Haul report 343: Abracadabra boowoowoo

 Well, it has been years since I played Magic the Gathering again, but last sunday I went to play a pre-release event at the local Outpost game-centre in Antwerp.

How it went was readable a few days ago here on the blogpage.

But it also yielded loot of course, not only the 6 boosters to build a deck with, but also 2 boosters price support for getting 2nd place and some promo cards.

But there is more, because, BEER!  

Noshi brought me this lovely gift set of Cornet Oaked, with their awesome glass in the set and 4 bottles.

That are going to be tasty evenings!

On the Painting Desk 218: a lot at once

 Okay, so in a last ditch effort to get the 1/400 Gundam goal obtained this year after all, I started painting in batches instead of individual mobile suits this week.

So maybe, very maybe, I might still get those remaining 9 to reach the achievement finished.

That means over the coming weeks, updates will be all over the place in this weekly column, and they will get finished in no particular sequence.

As such, I am working on a variety of models, and the first one to show progress one for it is the Zeta Gundam.

 

 Another one that work started on is none other then legendary Shining Gundam.

 

 

And you can`t have the Shining Gundam of course without the Nobel Gundam alongside. 

The next one I have been doing in this period is the beginning of putting together Arthur from the SMC mini kits line.

So that's four projects currently running together, and that should be boosting my numbers at least a bit for the final months of the year.

Though getting to that 15 gachapon completed will probably fall short, at least some things will eb going from the to do pile to the finished shelf, so that's a good thing after all.

Opening a Date A Bullet booster box

 Today's opening is one of a booster box for the Weiss Schwarz cardgame, and more specifically the Date A Bullet expansion.

While I have no intention to actually play the game, I am aiming to collect the series (though those two signature cards will be a hell to get).

I got the cards through Cardmarket, and the box arrived recently, so without further ado, let's open it and the 6 boosters inside, seeing if there are some nice additions to the collecting binder!

 

 

Not a bad haul at all, with some nice foils to replace commons and uncommons, and no double rare cards. 

 

Just a pity I didn`t score the motherload, but we keep trying ;-)

Everything Everywhere All At Once

 If you stick a buttplug up your bum, you know Kung-fu!

Okay, so that got your attention didn`t it.  But it is in one sentence the feelings I had of seeing this very weird movie.

Of which I still don`t know wether I watched a masterpiece, or total rubbish... Now, this movie won quite some awards, and has high ratings, so me and Noshi sat down to watch this 2.5 hour long movie about family values and an interdimensional bagel of doom.  It is split into three parts, being the parts of the title, and each takes a different approach to the same story and road to it's conclusion.

Evelyn and Waymond run a struggling laundrymat, and one day they have to go to the IRS office together with their father Gong Gong.  In the meantime, her daughter Joy tries to tell her she is a lesbian, but Evelyn refuses to see the truth.  During their visit, Waymond changes personalities, telling her he is Alphauniverse Waymond, and that every decision in life spawns paths and alternate dimensions, and that he can travel between them.

He is looking for the one Evelyn that can stop an interdimensional danger called Jobu Topaki.  This being however is none other then her daughter Joy, who in her loneliness has created a bagel with all the knowledge she could find, and this became an interdimensional destroyer.  Alphawaymond as such tries to find an Evelyn that can stop her, by hopping into the minds and skills of other dimension copies of her.

As she learns the truth about Jobu Topaki, she knows she doesn`t need to destroy her, but come to understand her instead, and shed her ways, learning instead how she can make others happy.  This leads them to become back in harmony and save the universes.

Okay, so this was a weird way of telling the story of a mother coming back to terms with her life, husband and daughter.  But it was an enjoyable movie with some good laughs (see the first line above).

Also, nun-chuk Pomerians are hilarious!

Unboxing Funko POP 808 Cygnus Hyoga

 A while ago, when strolling in the Wijnegem Shopping Center, we visited the 4 Geeks store located there.

And Noshi bought me Hyoga, one of the Saint Seiya Funko POP's I still missed for my collection, which is a bit scandalous as he is "my" childhood Saint.

Now, I`m not that huge a fan of Funko POP as you all know, but this is a series I just need to complete, so every now and then I`ll be picking them up to fill out for example the My Box system every month.

Surely, it's only Funk POP, but still, a collector has to collect.  It's stronger then ourselves...

Made in Abyss season 2

 The lovely animated, highly dramatic series is back, and Noshi and me sat down to watch it of course.

And the arc, The Golden City of the Scorched Sun, takes place immediatly after the end of the third movie.

It starts with the tale of a girl named Vueko and her group of adventurers, who discover the island the Abyss is located on, searching for a mysterious golden city of where no-one can return.  They descent the layers, only to take the submarine seen at the end of the 3rd movie and arrive in the city itself.  It then cuts to Riko, Reg and Nanachi who also arrive there now.

But during the night, Prushka, who is now a crystallized being, is stolen from them.  A strange message leads them to a village full of Hollows, where they find Prushka again, being worked on by a jeweller.  After they learn the protective power of the village, they encounter Faputa, Princess of the Hollows and who seems to know Reg.  Her robot companion, which seems to be similar yet less advanced then Reg, returns him to the village after a meeting between him and Faputo, where he learns only a little about his origins.

Riko, in search of Reg and Nanachi, finds and frees Vueko, one of the Three Seers of the initial party of adventurers.  She is brought before Belaf, another survivor warped into a Hollow, and finds nanachi who has sold herself to slumber with a reincarnated Mitty.  The village power of granting one's deepest wish should one sell themselves to it having taken her into her hold.  Riko must find a way to free her, but the village comes under attack and with the help of a now turned White Whistle Prushka, able to unlock Reg's full potential, they ward of the danger.

Vueko tells them the dark tale of what befell her own party, and the girl Irumyuui, a young girl they took along on their journey as they found her cast-out by the villagers living on the edge of the Abyss back in those days.  But when they fall sick, their leader takes the children of Irumyuui, who is transforming in a Hollow due to a wish granting egg relic, to feed and save the party.  It is revealed the village IS actually the young girl, and the population being parasites living of her.  Faputa is her last born child, and the one that lived, who is there to grant her Mother the wish of death and destroy the Hollows.

When the defences are breached, she must choose her fate, as does Vueko who regrets all those days she stood by back then, which turns out to be almost 150 years, witgout doing anything to save Irumyuui and free her of her pain...

This was once again a mighty dark season, and Noshi asked the question that might have some thinking to it.  Who comes up with the concept of a happy, cute drawn anime that has one of the cruellest, darkest stories around these days...

Thor: Love and Thunder

 The fourth Thor instalment already, and just like the previous, Ragnarok, this is one hilarious MCEU movie.

Which of course, with the Guardians of the Galaxy in the mix, is no more then normal I guess.

The movie begins with Gorr losing his daughter to the harsh conditions in the desert.  He finds his way to their god, but as that one is indifferent to the fate of his followers, he picks up a Necrosword.  A blade capable of killing gods, he does so, vowing he will kill every god in existence.

During a mission with the Guardians, Thor catches news of the killings of gods, and sets out to investigate (that JCVD reference, hilariously awesome).  He learns from Siff what happened, and realises Gorr must be stopped.  Returning home to New Asgard, a fishervillage turned theme park on Earth that houses the survivors of Asgard, and with two screaming goats he got as a present, the village soon comes under attack.  Here, another, female Thor steps in, who turns out to be none other then Jane Foster, and she wields Mjolnir.  The hammer was unknowingly inscribed with a rune to protect her, and as she is diagnosed with cancer Mjolnir summoned her and reassembled to help her.

Which leads to a jealous Thor, and a strained relationship with his own axe, Storm-bringer.  The children of New Asgard however are kidnapped by Gorr.  They set out to try and free them, and raise an army of gods as they go to the court of Zeus (a fantastic Russel Crowe).  He rebukes them however, and they steal his lightning bolt.  Armed with the bolt, and leaving Jane behind, Thor goes to face Gorr, who needs his axe to open the path to Eternity.

Together with the children he battles the godslayer and his monsters, but just as Thor is about to be defeated, Jane intervenes.  But Gorr made it to Eternity, and just as he is about to make his wish of destroying all gods, the two Thor's convince him to wish for his daughter to return.  As both Jane and Gorr die, Thor pledges himself to take care for the daughter...

A fun movie indeed, and great joy to watch.  Now, I`m curious what path the Thunder god's series will take...  the movies also having come a long way in villains, as this was a deep character, driven by nothing less then parental love.

But above all else what made this movie great?  The soundtrack full of GUNS 'N ROSES ow yeaaaaaaaahhhhh.

 

 

The Brother's War MtG pre-release

 Eight years.  That is how long it has been since I played Magic the Gathering.

But now with Thorin going to school, I treated myself on a day out with the boys.

Well, some familiar faces at least.  And I went to Outpost here in Antwerp to play the pre-release event of the newest expansion.  Now, considering I have no intention of playing weekly or even monthly, but just occassionally poppin' in to get some mental boosting, I had a plan.

Take cards with as little text possible, and just go in all guns blazing, seeing where we'd end up in the four rounds.  And put the cards afterwards on my Cardmarket account in order to finance my Weiss Schwarz collections.  I don`t have time to study, or even decently follow, new card releases anyways.

To that end, I ended up with the following deck:

And this was the rest of my pool:

Now, as always you goet a promo card, which was the lady on the left for me, and we got another foil as well, this to celebrate the 30 years of Magic the Gathering.

But the event itself then...

In the first round, I lost 1-2 verses Black / Red even though grabbing the first set with 20-0.  The second set however I ended colour screwed, and in the third a big 4/4 trample haster which copied itself twice made short work of my meagre defence line.

The second round, I met my old nemesis, Bye, so that was an easy 2-0, which actually put me on the top 3 at that moment!

So I went in for the third game, facing a red / black combo again build around a Phyrexian Devourer.  In the first set I went swiflty over him, but a mana flood and the big beast crushed me in set 2.  So up into the thrid one, I kept a removal in hand should it reappear, which it duly did.  As I obliterated the beast at a cost of 7 life, I took the set and as such the game.

With the result that I actually ended second in this event!

Price support wise, that meant two more booster packs for me, whom I`ll be opening one of these weeks on YouTube I guess.  Now to go list those cards and rest on my laurels until I get another outing.

Hopefully sooner then in 8 years though...

Haul Report 342: LOTS of manga

 Well, this is a week that will have some serious reading.

Because two parcels containing some good amount of books fell on the doorstep.

Starting out this week with my "My Box" from Archonia, which contained a couple of number one issues to start fresh series, as well as pre-orders and continuations of series I already have.

The other box was from a guy I got to know through a Facebook group, and now before he lists on Vinted he gives me first pickings.  So two complete shorter series and some lewds later, that is more for the collection.

 

 

And the final addition this week, we got a booster box of Date A Bullet, to see if we get any good additions to completing the collection!

So that gives me a good reading fix for the coming weeks!  I probably won`t end up with the goal of a 100 read, but at least it will have a good number in the end!