email me: chris@chris-karath.com
September 2011
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And fortuntely I had a clean unused sock that matches my iPad Case
Flickr: Sun 09-25-11 15:51:11 -0400


Action Figures

Got a bunch of Action Figures this week. Catman was picked up for me by a coworker, the other six, came in a giant box from Big Bad Toy Store.
From left to right: Green Lantern: Galius Zed, Daughter of Golden Age Green Lantern Alan Scott:Jade, Hawk and Dove, 3rd string Batman villian and Secret Six member: Catman, Green Lantern Villain: Hector Hammond, and Green Lantern: Isamot Kol.



This Catman is one of my favorites of recent figs. Part of the more Premium Retail Store Batman Legacy Line. Great paint detal, nice touch with the facial stubble and the claw weapons are a nice include.
You may also be able to notice there is a slight upturn to the toes on the feet, which help pose him in a nice action stance.

Catman with a DCD Deadshot, and a Bane figure. I also have the larger Build a Figure Bane, but didn't want to go digging for it for this pic.

Hawk and Dove. Nice figures. I consider these B list figures as they've been both Teen Titan Members and have had their own book. There aren't alot of B-List characters that haven't been made in the DCU, so these are nice additions to the collection.
Originally, the first Dove was a male character, Don. I like the concept of Dove being a male character more than a female character. It's less cliche than this current status quo having the chaos figure be male and the peace figure be female. But a Don as Dove custom wouldn't be too hard to make, so maybe someday.

While I probably wouldn't consider Jade a B-Lister, she's certainly a top-tier C-List character that I'm surprised it's taken this long to make a proper figure of. There was an "older" Kingdom Come Jade many years back but nothing current until now in the 6" size.
Jade is the Daughter of the Golden Age Green Lantern: Alan Scott. She was born with a birthmark on her hand called the power pulse that gives her the same powers as the Golden Age Green Lantern but with no need for the ring.
She was an Infinity Inc. member (a sort of Teen Titan's to the Justice Society of America) and she was a supporting character and love interest for Green Lantern Kyle Rayner in his solo book.
Her twin brother Obsidian is also currently in stores, (but I have yet to see him on the pegs) I'm certainly more eager to find Obisidan now.

What a great couple of years it's been for Green Lantern Action Figures, first you had the popularity and merchandise associated with the Blackest Night comic stories, and then of course the movie came out this year.
Above the movie version of everyone's favorite floating head Green Lantern: Galius Zed, and the more recently created second class, "sub race" Thanagarian Green Lantern: Isamont Kol.
Really great articulation on these figures too.

Hector Hammond, nice top-tier Green Lantern villian, making his first appearance in 6" (although actually more 5" really") Thanks to his blue suit, he fits in pretty well with Star Saphire and Sinestro.
That's alot of figures for this month, but sometimes the various release schedules of the various lines align like that. Hopefully not too much though. Puts a small dent in the wallet :)
Random Non-Sequiters
We went to the Upper Peninsula this past week. There was some absolutely beautiful weather while we were there. Clear blue skies, 68 to 72 degrees, really fantastic. We checked out the falls, walked around the woods abit. Nice time.
The Upper Peninsula is beautiful, but also largely empty. Very little in the way of even small towns across much of it. That's sortof something you notice as you drive at all north of Grand Rapids or Lansing-- just how empty this state really is. Lots of wide open room for the most part.
Got a great deal through Tiger Direct on a new LCD monitor. Only $60 for a 19" wide screen. Yeah, not very big, but I do have two and they work fairly well for home.
I haven't been using the desktop much anyway since the iPad. The iPad is such an addictive device. Greatest timesink ever invented.
A little disappointed that there wasn't an Apple event this week. Looks like it will be in another week or two. Tech news has been really boring the last couple weeks (last month or two really) with possibly the exception of the HP Touchpad craziness a couple weeks back.
I went to Friend or Follow and took a look at my Following/Friends/Fans stats. I have about 80 in the Friends category (I follow them, and they follow me). I looked over the icons and did a mental check of how many of those 80 icons in the friend category I thought were really active, in that they post several times a day and/or I interact with them regulary. I think it's something like 12 to 20 people on that list that I'm really engaged with depending on how you slice it.
Everyones social media experience is different I imagine, but as more and more brands and corps continue to come online, it's been my experience that social media continues to move from a discussion forum to an information consuming medium. And conversation does seem to continue to move more and more in an affirmational only direction. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all, more and more that seems to be the motto. Sure, people occasionally blow off steam still, but as the social circle has grown, the topics people feel comfortable about having a strong opinion on seem to be shrinking. Again, your millage may vary, but that's the trend I've been seeing.
I've had an opportunity to read almost a dozen more of the New DC 52 Comic relaunch. Overall, my feelings have been pretty mixed about it. For the most part, I don't think they're any worse that the stuff that came before the relaunch, not terribly better either though (Unless you are a new reader. Then maybe I could see these new issues being abit more accessible than a standard #1 relaunch, at least by regular DC standards.) I did a fairly lengthy monologue on my thoughts about the new Digital DC last Saturday, and my thoughts haven't changed much in the last 7 days.