WonderCon 2016 Swag!

Well, what good would going to a con be if I couldn't brag about all the awesome merchandise I bought? Hmmm......? Yeah, thought so!

[#1-#5 of Damsels in Excess from Aspen Comics]

My Uncle Mushroom always says, "Lead big or stay home!" So, that's what I'm doing! The picture above is of the first 5 comics in the "Damsels In Excess" series from Aspen Comics. I have some already, but I couldn't miss out on the opportunity to have the creator, Vince Hernandez, sign them! I had no idea he was going to be at the booth at that time, but sometimes you just happen to be in the right place at the right time!

[original pieces by Heather Curfman]

From left to right:

• Lapis from Steven Universe
• Steven Universe buttons
• Original art of birds

The above goodies are by Heather Curfman aka Alagaesha Art. I love her Lapis print! It's beautiful! It makes me want the original! The birds are adorable and I picked them up to send to a pen pal! (Yes, I'm always thinking of sharing my experiences with pen pals and I like to get mementos for them too!) The buttons are cute and check out the packaging! The packaging is brand new and Miss Heather has done a fabulous job over the last few months with stepping up her game!

[original art by Melody Wang]

I bought 2 prints from Melody Wang aka Chukairi! I had to get the bunnies! The small print of Hepburn is for a pen pal! I wanted to get more smaller prints to send to pen pals, but this was the only 1 she had that I thought looked artsy enough to send out.

[original greeting cards by Jackie Huang]

I was passing by a table and couldn't help but pick up these 2 greeting cards by Jackie Huang! How adorable! They are blank inside. I bought them to send to pen pals, but I am so tempted to keep them! 

[original fan art by Jessie Greenberg]

This particular print of Gwen and Cindy was actually spotted by Agent Afronaut! It's by Jessie Greenberg and when I saw it I had to have it! It's perfectly me! (This could be a hint to an up and coming cosplay........hehe!)

[Narwhal & Bunny Whale stickers by Rizzo Michelle]

There was a vendor there that I had never encountered at a con before. Her name is Rizzo Michelle and she had handmade plushies. Yes, I said handmade, as in she makes them herself! I was very interested in her own creation of "Whale Bunnies" that you can see on the stickers I purchased. My partner surprised me by buying a Narwhal plushy! His name is Herbie and he's my favorite mint color! So cute!

[posters and stickers by Bellzi]

I am a huge Bellzi fan! I have mentioned them in past blog posts and the Rainbow Narwhal featured in the poster above, I happen to OWN! So, I had to buy their posters and I picked up some sticker packs too! I was also hoping to win a giant version of the Rainbow Narwhal, but sadly, I did not.

[art by Kieu Le]

Not sure how we didn't spot this on Day 1, but we did see it Sunday! This is an inside thing between Agent Afronaut and myself, the whole "Bunny and Turtle" thing we say all the time, so we had to buy this print! Too cute! We almost didn't get the print signed, but just as we were about to leave the artist, Kieu Le, came back to the booth! She was super nice!

[Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury charms by Complexwish]

My streak of "no charm buying at cons" came to an end at WonderCon. Last year, I started a new tradition of buying fan-made charms at cons, starting at SacAnime Summer 2015. However, the past few cons I have attended I have not found any charms that really caught my interest and so I hadn't bought any. I was about to give up at WonderCon this year too, but I found these adorable charms of Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury by Complexwish on Sunday and snatched them! I love how detailed the charms are and even their lanyard is well made. 

[back of the charms by Complexwish]

The charms are reversible too! Again, such great detail, even on the back of the charms! I love it!

Well, that's all for now. Sorry for such a delay on the post! I have been having internet problems since around January and Comcast just came out and fixed it this week!

Comikaze 2015 Haul

Now here's the part where I show you all the great stuff I collected at Comikaze 2015! I already posted about my time at the convention and how I met a lot of really cool artists. This blog post is just to show my Comikaze haul!

[IDW's Fiendship Is Magic subscription covers by Sara Richard]

Here are the 4 subscription covers that were drawn by Sara Richard. If you look at the "P" in the Pony part of the titles you'll see her signature where she signed them! There is a 5th cover featuring Rainbow Dash, but she didn't have it at the convention. It was still really great to meet her! She was super nice!

[art & Niobe collected at Comikaze]

From Left to Right: 

• Sailor Moon art print by Amber Harris. This particular Sailor Moon fan art really caught my eye. It is well done, but also depicts a version of Sailor Moon in a more stronger and sassier character. 
• Niobe comic by Amandla Stenberg and Sebastian Jones, art by Ashley A. Woods. This comic has been gaining a lot of notoriety lately and I had to check it out! The people of Stranger Comics were really awesome to talk to at the convention!
• "Memories of a Kitty" by Sean Danconia. My friend and I passed Sean Danconia's table and saw kawaii Hello Kitty art! We had to have a print! Danconia's work is amazingly detailed and unique! All of his art is something to take in!

[fan art from Comikaze]

• Garnet, chibi Miku, and Bill Cipher are by Melissa Douglas. I had caught her work before at other conventions earlier this year, but hadn't bought anything. This time I snagged some cuties! She seemed to have a lot more art at her table at this convention too. Her Garnet print is what really caught my eye!
• Sailor Mars by Melody Wang. I had previously purchased this print and for a reason unknown, I cannot find it, so I had to re-buy it.  Her work is awesome and she is in the process of creating every sailor scout!

[DMC by Darryl McDaniels]

This is the print and the graphic novel from Darryl McDaniels of Run-DMC. I had the pleasure of meeting him and getting a photo with him. He was very sweet!

[My Little Pony art by DrawPonies]

Here are the 3 prints I bought from the artist known as: DrawPonies. His creative pony art drew me in, but it was his charming personality that sold me!

[rainbow narwhal by Bellzi]

I'm not even going to hide the fact that my Rainbow Narwhal by Bellzi is my absolute favorite souvenir from Comikaze! The rainbow narwhal was on display at Bellzi's booth and I really wanted it! Turns out though that one cannot just simply buy the Rainbow Narwhal; no, it has to be won! They are put into mystery bags that cost $40 and there's a chance one will be in there.......and there's a chance that it won't be. Well, I was gifted a mystery bag with a rainbow narwhal in it and I couldn't be happier! I love her! I named her Natasha and she's been a highlight in my plushy collection! Even as I carried her around at the convention I received a lot of positive and exciting comments from people who saw her. - These rainbow narwhals have been at other conventions that Bellzi has attended and it is the same situation where they are put in mystery bags and there is a chance to win one. These are not even listed on their website. So, if you want one, your best bet is to get to a convention that Bellzi is attending!

Unboxing: Marvel Collector Corps - August Box

Okay, we've reached the end of my Collector Corps unboxings! After this post, I am all caught up. I'm not that far behind with the August box as I just received it about two weeks ago, but I know plenty of people have already unboxed and reviewed it. I'm still going to offer my thoughts. It still surprises me when big Marvel fans tell me that they have no idea about the program. Before posting this, I was talking to a friend of mine who is a die hard Marvel franchise fan and he had no idea this program existed! So, for people like him who are out there or just curious, check this post out!

[Marvel Collector Corps August Box]

So, last time in June, I received an extra box. If you read my last post the company allowed me to keep it without charge. This time I received two extra boxes and only paid for 1! Not sure why this is happening and it is most likely a glitch in their system, but it's a nice surprise.

[Marvel Collector Corps patch & pin for August]

Like June's box, August's box opened to a flat piece that contained the patch and the pin for the month. The patch features the new Captain America and the pin has the new Iron Man. The top piece of the card board box folds up to reveal the rest of the contents. As, for the pin and patch, they're my favorite so far from Collector Corps!

[Secret Wars #1 Collector Corps Variant]

When the top of the inside cardboard piece was removed it revealed the monthly variant comic. August featured the new Thor in her Pop! form and the comic was #1 of the Secret Wars series. As stated before, I do not read most Marvel comics, but I am a fan of empowered females and so I like the cover! It intrigues me to read it, so I just may! -I will add that this month's comic came bagged and boarded, unlike the two previous months when the monthly comic was loose and did not even have a bag.

[Marvel Collector Corps exclusive Thor & Spider-Man]

Underneath the comic was two exclusive Pop! bobbleheads! On the left is #97 and is the new Thor from Secret Wars. On the right is #98 Spider-Man aka Miles Morales. I really liked the fact that this time the pops were divided and well secured. (The monthly tee was actually on top of the Pop! Vinyls and I will show that later.)

[Marvel Collector Corps exclusive Pop! Vinyl #97 Thor (Secret Wars)]

Here's a close up of #97 - Thor (Secret Wars). As I said earlier, as a woman, it is great to see empowered females in any form. So, I am loving this Pop! figure. I have not taken her out of the box, but I plan to at some point. She has a hammer, but it's hidden by the art on the box. This figure is an exclusive to the Collector Corps program and not available in stores. Any company selling these most likely purchased boxes themselves.

[Marvel Collector Corps exclusive Pop! Vinyl #98 Spider-Man (Miles Morales)]

Here's a close up of the other exclusive Pop! vinyl bobble-head from the August box. This one is #98 and is Miles Morales as Spider-Man. He looks pretty cool and I have not taken him out of the box either. Not sure if I will, but he's nice to add to the collection.

[Marvel Collector Corps Secret Wars Tee]

August's tee was a black shirt with "Secret Wars" printed on top and featuring Thor, Spider-Man, Captain America, and Iron Man in their Pop! Vinyl forms. This is my favorite tee so far from the program and it kind of made me wish I had gotten the shirt in XS, but as always I ordered a XL and it was gifted to my Marvel friend. I may have to start ordering them for me though........

[packaging from the Marvel Collector Corps August Box]

Over all, I really liked August's box. I wasn't overly thrilled with June, but I liked it. Mostly, what I liked about June's box was the great improvements in service and I saw even more improvements for August; not only were the boxes shipped on time, but the packaging was greatly increased in terms of security and protection! As you can see in the picture above, they made great strides in the design of their boxes to insure that items arrived intact! I'm also always amazed at the detail they put inside the boxes! I do not know any other company who does this! Over all, for someone who is not following the comic Secret Wars series, I thought the box was cute and great for collectors! I will definitely be getting a box in October.

Unboxing: Marvel Collector Corps - June Box

If you read the previous post then you know that I'm behind on all of this and I'm piling through to catch up to August, and get this all done before October! I had to take a little bit of a break because of work and friends, but hey! it's the end of summer and I gotta live it up before it's over! You understand, right?

So, after the disaster that was the introduction to the Collector Corps program and the lengthy wait (not to mention the effort) to get the box, I decided to give it one last month. Normally I like to try things out for about 3-5 months, but I just couldn't take a battle three months in a row; my mind was made up and if it was a disaster in June then I was not going to get a box for August. - There was a slight hiccup between the April box and the June box, but nothing too extreme. The issue was that if you had Pay Pal as your automatic payment every month they cancelled it and you had to sign up again. I am assuming this had to do with PayPal becoming an independent company (separate from eBay), but I don't actually know the cause. Collector Corps stated that there was an "issue" and that was all. Never the less, support on Facebook let us know when it was safe to sign up again and they also sent out an email. I was able to get my payment on time for June. Unlike the first box, they did not let orders for the box go long. They took pre-orders and then it was shut down before the boxes shipped out.

[Marvel Collector Corps - June Box]

The theme for the June box was Ant-Man, which made sense because the movie was due out in July. Collector Corps did announce the theme of the box early, so you could decide if you wanted to get one or not. The contents were not revealed.

I was greatly surprised when my boxes were delivered, considering that I only ordered one and was only charged for one. I contacted Collector Corps and they said it was their "error" and I could keep the extra box, which was very nice of them.

[Marvel Collector Corps Ant-Man pin & patch from the June box]

When I first opened the box it was a bit different than April's box. Instead of all of the contents just being put in the box it had a cover over the main contents and it featured the patch and pin for the month. (As I stated in the last post, every month comes with an exclusive pin and patch.) Both the patch and the pin featured Ant-Man.

[contents of the June box for Marvel Collector Corps]

When I opened the boxes they were identical in content. Both contained an exclusive Collector Corps Ant-Man Pop! and 2 Funko Ant-Man blind boxes. The Blind boxes were not exclusives and you did only get 2 of them, leaving you to hunt for the other 2 if you wanted a complete set, as there were 4 in all.

[Funko Pop! #87 Ant-Man - Collector Corps Exclusive]

I'll start off with an up-close view of Pop! figure. It is Ant-Man without a helmet, but the best part is the exclusive "Funko's Smallest Bobblehead", which is Ant-Man when he shrinks! Very cool, in my opinion. I have not taken mine out of the box yet, but I look forward to that.

[Funko Pop! Ant-Man series]

The back of the Pop! figure featured the other Pop! figures you could collect in the Ant-Man series from the movie. Obviously, these would be available where Pop! figures are regularly sold.

[Funko Ant-Man Mystery Minis Series]

As I said before- the Mystery Minis were not exclusives to Collector Corps and you only received 2 boxes, leaving you to search for the other 4 if you wanted all of them. The box featured all 4 mini bobble-heads to collect.

[All 4 Mystery Minis from the Ant-Man series]

So, like I said before, I received an extra box and so I had 4 Mystery Mini boxes to open. I really lucked out and received all 4! I could have had doubles, but I somehow was fortunate enough to get the whole series. So, no extra money was spent for this series! I was quite pleased!

[Ant-Man Comic #5 - Collector Corps Variant]

As always, the box came with a comic that has an exclusive variant cover. This box had an Ant-Man comic, which appears to be #5, and since I do not read most Marvel comics......I have yet to actually read it. I do like the cover though.

[Collector Corps Ant-Man Tee]

Unlike the previous box, this box only had 1 tee for everyone. So, I received 2 shirts that were the same.

[Collector Corps Ant-Man tee design]

The shirt was simple. It is all black and says "Ant-Man" on the front. Under the lettering is Ant-Man in the "actual size" of when he shrinks. Simple, yet cute. I actually would have worn this 1, but I still just ordered the "XL" size and gave it away. I still have the other one, so maybe I'll cut it up and make it fit or just wear it as a lounge tee.

Overall, I really liked this box. While the exclusives were not as great as the first box (in my opinion), I think that was mostly due to the fact that I am not an Ant-Man fan. I did have more appreciation for the series after watching the movie, but I just felt like the HulkBuster Pop! and the Dorbz included in the April box were pretty hard to beat. Honestly, I cannot beat the price for the fact that I only paid for 1 box and received double the quantity. The transaction, shipment, arrival, and packaging were all much improved from the first box as well. So, after June's box I was definitely getting 1 in August!

Unboxing: Marvel Collector Corps - April Box

Okay, so I know I'm waaaaaaaaaay late to the party, but I have a good excuse! -When the June box came I had not started this blog. At the time the thought of starting one had crossed my mind, but I had not actually moved forward to do so. I had started this blog in July, when the second box had just arrived (end of June) and my initial plan was to review both the April & June boxes together, However, my June box was sent right before vacation and so I had no time to put up my review/unboxing. I just received my August box though, so before I get my October box, let me get on with this!

My experience with Collector Corps from Funko started off rocky. I signed up for the box at the beginning of March and as the company stated, the first wave of boxes would be shipped out in April 2015. My assumption was that the boxes would be shipped within the first week of April, seeing as how the pre-order for these boxes had been around since January 2015. However, the company never actually stated when the boxes would be sent out and you know what they say about assuming........ So, the first two weeks of April roll around and no one has received word about when the boxes will be shipped. There was a mix of complaints from people and others being more positive and patient. I had made a comment on the Collector Corps Facebook page about the lack of communication and was met with other subscribers telling me to not be negative and others agreeing with me. -My view was that if you had all this time to pre-order and you had collected this money, then why are we not receiving any word about the shipments? I honestly did expect it to ship out the first week, but even if my assumption was wrong, as a company, I would at least think you would be communicating with your customers.

Well, about another week passed and finally a representative on the Facebook page tells us that they're about to ship Wave 1; if you ordered by the cut off date in April you were Wave 1 and your box would ship out 1st. However, they were leaving the ordering open and people could still order the box, which the new orders would be Wave 2. 

Now comes the drama..........

So, Wave 1 ships and I do not get any update that my box has shipped. So, I wait until Wave 2 apparently ships. Again, my box has not yet shipped. This made no sense to me, as I had ordered my box before the cutoff for Wave 1. On April 22, 2015 it was said that my box finally shipped. I waited and waited and 3 weeks later I still had no box. Not only did I not have a box, but my tracking information never updated and just consistently told me it was sitting at the warehouse waiting to arrive at UPS. It took multiple messages to the Facebook page and to their support (about 2 and half weeks total) and a replacement box was finally shipped to me on May-15, 2015. This is almost a month after my first box was suppose to have shipped. About a week later I also got another update that a box on May-21 shipped to me as well, but I did not order a 2nd box, nor did I receive a second box. Whatever happened to that box is beyond me. 

I'm not the only one who had issues. Several people complained about delays and not getting a box. Some people were charged multiple times and never got one box. Others were getting one or two extra boxes, while people like myself were sitting here with no box. It was a very frustrating experience to deal with. However, when I saw the contents, my mind couldn't help but cut them some slack. 

[April Collector Corps Box]

The box cost $25 for ever subscriber + $6.95 for US shipping. (Shipping is more for other countries.) Depending on the state you lived in, you may have to pay tax too. I live in California and I have to pay my state sales tax as well. So, the total cost for me monthly is $34. My initial thought and it still happens to be how I feel- $34 every other month for a box of exclusives is not bad. Of course, they have to deliver on that box. For the pre-order you had the option of paying for a whole year up front and that would entitle you to an exclusive statue of Captain America upon your 1 year anniversary, but I couldn't reason spending over $200 on something I was unsure of if I would like or not. So, I choose the monthly option, which is paying for the box on the 1st of every other month and I did not get the annual figure.

I was very excited to see that the box was very detailed. The outside featured Captain America's face and was very sturdy. What was not so secure was the inside of the box. There was no padding, no protection. The box was clearly bigger than the items inside, so there was plenty of room for the items to shift and break or get ruined. I can say that I was fortunate that nothing in my box was damaged. I did see several complaints from others that their comics were ruined and/or their figure was ruined. The comic was not bagged or boarded either.

[inside of the April Collectors Corp Box]

Even the inside of the box was detailed with comic art! I was very impressed! Not many subscription companies go that far and I don't care what genre the box is in.

[Funko Collector Corps Exclusive Hulkbuster Pop]

So, I believe the main thing most people wanted was the Hulkbuster Pop! and it was an exclusive to Collector Corps. I must say it is very impressive and weighs more than a regular Pop! figure does. I have yet to take mine out of the box, but it looks awesome!

[Funko Collector Corps Exclusive Dorbz Figure]

Another exclusive figure in the April box was this Dorbz vinyl figure, which you could only get if subscribed to Collectors Corps.

[Funko Dorbz Series 1]

The back of the Dorbz box did show all of the characters that would be available to collect outside of Collectors Corps. I easily found these at Hot Topic.

[Ultron Dorbz Vinyl Figure - Exclusive to Collector Corps]

As the box for April was themed around the "Age of Ultron" movie, Ultron himself was the exclusive Dorbz for the Collector Corps box. I was very impressed with how adorable he is, especially since he's kind of an asshole in the movie.

[Collector Corps exclusive patch & pin]

The box also came with an exclusive patch and pin. This is a regular item that will be in every box. The company actually claims an exclusive comic variant cover of one comic, an exclusive pin, an exclusive patch, an exclusive vinyl, and exclusive shirt come in every box. - April's patch featured Ultron and the pin featured a classic Captain America.

[Collector Corps exclusive comic variant]

The exclusive variant cover for the April box featured Falcon or the new Captain America and belongs to the Avengers series. I will be honest and admit that I'm not a huge comic reader. I regularly get the My Little Pony titles and other Cartoon Network related comics, but as far as Marvel goes, I am not big into their comics. I'm a huge movie and TV show fan of Marvel though. I have the comic around, but have not read it and do not plan on collecting more of this series. I do like the cover though.

[Collector Corps exclusive tee]

The shirt was given away. I had a good feeling I would not be into the shirts from this subscription box and I was right. For April, the shirts featured a poster style print and you could get one of four different characters beside Ultron - Captain America, Hulk, Iron Man, or Thor. My shirt was Thor, but again, I did not keep it.

So, after all the work I had to put in, eventually I did get my box and I did love it! I liked it enough to give it a second chance for June. I also felt that the company is brand new and I tried to cut it some slack. I basically just tried to stay positive until round 2 and hoped for the best! I had been apart of subscription service launches before and it was rough. Not as bad as this one, but I guess every new service has kinks to work out.