Childhood toys: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Blimp

Courtesy: MutantOoze.org.

Back when I was a kid I played with a lot of toys, ranging from G.I. Joes (mostly hand-me-downs), Transformers, even Darkwing Ducks and He-Mans. Then there were my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I loved the cartoon and by extension, the action figures. Of all the toys I had, the Turtle Blimp had to be the oddest one. Essentially, an inflatable balloon with a hard plastic undercarriage attached, it stuck out amongst the Joes, Autobots, and Masters of Universes. The blimp appeared in the fifth episode of the first season of the cartoon, Shredder & Splintered.

Courtesy: PopHate.

What made it odd was the balloon. I largely forgot about the blimp until a few days ago and that's what kept popping out at me. I have no idea why they made the balloon inflatable instead of a hollow plastic shell. Needless to say, all it would take was just one small hole and your day was ruined. I was careful. However, according to the TMNTPedia, the air plug was ineffective and so the thing had a tendancy to deflate anyways. I can't really remember mine doing that, but then again, it was literally decades ago, so it might have.

Fortunately, the undercarriage had a handle built right into it, along with a trigger to release the bombs. That was the other thing about the blimp, it came equipped with a dual bomb racks to fuck the bad guys' day up! Of course, being the product of a children cartoon, the bombs were clearly labeled with harmless and humorous things like 'sneezing powder' and 'itching powder'.

All in all, the Turtle Blimp was an interesting and certainly unique toy amongst others.

When fandoms collide: Doctor Who meets Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

Crossing fandoms is like crossing proton streams - it can be risky. Aside from a few bumps, I think this was pretty good. One gripe though: The Doctor using lightsabers. He could just whip out his sonic screwdriver (an elegant device for a more civilized age) and short the lightsabers out.



(via Topless Robot)

Tattooed Wonder Woman looks awesome

I was sure I had posted this picture before, but apparently not on this blog. A gross oversight on my part that will corrected right now.

Credit: RNZZZ

Love it.

So this is what a Miranda-class from Star Trek was supposed to look like during The Original Series era

The USS Cortez from Star Trek: The Early Voyages issues #5-6.

The Early Voyages was a series published by Marvel Comics back in the late 90s, which chronicled the adventures of the USS Enterprise under Captain Christopher Pike's command. It was meant to fill-in the gap between the original Star Trek pilot, The Cage, and James Kirk's tenure as Captain. The Cortez's design is supposed to be a pre-refit Miranda-class, the same class that the Reliant from The Wrath of Khan belongs to. The two-parter featuring the Cortez is even a clever reference to that movie. In the comics, the Cortez is captured by a splinter society of Vulcans who never embraced logic like the others and when the Enterprise shows up to find out what happened to the ship, the latter is attacked and almost destroyed by her.

I think there was a lot of speculation in the Trek community after The Wrath of Khan about whether the Miranda-class was in service during The Original Series and if so, what did it look like? Unfortunately, the comics - like everything else except the TV shows and movies - aren't canon, so it's a moot point. That's probably the one thing I don't like about the Trek franchise, Paramount's canon policy..

(Picture via Memory Beta, the non-canon Star Trek Wiki)

For those who think Aquman has a useless superpower

From Marvel vs. DC #2. Yes, this really happened.

(Picture via ANSEM3)

Oh hai Jedi Knight Princess Leia!

That is not fan art, in Star Wars' Expanded Universe (novels, comics, games, other things considered canon) Leia eventually decides to become a Jedi. Now if only women would start cosplaying as this instead of Slave Leia. I think the latter is overdone and imagine how awesome it would be to see Jedi Knight Leias walking around Comic-Con instead of a legion of ten thousand women in the same gold bikinis that you see everywhere.

(Picture via Wookieepedia)

A picture of David Tennant is a picture worth a thousand words

Unfortunately, the thousand words are David Tennant, Doctor Who, Tenth Doctor, OMG, and 996 largely incomprehensible words.

(Picture via The Nerdist)

And I thought the Lego Star Destroyer was awesome

And it was, until I saw Sascha Mehlhase's replica of the Large Hadron Collider made out of Legos.

More pictures after the cut.
It took 9500 pieces and 33 hours to complete and that was just the build time. Mehlhase spent 48 hours before that on the 3D computer model. The project cost 2000 Euros, which is about 2609 American dollars. According to Mehlhase, the cost was paid for by the Niels Bohr Institute. You can see more pictures at his website. The obvious question of course is "can it find Higgs Boson?"

A close up. Nice details.

Let's hope nobody fires this up and leaves this guy with a blue glowing dong.

Legos! Legos everywhere!

(h/t Nerd Approved)

Awesome Doctorama picture is awesome

If you've watched Futurama at all, then you'll get the joke. For those who haven't, the show has a running gag involving the heads of famous people - ranging from Jonathan Frakes to Richard Nixon - are kept preserved and alive in jars like the above.

I like how they put Dr. Horrible and Doogie Howser right next to each other. I think they used too many Doctors from Doctor Who, though. Still, it's super cool and also available as a shirt.

(via The Laughing Squid)

General Acts of Nerdery: Making the USS Enterprise out of Christmas lights

imgur

I'm waiting for someone to recreate Starbase 1 or Terok Nor with Christmas lights now.

(h/t reddit, Nerd Approved)

A comic about SOPA, a message against fascism

Surviving the World: Lesson #1267 - Where The Power Lies (A Comic About SOPA)

SOPA, for those who those who haven't been paying attention to tech and news websites (because it certainly hasn't been on the news networks), stands for Stop Online Piracy Act. It's a bill currently sitting in the House of Representatives' Judiciary Committee and possibly heading to the House floor for a vote soon that would - if passed by both the House, the Senate, and signed into law by President Obama - give the government the power to shutdown websites, any websites, that even so much as linked to a torrent or an illegal file on a file hosting website. When I say the government can shutdown a website that violates this potential law, I don't just mean a blog on Blogger or a Tumblr. The text of the bill is so vague, that the government would have the power to shutdown Blogger or Tumblr or the site's host itself. SOPA is actually so extreme, even Republicans on the Judiciary Committee have been vocal against it, which is both telling and kind of screwed up, considering the kind of authoritarian bullshit they've supported in the past.

Not surprisingly, the culprits behind this are the usual suspects: the movie and music industries. Yes, the MPAA and RIAA are so desperate to keep people from downloading the latest Lady Gaga or Lil Wayne album (despite the fact that it's been shown that a lot of people who pirate music end up buying the same music legally) or whatever crappy comedy they stick Michael Cera in, that they're willing to basically kill the internet. This isn't about net neutrality, this is about protecting the greatest achievement in communications since Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.

The larger problem is that like I said before, the bill's text in vague and while I don't like to dip my cup in the same Kool-Aid the tinfoil hat conspiracy theorists are drinking, it could easily be used to squash dissent, especially of the Occupy variety. Obviously, the chances of that happening are as likely as Justin Beiber being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but it still lingers there.

If you want to try and help stop this bill, the best thing you can do is write your Congressmen. It sounds cliched, sure, but what other option is there? Check this thread on reddit to find out who your Congressman is and how to contact them.

I'm not even a computer geek and this picture gave me a nerd boner

I'm not even going to lie, I would gladly give up modern tech and gadgets if I could go back and live in the late 70s and the 80s for a while. It would be an interesting experience. I'd love to hang out with the Homebrew Computer Club, and build and program my own computer the way geeks did back then. Of course, I would probably likely go stir crazy without internet access or cable.

(Picture via This Day In Tech)

The Force is strong in the Czech Republic

According to a recent census, 15,000 Czechs listed themselves as "Jedi Knights". I just hope no one put down "Sith Lord". All it takes is one of those guys to ruin things, just ask the Jedi Order and the Old Republic as a whole.

(h/t Gamma Squad)

Things I didn't know existed: Atari's Mario Bros.

I saw this on The Retroist and was genuinely surprised; I never knew that there was a pre-NES Mario Bros. game. Sure, I knew Mario and Luigi were in Donkey Kong, but always assumed that Super Mario Bros. was their first solo title. In addition to this ad, The Retroist also has screencaps of the three versions of the game - arcade, Atari 2600, and Commodore 64 - and I have to say, the game didn't look all that great on the 2600. It's understandable, the 2600 was several years old by then, arcade cabinets had more power than consoles, and the Commodore was simply newer.

I noticed something else just now, the ad has a copyright of 1983 - the same year the American video game market collapsed, which actually paved the way for Nintendo and other Japanese game companies to enter the market.

Looks like they're rebuilding the Gundam after all

So sayeth Anime News Network via Japanator via Topless Robot. All three have videos detailing the reconstruction. Hooray! I totally forgot to mention in the previous article about this giant Gundam, it's a full scale model. That...that actually makes Japan scarier, because they can build a life size version of a mecha.

Now how about a VF-1 Valkyrie and maybe a Gigantor? I'd be cool with the Dragonzord.

RIP Joe Simon

Sadly, Joe Simon passed away yesterday at the age of 98. Simon was most famous for creating Captain America alongside Jack Kirby back in the 40s. Cap wasn't their only collaboration and  together they also created Manhunter, the Newsboy Legion, and Boy Commandos for DC Comics, as well as Fighting American (Prize Comics) and Fly (Red Circle Comics).

This is indeed a sad day for comics.

Gundam! It's a Gundam!

Some countries build statues to freedom and liberty. Japan builds statues of giant robots.

So funny story, back in 2009 Bandai decided to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Gundam franchise in the most Japanese way possible - by building a 60 foot tall Gundam! Granted, it's just a statue...or so they say. Clearly, Japan was sending a message to the rest of the world: We can build giant mecha, so don't fuck with us.

Batteries not included.

Unfortunately, Japan no longer has its stalwart protector. Well, it does, but its parts are scattered all over an artificial island and Bandai's charging six and a half bucks to visit the site. According to Engadget, the mighty mecha from one of the greatest anime franchises to ever come out of Japan was disassembled and returned to the island where it originally stood, but I guess Bandai has no plans to reassemble it.

They should reassemble it though, Gundam is iconic and deserves the recognition that statue brings. In fact, I think there should be statues for other mecha anime, like Tetsujin 28-Go (Gigantor in the U.S.), Mazinger Z, Macross/Robotech, and others. Maybe even an Ultraman statue. The reason behind this opinion is simply because Japan has a massive influence on popular culture, worldwide in general and the United States in particular and they should embrace that influence and give recognize it. Plus, think of the revenue generated from the increase tourism; because if you build giant mecha, the otaku will come¹.

This is what passes as a normal day in Japan.

Images via TechCrunch, Pink Tenticle, and Punyari. Hat tip to Geekspective.

¹. And cum too, probably.

The Last Bat Supper

The last thanksgiving batfam supper by Glasmond via Popped Culture.

Trailer for G.I. Joe: Retaliation is pretty good

I originally wasn't going to post anything about the new G.I. Joe movie because A). The first movie sucked big salty balls and B). Retaliation is being directed by Jon M. Chu, who's prior directing credits include a Justin Bieber concert movie. Then I saw Topless Robot's post about it and knowing that Rob Brickman - who has similar opinions as I do about the Joe movie franchise - was impressed made me give the trailer a chance.

I didn't regret it, let me tell you. I question whether they need Bruce Willis though.

This kickass Battlefield 3 video will make you say "holy shit!"

There's RendeZook, and there's everybody else. Frakking epic.

(h/t Destructoid)

Darth Skeletor up in this motherfucker!

Wait, does this mean Prince Adam is Skeletor's so gay it's as obvious as the color of the sky son?

Awesome mashup by Ryan-Renders (via Kotaku).

G.I. Joe Hit & Run

Most people would just take the elevator to their hotel room.
Hit & Run thinks those people are wimps and should just scale the building like him.

One of the things I like about the G.I. Joe action figures is that Hasbro packed each figure with plenty of accessories. I think Hit & Run was packaged a bit lighter than most other figures.

(Picture via YOJOE.com)

This energy drink will make you feel like your power level is over 9000

9GAG

Just remember to have some Senzu Beans on hand to repair the massive kidney damage. Surprised they didn't go with Super Saiyan 4 or the fake Super Saiyan 5. In all honesty, of all the Super Saiyan levels, 3 was my least favorite; it just looked too weird - no eyebrows, absurdly long, spiky hair, and a permanent bitch-face. SSJ 2 was the best, IMO.

Map of the Honor Harrington Universe

Wikipedia

Since I'm currently reading the second book in the Honor Harrington series - The Honor of the Queen by David Weber - I thought I'd post a map I found on Wikipedia detailing the different planets and factions of the Honorverse. The best way to describe the series is "Horatio Hornblower in space". The main heroine is the eponymous Honor Harrington, an officer in the Royal Manticoran Navy of the Star Kingdom of Manticore. The Star Kingdom is for all intents and purposes, the British Empire just before it experienced its massive growth spurt.

The books aren't bad, actually, worth a read if you like military science fiction or the Horatio Hornblower books.

Dorkly's The Nine Greatest Nerd Fears Today

Is very frightening, especially number nine. The thing that makes George R. R. Martin dying before he finishes A Song of Ice and Fire is that someone will probably be hired to finish it and will only succeed in destroying it. That's not a knock against Brandon Sanderson, the guy enlisted to finish Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time mega-series after his death. I've never read the series, let alone Sanderson's contributions, so I couldn't rightly say whether his books sucked or not.

I am going to get so much nerd hate for not reading Wheel of Time. It's on the list. Right behind every other book I've been wanting to read.

Dr. Strange by Marker Illo

(Marker Illo via The Retroist)

Is it just me, or does "Space Launch System" sound like something from Mobile Suit Gundam?

The Space Launch System is the name given to what NASA has in the bag to take the place of the now retired space shuttles. Still, the name sounds like it came Mobile Suit Gundam, like it would belong to a space-borne weapon platform used by one of the Zeon incarnations or the Titans.

Gundam Wiki

Cheesus, I am a dork.

Little Thor will make you lulz and warm your heart

I think this is better than the Darth Vader video that Volkswagen put out back in February. The sly references to Loki and Stark are a nice touch.