Dork Horde Secret Santa Reminder!

Just a reminder kiddies, the deadline for getting your name on the list for the first annual Dork Horde Secret Santa Gift exchange is TONIGHT BY 11:59 PM! But, to be honest, as long as you get it to me by the time I wake up tomorrow morning, I'm sure you'll still get in. After all, I won't be mixing up the names until I get at least two cups of coffee in me, anyway.

Here's the rules again, in case any of you missed them before...

YOU MUST BE A CURRENT DORK HORDE MEMBER AS OF THIS POSTING TO PARTICIPATE! Sorry, but that's the whole point of being part of a club.

If you'd like to get in on this (by the way, it is not mandatory) and are currently a Dork Horde member, simply email your full mailing address along with a brief list of the kind of things you like (let's keep it realistic, gang) to reisobrien[at]gmail[dot]com with DORK HORDE SECRET SANTA in the subject line NO LATER THAN 11:59 PM on SATURDAY, DEC. 8th. I'll gather up everyone's names and randomize them, then send out emails that following Sunday (Dec. 9th) night with who your gift-getter is.

Let's keep the gift value between $10-$20 and really try to Christmas-ize the whole thing (perhaps with a nice card, some candy, an ornament, etc.). Also, let's try to get these all mailed out by Monday Dec. 17th to give the packages a fighting chance of arriving by Christmas.

Again, let's all band together to keep this easy and fun for all!

So far, we've got 9 total members signed up, but would gladly like to see the rest of you join in (again, not obligated). Also, we've got a couple of Canadian brothers, so if anyone is cool with shipping to Canada (it's always a few bucks more to ship), let me know.

Happy HORDE-idays! (See what I did there?)

Top 5 Friday! The Top 5 Coolest Things I Saw at Universal Studios!

Before my wife and I took on the main course of 3 full days of Disneyland and California Adventure, we thought we'd make a bit of an appetizer out of Universal Studios/Universal Citywalk. So as soon as we got off the plane at LAX, we took a shuttle to the rental car place and took our newly rented wheels straight to the park.

All in all, it was... okay. It's no Disneyland. I actually had more fun shopping and eating (Pink's!) in the Citywalk section than I actually had in the park. If you go, take the Universal Backlot Tour. It's pretty cool and the King Kong 3D thing is beyond cool.

But as "okay" as the park was, I still got to see some cool stuff, and here are the top five in my book...

1. One of the original Back to the Future Deloreans. To a guy like me, who is koo-koo over movie and TV vehicles, this was like seeing boobies in real life for the first time. Great Scott!

2. Dracula waltzing with Daphne from Scooby Doo. This was the weirdest, yet most beautiful thing I saw the whole day. Drac just hypnotized poor Miss Blake and made her dance with him. And those both danced like they had had a lesson or two. Then she just snapped out of it and ran back to Scooby. Amazing moment!

3. The massive display of Para-Norman figures. These were the real deal used in the movie (which I still haven't seen, but am dying to), from armatures, to multiple mouth plates, to background scenes. The animation nerd in me did a little happy dance looking at it all.

4. A football signed by the season 1 Dillon Panthers from Friday Night Lights. I don't care what any of you say. I loved this show. Clear eyes, full hearts...

5. JAWS! He attacked the tram. Need I say more?

Vintage Star Wars Thursday!

This Isn't a Democracy! This is a RICK-tatorship!

Something that I haven't really gone into here on the blog is how, in the past few months or so, I have gone full-blown crazy about The Walking Dead. It all started when I started at Funko, seeing the early prototypes of our Walking Dead Pop! and Wacky Wobbler toys. That got me inspired to buy the first season on DVD. My wife and I watched that over one weekend (it's only 6 episodes) and then, with the help of a 50%-off-my-entire-purchase Groupon to a local comic shop, I bought and subsequently devoured all 16 volumes of the comic book trade paperbacks. Then I picked up the 2nd season, watched it, and am now neck-deep into the 3rd season.

I've managed to avoid most Walking Dead collectibles (except for a few Funko pieces, but more on them later), but that all changed last week while visiting Things from Another World at Universal Citywalk when I came across the McFarlane Walking Dead action figures.

Now, I've made it clear that I don't normally care for McFarlane toys, and the $22.99 price tag (tourist area, prices are always jacked up), but my wife was dead set on getting me a birthday present while we were in there and this figure just called out to me. Ladies and gents, meet Rick Grimes...

Just look at how badass this figure is. How could I not get it?

And there were several others, mostly zombies and shaved-head Shane, but the price tag kept me from getting two, much less all of them. Still, that RV Zombie is epic.

This figure really captures the essence of the character. (Sorry about the crappy pics, all I had was my iPhone at work.)

The likeness is pretty damn good, which I've come to expect from McFarlane figures after my recent purchase of a Jay Cutler figure. They really captured that "I don't want to have to be doing this, but I will, god dammit" look that Rick always carries on his face.

The interchangeable hands and extra accessories are a nice touch.  Just look at the detail in that rifle!

I also liked how Rick's signature Colt Python fits into his holster. Sadly, as you can see in the below pic, he has zero articulation at the knees. Which kind of sucks considering how posable his arms and neck are.

Here's a peek at the accessories. Frankly, I could live without the zombie snare thing, and would have gladly traded it for knee articulation. Still, I love little details and was tickled pink that the remembered to include his wedding band on both of his included left hands.

And speaking of removable hands, this feature makes it really easy to make him more comic-book accurate!

The jury is still out on weather or not I'll plunk down the moola for any of the others in this series, but I know me and I'm only so strong once I get it in my head.

Still, all in all, this is one hell of an early birthday present.

League of Extraordinary Bloggers: Merry Geekmas!

This week's topic: Merry Geekmas! Write or photograph something festive and pop culture oriented.

I love a lot of things about Christmas, but one of my favorite traditions is heading into Hallmark stores and looking at all of their latest geek-tastic Christmas tree ornaments, which come in many forms, from Indiana Joneses to Millennium Falcons to miniature Pac Man video game cabinets.

These days, since the geeks are inheriting the Earth, you can now go into Target or Walmart and find all kinds of geeky ornaments, from Star Trek to Scooby Doo.

And every time I find myself  in front of a display of geeky ornaments, I always stand there and play a little mental game where I pick out which ones I would buy if my wife would let me to have them.

I know. Shameful. But my wife holds a pretty tight control over how our tree looks. I think it has to do with the living room (where we keep our tree) is pretty much her domain and since we host an huge annual Christmas party every year, I think she'd rather not have all of our friends wondering why there's a Slave I on our tree, not that they'd know what it is anyway.

But that's cool. I have an entire office filled with geeky stuff and most spouses wouldn't even be cool with that, so I count myself pretty lucky.

However, there is one geeky Christmas tree ornament on our 7" artificial spruce, and that's this little guy right here...

My beautiful, frosted, blown glass Yoda is one of my most beloved Christmas ornaments, mostly because it is my only geeky ornament on the tree, but also because it was a gift from my mom and it reminds me of a snowy December in 1980, a couple of weeks before my 8th birthday, when I found one of the elusive Kenner Yoda action figures hanging on a peg in a Spencer's Gifts in a mall in Toledo, Ohio of all places.

It was a testament to how hard to find these figures were that Christmas when my mom straight up bought it for me right then and there, when everyone knows that your parents wouldn't buy you squat that close to Christmas, usually followed with a lame "Maybe Santa will bring you one," which pretty much meant "Don't hold your breath, kid."

Last year, my Mom and I were talking about past Christmas presents and some of my favorite toys and she told me how crazy I was about The Empire Strikes Back then and how she had already gotten me the Dagobah playset but couldn't for the life of her find a Yoda figure to go with it and was in a mini-panic over it. So when she saw that I had found one, she knew she had to just get it right then. It ended up working out beautifully, because now that I had the figure, I began to drool over the pciture of the Dagobah playset in the JC Penny catalog. Little did I know that it was already sitting in the back of my parent's closet.

Almost 30 years later my mom would send me this ornament, bringing back fond memories of Christmas 1980, when my mom and I bonded over one wise little green Muppet.


Also from the League:

Brian at Cool & Collected has got some mad painting skills!
Goodwill Geek makes my geeky ornament collection look lame.
Fortune and Glory (Days) might be one of my new favorite blogs.

State of the Horde Address, Secret Santa Gift Exchange & Action Figure Nativity 2012 Kick Off!

Okay kids, get ready. This is a gonna be a big post with a ton of information!

First off, I'm back from my big birthday bash in scenic (and not-so-sunny) California, and I had an absolute blast running around Universal Studios and Disneyland. I took a ton of pics, scored a few cool collectibles and pretty much rode all the rides I wanted to (never did get on the Cars ride or Space Mountain). But more on that later.

I just wanted to say a quick thanks to everyone who wished me a happy birthday, although I feel like a bit of cheater since my birthday is still over two weeks away, we just did the birthday trip early for several reasons like cheaper air fare, hotel, park tickets and the fact that this is one of the slowest times of the year at Disneyland (between the end of Thanksgiving weekend and the second week of December), which means I walked onto to most rides without hardly waiting at all.

Anyway, on to the State of the Horde Address!

I don't have a whole helluva lot to report, but I would like everyone to give a big, hearty welcome to The Dork Horde's very first female member, Jaime Hood from Shezcrafti.com! She's like the Sandra Day O'Connor of the Horde!

Welcome Jaime! Your razor sharp sense of humor, strong writing style and expertise on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will be great additions to the greater voice of the Dork Horde!

******

Now, on to the Dork Horde Secret Santa Gift Exchange!

This Christmas, I thought it would be fun to have a little gift exchange among the current members of the Dork Horde. I'd like to keep this pretty fun and simple, so here's how it's gonna go down;

YOU MUST BE A CURRENT DORK HORDE MEMBER AS OF THIS POSTING TO PARTICIPATE! Sorry, but that's the whole point of being part of a club.

If you'd like to get in on this (by the way, it is not mandatory) and are currently a Dork Horde member, simply email your full mailing address along with a brief list of the kind of things you like (let's keep it realistic, gang) to reisobrien[at]gmail[dot]com with DORK HORDE SECRET SANTA in the subject line NO LATER THAN 11:59 PM on SATURDAY, DEC. 8th. I'll gather up everyone's names and randomize them, then send out emails that following Sunday (Dec. 9th) night with who your gift-getter is.

Let's keep the gift value between $10-$20 and really try to Christmas-ize the whole thing (perhaps with a nice card, some candy, an ornament, etc.). Also, let's try to get these all mailed out by Monday Dec. 17th to give the packages a fighting chance of arriving by Christmas.

Again, let's all band together to keep this easy and fun for all!
 

******

Next up, it's time for the 2012 Action Figure Nativity Contest!

Every year for the past three Christmases, I've made a Nativity Scene out of action figures. The first two years I did it just for fun. You can see my 2009, 2010 and 2011 Nativity Scenes below...

Now that I'm looking at them again, my 2010 one looks pretty lame. Oh well.

Anyway, last year, when this blog was still called Hey! Look At My Toys!, I decided to host an Action Figure Nativity contest. There were a ton of awesome entries and I had such a blast seeing them all and posting them. You can see them all HERE.

And since last year was so much fun, we're gonna do it again! Now, unlike the Dork Horde Secret Santa Gift Exchange, this contest is open to everyone!

Here's what you gotta do:

ACTION FIGURE NATIVITY 2012 CONTEST!

Hosted by The Lair of the Dork Horde

Just make your very own Nativity scene out of various toys and action figures and email a good sized pic (at least 1000 pixels wide) of it to reisobrien[at]gmail[dot]com, with the words 2012 NATIVITY in the subject line along with your name and a link to your blog no later than...

DECEMBER 16th

That gives you two weeks from today to get this done and sent in!

I'll post them all right here on the blog on Dec. 18th and include a poll with everyone's name for people to vote on their favorite. You can also post your Nativity scene on your blog as well along with a link to here so your readers can vote for you. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners will all win... ummm... stuff!


I have no idea what the prizes will be yet, but I'll try to make them something cool. And, no, I will not be eligible to win, since I am hosting this. Also, no being a Cheater McCheaterson. But that goes without saying.

The winners will be announced on December 26th! 

So voters will only have one week to vote for their favorite.

Your Nativity scene will need action figures to play the parts of baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the three kings, some shepherds, an angel and some barn animals. And maybe a little drummer boy.

Feel free to spread this around! The more the merrier!

******

So, that's it for now, kids! I'll be getting back to our usual regularly scheduled blogging from here on out, along with my usual Christmas merriment! I hope you all are feeling rather merry too!

FOR THE HO-HO-HORDE!

Dork Horde Hiatus & Other News!

Hey kiddies! I just wanted to let everyone know that the Horde is going quiet for a few days because as of this morning, I will be flying through the air, on my way to enjoying 5 days of non-stop fun at the happiest place on Earth, Disneyland!

Your mighty Lord of Dorkness is about to turn 40 years old, and to celebrate that, my gorgeous wife has surprised me with first class tickets to California, complete with a pair of 3-day park hopper Disney passes, a full day at Universal Studios, dinner at Medieval Times and 5 nights in a 4 star hotel!

This is going to be EPIC!

Sooooooo, I'll be too busy having loads of fun to get any blogging done.

HOWEVER, I'll have a State of the Horde post up on Dec. 3rd or 4th which will include everything you'll all need to know about the Dork Horde Secret Santa Gift Exchange and the 2nd Annual Action Figure Nativity contest! So stay tuned.

FOR THE HORDE!!!

League of Extraordinary Bloggers Weekely Post: Shelf Expression!

This week's assignment from The League of Extraordinary Bloggers: Post a photo of a shelf of items that displays your love for pop culture.

Here's a quickie of a shot of just one of my display shelves at work, showing off a pretty odd assortment of collectibles. Enjoy!

From the rest of the League:

Brothermidnight's toys are bouncing here and there and everywhere.
Goodwill Geek loves his California Raisins!
Random Nerdness has a MOTU collection worthy of my jealousy.

Groo the Wanderer from Eclipse Comics! Wait... What?

I guess this post should technically be listed under Tales from the 25¢ Bin, since this is where I found this comic book, but since it's just the one, and since it blew a hole in what I thought was my wall of Groo knowledge the size of a bowl of cheese dip, I figured it deserved its own post.

So, I present to you, Groo the Wander #1, from Eclipse Comics...

Now, I've collected a ton of Groo comics and followed the character from his original PC Comics, then on to his long run with Marvel, then during his stint at Image and onward into his tenure at Dark Horse, but I had no idea that the sword-wielding mendicant was ever published by Eclipse Comics.

But as it turns out, for one issue at least, he was.

The blurb to the left pretty much sums up the situation; Pacific Comics went down the crapper and didn't have any money to continue publishing, so the "final" issue of Groo was kindly printed by Eclipse, while Sergio and MArk waited to start at their new home, Marvel.

Had I known about this issue when I was 12 years old, and full-blown Groo crazy, I would have flipped.

This issue is pretty much what we could always expect from a Groo comic, but this one was a bit more special...

Because it reprints the very first Groo story!

He really looked different back then. Yet, somehow the same.

But the real treat for me was the section in the back that included the absolutely brilliant cutout figures! For a long-time Groo fan, who also happens to be in the papercraft business, this is like finding a long buried treasure.

You can jolly well count on me making color copies of these, printing them out on cardstock and cutting them out to adorn my desk at work. And then I will have tons of Groo adventures! And even more tons of cheese dip!

Yeah, I Broke Down and Bought a Mcfarlane Football Statue...

I couldn't help myself! Me and my co-worker, Amos, went to lunch the other day and we decided to stop in this sporting goods store looking for more NFL collectibles (he's a massive Dallas Cowboys fan), but the only thing I found was this Jay Cutler action figure (statue).

I know, I know, he's often a cranky jerk, and he's been out for the past few weeks, and most McFarlane figure suuuuuuuuuuuuuck, but he's our QB and it was on sale for $9.99 and sometimes you just gotta add to the collection.

After having finally bought one of these McStatues, I can't deny that the detail on these are riDORKulous! They even got his little five o'clock shadow on his face. No wonder people go nuts over these. Don't worry, I'm not going to turn into a maniacal McFarlane collector, but maybe one or two more won't kill me.

GO BEARS!

Vintage Space Cake Topper Toys!

So, this guy I work with, Bob, who is our photography/Photoshop wizard and is the one who makes all of our catalog stuff look awesome, has this girlfriend who works in a bakery and she came across this big, dusty box full old cake topper toys that her boss, who hadn't seen this box in decades, thought was easily from the 1960s.

They were going to toss them out, but Bob's girlfriend saved them all and gave them to Bob because she knows that he works with a bunch of nerdy, toy-loving man-children, and he brought them to work and gave a bunch of them to all of us and we were all like, "Woooooo Hoooooooooooo! Old space toys!"

Check out my haul...

Say, that "Space Ship" looks a bit familiar...

Top 5 Friday! My Top 5 Favorite 2012 Macy's Parade Balloons!

Ugh. Is it me, or is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade getting a little too singy and dancey? I couldn't give a rotten cranberry who's got some new sappy single they need to promote or what Broadway musical is the new talk of the town. But every year, I sit through such insipid warbling just so I can see the two things I love the most about the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade; floats and balloons!

Every year I watch the parade, and I swear that I just don't feel like my Christmas holiday has started off right until I see the great and all-giving Santa Claus himself wrapping up the festivities.

I don't know what it is about the balloons that still hold a sense of wonder for me, as they have ever since I was a kid. Maybe they are a sort of helium-filled countdown timer for me, ticking away the morning of Thanksgiving day, leading to the official kick-off to th greatest timne of the year. Or maybe I just like giant, floating cartoon characters.

Either way, here are my top 5 favorites from this year...

1. Charlie Brown
Sadly, there was no Snoopy in this year's parade, but the inclusion of everyone's favorite blockhead, who is shown determined to finally kick that football, completely made up for it.

2. Kermit the Frog
When I was 6 years old, I got an amazing stuffed Kermit for Christmas and loved him dearly. Seeing this balloon reminded me of that.

3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid
I don't know if any of you out there have read these books, but I have and I loooooooooooove them! Greg Heffley is one of the greatest characters ever written. I'm totally not joking. Congrats to him for making the big time.

4. Papa Smurf
I don't care who knows it. I have loved the Smurfs my whole life. Watched the cartoon every Saturday and collected tons of Smurf figurines as a kid. And Papa Smurf is the grand patriarch of it all.

5. Spider-Man
Do I really need to go into why he's on this list? Exceslior!

Vintage Star Wars Thursday!

One, Two, Funko Movie Monster Pops Are Coming for You...

Three, four, I'll probably collect many more...

Just thought I'd take a quick second to show off a few more Funko Pops that I have added to the collection lately. Who thought these little serial killers, mass murders, burn victims and cannibals could be so cute?

And for those of you that want a peek into what I do for a living, check out this little piece on Funko that recently aired on a local TV news magazine show. You even get to see the back of my head!

http://www.king5.com/on-tv/evening-magazine/Funko-Toys-179734431.html