Phantom
Troublemaker, The Belligerent Monkey Jay Hornsby, and Needless
Things’ Lead Researcher Ryan Schweck convene to look at the current
state of comic book adaptations on television. Specifically –
Agents
of SHIELD,
Agent
Carter,
Arrow,
The
Flash,
Gotham,
and Constantine.
Friday, January 30, 2015
Needless Things Podcast 44 – DC and Marvel: Comic Books on TV
Labels:
Agent Carter,
Arrow,
Belligerent Monkey,
Constantine,
dc comics,
Gotham,
marvel,
Marvel Cinematic Universe,
Needless Things Podcast,
Ryan Schweck,
television,
The Flash

Thursday, January 29, 2015
Mickey Mouse Is A Jerk
Right now, there are children crying
and mothers covering their babies eyes. What kind of monster would
say such an awful thing about one of the most beloved characters of
our time? An innocent mouse who brings nothing but happiness to
people all over the world. You must be thinking, "Wow, he must have a
ton of evidence against the lovable little rodent to make such a
fierce accusation". In fact, I don't. I have only one instance of
Mickey Mouse revealing himself to be a jerk. Just one is all I need.
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
The Couch Crusader - Looking Back at Batman '66 by Geena Phillips
Labels:
batman,
Batman '66,
Catwoman,
Geena Phillips,
television,
The Couch Crusader

Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Toy Review: Masters of the Universe Classics Lizard Man from Mattel
As we
enter the twilight year of the Masters of the Universe Classics line,
I find myself experiencing a mixture of relief and excitement.
Nope. No
sadness or melancholy or anything remotely negative. This line has
run its course and I will be quite pleased when my December 2015
figure arrives and signals the end. That’s not to say that I feel
the line has done everything it could and should have. It’s also
not to say that I’m opposed to new and different products in the
same style under a different banner in 2016. But I am tired of this
system.
Obviously
I have voluntarily signed up for the Club Eternia subscription each
year. Nobody put a gun to my head. And just as obviously I have liked
the product enough to keep signing up. But the last two years have
felt more like an obligation than a hobby. Last year I didn’t even
keep track of when my figures were shipping and when they should
arrive. I just didn’t really care. It’s not that I didn’t want
them (well, most of them), it’s just that the excitement was gone.
I knew that I could expect one of two things every month – a figure
I didn’t want or a figure that was just a paint app or design
decision shy of being great.
I wasn’t
even reviewing them on a regular basis anymore because how many times
can you come up with new things to say about such similar figures?
Since
this is the final year, I have decided to get back into the swing,
rev myself up, and review every single Club Eternia release for 2015.
So far it’s worked and I’m excited about returning to the line
full time. As of now I’m even planning on reviewing them as quickly
as I can; something I didn’t worry about even when my enthusiasm
was in full swing.
We don’t
know yet how much will be offered outside of the sub. The
glow-in-the-dark Spirit of Grayskull is coming to Early Access on
2/12 and I, for one, am very excited about that one. GITD and
translucent? I’ll take two, thanks. There are rumors of a 2002 mini
subscription like the Filmation and Princess of Power subs before it.
I’d be down with that. But I can’t guarantee I’ll buy all of
the extra stuff. For right now I’ll just say that I am definitely
reviewing every single item from the main sub, regardless of my
excitement level.
Side
Note: We should find out about a final mini sub in a couple of weeks
at Toy Fair, and you can bet we’ll cover it on the Needless
Things Podcast.
I’m
glad we’re starting with Lizard Man, a character I never would have
requested, but that I was perfectly okay with when I saw him for the
first time. He’s from Filmation and is just this side of too
cartoony, but in person looks pretty cool and is one of the more
unique figures from the line.
FIRST
GLANCE
Everything
about Lizard Man looks different from your standard MOTUC releases,
and yet he still fits the overall aesthetic. If he were one iota
goofier he wouldn’t work. The most surprising thing to me was that
he’s a good guy. I don’t remember any of the Filmation characters
particularly well, so the fact that this guy is pals with the Masters
was unexpected. I like it, especially after reading his bio.
PACKAGING
Big
blister card, consistent packaging, attractive design, blah, blah,
blah. Love it.
Lizard
Man’s bio puts him over big time. I don’t know if he’s a
sentimental favorite of Nietlich’s or what, but all this talk of
bravery, power, honor, and strength is pretty impressive. I like the
angle of him dealing with racism due to his genetic connection to the
Snake Men. Or speciesism, I guess. The point is that this guy has a
cool story that makes me like him more.
There’s
a sticker on the back of the card that tells you how to get the best
results from the included glow-in-the-dark Diamond Ray of
Disappearance. This is nothing short of shocking, as Matty usually
doesn’t even bother to tell us what items are,
let alone how to use them. I didn’t notice this sticker until I was
perusing my pictures for this review, so here’s what it says for
those of you that don’t want to ruin your eyes trying to read the
blown-up version above:
“Glow-in-the-dark
feature will last longer if you do not expose this product to intense
heat or direct sunlight for prolonged periods of time. Place the gem
box approximately five feet (152 cm) away from a light source for 30
seconds. Placing the gem box closer will not intensify the
‘glow-in-the-dark’ feature.”
I
do wish Matty would identify the accessories. I didn’t realize
which sword this was until after I was finished with pictures or I
would’ve taken one with Skeletor holding it.
Side
Note: What do you think about that custom
Filmation Skeletor head?
I think it looks fantastic, but the price is absurd - $28 – and the
fact that you have to buy it through e-mail rather than an actual
website is a bit sketchy. I want one, but that’s one too many
question marks for me.
LOOKS
Lizard
Man looks super! He could fit in with any number of animated
properties – He-Man, Thundarr, Ninja Turtles, Thundercats – and
yet still works within Masters of the Universe Classics. The clever
use of Mantenna parts to give him a unique profile is impressive.
Obviously
Lizard Man’s head is the thing that’s really pushing the
boundaries. It has a curvy, bulbous shape that’s clearly meant to
be a cartoon, but something about the angles and the eyes makes it
work. I particularly like how his hooded… what the heck is this
thing called? It’s actually pretty bizarre now that I think about
it. He needs a hood and that’s it. No sleeves, no torso covering.
Just an unaffiliated hood. It’s not even attached to a vest like AJ
Styles used to wear.
Anyway,
I like it. It looks cool and they did a good job connecting the
sculpt from this new torso up onto the head.
The
torso is new and I don’t see Matty getting any further use out of
it. The garment is sculpted nicely and there are some nice skin
textures on his back and stomach. All of the colors of the figure
match up quite nicely across the different materials used. The greens
are uniform and even the lighter color that runs from his neck to the
end of his tail looks great. Oh, and I like the unevenness of the
stitches on the front of the garment.
Lizard
Man’s wide belt, loin cloth, and tail are all one piece. The blue
dots on the front of the belt give it just enough extra to make the
piece look nice. The loin cloth is sculpted well, but the way it
hangs around the tail is utterly baffling. Is there a hole cut in it?
That’s just weird. It would have made a lot more sense to just have
the back part hanging over his tail.
Lizard
Man’s three-toed lizard feet look great. There are wrinkled
textures sculpted on the tops that are reminiscent of those on the
abdomen. It’s always nice to have those little bits of connectivity
throughout a figure.
The
hands are great and I wish I could’ve gotten a picture that really
captured the coolness of the translucent green webbing between his
fingers. This is so impressive for a number of reasons – 1) the
green paint used on the hands matches the rest of the figure, 2) that
paint is applied cleanly and evenly and there are no painted parts
where light shines through to spoil the illusion, and 3) Matty didn’t
have to do this. They could have simply put this guy out with green,
opaque hands and we wouldn’t have given it a second thought.
ACCESSORIES
Lizard
Man comes with a sword and a diamond in a box.
The
sword is the one Skeletor had in the Filmation cartoon. It would look
great if it had any paint on it. I understand that this is pretty
much what it looked like in the cartoon, but even just a bit of
silver on the blade or dark grey on the hilt would have been nice.
As-is it has that dollar store look that unpainted MOTUC accessories
tend to have.
The
diamond in the box is the Diamond Ray of Disappearance. Technically
this should probably be called the “Diamond of Disappearance”,
but whatever. Out of all of the Filmation items that could have been
produced, this one is probably the most historically significant. It
comes from the first episode of He-Man
and the Masters of the Universe.
Without getting into the specifics of the episode, this item was the
first in a long line of magical MacGuffins that demonstrated the
confusing nature of Skeletor’s particular style of conquering.
The
toy version features an open box (that does not close) with a
glow-in-the-dark gem inside. The sculpt is good and it even has some
finger indentions in the back so that figures can hold it. The fact
that the Diamond glows in the dark is a wonderful bonus. Like Lizard
Man’s hands, this is just another cool extra that Matty needn’t
have done. I am impressed.
FUN
Lizard
Man features standard MOTUC articulation. There are plenty of joints
and most of them work well enough to be satisfying. The figure can
achieve plenty of action poses. One of the great things about this
line is the fact that the number and style of joints allow for so
many variations that just about every figure can be posed in a
different way on the shelf.
Lizard
Man has two parts that don’t quite work for me.
I
like how snug the connection is between the head and the neck. It
maintains a nice profile and doesn’t reveal any ugly gaps that
would hurt the style. The integration here is another thing that adds
to this guy fitting in with the line. But the range of motion on the
head isn’t great. It can pretty much just rotate, with very little
range otherwise.
I’m
tremendously disappointed in the tail. It’s stationary. It doesn’t
even rotate. I didn’t need a bendy tail, but it could at least be
poseable in some
manner. As it is the thing doesn’t look quite right if Lizard Man
is doing anything other than just standing there.
That
being said, between the accessories, his solid MOTUC articulation,
and the figure’s general sturdiness Lizard Man is fun to play
around with.
OVERALL
He
isn’t perfect, but he’s pretty darn good. The Filmation Skeletor
sword isn’t perfect, but it’s great to have. The Diamond Ray of
Disappearance is just a neat extra and I hope to see a lot more
Filmation artifacts over the course of the year.
I
like Lizard Man and I’m happy to have him. I can’t recommend him
to anyone but hardcore Filmation fans or folks who are just
collecting this line, but he’s a neat figure and I really like what
he does for the MOTUC shelves.
4
out of 5
This guy isn't on Amazon, so maybe try eBay or BigBad.
Labels:
action figures,
Filmation,
Masters of the Universe,
masters of the universe classics,
mattel,
MattyCollector.com,
toy reviews

Monday, January 26, 2015
Toy Review – Reel Toys Alien Kane from NECA
I’ve
mentioned before that I saw Aliens
before I saw Alien,
so the slow burn horror of the original was something I had to adjust
to. It’s a credit to Ridley Scott, Dan O’Bannon, Ronald Shusett
and the cast that I wasn’t turned off by it after the fast pace
and loud action of the sequel. I’ve never been a person that is
patient with storytelling, so it’s somewhat remarkable when I can
enjoy something with a slower pace.
Labels:
action figures,
Alien,
John Hurt,
NECA,
spacesuit,
toy reviews

Friday, January 23, 2015
Dragon Con 2015 - LYMPHOMA RESEARCH FOUNDATION SELECTED AS DRAGON CON’S 2015 OFFICIAL CHARITY
New Slate of Superheroes Community Service Projects Lets Dragon Con Fans Lend a Hand
ATLANTA
– January 12, 2015 – Dragon Con, Atlanta’s internationally known pop
culture, fantasy and sci-fi convention, has selected the Lymphoma
Research Foundation – Georgia Market as its official charity for 2015.
Dragon Con will match dollar for dollar, up to $50,000, any money raised
for this charity at the 2015 convention.
Labels:
charity,
Dragon Con,
Dragon Con 2015,
Dragon Con news

Earth Station Who Episode 93: The Dalek Invasion of Earth
I
haven’t seen all of the William Hartnell Doctor
Who
stories, but I think I’ve seen enough to have a pretty good feel
for his run. And to know that – outside of watching stuff for Earth
Station who – I don’t particularly want to watch any more.
Labels:
Daleks,
doctor who,
Earth Station One,
Earth Station Who,
podcasts

Thursday, January 22, 2015
Toy Review: Alien Xenomorph from NECA
Sometimes
it takes me a while to get around to reviewing action figures,
especially if they are in some way retoolings of figures I have
already reviewed. This is why I have essentially stopped reviewing
Masters of the Universe Classics figures (although I am considering
starting up again since this is the last year). It’s also why it’s
taken me something like six months to review this guy.
Labels:
action figures,
Alien,
aliens,
NECA,
toy reviews,
Xenomorphs

Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Comic Book Wednesday - Rocket Salvage #1 Comic Book Review by R.T. Ewell
I don't make it to the comic shop very
often these days - about once a month. And even when I do go my budget
is about twenty bucks. I don't have set titles that I just have to
buy anymore so I try to find number ones, trade paperbacks, or ones
with self contained story lines. As I was browsing the new release
titles at my local comic book shop, I came across Rocket Salvage #1
of 6 published by Archaia. The first thing that caught my eye about
this title was the gorgeous artwork and use of bright colors that
popped off the page. I took a chance and picked up this book without
knowing a single thing about it.
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
The Couch Crusader - Looking Back at Batman '66 by Geena Phillips
Labels:
batman,
Batman '66,
Geena Phillips,
television,
The Couch Crusader

Monday, January 19, 2015
Toy Review – Star Trek Starship Legends USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D from Diamond Select Toys
The
Enterprise from Star
Trek: The Next Generation
is 642.5 meters long. That’s crazy. It’s friggin’ huge.
That’s over twice as long as the original Enterprise.
Let
me put this in layman’s terms for you:
If
you had a stick that was a meter long, you’d need six
hundred and forty one
more of them, plus another one that was half a meter long, to run
your sticks the length of the Enterprise. And good luck laying sticks
down in a straight line in outer space.
Side
Note: I stole that whole concept from a Dennis Miller bit where he
explained the national debt.
Labels:
Diamond Select Toys,
Star Trek,
Star Trek: The Next Generation,
starships,
toy reviews,
toys,
USS Enterprise

Friday, January 16, 2015
Needless Things Podcast 43 - Masters of the Universe Classics: 2014 Year in Review
Phantom
Troublemaker and Mr. Beau Brown reunite to take a look back at last
year’s Masters of the Universe Classics releases from
Mattycollector.com!
Labels:
action figures,
Beau Brown,
Masters of the Universe,
masters of the universe classics,
mattel,
MattyCollector.com,
Needless Things Podcast,
podcasts,
toys

Thursday, January 15, 2015
Toy Review – Masters of the Universe Classics Galactic Protector She-Ra from Mattel
I
didn’t subscribe to Club Etheria. Call me a bad fan or somebody
that doesn’t understand how toy lines work or whatever – I get
it. But as much as I do see several characters from the Princess of
Power toy line as important to the franchise, I didn’t imagine
those characters would see release as part of the Etheria sub. And I
was mostly right.
Labels:
action figures,
Masters of the Universe,
masters of the universe classics,
mattel,
MattyCollector.com,
She-Ra,
toy reviews

Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Comic Book Wednesday – Robyn Hood #6 from Zenescope
As
our loyal readers know I have recently become an official reviewer
for Zenescope Comics. This means that I receive PDF copies of
everything that they release. Obviously I can’t personally review
everything that they release, but as long as I hit a certain number
each quarter they’re cool with it.
In
this Comic Book Wednesday I’m taking a look at Robyn
Hood
#6. It will be available on January 28th at your Local Comic Book
Shop, so ask for it now!
Labels:
comic books,
Grimm Fairy Tales,
Robyn Hood,
Zenescope Comics

Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Toy Review – WWE Elite Collection Series #29 Andre the Giant from Mattel
Dammit,
this is another one of those figures that gets me in trouble and
starts me collecting a line that I don’t need to be collecting.
Labels:
action figures,
Andre the Giant,
mattel,
toy reviews,
wwe,
WWE Elite Series

Monday, January 12, 2015
Needless Things Podcast Episode 42 - 2015 (Life, the Universe, and Everything)

Saturday, January 10, 2015
Earth Station Who Episode 92: Carnival of Monsters
I
can’t even tell you guys how relieved I am to be talking about
classic Doctor
Who
again. It was with great joy that I put the “Carnival of Monsters”
disc into my player and settled in to watch some Jon Pertwee.
Labels:
doctor who,
Earth Station Who,
ESO Network

Thursday, January 8, 2015
Toy Review – Aliens Alien Queen Deluxe Action Figure from NECA
NECA
has earned an awful lot of my dollars in the past six months. Retro
Misfits, Planet of the Apes (modern and classic), Aliens, Predators,
and Pacific Rim – when I look at the “Toy Pics” folder on my
drive and see all of the NECA stuff I actually get a bit queasy.
There are bound to be better and more practical things I could have
spent my money on.
That
was my thinking when I decided that I wasn’t going to buy this
figure. That and the fact that I already own an Alien Queen – the
one that McFarlane Toys put out over a decade ago. It’s a nice
figure and for a hundred bucks I didn’t feel like I could justify
buying another one, even if it was bigger and more in line with the
NECA aesthetic that has taken over my Alien and Predator collection.
I
haven’t seen the figure at retail yet, but it’s shown up at
online stores. Right around Christmas Mrs. Troublemaker saw a picture
of it and said, “Oh, wow – that’s awesome. Are we getting
that?” (she says “we” when it’s a toy she approves of and
might potentially try to talk me into keeping upstairs). Any time
this happens I’m pretty much going to buy whatever she’s talking
about. While she is very supportive and accepting of my (ridiculous)
toy habit, she doesn’t often get directly involved with it.
Labels:
action figures,
Alien,
aliens,
NECA,
toy reviews,
toys,
Xenomorphs

Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Comic Book Wednesday – Update 2015
Mostly
that’s because I’ve been doing the Previews Recaps
and I really enjoy those. I get about enough commentary about the
books I’m reading into them, so I don’t feel like my quarterly
report is necessary.
But
now it’s a new year and I have a slimmed-down pull list. Sometime
around October I isolated myself in a small pueblo in the deserts of
New Mexico with only the most recent three issues of Previews. I made
a vow that I wouldn’t emerge from this isolation until I had culled
all of the habit books from my pull list. Twelve weeks later I handed
the list you will be reading about today into my Local Comic Shop.
Labels:
comic books,
dc comics,
idw,
image comics,
marvel

Tuesday, January 6, 2015
The Wyatt Family Stack Down Review
C3 Construction Stack Down
Product#: 21064
The Wyatt Family- K Mart Exclusive
Price: 17.99
Build Time: Over An Hour
Monday, January 5, 2015
Toy Review – Batman: The New Batman Adventures Two-Face from DC Collectibles
UPDATE: I contacted DC about the figures from this series that I had problems with and they are very conciliatory and interested in making things right. If you have any of these with issues, I strongly recommend you compose an informational non-bitchy e-mail and send it along. Don't be a dick. Remember - these folks didn't set out to make flawed toys. Things happen between design and the factory. And so far it seems like they are very aware of the problems and looking to fix them.
Labels:
action figures,
batman,
Batman: The Animated Series,
Batman: The New Adventures,
DC Collectibles,
toy reviews,
Two-Face

Friday, January 2, 2015
Comic Book Wednesday (on Friday) – Previews January 2015: Things I Don't Want
If
you don’t know, Previews
is the catalogue that Diamond Comic Distributors use to offer the
products they distribute to comic book stores around the country.
This is where you can view and order (through your favorite Local
Comic Book Shop) comic books, trade paperback collections, t-shirts,
books, media, and toys and other collectibles from hundreds of
different vendors that deal in geek-oriented merchandise. The genius
part is that you actually have to pay for your copy of Previews
for the privilege of ordering other things to pay for. It’s like
the Ren Fest except without the horse poo smell.
So
every month a new edition of Previews
is sent out to comic book stores. Contained in the pages within are
products that might be currently available or could be released
anytime in the next year; but typically about two months away. Or
sometimes never. I’ve ordered lots
of things that have just never come in. Without getting into the
specific politics of Diamond, let me just say that they aren’t
quite
a monopoly and also aren’t quite
the worst distributor anybody has ever dealt with in the history of
the universe.
But
I’m not here to discuss that. I’m here to discuss a few of the
weird and/or wonderful items offered in this month’s edition.
I
hated to push this back to Friday, but I like to have my Best Of list posted before the end of the year so as not to drag
old stuff into the new year.
Labels:
comic books,
dc comics,
marvel,
Previews,
toys

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