Merch 3: Persistence.

As per my previous two Merch posts, February was a pretty good month for filling gaps in my collection of geek schwag.  Happily, I was able to complete the hat trick by buying a couple of four-poster sets of Star Trek: The Original Series movie posters by Juan Ortiz, a leftover from my 2016 seasonal wish list.

I originally stumbled across these retro-styled limited edition* prints at the Museum of Popular Culture (aka MoPop) online gift shop while doing research for my annual gift suggestions in 2016.  Ortiz produced 80 of these unique posters, one for each of the Original Series episodes.  Sadly, it turned out that MoPop doesn't ship to Canada, so that particular gift option regretfully left the table.

However, when Karli and I decided to plan a February weekend in Seattle which would include a visit to MoPop to see the Jim Henson exhibition, I thought to myself, "Hmmm, I wonder if they have those posters in stock at the gift shop?" Logically (no Spock joke intended) there would be no reason for the two on-site shops to share stock with the online fulfillment inventory, but it was certainly worth checking while we were there.

In the fullness of time, we headed south to Seattle, and made our way to the MoPop on the Saturday morning.  When we'd finished at the Henson exhibition, we headed over to the science fiction gift shops. There was no sign of the posters in their shelf inventory, but it turned out that they still had some left in the back room, a random selection of eight or nine of the four-poster sets from the original 20 sets that were produced.

Because there was no visual guide to which posters were in each set, the clerk very kindly offered to let me look at the poster options online, but the pages were loading ridiculously slowly, making it a painful process.  As a result, I just randomly selected two of the sets rather than tie up too much of the man's time.

(He was also kind enough to give me the online sale price of $25.00 rather than the sticker price of $34.99, which is significant when you're looking at an exchange rate of about thirty cents on the dollar.)

So, what did I get in my random selection?

I'll be honest, I don't love all the posters in any of the single sets.  Each set has something I like, and each set has something I don't like, such is the nature of individual taste. In the case of these two sets, purely by chance I ended up with two of my favourite posters from the 80 options:  The Conscience of the King from Set 16, and Errand of Mercy from Set 17.  The other posters are certainly well done, but these are certainly two of the best looking designs by my standards.  They're very nicely printed on a matte finish 100 lb stock, and, based on the halftone screen, run on press rather than digitally. 

The good news is that, because of my preference for two of the eight prints, I would only want to get those two framed, at least in the short term.  Given that it could easily cost two or three times as much as my entire purchase to get just one of them put into a nice frame, I certainly appreciate the silver lining of not loving all eight of the posters. 

  - Sid

P.S. If you're a Star Trek fan in the British Columbia lower mainland who's interested in the other posters, leave a comment, we may be able to do business.

* To be honest, I'm not certain that these are officially a limited edition run as per the formal definition, it may well be that they will simply not be doing a second print run.

Merch 2: Vaulted.

When Karli and I were planning our stop at Funko headquarters in Everett as part of our recent trip to Seattle, it occurred to me that it was the perfect opportunity to get the matching Lone Wanderer to go with the Fallout: Power Armor figure that Karli had given me as a Christmas gift. 

Sadly, a little research on the Funko web site revealed that both figures had been  Vaulted*, which means that they are no longer in production.

My first thought at this piece of information was: Oh well, at least I've got one of them - and the cooler looking one! 

My second thought was: Damn...obviously I should have left my gift in its packaging to preserve its MOC (Mint On Card) value.  What have I done? **  

My third thought was to shrug and get on with my life.  After all, we're talking about polystyrene toys here, it's hardly the end of the world (no pun intended) to find out that they're not being manufactured any more.

Aha, never say never.  I still don't know if she had advance knowledge or not, but Karli almost demanded that we pay a visit to Golden Age Collectables, an excellent comic book and collectable shop with a comprehensive selection which is located at Pike Place Market.***  As we wandered about the store, we stumbled across the Lone Wanderer figure in their inventory - how could I not buy it?

Both the Lone Wanderer and the Power Armor stand up well to a close inspection:  they're quite detailed, accurately modelled and well articulated.  However, I had the same problem with both of the figures.  As I've already noted, it is not easy to get them to hold onto their supplied firearms.

So now I'm the proud owner of both Funko Fallout figures - and yes, they're both out of their packaging, my sincere apologies to my heirs for ruining their inheritance.  If you're very upset, feel free to drive to Seattle and buy your own - they still had four or five of the figures left in stock at Golden Age. 

  - Sid

* This is unintentionally funny - the Fallout franchise is based around characters who have survived the nuclear holocaust in an alternate history United States by sheltering in underground shelters - called Vaults.

** Seriously, though, that's no fun.  As The Big Bang Theory's Penny said about her virginity, it's a lot more fun to take it out and play with it.

*** There's a sister store on Granville Street in Vancouver.

A brief digression regarding The Lord of the Rings.

As I mentioned in my Book Report posting, I'm currently procrastinating on my New Year's resolution to read more paper books, thanks to a digital copy of The Lord of The Rings. But, in my defense, it's just so good.

I'm a bit in awe of how well written this story actually is.  I've been a frequent visitor to the lands and kingdoms of Middle Earth over time - I've worn out a couple of sets of the books since my first purchase in the 70s - but for a variety of reasons, I haven't read Tolkien's masterpiece for several years. There's a bit of favourite fatigue for even the best books, I'm so familiar with the content by now, and so on and so on.  All that being said, returning to the books after a rest has let me see the story with fresh eyes, and as I said, I'm a bit in awe.

Yes, it's very old school - but let's say classic instead.  There isn't a wasted word, the tone and style are perfect, the descriptions are evocative and realistic, the dialogue is simple and elegant, the story flows smoothly and seamlessly from paragraph to paragraph and chapter to chapter, the tale itself is epic and gripping - it's just beautifully put together.

I admit that it's not for everyone, but if you think of yourself as a reader for the sake of the quality of the words on the page, for the pure craft of writing, you owe it to yourself to take a look at The Lord of The Rings.

- Sid