Top 20 Black Action Figures

In honor of Black History Monty, gunaxin.com has a list of the 20 greatest black action figures. Spoiler alert: Samuel L. Jackson comprises 20 percent of the list. Find out who made the cut (with photos) here.

Samurai Wars

Yep. More Star Wars. Deal with it.
Custom action figures can be a mixed bag, but these toys are decidedly awesome. The amount of thought that went into these designs is impressive and makes me wish Hasbro would branch out into new areas with the Star Wars line.

Here's a description from the website:

Samurai Wars is a line of custom figures that imagines what a Star Wars movie directed by Akira Kurosawa would look like.  George Lucas has said publically what a fan he is a Kurosawas and also the influence that Kurosawa's "The Hidden Fortress"  had on Star Wars.   At the bottom of the page is a fake write up that I did for a convention that claims this is a real movie.

The website has closer looks at each figure, as well as a ninja "Boba Fett" design.

Where it's Creepy O'Clock 24/7 ...

When you think about the problems associated with creating a cuckoo clock based on The Shining, designer Chris Dimino's head in is a totally different place.

Despite the glaringly creative aspect of this piece, Dimino approached this creation from an engineering point of view:

"Problem: Given the elements of a cuckoo clock, the cuckoo motion and sound, and the pendulum, capture a moment in time fitting these elements to a concept."

His solution? The Shining.

Every hour Jack breaks through the door and says "Here's Johnny." Oh, and Shelley Duvall screams.

My money's on Mothman

Archie McPhee has a lot of really strange toys for strange children.
Among them is the terrific collection of cryptozoo action figures, which lets you create an all-out rumble between the pseudo science's biggest names.

At least, I assume they'd fight. They don't seem like the kind of creatures to get together over coffee and talk about how they think Lost is going to end.

You can find it here.

A Naked Star Wars Christmas: 1979

You know it's a good Christmas when you can't be bothered to put on pants.
I spared you the full monty, but I'm the kid in his underdrawers in the bottom left-hand corner. My dad is putting together a Star Wars playset for me; my brother is in the background with his face pressed into a ViewMaster. My mom's behind the camera, naturally.

The Star Wars Cash Magnet

Ah, the good ole days. When Saturday morning television was wall-to-wall toy commercials. Even the actual cartoons were sometimes toy commercials, though those kinds of shows tended to come on during the work week. Saturday mornings were usually reserved for sugar-frenzied fantasies like Scooby Doo, The Smurphs, The Snorks and that bizarre Happy Days cartoon where Ritchie and the Fonz traveled around in a spaceship or something. What was that all about?

But I digress.

While my memory is fuzzy about many of the actual cartoons I watched as a kid, I have distinct memories of certain ads for Star Wars toys. The video above is a compilation of the ads which successfully helped part my parents from lots and lots of cash between 1977 and 1983. Enjoy!

The Dark Knight Returns

Buying a statue has always seemed like a risky venture for me. When you put a fragile artifact in the same room with cats and Class-M planet gravity, it's just a matter of time before bad shit happens.
Consequently, I've never bought a statue. And there have been some nice ones over the years.
The little item pictured above, though, might change all of that. It's a statue of Michael Keaton as Batman as he looked in the 1989 film (before the costume took on that "body armor" look seen in every film after.)
I've always thought of Keaton as the Sean Connery of the silver screen Batmen. While the 1989 Batman has a few rough edges (almost all of which involve the script) it still holds up well as an example of traditional Hollywood adventure tropes. In many ways it's got more in common with movie serials than the original Star Wars and Indiana Jones films.
I'm not sure when the statue is coming out. I've seen dates ranging from April to October, but it's pretty easy to find via Google.
Now, where's my Clean and Sober statue?

Shogun Stormtrooper

You know what? Screw those Transfomers-meet-Star Wars toys. They suck on every imaginable level, and probably even on a few we can't perceive with our limited human senses.

On the other hand, this Shogun Warriors-style Stormtrooper figure rocks. Here's what the company has to say about this little gem of geekiness:

"Utilizing the same techniques implemented by Japanese toy manufacturers in the 1970s, the Super Shogun is constructed from durable, blow-molded polyethylene with a painted vinyl helmet. The figure is articulated at the neck and shoulders, and includes a removable, highly-detailed BlasTech E-11 laser blaster. The blaster even features a posable stock that unfolds from below the barrel. Collectors of both Japanese and Star Wars memorabilia are sure to be impressed with the care taken to fuse the disparate concepts into a new unique entity."

The toy isn't for sale yet, but will soon be available for pre-order. You can find it by clicking this here sentence.

Robert Downey Jr. hits Toy Fair

Tony Stark paid a visit to Hasbro's showroom at Toy Fair, according to SuperheroHype. How ling before Toy Fair becomes the victim of sprawling excess like the San Diego ComicCon?

Not that Downey's not welcome to the geek party, of course.