Ovion

As much as I loved the show, action figures from the old Mattel Battlestar Galactica line were never all that interesting to me. I'm sure it had something to do with the fact that there was plenty of Star Wars coming from Kenner to keep me busy, but it also had something to do with aliens like this...





In retrospect, the Ovion figure is cool in a silly and fun sort of way, but back in '79 I wasn't impressed. The shame of it is that if Mattel had expanded the line a bit, and maybe come out with a few more characters, then I think I would have gotten into it.

In Acrylic: The World

Facebook... Not So Much

Update: Well, my page disappeared and then it came back, and now it's vanished again, so I'm really going to let the idea slide for a few weeks.

I'll try it again later. (Lame.)

Ghosts + Pirates = As Good as it Gets

As a fairly jaded toy collector, there really aren't many times when I'm likely to be out-and-out stunned by a concept, but once again, Playmobil has managed to completely amaze me.



A while back I had picked up the "special" boxed Playmobil Pirate Ghost figure, and had probably even blogged (somewhere else) about how great it was. So what do the brilliant minds at Playmobil go and do? Well, they take a perfect idea--dead glow-in-the-dark pirate ghosts--and they run with it to score a touchdown.



I mean, seriously... who doesn't love pirates, and what could possibly make the idea better, than a series of undead pirates?

Answer: nothing.



So, if you check the catalog image below (and it's probably better if you click on the image to see a larger version), you'll see that the playmo-gods have also put out a fantastic ghost ship, a haunted island with translucent bones, and a few other smaller sets.



For the record, I've seen them all in person, and can testify to the fact that they're utterly fantastic.

Facebook Fetish

Around the time that I had signed up for this Blogger account a few years ago, I'd also signed up for Facebook, but promptly lost the password, and changed my e-mail address... and kind of forgot about the whole thing until now.

(Click on the monkey to check it out.)

Here's What I'm Playing -- Batman: Arkham Asylum

If you haven't seen your nerdy Batman fan friend lately, it's probably because they've been playing Batman: Arkham Asylum for the last few weeks. 



It takes a lot to get my son to stop playing Fallout 3 right now, and more importantly, it's a miracle that I can get anywhere near the Xbox 360 at all, but this game is as close to a miracle as I need. 



With no shortage of rave reviews out there, my praise for Batman: Arkham Asylum isn't going to count for much, but again... if you're wondering where one of your internet friends has wandered off to, it's a very good bet that they're swooping down on thugs, and beating them to a pulp via a wireless controller right this moment. I'm actually having a hard time concentrating on this post. (Detective Mode... on.) 

Super 8 the Celluloid Monster

Back before it was possible to watch a movie at home on video, there were companies putting out films using 8mm and Super 8. I can remember being invited to a birthday party as a kid, and the parents had set up a projector as part of the entertainment. After cake and presents, we all sat down to watch the thriller Wait Until Dark with Audrey Hepburn and Alan Arkin. To this day I love the film because I was lucky enough to first watch it in a dark, creepy basement, with a bunch of kids that were just as scared as me.



But there was something else about the moment that was very cool, and it's that the whole thing took place in this makeshift theater. Over the years I've had the benefit of being around a lot of film: in high school I sold tickets at a movie theater, in college I managed a dinky little art house, and later I ended up working in film and television as a set dresser--always surrounded by cans of film.



The idea of owning little bits of the film experience in the form of vintage 8mm shorts is appealing to me, but as charming as the whole thing seems, I've long resisted the urge to freak-out and buy every weird title or box with cool artwork that I could find.



I did fold when I picked up these two Toho titles though. I mean... how could I resist? They're brilliant, and the shame of it all is that even though I'm absolutely dying to know what the "preview attractions" are on the Rodan reel, I've never run these through a projector.



Someday I'll get the old Super 8 machine out, and after dusting it off and tuning it up a bit, I'll give these short films a spin. My biggest worry is that it'll push me over the edge, and I wont be able to resist all of those weird titles or boxes with cool artwork anymore. Why, even now I'm looking at a Super 8 copy of Planet of the Apes...

I think I'm doomed.