All good things...

Oh well... I guess everything has to end sometime. My growing T-Rex grew all he would grow-- well... he grew as much as the jar would let him grow.



Look at that guy! He's taking up most of the jar. Because he grew as much as the jar allowed, his tail quit growing, but the base of it got really thick. My T-Rex has a big ol' butt-- OH YEAH!



When I opened the jar his head shot out of the water like some bad B-movie.



Look at this sucker!



You can see just how massive the little thing got to be when Pheyden is next to him.

It's hard to believe this sucker started out like this:





The tiny company information blurb has grown... I figured it would fade away, but it's still there. This company wants you to know who they are!



Oh well... now we get to see what this thing looks like when it dries out. I hope it goes all deformed and shriveled like that Spider-Man my friend had!

Dino Update 3

I took this picture yesterday afternoon. You can see he's growing steadily:



This one is from this morning:



And these are from tonight:



He kinda jumped up there. He started out about 5 inches long and now he's about 10 inches long. The weird thing is that he's still stiff as a board... I thought he'd be all squishy and floppy, but he's like one of those plastic dinosaurs you played with when you were a kid.

The growth continues...

Dino Update 2

Here he is over 24 hours after his growth began:



If this keeps up, I'm going to need a bigger jar...

My prediction? By this time next week I'll be riding this dinosaur into battle.

Dino Update

Last night I put the growing T-Rex in his very own glass pickle jar to grow like a champeen! As soon as he went into the crystal clear water this yellow, foggy residue spread throughout the jar. Ugh.



He sat overnight and now he looks like this:




The water cleared up some, and he's all bumpy and lumpy. He grew a little bit, but he's supposed to double in size every 24 hours. YESSSSSS....

The Creepy Ronnie

I'm an addict. I thought I should just come out and say it. I'm addicted to The Jersey Shore. I know... I know... it's one of the worst substances to be addicted to, but I just can't help it. Oven-baked Italians behaving badly just have some kind of hold over me. All the characters on that show are like living, breathing cartoon characatures of stereotypes. It's like watching a particularly bloody train wreck. I cannot look away when it's on, no matter how bad it gets.

One of the things that drew me to the show was a clip I saw way back of housemate Ronald "Ronnie" Ortiz-Magro. His dance, which can only be described as "immaculate," has since been dubbed the "Creepy Ronnie." It is creepy. It is all Ronnie.

Ladies and germs, I present to you... The Creepy Ronnie:



Now go forth and spread the good news.

20 Steps to Improve Star Trek

I have yet to see the Star Trek movie that came out earlier this year. I guess I will when it hits DVD. I was going through some old text files tonight and ran across this conversation I had with Doug on AIM. I figured I'd share it:

Doug: I've got some ideas that'll change the star trek universe forever...

Me: oh?

Me: lemme guess.... better stories?

Doug: #1 How about don't put anything explosive in control panels

Me: ha ha ha ha ha

Doug: #2 Seatbelts

Me: ha ha ha ha

Doug: already, right there we've cut 3/4th of the deaths on the show

Me: #3: NO MORE RED SHIRTS

Doug: #4 If you going to war, wear armor. I know you're really proud of your pajamas and all, but this is the friggin future. You can carry more tech than a pin on you shirt and a fancy calculator

Doug: I mean it's good enough for the klingons right?

Me: #5 it's ok every once in a while for the aliens to not look like people

Doug: but not ok for the budget

Doug: they have to spend like 20 dollars for a make up guy for another hour

Doug: I mean thats crazy

Me: yup

Me: oh look.... i'm clearly an alien... i have a bump on my nose

Doug: #6 You have transporters...theres no need to go runnin the endless halls of your ship when someone isn't suppose to be there

Me: NO CRAP

Doug: #7 Again future, ever hear of automated defenses...I mean they have solid Holograms that can create and shoot guns and lasers, how about use those sometime

Me: #8 it's not necessary to sleep with everyone you meet if you are a captain

Doug: actually, I think that's in the contract

Me: maybe so

Doug: #9 enough with the time travel, we stopped friggin caring when kirk went to fetch whales

Me: #10 whales taste GREAT

Doug: we don't want to watch people in modern times, otherwise we'd be watching WB

Me: ugh

Me: no crap

Me: and NO ONE watches that

Doug: heheh

Doug: nope

Me: #11 MORE GORN

Doug: always

Me: and this time, for god's sake put him under a sun lamp so he can at least move a bit faster

Doug: #12 The Holodek...WILL BREAK

Doug: Historical figures will always turn evil and try to kill you

Me: excuse me... were you suggesting we should break Will Crusher?

Me: because that's a good suggestion

Me: or maybe you were suggesting that in the holodeck Will becomes mutated like the Hulk and breaks things saying "WILL BREAK!"

Me: either way... we're good with that

Doug: #13 You know, evasive manuevers should mean a little more than sitting in place and firing

Doug: #14 Its space, not all the ships you meet will be right side up, also space is in three dimensions, you can go around things

Me: #15 more borg, less ferangi

Doug: #16 We have guided missiles now, so why can't their torpedos do anything other than go in a straight line?

Me: #17 next time you find people frozen in an ancient ship.... LEAVE THEM FROZEN

Doug: #18 Stop naming every planet the same name as the people...humans, from humanlon, from the human home world

Me: ha ha ha

Me: yep

Me: #19 more half-nekkid green chicks

Doug: #20 Would someone for once go outside the ship and give it a new paint job when "repairs are underway?" since when can you fix everything about you car by messing with the radio control panel?

Doug: ok, thats it for me, all that from just having seen one episode.....

I think everyone will agree that Doug and I clearly should have been top choices for the creative team to make a better Trek movie. CLEARLY.

Talent?

It seems like every year the talent pool that America's Got Talent draws from gets thinner and thinner. I've come up with a simple set of rules that will make sure you win a million bucks on that show:

1) Sing. I'm serious... every act so far that has won has been a singing act. The producers must have noticed that NBC didn't have an amateur singing show and decided to shoehorn one into a talent show. It's pretty sad that they had to ruin a perfectly good talent show by forcing it to be a wanna be American Idol.

2) Have a sob story. With the exception of one winner, everyone who has won on that show has had some kind of horrible death in the family, has lost his job, or had a pet explode in the microwave. Think up the worst possible plot for a Lifetime movie, sing, and go on stage... you WILL win.

3) Sing R&B. Again... the judges on this show are nothing if not predictable. Every singer who has made it to the end (again... with the exception of one) has warbled out horrible versions of Afrocentric music. There's nothing cooler than a black guy with a rich voice singing songs about living and loving and dealing with the hardships dealt out by the Man. On the other hand, there's nothing as annoying as seeing a 12 year old white girl sing about how her man done did her wrong. But most annoying of all is the fact that this impresses the washed-up cretins that judge this show.

4) Cry. A LOT. The amount of tears you shed is directly proportionate to the amount of respect the judges of the show have for you as a contestant.

Follow all of these simple rules and you too can become a million dollar winner on America's Got Talent.

Who the heck is "Robert" anyways????

I just got this glorious thing in the mail the other day. Figured you might like to have a looksie at it.





Yes, it says "Knight Rider Becames Robert."
Yes, it is a horribly colored bootleg GoBots Zee-Mon figure.
Yes, it is awesome.

Who the heck is "Robert" anyways???? God, I love bootleg toys!

My collection... as it stands now...

So here are some pics of my display collection as it stands. My sister just moved out of her old home into a new one and gave me her old book shelf, so I was inspired to take some pics of my newly displayed collection. These aren't all the toys I own... just the ones I have room to show at the time being... there's NEVER enough room for toys!!! (I have a stuffed monkey collection that needs room for display... why in the world do I need SO many monkeys?????)







My Jonny Quest diorama from McFarlane Toys... After tweaking the paint a bit and gluing things in place it's my favorite McFarlane piece!


A poseable Man-Thing bust that my good friend Billy Parker made for my birthday!


My Glyos collection... these things add up fast... especially with Matt giving stuff away like crazy!!!:






What collection is complete without a little bit of Godzilla? :


I loved the Planet Hulk series... too bad World War Hulk and Skaar have disappointed me... the toys are still pretty cool! The Bride and Batman had to put in an appearance as well:


Just an Alien Queen, some comic book favorites, and a Tachikoma hang out while Roy Fokker and Riddick look on:


My Transformers... notice the Knight Rider Becames Robert figure... his colors are purely FABULOUS... or something:










Looking at this again, I guess it's as much of a DVD and book display as it is a toy collection display!

Silly cats

I've been cat and house-sitting the last two weeks (that's partially why no new artwork has been showing up) for my brother and sister-in-law to go on a trip to Alaska. It has been a fun two weeks just getting away from the work a bit. I'm anxious to get back to it now that the time runs short here.

The cats have made everything so much more fun. I love my fat kitty, Mae, back home, but she's kinda laid back like me. My sister-in-law has an insane demon kitty named Taylor. Taylor is energy made flesh. If you don't want something ganked and hidden by him, you better keep it under lock and key. I was building with some Glyos figure parts, and the little thief stole one of the pieces and tried to run off with it. I stopped him and retrieved the piece though.

The best thing was what I partially captured with my camera. I went to Target one day and picked up some Mighty Muggs figures that were on clearance. When I got back home, I threw the bag with the two figures in it on the bed and went to the bathroom. I came back to discover that Taylor had kicked the boxed figures out of the bag and... well...









Cats... you don't own them... they just let you live near them.

Porkilypine!!!

I'm catching up on a lot of videos and junk I don't normally get to see at home... and I think everyone and his brother needs to see this. It's George Gaspar's amazing beard in action. George and his wife Ayleen, for those who may not know, runs a toy company called October Toys, makers of the fantabulous Gwins and the Z.O.M.B.I.E. line of figures. For well over a year (maybe it's two now... I'm not sure... I'm sure George can clear it up) George grew a beard that rivals the mane of the great northern yeti. He posted a video on Youtube showing the insertion of 2,222 toothpicks into his epic facial hair. Check it out!



You should check out all of George and Ayleen's great videos... they are such fun, funny, and all around nice people. While You're at it, hop on over to the October Toys Forum and join us all for all kinds of toy-loving shenanigans!

Toybreak: a weekly internet show featuring reviews and news
about designer vinyl, plush, action figures, collectibles, events,
how to's, interviews, and more!

Youtube Toybrief segments: check out little snippets too short for Toybreak and Matt's 2 Minutes of Hate. Trust me on that last one... Matt is... well... Matt is Matt.

TheFoodFans: Home of Ayleen's new project Stick It In Your Mouth. Join George and Ayleen as they search out new and interesting food to try and let you know if you should stick it in your mouth!

October Toys: Home of the Gwins, Z.O.M.B.I.E.'s, and Posies dolls

The October Toys Forum: You have to sign up to view and post, but boy is it worth it! Entertaining and informative, the forum is a great way to get rid of the blah's!!!

Thanks George and Ayleen for everything you do for the world of toys and the people who love them! You guys rock!

Robots and Donuts

Just look at this image:



How can you top that? I've just discovered the artwork of Eric Joyner, a man who paints two things I love: Robots and donuts.



His paintings are both beautiful and whimsical and have an ability to take you back to a more innocent time when all you needed was a wind-up robot and an open expanse of carpet to set him free.



Check out his site... he offers several exquisite prints and other products featuring his artwork.

You can also check out his book, Robots and Donuts at the Dark Horse website.

I'm sorry...

... but it just doesn't get any better than this:



Bask in the glory of this... thing...

PUDDING PUDDING PUDDING PUDDING!!!!

Yet another reason why Japan is the greatest place on the face of the earth:



I have never wanted pudding so much in my life.

Not really.

Stuff and something unexpected

Someone asked me why I haven't put any updates up with artwork... well... a few things I'm working on are top-secret kinda things, so it wouldn't be fair to show them until the people who commissioned them wanted them revealed. Just be patient, and there will be a payoff.

In the meantime, here's something I found yesterday, and it has made my day. Someone leaked a chunk of the new Transformers movie with the character that I was full-well set to hate from the pics of his character design alone-- Wheelie. Sigh... Wheelie. Ugh. Then I saw a leaked bit with german dubbing (I'll have to admit... this character works MUCH better with a saucy German accent, but this is ok too). The attitude of the character REALLY sold him for me. Wheelie was always a survivalist, and making this tiny, scrappy, bombastic, overcompensating jackass REALLY works here for me. WARNING: He says some spicy things here, so parental guidance is suggested:



If the voice sounds familiar, it should. It's Tom Kenny. Yes... THAT Tom Kenny. The voice of Spongebob Squarepants. This has, to say the least, made my day.

Now I want a toy of him.

The greatest toy review in the history of toy reviews

Dash the Toy Guy posted this insane toy review on Youtube today. Alcohol and action figures that annoy you for personal reasons rarely ever mix... but boy is it funny when they do...


WARNING!!! Spicy Language is present but bleeped out... still... you were warned-- don't tattle on me.



I subscribed to his Youtube feed seconds after viewing this. Guy's a hoot.

MmmmmmmmMott's

Ok, so Mott's Mummy Berry berry-flavored apple sauce is pretty good. It helps a lot that it was on sale for 75 cents and that it was lower in sugar (being diabetic sucks), but the stuff is really darn good nontheless.



When I was throwing away the carton the little packs came in I noticed something that cracked me up. Inside the package is printed a "puzzle" that consists of 6 pieces that you cut out and assemble. 6 pieces. I know... rocket scientist material, right?



The puzzle itself didn't crack me up... it was the fine print in the middle of the package:



It says, "Puzzled? Go to www.motts.com/answers for help."

W o w . What made them think that a kid who would have a hard time putting together a puzzle with 6 pieces would be able to use the internet to find the solution. I'm thinking that a kid like that might have problems solving the riddle of the zipper on his pants.

Here's what the finished puzzle looks like:



I love horrible advertising... it makes me giggle.