Bad elf meets expectations
597086
I bought a used unit as a back up for my iPad/no phone to provide location info. Unit works great as advertised. Tracking info easily transfers to iPad maps.  Like portability and long battery life.
4361178
My granddaughter thoroughly enjoyed seeing this on her Elf on the Shelf.  It is a cute item and I would recommend a purchase to round out your Elf's wardrobe.
2360246
Betty, the smidgen(Similar in stature to a kender from Dragonlance) thief who loves candy and drugs. Dee, the human atheist cleric.  Hannah, the elven wizard with a serious temper.  Violet, the hipster dwarven fighter.  These four adventures make up the Rat Queens which is a drunken group of mercenaries who have a tendency to get into a lot of trouble.  Rat Queens follows the group of mercenaries in their antics of getting drunk and boozing it up.

With this first trade paperback edition of Rat Queens only containing the first five issues of the series it's hard to get a good sense of the Rat Queens personalities as of yet but each Rat Queen has a hilarious one so far.  The series is crude with lots of blood and profanity but it fits the story.  I've been wanting a good fantasy series that is a comedy and Rat Queens fills the need.  I look forward to the next volume to see what trouble the Rat Queens get into next!
4086283
Like the other books in the series plot and characters retain there appeal but hope the romance between elf and demon moves on more quickly.  As a team with kids they could really be interesting.
155569
At the recommendation of other parents and the positive reviews on amazon, I bought the Elf on the Shelf box set. I was genuinely excited to play this game with my 4-year-old son, who is totally into the Santa concept this year.

Before showing it to him (thank goodness) I read the book and then promptly returned the box set. Besides the fact that the toy itself was kind of cheap looking, I was deeply troubled by the strong threatening consumerism/materialistic messaging "be good or you won't get what you want for Christmas" and that Santa won't come unless you get good reports from the elf, as presented in the book. The messaging is strongly judgmental and focused on good and bad, concepts that are important to discuss, but I don't believe in this hazy context of threats and ultimatums, as the book presents. As one commenter noted, it's creepily Orwellian.

I know there are other ways to discipline and control behavior than to threaten doom and gloom on the most exciting day of the year for many little kids. Why not focus on the positive aspects of Christmas, rather than instilling anxiety? I mean really, if your kid is bad, are you not going to give him/her the present he/she wanted anyway, that you already bought? Just some food for thought.

I realize a lot of people enjoy EOTS; to each his/her own. Like some other reviews here, I recommend asking the parents before giving this as a gift, since it does involve parenting philosophies. There are other options to Elf on the Shelf.

I went to the Hallmark store and was delighted to find Everett the Elf, a much more positive and open ended elf-centric holiday toy/game. This elf lost his shoe while scouting chimney sizes for Santa. In the accompanying story, there is no mention of good or bad behavior. Every day I put a little surprise in the magic shoe for my son. One day it was a couple of magic chocolate coins, the next day, Everett brought news that we were going to the grandparents' house to decorate their Christmas tree. Much more fun for all than repeating the threats of "the elf is watching and reporting to Santa!"
4430449
I think you can play as four different characters in this game. I only play games as a female so i cant tell you much about the other people.
the elf chick is pretty and fun to watch. she has a a slight jiggle effect if any. you get better clothing as you collect items.
you face overpowering odds of enemy at all times. this is a button masher, hack and slash. the point of the game is to collect better items. the one bad thing is the camera is set back so you only get an up close view sometimes.
556554
The continuing story of Malus, the murderous black elf on his search to find the artifacts that will rid him of the Daemon yoke.

The Second artifact involves sailing into territory controlled by Northern pirates (mad worshippers of Chaos). To do that Malus manipulates his king to send him at the head of Malus's brother's fleet to cleanse the northern waters.

The Good:

Dan Abnett scores high above the average fantasy garbage writers that are more numerous than flies these days. He is a professional writer, with lots of experience and it shows.

His storytelling is excellent. The story is full of fast paced popcorn action and is hard to put down. There is a delicious sea chase, and ample gory battles for the Warhammer fans. Actually I liked this story better than the first volume, which was a just a series of violent encounters (They reminded me a DM rolling for random encounters, with only a thin connection between them).

We get to see a lot more of Malus' deranged family, in this volume. The plots of his younger sister. The love triangle between two of Malus' half brothers and his extremely beautiful half sister (indeed a twisted family) is the fuel that runs this story.

The Bad:

Ok, this is the story of a dark protagonist, but still I would expect our hero to have a few redeeming qualities. Minor characters with redeeming qualities surround Malus. They show courage, honor, humor, resourcefulness and leadership. Qualities that Malus lacks, and that attach readers to a character. Don't get attached to any of these minor characters though, cause Malus will probably kill them at some point.

Malus is vicious, cruel, manipulative, liar, spiteful and bitter on his good days.

His only standing quality is his willpower, Malus will refuse to die just out of spite. I would expect a more round, less flat, protagonist. Something that will make me care if he lives or dies. Currently I care more for Malus' new subordinate (the cynic Hauclir) than for Malus.

To sum it up, this is a good read for any Warhammer fan. I'd give it 3.5 stars if there was such a rating option.
4058085
fun to leave out for the kids, The elf helps them behave when they think he is leaving the cards
3778314
At Rivers End is the latest installment in Lana Axes series about the elf River, and his battle against the evil wizard Ulda. After thirty years of scheming in his laboratory, the evil Ulda is about to launch an attack that will bring humans, elves, and dwarves alike under his control. He has not only figured out how to trap the essences of other wizards and absorb their magic for himself, but has also learned how to combine them with various animals to build his army of hybrid monsters.

When Ulda kills the human king Aelryk from afar, River goes to aid his friend, leaving his own elf kingdom open to attack from Ulda. The humans and River must join forces and unite four elementals (earth, fire, air, and water) in order to have a chance of defeating Ulda.

Lana Axe writes in a classical, wholesome style. The magic is actually reminiscent of classic Asian martial arts movies, with colored lights and force fields and balls of energy shooting from hands.  The plot is classic good vs. evil, and the world is complex. This is a fast read, though some errors (leaches instead of leeches, main of hair instead of mane of hair) do exist, and I had a little confusion at the prologue and ending, as well as the exact rules of the magic system. Characters are a bit one dimensional (generally either beautiful and good, or ugly and evil), with the exception of Mel the Earth elemental, who adds some refreshing humor to the cast.

Overall a quick and wholesome fantasy read that can be read either in sequence or on its own.

I was given a free copy for an honest, non-reciprocal review.
498041
I am a long time fan of The Sweet and I bought this expecting the worst.

Actually, it's pretty good. The remixes work for the most part and there are only a few clunkers.

I think most Sweet fans will like this release.
579523
To put it briefly Marvel has been all over the place regarding scores for their films, some good results, some rather or even too ordinary.  And that is sadly the case with "Avengers:  Age of Ultron" which actually uses two very good, even gifted, composers for the Joss Whedon film, Brian Tyler and Danny Elfman.  The film is a good one, much better than what some critics have suggested.  And the score works well enough across the board on the screen; it is more than simply serviceable.  But when tracks by each composer are compared on the soundtrack recording, well, Elfman comes off much better.  Now, to be sure Elfman benefited by having something of an Avengers theme or motif to begin with (Alan Silvestri's influence from the first Avengers' film) and he makes very good use of it, in fact perhaps the strongest cues ("Heroes," "It Begins," "The Last One," "Avengers Unite," One Good Eye," and New Avengers") on the recording include it. But Elfman's contribution here is hardly just a derivative piece of music, it is all quite good with touches that are pure Elfman.  The main task of a film score is its effectiveness on the screen, and to this end Tyler and Elfman both deliver.  But ironically two of the best pieces of music on the soundtrack, "Heroes" and "Inevitability-One Good Eye," and both are by Elfman, were not featured in the film at all.  A very good film for the summer with a good score, and a good soundtrack recording, but not great.  A solid production with good packaging by Hollywood Records.
1889177
A street musician with the voice and likeness of crooner Harry Connick, Jr. relays the story of a misfit elf to a sister and brother who think Christmas Eve is too late to get moved to Santa's naughty list. He tells the tale of Eubie, the happy elf, who is so gleeful that he annoys everyone else at the North Pole. When Eubie is moved to the list checking department, he discovers a town where all the children are on the naughty list. Eubie makes it his mission to travel to the town of Bluesville and find out what's wrong so that he can help make it right!

Featuring the original holiday music of my personal favorite singer, Harry Connick, Jr., "The Happy Elf" is a delightful new Christmas special for the whole family. Capturing some of that old Rankin/Bass holiday special magic (note that Mickey Rooney, who plays Santa here, played him more than once for Rankin/Bass), this new, computer animated special provides impressive animation and plenty of laughs and smiles, plus the great music you'd expect from Harry, whose "Happy Elf" song was the inspiration for this special. The 45-minute movie features an impressive cast, with Harry as the narrator and Mickey Rooney as Santa, Carol Kane as Eubie's best friend, Gilda, Lewis Black as Norbert the elf, animation fave Rob Paulsen as Eubie, and more! The DVD offers both enhanced widescreen and fullscreen presentations and a plethora of bonus features. There's a thorough storyboard presentation, trailer, character gallery, behind the scenes interview with Harry Connick, Jr., the "build an elf" game (which is a short but amusing mix and match game), and several DVD-Rom/printable features (such as coloring pages, games, and holiday cards). And, the slip cover even lights up and plays a bit of the title song, if you can still get one with the slip cover that is!

"The Happy Elf" is definitely a DVD to pick up if you're looking for a new holiday special in the style of the R/B classics and is certainly a much better choice than most of the recent, wannabe sequels to those beloved specials. You don't even have to be a fan of Harry Connick, Jr. to enjoy this one, as it is more about the story than anything else and doesn't feel bogged down with forced musical numbers like some specials of the kind. Of course, it doesn't hurt to be a fan of Harry's, and if you find yourself loving the jazzy Happy Elf song, you may want to pick up his other Christmas DVD, "Harry for the Holidays." I also highly recommend his CD of the same title, and even more, his first Christmas CD, "When My Heart Finds Christmas." I just wish the holiday special that came out with that CD would come to DVD too!
411950
Item as described, I am happy to finally have a lifelike draconic humanoid model to RPG with.

NOTE: it IS smaller, proportionally, than my Nolzur's figures of Dragonborn paladins, but IMO, is more nicely detailed. NOT drastically smaller, but maybe you could say 'more refined' as a metal sculpture versus the somewhat chunkier plastic cast ones. All species have larger and smaller members, so I think this is fine.(See my photos.) Comparing this unpainted model with my 2 dragonborn paladins by Nolzur's for perspective.

 IMO if you want a good detailed PC (player character piece), or even some novel-writing inspiration :-) the metal sculpt is worthwhile.

  There are 2 arms with swords so no need to settle for 1 sword + one shield arm. I affixed the mace instead, and used the shield arm. You could do 1 sword arm and the mace on the other.

  Item *could* play as a female or male just as well ... despite the name 'Golanth' (a male). Remember that as egg-laying, or at least reptilian beings, Dragonborn and Half-dragon characters would lack breasts as mammals have. Nor do they grow hair of any sort :-D.

NOTE #2 - the metal is not pre-drilled for assembly (see youtube videos on how to peg metal models yourself - not hard) and there is no tab for slotting the base into a stand. I did mine with superglue!

The base is flat-bottomed like Nolzur's brand figures. You will need to get a base to affix it to. Does not come with any.

NOTE #3 - As another buyer mentioned, it IS a bit 'tippy' due to being top-heavy. Mine is a-ok with a standard black plastic gaming piece base. It NEEDS a base to be stable.

Order Fulfilled promptly.
  Packaging: box was appropriate. Air-pocket type plastic filler should have been either wrapped around item's blister-pack or one layer put on top and bottom of shipping box.
  Model arrived with several loose parts that had broken off the metal bar on which they are all cast together. (Imagine a comb-tooth sort of thing, made of pewter parts on the individual 'teeth'). Indicating lots of banging around of the package and its loosely shifting contents. Nothing damaged per se.
1427039
Doctor Claw seizes control of Santa's workshop, enslaves his elves, and sabotages the toys while a crime-fighter with eccentric abilities comes to the rescue.

It's&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/James-Pond-II-Codename-Robocod/dp/B000035XJP/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">James Pond II: Codename- Robocod</a>.

I'm not kidding, it is so similar. Not that I mind, both are good. There is the usual amount of hijinks and humor in this episode-sized Xmas special. A bit too much emphasis is placed on the madcap antics instead of building a nice Xmasy feel. Though I think that the voice actress playing Penny is a bit too young.

Not a waste of time, but not an annual classic.
1623043
The 2nd of Peter Jackson's adaptations of The Hobbit finds poor Frodo and a band of not-so-merry dwarves facing threats from men, orcs, elves and a particularly menacing dragon voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch.  There's action and adventure aplenty as the film faithfully goes along, and the visuals mostly work, but there are a few clunky spots and a viewer might find their eyes rolling a bit at some scenes.  A worthy sequel to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey but not matching the caliber of the prior LotR trilogy. Even the DVD extras should have had more awe factor.
2257581
This film was enjoyable. Not the best, not the worst. The 4 main players were good actors, including Ellie O'Brien who very likely has a bright future ahead of her. The practical effects, including the creature costume work were very good, and the setting lent to the atmosphere of the movie quite well. The writing was nothing out of the ordinary as you could see plot points coming easily, but the acting and effects keep you entertained.
4497664
Item wasn't as described.  The package contained the book and dvd...but the elf was different from what was pictured in multiple images on the listing.