The wife and I have been on vacation this week. It's the area of Ohio that I went to college in. So while it's new to my wife, it's an exercise in nostalgia for me. I wanted to stop by an old comic shop that I frequented during my college days and a big sign was on the door saying 25 cent comics.
We entered the store and there were just boxes lined up around the store with all sorts of issues from the 80s and 90s. We resisted the pull for a few minutes. We wandered the very large store and checked out what they had. My wife found trading card boxes for very 75 cents so I grabbed one of those. Then it was time to get to work. My wife and I started taking to the various boxes and pulling out the books that I wanted.
Before I get into what we purchased, I have a hobby within a hobby. I collect specific series exclusively through the discount bins at stores. It's a really cheap side hobby and there's a certain level of challenge to it. The main series that I've been working on for the last 10 months or so has been Justice League Europe. If we go to any shop, I check out their discount books and then grab a few here and there. With this trip I have almost the entire 50 issue run of JLE now.
When all was said and done, we had pulled 60 issues out of the discount pins. I double pulled 3 issues but I figured that was bound to happen with the pile I had. $15 and I was quite happy. My wife mentioned that she didn't think it was possible to get to $100 and I said, I could have easily gotten there if I started pulling all the Avengers and Avengers West Coast books that I saw sitting in there.
I love digging through discount bins. You never know what little gem might be sitting in there waiting to be discovered. I finally found a copy of Justice League Europe #1 which was the one I was having the most issues with. It's not worth anything but people still seem to go for those first issues, even when it is a discount bin. I stuck to just DC books this time. Got a lot of various Justice League books, Legion of Super-Heroes and a couple issues of the Legends crossover from the late 80s.
The thing you need to understand is that the comics in discount bins aren't bad, they just aren't worth any money. You can find some really good stories in the bins if you know what you are looking for. So if you ever want some cheap comics head to your local used book store and see what you dig up!
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Monday, August 19, 2013
TTM Monday: Bulls Edition
Back for the third installment of Through The Mail Monday's. I had a bit of a slow week last week as only 3 returns found their way to my box. It makes me a little sad but that happens. Some weeks you get loads of returns and others you get barely anything. I'm on vacation this week so I'm probably not going to mail any out for a few days but write several. I'll probably dump 15+ letters into the box on Wednesday, all 1990 Fleer cards. So, we'll see what my mailbox looks like when I get back.
I wanted to use this installment to give you a general idea of what you're looking at if you decided to do TTM. As I post these, you will see some legit big name stars and HoF guys in there. Actually, you'll see a lot of those. But a lot of the guys you'll be targeting via TTM are mid level players. Role players, guys that were good for maybe a few seasons and sometimes, a guy that you only know and love because he played for your team and you remember him.
This time, I'm going to show you my collection of Bulls players from the Jordan years. Now, understand, this is by no means everyone on those teams that sign TTM. These are just the ones I've had cards of and have mailed to thus far. I think after you see the collection of guys posted here, you'll understand who you'll be going after when you mail out your cards:
There you have it. A beloved role player in Steve Kerr. The man who hit the shot to win the Bulls the 93 title in John Paxon. And past that you have some guys you might remember if you were big into basketball at the time. That's it for this Monday, see you next week!
I wanted to use this installment to give you a general idea of what you're looking at if you decided to do TTM. As I post these, you will see some legit big name stars and HoF guys in there. Actually, you'll see a lot of those. But a lot of the guys you'll be targeting via TTM are mid level players. Role players, guys that were good for maybe a few seasons and sometimes, a guy that you only know and love because he played for your team and you remember him.
This time, I'm going to show you my collection of Bulls players from the Jordan years. Now, understand, this is by no means everyone on those teams that sign TTM. These are just the ones I've had cards of and have mailed to thus far. I think after you see the collection of guys posted here, you'll understand who you'll be going after when you mail out your cards:
There you have it. A beloved role player in Steve Kerr. The man who hit the shot to win the Bulls the 93 title in John Paxon. And past that you have some guys you might remember if you were big into basketball at the time. That's it for this Monday, see you next week!
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Revisited
Nintendo is running a great deal through Club Nintendo this month. If you register copies of Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensai IV with them, you get a $30 credit for the e-shop. Both of these games were on my buy list so I gladly took advantage of the deal. I plan to use the majority of the credit to get a copy of the new Mario and Luigi game but I did make a small little purchase of Link's Awakening.
I would classify Link's Awakening as probably my favorite Zelda game. When it came out, it was mind blowing that a game like that would come out on a handheld. I spent a long time playing it and replaying it as a teenager. I beat it several times over the years but I probably haven't attempted to play this game in 15 years maybe. Needless to say I was excited to get back to it.
I still love the game but there are aspects that are dated. The item management really sucks. You're constantly bringing up the menu to change what you're using at any given moment. The game is also kind of bad about aiming you sometimes. I wandered into an area and didn't have the means to kill a mini-boss there. After a few deaths, I left and checked a walkthrough and it had nothing to do with my current quest. So, that was a little frustrating but overall not a huge deal.
The use of the items in this game are clever. You start out with a really small world and the items allow you to open it up as you progress. The Feather remains one of the most unique Zelda items ever as it allows you to jump. Being able to jump really gives the game a different feel from most of the others. The Marioesque side scrolling platformer parts are fun and different.
This is a strange game in hindsight. A lot of enemies and characters from other games appear. There's a character that looks a lot like Mario, Kirby makes an appearance later and there are a ton of Mario baddies present in the game. I've never seen that in a Zelda game since. I'm kind of curious why they did that with the game. Maybe they thought since it was a handheld that they could experiment with things a bit?
I completed the third dungeon this morning. I died a few times but the puzzles didn't pose a serious challenge to me. The second dungeon was tougher in that regard. After, dying several times in the dungeon, stupid bombs, I killed the boss in a matter of seconds. I had my brief misadventure after that but I'm back on track to get through the fourth dungeon today or tomorrow.
I'm still really enjoying the game a lot. It has some flaws that weren't considered flaws at the time it was released. I might consider Link to the Past to be a better game now but I'm not 100% sure of that fact right now. I would probably need to play Link to the Past again to make an honest determination of that and it's a much longer game.
I think my biggest surprise going back is how small the game world is and how short the game seems to be. I remember spending months on it as a teenager and I think I could probably finish the game off by the end of the week... and I really don't remember much about the dungeons and puzzles anymore. Like I said, still a great game and worth checking out for the $5.99 if you have a 3DS.
I would classify Link's Awakening as probably my favorite Zelda game. When it came out, it was mind blowing that a game like that would come out on a handheld. I spent a long time playing it and replaying it as a teenager. I beat it several times over the years but I probably haven't attempted to play this game in 15 years maybe. Needless to say I was excited to get back to it.
I still love the game but there are aspects that are dated. The item management really sucks. You're constantly bringing up the menu to change what you're using at any given moment. The game is also kind of bad about aiming you sometimes. I wandered into an area and didn't have the means to kill a mini-boss there. After a few deaths, I left and checked a walkthrough and it had nothing to do with my current quest. So, that was a little frustrating but overall not a huge deal.
The use of the items in this game are clever. You start out with a really small world and the items allow you to open it up as you progress. The Feather remains one of the most unique Zelda items ever as it allows you to jump. Being able to jump really gives the game a different feel from most of the others. The Marioesque side scrolling platformer parts are fun and different.
This is a strange game in hindsight. A lot of enemies and characters from other games appear. There's a character that looks a lot like Mario, Kirby makes an appearance later and there are a ton of Mario baddies present in the game. I've never seen that in a Zelda game since. I'm kind of curious why they did that with the game. Maybe they thought since it was a handheld that they could experiment with things a bit?
I completed the third dungeon this morning. I died a few times but the puzzles didn't pose a serious challenge to me. The second dungeon was tougher in that regard. After, dying several times in the dungeon, stupid bombs, I killed the boss in a matter of seconds. I had my brief misadventure after that but I'm back on track to get through the fourth dungeon today or tomorrow.
I'm still really enjoying the game a lot. It has some flaws that weren't considered flaws at the time it was released. I might consider Link to the Past to be a better game now but I'm not 100% sure of that fact right now. I would probably need to play Link to the Past again to make an honest determination of that and it's a much longer game.
I think my biggest surprise going back is how small the game world is and how short the game seems to be. I remember spending months on it as a teenager and I think I could probably finish the game off by the end of the week... and I really don't remember much about the dungeons and puzzles anymore. Like I said, still a great game and worth checking out for the $5.99 if you have a 3DS.
Friday, August 16, 2013
AFC South Preview
Back again and this time I'm looking at a less interesting division for 2013. The AFC South I think is largely set in stone as far as who's winning the whole thing. So let's take a look at how this division is looking this year.
The Houston Texans are winning this division with little question. Even with injuries, this team is still packed to the gills with talent. I think the offense explains itself. Two great running backs, a good QB and one of the 2 best receivers in the league. When healthy, this team can score enough points to anyone. Now, the defense is where this team really shines. J.J. Watt had an insane season last year. Think about this, Watt could regress a bit from last year and he would still be an elite defender. The biggest issue this team has is pass defense. I don't thinking adding Ed Reed to the mix is going to fix that. I think their secondary is where you have to beat this team. But as I've said with other divisions, this team might have some issues but I don't see anyone rising up and taking the crown from the Texas. I'll go 12-4 for the Texans.
The Indianapolis Colts had an improbable season in 2012. They finished 11-5 which took everyone by surprise. I expect to see reality to set in this season. Let's look at the numbers here. They had the 26th rated defense last year. They had one of the worst run defenses in the league. They tried to address this by signing a metric crap load of free agents in the offseason. The problem with this is most of the guys they signed aren't that good. Paying a lot of money to the likes of Eric Walden, Lawrence Sidbury and Ricky Jean Francois. They shelled out some big money for a couple of those guys and none of those guys are massive game changers in their own right. I think this whole team falls back a little bit and misses the playoffs. I think you're looking at a team that wins 7-9 games this season.
What can you say about the Tennessee Titans? Well, they have a QB that struggles with accuracy. No one that he can throw to other than Kenny Britt, an inconsistent running back, a so-so offensive line and a defense that's just not very good. This is a talent poor team and I don't know how they're going to win that many games. Reports are saying that Jake Locker isn't looking very good in training camp. That's not the end of the world of anything but it's not a good start. I think you're looking at a team that wins 3-4 games next year.
Last and probably least the Jacksonville Jaguars. I think there's a decent change that you could see Chad Henne as the starting QB this year. If he continues looking better in preseason I think that's a possibility. The team still has MJD and that's worth a few wins if he can remain healthy. Justin Blackmon has been a bust thus far and he's suspended for the first 4 games of the season. The defense isn't even worth talking about here, they just outright suck and I don't think they did anything to change that. A healthy MJD will get this team to 5-11 though.
The Houston Texans are winning this division with little question. Even with injuries, this team is still packed to the gills with talent. I think the offense explains itself. Two great running backs, a good QB and one of the 2 best receivers in the league. When healthy, this team can score enough points to anyone. Now, the defense is where this team really shines. J.J. Watt had an insane season last year. Think about this, Watt could regress a bit from last year and he would still be an elite defender. The biggest issue this team has is pass defense. I don't thinking adding Ed Reed to the mix is going to fix that. I think their secondary is where you have to beat this team. But as I've said with other divisions, this team might have some issues but I don't see anyone rising up and taking the crown from the Texas. I'll go 12-4 for the Texans.
The Indianapolis Colts had an improbable season in 2012. They finished 11-5 which took everyone by surprise. I expect to see reality to set in this season. Let's look at the numbers here. They had the 26th rated defense last year. They had one of the worst run defenses in the league. They tried to address this by signing a metric crap load of free agents in the offseason. The problem with this is most of the guys they signed aren't that good. Paying a lot of money to the likes of Eric Walden, Lawrence Sidbury and Ricky Jean Francois. They shelled out some big money for a couple of those guys and none of those guys are massive game changers in their own right. I think this whole team falls back a little bit and misses the playoffs. I think you're looking at a team that wins 7-9 games this season.
What can you say about the Tennessee Titans? Well, they have a QB that struggles with accuracy. No one that he can throw to other than Kenny Britt, an inconsistent running back, a so-so offensive line and a defense that's just not very good. This is a talent poor team and I don't know how they're going to win that many games. Reports are saying that Jake Locker isn't looking very good in training camp. That's not the end of the world of anything but it's not a good start. I think you're looking at a team that wins 3-4 games next year.
Last and probably least the Jacksonville Jaguars. I think there's a decent change that you could see Chad Henne as the starting QB this year. If he continues looking better in preseason I think that's a possibility. The team still has MJD and that's worth a few wins if he can remain healthy. Justin Blackmon has been a bust thus far and he's suspended for the first 4 games of the season. The defense isn't even worth talking about here, they just outright suck and I don't think they did anything to change that. A healthy MJD will get this team to 5-11 though.
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Fast Food Power Rankings I
This is an extremely complex equation of price/enjoyment/quality. I have cut offs to what I consider to be Fast Food. 5 Guys Burgers and Fries and Big Boy will be notable because I consider them to be a step above Fast Food. I may also legit forget a place in here.
1. McDonalds
This one is a surprise for me. McDonalds has always been on my radar and a place I frequent but I would never call it my favorite place to eat. They've kind of fallen into the top spot here due to a combination of keeping fast food prices, tolerable service and not jacking up the menu. My preferred meal here is the McNugget combo.
2. White Castle
Another surprise for me here. The discovery and addition of chicken rings earned White Castle a fringe spot in the rotation when I met my wife. The addition of an excellent breakfast menu has really kicked the White Castle love into high gear. They have a legit good fast food breakfast. They also have sane prices and don't jack with their menu too much from what I've seen. Service can be pretty bad at times though.
3. Burger King
BK steals their way into the #3 spot with the best fries in Fast Food. You can never get a damned Icee at this place and the absolute dregs of society work there but the fries make it worth it. The burgers are worthwhile as well. I think the food is generally good from BK but a little overpriced. The service is also terrible at most of the locations I have around me. The food usually turns out okay but I question why I deal with them.
4. Sonic
There's nothing quite like a Sonic trip in the heat of the summer. I really enjoy the food here but they lose massive amounts of points for how bad the service at our main location is. They have a truly unique menu with tons of options. They run a lot of specials and the price is usually really good. They get a huge knock for bad service as previously mentioned.
5. Wendy's
Huge fall from grace for Wendy's here. Until a few years ago, Wendy's was my unquestioned king of the Fast Food industry. Things started to fall apart for Wendy's with the addition of applewood bacon. This one event kicked off a series of missteps from the company where they stupidly started trying to compete with restaurants that were above Fast Food. Their prices went up accordingly. Now, Wendy's is a pale imitation of what they used to be and 2 combos from Wendy's is going to run you as much as a low end sit down place. I always seem to talk myself out of them due to the price.
6. Subway
Not my favorite sub place but the price is usually right for what they provide. I go there more than some of the places higher on the list but they lose points because the service is usually awful. There's many a time you flee a Subway feeling you've just survived a zombie apocalypse.
Well, that's the list for now. I didn't feel that I could get to a top 10 due to my disinterest in Fast Food currently.
1. McDonalds
This one is a surprise for me. McDonalds has always been on my radar and a place I frequent but I would never call it my favorite place to eat. They've kind of fallen into the top spot here due to a combination of keeping fast food prices, tolerable service and not jacking up the menu. My preferred meal here is the McNugget combo.
2. White Castle
Another surprise for me here. The discovery and addition of chicken rings earned White Castle a fringe spot in the rotation when I met my wife. The addition of an excellent breakfast menu has really kicked the White Castle love into high gear. They have a legit good fast food breakfast. They also have sane prices and don't jack with their menu too much from what I've seen. Service can be pretty bad at times though.
3. Burger King
BK steals their way into the #3 spot with the best fries in Fast Food. You can never get a damned Icee at this place and the absolute dregs of society work there but the fries make it worth it. The burgers are worthwhile as well. I think the food is generally good from BK but a little overpriced. The service is also terrible at most of the locations I have around me. The food usually turns out okay but I question why I deal with them.
4. Sonic
There's nothing quite like a Sonic trip in the heat of the summer. I really enjoy the food here but they lose massive amounts of points for how bad the service at our main location is. They have a truly unique menu with tons of options. They run a lot of specials and the price is usually really good. They get a huge knock for bad service as previously mentioned.
5. Wendy's
Huge fall from grace for Wendy's here. Until a few years ago, Wendy's was my unquestioned king of the Fast Food industry. Things started to fall apart for Wendy's with the addition of applewood bacon. This one event kicked off a series of missteps from the company where they stupidly started trying to compete with restaurants that were above Fast Food. Their prices went up accordingly. Now, Wendy's is a pale imitation of what they used to be and 2 combos from Wendy's is going to run you as much as a low end sit down place. I always seem to talk myself out of them due to the price.
6. Subway
Not my favorite sub place but the price is usually right for what they provide. I go there more than some of the places higher on the list but they lose points because the service is usually awful. There's many a time you flee a Subway feeling you've just survived a zombie apocalypse.
Well, that's the list for now. I didn't feel that I could get to a top 10 due to my disinterest in Fast Food currently.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
NFC North Preview
Now, here's a really cut throat division. You're looking at a division with three legit good teams. Green Bay, Minnesota and Chicago will all be in the mix for a playoff bid this season. I think Green Bay and Minnesota will be duking it out for the North crown all season.
Chicago is what it is. A team that can win 9-11 games when everyone is healthy and a team that's going to struggle when people start getting hurt. Cutler and Marshall have something special on offense. They've always been a good combo in the passing game. Matt Forte is really a hit and miss prospect from season to season. Sometimes, he's awesome and unstoppable and other seasons he's not so good. The defense has most of the players back and they were pretty good last year. I expect that to continue this season. Where this team HAS to win this year is against Green Bay. Chicago has to beat Green Bay at least once if they want to win the division. I'm going to say 9-7 for the Bears this year. No real reason, just seems like a good number for them.
Green Bay took a bit of a step back last year. They came a little slow out of the gate but eventually figured it out. I like most of the moves the team made in the offseason. I think Lacey is a great fit for their running game. Greg Jennings leaving hurts a bit but I'm guessing he's not going to be missed once Rogers doesn't miss a beat. The defense is about average as always. I expect the Packers to win the North again this year. I'm guessing they'll be 12-4 this season. They just have talent everywhere and it's hard to see them not excelling.
Minnesota is an interesting team this year. They replaced Percy Harvin with Greg Jennings. I think that's a push. The Cassell/Ponder situation will be interesting and probably a distraction to the team in the long run. AP is the elephant in the room with this team. He ran for 2097 yards last year. It was crazy to watch him run the ball down the stretch. As usual with Minnesota they were a one dimensional offense with a pretty good defense. I think they addressed some of the concerns in the passing game. Their receivers are generally better and Ponder has a year under his belt. If they can just get average performance in the passing game they could go really far this year. This team has some questions but I think 10-6 is where they'll end up.
Detroit is the odd man out in the North. Reggie Bush isn't the answer for Detroit. I feel kind of bad for Detroit fans. They're stuck with Matthew Stafford as their franchise QB. He's good but not an elite level QB. I think they could easily regret his contract extension after this season. I think a big problem with this team is Jim Schwartz. I think his temper and emotional state has rubbed off on the team and caused a lack of discipline. The offense is okay and the defense isn't very good. I think Detroit is in for a tough season and I could see them going winless within the division. I'll say this team is going to win 4-6 games.
I think you're looking at the best division in football right here. I could see Minnesota and Chicago taking both wildcard spots if things played out a certain way. This division is just loaded.
Chicago is what it is. A team that can win 9-11 games when everyone is healthy and a team that's going to struggle when people start getting hurt. Cutler and Marshall have something special on offense. They've always been a good combo in the passing game. Matt Forte is really a hit and miss prospect from season to season. Sometimes, he's awesome and unstoppable and other seasons he's not so good. The defense has most of the players back and they were pretty good last year. I expect that to continue this season. Where this team HAS to win this year is against Green Bay. Chicago has to beat Green Bay at least once if they want to win the division. I'm going to say 9-7 for the Bears this year. No real reason, just seems like a good number for them.
Green Bay took a bit of a step back last year. They came a little slow out of the gate but eventually figured it out. I like most of the moves the team made in the offseason. I think Lacey is a great fit for their running game. Greg Jennings leaving hurts a bit but I'm guessing he's not going to be missed once Rogers doesn't miss a beat. The defense is about average as always. I expect the Packers to win the North again this year. I'm guessing they'll be 12-4 this season. They just have talent everywhere and it's hard to see them not excelling.
Minnesota is an interesting team this year. They replaced Percy Harvin with Greg Jennings. I think that's a push. The Cassell/Ponder situation will be interesting and probably a distraction to the team in the long run. AP is the elephant in the room with this team. He ran for 2097 yards last year. It was crazy to watch him run the ball down the stretch. As usual with Minnesota they were a one dimensional offense with a pretty good defense. I think they addressed some of the concerns in the passing game. Their receivers are generally better and Ponder has a year under his belt. If they can just get average performance in the passing game they could go really far this year. This team has some questions but I think 10-6 is where they'll end up.
Detroit is the odd man out in the North. Reggie Bush isn't the answer for Detroit. I feel kind of bad for Detroit fans. They're stuck with Matthew Stafford as their franchise QB. He's good but not an elite level QB. I think they could easily regret his contract extension after this season. I think a big problem with this team is Jim Schwartz. I think his temper and emotional state has rubbed off on the team and caused a lack of discipline. The offense is okay and the defense isn't very good. I think Detroit is in for a tough season and I could see them going winless within the division. I'll say this team is going to win 4-6 games.
I think you're looking at the best division in football right here. I could see Minnesota and Chicago taking both wildcard spots if things played out a certain way. This division is just loaded.
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
A lazy Sunday afternoon
My wife was a little under the weather this Sunday so we stayed in mostly. I watched two movies with her during the course of the day. One good and one that was kind of mediocre.
The mediocre one was Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters. It's a pretty generic action flick. It seemed little effort was put into the movie as the actors didn't even try to pretend like they were in the time period this was supposed to have taken place. I lost interest in it pretty quickly. I felt there wasn't any real hook to it as a movie. It felt like it was going through the motions entirely.
Now, the other one was the 25th Anniversary stage production of Phantom of the Opera. Generally, I'm not one for musicals with a few rare favorites that I've developed. But WOW did this rule. I'm dying to go see this live after seeing this on tv. It was just awesome and not what I expected from a stage production. My wife kept telling me that I didn't have to sit there and watch it but I was just glued to the tv. Here's a small bit of the performance...
So this will probably be something we go see when it comes to town next spring. Needless to say I'm excited for this one.
The mediocre one was Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters. It's a pretty generic action flick. It seemed little effort was put into the movie as the actors didn't even try to pretend like they were in the time period this was supposed to have taken place. I lost interest in it pretty quickly. I felt there wasn't any real hook to it as a movie. It felt like it was going through the motions entirely.
Now, the other one was the 25th Anniversary stage production of Phantom of the Opera. Generally, I'm not one for musicals with a few rare favorites that I've developed. But WOW did this rule. I'm dying to go see this live after seeing this on tv. It was just awesome and not what I expected from a stage production. My wife kept telling me that I didn't have to sit there and watch it but I was just glued to the tv. Here's a small bit of the performance...
So this will probably be something we go see when it comes to town next spring. Needless to say I'm excited for this one.
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