I was out looking for toys today, and I found this guy just in time for my Halloween decorations.
Oh my gosh, I can't explain to you how much I love this figure. I didn't really like the episode of the What If? show that it came from that much, but the figure fills me with so much joy. It'll be amazing on the shelf at Halloween. I can put him side-by-side with my werewolf Captain America too.
I have a thing for the Iron Man Hulkbuster armor. I don't know why. I just love it. Of all the toys I own, it's the thing that I have the most versions of. I once posted this picture of my Hulkbusters (plus a few regular Iron Mans and War Machines) on Instagram.
There's a few Hulkbusters that I've always wanted but still have yet to get. I'm almost done with the Wall of Voodoo now, though, and if I don't get them soon, I won't have a place for them on the shelves. So, it might be time to take care of that.
So, I got on eBay, and bought the Marvel Select Hulkbuster that I've wanted lo these many years.
I'm kinda bummed, because I didn't pay close enough attention to the one that I ordered. He's missing the shoulder pads. I guess that's why he was the cheapest. It looks fine though, so I won't complain. I'm happy enough to have him. Now the only one I need to get is the old Marvel Legends Legendary Riders version.
A while ago, Hasbro came out with a Baroness figure that came with a motorcycle.
It was a Target exclusive, and as is the case with all of the Target exclusive G.I. Joes, it was impossible to find. I never saw it once to even agonize over whether I wanted to spend the extra $20 to get a bike that I didn't want.
Not too long ago, though, that Snake Eyes movie came out. They put out a wave of figures to go with it, and the Baroness is one of them. The figure sucks, though. I look at it, and it doesn't make me think of the Baroness at all.
The Baroness always had that feeling of being a sexy dominatrix or something, but this figure makes me think of the librarian playing dress up at home with her cats.
The girl in the movie doesn't look this bad.
Although I think the short hair was a mistake. It just doesn't look like the character.
Sienna Miller fit the bill much better in The Rise of Cobra simply because of the hair.
Well, since that new figure sucks so bad, I figured I was going to continue to go without a Baroness on the shelf next to my Cobra Commander and Destro, but then I had an idea.
Years ago, before the G.I. Joe six inch figures existed, I was dreaming up ideas of how I could make my own kitbashed versions. I bought a Spiderwoman figure back in the day just to do that.
I guess I needed one of those Baroness movie figures after all. I could swap the heads out and all of a sudden she'd be perfect. So, I grabbed myself one, and here we are.
The skin tone doesn't quite match, but you can't see it up on the shelf. So, I'm happy.
I like it.
I'm sure they'll come out with a new version of her in the future. Maybe I'll replace her then, but for now, at least, I'm happy to see another figure in that line up.
Oh, since I was at it, I figured I'd fix another figure. I never much like the head for the new Scarlett either.
So, I removed her head, and switched it with a Black Widow head that I have.
I think I prefer it, but the Scarlett figure still needs a lot of work. Just too busy with the colors on that design. I'm afraid to waste time trying to repaint it only to find that Hasbro is about to release a brand new version that looks just like I wanted it to look. I'll probably just wait and see. This head is enough for now.
I put these dollar store figures together on a shelf. They look pretty good, right?
None of our noses started bleeding, which was a mercy, but we did get pretty winded ascending all of those stairs. I guess the air was pretty thin way up there, and we're not used to that kind of high altitude anymore.
We've been to Astros games before but the rest of the family never got very into baseball. I'm really the only one who is a big enough fan to name most of the players, and even I'm losing track as the team changes from year to year.
Baseball might still be a little much for my nine-year-old. He had a pretty hard time sitting still, especially as the game got longer. I started to wish I wasn't sitting next to him as he squirmed into all the oddest positions that anyone could possibly sit on a stadium seat.
We did get him and my daughter an ice cream cone each. A big splurge considering that each cone cost about two dollars more than the most expensive half-gallon would have cost us at the store.
We were all really thirsty as well, and, of course, the drinking fountains were turned off due to covid. Wouldn't you know it, it cost more than $7 for a bottle of water. It must have been special water brought down from Mt. Everest on Yak back, because there's no way someone would charge that much money for the same bottle of water you could buy at the grocery store for $2. That couldn't be possible. Especially not when they'd turned off the drinking fountains.
Anyhow, the game was pretty good. The Astros took an early lead on a two-run homer by Yordan Alvarez, but the Diamondbacks took the lead on a three-run inning in the fourth. The Astros tied it back up in the sixth inning with a sacrifice fly.
We stayed locked up through the ninth inning. My wife was not pleased. She likes baseball okay, but feels that the games just take too long, and that's for a normal-length game. Now we were going into extra innings.
It didn't take much longer, however, because in the tenth, the Diamondbacks doubled their run total, and the Astros couldn't manage to reply, so we lost 6-4. Here's highlights of the game if you'd like to check them out:
Long game and downer ending notwithstanding, we still had a good time.
