Last Wednesday

I was editing my profile and noticed that the number next to "Age" has changed. This sucks. This couldn't possibly mean that I have to start acting, gulp, my age, does it?

Anal Retentive Obsessive Compulsive Collecting

Okay, so I realized after my last post that I have a problem. It's called "Anal Retentive Obsessive Compulsive Collecting" or AROCC for short. Here's an example of what I mean:



"What's that about?" you might ask yourself. That, obviously, is a pile of business cards. I started picking them up when I was in high school, I think. They're free, they want you to take them, and they're small. I very rarely pass up a business card that is just sitting out in the open. If you're not careful, and you did not offer, I'll sneak one out from off your desk when you're not looking. Most are just from stores and restaurants or from friends and business associates, but I've got some from artists, museums, and I don't know who else. Every once in a while I'll unearth a little stash of them while "cleaning" in my house. That's the obsessive compulsive part.



To serve their useful purpose, I devised this oft-neglected organization system. I have a binder with these card sleeves in it. Business cards are sorted by type. From the picture, I think you can tell where I usually shop for my wardrobe. If you're in the know, you can probably also guess that I'm a UCLA alum (mmm...cookies). Originally, I thought this would be useful. Like, "Oooh, I want to go to -fill-in-the-blank-restaurant-here- tonight, I should make a reservation. Let me get my business card book." Yeah right. I never use this thing. I also haven't put a new card in it since 2002. It may have something to do with increased internet use. Yet, I still compulsively gather the cards. My anal retentiveness makes me feel like it must be perfect or I won't do it at all, so now I have cards sitting in boxes and bowls all over the house.

You may have noticed that it also says "Menus." I collect these too, under the assumption that I might want to order take out sometime. I haven't in years. Now, you might say to yourself that you have a menu drawer or folder too. Well, do you laminate them? Alphabetize them? I didn't think so. I do this with directions and maps too. For years, whenever I went somewhere, I pasted the map into Word and added directions to/from my house. After printing it, you guessed it, laminate and alphabetize. This way, I never had to print the directions again, they were spill-proof, and they looked uniformly tidy. In fact, nearly everything I own that can be alphabetized will at some point in time, be alphabetized.

Okay, enough about my neuroses...I think I've over-shared.

;P

Other Things I Collect

Besides debt. :P

Before I became a "collectibles" collector, I had various and sundry little things that I liked to collect. I amassed a big tangle of keychains, flirted with stamps and coins, but I didn't get obsessed with anything until my Lord of the Rings habit. It was weird because I didn't have a lot of toys growing up, I had moved on to books at about the age of 5. The toys I had would collect dust on a shelf. My brothers were the toy guys (GI Joes, HeMen, Transformers, all that 80s goodness), so it's crazy that I was the one who wound up with hundreds of little plastic men. :)

I do still have a couple of other collections which I cultivate: postcards and shotglasses. I pick them up to mark my travels, but I receive many as gifts as well. Above, a few new items I got in Vegas this week.

With the postcards, I like to get one postmarked, so I mail them to myself. Lame, I know. I will often just stick an address label and stamp on it and draw a happy face. I've mailed myself postcards from Canada, Scotland, England, Wales, and all over the US. When I was studying in London, I brought a sheet of address labels so I could easily send cards to all my friends. There are a few old Chinatown and Disneyland ones from my parents and from friends around the world. A while back I bought a postcard spinner at Pottery Barn that I LOVE! The sales guy tried to sell me on its uses as a photo display, but I really wanted it for postcards. :P Of course, my collection has already outgrown the thing, but whatever. I just signed up for http://www.postcrossing.com/, which sounds promising. Only, I recently discovered that it costs 90 cents to mail a postcard internationally (via a returned-for-additional-postage card), which is more than double the 26 cent domestic rate. What's up with that? I normally would just put two postcard stamps if mailing overseas. Sigh.

As you can imagine, the shotglass habit started about the time I turned 21. Hehe. I had long stopped collecting keychains, but I still wanted a small, ubiquitous collectable I could pick up on my travels, in addition to the postcards. It didn't hurt that these could get some practical use. ;) Since they are breakable, I get a little nervous about using the "irreplaceable" ones. I try not to spend too much on them. The ones I got in Britain usually cost . Whenever possible, I get one that is $1 or less. One favorite is from Maui. My best friend picked it up on her honeymoon, I think, and it has a little island sculpture inside. Another is from Stratford, with a "gold" rim that I paid one pound for at a shop near Trinity Church. I like the standard single and double shot shapes best, though I do have a few novelty ones.

See? Some people are just born collectors. :P

Best Buy 300 Special Edition DVD

So the other day I was whining about selling my Comic Con 300 DVD because Best Buy didn't ship me my Spartan Helmet version:

http://marybluefairy-forest.blogspot.com/2007/08/300-special-edition-dvd.html

Well, amazingly Best Buy came through. :) "Backordered," I think, is code for "We're going to string you along until you can't get a copy anywhere for a decent price and then we're going to cancel your order." Hence, great shock to get an email that it had shipped and then four or five days later, to actually get a package. I don't suppose it has anything to do with the scathing review I gave them when they sent me a customer service survey about my purchase? Hmmm? I've always had horrible customer service from Best Buy, but that's another story. Shipping box was crushed on one side, thankfully all items arrived safely.

First off, even though it seems like it may be made of some type of plastic, it is fairly heavy for its size, approximately 12oz. I haven't compared it to any of my LOTR helms yet, but it looks roughly the same scale. It was actually secured to the bottom of the box insert with what looks like rubber cement. Just FYI, you can safely use a bit of Goo Gone to remove the residue. It's too bad that they didn't use the velvety black material from the SDCC version on the insert in this one. That was classy. ;) Mine is tilting off to one side and there are some small paint appilcation errors, but all in all, it is quite satisfactory considering that it basically cost about $10. I like it much better than the mask, but then again, I have the full sized Immortals mask, and like the helmet, both masks were made by Neca, so there isn't much difference in quality. It's too bad the helmet is not removable, though I suppose there is no purpose for that being the case, is there? Haha...

Inserted with this set is a little bonus, a set of four cards featuring mighty Leonidas. They are about 5x7 inches with the 300 logo embossed on each one. I thought they were going to be trading card size, so I am very pleased with them. I have a slightly larger card of Leonidas holding his shield up in the rain which I got at Comic Con last year that might go nicely with these. So with these, my Immortals mask, arrow, and cardboard shield, I'm starting to have enough 300 stuff to set up a display!

Sorry about the poor images, lighting conditions were not optimal. :P

SDCC 2007: Ebay Watch

I didn't buy nearly as much stuff for myself as most con-goers, but I picked up a couple of goodies and out of sheer curiosity I wanted to see how they are fairing at the 'bay right now. I think all 4 items are now sold out. Not shown are the 3 art prints I bought.

Gentle Giant Glorfindel Bust

LE: 500

MSRP: $50

Ebay: $115-120 (35 auctions)

Probably the hardest to get of the four, by virtue of small edition size and the crappy GG line situation.

Weta Mini-Manmelter Raygun

LE: 500

MSRP: $30

Ebay: $65-70 (4 auctions)

These 4 are unsigned, a signed one went for about $80 recently . Had this pre-ordered, easy-peasy.

Mine is signed. Teehee.

Sideshow Stealth Iron Man Comiquette (Pre-Order)

LE: 1250

MSRP: $300
Ebay: $650-700 (8 auctions)

Ordered this for my brother. Despite the edition size, which is 500 more than what was rumored in San Diego, it is still pre-selling for more than double the MSRP. Crazy. For those that missed out on the red and gold version, I guess this is a slightly less expensive alternative. At the same time, it has light up features, which the other two do not. I wonder which I would choose if I had both...?

Gentle Giant Luna Lovegood Bust

LE: 1000

MSRP: $50

Ebay: $75-80 (40 auctions)

I got this for my sister-in-law, after trying frantically to reach my brother (since I was lucky enough to get into the line, I figured it was better to buy it than not). Of the items listed, this is the only one I'm getting rid of so far. I really don't have any other GG Harry Potter items (she has the new Harry and Cho), though I must admit that they are tempting. I was really eyeballing that large-scale Voldemort with the fabricated um, gown, but the Harry was a no-go.

So that's it. I really only bought one bust, one gun, and three prints. That's some restraint, eh?

Update on the Raygun as of 8/18, I just saw one on Ebay that sold for over $100, unsigned. Impressive gains on a $30 item...the others seem to be levelling off a bit.

SDCC 2008: What I Want!

Okay?

When I see you in San Diego next year, I expect you to take me to a nice pub (I have a favorite, though I will consider your choice). We will sit in a dark corner and someone will pour me one of these and it will take forever, but it will be OH SO GOOD! I don't really know how many of you are out there, but I expect each and every one of you to have one with me (I will have one for each of you!). I don't care if Guinness is not a "summer" beer. :) I will give you a pass if you order a shandy because those are tasty, but nothing non-alcoholic or I swear I will not be your friend anymore. Oh wait, unless you are under 21, I am an upstanding citizen afterall, and would not contribute to the delinquency of a minor. Ahem.

**Dang it, see what happens when I have too much caffeine! There are like 50 million posts here tonight/this morning and none of them are coherent.

SDCC 2007: OMG the Secret is OUT!

Okay, so maybe you don't know, because you're my geeky "friends," but I am very serious when it comes to keeping my "worlds" separate. There's 1) family, 2) "school" friends- high school and/or college, 3) work friends, 4) work, and 5) geek friends. I tell you, most of them don't even know the rest exist. I have separate emails, phone numbers, credit cards!!! Most of all, I keep you guys well away from #1-4. My "wardrobe" does not consist of Star Wars/Hot Wheels/Transformers t-shirts, jeans, shorts, long black coats, dark sunglasses, baseball caps, and sneakers. (I am not high-maintenance, though, I swear!). I do not have the Star Wars theme as my ringtone. I have not even seen Star Wars more than twice in entirety. I do not go into Toys r Us, K*B Toys, Suncoast, FYE, the toy section at Target, Puzzle Zoo, Frank & Sons, comic shops, or the Games Workshop store at the mall when with, or in the vicinity of, people I know, present company excepted. I will generally not be seen with you at family functions, school reunions, my college campuses, work (at any of two dozen sites), or anywhere besides the Gaslamp of San Diego during Comic Con. If we happen to run into each other in such a situation, I will wave, smile, and then I will speed-walk away from you. Don't take it personally.**

Well, imagine how aghast I was when I stopped in at work today and one of my "work friends" asked, "So, how was Comic Con?" I just about died. I asked for the time off from work and I mentioned I would be in San Diego, but I certainly hadn't told her anything about it. Apparently, some people are capable of putting two and two together, even though I actually went to university in the area and could have been visiting a college buddy or something. Oh woe is me, I was caught so off guard, I had no cover. The answer went something like this..."I was, uh, visiting with friends...I am so over it, I wouldn't even have gone if they hadn't made me...I slept in almost every day (this part was true!) because I wasn't that interested...I only went for the drinking (partly true, though I did NOT have enough liquor, that was disappointing)."

I might have to quit my job. Thanks a lot, Comic Con.

**Tongue planted firmly in cheek, of course. :P Don't hit me!