I think its safe to call The Princess Bride a timeless classic. I’ve always been fond of it, and I don’t believe I’ve ever met anyone who felt otherwise. That said, I never thought I’d ever see any merchandise based off the film, or book for that matter, and certainly not a collectible figure. Fortunately, that didn’t stop Factory Entertainment from delivering. Introducing their 1/5th scale Dread Pirate Roberts. This 15″ statue features the Man in Black as he appears during his infamous duel atop the “Cliffs of Insanity.” It actually  has a companion piece featuring Inigo Montoya which you can view below. The two statues are designed to attach to each other, allowing you to capture the scene properly.

Both the Inigo Montoya and Dread Pirate Roberts figures come sold separately, retailing for ~$250, and and will limited to 500 pieces each. If you’re into collecting them mint in box, you’ll also be pleased to know that its a full-color presentation, though you’ll still need to remove the figures should you want to interlock them to create the miniature diorama described above.  Both figures are available for pre-order, and are currently scheduled to ship sometime this spring.

This Lego Cuusoo project has been around for awhile, but has remained a bit of a hidden gem. Cuusoo user MaxVF1 threw together these amazing VF-1 Valkyries — or Veritechs depending on your preference — in hopes of convincing Lego to license them for retail. As you can see from the video above, they’re pretty easy to snap together and make pretty good display models. They even let you shift between gear-walk, battloid, and fighter modes with ease. The problem, at least from Lego’s standpoint, is that they appear a bit fragile. Of course, that issue alone is just one of many hurdles to overcome.

As far as I’m aware, retail distribution of products related to the original Macross would still have to include Harmony Gold’s permission. Before that even happens, there needs to be at least 10,000 supporters backing the project, only then would Lego even consider it. If you want to see these happen, be a pal and lend your support by visiting the Cuusoo page and giving it your vote. There are some more photos of the various models included as well.

I have a bit of a soft spot when it comes to board games. Recently, I banded together with a group of friends for a weekly game and while we’ve no shortage to choose from, my friends are always in the market for more. With HBO’s second season of Game of Thrones around the corner, this little gem caught my eye. Fantasy Flight’s A Game of Thrones the Board Game.

It’s actually the second edition, so the game has been out for awhile, and while I’ve always meant to give it a shot, I hadn’t found a reliable group to play it with — that is, until now. This latest edition boasts several new features. The rules have been clarified a bit, and there’s also some new pieces, cards, and game mechanics. It includes the previously released expansions as well. The game supports 3 to 6 players, and while they recommend having all six players present, they do provide rules to balance the game appropriately should you have less.

Speaking of which, the rules are available to download on the official Fantasy Flight website. If you want to learn more about how its played, or own the previous edition and want to know more about what’s changed, be sure to check them out. You can purchase this latest edition via your favorite local retailer, as well as through Amazon or ThinkGeek — it retails for $59.99.

Here’s a quick teaser for Lego’s Lord of the Rings product line. Why does Lego taunt me with such awesomeness? They knew I outgrew my building phase years ago, yet they’ve waited until now to land this epic license. While I’m sure I won’t have nearly as much fun as I would have if I were still eight years old, I’ll definitely consider picking one up when they hit stores, and judging by how great the characters look, I’m sure they won’t disappoint. I do wonder if this also means we’ll be seeing some Hobbit-themed sets this holiday season. Be sure to visit the official site for more info on the upcoming sets.

Need the perfect weapon for dealing with a few zombies? You’d need to have the foresight to own one of these things, but let’s face it, chances are you want one, zombie apocalypse or not. This gun combines an AK with a chainsaw – attempting to make all your Gears of War fantasies come true. It sure looks cool, but if zombies are getting close enough for you to need to use your chainsaw, you’re probably already screwed. And I wouldn’t put too much faith in it: that chainsaw sounds pretty cheap. Maybe you could slice some butter with it, though. Check out the video below.

I mean, a chainsaw butter knife? Come on, that’s the right kind of overkill if I ever heard it.

This Star Trek inspired card case/credit card sleeve is the handy work of CbSew. They also make quite a few other geek friendly items including a vintage Nintendo inspired iPad case and a Dr. Who inspired Kindle case.

I’ve always loved the design of Isaac Clarke’s suit from Dead Space. It has a strong, iconic look to it that you don’t see very often. Maybe it’s just because he slightly resembles a cranky old grandpa of the Daft Punk guys… In any case, Sideshow Collectibles agrees on the awesomeness of Isaac Clark and is releasing a 16″ high statue of him, ready to take on whatever alien menace he might encounter next.

Pre-orders are being taken now and will ship in the 2nd quarter of the year. He’s going for $274.99 and you can choose to pick the regular or Sideshow Exclusive version, which includes a bonus ripper saw weapon. And yes, the helmet visor lights up.

If you’re a Persona fan, Bandai’s D-Arts series probably just made your day: take a look at this stellar figure of Thanatos from Persona 3. They did a great job replicating him in plastic, especially the coffins and chains above him. There’s not a whole lot of extra features listed for it, but when the figure looks this good, I’m sure I need them. If you’re looking to pre-order him, be sure to do so soon.

Thanatos releases in April and will run you 4,500 yen. Pre-orders be found at Hobby Search or AmiAmi.

Images from Hobby Search, seen via Tomopop.

Given that it’s Metroid’s 25th anniversary this year (poor Samus gets overshadowed by Zelda), it’s great to see somebody else giving our favorite video game bounty hunter some love. If you’re more in the mood for something sexy, Good Smile is releasing a 1/6 PVC of Zero Suit Samus in June 2012. More interested in functional? Max Factory is bringing a figma of Samus in her trademark outfit sometime in 2012. Both of these figures are fantastic, so no matter which one you get (or both!) you can’t go wrong.

Sadly pre-orders are not up yet, given that there’s a bit of a wait until their release in mid-2012. Still, feel free to ogle the pictures below while you wait.

Seen via Tomopop, photos from Akiba Hobby, Moeyo.

Check out Kotobukiya’s latest DC Comics Batman ARTFX statue. Does it look familiar? It should — it’s a re-release of their first Batman ARTFX statue, which featured the blue & grey batsuit from Jim Lee’s Hush graphic novel. Now discounted, that original statue was among Kotobukiya’s most popular to date, and while it’s out of print, this latest edition more than makes up for the loss. Kouei Matsumoto’s masterful sculpt still stands as a perfect testament to Lee’s work, and the new black cowl almost makes it worth owning twice. Thankfully Kotobukiya tends to keep their figures and statues reasonably priced for the most part — I’m estimating ~$125. The statue should hits stores next July.

It’s funny I always remember my sense of disappointment as a kid when looking at the amazing realistic cover art on videogames of that era and seeing what I perceived as the terrible lack of quality as to the 8-bit images that I’d see on the screen: So it’s a bit of a joy to reverse that in my later years and embrace the ugly pixels of days past. This 8-bit t-shirt collection does a nice job of taking Star Wars characters and converting them down from 70mm to good old fashioned 8-bit:

8-Bit Bounty Hunters

Vader Strangle Pixels

8-Bit Sand People

8-Bit Falcon

8-Bit Droid Probe

If you’re looking for the ultimate gift for the Spider-Man fan in your life, this may just be the ticket. Sadly, it doesn’t come out till the second quarter of 2012, but this Black Suit version of Spider-Man from Spider-Man 3 is one of the best Spideys I’ve seen. The joints are all hidden under the fabric of the suit, which looks fantastic. Not only that, the sculpted head of Tobey Maguire is up to the usual Hot Toys standard of ‘looking almost as real as the person’s actual face.’

This model will run you $209.99 and has standard and exclusive editions available.

Seen via Tomopop.

I have a huge love for classic anime films, especially Miyazaki. A little Lupin III doesn’t hurt either. Castle of Cagliostro is one of my favorite films, but if you’re a figure collector there’s only been a few worthwhile items out there (although they did make a model of the castle itself). Luckily, Dive has been bringing out several Lupin III figures, with their most recent being a Castle of Cagliostro version of Fujiko Mine. She’s roughly 8 inches tall, and is going for ¥6,825.

While you can find her at Dive’s site, if you’re looking to import her AmiAmi has a slightly better price of ¥5,440. I think she looks fantastic and if you have any of Dive’s other Lupin III figures, they’ll all go well together.

Seen via Tomopop.

LEGO has their hands in everything these days. From the immensely popular LEGO Star Wars and Harry Potter lines to Pirates of the Caribbean and Toy Story, they’ve tried their hardest to embed themselves in current pop culture. It’s served them well, especially with the success of the LEGO video games series, which have done a pretty good job of appealing to pretty much everyone. So what’s next? Lord of the Rings, of course!

LEGO partnered with WB again for the license to Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit-themed toys. They’re due out in June 2012, with more to come leading into the release of the first Hobbit film, An Unexpected Journey, in December. Sadly, LEGO is being a tease and hasn’t released any pictures other than a single promo image featuring the One Ring. With so much licensing happening in the LEGO world right now, I can’t help but want to see more of the traditional building sets. That said, I don’t know if I can resist the allure of owning a LEGO figure of Gollum or Gandalf!

In March 2012 Bandai will be releasing the Bravism: Bleach Styling set of Bleach figurines. You can buy them individually or in a pack, and if you’re lucky enough to be in japan on December 17th at the Jump Festa 2012 you can see them in person — but if you can’t make it here’s a preview:

Found via natalie.mu/comic.

I confess, I love Kotobukiya’s bishoujo line. They’re easily collectible, are often equal parts sexy and cute, and for whatever reason, my wife loves them as much as I do. Not only that, but each of these figures are based off a sketch by one of my favorite artists, Shunya Yamashita. Recently, Kotobukiya posted images of their upcoming Storm bishoujo figure, and the fan reaction hasn’t been as positive as one would expect.It wasn’t the most negative reaction to date, as their Liara T’soni figure had Mass Effect fans raging for weeks until Kotobukiya agreed to change the final product, but many collectors have expressed mixed feelings, and I wonder why.

Personally, I think it may just be case of “lost in translation,” as I actually liked the original art, pictured below. Unfortunately, when Kotobukiya sculpts their figures, they tend to take a few liberties in order to facilitate mass production. These aren’t like those expensive limited edition resin kits you find on Japanese hobby sites. As a result, the quality takes a bit of a hit, and while Kotobukiya is usually pretty good about it, the face doesn’t always match the art as precisely as we’d like. Of course, there are other things that could have been done to spruce up the design — giving Storm solid white eyes, as she’s usually depicted when using her abilities, for example. The pose seems pretty dead-on, though.

Any collectors looking forward to picking this up? If not, what would you have changed?

These wonderfully whimsical Star Wars applique stitchery pieces are the handy work of Chelsea Bloxsom who goes by the stitching tag name loveandasandwich (her Etsy shop is here):

Found via craftzine.com and feelingstitchy.com.

Here’s a look at Major League Mods‘ latest project — a special Transformers-themed Xbox 360 slim. Modeled after Bumblebee’s appearance in the live-action films, the unit comes packed in a remote control 1977 Camero, complete with its very own built-in 8″ LCD display. Pressing the Chevy logo on the back ejects the disc tray from the front grill, while the gas cap serves as a power button. There are also a number of connectors under the rear bumper for USB, Optical, CAT5 cables and more. Pretty spiffy, but personally, I really don’t think I could ever roll with just an 8″ display. If you’d like to see more, be sure to visit their official website here.

This well crafted Tardis bookshelf was crafted by msmuse101 and his or her dad over the course of several months in Derby, UK:

Found via therpf.com and Joseph Lee.

So what did fanboys do to collect their favorite shows before the advent of videotape? Believe it or not collecting actual films was a passion of a select few fans back in the day — the hardcore fans would actually purchase 16mm prints, however you could buy on the market a wide range of 8mm film prints which featured clips from many of the popular TV shows of the day. By the 70s this faded, however in 1978 this very cute Pocket Flix viewer from Ideal toys shows the very last gasp of that era. This toy was aimed at kids and one could buy a variety of “easy to snap-in movie cassettes” to recapture a few precious seconds of a show like Star Trek or the Hardy Boys:

The Hardy Boys cassette:

A Laurel and Hardy cassette:

Found via John Tenuto.

I’ve always had a fascination with music boxes.  They may have gone the way of vinyl and become a novelty for collectors, but there’s always a certain level of care and craftsmanship involved in creating one. That’s something I can respect, not only as a musician but as an artist. That’s why I freaked out the moment I saw this — a limited edition 50 note music box featuring Aerith’s theme from Final Fantasy VII. Supposedly, only a thousand of these boxes were ever produced, and they’re highly sought after. Finding one for sale is next to impossible, but anyone willing to part with it can usually ask for over a thousand dollars to start. To see it in action, click here.

So, what makes this box so special? Aside from its limited production run, most music boxes only contain eighteen notes which repeat. This box actually contains three sections of the original song, with fifty notes total. It’s almost as having three music boxes in one. Couple that with some fantastic craftsmanship and exotic curubixa wood, and you have a fine piece of art. What I love is that the words Final Fantasy seem to be completely absent from the plaque, letting the music stand on its own. It’s really a beautiful piece.

As those of us who spend our evenings glued to our laptops can tell you, nothing’s worse than accidentally knocking over your coffee in the dark. I’ve made the mistake more than once, so I’ve been looking for a solution that doesn’t involve leaving the lights on, and I think I might have just found it. Check out these awesome little Pac-Man Ghost lamps. Not only are the conveniently small, just four inches tall and just bright enough to light up my desk, but they speak to the retro-gamer — those of us who grew up on rolls of quarters and joysticks. Best yet, I can take it anywhere I take my laptop. The Ghost is powered via USB, so all I have to do it is find a port to plug it and I’m good to go. It’s also incredibly cheap, ThinkGeek currently has them on sale for just $10. 

Oh sure anybody can make a plain old gingerbread house for the holidays! However fangurl supreme Rachel Klemek created this yummy AT-AT which can feed several hungry rebels. Rachel is based out of Irvine, California and you can find her cool website here.

The year is 1980 and what you don’t quite understand as young fanboy is that your parents are dealing with a recession — so while you dream of giant Kenner playlets for your Land of the Jawas playset action figures instead you settle for using your imagination! Or at least that’s what your cash strapped parents told you to do, so alas the sandbox became Tatooine and when you were lucky to get a snow storm it was time to play on planet Hoth. Well through some magic we’ve come across three amazing vintage Kenner playsets from 1979 and 1980 — a magical time when the hype and merchandise machine for The Empire Strikes back was going into high gear:

The Kenner Star Wars Death Star Space Station (1979)

I’m really glad that Kenner mentioned that the Death Star was in fact a space station so your poor parents wouldn’t be confused when they were looking for something the size of a small planet. What I love about this cover is that we have it all: A Stormtrooper fires an impressive looking gun out of a window, underneath him we’ve got Luke and the Princess cheering on Darth and Obi Wan doing their lightsaber thing and then below we’ve got Han hanging out with Chewie and the trash while our two droids exit the elevator shaft. And to drive home just how cool this all is — two kids can play with the same toy and be 100% oblivious to each other.

And the back of the box features a groovy traced inked illustration of the front of the box. But what’s on the inside? Well here are a few of the surviving bits of the “space station”:

That’s right kids: Put that painted cardboard together and recreate your own Death Star! By the way I really feel sorry for the poor parents who didn’t read the fine print and didn’t realize that poor Timmy would need to have his own action figures in his existing collection. And here’s a vintage commercial showing the playset in action:

The Kenner Star Wars Land of the Jawas Action Playset (1979)

Our box cover features a solo child looking at an action packed droid flea-market! And as into emphasize the scale of the scene a giant Sandcrawler sits in the background. Notice how you get the idea that there must be something really cool on the inside of the Sandcrawler — after all there seem to be nothing but Jawas and droids coming out of it.

Now I’ve got to be honest: The desert in the foreground doesn’t look half bad when we get the box open — but that Sandcrawler seems a little bit shabby. So let’s take a closer look inside our Sandcrawler:

Man I knew those Jawas were able to drive a hard bargain — but I had no idea that their impressive vehicle was just a mere prop! But to be fair the “parts list” is well done enough to do double duty as a poster for any young fanboy who likes to do some coloring on the side:

And here’s a video tour of our playset:

The Kenner Star Wars Empire Strikes Back Hoth Ice Planet Adventure Playset (1980)

Clearly by 1980 the marketing department at Kenner was getting smarter at their package design: If you crop the picture of the kid out your audience can imagine themselves playing with the toy while you save the expense of a model release form. What I love about this shot is that there’s no mixing of non-snowgear clad action figures wandering on to the adventure set as they would in the real world world no doubt. And of course there is no mere “playset” but an ADVENTURE SET. And clearly you can see a dogfight going on above our AT-AT Walker. But now on to the reality inside the box:

I have to say that while this is cheap looking, it’s better in two ways: Unlike our Sandcrawler the AT-AT Walker had some dimension to it and there’s a nice background painting to set the mood if you need a Winter scene in the dead of Summer. It’s important to note that the one thing that Lucas did well was to make sure that he got the toy rights to Star Wars. And while these toys look cheap by the standards of today in fact they were high quality for their day. And I suspect the quality and sheer variety of the toys are part of what made Star Wars beloved to a generation that could feel that they owned the series through their playtime.

And lastly here’s a vintage commercial showing off the Hoth Ice Planet:

My research sources:

The Kenner Star Wars Death Star Space Station (1979)

The Kenner Star Wars Land of the Jawas Action Playset (1979)

The Kenner Star Wars Empire Strikes Back Hoth Ice Planet Adventure Playset (1980)

I’m not sure why I would want a Luke Skywalker with a scarred up face and missing hand, but if I did,  Hot Toys would have me covered. Recently they unveiled the latest addition to their DX series of collectible figures, the 1/6th scale Luke Skywalk in Bespin outfit two-pack. Like all Hot Toys products, it’s sure to cost you a hand, or a leg (see what I did there,) but at least you’ll be able to faithfully recreate the greatest moment of Empire Strikes Back, and no, I don’t mean the scene where Han gets dropped into a vat of Carbonite after completely blowing Leia off.

The figures comes with pretty much everything you could ask for in terms of accessories — Two bodies, one battle damaged, the other not, interchangeable hands, a pair of blasters, a removable jacket and undershirt, lightsaber, and more. A special limited edition figure is also being produced, which includes that weird Vader helmet with Luke’s face on it from the cave scene on Dagobah. Again, not sure why anyone would ever  want to recreate that, but there you have it. The standard edition can be pre-ordered through sites like BigBadToyStore.com and retails for $299, while the limited edition is a Sideshow Toys exclusive and retails for same price. Fortunately, Sideshow offers a nifty flex-pay option — just don’t go spending money you don’t have. You’ll probably regret it.