Saturday Shopping IV

 

It's been a while. Last November to be exact, but today I went out to toycon again to buy some cool goodies! 

First up is Frankenstein's Monster and his Bride. Bride Of The Frankenstein is my favorite Universal classic monster movie. Everything about it is SO GOOD.  These plushies sure are cute.

Next is this super cool vintage vinyl Porky Pig. 

I'm not much of a jewelry person, but necklaces are fine. I really like this Winnie The Pooh one dressed as a cowboy.

Ey, why not another Pooh collectible. I like these. I used to have a Space Jam Bugs, but I think I got rid of it. It's Tigger.

There wasn't that much DVDs at toycon which is understandable but I got a Criterion Collection called Vampyr. A Carl Theodor Dreyer film. He also directed Passion Of Joan Of Arc. So this film could be insane, also I barely have any Three Stooges merch, only a graphic tee shirt, but I really like this Moe toy. Nice blue and white polka dot tie.

Adore me some Toy Story so I bought Woody. 

Speaking of graphic tees, this amazing Donald Duck shirt referencing one of his 1940s cartoons. 

And finally, the coolest thing I bought. A Bing Crosby Gemmy animatronic. So cool it still has batteries to play his singing. This was only 30 dollars and was worth it. 

Hope you enjoyed my June 2026 lineup of stuff I bought. I'll probably be back in the next few months but I'll still continue to share more posts of my haul whenever I go out somewhere fun.

Want the links to the 3 parts? 

https://sngexplorationblog.blogspot.com/2024/11/saturday-shopping.html?m=1

https://sngexplorationblog.blogspot.com/2025/06/another-saturday-shopping-trip.html?m=1

https://sngexplorationblog.blogspot.com/2025/11/saturday-shopping-iii.html?m=1

A Christmas Post In April

 

Ever just found something very interesting and cool at a store and you just want to post it even if it's something related to the holidays but we're (sigh) only 7 1/2 months away from it?!

This is what I bought at Goodwill. Yes, call me silly but Goodwill can be fun sometimes, it ain't only clothes, there is some cool collectibles and DVDs. 

There's barely any recognition for the oldies especially Bing Crosby. I get the change of what's trending or poppin' lately and people come from what they're drawn to best. I mean I'm definitely not that person who wants to say, "EVERYTHIN', EVERY PRODUCT HAS TO BE SOMETHIN' FROM THE 1920s T' THE 1940s!" No. I get people's appeal to things. 

To me I think it just has to do with the enjoyment and joyfulness. And to me when I listen to stuff from Como, Day, Nat King Cole, Bing and Louis I just smile. I have no problem being happy with musicians I enjoy listening to. Maybe it's just the smaller elements, the lyrics the melody the tone of the singer's voice etc.

This holiday season, I'm in to introduce these greats of vintage music to my loved ones. They'll show you what the true spirit and love of Christmas is really about. 

Is it me or does the red highlighting give off the feel of the nostalgia that I remember hearing these artists and hearing the warm vintage quality of the songs?

I was surprised when there was a flip book for this CD songbook. It just made the whole thing alot more impressive. 

Whoa, I actually never heard of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman" ever. Sure I'm not a Christmas songologist, but I can't wait to get myself into that song eventually, but those lyrics! 

There were some Christmas songs that not only became hits on radio, but movies too. What great sense. It has happened with non-Christmas songs as well. Also very neat and generous for them to text "Happy Holidays!" 

Overall a rare but neat collectible find. I'm liking the appreciation. 

There will be another Golden Age on my exploration blog someday but almost 2 years and 300 posts, it's safe to say I done a whole lot. And me taking breaks from it is necessary.

DVDs - The More Palatable Choice

 

I was searching on Disney+ to see what was interesting. Turns out they own everything on their streaming service. I found out that people are watching Cocomelon on there which feels peculiar.

There is a slight chance that we're not going to have Disney+ anymore, I could understand all the disastrous things that's happening with the streaming service nowadays. Like I was saying, I have DVDs of the films I love. Slight lost of internet connection? The DVDs don't have any problems like that. Does it have scene selections so it doesn't take you like forever to re-watch and look for a certain scene? 

DVDs are for you. 

I'm starting to think they're the most deserved things we have for watching movies. To me parts of YouTube and other social platforms ruined a good bit of my actual interests. It's easy to be distracted by stuff on the internet, but I don't think we should deserve to experience everything around us. But as someone who accepts the pleasures of entertainment and details, this is what I found about the Disney movies on Disney+.

After I looked into the One Hundred and One Dalmatians DVD I noticed how much passion and care that went into it. The special features were the best editions. This is the extras included in the Disney+ version of the movie. The only option is watching the trailer, which isn't really that exciting. 

Now here's the extra features on the 2008 2-disc Platnium edition of the DVD. 

It's more intriguing and interesting. It tells you certain information like the restoration, and has a nice and cool experience of watching Walt Disney himself talk about the actual movie alongside songs that were not included in the film. This is awesome.

I'm a huge fan of the older Disney movies when Walt was still alive. A couple of his films are my ultimate comfort films, and when I discovered that there was a use of trivia facts just made the entireity of this product more fun and engaging. 

Noting that a bizarre fact like a million of pencils were used in creating the artwork for this film is insane. 

Here's another one of my favorite Disney movies, The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh. The description is more creative and extended and we're given a ton of features.

And what does Disney+ do?

 

I'm serious. This is all you get after you watch the movie. Just a basic trailer. I guess it's good in case if no-one seen the movie yet and have a quick look if they're interested in watching it or not, BUT STILL, that is incredibly not enough. If it was a more iconic movie like The Lion King or Tangled, and only had a trailer that would've sucked, turns out they do have more extra features. 

I'm not just only talking about animated movies, sometimes old movies and live action movies do this. Last March, I talked about how cool the DVD for The Broadway Melody Of 1940 from 2003 looked, same as with the Screen Legend collections. The only one I have for now is Bing Crosby's movies.

You can tell this was made from people who truly care about the effort and try to make a decent enough DVD collection. It doesn't have to look truly excellent or massive, it can just add a few pictures and an interesting color scheme. 

Also shows you actual information of the star. I had no idea that Crosby starred in exactly 79 films until now. It's good to gain knowledge into something you like and this DVD proves it.

Did you also know that some of the DVD selections including the scene indexes can sometimes be funny? I love to imagine having a short-term job where I could come up with fun names for each scene from a movie.

 

Surprising Duos

 

This is a quirky but fun idea I wanted to make as a post. 

You may have known these familiar famous faces, I know I certainly have, in fact, all of these people you see here are people I find legendary in pop culture. These are unique and rare photos I caught on the internet. 

First is Mel Blanc meeting with Clarence Nash. As you might already know Blanc is known for voicing Porky Pig and Nash most famously voices Donald Duck. So what did you expect? It actually happened. 

This is a great picture. 

Who'll win?

Disney or Looney Tunes?

I'm an extremely huge fan of Bing Crosby. I had a huge influence on him for about 2 1/2 years. He has teamed with incredible people. This is him meeting with Glenn Miller. Both are music legends. I was astounded when I first discovered this photo. 

With other people he has met, he definitely has met Sinatra, I loved his radio shows with Judy Garland, and Ella Fitzgerald. 

I also love this picture of Bing and Nat King Cole. 

He also teamed with Walt Disney, the studio was working on The Adventures Of Ichabod And Mr. Toad, in which he is the narrator in the Sleepy Hollow segment. He truly made that movie a masterpiece.

Recently, I watched some clips of Bing and Fred Astaire and they are truly wholesome and sweet. These were mostly made in promotion to their own album together. This was back in 1975. Have a watch. 

Here's two more you'll be destined to be impressed by.

Lastly, is Nat King Cole and Betty Hutton, the most underappreciated collaboration ever witnessed. 

I'm a big fan of both Nat and Betty, but this was surprising to me because I never expected these two to get together, they even perform so well. Let me just say it was a blast. I know the title of this video says Part 2, but it's way longer and Part 1 only had Betty sing herself in that video. 

Your going to love this one. They do their own version of Anything You Can Do, which is a creatively magnificent song and as always Hutton is just as goofy and entertaining as she was born to be. 

Enjoy! 👍 

There is a slight possibility a Part 2 might come out. But I have no idea yet.

Observing Classic Hollywood Actors - Bing Crosby

 

I'm willing to take a dive to talk about one of my favorite classic hollywood actors, I love lots of them. 

When it comes to people that influenced me it's always the animators because I love to draw, but when I experienced real people for the first time, I was totally missing out and wanting to explore more around them especially on social media platforms. It's the only way to get good entertainment since streaming services avoid the classics nowadays which is a real shame.

It's a smart move to experiencing talents like Gene Kelly, Glenn Miller, The Andrews Sisters, The Three Stooges and The Marx Brothers.

The one that stood me out the most is the first classic hollywood actor I ever admired.

This is the individual who sang the classic christmas songs and impacted millions including me. He has one of the best personalities in film history. 

I recently watched Little Boy Lost (1953) and this scene in particular is one of my favorites. I love everything about it to the dreamy and calm song, and facial expressions. 

I first watched some of his films in 2023, when I was like 15 or so, and when I first watched the movies, I was immediately drawn to his laid-back easy persona and unique expressions. Reasons why I have a bit of a crush on him.

His films can sometimes be a little too dramatic or otherwise too long in my taste, but whenever he's on screen, I stay awake from it. 

These expressions are easily memorable in my opinion. I love them.

You may think I only watched a few of his films. No. I went through experiencing his short films, I watched a fantastic documentary simply called Bing - Going My Way that explains everything in his lifelong journey, and knowing alot of the names to the movies he appeared in even though I haven't fully watched all of them. 

White Christmas is another clear example as he's dancing along with Danny Kaye in the Sisters segment. 

That's a funny expression. Great pose too!

For a successful singer, he needs more recognition for his acting career. What's fantastic about this person is that he doesn't need to be a cheery optimist or the annoyingly talkative. This is the perfect personality in history. 

 

Can't we just all imagine us being relaxed and natural as Bing is in his films?

That would be a miracle. 

Definitely says alot to my characters and drawings. 

Start Of 2025 Drawings

 

Since January is half way over and 2025 has just started, I wanted to send over lots and lots of drawings.

Enjoy.

These are my new recent characters I worked on. It's my own versions of The Tortoise and The Hare. Apparently, I planned my first cartoon that I ever finished involving these guys.

But you'll have to wait for another post to see it. 👀 

Another character I made recently is named Bren McGee. He's the smallest bully in the world.

He's supposed to be like Speedy Gonzales who I find annoying. Hopefully you guys don't think this character can make you turn off the TV. 

I made this funny drawing of Mike and Dotts and here Dotts holds up a sign similar to the Tex Avery MGM cartoons that I'm obsessed with.

Szac and Dredd in 20s fashion

My boys Dutcher and Ben Obvious out in town.

Apparently they have a nephew who is supposed to be a Ward Kimball caricature but more anthropomorphic.

I admire this guy's animation alot. He animates the characters so smoothly and the designs mostly involve big heads and rubbery dancing skills.

This is the first time I drew Roger Rabbit and I was having so much fun with it. 

I got into the Preston Blair book and man I been learning new things about animating immediately.

I did a mouse and I traced the final product.

I also did the dog too. I try to not copy all the designs on the book but I think it's important to note that the characters easily fit my style.

Mike The Dog sketches I did. I mostly looked up random thumbnails of Pluto cartoons on YouTube to get inspiration and study. 

My recent love lately has been The Jazz Frogs cartoons. I have a guilty pleasure for those since they involve music and good energy. 

These are probably the best celebrities as animals cartoons I ever saw. 

People can't take a rest when they say that  these are racist because I don't get easily offended by them. I mean come on, they are spoofs of famous black people. What's so stereotypical about it?

Szac and Dredd work decently in show-biz. I wouldn't say it works perfectly but honestly they are a piece of entertainment after all.

Szac is one of my favorite characters, I can imagine him being normal and reserved because he is, but he's also calm and cares about others needs. I learned about this, just because someone may look tough or hard to get to know, you might know they are good people.

I think Artmania should have one-shot cartoons just like Looney Tunes and MGM do.

I made a character named Muriel who is a young burro who wants to be ready to see the real world around him.

I made a model sheet helped by the Preston Blair tutorials.

Of course more human designs. 

《 CARICATURES 》

I always wanted to draw caricatures. I just admired how well-drawn they looked. I remember going to a baseball game with my parents once when I was little and I got a caricature of myself and I was just mind-blown someone could do something like that in less than 20 minutes. And when I was watching those old hollywood cartoons, I wanted to draw some myself. 

Well... except for these types of designs.

YUCK.

First, I made a Peter Lorre drawing. I haven't experienced this guy besides the multiple inspirations from it like Ren Hoek, and in Looney Tunes cartoons like Hair Raising Hare and Birth Of A Notion. But I do like his face. It's easy and fun to draw.

For Elvis's 90th birthday, I drew my own caricature of him. Apparently it's not the best but it does look like him. He's iconic for alot of reasons so that's why I took part in it.

I haven't sketched The Three Stooges in a long time and I wanted to redraw them because they're the funniest people in entertainment. 

While I think The Three Stooges are the the funniest people on Earth, Bing Crosby is the most attractive person in entertainment. I cannot stop thinking about this guy's laid-back faces he throws us on screen. 

Of course I seen a few movies and a documentary on him and it always puts a smile on my face when he just looks reserved as ever. 

I'm one of those people who respects Bing and his soothing music because I seen he's done alot of good deeds and impacted people for many decades.

Frank Sinatra was always a decently good singer to me.

This is supposed to be a model sheet for a music video I wanted to make.

Here's a finished version of him, looking fresh as ever.