#4: Sporiadic purchases

Maria

One of my most anticipated films of 2016, was Assassin's Creed. Of course the film turned out to be another disastrous Video game film. In some ways it stands above the pack. One of those, is the fact that it takes place in the same continuity as the original video games. In this way I consider it a sort of spin-off, and ultimately I appreciated some of it's additions to the lore. In particular some of the characters interested me. I got the Maria Pop vinyl in anticipation to the film. One of my biggest problems with the films plot, was the fact that Maria was abhorrently underused, and I still hope for a prequel game that explores some of the underused characters.

Jamie Benn

The NHL is the sporting organization that has always interested me the most. and with it, Hockey being the most interesting sport in my mind. In my youth I played EA sports NHL games with my uncle a lot, and I credit those original games in the series To be very important, to my future Love of video games. and now that I am seriously looking into sports, The NHL is one of the sporting Leagues I am most intently following. Of course as a patriot, One of my favourite teams is The Edmonton Oilers, with my other being the Dallas Stars. And since I couldn't find any Oilers Pop vinyls, I bought the Jamie Benn Pop. One of the things I found funny about the NHL (and sports in general) is that players don't have to be from the home country of a team to join them. Hence a canadian; Jamie Benn, is leader of the Texan Dallas Stars team.

Cat In The Hat

When I was a kid, one of my favourite authors was Theodor Geisel. Otherwise known as Dr. Seuss. And for nostalgia's sake, I decided to get the Cat In The Hat Pop vinyl, as the character was more or less the mascot of the series of Children's books written by Geisel. Ironically I never read the original Cat in The Hat story, instead my connection to the character, was purely through The Cat's mascot position. The Pop, is my first Pop Books Pop.

Ancient One

One of the biggest controversies regarding Doctor Strange, was the whitewashing of The Ancient One by the casting of Tilda Swinton. I for one agree with it, as I found the original character a bit of an awkward stereotype in some ways. And In style the film still managed to sick with the ancient mystic theme, by making the character a Celtic mystic, something that's less typical. I enjoyed Swinton's portrayal of the character. Because of my issues with the original version of the character, I consider Swinton's version of the character the definitive characterization. I appreciated the set up, featuring the character as a wise, but heavily flawed sorcerer. The Pop vinyl itself was on sale.

Dory

The original Finding Nemo film, was in a curios position during my childhood. It arrived during my youth, so it should have been a childhood favourite, but since my parents never had a copy, (only my uncle) so it was always a B-Teir cartoon in my mind. I never watched it enough to get truly nostalgic about it, when I got older. And so I wasn't particularly thrilled to hear about Pixar's Sequel/Spin-Off Finding Dory. And without nostalgia to bind it's limitations, I had a mixed time with it. On one hand I hated some of the supporting characters, such as Destiny and Bailey, as I found them grating and irritating. Something rare for a Pixar film. But Ellen DeGeneres's Dory was a bright part. The character for the most part acted as a typically sympathetic Pixar protagonist, and ironically was more interesting than in the original film. There are two versions if the Pop vinyl. One for Finding Nemo and one for Finding Dory. I have the one for Finding Dory. I have the Pop because, my Dad found it at a chapters on sale.

#3 The Sign of Four

King Kong

The first King Kong film I watched was the 2005 film, by Peter Jackson. It was quite a few years ago, and I barely remember it now. I do remember that, I found it overlong and boring during the first act. I am greatly anticipating the film Kong: Skull Island. (The second Monstersverse film) it looks pulpy and fun, which is exactly how I feel The character of King Kong should be handled. Do not misunderstand me, I enjoyed King Kong, (2005) especially the action scenes and monster designs. I chose to get the King Kong Pop, both because the character is my second favourite classic giant movie monster, after Godzilla, and because of my anticipation of the Monsterverse. The figure itself is a six inch Pop vinyl, which was another motivation to get it.

Beetlejuice

Beetlejuice (alternatively known as Betelgeuse) is probably Michael Keaton's greatest role, in my mind.
I feel most 80s film villains were bland and generic. there were some very notable exceptions. Darth Vader, Belloq, and of course Beetlejuice. The character is quirky, nasty and (at the time) fairly unique. The Pop vinyl itself is one of the oldest Pops made, as it is 05 in the pop movies line. Overall, I have mixed feelings about Tim Burton. His directing style, that made Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands and Miss peregrine's home for peculiar children so distinctive, also dragged down Batman. (1989) I am one of the few who have more mixed feelings over Tim Burton's Batman films. In particular I have mixed feelings about the portrayal of Batman himself. In that way I will never consider Michael Keaton's Batman even close to being one of the definitive versions of the character. as such it is Beetlejuice who is what I consider Keaton's best role.

Boomerang

I was one of those who were more forgiving of Suicide Squad. To me the second DC Extended Universe film had a sense of goofy fun too it. similar too the first (live action) Transformers film. It's sense of fun (though I felt it struggled with Humour) was refreshing after Zach Snyder's DC films. My opinion of Snyder remains mixed. From positive, (300, Watchmen, Man of Steel.) mixed, (Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Guardians of Gahoole.) and outright negative. (Sucker Punch.) but his newer films have struggled to bring a sense of fun. with insane CGI action set pieces, a sense of fun needed to prevent fatigue. Suicide Squad partially succeeded in this. In the DC universe Captain Boomerang was one of my favourite Flash villains. Along with Reverse Flash, Zoom, Gorilla Grodd and Captain Cold. And I felt pretty excited when I heard that The Digger Harkness incarnation of the character would appear in the film. Ultimately I enjoyed the portrayal of the character. For God's sake, nearly every character in the film was decently likeable and sympathetic, to the point of feeling like typical super hero film protagonists. Boomerang was one of the exceptions. Crude, Cruel and unpleasant, the character actually felt like a villain that happened to be a protagonist. Also I liked how the character was fairly loyally represented. The Pop is my first Pop Heroes Vinyl.

Eleven With Eggos

Stranger Things was one of the pop culture franchises I only watched for my pop goal. I completely expected to dislike it. too my immense surprise, I found it engaging and interesting and one of the best part was the characters. In particular I was impressed by the child actors. Child actors are typically terrible and I expected no better from the series, but It surprised me. Eleven stands out as one of the greatest roles ever given to a child actor. I really liked the character, and the acting was some of the most impressive, as the actress was pretty young during filming. I had honestly never heard of Eggo waffles before the series, and admittedly I am now curious about the food. the Pop's box has what appears to be, a small amount of water damage on the plastic of the box.