JoePa at THON Video

I mentioned here immediately as I saw it stream on my computer. Here is the video evidence.

Joe Paterno speaks at THON 2009.

Kelly and I Set Out on a Movies Quest

Kelly and I watched the Oscars on Sunday night and we realized we have seen very few of the movies that "experts" consider to be some of the best of all time. While I rarely agree with what critics and Hollywood thinks, it would be calming and I'm sure enlightening to know that I have seen some of the perceived best that cinema has to offer. Kelly and I have decided to watch all of the 81 Best Picture award winners. We're not sure how we're going to go about doing this; we don't have a set timetable (just pretty much in our lifetime) and we may or may not go in order. Some we're excited to see, such as Lawrence of Arabia, and others not so much, like Rebecca. After looking over the long list we marked off the ones we have already seen. Turns out, Kelly has witnessed more than me. I have only viewed eight while Kelly has a robust 20 to her credit. Now there are plenty on here that we have seen parts of (Rocky, The Godfather, Patton, Gone with the Wind) but we don't count them unless we have seen it all the way through.

Our checklist for Academy Award winners for Best Picture.

One thing I know for sure: I'm really glad we have both already seen American Beauty. This way I don't have to watch it again.

THON 2009 Line Dance

THON 2009 Line Dance with Lyrics

Redbox Replay

Coming soon to a Redbox near you: classic movies you can't get enough of! And what movie looks to be in the regular rotation? Ghostbusters, of course!


Redboxes are convenient and cheap ($1/rental/night) and now that they'll be rotating in some older movies they make weekly trips to a rental store almost obsolete.

Yeah, they have Ghostbusters at my Redboxes! Although it doesn't really matter since I own at least three copies on both VHS and DVD.

THON 2009 Raises $7.49 million FOR THE KIDS

This low resolution USTREAM grab shows the final total for the 2009 Penn State Dance MaraTHON. All proceeds go to the Four Diamonds Fund, Conquering Childhood Cancer.

Congratulations to all the dancers and everyone involved. What a huge success! The LIVE webcast was hit hard throughout the weekend, bringing in over 110,000 viewers overall and a max of close to 4,500 at the end of the event.

THON 2010 can't come soon enough.

More pictures and some videos will be up later.

Rereleased TMNT Figures Found

Whilst out shopping today I came across something that I wasn't expecting: Teenage mutant Ninja Turtles toys. I know what you're thinking; there have been new TMNT toys since the cartoon was started again a few years ago and the TMNT movie came out in 2006. Those are not the toys I am talking about. I mean the original toys... from 1984! Apparently they are being rereleased for the 25th anniversary! Don't believe me? Take a look...

Seven of the twelve rereleased TMNT figures. Not pictured: Splinter, Casey Jones, Slash, Shredder with Krang, and Foot Soldier.

Michelangelo rerelease figure.

Donatello rerelease figure.

Leonardo rerelease figure.

Raphael rerelease figure.

April O'Neil rerelease figure.

Bebop rerelease figure.

Rocksteady rerelease figure.

Full card back of rereleased figures.

Top zoom on card back.

Bottom zoom on card back.

Another shot of the seven rereleased TMNT figures.

Again, these were all found in the Target toy section on Sunday, February 22nd, 2009. Let the hunting begin!

JoePa Shows Up at THON

I had seen pictures and video of the Penn State legend at THONs before. The 5 I was involved in or attended (2004-2008) he never was able to make an appearance. What happens this year, when kelly and I can't go? He shows up! Argh! Oh well. Hoepfully he comes back for THON 2010... my dad has already given me off for that weekend!

DJ Larry Moore made a surprise announcement at the beginning of family hour after all the families were introduced on stage. Moore said "Hey THON 2009... we have a surprise for you!" And JoePa and SuePa walk out on stage! JoePa gave a nice speech about the cause and the families and had a short meet and greet with the kids.

UPDATE: The Daily Collegian has a nice roundup of family hour and talks a bit about JoePa's visit.

THON 2009 Live Webcast

THON 2009 - Dream Forward

It's happened every year for the last 36 years. And the greatest event that I have ever been to (or will ever be to) is about to start once again. Penn State's Dance Marathon, best known simply as THON, officially gets underway at 6PM tonight and lasts until 4PM Sunday evening. Over 700 "dancers" will forgo sleeping and won't sit for the next 46 hours. In addition to those 700+ brave soulds, there will be an additional 10,000 students staffing the Bryce Jordan Center to make sure the vent runs smoothly and everyone is safe and secure.

THON is the culmination of a years worth of work for the Hershey Medical Center, specifically The Four Diamonds Fund, to conquer childhood cancer. Last year THON raised $6,615,318.04 FOR THE KIDS. In it's 36 year history over $50 million has gone towards pediatric cancer research.

It is an event that everyone should experience at least once. It saddens Kelly and I deeply that we won't be there this year, supporting the College of EMS dancers and all of the wonderful children and their families. It is the first THON I've missed in 5 years. It will be the last one I miss.

Check out these awesome YouTube videos for more. You won't regret it.











To all those involved this weekend: GOOD LUCK. Keep up the fight. Do it for the kids. Dream Forward.


To watch the event LIVE, click here. For a visual history of THON through the years, click here. To donate, visit THON.org.

Master Replicas Cancels Ghostbusters Line

Before even prototype images were posted - and a single prop was released - Master Replicas has canceled their line of Ghostbusters items. The Master Replicas forum moderator had this to say:

As a fan, I wish I could reassure everyone that GB is still on for MR. Unfortunately, it is with deep regret that MR has decided to cancel the plans we had with Sony for Ghostbusters. While I cannot get into specifics, I can tell you on a personal level that we cannot afford to give Ghostbusters prop replicas the justice and treatment they deserve and I apologize for any frustration or disappointment this will cause any fans. Rather than hold on to the license and wait for what seemed inevitable, we've decided to make the announcement today. Thank you for your understanding.

That was posted yesterday, February 17th. Just five days prior the moderator hinted at development pictures. Now the line is dead before it really started.


This apparently happens often with Master Replicas. From what I have read on message boards, close to - if not more than - 40% of announced items and product lines go unfulfilled by MR. Some think the company is wilting.

It's a shame, really. The Ghostbusters community has been waiting for a company to step up and produce top of the line replicas for use at Halloween or for display in their collections. If you can't make replicas yourself then you are stuck trying to buy fan made stuff from others, which is even more expensive than what MR was reportedly going to sell the items for.

All is not lost, however. At least we know for certain that the videogame will be released this summer. Plus there are the Minimates and the two lines of figures from Mattel coming as well. Hopefully no one else lets us down. Ghostbusters fans have been through enough in the last 20 years.

2009 Gentle Giant Busts

Besides the TIE Fighter Pilot and AT-AT Pilot coming out early this year, Gentle Giant showed a bounty of busts and other items at Toy Fair yesterday. I'm most excited for the Snowtrooper and Stormtrooper Commander from The Force Unleashed.

Gentle Giant's Snowtrooper bust, available this summer.
(image from GentleGiantCollectors.com)

This Stormtrooper Commander bust will be a Star Wars Shop exclusive this summer.
(image from GentleGiantCollectors.com)

Toy Fair 2009: Hasbro Presentation Highlights

I posted some images on Saturday from Rebel Scum. This time I am highlighting what interests me from the Hasbro presentation. These slides are from Jedi Temple Archives.

This new packaging will start in August and percolate through all Star Wars merchandise.

The Clone Wars - 2009 Wave 2

The Clone Wars - 2009 Wave 3.

The Clone Wars - 2009 Wave 4.

The Clone Wars - 2009 Wave 5.

The Clone Wars - Revamped "deluxe" line.

Turbo Tank Gunner Crew on-shelf date indicates that we should see the vehicle sometime between mid-August and mid-September.

The "starfighter" line will see some new vehicles this year, like the Republic Fighter Tank.

The ARC-170 makes another appearance, with yet another price hike. The vehicles to large for the "starfighter" line but too small to be a "big" vehicle will be in the new "deluxe" vehicle line.

There she is, the Turbo Tank! Expect to see this monster in time for Season 2 of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

New turrets!!!

With "Evolutions" set to go on hiatus this fall, the line falls to an exclusive label.

The highly coveted and hard-to-find The Force Unleashed Stormtrooper Commander figure will be rereleased as a shared exclusive at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con.

There are some images of what to expect out of Hasbro from now until early fall. A lot of good stuff like the Republic Fighter Tank and the Turbo Tank, in addition to the Geonosis Assault battle pack with two Episode II-style Clone Pilots and turrets! You'll notice I didn't mention anything about The Legacy Collection. It just so happens that there isn't a single figure shown at Toy Fair that I want. And I don't want to steal every image from Jedi Temple Archives. If you want to see the rest, go here.

It was also revealed that the Unleashed line will be ending and that Mighty Muggs will become Toys R Us exclusives.

Hot Off the Press: Toy Fair 2009 Star Wars Images

I don't want to steal all their traffic, but Rebel Scum has a bunch of great photos of upcoming Star Wars merchandise for fall 2009. Below are a few that I am most interested in. Be sure to check out their photo page in its entirety!

Hasbro's display at the 2009 Toy Fair.

The Clone Turbo Tank was confirmed by Hasbro on Friday night. It is expected to hit shelves this fall.

Hasbro has said that there will be a new $60 Starfighter line, including this new Imperial ARC-170 fighter repaint.

Could the Republic Fighter Tank be part of the $60 vehicle line?

The Clone Wars line will see new deluxe packs, with a figure and small vehicle.

The ARF Trooper - seen in The Clone Wars movie - is displayed in the new Star Wars-brand packaging.

I generally focus on Clones but this Mace does have Clone armor... and look at that helmet!

This will be the fourth different Clone Trooper helmet voice changer. The Rex helmet will join the previous white, red (Target exclusive), and blue (Walmart exclusive) versions from last fall.

The Clone Commander Blaster looks absolutely amazing. It is actually 3-guns-in-1!

More and more Hasbro news will be out later tonight and early tomorrow. Their presentation should be starting soon which will provide some more lovely morsels of action figure news!

This Needs to Stop!

I stopped at the local Walmart today after work to pick up a few things. I went back to the toys section to see if they had a Saga Legends Snowtrooper, the only figure currently available that I need for my collection. They did not. While I was there I noticed that, among the other The Legacy Collection Wave 5 figures, was a Han Solo that just seemed... off. I couldn't place it at first. Then I saw that part of the box had been torn. I snatched it off of its peg and inspected it, only to find that this hadn't been done by accident. No, someone had actually tripped the lower corner and removed the Build-A-Droid part. On Han Solo in Stromtrooper Disguise it is the right leg of the stromech R5-A2. I was appaled. I have heard stories of this happening and have seen it documented elsewhere, but never have I seen it in person. Who would do such a thing?!?! It's reprehensible - and extremely childish - behavior. I hope it was a young - very young - kid and not some teenaged aor adult collector. To whoever did this I say, "Karma is a bitch". Not that the act of stealing a measly droid part is on the same level of, say, killing or cheating on someone. But it is still ridiculous behavior. It must stop. Now. I know prices of figures have climbed steadiluy in the last 36 months. If you can't afford to buy the entire figure go to eBay. You probably can get just the droid part (plus shipping) for $3 or $4 dollars. Seriously, stop doing this. It tarnishes the figure and puts and damper on fun for kids and collecting. Pictures of this atrocity are below. They're from my iPhone and aren't the best quality.

Ghostbusters Figures - FIRST LOOK

One word: WOW.

Mattel's Ghostbusters line - including 6" and 12" figures - will be available this summer.

Head to Toy News International for more pictures, including the 6" prototypes, close ups, and Slimer!

I've Taken the GSAT

Click image to enlarge.

Take the GSAT (this means you, Bryan).

Marrying Kelly Just Got Expensive

No, Kelly does not have ridiculously expensive tastes or demands (just some curly fries and movie rental once in a while, really). However, I did promise her - multiple times, I might add - during the 4+ years we've been dating that I would buy/build her a Death Star. I tried to trick her with this

but the pewter key chain was not enough. She really wants this


Unfortunately for her it's just a little out of my price range: $15,602,022,489,829,821,422,840,226.94 or $15.6 septillion, which is 1.4 trillion times the current U.S. debt. Actually, that cost doesn't reflect staffing and the extra goodies; that's just for the materials, transportation to space, and air. Crap. I've got a lot of work to do...