READS: VHS Video Cover Art

Posted on May 15, 2015 by geelw

If you were around during the 1980’s and owned a VHS player a trip to the video store was probably something done a few times a week in order to check out some good to awful films you hadn’t seen previously or had caught in a theater and wanted to experience all over again. The better video rental shops were part museum, offering up box after box of wildly re-imagined art that didn’t always match what was on those tapes you wanted to rent. From scantily clad ladies beckoning you to pick up that case to painted explosions that guaranteed at least if the film was atrocious stuff would blow up really good, it was a boom time for “B” movie fans. Over in the UK, movie fans got even wilder cover art to ogle from a wide range of artists of assorted talent covering genres from sci-fi and horror to comedy and assorted exploitation flicks.

Whether you’re a fan of the period or just want a great art book to show off to friends, Schiffer Books’ VHS Video Cover Art ($34.99) comes very highly recommended. Compiled by Tom ‘The Dude Designs’ Hodge (a great movie poster artist inspired by this period), the 12″ x 9″ hardcover book is 264 pages of eye-popping artwork. Some of it great, most of it cheesy to an extreme. Here in the US that cheese factor is most likely going to be the appeal to many buyers who may only know some of these films through their western movie posters and/or VHS cover art which was more often than not straightforward studio commissioned art and photos.

Continue reading →

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Get the Coffee Table Book Treatment

Posted on April 7, 2015 by geelw

Okay, I’ll admit to not being much into He-Man and the Masters of the Universe way back when it was on TV and those beefy action figures and massive playsets were selling like hotcakes in stores. However, I was a big fan of Earl Norem‘s fantasy artwork as well as some of the cool animation Funimation had been doing since the late 60’s. As soon as I heard Dark Horse Comics was putting out a massive 300+ page regular and limited edition hardcover called The Art of He-Man And The Masters of the Universe, it went on my long list of books I needed to check out.

After getting a digital copy to peruse last week, color me impressed and a *kiiiind of* new convert to the old kid’s show. Granted, I’m not about to run out and buy up a box set and binge watch myself into a coma anytime soon. But thanks to the wonderful art and well-done interviews with many involved with the show, toys, comics and even that weird live action film, I respect the show a lot more on the art side of things. It’s still a big toy-selling chunk of nostalgia, but that sort of thing is why many now adults loved the show back in the day. I’m sure some of their parents had an eyebrow raised every time a new figure was requested and I don’t even want to think about holiday shopping for a hot new playset with a bunch of other parents eyeballing the same big box. Anyway, if one or more of those links floats your boat, go make a purchase. The regular edition is in stores on April 15 and the LE hits retail in May.

Oh, and someone needs to track down Earl Norem and send him a nice letter of thanks for all his gorgeous artwork, as his Wikipedia page is kind of depressing near the end. Personally, I think more people including younger illustration fans WOULD indeed be interested about the career of an 81-year-old artist. Hell, they’d better be, as his work was always consistently grand in just about anything he did.

Random Art: “I Coulda Had A Hirschfeld!”

Posted on March 6, 2015 by geelw

Art copyright Don Orehek

So, if you’re old enough and happened to be a New Yorker (or in NYC) during the 1970’s and into the 80’s, there was a chance you could walk into a certain place at a certain time of the year and have a caricature drawn by a world famous (or nearly world famous) cartoonist for FREE. Yes, that’s right. Before the days of “Pay me!” comic convention art, ebay, and heck, the internet, a lucky few locals and tourists smart enough to find out about the event could queue up at The Manhattan Savings Bank for it’s yearly (National) Cartoonist’s Show.

I’d heard about this back in the early 80’s and wanted to go, but never could find time to get downtown until 1987 when I was working in Manhattan. If I’m not mistaken, a friend of mine had gone either the previous year or the year before and lucked out big time, getting Al Hirschfeld to draw him. Who wouldn’t want a Hirschfeld for nothing? I recall not knowing who was going to be at the 1987 event, and with only an hour for lunch, I figured (correctly) that the more popular cartoonists would get the longest lines. I don’t remember every artist at the event (there were no cell phone cameras back then and I didn’t think to pack a camera with me on a warm summer day to record history), but I eventually made it in front of three of them and the results you’re seeing below the jump…
Continue reading →

Zojoi’s MacVentures Keep You Inside, Snow Outside!

Posted on January 26, 2015 by geelw

Well, well… the MacVenture series is back and in fine nostalgic form, this time as a set of Steam digital downloads. While you can buy each of these four classics for $2.99 a pop, it’s best to go whole hog and bag the bundle for $8.99. For that price, you get the original Macintosh 128k black and white and Apple IIGS 4-bit color versions of the MacVenture Series: Uninvited, Shadowgate, Deja Vu and Deja Vu II: Lost In Las Vegas. Yes, they will run on current Macs (of course!) and any PC that’s using Windows 7 or above.

Even better, since Zojoi Games is happy to get these classics back out in the fresh air, there’s s 20% launch discount on Steam ($2.39 each, $7.19 four pack bundle) until February 2, 2015. Yeah, so now you can’t say you have nothing to do because you’re snowed in with nothing but the cat to look at. Leave that pet on the bookshelf and go play with something a lot more entertaining…

Go Commando With Hot Toys’ John Matrix Figure!

Posted on December 29, 2014 by geelw

Here’s a surefire way to blast 2014 into pieces and welcome in 2015 with a bang thanks to Sideshow Collectibles and Hot Toys. Yeah, you know you were grinning as soon as you saw that Arnold as John Matrix figure glaring back at you. Of course, as this is a Hot Toys piece, you know for the money you’re spending, you’ll be getting something that will stand out in your collection.

I saw Commando back in 1985 and laughed myself silly because the film is ridiculous and stuffed with quotable quips. It’s also amusingly violent in a Warner Bros. cartoon gone haywire manner, particularly the final twenty or so minutes where Matrix wipes out a villa full of troops with weapons he’s brought with him and whatever he can find as he dumps his empty guns.

Okay, it’s not for all tastes, but it’s a cable staple these days and always good for a hearty chuckle when it’s needed. That said, I was hoping to see Vernon Wells‘ Bennett finally get a decent action figure made from this flick. I guess Hot Toys needs a call from the man himself at some point to make that happen. Hey, he’s got a cool website and all, so why not a few action figures to go with that?

Hikari Friday: Transform Your Collection With These Transformers!

Posted on November 14, 2014 by geelw

Okay, so you’re a bit lazy this week for whatever reason. You COULD go shop online or hoof it out to your nearest Funko retailer to pick up one or both of these new Hikari Sofubi Transformers figures, but nope. You want to take a BIG chance on just clicking around to WIN one. No worries, I’ve got you covered. Well, Funko actually has you covered… but only for ONE of these two limited edition collectibles. Enter now on one of Funko’s social channels:

http://www.facebook.com/OriginalFunko
http://www.twitter.com/OriginalFunko
Instagram @OriginalFunko

and you just might win either this cool Metallic Optimus Prime Hikari Sofubi Figure (#1 of 2000):

OR this Metallic Bumblebee Hikari Sofubi Figure (also #1 of 2000):

If you want those OG G1 paint schemes in the house, or at least the chance to win one of these beauties, you know what to do, correct? Go get lucky and add one of these to your collection!

The Internet Arcade: Your Monday (and Every Other Day) Just Got A LOT Less Productive…

Posted on November 10, 2014 by geelw

Holy Cats. And here I thought archive.org was a disorganized mess of free movies and music files of assorted quality plus the home the not so perfect Wayback Machine where one can dig up archives for old websites no longer online. Well, the Archive’s Jason Scott has compiled over 1000 classic arcade games running on the MAME/MESS/JMESS emulators (which were cooked up by many other creative folks) and you can lose a week playing as many as you can for FREE.

The catch? Well, you’ll need the latest version of your current browser, meaning you’ll be online when you’re supposed to be working hard on those spreadsheets or whatever. However, be warned that Firefox works the best over anything else, meaning you Chrome and Safari users may have issues with running this perfectly. So, yeah… so much for getting to do important stuff like walking the dog, raising a family or stocking your zombie-proof shelter. Also, a controller is recommended, as keyboard controls are going to be funky on many titles. That’s being tweaked as we speak. Finally, the sounds and music will be a bit garbled on some games. Crank down the volume if you’re using headphones so your eardrums don’t crack when some high-pitched MIDI tune blasts them.

I’ve scanned that list of games and my eyeball popped out of my head a few times. If I had a controller with me here at the away office, I’d be playing some BLASTER, Q*Bert, Crystal Castles, Crazy Climber, The Three Stooges and way too many others to list here. This is a work in progress, so it’ll be fiddled with and fixed as time passes. I’m NOT going to go back to that page today at ALL or else I’ll get nothing done at all. YOU can boogie on over there yourself just to ogle all the awesome marquee art. Consider this your museum trip for this week. Yes, another excuse to call gaming educational is always a great reason…

National Toy Hall of Fame Inductees: Three Times the Fun!

Posted on November 6, 2014 by geelw

Image courtesy of The Strong, Rochester, New York.

Before you even ask, yes, there is a National Toy Hall of Fame. It’s part of the National Museum of Play up in Rochester, NY and I’d say it’s a bucket list trip for anyone with even the slightest interest in any sort of toy or game from their childhood. Today the Museum inducted a trio of all-time classics into the Toy Hall of Fame and some of you are already grinning at that photo above. This year’s inductees made me laugh out loud because as soon as I heard the news this morning, I was hoping to heck that someone at the Museum would have made a cool diorama with a few squads of Army Men on some alien or other landscape (maybe Washington D.C.?) fighting off an “invasion” by a giant Rubik’s Cube with Bubbles floating in the shot to give it the look of some low-budget sci-fi flick.

Courtesy of The Strong®, Rochester, New York

Hey, Mario Bava would have done it up right, I bet. That said, the Museum’s presentation was certainly creative and entertaining. Dancers from the Rochester City Ballet appeared in life-size Army Men outfits, there was a gigantic Rubik’s Cube mosaic (made up of 200 pounds of Rubik’s Cubes), and the Bubble Man himself, Doug Rougeux doing his amazing thing at the event. Okay, all that was MORE creative than my crummy diorama idea maybe two people would have gotten the joke about. What can I say other that I like obscure references only a handful of people would understand…

Continue reading →

Hikari Friday Time! Funko Foists FOUR Figures For Free!

Posted on September 19, 2014 by geelw

Yes indeed, Funko wants to make FOUR lucky winners very happy this week, one each will nab the first one off the line of these cool Hikari Sofubi Vinyl figures. This week it’s more Transformers up for grabs. Check out the Distressed Optimus Prime Premium Hikari Sofubi Figure and Distressed Bumblebee Premium Hikari Sofubi Figure:

Get your chance to win at one of Funko’s social network sites:

http://www.facebook.com/OriginalFunko
http://www.twitter.com/OriginalFunko
Instagram @OriginalFunko

As usual, those first two figures will be available at your favorite Funko retailer in case you’re not a lucky winner. And yes, the reason those two robots in disguise are distressed is because they’re temporarily homeless and are getting a bit desperate to find a shelf or space to camp out on as they plot their revenge against the Decepticons who destroyed their planet!

On the other hand, the even MORE limited edition (and exclusive) Books-A-Million transformers, 24k Optimus Prime Hikari Sofubi Figure and 24k Bumblebee Hikari Sofubi Figure are only available online and are limited to 600 pieces each. Have a look at these shiny beauties:

And before you even ask, NO, they’re NOT REAL 24K gold at all. I’d not even want to imagine the weight of one of these figures or if an actual gold Transformer figure existed, who’d have enough disposable cash to buy one. Then again, there ARE gold and silver encased PlayStation 4’s for sale in Dubai, so it’s not a total impossibility… Anyway, good luck!

It’s Hikari Friday Time! Funko Wants You To WIN One of Two Transformers!

Posted on August 22, 2014 by geelw

Not just ANY Transformers, though – This week, you’ve the chance to win one of two different Grey Skull variants (no relation to Castle Greyskull, I bet!) through the usual means of hitting up one of Funko’s social networks, entering and then dropping to your knees and hoping you’re the lucky one of two picked to WIN one of these cool Hikari Sofubi Vinyl figures. Here’s Grey Skull Optimus Prime:

and here’s Grey Skull Bumblebee:

Boogie on over to one of the spots below and enter away for your chance to win:

http://www.facebook.com/OriginalFunko
http://www.twitter.com/OriginalFunko
Instagram @OriginalFunko

As always, each of the two lucky winners get the first off the line of one of these figures (#1 of 1000 this time out). Remember, If you’re an unlucky loser, you can still grab one or both of these at your favorite Funko retailer in September. Good Luck and remember: “Knowing is half the battle!” I have NO idea what the other half is, by the way…