The misery that is the Mets

Ok, I know the season is only in the first half. I know (at the moment) we're only 3 1/2 games out but I feel like I have to say it. We're in a slump. Yes at least we're not the Braves I know but aggravating losses like the ones we're experiencing against the Brewers is not acceptable.

I know the Brewers are a good team, and I know they're fighting for their division as well (only a game out) but we're a better team! At least we should be. Statistically we have them beat on just about every measure possible. Pitching? Mets. Hitting? Mets. Coaching? Mets. But we never seem to keep it together and the Nationals just don't know how to stop winning!

There's still a long season ahead of us and a playoff birth is almost a given but we need to play better than this. YOU'RE KILLING ME GUYS!!

Dragonslayer Review

So last month a friend of mine had asked if I'd ever seen this movie. I hadn't. I don't know why, I'm a huge fan of 80's movies and have seen just about all the "cult classics" but this one. So it came on one of my movie channels and I recorded it to watch.

Why didn't I see this earlier?! What a fun 80's fantasy film! I'm surprised more people don't talk about this?! So happy I got a chance to see it. Now I'm on the lookout for more hidden gems from the 80's.

Board game expansions (current) that need to happen

Yesterday I spoke about board game expansions in the past that I'd have loved to have seen. Today I'm talking about the games that still have a chance!

 Twilight Imperium

At this point, I have no idea what they could add to the game to make it any better than it already is. But whatever they came up with, I would buy the instant it came out.

Formula D: Track expansion

We know the first series "Formula De" had several expansions to it before they decided to go with ths reprint. I'd love to see them start cranking out tracks faster than they have in the past!

 Spartacus: Prey of Rome

This expansion would have a street board, where you could battle roman soldiers, more miniatures for gladiator characters like Gatticus and slaves and though it was never featured in the TV series, how bout throwing in some animals they can battle. Like a lion, a bear, a bull and a wolf! Man! I'd love to see this happen!

 Space Hulk 2: Sister Ship

Like Twilight Imperium, this game needs more villains and more scenarios and boards for levels. Just say that after their last mission they came across another ship in distress and had to go to town on some new alien race.

I sometimes drool when I think too long about it.

Zombies!!! 16: Fright at the Museum

This was an idea I pitched to them a few years ago. You're in a museum and Mummies (the Original Zombies) are chasing you around this museum. To make it a safe haven during the zombie apocalypse, you have to find 3 pieces to the staff of Ra and make it to the pyramid exhibit to end the curse! Automatic cards would be "Mummy's Curse" cards which would do bad things to the players through out the game.

I really wish they'd make it.

Vintage Board game expansions that should happen!

Keeping up my "board game" themed week of posts, I'd like to talk today about 5 vintage board games, I wish could have an expansion!

 Fireball Island

A long time ago, someone was trying to pitch Milton Bradley to expand the Fireball Island game into expansions (with a new version of the game) You can still find the pitch on YouTube. Their idea looked AMAZING and I really wish it would've happened. They would have had my paycheck for the next few weeks mailed directly to their home office!

 McDonald's Game

I've always imagined a track of new items for order. McNuggets, Happy Meal, Soda, McRib, Quarter Pounder, McDLT, Sweat Tea and a Shamrock Shake. Maybe even add a bonus "breakfast edition" that carries and egg mcmuffin, coffee, hashbrowns and hot cakes!

Oh....a man can dream....

Batman Gotham City Mystery II

This game would come with a board game extension along with extra villains and heroes. The villains would be Clayface, Bane, Calendar Man, Hush, Ventriloquist, Killer Croc, Black Mask, Mad Hatter, Firefly and Solomon Grundy. The extra heroes would come from the 90's comic and include Huntress and Azreal. So awesome!

 Bargain Hunter 2: The Second Floor

This expansion would add on to the mall by adding an escalator sticker to the board, leading to a second board with more places to shop. Clothes, Electronics, novelties and beauty salons/hair cuts, would be added items to be collected in the game.

Too bad this ship sailed years ago.

 Battle Ball: Team Expansion packs

Make a Green, Orange, Purple and Yellow team so we can have more amazing molds from this excellent game from the 90's.

Top 5 popular board games I don't like

There's always someone who hates SOMETHING everyone else likes right? Today I'm going to show off the board games most people love...that I don't.

 Power Grid

I was so excited to play this game on my first trip to Gencon but after playing it felt like "Is that it?" The game wasn't fun at all and I was bored a majority of the time. Don't understand how it's been so popular as to inspire several expansions. Guess it's just not for me.

 Puerto Rico

The 2nd game I played after Power Grid was equally disappointing. After hearing a million good things about the game I expected more. Though not as bad as Power Grid it certainly wasn't as exciting to play as I'd anticipated.

 Shadows Over Camelot

I see this game in people's top 10 and every time I wonder "Why?!" This game is brutal. It kicks you when your down and stomps you so you can't get back up. Sure, I won the first time I played but did not enjoy it at all. There's challenging games and there's games that treat players as sadistically as they can. This one is the latter.

 Ticket to Ride

A super popular game that I just don't get. I've played it several times (and different versions) to see if it would change my mind but each time I come out of the game thinking "Well that was pointless!" Everyone I've played with loves it though, so I guess I'm the odd ball out on this.

7 Wonders

I despise this game. Have played it several times and hate it just as much the first time as I did the last. I see it on a lot of Top 10 favorite games and all I can say is To each his own! This isn't my type of game I guess. There's no joy for me each time I play. Though I usually comes in close 2nd every time I've played, I still hate the game.

There's my 5, what's yours?

BGG Spring Con Wish List (Part 2)

Ok, I'm re-configuring the list of games I want to play at BGG Con this year.

7) Adrenaline

This game looks right up my ally, but before I spend the $50 price tag, I want to make sure this "shoot and run" style game is for me!

6) Whacky Wit

The game is WAY too expensive to buy ($500) So I'll play it at the Con and that should be goof enough for me.

5) TMNT: Shadows of the Past

I want to like this game, but all the reviews don't look as good. Maybe if I give it a live play I may see something in it enough to buy. 

4) Star Trek Ascendancy

It doesn't appeal to me, but Gale Force Nine does. For that reason alone it's at least worth checking out.

3) Viticulture

A board game about running a vineyard. Totally weird, but the game pulls at me. The reviews don't exactly capture me but perk my interest enough to try it out.

2) Food Chain Magnate

I hear so many good things about this game, I like the theme but the board  and pieces look awful. Hopefully this frog will turn into a prince once I play test it.

1) Star Trek Fleet Captains

This one has my interest, all that needs to happen if for the game to be good. The pieces look nice, the reviews are positive as well I just hope it doesn't disappoint!

Weight Loss results

The results from my diet are in! (or were, since it ended a few weeks ago) I loss a solid 20 pounds. Pretty proud of myself and expect to keep most of it off for the rest of the year. It gets a lot easier to diet the more I do it. Guess I'm getting used to it by now.

The key is watching what you eat really. Working out doesn't have to be as hard when the diet is the key.

But this weekend I'm eating pizza so screw it.

Have a good one folks!

May the 4th not text me

Welcome to the only day of the year where my phone blows up with messages that say this to me even though I haven't gotten into anything Star Wars related in 2 years.

Oh well, Happy Star Wars Day everyone!

Top Star Wars vehicles I had as a kid

In honor of the upcoming "May the 4th" day, I decided to continue my talk about Star Wars toys but this time, the vehicles I enjoyed the most as a kid!

 Slave 1

Great Vehicle. Loved the Han Solo from in carbonite that came with it. I never flew the vehicle right as a kid though but I didn't realize it flew vertically. This was back in the day before home video was big and you only saw the movie once and had to go off what you remembered. It was only way later I discovered how it should truly have been flown.

 Speeder Bike

The coolest thing about this toy was that it exploded into 3 pieces at the push of a button. It was easy to re-assemble too so we constantly were doing that during play time. Doomed was the poor action figure who rode upon it because there was a 100% they weren't landing in one piece.

X-Wing

Probably my favorite to have as a kid. I never put the "damage" stickers on it because who wants a damaged looking X-wing as a toy? My brother did it to his though to make ours look different so we didn't get them mixed up and I have to admit, it looked kind of cool. This was the ONLY way for Luke to travel around my play room in style!

See ya tomorrow folks!

Star Wars games I wanted as a kid...

Here's a list of Star Wars toys I would have died to have as a kid.

 AT-AT

I wanted one of these so bad but it was out of my parents price range for toys back in the day I'm sure. The menacing AT-AT crunching through my back yard would've struck terror in the hearts of my 6 inch Luke Skywalker for sure!

 The Falcon

Duh! What kid DIDN'T want this toy back in the day? The fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy?! Yes please!!

 The Ewok Village

I would have died to see this under my tree Xmas '83. We wanted this SO bad when we were young, but eventually made our own in the back yard that was quite the spectacle back in the day!

 Death Star

Dreamed about having this one as a kid. Though not as cool as the Ewok village it would've been pretty neat to show off to all the othr kids in the neighborhood!

Imperial Shuttle

I had the mini-version of the toy when I was younger but SO wanted the bigger one as well. I thought it looked so cool back in the day.

K, that's all for now!

Top 5 Hobbies

Happy May Day! Let's talk about Hobbies. Everyone has one. Here's my Top 5!

5) Beanie Babies (Bears)

It sounds silly and it's not serious, but I do collect these furballs whenever I come across I different one during any Flea Market or Antique Mall trips. I don't have to collect them all, in fact it's been a while since I've come across one I don't have! But it is a minor hobby of mine I do enjoy.

I used to sell these suckers back in the day for boo-koo money! Now the highest I pay for them is $3. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

4) Drawing

Another hobby I don't do much anymore but it's still something I enjoy. (this is a generic internet picture by the way) I was never any good at it but really enjoyed telling the story and did it for 20 years until I finally reached issue #1000 and quit.

I have to be honest though...I've slowly been coming around to picking it back up again. Remember, this blog started off as a way for me to post comic strips on everyday. Maybe, just maybe we'll see that again in the future...

3) Writing

Holy cow am I enjoying this. I never liked writing papers back in college and for the longest never really liked it at all. But I read a lot which means I've always dreamed about writing my own fiction. I got to write for a Star Wars Expanded Universe book of essays. That was fun. I've even written several dinner theatre scripts. I've written 3 more so far this year!

It's not only a hobby that makes me a little money but is also incredibly awesome to enjoy.

2) Reading

This is not my bookshelf....but I wish it was. I LOVE to read! I always have as long as I can remember. And the bigger the book the better!! I love re-reading my collection too! These days, I can read a 300 page novel in two days. It's a fairly cheap hobby to have as well because second hand copies of most books sell for cheap!

Not much into reading digitally or by audio book (which isn't reading at all) But I will on occasion get something online if that's the only way I can read it.

1) Board games

Anyone who knows me now already knew this. (generic photo used above) Since Disney did away with the Expanded Universe, it's opened the doors for a new hobby to come in. I LOVE playing board games now. More than ever! If I don't play another video game for the rest of my life I think I'll be ok. Board games have made that much of an impact on me.

I barely had 100 last year (counting Megan's games) but this year I safely have 100 on my own. No, I'm not trying to be that guy who has 1000 games in his room. but I'm definitely happen with the collection I have today.

That's my Top 5. What's yours?

May movie preview

Holy cow, have we already reached the end of the month?! Ok, let's do this....

 Alien Covenant

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...well you know. To be honest, I'll probably have to go see this disaster of a film when it comes out because Megan wants to see it so badly. I just hope it's not too long of a movie.

 Baywatch

This looks as interesting as the guy from the Roadshow Antique show, talking about a hundred year old shoe. PASS.

 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2

To be honest, I could skip this in theaters but my wife won't let me, so I'll go. I'm sure it'll be fun though. Gunn knows what he's doing when he makes a film.

 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul

Little secret here...I loved the other three films. I know, shocking right? I never read the series but got board one day and watched the first one, then had to see the others when they came out on rental. This one whoever is a soft re-boot with new characters and I think I can finally say goodbye to this series without watching another one ever again. (though it was nice to see Alicia Sylverstone still getting work after so many years)

Pirates: Dead Men Tell No Tales

I got to be honest, I'm actually looking forward to this movie. After re-watching the series last year I realized it's a lot better than I gave it credit for back in the day. For that reason I welcome this new installment with open arms!

So what others movies did I miss? I'm sure you'll let me know in the comments.

Wildstorm Review: Team 7

My final Wildstorm review for now is one of my favorite series from the entire Image run. Team 7 was a prequel series which focused on the original special command force that would later be a huge impact on the Universe as it was today.

This series was incredible. I  told you my friends and I each collected different series but I think we ALL bought this one at the same time. Chuck Dixon writes an incredible story and it's easily the best comic in the entire Wildstorm era. It holds up well, like most of Mr Dixon's stories usually do.

While re-reading this though, I noticed I was missing an issue. Then it all came back to me, that one of the last mini-series for this comic was NEVER read by me because I wanted to get that missing issue before I read the whole series! Totally forgot about it over time until earlier this month when I read it.

Thankfully, I picked it up online for less that cover price and now have a complete set (at least to that date) of the series.

Is it worth your time? I think I already answered that but if you didn't read the middle part and skipped to the end, then YES. Read it. So much fun!

Wildstorm Review: Gen 13

Now we're getting to the book I collected back in the day. (as did millions of other folks in the 90's) Gen 13 took the comic book world by storm and instantly became a huge hit! Kids, our age with super powers, cool get-ups and awesome lingo. "He's so Baldwin!" and "Not!" are featured in the original run. I'll admit, the series went south quick when they came out with the ongoing series. I guess I should have known they'd sell out the fans when 13 alternate covers were made for issue #1. But the original mini-series is still fun.

There's so many moments I remembered, looking back over the panels. I must have re-read these a dozen times as a teen. And if you'll look at the front cover that's exactly who this was written for. Teenage boys. Scantily clad females was all the rage back then, which added to the rush for comic book shops to sell out each issue.

Looking back over it it's laughable to see the main villain strip his opponents naked and hold them in cells for no apparent reason other than the artist to draw them "covered naked" on the pages. Besides that though, Gen 13 is a delightful romp through my childhood and what was considered "Cool" back then. (I still think the grunge look is cool by the way)

Is it worth your time? This comic actually dates itself by stating it starts in 1994, so if you're a child of the 90's then yes, it's a definite read for you. 

Wildstorm Review: The Kindred

What do you get when you put 2 of the coolest super heroes in the Wildstorm Universe together in the same comic? A whole lot of awesomeness, that's what!

Kindred stars Backlash (formerly featured in Stormwatch until the creators realized he was way to cool a character for such a lame group of super heroes) and Grifter from WILDCATS. One of Images more popular comics at the time. (my brother collected them)

I don't know exactly why I bought it because I didn't buy either of their team of individual comic books at the time, but I thought the art was good as was the story so I picked it up.

After re-reading it again...still good. The art though is the highlight of the series. It's SO beautiful to look at, I'm not sure if I've seen many of artist do a better job. The story further explores the past of a super team known as Team 7 who would later star in their own comic, but back then it was still a mystery as to who they really were.

Is it worth your time? Yes. Especially if you love good artwork. It's one of the best!

Wildstorm Review: Stormwatch

So back in the day I read a lot of Wildstorm comics. We loved the universe growing up. My brothers and friends each collected a different title and shared those with the others. It was great seeing a universe connect so well. (although, looking back at it now, it wasn't as perfect a fit as I thought) But overall the series as a whole was very good. So this week I wanted to discuss all the titles I've recently re-read and give you my thoughts on it.

The first thing I re-read was Stormwatch. Now I said "re-read" though to be honest I didn't read all the issues of it back in the day (my cousin bought them all) I read a few here and there.

My cousin dumped his collection on to my brother, who handed me these gems that'd I'd been curious about reading for a while. I was happy to get back in to comic book reading, with a story that was very similar to the X-men, where you have a team of super heroes working together to keep the planet safe. Oh and they're run by the United Nations.

Generic idea, with cliche characters but one of my favorite things they did was after Issue #9 they skipped ahead and did Issue #25 to show you what the future would have in store for the comic. A year and a half later they came out with #24 and skipped to #26 so you can put #25 in order and see how it matched up.

Though not perfect (a few scenes being changed in #26) it was pretty cool to see how far planned out the series was at the time. I haven't seen anything as impressive since.

Is this story worth your time? Not unless you have a love for the Wildstorm Universe as I did back in the 90's. The stories and dialogue are extremely dated, but it makes me smile knowing I never realized that as a teen and thought instead it was some of the greatest stuff ever!

Bye bye DVD plan

Well after only a month I've decided to cancel the DVD option for Netflix. The reason being was the choices were very limited, more so than the last time I joined. I was surprised on how many titles they DIDN'T carry anymore.

Of course it makes sense when you think about it. Their first competition back in the day was Blockbuster. And to beat the giant of DVD rentals you need a huge inventory. Now that most rental stores are gone, I guess they decided having a big inventory wasn't worth it anymore.

Sad too, this used to be a great thing they had going. Oh well!

Have a great weekend folks!

End of the season

Just wrapped up my strat-o-matic season and after several hours and games...my team didn't even make it to the World Series. LOL

That's ok though. A new team won this year and I'm all for that. Now it's back to getting some reading done in my spare time..until next season!!!