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!

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!

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 --

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.

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.

Anyway, speaking of reviews, we've got a new toy review... of the Juku Couture Audrina doll. Yep, we're reviewing dolls now! I mean, it's not like we haven't reviewed dolls before, and action figures are arguably just dolls for boys... but still. Actually, there's no shame involved -- Audrina is pretty cool and I enjoyed reviewing her. In fact, writing this review was more fun for me than many of our more recent toy reviews, if only because the subject matter gave me more opportunities to joke around. I hope the piece is/was fun for you to read, too!

So hopefully I'll have more unique reviews like this in 2010, and I do plan to get back to reviewing other stuff -- among other things, there's still a cartoon episode review that I mostly wrote last year but haven't gotten around to finishing and posting. And although the 25th anniversary of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has passed, I still want to get some belated commemorative content up. We'll see.

And in the meantime, feel free to swing by Articulated Discussion, where you'll find lots of great content and the occasional piece by me. Since the last SC article, I've done three things over there: two installments of Bootleg Tuesday and one brief article spotlighting my top three figures of 2009. I bet you can't guess who one of them is!

Okey-doke, that's all for now. Until next time, if there is one!

I suppose the Power Rangers RPM Full Throttle Triceratops Ranger is special, however, in that I don't often fixate so heavily on one aspect of the figure. He does have other merits -- decent articulation, cool and plentiful accessories, and a price tag that's not in the double digits -- but, like Chun-Li's thighs, I find it difficult to see past the stylish smoking jacket. I'd probably love this figure (though not nearly as much) even if it had t-hips and swivel shoulders. And no, Bandai, that is not permission to start skimping on articulation... unless every figure comes packaged with a removable cloth smoking jacket. This kind of style needs to be shared.

Anyway, I hope y'all are having a great holiday season! Until next time...

I've said quite a bit about it in the article, but I feel compelled to write even more here. I mean, there have been Doctor Who figures with fairly restricted necks before -- for instance, both the second and third Doctors' necks don't have great range. However, with them, you simply can't turn them beyond a certain point, which is not the same as being able to do so easily but damaging the figure when you do. And while that would be bad enough, it's even more infuriating due to the fact that the damage occurs because Character Options didn't bother to test fit the parts... which even a novice customizer would do. Ugh.

And seriously, why the hell hasn't anyone else mentioned this? NEWT?!? (Check out the super-duper Kaiju Week event currently taking place at Infinite Hollywood!) I mean, I can't be the only person who tried to turn this damned figure's neck, can I?! I hate it.

Anyway, in keeping with my promise last time, more Power Rangers toy reviews will be coming soon! In the meantime, you can check out this brief piece I wrote on some Power Rangers bootlegs over at Articulated Discussion. Like I say in that article, you should skip these guys and go for the legitimate Bandai wares, but as far as bootlegs go I've seen much, much worse. And since I'll probably be handling Bootleg Tuesdays over at AD on at least a bi-weekly basis, perhaps I'll have the opportunity to share some of those horrors with you!

All for now, then -- seeya next time.

I also picked up a laughable figure tonight that I'll be reviewing very soon. This thing makes Best Friend Colton look like the Best. Toy. Ever. by comparison. Seriously, it's awful. I've consistently looked at this line and just laughed every time I passed it at Dollar Tree, but then I suddenly started thinking the figures might get recalled because half of them have these giant flash tumors on them -- not to mention shoddy screws and metal pins holding them together -- that could probably choke a child. And that paint? Totally infused with delicious lead, and poorly applied at that. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

Until next time!

Plugs! I mentioned that I'd probably have some Halloween-themed guest content over at Articulated Discussion, and I did come through with an installment of Toy Haul and a review of The Mummy from Toy Island's Universal Monsters line. So yeah, check those out! And if you happen to have a spare Frankenstein left leg around, please drop me a line.

All for now, then -- hopefully I'll have more content soon. I'm planning to do a Power Ranger review next, though I'm not entirely sure how I want to do it. Theoretically I'd review the single figure... but since the basic figures all have pretty much the same sculpt, reviewing one would be kinda like reviewing them all. Hmmm. If you have any, I'm open to suggestions!

UPDATE: I got kinda annoyed by the boxed text around the floating Wolf Breath image, so I decided to try my hand at some makeshift image wrapping. Let me know how it looks on your end!