The Robot Shelf

My humble Transformers collection - Updated pictures of "The Robot Shelf"

2011-09-03T20:55:00.000-07:00

I remember a lot of my friends having piles of Transformers toys during my childhood. I on the other hand only had one Transformer growing up. It wasn't that I wasn't a fan of the Transformers, it was more that i was into so many different toys at the time. I had a decent collection of He-Man when I was very young, and then it was all about The Real Ghostbusters. Since I was born in 1982 I noticed most of the older kids were really into The Transformers toys and had a ton of the playsets and bigger figures. Luckily I had friends who had tons of these awesome guys, so I didn't miss out on the excellent series of Generation one toys.

Here he is. Dated 1987 Takara/Hasbro. For my only Transformers toy, Landfiill was great fun. He was a Target Master and came with two robot blasters (Silencer and Flintlock). I have since lost the guns and don't feel like forking over the $20-$30 it would cost to get them on Ebay. I'm happy with the condition I kept him in over the years. I cherished this guy and he had many battles with my Ghostbusters, Batman, and TMNT figures.

In later years I still found myself really wanting to get Some Transformers figures to have in my collection. Not so much to play with, but more so to display and appreciate. Thanks to the 2001 release of the "Robots in Disguise' line, I was able to get some awesome Transformers at a nice price. My favorite of all was Prowl. I loved that the white car mode featured Japanese writing on the door and other intricate details. This was a proper reboot of the Transformers line. A few years later I found a G1 Hun-Gurr (two headed dino in pic) for a good price at a collector/antique show. One of my favorite harder to find G1 characters.

Over the years I've still purchased a Transformer toy here and there. I really enjoyed the Myclone line of G1 characters (short Optimus Prime pictured). I would always get them used if they were in good shape at thrift stores. That G1 TopSpin (blue and grey) only cost me about $3. If you're looking to get started collecting Transformers, now is a great time. If you like the G1 line, There have been a number of re-issues through the years, and some can be had for next to nothing if sold loose.

The great thing about displaying Transformers, is they blend perfectly with other brightly colored robot toys, or any action figures for that matter. Anything from Robotech, Sectaurs, Voltron, or even Ultraman make a good match. Checking out Unicron.com will come in handy if you're trying to identify some of your Transformers toys. It's a great resource, as it's identified a lot of my classic and modern figures.

Everyone loves the 2003 Armada Unicron. Excuse this blurry picture, but it was the best I could get with his eyes and hand lights flashing. This guy won toy of the year in Toy Fair magazine, and basically made every old school Transformers fan stop what they were doing to go buy it. I didn't buy it initially thinking it was way too much money at the time ($50!). I luckily found this incomplete one for dirt cheap at a thrift store in 2006.Unicron has been reproduced a few times since then, and last year he got a great re-color for his most current release. He's more orange and features a brighter color scheme in relation to the original "Transformers: The Movie". He now goes for over $200 in package.

I may get a few more Transformers figures, but still, I have so many other figures from different lines. A G1 Jetfire would be a welcome addition. I recently uncovered my TMNT collection that I may share it on here in the near future. Thanks for reading!

My first shot at Pixel Art

2011-05-01T22:31:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've done a post on here and thought this would be the perfect opportunity. Being a fan of classic video games I've always been intrigued by the art and design of the the old sprites that make the games so memorable. Pixel Art of all forms has been growing in popularity and I've wanted to take a stab at it for some time.

I am not a painter by any means but thought I'd have fun with what I could pull off. Love or hate it, E.T. for the 2600 has one of the most memorable sprites of all time. This is an awesome rendition of E.T. in 4-bit mode. For this I just used a posterboard hand cut stencil to get E.T.'s shape onto canvas.

This one was my first and came out decent. Something I can still hang on the wall and be proud of. The edges are a bit blurred but that's okay. At least I had fun and didn't destroy my first canvas.

Probably my favorite of the bunch. A mix between Tron Deadly Discs for both Atari 2600 and Intellivision. It's a bit rough but all sprites were hand drawn, cut, and stenciled by me. I used masking tape for this one to get the smaller details.

Here's a nice perspective shot. They do look perfect if you blur your eyes a bit.

Overall I'm proud of myself for making somewhat recognizable character paintings on my first attempt. I want to move up to multi-color 8-bit sprites but I'm having too much fun with Atari 2600 characters for the time being. It's really easy to approach and I feel that anyone can do it.

Odds and ends - The last of my 70's/80's board game collection.

2011-02-07T17:10:00.000-08:00

It's all just a lot of plastic, wood, and cardboard but I have had so much fun lately revisiting the classic board games of my youth. Pictured above is the Wuzzles board game. Can't say I'm a fan now but I used to love these guys as a kid. I found this recently and couldn't pass it up for some strange reason.

After I set it up it all came back to me. I played the heck out of this in Kindergarten. It was always a quick setup and fun to play. I think I'll keep it around just for the sake of being a piece of my childhood.

The board was the best part. This one is in great shape and has all of it's plastic feet to hold it in place. The game is so painstakingly easy that I don't think I could really have a fun time playing this now as an adult. It was fun enough to just put it together and take some pictures.

Ah, Mastermind. Many hours on this one. Originally popularized in the 70's, this strategy game has endured through the decades. Easy to learn but a lot of strategy is needed to "crack the code". I remember instead of using the names Code Maker and Code Breaker as given by the game, my friend and I would be the Gate Keeper and the Key Master to give it a Ghostbusters Spin.

If you don't feel like a full game of Scrabble but still want a fun word game, Scrabble Sentence Cube is good fun. This one came out in 1971 and is still holding up just fine. They don't make 'em like they used to.

As the winter ends I'm sure my fascination with board games will dwindle again, but until then, game on! The most recent purchase is a newer game called Forbidden Island (pictured above). A really well done variable adventure game. It also helps that it sounds like a game of the 80's. It really is like a blend of Forbidden Bridge and Fireball Island without all the plastic.

The mid 90's - When playing PC games was a full time job

2011-01-29T22:26:00.000-08:00

We all remember the days of going to your favorite software store and picking up the newest game to play on PC. There was nothing like it. Back in the 80s-90s computer software was a market all its own. Consoles were completely separate and even pailed in comparison to some of the newest PC games. Playing games Like X-Wing and Rebel Assault 1 and 2 made you really appreciate the beige box.

There was also a nerdy underbelly to the whole scene. To get certain games running on the newest version of Windows (We're talking Windows 95 here) you had to adjust settings on your system to create a virtual DOS environment for the game to play in. This old print out is actually from my X-Wing floppy box from when I had to adjust my expanded memory and sound card settings. I actually enjoyed doing stuff like this as I would learn more and more about computers through the years.

After wrangling CONFIG.SYS, and taking AUTOEXEC.BAT to the batting cage, I always had more fun knowing that I worked at getting the game to play. Even my first CD rips were moving files in DOS to the hard drive to play Rebel Assault and Wing Commander II. Today I work with computers every day and have to help people with the most basic tasks. I enjoy tech support very much because I have to be creative in the way I present a solution. A simpler way without all the tech lingo. It reminds me of the old days before I knew about port settings and couldn't even dream of wireless networking in my home.

It really amazes me how much I got into computers just from playing games. It was a major interest for years. I was building PC's for family members and friends on a regular basis. I got into Linux and had a great time using a different platform for quite a while. I'm on Mac now and couldn't be happier, but I still have a special place in my heart for the old Windows based PC.

Underdog Classic Strategy Games of 1984

2011-01-27T16:40:00.000-08:00

What is it about Input that made me love it right from the start. Is it the similarity to a capture game like chess? The fact that it looks like a Nintendo/Star Trek TNG hybrid game console prototype? Or is it the ties to computer hacking, password cracking, etc? Well, all of the above of course. Such good memories playing this one as a kid.

The game is somewhat easy to find and Almost always comes in decent shape. They regularly don't go over anything in the five to ten dollar range. The game play is so much fun though. I think this game was ahead of its time (as the box reads prominently). Very similar to Chess, but a much easier learning curve. Basically it's a turn based game where the point of the game is to capture all of your players pieces. The little caption on the front of the box is gold! "Each piece is preprogrammed, yet you control every play". It's really easy to learn but tough to build strategy.

Now we move to a lesser known one that I never played as a kid. Actually I've only had enough time to play a quick round just to test the play style. It's a very basic, yet hard to master, turn based game.

I could explain all the rules, or I could just say it's chess, meets chinese checkers, meets a maze. I like that better. Very fun overall and I really like the play style. One thing I have to mention is the levels are movable on a turn to make the maze more of an obstacle for your opponent. You can't go wrong with the Font they used; Star Wars meets Battlestar Galactica.

Such a lovely array of red, blue, white and gray. Between these two I can't choose which one I like the best. Both have much different qualities. I highly recommend both of them. Hope you enjoyed this episode of... The Robot Shelf.

ROCK 'EM SOCK 'EM ROBOTS!!!

2011-01-18T23:18:00.000-08:00

There's always that certain feeling you get when you get to purchase a re-issue of a toy you remember from your childhood. Initially it makes you feel like a kid again as you wait to open it up and check it out. I always love to examine the box and and really take it all in. Recently I picked up the new Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots and I was not disappointed. They're smaller than the old ones from the 60's and 70's but still just as fun.

There's something about clunky, mechanical robot fighters that make me very happy. I think it's the fact that they are generally an analog version of my favorite old arcade games. This new version will probably stay up on my arcade as a display piece more than it will actually be used. I never owned the robotic battlers as a kid but always would play a few rounds with my buddies if they had it. I remember my good friend wouldn't let kids play on it if they were too rough. He wanted to keep them in good shape and I don't blame him.

It's impressive that these actually came out in the 60's. Such a cool toy to grow up with. Even my Dad remembers them.

I think my favorite flavor is the more obscure Clash of the Cosmic Robots that came out in 1977. These were produced by Marx and the black ring was a very nice touch.

At some point I hope they re-release the full size version of these guys. For the time being though these aren't bad at all. The materials are very similar to the old Marx sets and function nearly the same in every way. If you remember these from your childhood, or have a soft spot for robot toys, go for 'em. They're only going for about fifteen to twenty dollars currently.

Remembering and revisiting "Battle Chess"

2011-01-16T14:19:00.000-08:00

Battle Chess for the NES was the only cool way to play the game back in the early 90's. I remember a friend getting this for his birthday and at first he wasn't too excited. After a few friends and I convinced him it would be fun, he then had a bit of curiosity about it. It was kind of slow and clunky but it had a special appeal. The coolest part was the battle sequences when you'd capture a piece.

The box art is great and when I first saw it I was instantly excited to play the the game. As a young kid Chess was always intriguing and I desperately wanted to learn how to play the game well. After reading the manual we played for hours and mastered how to haphazardly play a game.

The characters were well drawn for an 8-bit game and once we got into it the fun would last hours on end. I really liked the movement of the characters and how they would interact during a capture/battle. Each capture was different depending on the piece in power and the captured piece. For instance, if the Queen captured a Pawn, it would be different than if the Queen captured a Bishop, etc.
Revisiting the game now it's still a little slow, but if I have the patience for it, it's always a fun way to play a round of Chess.

The battle sequences always take place outside or inside a castle and they never ceased to impress. Going through it now it reminds me a bit of Mortal Kombat. Capture sequences include dismembering and morphing into a dragon right before a kill.

I think the Queen was the most ruthless because when she would knock the Knight down after battling she would turn into a dragon and torch him to a burnt up pile of dust.

A very useful option built into the game was to just make the game run like the traditional board game with nicely drawn pieces. This is much faster and adds to the replay value. This part reminds me of The Chessmaster for NES.
If you ever find Battle Chess for for a fair price I would say it's a worthy add to any NES collection. Even when complete in box, this favorite of nerds and chess geeks alike goes for under twenty dollars. Loose you're only looking at about three to five bucks.
If anything it's a worthy chess trainer if you want to hone your skills (or lose 6 times out of 10 like I do).

This one hasn't made it to Virtual Console on Wii yet so you have to have an NES hooked up to enjoy this one in all it's glory. Not as nice as The Chessmaster for SNES, but still a great addition into any classic game collection. There's also tons of versions for other computers and consoles. Anything from the Commodore 64 to the 3DO. As a last point for any serious Chess players out there, this cart can handle Castling just fine, but doesn't like the classic "En Passant" Pawn move.

Where do I put all this stuff!

2011-01-15T23:36:00.000-08:00

It all started in the early 80's. Too much crap, not enough space to put it. After realizing that my room wasn't going to transform into a storage warehouse, I studied in the art of carefully stowing away my stuff to the best of the rooms ability. I was quite the engineer. He-Man, Ghostbusters, and Batman toys all lived happily together.

I tried throwing fits as a kid but my parents never gave in to let me store too many of my toys outside of my room. It was an awesome form of discipline because now I am much more reformed in my storage qualms. I live in a small house now but love it. Games and collectibles are stacked everywhere just how I like it.

As I grew older my skills grew even better. In this picture I had both a good NES and SNES collection but the games were all kept in my cabinet. Old toys were carefully kept in collector cases and plastic storage boxes. The secret to being a collector is to know your limit. At this time in my life I have more than enough games/collectibles and everything fits in it's place.

After reading this book I realized I wasn't alone. I definitely wasn't a hoarder and realized my carefully stacked games and books around my computer area were just fine. It resembled a lot of the great examples of maximizing small places, portrayed in the book above, "Tokyo: a certain style". I highly recommend the book as it shows you don't need a large place to live to enjoy your hobbies. I currently live in a 650 sq. ft. home with my wonderful wife and couldn't be happier.

As you can see the top of my Ms. Pac-Man cabinet houses a wide selection of collectibles. It works great and utilizes the space to the best of it's ability. When you find a nerd in a small living space there is usually an expertly arranged collection of toys, games, books, records, etc. Hope you liked the post and thanks for reading!

The fun of Thrifting

2011-01-11T22:46:00.000-08:00

Being a nerd and being a chronic thrift store shopper, or "thrifter" are usually two in the same. Although some trips only warrant a mediocre NES game, or a classic role playing book, you're retrieving another treasure to add to the pile nonetheless. Tonight was rather fruitful in many ways. Whether it's the Super Mario Bros. Mushroom Tin my wife found me, or the complete 1977 GAMBLER board game I found, both have almost equal worth to me in their own way.

Some of the honorable mentions tonight include these 3 board games. I found the other release of Terrace (with a hulking 10 lb board) and found that the boards were made in Lake Oswego, OR. Just minutes away from my old place of work. That one was only $2.99. You can't beat a brand new Lord of the Rings collectors edition checkers for less than seven dollars. It was only $2.99 for the Gambler Board game that ended up being complete and near perfect condition (no tears on any box corners)

Just look at those beautiful orbs of plastic. Such an awesome game. This 1992 Mensa edition mentions Star Trek TNG on the back of the box, rather than the front of the box on the 2nd release. Can't wait to use this as my main Terrace board now. It has the old Lake Oswego Oregon PO Box molded into the bottom of the board.

I am really excited about this one. Horse racing! Lottery! Sweepstakes! Too many awesome things to mention. You can't beat the game pieces that resemble The Price is Right dollar signs. Here's a couple more shots of this beauty.

The icing on the cake of this thrift really came through in the electronics section. Not an ex-rental. Not a beat to heck bottom of the closet charity piece. A pristine copy of Super Metroid for SNES, for much less than I was willing to pay for this gem. I've loved this game for years but have only beat it twice a long, long time ago. Can't wait to get a new battery in there and revisit one of my favorite classics. That's it for tonight folks. Good luck thrifting!

Board Games of my youth revisited

2011-01-09T23:42:00.000-08:00

Everyone from the last 20-35 years has grown up primarily with video games being the main source for gaming fun. For me an almost equal part of my gaming life was gathered around a board game of some sort with a group of friends. Nothing could beat the sheer rivalry and pride we took when we would win a board game.

Today I'm going to go over five of my favorites from my childhood. I've still yet to add a few of these to my collection, but the memories are definitely there after all these years.

5. Battle Ship (Classic Edition)

We all remember this classic. I still love brewin' up a cup of coffee and playing this one with family or friends. I think it's the sheer excitement of isolating your enemy's ships and eventually sinking the battleship. Seems like the playing field with this one is always level with my friends and family to this day. There's a lot of skill and a lot of chance involved with this one.

The game has been published since the 30's in different paper and pencil versions. Counting these there have been 100's of different variations put out through the years. The one pictured above was the first clam-shell style released by Milton Bradly in 1967. I liked the "Electronic Talking..." flavor of the game in the 80's/90's, but I always have owned the classic version. The original isn't as gimmicky, and doesn't get on your nerves as much. No matter what version you like, Battleship is a timeless classic that always deserves a mention.

4. Crossfire

This game was the favorite of my friend Aaron and I back in the late 80's. Our lives at that time consisted of Nintendo (8-bit NES), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, visiting the neighborhood arcade and... Crossfire!!! In all actuality the game didn't always go as smooth as the commercial led you to believe. You had to know how to fix a jammed gun in mid battle and know how to shoot accurately. Once mastered by a few friends the game was amazing. I remember distinctly doing best 3 out of 5 on a regular basis.

Fast forward to today and I can rarely convince anyone to play this. Although the cats really enjoy it, so I set it up for the day, just for fun every now and then. One of those days was today. As I completed putting the board together I felt an instant sense of nostalgia and wished my buddy Aaron was still in town. My friends will usually play a few rounds if I have it ready to go, but it's not as easy these days to find a worthy Crossfire competitor. As you can see I'm diligently training my cat.

3. Zaxxon (MB board game)

This is just a brutal game. Lots of battles through the years on this board. I generally played this with my best friend from elementary school. You control 2 ships through the board with a number of checkpoints that you have to shoot with your laser. Eventually getting to Zaxxon who you have to shoot with both ships. Pretty basic but the theme is what really mattered back then.

I was lucky enough to find this one complete a few years ago with all of the stickers intact. I even have the old sticker paper that came with the game. Nowadays I'll occasionally play this one with a friend and it's still just as fun as it was before. The thing about board games (and role playing games) is that it requires imagination to make it that much better. Playing the arcade to board game adaptations really transport me back to the 80's.

2. Terrace (Featured on Star Trek TNG!)

This game is outstanding in every way. As a kid I played it in the early 90's with a friend who was obsessed with Star Trek in every way. He mainly got it because it was on Star Trek but it turned out to be a great game. We would play for hours on end and never get bored of it. We tried to invite other kids to play, but Terrace had a scourge on it for being a "nerdy Star Trek game". Not even as generically nerdy as Dungeons and Dragons, or Magic Cards, Terrace had a following all it's own.

I very recently found a complete boxed copy of the same game that I played as a kid. There have been a few released through the years in different colors. My wife quickly learned the game and beat me best 2 out of 3. It still has the same simple fun that it did when I was a kid. Rules are very similar to Chess, but movement is instead based on ascent/descent moves, rather than rank. Makes it fun for beginners, but adds the same type of skill set needed for chess when it comes to strategy. If you find this game get it. You won't regret it. Credit to my wife for the nerdy picture :)

1. Fireball Island

Oh the greatness that is Fireball Island. You have adventure, intrigue and greed all packaged into one flaming ball of action. For those who've never played, this is the quintessential board game of the late 1980's. I played this all the time with my friend Jon and it never got old. I think it was the art and the 3D board that really made it more than just a board game. I never got this game myself but definitely should have.

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Now you can expect to spend two-hundred dollars or more on this classic. The nice thing is all you need is all the cards and bigger game pieces to play. The marbles and even the small figures are easy to replace. An incomplete set still goes for about a hundred dollars though. I will probably never break down to pay this much for the game, but it's a sign I'm not the only one who really liked this one. I still hope each time I go thrifting that I'll come across a minty complete Fireball Island for only three or four bucks. Hope this post brought some memories. I'm going to try and post on here more often.

*Bonus Round* - Pac-Man Card Game

I had to throw this one on the pile. Not necessarily a board game so I saved it for last. I first purchased this on a whim being a classic gaming fan. After counting all the cards to make sure it was complete, it only cost me two dollars. It turned out to be a very fun card game. You just use number cards and picture cards in combination to score points. It has more than paid for itself since I've bought it and enjoy it almost as much as some of my favorite board games. I'll have to get together with my buddy who has the Pac-Man board game and really make a day of it.

New Tron Legacy toys - Kevin Flynn's Light Cycle and Diecast Recognizer

2010-10-19T22:33:00.000-07:00

On a whim the other night I thought to check the toy section of one of our local Target stores. To my surprise they already had a good selection of Tron Legacy toys to choose from. My favorites were Flynn's Light Cycle and the Recognizer. They had the best design and really jumped out at me. Only seeing one Recognizer and a few of Flynn's Light Cycle I quickly grabbed one of each.

They were completely out of the 3" Tron figures but I'm sure I'll fall victim to buying a few of those in the future. They Had Sam's Light Cycle, Clu's Light Cycle and a bunch of the bigger deluxe figures. They just didn't call out to me as much as the vehicles I chose.

From what I've seen of the other toys so far, Kevin Flynn's Light Cycle has impressed me the most. I love the simple classic Tron inspired style and the white LED light is a nice addition. The Recognizer is nearly perfect in every way. For $3.99 I simply couldn't pass it up. The only thing I would've liked is if the Light Cycle had sound. For the Recognizer there's really nothing to complain about for such a simple toy.

The main color scheme for Tron Legacy consists of black, silver, white, blue and red. I like how sleek everything looks but at the same time I'd love to see some solid bright colors. Maybe some oranges and deep blues to kind of liven things up. All in all though this is a very promising line for an even more promising movie. I can't wait to see some of the series 2 toys.

TOMY really did a good job with the old Tron toys and I still own a handful of them loose. The colors are great and the use of colored translucent plastic was really resourceful at the time of release. Luckily for fans of the old line, the company Neca released the old line for promotion of the Tron 20th anniversary. I was like a kid in a candy store with these and I purchased all of the figures and two of the light cycle sets.

Excuse the grainy pic but I couldn't help but line these up together. I was even able to snap a shot with the white LED going on the Light Cycle. They don't have any problems getting along on my toy shelf and blend together nicely. Well that end's my nerdy Tron toy post. I can't wait to see the Movie on Dec. 17th!

The Seeds - My favorite 60's garage band

2010-09-11T22:48:00.000-07:00

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My love of this band started when my wife got me the first Nuggets box set as a gift about 10 years ago. I heard their song "Pushin' Too Hard" and right then I was hooked. Check out a video of them performing the song on TV here. They were featured on the classic late 60's sit-com "The Mothers-In-Law". I've listened to tons of their music through the years and have become a devoted Seeds fan.

I finally got some of their albums a few years ago and they have not disappointed. The first album is pure genious. Nothing but raw 60's fuzz guitar meshed with growlin' organ and keyboard bass. The Seeds were the first band to notably use only keyboard bass. Daryl Hooper played the wild keys and he played like no one else. He had his own brand of carnival style organ that drove The Seeds' songs to a musical manic state in a matter of minutes.

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In later years the lead singer, Sky Saxon , took a stab at bass guitar and tore it up. His true gift though was his snarling, raspy vocals that complimented the instrumentation perfectly.

When I first heard their second album, "A Web of Sound", I didn't think it could better. I bought the album on clear red vinyl and instantly fell in love. some of the more notable tracks include: "Mr. Farmer", "Trip Maker" and "Up in Her Room".

If you're a fan of 60's rock/psych/garage you can't go wrong with The Seeds. Their 3rd effort, "Travel With Your Mind" is nothing short of an opus. Lots of psychedelic layered masterpieces and poppy garage gems.

Even some of the later albums like "A Full Spoon of Seedy Blues" and "Future" are great in their own right. Sky Saxon played through the years in many bands and really deserves more recognition in the rock world. I have the 2004 album "Sky Saxon and the Seeds - Red Planet" and I play it as much as the early albums. Sky even did cameo in a Smashing Pumpkins video. I was lucky enough to see Sky play at the 2007 Fuzz Fest in Portland, OR. It was amazing to see him play with Benjamin Starshine and his band backing him up. I couldn't have been happier. They played some early favorites and the experience was truly priceless. Sadly Sky passed away in June of 2009 but he and his legacy will be remembered. He left a stamp on this world that only he could leave.

From Left to Right: Daryl Hooper-Organ/Keyboards/Backing Vocals, Jan Savage - Guitar/Backing Vocals, Sky Saxon-Lead Vocals, Bass Guitar (uncredited on recordings), Rick Andridge-Drums

Well that completes my post on my favorite 60's garage band of all time - The Seeds! Thanks for reading.

The Burning (1981) movie review

2010-09-09T21:53:00.000-07:00

I watched this movie not expecting much more than a little nostalgia fix. It ended up being better than I expected and quite scary. The special effects provided by Tom Savini were pretty grizzly.

It was great to see Jason Alexander in his first major film role as David, a witty kid who was trying eagerly to fit in. Holly Hunter and Fisher Stevens also show up in this 80's horror classic.

The glue that holds the film together is the back story that it outlines early in the film. About 10 years have passed after the universally hated camp janitor, nicknamed "Cropsy", was burned severely in a prank gone wrong.

He's out for revenge and doesn't have a problem taking it out on the same camp that nearly killed him years earlier. This creates an eerie build up to a new unsuspecting group of kids. They learn to know the story of Cropsy to only be legend and nothing more.

The story progresses well and there doesn't seem to be any dry spots where the film lurches to a hault. Fisher Stevens is hilarious to see as "Woodstock". He really looks as if he's only about 12 or 13 in this flick. The character I related to the most was the camp nerd, Alfred, played by Brian Backer. He did a great job acting the part and you really had sympathy for the kid.

It follows a pretty standard camp horror film formula for most of the film but that's okay with me. Also since it's one of the earlier ones, it has some credibility. For me the early performances of some great actors to come gave me the real drive to watch this again. If you're a horror fan, or even love films in a camp setting, check this one out. It won't let you down.

*** 1/2 out of ***** for me.

Haha. I've never seen Jason Alexander with so much hair.

A couple of my favorite He-Man toys

2010-09-06T23:16:00.000-07:00

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Masters of the Universe - ROBOTO - Released in 1985

Out of all of my old Masters of the Universe toys I think Roboto has to be my favorite. When you moved his torso from side to side the gears would move inside his chest. His visor also moved up and down.

This is the one toy that friends would always be jealous of. Luckily for them I wasn't afraid to share and let them bask in the awesomeness of Roboto.

The 3 interchanging arms sealed the deal for being one of the most sought after MOTU toys of the 80's.


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Here's the picture that appeared on the back of the action figure cards.

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Masters of the Universe - MULTI-BOT - Released in 1986

Multi-Bot was the figure that I always wanted but never owned. Luckily my friend Aaron had him and we would occasionally trade toys for a week or so at a time.

If I ever come across one that is in decent shape I think I'll pick it up if the price is right. The last few auctions I saw on eBay went for about $60. Until next time friends. There's many more posts to come.

Remembering Robo Force

2010-09-06T15:22:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog! For my first post I thought what better way to start than to share my memories of a forgotten toy line called... Robo Force! My obsession with these guys started in about 1987.

Transformers were the coolest thing on the block but Robo Force toys ruled my toy box. All through the 80's I only owned one or two Transformers but I had a nice collection of 5 or more Robo Force toys.

The leader Maxx Steele (pictured to the left) had a cool storage compartment in his chest for his weapons. The entire line of toys had a button on the back that could make the arms move and grip small items. There was also a suction cup on the bottom so they could grip to any surface.

Here's a Robo Force commercial Featuring most of the main Robots.

The thing I liked the most about these toys is they mostly resembled the classic robots of early Sci-Fi movies and TV. The arms are straight off of the Robot B-9 from "Lost in Space". Some of the bodies/heads loosely resembled a Dalek or Robby from "Forbidden Planet".

I only have one Robo Force figure after all these years and even he was a recent purchase. All of my originals have long since been traded away.
I'm always on the hunt for memorable toys of my youth. Through the years I make small contributions to my growing collection.

Well that's it for this post, but stay tuned for more in the future!