. When it used to be eleven.

All that's left is Dhani's Dad, Bree and Silver. I did see a small kitten Dhani's Dad drove away one night. Black with orange markings. Very hairy. I didn't see that kitten again.

On somewhat better news, purchases of the week has been ongoing but not as much as usually after SDCC, Nate and I stop buying toys for a while. I think it's because we do overload during Con. Plus we are more interested right now in making home improvements.

Nate's keeping busy with school and work and I am busy with work. I'll start updating again when things settle down and I've had time to think about everything.  

IPod Obsession

I have been consumed with the desire to update my IPod. Now that I've had my new tower for a while and I am no longer sharing Nate's ITunes on his laptop, I can completely customize my IPod with what I want without the clutter of someone else's music.

It's a pleasurable distraction right now. I know I haven't been blogging as much and I need to recap SDCC 2011 before I forget. A lot of things went down between July and now. Maybe I'll talk about it later.

But right now I just want to get lost in the music. Even if it's just for a little bit.

SDCC 2011 - Thursday

We were hearing rumors that pre-registration for 2012 was going to be a bitch due to it's off-site location. Because of the instant sell out for 2011 during 2010 Con, we were determined to get there early to secure out tickets. Like 6:30 AM early.

Little did we know that it was already too late.

We parked at the Hilton Garage and we did the arduous trek to the offsite to the Manchester Grand Hyatt only to walk into a line that stretched all the way back to the fucking Hilton. So technically, we almost completed a full circle.

I can tell you I was furious. So was Nate. First off, pushing myself that hard physically was exhausting. I wish I am in better shape but I am not, so it was tiring. Plus we almost made it to the door. We were approximately thirty feet from the door and we were told the allotment was gone for the day at 8:20 AM when sales start at 8 AM.

I was so upset I yelled at one of the volunteers in a fit of rage. I do regret losing my temper and yelling at strangers. It was either me yelling or Nate. If Nate had started the yelling his fist would have followed. I think he was that mad too.

Either way, I stormed off after telling them angrily that they need to organize their pre-registration better so people don't have to waste their time lining up for something that wont be attainable. The fact that I have to line up AT Con to get tickets for next year's Con is ridiculous. I remember last year we just walked up to a lineless counter and registered just like that. No problems.

I was dejected and Nate was doing his best trying to cheer me up. So the day started off really crappy and we both did not have the energy to sprint to get to the Exhibit Hall before it opened. We walked back slowly so we can recuperate our strength.

Technically, we could have bypassed all this and asked our cousin and her husband for pro passes next year. But Nate and I do not like to impose like that and we really wanted to secure our passes.

By the time we got to Gargamel, all the good stuff was gone already and I couldn't really enjoy the Con that morning. I was worried and I was trying to strategize for tomorrow. Nate kept himself occupied with good thoughts as he was preparing for PATCHWERK.

Most of the day was spent doing a quick look around the Exhibit Hall and then we found a quiet bench to sit and rest until Pushead.

We talked briefly about the shenanigans of the day but we really didn't go into it as much as Nate was really looking forward to the Pushead event and his enthusiasm started rubbing off my discontent.

When it was time for PATCHWERK, we made our way to Toy Tokyo's booth. They were already getting ready for the event and people were already gathering and discussing what could be under all this:

Pushead fans are fun to watch when it's a Pushead event. Mostly male, the cloud of testosterone floating around them can be a little bit overwhelming at times. But when they take off that black curtain and you hear them ooh'ing and ahh'ing you can see the genuine excitement from all of them and it's fun to watch.

The last Pushead event was in 2009 and Nate was so close but missed out on any HPs as his number was too far. I forgot to mention that this event is a ticketed event and there is a pecking order. This year Nate's number was much better and his chances were good to get something really nice.

Curtain comes down and we see a whole bunch of mixed parts of Captains, Pirates and limited production pieces!

When I saw the amount I was feeling a bit reassured that Nate will walk away with something he likes. Pushead events takes a long ass time as each person is given time to look over and see what they want to buy. Which to me is such a personal gesture from Pushead to his fans. I didn't mind waiting. I enjoyed seeing what people picked out.

Nate walked away with a print, PATCHWERK Pirate and a production piece. I don't have a picture of the print but we just finished taking picture of our loot and here's the two piece Nate came home with:

Nate was very happy. This was his event for SDCC and he came away with toys he was very excited about.

With this behind us, we decided to take off and have an early dinner and bedtime as we were going to have to get up at an ungodly hour to remedy our pre-registration fiasco...

SDCC 2011 - Preview Night

First off, I forgot my camera cable so be prepared for crappy cell phone pics. XD We knew that exhibitors would have first dibs. So we were prepared for that.

Of course I ran for Bwana and when I got there the items I was eying were not out. I had to be good and held back. I then went to Gargamel where Nate was already in line and the the really nice customs were picked up by the usual suspects who were kind enough to show us what they got.

I was a little disappointed that were no standard size SDCC exclusives. Lots of pockets which is probably their biggest sellers. Customs wise not as much as last year's Preview Night but they are dropping new ones each and everyday which is exciting and frustrating at the same time.

I for one am very proud of how Nate and I did. I think as the years go by we have learned to be selective with what we add to our collection. We have a fairly extensive toy collection and learning from other collectors and seeing other collections, we have learned to be discriminating with new additions. We prefer to enhance our collection vs enlarge.

So here is a pic of my haul:

I got Micro Set #1 which includes a Zagoran, Sleeping Killer and Angel Bird. Boris the Bee and RealxHead Chaos Man Next Fighter. Really happy with the Next Man as we never get a chance to get this particular head sculpt of the RxH Chaos stateside.

Nate's Preview Night Haul:

 

Pink GID Marbled Mongolion with excellent marbling, Micro Set #2 which includes the Helper, Ooze Bat and Hujili's Ghost. Super7 Shogun Storm Trooper Missile which was free with any purchase from S7 booth.

When you buy certain pocket figures from Gargamel you get a free micro. I picked up the orange ooze bat and the GID and green were gifts from David. Awesome toy karma!

Can't sleep. Too excited for tomorrow. We'll see what the new day brings us!

Purchases of the Week - June 26, 2011

Dragon Ball Z Kai: Part Five - I've been taking advantage of the pre-order pricing at Amazon. Lately, a lot of the DBZ Kai blu-rays have been $18 or less and I have been swooping in and grabbing some when they dip that low. 

Soul Eater: Meister Collection 1 & 2 - I love this anime and it's extremely popular. I didn't expect it to ever dip down to $20 but it dipped enough for me to purchase. This is one of the last anime I was actively pursuing the fansub. 

 
Shawshank Redemption - A classic film, plain and simple. Nate and I often watch it when it pops up on TV. 

Dragon Ball Z Kai: Part Four - I am now current with all the DBZ Kai releases. I just need to sit down and watch it. It's been a busy month though...

Hair Donation

I have been waiting to do this maybe for over a year. I used to have long hair when I was a teenager. But as an adult I don't think I can do it anymore. Too heavy and hot to keep up.

I was so relieved when my hairdresser snipped it off. Just in time as the temps down here in the valley is set to "broil" during the summer.

I thought I just made the minimum of 10 inches but as it turns out I had more and I asked Bao to cut as far as we can harvest. Now I have a decent length to donate to Locks of Love which helps disadvantaged children who suffer from hair loss due to illness.

I don't know if I can do this again as living with long hair nearly drove me insane but at least I was able to accomplish this.

I feel so comfortable now and I got rid of the excess hair just in time for summer too! ^_____^

Purchases of the Week - June 12, 2011

Dragon Ball Z Kai: Part Two - Finally, after waiting approximately six months, the price went down to my liking and I snatched it up quick. I have part 3 already but could not watch it before getting my hands on this one. I am actually enjoying this series much more than the original version. Less filler crap. 

 
From Dusk till Dawn - I had to get another movie so my order qualifies for free shipping so I picked this one. George Clooney was gritty and rough around the edges with this character. Not as sophisticated as he is now. Plus Selma Hayek was mad sexy in this film. I like voluptuous women. Nate and I agree that too thin women look bony, unattractive and hungry. Very much like underfed zombies.

I got several pre-orders lined up but until they ship I wont be talking about it. That's about it media-wise. Toy buying I did pick up an several pieces. The latest being an M1 Matango. I think Nate also bought some anime DVDs from rightsuf.com. I forget what they were but I'll have him blog about those.

Purchases of the Week - May 22, 2011

You can't beat a $6 sale. Seriously! All of these listed in this week's Purchases of the Week were all $6 dollars each.

The Amityville Horror - Ryan Reynolds is hot. I normally do not buy scary movies but this is the kind of movie that really scare me. Supernatural ones. Not the bloody ones like Saw. Even though Ryan Reynolds played a creepy character it's still an enjoyable movie. I just can't watch it by myself. XD 

Enter the Dragon - This is a classic. A movie done before I was born! Every time I look at Bruce Lee in this movie he was in his finest physical condition. Which makes the circumstances of his death really weird. Also I can't help but think of his son, Brandon Lee, as well. What a double tragedy. 

House of Flying Daggers - Takeshi Kaneshiro. Half Taiwanese Chinese and half Japanese actor AND the face of Onimusha games! I love him in the games! There should be a reboot of Onimusha. The movie is fun to watch too but I think I just like looking at his cute face. ^____^ 

Shoot 'Em Up - Is a ridiculous movie with a ridiculous premise with over-the-top action scenes that any other actor, other than Clive Owens, would fail miserably at making this movie fun and enjoyable. Plus Monica Bellucci is in my opinion, one of the most beautiful women in the world. Mindless fun!

Starship Troopers - A fine example of how Hollywood white-washes a good book. The main character is supposed to be Asian. Filipino in fact, according to Robert A. Heinlein the author. Despite the story being wrecked by the studios they manage to come up with a campy and funny movie that I still enjoyed despite it's serious shortcomings. The novel had a serious social and political theme. It just sucks to see it trivialized into a monster movie.

Purchases of the Week - May 15, 2011

It's been a while since we updated. I think I just didn't really want to blog as much since we were all upset after we lost Impostor Cat. Our backyard has been empty without her as she was the one who hung out there all the time.

Anyway, I've been eyeing blu-ray.com like a hawk! A lot of stuff that's ridiculously expensive has been dropping in price like a rock. I've had to be a bit more selective.

Bad Boys - Full of Wil Smith-isms and Martin Lawrence's trademark acting style. No, the famous quote is actually said in Bad Boys II so I am not even saying it. It's a fun movie although I found Tea Leoni's character a little annoying. 

 
Men In Black - If there was any other actor Wil Smith perfectly acted with it would be Tommy Lee Jones. One of my favorite movies! Vincent D'Onofrio's portrayal as Edgar should be just as celebrated as the two stars of this film. He made the big cockroach's awkward movements in the Edgar Suit so believable. That's hard to pull off. 

 
The Quick and the Dead - I try to think of a movie where I liked Sharon Stone as an actress and I am coming up blank except for this one. She had all her clothes on, she had guns and was just a badass. Oh wait, she was in Total Recall. She was still bad there too. I think I tend to like her when she's in action movies. 

 
xXx - "Bitches Come!!!" Seriously that's it. I bought this movie because that line and that scene makes me and Nate laugh.

We bought the stuff listed above earlier in the week and these two below we bought later. I am going to try to summarize Purchases of the Week at the end of each week instead of random dates in between.

Stranger than Fiction - I liked this movie. A lot of people who like Will Ferrell did not. I liked the fact he played a person who was not funny out right. Not his best movie I agree but I still enjoyed it.

 
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind - Hayao Miyazaki is a master storyteller and this was the first movie of his that I ever saw as a kid. It made me think about the environment and the consequences of not caring for it. I love seeing strong female characters and he is consistent with this in almost all of his movies. There are only two movies of his that are in blu-ray and the other is Panyo and I am waiting for that to go down in price. Hopefully, Disney will put the rest of his catalog on blu-ray in the foreseeable future.

R.I.P. Impostor Cat

Nate and I had an unpleasant surprise as we headed to work this morning. As we turned the corner to exit the gate we saw Impostor Cat on the middle of the road. Nate saw her first and he was very upset. When I looked up from my phone I immediately recognized her. I didn't want to believe my eyes, but it was her.

We quickly pulled over to the curb and I ran back to the house to grab a trash bag and some gloves. We didn't want her to get run over again and we definitely did not want to leave her out there.

Nate knows I don't have a strong stomach for this so he carefully crossed the street and gently picked her up and put her in the bag. We then took her to the backyard to get a better look at her. I know it is a morbid thing to do but we needed to make sure she was not mauled by my asshole neighbor's stupid dog and thrown out on the street to throw us off.

Unfortunately, she had been hit by vehicle. Probably sometime before dawn. No signs of bite marks. Her collar was missing. Nate went back out on the street and we spotted it a few feet from where she was laying. It was undone. The impact must have knocked it off. Judging by her injuries, which was not visible, the damage was internal I can say she died instantly. I should take comfort in that but I don't. I find it extremely upsetting.

This has always been our number one fear for the stray cats we take care of. That they should cross the street. We take great pains to make sure they would not need to and provide shelter, food and water for our cat colony. But Impostor Cat has always been curious. More so than the average cat. Pickles and Dhani inherited that trait from her.

As of late, a new male cat had been coming over from across the street at night. He's a tuxedo. Mostly white with a black back. He has a dumb looking face and we named him Paul. After a Family Guy episode with Mayor West and the "catarang".

Nate said Impostor Cat may have gotten curious about him and may have attempted to follow him back. We know he comes from the houses past the field across the street.

Impostor Cat had a habit of disappearing for days at a time. No longer than three days though. We suspected she wandered but I guess she did the occasional crossing.

I can go on and on and speculate on who, why and how but it doesn't change anything. She's gone. All I know is that we are heartsick at her loss and I am angry at whoever hit her.

She was feral but she was friendly and allowed us to pet her and pick her up. She gave us Mariposa, Dhani, Tono-chan and Pickles.

Pickles is currently up North with my sister and her husband and it will be difficult to look at him as he has the exact same coloring as his mother. His face is a little different.

We have done and continue to do what we can with what is left with the colony. We are now down to four outside cats. Dhani's Dad, Silver, Lee and Bree. MomCat does not count as she lives in our house now. She occupies the guest bathroom. Paul comes by at night but not often and we do see a beautiful and large Siamese cat wandering in once in a blue moon. That one we know is a pet because he/she looks clean and well fed. Other than that only four. When there used to be many but that's what happens when you spay and neuter the colony. Eventually, there will be few cats around.

This is the last picture I took of her. As she playfully rolled around on her back in our backyard. This was taken on April 09, 2011. She was probably six years old. When we met her she was a young female. Possible even one of MomCat's kittens even.

Her body was taken to our long time veterinarian for disposal. We kept her collar and tag which I just replaced a month or so ago. She was a sweet and affectionate cat despite being feral. She will be sorely missed.

Purchases of the Week - April 10 - 24, 2011

I've been so preoccupied with the living room that I haven't blogged about other purchases that happened during the week. So here's a summary.

Waste-less Bags Variety Pack (6) - I was dissatisfied with the recyclable bags that are being offered at stores and I needed something that could hold a lot and be stylish to boot. When these arrived at the house, I wanted to return them because they were plastic. I thought they were fabric. I gave them a try though and was surprised at the strength and capacity of these bags. One bag can hold four 2 litre sodas. So I changed my mind and kept the set. We get a lot of compliments and questions about the bags when people see them. 

 
Purse Size Deluxe Coupon Organizer - A better alternative to stuffing coupons in my purse. Nate and I use coupons but not to the extreme stupidity as seen in Extreme Couponing. Some of the shit those people buy don't make any practical sense at all. 

 
Knocked Up - All around funny movie. I know people can't stand Katherine Heigle but she was good in this one. Bill Hader's short appearance as Brent was awesome. "You look like Jabba the Hutt dying." 

40 Year Old Virgin - A lot of things we loved about the movie. Man O' Lantern, a bag of sand, it's all about passion and public colonoscopy. The whole movie is a lot of laughs and cringe worthy moments.

Collapsible Clothing Rack: Commercial Grade - This is what started the whole purchasing of the week idea. We had a messed up cheap-o rack that had missing wheels. It was also lopsided and was standing upright only because it was so twisted that gravity didn't know whether to pull it down or up. We like to hang dry our clothes this way to prevent shrinkage in the dryer. I can't tell you enough about how awesome this new one is. If you have one of those cheap, plastic ones, invest in a steel commercial grade clothing rack. This will last us forever.

 

Kickboxer - Jean Claude Van Damme dancing. Not as awesome as his dance sequence in Breakin' but the "dancing" alone is reason in enough to make this a must buy. 

 
Land of the Lost - I honestly haven't seen this movie at all. The only reason I bought it is because it dipped down to under $10 and it has Danny McBride and Will Ferrell. I know it's been widely panned but it can't be that bad right? 

The Relic - A surprisingly good monster movie with actors that are not so familiar. I enjoyed the premise of it and despite some predictable elements to the plot, it is still a great movie for those lazy weekends.

Amazon Basics High Speed HDMI Cables - Since we don't have a receiver yet we needed some cables for the TV set up. These work just as well as the ridiculously over-priced Monster Cables.

Hunter x Hunter DVD Vol. 01 - I know right? A DVD set. But this is one of a few series' that I loved. More than Naruto or Bleach. I really didn't realize that companies have to re-buy a license to upgrade anime from DVD to BD. Some series' may never get a chance to see a blu-ray upgrade. HxH may be one of them. Which is a shame since it is a great series. 

XBOX 12 Month Gold Membership - I actually didn't have to get one. As a new XBOX owner, there was a deal that they offered when I plugged in my new system. I got my membership online for $39.99. I didn't pay full price for this card either but my next year's renewal is taken care of since I just saved the card. 

 
Borderlands Game of the Year Edition - I wanted a game Nate and I can play together. I just had to get this version that had all the downloadable content. We play at night when we have a couple of hours to spare. 

Plants vs Zombies - Highly addictive plus the disc comes with two other games that are just as bad.
Viva Pinata - Cute strategy game. Reminds me of Harvest Moon and Pokemon combined. Very simplistic and aimed more at children. I still like it though.

Corpse Bride - I like stop motion animation. I love the gray and blue colors and it's by Tim Burton whose movies I have always liked. 

 
Sherlock Holmes - I remember when Robert Downey Jr.'s life was a circus of drugs and embarrassing arrests but this man has the talent to be an amazing actor as much as to be self-destructive and he has truly raised himself out of the gutter and prevailed. Which is why I think Lindsay Lohan who has had so many second chances will never have the respect and acknowledgement that Robert Downey Jr. has achieved. She'll be recognized for her notoriety only and not for her artistic talent because she has none. Anyways, Jude Law kicked ass in this movie too. Very enjoyable movie and finally dipped down to affordable. Still waiting on Iron Man to drop in price. 

Clash of the Titans - Yeah I know. General consensus of this movie is that it is caca BUT it has Mads Mikelsen who is not only a sexy fiend but a bad ass all around. Sam Worthington isn't hard on the eyes either, he makes a great action hero but I find myself hoping he'll be more than just an action hero. He's got a lot of intensity without the prima donna attitude. Here's hoping he picks better movies in the future. 

Austin Powers Collection - All three movies in slim pack packaging. I hate slim pack cases. They suck. But the set dipped down to under $18 and I swooped in to get it. I can't believe it's been 14 years since the first movie came out. How time flies. It feels dated but still a lot goofy fun!

That's the lot of it I think for April. I did try Amazon Prime for a month but it didn't seem worth it. Not everything will ship in two days and I like having the option of cancelling an order especially if the price dips down. I could not do it with Prime as stuff is set to ship ASAP. So back to the old, long wait for stuff to arrive at the house.

Purchases of the Week - April 23, 2011

It has been a hectic week of bargain hunting and purchasing. The living room project more or less is done for the year. Too bad I didn't have enough funds to completely re-do the living room. I wanted to get new couches, side tables and a coffee table. I'll have to set it aside and do that project in stages.

Our nice TV stand finally has a TV on it. It was quite an ordeal and an eye opener shopping for TV's nowadays. Our original plan was to get an LCD TV. But the particular model we wanted was sold out everywhere as it was last year's model. We looked again at LED TV and it only strengthened our dislike with the format. The LED TV that can handle our gaming and viewing needs is available but for around $3000 it was not an option.

Dejected and tired we were leaving Best Buy when we spotted a display TV near the entrance playing The Incredibles. It was the scene where the boy was running over water and it was seamless! No motion blurring and deep colors. Nate suspected it might be a plasma and when he checked out the back it confirmed his suspicions.

Went back to the store and found this was also an older model about to be discontinued. No in-store had it in stock so I took a risk and ordered it online with white glove delivery service. I wanted it to come to our house in the best condition possible. The neat part about this is, I actually paid less than what I had set aside for the TV including a three year warranty and delivery. Total was around $1400.

There is some glare from the window behind me but we usually watch at night which renders it moot. During the day it is tolerable. I have replaced the curtains behind me with black-out type and it's closed at all times.

Samsung PN58C550 58' Plasma HDTV
Sony 3D Blu-ray Player BDP-S580
XBOX 360 250 Gig HD

Future additions to this set up will be a receiver, center channel speaker and two floor speakers flanking the stand. That will have to wait as we will have to save up and purchase.

Of course this TV is not just free-standing on the stand. It is bolted on the back to the wall for security reasons. I would not want this to topple over and hurt a small child or our furkids.

I finally have my own XBOX and account. Gaming down here with a big screen is so awesome. Nate and I have been playing Borderlands when we have time.

Our small family is now enjoying hanging out downstairs and watching movies. The cats watch TV to from their cat tree. This is probably one of the best purchases I have made in a long time as it benefits everyone.

Fun with Fuji Instax Mini 50S

A treat for myself this tax season. I've been eying the Instax cameras for ages since I could not find film for our old Polaroid. I finally pulled the trigger and splurged on a camera, film and a couple of stickers. The end result is below:

I love how these pictures remind me of the 70's. We have a few Polaroids from that era and I enjoy looking at them. The Polaroid-type photos to me feels like you stole a bit of time and froze it. I am sure that's the whole premise of any type of photography but the charm of of instant is you see it slowly developing in your hands. It was like magic!

I wanted to relive that again then Polaroid pulled the rug from under me and decided to stop production of the film. Long story short, Polaroid came back as a bastardized Fuji. I've looked around on the net and the film for the re-branded Polaroid will fit an instax so it's a matter of finding a good price for bulk film. It just sucks that the classic size Polaroid is no more.

Despite all that, the end results gives me these awesome, one-of-a-kind photos. Smaller in size but they still have that charm of slowly developing in your hands. Like magic.

Purchases of the Week: April 5, 2011

Nate and I have been keeping an eye on TV sales so we can get our TV soon. Unfortunately, I missed it when the TV we wanted went down to $999. At that time I didn't have the cash. Now that I do, the price shot back up to almost regular so we are waiting it out.

Meanwhile, I've been scooping up blu-ray when it goes on sale. So here's a few more to add to our library.

Dragon Ball Z Kai Vol. 3 - It's stupid that Vol. 2 isn't as low but DBZ for $15.99 is not passable. So I picked it up. We can't watch it until I secure Vol. 2 though. Meh. 

Monster - I saw both documentaries for Eileen Wuornos on Netflix. She was a very disturbed woman. But in the end I don't think she was in her right mind when she requested to be put to death. Part of me feels like she should have had psychiatric help before she just decided to get it over with. I want to see Charlize Theron's performance. She is so beautiful but she managed to look so hideous in this movie. 

Smokin' Aces - I laughed at Ben Affleck and the manner of his...disposal. A fun movie throughout and Ryan Reynolds is hot! 

 
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - CHEEEEESEEEE BURGER! More fun than Despicable Me. I shit you not.