New Doctor Who

Bif Bang Pow! has just released pictures of a new Doctor Who set! We finally get a Leela! Woo-hoo! Leela of the Sevateem stands at 8 inches tall & is in a retro-Mego style with real cloth clothing. You can also get a Sutekh figure from the "Pyramid of Mars" episodes of Doctor Who. They are available for pre-order from Entertainment Earth now, but don't have a release date until February of 2012.

Okay, I admit it, I'm re-obsessed.

Alright, you are all going to have to bear with me a while. I have become completely obsessed with Xena all over again, so everything is going to relate to Xena. Everything I see, hear & do will be in some form or another tied in with Xena. It's an Aspie thing. Okay and a fanatic thing. I will still mention Star Wars, Action Figures, art & stuff, but Xena is going to take the reins for a while.



Now, speaking of Xena, LOL, I mentioned the FaceBook page for the Xena movie in my last post. I have to admit at first I was a little pessimistic. I've changed my tune. Social Media has changed the world. Betty White got a spot on Saturday Night Live because enough people clicked like on a FaceBook page. There is no reason that a Xena movie can't happen if enough people LIKE a Facebook page. Crazy as it sounds, it's true. Execs like numbers. It's how they work. Each click represents a possible $10 to $20 movie ticket sale or a $14.95 DVD purchase. If you have enough clicks or LIKES or adds to show them a profit, they don't care what it is, they will greenlight it & it will be made.



Another important thing to have is a script. T has tackled this with me. She is getting her Masters in Screenwriting. It's finished as of now & is even up for a BEA award. How awesome is that? Lucy has said repeatedly all that is needed is a script & a budget. Well, the script is done. Now, for a budget.



Let's talk about what you & I can do to make this happen. If a Xena Movie is something that even slightly interests you, the first thing you need to do is log-in to Facebook and go LIKE the Xena 2011 Movie Campaign. Go on, do it now. I'll wait.



Also, it wouldn't hurt to embed this video. Go to any page that might remotely have anyone interested in Xena & leave a link to the Xena 2011 Movie Campaign. Conan the Barbarian blogs, sites, videos, forums, BSG blogs, sites, videos, forums, Spartacus, blogs...etc. etc. You get my point.

Now, there are a handful of pessimists that keep bringing up our two main actors ages. Look, no one cares how old they are really. That's what Photoshop & make-up are for. They are not too old...yet. That's why we have to get ON this. Lucy Lawless said just last year that she wants to play the character again. That's huge.



She told Out.com, "I love that character. I would do it if it was a movie. I doubt I would do it as a TV series. I can't see how you would make it fresh.
"By the time somebody does come up with that I'm just going to be too old. And I'm really sad about that. I feel like it's a completely wasted franchise."

She also said "I would have them sailing off into the sunset together. That way, people could dream about what adventures they would embark on next, as opposed to separating them forever. That was the most hurtful thing about 'Xena.' It’s a cool story if you think about it. In 'Spartacus' people are killed in the worst way all the time. It’s part of the show. However, it wasn’t right for 'Xena.' It’s such a shame to look back because it really hurt fans. People related to those characters in a unique way, creating a different kind of fandom. The 'Xena' fans are an incredible bunch."



So c'mon, let's live up to our title & get the numbers up & connect to everything everywhere. If you had any anger or resentment or hurt about the way it ended, let it go. We are going to fix it. Right here, right now. Let's do something no other fan base has ever done. Bring a lead character back from the dead & have the original Actors portray them on the big screen to have it end the way it should have in the first place.



Battle on!

Xena Warrior Princess

Many of you know how much I love Xena. I love it equally to Star Wars, which means it is extremely important. When it ended in 2001, I was pretty devastated. The ending was not what I had hoped for. I grieved for a long time. Sure it was just a TV show, but these characters had been part of my life for 6 years. Not only that, but the show led me to my partner of 15 years (15 yrs. in November 2011). We met in #Xenafan on IRC. I had a personalized license tag on my car that read "Xena" until I sold my car last October. We spent $250.00 on a Xena prop (The Amazon Epinon's belt) which at the time was more than our rent.



Xena had become part of my weekly joy.

After the show ended, I couldn't watch Xena anymore. It was just too painful. I cried for weeks. Seriously. I cried at work. I just couldn't understand why it had to end the way it did. I logged onto the MCA/Universal sponsored Xena Netforum & quickly realized I wasn't alone. There was a whole lot of anger, confusion & frustration, but mostly there was grief. This show had been empowering. It had been a show that many seem to identify with, especially when it came to the Xena & Gabrielle relationship. *SPOILERS* (Don't read the next line if you haven't seen the series ending) The ending seemed to ignore everything we had learned about revenge, vengeance & finding redemption. Xena sacrifices herself to avenge souls she had accidently caused to die & leaves her soulmate & best friend alone. She never forgave herself, finding the true peace I felt she deserved. Basically, she killed herself due to her guilt. It didn't feel like an empowering ending. It felt like a greek tragedy, which maybe that was the point. Moreover, though, it felt like a friend had died for no good reason.



Recently, my partner went on a family vacation for two weeks. I no longer had television, but I did have Netflix. I also have a couple 8 x 10's of Xena & Gabrielle in the living room & I started thinking about T & I & how we met & I wondered if I could watch Xena again. As the gods would have it, Netflix was streaming it. So, I watched one. I forgot how much I really loved Xena. I also forgot how great the writing in this silly little show was. The writing, the direction, and the acting. It is a remarkable little piece of television history. There was never anything like it, and there will never be anything like it again. It came about in a unique time & place & for me the right time & place.



T & I decided to go back & watch the whole series again from beginning to end. This time the director's cut ending. Maybe that will help. We just finished the first season last night, so we have a ways to go.

****Update******

The Director's Cut of Friend In Need is indeed much better.  When you get to the end, watch it rather than what they showed on TV.  Still, I feel like Xena felt she didn't deserve happiness.  She didn't deserve to be able to have a life free from guilt.  Only in death could she be freed.  Such a sad ending.  And to leave Gabrielle so utterly alone.  Ugh.

*****************


If you were ever on the MCA/Universal Netforums from 1996 (?) to 2001, go check out the FB page Xena Netforum. Hopefully it can serve as a sort of reunion page for all of us old timers who used to frequent the place so often.

If you have never watched Xena, don't write it off as just a silly little fantasy show. There's some really good stuff in there. Give it a shot while it's streaming on Netflix. It's way worth the journey.

She ain't your babydoll, but she can be.

Hot Toys has some amazing sculpts. This one is good. Not quite as good as some of their others, but still damn fine.

What she comes with:

Authentic and detailed fully realized likeness of Emily Browning as Babydoll in the Sucker Punch movie

Approximately 28 cm tall

Newly developed body with over 30 points of articulations

Realistic long, golden, implanted curly hair

Three (3) pairs of interchangeable palms with straps on right palms including:
One (1) pair of relaxed palms
One (1) pair for holding guns
One (1) pair for holding Japanese Katana
Each piece of head sculpt is specially hand-painted
One (1) set of sailor style navy blue shirt with tie and belt, and skirt
One (1) pair of long black socks
One (1) pair of navy blue high heels
One (1) pistol with accessories
One (1) magazine gun with silencer and sight
One (1) Japanese style metal Katana with case and strap
One (1) black hair band
One (1) headset
One (1) key with neck chain
One (1) pistol holster
Two (2) magazine holsters
Figure stand with Babydoll nameplate and movie logo

Here's the Specs:
12" H (304.8mm)*
Product Weight:
4.00 lbs (1.81 kg)*
Box Size:
15.00" H (381mm) x 7.00" W (177.8mm) x 7.00" L (177.8mm)*
Est. Shipping Weight:
4.00 lbs (1.81 kg)*

The Price?

$169.99 or two payments of $85.00

Where do you get her? Why right Here:

Sideshow Collectibles

12 inches of IG-88

Wow. Look at this! IG-88, master bounty hunter, standing tall with 20+ points of Articulation. Not only that, but look at those soulless light up red eyes! Creepy! He's loaded down with blasters & mines and things that magnetically attach to his cloth bandolier strap. To top it all off, you can fall asleep looking at him in all his cruel magnificence as he stands atop his light up base.

All of this for $174.99 or split it in two with flexpay & pay $87.50 for two months.

Pick him up here: Sideshow Collectibles

Another Featured Artist: Deanna Molinaro

Sea Monster Morning

Painter, writer, sculptor, Deanna has some really awesome art to share with the world. Sometimes it amazes me what these big publishing houses pick up & what they don't. She is amazing & inspiring. I fell in love after reading the Sea Monster story. Check her out here: Deanna Molinaro

Featured Artist: James McCarthy

James McCarthy


Fine Art America site for James McCarthy




Beinart site

Facebook Page

Some seriously cool stuff.

ROBOT!!! Oh & some UFC stuff.

Toys R Us has some cool stuff on clearance online. Take the robot above for instance. Pretty sweet. Their prices aren't amazingly cheap or anything, but it will save you a little ,ore than if you came across it somewhere else. Not only do they have the robot figure, but they have quite a bit of UFC stuff on clearance as well.



So, if you are looking to complete your collection of UFC, you might want to head here: Toys R Us Clearance.

Futurama 2011

Okay, as many of you know I was so jazzed last June 24th (2010) when Futurama came back to TV. I had a party & had all my favorite people show up! We had a great time. The first episode was pretty good, but after that...OMG...it was terrible. Awful. So disappointing. The writing was off. The characters were, well, out of character. After having rewatched the old episodes hundreds of times, thanks to Adult Swim, everyone tuning in was intimately familiar with the characters. Hell, the fans could have written better episodes than were being crapped out last season. It was like some weird composite of Futurama, Family Guy, & South Park. It was not, despite what the title said, Futurama.

Futurama

Good News everyone!!! This season is completely awesome. It's like last season never happened & we picked up where the old Fox series left off. It's smart again & relevant to the world around us. The gross disgusting South Park like humor is gone. Leela is Leela again. Everyone seems like themselves. It's like old friends coming home.

I have no idea why this happened. I can't believe that they wasted last season's hype & put out crap & this season there has been barely any hype & it's fantastic. So, if you were disappointed or put off last season, do yourself a favor & tune in this season. You'll laugh. You feel like that horrible 2010 season was just a bad dream & all is right with the world again.

Other Places To Find Me

If you stop by here often, or even if you don't & are just bored & browsing around, you might be intrested in some of my other sites & places. First off, I have a Flickr page over at www.flickr.com/artistjentucker

I also have a FaceBook Fan page Art Love Action Figures

My art & illustration site is over at www.jentucker.com You can find my work in the gallery with sizes & prices.

Go check them out, if you haven't already! Thanks!

What I Need From You

Hello my beautiful blog readers. Today I send out a request for help. I am going to attempt something different with my art. Now, to do this I need your help. If you are reading this, in one way or another, our lives have crossed or intersected.

I am going to start a piece called "The Tapestry of the Fates". What I need from you is simple. I need each & everyone of you to send me a thread, or a ribbon (keep it at about 1/4 of an inch or smaller), or a piece of string, or some twine. Anything that you feel like is a material that the Fates would have used to weave the story of your life. Put it in an envelope & send it to me here:

Art, Love & Action Figures
P.O. Box 1332
Norman, OK 73070-1332

The more I get, the bigger the piece will be.

Thanks for your help!

Documentary Heaven... Literally.

Okay, first off I'm a geek. We all know this. It has been established. With that, you shouldn't find it surprising that I absolutely adore Documentaries. With the recent interest in poisoned food, the economy & politics, it's often hard to find documentaries on any thing else. If you do, they usually turn out to be some sort of new age spiritual crap full of people that have been taking other peoples money for years. I like to think of them as the new gypsies.

So, you can imagine my excitement when I "stumbled" across a website called Documentary Heaven. It's an entire website devoted to Documentaries. Old ones, new ones, and all for free. Most of them are exactly what I've been looking for, and NOT the stuff I've been finding every where else! I am so excited! I want to share with you the first one I watched below.

Ball Of Light from Sam Collins on Vimeo.

San Diego Comic Con 2011

Comic Con is coming up July 21-24, 2011. Want to know about exclusives? Well, you've come to the right place. Let's start with Sideshow Collectibles.

Sideshow is offering up:

Cobra Ninja Viper 1/6 scale figure

AVP Predator Mask Set

Clone Commander 1/6 scale figure

Iron Man Bust Set

Iron Man Mark IV Secret Project 1/6 scale figure

The Iron Man Mark IV Secret Project figure has already sold out, but you can add your name to the waitlist & there is an excellent chance you'll get one. It's what i did with the 1/6 scale Han & Luke in Stormtrooper disguise figs a couple years ago & I actually got them!

Next up is Gentle Giant:



In the video we see:

a Suckerpunch Babydoll Mini Bust

McQuarrie Stormtrooper Mini Bust

12" Vintage style Jawa with Vinyl cape

Captain America Mini Bust

Neville Longbottom Mini Bust



For you Doctor Who fans, BifBangPow! have a few exclusives and more listed over at Entertainment Earth's site. They are:

Bif Bang Pow! – Doctor Who 8inch Master and Cyberleader

Doctor Who 8inch 4th Doctor + Sontaran

Doctor Who TARDIS bobble

As well as:

Icons of the Twilight Zone Bobble,

Lost Polar Bear Bobble Head,

Venture Bros. Rusty and Jonas Venture Sr. with tin tote,

Dexter 3 3/4″ figure

Twilight Zone 8inch Bob Wilson / Don Carter 2pack




Get this, even Hallmark is getting in on the action with:

an exclusive Dengar & IG-88 2 pack

Batman

Comic Book Guy (simpsons)

Apparently they have in the past, I just didn't know.



Hasbro & G.I. Joe fans should love this 3 3/4" Zarana (shown above) that comes in two different styles.

Hasbro is also offering:

Starscream SkyStriker with Cobra Commander Pilot

Marvel exclusives included:

Mini-Muggs Avengers Set – Hulk, Thor, Ant-Man, Captain America, Iron Man

Giant Carded Sentinel Figure

Marvel Legends Thor

Then we move to Transformers which will include:

Prime Deluxe Optimus Prime with Matrix

Movie version Optimus Prime Ultimate edition

By far my favorite thing so far is this next offering from Hasbro:



A Revenge of the Jedi 12 figure set in Death Star package. How cool is that?



There are tons more exclusives & I will try to get another post out with more very shortly, but I think I hit the big ones in this one. Stay tuned!

Green Lantern. Meh.

This is my review of Green Lantern. If you haven't seen the film from Warner Bros., please do not read any further. Spoilers sweetie.



Let me start with the problems. First problem, dumb human bad guy. As in dumb concept or execution. Not only was it completely corny, hokey, & unnecessary, it also caused a problem. Let me back up a bit here.

We are introduced to a nerdy guy who is a brilliant scientist. He lives alone, presumably because he is too nerdy to love. His Father, the Senator, is both embarrassed & ashamed to have a scientist for a son. The hot chick in the film apparently knows him from school & seems uncomfortable talking to him, and our hero, GL, doesn't show any emotion toward him one way or the other until a battle. His students have no respect for him even though he teaches what appears to be a college freshman level class. This is a huge mistake to make in a comic film. Making fun of a nerdy scientist? Honestly, the guy seems like a pretty nice guy, trying to make his way in the world. He is infected with yellow energy after his daddy manages to pull some strings to get him in a special group studying the alien body. The special group seems to consist of him & Angela Bassett. No one else. Weak. Eventually, the guy goes mad with yellow energy. His head swells up & he eventually looks like he has a giant brain. Well, of course he does, right? Scientist = giant brain. Ugh. So, giant brain, lonely, nerdy scientist who has gone mad tries to kill everyone in the film. For no real reason. The yellow energy is supposed to be fear, but this guy kills his Dad because his Dad never thought he was good enough & a complete joke. He tries to kill Hal because Hal has always been so cool. He tries to kill the girl because she never gave him the time of day & because Hal likes her. Seriously? How is that fear? I felt bad for this character. The way he was treated was terrible & then he doesn't choose to be evil, but instead is infected. Does he ever get redeemed? Nope. He gets nothing but dead. No one seems to care or miss him.

Second problem: Parallax as the main bad guy? Really? Parallax is a pretty serious bad guy & a very important part of Hal Jordan's history. The movie Parallax was hardly that. There was no tension. I did not once feel anyone was in danger from this thing. The writing as well as the visuals fell completely flat here. I think it was a case of less would have been more. The Parallax visual was laughable. A giant head on a smoke cloud that supposedly was fear itself. Yep, not buying it. Not even for a dollar. Once Hal goes to destroy it, it takes him less than 10 minutes. It is so simple & anti-climatic that you just can't understand how thousands upon thousands of Lanterns couldn't have figured that one out. Lame.

Third problem: Lame love interest story line. Yeah, no one cares. We just want to see more OA, Kilowog, Sinestro & Lantern. More fighting. Think action movie. No stupid lame love interest stuck in just because. THIS IS SUCH A WORN OUT TIRED & BORING ADDITION TO ANY SCRIPT. Oh, and no one gives a crap about it. It was the only lame part of the Thor movie. However in Thor, it was only really 30 secs of film. It weaves in & out of GL.

Okay, now the good stuff. Ryan Reynolds. Oh yeah, he totally pulled off Hal Jordan. He was fantastic. Sinestro. Holy crap. Sinestro was freaking AMAZING. Too bad these guys didn't get a better script. The lantern glow effects were great. The suit redesign totally worked. The lantern was stupid, but it did the job. All the Green Lantern Corp looked great. Kilowog said Poozer. OA looked great. Hal flew a jet. Holy crap, Angela Bassett is in this movie! It was fun. I was entertained.

That's about it. It could have been so much better. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't anywhere near the quality that DC's competitor Marvel has been turning out. Marvel really seems to be getting it. They understand how to be loyal to the fan base, the character & build a good story to play to people who aren't fans, while DC seems to flip flop around, never being loyal to anything & treating the audience like idiots. Can't wait for Captain American, & I never even really cared for Cap, but Marvel seems to take their heroes & make them even better on screen, while DC takes characters I love & dumbs them down & makes them lame.

Wonder Woman Painting: Even More Progress

You know what? A 42" x 36" painting in acrylic takes a little longer than I planned. Mixing enough paint to cover one area is a little tricker than an 18" x 20". She's so close to done. So close, but not yet.

Sideshow Han in Carbonite

A Premium Format Figure of Han Solo trapped in Carbonite as he was hanging in Jabba the Hutt's palace. The figure has electronics embedded inside to light up han like he did when he was melting out & so that the small panels on the carbonite block also light up. It stands at 25.5" H x 12" W x 10" L, weighs in at 12 lbs. & comes in a box 28" H x 14" W & 12" H.

The price is $299.99, but does come with the flexpay option that allows you to pay it out at $100 a month.

Go check it out here: Sideshow Han in Carbonite

Hey Art Fans!

Got another great artist for you to go check out! James Hance. He paints the things I love most in life! Muppets, Star Wars, Superheroes and more! Even Doctor Who. Go check out his site & buy something to support his art! He has t-shirts if you can't afford his work. It's really awesome stuff.

Sideshow Darth Maul Premium Format Figure

This is by far the coolest Darth Maul figure I have ever seen. $324.99 with a flex pay option of $108.33 a month. Limited to 1250 pieces. Cloth costume, 24.5" H x 15" W x 17" D & weighing in at 10.00 lbs. Light up lightsaber.



How can you not want this? Head over here & order the dark apprentice today!

Wooden Watch

ThinkGeek has a really sexy looking watch by WeWood. WeWood plants a tree for every watch sold & the watches they do sell are made from 100% natural, toxic-chemical free wood. How cool is that? Pretty freaking cool.



The watches that ThinkGeek offers are the Chrono model. They are $20.00 cheaper on ThinkGeek than on WeWood's site. Not to mention that you get pretty good Geek points for a $100 purchase at ThinkGeek to spend on other geeky goodies! WeWood does offer some other models though, if you don't like the Chrono.



The one above is the Date brown/army model. I really like it. It is listed for $119.00 on the WeWood site. Unfortunately, no Geek points go with it's purchase.

What I'm listening to. Right now.

I have mine set with Beach 33% N/S bar, 43% E/W bar, Frogs 13% N/S 0% E/W, Fire 10% N/S 0% E/W & Thunder 26% N/S 0% E/W. This thing is great for feeling calm & relaxed at work or anywhere. Move things around, choose different settings, enjoy!

Go here to set your up now!