Rabbit Season! Duck Season! Hockey Season!

I've never seen the Emilio Esteves Oscar-contender 'The Mighty Ducks,' a movie about a 'Little League' or 'Pop Warner' or 'Small Icey' or whatever you call it kid's hokey team. I have also never seen the cartoon 'The Mighty Ducks,' which, just like the movie that inspired it, is about anthropomorphic ducks that play hockey and kick ass. Wait, what?

I have however seen some of the action figures in my second-hand travels. I was never tempted enough to buy any of them. Until I saw one with boobs.

This is 'Mallory McMallard' (because people name their kids 'Person McHumanbeing, right?) I know next to nothing about her, but Google tells me she's the weapons specialist of the group. If you have to ask why a hockey team needs a weapons specialist, you clearly don't follow hockey or know anything about ducks. NOT A DAMN THING!

She cost me a quarter, so I guess I did ok, right? I don't know. She could easily be customized into a Duck Stormtrooper, which might be kind of cool looking.

Galaxy Laser Team :: New and SUPER-SIZED! :: by Tim Mee

This may look like your average Galaxy Laser Team (aka Star Patrol) line-up. But look closer...

These are the JUMBO Galaxy Laser Team figures! And they're BRAND NEW and available now on Amazon from Tim Mee!*

Galaxy Laser Team figures have quite a history with my generation. A rag-tag group of little plastic also-rans tossed in a baggie in order to cash in on the Star Wars fervor of the late seventies and early eighties, these simple 'little green army men' figures now enjoy their own legendary status with 'men of a certain age.'

They were released in various sets under various names, and they hung on the generic/cheap toy aisles of grocery and dollar stores everywhere. You probably had some. I sure did!

But it was only within the past few years that I learned they had also made jumbo versions of these goof(space)balls too. I'd never seen the jumbo figures in person, they are rather hard to come by in the wild, and I certainly never expected them to be re-issued (lost molds, defunct factories, etc etc) when incredibly I did find an original jumbo Lobstrocity a few months back.

And now they're back in print. Move over Alanis Morriset, THAT'S ironic!

This laser toting space cowboy is clearly the hero of our team. Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Buck Rogers. He filled in for all of them when the Director yelled 'CUT! Bring in the double!'

"One small step for little plastic men, one giant leap for little plastic mankind!"

The star of the Galaxy Laser Team in my opinion, and the only one not based on any pre-existing pop culture icon, is the guy I have dubbed The Lobstrocity. I just love this guy, and now I have TWO jumbo versions! Life is good.

Not until I got this jumbo astronaut did I realize he was probably originally from a set that included a lunar lander/ladder, which he was obviously designed to grip on to. Or perhaps he came with a flag originally, in order to claim this planet in the name of Earth. Isn't that lovely?

The 'R2' of the Team is this guy. Oh wait, he's not round, he's square. No resemblance. The larger version has an antenna, because more room for detail!

This baddie is clearly based on Darth Vader. I'll call him 'Ralph Nader.' His TIE-Fighter is unsafe at any speed!

Finally there's the mom-jean-clad wonky Wookie: 'ChoMama.'

The Jumbo Galaxy Laser Team figure set doesn't include the entire original sized character selection (missing is another astronaut and the girl with the computer panel.) But they are all sorts of nostalgic awesome, and it's really cool seeing them in super-sized mode! Especially the Lobstrocity. Man I love that weirdo!


*Toyriffic was sent this set for review from the manufacturer. You can get yours at Amazon.

Scribblenauts: Unmasked Series 2 Blind Box Batman and Sinestro

Another birthday present I received was two Scribblenauts Unmasked Series 2 Blind Box figures. My intern picked them out for me and apparently has better luck with this type of thing than I could ever hope for, because I scored the 1939 Batman!

I don't know much about Scribblenauts. I guess it's a video game wherein the protagonist calls in the whole DC roster of villains and heroes and each similarly styled character does something awesome. I guess.

Whatever, any cute stylized Batman is a good addition to my collection, especially when it's based on his first appearance in Detective Comics #27 way back in 1939.

I also ended up with the Green Lantern version of Sinestro. Sinestro was a GL before he went bad, but I don't know if that was how he first appeared or if it was just back-story. Either way, technically, this would be a 'first appearance' Sinestro too! Keen!

Although you can't really access Batman's arms due to the cape, you can see them in there and he's wearing his purple first-appearance gloves too.

GL Sinestro has his Green Lantern ring painted on his hand as well.

Each figure also comes with a base that looks like a notepad. I am sure that is relevant to the Scribblenauts theme (it does have the word 'scribble' in it!) but again, I'm not well versed in the Scribblenauts universe. If you are, feel free to school me in the comments!

And thanks again to my intern for two cool new superheroes to add to my collection!

Santa Cruz Skateboards Star Wars Rancor Deck

I turned the big Four-Oh (my God I am getting old!) last month. To celebrate the monumental occasion, my parents bought me a new skateboard deck!

Being a fan of skateboards and Star Wars and living in Santa Cruz, I had my eyes on the Santa Cruz Star Wars decks ever since they were announced. A lot of cool decks are available, but I didn't feel the compelling need to own any of them until I saw the Rancor board at a skate shop in downtown Santa Cruz a couple months ago.

Check out the bitchin' artwork on this stick:

Up top is Jabba the Hutt, C-3PO and Boba Fett gazing down...

...on the Rancor monster himself...

...as he makes his way towards his lunch, aka Luke Skywalker, who is trying desperately to avoid becoming the Rancor's next bowel movement!

When I added the Rancor board to my birthday list I honestly didn't expect to get it. It was one of those 'wish' items I didn't think I'd ever own (unless I bought it for myself). so I was very happy when my parents surprised me with it!

I might get bigger wheels for it eventually; I just transferred the wheels and trucks over from my existing cruiser. But it rides smooth as silk and slick as snot as it is, so it may just stay this way for a long time!

On the flip-side is the Star Wars logo against a spacey background. The board is wood-grained on top, and it would have been a real shame to cover it with grip tape, so I went with clear spray-on grip.

The Rancor was always one of my favorite Star Wars monsters, and living in Santa Cruz I am partial to Santa Cruz skateboards. Having the two world's collide is pretty keen!