Barbecue's Bonfire 11/6/2020: Halloween Wrap Up Edition!

 

Hey everyone! 

   It's the week after Halloween (tomorrow is Re-Halloween!) and it's time to catch up on all of the great stuff that I've been up to. Earlier this week you saw my story of losing power in the hurricane last weekend. This week is much better, though, with more crazy happenings. First up: Trick 'r Treating!

 We did do a bit of Trick 'r Treating this year. We wore masks and only went to about 10 houses and a drive through trunk 'r treat (who all had cool ways to get candy to us in a socially distanced and safe way, including driving it to my daughter in a remote controlled Barbie car). We also quarantined the candy for a bit, just to be extra safe. I was Sam from Trick 'r Treat, my daughter was Hermione, and my wife was the Marauders Map. She's always cold, though, so her jacket is covering most of the dress. More Tricks and Treats from the week after the break...

  * I've got to at least mention The Mandalorian Chapter 9: The Marshal! Wow. That was a very fun very awesome episode and I've watched it twice now. A Krayt Dragon, R5-D4, Tusken Raiders, a speeder bike made from a pod racing engine, a Gamorren fight, Boba Fett's armor, and a teaser of the return of Boba Fett himself? The Mandalorian is firing on all cylinders without a doubt. For those in doubt: Star Wars is alive, well, and continuing to be something to look forward to every week for the near future!

*Speaking of The Mandalorian I finally got a figure of the titular character after looking for him for a year. I missed out on him on last year's disappointing Triple Force Friday and I never found one afterwards. Finally, my preorder from BBTS.com came in and I own a standard Mando from the beginning of the first episode of the series. He's an excellent figure! Heck, I racked up on Star Wars figures this week between getting both Mandos from BBTS and finding a bunch of stuff at GameStop. GameStop is the one place I can consistently find Star Wars figures, so kudos to them.

   * My quest to read all of the Stephen King novels I've never read before continues into the 1990s with 1991's Needful Things. I read the uncut version of The Stand about 10 years ago and third Dark Tower book back around 05 or 06, so this is my first of the 1990s King books in my read through. I remember my dad having this one on his nightstand as a kid as it is his copy (my parents delivered the rest of the King hardcovers they had to me a year or so ago) so it's fun getting to read it myself. This one was great and feels like what The Tommyknockers should have been: A great story about a small down descending into chaos with a large cast of characters and elements that tie into many other King books. The story revolves around Needful Things, the titular new store in the town of Castle Rock that has just what you need at a bargain price. It's both a fun read and a look at the darkness often hidden within small towns. It's pretty lengthy (around 700 pages) and within the first 100 pages it might feel repetitive but just plow through as it's a wild ride. It reminds me of Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes which is always a good thing. Anyone seen the movie? I never have but I'm interested in checking it out now.

 

* Hey! Another Halloween movie! Yeah, it was after Halloween, but we watched Beetlejuice. My daughter has seen a few of the musical clips from the film but she's never seen the full movie before so we watched it. There were one or two places where I had to divert her attention or mute the TV for a second ("nice *&%#$@ing model!") but for the most part she got to watch the movie and loved it. I watch Beetlejuice every year or so and I'm always reminded of how much I love it while also being surprised by how little screen time Beetlejuice himself gets. Man, Michael Keaton just owns the role, doesn't he? I love how iconic Beetlejuice has become in recent years. The movie has a great cast (especially Winona Ryder, who often upstages Beetlejuice with her dry one-liners) and is just a ton of fun. We actually watched a few episodes of the cartoon series over the last day or so, too. I hadn't seen it in years!

 

Last, but not least, here's a quick look at the most popular reviews on the site this week:

Beast Man from Masters of the Universe Origins is on his third week and he's sitting up at the top of the chart. Who knew the guy was such a hit with the kids? These figures seem to now be in good supply and more collectors and casual fans should be able to get their hands on them.

Teela from Masters of the Universe Origins is a new review from this week that's shot up to the top. I'm sure Teela wouldn't have it any other way, either. I think she's the best figure in the line so far and a worthy successor to the vintage toy.

Man-At-Arms from Masters of the Universe Origins is here for his second week and makes this week a trifecta from this hot line. I'm really waiting for this line to find its own identity, like 200x or MOTUC, but these are still fun toys for the price point. This version of MAA kind of looks like Nacho Libre though, right?

Mighty Max Slays the Doom Dragon is on its fourth week and was one of my reviews from The Dawn of 31 Days of Toy Terror. It's really exciting to see the continued enthusiasm for this one. I loved Mighty Max as a kid and I still love adding more sets to my collection. If you dig Mighty Max too, please let me know! I'd love to pull out more for future reviews...

Gung Ho from G.I. Joe: Classified Series is on his fourth week on the chart and just keeps hanging around. I really want to like this guy but I found him kind of disappointing. Still fun, though. He's the first series 2 figure I've reviewed though I've reviewed Cobra Commander as well, with the Red Ninja still coming soon!

Panthor at Point Dread from Masters of the Universe Mega Construx is another new review from this week. I'm really loving the Mega Construx MOTU line and this one is fantastic, especially because we get the Talon Fighter and Zodac! Woohoo!

Well, that's it for this week my friends. Take it easy and stay sane this week!