Look Ma, I'm a Shadowhunter Now!

I finished Allegiant in the wee hours of the AM, cried myself to sleep; it was SO SO SAD! Why did it end that way? Can't even talk about it without my eyes welling up! That's all I'm gonna say, no spoilers yet... Woke up with puffy eyes, and decided I needed to heal my literature wounds with a new book. Headed to Walmart and got my copy of The Shadowhunter's Codex, which is a reference guide/textbook containing history of the Shadowhunter world (from The Mortal Instruments/Infernal Devices universe) and information about Downworlders, locations, marks, etc.

I was on the fence about buying the $50 special edition, so I got the regular one to compare them and decide if I really need to shell out 30 more dollars from my wallet.

Just like the special edition, the insides of the front and back covers have beautiful colored art depicting the characters from TMI and TID.

The book is filled with doodles and witty handwritten conversations between Clary, Jace and Simon. It would be a big mistake buying the e-book version since it's impossible to differentiate who's writing what to whom.

Removing the slipcover reveals a soft textured (almost velvet) hardcover with a gold chalice imprinted on the front, the same as the special edition.

I dig the spine with the slipcover on, it gives it a rustic look. Too bad the special edition doesn't have one attached, too.

After hunting down people who bought the special editions and questioning them about its contents, I've come to the conclusion that the only differences are the pretty gold edges of the pages, the ribbon attached for bookmarking and the hard case it comes in. All that for about $30 more - it's mostly about the coolness factor.

I may still be tempted to purchase the special edition... What can I say? I'm a sucker for gold-edged pages. ;P But you don't even get a slipcover! I'll have to sleep on it.

Hey, if you're low on cash, don't think you're missing out by buying the cheaper one! It's the same quality, minus the gold trim, for less the dinero.

Christmas Time In September

Yay the limited edition Pokemon 3DS XL came out yesterday! After a whole month and a half of talking everyone's ears off about how much I wanted it but didn't think I should spend the $220 on it... The day came and I decided that if I missed out on it I'd regret it, so I went to Gamestop after work to buy it.

The picture does it no justice. It's amazing. Well worth being broke over. All that's missing is Animal Crossing and I'll be a happy woman.

But that ain't all, folks! Today my mega Cassandra Clare haul came in the mail days earlier than expected!

Amazon box. Such a beautiful sight. ^^^

Ahhh so nice to finally see Clockwork Angel in hardcover, such a rarity!

And City of Bones is gorgeous! I'm super happy that I went through the trouble of getting them in this format. Now the dilemma of picking between the 3DS or reading. (¬_¬)"

A Tale of the Mortal Instruments, Infernal Devices and My Sick Obsession With Having Order In My Library

Holla! Last you heard of me, I was coo coo bananas for The Divergent series by Veronica Roth. The final book comes out near the end of October, so meanwhile what's a bookworm to do? Get into something to tide her over, duhhh. Didn't think I'd get bit by the book bug by another series though.

So I'm trying out the Kindle app on my phone... Downloaded the mini story about Divergent's Four... Thought "Wow ebooks aren't the coming sign of the apocalypse after all! I could get used to this..."

**Disclaimer: I'll never ever get over owning physical books, I'll always find them better... But I'm now accepting of ebooks.**

... And I see that The Mortal Instruments (by Cassandra Clare) was recommended to me. I watched the movie, didn't think it was so bad and was curious to find out what happens, so I bought the first book off Kindle.

Fast forward to today, I'm searching stores to see if they have them in hardcover form because I like them that much. Maybe even Craigslist? Nope! Paperback everything with the exception of the latest book which is only in hardcover.

My dilemma was: do I buy them in paperback? And wait like a year to purchase the next installment in paperback form everytime a new one comes out? I'm the type of nerd who HAS to have a book series in the same format: either all paperback or all hardcover. I cringe when I see a tiny paperback book between two huge hardcovers and see that they're all from the same series. Plus hardcovers are really beautiful and shiny... I think I'd rather shell out the extra cash and hit up Amazon for the set.

BUT... It comes in a box... Do I wait for the last book to come out next year for a box big enough to hold them all? It took me about a good month of debating paperback vs hardcover vs waiting a year for the complete box set! Finally, I decided I'm not waiting to read them cuz I kinda need to know what happens ASAP!

SO! I bought the box set cuz it was cheaper than buying them from individual sellers... If it really bugs me that the 6th book won't fit in it then I'll just throw the box away. Whatevs. Not like my Harry Potters are in a box.

AND!  I found the last two books in the prequel series (The Infernal Devices) on Craigslist in hardcover form, great condition, for only 9 bucks each. Bought them off an angry cholo who was selling his ex-girlfriend's books. She owned all the books, but they were all paperback, so I had to hit up Amazon to add Clockwork Angel to my order.

And so, boys and girls, that's how I spent close to $100 on books in one evening. Also, this is the sad revelation that I'm OCD when it comes to my book collections. And DVDs too. Let's not get started on that.

Can we just admire for one quick sec how beautiful this cover is? I even managed to safely remove that stupid movie promo sticker plastered to her bosom. Whose stupid idea was it to do that anyway? Fire him or her, publishers.

Divergent... Oh. My. Glob!

Catbug Fiend

I've caught the Catbug fever and now I want him in every part of my every day life. Cute cute cute cute cute! Oh yeah and Bravest Warriors is pretty dope too, considering it's by the same dude who did Adventure Time. Never thought I could find a character who could rival Beemo in my heart, but this little guy just did it. Now if only I could snag the always sold out plush....

Awise Fwom Yo Gwave

Sorry I haven't posted anything in centuries... Apparently Blogger changed its sign in rules to only Google accounts, but I use a Yahoo one for this and I can't change it, so I linked my Yahoo to Google but then it wouldn't let me log on... Long story short it took me like a year or so to figure out how to solve this. (-__-) "

But I'm back! And I hope to write on this more often.. Like 5 times a week... Or month.....

My Little Pony Obsession

I'm addicted to watching those Strange Addiction/Obsession shows on TLC. It amazes me that there is nothing people won't do or collect...from 5,000 Cabbage Patch Kids whom are considered real children, to consumption of urine. I love grossing myself and being weirded out by my fellow Americans.
With that in mind, I must confess one of my own addictions...I say "one" because I have collected many little things, like Disney pins, gundam model kits or Hello Kitty items...but those are for other blog posts. Today I decided to bust out my vintage collection of generation 1 My Little Pony figures (abbreviated as "G1" MLPs).

I have collected about 92 vintage ponies, either from childhood, thrift stores, or through the online My Little Pony communities like My Little Pony Trading Post. I'm merely a beginner compared to most of the people you find there. I also have the later generations, even the ugly Bratz-looking G3.5...let's not even get into how many G3 I have, it's ridiculous.
There are so many different kinds...like...

Princesses
Skinny ones
Fuzzy ones
Glitter ones, be it on their symbol or entire body
Winged ones
Simple ones with a repeated symbol on their hips
Twinkle-eyed ones
Some with symbols all around their body
Rainbow haired ones, some with hair that can be "grown"

Babies and newborns
Holiday ponies, male ponies, ones with moveable limbs, ponies available in certain countries, seaponies, color changing symbols or hair, scented ponies, animal friends, or ones with 3D symbols.

Different MLP collectors have different reasons for collecting these pony figures. Some put hours into customizing them into pop culture characters or entirely new figures. Others like to restore their hair and paint to its original state. Some just like vintage while others may only focus on the newer generations. A few like to collect only certain colors or want to obtain an army of all the variants of a certain pony from different countries or rereleases, like Lemondrop. There are also ponies that were only made and sold in certain countries. Some can run up to $500 for just one highly sought after pony. I'm personally hoping to find my grail pony, twinkle-eyed Mimic, at a secondhand shop without shelling out $124 for her online.

Steering away from the vintage, I gotta add how cool these art ponies are; some were sold at fairs or San Diego Comic Con (my favorite is the purple one designed by Junko Mizuno)
It's nice to know that I'm not alone in my equestrian obsession. There are tons of people out there who spend way more for them and make my collection look pathetically small. People of all ages have something they love about MLP, be it for artistic, nostalgia or hoarding reasons. And it's not just women. The My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic show has brought in a slew of male fans who call themselves "bronies"; the 4chan boards are filled with MLP:FiM memes. The show itself is pretty comical and has some tongue in cheek moments. The new line of toys based on the cartoon has brought back the spirit of the classic MLP toys and has renewed the collecting bug in me. There's just something about those colorful plastic ponies.