Category Merchandise

Mar 28 2014

Batman: 75 Years Old & More Popular Than Ever

batman 75

Batman is celebrating his 75th anniversary this year so let’s take a look at why this character has such an enduring legacy. Batman is a very versatile character that seems to be at home in any era. He got started in 1939 during the Depression and has gone through many changes during the years. One just has to look at his comic books through the decades, the Batman TV series of the ’60s and The Dark Knight film of 2008 to see how easily and successful Batman can be and reflect the times that he is existing on. This means he appeals to a wide audience and will continue to attract fans and not become irrelevant regardless of whether he appears in either comics or movies. Another trait that makes the Caped Crusader interesting is the fact that he has no superpowers.

All of his strengths and arsenal are the result of years of training and brain power. He does not have the luxury of a mutation or any outside force to give him his powers. Batman batman 2does it the hard way. This means he can be more vulnerable, but also somewhat more relatable as well. This doesn’t mean that he is not just some wag with a cheap costume. He uses his many resources to make himself into a first class fighter and detective with a formidable arsenal (like the always cool Batmobile or Batwing) to fight crime.

Any discussion of Batman’s popularity must also include his rogues gallery of villains, some of the most interesting in the genre. Obviously the best one is his nemesis the Joker, the insane killer clown. Who wouldn’t be afraid of that? Not to mention other classic characters like The Penguin, the Riddler, his former ally Harvey Dent a.k.a. Two-Face and his sometime love interest Catwoman. All are in their own right fascinating characters who are in some ways as popular as Batman himself. These iconic characters all show up in highly successful comics, movies and video games that are some of the best to have been created.

The 1989 Batman movie was a phenomenon that foreshadowed the super hero craze of today, which includes the critically acclaimed Dark Knight trilogy. He is so popular that he will be featured in the upcoming sequel to Man Of Steel and the eventual Justice League film. The Caped Crusade has also conquered the world of animation with many excellent animated series like Batman Beyond and Beware The Batman.

ccccIn regards to other media, the Batman: Arkham video game series for the PS3/Xbox 360/Wii U and soon for next gen systems is widely regarded as one of the best to feature a super hero that has ever been created. These include Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City, Batman: Arkham Origins, and Batman: Arkham Knight. All of this illustrates why Batman is still, after 75 years, a very popular and relevant character that will continue to entertain audiences for years and decades to come.

C.S. Link

Feb 16 2014

This Time It’s For Real, Marty McFly’s Sneakers With Power Laces Are Coming!

mcfly and power lacesA couple of years back, it was reported on this blog that Nike released  special limited edition replicas of the Nike sneakers worn by Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) in the movie Back To The Future, Part II. While they looked amazingly accurate to the futuristic footwear worn byMarty and lit up, they lacked that shoe’s distinctive feature: the power laces. In other words, they didn’t self lace themselves like in the movie.  That was the one thing that made the sneakers so freaking cool! But fear not fans, it turns out we will be getting those special kicks after all.

This past Friday, Nike designer Tinker Hatfield confirmed that next year, 2015 the year that the movie takes place in, the shoe company will release sneakers that will have the self-lacing feature! He didn’t say, however, if the power laces will be on new releases of the Nike Air Mag or another shoe. Hopefully, they’ll release the Air Mag (and not just limited editions) with the power laces. That would be sweeeet! Forget Velcro! Just push a button on the shoe and it laces itself, think of the precious seconds you’ll save when getting dressed. The funny thing is that these shoes that looked so futuristic back then when the movie was released in the late ’80s look so contemporary. It’s like modern fashion has caught up to the future.

So, start saving up your dollars people because it’s a guarantee that we’ll have to pay top dollar for the product. power laces 2But you know what? It’ll be worth it just to say that one thing prophesized in Back To The Future, Part II came true. Next year we won’t have flying cars, or Jaws 19, or even Mr. Fusion, but at least the coolest future gadget from Back To The Future, Part II will be a reality.  Now if only Mattel could get working on those hoverboards…

T. Rod Jones

Dec 22 2013

Khristmas Klingon Style

klingon khristmasOne of the stranger gift requests I received for this Christmas is the new Star Trek book A Very Klingon Khristmas by Paul Ruditis. It’s obviously a parody about the holiday season done Klingon style. Sure, there are many absurd Klingon parodies floating around pop culture out there, but this is one of the more better made ones. BTW, the honor for the most bizarre, yet hysterical spoof is the Klingon video parody of Psy’s famous dance song “Gangnam Style”.

Getting back to A Very Klingon Khristmas, the book looks at the holiday from a Klingon point of view. The holiday being celebrated tongue-in-cheek style is the birth of the mighty Klingon warrior Kahless. In the Klingon holiday, Santa Claus has retractable claws and leaves tribbles in the stockings of the naughty kids, and so on. But, what really sells the book are the Norman Rockwell-like paintings (by Patrick Faricy) that capture the festive, family mood of Christmas with a Klingon spin.

klingon carolers

It’s a cute and fun book for Star Trek fans that isn’t too pricy, (less than $20) though the hardcover is only 32 pages long. That’s something to consider if you’re doing some last minute shopping and need to get something for a Star Trek fan. Look at it this way, A Very Klingon Khristmas will last longer in a fan’s memories than another Star Trek calendar.

So this can be the start of a new kind gift idea. Who knows? Maybe they’ll do other Christmas-themed Star Trek books. Personally, I’d like to read a A Ferengi Christmas Carol. 😀

Annette DeForrester

Dec 14 2013

2014 Hallmark Sci-Fi Ornaments

scout trooper 2This holiday season’s Hallmark ornaments for sci-fi and other genre fans has been a bit lacking. Don’t get me wrong, they’re beautifully crafted, but there isn’t a lot to choose from. Next year, on the other hand, promises a treasure trove not just for Star Wars ornaments, but for other popular films and TV shows.

Star Wars

The Star Wars ornaments made by Hallmark are increasingly popular, which is evident from the variety of available ornaments. The 2014 Hallmark Star Wars ornaments are sure to be sought after by many Star Wars fans. They include:

  • The sandcrawler terrain vehicle used by the nomadic Jawas in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
  • The alien Cantina band from the same film, and the ornament will feature sound. Hopefully it will have the famous, space jazzy music heard in the background when Luke Skywalker and Ben Kenobi entered the Cantina.

CANTINA

  •  An Imperial scout trooper as seen in Return Of The Jedi. Sorry, no speeder bike. Maybe in 2015, unless the new Star Wars film hogs up everything.
  • Darth Vader from the final moments of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith, when he is fitted with his infamous armor for the first time. If all goes well, we won’t hear him screaming “NOOOO!”. Then again that should be good for a laugh around the Christmas tree.
  • A LEGO version of Boba Fett, the bounty hunter.
  • Another Peekbuster ornament with the motion detector that was used last year for Darth Vader. This time Yoda will do the honors and unlike Darth Vader, Yoda looks more suited for the Peekbuster job. That’s because his green skin goes better with the red Santa clothes.

Star Trek

There will be only three Star Trek-based ornaments released by Hallmark in 2014.  They are the U.S.S. Vengeance PA.INT.34205S_H7.Cship featured in Star Trek Into Darkness, Sulu wearing the original series uniform and a diorama featuring Spock mind-melding with a Horta as seen in the classic Star Trek episode “The Devil In The Dark”. Hopefully by the time the 50th anniversary of Star Trek comes around in 2016, Hallmark will beef up their offerings.

Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Superheroes

Unlike this year, there are plenty of inspired Hallmark ornaments planned for 2014. Superhero ornaments will include Spider-Man, the Hulk, Superman in his modern suit shown in The New 52 comic books and the Adam West version of Batman ornament that was delayed previously. Also worth mentioning is that the Batmobile shown in Tim Burton’s Batman will be available.

superman hulk ornament

As interesting as the superhero ornaments are, the 2014 Hallmark sci-fi and fantasy ornaments will really whet genre fans’ appetites. I can already see some of these hanging from the tree next year. Announced so far are:

alien ape

  • The voracious alien xenomorph from the classic film Alien. Sure, it’s probably too ghastly to hang on a Christmas tree, but it sure is lovingly rendered as seen from photos. It will look great on a shelf or desk.
  • Cornelius from the original Planet Of The Apes film. No word yet if ornaments based on the modern Planet Of The Apes movies will be made.
  • Last year’s ornament of the DeLorean car from Back To The Future was very popular. It was Starloggers’ pick for ornament of the year. For 2014, Hallmark will release another version of that famous car, but it will be the flying DeLorean seen in Back To The Future, Part II.
  • Godzilla! No images are available at the time of this article, but it should be awesome. Hallmark gets extra points if the Godzilla ornament has his famous roar.
  • Harry Potter has become a mainstay with Hallmark ornaments and the 2014 ornament will be of him and Professor McGonagall.
  • An ornament based on The Hunger Games films.
  • The great white shark from Jaws! I’m already humming the Jaws theme.
  • Sloth, the deformed, but lovably goofy Fratelli brother from The Goonies.
  • Thorin Oakenshield, the leader of the dwarves from The Hobbit.

 frankenstein

  • Like the Alien and Jaws ornaments, this one about the Frankenstein monster from the classic Universal Studios films may not go with a Christmas tree. But it looks fantastic, too!
  • Another Hallmark sci-fi ornament coming out in 2014 will be of Optimus Prime, the heroic leader of the Transformers. The one shown in photos looks to be based on the toy and not the Transformers films.

Waldermann Rivera

Dec 1 2013

Remembering Photo Novels

bsg bookDuring the ’70s and early ’80s photo novels (sometimes called movie novels) were popular movie or TV tie-in book adaptations. Following the format of a comic book, these adaptations used picture stills instead of artwork to tell a story. Either word balloons or off-panel dialogue were used and the photo novels were an innovative concept that didn’t go for the traditional adaptation that were sometimes a chore to read.

In an age before the VCR or DVD or even the digital download these books were great for fans who wanted to relive in a small way the experience of watching their favorite film or TV show. And there were hundreds of stills that were never seen before. The best books were the large format adaptations of Alien and Outland since the larger book size meant the pictures were bigger. Of course, the trade off was the cover price ($8.95 for Alien as opposed to $2.95 for Star Trek: The Motion Picture!).

Sadly, as new technologies emerged and print costs went up these types of books were discontinued in the early ’80s, trek pagealthough one was made for The Blair Witch Project in 2000. Many knew something was amiss when the Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan photo novel came out in black and white. The obvious reasoning behind this move was to cut production costs while keeping the book at a reasonable price for consumers. While it featured terrific and rare stills from the movie, the thing wasn’t in color and not visually appealing.

On a side note, photo novels are still produced for online viewing. The BBC’s website has several for Classic Doctor Who stories. There are also fan-made and professional photo novels with original stories that are online for Star Wars and other properties. Comic book artist and writer John Byrne announced in June this year of his intent to make an original Star Trek photo novel.

page 2There weren’t many photo novels produced (no Star Wars, darn it!) during its heyday, but they are great collectibles for anyone who can find them or unforgettable gifts for fans.

The list includes: Alien, Buck Rogers In The 25th Century (the pilot TV film released in theaters), Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Outland, The Lord Of The Rings (the animated version), Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (the 1978 remake), The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan, The Incredible Hulk (TV pilot), Battlestar Galactica (the TV pilot), and assorted Star Trek episodes (“Amok Time”, “The Trouble With The Tribbles”, The Deadly Years”, among others).

Waldermann Rivera