Wednesday Comments – Abin Sur, Starman & The Walking Dead

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This week I’ve decided to make three rants related to comics. For some reason I’ve had these three things stuck in my head all week. I’ve literally been mulling over them all week long.

First up is my quest to find the Abin Sur Power Battery Prop that DC Direct released many moons ago. It’s the only one of the Power Battery props that I don’t have. I have the original Green Lantern Power Battery, the Alan Scott Power Battery and the more recently released Sinestro Corps Power Battery and the Red Lantern Power Battery.

(Ok, so I don’t have the movie Power Battery Prop, but can you blame me, that movie was so underwhelming.)

The Abin Sur Power Battery Prop was released in 2003, which was a turbulent time for, so I can imagine that I wasn’t financially stable enough to purchase it at the time. But now, nine years later, I’m still looking for that elusive piece of fanboy memorabilia.

A couple times a year someone will put one up for sale on ebay or the like, but the bidding usually gets out of hand pretty fast. Plus, it’s usually my luck that I end up looking for one a week after the bidding has ended.

However, right now, one is up for auction on ebay. And I can totally afford it. It’s just that I don’t want to pay that much. Including shipping it’ll be just over $500. I’d really like to spend $400-450 on it.

And the thing is this same battery was up last week and no one bid on it. It ended on Sunday night and I was tempted to snatch it. But when I saw that no one else was interested, I figured I’d wait it out and see if he’d put it up again at a lower price. He did and the price was $5 lower. Not the drop I was looking for.

I really think that at this moment in time, it’s a buyers market for Power Battery props.

So, I’m probably not going to bid on it this time around either. Maybe, as long as there’s a lack of interest, sometime around April, he’ll be in the price range I want him to be in.

While I was searching the net for fanboy stuff, I decided that I wanted to track down one those things that I’d seen a million times and always thought I’d pick up another time, only to discover that a) I’d forgotten all about it and b) it wasn’t there when I remembered to look for it.

This item is none other than the Golden Age Starman t-shirt.

I’m a huge fan of Graphitti Designs DCU t-shirts. My closet is full of them. I’ve got the majority of the Flash emblem shirts, even the “Dark Flash” Walter West shirt. Everyone also mistakes the Jay Garrick emblem shirt for “Shazam.” I’ve also got a couple of the Green Lantern shirts. But I can’t find a Golden Age Starman shirt.

I had one once. I bought it because it was on sale, but instead of getting my customary XL, I got an L, which is too tight for me. Not that I’m a big guy by any stretch of the imagination, it’s just that I hate clothing that fits. It’s the only time I get genuinely claustrophobic.

So, I had one, but it lost in the shuffle of my moving from Las Vegas to Baltimore. I have no idea where it is, so I’m guessing it’s gone for good.

I’d totally seen the shirt every time I’d go to a comic shop to pick things up. I’d always peruse their shirt selection and I’d always see it, but never pick it up. And now that I’m missing it, it’s nowhere to be found.

I’d tried to google it and come up short. Apparently Rush’s Starman and Bowie’s Starman supersede Ted Knight’s Starman shirt. I’ve even tried to do a google image search of a red shirt with a yellow star and the closest thing I got was a shirt described as the current Vietnam flag shirt.

So by all mean, if anyone reading this can point me in the direction of a Golden Age Starman emblem t-shirt, please do so in the comments section or email me. I’m guessing that some shops probably have some on hand and just aren’t selling them on the web.

My final rant is pretty mild; I’m not all that interested in The Walking Dead. I mean, the tv show, not the comic. I’m enjoying the comic just fine, but I’ve yet to watch an episode of the second half of season two that’s now airing on AMC.

I’ve got a season pass from iTunes and I’ve downloaded them. I just haven’t watched them.

Now for Breaking Bad, I’d stay up until 4am to download new episodes just so I could watch them first thing when I woke up. I’d do the same for Mad Men. But The Walking Dead just doesn’t hold me in it’s thrall like those two shows. In fact the main reason I’ve downloaded those episodes is because I’ve gotten emails from iTunes telling me that they’re now available.

Maybe my lack of interest comes from the hiatus the show took. Or maybe I’m just not that interested in the show. I’ll probably watch the eps when I take a break from this week’s reads later on today. But I wonder if I’m alone in my malaise.

Oh well, I’m sure you’ve had enough of my complaining. It’s Wednesday, go buy some books and enjoy the rest of your day.