Are there any commercials out there that due to the people in them, the product it is for, the frequency of its appearance, or something else about it just starts to anger you each time you see it?  For me, there are a couple off the top of my head.  I'm not sure if these are just shown in our area or not but....

 - First of all, a series of Hardees commercials shown around here (not really showing anymore), that was featuring their burger and saying how it was just as good as a sit down restaurant burger, etc.  Anyways, the one that especially bothered me was the one about a guy on a construction crew who had to get lunch (since he was the new guy), and brought back Hardees burgers....and the construction crew told him "Hardees? We don't eat Hardees"...then they proceed to try the burgers and tell him he's getting lunch all week.

 - The other one that is really bothering me now is a new McDonald's commercial showing around here (for a while now I guess), with four or five guys playing cards and "gambling" using McDonald's fries.  The song that accompanies this commercial gets me in the spine .

How about you, any commercials that annoy you?

That's a lot of the same reason I have avoided the movie figs, because I remember the characters more for their comic versions.  I just had to get a Spidey, because well, its Spidey...but otherwise I have avoided them too.  Just about picked up that X2 Nightcrawler at one point too though.  I think if the X-Men movie lines were a little more extensive (having something besides Wolvies/Logans), I might have bit.

I agree with you Morgbug, I really am looking forward to the S6 box set as well.  A good way to get a nice Spidey, and several of his baddies at once.  I just got into the Spider-Man Classics line lately, and wanted to go back to get any villains I might have missed...and this will help me to get a pretty good "Rogue's Gallery".  I think I missed a Lizard, Rhino, and Hobgoblin earlier, are those figs pretty nice?  I don't care much for Morbius really, I guess because he was never in the comics I read growing up.

Also, along the same "villain" lines...I guess I should be on the lookout for Carnage as well.  Has anyone picked up this figure/what do you think of it?  I hadn't decided if I was going to get it or not...but I guess more villains is always better.

I agree Scott, it would be kind of neat to see the whole Avengers team together.  I'm kind of happy to see further announcements/confirmation of more Marvel movies.  I know some people hate the "comic fad", but as long as the adaptations are done well, I'm all for it.  I think that the X-Men and Spidey movies have been particularly well done...and if they are similar to that, they should be good.  I'd really like to see how they approach the casting/costumes, etc. of the FF, Iron Man, Captain America, etc.

Congratulations on the new place Mikey, I hope it is exactly what you were looking for.  Sounds like you are in the process of making it even spiffier too, best of luck on all the home stuff.  It can be stressful, but exciting at the same time I am sure.

On a side note, it looks like my wife and I will be moving here soon too, probably by the end of May.  We put our house on the market (had it up once before a couple of years ago, didn't get much interest), and found some buyers after about a week and a half.  It happened quicker than we thought, but were happy that it worked out.  My wife had the opportunity to transfer with her job to a bigger city (Lincoln, NE), so we decided that might be a good move for us.  I currently work "remote" (from home), so it wasn't a problem for me to move either, which worked out well.

We currently live in a town of about 6,000 or so, and Lincoln is about 225,000 (still not big compared to where many of you live I'm sure, but a big adjustment for us).  We have a lot of friends that live down there (and very few here), and there is just more to do, better opportunities if we move.  We went down there two weeks ago to look at houses, and ended up making an offer (and got it accepted) that same day.  The way things are looking now, we could be moved by the end of May.  We were just thinking about moving "sometime this year", but it ended up popping up faster than we thought.  It is exciting, but kind of nerve-racking at the same time.  I guess I'm the type of person that always second guesses, and wants to make sure we are making the right decision.  It is still on the same side of Nebraska, so we won't be too much further away from family...and much closer to some family and friends.

Another plus for us, is that the house we live in now is a "manufactured" home, which means the house itself is pretty nice and new, but we don't have a basement or a garage, and we have to pay lot rent for where we live.  It is funny how exciting little things like having a basement or a garage is for us now, we're looking forward to the move (or to the move being overwith actually).  The house we're moving to needs a little work, but nothing major, and seems like something we could be happy in for a long time.  Anyways, best of luck to those house buyers (or current home owners out there), hope everything goes great for all of you.

A lot of news on a number of comic movies (specifically Marvel ones) came out of Marvel's Quarter One Conference Call yesterday.  Here's a list of what's coming up (courtesy of SuperHeroHype.com):

-Arad said that The Punisher will be released internationally starting in September. They are hoping to have The Punisher 2 ready by next fall. Thomas Jane is signed for three films and Jonathan Hensleigh will be back to write and direct as well.

-Spider-Man 2 will get a 60 second spot on this Thursday's "Friends" finale. The sequel also includes a new Marvel logo treatment.

-They've got a writer, director (David Hayter) and actress for Black Widow, though they can't announce the actress just yet.

-Blade: Trinity was just screen-tested (as you read here) and that went "incredibly well". New Line is very confident and will promote the film aggresivelly.

-Man-Thing is complete, they just received the finished print. They'll be testing it and then determine an exact release date.

-Elektra starts production today and will be PG-13.

-Fantastic Four starts filming in August. It will have 5 build-in toy lines for the different characters in the film. The "funny family action film" will be rated PG-13. Activision is making a game based on the film too.

-Iron Man will be PG-13 and will have a major toy line. Activision is creating a game based on the movie.

-Luke Cage has a script (Ben Ramsey), director (John Singleton) and actors who they can't announce yet.

-They've started pre-production on the PG-13 Ghost Rider adaptation.

Additionally.....

Marvel Character Entertainment Projects in Development For 2006 &
 Beyond
(Development and release timing is controlled by Studio partners)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Film/Character   Studio/Distributor     Status
---------------- ---------------------- ------------------------------
X-Men 3                   Fox                    Director, May 3, 2006 release
---------------- ---------------------- ------------------------------
Namor                 Universal Pictures     Script, Slated for Summer '06
---------------- ---------------------- ------------------------------
Ghost Rider            Sony                   Script, Director, Pre-
                                                        production, Summer '06 (1)
---------------- ---------------------- ------------------------------
Black Widow         Lions Gate             Writer, Director, Slated for
                                                           2006 release
---------------- ---------------------- ------------------------------
The Hulk 2       Universal Pictures         Contract
---------------- ---------------------- ------------------------------
Deathlok         Crystal Sky/Paramount    Script
---------------- ---------------------- ------------------------------
Spider-Man 3     Sony/Columbia        Director, May 4, 2007 release
---------------- ---------------------- ------------------------------
Black Panther    TBD
---------------- ---------------------- ------------------------------
Captain America  TBD
---------------- ---------------------- ------------------------------
Dr. Strange      Dimension              Contract
---------------- ---------------------- ------------------------------
Iron Fist        Lions Gate             Contract
---------------- ---------------------- ------------------------------
Nick Fury        TBD
---------------- ---------------------- ------------------------------
Thor             TBD

Great review Deanpaul, that was hilarious.  Great job with the pics, and the accompanying story  .

Dry around here too, particularly with basic figures.  There seems to be quite a few Ultra Jabbas/Denizens/Obi/and Jangos hanging around here and there though.  I see the Hoth wave fairly regularly as well, and every once in awhile the Tatooine wave.  Other than that, the only figure outside of those first two 2004 waves that I have seen here (and not gotten from someone else) is a lone Dutch Vander that I saw two weeks ago.  Getting impatient for Bossk and Dengar, I don't have any versions of those characters in the collection...but it sounds like some areas have quite a few, so hopefully they will show up soon.  Can't wait for the Endor figures either.

I agree Scott, might as well have the NBA Championship and Finals MVP to top off a terrific year .  Big congrats to "Da Kid" on the MVP, he was very deserving and it is amazing how great he has become over the years.  I see he received 120 of 123 first place votes.  Here's the story:

KG is MVP



KEVIN GARNETT - 2003/2004 NBA MOST VALUABLE PLAYER