Dark Lord Dungeon

Now that I’ve stopped watching Game of Thrones, somehow a featuring an authority figure with a huge sword seems just right.

To the uninitiated, this is a 3rd party replica of the Transformers Prime series Star Saber - hence Dr Wu called it the Skybreaker instead. Dr Wu actually has another Star Saber replica made out of die-cast metal instead of the plastic that the Skybreaker uses. That sword resembles the sword used by Primus and actually bears the Autobot Matrix of Leadership from the aligned novels.

Jun 05

Release THE QUACKIN!!!! I don’t really know who created this meme and released it on-line, but I do believe in the spirit of the joke AND the fact that society really should take the time to stop, remember what life was when they were young, and laugh. If this requires the release of a giant Rubber Duckie into the middle of HongKong Harbor, then so be it…. RELEASE THE QUACKIN!!!!

You have to admit that’s a scary sight though. If I was on a boat, turned around and saw a giant rubber duckie bearing down on me, I’d crap my pants!!!!

Jun 04

What we basically have here is light and fast troop carrying Bell UH-1 Iroquois married to a heavy lifting and slow Boeing CH-47 Chinook. Though I’m still of the opinion that had the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk been more popular after the Vietnam war, we would be looking at a far different design - albeit the UH-60 is only a medium lift vehicle and the GI Joe Eaglehawk is a heavy-lift vehicle.

To the uninitiated, the GI Joe Retaliation Eaglehawk is the 2013 upgrade to the 1986 released GI Joe Tomahawk. The GI Joe Tomahawk is an “all-weather, twin engine, twin-rotor heavy lift/assault as well as troop transit helicopter for the G.I. Joe team.” (wiki) “it has a top speed of 175mph when fully loaded. Its turboshaft is fitted with heat/noise reduction and layered with bulletproof covering.

While the differences between the GI Joe Tomahawk and the GI Joe Eaglehawk are largely cosmetic (Rotor detail, swivel gun detail, location of the winch wheel, etc…) - the biggest difference between the two is the ability of the Tomahawk to remove its seats - which is a nod to the Marvel Comics version of the Tomahawk which did not have any seats.

May 30

Presenting Luke Skywalker’s TaunTayn from the Star Wars Empire Strikes Back Vintage Edition toy series.

Alright, a scene where Luke Skywalker activates his lightsaber while riding a rearing TaunTaun probable never happened, but you have to admit it looks cool - though I think you can get away with doing this in Star Wars Battlefront and Star Wars Battlefront II.

Now there are actually several subspecies of this repto - mammal distantly related to the Kybuck and indigenous to the planet Hoth. The specific subspecies used as both a pack animal and a scout-mount by the Rebel Alliance is the Giant TaunTaun.

Tauntauns are omnivorous and have - get this - scaly skin covered in fur, lack mammary glands, give birth to live young (Which they fed by regurgitating a milky substance), and are warm blooded. So they’re part Frilled-Lizard, part Kangaroo - yes Marsupial are mammals.

May 28

Presenting the Gundam Heavyarms Kai from the Gundam OVA Endless Waltz - aka XXXG-01H2 Gundam Heavyarms Kai, Heavyarms Kai or Gundam Zero Three.

This is an assembled Bandai EW-04 1/100 scale model assembled and hand/spray-painted by me.

May 24

The Marvel Universe Scarlet Witch’s blister card reads: “This powerful mutant has the unique ability to control the probability field, the force that guides everything in the universe. By focusing her energy and creating a hex-sphere, Scarlet witch is able to alter reality, causing objects to move, melt, rot and change in ways her enemies can’t defend. She can alter the course of any battle, conjuring objects out of nowhere or wiping them out of existence in an instant.”

May 23

When not suiting up as the scantly-clad heroine Witchblade, “Jackie” is actually an actress, film-maker, model, vocalist and - obviously -costume designer.

Born on the 22nd of July, 1984 in Modesto, California, Jacqueline Goehner has her own IMDB entry which mentions that she’s a regular on the comedy show Smosh AND she’s actually worked as a make-up artist in the upcoming new Star Trek series, Star Trek Continues (A reboot (?) of the original Kirk Star Trek) where she will also make an appearance as a crew-member.

Jacqueline Goerhner’s Witchblade costume was made by her and took three full days (Seven if you count the body-form process) to make. It is constructed out of Silicone and craft-foam.

May 21

Truth be told I’ve never liked Ultron much. I think he talks too much and that robots shouldn’t have to justify their homicidal tendencies. The Marvel Legends Iron Man Series Ultron’s blister card simply reads: “Hank Pym’s crazed creation will stop at nothing to conquer all mankind!” (No Mega-maniacal laughter?)

The “Inside the Armor Vault 5 of 6” instructions that come with the Marvel Legends Ultron states that “Ultron constantly upgrades his own technology searching for the power that will finally enable him to defeat the Avengers. The mad robot hatches a plan to harness the power of the genius who created Iron Man, hypnotizing Tony stark so he can be rebuilt as the menacing Ultron 9” So for reference purposes, I suppose this is Ultron 9 and you can read more about him in Avengers #201 (Think I have that somewhere). the Armor Vault file goes on to say that Ultron has “Notable Tech: Revolutionary artificial intelligence. The brainpower of a genius unchecked by a human conscience.” Note that there have been more “human” versions of Ultron in the Marvel Universe, including one suffering from Alcoholism (Ultron 15)

May 19

Presenting the R2-D2 and the Super Battle Droid from the Star Wars 30th Anniversary Coin Collection.

A few weeks ago a good friend of mine Ed Geronia posted the question “Why is it that R2-D2 does not fly in Episodes IV-VI?”

To the uninitiated, R2-D2 first took flight in Episode II in the Droid Assembly plants of Geonosis. R2-D2 then again in the hangar of General Greivous’ flagship in Episode III where we find this actual scene where R2-D2 sprayed a pair of Super Battle Droids with fuel before igniting his Brooks Propulsion Booster Turbines and setting fire to the Super Battle Droids, destroying them in the process - though we only have one Super Battle Droid in the diorama.

R2-D2 was also depicted as flying in the Clone Wars -in fact Anakin Skywalker actually rode him (I know, weird.). And he is again seen flying this time in space in the Expanded Universe (Star Wars Legacy of the Force) where he saves Luke’s Skywalker’s Grandson Cade Skywalker from floating to his death in a sun.

Anyway, my theory as to why R2-D2 fails to fly again in Episode IV, V and VI is that 18 years of civil war does take a toll on society. Parts, material and consumables becomes scarce or re-prioritized. It probably was deemed unnecessary to provide R2-D2 with the fuel he needed to fly. This was further compounded by the fact that in Episode IV, R2-D2 was destroyed by Darth Vader while serving as Luke Skywalker’s astromech droid in his Death Star trench run. The Rebel Alliance might not have had the parts to fully restore R2-D2 to his former glory - note that R2-D2 is not a “stock” R2 unit. The Royal Naboo Engineers were highly known for tinkering with their droids.

Ed’s friend Adrian Arcega went to back up my theory further by citing that Star Wars Inside Magazine that said that Industrial Automations - the creators of R2-D2 only gave the droid a 20 year warranty - which explains why, when he was being loaded onto Luke Skywalker’s X-Wing for the first time, he’s referred to as “beat up” and that Luke might prefer a new one.

May 11

Presenting the Transformers 30th Anniversary Generations Optimus Prime & Roller.

Now if you have this little Legends Class figure or if you’ve seen this figure in other forums or anywhere else on the web, you’ll find a figure that has the shoulder pauldrons locked down flat on Prime’s shoulders. And if you read the transformation instructions, you will not find instructions telling you to raise the shoulder pauldrons.

Here’s the thing though, when they’re down, they hamper Optimus Prime’s arm articulation. Further, what was the point of adding a joint there if it was not going to be used?

So I raised them. You can keep them down if you like, but you won’t get as much movement out of him. And if you look at the back of his blister card, the pauldrons are slightly raised.