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Kotobukiya's Joey has been revealed, comes ready to lose
Kotobukiya's previously announced Joey Wheeler (aka Jounouichi Katsuya, of the series Yu-Gi-Oh!) has shown up at MegaHobby Expo 2012.
Joey Wheeler is perhaps best known as Yugi's friend, although the character is arguably a competent duelist in his own right (having beat Mai, Rex Raptor, and former regional champ Weevil Underwood) despite being remembered for a few humiliating losses (especially the one that forced him into wearing a dog costume).
Kotokuiya's Joey Wheeler features a cool, dynamic pose that almost makes you forget that the character mostly exists to establish other characters as being better players. While the sculpting is solid, I can't help but feel that Joey's head looks a little too big for his body (although it could just be the angle) and I can't say that I'm a fan of the glossy paint used on the clothing portions. Both things are relatively minor gripes that I'm sure others will readily overlook.
Also on display were Yugi, Seto Kaiba, and the Dark Magician. Currently we're still waiting for Kotobukiya to reveal their Marik Ishtar and Yami Bakura figures although, personally, I'm just wondering why we haven't seen plans for Téa Gardner / Anzu.
Felt Mistress x Crazy Label Tippy Winkles Black Friday Pre-order
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Transformers Comic Book Collections Coming in 2013 - Trade Paperback Details and Images
Honoring A Very Special Veteran and His Steiff Guardian Angel
Every Steiff treasure has a story, but the one Steiffgal is about to share with you is simply astonishing. A few weeks ago, a woman named Donna Bell contacted Steiffgal to get a little more information about a Steiff lion cub she had seen on a website. Apparently the one online was identical to one that had helped her father, Don Bell, a US soldier in WWII, survive his tour of duty despite horrendous hardships and near death experiences. Don was one of the soldiers who stormed the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944 and fought heroically in Europe for the allies during the war. During his early days in France, Don found a little Steiff cat that would be his companion - and guardian angel - from that moment forward. Donna, Don, and the Steiff cat are pictured above.
Don documented the story of how he found his cat and their relationship during the war. He shares in part...
"Three sleepless nights into the fighting, I came upon a bombed out farmhouse. I dropped to a crouch and studied it carefully. It was an eerie scene. The yard was full of toys and an overturned tricycle. There was a sandbox, but no people anywhere that I could see. I crept closer. That's when I spotted him sitting in the sandbox. He was an orange stuffed toy tiger cat - just sitting there looking at me with shiny glass eyes. Without thinking, I reached out. Maybe it was a combination of fear and exhaustion, but I wanted that tiger cat. I snatched him up and slipped him inside my shirt.
(The cat pictured above, which was made about 1951, shows what Don's toy most likely looked liked when he found him in the farmhouse.)
I remember saying to him at the time, "Me and you are gonna make it parnder."
We battled through June. In July, we faced elite German paratroopers. The fighting was ferocious. During a break in the siege, I was sitting alone behind a hedgerow eating cold beans from a can. What happened next I don't remember. They say you never hear the gun that gets you, and it's true. Next thing I knew, I lay in the weeds, unable to get up. My right ankle was shattered and my right shoulder didn't work. I looked at my tiger cat peeking from inside my bloody shirt and said, "Looks like we're done for, cat."
I lay there for some time staring at the stuffed toy. Suddenly I remembered Sunday school classes from my childhood, and Ma reading Bible stories to me at bedtime in our little shack on the Colorado plain. I remembered how simple it was to pray back then. I just sat back and talked to God. Nothing fancy. Just talk. Squeezing the tiger cat in my left hand I closed my eyes and tried to bring back that long ago feeling.
The medics didn't find me until after dark. They hauled me back to Omaha Beach for evacuation to England. I was taken to a hospital and prepared for surgery. My cat was black with blood and a nurse took him away from me. Then it was lights out.
My first thought when I came to was for that tiger cat. Sure enough, there was my mascot, washed clean and sitting on a nightstand, staring with those same shiny eyes that had caught my attention back at the farmhouse. I sure was glad to see him.
Months later, I was back in action at the Battle of the Bulge, tiger cat and all.
When I learned I would be heading home, I looked my tiger cat right in his glass eyes, and then yelled into his ear, "We are going home to America, cat! We are going to that freedom loving country called the United States!" I boarded the troopship Liberty for the journey back to the states. When we sailed past the Statue of Liberty, whistles were blowing all over the harbor. I felt so lucky and I gave my toy cat a squeeze through my shirt. I came out of the war with a couple of Bronze Star Medals and returned to Colorado in one piece. After I married and had kids, my cat became my daughter's favorite plaything. Today, he sits on a mantle in her house."
If that story doesn't win medals for bravery, courage, and loyalty, Steiffgal isn't sure what would! Donna's father's cat is actually a lion, not a tiger and is Steiff's Junglowe or Young Lion. Many people think this model appears more "tiger-ish" than "lion-ish" because of his coloring and stripes. Young Lion debuted in 1938 and was produced in 17 and 22 cm through 1943. After the war, this king-in-waiting was manufactured in 10 and 17 cm from 1950 through 1954. Both pre- and post-war Young Lions are sitting and head jointed. Steiffgal has seen examples in both wool plush and mohair. All are carefully hand airbrushed with light and dark stripes, spots, and highlights and are detailed with brown and black pupil eyes, a black hand embroidered nose and mouth, and his clear monofilament whiskers. Larger sized Young Lions are detailed with long white mohair "sideburns;" you can see this feature on the Young Lion pictured to the left.
Steiffgal hopes this salute to Don Bell's lion cub encourages you to be a hero to somebody today.
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My Visit To Rock Garden Alpacas
I know that I've mentioned many times before that my sister and her husband are the owners of Rock Garden Alpaca's. Well, last week I visited my sister and fell in love with my alpaca "nieces and nephews."
Twice a day my sister and I went down to tend the "kids." Each and every time "Ivy" would be waiting for us. She had a schedule, after all, and knew when we were late or early.
Usually in the afternoons we'd be greeted by the "kids." The "girls", shown in the picture above are from left to right Sunflower, Zinnia, and Ivy.
Sometimes when we were a little too early in the mornings we'd wake the kids up and they'd saunter out of the sheds with their eyes half opened. It was really funny to see - behaving just like tired children who were awoken too early. "Do we have to get up? Aw, Ma!"
Zinnia, who is Ivy's daughter, took a liking to me. I don't know if it was my smell or the fur around the hood of my coat, but she followed me around moving from one spot to another. She'd stand next to me and nuzzle the fur or try to push me. Then my sister would say, "Don't let her dominate you. Push her back."
So, I'd have to nudge her a little, if I could. Given she's as tall as me and probably weighs over 100 pounds that seemed easier said than done. But, I did it and she'd stop pushing - content to just let me stroke her long neck. She has such beautiful fur.
When she got comfortable she'd lay down right next to me and put her head between my feet or lay her head on the top of my shoes.
Shown above is how I saw Zinnia most of the time.
The "boys" Masquerade (picture on top) and Cosmo (picture on bottom) had their own shed and area separate from the "girls." You have to keep the males and females separate as the males have just one thing on their minds when it comes to the females. TYPICAL MALES! So, you keep them separate until you want them to breed.
Cosmo is the son of Sunflower (pictured above) and both have amazingly thick, beautiful white fur. I just love using their roving for my needle felted crafts. Fortunately for me I get a few bags for free. If you'd like to check out their roving my sister sells it at "Rock Garden Alpacas Fiber."
When it came to feeding them their grain both the "boys" and "girls" have their own "spot" and grain container and when my sister feeds them she points and says "You know where your spot is." Amazingly they go to their spot and wait. Sometimes they do misbehave and try to steal each other's grain. Then there's some fighting, biting, and sometimes spitting going on - which you don't want to be in the middle of.
I had told my sister that I wanted to get pictures of the "kids." She said, "You can try." I, of course thought it would be no big deal. They'd pose for me - right! Guess again. The "girls" had other things on their minds like grazing and feeding. And, Cosmo - well, he's a curious guy.
Cosmo just loved to smooze and kiss the camera. I didn't mind. How can you not LOVE a face like that?
And then there's beautiful Masquerade. I should probably tell him he's handsome. He is a male after all. He has the most beautiful face and eyes.
My sister named him Masquerade because he looks like he has a mask on his face with the white and dark colors. Every time I look at him I think of "The Phantom Of The Opera." Maybe it's because he's a little skid-dish. He wants to get close, but is always a little afraid. My sister says he thinks he's invisible - that if you look at him he's not there. Maybe he's hiding behind his mask.
But, Ivy did at least cooperate for two wonderful pictures. She's the smallest alpaca of the group. The guardian I think. Every time we were down there she'd be talking away - that is, in alpaca speech. I don't know what she was saying, but she'd talk the whole time we were down there.
Cosmo (pictured above) is such a smoozer and always whimpered a little when we were leaving. I think he loved the company.
He, too, would always nudge me and stick his nose in the fur on my hood. Given that he's a male - maybe he thought I'd be a good mate.
Hmmmm.... I hope not.
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