The plan was to leave this blog a desolate wasteland until The New Year hit. Yeah, the plan was to start fresh once the levels of radioactivity had petered out. To rise from the ashes like Jean Grey for the eighteenth time. Mutant and proud, we'd meet again in the not-too-distant future, with our faux hoverboards, our third eyes and our Pepsi Perfect. The plan got tossed out the window, however, once Chad [yes, the brains and beauty behind The Horror Movie BBQ] called me out on Twitter to take part in a blog-wide Christmas Fallout event. There was no way that I could resist the opportunity to share screen-time with some of my absolute favorite bloggers.
So, okay, here we are.
The inaugural Pop Pop! It's Trash Christmas Fallout.
I am notoriously difficult to buy for when you're a relative and a casual consumer. My usual haunts are thrift shops, flea markets and garage sales. The urge to sift through other peoples' garbage flows through my blood, but seems to have thinned out a bit for the rest of the family. I can't expect my sisters or my mom to hit up Savers in order to pick me out a stellar grab-bag full of vintage action figures and random Happy Meal toys. No one seems to understand my obsession with dead media, so it's pretty unlikely I'll ever find some odd VHS titles wrapped under the Christmas tree.
That's all okay, but it maybe makes for a boring haul of gifts. I would never suggest that my friends and family aren't way-too-generous, because they are. I received all sorts of gift cards and clothes, and even a little bit of cold, hard cash. There wasn't a whole lot that had my engines revving with excitement, though. So, yeah, this will be a fairly incomplete illustration of all the goodies I got this holiday.
But the stuff I do highlight here?
Oh, it's all so fucking glorious.
One of the yearly traditions for my extended family is a Secret Santa Cousins' Gift Thing. We typically get the whole clan together the weekend before Christmas, and all of the cousins pick a name and then put together a gift for that selected family member. There's typically a lot of gift certificates given, and this year was no exception, but mine came with a little twist. My cousin, Rob, gave me a certificate to my local comic shop, but he also included a handful of titles straight from the dollar-bins. Without any real idea what titles I might enjoy, he managed to score some real winners.
Honestly, as much as I appreciate the credit to my favorite comic shop, I actually would have been satisfied with just this quartet of issues. I'm especially fond of The Flash, because it features one of my all-time favorite Z-grade villains, The Rainbow Raider.
Admission time: I've only seen one of these three titles before.
A few years back, several years back, I was living in California for a short bit. One lazy Sunday afternoon, stuck in bed and searching for something to watch, I stumbled upon Miracle Mile (1988) on some local affiliate station. It's a film that somehow eluded me for nearly two decades, but once I'd discovered it, well, I couldn't understand how I lived without it for so long. I've watched it multiple times since, and was thrilled to add a blu-ray copy to my collection. Totally underrated and so worth checking out.
The other two films, Sorcerer (1977) and Roar (1981), I only know by their reputations. They're both recently released on blu-ray, and they're both universally adored by any and all who have seen them. Much like I had originally intended for the blog, I'm holding off on watching these bad boys until 2016. I wanna start out the year B-I-G.
Jesus, that Cannon Films collection is an absolute beauty.
I only asked for a few things and The Bombs, Babes & Blockbusters of Cannon Films was at the top of my list. There are ten movies included in the set, and every single one of them is sheer '80s perfection. There's a veritable who's who of Cannon Films stalwarts [like Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren] featured, all of whom will keep you entertained for hours upon hours of brain-smashing action. Also, you'll finally get to see Skeletor conquer Eternia, while He-Man and the rest of the Masters of the Universe eat fried chicken and hang-out with Courtney Cox.
My family might not understand what I want most for Christmas, but I do have some truly dear friends that absolutely get what I'm all about. A package arrived just prior to the holiday, so while Miss M [my co-host on Eclectic Mayhem, and the fantastically darling blogger from Diary of a Dorkette] may not have intended it as a Christmas gift, I'm counting it as one. This is only a sampling of all the amazing things she sent, but they're the stuff I wanna show off most. I'm immediately reminded of being a kid again, wanting to brag about all the cool toys I got, and these are definitely the coolest toys I got for Christmas.
Look, it's Toxie! And Scar! A random Smurfette head..!
The inclusion of the Goldust WWF figure from Jakks is total nostalgic catnip. I was already a few years too old to be collecting these particular wrestling toys when they were first released back in the late '90s, but I was such an unapologetic fan of The Attitude Era that one of my last Christmases in high-school was practically devoted to action figures with "Bone-Crunching Sound". I've been going back-and-forth on rebuilding my collection of WWF toys, and this sorta' cross-dressing Dustin Rhodes might be the start of something. 2016 is gonna be big, remember?
Oh, and a Halle Berry Fucking Sucks pin?
I told you that Miss M really understands me.
Even the boring stuff, like new socks, is worth sharing. My sisters know how much I hate plain white socks and gifted me a whole slew of ridiculous pairs, including the ones seen here. You might think that Abominable Snowmen wielding candy-canes would only be appropriate to sport this time of year, but don't be surprised when I'm still rocking these during May and June and July.
I hope that everyone had their own wonderful holidays full of time spent with family, trips to the Nakatomi Plaza, and all the envious gift hauls you've dreamed of since you were six. I also wanna thank you all for taking the time to visit me, and please be sure to check out all the other participants in this year's Christmas Fallout extravaganza. Links below!
-- The Horror Movie BBQ -- Dinosaur Dracula -- Morbid Much -- The Stunt Zombie -- The Holidaze -- The Sexy Armpit -- The Sewer Den --
