Year 6: October Update

This year is flying by, as it always does, and although I expected to make less videos this year, I thought I'd be able to have more blog posts than I've managed. Comments are rare so I'm not sure if anyone looks forward to posts but I do apologize. Since my last update a few months ago LEGO unveiled an Atari 2600 set at the end of July that is now available for $239.99. Atari is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and though the company itself has changed ownership numerous times since over the decades that I wouldn't call it the same company, it is the anniversary of its founding even if it is technically a renamed Infogrames these days. 

With the holidays approaching I was going to recommend custom LEGO minifigures that had been in a testing phase earlier this year but I can't seem to find it now (you can make basic figures at LEGO.com but not the detailed ones with added text that I'm thinking of). Those were going to be around $11.99 if I recall correctly and maybe it will officially launch soon even if I don't see it at this moment. There are third-party companies that offer something similar for minifigures, however, they are not official. Another custom creation option are action figure from Hasbro that cost $59.99. The Hasbro "Selfie Series" requires using an app to take a photo and then have it digitized onto an action figure type of your choosing, such as Power Ranger, G.I. Joe, Star Wars, Marvel, and Ghostbusters. Also, as mentioned yesterday in the Quest for the Dungeonmaster post, Hasbro announced new action figures in a line called Dungeons & Dragons Cartoon Classics that features characters from the 1983 Dungeons & Dragons cartoon.

The Sega Genesis Mini 2 released on October 27th for $99.99. It can only be purchased through Amazon.com and orders are being fulfilled by Amazon.jp as Sega opted to only sell it through the Japan retailer. Apparently, this has to do with the shortage of electronic components and keeping the costs down, and so the system is likely somewhat limited, certainly more so than the first Genesis Mini. This one looks like the Model 2 but has upgraded hardware over the first Mini and actually has a dozen Sega CD games built-in along with 48 other games, including some that were never previously released on the 16-bit console.

When I was working on posts for Batman Day last month I did try to make a video for a Batman game but discovered my Batman Commodore 64 game is broken. I never understood how to advance past the first level as a kid and now with the Internet available I found someone else playing the game. In their video there is a platform that in my game is not complete as there is a graphics glitch that cut it in half and because Batman cannot jump (or swing in this instance), I cannot complete the level. I'd have returned the game back when I got it had I known it was actually defective; I just thought I was overlooking something. Oh well. 

I've probably already posted any Halloween related games or toys I own over the previous five years so I don't really have anything special for the holiday to share. However, I can post this McDonald's sign again that I must have used at least three or four times on the blog already...

Happy Halloween,

Jonathan