Cap'n-Merica

I would bet you could never guess what I finally watched last night?

I'll Order You a Red Beanie and a Speedo...

Yes I'm still playing around with the brushes in Illustrator, but I finally upgraded to CS5 (side note to Brian A. if you haven't played with the "Width Tool" yet... it is freaking AWESOME!).

The story behind this one, I have been wanting to see The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou for some time now. My son, sharing my weird sense of humor was game and added it to his Netflix queue and so, a week or two ago we set down for a viewing. I liked it, probably not everyone's cup of tea, but I ended up watching it twice.

I decided to try and render myself as a member of Team Zissou and since I have acquired a few more readers I thought I would put it up as a welcome. My son thinks it could also pass as a stylized version of Steve Zissou (played by Bill Murray) as well. Who knows I may try to do an illustration of the whole crew in this style...

30 Years ago, they struck back...

Hard to believe it was thirty years ago today that Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back was released. Was it really that long ago?



I remember being excited to see the continuing saga of our heros as they fought the evil empire. My young mind could not imagine the evil the empire was going to unfold upon Luke, Leia, Han, Chewy and our favorite Droids. With a title like the Empire Strikes Back, you know Darth was going to do some damage.

I also remember talking my mother into going that first day. We arrived for a mid morning showing at the Galaxy Theater, sadly the Galaxy is now another cinema, and Empire had already had a couple showings under it's belt that morning. The line was from the ticket office, across the front of the building and around the side for the showing we were to attend. We were practically at the back of the building. I have only been to the back of the theater when we had the chance as kids to exit through the screen side exits and run around to met our parents in the parking lot, so this was a big deal to me at the time. I do not think that to this day I have ever stood in a longer line for a movie, Batman in 1989 was pretty close and I remember the mob in the lobby for the Special Edition of Star Wars ( by the way both viewed at the Galaxy Theater), but never in a line that wrapped around the building.

When the line started to move it seemed that the buzz about the movie grew, people around us were speculating on what was about to happen. For the record, no one was even close. We had no idea about Hoth, Dagobah or Cloud City. I was busy trying to update my mother on where we last left off, it seems that she could not remember Star Wars as well as I could. She was a novice at only one showing. It is also told to me by my dad that he took me to my first showing of Star Wars so it was my mother's turn for Empire. We must have stood in line for close to three hours and I can say it was worth every minute. My mind was blown, and the ending, my mother could not get over how Han was just frozen and not saved and our heros were so uncertain of their future. Oh, and the spoiler, which by now if you haven't seen Empire Strikes Back, you deserve to have someone spoil it for you... Darth Vader is Luke's freaking father. Holy crap! I did not see that coming.

Thirty years ago today we learned that the galaxy far, far away was far form a nice place to live... it was an even more awesome place to live! In honor of this milestone I will be celebrating with a little "Empire Cooks Out" and a viewing of the sequel to set the bar for all sequels, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Oh, and an update from an earlier post, I will be enjoying some Star Wars Cookies thanks to my wife!

MTFBWY

The geeky stuff I do on weekends

So I decided it was finally time to straighten up the home office / studio. It has been a catch all for more than a year and in recent months has approached hoarder levels of boxes of unpacked stuff and whatnot.

My first chore was to figure out where to put the BMF (Big Millennium Falcon) I acquired last year, on sale I might add and a gift from my wife. I really do not have a shelf big enough for it and the closet is jam packed with toy goodies as it is, so childish as it may, I decided to hang it from the ceiling. It's right above where I plan on moving my drawing desk.



I thought it might be fun to snap some photos as I get stuff in place, I'll spare you the before shot though, believe me it is bad, besides you can go here to see what the closet has in it.

Next up, while I was kicking it in the office I decided to download a couple of movie digital copies I had that I never did anything with. So I started the process, cleaned off some stuff I wasn't using on the iPhone and lookey what I can now watch durning my lunch break or whenever I want!



Sweet, geek delights.

R.I.P. John Hughes

1950 - 2009

Take some time to catch up with some old friends.

Star Trek Strikes Back!

I think it's funny people want to know my opinion of the current Star Trek Movie. I loved it, every minute of it! I went in the theater just wanting to be entertained. I would be lying if I wasn't a bit concerned about the new direction, but that was all laid to rest as every scene unfolded. For the record, no I did not dress up as a character to attend the show, just jeans and a plain t-shirt, though I would have loved to have received a prize pack like my buddy at Trek Nostalgia. Yes, I did go and see it at a 11:00 PM showing on Thursday night, then again the next morning. I was shooting for three showings over the weekend, but I thought I would hold off till later this week for my third showing. My first impression when I left the first showing... Whoa.

So, I couldn't believe the movie was only 2 hours long, it felt like I was only given 30 minutes of an episode, the pace was fantastic, I never felt like I was waiting for this movie to end or that there was a lull in the story. The introduction of the characters were all enjoyable, and even though I might have been a little skeptical about the whole time line aspect of the story, I left the theater satisfied with the way the story was handled. I even excited to see how they take this new crew in future installments. Will we see different takes on past villains? New worlds? I really can't wait till we see this crew in action again.

The big E was beautiful on the big screen, and seeing it in some of those amazing action sequences was breath taking. My hats off to the special effects crew behind bringing the Enterprise to life. I really enjoyed the way the ship was portrayed in space, not having a fixed up or down orientation, plus the scenes of the silence of space were beautiful. The soundtrack was also very enjoyable, even though there was a Beastie Boys song mixed in (nice touch by the way), I always think the best soundtrack is one that doesn't rely on too much modern pop, but is built with sweeping original scores.

Do I think the franchise has been re-energized as some would say? Yes, I think this new take on Star Trek might launch a few more movies and maybe spark an interest in another TV show. If not an interest in the shows and movies that came before hand.

My only down note about the whole new Star Trek experience was when I left the first showing I thought how Playmates Toys missed the boat by not bringing out more of the "aliens" from the movie in its initial offerings of toys. I would have loved to have picked up a little Star Fleet Officer Alien (the one that hanged with Scotty) or some of the other Aliens from the film. Here's hoping they release some more of the 3.25" line and fill out the Star Trek Universe with some of these characters.

My final though, while I love Star Trek the Motion Picture from back in 1979 and wouldn't change it for the world, I really think this was the movie 11 year old me was waiting for back then. I really was taken back to why I like Star Trek, the team effort, the adventure, and the chemistry of the crew. So if you haven't seen it, I would go, and no you do not have to like Star Trek to enjoy this movie, but if you do you'll like it as well.

I'm Officially Excited!

Okay I've been excited for months upon learning of a new Star Trek movie, but the trailer was the deal breaker. As a warning to my wife, be prepared for an onslaught of "Star Trek this and Star trek that" till the movie is released. Here's some stills from the trailer for the rest of you to enjoy.


Ooooh, they have Stormtroopers now!


A sweet shot of the Enterprise under construction


Hey look, Spock was born where Kirk fought the Gorn!


Leaving a Starbase? Ahead Warp Factor One, Mr. Sulu


Some Shuttlecraft escaping a battle


Oh My, Mr. Sulu in a fight with a... Klingon???
edit: turns out it was Romulan


The Millennium Falcon...err I mean Enterprise makes a daring escape!


The new face of Star Trek villainy

So what are you waiting for, check out the trailer here!

Batman and Robin Batmobile

This one is funny, cause I only ever purchased a couple figures from that time. This was sort of a present left on my desk for some web work I did. See I worked in a design position for a company that had a plant attached to the building. I could draw stuff up in the morning and walk it out to manufacturing and they could start building it that day. The head of the foam department always had these side deals going. He would purchase items at garage sales and estate sales, recondition them and either sell them or give them to family members.

He would bring me older digital cameras; some off market brands some name brands, always older and long out of production. Since I could find my way around the manufacturers web sites I would download all drivers, software, and manuals and burn them to a disk for him. As a thank you, I would walk into work a few days later and there would be some form of Batman item on my desk from one of his hauls. He knew I liked Batman and would just look out for crazy little Batman items. I couldn't even tell you if this thing was complete, but it doesn't really matter; it's just a cool surprise.



It was indeed a neat little arrangement, that wasn't even arranged. He would just drop something off on my keyboard to say thanks for helping him out. I often wonder what would happen if that company was still in business and we were both still working there. How much past Batman merchandise I would have ended up with. All told I received this little Batmobile, a Comic Batman Mug for my pens, a used CD from Batman and Robin, and a small poster of Batman form the first movie in a classy gold poster frame.

Batman vs. the Joker

Since I have all the Batman die cast out for dusting and cleaning, here's a fun little figurine two pack released at the time of the 1989 Batman film. It included a little bonus collector card that had the cover of the Movie adptaion on it and of course our hero and the villain from the film.



This has to be the closest Jack Nicholson likeness on a toy from that time, at least that I remember. The Toy Biz figure sure didn't look like him. These solid little die cast figurines are about 2 and half inches height and compliment other DC Comics Superhero figurines that Ertl produced at the time. These other figurines where more in the style of their comic likenesses though.



I might need to touch up Jack's nose a bit, see what happens when you don't store your toys properly. I have one other Batman in the same pose which I belive came packaged with one of the Ertl Batmobiles. I thought these multi packs were really a sweet deal at the time.

89' and 92' Ertl Batmobiles

The 89' Batmobile is loved by some and hated by others, I really think it's a design that you either love or hate, I'm not sure it's something that can grow on you (I could be wrong). Also if you have kept up with the blog you know I'm a fan of this style of Batmobile. I loved the look of this car when it first flashed across the screen!



These are the two that Ertl released for the original movie, yellow bat symbol, and the second movie Batman Returns with the Silver/white bat symbol. I remember thinking what a clever way to tie into the movie with out releasing the same car color scheme. The movie was a much colder setting, being Gotham in winter, and the marketing came off that way as well. So it makes sense that they would also switch up colors on the cars.




Now in the movie the Batmobile was basically the same, and neither one sported a logo on the car. The "Returns" Batmobile did do the split trick where the first movie car was just the standard Batmobile. It was to be assumed that the car could do all this stuff in both movies, just wasn't neccessary to show in the first one. Another cool little difference is that the first little Batmobile is coated in a thick high gloss paint, that tends to obscure some of the details. The second go at the car was a matte finish that shows more of the details. I probably like the second car for this alone, but the first is another one of those "brings back memories" toys so I like it just as much.



The Cars are the same mold, die cast with the plastic bottom. They did change the legal information on the bottom of each from movie to movie along with the packaging. The size of these are about three to four inches in length and about and inch and a half in height. The first movie only produced a Batmobile and Joker Van at this size, the Batman Returns movie ended up with a few other vehicles at this scale, coming soon to a blog near you! That would be here...

Dewback Patrol!

Like most I was in awe of the Imperial Stormtroopers from Star Wars. When these shiny, white troopers emerged through that blasted hatch at the beginning of the film I couldn't believe what I was seeing! Even better a few scenes into the movie and the Sandtroopers arrived, on giant lizards no less. The lizards are known as Dewbacks, and while they are supposed to be pretty common in Star Wars I will always associate them with Sandtroopers.



So if you have been following the blog you know I did a little feature last year called Stormtrooper of the Week. I started it a few weeks into the blog, and it was where I highlighted troopers from my collection. I ended it in the new year, but that was not because I ran out of troopers, oh no, far from that. So, I thought I would throw a trooper up on the ole' blog every once in a while to satisfy the Star Wars side.



Here we have the 1997 Creature set of Mr. Dewback and his pal Stormy Mc Sandtrooper! I've shown a Dewback before, and if I ever land my mitts on a complete vintage one you know that a third post is coming. This guy is in scale with the 3 3/4" line of toys so it's not as big as the previous one I spotlighted. The set comes with the Dewback, molded saddle, reigns, a Sandtrooper rider (his legs were made to ride!) his back pack, a rifle, and a long pole or pike to poke at stuff or Dewbacks! Wow, that seems like a lot. The Dewback him or herself has articulation at each shoulder and the head and tail move. Actually moving the tale makes the head move from side to side and the mouth open.



These creature sets were released when the Special Editions came out at the theater, and there were three in the set. Dewback/Sandtrooper, Jawa /Ronto (a new creature), and Han Solo/Jabba, all to celebrate the digital enhancements made to the film. I didn't mind the new scenes with the Sandtroopers, the Ronto seemed a little forced in there, and the whole Han talking to Jabba just didn't work for me. I will say though I appreciate how they tried to tie the toy line into the new releases. Plus it was the first time we get a Dewback since the vintage line.

Hellboy!

I likes me some Hellboy! With the Dark Knight going on and Batman / Joker week here on the blog I neglected to talk about Hellboy!



I was introduced to Hellboy through a toy, not this one, but the first one that looks like it stepped out of Batman the Animated Series. I knew he had his own comic, but I was drawn to the toy first. That attraction carried over into the comics, cartoons, movies, and these comic based toys from Mezco Toys. I immediately loved the look and feel of these things. They really look like they stepped out of one of Mike Mignola's pages.



This version of our big, red hero is a special edition that was sold online at Mezco's site and I believe one of the Comic Conns. Even though it was sold online it was hard to get. So one day I'm talking to our factory rep in China and we are talking about what we collect and it turns out we both had some Hellboy figures! Well months pass and I get an e-mail that one of his buddies works for the factory that produces these and he gave him a few samples, would I be interested. I said yes and in a few weeks the special edition Hellboy and a couple of others from the BPRD arrive on my desk at work!



Did I mention getting toys at work is just as cool as getting them at home? Hellboy came packaged with his usual Big Ass Gun, trench coat, and six disembodied vampire heads. Disembodied Japanese vampire heads to be exact. Straight form the funny pages!

Needless to say I was thrilled, I was expecting a regular Hellboy, but to open the package and find this guy, wow! So what were we talking about? Oh the movie. I saw the movie before Dark Knight and loved it, Hellboy never seems to take itself too seriously, and it was a steady moving story. It was a great Saturday afternoon flick.

So with this expect to see a few Hellboy posts here and there!

Boo! I'm the Batman! the Batman Begins Movie Masters Chase Figure

Like most Bat-Fans this week is a pretty big week for me with the release of The Dark Knight, the second in the re-imaged Batman movie franchise and the debut of the new Joker. So this week is going to be a Batman Toy Week here on Eclectorama. I plan on featuring some of my personal favorite versions of the Dark Knight, some new finds, and hopefully some cool stuff all from the Eclectorama Collection!

So to start off this week I'm spotlighting a figure that I thought I would never see, straight from the movie "Batman Begins". I remember sitting in the theater thinking if they ever made a figure of the scene where Batman gasses the Scarecrow with his own fear toxin it would be one of the coolest figs ever. That scene, to me was great, so I pretty much decided that I would never see it, mainly because it would be considered too scary for the kids. So, as I was walking through the store the other day what was staring back at me was none other than this little demon of a Bat from the Mattel Movie Masters figures line! They did make him! I was truly surprised!



I immediately thought, no way, how did this get by me. I didn't even have a clue this one was coming out. I certainly did not think that I would see any new Batman merch since having heard a lot of it was voluntarily recalled (not sure if that is a myth or not, but would explain why I haven't seen a lot of DC toys on the shelves).



This is none other than the Chase figure from the second release of Batman Movie Masters figures. The series includes Batman in his Batman Begins suit, Scarecrow, and this version from the scene described above. I say bravo to Mattel for pulling this character from one of the coolest scenes in Batman Begins. You know if you were going to scare the crap out of criminals dressed like a giant bat, this would be the way to do it! Some cool things about this figure is the finish, it's matte and has a wash that makes it "feel" grittier than the normal version. The matte finish also helps set off the gloss paint used on the eyes, probably the best feature of the figure. It really gives you the effect from the movie when Batman had the black beady eyes and blacked out features, as viewed by a fear toxin treated Scarecrow.



Now I'm not saying this because this is a chase figure, but if you see this guy on the pegs I would recommend picking him up just because he's a cool figure. Sure it's a head swap and new paint application, but it really is a nice figure in it's own regard. This from someone who stays away from chase figures...

Star Trek: The Menagerie on the Big Screen!

Well I gave in and went to one of the showings of Star Trek the Menagerie! I had a good time, it was kind of weird seeing the show on the big screen, even though it was basically an extended commercial for the release of the new HD series one set. The Menagerie has never really been my all time favorite episode, but having actually sat through it and watched it in this format, I do, now have an appreciation for it.

So here are some the things I liked. The fly by of the Enterprise where the camera comes over the bridge and there is a pass through where you see everyone on the bridge and it zooms in so you can see what's going on, has now been fixed so it matches up better. If you remember before it seemed like the bridge was on a different plane, since they did not match the angle of the model shot with the live action back in the sixties. This shot always bugged me, as a kid all the way till now. So I was relieved when someone finally caught this and fixed it.

The color was brilliant, and they really looked like they took care to remove scratches and dust from the print. The sound totally beat what I have home, but wasn't overwhelming. Then there are the special FX upgrades. I have been watching these re-mastered versions of Star Trek for a little while now, and I can honestly say that the re-mastered FX are not distracting in the least. The first time I watched one of these "newer" versions I really had to question if they changed anything at all. You really only notice when they do close ups of the ship, there is way more detail now.

My wife and I had a discussion after the viewing last night if the enhancements were more distracting in the re-mastered Star Trek episodes or when George Lucas worked his magic on Star Wars. We both came to the same conclusion that the Star Trek enhancements didn't affect the story and were done in a way that they did not take away from your original memory of the show, while Star Wars did have elements that changed the story in re-telling parts or the stories pace. So I'm giving the Star Trek team a thumbs up, way to go!

It was also nice to see some footage on how they accomplished the re-master, even though they were selling the new HD DVD set, I really found the part about the scan and clean up interesting, as well as the re-recording of the original score, pulling the original music and notes from the sixties. It was also a nice touch that when they flashed a name of one of the people that worked on the re-master it was set in the Classic Star Trek font, eye for detail I tell ya!

Things I didn't like, the price seems a little steep, 12.50 USD for a ticket, plus it would have been nice to get a little one sheet or something of the movie poster. I've been to movies before where they handed out little flyer / posters. If this was such the event that it was billed to be, why not give out a little bit more advertising, right? That's really about it for the dislikes. I did here some people complain about the 4:3 Television ratio and not widescreen, but hey you can't really control things like that and not distort the picture.

I will add my apologies to my wife, she didn't find out this was a two hour event until about 30 minutes before we got to the theater. But hey we did go out for Tex Mex before hand and I made sure she got a Margarita, before dealing with all the Trek geeks, myself included.