Lego Star Wars Tantive IV Diorama (2009 & 2014)

Here is my latest Lego P.O.W. (piece of work). I watched the cut scenes to the Lego Star Wars game, as well as the opening scenes of the film, and did my best to recreate it in Lego form, something I've been wanting to do since they made the army-builder set of Rebel Troopers. Anyway, I wanted to add an extra something to it, and I was contemplating buying several red lightsaber blades to use as lasers, when lo and behold, I found something that worked out even better. You know those toys that hold hundreds of plastic nails, allowing kids to make a print of their hand or face? I was in my local Wal-Mart, when my eyes landed on one of those, complete with a couple of hundred tiny reddish-pink translucent cylindrical pieces! Problem solved. And I think the Stormtrooper getting shot makes the diorama. Also, I always like to add an extra something when viewed from the other side, so I figured (pun intended), what better scene than Vader choking Captain Antilles? Anyway, here it is...

2014 UPDATE: I was to the point where I either destroyed this piece, or fixed it, so I chose the latter.  Besides fixing some little things that were bugging me, I ordered tiles for the floor (I was a beginner when I made this, and I didn't realize that painting Lego was not allowed, but I sure do now). A learning experience.

Boomerang Promotional Disc (Kaleidoscope, 2000)

Here's a neat little item I haven't seen anywhere else. In 2000, when Cartoon Network launched Boomerang, I stumbled upon an offer for a free CD on their website, and received one in the mail. It contains 19 tracks of original Hanna-Barbera themes and "sub-themes," and the CD was also enhanced with Web Toons, Icons, and a few games.

10-20-23 UPDATE:

NOW BACK, AFTER LO, THESE MANY YEARS!

LINK:  Boomerang Promotional Disc

Lego Episode 1 Diorama (2003)

Here's the very first Lego diorama I ever made. I made this for Uncle Jeff as a present in late 2003, and I even put it in a fancy display case. He was kind enough to bring it over the other night, as I neglected to ever get any decent, finished photos of the thing! I like to do two-sided dioramas, in this case a "before and after" using the same door. I also was happy with the lightsaber digging into the door, and the flourescent orange paint. It's funny how Lego sets that are common-as-cornflakes at the time you make a diorama can end up years later being quite expensive...it's also funny how I have made most of my dioramas so far from my least favorite Star Wars film...

HEY, MR. MARIO, MAN! (Leaping Fox)

Well, I really didn't think there would be a HEY, MR. SPACEMAN volume 9, but this was too good a compilation to leave uncompiled. Not only is this an early history of everyone's favorite iconic plumber, but also a collection of fascinating versions of arguably the most famous theme music in video game history. Over several years, I have searched far and wide for unique interpretations in a variety of styles and feels, and if you look at this idea as listening to the same song dozens of times, you are missing the boat. I was amazed to see how many ways the Super Mario Bros. theme could be interpreted (and interpolated), and I hope you'll agree it's a very entertaining disc. As a bonus, I also made a medley of various YouTube performances of the song on unusual instruments, including a steel drum band, a theremin, an ocarina, a beat-boxing flute, a marimba, a giant set of sparking electric Tesla coils, a manualist (look it up), a remote-control car striking hundreds of glass bottles, and, believe it or not, a laser cutting machine! Oh, and there's a second disc this time, the soundtrack to the classic game, including a sound-effects section.

Original Godzilla Ad Slicks (1976)

Here's a cool item I recently bought from a nice Ebay seller. These are ad slicks, which are/were glossy pages used to reproduce art for newspaper ads, and in some places are still used today. All of these are dated 1976, and are for a children's matinee series from American International Pictures, who was squeezing every penny they could from the films they still held rights to! The sheets are 11 1/2 x 14 1/2 inches, and have four ads to a page. They were a bit tricky to scan, but I got the job done. The films I bought ad slicks for are GODZILLA VS. THE THING, GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG MONSTER, YOG: MONSTER FROM SPACE (not Godzilla, but another Toho classic), and my personal favorite film of all time, DESTROY ALL MONSTERS. I think it's interesting how they changed the art around for the different sizes, and even changed the text to keep it interesting. These are definitely unique ads, and not what you usually see for these films.  If you want to download full-size scans of all 16 ads, a link is provided below! [Link is updated!]

LINK: 1976 Ad Slicks

Lego Jedi Council Diorama (2001-2009)

Years ago, Uncle Jeff made me a custom Jedi Council, (and this was long before there was even a Yoda made by Lego) and I had always planned to complete a Jedi Council diorama. I finally got around to it a couple of months ago, and I spent about a week painting, gluing, and struggling with Super Sculpey. Anyhow, I was pleased with the result, and surprised at how I had to put $100 into materials and a case! It's always more expensive than you think it's going to be.

The Hit Heard 'Round the World (US Army, 2-17-69)

Here we have a (I believe) short-lived radio series, presented by the US Army. The description on the cuesheet says "Top disc jockeys from all over the world playing and talking about the leading records on their local charts," and that in itself is a pretty neat idea, and from this little sample, we can see that it wasn't all a commercially-minded enterprise, as it would be today in this ever-shrinking world, where everybody buys and listens to the same thing (sarcasm here). Anyhow, I bought two of these at my local thrift store, and when I got home I discovered they were the same week of broadcasts, one being the "10 Minute Version" and the other being the "5 Minute Version," which is nothing but an edit of the longer version, playing only the "Hit of the Day," the third song from each show. Anyhow, the cuesheet above will give you all the info you need on each program. I thought it was a pretty neat find.

A Helpful Message From Batman

Happy New Year from Snake and Boris! (By the way, this came off of a Reach Toothbrush...)

Lunchables Clone Wars Card Game (2008)

With the new Clone Wars series beginning this Friday night, here are all four "Clone Wars Conquest" card sheets, currently found on Lunchables, so you can cut, print, and play.

"How To Play: Cut & fold cards, then line 'em up so your characters are hidden. To battle, each player picks a new card, showing them at the same time. Compare colors to see who wins and give cards to the winner (tied battles are discarded). Game is over when all the cards are played--winner is whoever has the most collected cards!"

More of Chris' Art!

I have been meaning to post the rest of the photos I took of Chris' art (see Steampunk Fish Sculpture below), including Snake and Boris' favorite super hero, Spazoman!

Signed By The King!

Went to a comic convention Saturday, and on the second time passing a large, hardcover book in a slipcover box, I asked the extremely nice guys at the table exactly what it was. When they told me, my jaw dropped, and so did $100. This is an extremely amazing book from 1992 called THE ART OF JACK KIRBY, limited to an edition of 1,000 and published by The Blue Rose Press. Not only did Kirby do special artwork for the box (just look, Orion and Captain America together! Darkseid and Doom! Gasp!), but on the endpages is a lithograph hand-numbered....followed by a rice paper page....wait for it.....SIGNED BY JACK KIRBY! Words cannot express my joy.