300 Arrow

I recently learned that the 300 Spartan shield is rather limited, an appropriate edition size of 300. Silly me, I thought I could just pick this up later on down the line. Alas, it appears to be sold out everywhere and is going for upwards of $1000 on Ebay. Grr. I wouldn't even have sold it if I had one, but I would also not pay $1000 for it. :(

Since I couldn't have the shield, I let my brother buy me an Immortal's arrow. :D Since the box was kindof an odd shape, I declined a bag. The clerk seemed to think I was a dork to carry it around the mall like that, but I don't care. :P The packaging is pretty flimsy, and there's just a small rectangle of styrofoam to protect the arrowhead. The shaft and fletchings are left to fend for themselves.

I'm having a hard time not damaging the feathers (not sure if they're real). My arrow doesn't seem to be painted right, the darker coloring at the head does not extend all the way down the shaft but kinda stops about an inch or two above where it should. Maybe I'll be brave and paint it later. Also, the arrowhead, which is a separate piece, does not sit well on the shaft. I might have to putty it in. I do really like it, and I'm glad to have it, but it seems a bit pricey ($40) for an arrow, especially when the Immortal mask only cost me $30. Maybe I wouldn't mind as much if I could stick it in a shield...hmmm...

The store also had a set of the Immortal Swords in, but they were opened and sitting on top of the display case with what looks like their last mask. I wouldn't be surprised if someone had set them aside. I didn't even see a box or a price. Maybe that's a good thing. They had a small selection of other collector goodies as well, such as the Gentle Giant busts (including Strider).

Britannia

So I walked into this pub last Saturday...and stumbled out several hours later! My group of friends had the upstairs section to ourselves for a while, it's quite cozy and there's a pool table.

I can't say what the food is like, as I didn't eat anything other than Guinness. ;P After a Guinness, a Newcastle, 4 shots, and a Bacardi and Coke, it was no surprise to anyone that I found myself sitting on a beer keg (sorry to the sweet British guy who was trying to talk to me!), or that I closed out my personal tab at $60, including a shot on the house. My friends and I recommend the Britannia and Red-Headed Slut. Our waitress was awesome, and the horrid karaoke downstairs was much fodder for our amusement! Our designated driver, who remained completely sober, took many incriminating photos which I refuse to share! :P

Somehow, I managed to not only make it down the street, but up five flights of stairs to the car! Oh, and in the morning, I woke up without a hangover and went to work for the next eight hours. Oh the joys of being me! Hehe...

It was so much fun, but I suspect you will need to bring a rowdy group of friends, a lush like myself, and down enough booze to die of cirrhosis to have as much fun as we did!

Grab yourself a pint at Britannia Pub in Santa Monica:
http://www.britanniapub.com/

**btw, that's not us in the picture, I grabbed that off their website.

The Blue Fairy

Sorry to be so lazy about checking in, work has been crazy!

My friend Ithilethiel sent me this fairy. I was walking around the house with it, looking for a place to put it, and I nearly banged into a wall. I'm a clutz! I especially like the wings and the little gazing ball.

I think this is the only Blue Fairy in my collection. Sideshow never released a Froud Blue Fairy, even though my avatar (see profile) has been a Froud painting for ages! In case anyone wonders, the avatar was supplied by my friend Gideon, who happens to have owned that painting, I think.

Whimsic Alley

So I finally got to go to Whimsic Alley in Santa Monica (thanks to cco805). The last time I tried, they were closed. On a Tuesday. I suggest checking their website for hours before going across town, they do seem to keep it updated. Though the store is pretty much devoted to Harry Potter, there is a selection of other fantasy products (fairies, Lord of the Rings, Narnia). Each section of the store has a different name to reflect the product you might find there.




"Habber & Dasher" carries many of the licensed costume items, like the hats above, as well as clothing that appears to be made especially for them. The robes and house sweaters have the name and location of the store on the tags. Sweaters are a reasonable $35, but the adult robes are in the $120 range. However, they are fully lined and feature a wand pocket. You can also pick up a matching tie or scarf to complete your outfit.

"Phoenix Wands" is definitely reminiscent of Ollivander's and also has a few swords and walking sticks. They sell several different collections of wands, and they do look pretty good.

I tried on just about every size of sweater before deciding on the Gryffindor Style 2 in Small. They definitely run large, I almost bought the Youth Large instead, but the resulting fit is rated PG. :P It's folded up a bit in the pic, but it does have long sleeves and a v-neck. I already have a Harry Potter wand from Noble Collection as well as a tie, so I didn't need to buy one today. I'd also like to pick up a sweater in Slytherin colors as I have Snape's wand and a tie. The robe is quite spendy, so I might make my own instead.

Visit Whimsic Alley yourself at 2717-1/2 Wilshire Blvd. Santa Monica, CA

IKEA Lighting

Ah, so it's Spring Break and I find myself wandering the aisles at Ikea again. I'm always on the lookout for display items for my collection. Today, I focused on lighting. There is currently no lighting in my cabinets, which is okay since it's a light-colored wood, but still. I didn't find anything that just jumped out and said "buy me," but I thought I would share anyway.

This first one is from Magiker, and it's on clearance right now for $6.99. The arm is adjustable and there's a little flip switch on the front. If the cabinet is too high, though, it might be a pain to turn on. It didn't feel too hot, and if you have just a few open shelves, this might work well for you. Mine are enclosed, though...so moving on...

Next up, the infamous NON lights. These are usually paired up with Detolf cabinets. Unfortunately, though they look good and the Detolf actually has a hole in the top just for these, they run really hot. Beware of using these for extended periods of time if you have polystone. However, the two packs are on clearance for $4.99 if you have a heat-proof display item to illuminate.

This 8W fluorescent Liesta seemed promising. It didn't seem to be hot at all and you can string several together and only have to use one outlet. Since my cases have doors with wooden frames, they might actually be able to conceal the lights somewhat. I would change out my wooden shelves for glass and then only mount two in each case, under the top and under the fixed wooden shelf. The light also looks kinda yellow-y rather than "white." Not terrible for $12.99.

This last one is called Dioder, which sounds kinda odoriffic, but whatever. They didn't have this one on display, so I can't say what the light looks like other than that they have different colors. According to the label, they emit little heat, last 50 times longer than normal bulbs, and can be used in small spaces (they're pretty thin). The four pack will set you back about $40, and it looks like they are all attached to one power cord, so it must be meant for use in very close proximity.

I spent about $60 on stuff for school and organizational supplies...yes, the struggle for storage continues...nothing for my collection. :(