Thursday, November 20, 2014

Baseball Bobbleheads Websites:

Here’s a list of bobblehead websites I find useful in helping me keep track of past and future releases.

Stadium Giveaway Exchange:

Bobblehead News:

BDA Inc.:

Collection Locker:
http://blog.collectionlocker.com/category/baseball

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Murder She Wrote

I must confess I never thought I would watch Murder She Wrote, let alone an episode.  Yet, here I am now confessing my love for the show.  I first started watching the show one day in the summer when the Blue Jays had a rest day, and nothing else was on.  I had convinced myself for years that there was no way in hell I would watch this boring old people show.  But on that day my only TV viewing options were Entertainment Tonight (I hate celebrity news), or watch Murder She Wrote; I chose the latter.

Okay so what I initially liked about the show was that it was made in the 80’s, and I felt really nostalgic about those years.  It had a wholesome quality about the time (despite the murders), that wasn’t graphic or used profanity like today’s shows.  While the time period drew me to the show, what kept me watching was the excellent story line.  The show is a pure mystery show that is easy to follow, and extremely engaging.  As the story progresses (in each episode), you’re given clues as to who the murderer is, thus allowing you to hypothesize ‘who done it.’

At the end of each episode, Jessica Fletcher (the main protagonist) solves the crime and you find out if your suspicions were right or wrong.  The way that Jessica solves the crime is fantastic because she uses the same clues that were shown in the episode.  This is what I specifically love about the show, because you get to solve the crime as well.   The absence of this is what makes me hate current mystery shows (CSI Miami, Criminal Minds) because the characters solve crimes without explaining how they solved it.  This dumbs down a show and is insulting to the viewer.

Other features about Murder She Wrote that I like are the incredible guest actors that appear on the show.  There’s hardly an episode where I don’t recognize someone on the show from another TV series or movie.  These established actors raise the quality of the show because they come from a time when real actors were well educated and sophisticated.  The show also doesn’t take itself too seriously because there are great comedic relief moments scattered throughout.  Unfortunately Murder She Wrote ended in 1996, after 12 seasons.  Thankfully I am still in season 5 with plenty of seasons left.

Murder She Wrote Wiki:

Sunday, November 16, 2014

World of Nintendo Legend of Zelda Link Figure

This Link toy figure is part of the World of Nintendo toy line, released by Jakks Pacific.  From the first series release, I could tell that Link was going to be the most popular figure to collect.  I knew this because Nintendo rarely releases the Legend of Zelda merchandise; in fact Yamauchi (Nintendo’s former president) wanted only Mario to be Nintendo’s lone mascot back in the 80’s and 90’s.  The result of this caused merchandise of other popular figures to be rare, and highly collectable.  I still remember back when Ocarina of Time was released, Nintendo Power magazine was offering a Link figure that I was never able to buy and I have wanted one ever since.
Granted throughout the years there has been many Link figures released and Nintendo has offered more Legend of Zelda merchandise, but I was never interested in those (except the Figma Link, which was too expensive to get).  Finally, I have found this perfect Link figure, and at a great price $12 Canadian.  This figure is based off of the Skyward Sword version of Link.  Hopefully if the toy series is successful we might get to see other versions of Link as well, such as Toon Link and original NES Link (though it would be alright to skip a CD-i version of Link, lol).
This toy comes nicely packaged on a card that has beautiful artwork that displays Link swinging his sword.  Link is constructed similar to a G.I. Joe figure, and comes with accessories such as his sword, sword case and shield (a bonus mystery prize).  The paint job is surprisingly well done for a figure of this price range, and I didn’t notice any flaws in the articulation.  This one is incredibly well done figure that I’m happy to add in my Nintendo collection.
Jakks Pacific:
YouTube:

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Nintendo Wii U Deals

So since a lot of third parties are abandoning the Wii U they are now all putting their games on sale.  While it sucks to see them go, I won’t miss them if their motives were to continue the same DLC practices they have on other systems.   Thankfully I was able to grab a few of the games that went on sale this weekend.  (Sorry most of these games are sold out by now)

Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge Wii U $4.97
Mass Effect 3: Special Edition for Wii U $4.97
ZombiU $8.99 (After price matching it at Best Buy)
Assassin's Creed III Wii U $8.99 (After price matching it at Best Buy)

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Blue Jays New Era Heritage Series Fitted Hat

I’ve been a hat collector for a few years now, and one of the things I keep kicking myself over is that I never took care of the hats I bought years ago.  I just used to wear them and not care how they looked.  I didn’t even clean them when they got dirty.  I was fine with that until New Era stopped making wool fitteds and I couldn’t buy them anymore.  Once that happened I started to clean and maintain my wool fitteds so that they could last me as long as possible.  Thankfully New Era never forgot about wool fitted collectors and has released wool fitteds consistently, though in limited runs.
The wool fitted that I’m showcasing here is part of their Heritage Series collection.  The hats are 100% wool and are made similar to the classic MLB hats from the mid 90’s with 3D embroidery, a flat MLB logo, and a grey underbrim.  A nice detail about this fitted is the return of the white sweatband; a feature that I used to hate (it’s funny how you miss something when you don’t have it anymore).  My only complaint about this collection is the inclusion of the New Era logo on the left side.  Other than that this is a beautiful hat that reminds me of the greatness of those 90’s fitteds, and I am delighted that I can now wear one with the current Blue Jays logo.
Brand: New Era
Team: Toronto Blue Jays
Style: 59Fifty, Fitted, Heritage Series
Additional:  Made in China, 100% Wool, New Era logo on the side, White Sweatband
New Era:
YouTube: