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: 300 Special Edition DVD

So I was one of the lucky 4,000 to buy a 300 Exclusive DVD set with an Immortals mask at SDCC last weekend (for $50!). Well, since I already have the full-size Neca version, I decided to sell my exclusive and buy the Best Buy Special Edition with the Spartan helmet (see pic) for $35. Well, Tuesday morning the DVD went on sale. I checked online and saw that my local store was out. Opting not to drive 15-20 miles to the next store, I paid the $1.99 shipping on the IN STOCK item. I had to deliver the DVD set to it's new owner today, so last night I started wondering what was taking so long. Two days is a long time, people! :P Come to find out, Best Buy has BACKORDERED me. It may take 2 weeks to get my new set, if I get it at all. I'm a gal of my word, so that SDCC version went to a good home, but I don't think I would have sold it yet if I knew my Spartan helmet was not on its way. Boo on you, Best Buy!

Leonidas Helmet

I saw this.

I want it.

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).

Immortal Mask

So I'm pretty much a sucker for anything remotely cool and collectible.

After seeing the movie for the second time, I wandered into a Suncoast and saw this mask. I wanted it, but I thought I might find it for less online. I hemmed and hawed for about two weeks, but I finally made a special trip to the mall and got it today.

I'm pretty happy with it, though if I'd paid more than $30, I might have been a bit less so. The mesh-y fabric presses right up against my eyes since there's not enough padding. Or at least not enough for my flat face. I believe it's made of fiberglass, and it's quite sturdy. There are two elastic strips which cross in the back, so it fits snugly.

I was afraid that I would want to buy the Spartan helmet if they had it, I didn't want to spend another $60. Fortunately, or unfortunately, they were sold out. They also had the arrow, which I hadn't seen before, for $40. I exerted great willpower this time, but in two weeks...

I creeped myself out a bit when I tried it on in the mirror. Yeah, I did.

300!

So I actually went to see this on opening night, sorta. I hadn't planned on it because my weekend was already going to be pretty busy, but then I figured, "why not?" We actually tried to get tickets at two different theatres, and couldn't get anything earlier than 12:10am on Friday night/Saturday morning. So obviously, $70m+ wasn't a surprise to me.

We got to the theatre in Burbank at least an hour early, and this is what the line looked like:

Not so bad until you realize that way off in the distance, the line doesn't end, but goes up a very high flight of stairs. It was actually not a bad wait, but it certainly looked it. There were some pro-life demonstrators trying to convert people, which was uncomfortable. I'm not religious in the least. There were also a couple of kids trying to bribe someone to let them cut the line.

Anyway, I thought the movie was well-executed, great style, at once modern and ancient. Love the grainy film stock, digital would have made it too cold. There was a touch of detachment which I found heartbreaking, but they don't dwell on it. It's almost like the filmmakers have taken the stoic Spartan-ness to heart and aren't about to let emotion bubble to the surface. I think that people will either really enjoy it, or really dislike it. Some folks have made the argument that it is xenophobic, homophobic, etceteraphobic...but we're looking at it through 21st century eyes. I'm sure that over the course of the millenia that people have said awful things about one another in order to rally their forces and "win." This is told from a Spartan point of view, what would a Spartan military leader tell his government and troops? That the Persians were nice guys? The Persians were supposedly benevolent conquerors, but that doesn't mean that the Greeks were wrong to fight for their independence.

I don't see this as a truly historical film, but an action movie of historical fiction. Movies are for entertainment, for suspending belief. If I want to know what really happened, I can go check out a book at the library, for chrissakes!

Oh, and the boys were so beautiful, props to the costume designer! :P