Toy Review: Xtractaurs Quikfire and Battlespike

I've been awaiting the Xtractaurs toyline with baited breath ever since I saw pics of it at Toy Fare 2009! I finally found Xtractaurs in the stores, but they're squirreled away in another aisle separate from the action figures. That's probably because Xtractaurs is an online video game/action figure combo toy line. In the game, you use an Extraction Gun to extract a dinosaur's DNA through holes in the figure's back. You then feed that DNA into the computer and use it to create fearsome Frankendinos! I won't be reviewing the game because I'm not forking over $20 for the Starter Kit... all I care about are the action figures. So I decided to start out with a couple of my favorite dinos: the T-Rex (Quikfire) and the Styracosaurus (Battlespike).

The Dork Dimension: Year One

That's right, it was a year ago today that I first launched the Dork Dimension! We've come a long way in the past year... well, not really, but there are a few aspects that changed as I explored the possibilities of a blog format.

Toy Review: Angry Stay Puft Marshmallow Man Bank

One of the classic games of my childhood was The Movie Monster Game for the C64. This game was a "giant monster all-out attack" which featured, along with Godzilla and other generic monsters, a Stay Puft rip-off named "Mr. Meringue". Although the quality of the game is questionable by today's standards, it went a long way to cement the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man as one of the top kaiju from my childhood.

Toy Pix: Nillin Scar Pheyden

This Scar Pheyden was available for a very limited time in the Warp Zone of the Onell Store. I was lucky enough to chance upon the site at the right time, and quickly snatched one up. I love the concept: Pheyden's battle damaged, but he's battle damaged with attitude. It's like Phanost gave him this scar years ago and he's just been waiting for payback.

Hand Held Game: Split Second (Parker Brothers)

Nothing better shows just how profoundly spoiled kids are nowadays than the current state of handheld games. The Nintendo DS and the PSP are full-blown game systems, essentially the equivalent of a Playstation 2 in the palms of your hands. But the handheld games of my day were far less sophisticated. There was no such thing as graphics back then... your visual interaction with the game was nothing more than the technological equivalent of a clock display. And one of the first (if not the first) such handheld was Split Second, circa 1980.

Toy Review: Ghostbusters Egon with Slimer (Mattel)

2009 has been a great year for Ghostbusters fans. We have a Ghostbusters video game featuring the original cast, news of a possible Ghostbusters III movie, and now action figures by the legendary Four Horsemen! I've been eagerly awaiting this line since I first saw the prototypes from the NYCC. But I've also been nervous... since the GB line is a MattyCollector.com exclusive, will it be as much of a pain to collect as Masters of the Universe Classics? Surprisingly, I managed to grab an Egon w/ Slimer with relatively little trouble. Let's see how he and the spud shape up!

Retro Toy Review: Muckman (Playmates TMNT)

The April 2009 issue of ToyFare magazine listed the "craziest Ninja Turtle toys ever", which just added fuel to the fire that is my obsession for classic Playmates action figures. One of the coolest-looking guys in that list was Muckman (at #5). With all those great, disgusting sculpting details, I knew as soon as I saw him that he was a figure worth tracking down.

Movie Review: G.I. Joe

There was a time when I absolutely loved the summer movie season. But this summer broke me of that. I've seen horrible, horrible things that no person should ever see: Wolverine... Land of the Lost... Transformers 2 (which was so bad that it made me seriously consider never doing a movie review ever again)... Star Trek was the only thing that kept this summer from totally bottoming-out. Until G.I. Joe.

Dork Dimension Redesigned... Again

I've never really been pleased with the design of the Dork Dimension. The first design was amateurish (at best) and the second didn't really mesh with the theme I was trying to set up. So, I took yet another whack at a redesign, and here it is! I rejected the previous metallic theme in favor of this hyperspace one, which is more in-line with the intergalactic flavor I would like the site to have. I hope you like it! I haven't determined yet whether or not the backgrounds of the content and sidebar make the text too hard to read. I'll have to sleep on it.

Toy Review: Star Trek IV The Voyage Home Kirk and Spock

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is sometimes criticized for its comical approach to the Star Trek franchise. I love it, though... it's easily my favorite movie featuring the original cast. Sure it's goofy, but it's also fun and the plot ventures out of the "struggle with the antagonist villain" template that boxes-in many of the Star Trek movies.

August Poll: Intergalactic Duel to the Death! Plus, TF2 Results

It's time for another Duel to the Death poll! This month, we take our Duel to the Death out to the far reaches of space as we settle once and for all who would win in intergalactic combat!