Dungeons & Dragons Minatures

 At one point in my teens I started experimenting with painting miniatures. Technically, I don't think any of these are specifically D&D branded figures but I think it makes for a clearer post title then "Little Meal Fantasy Figures." I got my feet a little wet at an even earlier age by messing around with some of the figures from my Dragonriders of the Styx Tower of Night playset.

For the most part, the games I played in were "theater of the mind" and we rarely used maps and minis. If a map was needed, it was usually a quick sketch of the area to give the players a better idea of how things were laid out.

These are by no means high art and were done by a total novice decades before you could go online and find a tutorial for everything under the sun. The paint is old and wearing off in places. Partially because I had no clue about sealing them once done and them all being kept in a long, thin jewelry box like you'd use to keep a watch or bracelet. I should probably give them a better home.

With these being generic figures, it's up to you to decide how to paint them. Since it was so long ago, I can't say what I might have been thinking except black and red look really cool together. I can definitely see this dude cracking some monster skulls.

D&D & Me

Welcome to Dungeons & Dragons month!

 

With the release of the new movie (it's fun!) and having a few figures I wanted to post about, I figured why not post about D&D the whole month? To kick it off, I'll be sharing my memories (what's left of them) on getting into the whole D&D thing.

My intro to D&D goes all the way back to the 80s when you'd rarely hear it mentioned without some kind of reference to the devil, black magic, and/or animal sacrifices. The infamous Satanic Panic of the 80s that hit everything from D&D to comic books to metal/rock music. Ah, the good ol days.

This is what got me into the game, the boxed Basic Set, complete with a set of dice and a crayon that you used to color in the numbers. Before I go any further, I have to give a shout out to Erol Otus who did this cover and lots of other art for D&D. I absolutely love his style! Look him up, you won't be disappointed.

Strange Days Ahead

 After seeing No Way Home, and being a little disappointed with how Strange was portrayed, I thought I'd dive back into Strange's comic history in the lead up to Multiverse of Madness. Now this isn't new territory for me, not by a long shot. 

 

How I discovered Strange is lost to the mists of time but there is one thing that stands out in my childhood memories, okay maybe two things.

 

 I had these two Pocket Books, so called because they were paperback size and could fit in your back pocket, that I must have read a billion times each. Like most young boys at some point, I was into the whole knights and wizards thing but my interests seemed to skew more toward the magically inclined. I was such a Strange nerd that I had a three ring binder that I would copy his spell incantations into. Just know, in a pinch, I can still recall how to conjure the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak.

Happy 40th Empire Strikes Back

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back, I wanted to reminisce a little about the greatest sci-fi adventure.

I grew up watching Creature Double Feature on Saturday afternoons and while there was a good mix of Godzilla flicks in there, I think ESB was the first real sequel I saw that continued the adventures of another movie. I"m not 100% sure but I think the first time I saw a trailer was in front of Moonraker (also my first Bond). If it had to so with outer space, I wanted to see it! I can't even convey to you the sense of how much 9 year old me was blown away by the trailer! Not only seeing the characters I loved coming back but all the new stuff. I didn't even know the name AT-AT yet but they were damn cool!

The Music
While the Star Wars main theme is certainly iconic, there's no denying that the Imperial March has become "the Star Wars song". Even people that aren't familiar with Star Wars (who ARE these people?) know it just like everyone knows the Jaws theme. Another reason I love the soundtrack is that the March's influence is felt in other tracks. When CDs first came out, this was the first one I bought. It was also the first CD I played in my first brand new car.

The Places
Okay, Dagobah doesn't bring much to the table aside from Yoda. Hoth is pretty much an ice cube but I love just about everything there from cold weather outfits to Probe droids. The Battle of Hoth is one of the best sequences in all of Star Wars. But Bespin? Out of all the locations in all the movies, that's the place I'd move to if I could. You know, when it's not under Imperial occupation.

The Characters
There were only a handful of new main characters but they make up for quantity with quality. It would take a few more years for me to fully appreciate Yoda's wisdom. I remember turning to my dad and asking him what "That is why you fail." meant. Lando was kinda cool but also a bit on the shady side.

Boba. Fett. So much hype for him even before the movie from his animated appearance in the Holiday Special to the mail away figure and articles like the one here. Imperial Shocktrooper that wiped out the Jedi? Bounty Hunter? Who was this guy and what's with the cool armor?

The Toys
OMG the toys! That mail away Boba Fett before the movie even came out was everything! Even though I had the AT-AT, it was always the smaller vehicles like Slave I or the Cloud Car that captured my imagination (again going back to Bespin). The new mini-rigs gave us a peek at what might be just off screen. I still wish we'd gotten a Kenner Carbon Freeze Chamber playset.

I remember having to go to a toy store in another state to get the Yoda figure after he was released. Sure it was probably easy enough to find down the road but when you're a kid, you had to have it!

The Fast Food Tie-Ins
Fellow fan Richard Woloski over at Skywalking Through Neverland has a great piece up spotlighting the Burger King and Burger Chef Empire promo items which is sure to give you some warm fuzzies.

The Speculation
Who was the other Yoda mentioned? Couldn't be Han, right? Leia? I dunno. A character in the next movie?

Wait, what? Vader's gotta be pulling Luke's leg, right? There's no way he's really his father, that's insane! This was the talk of the playground for the next three years.
Kids today will never understand.

Feel free to share your Empire memories in the comments!

I've also shared some Empire poster magazines over the years.

ESB #1

ESB #2

ESB #3
ESB #4

Quarter Bin - DC's Ghosts

Even though it's not quite Thanksgiving, I've got some leftovers! I had originally planned this for October but couldn't fit it in.

Do you believe...in Ghosts?

DC Comics did from 1971-1982 with its supernatural anthology comic that ran for 112 issues. Similar to other horror comics of the time, each issue contained several short stories. Unlike other horror comics, Ghosts did not have a host character for most of its run. It wasn't until near the end of the series in issue 104 that the Squire Shade showed up to entertain readers. He never really developed into a character but was more your guide to the supernatural.

If you know your DC, you might think Squire Shade looks a whole lot like Gentleman Ghost. If you don't know your DC, check this out!

The Squire was a bit...portlier than Gentleman Ghost but he did have his own stagecoach, so that's something. There's never been any official confirmation these two specters are possibly the same manifestation or even related. However, back during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Squire Shade was removed from existence so I guess that takes care of that.

Back to the comic, I know I read at least two of these issues back in the early 80s and was finally able to figure out the specific ones. Number 105 has stuck with me in particular for whatever reason random things get stuck in your brain. I only really remembered part of the first story and the name Serafina, but I think you'll agree these two images are striking enough to recall decades later.

During my research, I also found the cover for 110 which instantly brought back memories of the story "The Game of Electronic G-H-O-S-T". Although reading it now, the story is a bit silly.

If you need to inject a little spooky into your Turkey Day, click on the cover images to grab a PDF copy of the comic complete with original ads! The lead story in 110 is even set at Christmas, how's that for festive?

The Incredible Origin of Space Snake

Back in 2014, The League of Extraordinary Bloggers had a topic called 'Look What I Can Do" which encouraged participants to share something they created. I shared my original comic creation, Space Snake.

As I mentioned there, when my step-dad was in the Marines, he had a hard cover sketch book that he took with him in his travels around the world. Everywhere he went, people added stuff to the book. Sometime in the early 80s, I got my hands on it gave Space Snake's origin the full blown comic book (in color!) treatment.

The book had been presumed lost for the last 20 years or so when it recently and mysteriously turned up in his home mailbox. So now I am able to present to you, the Origin of Space Snake!

Click to embiggen!

It should be noted in the history books that my radioactive waste mutated reptile preceded TMNT by a year or two. Just sayin...

I don't know why a 12-ish year old would choose the name Harold for a galaxy-trotting mutated snake but there it is. I was doing a sort of cross-over thing because one of SS's rescuers is another one of my creations, Captain Blaze (his first name is Douglas!). You can read about his origins and evolution here.

I mention at the end that SS became one of the Galactic Federation's top agents. While Blaze was originally conceived as an intergalactic spy, I don't think there a whole lot of undercover work for a mutant snake even one with a V-inspired laser gun and cool jetpack.

There is a continuity conflict between the comic and SS's handbook entry. In the comic, he's alone on the rocket and in the written backstory, his wife was with him but didn't survive. You have to have some kind of loss to be a great hero, don't you?

This is the back of the comic page showing off both heroes. That's supposed to be a shield in Blaze's right hand and a laser sword like Thundarr the Barbarian's Sun Sword. The things hanging from his belt are an array of different weapons, mainly beams of some sort, like freeze, heat, and so on. More Saturday morning influence, this time from Space Ghost.

So there you have it, faithful readers.
You now have the complete stories of Captain Blaze and Space Snake!

Happy 40th Star Wars!

It's the biggest birthday party in the galaxy!

Star Wars turns 40 this Thursday and to celebrate, I'll be posting stuff every day focusing on the 1977-1980 time frame when all we had was the original Star Wars.

Today, we're jumping in the way back machine to see what it was like to grow up as a Star Wars kid. If you want more old school Star Wars goodness, check out the amazing site I Grew Up Star Wars which features fan submitted photos.

 

Here's me holding The Story of Star Wars album. Back then, this was the closest thing we had to actually going to the theater to see the movie again. This was better than the read-along record and book sets because it used dialog from the movie. This was probably more responsible for me learning the lines than anything else.

You can hear the whole album below.

Here's a drawing my mom recently discovered from 1978.

In case you can't tell, it's a landspeeder! The lightsabers, R2, and Jawa are pretty spot on, I think. You can sort of see in the bottom right where I tried to do C-3PO but didn't like the way he came out and erased him. The funny thing is, I can still remember exactly what the markers looked like that I used to make this.

I don't remember what year this was but I want to say 79 or 80. I got to meet Darth in Providence RI of all places at a World of Wheels car show. I remember going to quite a few of these with my dad and seeing famous TV cars but this was definitely the best one!

Stay tuned all week for more Star Wars!

Fundimensions Sound Gizmo Toy (1980)

With the advent of the internet, it's become ridiculously easy to revisit one's childhood. Whether you're reconnecting with friends or searching for that favorite toy, it seems everything is a mouse click away. But then there are those rare occasions when you go to Google up something and find just about nothing online and you remember that all that information out there has to be put there by someone.

In 1980 Fundimensions released a weird electronic toy called the Sound Gizmo. I don't remember exactly how I came by mine. It might have been a gift for a special occasion but I do remember not knowing anyone else that had one. This might explain why they currently go for $200-$300 on Ebay and why I can barely find any mention of it online.

Image from Neato Coolville

So what was the Sound Gizmo? Ready for this? It makes...sounds! If you were to play with one now, you'd think it was junk, barely a novelty. But to a kid barely into double digits that was obsessed with sci-fi, it was magic!

You've got a slider on the right that lets you pick from 9 different sounds, three knobs to tweak the sound, and two buttons for duration.

The manual (click for larger view) gave you suggested control settings for typical sound use. But having 9 sounds with variable pitch and speed, who wants typical? This is really where the replay value kicks in. I remember when I was outside playing (it's a thing kids used to do a long time ago) it was sort of a imagination multi-tool useful in any situation.

Need a machine gun?

Use the Train sound and crank the speed up.

Need to break out (or in) somewhere?

Use the Siren and keep adjusting the pitch and speed until you hit the right frequency and you've got a sonic lockpick! And yes, that's totally a riff on the sonic screwdriver.

Need to really annoy someone?

Set it to Tone and crank the pitch all the way up.

Here's a little demo video. I did not make this and (apologies to the creator) it's not a great showcase of what the Gizmo can do but it's the only thing I could find that isn't related to a certain Mogwai.

Here's a fun read I found at the Howard Stern show, of all places, where it was used in the days before soundboards to provide sound effects for the show. There's also a brief audio talking about the toy.

Do you have any childhood toys you don't think anybody else remembers?

Let's reminisce in the comments!

Remembering a Friend

Here we are at Labor Day. The unofficial end of summer and also, typically, the weekend of DragonCon in Atlanta. It's a time of year that's going to make me think of what might have been, be extra thankful, and bring some sadness going forward. It was this time last year that we unexpectedly lost one of our friends.

We called him Moby, not after the book, but after an Andrew Dice Clay bit. In our group of friends, there were multiple Eds, so we each had a nickname. He and another friend of mine went to DragonCon together last year. After what I imagine was a day full of fun, he didn't wake up the next morning. I can't imagine what my other friend went through that day.

I've known Moby just about half my life. Although we were in the same high school graduating class, I didn't really get to know him until a few years later when we both put in our time at McDonald's. We bonded over our mutual love of Star Wars and I can remember so many horrible shifts that were made bearable because he was there talking Star Wars while we worked.

At his...reception? Is that what you call the thing where everyone gathers? Anyway, people were invited up to say a few words about Moby and, at the time, I don't know that I could have gotten through this but this is the story I wanted to tell about my friend.

As I mentioned earlier, Moby and I got to know each other serving in the trenches under the Golden Arches. There were a number of times that we'd work the closing shift together. During one particular summer we had a rash of drive-bys. Squirt gun drive-bys. The smart ass kids would go through the drive-thru and when they got to the second window to pick up their order, they'd assault the poor person handing it to them and drive off.

We may not have exactly enjoyed where we worked but you spend enough time there and you start to develop a friendship with your co-workers and become protective of the place. Stockholm syndrome? Anyway, after a few of these drive-bys, we were determined to catch the bastards. Or at least get some form of justice.

These kids didn't know who they were messing with...

We started packing our own heat on the nights we worked. We kept this model of Super Soaker lying in wait at the second drive-thru window. The great thing about Super Soakers is that you can pump them up to maximum firepower until you need it.

One night, Moby was working the first drive-thru window, taking the orders and money. I was a shift manager at the time which means you almost always are wearing a drive-thru headset. After one particular order, he says to me on the internal channel, "It's them."

I told the girl handing out the orders to give them their drinks and tell them it would be a minute because we were waiting on fries. I started putting their order together and Moby came up to the front of the store. Bag in hand, I went to trigger the electric eye that would automatically open the drive-thru window. As I'm doing this, Moby picks up the Soaker. The window opens and just as I"m about to reach out, I turn sideways and Moby sprays down the inside of the car in a way that would make a 1920s gangster with a tommy gun proud.

That was the last time we saw the squirt gun drive-by kids.

It's a funny story, but is exemplary of the kind of guy Moby is. He's the kind of friend that had your back no matter what. He'd take a bullet for you and then put the shooter in a hospital.

He shared a favorite band with my wife: Duran Duran. He and I shared favorite movies. It's not that I would miss him any less if not for these things but it's more noticeable. We see Duran Duran every time they're in the area and Star Wars is such a huge part of my life. We had some fun chats speculating on what The Force Awakens would bring and he never got to see it. And that pisses me off more than anything.

Although I know he'd mock me for quoting part of the Jedi Code (and not something from the Sith), I will balance it out by posting a pic of him with the actor that played Darth Vader.

"There is no death, there is the Force."

I know one day we'll hang out again like Force ghosts on Endor.
Until then...

Pop Culture League - First Quarter

This week, the Pop Culture League asks

What’s your earliest arcade or video game memory?

This was a fun mental exercise for me because I've been into video games for a very long time (I"m old). I had to fire up the Wayback Machine and try to piece together the sequence of my early video game memories. But I have to admit, it really wasn't that difficult using the game's release year as a benchmark.

It helps if you imagine a whirling time tunnel graphic here.

Or maybe just Wayne and Garth doing that flashback thing.

Was it...

going to the local bowling alley with my dad on Friday nights, which was the only real arcade in my area for some time?

stopping at the mall on the way home from middle school which had a handful of games crammed into a space that wasn't meant to hold them and a bunch of kids?

playing Donkey Kong or Karate Champ at the corner store with my best bud?
(Just like Karate Kid, sweeping the leg was the ultimate lame move.)

playing Pac-Man at the roller rink?

In my time on this planet, all the above memories fall into a very small span of years but there is one game that was the genesis of my love of video game...

Way, way back when I was still in grade school, I used to go to the local YMCA quite a bit. Sometimes for swimming lessons, sometimes for basketball practice. Until I started this little mind warp, I had nearly forgotten I played basketball as a kid!

At some point, the YMCA added a Space Invaders machine to the lobby next to the foosball table and that was the start of my love affair with video games. I remember at the end of whatever had brought me to the Y, I'd go and play Space Invaders. There usually wasn't much of a wait for the machine but I do recall having to put my quarter on the bezel to be the next pilot in line to defend the planet.

As fate would have it, this YMCA was directly across the street from where I ended up going to middle school. The school didn't have a proper gym so when it was time for PE, we walked across the street to use their gym. I distinctly remember Ladybug, Mouse Trap, and Vanguard joining the lineup during that time.

I know I played Space War which came out before Space Invaders but I don't have any strong memory of it like I do Invaders. I'd chalk it up to the ever increasing beat as you take out the Invaders one by one. Their descent speeds up, along with your adrenaline, as you have to start timing your shots to keep the ever advancing horde from destroying your bunkers and making planet fall.

I also have to give honorable shout-outs to Oregon Trail and Lemonade Stand, both of which I played in grade school.

A few other League posts

Retro Ramblings' first encounter was with an NES.
The Toy Box was lucky enough to live near an Aladdin's Castle.
Another old timer in the video wars, Marc Allie remembers Sears Telegames.

For more video game goodness, check out the post at Cool and Collected.

Now Hear This - Michael Nesmith's Cruisin'

Waaaaay back in the day, MTV used to play music videos. I've tuned into the recently VH1 Classic re-branded MTV Classic and every single time, it has been a TV show or movie. I swear there was talk of them playing videos on there, but I'm getting off topic...

At various times in the 80s, Weird Al took over MTV and made it AlTV for a few hours. He'd play skits and plenty of music videos you'd be hard pressed to catch during MTV's normal rotation. And I being a young fan of Mr. Yankovic, recorded the entire show on VHS because that's how we rolled in the 80s. I don't recall which incarnation of AlTV it was but I seem to remember it being during the summer, so I'm loosely tying this into my favorite things about summer series of posts.

Now, I could be wrong about it being during the summer because of the subject matter of the music video, but ever since viewing this gem I associate it with summer. I can practically feel the A/C on me as I imagine watching it on TV.

According to Wiki, Cruisin' was the last solo single released by Michael Nesmith in 1979. Yes, The Monkees' Michael Nesmith, as if there were more than one in the world!

I was a young teen when I first saw this video so I don't think I fully got the whole picture of what exactly was goin on in the lyrics. All I really got was a sort of Three's Company vibe happening between Lucy and Ramona and Sunset Sam. The simple repetitive bass line and chorus got lodged in my head to the point where in the pre-internet days I thought the song was called "Lucy and Ramona". Thanks to the internet, I now know the name of the song is "Cruisin'" and I can share this piece of my summer history with you.

Grab a cold one, Ecto Cooler if you're lucky enough, and prepare for a trip back to the early 80s and the epicness that is Michael Nesmith's Cruisin'...



Fun fact: Sunset Sam is not portrayed by a young Hulk Hogan.

Summer Flashback - Squirt Guns

This (hopefully) series of Summer Flashback posts was inspired by the Purple Stuff Podcast hosted by Matt from Dinosaur Dracula and Jay from The Sexy Armpit. If you love pop culture and you're not listening to this show, you're missing out! In episode 30 of the podcast, the guys list off some of their favorite things about summer.

I thought, "Hey, I have things I like about summer!" and I'm always looking for opportunities to do posts that are something other than showing off a new toy or collectible. So here we are!

This first post, in case you haven't guess from the title, is about squirt guns. It's going to be a bit on the retro side. Just as our calendar is split into two significant time periods due to a grand event, so too is the legacy of squirt guns. We have Before Super Soaker (BSS) and After Super Soaker (AS...S?), maybe we'll go with Post Super Soaker.

As a kid, I was lucky enough to live about a 5 minute walk from a convenience store called Girlie's, which is still there today. This place was little kid heaven with candy, trading cards, comic books, a couple of video games, and toys. There was the usual corner store stuff too of course, but at that age, the only time you cared about it was when mom had you go pick something up, which usually involved a bribe in the form of being allowed to spend the change. The toy section then is about what you'd find in your local supermarket today: a bunch of no-name, cheap stuff.

Sorta like this...

This was where I probably found my preferred squirt gun, the Wee Gee.

The Wee Gee barrel/top is about 3 inches long. It's definitely on the small side as squirt guns go. In most instances, you'd think bigger is better, right? A bigger gun means it holds more shots. However, the smaller size has the advantage of being able to surprise your victim. 

For disposable plastic toys, these were pretty well put together. They were at least as powerful as the regular size versions and they lacked the common tendency to leak. The small size also let you carry a couple of backups in your pockets because any good summer assassin couldn't afford to be caught refilling their weapon of choice.

Back in the day, most squirt guns were translucent, colorful plastic. The transparent design let you know just how much ammo you had, bonus! Some of them were modeled after actual handguns and I remember having one just like this Baretta (correction, 1911), same color.

While these real world water shooters were great for most kids that played cops & robbers or army, I was never satisfied playing something so...earthly.

I always had a love for retro future ray guns. Given the choice between sci-fi and realistic, I'd pick sci-fi all day. I'd say blame Star Wars but even those props were made using Earth weapons as a base.

At some point during middle school, the squirt gun evolved to include battery power and got a bit controversial.

Uzis were the "it" gun in the early 80s so of course they made a squirt gun for kids! And they didn't even bother making it in a bright color. This gun would never see the light of day if pitched today. It might have been the first squirt gun to have a replaceable tank, in the form of its ammo clip. The biggest disadvantage with it being battery powered was that you had to give it a few seconds of holding the trigger before it would be primed to unleash aquatic hell.

Well, that wraps up the first Summer Flashback. I'm hoping to get at least a couple more of these out before the season is over, so be sure to check back for more summer fun.

9/11 National Museum & Memorial

Back over the Memorial Day weekend, we took a weekend trip to New York. One of the places we visited was the 9/11 National Museum & Memorial. We were there for about two hours and we still didn't see everything there was to see!

This is the new One Trade Center building, also known as Freedom Tower.

In the places where the twin towers previously stood are memorial pools. The names of those that were lost that day are engraved all around the edges. It's hard to get a sense of scale here but if you look along the far wall, you can make out people standing behind it. You may need to click for a closer look.

The museum is below street level and is enormous. Not just in the fact that there is so much to see, but also in the size of the exhibit area.

This is "The Last Column." It was chosen to symbolically mark the completion of the recovery of the site. A ceremony was held on May 30, 2002. Before it was removed from the site, recovery workers, first responders, volunteers, and victims' relatives signed it and attached memorial messages, pictures, and other tributes.

There are a number of personal stories around the museum.

And here's a closeup of the urn.

Some interesting things were found during the recovery of the site.

This is the National 9/11 Flag.

Of all the things in the museum, this was the most incredible. There's an entire website dedicated to it but I'll try to give you the TL;DR version.

The main body of it is the flag that was flying over the WTC on 9/11. It went on a national tour where victims of other tragedies, veterans, students, local heroes, and many more helped restore it.

It includes threads from the original Star Spangled Banner that flew over Ft. McHenry that inspired the song and an American flag bunting that was laid over Lincoln after he was shot. It really is not just an amazing piece of history but a real testament to the strength and spirit of our country. If you check out the flag's site, there are stories from nearly every state.

If you ever visit NYC, plan a trip to the museum or at least visit the Trade Center plaza. 

It's a very humanizing experience.

If you're interested in my own experience on 9/11, you can read that here.

June 2014 Loot Crate - Transform

Welcome to another Loot Crate unboxing photo shoot! The always amazing people at Loot Crate provided me with this box o stuff in exchange for a review and sharing it with you all.

The theme for this month is Transform, something I was pretty excited about when I heard it. Now, I can be a little fickle with my fandom. I watched Transformers from the start and love the G1 characters. The movie blew me away and I still count that soundtrack as one of my favorite albums. I stuck with the show for a bit after the regime change and took a shine to some of the new characters. But I've never been interested in the newer incarnations.

I still remember my stepdad showing me the toys for the first time. He knew someone overseas and had a large box of them sent over so I think I got to see them even before the cartoon premiered. It was such a radical concept at the time. Some of the robot forms suffered from their trans-form *cough*Megatron*cough* but they were still way cool.

Anyway, enough of my reminiscing, let's twist this box apart and see if we can transform it into some loot without breaking it.

I had to open this month's mini-mag to show off the full cover image because it's pretty cool. They made a Trans-Former out of the Loot Crate bus. The Loot Bot is also on the exclusive button. The first Transformery item is a Hexbug of Galvatron. He's got a little popup Decepticon emblem and fold out wings. I don't really get the appeal of Hexbugs but I think I'm way over the suggested age range.

Here's some swag from Major League Gaming (MLG). There's some stickers to show your team support, a one month subscription to their GameBattle premium access and a sport wristband. I'd never heard of MLG before but it seems like a great organization. Anywhere that you can play video games competitvely and win prizes is a-ok in my book!

Next is a blind boxed vinyl figure from the first Trans-Formers series by The Loyal Subjects. Who is hiding behind that Autobot sticker? Coincidentally (because I could have gotten a sticker with either emblem) it's an Autobot!

Cliffjumper is one of my favorite G1 toys. I used to take him everywhere because he was one of the smaller ones that would fit in a pocket easily. Not only is Cliffjumper one of the rare chase figures in this series, he is the rarest of the rare! Odds of getting him are 1/96. He comes with a little stat card, which hearkens back to the back of the original toy packages and a weapon that he forgot for the photo.

He stands about 3" tall and has articulation at the neck, waist and shoulders. This is the first one I've had my hands on and I really like the style they used. It's kinda chunky and not quite Super-D.

The last thing in the box is this awesome Marty McPrime mashup shirt. I joined Loot Crate a month or two after the Doctor Who Crate which had a TARDIS Prime Transformer/Who mashup shirt so I was extra happy to get this one. Not only did they recreate Marty's iconic pose but the background art is similar to the packaging used for the original toy line.

Cliffjumper sez if you want to get swag like this in your mail every month, head over to Loot Crate and sign up. You can use code SAVE3 to save $3 on your order or use AEIOUWHY to save 10% on your subscription, whichever works best for you.

League Post - Look What I Can Do!

Ok, so my title isn't exactly on point for this week's League of Extraordinary Bloggers post, but I couldn't resist dropping a reference to one of the best things to come out of Mad TV: Stuart.

Here's what the League is looking for

Look what I made! Do you worship at the altar of MacGyver? Have you ever drawn a stick figure? Given birth to a child? Put together an Ikea product? 
Let’s see it!

While I have put together Ikea furniture (cursing like the Swedish Chef does not help the process), I decided to show off something that is potentially far more embarrassing. Today we're setting the WABAC machine for the early 80s, specifically the '81-'83 time frame.

I was in middle school/junior high at that time and did a lot of doodling then. I hesitate to call it drawing because that would imply I had some kind of talent for it. The same period that birthed the intergalactic adventurer Captain Blaze, also created another space-bound hero...

Spaaaaaaace Snaaaaaaaake!

You read that right, Space Snake! Please don't ask me to explain how a pre-teen boy creates these things. It was the early 80s, I was into comics and there were so many awesome cartoons on the three channels Saturday morning that it was a life decision which channels to watch if you didn't have a VCR.

Here is Space Snake's data file which was heavily inspired by the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe.

I have no explanation for the names. Harold and Lydia, what was I, 80? Why would the Galactic Federation take in a mutant snake and train it to be a soldier with a jetpack and laser gun? Who knows. Astute readers will notice his pistol bears a striking resemblance to the sidearm carried by the Visitors. And by striking, I mean if you squint really hard, it kinda looks like it. And it also establishes the creation time a little better.

My stepdad served in the USMC for many years (OOO-RAH!) and early in his career he got a sketch book and took it with him wherever he was assigned. He had friends at different bases contribute something to the book. There is some weird shiz in there, let me tell you. Anyway, I got hold of it one day and drew the first and only Space Snake comic strip in it.
Of course, it was an origin story.

Below is the first ever drawing of Space Snake. I keep it in a hard plastic trading card case that screws shut. You know, just in case someday he makes it big and then I can sell it for millions of dollars. Having said that, if any artistic readers want to use ol' Harold, I'm available as a consultant.



Enough of my scribbles, here's what other Leaguers are doing
GI Jigsaw built his own Death Star!
Go quazy for Harley Quinn with Toyriffic's Playmobil custom figures.
Monster Cafe might be into wrestling, I'm not sure...

See what the whole gang is posting about at Cool & Collected.