Halloween Garage - Hot Wheels Arachnorod

There was such a glut with the last Halloween Garage post that I figured I'd give you a break before posting yet another that I found around the same time as the others.

Today's feature is the Arachnorod from Hot Wheels. It's had about 15 incarnations since debuting in 2000. Even though it has a giant metallic spider on it, the design never really appealed to me. This is mostly because of the color schemes that were used.
But this...this baby is pure Halloween!

First off, GIANT metallic spider! Next, it's mostly black, way better than any of the brighter colors they've done this in. Third, orange windshield and afterburners. Fourth, spiderweb graphics on the rear wheel wells. Lastly, purple and green highlights. That covers the major and minor Halloween colors. Absolute Halloween win!

It also looks a little Batmbile-ish, don't you think? It blows my mind that Hot Wheels can make something like this during the "off season" and completely blow the Halloween exclusive packs in October. Oh well, maybe 2013 will be better!

LEGO Minifig Guide & Series 9

If you're a fan of the LEGO blind bagged minifigs, you should check out the new Character Encyclopedia from DK Publishing. It comes with an exclusive Toy Soldier minifig.

Click to order on Amazon

It covers all the minifigs up to Series 10 which just hit stores at the start of this month.
Each minifig is given its own page with a description and factoids.

Thanks to the site Minature Trading, I was able to get the last figure I wanted from Series 9, the Fortune Teller. Here are the minifigs joining my Cabin in the Woods display cases.

First up is the Battle Mech. According to its LEGO.com bio, this is actually a giant robot that fights space monsters. I think he'd make a pretty cool airborne shock trooper.

I really like this Cyclops. He has a two sided head. The other side has his eye half scrunched like he's mad about something. Probably about getting photo-bombed! He also has another feature LEGO's been dabbling with lately, graphics on his back as well as front.

Although I force myself to stick to the sci-fi and monster minifigs to keep the collection under control, I can totally justify having a gypsy Fortune Teller in the bunch. In fact, the first thing that came to mind when I knew about her was that she'd be good next to the Werewolf minifig. She's one of my favorites in the whole line. She's got a little shawl on and check out the gold discs on her head wrap and different patterns on her lower half.
She also comes with two tiny Tarot cards!

Ok, who keeps bombing my photo-shoot?

Looks like some change is in the cards for you, Jack! I got him from Five Below as part of a Nintendo DS accessory pack for $1. You can't beat a buck for a LEGO minifig!

Key Party!

Last week I visited Witch City Consignment & Thrift in (surprise!) downtown Salem MA. They have a pretty much rotating inventory so you never know what you might find
on any given day.

Not sure how old this cast metal Porky Pig bank is but it's freakin heavy!
It's probably close to a foot tall.

And there's never a shortage of dolls that might try to murder you while you sleep.

You might be wondering what this all has to do with a blog post that sounds like a '70s swinger's night out. For years, I've thought it would be interesting to start a key collection and this is the place that has gotten me going. Ideally, I want to get an engraver and number each key so I can keep a log of its point of origin but for now, I'll keep track on the blog.

Here's what I found interesting out of a small box of $1 keys. In case you were wondering, keys are a pain in the ass to light and photograph due to them being shiny.

Starting on the left, there's a Ford Mustang key. Modern keys aren't much to look at, unless you buy a blank with graphics so this seems like a work of art.

The second one I'm not sure of but it has a couple of Chinese characters on it.
It's also got a couple of sharp teeth, which I don't see often.
Anyone able to translate?

In the middle is a MasterLock key.
I had a very similar one for a padlock that I used to lock up my Huffy bike.

Next is a Ford key but I'm not sure what model. The key holes are usually round or rectangular so the triangular hole on this one is pretty neat. I also like the inverted chevron and horizontal lines. It's not a galloping horse, but I think it's a great piece of retro art.

The last one looks like it might have gone to a locker because it has a number on it. The text says Cleveland, O.U.B.A (maybe?) but I couldn't turn up anything on that. I'm curious if the monocled, top hatted key was a mascot of some kind.

Here's a couple more to start my collection. The one on the left I found in the parking lot at work. It might even go to something important.

The one on the right I got in the consignment shop in a box of $3 keys. The text says "nivia" but a search didn't turn anything useful up. It certainly looks a bit older than the others.

Got any keys around the house you don't need?

Star Wars Wednesday - ESB Poster Magazine Issue #4

Sadly this is the last of the Empire Strikes Back post magazines that I have in my digital stash. But the good new is I have a few Return of the Jedi ones, so those will start next week.

Issue 4 has a bit of a twist for its poster. It's not either of the cover images.

Although I wasn't into Starlog at such a young age, I was always fascinated by behind the scenes and special effects things that showed how they make movie magic.

In this spread, you get a retelling of some of the Battle of Hoth and a little edu-ma-cation about asteroids. Space was something else I was really into as a kid.

And here's your unexpected poster.
Like Issue #3, this is a great shot that you don't see too often.

League Post - Keep on Trekkin'

This week, the League of Extraordinary Bloggers challenges you to boldly go 

where no man has gone before...

Star Trek

Now, if you even kinda know me, you know I'm a Star Wars guy. I've never felt it's been an us vs them thing although I will poke fun when it presents itself. It's just that I never really got into it the way I did Star Wars. To this day, I've never seen a complete episode of TOS (that's the Original Series for you non-sci-fi geeks). My take it or leave it attitude toward this franchise can be traced back to one childhood event...

Maybe it was my obsession with Star Wars and sci-fi after '77 made me want to go see this. Let me tell you, no 8 year old kid should have to watch this movie in a theater when he's expecting another Star Wars. I was b-o-r-e-d!

One positive thing from childhood was the Power Records Read-Along comic book & 45, The Crier in the Emptiness. I had a few of these Power Records sets and there's just something about the voice acting and sound effects that stick with you forever. The cover art was done by comic legend Neal Adams and the story was written by Alan Dean Foster, who's no stranger to sci-fi or Star Wars. Here's a motion comic made from the set.
Keep an eye out for a Caucasian Uhura and African American Sulu!



I think the Animated Series was really my intro to the NCC-1701 crew. I watched TNG for a few years but didn't stick with it even though I really enjoyed it. I caught the first couple seasons of Voyager and tiny bits of DS9 and Enterprise. See? I give it a chance!

I went to the Star Trek Experience in Vegas before it closed, and I have the Borg teddy bear to prove it! Even though I'm a very casual fan, it was still very cool, especially the live action part leading up to one of the motion sim rides where your ship is attacked by the Borg.

I've gone back and seen all the movies over the years but never really got into them much, but there's no denying 2 & 3 are the apex of the series. I did see the Abrams movie, mainly because the trailers made it look more like Star Wars and I'll be going to see the new one too.

Here's what other League Members are reporting
Fortune and Glory (Days) shows off some new Kre-O figs
(more to come!)