New 52 Justice League Green Lantern - The Action Figure!

Once again my friendly neighbourhood Comic Book Guy has sold me more than just this week's comics!  The second and third figures in DC's New 52 Justice League line have finally come to Canada, eh!  Let's take a look at the first one, GREEN LANTERN

Of COURSE I opened him right the heck up and of COURSE there's pics and my so-called thoughts after the JUMP!

El Professore Movie: The Black Scorpion

The Black Scorpion

1957
Director: Edward Ludwig
Starring: Richard Denning, Mara Corday
* * *

'The Black Scorpion' is one of my fondest childhood memories. I had stayed up until 11:30 one night (very late for a seven year old) so that I could catch a wide eyed glimpse of the giant creepy crawlers in all their stop motion glory.

Click through the jump for the full review. 

Thank Gif It's Friday

Alright, so I'm pretty sure I've missed all Fridays on all parts of all continents, but in my defence this is really more of a Saturday night GIF anyway. Right, ladies?

Hiddles, you complete me. Er...I mean us. All of us. You complete US.

Review: Sideshow Boba Fett 1/6th Scale Figure!

I was hugely impressed by the quality of Sideshow’s Militaries of Star Wars Commander Cody, so I’ve been greatly anticipating their 1/6th scale badass bounty hunter Boba Fett!

Sure, he was an annoying floppy-haired kid, and as an adult pretty much failed at everything he attempted on-screen, stood around doing nothing in the background a lot, had a bizarre voice change, and was accidentally murdered by a near-blind, barely-standing Han Solo, but he’s a legend, right! And more importantly than all that... he LOOKS AWESOME. He’s been capturing our stunted imaginations since we were crotch-high to an ewok.

Well today my (mostly ironic) prayers were answered and 1/6th scale Boba Fett jetted his way into my wildly-shaking-and-sweating-with-enthusiasm hands! Is this a figure that is worthy of the hype?

Join me after the jump and we’ll find out! Together! (Hugs).

Pre-Order Hot Toys Hulk 1/6th Scale Figure!

This is the big one, and also the last figure of the actual (super-powered) The Avengers line-up (although we do know there's at least a Coulsen and a Chitauri coming). Our dear friends at Sideshow have finally unleashed Hot Toys mighty 1/6th scale Hulk for pre-order!

The giant Hulk clocks in at 16.5 inches/42cm allowing him to appropriately tower above his team mates and that left many of us a little nervous about how much he would cost. Now we actually know I'm relieved to say that, relatively speaking, it's really not too bad. I remain all-in on The Avengers team and the releases will be staggered over the next six months or so to ease some of the pain.

You can reserve yours at Sideshow right now here: Hot Toys Movie Masterpiece Series Hulk Sixth Scale Figure - The Avengers

And join me after the jump for more rage-beast pics!

Opening Tonight: Crazy 4 Cult New York!

Gallery 1988's ongoing Crazy 4 Cult art show has finally made it's way to the east coast with tonight's New York gallery opening. The series focuses on classic cult movies (and by 'cult' they mean 'awesome') such as Donnie Darko and The Big Lebowski. This time around we're seeing more of the older classics like Back to the Future, This Is Spinal Tap, and The Warriors. Not a single complaint from me on the film choices. Check out the teaser poster and decide for yourself.

Crazy 4 Cult New York opens tonight and runs until Sept 1st.

Gallery1988 NYC Pop-up Store
64 Gansevoort St., NY, NY 10014

Click through the jump for a preview of the artwork (over 200 artists!), including a prized plush hoverboard from our good friend Steff Bomb.

Let's Play Tera Part 2: Puggypants Unleashed!

In the second overwhelming episode of our video podcast we unleash our newly created character Puggypants loose on the fantasy world of Tera to blow up some badguys with his filthy/fiery pipe! Thrill as I annoy the crap out of Suzanne by being really bad at listening/playing games! Enjoy it with your eyes and ears!

Part one can be found here!

The Readthrough of Time: A Crown of Swords

I give up trying to figure this series out.

Internet Explorer on a Mac? That's Wack!

Earlier today I stumbled upon a crazy hidden gem that I didn't think still existed - Internet Explorer for the Mac. Well, technically it doesn't since the last version was 5.2 and was released in 2001, discontinued in 2003 and support for it was killed in 2005. And yet, I was able to find it via the internet.  As most of you likely have also decided, modern browsers are just too darn streamlined and optimized for todays youth, and you need something that harkens to a simpler day, but don't want to give up your $2500 Macbook Pro with Retina screen. Well true believers, read on and learn of my tale.

Dual Kickstarter Board Game Unboxing: DiceAFARI & LangGuini!

It's finally that time... the time when all of my Kickstarter purchases start rolling in at once. I must say that it's an AWESOME time. It kind of feels like I've been getting a bunch of free games, although my brain (and credit card bill) keep reminding me that they did once cost money.

Oh, the joy of Kickstarter.

If it wasn't for Kickstarter we might not have either of these games. First there is DiceAFARI, the dice and tile game from Stratus Games where you make an animal-shaped layout and then photograph animals in the wild to complete the layout. Then there is LangGuini, the 2011 Global Game Jam card game from Island Officials, where players create definitions for made-up words like "Vertraject".

Click through the jump to see what is inside of the boxes!

Pre-Order 1/6th Scale Amy Pond!

For many paying over $100 dollars for a doll is an onerous task, but when said doll is Amy Pond, it becomes more of a bonerous task. Big Chief Studio's upcoming 1/6th scale Amy Pond figure is not quite up to Hot Toys standard but it's certainly not a bad Karen Gillan likeness either. And it's packed with plenty of episode specific accessories including the apple with a "face" and the dolls she made of herself and the doctor.

I'm very late to Doctor Who and Amy was part of the reason I raced through the Tennant and got caught up with the Smith. And seeing as how it's looking like she won't be around too much longer, this could be a fitting tribute to see her off. Maybe I can pick up a police outfit for her.

Our good friends at Big Bad Toy Store have her for pre-order here, along with some additional images. I can't resist the urge... I'm grabbing this one.

Stryder's Favourite Comics - 8/1/2012

Happy August Folks!  I'm having a hard time believing it's already been a whole YEAR of the New 52 from DC Comics but here come the very first issue #12's!  I was going to do a whole arbitrary ranking deal like I did when all these comics hit issue #6, but instead I think I'll do it next month with the special #0 issue event (more on that later) so in the meantime business as usual!  Let's take a look at what I picked up this week...

Before Watchmen: Nite Owl #2 (of 4) - "They run.  I like it when they run.  But not as much as HE does."

This issue, we get to see a lot of Nite Owl and Rorschach...how they work together, what their own personal boundaries are, and what they DON'T agree about.  We learn a little about BOTH of their own "personal issues" so to speak, all in a context of bloody murder, domestic violence and prostitution.  Things which both Nite Owl and Rorschach are all too familiar with, and not just in their roles as masked heroes.
 
The best part of this comic are the flashbacks to childhood we are treated to, both of Dan's childhood and of Rorschach's...it's nice to flesh out their motivations...not that they needed more reasons to be grim in the Watchmen universe, but still...fascinating issue! 

Join me for Action Comics, Detective Comics, Earth 2 and more after the JUMP!

Let's Play Tera Part 1: Puggypants!

So it's high time we here at Fruitless Pursuits thrust ourselves into the video age! Writing is for saps! Now we're all about talking while playing videogames! I recently scored a couple of new MMORPG's and what better way to share them with you than through wondrous moving images and slightly dodgy sound!

First up, Suzanne and I are playing the crazy/sexy fashion conscious Tera. In this very first episode we marvel at the truly outlandish hyper-sexualized character creation before settling on a dapper young character of our own! So sit back and enjoy our very special fantasy...

And if you liked that and want more then please let us know!

Nerd History: Ancient Graffiti

I'm currently in the process of finishing up a lot of things before I have a fairly busy work month, so I'm using this time to push out a few nerdy historical things that I've found, but can't really expand upon too much. One of the finds I have is regarding graffiti from Pompei. If you thought the stuff written on the men's room walls were graphic, well, here's a quick sample of the nicer stuff:

"Apollinaris, the doctor of the emperor Titus, defecated well here"

"Epaphra is not good at ball games."

"To the one defecating here. Beware of the curse. If you look down on this curse, may you have an angry Jupiter for an enemy."

"I confess, we have peed in bed; we have done wrong, innkeeper. If you ask why -- there wasn't a chamber pot."

The best part is when they start going into their various sexual proclivities. Considering the time frame and such, I suppose the more things change, the more they end up staying the same...

The Book Was Better Podcast! Teaser for Episode 24!

The Book Was Better is the podcast where Jessica McLeod and I discuss, debate and usually mock the mostly terrible, hastily-written, cash-in tie-in book of the film! In this week's very brief mini-episode I give you ample full warning of the "magical" book/film that we'll be covering in our full episode next week. 

But where is Jess? Unfortunately she's sick this time so I am doing it solo! It's just you and me, baby! Sexy times! So don't give me any trouble. (Yes... I am looking at you, Twitter!). All will be well next week, but in the meantime, why not download me from the official site, or subscribe to us on iTunes so that we can surprise kick in your ear-holes every single week!

Go Ahead, Make Me Neigh: Clint Eastwood on Mister Ed

Before Clint Eastwood became known as someone you wouldn’t dare screw with, he was susceptible to talking animal hijinx. A decade before he was The Man With No Name, and even longer before he was Dirty Harry, Eastwood’s first credited movie was Francis In The Navy, the last in the “Francis The Talking Mule” series (Eastwood can be seen starting at around 1:45)..

And during Eastwood’s days as a TV star, playing cowboy Rowdy Yates on Rawhide, he was bullied by none other than Mister Ed. I never got into Mister Ed, largely because by the time I started to watch Nick At Nite, they were showing the programs that aired for the first time when Mister Ed was on Nick At Nite. However, seeing one of the biggest badasses of all time on a sitcom, especially with a talking horse, was something I could not pass up.

Lego Lord of the Rings Exclusive Bonus Figure!

Good news for those planning to pick up Lego Lord of the Rings this October. An exclusive Elrond the brooding Hugo Weaving elf will now be made available as a bonus! I'm assuming that this will be a pre-order incentive much like the exclusive Lex Luthor for Lego Batman 2. No word yet on which stores will be offering him, but my bet is on EB Games here in Australia. If you know, let me know!

In the meantime, check him out...

Oh! He's an angry elf!

Kickstart the Week: Fallen City of Karez

This week we're featuring a fantasy euro board game that needs your help. It's just above the 25% mark, and needs to raise about $15,000 in a week. Stranger things have happened on Kickstarter, but time is very tight on this one... so read quickly!

Fallen City of Karez is a cooperative fantasy board game for 2-5 players with aspects of worker placement games and hints of traditional role playing games. Designed by Elad Goldstein and coming from Golden Egg Games, the game has a great art style and combines a few different types of gameplay together for a unique experience. It looks like the perfect game for my gaming group, who are fans of the Castle Ravenloft series as well as light Euro games.

In Fallen City of Karez, each player will take the role of a lord of one of the guilds who seek to tighten their grasp on the rising city. The players will strive to maintain a balance between keeping the city safe for its citizens by sending exploration parties to defeat any threats, and at the same time attracting to the emerging city new adventurers wishing to fill their pockets with fortunes and their names with glory.

The game combines mechanics and theme together in a few very interesting ways, especially the win condition (players must create a city before the 8th turn ends). The center of the main board is a village filled with townspeople and heroes. As the threat level of monsters goes up, more heroes are required and less townspeople will remain. Players must keep the threat level down to thrive and eventually have enough townspeople for the village to become a town, and afterwards for the town to become a city.

Fallen City of Karez on Kickstarter:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/451575426/fallen-city-of-karez

Click through the jump for a Dice Tower preview video and more of the final art images.

Review: Major Eazy Heart of Iron! Bad-Arse British Battle!

You’re probably not alone if you’ve never heard of seventies British comics' icon Major Eazy. I certainly hadn’t, but the more I read the more I was intrigued. He’s unshaven, unruly, unorthodox, and is more laconic than Garfield. Refusing to run, and only walking when he absolutely has to, Eazy is chauffeured around in his battle-ready Bentley, taking perfect pop shots at World War II’s Nazi villains with his omnipresent sniper rifle. In between bouts of hard boiled battlefield action he sleeps. In fact he spends half of his first adventure asleep. What’s not to like?

But don’t confuse this with laziness or a lack of enthusiasm. Eazy is really just conserving his energy for when it counts. He has a Batman-esque ability to calmly deduct the solution to a problem while everyone else is freaking out, waving their terrified arms in the air. And when it is time for action he dispenses his own brand of “justice” both brutally and indiscriminately. No bad deed goes unpunished. Major Eazy kicks all kind of arse.

Our friends at Titan Books have had the foresight to finally collect Eazy’s Italian campaign, originally published in the seventies, into one large hardcover volume, Major Eazy: Heart of Iron, written by Alan Hebden and with stunning art from Carlos Ezquerra. So for the first time in a long time we get to share in his many over-the-top adventures. I’ve got a copy and now I want to share it with you!

To find out what I thought... join me after the jump!

Nerdcraft - Etsy Mass Effect roundup

Welcome back to the Etsy roundup! I've missed you. Let's hug.

Surprising no one, today's roundup is all about Mass Effect, that epic sprawling space opera that made me totally creep onto various male aliens. Ah, Bioware, you bring out the best in me. 

Click on the images for links to the listing, and join me after the jump!