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I’ll post bigger, clearer pictures and some descriptions once it gets back from Thalassa Custom basses all set up, but here’s how I took the designs I shared six weeks ago and translated them onto the guitar body with paper stencils I made on the Cricut and Posca paint markers. I’m pretty floored with how it turned out! I can’t wait to actually be able to play it and handle it without fear of hurting the finish.

Inspired by the Fender Starcasters that Tom DeLonge has been playing since reuniting with blink-182 this year, it’s fitting that I finished up my part of the build the day before their new album One More Time comes out tonight at 9 PM! Between that, our friends Joe & Jasmine’s wedding this weekend, my brother’s birthday on Saturday, Shoresy season 2 coming up, and new comics, it’s gonna be a very good week!

Finished up our ninth coat of white on the guitar on Wednesday afternoon and finished the whole top last night, but Carly doesn’t want me to share anything until it’s all done, so here’s some spontaneous adorableness instead!

Next up on the work bench, my custom Tom DeLonge Starcaster! While I commissioned the body from Warmoth Guitars and pieced the rest of the parts together from various places, this is the closest I’ll ever get to building one from scratch. I plan on it being my 40th birthday present (next year), so it’s all my favorite parts of all my other guitars thrown together (shallow offset body from my Acoustasonic Jazzmaster, stop-tail bridge from my Jaguar, Gibson-style Seymour Duncan pickup from my ES-333, oversized CBS headstock from my DeLonge strat, only ever a single volume knob) and Carly & I have started on painting (just a coat of primer and the first of five coats of white so far), and then we’ll detail it with the design I shared last month. When we’re all done I’ll ship it off to my buddy Allan in San Diego to clear coat and set-up.

The first birthday present I ever remember opening was a brand-new Powermaster Optimus Prime, which came out in 1988, so I was 4. In 1993, For my Catholic first communion, I received a G2 Optimus, and I pretended that the hands I kept in the cab so I didn’t loose them were holograms of humans so no one would get suspicious when I drove him around. When the San Diego Comic Con exclusive Masterpiece MP-02 Soundwave came out in 2013, 29 year old me decided to ship my dirty clothes home via UPS and backed my toy in my luggage cause I couldn’t stand to be away from it. The last time I was all-in on a comic series (collecting every variant and every printing of every issue including exclusives and incentives) was Transformers vs. G.I. Joe by Tom Scioli.

Since the day Transformers #1 was announced back in June, I’ve had a renewed sense of possibility for all things comics, anticipating one of those core memories to go along with those events above. The energy that Daniel Warren Johnson has brought to every licensed character he’s gotten his hands on (Beta Ray Bill, Wonder Woman, Luke Skywalker) has only been exceeded by the gut-wrenching original ideas he’s brought to life on his own (Extremity, Murder Falcon, Do a Powerbomb), and Transformers is the best of both right off the bat. I got to read a digital copy of issue one back in July, and I can say with all honesty that this is best Transformers comic in over seven years, and maybe even the best Transformers comic in the almost 40 year history of the franchise!

This Saturday, September 16th is Batman Day 2023 from 11 AM - 7 PM! We’ll have FREE copies of the first issue of Marc Silvestri’s masterful Batman & Joker Deadly Duo (hardcover available now if you like what you see) and FREE copies of the Batman/ Catwoman Gotham War Prelude, as well as a limited number of the Batman #608 foil variants available for purchase and we’ll be running a Buy 2 Get 1 FREE sale on all Batman Family graphic novels, back issues, and toys! Still can’t get enough of the Caped Crusader? Try Rafael Grampa’s incredible Batman Gargoyle of Gotham #1 on the new release wall!

Then from Monday, September 18th through Sunday, September 24th, we’ll be running a raffle for two tickets to the Spider-Man Enter the Spider-Verse Live in Concert performance at the Tanger Center on Thursday, September 28th. No purchase is necessary, just like, share, or comment on the post to enter!

This Saturday, September 9th, Jason Faunt, best known for playing Wesley Collins a.k.a. the Red Ranger in Power Rangers Time Force, will be returning to the Ssalefish Family, this time sharing the love at the Winston store located at 3232 Silas Creek Parkway, right across the street from Hanes Mall, starting at 4 PM and running until the last fan standing has gotten their chance to meet him! The overwhelming support everyone showed him the last time he came through back in 2021 was integral to setting up our future events with Jason David Frank and Ray Park, so we’d love to continue to show him our thanks and appreciation, especially with the new Legend of the White Dragon film on the way!

Next week, tune back in to find out how you can win two tickets to the Spider-Man Enter the Spider-Verse live screening at the Tanger Center at the end of the month!

This Saturday, August 26th. we’ll be hosting a signing with Scrapper creator & series writer Cliff Bleszinski from 12 PM - 3 PM at the Greensboro store! In addition to Scrapper, Cliff was the lead designer of the Gears of War franchise while working at Epic Games, produced the Tony award-nominated Broadway show Hadestown, and has opened multiple success restaurants in Raleigh; truly a renaissance man!

He’ll be bringing along a cosplay collar so that your own four-legged friend can get their picture snapped looking like a protector of New Verona, and we’ll be collecting donations for Guilford County Animal Services! And you can get your Ssalefish exclusive variant to Scrapper #1 double-signed by Cliff AND Lois!