Star Wars Beasts of Burden Speederbikes

More chronicling of old stuff so I can reassimilate their asses! I made this for Legoland Star Wars Days in 2011, extrapolating off of my T-Rex on a Motorcycle idea. Lego also makes a decent Tauntaun and Varactyl (Obi-Wan's big lizard from Sith) and I aimed to make rides for them too, but I ran out of time.

As before, you can see a couple detail shots on my flickr page.

Unfinished Arrrr

I made this in 2006 when I was in the running for a job in the model shop at Legoland. The category for the audition build had been pirates (for which I made this) and I threw this tableau together on the chance that the final build category was the same (it wasn't). These two clowns have been part of my desk junk since then, through a couple of desks and apartments. Now that I've finally documented them, it's back to the assimilation bin!

I kept the tentacle plans in case I need them someday.

A couple more pics on my flickr page.

Really?

Poor E.T. He can never catch a break. Ever since E.T.’s 1982 release and its subsequent re-releases, toy companies have been trying to come up with something “cool” for kids to play with in order to take home their movie experience. For some reason they have never been able to come up with a satisfying toy. On the one hand you wouldn’t think that it would be too difficult. I mean, all the elements are there for cool action figures, play sets, etc. Heck, back in the day I would have loved an E.T. rocket ship but it never came to pass. Even the E.T. store currently at Universal Studios fails to provide any product that anyone would actually want to own. From bad stuffed animals to cheap wrist watches, why can’t these toy companies crack it? As I was strolling through the discount aisle at Toys R Us last weekend I stumbled upon the above monstrosity. Really? I mean look at this thing…


Seriously, if a kid came near me with that rubber hand and glowing finger I would run. E.T. go home!

9 Toylines from the '80s Based on Unusual Gimmicks

9) Visionaries and Super Naturals

[via toplessrobot]

See the rest here

Retro Alien action figures!

From cooltoyreview, Remember those cool Alien figures Kenner released in 1979? Oh yeah, they never released them. The world wasn't ready for Star Wars quality figures based on an R rated film back then and what could have been another crucial piece of our childhoods was taken away from us and we didn't even know it. Fast forward thirty-three years and Super7 is prepared to correct Kenner's single biggest mistake by producing all five of the figures we should have had since 1979 (and you must know by now how important we consider 1979 the turning point in the world of action figures). In addition to this portion of their display, they also revealed the production of Burger King style Alien glasses and a pile of Transformers retro awesomeness.

LEGO Series 8 Collectible Minifigs -- There be pictures!

Groovy Lego stuff revealed at SDCC

My work cronies who were going to SDCC (I haven't debriefed them yet) said beforehand that the Lego booth took up more floor space than the Marvel booth. Sure enough, they're gearing up for a lot of stuff. Behold the white Batman! Also this really awesome Lego Rancor.



More Rancor Set pics are here, pics of the Bilbo's House Set from The Hobbit can be seen here, and more superhero minifigs can be seen here. Credit for all these images goes to my friends at the marvelous From Bricks to Bothans website.

New Gonk Droid has removable top

[via yakface]

The 21 Greatest Lego Collectible Minifigures

From toplessrobot, Lego struck gold when they started releasing collectible minifigures in both limited edition waves and in blind packaging. These figures are highly detailed and imaginative, and include very specific character types, many that wouldn't otherwise fit in standard Lego sets. The selection has been amazing and revolutionized the very concept of the ever-popular Lego minifigure.

Here
are, in TR's humble opinion, the 21 best collectble minifigures that Lego has released thus far.

The 10 Least Essential Mego Action Figures

10) Dr. Kromedome

Mego reportedly created this 12-inch baddie as a kind-of unofficial addition to Kenner's Six Million Dollar Man toyline. Yeah, remember that episode where Steve Austin fought the bastard son of Magneto and Seven-Of-Nine who had pursued his destiny in community college Shakespearian theater before stumbling into a life of crime? Hell if we do since that show was before our time, but this figure sure doesn't want to make us get our bionic fix on Netflix.

See them all here

Not Bad!: LEGO Super Mario Level Aquarium Decorations

From geekology, This is a couple pictures and a video of the 55-gallon aquarium Redditor jennyleighb's roommate decorated with a custom LEGO Super Mario Bros. scene he built. Pet fish never had it so good! Still, you know what it needs? "A skeleton pirate drinking out of a jug of rum?" Exactamundo. I'd suggest hitting up the Wal-Mart pet department, but all the dead fish in their tanks will end up depressing you. I don't know who's supposed to take care of those things, but they should NOT be allowed to own pets (I suspect it's the greeter).

Go here for more pictures and a video tour.

World Record Lego Tower built in Korea for Lego's 80th birthday

[via attractionsmagazine]

Mommy, Where Do LEGO Babies Come From?

From geekology, Seen here moments before child services were called, two LEGO parents grossly neglect 22 of their 24 bundles of joy crying hysteria. And now custom LEGO printer Citizen Brick is selling the orphaned minifigs for a scant $1 apiece. But seriously, somebody should have told that guy to put a plastic cap on his nubbin. Wrap it up, bro -- your wife is FERTILE. Kidding, I have no clue where LEGO babies come from. But I suspect a dragon from one of the medieval castle sets brings them if you pray really hard and put enough little gold pieces of eight from one of the pirate sets under your pillow at night. "They had sex, GW." WHAT? Toys don't have sex! None of mine do anyways. Okay, except for the Ninja Turtles. And, if I get drunk enough, MAYBE the Jurassic Park playset. "Is that why you've been walking like a penguin all day?" I think a t-rex might've chased the Jeep into my keister!

More customs here

I hate toys with sensors!

On a recent spring Saturday I had some time to kill and where better to kill time than Kmart, right? As I entered the depressing monstrosity my pulse quickened as it always does when I am heading to a toy department. Previous recent visits already suggested that I would find nothing of interest but then again no toy collector has ever found treasure without consistent persistence. As I entered the section I was startled by this horrible thing, which I set off by walking past it,



Mind you it was 8am, I was the only person in the store and it was very quiet. I must be honest; Elmo scared the hell out of me. He yelled, laughed, and sang for what seemed like an eternity. Moving right along into another aisle I was again startled when this started barking at me as I walked past,



Having just recovered from my Kevin Clash scare, Cookie again triggered my fight/flight instinct. I finally made it to the only aisle worth checking out, besides the Lego aisle, of course, and I was betrayed by Star Wars! Nestled right next to the Star Wars figures is this noisy weapon,



The loud ‘whooshing’ sound and ensuing lightsaber ‘clashes’ just pissed me off. At this point I was really annoyed. It’s only a matter of time before some elderly woman meets her demise by walking by these sensor toys. This and similar experiences in the toy aisle has made me very gun shy when I walk through department stores. I now have an eagle eye out for potential toy bombs. I hate these things!

STAR WARS Series 5 (1977) Trading Card Puzzle Finally Assembled!

I was recently organizing some trading cards and I realized that in 30 years I never assembled the puzzle featured on the card backs of Star Wars series 5. This major oversight was most likely because for many years I was missing some of the cards from the set and I hate making puzzles that are missing pieces. Series 5, the ‘orange’ set was difficult to acquire back in the day. By time this series was released it was clear that Topps had used every possible cool imagine they could find in the previous 4 sets. In fact, I thought they hit a new low in series 4 with this card,



Yet Topps was somehow able to procure 66 new images for the orange set. I don’t recall these being out for very long and at the time I think I had stopped collecting Star Wars cards. Years later I only found a scant amount in my vast trading card collection.



However the 21st century arrived and with that we got nifty things like The Toy Vault and Ebay, which enabled me to easily complete the [sad] orange set. Here are a few examples of how truly pathetic this set really is,




Want to see the entire set? Of course you do! Go here

I would be embarrassed to tell you how much time it took me to assemble this (arguably) difficult puzzle but I believe I watched an entire episode of Happy Days before it was finally completed (Fonzie thought he lost his 'cool').

Droid Factory Coming to Disney

From swcollector, The Orlando Sentinal has posted news that the Star Wars Droid Factory Droid Pieces will be available next month at Disney World's Tattooine Traders at Hollywood Studios.

"An array of Disney merchandise was on display Friday. Coming May 10, just before Star Wars Weekends, will be a Droid Factory at Tattooine Traders at Disney's Hollywood Studios. It's a build-your-own Astromech Droid activity resulting in 3-inch figures that fit into other playsets."

Star Wars: The Ultimate Action Figure Collection: 35 Years of Characters

From Amazon,Here at last is the complete and definitive collection of the more than 2,500 Star Wars® action figures produced over the last 35 years. Fans and collectors can finally trace the evolution of each character in toy form from the time of their first appearance through the designs of today, with pages of amazing and inventive variations crafted to tell the stories of Luke Skywalker, Darth Maul, and literally hundreds more. Compiled by Stephen J. Sansweet, owner of the world's largest private collection of Star Wars memorabilia, the book also showcases and details the rare, popular, forgotten, and beloved figures coveted by fans the world over, drawing figures from the feature film, video game, and cartoon realms of the vast Star Wars universe.

[JPX] Holy crap, 2500 Star Wars action figures???

New York Toy Fair Hasbro presentation

Go here to see everything that Hasbro is releasing in 2012.

The 10 Greatest Star Wars Micro Machines Playsets

10) Dagobah


From toplessrobot, After dominating toy aisles and coveted Saturday morning commercial time throughout the late '70s and mid-'80s, demand for Kenner's line of Star Wars action figures and vehicles ground to a screeching halt and quickly fell out of favor despite numerous attempts to jumpstart the toyline with new characters and background stories. However, with the coming of the '90s came a Star Wars renaissance of sorts with Kenner leading the charge with an all-new line of toys. But Kenner wasn't the only toy company reigniting the public's nostalgia with the legendary franchise. Galoob -- one of the largest toy companies during its '80s/'90s heyday -- combined the popularity of its Micro Machines line with the scope, diversity and epic nature of Star Wars, all of it culminating into the memorable (and incomparable) Star Wars Micro Machines Collection!

Highly reminiscent of Kenner's miniature die-cast Star Wars Micro Collection of the past, Galoob churned out a number of vehicles and miniature figurines in multi-packs, meaning that one could build an army or a fleet of battleships and starfighters in a short amount of time. But like the main Micro Machines line, the tiny vehicles were nothing without the playsets and, in standard fashion, Galoob pulled all the stops when it came to special features and details that bordered on the obsessive. There were plenty of playsets out there (enough to recreate an entire planet), but there were some that truly stand out from the rest in regards to creative design, mechanics and pure fun. Check out 10 of the greatest Star Wars Micro Machines playsets!

See the rest here

Lego: The Movie

From slashfilm, When news first broke that Warner Bros. was developing a Lego film, we groaned at the thought of yet another film based on a beloved childhood property (see also: G.I. Joe, Transformers, Battleship, etc.). But then Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs helmers Phil Lord and Chris Miller boarded the project, and the idea of a Lego movie suddenly got much more interesting — especially when Robot Chicken‘s Chris McKay signed on to co-direct as well.

During this weekend’s press junket for their new film 21 Jump Street, Lord and Miller offered a few more details on what we could expect from the Lego movie, including a potential title, the status of the film, it’s look, its tone, and even a tiny hint about its plot. More after the jump.

Over the past couple of years, Lord and Miller have let slip some occasional bits of info about the film, including the fact that it’d be set in an all-Lego universe “to the point where if there’s water or clouds or like a big explosion, that will be made out of animated Legos,” and that the tone could be described as “like if Michael Bay kidnapped Henry Selick to make a movie for him.” I got the chance to speak with the filmmakers at the recent 21 Jump Street event and press for a little more detail.

Asked to expand on the film’s plot and tone, Miller and Lord referenced The Matrix, The Magnificent Seven, Time Bandits, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars, adding, “it’s pretty crazy.” Lord then dropped a clue about the movie’s storyline: “It involves many worlds. Basically, the least qualified Lego characters in the universe having to keep the world from being frozen together.” I’m not sure what “frozen together” means, exactly, but at the most basic level, it sounds like a plot about the Lego equivalent of unlikely underdog heroes stepping up to save the world. According to Miller, the film is currently titled Lego: The Piece of Resistance.

REad the rest here

Rejected Star Wars merchandise

Go to actionfigureinsider for tons of rejected ideas!

Star Wars "deleted scene" wave

I continue to marvel at the Star Wars juggernaut. I can’t think of a single other toy franchise that consistently produces all possible toys even tangentially related to the original product and that includes Star Trek. From minor characters to the Star Wars extended universe, Hasbro continues to satisfy the desires of Star Wars most dedicated fans. I smiled when I saw this latest line of action figures. Hasbro has once again mined the depths of the Star Wars universe to add more unique product to a series of action figures that has far surpassed 1000 at this point. Above is a picture of the latest characters, which can only be found on the deleted scenes section of the Star Wars Blu-Ray discs. You can see some of the scenes that these new figures were based on in the trailer for the Bly-Ray set.

One Of The Rarest Figures Ever

From cooltoyreview, Drop everything you are doing and follow this link for your chance to bid on one of the rarest action figures you'll ever see. The Black Hole Humanoid figure, released by Mego in 1979, seldom goes up for auction, and never are they complete. The Humanoid linked above is complete with its cloak and booties, and it is all original! This figure was only available in Canada and Italy at the tail end of the line's production run.

Go here for the auction

Extremely violent Lego Captain America

New Dewback looks promising

I don't have any other pictures of the new Dewback but I always love this creature and I'm leaning heavily into purchsing it. Stay tuned for pictures if I do.

Creepy Freddy figure

[via cooltoyreview]

See other shots here

Behold the Legos of the Rings

From toplessrobot, The French site Lord of the Brick managed to find incredibly fuzzy, grainy, CONFIDENTIAL-stamped scans of the packages for Lego's upcoming Lord of the Rings sets, and... damn. I don't think there's anything mind-blowingly surprising in here -- they look pretty much exactly as I expected them to look -- but still, just seeing them is pretty nerdgasm inducing. That's the Mines of Moria set up above (which comes with Pippin, Gimli, Legolas, Boromir, 2 x Goblins, 2 x Skeletons & Cave Troll), and the Helm's Deep set below (Aragon, Gimli, Legolas, Theoden, 5 x Uruk-hai).

The other sets include...

• Gandalf Arrives - Gandalf & Frodo
• Shelob Attacks - Samwise, Frodo & Gollum
• Uruk-hai Army - 4 x Uruk-hai, 1 x Rohirrim Soldier, 1 x Rider Of Rohan

• Attack On Weathertop - Merry, Frodo, Aragon & 2 x Nazgul

...and you can see equally crappy pics of those sets' packaging at Lord of the Brick
. Infinite thanks to Purple Monkey Dishwasher for the tip.

Recreate your favorite Apple events with this Steve Jobs action figure

From digitaltrends, A startlingly realistic Steve Jobs action figure has been unveiled by In Icons. Available from February, it comes complete with accessories including jeans, a turtleneck top and even a "one more thing..." backdrop.

Leaving aside the questionable timing of such a product, and the lack of the word “official” anywhere on the site; the appearance of In Icons’ Steve Jobs action figure is sure to garner plenty of interest, not least because it’s startlingly realistic.

The figure will stand 12-inches tall and it comes with a wide variety of accessories, including his trademark blue jeans and black turtleneck top, a pair of socks, a tiny pair of New Balance shoes and two pairs of glasses.

With the figure all dressed up, he needs somewhere to go, so a stool and a backdrop with “One More Thing…” written on it provides the perfect chance to recreate your favorite Apple events from years gone by.

That’s not all either, as the set will also include two apples, one with a bite out of it (they do understand he never sold actual apples, right?), and not one or even two, but three pairs of hands. Sadly though, the pictured miniature Mac, iPhone and iPad won’t come with the figure.

It’s yours for $99 and will be available from February, provided that in the meantime, the operation isn’t shut down by Steve Jobs’ estate, who’ve previously taken a dim view of similar action figures.