Category Archives: league of extraordinary bloggers

The League of Extraordinary Bloggers: Prized Possessions

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This week’s assignment from The League is to show off our prized possession, the one thing that you would sacrifice life and limb for.  Other than my wife and kids, the one thing I love the most in my life is my Jack Burton action figure.  Back in 2009 I waxed poetic over at my buddy Poe Ghostal’s blog in a Show & Tell.

My affinity for Big Trouble In Little China has been well documented here over the years.  In the Fall of 2002, I walked into Suncoast Video (remember those) in the Oxford Valley Mall to find my hero, Jack Burton, in collectible plastic form. Without thinking, I rushed to the cash register before anyone was able to muscle good ‘ol Jack out of my sweaty grip.

A little history about this figure, it was produced by a company called N2 Toys, which came and went in the early 2000s.  The Big Trouble In Little China line was set to include most of the main characters: Jack Burton, Lo Pan, Wang Chi, Egg Shen, the Chinese Wildman, & Lightning (Three Storms).  There were even rumors of a 12″ Jack Burton, prototypes of which were shown at SDCC in the summer of 2002.

The sculpt is a great representation of Drew Struzan’s truly wonderful one sheet for the film. The paint applications are pretty great by 2002 standards, and does Jack Burton’s iconic tank top justice.  Over the years, I’ve had friends and aquaintances offer me varying sums of money to take Jack Burton home with them.  I’ve ignored every offer, I can assure you that in the event of a natural disaster, fire, or a zombie apocalypse that after ensuring that my wife and kids are safe … I will be sure to take Jack Burton with me.

From Across The League:

Life With Fandom would run into a fire for his original He-Man

The fact that Haxbee has a Small Soldier diorama that sat in the office of Stan Winston has me insanely jealous.

Branded In The 80s showed off their original Return of The Jedi Yub Yub Wicket.  I never even knew this existed.

The League Of Extraordinary Bloggers: Play Ball!

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Taking a break from our usual oeuvre, The League is talking baseball!

Contrary to popular belief I do have hobbies beyond Legos, Star Trek, or The Walking Dead. Baseball has been a big part of my life, being born in Pittsburgh I many of my early memories were spent cheering on the “Outfield of Dreams” consisting of Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, and Andy Van Slyke (who remains my favorite Pirate of all time).

I vividly remember the 1992 NLCS where 40 year old Sid Bream scored from second, simultaneously sending the Braves to the World Series and ushering in a new era of shitty Pirates baseball.  I remember my father screaming a cavalcade of expletives at the television and kicking the coffee table as my mother ushered me out of the house.  She figured it would be best if we left the house for a while after that.

Through my pre-teen years and into early adulthood, I continued to root for the Pirates despite living in Philadelphia.  My father and I would pick up cheap tickets for Pirates/Phillies games at Veterans Stadium full well knowing that we would be berated mercilessly for 3+ hours straight.

When I started at Temple University, I became more of a Phillies guy, despite my father’s protests.  In 2002 when I started dating my wife, I found out she was a huge Phillies fan.  A good bit of the first summer was listening, watching or attending Phillies games. On one of our first Phillies game together, she asked for a scorecard.  I figured she would wanted a souvenir from our date, and when we made it to our seats (they were somewhere in the 500 level) she sat down and kept score.  I was not expecting that in the least, and Phillies games became a big part of our relationship.

Over the years we traveled across the country, visiting stadiums and collecting baseballs.  At our wedding reception in 2008 we split our 26 tables into National and American Leagues, each with their respective pennant and coordinating floral arrangement.  Our wedding favors were peanuts and cracker jacks.

I endured some truly mediocre Phillies teams in that time, back during the doldrums of 2004-05 when Citizens Bank Park wouldn’t be sold out every game like they have been the last two seasons.  During the 2008 World Series run, I was sitting 11 rows behind home plate when Shane Victorino hit a grand slam off of CC Sabathia in Game 2 of the NLDS.

I was one of the half million fans that called out sick to line Broad Street for the Phillies World Series Parade.  It was such an electric experience that I’ll never forget, and I was there to share it with my wife.  In 2010 we bought a partial season ticket plan for the Phillies, and have kept it ever since.   And yes, on the occasion that I make it to a Phils/Pirates game … I do wear my Pirates jersey.

Check out other members of the League, and their take on this weeks topic:

The Lair of The Dork Horde talks about baseball ice cream helmets!

Cavalcade of Awesome assembled a pop culture fantasy baseball team.  I appreciate the inclusion of Jimmy Dugan.

Team Hellions broke out some Avengers Annuals from 1987 featuring America’s pastime.

The League of Extraordinary Bloggers: Iron Man Made Me A Believer

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This week Brian from Cool & Collected posed the following question:

What media announcement had you throwing fist pumps and doing roundhouse kicks in the air? Did the final result live up to your dreams?

 

I still find it hard to believe that It’s 2012 and we are on the cusp of a full fledged Avengers movie.  Five years ago during Comic Con foundation was starting to take shape when Marvel Studios rolled out a teaser trailer for Iron Man.  The attendees at Hall H lost their minds and took to the internet spouting their unrequited love for director Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal of Tony Stark.  Up until that point, there wasn’t much buzz on the project and Iron Man walked away the fan favorite of San Diego Comic Con 2007.

Leading up to Iron Man’s release in May 2008, there were rumors of a super secret cameo that would be dropped in after the credits. As press screenings were rolling out, it was very difficult to remain spoiler free … but I prevailed.  Those who had seen it said it was absolutely mind blowing.

I took in a Friday night showing of Iron Man battling the crowds.  When the credits finished about 75% of the theater remained seated, waiting for this cameo.  And then it happened …  NICK FURY!!!  I howled with fan boy delight as my wife just looked at me sideways.  “Avengers” I exclaimed, “they’re talking about the goddamn Avengers they’re going to do this”.

It wasn’t until that point that I sat back and was floored that Marvel was committed to making a series of movies that would lead up to a movie about their flagship super team.  In the time since Iron Man was released, we’ve almost taken for granted that an Avengers movie was coming.  Five years ago, none of us had an inkling as to what Marvel was planning.

 

The League of Extraordinary Bloggers: Where Are They Now?

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Unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances, I was unable to participate in the second assignment set forth for The League.  This week, Brian from Cool & Collected challenged members with the following

The 80′s and 90′s were filled with kids and teens in the movies. Which movie would you like to see a sequel made in 2012 with the original cast members, who have aged the same as you and me.

 

I think for many of my generation, the obvious choice would be The Goonies.  While I have a certain affinity for that flick, it pales in comparison to The Monster Squad.  To this day, I still think it has the best ‘modern’ interpretation of the Universal monsters.  What makes The Monster Squad so appealing is that a movie which prominently features kids cursing, bullying, smoking, talking about tits, and firing guns would never get a PG-13 rating in 2012 … let alone released. Weren’t the 1980s a beautiful thing?

I’d have to imagine that The Monster Squad 2: Monster Harder (just a working title) would show a group of late twenty somethings whose greatest accomplishment was fighting the forces of darkness before they reached high school.  Much like Olympic Gymnasts, their best years are behind them.  Horace can only get so many free meals on his epic take down of Gill Man.

Let’s be honest, just because you sent Dracula into a vortex doesn’t mean that he’s gone.  I can definitely envision a story where the kids (now adults) have to sharpen their stakes and melt down their good silverware once more to finally end the threat of the living dead claiming their world.  All I really want, is a new version of my favorite montage of any film put out during the 1980s.

 

Seriously, how can you beat that montage?  And with that, feel free to check out other members of the League and their musings on this week’s topic:

The Breakfast Club: Where Are They Now?  – [Cool & Collected]

KIDS: Where Are They Now? – [Sideshow Cinema]

The Last Starfighter – [Lair of The Dork Lord]

 

Of Big Trouble, Autobots, and Saviors of The Universe: My Ideal Saturday Matinee

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The League of Extraordinary Bloggers is a group of like-minded individuals organized by Brian from Cool & Collected.  Each member contributes a post on the weekly assignment, which is shared and cross posted across the group.  The first assignment:

What movie is, or was, your “go to” Saturday matinee — the comfort movie you always popped into the VCR on a rainy Saturday afternoon, the movie you watched over and over again, driving your parents crazy while you recited the lines along with the characters on the screen?

Most people can point to a movie as being their go to childhood flick.  You know the one I’m talking about, it’s the one that your parents would begrudgingly pop into the VCR every weekend.  Over time the sound would pop or the picture would jump because it had been rewound far too many times.

I never had just a movie.  I had three movies, which I know refer to as my Trifecta of 80′s Awesomeness: Big Trouble in Little China, Transformers: The Movie, and Flash Gordon. And you want to know why it was so awesome? They were on just one VCR tape. My dad had a knack for making *ahem* duplicates of VHS tapes through an elaborate system of VHS decks.  With love and dedication, my dad worked it out to get all three movies on to one VHS tape, guaranteeing close to 5 1/2 hours of uninterrupted TV time.

To this day I still have a deep and profound love for those movies.  Partly due to the dedication from my dad to ensure that I had uninterrupted flow of 80s cheese pipelined directly into my cerebral cortex. To this day I can listen to the score from Transformers: The Movie and articulate the scenes in which each movement occurs.  I can go line for line with Jack Burton, and the Flash Gordon soundtrack is among my most played on my iPod.  To this day, I never grow tired of any of these movies. And I may argue that these three movies could be tied for the greatest 80s movie theme songs (Footloose can suck it!)

I have a primal compulsion to watch them every time they pop up, much to the chagrin of my wife.  Of the three, I think she prefers Big Trouble in Little China … but she will never admit to that.

More From The League:

Good Ol’ Saturday Matinee Weirdness via GeekChunks

Boys, Avenge Me, AVENGE ME! via Branded in the 80s