That's right -- today we've got two new Doctor Who features to add to the Spectare section! Perhaps you recall our friend Mickey of Strange Cousin Susan, who partnered with us for the drinking game based on "The Sarah Jane Adventures"? Well, we're glad to feature her writing once again on the site in Sarah Jane Smith Fashionista Fever! Note also that this is only the first part, so look forward to seeing more of Mickey's work on SC in the future. The article is also crossposted at her site -- along with her blog-style musings and several other projects, including a growing Sarah Jane sound file archive and a collection of LOL capshunz (many of which are Doctor Who-themed) -- so be sure to swing by and give her some encouragement in her own backyard as well.

And whereas Mickey's piece sees her criticizing Sarah Jane's wardrobe choices of yesteryear, my review of "Turn Left" sees me criticizing a recent episode from the current "Doctor Who" series. And yes, I have no doubt that forthcoming events will do more to explain Donna's surpassing importance in the grander scheme of things, but lines like "You're the most important woman in the whole of creation!" are still unjustifiable and just plain bloody awful. And you know what else is awful? Billie Piper without makeup. I still heart you, Billie, but damn.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot -- I made the logo of that piece with an image from this page. It's a great resource for all of you creative Doctor Who fans out there! This Doctor Who fonts page is also quite useful.

Anywho -- get it? anywho?! -- that'll do it for this update. Until next time!

Eventually we'll get off this toy kick and get back to slightly more diversified content (more old video game reviews are in the works, not to mention multiple food pieces that have been on the back burner for quite sometime), but for now it continues. This latest article isn't a review, though -- as you'll see, What Happened to Quality Control? is more of a rant slash observation slash nostalgia piece in the vein of some of our older articles. And like many of those, it began as a Wesoteric blog entry before I decided to add a few images and give it to Scary-Crayon.

Other notes regarding today's piece? I've been wanting to write about Spider-Man's extended outdoor adventure for quite some time, so I particularly appreciated the opportunity to work it into this feature. (Heck, I'm even tempted to write a short story about the things he might have seen and done during his six-month stint in the gutter. Hmmm...) And I'm totally serious about Treasure Island Sports, Inc. -- the customer service rocks. Well, at least if you contact them by e-mail. I didn't have much luck calling the phone number (if I can, I tend to call online stores first rather than e-mail them when I have complaints and/or problems, if only because it assures me that someone was made aware of the issue), but when that didn't work out I went ahead and sent an e-mail. Not only did I receive a response within an hour, but they shipped me a replacement the very next day at no additional cost. Really fantastic, completely unexpected, and certainly enough to get me to recommend TISInc to anyone in the market for some toys. Check 'em out and tell 'em Scary-Crayon sent you! They won't have any idea what you're talking about, but still.

Alrighty, that's it for now -- hopefully I'll have the review of that Mai and Chun-Li 2-pack ready before too much longer. Until next time!

And a month and a half later, the second part of the King Kong discounted action figure review is finally up! And to reward you for waiting so patiently, I've even included a bonus review of a dollar store gorilla toy.

Speaking of dollar store toy reviews, you might want to check out the Dollar Store Toy Box. I believe the author of the site lives in Canada, so it's particularly neat to see what items are making the rounds in the northern counterparts of our own dollar stores here in the States. For example, the Transformatrix bootleg Optimus Prime (remember him?) was a Dollar Tree regular back during the 2006 winter holiday season, but apparently he's just arrived in Canada's Dollarama locations. Neat!

And while we're plugging things, Review the World returned this weekend after posting its "final" article on December 31, 2007. Sometimes things just don't stay dead, eh? Anyway, I look forward to seeing how RtW progresses in its resurrected incarnation.

Until next time, minna-san!

That's right -- at long last, we have another article! But first, two new Crayon Haiku (three if you're counting): A Crayon Haiku #78 and A Crayon Haiku #79. #78 shows the continued growth of our action figure Legion of Doom and an unfortunate incident with Batzarro (at least the arm sticks back in there, eh? ), and #79 is just... ugh. I've actually had that advert around here since the site began -- it really should have been A Crayon Haiku #8 or something -- but every time I saw it I shuddered and decided to postpone the scanning. Well, here it is. Isn't that the worst ad photo ever? I mean, the woman might not look too bad with makeup and clothing and a less awkward pose, but as it stands she just looks skanky and gross. And stinky. Yuck.

So now that we've gotten the appetizers out of the way, here's the main course: a review of DC Direct's New Gods Darkseid figure. The review says it all, but I quite like this guy! I mean, he's freaking Darkseid -- what's not to like? Oh, and if you click on the smaller images in this feature, you'll see that I've decided to swallow my hatred of javascript and try something new... that something being Lightbox 2. Barring any unforeseen problems, I think I'll keep it around, but of course your input is always welcome and appreciated. Let me know if you love it, despise it, et cetera. At the very least, it eliminated the need to press back and/or switch tabs and windows to look at the larger versions of images, eh?

And that's all for today's update! Until next time, then...

Hey all! It's been a while since the last update, but I wanted to make absolutely sure that y'all didn't miss The Sarah Jane Adventures Drinking Game and had ample time to get your drink on with Miss Smith. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

Anyway, to kick May off, we've got A Crayon Haiku #77... which actually has two 5-7-5 poems. The first is nothing new to you if you've read my personal blog lately, but I finally got a Scarecrow figure to bring my Legion of Doom membership count to five. (Though I guess this is the first time Lex Luthor and Black Manta have appeared on SC as well, huh?) And I'd been sort of sitting on the second haiku for some time -- ever since I read Salvation Run #4 a couple of months ago, actually. Originally I was going to make it a Hot Flash, but then I decided to make it a quick haiku... and then I decided to reshoot it with the Batman/Superman Series 5 Joker after I got that figure. (I'd previously used one from the "The Batman" figure line.) And then I forgot about it again. Anyway, lest I put it off any longer, I decided to lump it in and make this one of those rare two-haiku installments. Enjoy.

More substantial fare coming soon -- after all, I do have that Kong review to finish! And I did come across a Supreme Kong at a decent price, so I may even have to expand the Kong review to three parts. We'll see.

Until next time, then!

Hey all! I'm a bit late with tonight's feature -- the show's already started on the East Coast -- but hopefully you folks out West will have time to check out the rules and drink along to "The Sarah Jane Adventures", premiering tonight at 7:30 PM on Sci Fi. And this is also the debut of my friend Mickey of Strange Cousin Susan as a contributor to the site, so do welcome her! I've been eager to have her write for us for some time -- and few people love Sarah Jane Smith (and her boots) more -- so it was really fantastic to have her along for this piece.

Anyway, if you miss that initial airing -- or, on the EC, want to check it out with the drinking game -- it'll be on again at 11:00 PM. After this week, TSJA will be airing at 8:00 PM on Fridays. So if you're at all interested in "Doctor Who" (which, starting next week, will begin airing directly after TSJA) or Sarah Jane (or just want to watch solely for the excuse to drink along ), be sure to check that out! If you're going to play our game, though, remember to drink responsibly and remain aware of your limits while doing so.

One more thing about the game -- don't be confused by the frequent mentions of Clyde in the rules, since he does not appear in the pilot episode airing tonight. Apparently test audiences found Kelsey to be as annoying as we did, so she was axed and replaced by the very likable Clyde. To make up for the sips missed in his absence, though, you're welcome to take a sip every time you find Kelsey grating on your soul. If you choose to do so, please remember our warnings. Scary-Crayon and Strange Cousin Susan are not responsible for any embarrassment and/or injury that result from participating in this activity.

ALSO! For Sarah Jane fans with access to the classic "Doctor Who" episodes, you might want to give The Sarah Jane Smith Drinking Game at The Sarah Jane Smith Wardrobe Appreciation Society a try. I haven't played, so I can't vouch for it -- but considering how incompetent Sarah Jane could be in the older episodes (I still liked her, but give me Leela, Romana, or Ace any day), I suspect that you'd be sipping an awful lot.

Until next time, minna-san!

But first, another Crayon Haiku! Seriously, this is pretty much the only reason I went for this Jimmy Olsen -- if I can't have a Chloe figure, I'll at least have someone to rag on Clark for letting Chloe get away. I mean, Superman losing to Jimmy Olsen is way worse than losing to Brainiac or Lex Luthor, especially when it's entirely his fault! Pathetic.

And now, what I really meant to post last week but have just now finished: the first part of a King Kong action figure review! Playmates released a whole line of Kong figures in conjunction with Peter Jackson's remake back in 2005, but it's 2008 and most of these Kongs are still sitting on the shelves in KB Toys locations across America. In this installment, I look at three of the 6" Kongs as well as the larger 11" Roaring Kong figure. Next time, we'll look at two more of the smaller figures and the 15" deluxe Kong from Mezco. Sure, Kong's no longer exactly current -- not that he has to be for a Scary-Crayon review, but still -- but these figures weren't worth the original prices anyway. Discounted, however, they are awesome.

I'd like to say that the second part of this review will be up soon, but who knows considering that I still haven't finished the Quick Change Dinobot piece! That said, whereas the QC Dinobots have all but disappeared since the 2007 winter holidays, not even Christmas (or the previous Christmas, for that matter) managed to dwindle the Kong armies manning the pegs at KB. I'm confident that you'll have your chance to make an informed decision before they disappear altogether.