The comic book I am most excited to read this week is... TMNT: THE LAST RONIN #5 (W) Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, Tom Waltz (A) Ben Bishop (A/CA) Kevin Eastman, Esau Escorza, Issac Escorza The jaw-dropping finale to the biggest TMNT story ever is here! One final showdown between mutant and Foot Clan will determine the fate of NYC. Will the Ronin be able to find some measure of peace or is he fated to meet the same end as his brothers? Don't miss one of the most epic battles in TMNT history and the conclusion to the comic book event of the year! SRP: $8.99 Synopsis Provided By: PreviewsWorld.com
Throw on your Wu-Wear, and head to Shaolin as we take you back to the 90s! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK!
Artist: Wu-Tang Clan Song: Triumph Album: Wu-Tang Forever (1997) Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: N/A Bonus Fun Fact: The music video for this song was directed by Brett Ratner and features a cameo appearance by Quincy Jones! ODB declined to be in the video and after he left the set a stand-in was used to act as him for his intro to the song.
The comic book I am most excited to read this week is... CAPTAIN AMERICA #0 (W) Tochi Onyebuchi, Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing (A) Mattia De Iulis (CA) Alex Ross When Arnim Zola launches a catastrophic attack on New York City, he meets his match - in Sam Wilson and Steve Rogers! In the explosive battle that follows, two Captain Americas prove better than one, and Sam and Steve decide they might just keep a good thing going... Tochi Onyebuchi (BLACK PANTHER LEGENDS), Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly (KANG THE CONQUEROR) and Mattia De Iulis (THE MIGHTY VALKYRIES, INVISIBLE WOMAN) kick off an incredible new CAPTAIN AMERICA saga, and you won't want to miss whatv comes next! SRP: $4.99 Synopsis Provided By: PreviewsWorld.com
Throw on your De La Clothes, and head to school as we take you back to the 80s! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK!
Artist: De La Soul
Song: Me Myself And I
Album: 3 Feet High and Rising (1989)
Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: 34
Bonus Fun Fact: This song is part of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll"!
Back in the 80's & 90's my family spent the majority of our Easter/Spring breaks visiting our Grandpa in Tennessee. I have fond memories of visiting him, playing with our G.I. Joe action figures on his front porch with my brother and having him question any and all music videos that popped up on MTV. The one he questioned the most was "U Can't Touch This" by M.C. Hammer. I'm sure he was still wondering what couldn't be touched right up until the day he passed away. He would also have us do his yard work while we were there and I vividly remember him having me mow his lawn. It was horrible! He lived on what seemed like the tip of a mountain and the majority of my time was spent pushing his mower up this giant hill and then trying not to lose grip of it as I went back down. Ah, memories! Anyway, those few Easter vacations that we did spend at home in NJ were fantastic and the Easter Bunny really spoiled us kids with some great items in our basket. Now I could talk at length about my favorite candies that were stuffed inside, but Mr. Bunny also brought us some cool little items that were not edible. I'd like to share a few of my faves with you right now.
G.I. Joe Sunglasses
I know I have talked about these before, so I will just do a quick recap of why these are so memorable. One year me and my brother found a pair of G.I. Joe Sunglasses in our Easter Baskets. We thought we were as cool as Sergeant Slaughter in those babies! Unfortunately for me that feeling of unbridled awesomeness and badassery would end all too soon! I foolishly took my G.I. Joe Sunglasses to school and they got lost somewhere? A few days later a kid by the name of Mikey came to school wearing the very same glasses I had. Naturally I thought he stole mine and we got into a fight. Parents were brought in and it turned out Mikey's parents had bought them for him! The mystery of the missing G.I. Joe Sunglasses was never solved, but I think my brother had something to do with it?
Stationary Robot
I tried and tried, but could not find a photo or any info on this item anywhere on the internets, which led to my crude drawing based solely on an almost 40 year old memory. But let me tell you, this thing was cool! It came out in the late 80's/early 90's and this little robot had a built in pencil sharpener in his feet, had a pencil keeper, hidden compartment in his back for a small note pad and other hidden stationary goodies that may or may not have included an area filled with crayons. This guy sat on my desk for years and helped me complete countless pages of homework. If anyone can dig up any info on this guy, I would greatly appreciate it!
Ninja Turtles Coloring Book
Besides my "Secret Wars" sticker/coloring book, this TMNT coloring book is my most favorite coloring book of all-time. Coloring is a timeless piece of joy for almost every child growing up in America. Heck, my kids still enjoy coloring and so do I. It was great to finally be able to add my own creative flair to my favorite foursome of green teens and let me tell you, some weird colored Ninja Turtles did end up in my book. I wonder if I can find that at my Mom's house? She probably threw it out!
MLB Coins
This is sort of a newer addition to my collection. My wife actually bought me one of those discount baseball card cubes that you find at Target. The cool thing about the cube she picked up for me was that not only did it contain a bunch of baseball cards from the 80's & 90's, but it also contained a bunch of these Topps coins! I had some of these when I was younger, but the Bo Jackson coin eluded me until my wife got me that cube on Easter a few years ago.
Roll of Sketch Paper
This item is one of the least eye catching, but it is probably the one I had the most fun with! It was a huge roll of paper for drawing! You better believe I drew incredible, action packed scenes filled with Ghostbusters battling ghouls and Ninja Turtles taking on Foot Soldiers. After I was done drawing & coloring, I would tear my newly fresh artwork off the roll and tape it to my wall for all visitors to my room to admire.
There it is! A few of my favorite Easter basket stuffers from the Easter Bunny. Do you have a favorite item that you received as a kid on Easter or maybe a favorite candy that you always wanted in your basket? Let us know in the comments below & HAPPY EASTER!
The comic book I am most excited to read this week is... Batman '89 #5 (W) Sam Hamm Harvey Dent enacts his plans for Gotham! He’ll overthrow the Batman and assume his rightful place as its guardian. As Batman works to stop his friend Harvey, he finds himself vastly outnumbered by the forces at Harvey’s disposal. He’ll need to turn to some unlikely allies if he’s going to turn the tide in his favor to protect his city and save his friend! SRP: $3.99 Synopsis Provided By: DCcomics.com
Throw on your weirdest outfit, and head to the dessert as we take you back to the 80s/90s! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK!
Artist: Janet Jackson
Song: Escapade
Album: Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989)
Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: 1
Bonus Fun Fact: This song won a BMI Pop Award for being the year's most played song and was the third of 7 singles from the "Rhythm Nation" album to reach the Billboard top 5!
The comic book I am most excited to read this week is... SPIDER-PUNK #1 (W) Cody Ziglar (A) Justin Mason (CA) Olivier Coipel ANARCHY IN THE SPIDER-VERSE! SPIDER-PUNK GETS HIS OWN SERIES! HOBIE BROWN is THE ANARCHIC SPIDER-PUNK - set to protect EARTH-138 with his ax in hand and his chaotic band of punk rockin' heroes backing him! NORMAN OSBORN is dead, but will the chaos he's created be too much for Spider-Punk and gang to handle? Feel the vibes as CODY ZIGLAR (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN) and JUSTIN MASON bring you the jams when "BANNED IN DC" begins here! SRP: $3.99 Synopsis Provided By: PreviewsWorld.com
Throw on your Phoenix Suns Jersey, and head to the court as we take you back to the 90s! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK!
Artist: Cedric Ceballos ft. Warren G
Song: Flow On Album: B-Ball's Best Kept Secrets (1994) Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: N/A Bonus Fun Fact: This album was released in 1994 by Epic Records and features a mix of NBA players and rappers performing! Some notable appearances include NBA Hall of Famers Shaquille O'Neal, Jason Kidd and Gary Payton.
Back in the 80's & 90's every fast food restaurant had an array of high end glasses for sale in an attempt to get customers to saunter through their doors in hopes that they would keep returning to finish the whole set and buy some food & drink while at the establishment. Some of the most fondly remembered of these glasses include Star Wars, E.T., The Muppets, Garfield and of course Batman! On the rare occasion that my parents would take us to one of the restaurants, I always fawned over these sweet looking glasses with amazing artwork, but alas, we never ended up taking any home! Recently, my wife was at a community yard sale and found some of these glasses for a fairly cheap price. She picked them up thinking the kids would love them, little did she know that I would be the one who would be using them every night during dinner! Below you can view the small collection of glasses that currently hang out in our kitchen cabinet.
Care Bears from Pizza Hut (1983)
Pizza Hut gave us all one heck of a deal with these Care Bear glasses. You could get 2 glasses for 99 cents with the purchase of any Pizza Hut pizza! That is a freakin' steal! There were 4 glasses in total and the set included Funshine, Tenderheart, Grumpy and Cheer Bear. I just need 1 more to complete the collection!
Peanuts "Camp Snoopy" from McDonalds (1983)
These glasses were 49 cents with the purchase of any Coca-Cola drink at McDonalds in the early 80's. There were 5 in total and I have 2 of them. The glasses are nice and as the commercial says, they were designed by Peanuts creator Charles Shulz himself, but the real star here is a brand new animated Peanuts commercial featuring Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Lucy & Sally. We need more great promotions like this!
Smurfs "Happy Smurfday" from Hardee's (1983)
Hardee's went all out with this promotion and dubbed July 25th as "Smurfday"!. The glasses were available until September 4th at their restaurants, but they also offered a new drink just for the occasion! This drink was called "Smurfberry Punch". I have no idea what it tasted like, but it looked like a fruit punch sort of drink. Wonder if we'll ever see this return?
