Funko Holidaze Pop! - Ghostface (Stab Exclusive)

Tonight, I conclude the "Scream" collection with a character that is not only unique but, in my opinion, the best of the bunch.  I think it stands out above the rest because of the fact that it could actually get produced and be a seller.  Whether I want to admit it or not, I know the other Scream characters will never see the light of day.  They're fun to design, they're cool to look at but, even though they deserve a release, we all know we'll never get a Tatum Riley Pop! figure from Funko.  But tonight, I'm taking Ghostface himself and going the "exclusive" route because, really, that's the only way we'd ever get this one.  Imagine Hot Topic unveiling Ghostface as their next hit exclusive!  With the traditional Ghostface finally being shipped, how awesome would it be to have the "Stab" version, based on the fictional movie poster, to go with it?

Within the "Scream" franchise, another franchise exists fictionally in the world of those characters.  "Stab" is a movie based on the true story of Sidney Prescott and the Woodsboro Murders.  In our real-lives, we have "Scream."  In theirs, they have "Stab" and the artwork for that movie is even more awesome than the ones we get in reality.  The logo and green colors have always stood out to me and I've really taken advantage of that with this concept.  I did something similar with the "Green Scream" Hi-C Horror Box last year and Wes Craven himself Retweeted it to his followers.  In this case, I'm taking the traditional Ghostface Pop! and changing the colors to make the "Stab" version I'd love to see!

TMNT Crush: Raphael Strawberry

As TMNT Week continues here on The Holidaze, we discuss our final Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle in the Crush soda collection - Raphael!  Known for his signature red eye band and rude attitude, Raphael is the loose cannon of the bunch.  He's hot-headed with a quick temper, but is loyal to his family regardless of their differing opinions at times.  While he may not be the leader, he's second in command and strives to be the best in his own way.  He's certainly the yin to Leonardo's yang and, together, they balance each other and the group perfectly.  So while Raph wouldn't like that he's the last Turtle to be reviewed, he may feel better once he hears how extremely difficult his flavor was to find in stores!

Raphael's Strawberry Crush can was the first one I discovered on Instagram.  I was shocked to see it existed and even after it was proven to be a reality, you still could have fooled me because I couldn't find Raph anywhere.  Maybe that's symbolic of who Raph is as a character.  While he's loyal to his family and defends his brothers, he's still very much a loner who would protect New York City as a solo vigilante if he could, but knows he's 4x less than what his brothers are as a team.  Maybe Raph was so hard to find because he was out on his own but, in the end, he came to his senses and finally joined forces with me at my local Path Mark.  It took me long enough, but Raphael is home, whether he likes it or not.

Like all Ninja Turtle cans, Raphael's is designed perfectly and, again, the colors contrast very well.  Usually, whenever you bring green and red together, it's hard to not think of Christmas, but Crush managed to avoid that trap.  Between the splatter logo, fruit slice and turtle shell, the can stands on it's own as something different; something special.  Of course, Raphael's eyes and brows are especially aggressive along the rim.  Since the first animated series, Raph has gone from funny sarcasm to a true bad ass.  His eyes say a lot and I'm sure the new film will back up that sentiment.

As a kid, I always wanted to be Michelangelo.  He's always been my favorite and I wanted to relate to him, but the truth is I'm much more like Raphael than any other turtle.  Sure, a nerdy blog that focuses on holidays and nostalgia probably doesn't back that up but, in real life, I'm the guy that loves to lead but lets my emotion get in the way of sound decisions.  Thankfully, much like Raph, I'm able to make the best of those decisions and have an awesome family to rally behind me, making me better than I could ever be on my own.  I think the majority of us can relate to Raph, but I'm nowhere near the bad ass he is.  For example, as I was taking photos outside on my deck, I had to run inside like a chicken because a swarm of wasps decided to make their Summer debut on a 90 degree day.  Unlike my wimp ass, they refused to leave the area, but I found my courage, got back out there and rushed these photos for your viewing enjoyment.  That's T-U-R-T-L-E Power!

I know Strawberry Crush has been around for some time, but I've never experienced the flavor.  I knew it would be delicious because I've read rave reviews in the past, but I was excited to finally form my own opinion.  It's awesome, but very sweet.  The best comparison I can make is to "Crazy Hair" candy.  Oh man, when I was a kid, Crazy Hair was available at the Corner Store and my cousin and I bought one every day.  They were sooo sweet and sugary that the rush was inevitable.  For an 8-year-old, the amount of sugar we took in was probably comparable to a drug, but we used the high to play wiffle ball.  We were like little A-Rod's on the block thanks to our Crazy Hair.  Well this Strawberry Crush flavor tastes exactly the same and it instantly brought back a wave of nostalgia and a retro rush of memories.  For that alone, Raphael Strawberry Crush is a great success, but even if you have no attachment to the flavor, I can almost guarantee you'll enjoy this variety of TMNT Crush.  What I can't guarantee is that you'll be able to find any bottles or cans.

TMNT Crush: Donatello Grape

Put on your thinking caps, because today it's all about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle who does machines.  If it weren't for Donatello, who knows where he and his brothers would be.  Let's face it, Steve Jobs didn't invent Face Time, he was only copying Donatello in an attempt to bring us all a real-life Turtle Com.  You can thank Donnie for that!  If not for his brains, the Ninja Turtles may have found themselves in Shredder's Turtle Soup after all.  Luckily, he's a Teenage Mutant Ninja Genius and was smart enough to wear the color purple so all of us can sit back with a refreshing glass of Crush Grape soda!

Much like Michelangelo's 12-pack, the artwork is beautiful.  The crisp color and contrasting hues truly make this a work of art.  What I failed to point out in my last post is the use of mutagen or ooze within the design.  If you look closely, you'll see the flowing green ooze separate the purple from the background.  It's almost as if the mutagen ooze is washing away the green, which represents normality, and replacing it with Donatello's signature purple to symbolize the rise of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle who's smarter than most people I've ever met.  Me included.. have you seen the typos and grammatical error on this site?  Yeah, pretend you didn't.. Sorry, Donnie..

There's not enough I can say about these cans.  In reality, all they had to do was release a few flavors, slap the Ninja Turtles logo on there, and call it a limited-edition can and I would have been sold.  In fact, I would have been happy!  But Crush chose to go the extra mile and individually design each character's can to perfectly represent their look and strategy.  While Mikey had the nun chucks strapped to his belt and wrapped around his shell, Donatello has his bo staff ready to whip out at a moment's notice to kick some shell and crush the foot.  Pun intended?  Pun intended.

On top of every can, it's rimmed with the eye band of that specific turtle.  As you'd expect, the eyes are very similar to that of the original comic and what you'll see in theaters this Friday.  But Donatello is an exception to the rule because they've added something in 2014 that's never been featured before - glasses!  I really haven't discussed the change in Turtle appearance much yet and I probably won't until after I see the movie, but they've clearly changed what I know and love.  Time will tell if it was for the better, but these nerdy glasses are an interesting addition to Donnie's character.  Personally, I don't mind it.  I think it says a lot about who he is and where he stands within the group of four.  He's a geek, but he's also a genius and is capable of out-thinking his brothers when they need him most.  Glasses symbolize his passion for learning and I'm happy they took the time to include that on this can rather than simply throwing on another pair of white eyes.

Grape soda is almost as classic as legendary Orange, but I'm not sure where it falls on the popularity scale.  Personally, I go back and forth.  I've had Orange soda so much more in my life that I'll usually choose Grape over the former, but it all depends on my mood and the temperature.  They're both Summer drinks, but an ice cold Crush Grape goes down nice and easy on a 95 degree day in August!  You can't go wrong with either one, but I can definitely tell you that Michelangelo's Orange looks much cooler inside giant TMNT mugs.  If that has any influence on you at all, then I'm glad you're reading The Holidaze!

Oh, and about those hot days... Ninja Turtle shaped ice doesn't do so well outside in the heat.  Had Shredder known my secret, Krang and I would rule the world.  Good thing Donnie is smarter than me... than I?

TMNT Crush: Leonardo Berry Punch

For those who are fans of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, this is going to be a fun week on The Holidaze! It's TMNT WEEK!!  Believe it or not, the new 2014 TMNT film comes out this Friday and has already received positive reviews from fans and critics whom were lucky enough to catch an advanced screening.  This not only excites me for my own viewing, but to dive into my saved TMNT topics.  As you may remember, The Holidaze first discovered the TMNT Crush cans on Instagram before Pepsi finally revealed the products.  At first, we weren't sure they were real.  I honestly believed it was a hoax pulled off by a cleverly talented graphic designer, but further images enhanced my anticipation and raised my hopes before Crush made the awesome announcement!  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles SODA was, in fact, real and each turtle was receiving a can and flavor designated to them by color.  I knew, without a doubt, this would be the coolest promotional tie-in we'd see attached to this new film and that was more than enough for me.  So, between now and Friday, I'm going to discuss and review each flavor with you.  Even if you're not a turtle fan, this first one stands out on its own!

Crush Berry Punch!

Obviously, Leonardo had to receive a blue colored soda to match his legendary eye band.  Anything other than blue would have been a slap in the shell and completely ruined the campaign so, really, this was a no-brainer.  But when you think of blue soda, what comes to mind?  I assumed they'd choose a blueberry flavor, but I really didn't think that would taste good.  Even worse, they could have brought back the "Pepsi Blue" flavor to kill the taste completely.  But no, the amazing minds behind this promotion concocted an entirely new recipe and gave Leonardo a never-before-released flavor - Berry Punch!

Throw in some Ninja Turtle ice cubes and we're looking at one delicious drink, but is it really new?  From what I remember, Crush once released a Blue Raspberry flavor and, based on this name and taste, I'd assume this is probably the same recipe with a new name.  Now, that doesn't matter to me because I've never tried it and the name "Berry Punch" is absolutely perfect for a Ninja who leads his brothers into battle, but it's probably not "new" in the sense that it's never been released.  Regardless, it tastes amazing!

Have you ever had a Charms Blue Razz Berry lollipop?  Well that's exactly what this soda tastes like! I remember winning an entire box at a stand in Pt. Pleasant, NJ when I was a kid so there's a lot of nostalgia attached to the flavor for me.  Between the character on the bottle and the flavor in my glass, this Crush Berry Punch is an undeniable winner.  Everything about it is perfect!

In the case of Leonardo, I've only been able to find the 2 liter bottle.  For some reason, Leonardo and Raphael 12-packs are hard to come by.  In some areas, you'll find the entire collection.  In mine, it's hit or miss.  As a collector, I'll be sure to find the can eventually, but the bottle gets the job done if you're just looking to try an awesome flavor.  Or... if, you know, want to take pictures of soda on your deck!

Coming Soon: TMNT Crush

We live in a unique time.  Thanks to technology, specifically social media, the way in which we acquire news has changed greatly since I was a kid.  Back then, you either watched the news or bought tomorrow's newspaper to find out what's going on in the world.  When it came to new products, you'd either catch a commercial, advertisement, or get lucky when searching the aisles.  But nowadays, the world is at the tip of our fingers and everything is updated in real-time.  Today, with a quick search, it's much faster to find news on Twitter than any other media outlet.  In fact, in that same regard, those of us who used to read the news can now make our own.  Now, more than ever, nobody is a nobody.

In terms of The Holidaze, where I discuss new products, toys, events, nostalgia and, of course, holidays, this new age we live in can be just as effective.  In my down time (and when I'm killing time at work,) I'll randomly search hashtags on Instagram in relation to my interests.  It only takes a second and, before ya know it, there are thousands of #halloween photos to go through.  Try doing a quick #80s or #90s search and go on a trip back in time for a true ride down memory lane.  For so many reasons, Instagram has become my favorite social media outlet and it's where I find a lot of Holidaze topics.

Most recently, while doing a #TMNT search, I stumbled across something absolutely awesome!!

As I've stated here before, I am a HUGE Ninja Turtles fan!  They're my favorite cartoon characters of all-time and, to this day, you'll still find me collecting merchandise and watching the classic 80s toon.  So when I saw this, posted by @its_lpk-all_day, my jaw immediately dropped.  With the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film being released on August 8th, the movie promotion has clearly begun!  This brand new can of Crush Soda is specifically designed for Raphael and is Strawberry flavored to match his colored eye band.  This is almost too perfect that it was hard to believe.  Then, as I looked closely, I started to think it was fake.  If you look at the logo, it looks as if it's poorly cut-out.  So I tried not to get my hopes up, especially because this was the only photo I found, and just forget about it until something else came along.

Then, today, I saw.... this!!  In a similar search, @thepleasuretheprivilegeismine posted this masterpiece!!  If this doesn't make it official, then I don't know what will!  Not only are we getting Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Crush soda cans, we're getting 12-packs specifically designed and flavored to match all four Ninja Turtles.  Raphael will be Strawberry and I assumed Donatello will be Grape while Michelangelo will be Orange.  That makes sense, but I wasn't sure which blue flavor would be applied to Leonardo.  Well, now we know.. Crush Berry Punch!  As far as I know, this flavor has never been released before and will be making it's debut with our fearless leader!  Now, are there flavors for April, Splinter and Shredder, too?  I don't know, but I highly doubt it.  In reality, the only other flavor I can fathom is lime.  Perhaps we'll get a mutagen TGRI can to represent all four turtles.  That would put this over the top, but I'm already ecstatic over this promotional product.  It's a good sign for TMNT products and I hope to see much much more in the coming months.

As soon as I find these packs, they'll be here on The Holidaze.  Until then, keep your eyes peeled!!

ParaNorman

I absolutely love horror movies.  I also love animated movies.  So when a production company combines the two, it's going to be epic.  But what can be better than an animated horror movie?  That can only be stop-motion animated horror fun!  And that's exactly what you get with ParaNorman.  It's an awesome movie!

We all go to the movies to be entertained, but what we are entertained by varies from person to person.  For me, it wasn't necessarily the story that lured me to the theater, but rather the look and feel of what was shown in the trailer.  The small town that Norman lives in looked like Haddonfield.  Little did I know it would be based so closely on Salem, MA, which is another love of mine.  That only added to the ghoulish, witchy, mood the movie ignites.  That, along with the green swirls of paranormal activity, zombies, and spooky music guaranteed me a good time and complete entertainment.

Okay, so those are the things that lured me in.  But what made me love ParaNorman so much that I'm writing about it here?  The little things.  Norman's love for zombies reminds me of my love for Halloween.  He has zombie slippers, a zombie alarm clock, a zombie night light, and zombie posters all over his walls.  Just look at the picture above.  Norman wants to be a zombie.  There's no doubt he's a big fan of Halloween and I'd bet he frequents The Holidaze this time of year.

The little things are what makes this movie an instant Halloween classic for me.  Hey, they even incorporated the classic Halloween theme song and Jason's hockey mask into one of the scenes!  You couldn't give a bigger tip of the cap to your roots than that.  Those are the things that stick out for me.  Of course, the zombies are awesome.  The scene with Aggie, the Witch, is visually unbelievable.  And the music is absolutely perfect for each mood throughout each scene of the movie.  Personally, my favorite tune hits during the 80s throwback scene in the beginning and the modern version played during the zombie apocalypse.  It just works so well.

On top of stellar animation and a wonderfully told story, the humor is much more adult that I would have expected.  But that's not a bad thing, that's great.  There's nothing over the top or anything that kids haven't heard a thousand times before, but certainly more than I expected from an animated film.  Think along the lines of a PG-13 Adam Sandler movie.  This movie will definitely make you laugh.

So, if you haven't seen ParaNorman already, then do yourself a favor and go catch this bad boy in 3-D!  If you're looking for a good Halloween fix, this is a great way to get it.  This movie will become a tradition for me and will definitely be a DVD I pop into the player every Halloween from here on out.  It's an immersion into the spirit of Halloween and, at this point, that's exactly what I am looking for.

The only downside?  No video game!! This would have been an gold mine for consoles like the Wii and Xbox 360.  I would have liked to see more merchandise but, so far, you either have to win contests or get lucky on Ebay.  Regardless, go see ParaNorman!!