My Collecting Rant
"December 7, 1941. A day which will live in infamy." President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on hisaddress to Congress December 8, 1941. Never forget Pearl Harbor.
I had to take a break from posting, and this meme was the perfect illustration as to why I had to take an unplanned break. Now, I thought of saving this post for Festivus, but I'm in a mood, and that means it's rant time! But naturally I'm a Star Wars collector so, yeah. I already complain, a lot! It's time to get into what grinds my gears (collecting wise). So let's get started!
1. Disqus & X.
I have been unable to post links to my blog, and it really (EXPLETIVE DELETED)ing ticks me off! So now I have to be creative to get around it. And no, I don't want someone else to post the link on BanthaSkull because I don't want that person to be flagged for spam by Disqus AI. I do have access to an old account from a friend of mine, so maybe, just maybe I'll log on from there but I haven't decided. I have the same problem with X. I like Elon Musk's approach there, but I post a blog link and I'm shadowbanned. It's frustrating. So far, Disqus has said they've removed the flag, so I'll test it out and see. In the meantime, my last blog post is here:
3. Retail exclusives.
Check these out:
Images from State O Verse on X. Nice little 2 pack for the VC, right?! This was revealed in Brazil, for one of their huge conventions. But here's the kicker: this is a Walmart exclusive. (EXPLETIVE DELETED)! Now, to be fair to Wally World, there are times that store exclusives actually show up in stores. You have to drive across a couple states, but they're there. Eventually. But Walmart hasn't really taken in a lot of VC figures in 2025, if at all. Super Powers and the 1st MOTU Origins figures could be found there, but anything Hasbro related just doesn't show up there. Target doesn't have as bad a problem as Walmart, but you have to constantly go to Target to check the aisles because their preorder system was probably designed by whoever did it for Wally World because it sells out 3 seconds after coming up for preorder. But it's not a bummer if you pick up a hot single Mom when making the Target run. It's better than picking up a Walmart hot single Mom. I know from experience. But I get it, exclusives are ways for brick and mortar to get new foot and web traffic, and theoretically it brings in more money for the stores. But, they need to actually have the product in house. But either way, expect this 2 pack to be an eBay exclusive. Unless Hasbro fixes their distribution problems.
4. Hasbro Pulse
Thankfully, the nightmares I've read about using Hasbro Pulse haven't happened to me. The figures have all arrived in near mint condition (even the Sixers I've ordered) and I sometimes feel bad opening them up because they're so good on the card (even the Sixers). But Hasbro Pulse has a problem: they aren't global. You would think that an international company like Hasbro would be available all over the globe. They are, but their website isn't. As a result, international collectors are left out, and if they want Pulse exclusives, they have to go 3rd party import to get it. It's unfair, and Hasbro needs to fix this ASAP.
CAJUN CON 2025
This is a brand new convention, and it's in Gonzales, LA which is an easier drive down than hitting Mandeville for the St Tammany Collector's Convention. It's the first year so there are a lot of bugs that need to be fixed. The guests were near A List talent, especially for wrestling fans. Sgt Slaughter, Million Dollar Man (he had the shortest drive over), Jerry The King Lawler, Jake The Snake Robert's, yes. The surviving cast of the Gene Wilder Willy Wonka movie? Yep. But the bugs that need fixing: 1. No vendor list 2. No map. 3. Need to use the full venue space, it got really cramped really quickly. I'm certain the man in charge, Louisiana Radio Host Scott Innes, who has done a lot of voice acting, will fix. I did manage to find a decent haul for about $100. I did find some Playmates Star Trek figures, but they were all Next Gen. But I found a few Star Wars gems, and a MOTU Origins pack I skipped over a while back.
POTF2 Haul
If you read my post on the POTF2 Jawas on BanthaSkull the other day, well, you know I don't go for Jawas. But a 2 pack for half the price of a new VC figure? That's a buy. I always liked the POTF2 removable helmet Darth Vader and needed another one. These are openers, the Jawas card as you can see is bent. Same with Vader.
Sixer Haul
I needed Kuiil since he's the lone Mandalorian figure I am missing. I got 1-JAC because he can kinda fit in as a poor man's 4-LOM.
ROTS Haul
I found a much needed figure. I mean, one I badly needed. And a background figure, as well as 2 figures who could become custom fodder.
I saw Senator Meena Tills and snapped her up. Aside from Ibitsam, she's the only other female Mon Calamari in the Star Wars line (I got that wrong the other day in the BanthaSkullcomments). I needed another Republic Senator, and Mon Cal live for quite a while without aging too much, so she can be both in my Galactic Republic and New Republic senate. I mean, I use a ROTS Mon Mothma for my New Republic figures so now Mon has company. I also found a couple SA Clonetroopers, which I intend to use as custom fodder.
Extra crispy Anakin! I've needed a new one since I've used my original one for a couple custom support pieces. It's a good figure, and it was at a great price. Plus the vendor had 5 more EC Anakin's behind it, so it wasn't like I took the very last one. For the Clonetroopers, I'm thinking about painting them either all black, grey, or red.
MOTU Origins Sketch Series 2 Pack
I passed on this when I saw it at Target. That was until I got the Sketch Series Spikor. Now with a Sketch Series He-Man coming soon, and my desire to make that figure a King Grayskull, it made sense for me to get this. I'm not using either figure as a Hordak or Grizzlor, but as Horde Henchmen. Honestly, Filmation back in the day ruined Hordak. His arm being a cannon makes no sense to me since he was supposed to be Skeletor's former master in magic. To my knowledge the Evil Horde never had a tech guy (and even if they did, screw it, its my collection), so this Hordak could be that. The Grizzlor could be a random henchman who can be controlled by Beastman. Works for me!
That's a wrap! Thanks for reading! A special thanks to Chris and Nomad at BanthaSkull for allowing me to post a way for you to read this link in the comments section (Disqus permitting)! Please share this link on your social media accounts so I can get more readers!
PS: I will only have 2 more posts this year. I plan on a figure review next week, a pause for Christmas and then my Best of 2025 list the final weekend of the year.
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