CCLemon99 Magazine Issue Six

It's been awhile, but why not? This is CCLemon99 Magazine Issue Six! I have just a handful of topics to cover this time around. As this is my usual repository for smaller topics, how about we get right into it?

Farewell Toys R Us...

I know it's very old news at this point, but I really haven't had an opportunity to weigh in on the closing of Toys R Us here in the United States. I talked about my relationship with the store in a previous post about one of my favorite toy purchases.

I couldn't really bring myself to visit a store once the closure was announced. I really just wanted to have memories of the store being vibrant and full of life. This whole mentality of "Bankruptcy=DEALS!" is moronic on several levels unless you really need some store fixtures for your own business. Liquidators strip anything and everything of value. On top of that, it really just feels like a scummy attitude to have not unlike being totally cool with going through Grandma's jewelry box while she's still on her way out.

Anyway...it's been real, Toys R Us. I may not be able to do my usual Birthday trip to the same Toys R Us I've been going to since the 90s, but I hope to at least be able to drop in on an International location in the future...

It's 2018...I guess it's time to buy Blue SWAT

I've been putting it off for too long. I'm buying the damn series on DVD. I have a mix of rental VHS and TV recorded episodes, but haven't really moved in a direction to really see the entire series. I ran into a really good deal on the first and last volumes of the series DVD. The next move to make is to, you know, get everything in the middle. That's how they get you, right? At least the prices have kinda leveled off a little bit better since the series was released in 2011.

The show turns 25 next year, so maybe I'll get into it then on the site...and probably Kakuranger again while I'm at it. I watch Kakuranger every year and still pick up little things...


S.H.Figuarts White Ranger...the last hurrah??

...or should it be the last "UHHYAHHHHH!!!"?

I'm not going to lie, I absolutely dig the bizarre and sudden return of Power Rangers Figuarts for the 25th anniversary of the franchise. The Red and Green Ranger Figuarts that were released as San Diego Comicon Event Exclusives for this year are neat, but the White Ranger one is the real deal.

I'm sure I've said it over Twitter a few times, but I don't think I mentioned it anywhere else...but Kibaranger / White Ranger is my favorite Super Sentai Figuart. If you don't own it, I HIGHLY recommend picking up this reissue of sorts. NOW...given that we haven't seen this figure in person there is the chance that they nix my favorite feature, the pearl finish, but I kinda have faith given the cost that this Figuart is going for.

Even if the pearl finish is missing, I totally recommend getting this new White Ranger Figuart. It may not have the stupid Akibaranger bonus items, but you get Tommy's head...so there!

More CD and Series Reviews on the horizon...

I know that announcing future content is kinda stupid, but I feel like I need to put this out there since I've gotten away from both in recent months. Autumn/Winter is my favorite time to review series since I won't have to fend off drug-induced nodding off as I watch series (thank you, seasonal allergies...) and I also have been pulling together some unusual CDs to review in pairs. I have some good ones coming up...so stay tuned.

Gingaman is next on the list of series reviews. I never cared too much for the series, but if I'm hoping it'll be like my revisit of Ohranger last year and I end up enjoying it way more than I remember. We'll see! Stay tuned for that...I know I've fallen behind on Shout!'s releases...but it's not like I'm getting paid, right? Hahaa.

MEGAREAL Digitizer & Battlerizer

Not much else to say other than...yes, I am very much looking forward to this one. I love the little control plate that holds the Battlerizer. I know some people are moaning about the lack of the Keitaizer, but I could honestly do without that one.

As usual, it's great that Bandai Japan is going back and reissuing old toys and giving them some new features to appease collectors of the originals. That reminds me...I never did review the Legacy Zeonizer, did I?

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So that's all I really have for this issue of the CCLemon99 Magazine. I kinda did an extended article earlier in the month on the video for Beastie Boys Intergalactic and it's importance to a young Tokusatsu fan such as myself.

I'm just getting back from a big trip and am still unpacking (well...my bag isn't unpacked, but I certainly uploaded the 700+ photos I took to my computer). If you're reading this early, expect the glorious return of CCLemon99 to Youtube very soon with some unusual toys I picked up over the weekend.

Outside of that, I just want to give a quick shoutout to everyone for the love I got for the 11th Anniversary video that I posted a month ago and the continued love I've been getting this Summer. Thank you!

I'm off to work on the next post. Take care!

-CC

CCLemon99 Magazine Issue 1

CCLemon99 Magazine Issue 2
CCLemon99 Magazine Issue 3
CCLemon99 Magazine Issue 4
CCLemon99 Magazine Issue 5

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An Appreciation of Beastie Boys' "Intergalactic" and "Body Movin'"

I'm kinda fond of the Summer of 1998. I remember hanging out with certain friends, going to the beach, playing a ton of Nintendo 64, and most importantly...Hello Nasty.

I don't think I've ever talked about this on the site, but I'm a massive fan of the Beastie Boys. I haven't been to too many concerts in the past twenty years, but the best show I've been to was seeing the Beastie Boys on October 11, 2004 at the (then) Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, PA. If you want to get a feel for what I saw, check out the concert film Awesome! I Fuckin' Shot That.

Getting back on point, I love the band and that Summer was absolutely the most glorious time. Their fifth album, Hello Nasty, was released on July 14, 1998. It's safe to say at this point that it's my all-time favorite album from the band. I have a difficult time describing the album accurately as the songs bounce from rap to rock to jazz and all of it is incredibly good. Mix Master Mike became their new DJ and it really gave a album a fresh sound. Good albums on their own don't sell albums on their own...

June 1998 saw the release of the music video for the first single from the album, Intergalactic. If you're reading this site and you've never seen the video, correct this immediately...

There are many things to unpack here. The Beastie Boys have always done some great music videos (well...not so much in the TTFB days), but this one was untoppable. Sure the fast motion stuff isn't all that great, but the Robot vs Octopus fight is incredibly fun and actually pretty well done. On the DVD commentary, the band tried to piece together some kind of plot for the fight. Ultimately they settled on the robot steppin' on the Octopus' turf. That's all. Perfect.

It's absurd and I utterly love it. Imagine being a Tokusatsu fan in 1998 and your favorite band releases this video. Not only that, everyone loved that video. The song itself is kinda polarizing through it's somewhat shrill repetitiveness, but the video in undeniable.

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A few month later the second single from the album, Body Movin', was released. Naturally a music video was released to promote sales and the results...were just as silly as Intergalactic. The idea behind it was to license a film and shoot new footage to weave a new plot around it. Sound familiar? The film in this case was Danger: Diabolik from 1968. Check it out...

A high-society burglary based on...a fondue recipe? Sure! Again, I couldn't help but loving the hell out of this creative re-purposing of old movie footage. Like...how did it all come together? Why the decapitation? A crow took out an entire plane? How did the Adrock have a harder landing WITH a parachute?

It may not have anything to do with Tokusatsu or anything, but I can't help get that vibe I get if I ever happen to catch an early episode of Power Rangers or Masked Rider. It's like "OK, so how are they going to write their way around this one?".

I may not like the remix that was used for the video all the much, but I love the video for this one just as much as the video for Intergalatic...even if that Jaguar E-Type getting wrecked was painful to watch.

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From there, things kinda sputtered. The video for Three MC's and One DJ was an impressive single-take video of the song performed live. That was really it for this album... Did it really need any more, though?

This is to twenty years to a great duo of music videos from one of my all-time favorite albums. Did you latch on to Intergalactic as much as I did? Let me know!

See ya!

-CC