action figures

Chris Knight's avatar

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 ...

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Chris Knight's avatar

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.  ...

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Chris Knight's avatar

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 ...

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Chris Knight's avatar

…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 ...

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Chris Knight's avatar

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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Chris Knight's avatar

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 ...

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Chris Knight's avatar

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 😛...

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