The Third Saturday of January

David Weir, Tom Brooks, Alan Lance - Fall 2022

For the past several years, the third Saturday of January has been reserved for VEX IQ robotics competitions here in Forsyth County, Georgia. I’m currently in my 7th year as the Engineering Teacher at Liberty Middle School and the dedicated VEX IQ coach.

Last year’s competition involved the second worst phone call of my entire life.

I received a call that my dear friend, my lifelong friend, my best friend since 8th grade, was missing. He had left his home, left his wife and daughter at home, on what was usually just another Saturday morning coffee/breakfast run… and was gone for far too long.

After much panicking and desperation, I got that horrible phone call. My best friend had been found and he had taken his own life.

Damn it.

I had know Alan Lance since 8th grade. We had met in 8th grade Georgia History class under the aged instruction of one Blanche Bomar at Morrow Junior High, way back in the mid 1970’s. I was a basically unpopular weirdo and Alan was a chunky unpopular weirdo. We were meant to be best friends.

A common love of comic books and science fiction cemented our friendship. Alan actually introduced me to this odd paperback that he picked up in 1976 involving some movie that was coming out the following year. Something called Star Wars. We saw the first… and the last Star Wars movies together.

The MCU arrived with Iron Man in 2008 and our mutual love of comic books had come to life. There were no bad MCU movies. Some were great. Some were… meh…. But they represented our love of comics come to life and they were, maybe flawed at times, still a helluva' lot of fun.

I need to pause a bit and go back and reflect along this nearly 48 year old friendship between Alan and myself and the friends that joined us in our journey together.

Alan introduced me to two of his friends, David and Joe Weir, brothers from across the street. David was one year higher than Alan and I, while Joe was one year below us. It didn't really take too long before we all became close friends, the "fab four" of sorts.

Alan, David, and Joe had been members of the Masonic organization for young men, the Order of DeMolay. We shared some amazing, wild adventures during our time together. We all went on two different graduation trips, one after David graduated high school and then one the next year after Alan and I graduated. Myrtle Beach and Panama City Beach, but I don't really recall which came first.

Eventually, life and growing up began to take hold. No more cruising up and down Hwy 54 from Morrow to Forest Park. Fewer and fewer trips to the local Putt Putt or assorted midnight movies. We did lots of dumb stuff in our teenaged years, but none that ever involved law enforcement, so that was good.

Our popularity with females was tentative at best. There were always the Rainbow Girls, the girls organization supported by the Masons and the Eastern Star. No serious relationships ever developed.

Finally... girlfriends showed up. Joe actually introduced me to a young lady who would become my lovely wife of these past 38+ years. Slowly but surely, we all found girlfriends and we all got married. And our lives continued to drift apart. 

Whenever we did have a chance to reconnect, it was like little time had passed and we were, again, the "fab four".

Alan and I remained fairly close for many years, but there were times, when years had passed and we barely spoke. But when we did, it was an easy and comfortable reconnection.

Alan's first marriage ended and he later married a wonderful woman, with whom they produced an amazing daughter, much to Alan's 40+ year old surprise!

My wife and I eventually moved up to the north side of Atlanta and were actually a little closer to easier meetups with Alan. Our 'grab a beer' meetups or movie nights were always relaxed. We'd talk about silly stuff for a while, Marvel movies, Star Wars stuff. We'd talk about family and work. Alan always seemed a bit self deprecating, sometimes poking fun at himself somewhat humorously.

But there were deeper issues with Alan that I had somehow missed over our decades long friendship. We were close, but not close enough for me to realize that he was struggling.

I have since learned of some of what Alan was putting himself through and it wasn't pretty. For want of a better term, he had some demons preying on his soul. And I never knew until it was too late. Depression, low self esteem, medical issues, not wanting to be a burden. But the pain that he may have thought that he would be freeing his family from isn't gone, it is only transferred into a wholly different and more devastating pain.

The date when Alan ended his life was January 21, 2023, which is now a Sunday in 2024. While that will still hurt every year, the third Saturday of January will always resonate most with me. Maybe he planned it specifically for that Saturday morning, I'm not sure. There's too many missing pieces to the mystery of my friend that I will never know.

As I write this one year out, there's still intense sadness and loss. There's also fading anger... at him, at his family, at myself... but that's just destructive and pointless.

David Weir, our dear friend along this amazing journey, dropped everything and came from California for Alan's memorial service. We tried to make some sense of it, but there really was none to be found. 

David summed things up the best:

"I don't think we'll ever really understand. The best I'm hoping for is to not have the end of this proverbial two-hour movie color my memory of how enjoyable was its' first one hour and 59 minutes."

Tough to get past that last minute on this third Saturday of January, but I'll work on it, one day at a time.

I've got a long day ahead of me, cheering on my students as they strive for a spot at the Robotics State Championship. 

When I get home, I'll pour myself a glass of whiskey and raise a toast to my dear friend, Alan Lance.

I miss you, my friend.

"How I wish, how I wish you were here
We're just two lost souls
Swimming in a fish bowl
Year after year
Running over the same old ground
What have we found?
The same old fears
Wish you were here"

*if you or someone you know, is struggling with depression and thoughts of suicide, please, please, please... reach out to someone.

A Bunch of Random GI Joe Classified Troops

Let's take a quick look at a few random GI Joe Classified figures.

This version of Outback is based on the European Tiger Force version from back in the o-ring days. The original white t-shirt, red hair version is coming soon. Odd that the homage to the European version came out first. I suppose it makes sense (?) since new Classified figures seem to appear first everywhere else in the world, rather than the United States.

Personally, I like this version better and will probably pass on the original version. 

Incredibly well done figure! He's even got hair sculpted on his arms!

Tiger Force Recondo is next. Another figure where the original color palette of the uniform is due out later. No matter, I like this version better. Darker colors to sneak through the jungle. I'll stick with this version over the original.

Next up is this incredible version of Roadblock. This is actually the third version of Roadblock to come out in the Classified line. The first was based on the 2nd o-ring version, but it didn't really look right; the head sculpt just didn't work for Roadblock. The 2nd Classified version was a bearded Roadblock who actually works much better as Heavy Duty than Roadblock.

This particular version is an Amazon exclusive and is just amazing. Nails the look of the first o-ring version and he even gets ears this time!

Spirit is easily one of my Top 5 Classified figures. So exceptionally well done! Excellent range of articulation. Great accessories. He even comes with his eagle, Freedom, with two sets of wings! I've heard that Hasbro consulted with Native Americans on his design. If true, that proved to be a very wise move on the part of Hasbro.

We'll wrap thing up today with a look at Stalker. The Hasbro Classified design team has really done some incredible work and Stalker is no exception. A very well sculpted face brings out the character quite well.

Perhaps, next time, I will check out two of Stalker's former comrades in arms.

 

The Most Recent GI Joe Classified Figures

My two most recent purchases from the GI Joe Classified line have been Cover Girl and Falcon. They've both had their share of minor controversy across the GI Joe fandom. Let's take a look at Falcon first.

Falcon is one of my favorite GI Joe characters from the entire roster of characters. Easily a Top 5 pick! My opinion is largely based on the original figure and his file card. Not his GI Joe: The Movie appearance or his appearances in the DiC cartoons. I don't really recall seeing him that much throughout the original GI Joe comics.

In my own personal weird GI Joe world, Falcon is in no way related to Duke. That whole scenario was another of the many dumb elements of the animated movie. No thanks.

The biggest issue that most fans seem to have with this figure is that he's a bit... ugly. He doesn't have that clean, ruggedly handsome look of his animated counterpart, nor is he the bland, generally featureless face of the original figure.

Wow... a bunch of balding, overweight, out-of-shape, middle-aged men complaining about Falcon being ugly. That's hilarious! Although, I will have to admit that Falcon is a bit...not so attractive. So what? Big deal! I think that he's got some character to his face. My biggest issue with this version of Falcon is that his lips are just a bit too pink. Maybe he borrowed some of Cover Girl's colored lip balm?

Speaking of Cover Girl, let's take a look at the Classified version (OMG!!! Hasbro is going to make a Classified scaled Wolverine!!! **fan boi freak out). To be honest, I'll have to go to an obscure Monty Python bit in regards to the original figure. 

"Now that's my wife."    "A bit ugly, though, sir."    "What do you mean... ugly?"    "You know... not attractive to men, sir." Yeah, Hasbro tried back then to give Cover Girl some fashion model looks, but it didn't work out so well back in 1983. Decent enough for the time.

Many fans seemed to think that this new version of Cover Girl was also a bit ugly. Again, from the middle aged "hunks".

I think that she turned out quite well and is a well sculpted figure. Her face is very well done and is quite lovely.

Both Falcon and Cover Girl are well done figures, but I think CG turned out better than Falcon. Just my opinion.

What about the Mandolorian?

Well, of course, I had to buy a figure of the Mandolorian! As usual, I waited and found a low cost figure of his first appearance in the show.

The show is pretty dang amazing! There's bits of silliness here and there, but overall, I enjoy it.

I like this look so much better than the fancy shiny Beskar armor. Yeah, the Beskar armor looks really nice, but I like this battered, pieced together look of the Mandolorian armor. 

One more quick Star Wars figure to look at. How could I have Star Wars figures and not have a Jedi Knight? Well, how about Cal Kestis?

Who?

He's the lead character in the Star Wars Jedi: Survivor video game for... whatever console. I don't have the game or any video game console, but I thought that the figure was pretty well done and could work well in photos with my other Star Wars figures.

Still to come,,, 

Chirrut Imwe, Baze Malbus, and...

Dengar!

Let's look at some Star Wars figures!

Star Wars has become a bloated monstrosity of a property that just keeps going and going and going. I distinctly remember buying the Sta Wars paperback novelization back in 1976, probably 8-10 months before the premier of the movie in 1977. My friend, Alan, told me about this amazing story about these guys that fought with laser swords and there was this huge battle station that was attacked with little fighter ships. Who knew, back in 1976, what Star Wars would become?

The last three movies, especially The Rise of Skywalker, were just terrible. Let's ignore those.

Let's look at a couple high points from recent years!

I'll start with "Solo: A Star Wars Story". I thought that this movie was fantastic! I had read several Han Solo "solo" novels back when Star Wars, Empire, and Return of the Jedi were fresh. Titles like Han Solo at Stars' End and Han Solo's Revenge. To me, Alden Ehrenreich, was perfect as a young Han Solo and could have/should have had a nice Han Solo franchise ahead of him. But there's a subsection of the Star Wars fandom that is absolutely a toxic nightmare.

The Han Solo figure is an excellent recreation of Alden and just works so well. He's got that swagger that's an essential part of the character!

This particular version of Chewbacca turned out great as well! A bit younger than later figures, but very well done.

I had to buy the Lando figure. The swagger and bravado is perfectly captured. Plus it's Donald Glover in action figure form! Who can resist?

Next up are three of the principle characters from another Star Wars gem: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. From left to right: Cassian Andor, Jyn Erso, and K-2SO. Another fantastic Star Wars story that took place just before the events of A New Hope. Three well made figures, especially K-2SO. I also have Chirrut Imwe and Baze Malbus, pictures of them to come later. All of these figures were purchased well after their initial releases, so I got them all at decent prices through Amazon.

I know that the movie is more focused on Jyn Erso, but Cassian comes first because...

The Andor mini series on Disney+ is just amazing. So incredible to develop such a powerful story about a character whose fate was already decided at the end of Rogue One.

I had no idea who Diego Luna was prior to Rogue One and hadn't looked to see him in anything else until Andor was produced. he's quite talented and am looking forward to seeing Andor season 2 one day.

Stellan Skarsgard is already well known for such an amazing body of work, from Good Will Hunting, through the Pirates movies, on through his role in the MCU, and anything else that he stars in his role as Luthen Rael is nothing short of amazing! 

Just this scene alone is just so amazing and captures Skarsgard's amazing skill as an actor.

You may have noticed a distinct lack of the characters that we've all known from the initial three movies. Young Solo, Chewbacca, and Calrissian kinda' count, but they aren't figures of the original actors and I'm okay with that!

Wow... two posts... and not a year apart!