Saturday, February 22, 2014

Blatant eBay Plug - Please Buy My Hockey Cards

Check it out, here's the link to My Ebay Page.

If you leave me a note when paying that you read my blog I'll throw in something free for ya...


Thanks.

Will

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

TWO Star Wars Attack Squadrons Beta Codes Available!


Star Wars™ : Attack Squadrons is a free-to-play online space combat game where players customize iconic Star Wars™ ships and engage in high-velocity 16 player dogfights in fabled Star Wars locations.

I have two closed beta codes to give away here, if you want one, leave a comment.  If more than 2 people comment I'll do a random draw.


Saturday, February 15, 2014

LA Kings Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar OYO Sportstoys Mini Figures Reviewed

Many many moons ago I reviewed the First Generation of OYO Sportstoys mini-figures.  Today I'll be reviewing their newest line, NHL players!

Packaging front
OYO Sportstoys has come a long way since their initial set.  Not only are they doing three of the four main sports (with only Basketball as their holdout) but they have licensed baseball and football fields.  During the Superbowl just a couple weeks back they held their own OYO Bowl with their mini-figs re-enacting plays from the game.



Packaging back
Their first foray into NHL players were current stars from the Original Six teams, and these came out right before Christmas.  Expansion number one saw figures from the 1967 expansion teams including my home-town favorite LA Kings.  I would have pre-ordered these if I could have, but alas, I had to wait until they were available on OYO's official site.  I placed my order on February 6 and received it this morning, so 9 days shipping.  Two figures and shipping cost just under $29, which let's face it is not cheap.

The packaging is pretty much the same as for baseball.  Better printing, but that's about it.  Each package is personalized to the player.
Inside you get your player, helmet, visor, stick, puck, skates and a stand.  Only my Dustin Brown didn't have one of his skates.  He's a sad Dustin Brown.  This first series features the Kings in the black duds they've been wearing since 2008.  Currently this represents their home colors, but that only switched before the Stanley Cup Season.  The decorations are what you buy these figures for, they're about as authentic as you can get.  I personally am looking forward to seeing the white road unis, and I'm REALLY hoping for throwbacks to the original Purple and Gold days.  

Getting their skates and helmet on is no problem.  The visor is a bit too fragile and small compared to other mini-figure manufacturers.  The skates are really small, but they work surprisingly well and the stand is designed to fit them properly!  The stick works fine especially with the puck, which has a notch that attaches itself to the end of the cleverly curved stick!  It's a great idea and makes the poses look awesome, though without the puck there, the stick looks really odd.  There's actually two molds one for righties and one for lefties!

The original Baseball OYOs had bent fore-arms that made their articulation work really well.   The Football series figures all have "One straight forearm and one bent forearm to achieve even more poses."  The Hockey series follows the Football model with their shooting arm in real life being their straight arm on their figure.  All of which makes these guys be able to achieve about two poses.  Maybe.  That's if you can keep their arms on, the very small diameter of the pins connecting the arms together doesn't keep them together very well.

The entire package is a great toy, don't get me wrong.  I really enjoy these figures and I'd buy many, many more.  If they weren't so darn expensive.  I'm sorry but $14.50 for a mini-figure is outrageous!  Blind bags of McFarlane's SmallPros which are NFL licensed are under $5.00.  I say ditch the costly packaging and put them in cello bags.  Also, I want a rink.  With goals and the ability to put my figures on moveable rods so I can play hockey.  The old LEGO sets stunk for that.





DISCLAIMER: The items featured in this review were purchased by the reviewer.  If you'd like to send me products to review, please contact me via email to WMNOE at YAHOO dot COM.

Thanks



Sunday, February 2, 2014

Super Bowl XLVIII - Seahawks 43 - Broncos 8 2:00 Minute Warning.

What more needs to be said at this point?  The Seahawks so thoroughly dominated the Broncos it wasn't even close.  Not even from the start of the game.  They never trailed.  Russell Wilson deserves the MVP.  Manning, if he quits now won't be remembered for this game.  There was nothing he could do, he was outclassed from the start.

Congratuations Cheatey Petey, you've won on every level now.


Super Bowl XLVIII - Seahawks 36 - Broncos 0 2:58 3rd

Whoa, worst blowout I've seen in a long long time.  Who'd a thought?


Super Bowl XLVIII - Seahawks 29 - Broncos 0 5:35 3rd

Yet ANOTHER turnover for the Broncos.  Seattle is running away with the game, I doubt I'll be posting much more.


Super Bowl XLVIII - Seahawks 29 - Broncos 0 14:48 3rd

Uh yeah, Percy Harvin just ran it back for a touchdown.  It's over.  The over/under was 47, I think if they don't stop the Seahawks they can get there by themselves.

Yikes.


Bruno Mars was enjoyable during half-time.  My wife enjoyed it, so that's a good thing.


Super Bowl XLVIII - Seahawks 22 - Broncos 0 Half-Time

Bruno Mars and the Chili-Peppers are coming up.

Thoughts on the first half - well, what is there to say really?  Cheatey Petey's team is really kicking major booty over the lackluster Broncos.  Russell Wilson et al is looking great on offense, but the real story is that the Legion of Boom hasn't let the Broncos do ANYTHING on offense.  Sure Manning has a few more yards passing than Wilson, but those two picks are a major difference in the score each leading to a touchdown.  The last 14 Seattle points are directly related to Manning's two INTs.

If the Seahawks do hold onto win that leaves the non-Superbowl winners roster one team down, and to me that's always a good thing.

Good luck Petey in the second half, you are only playing Peyton Manning.




Super Bowl XLVIII - Seahawks 22 - Broncos 0 2:00 Minute Warning.

Ouch Holliday coughs it up on the ensuing kickoff, will the turn over stand?  Nope


Amazing Spider-Man 2 looks great.  Much better than the Raimi movies.  AMIRITE?

3:16 for Manning to gain some respect before halftime.

Nice catch by D. Thomas on 3rd down for 18 and a 1st.  Thrown to Richard Sherman's side.

Wes Welker has been in 3 big games and hasn't won yet.  Poor guy.

Two-Minutes.  Time to buy those Topps Cards.

Super Bowl XLVIII - Seahawks 22 - Denver 0. 3:21 2nd

Yup, I'm gonna call this one game over.  Would I like to be wrong?  Dunno.  I really don't like Denver and I'm really only fond of Peyton Manning of their players.  So if they lose, no biggie for me.

Colbert's commercial was awesome, just as he is.

Beckham has too many tats.  But he's pretty awesome.  Seen his wife in person twice at Toys R Us.  Big bodyguards.

Colbert's second commercial is even awesomer.


Super Bowl XLVIII - Seahawks 15 - Broncos 0. 12:08 2nd

It's all Seattle so far.  I'm not even sure the Broncos showed up to play to be honest.  Manning is now 3/4 for 10 yards with a pick.  Russell Wilson on the other hand is now 9/14 for 94 yards.

Let's see if Manning Magic can come back, though since he's both won and lost a Super Bowl before, it will be interesting to watch.

So far I have to say the commercials are extremely lack-luster, and since they're paying a gazillion dollars a minute now, it's money foolishly spent I believe.

But then there was the far too short Transformers Age of Extinction ad.

Still it's a Michael Bay movie and I can't get too excited.


Super Bowl XLVIII - Seahawks 8 - Denver 0. 15:00 2nd

Commercials:

Squareshack?  - Yeah...erm except none of those WERE memes.

Radio Shack 80's - That was cute...

And we're back.


Seattle is back on offense and Harvin is right back to work.  Frickken Russell Wilson is almost to 100 yards passing already.



Super Bowl XLVIII - Seahawks 8 - Denver 0. 1:10 1st.

Hauschka hits his 2nd field goal of the game, then hits the cross-bar on the kickoff.  Fun.

Manning is then picked on Third Down and long and the Seahawks have just had the best first quarter they could have possibly wanted.  Denver has 11 yards of offense.

Is it over already?

Super Bowl XLVIII - Seahawks 5 - Broncos 0 3:22 1st

Really nice to see Percy Harvin get on the field finally.

Russell Wilson is looking like the veteran in this game so far.  Peyton fumbles the snap on the first play of the game, who's the second year man again?

Meanwhile Topps Huddle isn't working!  I.E. no player is accumulating any points so their entire point is moot today.

Challenge on the play by John Fox and the Broncos.

Commercials.

More Ian Rappaport nonsense.  Which is exactly what it is.

Beats by Dre starring Ellen Degeneris is very very strange.

Each team has now lost a challenge.

Super Bowl XLVIII - Seahawks 5 - Denver 0 10:25 1st

The Seahawks are on an 8 play drive and Carroll is already challenging.

First real commercials, Ian Rappaport ad series begins.  Okay then.

and a Dumb-Ass car commercial.

SO we've got a field goal.

and more commerrcials.

The first Doritos ad was DUMB.

Ok so Car Commercials are so lame to me that I have an acronym for them this year - LCC which means Lame Car Commercial.  Most of them will have no further commentary.


Super Bowl XLVIII - Seattle Seahawks vs. Denver Broncos - Seattle 2 - Denver 0.

SO I'm also playing Topps Huddle and they just did a great sale where I got a bunch of good players for cheap.

Kick by Hauschka is returned to the 15 and the Broncos are on Offense.

Manning on Offense

First play is a Safety before the Flag!  Illegal motion on the offense.  Declined.  WOW.  Seattle 2, Denver 0.


Super Bowl XLVIII - Seattle Seahawks vs. Denver Broncos - Coin Toss/More Pre-Kick

Apparently Prince is on the next episode of "New Girl" - which has now been on for three seasons, so doesn't that make her the "Old New Girl"?


Coin Toss, Broadway Joe and Phil Simms are there representing New York winning Super Bowl QBs.  I guess they forgot about Jeff Hostedtler and Eli Manning.  They tossed the coin and re-caught.  Tails and Seattle defers.

Kickoff is next.


Super Bowl XLVIII - Seattle Seahawks vs. Denver Broncos - Pre-Kick Festivities

Charles Tillman of the Bears wins the Walter Payton Man of the Year.  Good guy.

Queen Latifah and a New Jersey Kids Choir sing America the Beautiful.  Very Nice.


Trailer for Captain America Winter Solider looked awesome.  Can't wait for that.  Speaking of the Captain, there's a VERY funny comic strip called American Captain which is basically the character of Steve Rogers doing a comic-diary on the internet.  And it's hilarious.  Highly recommended.

The trailer for A Million Ways to Die in the West had us HOWLING with laughter the other day.  May have to break down and go see it in the theaters.


It's a red band trailer - which means, no kiddies.

Well now we're getting the introductions of the teams.  Kurt Russell is looking pretty old sad to say, and this voice over isn't doing a whole lot for me.  Gotta like the whole "Legion of Boom" thing too.  They come out to "Bittersweet Symphony" which is exactly what it's going to be if they lose.

Let's see who's the announcer for the Broncos?  Kurt again.  Hmm...the "Escape from New York" line was not witty.

Manning and company come out following a horse.

Joe Buck talking to former referee Mike Pereria, who has been a great addition to the Fox broadcasting team.  He knows his stuff and he's personable enough.  Now he's pointing out that the two refs like to call Offensive Holding, so that makes me think there's going to be some holding calls.


FWIW - I may not comment on EACH and every commercial as I've done in years past.  Don't hold me to that standard of coverage.  I'll do my best.

Renee Fleming singing the National Anthem.  Wow.  Well, that's Opera for you.

Coming up next - Coin Toss.

SUPERBOWL XLVIII Seattle Seahawks vs. Denver Broncos - The Ford Pre-Kick Show

And your announce team is...Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, Fox's #1 Football team.  These guys have done the big game a bunch of times now, and other than I can't stand Joe Buck anymore, they're fine.  Wait, what's that, Will doesn't like Joe Buck?  Nope.  I have a History of ripping on him.

Troy Aikman though is a fellow Bruin and a three-time Super-Bowl Champ.  He was the class of the 90's in QB and a pretty good color guy.  Game time is now 25 minutes away.  Can you wait that long?

I can.



Shermit The Frog Post-Game Interview [Garlic Jackson Comedy]

SUPERBOWL XLVIII Seattle Seahawks vs. Denver Broncos - POLLS ADDED

I added a couple polls here on the side - vote until 4 pm, which is well into the 1st quarter.


The Muppets Most Wanted Pre-Game Show on Fox

Half an hour away from the "Pre-Game Festivities".  In the last hour we've had a package on Richard Sherman and Russell Wilson, and now we're getting the piece on Peyton Manning.

Very strange here that Terry Bradshaw is featured heavily in the pre-game packages, but he's not there on the field.  Poor man lost his father earlier this week so he's with family, I certainly can understand that.  With the death of Phillip Seymour Hoffman so fresh on our collective minds I think the festivities will be somewhat muted today.  Though not for very long I'm sure.

I have to say this, everyone so far has been a class act in this Super Bowl.  Even Richard Sherman.  I may not care for Pete Caroll because of his connection to U$C, but how can you not root for Ruseell Wilson who seems to be such a genuine good guy?  How can you not appreciate Peyton Manning and his "chip on his shoulder"?

As to the "legacy" of Peyton Manning - win or lose, he's in the HOF and this game is a testament to his resilliance.  Win or lose, he's done what he needed to do already, he has nothing else to prove.  Any other interpretation is irrelevant.

Superbowl XLVIII Seattle Seahawks vs. Denver Broncos Pre-Game Thoughts

Representing the American Football Conference for the Seventh Time - The Denver Broncos.



The Broncos are an original AFL team, beginning play in 1960 at Mile High Stadium.  They were the only team in the entire AFL never to play in the AFL Title Game prior to the 1966 merger.  They have appeared in the Super Bowl six times previously, losing in 1978 (Dallas), 1987 (NYG), 1988 (Washington) and 1990 (San Francisco).  They FINALLY broke through winning back to back in 1997 (Green Bay) and 1998 (Atlanta).  They are led by the now FIVE time league MVP Peyton Manning who won a Super Bowl eight years ago when his Indianapolis Colts defeated the Chicago Bears 29-17.  IF Manning leads the Broncos to a win he will become the first Quarterback EVER to lead two different teams to Super Bowl wins.  Kurt Warner COULD have become the first when he played for the Cardinals who lost to the Steelers in 2009.  With 7 appearances the Broncos are tied with the Patriots for 2nd place in all time big game appearances.  The Steelers and the Cowboys are tied for first with 8 each.  Their all-time playoff record is 20-17.

The Broncos are coached by John Fox, who had a heart-attack earlier this season and was forced to sit out several games.

Representing the National Football Conference for the Second Time - The Seattle Seahawks.  



In 1976 the NFL added their first two teams since the AFL/NFL merger in the mid-60's adding the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the then AFC and the Seattle Seahawks to the NFC.  Strangely enough the 'Hawks swapped divisions with the Bucs after one season and became AFC West Stalwarts for over 25 years.  They switched back to their NFC origins for the 2002 season when the two conferences were finally balanced with 4 divisions of 4 teams each.

The Seahawks didn't have much playoff success in the AFC, appearing in only 5 post-seasons from 1983 to 1999, their best showing being their first; a 9-7 team lost to the eventual champion LA Raiders in the AFC Title game.  Their 2005 team was one of the top 10 teams of the entire 2000-2009 era, winning 13 out of 16 games and blowing through their two home games in the playoffs.  That team had the #1 ranked offense led by Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander with Bobby Ingram catching passes.  They were coached by Mike Holmgren who built the team as the GM as well.  IF the Seahawks win this year they'll finally be .500 in playoff appearances at 12-12.

The Seahawks are coached by Pete Caroll who I USUALLY call "Cheatey Petey" stemming from his years at my least favorite college in America, U$C (full disclosure - I graduated from UCLA in 2006).  Neither Caroll nor Jim Fox have a Super Bowl victory under their belts.  I really don't have much nice to say about Caroll, so I'd rather say nothing.

The Game


This year's game features one of the hottest offenses in the league led by a tested and tough field-general versus one of the best defenses ever created with several star players who are at the top of their game.  When the Broncos are on offense Manning can RARELY be stopped.  His audibles at the line of scrimmage are now legendary (OMAHA!) and he has a terrific pedigree.  The Seahawks though have three Pro-Bowlers in their backfield led by first team All-Pros Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas.  Sherman has made a name for himself recently due to his post-game interview and comments after the NFC Title Game.  So when the Broncs are on offense the game to watch is Mannings passing versus the Seahawks secondary.

When Seattle has the ball they're led by second year man Russell Wilson, who wins 75% of the games he has started over the last two years.  Wilson was a two sport star in High School and at NC State where he was drafted by the Colorado Rockies and played in their minor-league system unremarkably.   He had completed his junior year of football eligibility prior to the 2011 Baseball season and his decision to play minor-league ball led to his being released from his scholarship.  Wilson then transferred to Wisconsin where he the Badgers to an 11-3 season and a Rose Bowl appearance.  Drafted by Seattle in the 3rd round, he started the 2012 season at QB leading Seattle to the post-season and a Wild-Card round victory.

Marshawn Lynch is the featured back in the Seattle offense and is known by his nickname "Beast-Mode"  Really that's all you need to know, the man is just unstoppable.  Third straight season of 1000+ yards and 5th overall.  Oh and he hates to talk to the media.

The line is still the Broncos by 2.5.  I think that's pretty darn accurate.  Per an article on Forbes

According to CBS, here are three of the hottest prop bets:
-How Many Times Will Peyton Manning Say “Omaha” During the Game?
-What Will the TV Rating be for the Super Bowl?
-What Will Be the Total Team Points? 

And then there's this to catch you up on Superbowl History.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Super_Bowl_champions


T-Minus 1:45 to kickoff.  I think (3:30 PM PST)

Super-Bowl LIVE BLOGGING RETURNS!

Meh, why not.  I can't stand this matchup.

I have blogged about the Superbowl many, many times before.  The first of my series are Here from 2001, and Here from 2006.  Then click the "Superbowl" label to the right to see all of my unique perspectives on the Superbowls since then.

So once again, I find myself looking at a matchup that I could care less about.

Didn't care who won last year either.  In fact the last time I "cared" about which team won was over a decade ago when the Rams lost to the Patriots.  That's what happens when you live in Los Angeles and don't have a team since 1995.  Blargh.  Hey I hear the Rams might be moving back.


So there, I will go ahead and live-blog the "Big Game" (Since you can't call it the Superbowl and not get sued).  I'll start around 3 PM PST since I'm NOT going to sit and watch hours of Pre-Game that is utterly meaningless.

Until then enjoy some Muppets action.  They're going to be all over today's media - they have a new movie out soon and Disney Synergy is totally in motion.




My prediction BTW is Denver by 3.  And no, Manning won't retire.