New Joes

I'm loving the new, old-style GI Joes. One of the best surprises was the Red Ninja, which while appearing in the comics once in a while, is a throwback to a cool South American exclusive figure named "Satan" from the 80s toy line. Even the new card artwork is based on the old Satan card art. I hope Hasbro will throw more crazy foreign characters into the mix as the line progresses.

New Red Ninja on the left, vintage import "Satan" Red Cobra on the right.

I'd love to see repaints of Cobra Mortal, Cobra De Aco (aka Steel Cobra) and Red Laser.

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DR.G

Hold me closer tiny dancer: Lil' 80s action figures

A little teaser of some upcoming Christmas catalog fun. From the 1987 Sears Wish Book:

Four great toy lines from 1987 that featured tiny action figures and vehicles. I loved these kinds of toys as a kid; M.A.S.K. being a favorite. Smaller figures meant more vehicles and bigger, detailed playsets. And nothing could beat these tiny wonders for imagination induced adventures around the house or backyard. When the figures are 2 inch scale, a bedroom floor or back patio becomes a vast universe to play in.

Unfortunately for me, around '87 I had turned 12 and was getting too old to play with or buy toys, so my experience was fleeting with most of these (Although I made sure to watch the cartoons)

First, StarCom: U.S. Space Force. These were awesome. Tiny, detailed spacemen and evil robots with cool motorized vehicles and magnetic boots. I managed to score 2 of the smaller vehicles, the M-6 Rail Gunner and the Shadow Bat, and some figures. One of the great things was the little figures were sold separately, so it was easy to annoying whine at mom to drop a couple of bucks for one.
No clue what happened to mine. They disappeared into the ether during long ago.

Next is the 3rd series of MASK toys from Kenner, aka the racing series. I was a huge MASK fan, but missed most of these, again due to that pesky "growing up" thing. A buddy's younger brother was into these at the time and had most all of the racing toys. Whenever I'd be over at their house, we'd hang in the basement and I'd secretly eye those MASK vehicles. A couple years later, my friend was nice enough to give me the Mantis with Vanessa Warfield since his brother was now "too old for it" too. In the early 90s MASK was re-syndicated and I was lucky to fine most all of these on clearance when I started toy collecting.

Third, Sky Commanders by Kenner. This is a fairly obscure series. I only had one of the basic figures, again lost to time. The toys didn't catch on and quickly became clearance aisle fodder. They're great toys and had an even great cartoon that aired as part of the Funtastic World of Hanna Barbara, and later re aired on Boomerang a few years ago. Sky Commander vs The Raiders for control of the element Phata-7 on a newly discovered continent.

Lastly, probably the least remembered, but one of my favorites, Air Raiders by Hasbro. The series didn't get a cartoon, but did manage a few issues of a Marvel comic.

Most later 80s toys I only had a taste of, but these, I had nearly all of these suckers. It was the week before Christmas and ShopKo was open 24 hours during the holidays (this was a crazy new gimmick at the time). For some reason the idea of Christmas shopping at 12 am on a Saturday night amazed my dad, so we had ourselves a little trip to the 'Ko. Turned out they had a huge clearance aisle set up and tons of Air Raiders ass-cheap. I scored just about the entire series for around $25 (and got a ton of the big M.U.S.C.L.E multi-gift packs too). The giant "Man O War"ship was a favorite. I managed to keep most all my childhood toys but I can remember the Air Raiders going into a garage sale a few years later, when I had moved onto other things like video games, cars and not getting laid.

Four great series, mostly forgotten today. Looking at those photos still gets my brain racing thinking about the adventures a kid could have with those.

Gotta Cooch 'Em All! Pokemon!

God bless the Japanese and the weird shit they make. If you put a gun to my head for a thousand days, I'd have never come up with this...

Click HERE to get a better look...

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DR.G

ANDY! You GOONIE!!!

Goonies figures were waiting on the front porch this evening and look great. One of my top 10 movies finally getting some plastic sculpted love courtesy of Mezco. Only complaint is Sloth's non-Superman t-shirt, but I can understand why.
Man, I would have killed for these when was 10...
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DR. G

Final Halloween Movie Marathon titles updated

Almost missed the update. Sorry
DR.G

M.A.S.K. dvd set

This is just a quickie for anyone out there that's seen the M.A.S.K. vol 1 dvd set by "Vortex Pictures" online and wondered if it's worth it?
I'd go with a big "Yes", if you're a fan. Comes in an embossed slipcase, with 4 dvd case, episodes 1 - 38. They look really good and part 2 is supposed to surface shortly. I'm not 100% sure of where these are coming from and I doubt there official, but they a fantastic holdover for fans until/if there is ever a US release.

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DR.G

Phantasm II: Phant Harder

Ah, the late 80s/early 90s. I have a soft spot for lot of horror movies from that time. I was now old enough to sneak into R films at the theater and see things on the big screen. Phantasm II, the underrated (and oddly missing from DVD) sequel to Phantasm was just such a film.
Phantasm is a topsy-turvey world of dreams mixing with reality and a dozen sci-fi, fantasy and horror elements that make no sense, but taste great together. The films always feel like the breathless ramblings of a coked-up 8 year-old. "Blah! TallMan, Kill-Balls, Jawas, Ghosts, AliensFromAnotherDimension, ChainsawWieldingGasMaskWearingGraveDiggers! Ahhhhhhh!" I'm sure if you look closely, you'll see a drunken werewolf delivering babies.

ONE OF THE MANY KILL-BALLS IN ATTACK MODE

So, anyway, Phantasm II takes place 10 years after the original. Reggie's older, Mike looks a lot like James LeGross and he has a psychic rapport with a blond girl, who I will call Blond-O since I can't remember her name. The dynamic duo break into a True Value Hardware and arm themselves with Chainsaws, blowtorches, and garden weasels to do battle with the Tall Man, or perhaps, Mossman. I know if I'm gonna do a little B&E, it'll be at a military surplus store, not the place that can make me a spare set of keys. But, since they come away with Reggie's super-gun and plenty of other props for the coming mayhem, I'll let it slide.

REGGIE ENTERS THE FORBDDEN ZONE

Reggie and Mike drive around a lot, see some weird shit, pick up a sexy hitchhiker that might or might not be the living dead and finally run into Blond-O. This sets the stage for the final battle with the Tall Man at the mortuary from Hell. We get to see some chainsaw on chainsaw action, numerous Jawa attacks, various Kill-Ball goreings (including my favorite where one of them tunnels around inside a dude) and Reggie using his super-gun against some perfectly lined-up enemies. Plus, the Tall Man bleeds French's Mustard. What more can you ask for in a film.

REGGIE'S WEILDING HIS SUPER-GUN 5000, AFTER HIS SHIFT AT KFC

The movie did leave me with a couple of questions though. Why are the Kill-Balls easily trapped in flesh? Those suckers were breaking down doors, melting metal, but meat...stuck.

Second, sexy hitchhiker girl? Was she always the Tall Man in disguise? Did Reggie have French's Mustard-sex with the Tall Man?

The mere thought of Agnus Scrimm cooch has me flabbergasted.

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DR. G

Tall Man and his flying Kill-Balls... sounds a bit like prison lingo.

Short Circuit 2: Alternate Ending

Ran across this and had to share. It's perfection.



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DR.G

Halloween Movie Marathon list updated!

Sorry for the lack of updates. Things have been a big 'ole bowl of ass-soup the last couple of weeks. Anyway Halloween Marathon list has been updated for the next week and updates will be rolling in this week as Crazy Dead-People Christmas rapidly approaches. Viv la Frankenstein!
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-DR. G

Halloween Marathon updated!

Movies for the 9th through 16th have been updated on the Halloween Movie Marathon List.

Halloween music videos: Misfits

MISFITS "Astro Zombies"


MISFITS "Night of the Living Dead"


MISFITS "Return of the Fly"

Anything CAN happend on Halloween---The Worst Witch

Nothing makes me simultaneously giggle and feel creeped out, than Tim Curry's show stopping musical number in "The Worst Witch". If you listen carefully, buried under the wall of sound created by the Casio, you can hear the scenery being chewed.

More Halloween for your viewing pleasure

McNuggets Commercial. Mummy! Ah-Ah!



Looney Tunes "Hyde and Go Tweet"



Looney Tunes "Bewitched Bunny"

Horror TV: Week 1 (central tme)

Once a week in October, I'll list some Halloween themed shows and movies on tv.

Mon 1st
11 p.m. Disney The Replcements "Halloween Spirits"
12 a.m. SCI Twilight Zone
12:30 a.m. SCI Twilight Zone
4:30 a.m. Disney Lilo & Stitch "Spooky"

Tues 2nd
1 p.m. USA Jeepers Creepers
3 p.m. USA Jeepers Creepers 2
12 a.m. SCI Twilight Zone
12:30 a.m. SCI Twilight Zone

Wed 3rd
11 a.m. Oxygen Roseanne "Halloween IV"
6 p.m to 12 a.m SCI Ghost Hunters (mini-marathon)
7 p.m. Cartoon Network Goosebumps
7:30 p.m. Cartoon Network Goosebumps
12 a.m. SCI Twilight Zone
12:30 a.m. SCI Twilight Zone

Thurs 4th
12 p.m. Disney American Dragon "Halloween Bash"
7 p.m. Cartoon Network Goosebumps
7:30 p.m. Cartoon Network Goosebumps
12 a.m. SCI Twilight Zone
12:30 a.m. SCI Twilight Zone

Fri 5th
9:30 a.m. TCM The Vampire
10 a.m. TBS Home Improvement "Crazy for You"
11 a.m. TCM Return of Dracula
12:30 p.m. TCM Dead Men Walk
1:45 p.m. TCM The Vampire Bat
3 p.m. TCM The Last Man on Earth
4:30 p.m. TCM My Son, The Vampire
5:45 p.m. TCM Return of the Vampire
7 p.m. TCM Curse of the Demon
7 p.m. Cartoon Network Goosebumps
7:30 p.m. Cartoon Network Goosebumps
8:45 p.m. TCM Cat People
10 p.m. TCM I Walked with a Zombie
11:15 p.m. TCM The Leopard Man
12 a.m. AMC Children of the Corn II
2 a.m. AMC The She Creature

Sat 6th
6:30 p.m. Toon Disney Jackie Chan Adventures "Fright Fight Night"
8 p.m. IFC Halloween (encore at 1 a.m.)

Sun 7th
11:30 a.m. Toon Disney House of Mouse "Halloween with Hades"
7 p.m. Disney Halloweentown II

For you Halloween viewing pleasure

Half the fun of holidays is the tv specials and themed episodes. I'll sprinkle some links throughout the month and here's a few get started:



Donald Duck "Trick or Treat"



Betty Boop "Halloween Party"



Mickey, Donald and Goofy "Lonesome Ghosts



Legend of Sleepy Hallow (the chase)

The 31 Days of Halloween Begins...NOW!

Oct 1st. Taste the ghoulishness in the air as the 1st Annual Geektarded Celebration begins.

The first 8 movies have been listed in the 32 Horror Movie Marathon. I'm going to try and watch each one and I'll tally my score at the end of the month.

Any readers daring enough to take part in the movie marathon can email me the movies they watched from the list at the end of the month and the one with the most will get a special Halloween prize from the Geektarded Vault of Hideousness. It's all for fun, so be honest. PS, there's only 1 prize, so the reader with the highest score or the first with all 32 wins.

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DR. G