Take that Lou, you bastard!!!

Just to add to Maddie's post showing me play Guitar Hero 3, I finally beat the game on the Hard difficulty. WOOOT!!!!! (After playing 50+ million hours on the same song.... lol)

I've read and seen videos on youtube where many people have said that facing Lou on Hard is very difficult. Even people who play on Expert said they can't even beat him on the Hard difficulty. Honestly, I don't even know how I beat him, but it happened. Now on to Expert, Oi Vey...

Fourth of July

We had a quiet holiday today. I archived a bunch of my old anime in CDR format to DVD-R and Nate has been playing Guitar Hero III.

For our BBQ Nate and I cooked the following: Rib Eye Steaks, BBQ Chicken (Legs & Thighs), Hot dogs (for Todd), Polish Sausage, Steamed Vegetables, Mashed Potatoes and Tuxedo Mousse Cake.

This was store bought and very yummy. A good size too. Not too much. I think it's a quarter sheet. Tonight is another round of burning and Guitar Hero. Nate's trying to beat the game on Hard mode before moving onto Expert.

I took a quick picture of the battle with the final boss. Nate's keeping up with him but the Devil is a cheating bastard!

Sadly, my fingers aren't as fast as they used to be and I can only keep up with Nate at Medium at the most. I play in lefty flip as well.

Tomorrow is a round of home improvements. Adding some new screen windows and putting up new window hardware for the fourth room.

SARS Exclusive Killer

The package arrived at my house last week. I finally had some time to take pictures. This particular killer reminds me of vegetables. Eggplants and varicolored lettuce spring to mind.

I passed on the NY, MOCCA and ARTOYZ Killers. I would really like to see more intricate spray work on these clear killers. So I am picking and choosing. I just feel that Bwana can do a lot more with the clear body than what's being put out. Plus I am on a budget too so that doesn't help.

I did go for the Big Apple Steven without having seen it first because I like the sculpt and GID base with red spray was a must have. I am hoping it will live up to my expectations but Bwana seems to always do the unexpected, but then again I like surprises.

I can't wait to see what he'll bring when he comes down to SoCal! I really like the Mooneater. It's such an interesting mash-up that works well when together.

Trading Figures: Tales of Symphonia

Long before we got into vinyl we collected anime figures. Mostly gashapons and trading figures.

We've since put 90% of the gashapon in our sale bin and winnowed through our trading figures to see which ones we wanted to keep. We technically have enough to fill one shelf. Which is an acceptable amount.

Some figures stand out though and in particular the three Tales of Symphonia ones I have. I wish I got the full set. It's going to be difficult looking for these as they are a bit old.

I loved the game these figures are based on and the characters are endearing which makes the figures more meaningful.

Lloyd and Sheena are pictured above. I think there's a variant of Sheena with a different weapon. But I dig Lloyd's two swords which he actually has in the game.

A good majority of western vinyl coming out falls into what Nate and I call an "ego hand-job" Self gratifying and just because they can release a toy type of thing. Only a handful are really interesting AND beautiful sadly.

Which makes me nostalgic for our old collection of figures. They still make me smile and I find myself dusting and handling them again.

I'll be adding more of my trading figures on my FLICKR. I've got some neat ones that deserve attention.

Jesse Hernandez's Ozomahtli

Ever since I've started collecting Japanese vinyl figures, I've really been more fascinated about toy sculpts and artist designed figures. Platform toys really don't do much for me nowadays except for a few.

Jesse's artwork has always caught my eye, and I always wanted to commission him one day for a custom. He's a great guy to talk to and I'm just happy to see him getting some deals to do production run toys. With that said, I think his Ozomahtli figure by Bic Plastics is absolutely sick. The detail on the sculpt itself is amazing. Honestly, I would pick this figure up even if it was unpainted, but I know we are going to see some classic Aztec colorways, just like some of his other production toys.

Pic via Vinyl Pulse

Can't wait for this one to drop, as it's probably one of the only Western toys I'm anticipating at the moment. Checkout more of Jesse's artwork on his website at www.immortalstudios.net . You should also be able to see a pic of the possible colorway of this figure on his site.