New Statement of Purpose

It's the last day--indeed, almost the last hour--of May, and I want to start the new month with my new Statement of Purpose. Not that I'll be abandoning action figures. But as a topic of discussion it cannot always occupy my attention.

Not that it's too limited a topic. In fact, it's almost too vast. I've had so many more action figures to discuss other than the three that I actually posted this month--and three volumes of Tomart's Encyclopedia & Price Guide to Action Figure Collectibles--and coming action figures--that I've sat down many times to write a post and gave up at the immensity of the task. So, paradoxically, by broadening my field of posts I hope to be able to deal with the job, in effect resting with other things till I get back to the toys.

What other things? My fads, freaks, and fallacies, my memories, dreams, anectodage, books, movies, TV shows, favorite poems, pictures, fugitive writings--in effect, my blathering opinions on life, the universe, and everything. This will probably interest only my four readers (and not always all of them), but there it is.

And so, as the saying goes--"On with the goddamn circus!"

Zira

When I went to Florida some months ago, I got three of the Medicom Planet of the Apes figures: Cornelius, Dr. Zaius, and General Aldo. Medicom has, in my opinion, come out with the perfect sculpt and format for Ape figures (and by this I mean action figures, not dolls, which, let us face it, are basically what the old, much-beloved Mego Apes were). But I wanted--nay, needed, nay CRAVED--a Zira figure to complete the basic quartet. After all, what would Cornelius be without Zira? So my good friend at Z's Toys kept his eyes open and ordered me one when it became available on eBay. Today it came in, and I bought it for $22.

I tried and tried to get a scan off the card, but I'm having trouble with my new program Adobe Photoshop. I suppose it's probably because I'm not used to it, but it seems less straight forward and less intuitive than my old Adobe program. I think that's one reason for my scandalously scant output: this is only my third post of the month! Anyway I ended up using a picture grabbed off of Google.

Cloud Strife

Cloud Strife. Enemy of Sephiroth. Love interest of Aerith. Side story in Kingdom Hearts and major player in Final Fantasy. Bit of a moody stiff, to tell the truth. And never, never in all the time I've known him has he ever picked up a check. Not even a lousy cup of coffee. He hasn't called his mother in three years. Always too busy fighting and brooding about his destiny. And let me tell you, after a bout with Sephiroth that leather smells none too fresh. He doesn't deserve Aerith, that's for sure, but she is so sweet and so patient...she's just wasting herself on him, if you ask me. Wasting herself. >sighs<

Well, yada yada yada, 22 points of articulation, Square Enix, and so forth.

Axel

I got Axel some weeks ago, for $23, from Z's Toys and More. He's the last guy in Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts series; at least, he's the last I've gotten.

In the Kingdom Hearts mythos, Axel is a member of the sinister Organiztion 13, a group of "Nobodies" who want to gain ultimate power and real personhood. He became a friend of Roxas, Sora's alternative persona, and his purpose in the game is to re-awaken and separate Roxas from Sora. In the process he works against his fellow members of Organization 13, befriends Sora, and dies defending him.

Other good characters also wear the Organization 13 robes to infiltrate the order (including Riku and King Mickey, a.k.a. Mickey Mouse), and this is what has undoubtedly inspired this item in the Museum Replicas Limited catalog:

Copy reads: "Gatekeeper Coat: From a video game kingdom comes this awesome long coat made of a shimmering nylon with an extra full hood and bell sleeves. The double-action front zipper allows for a variety of different looks. Complete with a chain of accent crosses and keys. $130."