Kung Fury

Just watched Kung Fury, an awesome "1980s" action movie about a time traveling Kung Fu cop... David Hasselhoff sings the theme song. Total flashback to the early days of VHS video rentals, when the video stores were full of cheap, weird, and sleazy movies that no one had ever heard of, but you'd rent them anyway because the cover art looked cool.  The full 30 minute movie is available to watch for free on YouTube.  Check it out:

Playmates Classic Star Trek Action Figures: Andorian, Captain Koloth, and Harry Mudd (1997-1998)

Playmates Classic Star Trek Action Figures: Andorian, Captain Koloth, and Harry Mudd (1997-1998)

Wow, I haven't had much spare time to blog lately!  I actually took these photos two months ago, and was planning on doing full reviews of these figures, but I just haven't had the time to write them up.  So I think I'll just post the photos, and let the pictures do the talking.  So check out some pictures of The Andorian, which Playmates released in 1998, and Captain Koloth and Harry Mudd, which they released in 1997.

May the Fourth Be With You

From Left to Right:  Stormtrooper, Darth Vader, Death Squad Commander (behind C-3P0), C-3P0, Chewbacca (behind Luke), Luke Skywalker, R2-D2, Princess Leia, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Han Solo, Sand Person, and Jawa

"May the Fourth" Be With You!  Happy Star Wars Day, everybody.  I grew up with Star Wars.  I saw the the original film in it's initial theatrical run in 1977.  I was 5 years old, and I was convinced that Star Wars was the greatest film in the history of cinema.  Naturally, I went nuts for all the toys, as well.  Over the next few years, I amassed a huge collection of Star Wars action figures, vehicles, and playsets.  However, tragedy struck when I grew a little older and was entering jr. high school.  My interests evolved from spaceships and robots to rock music and girls, and I decided that toys were only for little kids, so I gave all of my Star Wars toys away to the little kids in my neighborhood.  That was a decision I came to regret more and more over the years, as I learned that growing up didn't mean I had to give up the things I loved when I was a kid.

Flash forward to September of 2014.  As an adult , I started collecting toys again as a hobby, but I had resisted the idea of collecting Star Wars toys again.  There were just so many toys to collect, it seemed like too big of a task.  However, I knew I really wanted to have all of my old toys back again.  So I decided to start recollecting all of the vintage Star Wars figures and toys I had as a kid.  In order not to get overwhelmed by it, I decided to collect them slowly, and in more or less the order they came out.  So I would start out with the original 12 figures from 1977, move on to the next batch of 8 figures from 1978, and so on.  Then once I had all of the original Star Wars toys, I would move on to The Empire Strikes Back, and then eventually to Return of the Jedi.

I also decided that I was going to go with inexpensive, loose, played with toys, rather than expensive ones in pristine condition.  Not only would that be easier on my wallet, the figures would be closer to the ones that I owned as a kid, which were all very well played with.  And I still wanted to handle them and play with them now, and I didn't want to worry about damaging them or ruining an investment.

A few weeks ago, I realized that I had collected 10 of the original 12, and with May Fourth Star Wars Day coming up, I decided it was the perfect time to pick up the final 2 figures!  And I'm already halfway through to collecting all of the 1978 figures as well, as I picked up the the Cantina aliens ahead of schedule few months ago.  1978 also saw the debut of the vehicles and playsets, though, so I'll have to start collecting those as well. I'm not looking forward to seeing how much money I'm going to have to spend to get a Death Star in even halfway decent shape, but I know it will look awesome on my shelf, filled with Darth Vader, Stormtroopers, and Droids.

Well, I hope I didn't bore anyone rambling along about Star Wars toys.  Thanks for reading, and "May the Fourth Be With You!"

Playmates' Classic Star Trek Bridge Set (1993)

Playmates' Classic Star Trek Bridge Set (1993)

Playmates began releasing Star Trek: The Next Generation action figures in 1992.  After a year of success with the Next Generation figures, they expanded their reach in to other TV and movie figures from the Star Trek universe.  When they released their first figures for the classic 1960s TV series, they did it in a big way, with a box set featuring all seven of the main Enterprise crew members and a cardboard diorama of the Enterprise bridge.  For a Classic Star Trek fan, this gave you an instant collection and display piece in one box, making a must-have item for any original series Star Trek toy collector

Read all about it and see my photos after the break...

Star Trek Aliens Neptunian - Mego (1975)

Mego Star Trek Aliens Neptunian (1975)

In 1974, Mego launched a line of of Star Trek action figures.  The first wave consisted of five members of the Enterprise crew (Kirk, Spock, Scottie, Bones, and Uhura) and a generic Klingon who looked to be based on Captain Koloth from "The Trouble With Tribbles."  The figures were all pretty straight forward and looked to be modeled more or less accurately from either Star Trek the Original Series, or Star Trek the Animated Series.  For the next two waves in 1975 and '76 the name of the line was changed from "Star Trek" to "Star Trek Aliens" and that's when things got a little weird.  The figures went from being closely based on the designs from the TV series to more like loosely inspired by the series.  On no figure is that more true than on the Neptunian, which does not appear to be based on anything that ever actually appeared on Star Trek.  In fact, it looks more like some kind of mutated version of Mego's Green Goblin figure from it's World's Greatest Super Heroes line.  But it's that weirdness that makes the figure so great!  Let's check it out after the break...

Star Trek Wave 1 Retro Action Figures - Funko/Super7 (2015)

Hey kids, I haven't been blogging much lately, but I've still been buying lots of new and vintage toys, and my pile of stuff to photograph and write about is piling up!  So I think it's time to get back in the swing of things.  I've been buying a lot of Classic Star Trek toys lately, so look for some posts on Mego Star Trek toys from the 1970s and Playmates toys from the 1990s coming soon.  But first, I'll be looking at the first four Star Trek ReAction figures from Funko that came out a few weeks ago.  Photos and wordstuffs after the break!

Legends of Cthulhu "The Cultists" and "The Spawn of Cthulhu" 4 Inch Retro Action Figures - Warpo (2015)

Today I'm back for part two of my look at Warpo's Legends of Cthulhu action figures, with the Spawn of Cthulhu, the Cultist, and their Kickstarter-exclusive variants, the Conjured Cthulhu and the High Priest.  Rather than write a lengthy review, I'll just refer you to my previous post, and assure you that they are more of the same.  Namely, really excellent retro-style 5 points of articulation action figures, with great sculpts, paint jobs, and accessories. I really love these toys.  Warpo did an amazing job with them, and I can't wait to see what they come up with next.  Check out my photos after the break!

Legends of Cthulhu "The Professor" and "The Deep Ones" 4 Inch Retro Action Figures - Warpo (2015)

I've been spending all week playing with and photographing my new set of Legends of Cthulhu action figures from Warpo.  I ended up taking so many photos that it's taking me forever to sort through them all, so I decided to split my review up into a few different posts.  So today I'll be looking at The Professor and The Deep Ones.  Both figures feature the standard retro style 5 points of articulation.  The Deep Ones come with a spear, and the Professor comes with a gun and a small green Cthulhu idol.  The Professor is about 4 inches tall, and the Deep One is about 3 1/2, and they fit in great with similar sized figures like Kenner Star Wars or Funko ReAction.

The Professor is a nice figure.  He has a good sculpt that that is simple and retro, yet still has lots of nice details and personality to it.  But my favorite figures are the Deep Ones.  Everything about these guys are fantastic.  The sculpt is perfect, it's simple and cartoony, yet still full of creepy details.  And the paint job on the figure is great.  It's got several different flat colors, as well as some really nice airbrushing to to add shading and bring out the details.  They've done a really good job with doing a more modern detailed paint job, that still is simple enough to retain that retro feel from the 1970s or '80s.  Check out my photos of these figures after the break...