Needless Things Podcast Episode 2: New York International Toy Fair 2013

I suppose every one of these podcasts is going to include a certain amount of drama and stress. If I could just record them and then shoot them out of my computer and directly into your brains I would be extremely happy.

As I stated last time, I have no schedule for these things. If there’s something I feel like I can record a show about,. I’m going to try and do it. And I definitely felt like Toy Fair was something I could record a show about. I’ve been following Toy Fair for fifteen or so years now and providing coverage of one kind or another for maybe five. Every single year me and my toy dork buddies end up discussing the reveals at length and the obvious next step was just to record one of those conversations and then upload it.

Easy, right?

HA , HA, no.

Needless Things Podcast Episode 1: Masters of the Universe 30th Anniversary

Inspired by my work with Director Faber, Mike, Bobby, and the multitude of fascinating personalities that are part of the Earth Station One network; I finally had to do it. I made my own podcast.

Toy Review – Back to the Future Part II: DeLorean Time Machine By Diamond Select Toys

I hate to start this review on a negative note, but there’s no getting around the false representation involved in this toy. The box proclaims it to be the time machine from Back to the Future Part II. It is not. If it were, the tires would fold down for a flight mode. They don’t.

I’ve been pretty excited about this toy ever since Diamond first announced it. I’m 36 years old, so the Back to the Future trilogy is somewhat sacred to me and the second movie will always be my favorite (though the third is kind of special too since it was one of those rare movies I saw with my dad). And besides the nostalgia and just general high quality of the franchise; who wouldn’t want a toy of that DeLorean?

 

Toy Review – Star Trek: USS Enterprise Retro Playset By Diamond Select Toys

There has been a fairly massive resurgence of Mego-style action figures over the last several years. We have gotten Real Ghostbusters, Venture Bros., Universal Monsters, and even Doctor Who! I have a fondness for the 8″, clothed figures because the Megos were some of the first toys I had when I was a kid. Maybe I’ll post a little bit about that later in the week.

There’s one line in this resurgence that caught my attention when it was first announced but that I never bought anything from – Star Trek.

When I first saw the reproductions in Previews I thought they looked awesome, but I wasn’t in the market for a new line to collect at the time. Every successive release has tempted me, but I knew I would be getting into a whole new world of toys if I got started. I mean, it’s not like you can just buy one member of the crew and call it a day. I almost gave in when Diamond solicited the reproduction of the original Enterprise playset by Mego.

Toy Review – Doctor Who: The 11th Doctor’s TARDIS By Underground Toys

This is the second TARDIS playset that Underground has produced, and only the third ever made (though we now have a Junk TARDIS from “The Doctor’s Wife”, an 8-inch scale vinyl playset, and a LEGO-style version). That’s kind of insane when you think about the fact that Doctor Who has been an international presence for almost fifty years now. I’m talking about actual TARDIS interiors here, not the police box exterior. To their credit, Underground has produced at least four or five completely different sculpts of the police box at different stages of its existence, many of which have been released in a few different sets. If you want a TARDIS and don’t have one, you just haven’t looked. They’re everywhere. Toys R Us even had a set, albeit briefly.

Toy Review – Dark Knight Rises Movie Masters Alfred Pennyworth By Mattel

On the one hand it is ridiculous that it has taken this long for Mattel to get around to making an action figure of the second-most-important living character in the Batman mythos. On the other hand, Mattel just released a figure of a frigging butler.

Looking at it from that latter perspective, it’s actually pretty amazing that this figure exists at all. Making a figure of a character that literally does nothing but stand around and talk is pretty risky, so kudos to Mattel for doing it.

Toy Review – Dark Knight Rises Movie Masters Bane By Mattel

Oh, Bane, you cinematic enigma.

Are you from the Caribbean? Is your mask keeping you alive? Will you use Venom at all? What’s up with that jacket that makes you look like Tom Selleck from Quincy Down Under? Or do I mean Steven Segal from On Deadly Ground? Holy cow – a Michael Caine connection! Is there something in his contract where his costars have to wear sheepskin sometimes? And most importantly Mr. Bane – why the heck aren’t you wearing a luchador mask?

Toy Review – The Dark Knight Rises Movie Masters Batman By Mattel

Okay, time for a new column.

Lego considering official ‘Back to the Future’ DeLorean set

By Evan Ackerman, Source: Dvice.com

I hope you’ve got 1.21 jiggawatts worth of “Great Scott!” all lined up and ready to go, because a Lego* jury is officially pondering the release of a Back to the Future themed DeLorean set.

Lego Cuusoo is a sort of crowdsourcing site for Lego sets that’s totally legit and run by Denmark-based brick-builder itself. You can submit a design, and if 10,000 people like it, Lego boffins will have a look. If muster is passed, the set gets produced, and you (the designer) get 1% of the total net sales in cold hard krone, which is a weird sort of Danish money that has holes in it.

Toy Fair 2012 Recap From Home

Hello, Earth Station One readers!

Let me preface my post here by introducing myself. I go by the name Phantom Troublemaker and do most of my writing over at Needless Things or on my Tumblr page, but the fellas here at ESO were kind (or foolish) enough to invite me to provide some content for you lucky folks.

I write about toys, movies, comics, music, or any other dorkery that interests me and I always try to keep things honest and maintain my own personal perspective. I love Doctor Who, Star Wars, GI Joe, and Batman; but if I think anything having to do with any of those is terrible I’m going to tell you all about it. At length. Also, I don’t restrain myself in my own environs, so be warned that your eyes may be assaulted by some colorful metaphors if you click on either of those above links. Stick to my ESO posts for the sanitized, mostly family-friendly versions.

I cover Toy Fair every year despite the fact that I do not attend. I’ll usually post the coolest stuff over on my Facebook page or on Twitter and then do a big recap at the end.