12 Cool Calendars from Japan for 2012
What I love about calendars from Japan is that it gives you that something different — something fanboy to look at all year. Read more…
Silly Star Wars Stitchery
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 6, 2011 in Hobbies and Collections, Star Wars
These wonderfully whimsical Star Wars applique stitchery pieces are the handy work of Chelsea Bloxsom who goes by the stitching tag name loveandasandwich (her Etsy shop is here): Read more…
The Funky Animation of Mike Scott
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 6, 2011 in Animation
By pure chance I came across this amazing music video by a band called Goldfish — and while the music is pretty nice what really blew me away was the animation which feels like a cross between Gary Baseman and Keith Haring. The animator/artist behind the video is Mike Scott and his work is wondeful: Read more…
Robocop to Star in Star Trek II
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 5, 2011 in Star Trek
The details are starting to come into place on the new rebooted Star Trek II film — according to Variety Peter Weller of Robocop fame will be a co-star. Who he’ll be playing is still under wraps, but we’ll have to see how things shape out.
A Tardis Bookshelf Worthy of a Time Lord’s DVD Collection
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 5, 2011 in Dr. Who, Hobbies and Collections
This well crafted Tardis bookshelf was crafted by msmuse101 and his or her dad over the course of several months in Derby, UK: Read more…
A Vintage 70s Handheld Video Viewing Gadget
So what did fanboys do to collect their favorite shows before the advent of videotape? Believe it or not collecting actual films was a passion of a select few fans back in the day — the hardcore fans would actually purchase 16mm prints, however you could buy on the market a wide range of 8mm film prints which featured clips from many of the popular TV shows of the day. By the 70s this faded, however in 1978 this very cute Pocket Flix viewer from Ideal toys shows the very last gasp of that era. This toy was aimed at kids and one could buy a variety of “easy to snap-in movie cassettes” to recapture a few precious seconds of a show like Star Trek or the Hardy Boys: Read more…
Never Let Mom Throw Out Your Comic Books: Superman Debut Sells for Over $2 Million
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 1, 2011 in Comic Books
In 1938 a comic book fanboy would have paid a mere ten cents for a copy of Action Comics No 1 which featured a new guy called Superman: Today that comic book was sold at auction for $2.16 million dollars. The new owner of this gem has not been disclosed, however speculation has it that it may be Nicolas Cage.
An Edible Gingerbread AT-AT
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 28, 2011 in Hobbies and Collections, Star Wars
Oh sure anybody can make a plain old gingerbread house for the holidays! However fangurl supreme Rachel Klemek created this yummy AT-AT which can feed several hungry rebels. Rachel is based out of Irvine, California and you can find her cool website here.
Unboxing Three Vintage Star Wars Kenner Playsets
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 27, 2011 in Hobbies and Collections, Star Wars
The year is 1980 and what you don’t quite understand as young fanboy is that your parents are dealing with a recession — so while you dream of giant Kenner playlets for your Land of the Jawas playset action figures instead you settle for using your imagination! Or at least that’s what your cash strapped parents told you to do, so alas the sandbox became Tatooine and when you were lucky to get a snow storm it was time to play on planet Hoth. Well through some magic we’ve come across three amazing vintage Kenner playsets from 1979 and 1980 — a magical time when the hype and merchandise machine for The Empire Strikes back was going into high gear: Read more…
Crafty Kirk and Logical Spock Christmas Tree Ornaments
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 27, 2011 in Star Trek
What I like about these Kirk and Spock Christmas Tree Ornaments is that they have a nice sense of style — they almost look art deco, yet are very cartoony and almost toy like. These ornaments are hand crafted by Lisa Penney who is based out of Phoenix, Arizona. Read more…
More Human Than Human: Is Blade Runner Slowly Becoming Real?
While reading an interesting interview with a medical ethicist and I was suddenly struck by how much this premise reminded me of the 1982 classic film Blade Runner: “Do you think that granting corporations the rights of people in the Citizens United case is disturbing? Then contemplate the fact that corporations have been patenting human genes and tissues at alarming rates — in the last 30 years, more than 40,000 patents have been granted on genes alone.” Read more…
Frederik Pohl is a National Treasure
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 26, 2011 in Fandom
How many can say that attended the first science fiction convention that was ever held, were part of the first generation of great science fiction authors and are around today and blogging about it? That honor would go to Frederik Pohl who will celebrate his 92nd birthday today! Show above is a photo from the first science fiction convention in 1936 — Frederik Pohl is the gentleman in the center. To celebrate his birthday here are a number of cool vintage covers of his (and his co-authors) books: Read more…
Classic Daicon Anime Reanimated in 3D
In the early 80s two short animation films created for the Diacon science fiction convention would give a start to an animation studio that would become known as Gianax. I first watched these animations on well worn VHS tapes in that era and all these years later the animation still holds up. But it seems that some younger otaku have adopted the shorts and made them their own by doing a recreated and updated 3D version which looks pretty nice — check it out: Read more…
The Wholly Family: Terry Gilliam’s New Film Has a Facebook Page
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 26, 2011 in Cinema
As an animation fanboy I’ve always loved Terry Gilliam since I came across his Monty Python work in my youth, however it was his directing work on the classic film Brazil which made me a true believer. Gilliam’s new film is called The Wholly Family and there is an official Facebook page that just went up for it, plus a trailer on his website. The film has a very Federico Fellini feeling to it and stars Cristiana Capotondi. Here are some still from the Facebook page and you can find the official trailer here: Read more…
The 99th Birthday of Hollywood Technicolor Films
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 26, 2011 in Cinema
99 years ago today the silent film The Toll of the Sea opened in New York City. While this film wasn’t the first feature length color film (that honor goes to With Our King and Queen Through India from 1912) and not even the first Technicolor film (that honor goes to The Gulf Between from 1917) it was a real breakthrough: This was because it was the first film to use the two-color Technicolor process which allowed the film to be shown on a standard film projector, as where previous color films required a special projector which would simultaneously several reels of film that were projected through a beam splitter. Read more…
The Enterprise Reservoir Dogs
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 25, 2011 in Star Trek
This humorously done Star Trek/Reservoir Dogs mashup screen print brought a smile this fanboy’s face. The print is illustrated by LA based artist Brent Cheshire.
Jabba the Cupcake
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 25, 2011 in Star Wars
Found via fredr096.tumblr.com.
Bronies Donate Toys to Kids in Need
At first I didn’t take the Bronies too seriously, but this has made me change my mind: Operation Winter Wrap Up is a site started by My Little Pony fans with the objective of “Bronies donate Ponies to children in need” with a holiday toy drive. Currently the Operation Winter Wrap Up site includes detail information on where to donate, toy suggestions and other ways that people can help: And there’s also a Facebook page as well. Read more…
Pixar’s Brave Trailer
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 16, 2011 in Animation
Poor Dateless Darth…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 16, 2011 in Star Wars
You know you’re doing bad as an Empire bad ass when you’re forced to commute on the subways. Found via Sean Bonner.
Yo Dawg, We Put Some Star Wars Into Your Star Trek…
Shown below is a fan video which features the crew of the Enterprise from the Next Generation enjoying a Star Wars marathon: Read more…
Why It’s So Hard to Read Your Stormtrooper Buddy
Contrary to popular belief Stormtroopers have feelings too — and here’s a handy chart to spot those imperial moods! Found via Sean Bonner.
A Lost Philip K. Dick Interview from 1979
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 14, 2011 in Fandom
What follows is an amazing in debt audio interview with science fiction author Philip K. Dick from 1979 — the interviewer is Charles Platt. The author goes into amazing detail about his life story and books that inspired him: Read more…
This Papercraft Gundam is 7 Feet Tall!
Oh sure any fanboy can buy a mere Mobile Suit Gundam model kit and put it together — but only a hardcore fanboy like Taras Lesko can hand craft a seven foot tall Gundam out of paper! Shown below is the step-by-step assembly and a video that he made: Read more…