$$$Expensive 2009 Year $$$$

So I was going through my Bento invoices while backing up my computer today and I came to the crazy realization that 2009 is already shaping up to being an expensive year for collectibles.... and its only freaking March!! I will admit that most of the items I have on order aren't coming out until the 3rd and 4th quarter, but this is the first time I've ever had this much stuff on order this early on in the year. So here's the breakdown of everything I have as of yesterday:
HOT TOYS IRON MAN MKIII

HOT TOYS TWO FACE / HARVEY DENT

SIDESHOW COLLECTIBLES OBI WAN KENOBI EPISODE II VERSION

HOT TOYS "DUTCH" from PREDATOR

HOT TOYS PREDATOR 1

HOT TOYS JOHN CONNOR FROM T4

SIDESHOW COLLECTIBLES CAPTAIN AMERICA LEGENDARY SCALE "EXCLUSIVE" BUST

SIDESHOW COLLECTIBLES SCOUT TROOPER PREMIUM FORMAT

SIDESHOW COLLECTIBLES ADMIRAL ACBAR 1:1 FULL SCALE BUST

And the worst part is that this is just the stuff I have on order. Sometimes I end up buying other stuff that I didn't order after I see pics that others post when they get them.

Obi Wan Kenobi-- A New Hope

So it is pretty easy to figure out that I am indeed a Star Wars nerd/fanboy. Since I was a kid and saw that epic battle between Obi Wan and Darth Vader I have been hypnotized. Darth Vader was such a badass!!! He was and still is one of the most menacing villains ever to grace the screen. The first time he strolls into view in A New Hope you just know he's the villain and is up to no good. But that's not all, Obi Wan-- the "crazy old wizard" has the same powers that Darth Vader has. And shortly into the movie he discloses that Vader murdered Luke's father, who was a good friend of Obi Wan. Now, he's either pitching the best sale ever or he's just praying on the naivety of young Luke by telling what he wants to hear. He also tells Luke that he needs to come with him to start his training to become a Jedi Knight like his father...at the same time failing to mention that Vader is actually his father who turned from hero to villain at the drop of the dime and is personally responsible for destroying the Jedi Order as well as the Galactic Republic (with some help from Palpatine).
From his first appearance on screen Sir Alec Guiness' presence engulfs us with Obi Wan's "classical" representation of an extinct order. He is dressed as a common beggar with his large and tarnished robes as well as his seasoned appearance. Obi Wan takes Luke in and begins teaching him the basics of the Force. He mentors the young apprentice and carries the burden of knowing that Luke is the last hope to destroying the Empire and defeating Darth Vader. He knows all too well that if rushed, Luke can turn to the dark side and become a Sith just like his father did before him. Obi Wan has witnessed first hand what it is like to see the wrath of the dark side of the Force.
Here I'll get to the actual figure. I have before you the Sideshow Collectibles Obi Wan Kenobi from A New Hope in the Jedi Order line. Sideshow has produced Four versions of Obi Wan as of now. In this version we get an exact replication of Sir Alec Guiness' face, but in 1/6 form. Of course he gets the standard setup: Outer Jedi Robe, Inner and Outer Tunic, Lit and Unlit Lightsaber, Several hands for multiple displays, and a Star Wars stand. The detail on this figure is incredible. I can't capture the correct words to describe how awesome this figure truly is. If by any chance you are trying to decide which version of Obi Wan to get---this is THE one to get. I have yet to receive the Episode II figure, but as of now the likeness of Alec Guiness blows away any previous version of Ewan MacGregor. And if you plan on getting the forth coming Darth Vader 1/6 from Sideshow you NEED to get this figure to accompany him on your shelf.
Sooo, without further ado here is a picture of him. Please forgive my phone camera as I do not have a proper digital camera yet.

Bank Robber Joker

After looking at pics of Hot Toys' second version of the oh so popular Joker from The Dark Knight I decided I needed to get one for myself. I thought the first Joker was totally insane, but this figure totally blows the first one away. The new head sculpt looks like Heath himself jumped out of the screen and onto my shelf. The newest figure is a variant that is in the form that we first see the new Joker. This figure comes armed to the teeth with a: machine gun, machine-gun pistol, duffel bag, and a slew of grenades. The absolute best part of this figure are the TWO head sculpts. One version is meant to be coupled with the included clown mask and the other is just an awesome portrait of the Joker. Of course, I did the insane thing and gave the machine gun and the regular head to the original Joker that I have. This figure has to be the best of The Dark Knight figures yet. So I cannot wait until they give us the upcoming Two Face and the recently announced Police Officer Joker.

The Joker

Alright, so now that the Oscars have come and gone I will say that I'm really excited about Heath Ledger winning the best supporting actor award for his Joker performance in The Dark Knight. Of course I am a super fanboy of the new Batman movies and ended up seeing it 6 times in the theater and countless times at home on Blu Ray. In my opinion the Joker was the main show and Batman and all of Gotham were just along for the ride. For a character that claimed he isn't someone who makes plans he certainly showed how well they work for him. Also, I plan to do a quick product review for the Hot Toys Bank Robber Joker that I have on the way. I can't guarantee when exactly, but it will get done.

Leverage

I started watching this show on a whim. Never knowing anything or hearing anything about this show I had no clue what I was getting into. When I read that Christian Kane was going to be in this series I quickly perked interest and decided to give the first episode a viewing. What an extremely pleasant surprise I found after just the first ten minutes into the pilot episode. The best way to describe this show is to just come out and say that it is like a weekly Ocean's 11 tv show. They have the planner, master thief, computer geek, ex-military spy for the muscle, and the incredibly beautiful actress for pulling the cons. Basically the main character, Nathan Ford, used to be an investigator for the big insurance company. And his main job was to "look" into their best intersts by tracking down the thives and con artists that threaten to steal from the company. Now he is working with some of the people he used to chase down. The ragtag group now works as a new age "Robin Hood and his merry men." Because Ford is the only honest man in the lot, he requires to take on the charity cases that help good people get "Leverage" and payback on the corporations that have wronged them in any way.

One of my favorite aspects of the show is the chemistry between the team members. In the beginning of the pilot they all claim that they all prefer to work alone and wish to keep it that way. When you mix them all together is when the team shines. They all have their expertise, but yet when they are working they all have fun with each other and it translates extremely well. 

I recommend watching the first episode and giving this show a chance because I think you'll be quite hooked by the end of the show. Next thing you know you're on the fourth episode waiting to see what next week's show will bring you. 

Ridiculous

As a movie fan I am a member of various different movie critic forums and visit them quite frequently. To pay for the costs of maintenance many of the sites have memberships that you can pay for in return to certain perks that the regular non-paying member can't see. Well, in my personal opinion if you are going to operate a site like this you need to maintain a level of professionalism just like a normal business establishment. They have administrators and moderators that monitor all the posts, site maintenance, and anything else. In a recent visit to a forum by the name of High Definition Digest Forums there was a thread created for the recent review of a movie. The movie isn't really important, but the behavior of the moderators and staff members that really annoy me. To sum it up several of the regular members expressed that they disagreed with the reviewer's opinion of the movie, and from the beginning they were respectful and didn't attack or harass the reviewer himself. Shortly after the review was posted a staff member posted in the thread and expressed how much he hated the movie and also attacked the members by saying that he was "disgusted in the fact that anyone likes the movie at all." Hmmm... I know it might sound really childish to make an issue about this, but I really found it un-professional and completely void of objectivity (which is when I found it insulting). Thankfully many members called him out on this back quoting his statement and adding the dissapppointment that a staff member would act so inappropriately towards other members. Next that same staff member continued to blast those members that questioned him and also continued to say some ridiculous statements about the movie and foolishly attacked the book that the movie was based off of. After reading through all the posts I was really surprised that none of the other moderators made any attempt to intervene or lock the thread, but actually encouraged the staff member's attitude and opinion. At this point I was really offended by not only the original person's attitude, but the fact that the other moderators supported him and added to the problem by attacking some of the members. So I decided to bring this point up I made a comment on how shocked I was at the level of unprofessionalism in everyone that represented the site and that it's really pathetic that they are attacking the members that are paying to support the site. Later I logged in to see if anyone had taken note of my points I find that I have been banned from the site for "Attacking the moderators and/or staff members." This is completely absurd, and plan on confronting the moderator responsible for the ban as to how I attacked anyone and why nobody has seen fit to keep the lapdog staff members in check. After I'm finished with this situation I feel I will no longer visit the High Def Digest Forums and will look for another site to visit and contribute to. I suggest others to do the same by avoiding this site like the plague.

Funky Fresh

This week has been pretty darn awesome. Classes are going great, got some spare cash in the bank, and the new demos for Halo Wars and Killzone 2 were released. My first impressions of both are very good, and I look forward to playing both full versions of them. Halo Wars' skirmish mode is gonna be great, especially with the co-op online feature. I also really like the concept of the campaign co-op in regards to being able to collaborate with your ally to plan attacks. One person can build quick recon strikes to distract the enemy while the other can build the formidable attack force to bring the pain. I freaking love RTS games!!! Killzone 2... what else can be said except for WOW. Finally after roughly 5 years, yes 5 years of development we get to see Guerilla's masterpiece in full motion. The demo is a 2GB download and depressingly short playtime. The animation is really great, but nothing that hasn't been seen before (Metal Gear Solid 4 quality). The sound is what sticks out the most to me...you can tell that this game is meant for full Dolby goodness. The beginning part of the demo is a beach invasion and you can hear the blasts, shots, and yelling in each part of the 5.1 with great, rich detail. I read somewhere that campaign co-op is NOT included in the game right off the bat, but you need to download a patch for it. I'm not sure if this patch is ready for day one or if it will be shortly after release. The MP is already getting great rants and reviews based on the Beta users so I'm not even stressing that part at all. I'm more concerned about the overall Single player and co-op campaign. Hopefully it won't fail to impress like the first Killzone.