Bad Influences

 

Obviously, there's a story behind this...

Heroic Signatures currently has a new Conan figure up for pre-order, which faithfully recreates the most recent comic-book version with art by Robert De Le Torre, who does an outstanding job homage-ing the late great John Buscema.  The series published by Titan Comics has been quite enjoyable over the last two years.  And I've been on the fence about whether or not to order one.  So, I was excited to share an early review video with Jim and another longtime friend I met thru Cosmic Comix at one of its previous locations. (Note: Jim says the review is too long.) Because I was hoping the review would help me decide which side of the fence I was going to land on as this might be one of the best Conan figures ever produced (read the history of them here).

It's certainly not the first though.  That honor is bestowed upon the MEGO version from the mid-70s.  And I had one!  Actually, as the picture above attests, I still do have one.  But what happened to it?!

I actually had a fair number of MEGOs, mostly Marvel.  Unfortunately, since my older brother and sister, were -- well, older by 6 and 5 years, respectively; they didn't want to play with me as much as I would've wanted.  So, what's a lonely kid going to do?  Take his toys to school...and get many of them damaged or broken on the bus.  The bus kids were usually jerks anyway, so I don't know what I was thinking. "Desperate times cause for drastic measures." or as Marianas Trench abbreviated in their 2012 Pop song, "Desperate Measures".  

Before Star Wars, before Micronauts, 8-inch MEGOs were my favorite toys, having received a Batcave, Batmobile, Batcycle, Batcopter, etc. Christmas 1974.  I also remember playing with my Kirk and Spock up in one of our Chinaberry trees. They were great climbing trees with strong branches, and now they're listed as an invasive species that's only been around for 200 odd years.  And then there was that time I had a Planet of the Apes figure using an "electric whip" (Kings Dominion glow-in-the-dark necklace) encircling the neck of a helpless human on Claremont beach.  I was often more into setting up my toys for adventures than playing them out.  I'm sure that trait would earn my some type of label these days...

So what on earth would possess me to mutilate my beloved toys in this way (and it gets worse - see pictures below).  Loneliness is one thing, but taking violent action against all that you once held dear is something else (and a none too disguised way of making this post more topical).  Well, the title says it all, "Bad Influences".

You see, there was a older neighbor kid that sometimes would hang out with me. I'm guessing he was more interested in my stuff than me myself. (I'm keeping his name anonymous because he might be an upstanding person today and my sister is probably FB friends with him.)  He had the bright idea (most likely bored with my regular offerings) to create some new characters from my MEGO collection.  So we were going to create a Deathlok-esque cyborg by melting one of my MEGO figure's heads. Let's just say we weren't successful at first...

Robin (a duplicate I had), Dr. McCoy, and red-shirted Scotty

The older kid certainly had control of the fire, since I to this day don't even like to light birthday candles (thanks to my mother who put the fear of flame in me). By the time we got to Conan, things were at least going as planned (burning only half the face).  However, the rooted hair was a bit of a problem, which "we" wanted to turn into a mohawk or something. I'm sure I was all-in at this point, having someone spend so much time with me.

1 Corinthians 15:33-34a

"Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning..."

Proverbs 22:24-25

"Do not make friends with a hot-tempered man, do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn his ways and get yourself ensnared."

I know I had regrets later.  Not only did we fail to accomplish even one janky customized figure, we destroyed four in the process!  Sheesh!  What stupid-idiot I was about some things! (Sorry, st* is a bad word in my house - since my brother and sister called me that a lot, and I of course reciprocated in kind.) I'm the one who took the risks, the other person just had fun at my expense.  And I was still "bribing" people when I got to college, going to the video store to pick out movies that they would watch with me (since I had my own TV and VHS player in the dorm room).  Things were much better when I learned from evangelist Michael Cavanaugh at Fishnet one summer, that I wasn't "half a cookie", something my kids have heard me repeat ad nauseum.

Which brings me to the heart of the matter: kids today.  How many young people are led astray in their attempts to combat loneliness by hanging out with the wrong crowd?  Doing all kinds of questionable things to be accepted, often (and probably nearly always) dealing with people who have less than altruistic motives.  Those people are miserable too, and as they say, "misery loves company".

Matthew 23:15

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are."

Yes, I'm clearly thinking of the radicalization of Charlie Kirk's assassin.  That and the thousands (millions?) of people who are now celebrating his brutal murder.  It's just not right. But we're also to have compassion on those people. Yes, those who commit crimes should be justly punished, but they've been brainwashed and blinded by the god of this world.

2 Corinthians 4:4

"The god of this age [Satan] has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."

Matthew 5:43-45a

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven."

The Apostle Paul further expounds upon how Christians are supposed to react to those who oppose us:

Romans 12:17-21

"Do not repay anyone evil for evil.  Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.  If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.  Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge: I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary:

"If your enemy is hungry, feed them; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

And one other warning/admonishment when you see someone get their comeuppance:

Proverbs 24:17-18

"Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice, or the Lord will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from him."

The current culture of death that many members of our society embrace is deeply troubling, proving that many of their pronouncements of "love" are nothing but self-centeredness and hate.  There is plenty of trouble you can get into on your own, but most of these people are encouraged to think this way: 

Matthew 18:6

"But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea."

Speaking of trouble, I did my own MEGO customizing without the aid of a bad influencer. Below is my attempt at creating a Doctor Strange head from Mister Fantastic, only resulting in a decades-old prophesy of Pedro Pascal playing the role.

Note to future customizers - a Bic pen is not a good painting tool!  Nor do you need a knife to cut away the MEGO body to remove/switch heads.  See, if you heat up plastic in hot water, it will easily slip out.  Hey, I hadn't taken Chemistry by then, and didn't have the benefit of Youtube videos to teach me a better way.

And I paid for my folly many times over, having to buy reproductions of McCoy, Scotty, and Conan!

I've got to say, he looks pretty awesome.  Maybe I don't need the new figure after all.

You know the funny thing is the most difficult part of getting this post together was trying to photograph battle-damaged Conan's face. Here's some more for you to enjoy:

"Look, ma, no ear!"

I don't think we're making it to the playoffs this year.