Monday, February 28, 2022

Entertainment Earth has a preorder listing for the Hot Wheels Thanos Copter

You have to buy it as part of a case with other pop culture-themed vehicles. I'm assuming it's the same toy as the SDCC special edition, just in a simple packaging:

New tees at Last Exit to Nowhere based on Top Gun and The Guest

VF-1 Firebird, and KPG Corporation.

Crushmetric's deforming SwitchPen

Official site, backorder for individual pens.


Today's funny posts




Dragons of Winter Night: Dragonlance: Chronicles, Book 2 is $1.99 today

at Amazon.

Sunday, February 27, 2022

Stories from Ukraine


His name is spelled "Poutine" in France.

Jose Andres is feeding people at the border.

Volodymyr Zelensky was the voice of Paddington Bear and starred on Dancing With the Stars.

Destruction of the world's heaviest airplane might be a major logistical loss.


Today's funny posts




Saturday, February 26, 2022

New Humble Bundle features video game histories by Boss Fight Books

Three books in the $1 tier, 30 books, including KOTOR, in the $18 tier.

Stories from Ukraine

Take with a grain of salt, of course:

"Parents fear for Australian surrogate babies in Ukraine." (More.)


Poland and Sweden are refusing to play World Cup qualifiers against Russia.


"[T]he story of how a Russian riot police convoy went to conquer Kyiv on its own" (only to be ambushed).


Video game developer wonders how he's found himself using a UV flashlight to look for markings left by saboteurs.


Is this what was destroying Norway's undersea cables? (I found no other source discussing this, so...)

Today's funny posts




This week's best Warhammer 40k miniatures and other hobby creations




Friday, February 25, 2022

Frozen T-1000 cosplay

@allison.chase.cosplay Come on Gen Z, don’t let me down! I know you guys appreciate awesome films!#terminator #terminator2 #terminatorcosplay #cosplay ♬ original sound - Sprouts

The first wave of media reviews for Disney's Starcruiser experience can't agree on whether the rooms are cramped or spacious

The Verge:

The rooms I saw were pretty compact, too. There’s space for a bed, a slide-out table, and enclosed bunk beds built into one of the walls. It looks to have leaned too far into emulating the space-sensitive designs of an actual cruise ship. I’ve never stayed in a $2,000-per-night hotel room, but I would expect a lot more than this.

CNBC:

The rooms are spacious

CNN:

For cabins capable of hosting four, they've included older Star Wars era-inspired bunkbeds and a bed that pulls out from the wall -- but it will still be a tight squeeze unless you upgrade to the larger Galaxy Class Suite or Grand Captain Suite. 

BTW:

Pricing for the fancier Galaxy Class Suite (which can accommodate four people) and Grand Captain Suite (which can fit up to eight) isn't immediately available on the website. Disney declined to comment further on those prices.



@themeparkreview Light Saber Battle! #starwars #galacticstarcruiser #disneyworld #waltdisneyworld #amusementpark #themepark #rollercoaster #kyloren #disney #fyp ♬ original sound - themeparkreview

S.H.Figuarts The Mandalorian and Grogu Figure Set available for preorder

New Figuarts preorders for the Mandalorian and Boba Fett:

Today's funny posts




Yet another TMNT figure by NECA, and this one comes with a little robo-pet

The Last Ronin Ultimate The Last Ronin (Unarmored) is available for preorder, and accessories include a mouser:

Thursday, February 24, 2022

A Sacramento Kings player abruptly ended an NFT project "with no plans to return any of the money"

ASN:

the mint sales alone likely generated over $1.5 million.

...

[The] swift timing to end the project ... didn’t sit well with fans. After the project shut down, he promised consumers who purchased more than five NFT’s (roughly $1,300) a signed ... jersey — priced around the online market at about $100.

Speaking of NFTs: 


Super 7's latest wave of Ultimates includes the Queen and King of Hearts, Stitch, and more

Disney Wave 3, including Big Bad Wolf and the alligator from Fantasia is available for preorder:

New Humble Bundle includes Queen and Country comics

Starting at three comics for $1, I haven't read Queen and Country in ages, but I remember liking that spy thriller.

Compare and contrast this panel from a G.I. Joe comic with this tweet today by a Catholic priest in England


(Previously.)

New G.I. Joe preorders including Transformers x G.I. Joe Megatron H.I.S.S. Tank & Baroness

Stalker, Vipers, Tomax and Xamot, and this playset:

Today's funny posts




NECA made an "Ultimate" Alf figure, and it comes with a cat sandwich

Following their muse, Neca's new toy preorders are an Ultimate Alf and an Elton John with piano based on a performance at Dodger stadium:

Wednesday, February 23, 2022

The Expanse: The Animated Series (1973)



(I just rewatched the first season. I'd forgotten how good it was.)

New Star Trek Prodigy figures available for preorder, including hologram Janeway

By Playmates.



New Humble Bundle features Sid Meier games

Starting at three games for $1.

Today's funny posts




The Volcano Under the City; Lego Anansi; Salt-Mining Elephants of Mount Elgon

(I saw one copy at ebay.)


Tuesday, February 22, 2022

Bing Dwen Dwen biathlon pin

Available at ebay:

"Comedy is the business of feelings... don’t complain about the presence of strong feelings. That's the job"

From a long thread about social media:




New Marvel Legends series including Herald of Galactus Thor available for preorder

Toy release day continues. This series includes a Shield agent with two head options, Speedball, and a build-a-figure that looks like  a poor man's Thanos (there's also a separate re-release of the Rhino). Thor and his raven is a good match for this new Sea Hag and Vulure set:





"Love and Thunder" Jane Foster and Thor S.H.Figuarts figures available for preorder

Listed as "Mighty Thor" and "Thor":

Today's funny posts




Some really fun new TMNT figures by NECA available for preorder

The Last Ronin comes with an arsenal, Renet includes all the accessories she needs to become Mistress of All Time, and Slash is "ecologically dedicated":

Some cursed "fun food" ideas from the "70's Dinner Party twitter account




Lenticular Samus print; Super Mario jacket; Aquaman's new look is a fusion of his best moments to create something new




Monday, February 21, 2022

"The Bronx Hall of Justice [Opened in 2008] Is Falling Apart and No One Knows How to Stop It"

The City:

Floors built over an underground stream are collapsing. The lower level floods regularly, rendering six courtrooms empty and useless and redolent of persistent mold.

The automatic handicapped door at the entry lobby has been shut down because the floor right inside the door is collapsing. Contractors on scene repairing what the original construction wrought for a time routinely disabled the fire alarm while they worked, which allowed a fire inside the building last year to spread.

Last Saturday, one of the glass windows that envelop the building spontaneously shattered — a regular occurrence 

From a few weeks ago, "Germany's former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder to join Gazprom board"

DW:

Schröder, who was the head of the Social Democrat-led German government from 1998 to 2005, has attracted controversy since leaving office due to his close ties to Russia, including a personal friendship with President Vladimir Putin.

Schröder was widely criticized for calling the Russian president a "flawless democrat."

...

His other posts include acting as chairman of the shareholders' committee for Nord Stream AG and president of the board of directors at Nord Stream 2 AG. Both positions involve gas pipelines that connect Russia and Germany and are at the center of an intense debate on the international stage.

...

They worry that they could be used to pressure European governments to back down should Moscow attempt an invasion of Ukraine.

July:

Ten days before the German election in 2005, as the race between Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and his challenger Angela Merkel was reaching its climax, the chancellor decided to hold a meeting with a man who had become a good friend: Russian President Vladimir Putin.

...

He was no longer sure he was going to win, and he had some urgent business to sort out that he did not trust his successor to get done.

An idea that had first been floated in the mid-1990s was therefore finally sealed on September 8, 2005, with the joint declaration of intent signed by the German and Russian heads of government. There would be a new natural gas pipeline running directly from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea

...

Schröder promptly lost the election, and a few days after his chancellorship ended, he joined the board of directors of the pipeline's new operating company, which would soon be renamed Nord Stream.

...

So it was left to Schröder's successor to oversee the completion of the project, though the ensuing diplomatic strife appears to have been worth it, because it was under Merkel's tenure that the project was doubled in 2015, with the beginning of Nord Stream 2.

...

In the early 2000s...German politicians had developed a contrary, more liberal theory — that more economic interdependence between Russia and western Europe would create peace in the long run. As trade increased, democracy would inevitably prevail.

More from July:

At the flip of a switch, Russia’s state-owned Gazprom can send gas to Germany at a lower cost with less hassle.

           ... 

German industry, which is in sore need of cheap, reliable energy sources, loves it.

Next year, Germany will switch off its last nuclear reactor and it plans to ban coal-fired electricity production by 2038. Though the share of renewable energy in Germany's electricity mix is growing, it’s still less than 50 percent of the total. That means the country has a big electricity hole to fill and needs natural gas, which pollutes less than coal, to do it. (Gas is also used to heat 45 percent of German households.)  

...

So is Germany willing to sell Ukraine down the river and strain relations with key allies from Warsaw to Washington in order to secure access to cheap gas? In a word, yes. 

And now:

Germany on Tuesday halted the certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline designed to bring natural gas from Russia directly to Europe, after Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized breakaway parts of eastern Ukraine and ordered troops into the region.


NECA sarcophagus and pink race car accessory packs available for preorder

New NECA preorders include a sarcophagus for their Universal Monsters mummy figure and Gremlins pack with car, figures, and clothing options: