Month: October 2024

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, A Discount-Bin Curiosity That Confirmed the Discourse

Game Review · Purchased October 20, 2024 · $20.15 CAD via PSN

Key art for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Photo: PlayStation Store

The Setup

Rocksteady’s live-service superhero shooter launched earlier in 2024 to a rocky reception, a genuine surprise given the studio’s beloved Batman: Arkham legacy, and by the time I picked it up in October at a steep post-launch discount, the game had already become something of a cautionary tale in the industry about chasing live-service trends with a studio and franchise built around single-player storytelling.

The Review

Coming in with lowered expectations and a heavily discounted price actually made for a more fair assessment than launch reviews probably allowed for: the core shooting and traversal mechanics are genuinely fine, even solid in short bursts, with each character controlling distinctly enough to matter. The problems reviewers and the community flagged at launch are still present though: a live-service structure bolted onto characters and a universe that fans wanted a proper single-player Arkham-style story from, and narrative choices (without spoiling specifics) that a large portion of the existing fanbase found genuinely unwelcome.

Playing this months after launch, once the initial backlash had already reshaped the wider conversation around the game, it was hard not to view it as a case study in mismatched expectations between what a studio’s fanbase wanted and what got built.

What I Liked

  • Solid core shooting and traversal mechanics
  • Distinct character playstyles
  • At a steep discount, low financial risk to see the discourse firsthand

What I Didn’t

  • Live-service structure clashes with what fans of the studio’s prior work actually wanted
  • Narrative choices proved divisive within the existing fanbase
  • Full launch price would be very hard to justify given the reception

The Verdict

Rating: 2/5

At the deep discount I paid, this was a reasonable curiosity purchase. At full launch price, this would be a hard no, and the wider gaming community’s reaction backs that up.

Where to Buy

The Star Destroyer “Eviscerator”: The Single Biggest Purchase of My Entire Year

Toys & Collectibles Review · Purchased October 15, 2024 · $1,377.99 CAD via Vonado

A massive Ultimate Collector Series-scale brick-built Imperial Star Destroyer
A comparable UCS-scale Imperial Star Destroyer build. Photo: Brick Vault

Every year has one purchase that makes you pause before hitting confirm. For 2024, this was mine, by a wide margin.

The Background

“The Eviscerator” is a well-known name within the Star Wars fan-building community, referring to Ultimate Collector Series-scale fan designs of an Imperial Star Destroyer, built explicitly to sit alongside (and in some interpretations, surpass) LEGO’s own official UCS Star Destroyer sets in size and detail. At $1,377.99, this is the single most expensive line item anywhere in my entire 2024 spreadsheet, more than the PS5 Pro, more than any other individual purchase across the whole year.

I want to be transparent about what a decision like this actually involves: this is not an impulse buy in the way a $12 DLC pack is. A purchase at this price, in this hobby, requires real consideration about display space, assembly time, and whether the payoff genuinely matches the cost, and I thought about it for weeks before pulling the trigger.

Living With It

This is, without competition, the most demanding build I completed all year. Thousands of pieces, a build that ran across multiple sessions over more than a week, and a finished model that genuinely needs real shelf or stand space, not a spare corner of a bookshelf, once complete. The scale is the entire point: this is built to communicate the sheer, oppressive size of an Imperial Star Destroyer in a way that smaller official sets, constrained by more reasonable price points, simply cannot attempt.

Detail work across the hull, from the engine section through to the command tower, held up under close inspection, and the model’s sheer presence once assembled and displayed genuinely earns reactions from people seeing it for the first time, which is not something I can say about most of my collection, however much I enjoy the smaller pieces individually.

The tradeoff is exactly what you would expect at this price and scale: this replaces meaningful furniture space, demands real assembly commitment, and represents a genuine financial decision rather than a casual purchase. I do not think everyone reading this should buy this set. I think the specific person who has the space, the patience, and the existing love of the source material to want this exact thing should.

What I Liked

  • The single most impressive, imposing finished piece in my entire collection
  • Detail quality held up under close inspection across the whole hull
  • A genuine multi-session build experience that felt like a real achievement to complete
  • Delivers a scale and presence that no reasonably priced official LEGO set attempts to match

What I Didn’t

  • The most expensive single purchase of my entire year, by a wide margin
  • A serious multi-day time commitment, not something to start lightly
  • Needs real, dedicated display space, this genuinely competes with furniture for room

The Value Verdict

Rating: 5/5

I do not make this recommendation lightly given the price, but for scale, presence, and the sheer achievement of finishing it, this is one of the most rewarding things in my entire collection. If you are fully committed to the display side of this hobby and have the space and patience to match, it delivers an experience nothing else on this list comes close to.

Where to Buy

The Sandcrawler: A Worthy Stand-In for a LEGO Set I Missed the First Time Around

Toys & Collectibles Review · Purchased October 15, 2024 · $475.99 CAD via Vonado

A large brick-built Sandcrawler model, the boxy Jawa transport vehicle from Star Wars
A comparable large-scale Sandcrawler build. Photo: USABlocks

Some sets you buy because you love them. Others you buy because the original is gone and this is the next best thing. This one is the second kind, and I am completely fine with that.

The Background

LEGO’s own official Sandcrawler sets, the classic 10144 and the more recent smaller-scale 75220, have been fan favourites for years, to the point where the larger versions command real collector prices on the secondary market once retired. Rather than chase down a retired official set at inflated resale prices, I picked up Vonado’s take on the same iconic Jawa vehicle from Tatooine, at a scale comparable to or larger than LEGO’s own mid-tier version, for a fraction of what hunting down the genuine article after the fact would have cost.

This arrived alongside the Star Destroyer Eviscerator, the single biggest purchase of my entire year, as part of an October order.

Living With It

The Sandcrawler’s boxy, weathered silhouette is honestly a forgiving shape to translate into brick form compared to some of the more organic, creature-based builds elsewhere in this series, and Vonado’s version captures the distinctive rust-and-sand colour palette and paneling detail convincingly. The build itself moved at a steady, satisfying pace, less physically demanding than the Tremortusk or Ghost, closer in scope to a substantial weekend project than a multi-session undertaking.

Interior detail, to whatever extent the set includes it, focused on the vehicle’s distinctive tracked base and boxy hull silhouette rather than a fully realized interior, which tracks with how the official LEGO versions have generally approached this vehicle too, prioritizing the iconic exterior silhouette over a walk-around interior.

Compared to hunting down a retired official Sandcrawler set, which by 2024 could mean paying well above original retail on the secondary market for a set in good condition, this felt like an easy, low-regret decision. You are trading a small amount of official-license cachet for a meaningfully lower price and, frankly, easier availability.

What I Liked

  • Captures the iconic Sandcrawler silhouette and colour palette convincingly
  • A meaningfully cheaper alternative to hunting down a retired official LEGO version
  • Manageable build scope, satisfying without becoming a multi-session ordeal
  • Comparable or larger scale than LEGO’s own mid-tier official release

What I Didn’t

  • Lacks the exact collector cachet of an official, licensed LEGO set
  • Interior detail is limited, similar to the official versions but still a missed opportunity
  • Still requires accepting the general Vonado tradeoff of clone bricks over genuine LEGO plastic

The Value Verdict

Rating: 4/5

If you missed the official LEGO Sandcrawler window and do not want to pay collector prices for a retired set, this is a genuinely solid stand-in that nails the parts of the design that matter most: the silhouette and the colour work.

Where to Buy

PowerWash Simulator: Shrek Pack, The Meme-Friendly Crossover That Delivers

DLC Review · Purchased October 12, 2024 · $12.31 CAD via PSN

Key art for PowerWash Simulator: Shrek Special Pack
PowerWash Simulator: Shrek Special Pack. Photo: Steam

The Setup

The fifth and final PowerWash Simulator crossover pack I bought in 2024, this one sends you scrubbing down the Swamp and other Far Far Away locations, complete with recognizable music cues from the films.

The Review

Of all five crossovers in my 2024 haul, this was the one the wider gaming community seemed most excited about before it even released, and playing it, the enthusiasm makes sense. There is something inherently funny and satisfying about power-washing an ogre’s swamp specifically, and the developers clearly understood the meme potential of the pairing, leaning into it with genuine care in the level design and audio rather than treating it as a cheap licensing grab. Closing out my year of PowerWash crossovers on this note felt appropriate, easily one of the two or three strongest packs in the entire line.

What I Liked

  • Genuinely fun, meme-aware execution of the crossover concept
  • Strong recognizable music and setting work
  • A satisfying way to close out the year’s run of these packs

What I Didn’t

  • Same short-content tradeoff as the rest of the line
  • Appeal leans on already finding the Shrek and PowerWash pairing funny

The Verdict

Rating: 5/5

One of the more fun packs in the entire series, purely for the novelty of power-washing an ogre’s swamp, and a great note to end my year of these crossovers on.

Where to Buy

The LMTD Ace of Spades Blaster: When a Video Game Weapon Becomes a Real Object

Toys & Collectibles Review · Purchased September 29, 2024 · $92.03 CAD ($67.77 USD) via Bungie.net

The Bungie LMTD Nerf-style Ace of Spades blaster, styled after the Destiny hand cannon
The Bungie LMTD Ace of Spades blaster. Photo: Bleeding Cool

There is a specific kind of joy in holding a physical version of something that has only ever existed as pixels and a satisfying reload animation.

The Background

The Ace of Spades is arguably Destiny’s most iconic weapon, a hand cannon with over a decade of lore, community attachment, and in-game history behind it. Bungie’s LMTD collectibles line, produced in partnership with Nerf-style blaster manufacturing, turned that weapon into a real, licensed foam dart blaster, sold directly through Bungie’s own store rather than through general retail channels. I ordered mine in late September, paying $67.77 USD, which converted to $92.03 CAD on my card.

This is squarely a fan merchandise purchase rather than a general toy purchase, and Bungie’s own marketing around the LMTD line has always leaned into that: these are built for people who already care about the in-game weapon’s design and lore, not positioned as a generic blaster that happens to have game branding slapped on it.

Living With It

Build quality here exceeded my expectations for a licensed collectible in this category. The blaster uses real spring-action firing rather than a cheap, flimsy mechanism, the deco work faithfully translates the in-game weapon’s distinctive rose gold and black colour scheme and engraved detailing, and the packaging itself was clearly designed with display and unboxing in mind, the kind of presentation that makes a purchase like this feel like a genuine collectible rather than a toy aisle impulse buy.

As an actual foam blaster, it performs the way a decent mid-tier Nerf product should: solid range and consistent firing for casual use, nothing revolutionary, and that is exactly as it should be, since firing performance was never really the point of this purchase.

Where this lives or dies, entirely, is prior attachment to the source material. Someone with zero context for Destiny would be looking at a somewhat expensive foam blaster with unusual styling and no real way to appreciate why the colour scheme or engravings matter. For a longtime player, it is a genuinely well-executed piece of fandom merchandise.

What I Liked

  • Build quality and deco work exceeded expectations for a licensed collectible blaster
  • Faithful translation of the in-game weapon’s distinctive design and colour scheme
  • Real spring-action firing mechanism, not a cheap or flimsy toy build
  • Packaging and presentation clearly designed with collectors in mind

What I Didn’t

  • Entirely dependent on prior attachment to Destiny to justify the price
  • Firing performance is solid but unremarkable compared to dedicated Nerf products at a similar price
  • A niche purchase that will mean nothing to anyone outside the game’s community

The Value Verdict

Rating: 4/5

For Destiny fans, this is a well-made piece of fan merchandise for a genuinely franchise-defining weapon, and it delivered above my expectations for build quality. If you have no attachment to the game, this price will look steep for what is, at its core, a foam dart blaster, and that reaction would be entirely fair.

Where to Buy