Coming Attractions

Since no one really reads this blog, the following entry is mainly for me... but if you do read it you can look forward to me writing and posting pictures on the following topics:

I just picked up a couple of the 2011 Lego Pharaoh's Quest sets, and I have to say they are quite awesome. It is basically a group of adventures exploring Egyptian locales and coming into conflict with a group of mummies... yes mummies (snake ones, scarab ones, flying ones based on Horus). I'll post some more detailed reviews and pictures soon.

I also have a bunch of pretty recent Star Wars Clone Wars figures sitting on my desk. Unlike other sites, I won't do detailed figure by figure reviews, I'll just post a couple of pictures and tell you which ones I like the best.

I managed to see the premieres of both G.I. Joe: Renegades and Young Justice over the Thanksgiving holiday and I'll post some of my thoughts soon. All I have to say is Young Justice is spectacular! The character designs (best Hawkman/Hawkgirl ever), animation, voice acting and even the plot were top notch. A crazy blend of Teen Titans, Young Justice and the Outsiders. I am not the only one who thinks that the episode was great. Cartoon Network has another winner. The only negative is that I have to wait until January to see more. Renegades was serviceable, and I still need more time to make a final call.

The Lego Space Shuttle Adventure...Complete!

All right! The deed is done. I managed to finish my Lego Space Shuttle before the actual Space Shuttle program finished (last launch date currently 12/17/10). It was a really fun build and quite challenging. I think that you can see by the pictures that the likeness is wonderful (down to the tiny crew members).

My daughter really wanted to help me with this one, but I selfishly ended up building it myself over a couple of nights. I'll make it up to her with many purchases of the new space sets that she can build herself.

The shuttle now has a prominent place on my desk, and I don't know if I'll ever be able to take it apart. If you are a Lego or space enthusiast definitely pick this up!

A New Look for Our Intrepid Jedi Trio

An interesting new look for our three favorite Jedi has been posted at Starwars.com. I am glad that they are evolving the characters as the Clone Wars series progresses. I did like the "armored" Obi-Wan and Anakin look, blending clone trooper and Jedi, but the new "robe look" is classic. Notice how Ahsoka's color scheme matches Anakin's more closely now, reflecting a change in her attitude as well perhaps? Can't wait to watch this Friday...

Boba Nostalgia

Each year (recently) Hasbro has been offering mail-away figures for their Star Wars line. You send in a bunch of UPC codes off the backs of other Star Wars action figures, plus a couple of bucks for shipping and handling, and they send you an exclusive figure. This year, in conjunction with the release of the new Vintage line, they offered a throwback Boba Fett. This is an entirely new sculpt made to look exactly like the original mail-away figure from 1979-80, except this one can actually fire the missile out of his backpack! Check out the comparison between the new mail-away (left) and the 1979 orginal (right). Spot on!

In Progress... The Lego Space Shuttle Adventure

I got this for my birthday back in the summer and I am finally getting around to putting this amazing piece of plastic together. I managed to finish the orbiter up over the weekend and wanted to post some quick picutres. It's great! A very accurate representation of the real shuttle. Once I get the ET, SRBs and launch pad done, I'll post completed pictures.

Lego + NASA UPDATE

I just wanted to point out a great article at collectSPACE that goes into a lot more detail around the parternship between Lego and NASA and what it entails, including details on what Lego models will be launching on STS-133 and 134, plans for educational activilities, and two pictures of upcoming space-related Lego sets.

How Much Tron Is Too Much Tron?

I haven't figured out the answer to that question yet. We still have about a month and a half until Tron: Legacy comes out and I don't know if I have reached my "overexposure limit" yet. I am all for nostalgia and "re-imagining" old properties when done tastefully and respectfully, but I am also desperately hungry for originality.

Disney is doing their best to promote the heck out of this movie and turn it into another franchise (sorry Prince of Persia and Sorcerer's Apprentice), which I applaud (I own stock). I loved the first movie and still remember seeing it with my dad at the Gold Circle Cinemas in Canton, Ohio when it came out in 1982 (I don't know if he liked it). I even had an "Art of Tron" book with all the great concept sketches by Moebius and other artists (wish I still had it). I didn't have the glow-in-the-dark action figures though.

Let's review some Tron-y stuff that has come out recently and been posted on every other website on the Internet. First up, the movie poster...great homage to the original (haven't reached Tron saturation yet).

But wait, the poster gets bigger and looks even cooler (Tron frustration levels still low)...

Then there are the toys. I promised I wouldn't get roped into another line, and I haven't...except for this cool identity disc with lights and sound! How can you pass that up (well you might be able to)?

Then there was recent news of an animated series coming on Disney XD in 2012 called Tron: Uprising. OK, this has the potential to put me over the top, but wait...the voice case is rumored to include Elijah Wood, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Mandy Moore, Paul Reubens, and Lance Henriksen, with Bruce Boxleitner reprising his role as Tron! Great googily-moogily that's impressive (I am a sucker for anything with Frank Black/Bishop in it). Disney, you may continue your marketing blitz...

Next up, Disney owns Marvel, Marvel owns Iron Man, Disney owns Tron...hmmm maybe a Tron-inspired Iron Man? OK, this is getting close to pushing me over the top, but I will concede to corporate synergy.

Will I reach my limit before the movie comes out? Will I be happy if loads of people go see it, love it, yet not know anything about the original? Will I force my poor daughter to see the original? We shall see...

End of line.

Lego + NASA = Pure Awesome!

Lego Partners With NASA to Build and Explore the Future

Neat stuff...happy to see that there is going to be a parternship here. Two great things that taste great together! Check out the press release HERE and see the forthcoming Lego site HERE.

Lego has a history of creating great realistic space exploration sets like their Launch Command series from 1990, the Space Port theme from 1999, and the NASA-themed sets they did with the Discovery Channel in 2003 (Space Shuttle, Space Station, Saturn V, Mars Exploration Rover, etc.).

Next year they are planning a new City theme that focuses on a space launch center (a nice update to previous themes). It will be interesting to see how they both leverage this partnership.

Holy Children's Programming Batman...

San Diego Comic-Con is currently going on and there are plenty of other news sites and blogs posting panel summaries and pictures from the event. I'd post the awesome Tron: Legacy trailer here, but you can find it most everywhere else.

I found this bit of news extremely interesting and surprising, there is a new Young Justice cartoon series coming from WB and DC Comics. From this preview it looks incredible, I mean, really top notch. It looks like a combination of Justice League Jr. and the Teen Titans. The animation style looks astounding and quite mature.

It looks like the 2010-11 television season is going to bring us a lot of competition on the boy's cartoon front with Transformers: Prime, G.I. Joe: Renegades, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Young Justice. I know that I'll be tuning into this one. As toy companies are getting into television and movies, and the comic book publishers are pushing harder into other media, the competition for eye balls is going to be fierce. If this is a sample of what we are going to get, I am all for business diversification.

It hard to imagine that since the "Young Justice" concept was introduced in the late 90's we have seen an evolution to this:

Why Adults Love Lego...

Saw this video today on Techland and had to repost here. I always like TED talks, and a TED talk about Lego can't be beat! Can't say I have as many Lego bricks as this fine man, but the allure of the tiny bricks are shared.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Character Encyclopedia

So, yet another post on something that I bought recently. I keep posting here because I am procrastinating about my other, more professional blog, Watchers of Tomorrow. I'll get started there eventually.

I recently picked up the latest DK Star Wars Clone Wars book, the Character Encyclopedia. It's 207 wonderful pages covering almost every single character that has appeared in the Clone Wars TV series to date. From the 2-1B Surgical Droid to Ziro the Hutt and everything in between. I mean, come on...the BD-3000 Luxury Droid, Davu Golec, the angel from Iego, Mathee Dunn (the Rodian mom from the episode where Cad Bane steals force-sensitive children). It covers everyone, which makes it a true encyclopedia.

I love books like this. With great graphics and short writeups, it is loads of fun to read (my daughter loves these types of books too, because she can ask lots of questions and memorize who everyone is). It has the standard witty DK callouts for each character like "welcoming expression", "jowls are evidence of vast appetites", and my personal favorite, "soul patch is kept immaculate". You also learn things you never, ever, ever thought you would know like Pilf Mukmuk (Hondo Ohnaka's pet monkey-lizard) has a brother named Pikk. Now you know...

I highly recommend this book to all fans of the Clone Wars TV show, it's a must have, and you'll flip through it again and again and agin.

Figure Review: Polar Sharc Submarine w/Ice Storm

I had to be torn away from the Top 25 Mythbusters moments special on the Discovery Channel to write this, but here I am. I am very excited to be reviewing the G.I. Joe Polar Sharc Submarine from the Rise of Cobra movie line.

The third wave of "Alpha-class" vehicles was cancelled after Hasbro tempted us with beautiful pictures and the chance to pre-order from our favorite on-line shops. The wave was mostly repaints, but one beautiful new, unique mold, movie-specific vehicle was part of the wave and is now in my greedy little hands. The product seemed to have trickled out to our neighbors in the north, and thanks to fine, enterprising Canadians on eBay, I now have the vehicle I was most looking forward to from the wave.

The Polar Sharc is a small "fighter sub" that was an integral part of the final battle in the movie. The mold is quite nice, the paint applications and color scheme are great and the detailing is top-notch. One nice little detail is the window on the bottom of the sub in addition to the canopy. My biggest complaint is that it is tiny! I think these were pretty large in the movie, and a bigger vehicle that could hold two figures would have been nice. It's a great futuristic design with a high swoosh-factor, make it bigger! My other complaint revolves around the stickers, I know this is a kid's toy, but the stickers for this were so small that applying them required magnification devices that worked at the angstrom level and tweezers.

The driver that comes with the vehicle is "Ice Storm", nice sculpt, good paint (love the metallic silver details). He looks exactly what you would expect an arctic sailor to look like (Helly Hansen-type jacket, high collar, snow pants, knit cap with a brim). He is just a bit too generic for a Joe, no personality really comes through that you would expect. If you need a plain arctic Coast Guardsman, Ice Storm is your man. (Overall Rating: Sharc 4/5, Ice Storm 3/5)

Figure Review: DC Direct Stargirl

Welcome to my first action figure review of many to come! I am going to try and post quick reviews of action figures as I get them (before they move off of my desk and sadly head off to cold storage in the basement).

I wanted to take a quick look at the recently released DC Direct JSA Series 2 Stargirl action figure. Stargirl, a.k.a. Courtney Whitmore, a creation of the illustrious Geoff Johns, has had her own comic serires (Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E.), been part of the Justice Society of America for a long time, appeared in the animated show Justice League Unlimited (with her own figure from Mattel), and even had a live action appearance in Smallville.

We now finally have a comic accurate version of Stargirl to put along side of the other members of the Starman legacy (will we ever get a Mikaal Tomas, Prince Gavyn or Farris Knight figure? most likely not). The design is based on the JSA cover paintings of Alex Ross, with a pose typical of the more statue-like Ross interpretations of DC's heroes and villians. The blue metallic paint really works well and brings the figure to life. The attention to detail is nice with different reds used for the gloves and the Cosmic Converter Belt. There is something about the facial sculpt that strikes me a bit odd, but I can't put my finger on it (maybe the odd smile). Overall, I think this interpretation captures the character very well, and is a worthy addition to anyone's DC collection. (Overall Rating: 4/5)

Movie Review: Iron Man 2

First post! I don't get out to the movies much any more, but my wife is kind enough to encourage me to go out at night and see one now and again. So, given the opportunity, I had to go and finally see Iron Man 2 (thank you Island Cinemas for comfortable seats).

I have always been a HUGE Iron Man fan (as it was one of the first comics that I regularly collected as a kid) and I loved the first movie. The sequel is comparable, but definitely not as well executed. I won't go into a plot recap, but I wanted to mention that a large segment of the beginning of the movie was Tony Stark exhibiting self-destructive behavior and being a general snarky @$$. Pretty amusing, but it started to wear thin after a while. The whole "I'm dying, so I'll go out in flames bit" works at first, but it doesn't have the same impact as the gradual decent in alcholism from the comics. Loved the "futurist" tone of the movie and the issues it brought up such as the use of drones by the military, the techno-utopian Stark Expo, and privatized security. I loved the interaction between Tony, Nick Fury and Natasha Romanoff (a.k.a. Black Widow) in the donut shop. It really felt like a Marvel comic book come to life. The fight scenes were great. War Machine was awesome. Howard Stark as Howard Huges/Walt Disney/Wernher von Braun was classic. I was also quite happy that Agent Coulson returned (spinoff!).

The whole movie just seemed a bit frenetic and disjointed, it lingered too long on unimportant scenes and rushed through scenes that should have built dramatic tension. It just didn't hang together as well as the first. Still enjoyed it. Still can't wait for more exploits from Tony Stark/Iron Man in future movies whether it is the Avengers or Iron Man 3. I'll just count my blessings that I got two great films about one of my all-time favorite super heroes.