The Dork Dimension

Toy Review: ThinkGeek Plush Enterprise

2012-01-27T21:07:00.002-05:00

Now this one is out of left field. When I saw this plush Enterprise on ThinkGeek.com, I thought it was such an unconventional piece that I just had to pick it up. Plush toys aren't new to Star Trek as they've done a few times before like the creepy Knickerbocker Kirk and Spock from the Motion Picture. But a plush Federation Starship? It's going where no collectible has gone before! Let's take a closer look.
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Toy Pix: King Kong Mini-Figure

2012-01-25T19:55:00.000-05:00

Prepare yourself for Mini-Figure Mayhem, a new feature here at the Dork Dimension! Inspired by the super-awesome Figure Fotos over at MinifiguresXD (also known as Toypedia), I thought this would be a great way to showcase those few hundred mini-figures that are so often overlooked in my collection. Let's start with this interesting little King Kong that I found in the "garbage bin" at a comic shop last week.
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Toy Review: Vintage Collection Logray

2012-01-21T23:25:00.003-05:00

Logray was a special figure for me back in the vintage Star Wars days. He and Chief Chirpa were the first Ewoks released in Kenner's ROTJ line and because Lucasfilm wanted to maintain some degree of secrecy regarding the Ewoks, they were blacked out on the first ROTJ card backs. But I remember if you angled the card just right, you could just barely see their outlines. Of course, that made both Ewoks that much more desirable and cemented Logray as one of the coolest figures in the vintage line... for this dork, at least.
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Artwork: Armorvors Shark (TGB Customs)

2012-01-19T20:22:00.000-05:00

Next up in for the Armorvor trading card line is the Armorvor Shark! If you've been following the official TGB Customs blog, you've seen this dude among the wolf Armovors. And if you haven't, you need to check it out... there are some great Armorvor heads coming in the near future!

Arcade Tokens: Chuck E. Cheese

2012-01-14T12:17:00.004-05:00

Chuck E. Cheese was a magical place when I was a kid. It combined the arcade mania of the 80's with kids' unending love of pizza, and threw in an animatronic band to create the ultimate destination for kids' entertainment. But Chuck E. Cheese wasn't one of those restaurants in active rotation in my household, it was reserved mainly for special events. Maybe it was more expensive than normal restaurants... maybe my parents found it annoying (although I'd have fun in a place like that regardless of age)... maybe it was just a convenient card for my mom to play to keep us in line. Regardless, Chuck E. Cheese was up there with Dinosaur Land as one of the happiest places on Earth. Although the arcade games were fun, the big draw for me was the Pizza Time Theatre.
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Toy Tribute: Animated Batman Evolution

2011-12-31T12:43:00.000-05:00

Whenever a new Batman animated series airs, the first thing I do is look for is a "Hero Batman", to wit, a Batman figure sporting a basic Batsuit from the new series. It's always cool to see how the Batman design has changed from the previous version, and animated Batman has certainly changed dramatically over the years as DC continually morphs the design to try to keep the character fresh and interesting to kids. Let's take a look at the evolutionary history of animated Batman action figures!
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Toy Pix: Glyos Amorvors Venjorun

2011-12-21T20:56:00.001-05:00

It's amazing how much buzz the Armorvor Venjorun generated after he was debuted at the NYCC this year. Designed by Matt Doughty of Glyos fame, sculpted by Jason Frailey, and produced by TGB Customs, he quickly became one of the most talked-about toys around. And for good reason, too... this little guy rocks lobster. Click through for more!
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Toy Pix: Han Solo with Tauntaun, Then and Now

2011-12-14T17:23:00.005-05:00

Han Solo in Hoth gear riding his Tauntaun wasn't significant to me until Kenner released the incredible 12" Han Tauntaun set all the way back in the late 90's. It was one of the most sought-after exclusives of its day and understandably so. Not only did it look great, it was also HUGE. I no longer have my 12" Han Tauntaun... it was a victim of one of my periodic action figure spring cleanings. I know what you're wondering: if it's so great, why did I get rid of it? Let's be honest, as cool as it was, it was just too big to reasonably display or store. But the aura surrounding the Han Tauntaun legacy lives on as Hasbro releases a new Han Tauntaun in the 4" scale. Let's see how it compares to the vintage Han Tauntaun from Kenner.
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Toy Review: OMFG! Pheyden Blue Edition

2011-12-08T16:51:00.001-05:00

You remember MUSCLEs, right? Millions of Unusual Small Things Lurking Everywhere! I'm a huge fan of this too often forgotten line (as evinced by my MUSCLE blog) and apparently so are the people over at October Toys. Not only did they make an undead tribute to MUSCLEs with their ZOMBIE line, but they also created a new pack of monsters called OMFG: Outlandish Mini-Figure Guys! The standard OMFG color is a beautiful MUSCLEy pick, but October Toys smartly produced a number of exclusive colored figures in conjunction with other sites. The first to show up in my mailbox is the Onell Design exclusive Pheyden Blue! Let's take a look at this new generation of PVC mini-creatures!
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Arcade Tokens: Time-Out

2011-12-01T17:03:00.001-05:00

Time-Out was one of the most iconic arcade chains on the East Coast, famous for its layout connecting two arcades on two different sides of a mall via the Time-Out Tunnel (pics of which you can see over at the TimeOutTunnel.com). Above is a quarter-sized game token from this arcade giant but when this token was in circulation is anybody's guess. Judging from the scans of Time-Out invoices, it seems like it might have started circulating in the early to mid 90's. There was also a silver half-dollar sized token used for prizes, but I certainly didn't go there for the prizes when I was a kid... there were games to be played.
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Toy Review: Krillburger

2011-11-25T16:15:00.001-05:00

Those of you following the Dork Dimension on Google+ may remember this post featuring The Krillman's awesome mini-figures. The cool thing about Krillman is that he actually sculpts each figure individually so every one is unique. He'll even custom-sculpt a figure for you if you so choose. Although the figures for sale on his site are cool enough, I needed something a little more... fast-foodish. Officer Big Mac and Mayor McCheese were getting a little lonely in my collection, so I asked Krillman to make a burger-themed figure for me. And here's the result!
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Toy Review: Clone Wars Chewbacca

2011-11-16T15:58:00.001-05:00

I haven't jumped on the Clone Wars line yet, and I doubt I ever will. This isn't due to the figures themselves; I think they actually look really cool. It's just that I don't want to start collecting another style of Star Wars figures... especially since, for me at least, the Star Wars ship sailed years ago. Yet I still caved when this Clone Wars Chewie came along, proof positive that the right figure can convince me to buy it regardless of any justifications I might have against it. Let's check out the Chew-ster, animated style!
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Movie Review: The Captains

2011-11-14T09:54:00.001-05:00

Star Trek: The Original Series was cancelled over four decades ago. The Next Generation saw its last episode 17 years ago and even the finales of Deep Space Nine and Voyager are more than 10 years old. Wouldn't it be great to catch up with the captains of each of the series to learn what Star Trek means to them today? That's William Shatner's concept for The Captains... a commendable idea that unfortunately explodes into an awkward fireball of a train wreck.
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Toy Pix: Bio Jumpers (TGB Customs)

2011-11-09T23:01:00.001-05:00

The Bio Jumpers from TGB Customs are some of the coolest Glyos accessories around. Not only are they a great augmentation for your Glyos army, they're also really cool figures in and of themselves. Marty sent me these four for the illustration work I did on their header and trading cards, and here they are!
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Retro Toy Review: Cadet William Riker (Starfleet Academy)

2011-11-08T22:33:00.002-05:00

Ninety screen-accurate figures in the Playmates Star Trek: The Next Generation line and not a single Season 1 Riker among them. Sure, there was a Riker in Season 1 uniform but he was bearded, making him specific to Season 2. One bald-faced Riker did see plastic, though: this Cadet Riker from the Starfleet Academy wave. This dude is famous as custom fodder for those collectors who just can't live without Riker from Season 1: just swap the Academy head with the Season 2 head, and you have a beardless Commander Riker, right? Let's find out if it's that easy. Set course for a Retro Toy Review... maximum warp!
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Artwork: Armorvors Venjorun (Wolf)

2011-11-06T21:07:00.002-05:00

Here's my artwork for the newest release from TGB Customs, Armorvors Venjorun! You might have seen images of this figure's prototypes making the rounds on the Internet after its unveiling at the New York Comic Con. It was designed by Matt Doughty of Onell Designs and sculpted by Jason Frailey (who you might remember was the sculptor of the Glyos Mutant). Check out Marty's blog for more info!

Toy Pix: Michaelangelo, Then and Now

2011-10-28T22:21:00.001-04:00

Michaelangelo has long been the jester of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but that jovial personality primarily had its origins in the Fred Wolf cartoon. Mikey in the first Mirage comics was a neutral character. He wasn't commanding like Leo, technical like Don, or hot-headed like Raph... he was just there. You'd see a few references to a fun-loving personality (in issue 11 April mentions that he "can find a joke in just about any situation"), but they're few and far between and not really expressed by the character himself. It wasn't until the Fred Wolf cartoon when we saw Mikey blossom into the looney character we all know and love. So, let's check out these bookends of Michaelangelo's action figure history: the first Playmates figure and the more recent NECA incarnation!
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Arcade Token: Aladdin's Castle

2011-10-21T20:24:00.003-04:00

Recently I was blabbing on Google+ about my inexplicable drive to start collecting character toothbrushes. Steve chimed in and said that he has a hankering for arcade tokens. I thought that was a great idea! I spent a lot of time in arcades as a youth, both as a micro-dork in the early 80's during the first arcade mania driven by Pac-Man and its ilk, and as a teen-dork in the early 90's during the resurgence with games like Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat. Collecting arcade tokens are the only way to capture a part of that arcade-rat culture without forking over the dough for full-size arcade cabinets. Thanks to Steve for the idea for this new feature! To start off, let's take a look at this token from Aladdin's Castle!
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Mini Toy Review: Green Lantern Galius Zed (4"-scale)

2011-10-14T10:00:00.000-04:00

Speaking of weird alien designs (see last post), we'll close Green Lantern Week with the weirdest of the weird, Galius Zed. This was a difficult design to pull off, considering in the comics Galius was pretty much a Pac-Man looking dude with three legs. But the movie did a great job of redesigning him in an interesting and realistic manner, while maintaining most of what made the character fun in the first place.
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Mini Toy Review: Green Lantern Movie Masters Naut Kei Loi

2011-10-13T08:53:00.001-04:00

The coolest aspect of the Green Lantern movie is the menagerie of wacky aliens. The Green Lantern comic isn't afraid to get silly with its aliens and neither is the movie, with Naut Lei Loi as a perfect example. He's a fish. Not a humanoid alien with some fish-like gills and fins, but a straight fish alien. Strangely enough, that, along with the great sculpt and shiny paint apps, makes him one of the coolest Green Lanterns around.
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Mini Toy Review: Green Lantern Tomar-Re (4")

2011-10-12T10:00:00.000-04:00

A few days ago I reviewed Movie Masters Tomar-Re, the figure infamous for its fop-overability. It doesn't matter how great a figure looks if it's face-down on your shelf. I was nervous that this 4" Tomar would follow suit and topple over at the drop of a hat. Fortunately, this dude has little problem standing, although you do have to hunch him forward a little.
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Mini Toy Review: Green Lantern Classics G'Hu

2011-10-11T10:00:00.000-04:00

Day 4 of Green Lantern Week features an Independence Day alien! Or, maybe it's Species 8472. Or maybe it's G'Hu, Green Lantern of sector 2937. As you can tell, I'm not crazy for the character design, which looks like it came right out of a 90's sci-fi movie. As great as the sculpt and paint apps are, I just can't get past the impression that he seems like a reject from The Phantom Menace.
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Mini Toy Review: Green Lantern Max Charge Kilowog

2011-10-10T10:00:00.000-04:00

Day 3 of the Green Lantern Week features Max Charge Kilowog in all his Jello goodness! Not only does the clear green plastic look awesome, it also has a wonderful rubbery smell that makes you wish you had a box full of Max Charge Kilowogs to open up periodically, like aroma therapy for the toy collector. Sadly, the smell dissipates over time, so sniff away while you can.
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Mini Toy Review: Green Lantern Movie Masters Tomar-Re

2011-10-09T10:00:00.000-04:00

For day 2 of the Green Lantern Week at the Dork Dimension, we have Movie Masters Tomar-Re! You might be asking yourself, "Are reviews of Green Lantern figures even relevant anymore?" Yes, I dare say, because many of the figures are starting to show up on sale. This Tomar-Re, for example, was purchased at the low, low price of $5 at Walmart. Is he worth it?
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Mini Toy Review: Green Lantern Battle Axe Hal Jordan

2011-10-08T10:00:00.000-04:00

There's only one week to go until Green Lantern is released on home video and I still have 7 figures from the movie line that I need to review. So let's both celebrate the release and crank out these reviews with a Green Lantern Week on the Dork Dimension! I'll review a different action figure every day until the movie is released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 14th. I'm not nearly prolific enough to do a full review every day, so these reviews will be miniaturized for your consumption. For the first one, let's start out with Hal Jordan himself!
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Toy Review: Papo Tyrannosaurus Rex

2011-09-24T10:52:00.001-04:00

If you've been following me on Google+ or Twitter, you've likely noticed that I'm a big dinosaur nut. But my dinosaur fandom is totally disproportional to the amount of dinosaur toys I own. I'm such a stickler for scientific accuracy that I usually can't bring myself to buy a Jurassic Park toy or the supposed "museum quality" PVC dinosaurs you see in those "learning" toy stores. But on a recent voyage to Dinosaur Land, this Tyrannosaur caught my eye in the gift shop. It's made by Papo, a French company that specializes in PVC figures. Let's see how their Tyrannosaurus Rex turned out.
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Toy Pix: Man-E-Faces, Then and Now

2011-09-18T10:25:00.001-04:00

Observe, the Man-E-Figures of Man-E-Faces! This dude was one of my favorite MOTU figures when I was a kid so I was ecstatic when the Masters of the Universe Classics line released its take on Man-E-Faces. Let's take a look!
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Toy Pix: Glyan Recon of Dinosaur Land

2011-09-15T22:22:00.001-04:00

After an intergalactic dogfight in which his ship was irreparably damaged, a Relgost Marine Division Glyan finds himself crash-landed on the strange prehistoric world of Dinosaur Land!
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Toy Tribute: Captain Jean-Luc Picard

2011-09-12T15:24:00.002-04:00

Finally we find ourselves at the culmination of the Dork Dimension Star Trek: The Next Generation Archive with a tribute to the captain of the Enterprise D and E, Jean-Luc Picard! Picard had a bit of a rough start in Season 1, characterized as a gruff and curmudgeonly grump, but that hard exterior softened in later seasons into a more paternal persona that I often call "Papa Picard". Unlike most of our TV and film heroes, Picard usually solved problems by out-thinking his opponents with reason rather than out-blasting or out-lightsabering them. Since Picard was the captain and arguably the most important character in the series, he got a pretty full assortment of action figures in the vintage Playmates Trek line. Let's check them out, in order of appearance in the Next Gen timeline:
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MS Paint He-Man and Battle Cat by Jason Inge

2011-09-07T20:18:00.000-04:00

My friend Jason was playing around with MS Paint again and made this amazing piece featuring He-Man and Battle Cat! You may remember that this isn't the first artwork he's done with MS Paint, but this is his masterpiece, at least so far. (Although I do really dig those Ninja Turtles.) Click through for more!
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Dork Dimension: Year Three

2011-08-29T22:43:00.006-04:00

It's that time of year again! That's right, the Dork Dimension has completed its third year of existence! This site has changed a lot in the last year, so let's take a look at how far it's come.
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Luke's Plan to Save Han

2011-08-27T15:27:00.001-04:00

Convention: Baltimore Comic Con 2011

2011-08-25T22:06:00.004-04:00

Hulk overlooks patrons at a dealer's table.

The Baltimore Comic Con gets better every year! 2011's show featured some big names in the comic book industry, including Stan Lee himself! I didn't pony up the money to get Stan's autograph but I had a blast regardless. Not only were there plenty of other great comic names there, but also lots of fun dealer's tables. However, it's the cosplaying that has quickly become my favorite part of the show. Fans are amazingly resourceful and many of the costumes at the Con were very impressive. I managed to get way more shots than last year, but even then I only captured a small percentage of the costumes at the show.

Toy Review Showdown: Movie Masters Kilowog vs. DC Universe Swamp Thing

2011-08-20T23:33:00.002-04:00

Although I picked up Movie Masters Green Man, I've been avoiding the rest of the Green Lantern 6"-scale figures for one reason: Kilowog. Since he was going to be a SDCC exclusive, with limited distribution on MattyCollector.com after the convention, I didn't want to get too far into collecting the line without being guaranteed to get a character whose absence would make a Green Lantern Corps incomplete. As you can tell, I did manage to score a Movie Masters Kilowog, but I also splurged on a DC Universe Swamp Thing. Although I'm not a Swamp Thing fan by any means, I always thought the character looked cool and this figure could be great for my DC display. But this town ain't big enough for both of these green giants, so for this Toy Review Showdown we pit Movie Masters Kilowog against DC Universe Swamp Thing. Draw, you varmints!
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Artwork: Glyos Bio Jumpers

2011-08-17T13:47:00.001-04:00

I posted my illustrations of trading cards for the upcoming Glyos Bio Jumpers from TGB Customs! Click above to check them out, and take a look at TGB Customs Blog for shots of the prototypes. If you're interested in ordering some, just go to the October Toys Forums and click on the last page of the THEGODBEAST X ONELL DESIGNS topic to sign up!

Toy Tribute: Aliens (Playmates Star Trek:TNG)

2011-08-12T22:43:00.004-04:00

Star Trek: The Next Generation often gets a bad rap for its alien designs. Fans often complain that the aliens were nothing more than normal human schmoes with weird foreheads or noses. While that's true in some cases, there were also many aliens that were innovative and awesome. Playmates only produced a small fraction of the aliens we saw on screen, but the ones we got were all kinds of cool. Let's check them out, in order of episode appearance.
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Toy Pix: The Batmobile, Then and Now

2011-08-07T23:11:00.000-04:00

Batman's costume changes little over the course of decades, but the Batmobile changes much more frequently and dramatically. Not only does the style of the Batmobile reflect the car designs of the time period, but also each artist has an entirely different take on what the Batmobile should be. The Batmobile of my childhood is a totally different animal than the Batmobile of today, so with this Then And Now we take a look at two 3-inch Batmobiles.
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Toy Review: Clawful (Masters of the Universe Classics)

2011-07-29T22:04:00.001-04:00

Although I never developed enough of an attachment to the original Clawful as a kid to make him one of my favorites, I always thought he was pretty awesome. This new Clawful tugged on those nostalgia strings enough to lure me back to the MOTUC line, even after three lackluster figures in a row. It's been a full eight months since I reviewed a Classics figure, so let's see if time has cleansed my palate enough so that I can assess this figure without the baggage of previous disappointments.
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A Dork's Perspective of Google+

2011-07-23T22:11:00.003-04:00

The Facebook concept sounds great: connect with your friends online and share your life with them, no matter how physically distant you are. But in practice Facebook's massive friend-clutter causes it to implode like a gravitational singularity. MAD Magazine covered this pretty well in issue #509 (above), but I'll expand further here. For every real friend I want to keep in contact with, there's also a pseudo-friend who wants to track with me. Do I go the open route and allow any random acquaintance to friend me, or do I lean toward the side of paranoia and selfishly guard my account from those who aren't close friends? There are also people I'd like to "friend" because they're a part of my life but with whom I don't associate in a "friend-like" manner: bosses, parents, in-laws, etc. Everyone's a "friend" on Facebook, whether that person is a friend in real life or not.
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Toy Tribute: Data (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

2011-07-16T23:37:00.005-04:00

Data was one of the most important characters in Next Generation; in fact, it could be argued that Data was even more important than Captain Picard. Not only were there a crapload of Data-centric episodes that dealt with his exploration of humanity, but also Data often played a pivotal part in an episode in some other respect. Turn on any random TNG episode and you'll likely see a malfunctioning Data playing the antagonist (Brothers, Season 4), Data befriending some outcast (Deja Q, Season 3), or Data as the deus ex machina, so to speak, coming to the rescue just in time (The Game, Season 5). Actually, he saved the Enterprise so many times that it's a wonder any starship can avoid destruction without a Soong-type android. Given his popularity on the show, it's understandable that Playmates produced quite a few Data action figures in the 5" scale. Let's take a look, in order of appearance on the show!
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Movie Review: Transformers Dark of the Moon

2011-07-11T11:23:00.006-04:00

I'm too old for this crap.
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Glyos Mutant Header Artwork

2011-07-09T20:27:00.002-04:00

I posted the illustrations for the Glyos Mutant up at the Dork Dimension deviantArt site! Click on the images to check them out, and if you'd like to order some of these monstrosities, you can sign up on the Official Mutant Glyos List on the October Toys forums! Only 5 slots left!

Toy Pix: Basic and Axis Armored Glyans (Combat Team Black Skull)

2011-07-09T11:00:00.002-04:00

It's somewhat of a momentous occasion in the Glyos Universe when Onell Design introduces a new 2.75" body buck, so you might imagine my dorky giddiness when the Glyan made its debut last month! I managed to score a couple basic Glyans, as well as an Axis-upgraded Glyan before they sold out. Let's check them out!
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Toy Pix: Glyos Mutant

2011-07-04T12:00:00.004-04:00

The latest collaboration between TGB Customs and Jason Frailey Studio is this Glyos Mutant! Continuing the Infection concept of Glyos characters evolving into weird and wacky morphologies, this wave depicts an unfortunate Glyos victim evolving into a freaky radioactive mutant! Check him out below!
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Toy Pix: Terri-Bull (Buffaloman), Then and Now

2011-07-03T23:21:00.000-04:00

Despite my love for M.U.S.C.L.E.s, I don't cover the line much here at the Dork Dimension. That's because I've already devoted a lot of time and effort exploring it over at Nathan's M.U.S.C.L.E. Blog. Still, since NMB is an archival site that isn't actively updated and it's been a while since I've written about M.U.S.C.L.E.s, I thought this edition of Then and Now should be devoted to the main villain of the line: Terri-Bull! Or Buffaloman, as you Kinnikuman fans would call him. Let's take a look, then and now!
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Toy Review: Wheeljack (Transformers Generations)

2011-06-25T22:47:00.001-04:00

I always wanted a G1 Wheeljack as a kid, but for some reason I never got one. Maybe I was concentrating so hard on collecting the blindingly awesome Dinobots, Insecticons, and Triple-Changers that I just didn't have enough room in my Transformer life for much else. I did end up checking out a G1 Wheeljack first hand some years later, but I remember being disappointed with its weird gorilla arms. So when I heard about this Generations Wheeljack, I hoped I'd finally be able to fill that Wheeljack void in my life with a sweet modern update. Let's find out!
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Movie Review: Green Lantern

2011-06-20T00:45:00.009-04:00

Although I first started reading Green Lantern comics in 2005 when Hal Jordan made his return, I've been catching up on GL history recently by reading the Showcase Presents phonebook that includes Hal's first 20 comics. The early stories successfully blend the superhero genre with 60's-style science fiction into a unique and fun amalgamation. At first, the comics were based on Earth, with Green Lantern fighting normal criminal shmoes by himself. But the writers quickly (and correctly) realized Green Lantern's sci-fi coolness potential, and the comic became more about Hal teaming up with other alien Green Lanterns on intergalactic, cross-dimensional, and futuristic adventures.
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Chris' Toy Collection

2011-06-17T14:45:00.001-04:00

Chris of TheBeastIsBack.com fame sent along these pics of his incredible action figure collection to showcase here! I was happy to oblige, considering how jealous I am of his display. Let's check it out!
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Dork Dimension Version 4.0

2011-06-15T23:14:00.005-04:00

As you've likely noticed, I've implemented a new design for the Dork Dimension! It's been almost two years since the last redesign, and for a person who really digs web design like me, that's an eternity. The inspiration came from a logo that I created for the Dork Dimension: Year Two article. I really liked the three-dimensionality of that logo, so I made a similar one for this redesign. The theme is a computerized one, with blocky computer terminal text and scan lines. I'll likely be tweaking the design a bit over the next few weeks, so don't be surprised if you notice a slight adjustment here and there. And if you're feeling nostalgic, take a look at Dork Dimension designs of yesteryear!

If you notice anything awry, please let me know!

Toy Tribute: Q and El-Aurians

2011-06-12T23:17:00.001-04:00

For this tribute, I grouped Q together with the El-Aurians (Guinan and Dr. Soran) for a couple of reasons. First, they're all aliens that are physically identical to humans. And second, Guinan and Q had an antagonistic relationship with a history of conflict with each other. Q has always been a favorite character of mine, acting as the Mister Mxyzptlk of the TNG Universe. I've also been very fond of Guinan. As I stated previously in the Troi tribute, she fits the "character who senses something wrong" shoes really well by not being a real empath and giving everything away prematurely. She also has a really interesting implied history (as alluded to in episodes like Time's Arrow) that makes her character mysterious and fun to conjecture about. Dr. Soran? He was okay in Generations, I suppose. He had kind of interesting motivations but ultimately he was just a cliched villain. Anyway, let's check out their respective action figures!
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Toy Review: Green Man (Green Lantern Movie Masters)

2011-05-29T16:07:00.002-04:00

I was planning on skipping the 6-inch scaled Green Lantern Movie Masters line. All the brouhaha that constantly surrounds DC Universe Classics and Masters of the Universe Classics has nearly killed that scale for me. I just knew some shenanigans would be pulled that would make me regret even starting to collect the line. Maybe there would be quality control problems. Maybe some figures would be impossible to find. Maybe a super-cool Lantern would be a build-a-figure and I'd have to buy figures I didn't want just to get all the parts. It would be best to not bother with the line at all. Still, the Movie Master Lanterns look awesome in all their shiny greenness, and when I saw Green Man on MattyCollector.com, I just couldn't resist. I dismissed my previous hesitation as needlessly pessimistic paranoia. Surely this line wouldn't follow the trends set by DCUC and MOTUC that made them so frustrating to collect, right?
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Toy Pix: Kabuto Mushi

2011-05-21T20:30:00.001-04:00

Here's the hero of the Infection 2.0 line, Kabuto Mushi by Marty of TGB Customs! While previous Glyos-related releases from TGB Customs included head and arm attachments, Kabuto is Marty's first entirely unique figure for the Glyos universe. Click through to check him out!
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Toy Pix: Gamorrean Guard, Then and Now

2011-05-21T16:13:00.000-04:00

Gamorrean Guard was one of my favorite aliens from Jabba's Palace when I was a kid. The movie costume was so awesome, and the creature was featured so prominently on ROTJ promotional materials, that I had to get a figure as soon as possible. I still have a strong nostalgic fondness for Gamorrean Guard, in part because it was one of the few aliens from Jabba's Palace that wasn't perverted by Lucasfilm including it in the prequels as a Jedi, Senator, or whatever. Let's check out Gamorrean evolution over the past (nearly) 30 years!
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Bulk Toy Review: Green Lantern Movie Corps from Waves 1 and 2 (Mattel)

2011-05-14T20:31:00.009-04:00

Green Lantern scores the number 3 spot on my list of favorite superheroes (right behind Batman and Superman), so it's easy to say that the Green Lantern movie is my most anticipated movie of this year. After seeing the new GL displays in the toy aisles, I got caught up in the merchandising campaign and snatched up as many of the Corps as I could find. I opted to collect the smaller 4" figures over the Movie Masters for a number of reasons: first, the 4" figures are cheaper; second, they're smaller and easier to display; third, the various issues I've had with the MOTUC and DCUC lines soured me on the larger scale (not to mention the crazy ordeal that would entail collecting a build-a-figure). But was that a wise choice? Read on!
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Toy Pix: Japanese Grimlock vs. Soundwave and Frenzy VSY Set

2011-05-09T10:17:00.001-04:00

You might remember when I posted pics of my friend Matt's Soundwave collection last year. It's always cool to see a collection that so completely explores just one toy in all its different variations. When we last left Matt, he was searching for two vintage Soundwaves: the European Milton Bradley Soundwave and the Japanese Grimlock vs. Soundwave VSY two-pack. Fortunately, he managed to score the latter and sent along some pics for us to enjoy! For the Soundwave laymen like me, Matt offered to fully expound upon this set himself. Take it away, Matt!
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Toy Tribute: Geordi La Forge

2011-05-07T22:50:00.002-04:00

I think Geordi La Forge was one of the more important characters on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Although he didn't have as many character-specific episodes as Data or Picard, Geordi was often featured somewhat prominently given his duties as Chief Engineer and his friendship with Data. Not to mention the fact that his VISOR was often a plot driver itself, either as a deus ex machina device that could be reconfigured to get the heroes out of a jam (The Enemy), or as a vulnerability that the bad guys could exploit (The Mind's Eye). That's why I was never a big fan of Geordi losing the VISOR in favor of ocular implants in First Contact... not only did they remove something that made the character visually distinctive, they also wrote off a good source for fun plot concepts. Anyway, let's take a look at Geordi's representation in plastic from the vintage 4.5" Playmates TNG line!
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Toy Review: Sergaent Kup (Transformers Generations)

2011-04-23T18:07:00.001-04:00

Given the previews I had seen of this year's toys, I was expecting 2011 to be a year for Star Wars and Masters of the Universe Classics. But the Star Wars wave that might have lured me back, namely the ROTJ Vintage Collection with Admiral Ackbar and Gammorean Guard, was a no-show in my local stores. And the debacle I went through to get Grizzlor (along with my growing indifference for the line) pretty much killed MOTUC for me. That leaves a big void that's just waiting to be filled by some toy property. Maybe Transformers will be that property. I've been really impressed with the line recently, especially the Generations subline with its interesting take on classic characters like this Sergeant Kup.
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Toy Pix: Infection 2.0 Pheyden, Govurom, Soldier Beetle

2011-04-21T17:13:00.006-04:00

The latest Infection wave from TBG Customs featured our favorite Glyos heroes and villains infected by a gruesome agent that horrifically transforms them into intergalactic spiders! These heads are near and dear to me because I feel like I was part of the design process. For the Infection 2.0/Kabuto Mushi triptych, I wanted to explore the process of how the Infection spread through the Pheydens, so I came up with a few quick sketches of a Pheyden midway through the transformation. Marty ran with the idea and sculpted these awesome heads depicting half-transformed versions of not only Pheyden but also other Glyos heroes and villains.
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Toy Pix: Star Wars Klaatu, Then and Now

2011-04-16T20:34:00.002-04:00

I loved the aliens of Jabba's Palace as a kid. That weird hodge-podge of alien designs was my favorite thing about Return of the Jedi. Back then, I thought of Klaatu as one of the "hero" aliens, i.e. an alien that was actively involved in the scenes, like the Gammorean Guard. That's not really the case though. He didn't do much of anything other than get pwned by Luke on the Sail Barge. Still, I remember Klaatu was featured in a lot of the merchandising so he's an important aspect of ROTJ to me.
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Toy Pix: Gold Clawshine 2.0

2011-04-16T15:25:00.004-04:00

I've been drooling over the Clawshine 2.0 figures for the past few months. Sure, I already have a couple of Clawshines from the first wave, but two is just not enough. Not to mention the fact that the 2.0 wave includes a super awesome gold-painted figure. Fortunately, Marty hooked me up with one as a bonus for my work on the Infection 2.0 wave, as you can see above. Click through to check out a couple more shots!
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Toy Tribute: Beverly Crusher

2011-04-08T17:51:00.004-04:00

Dr. Crusher seemed like one of the most underutilized characters in the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation. That's not really the case, though: her function as Chief Medical Officer meant that she was often involved in the plot in one way or another, and she was featured prominently in plenty of great episodes, like Cause and Effect. I guess the real problem is that I would have liked to see more of a romantic connection between Beverly and Picard, such as the one that was exposed and summarily obliterated in the Season 7 episode, Attached. Let's see how Playmates handled the character in 4.5" plastic form (in order of appearance on the show, of course).
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MSPaint TMNT, Wolverine, Batman, and He-Man by Jason Inge

2011-04-01T16:41:00.005-04:00

My friend Jason has been playing around recently with the artistic capabilities of MSPaint. I've always thought it to be such a simplistic program that there's no way that you could do anything interesting with it, but Jason proved me wrong! Click through to check out his surprisingly awesome MSPainted TMNT, Batman, Wolverine, and He-Man!
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Comic Review: Godzilla Kingdom of Monsters #1

2011-03-30T23:39:00.001-04:00

Modern comics have been off my radar for more than a few years now. While I used to follow roughly a dozen titles in my heyday, I eventually found that comic books just didn't work for me anymore. Not only are they prohibitively expensive (most titles are at least $3), but comics today are way too fixated on the graphic novel concept. A comic company will force almost every storyline into a series of at least five or six issues so that they can capitalize on it twice by re-releasing it in a collected graphic novel format. That's all fine and dandy, but the problem is that often the storylines aren't strong enough to stretch out that far... not to mention the fact that I just don't have the attention span to wait half a year to finish a plot. Nowadays, I read the inexpensive "phonebook" collections like DC's Showcase Presents. But IDW lured me back with Godzilla Kingdom of Monsters. Let's check it out!
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Retro Toy Review: Bill S. Preston Esq. and Ted "Theodore" Logan (Kenner)

2011-03-26T20:14:00.003-04:00

The mid-90's were the Dark Ages of action figures for me. It was a transitional period: I had stopped playing with toys as a kid but I hadn't yet started collecting toys as a collector. Many fun and interesting toy lines were lost on me during this time, including Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. In fact, I wasn't even all that interested in the movie at the time, so this property almost entirely fell under my radar. I've since come to appreciate the hilarious time capsule that is Bill & Ted, so I thought I'd pick up the hero figures from the toy line, namely the Wyld Stallyns themselves! Let's check them out!
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Toy Pix: Lieutenant Saavik, Then and Now

2011-03-18T22:37:00.001-04:00

The Star Trek movies featuring the classic cast never got a lot of attention from toy manufacturers, but fortunately we did manage to get some Wrath of Khan figures from both Playmates in the 90's and Diamond Select in the 2000's. This Then and Now feature concentrates on one of the most memorable characters in TWOK: Lt. Saavik.
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Toy Pix: C2E2 Zombie Chuck

2011-03-16T22:14:00.005-04:00

For the uninitiated, Zombie Chuck is a comic written and drawn by Brian Fyffe, who also designed a resin figure based on the comic's hero zombie. I've been digging the figure and its cool stylized sculpt for a few months now, so when Brian offered to send along some Zombie Chuck swag to be featured on the Dork Dimension, I eagerly agreed.
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Toy Tribute: Next Generation Starfleet Officers

2011-03-13T23:51:00.011-04:00

Every so often the Playmates Star Trek: The Next Generation action figure line would branch out from the main crew of the Enterprise to explore the secondary officers. Although Playmates never got as obscure in its character selection as you often see in Hasbro's Star Wars line (unfortunately), it did manage to include many of the more prominent secondary characters. Let's check them out (in order of appearance, of course).
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Toy Pix: Axis-Enhanced Echo Morph with Phase Arms (Glyos)

2011-03-09T20:15:00.003-05:00

When a new Glyos wave is released, I can often only afford to buy one of each item in a wave. Of course, that means that when I finally get my shipment and start playing around with the different configurations, I often find myself thinking, "Man, if I had just bought one more set of blank, I could make this dude super-awesome." So, with this past Glyos release, I decided to go crazy (at least, for me) and buy two sets of metallic Axis Joints and Phase Arms.
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Toy Review: Revoltech Anguirus and Gigan

2011-02-26T13:52:00.000-05:00

After last month's super-cool Rodan, I was sure to sign up for the next two kaiju in Revoltech's Sci-Fi line: Anguirus and Gigan! Besides Godzilla himself, Anguirus was my favorite kaiju as a kid, probably because of his passing semblance to my favorite childhood dinosaur, the Ankylosaurus. Gigan was another favorite, arguably the coolest villain of the Showa series. Both monsters are strong candidates for any Godzilla toy line, so let's take a look at their Revoltech incarnations.
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Toy Pix: Madballs Skull Face, Then and Now

2011-02-20T10:32:00.001-05:00

When I was a kid, Madballs were the coolest things around. I remember feverishly collecting them, even though they're of dubious utility. They're not really action figures to play with, they're not really balls to toss around... just what do you do with those things? It didn't seem to matter; I was such a fanboy that I even subscribed to that awful Madballs comic produced by Star Comics. And my favorite Madball from the first wave was Skull Face.
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Toy Pix: Glyos Henshin Wave 2: Cosmic Wave Excellis and Echo Morph

2011-02-19T20:06:00.004-05:00

For my efforts in creating the Infection Wave 2 triptych, Matt was cool enough to send me a few samples of his new Glyos wave: Henshin Part 2! He sent along not only a blue Cosmic Wave Excellis and red Echo Morph, but also their corresponding Axis Joints.
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Toy Tribute: Next Generation Klingons

2011-02-13T20:22:00.000-05:00

Klingons were the quintessential villains in the classic Star Trek series but they weren't given any sort of real depth until Next Generation. Worf, the first Klingon main character in a Trek series, was an easy conduit into exploring what the Klingons were and what they represented. The result was a transmogrification of the Klingons from the slimy mustache-twirlers of the Original Series and the brutal warmongers of the early movies into a more nuanced species. I must admit though, my eyes often glazed over during the Klingon Next Generation episodes because they usually dealt with political strife within the Klingon government. Political strife is a tough sell in any science fiction, to which anyone who has seen the Star Wars prequels can attest. Anyway, let's take a gander at the Klingon figures that were available in the Playmates Next Generation line.
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Toy Review: Tron Legacy Clu and Kevin Flynn's Light Cycle

2011-01-29T14:23:00.003-05:00

Like many of you, I had been waiting until the time was right to buy anything from the Tron Legacy toy line. I saw the movie and enjoyed it, but the toys were not quite impressive enough to make me go on a crazy shopping spree. I was waiting for the line's inevitable demotion to the clearance bin, but I got a Walmart gift card for my birthday so I decided that now was as good a time as any to pick up a few Tron toys. I've been drooling over Flynn's Light Cycle for the past few months, so that was a no-brainer. But who would be the pilot? I passed over Kevin and Sam Flynn, both of which had questionable face sculpts and poor paint apps. I decided upon Clu, in part because of the importance of his character in the movie, and in part because I thought his yellow circuitry would go best with the white Light Cycle. Let's check them both out.
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Artwork: Infection 2.0, Kabuto Mushi Beetle Battle

2011-01-27T23:18:00.003-05:00

1600 x 900

If you've been watching TGB Customs Blog, you likely know about Marty's new collaboration with Matt Doughty of Onell Design: Kabuto Mushi and a new Infection wave! Marty commissioned me yet again to do an illustration for this release, but this one would be a bit more involved than the usual piece. Somebody along the line (I forgot who, I think it was Matt) came up with the idea of a triptych, i.e. a work that's a composite of three sections that are separate in and of themselves, but together form a more comprehensive piece.
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Toy Pix: MOTU Stinkor, Then and Now

2011-01-23T17:53:00.002-05:00

Stinkor has always been one of my favorite Masters of the Universe figures, probably because it was a cool redeco of an already cool figure: Mer-Man. (In fact, I thought that Mer-Man was so awesome that he was the very first MOTU figure I chose to buy.) So, add a stark black-and-white coloration to a MOTU favorite, and you have a recipe for success.
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Toy Tribute: William T. Riker

2011-01-18T11:11:00.003-05:00

Next up in the Star Trek: TNG Archive is everyone's favorite first officer: Riker, William T! I always liked Riker but he often seemed to be the Trek equivalent of a wallflower, standing in the background just watching the action go on around him. I think that's because his role changed over the years from its initial concept. At first, Gene Rodenberry was really pushing the idea that the Captain of the Enterprise is so important that he should stay on the ship instead of leading dangerous away missions. You see that a lot in the first few seasons, with Riker playing the action hero on the away team. But as the series continued you see more of a concentration on Picard in heroic situations, which, of course, meant that Riker's initial role became redundant. So much so that his solution of saving the Enterprise from collision with the USS Bozeman by decompressing the main shuttlebay was rejected countless times and was eventually accepted only when Data had definite proof that his own solution sucked. (If you've seen Cause and Effect, you know what I'm talking about.) But Riker was a fun character anyway and he had some pretty cool action figures in the Playmates TNG line. Let's check them out... in the order in which they appeared on the show, of course! (Note: Many of the Rikers are shown with a customized phaser so that the phaser blast doesn't get in the way of the figure.)
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Toy Pix: Clawshine

2011-01-07T20:13:00.001-05:00

As per the custom, Marty (TGB Customs) sent me a couple of samples for my work in designing the header card art for his Clawshine release (sculpted by Jason Frailey). The figures look incredible in person, so I thought I'd snap a few shots of them. The clear plastic is so clear that I had to play with directional lighting in order to get the details to stand out.
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Toy Review: Revoltech Rodan

2011-01-01T09:38:00.000-05:00

American collectors might be unfamiliar with the Japanese Revoltech line, so here's the concept in a nutshell: Revoltech is a line of hyper-articulated, hyper-detailed anime-themed action figures from Japan. I have little experience with the line myself, limited exclusively to this open-faced Gaiking. The figure looks awesome and has plenty of articulation, but for whatever reason, it just wasn't the impetus it needed to be in order to get me into the line. Maybe it's the fact that the Revoltech joints can be difficult to pose, or maybe it's my preference towards jumbo-sized Shogun Warriors. Whatever the case, I wrote off Revoltechs... until the recent science fiction waves featuring kaiju, that is. I just couldn't resist picking up one of my favorite kaiju of all time, Rodan.
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Movie Review: Tron Legacy

2010-12-18T00:30:00.002-05:00

I'm not sure what it is, but there just haven't been any movies this year that have enticed my fandom. My only movie reviews this year were for Kick-Ass and Clash of the Titans; the former being passably meh and the latter being inexcusably atrocious. I've pretty much centered my cinematic happiness for this entire year around Tron Legacy. Let's see if it's good enough to supply a full year's worth of geeking-out.
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Toy Tribute: Star Trek TNG Mini-Figures

2010-12-12T09:46:00.002-05:00

While I've been obsessively collecting the Playmates Star Trek: The Next Generation action figure line, I've avoided the accessories. Each figure came with a bunch of accessories of varying relevance, and it would be insanity not only try to collect all the accessories, but also to try to match up the accessories with the figures. However, I would be remiss if I don't include at least some coverage of the "mini-figures", that is, accessories that are small pack-in figures themselves. I'm not sure if I have all of the mini-figures that are relevant to TNG since I'm willfully ignorant of Trek accessories, but here's what I have so far.
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Toy Review: MOTUC Grizzlor

2010-11-28T09:48:00.003-05:00

When I was a kid, Grizzlor was one of my favorite Masters of the Universe figures. I'm not sure if it was the fur gimmick, the freaky face sculpt, or the visual similarity to my main man Chewie, but Grizzlor was easily in my MOTU fab five. Unfortunately, I don't have my vintage Grizzlor anymore (I suspect it was a casualty of the yard sales from my early teen years), and I don't have any inkling to buy another. There's just something gross about getting a used figure with fur... you don't know where that fur's been. So, I guess this MOTUC Grizzlor will have to do for now. Let's check it out!
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Toy Tribute: Worf

2010-11-20T18:28:00.003-05:00

Each Star Trek series seems to have three characters that get the most screen time and character development. For the Original Series, it was Kirk, Spock and McCoy. For TNG, it was Picard, Data, and Worf. Worf got a good deal of exposure simply because he was an easy conduit into Klingon society and culture. I always liked Worf as a character, even though I didn't really like his episodes that centered around political strife in the Klingon Empire. Anyway, there were a number of good Worf figures in the classic Playmates line, so let's check them out!
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Artwork: Clawshine (updated)

2010-11-19T10:34:00.004-05:00

Little Rubber Guys fans will want to take note of this upcoming TGB custom! Marty (TheGodBeast himself) prototyped the figure while Jason Frailey created the awesome sculpt. I, of course, illustrated the header card you see here.
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Toy Pix: Slimeskull, Gobon Snatcher, and Voodoo Maggoto

2010-11-14T10:39:00.007-05:00

One of the benefits of doing header cards for Marty (aka, TheGodBeast) is that he sends me samples of the figures. Marty's been on a Glyos kick recently, producing cool heads and attachments on exclusive Glyos bodies. I'm a huge fan of the Glyos line (obviously, considering how much coverage it gets here) so I'm always ecstatic to have the opportunity to do some artwork in the Glyos Universe. Here we see three of Marty's recent customs: Slimeskull, Gobon Snatcher, and Voodoo Maggoto!
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Toy Review: Kirk vs. Gorn (Diamond Select)

2010-11-07T21:25:00.001-05:00

I'm of the opinion that the Gorn is the one of the coolest Star Trek aliens ever. He even gives my beloved Esoqq a run for his money. Given this awesomeness, I've always wondered why the Gorn were never explored in other Star Trek incarnations. Sure, a member of the species made an appearance in The Animated Series and another in an Enterprise episode (in which it was redesigned into a CG abomination that looked more like a Jurassic Park reject than a real Gorn). But that's a pretty minuscule amount of exposure for such an iconic alien. The Gorn suits might be prohibitively expensive, or the writers might not have known what to do with the species since it's so different from the other sentient species that evolved from the Ancient Humanoids. Regardless, there's plenty of untapped potential there. Maybe JJ Abrams can give us some awesome Gorn action in the next movie (and I don't mean a puny cameo like the one that was planned for the 2009 movie).
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Toy Tribute: Godzilla GMK vs. Final Wars (Bandai Japan)

2010-10-31T17:42:00.002-04:00

Many Godzilla fans look down upon the Millenium Series of movies (Godzilla 2000 through Godzilla: Final Wars). I can understand the disdain. Godzilla 2000 was a reboot, totally discarding the continuing storyline of the popular Heisei Series (Godzilla 1984 through Godzilla vs. Destroyer). Right when it was getting interesting too, with Godzilla melting down and Junior taking over as King of the Monsters. Still, I love the Millenium Series. Since the movies were largely independent of one another, Godzilla could be totally reinvented and redesigned for each movie. Naturally, that leads to debate over which Millenium Godzilla is the coolest. Here we let two of Bandai Japan's Godzilla vinyls duke it out: one from Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (also known as GMK) and the other from Godzilla: Final Wars! Round one... fight!
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Toy Tribute: Classic Trek

2010-10-17T11:31:00.014-04:00

The Playmates Star Trek: The Next Generation line first came out in my toy collecting infancy, and at the time, I scoffed at the figures depicting characters from The Original Series in the TNG timeline. "Who wants figures of old characters from an old show?" I wondered. Since then, I've developed an active fandom of the original show and I've grown to love the contribution of the Original Series actors to the Next Generation universe. Let's take a closer look at these TNG-era Classic Trek figures.
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Toy Pix: Origin Armodoc and The Rig

2010-10-10T14:00:00.003-04:00

When Onell Design announced The Rig, a new vinyl Glyos sculpt, I was ecstatic. Finally, an opponent for my Armodoc army! But is he worthy? Let's check him out! But first, let's examine Origin Armodoc, the newest Armodoc colorway.
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Artwork: Origin Armodoc vs. The Rig Wallpaper

2010-10-10T13:08:00.002-04:00

1440 x 900

The last wave of Glyos toys saw the release of the second vinyl figure in the Glyos universe: the Rig! I think of the Rig as the arch-nemesis of Armodoc, maybe even a prototypical Armodoc, like ED-209 is to Robocop. So, I thought it would be cool to make a wallpaper of Armodoc (in his recently-released Origin colorway) fighting the Rig! Click through for more screen resolutions!
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Toy Review: MOTUC Gygor

2010-10-02T08:33:00.013-04:00

I'm developing a love/meh relationship with the Masters of the Universe Classics line. I love many of the figures, but there seem to be just as many are disappointingly "meh". As enthusiastic as I am with the line when I get a figure that I love, the meh figures just deaden that enthusiasm into indifference. The last MOTUC figure I got, Optikk, definitely falls into the meh category. After Optikk, it took me a few months before Matty offered a figure interesting enough for me to come back to the line. And here it is: Gygor, a yellow and green armored gorilla toting a seriously huge axe. I love gorilla figures so this was a great way to reel me back in. But does Gygor descend into meh-dom like many of his MOTUC brethren?
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Toy Tribute: Deanna Troi

2010-09-18T15:32:00.005-04:00

For the first entry in the ST:TNG Archive featuring one of the main crew members, I thought I'd start with the one and only Deanna Troi. Deanna wasn't one of my favorite characters from the TNG cast, though. Maybe that's because her character was so underutilized. According to the book, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Continuing Mission, Marina Sirtis (the actress who played Troi) claimed that the writers didn't know what to do with her character because she was psychic and therefore a plot destroyer. It was difficult to write around her ability to read the minds of the antagonists and end the story prematurely. But another reason I was never a big Deanna fan is that I always found her character to be repetitive. Guinan often fulfilled the "character who senses something wrong" shoes with less plot-destruction and more plot-construction. Anyway, let's check out all the 4.5" figures related to Deanna Troi from the classic Playmates line.
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Toy Review: Bounty Hunters 30th Anniversary 4-LOM and Zuckuss (Star Wars Celebration V Exclusive)

2010-09-12T20:21:00.006-04:00

I'm a Star Wars burn-out. After about a decade of heavy collecting that started in 1995, I effectively called it quits after Revenge of the Sith. There's only so much that can be done with the property and the action figure line was getting more than a little repetitive. To lure me back at this point, Hasbro has to either: 1) Make figures of characters that haven't been done before or are in dire need of an upgrade. Yet another insignificantly modified version of Luke, Vader, Boba Fett, or Stormtrooper isn't going to impress me. 2) Appeal to my nostalgia. I wash my hands of the prequels and although the Clone Wars animated figures are kind of cool, I'm not interested in collecting an entirely different style. So along comes this Celebration V exclusive 4-LOM and Zuckuss 2-pack which, although it contains figures we've seen before (and therefore fails requirement #1), they're represented in the same style as the vintage figures (which fulfills requirement #2). Let's check them out!
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Toy Pix: Matt's Soundwave Collection

2010-09-10T08:54:00.002-04:00

When I went to the Baltimore Comic Con, I stopped by my friend Matt's place and checked out his Soundwave collection. He's taken it upon himself to get every G1 Soundwave packaging/figure variant. And I'm not talking about the periodic TRU reissue from the 2000s, but the real G1 Soundwave releases from the mid-80's heyday of Transformers. There are more packaging variants than you might think, so it's a pretty daunting task. Check out these pics of Matt's incredible collection.
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Toy Review: Black Lantern Batman (Blackest Night Wave 5)

2010-09-04T13:15:00.002-04:00

I think I've developed an affinity for collecting weird Batman figures. I'm not talking about the Batmen that you often see in the animated lines that are colored in a kaleidoscope of random hues, packaged with whatever uncongruous accessory some toy exec thinks will appeal to kids. I'm talking about Batmen that are thematically and fundamentally strange, drastic deviants from the usual Batman characterizations. Two-Face as Batman is a great example of this (in fact, my review of the figure here probably jump-started this new collecting obsession), as is Batzarro and Composite Superman. And to continue my exploration into Bat-weirdness, I decided to pick up Black Lantern Batman, which is basically a zombified Batman. Let's check him out!
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Convention: Baltimore Comic Con 2010

2010-08-31T10:17:00.003-04:00

I don't get a chance to go to conventions as much as I'd like, but I did make the trek to the Baltimore Comic Con last weekend! This convention has grown quite a bit since last year with a few big-name artists like Todd McFarlane (who wasn't signing on the day I went, unfortunately), lots of vendors (although the action figure fare was pretty homogenous... most of the booths were just variations on the same MOTUC, DCUC, and Star Wars stuff that you see everywhere else) and plenty of cosplayers (a substantial increase since last year). I managed to get a few pictures of some of the cooler cosplayers, as well as score some pretty cool autographs from my favorite comic artists. Lets check them out!
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Dork Dimension: Year Two

2010-08-29T07:21:00.003-04:00

Today is the two-year anniversary of the Dork Dimension! Unlike the first year in which I was still feeling out my vision for the site, not much has changed in the past year other than a few relatively superficial design updates. The biggest change has been the implementation of navigation pages like this one for the Toy Reviews. The pages give me the opportunity to list the articles alphabetically, while also including scores for the reviews for easy perusal. But there's also been plenty of new content, so let's check out the top ten most popular articles in the past year. The results might surprise you...
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Toy Tribute: Borg

2010-08-27T09:09:00.002-04:00

There's a fine line between collecting and obsessing, and I think I've crossed it with Playmates Star Trek: The Next Generation figures. My previous lackadaisical habit of buying just a few TNG figures here and there has exploded into a completist fanaticism. But there are always gray areas so I needed a boundary to define what I consider to be a "complete" collection. I really only want figures that are TNG-specific and that are seen on screen, so I came up with the following definition: every 5" figure that is reasonably representative of a character from a Star Trek: TNG episode/movie and the costume/design for whom originated in TNG. I'm not going to worry about getting variants and all the accessories, for down that road lies madness. And as I work to complete my collection, I'll post Toy Tributes featuring TNG figures of a certain theme. For the first theme, let's start with the most distinctive TNG villains: the Borg!
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Toy Review: Two-Face as Batman (Batman Reborn)

2010-08-20T22:48:00.001-04:00

I've griped time and again about the DC Universe Classics line here on the Dork Dimension. I share many of the complaints others have with the line, but ultimately I realized that my main problem lies with the sculpts themselves. It's not the reuse of parts that's the issue (although that is a huge problem in and of itself) it's the fact that the caricatures often seem generic and don't exude the fun abstraction and detailing that artists employ to make the characters so visually exciting in the comic books. Obviously, Mattel wasn't meeting my DC superhero action figure requirements, so I decided to branch out of the DCUC box and explore other options. That's why I picked up this Two-Face as Batman from the Batman: Reborn comic series. Let's check him out!
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Artwork: SlimeSkull (TGB Customs)

2010-08-17T20:08:00.000-04:00

Here's another header card for the latest Glyos-related release from TGB Customs: SlimeSkull! The skull head was designed by Marty's son, MJ, and was placed on top of a Glyos Buildman body. For this header card, I decided to play up the skull aspect of SlimeSkull, mainly because skulls are all kinds of awesome.
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Toy Pix: Glyos System Solaris Armodoc, Callgrim

2010-08-13T23:45:00.000-04:00

It seems like the Glyos gang has been on a "glow-in-the-dark red" kick recently. (There must be something in the water because even DST is getting in on the act.) From the latest releases of Glyos and Callgrim, I picked up Solaris Armodoc and Callgrim. Let's check them out in a few more photos.
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