Buffy Ouija Board

I have my doubts about this official Buffy the Vampire Slayer ouija board because it has this off putting legal disclaimer:

“Game board for entertainment purposes only.”

…but if you don’t mind that minor defective detail you’ll be able to find this little goodie in stores in July from Dark Horse Comics.

How To Spot a Cylon Poster

Old School Fanboy Rant: Having grown up in the 70s the original Battlestar Galactica was like treasured junk food, so while you craved a high quality meal like Star Wars you were pretty darn happy to find a weekly TV show that spaceships buzzing around and things blowing up. The new series tries to make up for that “original sin” but misses the key selling point which is that Galactica was never trying to be the coolest kid on the block — what made it charming was the cheese! But if you’re a new school Galactica fanboy (or fangurl) then you’ll have to adorn your hacienda with this poster:

How To Spot a Cylon Poster

“The tin toasters are easy! Those damn Cylons are tricky bastards. I’m not talking about those big walking toasters with the oscillating eye, the big flying models full of gore and guns, or even the so-called “hybrids.” I’m talking about the humanoids. The religious zealots who are out to subjugate humanity in any way possible. I hate those guys.”

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Cyberpunk 1985 Commercial for Nintendo

Now you’re playing with power! This 1985 commercial for Nintendo seems to be inspired by films like Blade Runner and Alien. What’s funny about the commercial is that the set design has a very bleak cyberpunk look, yet when the game displays pop up you get the sharp visual contrast of kid friendly candy colored 8 bit graphics.

APPLE = Tasty Korean Comics

UDON Entertainment is publishing an English edition of APPLE, an amazing looking Korean illustration and comics anthology. As a manga snob I’ve been quite impressed with the quality of comics coming out of Korea recently, and the previews I’ve seen of this publication are a good example of what I hope is the start of a new trend. APPLE stands for “A Place for People who Love Entertainment” and features many artists who work on video games, so they’re also bringing a bit of an outside perspective to comics which is quite refreshing. Volume One comes out in May and you can pre-order at Amazon.com:

Apple Volume 1

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Stupid Comics: Phoenix Edition

This week Image Comics is releasing Stupid Comics: Phoenix Edition by Jim Mahfood. The book is filled with his comic strips from the weekly Phoenix New Times newspaper and deal with every theme from sex to politics (two of my favorite topics!). In addition to his sense of humor I just love the look of Mahfood’s artwork, it has a sharp sense of style.

A Sister Solar System?

While we have yet to make it to Mars, maybe in my lifetime we’ll spot another Earth? So far we’ve discovered 300 planets outside of our solar system so the odds are in our favor:

Solar System’s ‘look-alike’ found

“Astronomers have discovered a planetary system orbiting a distant star which looks much like our own. They found two planets that were close matches for Jupiter and Saturn orbiting a star about half the size of our Sun. Martin Dominik, from St Andrews University in the UK, said the finding suggested systems like our own could be much more common than we thought.
And he told a major meeting that astronomers were on the brink of finding many more of them.”

Dr. Who Budget Gets Drastically Slashed

I always love to come across fanboy inspired LOLcats...

Meet the Tomy Robots of 1984

From page ten of the Montgomery Ward Christmas Catalog from 1984:

“Meet the Tomy Robots. Omnibot is a sophisticated butler who amazes children and adults alike with his charm and intelligence.”

Omnibot is shown above and below, also featured were Verbot which “recognizes his mater’s voice” and Dingbot who “always seems a bit confused”. Omnibot featured a remote control, alarm clock and an audio cassette player and cost $224 if you order him before December 3rd, 1984.

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Maidokuro: The Awesome Corpse-Housemaid

I first ran across Maidokuro: The Awesome Corpse-Housemaid on iTunes as a video podcast and I was hooked right away watching episodes on my daily subway ride. Each episode (which only last s a few seconds each) stars a cute corpse maid who kills her client in a new clever way. The show looks better as a podcast but you can always catch episodes at YouTube.

Charlton Heston Rides Into the Sunset

I just found out that Charlton Heston passed away at age 84. While he got his start in films in 1950 and won an Oscar, as a fanboy I’ll always associate him with such classic fanboy favorites like Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green and The Omega Man.

Here’s an amazing scene from Soylent Green, Charlton Heston’s tears at Sol’s death were real, as Heston was the only cast member who knew that Edward G. Robinson was dying of terminal cancer. This was the 90th and last movie in which Robinson appeared:

Parody Preview: The Last Defenders #2

These superheroes are so posed looking in their silly costumes that I find myself rooting for the giant monster who views The Last Defenders as an all-you-can-eat smörgåsbord. Cover art by chef Mike Deodato (this issue will be food courts on April 9th, 2008).

I Dig a Corgi

One of my favorite childhood toys was a treasured but slightly abused die-cast Yellow Submarine toy made by Corgi. Sadly while it was a high quality toy I recall damaging it at some point, so I was pretty happy to read that Corgi has entered into a licensing agreement for a range of Beatles and Yellow Submarine goodies:

Beatles Vehicles to Die (Cast) For

“Celebrate the Beatles legacy with the album covers die-cast collection, featuring London Taxis and Buses fully decorated with Beatles album covers of Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, Abbey Road the Magical Mystery Tour Bus and a range of others. They roll into shops around spring/summer time.”

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Russian Animation: Struggle of Love in a Dream

Surrealism is always more disturbing to me than anything I’ve ever seen in the horror genre, which I think is due to the lack of conventional storytelling that we see in a typical slasher flick or monster movie. The above animated film Struggle of Love in a Dream (Hypn-eroto-machia —Гипнэротомахия) is a good example of how a lack of coherent structure itself can be somewhat chilling. Andrei Svislotsky was inspired by the paintings of Salvador Dali when he directed this film in 1992, however I also sense the chaos of the post-cold war under the surface the artwork.

Star Wars Japanese Tea Towels

I just like the look of the above tea towels, unlike most fan merchandise they show some good taste at work:

Japanese Star Wars Tea Towels

“Japan’s Heart Art Collection, Ltd., who recently graced the world with the irresistible R2-D2 and R4-P17 trash cans, now unveils a set of eight stellar tea towels which may just transcend their modest utilitarian function to qualify as, dare we say, art?

The eight towels, which measure approximately 15″x35″, include some wonderful Japanese-inspired Star Wars imagery, such as R2-D2 jettisoning over a traditional Mount Fuji with ocean waves woodcut, a clone trooper helmet doubling as a Japanese shrine bell, Artoo and Threepio under a cherry blossom tree, Vader and Yoda amid intricate scrollwork patterns, and more.”

Star Trek Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Chief Engineer Michaelangelo, First Officer Donatello, Captain Leonard, and Chief Medical Officer Raphael: These are the continuing voyages of the Star Trek Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Shown above is a detail from the back of a Playmates package dating from 1994 (to check out Chief Engineer Michaelangelo go here).

Found via terrible2z.com.

Retro Nintendo Heaven

Shown above are screen shots from RoboCop 2, F-1 Race, Hello Kitty no Ohanabatake and James Bond Jr. which I found at Nintendo8.com an entertaining website which allows you to play dozens of classic 8-bit games online.

Click on the image to view at full size…

The Youngest Known Planet?

It’s amazing to think of what’s out there: This almost (but might not be) planet is 14 times the mass of Jupiter:

Has the youngest known planet been spotted?

“A team of astronomers says it may have spotted the youngest planet ever found, boasting an age of less than 100,000 years old, and perhaps as young as 1600 years old. They say it bolsters a controversial theory that planets form very quickly, like stars – but other astronomers say the massive object may not be a planet at all but a ‘failed’ star, which explains its speedy birth.”

Life Sized Star Wars Droids

Why should Jawas have all the fun? Now you can own your own life sized droids! Shown above is the R2-D2 ($5,450) life sized figure from Sideshow Collectibles. Another $5,950 will get you C-3PO.

As for me I’m waiting for the life sized Millenium Falcon…

Spock is Baffled!

The above clip almost looks more like a parody of a TV show from 1973 than an actual show, but it’s the real deal — well almost, it’s a failed pilot for a show called Baffled! which would have starred Leonard Nimoy. Here’s the description:

“In the role Robert Wagner was born to play, Nimoy stars as All-American race car driver Tom Kovack who tackles mystery and adventure after he is endowed with psychic powers in a racing accident. A failed TV pilot, it is notable for it’s fun, kitchy opening and totally kick ass theme song.”

Mark Todd: Deconstructionist Comics

I’ve seen it time and time again — everyone since the 60s has been ripping off Roy Lichtenstein ripping off comic book cover sin the name of fine art. But alas Mark Todd has come up with a brilliant twist that breaks the cliché: Instead of painting yet another comic book cover in a pop art style Todd uses a style that’s a mix of expressionism and folk art. Instead of cropping in on the artwork like Lichtenstein, Todd embraces the constructs of the comic book by including hand drawn logos, issue numbers and even comics code stamp. I also admire the fact that the work doesn’t take itself so seriously and has a childlike yet charming sense of humor.

Shown above is Coil (mixed media on panel 24″x36″) and below is Oof (mixed media on panel 9″x12″) .

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King Kong Kitty

Shown above is the French fan film King Kong Suede. I hate to admit it, but I was rooting for the kitty!

Found via zaeega.com.

His Superhero Secret Power is Cholesterol!

Browsing through Waffle Whiffer’s Flickr site I came across the cover of Adventures of Big Boy #137 from 1968 which is shown on the left. The first thing that shocked me was that they had already done over a hundred issues by the 60s, but by further hunting around I came across the cover on the right from 1971 — so I sort of assumed that the comic book had come to an end.

However much to my shock I found out that not only is Big Boy still alive and kicking, but his current savior is none other than talented illustrator/toy genius Craig Yoe:

Big Deal on Big Boy Street: An Interview with Craig Yoe

“We’ve tried hard to be inspired by the great comics we read when we were kids—from Carl Barks’ Uncle Scrooge to John Stanley’s Little Lulu, not to mention the wacky [Superman’s Pal] Jimmy Olsen stories of the ’50s and ’60s. Along that line, a couple of years ago I came up with Bob Boy as a superhero: Bigger Boy. We often feature Bigger Boy, and now he’s part of a superhero group with Dolly, his friend Zack, and Nugget, his dog. Assembled, they are the Big League!”

P.S. Full Disclosure: I’m a vegetarian…

Luke: Avoid the Sand Trap

Not to get snarky about it but I feel like Star Wars has been sort of run into the ground by Lucas, so it’s somewhat fitting that this latest bit of official merchandise deals with balls hitting the dirt:

Tee Off With Star Wars Golf Gear from Japan

“Sculpted art or sporting good? We’ll let you decide which best describes Bridgestone Sports’ new pair of Star Wars golf bags, each highly stylized in the guise of Darth Vader or a stormtrooper. These amazing golf bags from Japan will soon be available for a suggested retail price of 50,000 JPY, or about $500. Also down range are three golf club covers sporting Vader, stormtrooper, and TIE fighter designs, as well as Star Wars-themed ball markers.”

…for that amount of money the least they could have done would be to include golf balls decorated to look like the Death Star.

Ceiling Cat Goes Papercraft

I can’t go a day without my daily fix of lolcats, and one of my favorite in-jokes are the constant references to the mysterious creature known as ceiling cat. In honor of this net meme tubbypaws has created a papercraft kit so every household can now sport ceiling cat!