Snoke is just a gigolo

Had to get a few supplies yesterday and on a lark I went to the Star Wars toys to ogle the stuff from the upcoming Solo movie.  The timing was fortuitous apparently because some fresh figures had just been put on the pegs including... gasp!... one of the new Supreme Leader Snoke 3.75 scale figs!

"AYYYYYY ain't got no-BAAAH-day!"

Ever since The Force Awakens I've been wanting a Snoke action figure.  Most of my own Star Wars collection got sold a few years ago before I left North Carolina.  The thing about collecting Star Wars: you don't need to get everything.  Just whatever interests you.  Some collect nothing but Artoo-Detoo memorabilia, others for Yoda and some are into Darth Vader.  Snoke has intrigued me from the moment I saw him and now my new collection is complete for now.

But in all seriousness...

EVERY time I see a picture of Snoke from The Last Jedi - either as a still from the movie or as a toy - in that ridiculous gold lamé bathrobe and matching slippers it makes David Lee Roth's voice singing "Just A Gigolo" start playing in my head:

Could be worse, I suppose. I mean, Kylo Ren's waist supporter didn't get much screen time after all, right?

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It's a very Dalek Christmas!

Okay, that's it.  I give up.  I didn't know how having a Christmas this year was going to be at all possible.  In light of everything that's happened in the past nearly two months, yuletide joy was something that seemed way past feasibility.  Although, I haven't begrudged anyone from having that.  Just feels like I'm on the outside looking in this year, is all.

But then before tonight's performance of It's A Wonderful Life: The Musical two young ladies who I've been working backstage with surprised me with a little something.  And as I told Joy and Makia, this has to be the sweetest thing that has happened to me since Lord knows when.

Look!  Dalek action figures from Doctor Who!

Joy and Makia spotted these in a nearby store and... well, words cannot possibly convey how touched I am to be given these by two such wonderful people.  As you can see that's the classic Dalek seen in "Genesis of the Daleks" from 1975 during the Tom Baker era.  Along with one of the utterly insane variants witnessed two years ago in "Asylum of the Daleks" from the midst of Matt Smith's reign as the Doctor.

I can't help but feel some Christmas cheer now.  It's A Wonderful Life is a story about how every life has meaning.  Your own life too.  Even if you can't see on your own how it could be.  In the end George Bailey discovered that he had riches that he never imagined, and right now - in the midst of where life has led me these past few months - being given these Dalek figures by two friends I've made through this production has let me feel much like George Bailey.

Incidentally, these are the very first anything of the Daleks that I've ever owned.  I've been a fan of them for almost as long as I've been watching Doctor Who (more than thirty years now) but for whatever reason I've never had any to call my own.  They now have a very special place of honor: on my "motivational table" on my computer desk, sitting next to the monitor.  It has things on it that I sometimes look at while I'm writing my book.  Already on it are Emmet and Wyldstyle minifigs from The LEGO Movie, and three expansion packs for the Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures game (which will remain unopened and unplayed-with until my work on the book is finished).  Two Daleks in the fore of it all is going to be the cherry on top, 'cuz hey: it's tough getting more motivational than having two Daleks aiming their guns at you, right?

Thanks again to Joy and Makia for giving me a lot to smile about this holiday season :-)

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Latest 3-D Printing news: Action figures and functional firearms

The realm of 3-D printing is one that continues to bear watching. A few months ago there was some legal action taken by Games Workshop in regard to a printable 3-D version of one of the company's more iconic models. At the time I remarked that the "Dreadnought" in question was worse than lame, that it was craptacular. I quietly wondered how long would it be before the quality of this kind of thing would catch-up to traditional molding and casting.

Ooh-boy...

From computer scientists at Harvard University comes some new software that will let you print highly-detailed and fully-ARTICULATED action figures! And it's pretty insane how the software does it too: it takes an animated 3-D character and automatically figures out where all the movable joints will be, and figures-in how to manufacture those joints in a real-world model. In other words you could take a picture of Shrek and turn him into a fully poseable toy. Or print your own Star Wars: Clone Wars action figures. Which no doubt Lucasfilm's licensing department would have something to say about that (and you thought Games Workshop's lawyers were bad...). But all the same, the Harvard thinkin' dudes are planning to make their software available commercially. Eventually. Click on the link above for some groovy pics and video of the process in action.

And then there's this lil' application of 3-D printing that's sure to put gun control nuts into conniption fits: The world's first 3-D printed gun.

Yes, it really works too.

Apart from the chamber (which remains solid metal), this .22-caliber pistol is entirely printed plastic. It fires 200 rounds with no apparent wear or damage to the weapon. It was manufactured with an older 3-D printer and about $30 of resin, but its gunsmith - who goes by the Internet nom de plume "HaveBlue" - reckons that it could be made for as little as ten bucks.

So in the very near future, it may not be that big of a hassle to go out and buy a guy at all. Just download the 3-D model from a website like The Pirate Bay or Demonoid and in a few hours time you'll have a fully-functional firearm to defend your home and loved ones with. And with the cost of 3-D printers dropping to the point where one can be sitting in your living room...

I can already envision some politicians are going to hear about this and decide "something must be done about it, think of the childrun...!"

When 3-D printers are outlawed, only outlaws will have 3-D printers :-P

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If you haven't stopped by Sci-Fi Genre in Durham lately...

...then you really oughtta should check them out anew. I first wrote about this place a few months ago. Well, they're at the same location - 3215 Old Chapel Hill Road in Durham, North Carolina - but since then the store has expanded in size! There's now about twice the space as before, all of it devoted to more games, comic books, action figures and other collectibles. There's also a massive game room to meet and greet your fellow players in.

But don't take my word for how awesome a place Sci-Fi Genre is. Look who else thinks so too:

Yup, Robin Williams himself, who word on the street has it is not only an avid Warhammer 40,000 player but that he also collects and plays a wicked kewl Eldar army! Maybe someday he'll show up again and I can play him with my Orks (and I've heard Will Smith and Billy Crystal are also into Warhammer 40,000: maybe Sci-Fi Genre could host a celebrity tournament or something...)

Their website is at scifigenre.com. Tell 'em you heard about 'em on The Knight Shift!

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The Harry Tuttle action figure!

Good Lord... I would love for this thing to be mass-produced and sold somehow!

There's a dude calling himself Sillof who excels at creating custom action figures, making replicas of movie props and all kinds of other uber-kewl stuff. Sillof has already achieved fame with his "steampunk" inspired renditions of characters from the Star Wars saga.

But check this out: Sillof has made an action figure of Archibald "Harry" Tuttle!

Every detail of the renegade terrorist heating and air-conditioning repairman that Robert De Niro played in Terry Gilliam's movie Brazil has been reproduced: right down to the pistol and ventilation maintenance tools.

Well done Sillof! And I can't think of a toy that more reflects what our society is becoming... or one screaming more to be made than this one.

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Get your geek going at Sci-Fi Genre!

Nestled away on a tree-lined side street in Durham, North Carolina is one of the most rollickin' fun discoveries that I have made in recent months. And if you didn't know that it was there or were searching it out already, you could easily overlook it. But that seems to be such with so many good things in life, like a hole-in-the-wall restaurant or small bookstore.

I first heard about Sci-Fi Genre late this past fall, mostly by word-of-mouth over the Internet. At the time I was getting back into playing BattleTech and was looking for someplace nearby that sold more of the miniatures. And more than a few times, Sci-Fi Genre kept coming up as a place that I should check out. So one Saturday afternoon I headed out east on I-40 and started seeking out this joint.

I have to admit: my first glimpse of the place was a little underwhelming. Until the moment that I walked through the front door. In terms of geology, Sci-Fi Genre is like a geode: appearing like one stone among countless others on the outside... but within, a stunning myriad of color and wonder and delight for the eyes and mind!

For pure geekdom, I don't know of any place in the area that possesses it more than Sci-Fi Genre. This hub of the fantastic has EVERYTHING! A huge selection of comic books and graphic novels (both current and back issues) including trade paperbacks. And as you can see from this next photo, they stock an absolutely unconscionably massive supply of games: from children's games on up to practically every conceivable Dungeons & Dragons book and module and dice set, and enough miniature wargaming supplies to lay siege to North Africa a dozen times over. Of course, being a BattleTech player and now a newly-minted Warhammer 40,000 gamer, I've had loads of fun perusing Sci-Fi Genre for new cannon fodder and materiel :-)

The store also has a fairly good-sized gaming area where players can congregate and hash things out like men (and more than a few women... no chauvinists we!).

But personally, for me the biggest thrill of going to Sci-Fi Genre (whenever I get the chance to be around Durham and sometimes I'm determined to find a chance to be there :-P) is oggling the crazy amount of action figures, toys and other geeky memorabilia. The last time I was there I wound up buying a G.I. Joe Hall of Heroes edition Zartan action figure. Why? Mostly for old times sake since Zartan was my favorite figure of the G.I. Joe line back in the Eighties. And also 'cuz I wanted to remember Zartan for the way he used to be, before the G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra movie comes out tomorrow and possibly trashes those good memories ('tis the dismal tide of our times, it seems...).

Of course, Sci-Fi Genre having so many Star Wars action figures couldn't possibly be a reason why I keep coming back to the place, right? ;-)

They also stock action figures related to comic books, video games, movies and TV shows like the new and old Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek (both old-school and the new 2009 relaunch stuff), and a wide assortment of the various Transformers lines.

And if by some cosmically incomprehensible reason they don't have what you're looking for on hand, Sci-Fi Genre's knowledgeable and extremely friendly management and sales staff will be glad to order it for you!

Sci-Fi Genre is located at 3215 Old Chapel Hill Road in Durham, North Carolina. If you're coming in from I-40, it's about ten minutes' drive time from Exit 270 (and sometimes less depending on traffic). Well worth checking out and if you go, you will most certainly be coming back plenty more!

And tell 'em that you read about them on The Knight Shift :-)

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Finally have a Rorschach action figure!

Ever since the first time I read Watchmen, I've thought it would be neat to have an action figure of Rorschach to decorate my shelf or computer desk with.

It's taken twenty years, but today I finally get my wish...

Found it at Books A Million in Greensboro while out on some business this morning.

Now all we need is for someone to make a big plush Rorschach doll that goes "Hurm" when you pull the string :-P

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