Well, what the hell.

It's been a while, but Secondhand Jesus is finally ready to get back into the blogging game. Since I last reported in about a year ago, I've wasted plenty of my money on cool stuff, so I can get to some of that maybe later on. I also will be blogging about whatever I find in any store, not just St. Vinny's, because I don't live so close to a Vinny's at the moment, and I don't think anybody will care anyways. Is anybody even reading this? Let's get to it.

I got paid on Friday, and Secondhand Jesus was itching to spend. Spend I did, but have no regrets, as usual. Since I'm keeping Secondhand in the title, I figure I'll get to the secondhand stuff first. This stuff came from The Yard Sale, a store in Laurium, MI if you didn't know. I've spent a lot of time and money there, but it was all worthwhile.

Paperbacks!

I ended up with a lot of science fiction, and though it wasn't intentional, there's something really cool about old sci-fi paperbacks with their strange covers. These are books that feel great to hold in your hand, and they all have that musty smell that belongs in old books. They were a buck or two a piece, which is an acceptable price.

I've read and own the first three Dune books. This is my second copy of Dune and my third copy of Dune Messiah. After watching the Dune film by David Lynch last summer, I fell into a sort of craze, but I'll get to that in a future post. The third book on the top is ten short stories by the author of Dune, Frank Herbert. This is the book I was most excited to purchase, because it was the only one I didn't know existed. Discovery is a great feeling, and goes to show how much better it is to shop in stores rather than online, as I can find items I never knew I wanted until they're in my hand.

I need to read more Vonnegut, so that was a great find, and I've been wanting to read Brave New World for a few years now but haven't seen it secondhand until now. As for The Puppet Masters, I picked that up because I always thought the title was cool, not to mention that the cover kicks ass, and I know Heinlein is a big name in sci-fi books. Now I've got more great reading at my disposal.

I also found a DVD at the Yard Sale, but I'll get to that with the other DVDs. The rest of this shit I got from Wally World.

DVDs!

On the bottom is the first three Alien movies in one regular package, which I found at The Yard Sale for seven bucks. Three movies, seven bucks. You just can't beat that kind of price. The disks all look like they're in pretty good shape, so essentially it was the type of good deal I live for.

On top are two five dollar movies from Wal-Mart. For movies like these, five dollars is a triviality. North by Northwest is one of Alfred Hitchcock's best films, starring Cary Grant in one of his most memorable roles. It's a must see film with everything from comedy to action to suspense to romance. Anyone who hasn't seen this film is seriously missing out. 12 Monkeys is a film by Terry Gilliam, well known for his crazy ass movies. I've only seen it once, but it's just the kind of crazy I like to have on my DVD shelf. After I saw 12 Monkeys I watched the short experimental film it was based on, La Jetee. Both recommended if you're into oddball cinema.

Legos!

As a youngling, Legos were some of my favorite toys, and in retrospect, probably the best toy of all time. Recently, I caught the Lego bug once again, so I came home with a couple small pieces.

 

 This is the Bunny Suit guy from the latest Lego Minifig line. Basically you get a small bag with all the pieces of a mystery figure inside, waiting to be put together. There are twelve or so in all and are marketed as a "Collect Them All" type of deal. I was hoping for a Space Marine, but this guy was like my #2 for obvious reasons. He's just a really crazy guy.

 Avengers Legos! I loved the Avengers movie so much I saw it twice in the theater, so of course I wanted some Legos to go with. This is the Captain America cycle set, which is currently the only Lego set to come with the Captain America minifig. That much alone makes it worth it, but it also comes with two different minifigs of the Chitauri, the villains of the movie.

Though Cap never rides this in the movie, it's still a cool little piece, and makes a great vehicle for Cap. The only downside to this set is the friggin' decals on the two different vehicles. Do they have to be impossible to put on straight? There are no marks on the platic pieces for where the decals should go, so it's up to the buyer to get them on straight on their own. Of further complication is the fact that the decals are clear, which means they pick up every bit of oil or dead skin on your fingers as you try to make it not so obviously diagonal. Decals suck, because they can make or break a toy. If you put them on shitty, you're stuck with that, no matter how cool the toy might be otherwise. Wash your hands before messing with them.

Well that's all I have for this time around. It's been great having something to think about other than my job, so I'll be back with more updates soon. Until then, take it sleazy.

Shrieks and Spiders

Are you within approximately five years of my age (23. Sad, I know.) AND someone who read as a child? If so, then you'll probably draw some connection to today's spotlight item. Hell, maybe you will anyways. It's a small world, after all.

What I have today is a

Goosebumps Shrieks and Spiders Game!

Shrieks. And spiders.

Being a lifelong horror fiend, the Goosebumps books by R.L. Stein were the perfect thing to read in the Second Grade. For a while, it seemed like everyone was reading them. It was hard not to, with the scary covers and intriguing names, such as "The Cuckoo Clock of Doom," "It Came From Beneath the Sink," "The Beast from the East," and, of course, "The Horror at Camp Jellyjam."

Many of the books were adapted into half hour bits for a Goosebumps TV show, which I believe played on Fox Kids. The show was pretty good, but I always thought "Are You Afraid of the Dark" was better. It was really a matter of preference, I suppose.

Reading the books today, they seem extremely short and on the predictable side, but that's to be expected. After all, they're kids books, and for kids, they're worthwhile, or at least they were in the 90's. The important thing is that kids were reading.

As far as the game goes, it looks like it could be fun. The back of the box makes it sound like a real gem:
"Do you see the MUMMY -- or the DUMMY? Stay calm. Flip. Is that the MONSTER -- or the HAMSTER? (Did you just feel a cold draft?) Flip again...
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek! It's CURLY the Skeleton!"
I bet you wish you had this game.

For some reason, this.

Upon opening the box, I was like, "Sweet! POGs!" Apparently, you use POGs for part of the game. I'm surprised they're all still with the game. I'm sure plenty of kids soon abandoned the rest of the game in favor of the POGs and began using them to gamble on the playground. In fact, I'm pretty sure I won a couple of these same POGs off of a kid back in the day, with my awesome slammer-jammer skills. If you don't know anything about POGs, then just pretend.

The game is basically all about flipping cards, grabbing POGs and plastic spiders, shouting "Goosebumps!" and not much else, which are pretty much all the necessary elements of greatness. I haven't actually read the rules, but from what I've gathered, that's the gist of it.

The game looks to have been passed around, but I'm not gonna make a hooker joke. Anyways, it's hard to know how much something costs when there are three different price tags from what are clearly three different businesses. I knew which one was the St. Vinnie's tag, but just to be sure, I covered up the less appealing prices with another item when I placed it on the checkout. Such tactics never hurt a smart consumer.

Cost of Goosebumps Shouting POG Spider Game: $.74

I'm feeling a bit hungry at the moment, so I'm gonna go out and munch some brain. That's all, folks.