Spirit Kitchen Knife ()

 

I'm going to excise my ramblings, leaving nothing but my assessment of the piece itself, since I have parted with all of my Silent Hill media.

This is incredibly similar to Spirit's Foam Hammer. It's painted foam over some manner of support rod. It ends about an inch and a half short of the tip, for obvious reasons. This means that there is potential for it being, or getting warped. If you hang yours vertically through a wire shelf, like I do with my blades, then that potential issue should sort itself out. It's too pliable as-is for me to recommend the hairdryer trick. The bigger issue is one of QC. In this case, it's not the paint you'll want to examine in-person, it's the edge of the blade. I saw a few with untrimmed 'flash.' I DO NOT recommend trimming it yourself. You'll likely cut too close, disrupt the seam, and cause it to split open wholesale. Examine these carefully before purchasing!

Logitech PSP PlayGear Pocket (Slim;)

I've long bought cases like this for all of my handhelds. As is the norm when there's a single noteworthy problem and a multitude of positives, I'm getting the former out of the way immediately: the material comprising the inserts is strangely almost gummy. This presents no issues in regards to coming into contact with the system, but when detritus ends up on it, you're going to have to basically gouge it out with your nails. It's not nearly as damning as it sounds, as you can simply rinse the inserts. I recommend either allowing them to air dry, or carefully using a blow-dryer (with an adult's help, if applicable). Drying them with any manner of tissue is going to return them to their original state, wasting your efforts.

In regards to the longevity and structural integrity, I'll let you know that I actually bought mine used. It's awash in scratches. Whoever had it first put it through hell. Yet, it still looks great and the friction on the dual hinges has remained sublime. There are mounds on the back for your fingers to naturally grip onto, and the lid is a revelation. Say you're grinding in an RPG and want to watch something while doing so. You can fold it such that it's sitting perpendicular, in the rear (I.e., 270°). In the course of normal play, I keep it up to emulate the top half of a DS/3DS. It does worlds for maintaining immersion, in that position.

As long as you can stomach a bit of effort when it comes to cleaning, and actually have a PSP, and actually take it places, this is a dream.

4 Wolves Pleasingly Mimicking A Sheep's Weight Distribution out of 5

The Magnificent Seven Collection

It doesn't matter to me whether or not the Western genre is representative of how life really was back in the day. I don't care if it's been exaggerated, romanticised or straight up invented. What matters is that it provides a recognisable framework within which many different types of story can be told: the frontier town, the bandits, the selfless hero, the guns for hire, etc, are versatile tools in the hands of experienced writers. The original Magnificent Seven film is that versatility in action. It's a remake that's respectful to both its Japanese source material and its own parent genre, proving that some stories truly can be universal at heart and it's just the telling that changes. The western appropriation of the seven hired hands is so good that it even spawned a number of imitators and sequels of its own:

The Source:
01. Seven Samurai (1954)

The Films:
01. The Magnificent Seven (1960)
02. Return of the Magnificent Seven (1966)
03. Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969)
04. The Magnificent Seven Ride (1972)

The TV Series:
01. The Magnificent Seven: TV Series (1998–2000)

Films Influenced By TMS:
01. Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)
02. The Seven Magnificent Gladiators (1983)

The Remake of the Remake:
01. The Magnificent Seven (2016)

The Sword and Sorcery Collection

Wiki describes the term as 'a subgenre of fantasy generally characterised by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent conflicts,' with elements of 'romance [...] magic and the supernatural.' It mentions also that it often overlaps with Heroic Fantasy films, as does my list below.
The Hyborian Conan is the undisputed king, but there are plenty of other heroes for hire; you'll more than likely find them standing stoutheartedly on hills while the sun sets; temporarily chained in dank castle dungeons; or jovially drinking and wenching in taverns. I still love the genre, but I feel that modern film techniques have sucked most of the soul out of it – its heyday is over, sadly. Here's what we've got so far (arranged alphabetically):

The PTU Collection

The real PTU (Police Tactical Unit) are a special unit within the Hong Kong Police Force that perform a number of roles, such as patrolling streets, providing backup to other divisions when needed, aiding disaster response teams, and participating in riot control, among other things. This PTU do all of that, too, but they're fictionalised. Their methods aren't always legal, but they cover their asses well, looking out for each other by stalling for time and hiding truths, except when there's a personal rivalry taking precedence.
The original film was by Hong Kong filmmaker Johnnie To (aka To Kei-Fung) in 2003 and remains to this day one of his best works. The five subsequent TV Movies used some of the same actors but as different characters.

The Original Film:
01. PTU: Police Tactical Unit (2003) Dir. Johnnie To

The Tactical Unit TV Movies:
01. Tactical Unit: The Code (2008) Dir. Wing-cheong Law
02. Tactical Unit: No Way Out (2009) Dir. Lawrence Ah Mon
03. Tactical Unit: Human Nature (2009) Dir. Andy Ng
04. Tactical Unit: Comrades in Arms (2009) Dir. Wing-cheong Law
05. Tactical Unit: Partners (2009) Dir. Lawrence Ah Mon

Ultra-Pro & BCW Magnetic Card Holders ()

Originally, this was only a review of an Ultra-Pro model. I've since owned many of both brands. They are effectively identical, in terms of functionality, even though the molding and designs vary slightly.

 

The biggest rub with these is that they're less """air-tight""" than screw-down frames. It's a natural consequence of their defining feature: a magnetic closure. If they were a display case for anything else, I'd rage. They're card holders, though, and intensely easy to crack open every once in a while to clean away the minuscule amount of detritus that'll get in, or simply switch the contents out. The card I put into my first was about 20¢. I wanted it to feel special, much moreso than to be completely impervious to dust. If you want to put in two cards back-to-back, you can, but it'll only increase the seam between the halves.

Every holder I own, save one, is 35pt. That's the thickness of standard trading cards. The nice thing is that these come in a range of sizes. My outlier is 75pt. I honestly thought that metric referred to the size of cards, before receiving a noticeably thick Jubilee card. "Was the listing for multiples of this card?" Nope. Looking into the world of girthy cards was...enlightening. 360pt. cards will have compartments hollowed out of them. Why? So pieces of Tiger Woods' pants can be stuffed into them. Or, gravure models' bikinis.

I am not kidding.

You can buy a thickness gauge from BCW, but don't. Every card holder I've bought from them has come with one. I have a stack. Maybe the purchase-able one is fittingly printed on thick cardstock? As long as your printer settings are adjusted properly, you can produce an accurate one, yourself. I recommend that, prior to purchasing your first non-35pt. holder.

These also supposedly help with UV damage, if you're the kind of person to have windows that aren't completely covered in light-blocking curtains. And, to put your things next to them.

Weirdo.

3 Good Enough Solutions out of 5

They're damn classy. I prefer them to screw-downs, now.

The Planet of the Apes Collection

Using metaphors to highlight human folly is a reliable and standard practice in sci-fi, but for some reason using apes helped the message hit closer to home. Perhaps because we know how similar to us they are genetically, and if evolution had taken a slight detour a few millennia ago...?
If ever you get the opportunity, stare into an ape's eyes and note what you find. There's a level of intelligence that you don't often see in 'lesser' animals.
With regards the films, parallels in how societies develop over time is an obvious thing for me to call attention to, but I know firsthand that something being obvious doesn't mean it's never overlooked, so I'm mentioning it.

Note: Links will take you to the relevant posts on the other Nut blogs (opens in new tab each time).

The Novel:
01. Planet of the Apes (1963) (aka Monkey Planet)

Original Films:
01. Planet of the Apes (1968)
02. Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
03. Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
04. Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
05. Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)

Television Series:
01. Planet of the Apes (1974)
02. Return to the Planet of the Apes (1975)

Remake Film:
01. Planet of the Apes (2001)

Reboot Films:
01. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
02. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
03. War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)

Spirit Bloody Axe w/Holster ()

I'm going to excise my ramblings, leaving nothing but my assessment of the piece itself, since I have parted with all of my Silent Hill media.

 

As usual, not perfect, but damn good enough. This is sold with a shitty vinyl holster that went straight into the donation pile. Don't get me wrong, it's serviceable enough to survive a Halloween or three, if you're careful, but I wasn't dressed as a woodsman that year. Of all of the Spirit accessories I've covered, this is the one that's safest to purchase online, as it has the most consistent paint detailing, across individual pieces. That said, the head is a fair bit squishy compared to those others.

Spirit Horror Double Axe (2014)

I'm going to excise my ramblings, leaving nothing but my assessment of the piece itself, since I have parted with all of my Silent Hill media.

As with the black detailing on Spirit's Foam Hammer, the level of blood splatter and smudging varies WIDELY on these, and I consequently suggest even more strongly that you examine them in-store. The handle on this one has the least amount of coverage of any I've seen over the years.

It undeniably feels hollow, but as long as you aren't beating things or people with it, it'll do the job. The wood-grain detailing of the handle is pretty swish and the head certainly looks the part. It bears a molded Rubie's Costume Company logo, but I've seen this sold in both Spirit and Party City. A cursory examination of available information reveals that it was subsumed into a larger corporate ecosphere. Yep, that'd explain it.

Yes, I wanted to sound like Perceptor. Wheeljack sucks~

Spirit Foam Sledge Hammer ()

I'm going to excise my ramblings, leaving nothing but my assessment of the piece itself, since I have parted with all of my Silent Hill media.  

This fine fine hammer looks properly scaled at a glance (when not next to size references...) and takes up less room than a long-handled one would command. It's pretty awesome that way. It's also a sturdy core (metal rods perhaps?) covered by painted foam, and while I know that's very likely to degrade over time, it's absolutely perfect given that Travis's do the same. As with all of the prop weapons I'll be covering that originate from Spirit Halloween, the level of wash and paint detail will vary from piece to piece. If that aspect of the detailing is critically important to you, I recommend choosing one in-person, instead of ordering from their website.

I've since learned that foam weaponry holds up extremely well, if you handle them with care and regularly dust them. Gently!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:Leonardo('s) Katana (2015)

I'm going to excise my ramblings, leaving nothing but my assessment of the piece itself, since I have parted with all of my Silent Hill media. 

 

I'm super pleased with this katana. There's a number of variants out there, Halloween props and otherwise. This one can be found at Party City, yes, but some of the tooling is actually toy-aisle worthy! The blade isn't bent, that's just how it's sculpted, as it's rather thick. It's costume accessory quality, but definitely at the high-end of that range. The hilt is what resides in Toy Town, as it's held together with screws! I know, I know, Hollywood-style square guard, but I'm not going to be rolling over it in the shadows.

The price is overly steep, but at the time I thought it was completing my collection, so I accepted it. Yes, this is a 2017 Update and they are still just as expensive. I'd honestly say pass, at this point, unless you specifically want it for its intended purpose. Otherwise, get this!

The Trilogies Collection

Who doesn't love a threesome? When it comes to film there's something oddly satisfying about a trilogy. If the first one is lucky enough to be a success then a sequel can build upon it or tie up any threads that were left hanging. A third film can serve as a timely farewell. Or may in fact exist solely to milk cash from completists.

Because what's below the cut is alphabetical, to make life simpler for myself I'm not including the titles of individual films. Instead, I'll put the title by which they're known collectively, followed by links that'll take you to the relevant post on the relevant blog (opens in new window each time). It's a BIG list.