Still more stuff to come, but here's a quick update in Dusty Plastic HELLside #14. Quick explanation for those of you who aren't familiar with "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" and "Power Rangers: RPM": after playing the Ranger Red on the latter show, Eka Darville went on to portray the character of Pietros in "Spartacus"... and Friday's episode saw Pietros hang himself. In this comic, He-Man is standing in for the outraged Spartacus. And then of course there's the meme reference. I don't really care if it's forced -- and I missed the attempt at forcing it altogether -- it just seems funny to me with the bad grammar and apparent outrage. I think it needs multiple question marks as well as exclamation points to have its maximum effect, though!

In other news, I've written several Bootleg Tuesday entries for Articulated Discussion since last time -- on February 23rd, March 2nd, and March 9th (that's today!) -- so feel free to swing by there and check them out! And do leave comments. I like comments.

Until next time, which will hopefully be sooner rather than later!

Hey, folks! Sorry for the unscheduled hiatus -- yadda yadda, these things happen (especially with me). I'm afraid this update isn't very substantial -- it's just Dusty Plastic HELLside #13 -- but hopefully you'll find it amusing! I'm not sure anyone who's not familiar with Sarah Jane Smith's recent activities will get it, but that's why you've got our archives. But in short: Sarah Jane's a 60-plus-year-old-woman who spends much of her time hanging out with children in her attic under the pretense of investigating alien activity and introducing the kids to "the wonders of the universe." Oh, and the figure is the new Percy Jackson toy from Jazwares. I might do a full review of it at some point, but suffice it to say that it's pretty decent for what it is. Could stand to be a dollar or two cheaper, though.

More content on the way (hopefully soon). Among other things, the return of Kain and Wild Boar alien has been photographed! If you don't know what that means, try checking out some of the very earliest Scary-Crayon Foodstuffs articles.

Aaand since I've been away here, I've posted some articles over on Articulated Discussion that you might want to give a look! Since Mattel actually sent me a replacement Adora in response to the concerns I voiced in my harsh MOTUC Adora review, I wrote a followup piece. I also wrote an article on action figure modifications -- which features some relatively simple tricks and fixes you can try at home! -- and the February 16th edition of Bootleg Tuesday. Good stuff!

Alrighty, that'll do it for this update. Until next time!

'Allo 'allo, Crayon readers! We're back again with new content -- and it hasn't even been a month since the last update. How awesome is that?!

First, a quickie -- Dusty Plastic HELLside #12, which features Adora from "She-Ra: Princess of Power" facing off against Chun-Li of the Street Fighter series. More on Adora in a bit.

The more substantial offering in today's update is a summary review of The Little Rabbit Who Wanted Red Wings -- a book I've despised as long as I can remember. Admittedly, I don't really remember it before high school (I rediscovered it when perusing the selections on the bookshelf in my room), but still. This is also a piece that is somewhat personal, as I not only describe an incident from my own life but even include a relevant photo of myself. I'm not doing any of this for sympathy, mind you -- so please try not to offer your condolences or pity, though I welcome other responses and insights regarding today's features -- but I did want to share my own similar yet decidedly less encouraging experience in order to better convey just how wrong the events of this story are. I think we can all agree that The Little Rabbit Who Wanted Red Wings has a terrible message and probably shouldn't be shared with impressionable young minds in any context.

And back to Adora! The comic here is an extra photo from the shoot I did for my review of the figure at Articulated Discussion, so please check that out and leave a comment over there if you like. The review's not going over so well with some AD readers, as it's quite negative and contains a good amount of cursing (there are only 15 swear words in the 2000-word article, but even so), but I think readers familiar with some of my work over here might find it to be entertaining. If nothing else, it's given me material for a running gag involving Hordak... and a cool idea for a custom if I ever end up with a bunch of fodder from female figures. Oh, I also did last week's Bootleg Tuesday entry, so go there to marvel at the horror of bootleg toys based on a great late-90s cartoon show.

That'll do it for this update, then! Until next time --

YES! It's hard to believe, but Scary-Crayon turns six years old today. I'd like to wax poetic about what that means to me, but I just don't have the words -- suffice it to say that as long as I have stuff to post (and can afford the hosting fees), SC will continue to stick around ye olde Internetz. Hopefully some of y'all out there regard that as a good thing!

Okay, as is traditional for the anniversary, we've got multiple features for you to celebrate with. First up, a quickie: Dusty Plastic HELLside #11. I told you the Triceratops Ranger would be appearing again... I just didn't think it'd take him so long. Ah well, he's here now and that's what matters!

Next up, a long-overdue summary review of an episode of "Wuzzles"! It's been a long time since I've done an article like this, so let me know what you think. I will say, however, that I kinda miss articles writing like this -- sure, they're mostly recapping, but there's plenty of room for snark and jokes and odd analytical insights that I don't often get to indulge in, say, the toy reviews that have dominated SC as of late.

And then we pop over to the games category for a review of the DOS version of Body Blows! Apparently I haven't done a game review since 2007 (wow), so I really enjoyed writing this one as well. Hopefully we'll see more of them in the future! I did pick up Power Rangers: Super Legends with intent to review it, so maybe that'll show up on the site before too much longer. And oh, I'm trying something new here with videos. I've noticed that when visiting other sites I sometimes have issues playing videos with embedded players, so I've just gone the simpler route of uploading the videos to YouTube and including links at the end of the article. Just about everybody can watch stuff on YouTube, right? And if you've got the proper codecs, you can download the larger, higher-quality encodes to watch from your hard drive. Let me know what you think about those, too -- they probably don't need to be quite so large in terms of size, so I could see reducing their visual quality in the future.

Finally, our amazing, fashion-conscious contributor Mickey Glitter is here to help us celebrate with the final installment of Sarah Jane Smith Fashionista Fever! Lots of images and captioned hilarity in this one, so enjoy! I'm glad that we had the ability to share this series with all of you and look forward to hosting future articles by the Glitterific One, whether they're rooted in the Whoniverse or not. In any case, expect more Doctor Who- and Sarah Jane-related content in 2010 and beyond!

And that'll do it for today's celebratory features -- but don't think that there won't be more content in the near future! In keeping with our return to neglected categories, I've got a new Foodstuffs piece on the horizon, not to mention several ideas for upcoming Spectare reviews. I'd also like to do more Crayon Haiku and Dusty Plastic HELLside installments, though I'm kicking around the idea of posting them in the blog (I'd still have links to them with thumbnails in the content structure) rather than having separate single pages them that then link to blog entries. If you've got any strong feelings about that change one way or the other, please let me know!

And yeah, we'll also be adding more Playthings content, but I'll be trying to increase my focus on items that you wouldn't generally see spotlighted on sites in our general circle. Among other things, a couple of Juku Couture clothing sets and some really kickass dollar store toys are queued up for review. So yes, stay tuned!

Before I end this entry, I'd like to take a moment to thank all of you who've visited Scary-Crayon over the years. Granted, I get a lot of enjoyment out of maintaining and writing for the site, but without you guys I'd have no reason to share it and it wouldn't feel nearly as rewarding. And if you've got a moment, please leave a comment below -- whether you've got something to add about today's features or anything else. In particular, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the kinds of things you wish I'd write more about (or less about) and any other suggestions you might have. Knowing which articles were your favorites among more recent pieces might also be helpful. And if there's something you think we do especially well here, please point it out so that we can keep doing it!

Until next time (and forevermore!), I sincerely wish y'all all the best.

Yep! Following our Juku Couture doll review -- which was selected as Articulated Discussion's Review of the Week, hurray! -- we're now reviewing a Twilight figure. Alice Cullen, to be specific. I haven't seen New Moon -- the first movie was dull enough for me to pass on that -- but the figure (and Ashley Greene) is quite fetching! And at $3.74, the price was pretty fantastic, too. I even picked up an Edward for the same price (I plan to review that figure too at some point), but I kinda wish I hadn't since now I feel like I need to get Bella. Twilight-mocking toy comics just wouldn't be complete -- or nearly as funny -- without her.

Actually, maybe they would! I have an idea...

Anyway! Speaking of Articulated Discussion up there, DrNightmare recently authored an interview-type piece featuring opinions from a bunch of different toy reviewers. It'd be worth a read even if I weren't one of the reviewers interviewed, but I am -- so that makes it even more imperative that you check it out! All sorts of topics are touched on, the OAFE guys strive to exhibit douchebaggery in the form of nepotism and boastful self-promotion, I do my damnedest to blast a certain video reviewer without mentioning him by name... in short, a good time is had by all.

I was going to write more about the various points in the article and what I agree/disagree with, but I'll leave that alone for now. I did find it interesting that so many reviewers don't want to read others' reviews of the same figure, though. I've known authors who are the same way, but it's never really made sense to me. Yeah, it's possible that you'll be influenced by other people's work, and that could make your work less "unique" (at least as far as you know; Stephanie Meyer mentioned something about avoiding other authors' work but it sounds like the Twilight saga still managed to be derivative as fuck). But you might also be influenced for the better, such that the quality of your writing, presentation, whatever -- even if it borrows from outside elements -- will ultimately improve.

And if nothing else, reading other people's writing might make you aware of things you need to emphasize. For instance, I read Artemis's review of Alice at OAFE in which he mentions that the figure can't stand (it can) -- but he also doesn't mention the ankle swivels. So while I had already noticed those points of articulation and would have mentioned them regardless, I felt compelled to point out that they're helpful for keeping the figure on its feet. Since one would tend to assume that a figure can stand up unless otherwise noted (and since the ankles aren't the most obvious joints, I can definitely understand someone concluding that the figure can't stand), I might not have explicitly mentioned that otherwise.

(That's not meant to be insulting, mind you; I enjoy Artemis's reviews!)

Anyway, all for now! Stay tuned, since Monday marks the site's... six-year anniversary! I'm hoping to have at least two new pieces and hopefully three or four up to celebrate -- among others, there'll be the first non-toy review since... August of last year? Wow.