Elon Musk is right about the Twitter bot problem.

   You may have heard the news that Elon Musk backed out of his purchase of Twitter due to Twitter not disclosing the amount of bot accounts there are. Elon Musk is right about there being a bot problem. Twitter will deny that there is a bot problem but it seems like almost every day I have to #InstaBLOCK a bot that follows me. 

  Every day I almost have to block some kind of bot that follows me. It seems I get all of the hot lady bots to follow me. I'm dead serious about this. I can spot a bot just by the name. Usually these "Hot Lady" Bots have a really random name and user name. The names make zero sense whatsoever. They usually have 3 or 4 tweets of pictures of the supposed person. I think these images are stolen because they are never the same person. 

  Another good indicator that they are a bot is if they "Liked" any tweets. If they haven't liked a tweet they are a bot. Want another indicator? Check the tweet source. Usually these Hot Women bots "tweet" from the desktop website of Twitter. It will say Twitter Web App. That's a bot there bucko. Also a lot of these bots have some sort of Percentage in their twitter bio saying that they are the top some percent of whatever. 

  Sure these bots seem harmless but they piss me off. Instead of being genuine followers, they are totally fake as a fake Rolex. I wasn't born yesterday, I'm not naive. I know a bot when I see one. Every time my phone gives me a notification, it can mean two things, Somebody gave me a DM on Instagran or someone followed me on Twitter. When it's Twitter I'm like oh shit here we go again. So far I've blocked about 38 of these hot women bots. I give em the old James Woods #InstaBLOCK treatment. Its a major annoyance to see bots every two seconds. 

  I forgot to mention that these bots tweet everything in one day and then stop when they are done tweeting their stolen images. 

It's Been 26 Long Years

Back in 1995 when Batman Forever came out, I was literally obsessed with the movie. I loved the movie and the action figures. However 26 years ago, my Mom wouldn't buy me this epic 2 pack. Literally every time I saw Guardians of Gotham City in a store. I begged my Mom to buy it for me. She never budged at my request to own movie accurate Batman and Robin figures. Seriously who wouldn't want to own movie accurate Batman and Robin figures? Oddly enough she did buy me The Riddler and Two-Face 2 pack that Kenner made. I still to this day have no idea why she wouldn't buy this for me.

So as time went by, this 2 pack had eluded me. The online prices were beyond my price range. They are pricey because you guessed it, they are movie accurate Batman and Robin figures. Speaking of expensive, the Guardians of Gotham City 2 pack from Batman & Robin from 1997 is insanely expensive and for some reason rare. I have no idea why the 1997 one is so rare but that one also has movie accurate Batman and Robin figures.

  Over time I did some online shopping every now and then looking for these two figures that my Mom wouldn't buy me. The ones that were out there on average is around  $50. I'm not paying $50 for something. I wouldn't drop that on a Hot Wheels car. So about a week ago I was browsing eBay for Guardians of Gotham City and found one with a starting bid of $24.90 plus free shipping. So I placed a max bid of $30 and somehow I won the auction at $30. I guess I'm pretty lucky enough to win one for less than the average asking price. I was so excited that I finally won them.

  Anyway they arrived on Monday and I couldn't wait to free them from their plastic and cardboard prison. I did snap a some pics of it MOC to post to Instagram and to a DC figure thread on an action figure forum that I belong to. I got a lot of likes on my Kenner figures that I have been posting lately. I'm so glad that I never got this 2 pack as a child because they probably would have been got rid of when I moved. I actually gave away all of my Movie figures that I owned from Batman & Robin. I kind of regret getting rid of those figures but I am slowly rebuilding my Kenner Batman Collection. I used to have an Iceboard Robin figure from Batman & Robin. That figure is a movie accurate Robin figure. Unfortunately I gave it away, so I'm hunting for a new one at a decent price.

  Speaking of Guardians of Gotham City 2 Packs, the one from 1997 is somewhat expensive and hard to come by. These 2 figures were also movie accurate attires. I have no idea why the 1997 version is so rare and expensive, and I would like to know why it is. Batman & Robin is the worst Batman movie. If the movie is so bad, why are the toys so expensive?

People Wearing Masks While Driving

  Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and the mask mandates took place, people got way too panicked. You've probably seen people walking in public spaces wearing a face mask. I think it's stupid to wear a face mask in public. COVID-19 isn't airborne. One of the things that really irritates me, is people who wear face masks while driving alone in their car.

  Wearing a face mask while driving alone in your car is really stupid. You're not going to get COVID-19 from your car. I understand that certain driving occupations require wearing a mask, such as a ridesharing service, or bus driver. However driving with your mask on while you are driving is stupid. Whenever I see someone wearing their face mask while driving alone, I can't help but laugh at them.

  You look like an idiot for wearing a mask while driving. Why do you have to be so afraid that you must insist on wearing a mask while driving your car? That's it that's why people wear masks while driving. They are so afraid of COVID-19. It's true there a lot of people who are so afraid of the virus that it's not even funny. I've seen people so afraid of COVID-19 that they are wearing safety goggles to protect them from the virus. They think that you can get COVID-19 from eyes. It's really sad to see how a virus has changed the whole world. Crazy times we are living in.

  When you wear your mask while driving, you look really stupid. I mean really, driving alone while wearing a face mask doesn't make any sense at all. I'm fully vaccinated and I find this amusing to see people wearing their masks while they drive. You are only making an ass out of yourself when you do this. 

  So please take the damn mask off while driving alone. Everybody who sees you doing this thinks you are an idiot. Wearing a mask while driving is like wearing a condom alone at night.

Obscure Hot Wheels Car of the Day: 1999 Isuzu VehiCROSS

  I love collecting Hot Wheels cars. I like to showcase some of my favorites from my enormous collection of cars. Today's obscure car is the 1999 Isuzu VehiCROSS. Now why is this car obscure? Well it's an obscure SUV in itself. The Isuzu VehiCROSS was unlike any other SUV in it's day. It was very unique and had features that weren't found on most SUV's. These features included a matte black resin shield on the hood of the VehiCROSS that was intended to reduce glare from the sun.

2000 First Editions

Another interesting feature of the VehiCROSS was a locking gas tank. How many new vehicles come with a locking gas tank?
 Here's a little production history for the VehiCROSS. In 1997 Isuzu debuted the VehiCROSS in Japan. They sold from 1997 to 1999 in Japan. It wasn't until 1999 when Isuzu debuted the VehiCROSS in the United States. They sold the VehiCROSS in limited numbers from 1999 to 2001. 1,805 were sold in Japan and 4,153 were sold here in the US.
  When the VehiCROSS debuted here in the USA in 1999, it got a lot of buzz from the automotive world. So It made sense for Mattel to get the Isuzu license so they could produce the VehiCROSS for the Hot Wheels line. So in 2000 the 1999 Isuzu VehiCROSS debuted in the Hot Wheels 2000 First Editions series. It was released in Astral Silver Metallic paint for the First Edition release.

The Tiki Torchers version

  Onto the obscurity factor. The 1999 Isuzu VehiCROSS was released only 4 times in total. The first 3 releases were in regular VehiCROSS color schemes. The second release came in 2001. This time it was painted in Proton Yellow. In 2002 the third one was released in Foxfire Red Mica. The 4th one is often forgotten. The fourth one is unlike the other 3 VehiCROSS's that Hot Wheels released. The 4th one was released in a 5 pack from 2004 called Tiki Torchers. The 5 pack release features different wheels than the previous 3 had. For the Tiki Torchers release it had the Off Road 5 Spoke Wheels or OR5SP's.
   Fun Fact about the Tiki Torchers version, it was used as a background vehicle in Robot Chicken. They actually use Hot Wheels cars depicting traffic scenarios. So Robot Chicken doesn't always use action figures. You got to keep an eye out for the Hot Wheels cars seen in the background.

  So the 1999 Isuzu VehiCROSS was never seen again after the Tiki Torchers 5 pack. It's likely that Mattel lost the Isuzu license and never bothered to renew it. It's a shame because the Isuzu VehiCROSS would make a great car for their Car Culture Japan Historics series. The VehiCROSS has a cult following among off roaders. Some day it might be a future collectible.

Nobody wants your VHS copy of Titanic

   I went to The Salvation Army to look around for a bit today. I did my usual browsing and checked out the DVD's/VHS tapes. There were more VHS tapes than DVDs. However what caught my attention was there were 3 copies of Titanic on VHS. Last time I went there there was one copy. My God they are multiplying, 

Tons of Titanic VHS at a thrift store

  I have a theory that every thrift store in the Untied States has at least one copy of Titanic on VHS. At least every thrift store I've been to has a copy of the 2 VHS tape set. You can't give these away. Nobody wants your dizzy ass copy of Titanic on VHS. Why is that? Well for one, Titanic was one of the best selling VHS tapes of all time. You probably know that Titanic was at one time the highest grossing film at the box office. So it sold even better on VHS.

  However some VHS versions of Titanic are in Widescreen, but most of them are in fullscreen.  The original DVD release of Titanic was in non anamorphic widescreen. However later DVD releases corrected that and Blu-Ray's are anamorphic
. So with the fullscreen VHS version you are losing a lot of picture. Nobody really has a VCR anymore. VCR's went out with high button shoes. So the question is, why does every thrift store in America have copies of Titanic on VHS?

  I think the reason why is that nobody wants them anymore is because most people have completely upgraded their VHS library to Blu-Ray or DVD or streaming for that matter. I'm not saying that there are people who don't still use VHS tapes, because there are people who still use them. VHS is an obsolete media format that still has a niche market. However the market for VHS copies of Titanic isn't existent. Maybe the people who collect widescreen VHS tapes there are but nobody wants Titanic on VHS. They just sit on the shelves and collect dust. 

  If I owned a thrift store I would literally just throw VHS copies of Titanic away. Literally every thrift store should do this when someone donates a VHS copy of Titanic. Some thrift stores have literally a shelf full of Titanic on VHS. Who knew a VHS tape would be a shelfwarmer? A shelfwarmer is a collectors term for an item that just sits on the pegs or shelves in a store for what seems like an eternity. AKA an item that nobody really wants.

  Titanic on VHS is something that nobody wants anymore. Seriously it's amazing to see these rot on shelves at a thrift store. I don't manage a thrift store but I would definitely throw them out when someone donates them. What was once all the rage is now just a common everyday item at a thrift store. So please stop donating your VHS copies of Titanic to thrift stores or charity. Nobody wants them. If you are in the market for Titanic, just go buy the Blu-Ray it is 4 discs of entertainment.

Spin Master Monster Jam Megalodon Ride Truck

   When Mattel lost the Monster Jam license in 2018, I swore off on buying any Spin Master products. However in the summer of 2020, I took a trip down to the Outer Banks in NC. On our way there, we passed Digger's Dungeon, the home of the world famous monster truck Grave Digger. We couldn't stop but passing the place made me want to revisit the Monster Jam line. I was semi paying attention to the Spin Master line when they took over the Monster Jam license, but I swore off on buying anything. Well after we passed Digger's Dungeon I just had to break my promise and buy the Target exclusive, Evolution of Grave Digger 5 pack. Once I got that 5 pack, I was instantly hooked on the Spin Master trucks.

  Anyway starting in 2020 Spin Master added a series of chase trucks to the line like they did in 2019. The chase trucks in 2019 were training trucks from Monster Jam University. In 2020 they were ride trucks. You know the trucks that give rides. Anyway the first ride truck chase that I found was the BKT Tires ride truck at Kohl's. That was the one that grabbed my attention even further. I then acquired a Grave Digger ride truck on eBay. I never found the Blue Thunder ride truck or the El Tor Loco ride truck or the Earth Shaker one. I wanted the Megalodon one so I found one for $9.99 on the Monster Jam merch site.

  So I ordered the Megalodon Ride Truck from the website and they shipped it via FedEx SmartPost. I never had a problem with FedEx SmartPost till now but boy did my package go on an incredible journey. My package was shipped from MD. From there it went through different FedEx facilities. until it hit NJ. This is where the bouncing back and forth came in. For some stupid reason, FedEx kept sending my package back and forth from our local FedEx hub in Pittston, PA to Keasbey NJ several times. It took a month and 2 days for the package to arrive in the mail. After this whole ordeal with FedEx SmartPost I began to realize that The Pony Express was more reliable than FedEx SmartPost. I bet the Pony Express would have delivered the package sooner than FedEx SmartPost. So I'm not the only one who's in this boat. I have a friend who ordered some WWE figures and they were being shipped through FedEx SmartPost and from what he's telling me they are going on an incredible journey to WI.

  Now that the FedEx SmartPost thing is behind let's talk about the Megalodon Ride truck. As with all of Spin Master's ride truck chases, Megalodon sits on a leaf spring chassis. I think the reason they sit on the leaf spring chassis is due to the rear of the truck lacking an engine. You see the rear of the ride truck is where the riders sit. The way they have the seats and roll cage in the truck, they can't put an engine in the back. Also the front lacks an engine as well. So don't think your truck is defective. It's not missing any parts.

Megalodon Ride Truck from Spin Master

  The Megalodon Ride truck has nice big BKT Tires on it. All of the Legacy and Ride Trucks with the exception of the Grave Digger ride truck have the BKT in white on the tires.

The Real Megalodon Ride Truck

  Now the body of the ride truck isn't really that accurate to the real ride truck that I have pictured to the right. The roll cage on the ride truck is separate from the body whereas the real one it is all one piece. However the toy is great too. Don't get all upset that it's not accurate to the real thing. The Grave Digger ride truck isn't accurate to the real thing also. The big difference is that the real one has a full open roof whereas the toy has part of the cab enclosed with a roof that has Grave Digger ontop of it. 

  The Megalodon Ride truck is a great truck if you love ride trucks. However since it's a chase piece, they aren't packed in every case. Sadly this is the reason why I won't have a Blue Thunder, Earth Shaker or El Tor Loco Ride truck. They can be quite expensive on eBay.

A Surprising Thrift Store Find

  So ever since thrift stores are now open again, I can enjoy looking around them again. So as usual I keep checking them every day. I lost my job due to COVID-19 and have all the time in to go to thrift stores again. So last Saturday, I went to the other thrift store, that isn't The Salvation Army. I wasn't hoping to find anything decent there but I did find something cool that I like.

My new Chevrolet Winner's Circle hat

  Ever since they expanded this thrift store, there are more rooms full of items to explore. For instance they have a room with a mannequin in the running position for sale. The mannequin takes the cake. No I didn't buy the mannequin. Seeing a mannequin for sale is just strange.
  Anyway I did my looking around and decided to check the hat rack. Usually this thrift store has a decent hat selection. The Salvation Army has been hit or miss with hats lately. While checking the hat rack, I noticed a hat on the bottom, it had the Chevrolet bow tie logo and Winner's Circle on the back. Could it be an authentic Chevrolet Winner's Circle hat like the race car drivers wear? If so I had to have it. I picked up the hat and indeed it was an authentic Winner's Circle hat. Best part was it was $0.99 and appeared to be unworn. So this was one of those shut up and take my money situations. I have a ton of hats in my collection. a good majority of them I don't wear.

The back of my new Chevrolet Winner's Circle hat.

  I already had a Chevrolet Winner's Circle hat that my coworker gave me when he was cleaning out his NASCAR collection. However that hat was an unstructured hat. It was a mesh hat which was a positive thing. On the other side it is an unstructured hat. I don't really care for unstructured hats. Although I do have a few in my collection.
  This new Chevrolet Winner's Circle hat has the textured Chevrolet Bow Tie logo. My other 2 Chevrolet hats don't have the textured bow tie. This one gives it the new modern look. I'm shocked that the thrift store didn't charge more for this hat because of how nice it was. Heck for $0.99 I'll take it regardless. I've beaten the eBay prices for it. Not that I was in the market to buy one on eBay. I wasn't. I do look up victory lane hats on eBay from time to time to see what's out there.

I Officially Lost my Job Today

  Earlier in April I got laid off from my job as a maintenance person at a car dealership due to the whole COVID 19 pandemic. However in my few months of working there since June 24th of 2019, I learned today that I am not going to be called back at all.
  Looking back at those few months of working at the car dealership, I had a lot of fun working there. The pay wasn't exactly great but I was grateful working there for the time I did. I did manage to snag some awesome free hats, and some other oddities from the dealership. So I'm definitely grateful for all of the stuff I got from my job.
  In my few months that I worked there I managed to get a framed poster of a Ford Windstar. It was in the attic. Yes, oddly enough the dealership had an attic where they stored old parts and service manuals, and files. As one person who worked there called it the dinosaur room. That framed Windstar picture now proudly hangs in the wall in my attic. Ironically I despise minivans but I have a framed Ford Windstar poster on my attic wall.
  During my months there I also shredded tons of old documents. Some of these documents were auction files from cars that were sent to the auction. In some of those auction files were car keys. This baffled me because how can sets of keys be left behind from a car that was sent to the auction. I acquired a lot of old car keys for my collection.
  I was able to acquire car emblems from the body shop that were being discarded. I accumulated a little collection of emblems. They are all in a shoe box in my collection room. I looked forward to finding a badge from a car company I didn't have. I never did get a hood ornament from there though.
  I managed to get a promotional Shelby GT500/GT350 coffee mug, which is my favorite coffee mug to use. I also got a hood shaped business card holder as well. Although I don't have any business cards to call my own, the ones I accumulate go in to the holder.
  I also found an old clipboard from Midas that was in the attic. How that got at a Ford Dealership is beyond me. It's a neat clipboard too. It is designed to look like a form and shows you how to fill out the form. It's a very odd piece for my collection.
  Then there was the Tool trucks that came to the shop. I loved going on the Snap-on truck ever since I went on one with my dad to get the magnetic hex shank warrantied. My dad used to buy Snap-on Tools and I kinda went on the truck to pay tribute to my late father. I did buy a few bits for my ratcheting screwdriver and bought 2 mini tip Phillips screwdrivers. I also got one of my Dad's old wrenches warrantied. I also acquired a ton of Snap-on Hats including a 100th anniversary hat.
 I also acquired hats from other companies that we did business with. I got 2 hats from a tire distributor, and 2 from another. I also got a Motorcraft hat and a AC Delco hat.
  It was a fun couple of months working there. Am I going to miss working there? Absolutely. I'll move on and find another job somewhere else. I'll wait a few weeks to get my unemployment and start looking for something elsewhere. Thanks for the memories and being able to meet great people.

Hot Wheels 2020 Entertainment Ecto-1

The Greatest Hot Wheels Ecto-1 Ever.

  I recently acquired a new Hot Wheels Ecto-1 from the Entertainment series. Now I already own an Ecto-1, but it's the first edition from 2010. The premium one from the 2020 Entertainment Series is a major improvement over the previous Hot Wheels Ecto-1's they have made. What exactly makes the 2020 one better? Well for starters, it has a clear coat over the paint unlike previous versions. Having a clear coat over the paint, prevents the tampo's from rubbing off. I love how the newer premium cars have a clear coat now. You don't have to worry about the tampo's rubbing off anymore. You can hold it all you want without worrying about the graphics coming off.
  The Ecto-1 from 2010 doesn't have a detailed painted roof rack. It's just plain black. All of the premium Ecto-1's have a painted roof. Speaking of painted details, the premium ones also have the Ghostbusters logo on the back door of the Ecto-1 whereas the first edition lacks the rear Ghostbusters Logo. The headlights and taillights are also painted which gives the Ecto-1 extra detail. Also there's 2 license plates on the casting that says Ecto-1. Since it is a premium car, it has a metal base and real rider tires.
  I totally recommend this car to any Ghostbusters fan and or Hot Wheels collector.

I Miss Thrift Store Shopping

  With this COVID-19 Pandemic going on, there's one thing that I miss doing. Since non life sustaining businesses are closed, that means thrift stores have to be closed. This sucks big time. I now can buy stuff from thrift stores again but I can't. Wait a second, if I can now buy stuff at thrift stores again, but now I can't, that doesn't make sense since they are all closed right?
  Well on Ash Wednesday which is the beginning of Lent, I went to The Salvation Army to take a look around, I didn't buy anything that day. However it gave me an idea of what to give up for Lent. By not buying anything that day, I decided to not buy anything from thrift stores for lent. So when the governor shut down all of the non essential businesses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I kinda got to fulfill my Lenten promise. I'm not going to get religious here. But I made a sacrifice and actually succeeded with my promise of not buying anything from a thrift store for Lent. However it was partially successful due to the shutdown of non essential businesses. Before the shutdown I would still pop into thrift stores to test myself.
  There were times I would go in and see a bunch of stuff that I liked and wanted to buy. One day I was in the other thrift store and saw a bunch of hats that I loved and wanted to buy. One of those hats was a Jeep hat. However I stuck to my promise and refused to buy the hats. I'm kinda glad I was able to stick to my plan of not buying anything. My wallet felt fatter.
  However since Lent is now over, I want to start shopping at thrift stores again. I'm absolutely positively 100% ready to start buying stuff from thrift stores. Just before the order to shut down the non essential businesses I remember the 25% off color tag that was for the week. There was one item that was that color tag. So next week that 25% off color tag would have been 50% off. I don't know how I remember the color tags before the shutdown but somehow I did. Weird right?
  I just want this Coronavirus to go the Hell away already. We are all sick of being cooped up in our houses. I seriously can't wait for this pandemic to end so I can go thrift store shopping again. 

One of my best vintage Hot Wheels finds.

  I collect Hot Wheels cars. I have a huge collection of them. So many, that I'm running out of room to store my loose cars. Every once in a while I go to the local farmers market where a few sellers sell Hot Wheels cars, both MOC and loose. Some sellers don't know what the value of some of these vintage cars are, and some do know the value of them. This is one of those stories.
  Lately I haven't been blogging a lot lately since I have been busy being cooped up in my house with the Coronavirus Pandemic and being laid off from work as a result. So I thought I would start blogging about random Hot Wheels cars and the stories behind them. This is the story of the 40s Ford Two Door from 1983.
  On June 12, 2019, I went to the farmers market. I spotted a vendor who was selling a variety of vintage items, some of which were various vintage Hot Wheels cars. While looking though the box of cars I spotted a couple of vintage cars that I liked. I saw a 31 Doozie redline blackwall that was in excellent condition. I asked him how much it was and he said $5 since it's a redline blackwall. I wasn't going to drop $5 on a car from the 80s. I just can't pull the trigger on that. However he did have some other interesting cars for sale for $1. I spotted a Classic Packard with Whitewall blackwall tires, for $1 and a Tomica Rolls-Royce Phantom VI both for $1. However there was one more car that caught my eye that was also $1. That car was a 40s Ford 2 Door from the 1983 Real Riders Series.
  This seller wanted $5 for a vintage redline blackwall but wanted $1 for a vintage Real Rider. His pricing strategy didn't make any sense charging $1 for the Real Rider. I couldn't pass up paying $1 for a vintage Real Rider. You can't argue with paying $1 for one. The 40s Ford Two Door was in really nice shape for it's age. It had very few paint flaws and 2 out of the 4 tires still had Goodyear on them.   For a car from 1983, I certainly made out good paying $1 for it. I'm not a flipper, I'm a collector. So I have no plan on reselling it. It's one of the stand out pieces in my collection. In fact it's the only vintage Real Rider that I own. There's still many vintage Hot Wheels cars I need to track down eventually. Just not now because of this pandemic. Once the pandemic is over, I can start going to the farmers market to look for vintage cars again.

My Newest Tomica Purchase

  I recently had received a $25 Visa gift card from my Aunt and Uncle for my birthday. I decided to use it on eBay for something. Recently I have been eyeing up a few diecasts to add to my collection. I love Tomica diecast. Although you can now buy them in the USA again at Walmart, there are still some models you cannot get here. The one I purchased is a good example of that.

Boxed

  I had been eyeing up, the Tomica JSDF High Mobility Vehicle for some time ever since I bought the Tomica JSDF LAV last year. I really needed the High Mobility Vehicle to go alongside my LAV. You see I am a huge Godzilla buff. I like the vehicles the JSDF has to try and stop Godzilla. So I like to have some JSDF vehicles to have in my collection.

  As you may have guessed I did buy the Tomica JSDF High Mobility Vehicle on eBay. I paid $6.99 for it. It was the last one the seller had. This vehicle is so cool. Unlike most Tomica cars, the JSDF High Mobility Vehicle lacks any opening doors. It does have a removable rear top, that unveils the bench seats for the troops. There are 2 variants of this High Mobility Vehicle. One has the removable top and the other doesn't. The one without the top, has little soldiers sitting down in the back. I bought the one with the removable top.

Unboxed

  Anyway the JSDF High Mobility Vehicle features the usual suspension that Tomica vehicles have. For this being a military vehicle the suspension is similar to the Komatsu LAV's. The olive drab paint is a tad bit different than the Komatsu's shade of olive drab. It's a bit darker on the High Mobility Vehicle.

The LAV Next to the High Mobility Vehicle

Stop Showing Pan and Scan Movies on Network TV

  You really want to know what grinds my gears? It's when TV channels broadcast a movie in pan and scan. It's 2019 already. There's no reason why we can't be showing movies on cable TV in their original theatrical aspect ratio. Nobody really owns a CRT TV anymore. Well classic gamers might own one to play their old systems on. Seriously practically everyone owns a 16x9 HDTV anymore.
  So if everyone pretty much owns a 16x9 HDTV, why are cable networks still showing pan and scan versions of movies? This is really unnecessary to show pan and scan movies when everyone now owns an HDTV. My best guess is that they have these shitty pan and scan edited for TV movies sitting in their library. This is mind boggling to say the least.
  Maybe these cable networks are too cheap and lazy to reinvest in a whole new tape library for their broadcasting. That's my theory, they have all of these movies stockpiled up in their libraries, which date back to whenever pan and scan movies first came in to play. I find it ironic that 99.999% of cable networks broadcast in 16x9 1080P HDTV anymore. Very few stations still broadcast in a 4:3 picture format. The networks who don't broadcast in HDTV can't afford to upgrade their picture format.
  Another reason I think they still show pan and scan versions of movies on network TV, is that they don't want to show any of the black bars that may be seen in a widescreen movie. They probably think people don't want to see black bars on their TV screen. Here's a news flash for the cable networks, people don't give a red hot minute about black bars on their TV screens anymore. This isn't 2001 when most people still had analog CRT TV's and they began to transition from VHS to DVD. Back then DVD first came out, most DVD's were introduced in widescreen. Some were anamorphic and some were in non anamorphic widescreen. Heck there were even widescreen editions of VHS tapes as well as Laserdisc. They were a niche market item in the 90s. The widescreen Laserdisc and VHS copies of movies were also non anamorphic. So when DVD's first came on the market, most of them were widescreen. So some people who first started buying DVDs when they first came out, didn't like the black bars on their screen. These people probably weren't serious movie buffs who cared about technical specifications. Actually the black bars mean there isn't anything there to display, you are still getting the whole picture between the black bars.
  Anyway, TV stations have been showing pan and scan versions of movies for decades now. It's become a bad habit of showing pan and scan movies. Heck there are some TV channels that do show movies in their original theatrical aspect ratios, such as Turner Classic Movies or Fox Movie Network.
  Network TV stations need to stop showing pan and scan versions of movies. It's not the 90s anymore, we can take seeing black bars on our TV screens. Throw away your library of pan and scan ,movies and upgrade to their original aspect ratios. For the love of GOD please do this.

Today's Surprising Walmart find

  After I got off work, I decided to stop in Walmart for a quick look in the toy dept. To my surprise, They restocked a ton of Hot Wheels cars. It was the assortment with the highly sought after Bugatti Chiron. So the display was untouched, where I was able to find, the Audi RS5 Coupe, Tesla Model S Super Treasure Hunt and the highly sought after Bugatti Chiron. I was pretty stoked to find another Super Treasure Hunt within a matter of days. I have to reorder some more protector packs for future Super Treasure Hunt cars that I might find.

The Terrific Trio.

  2019 has been a really good year for me when it comes to finding Super Treasure Hunts. I have found 7 out of 12 this year. Well I traded the Street Creeper Super for a Pizza Planet Truck. So technically I found 7 but I traded one. I don't usually get rid of Super's unless it's a double I find or it's a Hot Wheels original casting. I don't care for many Hot Wheels Fantasy castings. I have a few that I like but not many.
  I'm just glad that Mattel has the Bugatti License again. Maybe since they renewed the license, they can re-release the Veyron. I already have the 2003 First Editions Bugatti Veyron so I don't really need another one. They Veyron had skyrocketed in value since the license expired some years ago.

That Time When Ford Claimed The 1965 Galaxie Rode Quieter Than A Rolls-Royce

  I love old cars and old print ads for cars. One of my biggest obsessions in automotive marketing tactics, is when Ford Claimed the 1965 Ford Galaxie rode quieter than a Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud. When I first saw a picture of one of the print ads claiming this, it struck me as very odd. Why would a mainstream American car brand compare one of their cars to an ultra luxury car? Can a Ford Galaxie really ride quieter than a Rolls-Royce?
  In terms of speaking of what got the public confused about these ads was the definition of riding quieter. They weren't taking shots at the engine sound. They were comparing how the 1965 Ford Galaxie had a quieter interior ride than the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud. The comparison was saying that it's less noisy inside a 1965 Ford Galaxie than it is in a Silver Cloud.

A 1965 Ford Galaxie ad.

  This may all seem silly and frivolous for a company like Ford to compare their cars to a prestigious brand such as Rolls-Royce. Price wise they aren't even in the same category. I still find it odd that Ford attacked Rolls-Royce for being the noisy one.
  The comparison test for interior noise wasn't exactly a fair test. It was more like bringing a gun to a knife fight. For instance at the time when these cars were new, the Silver Cloud's design dated back to the late 50s. Whereas the Ford Galaxie was a completely new design. The Silver Cloud's design and engineering was already 10 years old at the time of the comparison test. So Rolls-Royce was using antiquated technology. By comparing a new Ford to a Rolls-Royce that had a dated design wasn't really a fair comparison test. It was fun though.
  I wonder if the marketing people at Ford thought they could take jabs at potential Rolls-Royce buyers when they came up with this ad campaign. Seriously does a modern day Ford Fusion ride quieter than a Rolls-Royce Ghost? I would wonder how well these ads would render in today's world. You don't see car companies with print ads attacking another car brand that is out of their category doing this sort of thing anymore. Surely you see it in commercials, but they never mention the name of the competitor, they only give you the gist of what brand that car is.

The 1980 Ford LTD Vs Rolls-Royce

  I thought that the Ford Galaxie rides quieter than a Rolls-Royce ad campaign was pretty cool say to speak. It didn't just happen in 1965 either. In 1980 Ford did the same exact thing with their LTD comparing it to a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. Heck even AMC took shots at Rolls-Royce comparing their Matador against a Silver Shadow. I don't know why American car companies wanted to take shots at Rolls-Royce. Looking back it's comical to see these old ads. I think they are pretty cool.

Replacing my Dad's old Snap-on Wrench

  Back in the 1980s and 1990s my late father used to buy Snap-on Tools for his appliance repair business. However when my older brother took over my father's business, his van got broken into and all of the Snap-on Tools that my father gave him were stolen. Or were they? To tell you the truth, not all were stolen. You see there were a handful of tools that my father never gave to my brother for some reason. Somehow my father held on to them. I don't know how or why these never went to my brother. When my father got terminally ill, I decided to go into the garage and organize all of his tools into the tool chest. I knew he had some Snap-on stuff left and he never liked me to touch them since they were expensive. So I searched every tool box until I found all of the Snap-on tools that didn't go to my brother.
  These tools were nothing special, 4 wrenches, 2 ratcheting box wrenches, 4 screwdrivers, 3 chisels and some various Blue-Point tools. 2 of the wrenches I inherited was a 1/4-15/16" open end wrench and a 7/8-15/16" open end wrench. Both came from the six piece open end wrench set. The other 4 wrenches were stolen. So the one day I was looking at the VO810 1/4-15/16" wrench and noticed that the handle had a bend in the middle. So since I work at a Ford Dealership, I could get the VO810 warrantied for a new one. The Snap-on dealer comes every Friday. So I took it on the truck and asked him if this wrench looked bent. He looked at it and said it's bent. He asked me if I wanted a new one. I said yes. He asked me how it got bent, and I said tightening the bolt on the fence. Actually I think it got bent since my dad used it repairing something.
  So I waited 2 weeks for my new VO810B to come in and it is made better than my dad's old one. This wrench is thicker and heavier than the one made in the 80s. You can read the sizes on it better since they are not on the ends of the wrench anymore. The sizes are now on the handle. You could hardly make out what the sizes were on the old one. It also has a wider handle and there is a date code stamp on the handle. Somehow the one from 1982 lacked a date code for some reason.
  So in all due respect, I think my father is looking down from heaven, smiling at me for getting one of his Snap-on tools warrantied. He would love to see the new and improved version of his wrench. Even though I am not a mechanic I still like to go on the Snap-on truck since my I once went on one with my father when he had to get his magnetic hex shank replaced. I go on there to make my father proud.

A Super Saturday

  I love collecting Hot Wheels cars. Well to be exact diecast in general. So yesterday I decided to venture off to the Dollar Tree nearest my house. I didn't expect to find anything good. My two local Dollar Tree's rarely restock Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars. The last time they restocked Hot Wheels cars was months ago. The exact date, I cannot remember when. So about my day and how I ended up at Dollar Tree.
  On Saturday there was a thrift store that was having a 50% off everything sale for Labor Day. They always have a 50% sale before a major holiday. I ran into my mom's friend there. I see her shopping there a lot. I looked around and was contemplating buying a Ford Mustang coffee mug for work since I work at a Ford dealership. However I decided not to buy it. I don't feel like lugging it to the parts room and risk getting broken. So I walked out empty handed. I've haven't been buying as much as I used to at thrift stores anymore since I am working again. I only have time to check them twice a week if I can get around to it. I mostly have been buying CD's or DVD's when I go to thrift stores. I haven't been seeing any good hats at The Salvation Army in a while. What's up with that?

The Lamborghini Aventador J Super Treasure Hunt

  I went to The Salvation Army later that day to look for new hats. They had nothing. It's been dry for the past few weeks. So I ventured to the Dollar General to see what they had for Hot Wheels cars. There has been reports of some Dollar General's stocking international short carded Hot Wheels cars. I haven't seen short cards since Walmart had them in the checkout lanes years ago. I've been finding Super Treasure Hunt cars at Dollar General. However they had short carded cars, but no Super Treasure Hunt cars.
  The final venture on my hunt was Dollar Tree. I didn't expect to find anything good since the last few times I've checked there they had nothing. I almost didn't stop in Dollar Tree but I gave it a shot. So I made a beeline to the toy section and to my surprise they restocked both Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars. Like a madman, I searched the pegs for anything good. At first it appeared to be nothing good since I already had the first editions from that I already had. I was about to give up when I checked the second to bottom peg and saw a Lamborghini Aventador J Super Treasure Hunt Car behind a few cars.
  This marks the 6th well 5th 2019 Super Treasure Hunt I found this year. The real fifth one that I found was a Street Creeper Super Treasure Hunt, but I traded it for a Pizza Planet Truck. I don't really care for the Hot Wheels Original Designs cars so I had little attachment for it. I still can't believe I found it. I have 30 Super Treasure Hunt cars hanging on my wall. All found in the wild. I can't wait to find more.

My College Proffessor Would Be Proud of This

  Back when I was taking business classes in college, I had a professor who mentioned WWE in his lecture. He told us about how he knew Bob Backlund personally. Being a WWE fan, this had excited me. I forget the details about how he got to know him but it was cool hearing his story about him.
  As of lately I've been trying to downsize my WWE Action figure collection down to just the Women's division figures and Kane figures and some of my favorite legends. So Bob Backlund wouldn't have been a purchase for me since I was downsizing the collection. If you don't know this by now, Walmart has been having Flashback Elites as chase figures. They are a pain in the ass to find, and they are one per case. Chase figures are always shortpacked in cases.
  So I knew about the exclusive Bob Backlund for awhile now. I was on the fence about getting one since the story of my Business professor told me. I probably was never going to find this figure at retail. I never did find it at retail. Why is that? My Walmart keeps getting slammed with those Elite Top Picks. Did my Walmart get Elite 65 with Sensational Sherri? Nope. Was I able to get a Sensational Sherri? Yes I was. I didn't find either in stores. So how did I get them? I simply traded for them. Sherri will be in another story, so here's the story of how I acquired Bob Backlund. I had a basic Great Khali and the last basic David Otunga that another collector needed. Years ago I bought the 2 pack with Great Khali and Matt Hardy, and it paid off. I traded off the Matt Hardy several years ago and I kept the Great Khali for a long time. I really didn't want to let The Great Khali go, but I enjoyed him for 7 years, and it was time for him to get a new home. So we agreed to trade the Bob Backlund for Great Khali and David Otunga. If only I was still in college so I could show my old professor the action figure, he would be proud to see it.

I Finally Completed my 2018 Matchbox Collection

  Last year the distribution for Matchbox was terrible in my area. I mean really bad. I was barely able to find the new models that I needed to complete the set. 2 models have eluded me for one whole year. Those models were the 15 Cadillac Escalade and the Oshkosh M-ATV in tan. I never saw that wave at retail like ever. A few years ago Matchbox released an Oshkosh M-ATV in tan but I passed on it when I saw it in Dollar General like an idiot. Oh well. I'm still kicking myself for not buying the Hot Wheels Retro Entertainment Ferrari 250 GTO California when I saw it at Toys R Us. That one I will never get over not buying when I had the chance.

2018 is complete

  No where was I going with this again? Oh yeah, how I got the 2 Matchbox cars I was looking for. Well I acquired them in a trade. This is where buying doubles of cars has sometimes paid off. You see years ago, I started a habit of buying 2 of every Hot Wheels car that was from a movie. I didn't always buy 2, it only started a few years prior. There were several Batmobile's that I never bought 2 of. Anyway, I love the Hot Wheels Isuzu VehiCROSS. I love it so much, that I bought all 3 different ones in silver, yellow and red. I bought 2 of each. One was to open and one was to keep carded. So I had acquired a silver first edition VehiCROSS, Aston Martin DB10 and green Panoz LMP. The person who I traded with couldn't find them in his area, and I couldn't find the Escalade and M-ATV in my area. He also had a Forza AMC Rebel Machine that I wanted. I am a sucker for American Motors cars. So that's how I ended up completing my 2018 Matchbox collection.

I found my 24th Super Treasure Hunt Car today

  Today I had a hankering to go to Walmart. I just couldn't be at ease until I got there. Right now Walmart's across the country are getting in the Easter toy shippers. Usually they contain all different toys for Easter basket stuffers. Usually these seasonal shippers have 2 things I like to collect, Lego Polybag sets and Hot Wheels cars.
  So I head to the toy dept hoping they had the shipper. My luck paid off they did indeed have the shipper. First I spotted, the Lego Polybag sets, I see two new Star Wars polybags, the Naboo Star Fighter and Snowspeeder. I don't like the prequel films, since Plinkett's reviews have changed my mind on how crappy they were. I try to distance myself from anything associated with the prequels. Since I collect Lego Star Wars Polybag sets, I had to get them anyway.
  Now I went to the other side of the shipper, where the Hot Wheels cars were. It looked like the shipper was untouched. So I started to rummage through the dump bin grabbing the cars that I needed. I spotted the 96 Porsche Carrera, and the Spider Mobile. Great that's 2 cars down. I was really pressed for time, so I really didn't have time to dig for anything else. So just when I was about to give up, I dug into the middle of the Shipper and found a '92 Ford Mustang Super Treasure Hunt car! I couldn't believe it. I found my 24th Super Treasure Hunt Car! Well technically my 25th if you count the duplicate 2017 '69 Chevelle SS Super Treasure Hunt that I found a few weeks ago. I don't really count duplicates. So I was so happy that I found my 2nd Super Treasure Hunt from 2019, the first being the '90 Honda Civic EF that I found last year.