Any guesses? My diet has pretty much consisted of this stuff -- with slight variations, of course -- for the past two weeks or so.

So after nearly six weeks of waiting (or maybe less, but it felt like at least as long), the additional dual background for my light tent arrived towards the end of last week. I finally broke it out yesterday and lost a good seven hours photographing and repositioning and photographing action figures -- time truly flies when one is shooting little plastic people! -- and continued with the experimenting today. Whereas shooting with the grey background was relatively easy and unproblematic, the new black background (much like the old blue background) shows up very bright for some reason, which meant that I had to fool around with a bunch of settings I'd never previously touched in order to limit the camera's light intake. Very strange.

Anyway, here are the best of the results. I'm also trying out a new plugin for displaying the larger versions of images, which you'll see when you click on the smaller photos below. I'm not sure if I'll keep it (I'm not the biggest fan of javascript and fancy effects, hence my choice of this simpler plugin over the Lightbox JS-based variants), but let me know what you think.

Is this the first time that I've featured Buffy figures on Wesoteric? I forget. Anyway, I've had Spike, Angel, and Willow around for ages, but Cordy and Xander are new! Well, kinda. I got a Cordy for $4.88 a couple of weeks ago with intent to use her as Lois Lane, but a) she was far too tall compared to my previous Superman figure and b) I found an actual Lois Lane figure (albeit a super one) soon afterwards, so she got set aside. Also, her arm had broken right out of the package, which was no fun. But then, this past week, I came across the same Cordy and Xander for $1.88 each, so I picked up two more Cordy figures (one of which is seen here, and yay her arm did not break!) and a Xander. I've always thought this Xander looked really weird, and I'm not the biggest fan of the character anyway -- he's kind of a dick -- but $1.88 is pretty tough to beat.

Now all I need is a Buffy, eh? Not to mention a Faith, an Anya, maybe one of those superarticulated Willows...

I really, really like that Superman figure. Anyway, five down... two to go!

Did I mention how much I like that Superman figure? And here he is surrounded by friends and foes -- note that I have much more of the former group than the latter. Darkseid eyeing Jimmy Olsen is deliberate, btw.

And with the addition of Black Manta and a proper Scarecrow (as opposed to that huge scarecrow from some other toyline), my SuperFriends Legion of Doom now has five official members. Eight more to go!

And that is all for now. 🙂

Rawr!

Still working on that "official" new year's post -- it's currently in the form of a half-finished draft -- but here is a quick photo post in the meantime!

I'm planning on redoing Scary-Crayon's site info page and including a proper "About Me" blurb, so I decided to take a new photo for it. I know how much you were pining for another shirtless Wes pic, but I decided to try out the new SC shirt I ordered and pose with the original site mascots and inspirations for the design (as well as the site's name). Behind me on the top shelf is somewhere between 30% and 50% of the insane amount of Transformers toys I acquired last year. If you look closely, you can also see Yoshi and some Creepy Freaks on the bottom shelf. (more...)

What the title says: it's time for another photo post!

We had our first snowfall of the season last week, so I stood on the porch and took a few pictures to capture the occasion. Most of the photos came out a bit blurry due to the motion of the falling snow, but this shot of the neighborhood turned out pretty well.

And here is a picture of the bush adjacent to the walkway that leads to the porch. It has snow on it as well! Unfortunately, thanks to slightly warmer temperatures and several days of rain, the snow is all gone by now. It's a bit sad -- I really do like how pretty everything looks covered in snow -- but I'm glad that I didn't give into the temptation to use that wonderfully powdery snow to construct a snow Dalek. When one takes the time to make snow creatures, one generally wants them to stick around for at least a full week.

I've had Chastity for quite a while -- I ordered her online back when I was still in New Haven -- but I didn't actually take her out of her packaging until a couple of weeks ago. I also wasn't aware that Ross carries toys until a couple of weeks ago, and my discovery of this information and subsequent findings compelled me to get General Mono in a 2-pack with a Donatello figure. I'd originally passed over the 2-pack when it was more widely available last holiday season and earlier this year, but that was before I'd played the TMNT movie game. Mono and the rest of the stone generals were almost wholly devoid of characterization in the actual film, but Mono put up a memorable enough showing in the game for me to want to grab him upon seeing him this time around. Besides, at $10, the 2-pack was about $6 cheaper than its original price.

Anyway, Chastity and Mono's relationship began as one of convenience -- she's got really weird legs that make it difficult for her to stand, whereas Mono's a heavy guy with a pretty solid footprint -- but the more I looked at them posed together, the more I liked them as a legitimate couple. I'll probably carry their relationship over into any Scary-Crayon toy comics in which they appear! I also find something highly amusing about a woman named Chastity dating a guy named Mono... who's always hard as stone.

Wonder Women! I already had the one on the left, but the one on the right (and the stand on which they're both positioned) is new. I usually don't double up on my DC/Marvel comic character figures (Batman being the primary exception) without a functional reason -- for example, even though I have a Justice League Unlimited Hawkgirl, I'll probably end up getting a version from one of the DC Direct lines because they're larger and have better articulation -- but the Super Friends Wonder Woman was just too gorgeous to pass up. I really, really like these figures that take after their animation counterparts rather than sporting a more realistic look, and the additional articulation points on the SF WW made her even more of a must-buy for me. The brighter colors and curvier proportions didn't hurt either!

I got Batzarro the same day and place that I got the Wonder Woman above -- I'd actually planned to get a regular Bizarro figure, but then I saw this guy next to him and had to revise my purchasing plan. An insane, eyeless Batman with a toothy demonic grin? Awesome! I'd still like to get a Bizarro someday, but I'll wait for one from another DC Direct line. The one from the Batman-Superman line is indeed cool -- probably my second favorite Bizarro figure next to the old Superman Series 1 Bizarro (I like my Bizarro figures smilin'!) -- but something about the blue highlights in his hair doesn't work for me.

And here's Fast Action Battler Brawl! He's pretty cool, despite being part of a line that is ostensibly designed for much younger kids than the standard deluxe figures. In fact, he's larger and sports more visual contrast than the deluxe Brawl, which makes him a more attractive addition to my perpetually swelling Decepticon ranks.

And finally, here is a cute pic of Bacardi on the pillow outside my door. He has this plush lobster that he's fond of fetching, but when nobody is around to throw it -- or when he's not in the mood to run about -- he sometimes curls up with it and licks it. He really likes that lobster. 🙂

All for now, then. Hope y'all are having a happy holiday season!