Sideshow: Millennium Falcon, Liberty and Justice for All.

It’s been awhile since I’ve gotten any pop art (like… weeks). For some reason Sideshow Collectibles has appeared on my radar quite a few times in the last couple of months and I admit to spending a fair amount of time browsing their product offerings.

In December two things really hooked me and I placed preorders for both. The first was  “Liberty & Justice: Trinity,” a limited edition print by Alex Ross. I am a super hero sucker and Alex easily makes my top five favorite artist list. The second item was a diecast Millennium Falcon by EFX. I had been mulling over the idea of buying a vintage Kenner toy but the 19″ Falcon from EFX filled the position nicely.

Both collectibles are fantastic and I made a quick overview of them:

My first two ordering experiences with Sideshow went fairly well. They take a down payment (non-refunable) and they are good about letting you know when the balance will be changed and when the pre-order is expected to ship. They also offer a reward program for customers which gives you  about 5% back (although it take a month for the rewards to become available… c’mon, I got stuff to buy!). I imagine I’ll be a regular customer as they have quite a few items I’ve got my eye on (I’m looking at you, Optimus).

DuckTales Art (Mike Peraza) and Cartoon Series Reboot!

If you know me then you might know I like to bring back “art” when I travel (just to be clear I don’t travel a lot). In California Adventure’s Off the Page I found this little beauty by Mike Peraza (I collect Disney art). It’s a cool clash of old and new as characters from the original Ducktales series run into their contemporary counterparts. I definitely wanted the picture but decided I’d come back for it the next day. In the meantime I looked online to see if I could get it there (and possibly save a few minutes by having it shipped to me). Curse me Kilts! Someone was selling it on eBay but the price was $699. They had cleverly cut off the bottom of the price tag, however I had taken a picture of it earlier: $195.

Left: My picture. Center: eBay listing. Right Top: eBay picture of the tag. Right Bottom: My picture of the tag.

Yes, some dude with a season pass was taking pictures of Disney merchandise, listing them on eBay and making a tidy profit! Clever. I gave the guy some begrudging respect and then went back to Off the Page to make my purchase (well, rushed back is more like it). The girl helping me mentioned that she had sold another just a few hours before and that the one I was buying was their last one. Disney knows how to make suckers buying their loot feel sooo good (although it took her 20 minutes to ring me up and pack up the art). This is a limited run of 95 canvas prints. 

Also a plug for the new Ducktales: you can watch the first episode on Youtube. The voices take some getting used to but I thought it was an excellent reboot!