Tag: vinyl toys

geek style · shoppin'

Force Friday Haul

Nina Penalosa9 Comments

Force Friday has come and gone, and now the countdown for Star Wars: The Force Awakens has entered the double digits! 99 MORE DAYS UNTIL WE GET OUR MINDS METAPHORICALLY BLOWN LIKE ALDERAAN… errr, I mean… too soon?

My Force Friday was crazy busy. I’ve never done anything like this before, so I was really excited!! At first I didn’t think I was going to go, but I casually mentioned it to Jen, not even trying to ask her if she wanted to go, and then she asked, “Which Target do you want to go to?” #bestestbff

Jen and I went to the Target in Elk Grove around 10 pm-ish or so since the one in Stockton wasn’t holding a midnight release for new merch. My main goal was to get anything Captain Phasma and BB-8. Obviously, I know nothing about the two except for the fact that Captain Phasma is a mother flippin’ FEMALE Stormtrooper played by the goddess that is Gwendoline Christie and I feel like those two things alone make her fierce as hell. And BB-8 is stupid adorable. Why wouldn’t I want anything with his mug on it?

Target was pretty organized with its midnight Force Friday event. They told all customers that they could only take one of each item, that way everyone had a chance to buy something — although I didn’t get any of the little action figures or Black Series figures that I wanted. I saw Funko Pops! across the way, but there were 3 huge bikes and a display obstructing my path, but I managed to get through and grab the second to the last Captain Phasma. PHEW! With every purchase customers were given a re-usable tote. I got a BB-8 one!

They were also giving away 3 big ass Chewbacca plushies that you could totally spoon. I was really irritated with the last man who won because you could totally tell he wasn’t a fan. He was probably just there to buy the toys and make a profit off of them on EVILbay eBay. He wasn’t excited AT ALL to have won. I mean, he could’ve at least pretended! — insert angry emoji with steam coming out of the nose —

We also went to the Disney Store in Modesto when it opened at 8am so we could get the free pin with purchase! There was another dude there that had no chill whatsoever. He was carrying a big pile of the Elite die cast exclusives and then I saw him accidentally knock over a little girl, and didn’t even apologize! WTF, man? Anyway, we headed to the Target over there to get breakfast and check to see if they had the Star Wars Cover Girl make-up before heading to San Francisco (Jen started school that day, so no, we didn’t just go for Force Friday) and to check out any of the other merchandise they might have left over.

I ended up having buyer’s remorse over the graham crackers

Things I got:

  • Captain Phasma Funko Pop! vinyl
  • BB-8 Funko Pop! vinyl
  • Rey Funko Pop! vinyl
  • Captain Phasma die cast Disney Store exclusive
  • Rey & BB-8 die cast Disney Store exclusive
  • Darth Vader pullover by Fifth Sun
  • Disney Store re-usable bag
  • Disney Store exclusive Force Friday pin
  • Star Wars the Force Awakens poster (not pictured)
  • Stormtrooper mug (didn’t actually buy it on Force Friday, but whatever)
  • Red Light Saber keychain (not pictured)

I was super bummed about not finding a BB-8 Funko, but then I had the brilliant idea to call Barnes & Noble and ask to put 2 on hold — one for me and one for my sister. We got there 15 minutes before closing only to find that they didn’t put them on hold for me AT ALL. Apparently whoever was supposed to put them on hold didn’t print out a paper with my name and number on it, or at least write my info on a sticky note and place it on the items that were supposed to go on hold. I used to work there and placed things on hold for customers quite often. I know how things are supposed to go, so I was livid. Thankfully, there were 2 left on the display (the ones that were supposed to be for me). I really didn’t want to be that customer to go apeshit on an employee, but… y’know. Put things on hold properly, man!

And before Jen went to school we stopped by the Disney Store in downtown San Francisco and they were still giving away The Force Awakens posters! I also bought a little red Light Saber keychain to put on my purse because why not? ☺

Overall, the Force seemed to be quite strong with me on Force Friday. Did any of you participate in Force Friday? What kind of stuff did you get (or not get)? Lemme know in the comments!

cheers

 

5 fandom friday

5 Fandom Friday: My Favorite Funko Pop! Figures

Nina Penalosa10 Comments

5 fandom 2

A friend of mine once asked how many Funko Pop! vinyl figures I own, and I had to stop and think about it for a good 2 minutes. I lost track of all the figures I own, but I know it’s well over 20! With so many choices, how am I supposed to narrow down my top 5 favorite for this week’s 5 Fandom Friday?! I tried my best to not list all my Disney ones to make the list more diverse, but alas. A good majority of my collection are Disney characters (because I’m the biggest Disnerd, duh!).

1. Baymax

My Baymax figure is the biggest figure I own! My friend Jen got him for me for Christmas (he was originally supposed to be my birthday present) and she was super anxious to give it to me because she knew I would most likely buy it for myself. And I nearly did buy him! I put him on hold at Barnes & Noble, and then she had to keep telling me NOT to buy him. It took me a minute to figure out why. Haha!

2. Snow White

Snow White is my favorite princess, and one of the first Disney Pops I ever purchased (my very first Pop! figure would be Batman). I went pretty crazy when they came out the first Disney series — I got Maleficent, Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and Sulley along with Snow White. But Snow’s the fairest Pop! of them all! I found a set with 3 mini Disney princess figures that had a lil’ Snow White, so now I have two. 😀

3. Mary Poppins

I fangirl’d sooo hard when I saw a preview of the Mary Poppins figure a few years ago. I mean, look at her! She’s practically perfect in every way. 😉 Whoever designed her just completely nailed every little detail from her hat to her umbrella. Perfection!

4. Robb Stark & Grey Wind 

Okay, this is technically two, but I’m counting them as one because I feel that I can’t have one without the other. I got Robb at SDCC, and was on a mad hunt to find his dire wolf, Grey Wind. I didn’t know that Grey Wind was a 7-11 exclusive though (I could’ve sworn I saw him at Barnes & Noble when I still worked there), so he proved to be quite a challenge to acquire for a price below $50. I eventually found him at Stockton-Con, and he is the most priciest Pop! vinyl I own (I haggled and got him for $30). I DID IT FOR YOU, ROBB.

5. Loki

I’m sooo happy that Funko came out with another Loki figure with the pointy helmet! I wasn’t really crazy about the one sans helmet, and the first Loki figure they came out with is way too ‘spensive online, and his helmet wasn’t even gold. This one is just fantastic!

What are some of your favorite Pop! vinyls? Have you lost count of your collection like me? Lemme know in the comments!

cheers

To find out the origins of 5 Fandom Friday, go here. And check out The Nerdy Girlie and SuperSpaceChick to catch up with the latest prompts! 

geek style

The Snow Show

Nina Penalosa14 Comments

outfit details – skirt + hairbow: H&M // blazer: Living Doll (Crossroads Trading Co. find) // dress: BeBop // belt: Xhileration // boots: Steve Madden // necklace: Once Upon a Smorgasbord (buy similar here) // glasses: Derek Cardigan (buy here)

Since Tim and I both had Monday off, we headed to the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco to check out the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: The Creation of a Classic exhibit. The show consisted of original concept art from the film and I’m such a nerd for that kind of stuff! Well, I’m a nerd for pretty much anything Disney, but I digress. Concept art from Disney movies are absolutely stunning, so it was an amazing experience to be able to see some of these sketches up close and personal. The details on some of them are incredible — if you look close enough you can see each pencil stroke the artist did and see just how hard they pressed their pencil against the paper.

I also got to learn a few things about the film that I never even knew about (and I know a lot about Disney)! Though Snow White is a beloved classic family film, Walt Disney originally intended that the movie be for adults. He told a journalist, “Before seven or eight, a child shouldn’t be in a theater at all. But I didn’t make the picture for children. I made it for adults — for the child that exists in all adults.”

Upon learning that Snow White was originally created for adults, I now understand why it scared me sh!tless as a child! I still like to refer to Snow White as my favorite “scary movie” or “horror film.” Hell, even the ride at Disneyland scares me! In my defense, it is called Snow White’s Scary Adventure, so… yeah. I think the Evil Queen is absolutely terrifying. Her transformation scene still gives me the heebie-jeebies, and during the exhibit I learned that artists studied the the transformation of Dr. Jekyll in order to truly get the Evil Queen’s done just right.

And of course, I had to dress accordingly to our trip to the museum by wearing the Snow White necklace I made featuring concept art by Gustaf Tenggren, whose art was shown and used on the banners and posters to promote the exhibit (up-close shot of necklace pictured below). I still have a similar one available in my Etsy store 🙂

If you find yourself in San Francisco before the 14th this month, definitely make a trip down to the museum. The show is insanely gorgeous, so definitely check it out if you can!

Cheers,
Nina

geek style

Fairest in the [Disney] land

Nina Penalosa5 Comments
Yeah... lemme post a picture of me scratching my head (because this photo snaffu is the only decent picture I took today). Blurgh.

I read Tina Fey’s Bossy Pants earlier this year and a particular passage, “All Girls Must Be Everything,” has stuck with me since. In it, she mentions how she hates how brown hair is often just referred to as brown instead of brunette, and how blonde is always blonde — not yellow. She also talks about how she constantly calls blonde hair yellow (which I totally need to start doing) so her daughter won’t think that blonde hair is somewhat better; her daughter also has a reversible Sleeping Beauty/Snow White doll, and Tina says she constantly flipped it to the Snow White side, but her daughter always flipped it back to Sleeping Beauty. When she asked  her daughter why she didn’t like Snow White, she said it was because she didn’t like her hair.

“Snow White is better looking. I hate to stir up trouble among the princesses, but take away the hair and Sleeping Beauty is actually a little beat.”

Preach, Tina!

Although I must admit that Sleeping Beauty had a stint as my favorite because she had two dresses (pink and blue), three aliases (Briar Rose/Princess Aurora/Sleeping Beauty),  got to sleep for hella days, and scored the most handsome prince. Hell yes, I had a crush on Prince Philip. He has brown hair is a brunette and has his own stallion, which was really impressive to 5-year-old me. I also had a crush on Aladdin and Thomas from Pocahontas. Haha. 🙂

Designer Princess Snow White is über fancy.

Once Aladdin came out with Princess Jasmine, her and Snow White were the only Disney princesses with whom I physically related to because they were the only ones with black hair and brown eyes like me. Technically, Jasmine is Asian so you’d think I’d identify with her more, but her outfit was too sexy for me, and Snow White has a cool dress with pouffy sleeves. When I was in second grade I decided I wanted to be her for Halloween, and my sister was Princess Jasmine. But Auntie Nelly ended up buying me a  Jasmine costume too (which were made for prepubescent bodies, thus were not sexy), so I got to dress up twice! My sister was pretty pissed that I got two costumes, but it’s not my fault Auntie Nelly decided to order an extra costume for me without my knowledge.

I was hella tan back then too, so I looked more like Brown Dirt than Snow White. I’d post a picture of me wearing it, but…

  1. I don’t know where any of the photo albums are.
  2. I don’t know where the chord for that cool scanner thingy my mom bought me for Christmas last year is.

So here’s a picture of the adorable Snow White toy I got over the summer:

by Funko

I’m  unsure of who my most favorite princess is. All girls have their utmost faves, but mine constantly changes between Belle, Jasmine, Snow White, and Ariel. Snow’Dubs is currently my homegirl. I tried on a costume a few days ago at a Halloween store and I immediately wanted to go to Disneyland and wear it and ride Jingles the horse on King Arthur’s Carousel! Have you noticed how so many little girls wearing princess costumes like riding Jingles? He (or she?) is not a technically a princess horse but a nanny one as Mary Poppins’ silhouette is painted on its saddle (it has also been dedicated to Julie Andrews, who I LOVE).

Um… I’m digressing. What was I talking about? Oh, right, the Snow White costume! I wasn’t about to drop fifty on it, even though I know if I bought it I would find excuses to wear it around the house, so I’d probably get my money’s worth out of it. But still! $50 is too much. And it’s not even the costume I really want. I want the “Sassy Snow White” costume, which is licensed by Disney, thus why it is “Sassy” and not “Sexy” — I don’t think “sexy” is even in Disney’s vernacular. Why do I keep putting “sexy” in quotes?

Sassy vs. Non-Sassy

Blurgh.

I’ll just stick with the Snow White pullover I scored at Forever 21. It’s super comfy and I layered it with my red and blue flannel (which I found in the dude’s sales section of H&M).  I’m completely obsessed with pullovers now BTW. I guess I’ll save that for another blog entry though.

PS: I caved in and joined Pinterest! If you have an account, feel free to follow me here. 🙂

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  • pullover: Forever 21
  • shirt: H&M
geek style

Green, Hamm & Eggs

Nina Penalosa2 Comments

Yesterday I went back to SPD for the first time in a month! Something always came up, so Jen and I would have to cancel our shifts — sickness, vacation, major holidays, etc. Who knew so many holidays fell on Mondays too? We ended up working on the “Lost Books” project; it’s where we’re given a list of books in each section and we take out the ones that aren’t supposed to be there. It’s rare that you actually find any misplaced books, but I ended up spending 4 hours reorganizing tons of shelves!

Afterwards, Jen wanted to take some pictures on her fancy Pentax camera with the new filter she bought, so I took my little Rex out for a shoot. And yes, sometimes I do carry a toy in my purse. I used to do it more frequently as I liked using toys to document the places I go. I’m trying to get back into the habit, no matter how odd it may be.

I got these really cute vinyl Disney toys by Funko over the weekend when I went to Sacramento, and I told Jen about it — so she asked if we could go to Sac so she could buy Buzz Lightyear. Despite the fact that there was a Disney Store across the bridge in San Francisco, she said she didn’t want to go there (SF rush hour… eww). So off to Sac we went!

This Hamm piggy bank matched my outfit. 😀

I didn’t think I’d be indulging in my inner child sooooo much yesterday. When I got dressed in the morning, I  knew I wanted to wear jeans and a tee, but somehow ended up looking like a put together 8-year-old. I bought my shirt at the gift store outside of the Toy Story ride when I went to the Disney’s California Adventure. When Toy Story 3 came out last year, I was soooo excited that there was going to be a  little unicorn! When I saw the shirt with Buttercup on it, I knew I had to have it.

Jen and I now have BFF toys! She said, “It’s perfect how my favorite is Buzz and yours is Woody: you complain a lot and I’m annoying!” It’s kind of true too. x__X

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outfit details:

  • cardigan: Old Navy
  • shirt: Disneyland Resort
  • camisole: Kirkland
  • pants: ???
  • necklace: Swarovski
  • bracelet: Coach
  • shoes: Avenue