Lego Minifigures: Street Skater

This toy is from series 4 of Lego Minifigures and was released in 2011. The Street Skater’s accessories include a skateboard, a beanie hat and a face with glasses.

Lego:

www.lego.com

YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzq8NcNofpg

ThunderCats Classic Lion-O

This has been the toy I have been waiting for more than 20 plus years to re-release.  The last time I had a Lion-O figure was when I was in daycare and my figure got stolen on the playground.  It’s funny because I was so young to even understand the concept of stealing.  I just knew someone had taken it from where I had placed it, and I never saw it again.  I didn’t even cry, though I was sad.  Now looking back I guess I can say it was because my childhood was driven by my imagination and not the material goods I had.  In other words it’s how I played with the toys that made it fun, and not the actual toys themselves.

I still live my life like that, by making the best out of what I have.  Buying toys now as an adult, is only a reminder to me of that philosophy.  They bring me comfort by reminding me of my childhood.  Though this new Classic retro model of Lion-O isn’t the same replica of the original, I’m still happy Bandai updated this figure.  I like it because it now comes with so much more articulation, making it easier to pose for pictures.  The paint is really nice and clean and uses bright colours that stand out.  Most noticeable of this update is the face sculpt which is amazing to look at.  The accessories that this toy comes with are a sword, dagger, claw shield, and extra hands.

One thing I must admit to is that I am also a mint in box collector so I won’t be opening this figure up (unless I buy another Lion-O).  Making it easier to keep him in the box is the clear packaging; so I am able to look at the figure in a nice display.  I don’t really have anything negative to say about the figure except that from other reviews I have noticed the sword is a little flimsy.  Other than that it’s still a wonderful toy, and I am very excited to own it again.  Now when it rains outside and I hear thunder, I can proudly sing the “thunder, thunder, thunder, ThunderCats song.”

ThunderCats Wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ThunderCats

Bandai:

http://www.bandai.com

YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1XRRtC79HY

Portus

Title: Portus

Writer: Jun Abe

Art Work: Jun Abe

Publisher: VIZ Media LLC

Portus is a horror graphic novel that involves a mysterious video game that kills people.  The reason I first picked it up was because of the front cover, it had all the elements of a scary movie with a floating eye, torn paper, and blood.  I was very interested in reading it because I had never read horror manga, and was curious to see how it would be.  I’ll be the first to admit it I love graphic violent scenes that the Japanese love to create.  Another thing I like to do when picking up a manga novel is to look at the back (or in this case the front), and checking to see if the story ends in this book.  Luckily this story did end in this book.

The story revolves around Asami Kawakami (an art student), Keigo Sawa (her teacher), and Mayumi Yamashita (another teacher).  In the beginning Asamai is worried about her friend Chiharu, who’s been ditching school for a few days because she’s been playing a video game called Portus.  Later on, Chiharu commits suicide and Asamai starts to question the motives for her suicide.  She then decides to play the game Portus to see what could have caused her friend’s death.  Along the way Keigo and Mayumi also try to figure out why this game is so deadly.  What they discover is a danger that must be stopped in order to save the life of Asamai.

This graphic novel is rated mature, and is justified in doing so because it contains many violent scenes in it.  The characters are very much a cookie-cutter pattern of what is popular in manga; high school students, and trendy teachers (Keigo smokes in class).  Regardless of this, it’s used because it’s a working formula that can get into a storyline without having to explain each and every character’s individuality.  As for the story, I found it to be exciting at first and then it just moved over to a more horror story that became less realistic for me.  I guess I should have expected this from a horror genre because it asks you to suspend your disbelief, and I suck at that.  Either way anyone that loves horror and especially appreciates it’s unrealistic ideas will like this novel.

Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Portus-Jun-Abe/dp/1421513838/ref=pd_sim_b_20

S’mores Donut

This has been a wonderful summer, and nothing defines summer as much as S’mores.  To think such simple ingredients can create a wonderful snack is amazing.  Just in case you don’t know what S’mores are; well they are charbroiled marshmallows that are put on top of milk chocolate and then sandwiched between two graham crackers.  The outcome is a messy, gooey, melted chocolate snack that is delicious.  I didn’t think it could get much better than that, but then Tim Horton’s came in this summer and introduced the S’mores Donut.  The donut consists of a chocolate donut that is dipped in chocolate and then pieces of marshmallows, milk chocolate and graham cracker are added on top.  This donut was delicious and unfortunately, just like summer only lasted a limited time.

Tim Hortons:

http://www.timhortons.com