"It's a place to hang our cowls"

I decided to move the boys room around today while Seth was at school. Mrs M thinks its a bit crazy but i love moving the furniture around. It's not that I'm unhappy with the placement of it all, its just i get really bored at looking at the same layout all the time and think that by moving the rooms around it keeps the house looking fresh.

I guess i forgot just how much was in their room but thankfully its tidy 90% of the time due to the good looking hairy faced housewife we have at our house (and i don't mean Mrs M).

I say this is the boys bedroom but secretly its more the bedroom i wish i had had as a child, I loved my toy's when i was younger and had a huge collection of He-man and Star Wars figures (sadly my mother thought i would be a great idea to give them to 2 of my cousins when i got older and they destroyed them). Seth loves the fact that all his toys are organised and easy to get to and because of that he really looks after them.

I'm really glad that he looks after the things that they have as most of the toys are timeless and will be packed away into storage when their older for their children, to sell on or even to be displayed in their own houses if they end up as nerdy as their dad.

I wander into their room a fair bit in the day as it makes me smile, its definitely my favourite room in the house. I've told Mrs M that when we move id like to board out the loft and have my own room up there for all my toys (yes i am a child i ALWAYS wanted my own den when i was younger).

The poster choices for the room were very important but what i love most about the posters we have is that they were chosen by Mrs M. I love that she has basically been catapulted into the world of comic books and super hero's and being the great Mom and Wifey to be she is she completely gets involved. sometimes me and the boys quiz her on her super hero knowledge and to be fair she's pretty clued in.

In a way i wish i could unbox all if my collections and knock up some more shelves to display all my other toys as a good load of the toys i have previously written posts about are not out in the house and are just stored away for Opeie when he comes of super hero age (i guess ill just have to save them for my grown up super hero loft hideout).

After moving the furniture around i have come to the conclusion that i have no idea what were going to do at Christmas as i don't know where were going to put new toys. Seth's birthday is just before Christmas too so there will be loads of new things. Having an extra room would be a great help (and would also give me another room to fill! 
                                                                                                                                            shhhh.....).

Bucky O'Hare figures 80's toys

There's loads of toys in our house hiding on top of most of the book cases and units. I tend to forget sometimes what Ive got as i buy things that I'm not intending to make use of straight away. I don't know what I'm going to do when Seth gets taller and wants to start rummaging. (I may have to build some sort of lock box for the shed).

I wasn't really into the Bucky O'Hare cartoon when i was younger but i did love the comics. The figures were great though, unfortunately much like the Toxic Crusaders figures i thought there could have been more released.

There was 9 characters in total and 2 vehicles (which I'm missing one of). Bucky O'Hare, Deadeye Duck, Willy DuWitt, Blinky, Bruiser, and Commander Dogstar And the Toad Empire characters were Toadborg, Air Marshall, Storm Toad Trooper, and Al Negator. I think i tried to introduce Seth to the cartoon but he wasn't interested.

I'm sure these will stay in storage for many year's until my little one is old enough to appreciate them.

"Look, Sammy, I'm not a very good shot... but the Samaritan here uses really big bullets."

I Really hoped when i started collecting the Super Hero Squad Figures that they would release a Hellboy figure similar but sadly i thought the toy companies had let me down. One day while perusing the eBay toy pages as i do on a daily basis i came across these beauties.

The range is called Hellboy BPRD Buddies and their made by Mezco, They released 8 figures in total in packs of 2 and so far I've managed to get my hands on 6 of them. Nowhere seems to have them and they very rarely come up on eBay (most frustrating). There are 3 variations of Hellboy,Abe Sapian,Prince Nuada,Wink,Johann Krauss and A Golden Army Soldier.

The figures are practically the same size as the Super hero squad range so they fit in with my sons collection perfectly. At some point i will track down the other two as i will be obsessing about them until i do. Pathetic i know but that's how i get when I'm collecting things. Also the collection wouldn't be right without Abe Sapian.

Their fine for him to play with them now as they are chunky and have no small parts that can come off but all these small figures are for in a few years as he'll appreciate them more then. Plus ill need a few years to explain all the characters and all their backgrounds like i did with Seth, until he is as excited about Super Hero's as he is, Luckily this time round ill have Seth and his intense love of Comic characters and all things Super to back me up.

"Being a father, being a friend, those are the things that make me feel successful."

When people ask me how it feels to be a dad you can be sure that the first thing that will happen is me getting a huge a smile on my face, i cant help it. Ive spent my life until the boys came along not really knowing what i wanted to do and just wandering the planet like the incredible hulk.

Having the boys in my life has really given me purpose and although loads of things have happened over the years previous to this, since i met Mrs M and the boys have been part of me ive only just felt like i have started to live.

I wasnt planning on making this blog to personal but the main reason for me starting it in the first place and all the toy collections were because of my beautiful boys, so it only felt right that i should write a post about them.

`

They are both amazing well behaved boys and i feel so lucky, they get everything they need and so much more and they fully appreciate that. Plus they give back as much as they get by being so kind and caring.

Seth is extremely entertaining and very intelligent and daily comes out with great one liners that have us in hysterics. And Opeie at 14 months old is steadily becoming one of the most interesting little boys with the funniest personality. I am a very proud father!!

Everything i do completely revolves around them and I'm quite sure by now they both know what they mean to me. Even though Opeie is only 14 months old i think its quite clear to him that mommy and daddy love him very much. 

 There's so many things i love about being a dad, but the way the boys look up to me just blows me away. I never really saw myself as a serious or responsible person but when you have other people relying on you it completely changes your world. As cheesy as it sounds, for me it really makes you want to be a better person.

 

With Seth our days pretty much revolve around super hero's and Star Wars from the second he wakes up (he just woke up now and the first thing he asked was "can you get black spider-man in the super hero squad figures? followed by good morning!! he has his priorities right) , its so cute it reminds me of myself when i was younger although i don't think i was as intense. Its crazy how much super hero knowledge a 5 year old can cram into that head of his. God help us all when he can start reading comics.

I feel a little sorry for Mrs M, when Opeie gets a bit older its going to be mayhem in our house. hes already started his Jedi training!!

We try our best to make sure were always doing things as a family and try to always think of new things to do, it seems though that the boys favourite thing to do is just playing in the back garden when the sun is out (which thankfully it is at the moment).

Our recent trip to Florida was amazing for us all to spend quality time together, its ashame it cant be like that all the time. 

 Really not sure what Doctor Doom was trying here? obviously he doesn't realise that he doesn't stand a chance against me the Ultimate Super Hero (in the boys eyes)

I think this post has summed up just how much my 2 little super heroes have changed my life and how lucky i feel every day. Having children is by far the greatest super adventure a hero could ever go on and i will do everything i can to make sure I'm always seen as Mr Fantastic!!

"Odin wept! Not... wait for it... the Santum Sanctorum! "

It's been a while since i started my Super Hero Squad collection and has been 5 months since my first  blog post about them "you were expecting maybe squirrel girl". I thought it was about time i had an update on what i have collected since. The 2 Thor boxes above came this morning (hence the kick up  the bum to write the post).

The collection is for my youngest son and according to my eldest he wont get his Super Powers until he is 5 so i guess they are for then. (gives me another 4 years to beef up the collection)

My better half is truly amazing, a few weeks back she won me these 4 hulk sets on ebay for 99p i couldn't believe it when she told me as i had seen the Thing/She Hulk box go for a fair bit on more than one occasion.

 I had been after Shocker and Shock Proof Spider-man For a While so was chuffed when i won them on ebay and was even more pleased when i noticed the seller was also selling the Scarlet Witch.

Most of these figures where released years ago so its a pain trying to find them all brand new so id say half of my collection are loose figures brought from here and there. It gives me loads if satisfaction finding the figures i don't have for my collection (especially when their found in a charity shop or other random clearance shops).

Mrs M's favourite of the collection so far is The Blob "he's really cute" she said. I think she has a bit of a soft spot for us boys with extra weight. Worked out well for me though!!

Ive had the Dr. Doom play set for a while,it should have been included in my first post but i completely forgot i had it. Happens quite a lot in our house as there are toys everywhere packed away. ( while tidying up after taking these photo's i found a collection of Bucky o Hare toys i forgot i had which im sure will be on here very soon).

My youngest Opeie has been having a play with them as they have come through the post but they are all going into storage until he is older. Our eldest Seth doesn't even know their in the house, he seems more interested in Star wars and Batman at the moment.

 Im sure there will be a 3rd part to this collection very soon as i am always on the look out for more,as well as trying to complete many other collections. (I cant wait till we move and we have a loft).

Until next time.....

"Doth thou mother know you weareth her drapes?"

I finally got round to watching the Avengers today and it was well worth the wait. I had to go on my own due to the boys being far to young and pretty much everyone else i know being in a different city. No surprise though i wasn't the only guy on his own there.

It is by far one of the best super hero movies I've seen and I'm pretty sure Ive seen most of them. Loads of action from the start. Wasn't really a fan of Loki though,i didn't like him in the Thor movie he was a bit wet.

 Mark Ruffalo is clearly the better hulk of the 3 most recent, a lot more awkward as bruce banner and loved the way as the Hulk it still really looked like him. The movie was shot really well and the random shots through the back of car windows etc was amazing. 

What makes the Avengers a great movie for me was having the pick of super hero's to warm to, if your not a massive comic book geek like me im sure that 20 minutes into this film you've picked a favourite avenger and your sitting there rooting for him or her. For me it will always be Captain America.

Hadn't really liked Iron man much since reading Civil war (yes i know its only a comic) but the movie pretty much reinstalled my love of ALL things marvel (not that it ever went away).

The film ended and i wondered why no one was leaving so i sat and waited, felt like a bit of a nerd sitting there with the lights on watching the credits but as with most of the recent Marvel movies the sneak clip at the end was well worth it. I cant wait to see what they do with Thanos in the next movie.

I'm really hoping that in the next movie we get to see Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne join the team,i'm quite sure i read somewhere about an Ant-Man movie in the making so that should be interesting.

Well i got home and was on a bit of a super hero high.Mrs M had an early night so i stayed up and watched the Fantastic Four and Iron Man. I could have happily had a Marvel Movie Marathon but when you have kids you have to be responsible (which is a pretty good job as our youngest Opeie had me up at 5:30 this morning).

Thankfully i can still get my fill of Avengers goodness as the 2nd series of Avengers Earth's Mightiest Hero's is running at the moment and I've got to say it is a pretty good show.

Orlando Islands of Adventure : Super Hero Island : Marvel Meeting Spiderman, Captain America, Doctor Doom.

I haven't written about our holiday to Orlando, Florida  since we got back as so many amazing things  happened and there were so many photo's for me to go through, I could have posted hundreds.

 I've decided it would be easier if i broke it up into separate posts. 

From the moment we booked the holiday with Virgin Holidays it was all about Islands of adventure for me. I've wanted to go for such a long time, because I had read online, and googled it for so many years, meeting the characters, villains and superheroes, the rides, the character parade, the super hero themed resturants, I couldn't wait to go, and share it with our two super hero crazy boys! 

My youngest was far to young to understand (which means we'll definitely have to go again when he's older- already excited!) 

But our eldest like me, was in his element. There was so many great things to photograph which i loved as the one thing i really wanted from the holiday was a great collection of family photo's. The staff are so friendly, and will take photos for you, just about anywhere in the parks, and also in the stores where you meet Spiderman and the other characters.

Meeting the characters was definitely my favorite part, as I loved seeing the look on my sons face especially when he met Spider-man, and who could blame him? We asked him which super villains he had been fighting recently and he spent 10 minutes taking in depth and realistically about Dr Connors and his Neogenic Recombinator, I was actually genuinely  shocked that the chap knew so much about the character he was playing it really made the meet and greet experience and the little man was completely in awe!! ( Mrs M was to busy flirting with him asking about MJ and waving her red hair in front of his face.)

(This is one of the photos we bought from the meet and greet, the meet and greet runs at 10am, and is in the store opposite the Spiderman ride, next to the cash register. Photos are $10, which includes a really nice perspex photo frame, and a photocard so you can get any other pictures you have taken throughout the park at a massive discount. Very reasonably priced we thought, we also bought the key chains. )  

After meeting spidey we stepped outside and was greeted by a not so friendly villain from the world of Marvel.... the two of them showed off in true super hero style!

I was shocked our son wanted to go near him as we saw the Green Goblin before Dr Doom and he didn't want to go over to him as he was so realistic, and even adults looked alittle weary! Again, Dr Doom stood, posed and spoke to us like he had all the time in the world for us. 

We were excited about meeting Captain America, as Spiderman had told us to tell him that he was an old man and he sleeps all day! (which Seth being 6 thought was hilarious.) He also laughed as he told Cap that I like the Red Skull. He did not look impressed, and spoke to us for a couple of minutes explaining there was going to be a Marvel Super Hero parade at 11.00

It was great to see that Mrs M was really enjoying herself too but then she will always have a smile on her face if she knows her boys are happy.

 

The range of rides were really good too , they were well designed to suit all ages. Seth and I loved the Spiderman ride, but didn't realise you needed to grab 3D glasses at first, so be sure to pick a pair up at the entrance. If you want to get on all the rides without standing in line for a long time, as these rides are so popular, I'd suggest getting to the park when it opens, and heading straight to the Marvel land, which is found by walking straight through  the gates at the entrance and bearing left, (walking over the Hulk roller coaster goes over the top of that! ) and you're there! The Hulk coaster was amazing, and as it goes so quick, you don't have to stand in line too long to experience it. 

The only  thing I would change at Islands of Adventure would be the  shops. There was lots of things to buy but there wasn't a great choice of hard to find figures (i was hoping to be going back to the hotel with bags full). I didn't think there was much there that you couldn't go and purchase in the UK from Forbidden Planet or Nostelgia and Comics. We still ended up spending around $200 on really cool t-shirts, baby clothes, personalised mugs, some figures, and a really cool caps, postcards, stationary and books. The prices in the stores were so reasonable, and you get alot for your $ really.

The life size statues of the characters where amazing, I would love one for the house, it would definitely be a talking point. Sadly we wouldn't have the room and I'm sure Mrs M would have something to say about a life size Spiderman hanging from the ceiling.

In one of the shops there was a glass cabinet full of Marvel guitars which were amazing, sadly it was really difficult to get a decent photo because of the lights and glass. They were reasonably priced too, if I had been musical I probably would have bought one.

We all had an amazing time at Islands of Adventure, and can't wait to go back again although there is a possibility Mrs M spend a fortune as Opeie will be alot more knowing about Marvel, and want so many more things! It really was such a fun day, and we ended up going back 3 other times, using our FlexTickets which made the park hopping so inexpensive, compared to buying day tickets on the gate.  We also had breakfast with Spiderman, Thing 1 & Thing 2, and Cat in the Hat, which you can read about here.

Above: The VW Hulk car. It was so cool, and the boys would love to be driven around in this!