just over a month ago i placed an order on one of them website things for something what looked quite smart. and, look you see, just south of two weeks ago that which i ordered finally turned up. nice one, it is always merry when commerce is successful.
there is a school of thought which says let me leave the story there, for it is a really lovely one and should give all readers some warm sense of happiness. but, considering i have taken the pictures and gone to the length of uploading them let me carry on.
yes, as you can see quite graphically in the above - and may well have ascertained from the title of the post - it is a whole load of stuff relating or otherwise pertaining to that smart film Alien. well, when i say whole load, i mean three, but then again i suspect only two are visible in the picture.
quite right, with the latter part of the above in mind, perhaps a closer look at what is inside the box of stuff would be best. and so here we go.
that there is a 'Dorbz' vinyl collectible figure of one of the aliens, or if you will xenomorphs, from basically all of the Alien films except, i think, Alien 3, where the only alien was one cast from a dog or similar. which is probably why that one is not quite so fondly remembered as the others. not that all the others are.
speaking of which, next to it is the back of a (it says here) "Mini Mates" packet of figures. this, in terms of my order, was a "lucky dip" thing, and you had absolutely no choice in which one (1) of the 4 (four) sets pictured you would get. needless to say, i just crossed fingers that it was not the one off of Alien 3, for as you can see it is bereft of even the most basic alien. except, i guess, for the fact that (spoiler warning i guess) there was one in Ripley's tummy at the time.
my level of interest in the above was not quite precisely zero, but probably best measured all the same as "ok in passing". with that being the case, a perfectly valid question would be of why i then bought it. absolutely it came down to price, but not even in respect of them things.
yes, there we have it. a very smart, and somewhat scary and also quite sexual looking (in a way) 5XL size t-shirt celebrating the by default sexual beast known as the "face hugger" out of Alien. this, or that, is why an order was placed - them two other things off the previous picture came with this.
and price was certainly a motivator. i think, from memory, the whole lot cost north of £15 but slightly south of £16 delivered, which is smart, even allowing for the delay in turning up. from what i recall that's about what i paid for my most class Evolution t-shirt what also features Alien, and probably what i spent on a t-shirt showcasing Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight. as opposed to all them other films what Heath Ledger played The Joker in, i guess.
why 5XL? i really, really like baggy shirts, man. yes, i am on the bigger size of large, but 4XL would also have been baggy. well, why would you not go one baggier if you could? undoubtedly Shaun Ryder would. i just feel comfortable in baggy shirts. they make me feel like Brando as Kurtz in Apocalypse Now, with particular emphasis on the (wisely) cut scenes of him wandering around in daylight. or Hannibal in Hannibal when he rescues Clarice off them killer pigs. and yes, i suppose, a but Demis Rousoss too.
no, nothing to do with Alien but Star Wars, to be sure. a lovely set of four extra large socks sent on as a gift by a dear friend. he was particularly delighted to find some that would fit my "clown feet", which i suppose they are at size 13 (14 in US measurement).
what's the deal with all the Alien stuff? i mean in general, as well as what i have here. this year marks, apparently, the 40th anniversary of the release of the original Alien film, allowing for the fact that some argue about just how "original" it was. the film (and indeed music) industry (industries) really, really love arbitrary anniversaries, in particular decimal friendly ones what end in a "0". 10th, 20th, 30th, 40th and 50th anniversaries tend to be the point at which some films get re-released, or re-issued, and us fans are invited and encouraged to hand over more money for stuff relating to it.
this isn't bad, but it does get frustrating when not all films and that get this treatment. so far, for example, we have not to my knowledge had any anniversary editions of the two greatest films of the 80s, Commando, starring Vernon Wells, and Mad Max 2, starring Vernon Wells.
i think there is some fancy, la-de-dah new "4k ultra restored high definition" blu ray steel box dvd release of the original Alien film so as to celebrate this anniversary. no, i won't be getting it. other than the artwork being awful, there's nothing new on the set and it is all on the dvd copies i have of the film (i think i have at least two, possibly 3 copies). this "cleaned up" and "restored" does not sell it to me at all; the film is supposed to look dark and gritty, not all pristine and clean.
which of the four "none really all that great" "Mini Mates" sets did i get? let use look....
indeed, with some relief, one of the two sets which you can say "could have been worse" about, which is a great deal better than the "oh no that one with no alien in it" sets. all four sets are, in truth, probably not the sort of thing what would appeal to Alien fans. bizarre that they do not have ones featuring Hicks, Bishop, Newt or basically anyone off of the first two films. probably would cost a lot more to licence them, i guess.
oh, yeah, that is indeed an "exclusive to Toys R Us" sticker on the box. i am guessing that is why this set of stuff was so cheap, it is "excess" or "clearance" stock from somewhere that someone is just trying to shift and be rid of.
but, as i have said, no real grumbles here. the real win, and the reason i happily spent the cash, was for that most smart t-shirt. it is one i shall wear with pride, in particular to formal events and engagements.
in addition to being the 40th anniversary year of Alien, 2019 also marks the equally important 33rd anniversary of the last time we all got a decent Alien film. well, Alien 3 was rubbish, Alien Resurrection was a fleetingly interesting attempt to salvage the series, the Alien vs Predator films were mostly missed opportunities, the best parts of Prometheus had nothing to do with the aliens and Alien Covenant is one of the worst films in motion picture history.
oh yes, anyway, i am most happy with this haul. despite a lot of this post feeling like i am grumbling.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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