It was one of the greatest TV shows of my childhood and I couldn’t remember what it was - until now.

Thirty years later and here I am, up until yesterday, trying to solve the mystery. My memory kept telling me it was Voltron, but that didn’t make it to the U.S. until the 80’s. The only thing I could really remember from the show was the five heroes and their various sizes, colors and shapes. I guess if I had just kept searching or asked a crowd at Comic-Con, I would’ve had my answer years ago.

(Read on …)

From the latest TMNT news from NECAonline - Here’s another reason why going to the San Diego Comic-Con this year will be so awesome: The SDCC Exclusive Edition Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Black & White Box Set. As a special bonus, the set will feature a 4″ x 6″ certificate hand-signed by Peter Laird. Plus co-creator Kevin Eastman will personally be at the NECA booth to sign them. Be sure to get yours early because this exclusive edition will be limited to 500 pieces.

It’s better than getting a Happy Meal all to yourself! The first series of the McDonald’s McDonaldland action figures will be released at the San Diego Comic Con in July, with nationwide release to follow in August. Grimace, Hamburglar, Mayor McCheese, Captain Crook and Ronald McDonald action figures in all their classic glory. You can thank Huckleberry Toys for that.

Huckleberry Toys is pleased to announce that it will be bringing the classic McDonaldland characters to life in the form of six to eight inch retro action figures. Inspired by the initial line of action figures made by Remco 30 years ago, each figure has been updated and detailed to bring these well loved, timeless characters to life.

The exclusive blister carded variant figures will be as hot as a burger right off the grill! So what if Mayor McCheese was a ripoff of H.R. Pufnstuf. The SDCC is only a little more than a month away, I can’t wait and I’m excited! Robble, robble, robble.

When you think of MS-DOS games what comes to mind when you think of two gorillas throwing explosive bananas at each other? This game was one of my favorite back in the QBASIC days and now you can play it again (in these FLASH days). Gorillas.bas has all the action, excitement and guesswork you’ve come to expect in a turn-based, banana game. Go all apey on your friends and smack the smile off the sun.

Let me start off by saying that for most of my life I’ve been a fan of Wil Wheaton. I’d first seen him in the movie ‘Stand By Me’ and was instantly enthralled with the movie when Wil regaled his friends with the pie eating contest story. My friends and I howled with laughter and proceeded to rewind the tape and watch that part a few dozen times more. (The part with the leech in his underwear had the opposite effect on us, but we still watched that part a lot too.)

Like many people I grew up watching Star Trek:TNG, with a young Wesley Crusher on board the Enterprise. Whenever he would help out Data with his human endeavors, I always had to laugh. The two of them made quite the team. Even as a kid among adults Wil handled the situation deftly and with a boyish charm, which reminded my mom a lot of me. (Being compared to Wil was quite the compliment, even if it comes from your mom.)

Well, over the weekend I was fortunate enough to meet Wil Wheaton in person. He came to a local brewery promoting his most recent book, The Happiest Days of Our Lives. It’s a collection of fabulous stories about him growing up as a geek in the 70s and 80s. He dazzled the adoring group as he read through parts of his book, pausing occasionally to enjoy some tasty Arrogant Bastard beer.

Afterwards we had a Q&A session. He was asked how he met his wife, how he got into acting, how it was like working with River Phoenix and many other questions. He was open, down to earth and eloquent with his responses and was quite entertaining. I took some candid pictures of Wil at the event for posterity’s sake. A big thanks to Wil for chatting with me and signing my copy of Happiest Days! His book is quite entertaining, as is he; check it out. (I look forward to seeing him at the San Diego Comic-Con again.)

Qix - A classic game from early 1980’s, which I recall playing at the arcade. You’ve gotta draw boxes to claim as much screen as possible (75%) without getting in the path of the “Qix” and “Sparx”. Draw slower for more points, but keep an eye on the time meter located at the top of the screen. Simple and very, very addicting! Here’s your Qix emulator and a game strategy to get you started.

I’m not sure how I feel about the upcoming film The Lost Boys direct-to-dvd sequel, Lost Boys: The Tribe. Sure I was a fan of the Coreys and the movie back in 1987, but this seems to be another attempt to sully a “classic”. It’s hard to beleive that fans would blinded by the nostalgia of the original film to be ga-ga about this sequel. Corey vampires would be neat to see, but I think they’ve lost their boyish charms that garnered a lot of their attention decades ago. These “Lost Boys” did grow up.

I am crushing your head!

I so missed The Kids in the Hall! So it’s great to know they’re back together performing. You may recall that the show itself ended in 1995, but lived on in constant re-runs on Comedy Central. Their kind of humor is edgy and warped, but a whole lot of fun. (The show’s sketches were more reminiscent of Monty Python’s Flying Circus.) The Kids in the Hall is a Canadian sketch comedy group, consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson. Enjoy some of their new (NSFW) skits and perhaps you’ll catch them on their new 2008 North American tour, titled “Live As We’ll Ever Be”.

It’s Barbecue time! This time around we’ll see General Hawk, Bazooka, Barbecue, B.A.T., Cobra Snow Serpent and Storm Shadow (black variant). Take a look at them over at Toy Bender. I’m happy to see these outstanding looking 25th Anniversary versions figures. I’m sure I’ll get these too, when I find them at the store. (Time to build up your army of 25th Anniversary version B.A.T.s and wage a plastic war.)

That’s my old Barbecue looking crestfallen next to the new and improved version. He was one of my favorite action figures and is a little worn, but still looks good. I’ll keep this new one in the package and keep him safe and sound.

If you’ve got a birthday coming soon and you like classic comic books, you might want this comic book. The auction is for the iconic Action Comics #1, which introduced Superman (and is currently going for $92k+). It’s interesting that this comic has been getting some attention lately in the news. If you’re just interested in reading the first comic with the Man of Steel and can’t cough up the dough, here you go. Enjoy!

First watch the video for this fun game. It’s similar to checkers as players move around playing pieces and attack their opponents. Each piece consists of a plastic ball mounted on a long springy thing, which you peg into holes in the board. You attack your opponents’ piece by pulling back on one of their own adjacent pieces and letting go, causing the plastic balls to collide. I guess it’s good that no pieces are blue…

No April Foolin’ - it’s true. Back in 1975 Mego created this board game. Would it have been as much fun if they called it Atom Smasher?

They’re almost here! The G.I. Joe 25th Anniv vehicles (w/ figures) from Hasbro will be released June 2008 for about $20(USD). I still have a few of my original vehicles, including one of my first G.I. Joe favorites, the VAMP Jeep. It was first released in U.S. toy stores in 1982 and came with the straight-armed version of Clutch. These new upgraded, fan-favorite 80s vehicles include Serpentor’s Air Chariot, the Cobra “Trouble Bubble”, RAM motorcycle, Hiss Tank, Armadillo Tank and VAMP Jeep.

It’s nice getting a new G.I. Joe vehicle and putting on all the decals. There’s something therapeutic about placing “Warning: Gun is big” decals all over. You know, I’m really enjoying Hasbro’s 25th Anniversary G.I. Joe toys, but they’re hard to find. What about you? How many of these new figures have you found at your local stores? How many have you picked up and which ones are you looking for?

It looks like we’ll be seeing where G.I. Joe all began in the upcoming 2009 movie. The film is reportedly an origins story. Here’s yet another nostalgia film that I hope doesn’t disappoint. It’ll be hard to top the original 80’s cartoon that I watched so much of all those years ago, but I guess we’ll see. I wonder if Snake Eyes will stay silent throughout the movie. Ah well, I thought I’d let you know about this because… knowing is half the battle. (*The above image scan is from one of my old catalogs.)

I thought you would be interested to know that two cult classics from The Jim Henson Company are now available for purchase and download on iTunes. This is very exciting for fans of Jim Henson! The complete first seasons of Farscape and Fraggle Rock are available now for $1.99 an episode. According to the company’s press release, the entire series should be available on the site soon.

Fraggle Rock was definitely one of my favorite shows. Dance your cares away; worries for another day; let the music play; down in Fraggle Rock!

CBS has got a good thing going on with their online videos of classic TV programs. The first two seasons of The Twilight Zone, the entire original Star Trek series, the first season of Hawaii 5-0 and even the first season of Macgyver! These can be viewed online for free as part of their new Audience Network. Wow, this is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy some old favorites!

I’m going to watch the Twilight Zone episodes first! Those stories twist your brain.