#collection spotlight

[fantastickkay]

Collection Spotlight: Selena - Amor Prohibido (2024 Target Exclusive Pink Repress)

Amor Prohibido is one of my favorite albums of all-time (2nd only to a recent Spotlight, Britney). I have been dying for a vinyl repress for years and finally we get it with the 30th anniversary!! I opted for the gorgeous Target version. It came with a poster and I love how they did the "picture-in-picture" thing they used to do with her 90s posters. I really do wish they would recreate their 90s merch!! Her tour shirts looked like so much fun! Anyway, while this release is breathtakingly beautiful and I am so happy to hold it in my hands as a vinyl, they did make some questionable choices when it came to remastering the songs. There are small instrumental moments here and there that were not present in the original album, and the vocals on Cobarde sound pitched up for some reason? I might not choose to play this one over the CD, but at least I can display this on my vinyl shelf now :)

[vaggieslefteye]

Appreciating Hazbin Hotel's Cinematography ↳ ꜱᴛᴀʏᴇᴅ ɢᴏɴᴇ from 1x02 - "Radio Killed The Video Star" (2/3) - Alastor's segment

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[acquired-stardust]

Game Spotlight #16: Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Duel Stories (2000)

Just in time to celebrate its upcoming release as part of Yu-Gi-Oh! The Early Years compilation, Ash takes a look at the very first title in the series released in the west with Dark Duel Stories, a quirky little game that remains surprisingly playable to this day. Come take a quick look at the game to know what you're in for when The Early Years releases later this year!

Yu-Gi-Oh! is a series that Larsa and I have a lot of affection and nostalgia for. Once upon a time we were even avid players of the physical card game (Larsa to much greater competitive success than I), and we've kept up with the series in all its various forms for most of our lives now. Binging the notoriously campy and hilarious English dub of the anime together was one of the first things we did as a couple, and when we started Acquired-Stardust it was a no-brainer to create some content in tribute to the series. That content even went on to become some of our most popular posts, so the series holds a special place in our hearts as well as in the history of the blog.

It's a fascinating series that has taken on a lot of different forms throughout the years and you might be surprised to learn that the iconic physical card game, now mostly known for its incredibly long first-turn combo plays that determine who wins and loses before you're even able to do much playing, wasn't even the original hook of the series. Yu-Gi-Oh! began life as a manga by the late Kazuki Takahashi, the story of a high school boy possessed by an ancient spirit that would punish Domino City's many bullies and thugs through the power of Shadow Games, dishing out Twilight Zone-esque ironic punishments to them, with the signature card game the series is so synonymous with only being played a total of twice in the first 60 chapters before becoming the main focus with the Duelest Kingdom arc which the anime most western fans are familiar is based on. It was a shockingly dark and violent manga especially compared to the camp that the series is more well known for.

Just as well, the physical real-world card game itself has undergone radical shifts in mechanics and formats over the years since its 1999 introduction, and the result is a series that means something different to everyone. If you poll a hundred people, odds are they'll all have a different bit of the franchise as their favorite and consider a different era to be its peak. Larsa and I are personally most fond of the early years of the series, and so playing some of the video games set in that awkward 'wild west, anything goes' time when they were learning and experimenting with exactly what they wanted the card game to be was a pretty intriguing prospect.

And make no mistake about it - Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Duel Stories is very much in that early feeling-out period. So early in fact it released a mere two days before the Playstation classic Forbidden Memories and eleven days after the debut of the physical card game in America. Dark Duel Stories may have been the first Yu-Gi-Oh! game released in the west, but it's actually the third game in a Gameboy-specific series of Yu-Gi-Oh! titles (and has had its name swapped with its predecessor - whereas Dark Duel Stories is the name of the second title in Japan, this game was originally titled Tri-Holy God Advent in Japan). This series follows what I'll be calling the Gameboy Format for the game for the purpose of this piece, and for the most part it faithfully recreates the base mechanics of the physical card game (which we're assuming you have at least some level of familiarity with, but if not actually playing Dark Duel Stories yourself is a fine way to learn) with a number of key differences.

The first important difference in the Gameboy Format is its de-emphasis, but not total elimination, of Effect Monsters, Traps and Magic cards. Decks consist of a mandatory total of 40 cards, each with their own cost and level limit associated with them. Monster cards will make up the bulk of decks due to their low costs compared to the very costly Magic and Trap cards, necessitating clever usage of the game's largely weak lineup of Monster cards. Facilitating this is the biggest key difference between the traditional physical card game and the Gameboy Format in the much larger emphasis it places on the elemental typing of Monster cards, more inspired by the original manga's version of the card game. Each monster card in the game has an element associated with it (a total of eleven elements exist in the game), with the elements following a rock-paper-scissors sort of mechanic not unlike Pokemon that sees elements strong against one another (such as Water being strong against Fire) be able to inflict increased damage on their opposing element. Unlike Pokemon however, Yu-Gi-Oh's Gameboy Format sees Monster cards of an element weak to its diametrically opposed element outright destroyed before inflicting any potential lifepoint damage to players.

While this can (and will) lead to asinine scenarios in which the iconic Blue Eyes White Dragon card is destroyed by the meager Kuriboh, it adds an interesting layer of strategy to the game that goes beyond simply loading decks with the most powerful cards obtainable. It also stands in stark contrast to the physical card game in which setting up unbeatable scenarios with very little counterplay outside of hyper-specific scenarios on the first turn has become a hallmark.

Another aspect of the Gameboy Format that differs from the physical card game is the lack of Polymerization, a Magic card that enables the fusion of Monsters into a new and more powerful creature. While the Polymerization card is missing the fusion mechanic itself remains, relegated to an entirely unexplained process in which the player can attempt to combine any two monsters to potentially result in a successful fusion with getting the formula incorrect resulting in the first card being replaced by the second. It's small touches like this and the unique elemental system that promote a lot of experimentation and make sure that every Monster card has a potential use regardless of how weak they are statistically.

Players are given a deck of cards to start with and tasked with defeating three tiers of opponents, all of whom being an iconic characters from the manga and anime, five times each. Defeating opponents will earn the player more cards and card parts (more on this in a moment), as well as raising the deck level and cost limitations imposed on the player slowly but surely. There are a total of 800 obtainable cards in the game which can also be acquired through the usage of the Password system that allows players to add one of each card to their collection through entering the corresponding password associated with them. The Password system also allows players to unlock the game's hidden bosses as well as enabling additional post-duel drops indefinitely.

The game's main hook is its allowing of the player to create custom cards through combination of obtained card parts, with players able to combine top and bottom halves of original Monster cards in all sorts of ways that change their attack and defense values, elements, names and appearances. It's a small gimmick that the player is not necessarily required to interact with by any means but does help immerse you in the series by allowing you to create your own unique signature cards.

The end result of Dark Duel Stories' gameplay loop and format is a game that is perfectly suited for its handheld platform in all the best and worst ways. Its small, almost bite-sized duels go by rather quickly and painlessly but obtaining cards without the use of Passwords is a grind-heavy experience that leaves the player completely at the mercy of random chance. The costs associated with constructing decks can feel stifling at first but forces you to engage with the game and appreciate some of its eccentricities like the elemental system, and makes finally being able to include higher-value cards feel like the major upgrade in power that it really is.

It's a perfect fit with the Gameboy Color that allows you to sink however much time you want into it, grinding away to raise your level and cost limits or obtain cards on long road trips or just spending a few minutes beating Joey Wheeler or Seto Kaiba one more time.

Another strong aspect of the game is its art, faithfully adapting 800 cards from the game's early era to the Gameboy Color with a lot of success. Opposing duelists are also particularly strongly adapted, including a lot of (but unfortunately not all) the iconic characters one would expect to find in the game in impressive detail all without an over-reliance on digitizing existing artwork from the manga's original artist. The beautiful pixel art splash screens after selecting an opponent hold up extremely well and have my vote for some of the best visuals on the platform.

Not quite as strong is the sound, with songs being inoffensive and not super memorable but certainly serviceable - you won't be muting the game to protect your ears or anything, but turning on your own music instead might help with some of the grind if you're wanting to invest bigger chunks of time into obtaining Dark Duel Stories' large amount of cards or raising the limits imposed on your deck.

A small touch I greatly appreciated was the lack of manual saving, with Dark Duel Stories featuring a reliable autosave that happens after every duel, making rematching or putting the game down both a painless experience. One particular annoyance is the lack of a search function in the card library, so it's helpful to keep a guide on hand to reference individual card numbers you might be looking for rather than having to scroll through 800 cards manually.

While it's not a perfect game by any means, Dark Duel Stories remains a very fun and addictive time capsule of an era of the game now decades past and comes at an extremely early point in the existence of the physical card game and series at large. There's a lot of charm and a deceptive amount of depth to hook new and old players alike, and the gameplay remains smooth and fast all these years later despite obvious platform limitations.

It even allows players to link two Gameboy systems to duel or trade, though this will be less attractive a feature to people playing the game via emulation on PC which typically lacks the capabilities necessary for multiplayer functions. Original manga author Kazuki Takahashi constantly designed little games that appeared in the backs of compiled volumes of the manga, most often played with dice, and it's not surprising that he'd also come up with a very fun card game too even if this wasn't exactly the format we'd come to know in the years after the release of Dark Duel Stories.

A gem hidden among the stones, Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Duel Stories is undoubtedly stardust.

-- Ash

[skullislandproductions]

In the 90s I had the opportunity to participate in “The Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection” for Goebel. I, along with Tim Cahill, initially provided sketches of famous Looney Tunes moments, to the sculptors, in this case the talented Chris Peterson. It was fun to see the figures develop into these 3D forms.

[andaniellight]

You may be cool but you'll never be as cool let alone cooler than this Sky Kid who dove into the glaring red spotlight to distract the Krill targeting another dying Sky Kid trying so hard to get away from it while rapidly losing lights, like, ever.... I can guarantee you

[wintrii-shadows]

so that's all the kandi I have right now that's for me in no particular order. um. i'm sane what do you mean

the zoidberg one was bc my brother said it'd be funny to show to my science teacher so hehe seven eleven is one of my nicknames now the green w is for weezer and is part of a friendship bracelet set I have with three others the stars on the very right,, two of those are for charlie and niffty :3 got some kin bracelets n stuff in there too nuzi and dizzy bracelets + stars

OH MY GOD I FORGOT TWO OF THE BRACELETS. welp too bad I guess..

[freshthoughts2020]

[felassan]

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[fantastickkay]

Collection Spotlight: Marina & the Diamonds - Electra Heart (2022 Hot Pink Deluxe Vinyl Reissue)

Electra Heart has always been one of my favorite albums and I coveted the original hot pink vinyl that I had missed out on for years! When this 10th anniversary reissue was announced, I was so excited because not only was it that hot pink I was dreaming of, but it had bonus tracks as well! I had the US edition CD so some UK tracks were completely unknown to me (leaks overwhelm me so if they're not an official single or on an album, I don't know about it).

Oddly enough, it was missing 2 tracks (Sex Yeah and Radioactive) which is a huge bummer but this is still a great reissue and I'm happy to have it in my collection!

Note: photo of the platinum slipcover is from Discogs because it is shiny and difficult to take photos of

[ultipoter]

My works in October's Magma event hosted by @choochooboss, Pasio Glamour Fest! The dress up/sygna suit prompt for this event was so perfect for me, I do love dressing Volo up.

Did you know? I actually have to draw Volo at fixed intervals, else I shrivel up like a wilted flower. Fucked up, but true!

[shinigami-striker]

105 Years with Felix the Cat | Saturday, 11.09.24

Since his introduction in the year, 1919, let's give iconic cartoon cat, Felix the Cat a happy birthday!

Oh, and by the way, if you haven't done it already, you can still buy and play his iconic 2D platformers (both on Game Boy and on NES) on Nintendo Switch, PS4, and or on PS5, courtesy of a joint effort between Carbon Engine, Dreamworks Animation, Konami, and Limited Run Games.

[bassguitarinablackt-shirt]

NEW THEME NEW THEME NEW THEME IRS SO PRETTY YIURE SO SUNSHINE

DIDJDHKSJSHSISJSJKSKSOSUSJ THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU IM ACTUALLY SO PROUD OF IT I LOVE IT SM

[haveamagicalday]

Battle of the Barbies! Round 1: Vintage (Sub Round 3)

We are entering Sub Round 3 of Round 1: Vintage Barbies! I'll give you two Barbies and you have to pick which one is better. By the end we will have determined the best Barbie of them all.

This is round 1 (sub round 3) of the bracket. All other polls in can be found here.

[barbielore]

I made a post the other day about Barbie conventions and convention exclusive doll releases. One of the many I didn't talk about I personally feel deserves her own post. She isn't special in the sense of being particularly influential, expensive, or otherwise remarkable. I just personally really like her.

This is Spotlight on Broadway Barbie, a 2015 convention exclusive.

She goes on my list alongside such collections as Jazz Baby as collectors dolls that I really like and frankly didn't think we needed but am so happy about.

I don't have much more to say about her, but do I need to?! Look at her and tell me that I'm wrong and that you don't need her as part of your collection immediately.

[magazinescans]

Designer Spotlight Barbie Doll Katiana Jiménez Limited Edition

Barbie® Collectibles by Mail - Summer 2003