Chris Ryniak and Amanda Louise Spayd's Gemnibbler Exclusive from Umi Toys Hawaii

    Happy New Year, ya filthy animals!  The best way to start your next 365 days off right is to treat yourself to some retail therapy.  I started the New Year with a sinus infection; mouth breathing my way home from work last night while R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World as We Know It" filled the interior of my Hyundai.  Kind of an ominous start to 2019, but if life were easy I certainly wouldn't recognize it if it was standing next to me and tapping my shoulder.  So while I could bore you with top 10 lists or other nonsense that people usually do this time of year, my cold medicine is insisting we throw that idea in the trash and instead tell you about something new.  Brace yourselves, for I am at its mercy.

   There's nothing worse that being a collector of anything and not being able to get each and every thing associated with it.  Do you want to know how many sets of figures I have where I'm only missing one and that one that eludes me is priced at a level that would keep me up at night?  I'd tell you, but lets not dwell on the negative.  Umi Toys is ensuring that every collector of the Thimblestump Hollow series 2 figures from Chris Ryniak and Amanda Louise Spayd will be able to complete their sets by offering up this exclusive Canyon edition Gemnibbler.  This enemy of precious jewels is limited to only 85 pieces, retails for $15, and can only be had by visiting www.umitoyshawaii.com.  One of these will also be included if you are purchasing one of their Fukubukuro lucky bags.

   These figures are produced by the fine folks of Cardboard Spaceship, who have yet to convince NASA that corrugated paper is the best material for use when constructing the shuttle.  

The Debut of The Night King from Brandt Peters X Cardboard Spaceship

    I have a confession to make:  I've never been in the attic of my house.  Sharon and I have owned this thing for nearly six years and my eyes have never gazed upon the pink insulation; my lungs have never breathed in the unnaturally humid air.  I have no idea what is up there, and I tried looking once, but the access point is just a hole with a board over it sans ladder.  We have high top kitchen chairs that I used to stand on but they weren't tall enough to grant me even a peek.  I have grand notions of there being something profound up there, but it's probably filled with nothing but weird animal droppings and maybe a human skull or two.

   Now I have lived in a house before that had bats living in the attic but I only found that out when they came out and hung from the curtains in our kitchen.  I like bats though, and I love this new Night King figure from Brandt Peters X Cardboard Spaceship.  This dude is debuting on Friday, May 6th in two different colorways, Candy Corn and Half Dead and every one purchased through www.strangerfactory.com comes signed by Brandt.  Oh, and this figure is eight inches tall and sells for only $58.  That's a deal, son!!!!

The Wandering Misfits Pre Release Happening Today from Kathie Olivas x Brandt Peters x Cardboard Spaceship

    Blind boxed toys drive me absolutely insane.  I had pretty much sworn off of them as part of my twelve step program to curb my impulsiveness when buying toys.  I had been doing so well, going through all the meetings, making amends with my creditors who I had blown off in favor of secret-filled boxes of figures.  And then I see this, and not only have I fallen off the wagon, but I hit my head really hard on the curb and have lost all ability to be reasonable.  

    Husband and wife team Brandt Peters and Kathie Olivas hooked up with Cardboard Spaceship to bring some of their most popular characters to life in this series.  What's nice about it is that to own one of their resin pieces would set you back a step financially, but you can own their plastic counterparts for a mere fraction of that and retain the ability to have cable television.  Today (January 22nd) at noon Pacific time, both Cardboard Spaceship and Circus Posterus will be holding pre release sales on full cases of these figures.  As a bonus, each site has a different exclusive toy that will come signed by the artists.   So it really comes down to which exclusive you want the most.  Or if you're bad at decision making you can get them both and increase your chances of completing the set.