New Orleans!

Well, folks, I'm off to New Orleans with Madeline for Spring Break. I probably won't be able to get online until I get back, so there won't be daily updates for a little while. But when I return I should have plenty of great stories and photos to share. I love you guys, and I'll miss you.

Mez-Itz: Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, and Mini-Me action figures by Mezco, Review by Andrew Lenahan

Series Overview:
Mezco made a line of action figures for the Austin Powers "Goldmember" movie. They weren't quite up to the standard of the previous McFarlane lines, but they were sculpted well and generally okay. Mezco also made this garbage: poorly-sculpted, overpriced hunks of plastic that desperately want to be Lego figures whilst apparently forgetting exactly what made Lego figures fun. Can this really be the same Mezco that made my all-time favourite action figure? (Cabin Control Nemo, for those who care)

Character Overview:
Well, you get Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, and Mini-Me all in one little package. So it's three times the pain.

Action Figure Sculpt and Paint: 0
There are no words in the English language to describe the depth of my hatred for these figures. There might be something in Klingon. I don't know. But I know that these suck. None of them look like the characters they're supposed to represent. Austin Powers looks more like a fat old female librarian than an international man of mystery. With a white-grey face and grey eyes, Dr. Evil is the scariest-looking figure I've seen since Clive Barker's Tortured Souls series. No, wait, I take that back: Mini-Me is scarier. Mini-Me was actually cute in his first McFarlane figure, but here he looks like a demented corn-husk doll with a turkey-baster bulb for a head and a face painted by a spastic chimpsnzee during a seizure.

Articulation: 3
My review figure of Austin Powers had a problem with his arm, which came off constantly. Even if your Austin isn't a leper, though, there's still a lot of problems here. Austin Powers and Dr. Evil articulate at their necks, shoulders, waists, and hips. Mini-Me is similar but without the waist joint and his legs are connected, so he can't be posed in a walking position. To make things even worse, his arms are hard to re-insert once they pop out, which happens easily. Oh, and you can switch Austin and Dr. Evil's limbs around, because we all know that Austin Powers with one of Dr. Evil's arms would be the most hilarious thing in the world. If you get entertained by that, you'd probably have just as much fun chewing on the packaging while staring at the wall.

Accessories: 1
The only accessory is Austin's gun, which is an exaggerated revolver, like a big starter pistol. I'm pretty sure he didn't use a gun like that in the movie, though I don't feel like checking. It isn't sculpted well (the trigger portion isn't even cut out) and not painted at all. Austin's ascot is removable, but doesn't fit on Dr. Evil.

Packaging: Average
This trio of terror comes in a little cardboard box with a window. It's nothing special, but still probably the best thing about these three.

Overall score: 0.5
These are truly some of the worst action figures I've come across. The crazy part is that all three of these characters have much better figures of them, including Mezco's own Goldmember series! I can't even recommend them to dieghard Austin Powers fans, who would likely be appalled at the horrible likenesses. Can you believe these originally cost between $10 and $15? (They were $1.88 at K B Toys when I last saw one). Do not buy these, at any cost. It's that simple.

Availability:
Just say NO! Ok, ok... if you really want them, I've seen them at K B Toys outlets. Or try eBay. Or try using your money for bog paper, because you'll have more fun that way.

Star Wars: Galactic Heroes: Jawa and Sand People / Tusken Taider action figures by Hasbro, review by Andrew Lenahan

Series Overview:
Star Wars Galactic Heroes are best described as Star Wars toys for small children (as young as 3). They feature the same characters as the other toys, but their sculpts are simpler, cuter and slightly exaggerated-looking, with very large proportional hands and feet. The figures are PVC-style, with no articulation or accessories, and come either with vehicles or in packs of two. Although officially licensed from Lucasfilm and made by Hasbro, many collectors do not consider them to be "real" Star Wars figures.

Character Overview:
Often confused with each other by Star Wars novices, Jawas and Sand People (also known as Tusken Raiders) are both wild desert-dwellers of the planet Tattooine. Neither of them speak english, they both wear robes, and you never see the skin of either, so they're easy to get confused. Jawas are much cuter, smaller than human size, and like to trade in used droids. Sand People are nomadic tribesmen of roughly human size who tend to cause trouble.

Action Figure Sculpt and Paint: 5
Basically, you either like this sort of thing or you don't. While there's nothing really wrong with the sculpts or the paint ops, there isn't much good that can be said of them, either. These particular characters don't even have quite the cuteness factor of a chibi Chewbacca or a lilliputian Ewok.

Articulation: None
There is no articulation.

Accessories: None
There are no removable accessories. However, the Jawa is moulded holding a gun, and the Sand Person holds his Gaffi Stick above his head.

Packaging: Above Average
The packaging is very nice and appropriately user-friendly, though parents should be the ones actually opening it.

Overall score: 5
There are two basic issues with these figures: value and niche. For one thing, it's touch to imagine a Star Wars fan spending 5 or 6 dollars on these when a fully articulated figure with quality accessories like Revenge of the Sith's Wookiee Warrior is right across the aisle for the same price. At a dollar or less per figure, these would be neat little collectibles. As they are, they're overpriced. Even a hardcore Star Wars fan would have to have pretty much everything else before they started collecting these. The other issue is market niche: there really isn't one. The packaging notes that they aren't meant for anyone under 3, so these are hardly crib toys. But by the time your l'il Ewoks are old enough to identify the characters in their Galactic Heroes toys and play with them creatively, they're probably also old enough that they'll get more of a kick out of regular Star Wars figures.

Availability:
Should be easy to find in the USA. As of this review, they're a common sight at both Toys R Us and Wal-Mart.

Star Wars: Episode I: Yoda with Jedi Council Chair action figure by Hasbro, review by Andrew Lenahan

Series Overview:
With Star Wars already being among the most successful toy lines of all time, it was inevitable that new toys would be released for 1999's Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace. However, overproduction and the somewhat lackluster quality of some of the toys, coupled with the poor reception of the CommTech voice chip gimmick, led to too much supply and not nearly enough demand. Nonethless, there were some highlights among the Episode one toys.

Character Overview:
Possibly the most famous and recognizable Star Wars character (besides perhaps Darth Vader), Yoda literally needs no introduction. In Episode I, serving on the Jedi High Council as a Jedi master, he's younger than most of us remember him from the original trilogy, but still basically looks and acts the same.

Action Figure Sculpt and Paint: 7.5
With a highly uneven sculpt, first we're wowed by a truly amazing facial sculpt: it's so lifelike and expressive, with such fine detail, that it's almost hard to believe that it's just a tiny action figure. Then we're brought right back down to earth with the body sculpt. He's dressed in robes, which are a singular challenge for sculptors in any case, and are not pulled off well here. The robes have a pockmarked texture which might look wonderfully realistic on a miniature grapefruit, but bizarre on what's supposed to be wool-like cloth. The bottom of the robe is very flat, which is common for robed figures and usually not a problem, but when he's sitting as he's supposed to be it looks very odd.

Paint is very sloppy, especially around the hands. Yoda has a lime-green complexion on his head (with orange smudges?) and dark green with lime accents on his hands and feet. Also, Yoda looks very dirty, like he's just rolled in the mud. Now that might not be a bad design decision for a Dagobah yoda, or even a battle Yoda, but it's hard to imagine that right before taking his seat on the Jedi Council he was testing his Slip 'N' Slide at the local pig farm.

Articulation: 6
Yoda articulates with a turning head, ball-jointed shoulders, and pivoting hips. His legs are fused together. On The plus side, he's very easy to stand up, and he fits into his chair reasonably well.

Accessories: 7
One of the accessories is the dreaded CommTech voice chip. Voice features tend to not be particularly exciting, and voice features requiring special hardware purchased seperately to activate are worst of all. The sound quality is also dismal, as it usually sounds like the character has had a tracheotomy. The one upside to CommTech chips is that they're pegged so they can double as figure stands, though that hardly made them any more popular with collectors. Even so, I'll list the included phrases, according to the card:

"Hard to see the dark side is."
"How feel you?"
"Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering."
"May the Force be with you."

The second, and far better, accessory is Yoda's Jedi High Council chair. It's not made of the normal high-quality plastic, but the sculpt is excellent, as is the paint op.

Packaging: Average
The Episode I figure packaging is standard bubble and cardboard stuff, though with a cool, moody red and black Darth Maul design.

Overall score: 7
Despite the wonderful facial sculpt, this is far from the best Yoda figure out there (that would be the 2004 Dagobah Yoda), nor even among the top three. If you really want a Yoda with a High Council chair, you'd so better with the Episode II version, which also has a lightsaber and Force action. While not a horrible figure, with so many better alternatives out there, this one is recommended only for Yoda completists.

Availability:
At this point, finding an Episode I figure in a retail store would be almost impossible. However, like all Star Wars material, there is a strong secondary market, and you should be able to locate one of these on eBay easily.

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith: R4-G9 action figure by Hasbro, review by Andrew Lenahan

Series Overview:
Well before the release of the Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith movie (AKA Episode III), Hasbro released a series of four figures as a preview of what to expect, both from the film and the inevitable toy line. The results are good, with all four figures presenting a solid addition to recent Star Wars toy lines, though not a spectacular improvement upon them.

Character Overview:
Described on the packaging as an astromech droid who accompanies Obi-Wan Kenobi on an important mission to the sinkhole planet Utapau. Sounds like fun, I guess R2-D2 was in the shop that day or something. Astromech droids are hard to hate. They're little and cute, yet not overly cute. You either like them or you pretty much ignore them. I try to collect every last one of them, even though I know it's really just the same basic idea and I could probably make my own at home with model paint and a box of spare R2-D2s.

Action Figure Sculpt and Paint: 8.5
R4-G9 might be the best-sculpted astromech droid so far, so if you only feel the need to own one of them, go for it. There's plenty of detail, such as the black pneumatic tubes on his feet. His main sculpt-related feature is an eye that glows when thee figure is placed near light. The paint is nice and subtle. He's a little bit grubby, but not nearly so much that he appears dipped in mud like the Dagobah R2-D2 from 2004.

Articulation: 7.5
Astromech droids are never going to be the most articulated figures in the world, and adding unnecessary articulation points would ruin the sculpt. That said, this is probably the most articulated astromech out there. He has the typical turning head and shoulder joints, plus joints at all three feet. His third leg retracts into his body, and even has multiple levels of retraction. Unfortunately retracting it (and getting it back) were both pretty difficult, and not something you'd want to do often. Finally, there are little turning wheels under each foot. You couldn't really ask for more articulation than this from an astromech droid.

Accessories: 6
This is where R4-G9 really takes a hit. He only has one accessory, and it's no prize either. It's a "hologram" of a planet, though without close inspection one might mistake it for a Dragonball-style fireball, or even a giant blog of snot coming out of R4-G9's robotic nose unit. It hangs from a projector hole in R4-G9's head. I might have given it a 5 if the planet wasn't nicely textured and painted.

Packaging: Above Average
All the Revenge of the Sith preview figures are packaged in very cool oval-shaped bubble, with a menacing Darth Vader-above-molten-lava background. The packaging is slightly hard to open, but gone are the annoying twist-ties which have plagued Star Wars figures since the late 90s. There's also a little colour pamphlet with ads for more Star Wars toys. Overall, the packing is well above average for an action figure.

Overall score: 8
The R4-G9 figure is, in many ways, like Astromech's Greatest Hits. The glowing "eye", the holographic projection accessory, the third leg, the wheels, and the dirty paint job have all been seen before in other astromech figures, mostly the various R2-D2s. However, it's nice to have all those features come together in one toy. I would have liked more or better accessories, but there's no denying that he's as good an astromech droid to buy as any, and better than most (in a close race with the Dagobah R2-D2 for overall greatness). Go ahead, pick this little guy up.

Availability:
R4-G9 hould be easy to find in the USA. As of this review, they're a common sight at both Toys R Us and Wal-Mart. They're also on Amazon.

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith: Wookiee Warrior action figure by Hasbro, review by Andrew Lenahan

Series Overview:
Well before the release of the Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith movie (AKA Episode III), Hasbro released a series of four figures as a preview of what to expect, both from the film and the inevitable toy line. The results are good, with all four figures presenting a solid addition to recent Star Wars toy lines, though not a spectacular improvement upon them.

Character Overview:
According to the package, the Wookiees get caught up in the Clone Wars when it starts to effect their homeworld of Kashyyyk. It also says they're led into battle by Yoda, so I guess we can assume they're good guys. There isn't much to say about Wookiee Warrior as a character, because he isn't a character. He's an army builder. He's burlier than the most famous Wookiee of all, Chewbacca, because Chewbacca is a lover, not a fighter, baby. Wookiee Warrior is a great figure though, so let's move on.

Action Figure Sculpt and Paint: 9
This is a big figure--he looks like he could mop the floor with that scrawny General Grievous--and every square foot of Wookiee goodness is detailed to the max. Hasbro's been showing us recently that they know how to do "hairy" figures right... notice the Wampa, and the two Jabba's palace aliens... and now those skills get a chance to shine. Detail abounds. They even thought to give him toes and soles on the bottoms of his feet. His expression is suitably menacing, like he's charging into a great battle or choking down some prune juice. The paint job is simple, as befits the figure, but it's still well done.

Articulation: 9.5
I'm going to go right ahead and say it: this is the best articulated Star Wars figure we've seen so far. He has well-jointed shoulders, elbows, hands, mid-torso (chest), hips, and knees. They all work smoothly and stay in place well. The head turns just a little bit, too. We can't expect too much there, because he has braids and a rope garment that clog the neck area, and lengthening his neck to compensate would've ruined the sculpt. Overall, though, this represents (hopefully) the start of a new era of articulation among Star Wars figures. I bent my wookiee, and I'm pretty darn happy about it.

Accessories: 7.5
Wookiee Warrior has a seperately-moulded but non-removable rope garment that covers his chest, stomach, and left shoulder, and also supports a flat piece of armous which hangs at about crotch level. He also has a big and extremely cool gun, complete with painted barrel and handles. That's the good news. Unfortunately, while his helmet is well-painted and a dead-on sculpt, it really has trouble staying on his head much at all. Come on, we've had helmets on figures for what, about four decades now? Let's solve this problem already. His shin guards (shin guards?! what is he, a junior-high soccer player?) are simple sculpts and also don't stay on well. The only good point about the guards is that they also fit on his arms too, which is nice if you're building an army and want some variety in the troops. Unfortunately, the accessories are the one questionable spot on what would otherwise have been one of the all-time great Star Wars toys.

Packaging: Above Average
All the Revenge of the Sith preview figures are packaged in very cool oval-shaped bubble, with a menacing Darth Vader-above-molten-lava background. The packaging is slightly hard to open, but gone are the annoying twist-ties which have plagued Star Wars figures since the late 90s. There's also a little colour pamphlet with ads for more Star Wars toys. Overall, the packing is well above average for an action figure.

Overall score: 8.75
Easily the best of the four Revenge of the Sith preview figures, Wookiee Warrior is the one to get if you're only getting one. This is the figure you're looking for.

Availability:
Should be easy to find in the USA. As of this review, they're a common sight at both Toys R Us and Wal-Mart. They're also on Amazon.

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith: General Grievous action figure by Hasbro, review by Andrew Lenahan

Series Overview:
Well before the release of the Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith movie (AKA Episode III), Hasbro released a series of four figures as a preview of what to expect, both from the film and the inevitable toy line. The results are good, with all four figures presenting a solid addition to recent Star Wars toy lines, though not a spectacular improvement upon them.

Character Overview:
Described on the packaging as a commander of droid armies and trained by Sith Lord Darth Tyranus, Grievous is unquestionably a bad guy. Unfortunately, based on this figure, he just isn't a very original bad guy. He looks like the product of an illicit love affair between a battle droid and one of the Skeleton Warriors. Also, isn't the name "Grievous" just a little obvious? The name "Darth Vader" is menacing but subtle, "Grievous" is just too much. I wonder if Episode III will also feature characters with names like "Evil Naughtybad" and "Hero Goodguy". Grievous, grievous, grievous.... while there's nothing really awful about him, but I hope he's cooler in the movie.

Action Figure Sculpt and Paint: 8
Although I can't comment how movie-accurate he is, but he's up in the higher ranks of detail as far as Star Wars figures go. He's an unusual-looking character, with lots of little details all over his body, and the sculptor did a fine job of bringing this out. The paint is similarly consistent, but with a few minor trouble spots. Particularly impressive is the weathered, dirty look on his tan parts, and particularly the head. One major quibble, at least with the reviewed figure, is that the eyes have dark pupils toward the center of the face, making him look cross-eyed and somewhat gooft.

Articulation: 8
Star Wars figures hit the sweet spot of bing popular both with kids for playing and collectors for, uh, collecting. So articulation is important. Grievous articulates at the neck, shoulders, hips, and knees, plus a mid-chest pivot for good posability. All joints work well. Getting Grievous to stand isn't impossible, but it's a little harder than it should have been.

Accessories: 7
With some of the truly fantasic accessories we've seen in the course of the Star Wars line, Grievous comes up a bit short but is still slightly above average. He has a blaster and a blue lightsaber. His main accessory, though, is a large removable rubber cape. The cape is nicely sculpted, with lots of dramatic folding and billowing, and a symbol painted on the back. Neither capes, blasters, or lightsabers are rare sights among Star Wars toys, of course, but getting all three on one figure is unusual.

Packaging: Above Average
All the Revenge of the Sith preview figures are packaged in very cool oval-shaped bubble, with a menacing Darth Vader-above-molten-lava background. The packaging is slightly hard to open, but gone are the annoying twist-ties which have plagued Star Wars figures since the late 90s. There's also a little colour pamphlet with ads for more Star Wars toys. Overall, the packing is well above average for an action figure.

Overall score: 8
Lackluster accessories aside, this is a solid figure, which Star Wars diehards will undoubtedly need to get. I'm sure that we haven't seen the last of Grievous in action-figure form, though, so casual fans might want to wait until he comes with cooler stuff.

Availability:
Should be easy to find in the USA. As of this review, they're a common sight at both Toys R Us and Wal-Mart. They're also on Amazon.

The Simpsons: World of Springfield: Be-Sharps playset by Playmates, review by Andrew Lenahan

Series Overview:
The Simpsons: World of Springfield is the second major attempt to create a Simpsons action figure line. Running through 16 different series of figures and with many playsets, exclusives, and bonuses, it is one of the most extensive toy lines in action figure history. A major feature running throughout the line is "Intelli-tronic Voice Activation" whereby figures activate certain spoken phrases when placed atop compatible playsets. Although the line has been praised by critics and embraced by collectors, the increasing obscurity of some figure subjects and reliance on somewhat uninspired playsets has slowed consumer demand, with many pieces being deeply discounted and the line eventually being cancelled in 2004.

Playset Overview:
Intended to re-create a single scene from a single episode of The Simpsons, the Be-Sharps playset is a wooden platform in front of a battleship, where the Be-Sharps perform at a centennial celebration for the Statue of Liberty. The main feature of the playset is the figure it comes with: a disguised version of Police Chief Clancy Wiggum.

Playset Sculpt and Paint: 4
Wiggum is decently sculpted and painted, and is roughly on par with the other later Simpsons figures in terms of quality. His only major drawback is that (on our review figure anyway) his one eye pupil is placed slightly higher than the other, so when one eye is looking forward, the other looks up slightly. As for the playset, there's little to be said. There's little sculpted detail, although what is there is okay, especially the garland at the foot of the base. The rest is pretty dull, with the side details just being one big sticker. There's really no opportunity for play on this playset, as the four figures take up the whole floor when placed correctly, and there's nothing to move or to interact with.

Articulation and Features: 4
Wiggum moves at the same three places as virtually all Simpsons figures: Head, shoulders, waist. That's it. Nothing on the playset moves at all, not even those cannons. The Intelli-tronic voice feature is loud, clear, and strong, with excellent sound quality. If you have the four Be-Sharps figures, they sing, which is nice.

Accessories: 2
Wiggum has a hat (that won't easily stay on), a microphone, and a microphone stand. That's all you get for your $40, son. None of the accessories are painted at all, or even very well sculpted. I remember lots of stuff from the Be-Sharps episode that would've made great acessories: remember the box of crazy Be-Sharps mechandise that Homer had?

Packaging: Insane
Presented in a windowed cardboard box, the packaging seems innocent enough... until you try to open it! It's worse than twist-ties, folks... a Phillips-head screwdriver is required to extricate this thing from its packaging. Oh, how I wish I was just kidding. It's literally screwed in place. Were they afraid the figure would escape?

Overall score: 2
More of a diorama or figure stand than a playset, and an obscure one at that, there is very little to recommend this playset to casual or even hardcore fans. Possibly purchase this if you're desperate for a place to display your Be-Sharps, or if you're opening a Simpsons museum and must have every licensed item. With its $40 price tag and its very limited appeal, the Be-Sharps playset might serve best as a warning: a grim cautonary tale of what to watch out for when a toy line careens out of control to its doom.

Availability:
This was a Toys R Us exclusive, so don't bother looking for it anywhere else. The good news, though, is that if you do find it it'll likely be quite cheap: this once-$40 item has been selling as low as one dollar as a green-tag clearance item. At that price, I suppose, it isn't a bad deal.

We're going to Fredricksburg!

I know most of my regular readers are excited about the New Orleans trip planned for later this month, but we also have some special treats between now and then, so stay glued here every day, for ever, until the end of eternity or when I die and come back as some sort of winged tiger creature.

Anyway, Madeline and I are going to be spending the weekend in Fredricksburg, Virginia. We've been there before, including a school trip from The Harrisburg Academy when I was just a little kid, maybe about 11 or so. I remember we visited this old apothecary from colonial times, and also this great mall (I'm pretty sure it's Spotsylvania Mall, because you could walk to it from the Ramada). Ah, memories. I'll have a full report on Monday. There should be plenty of opportunities for photography and also pie.

G Gundam Mobile Fighter by Bandai Action Figure Review: Noble Gundam

From Star Wars' EV-9D9, to Hajime Sorayama's Sexy Robots artwork, to The Buggles' "I Love You, Miss Robot" and even the Andy Kauffman flop Heartbeeps, there isn't really anything new about the concept of a "female" robot. A giant Swedish female robot, dressed as a Japanese schoolgirl, who fights with a gymnastics-style twirling ribbon... well, that still has some novelty value left.

Noble Gundam, also known as Nobel Gundam, is supposed to represent Sweden in the worldwide Gundam fighting contest, though it's clear that her outfit is modelled after a Japanese schoolgirl uniform, in particular bringing to mind fellow anime star Sailor Moon. Interestingly enough, her face is not particularly feminine, instead having more of a Transformers look to it.

Action Figure Sculpt and Paint: 7.5
Though a fairly small 4.5" figure, the overall accuracy and level of detail is excellent. The neck seems to be slightly long, but I'm pretty sure this is a design choice, so as to allow better head articulation, rather than an oversight. She stands up easily, though she tends to topple when holding her ribbon accessory. On the negative side, the paint was somewhat sloppy on our reviewed figure. I try not to hold that against an otherwise-good figure too much, but I'm sure some collectors would care.

Articulation: 10
The articulation is everything you could possibly want in such a small figure. The head is ball-jointed and can swivel, There's two points of shoulder articulation, upper-arm (bicep) articulation, elbow, and ball-jointed hands. The waist turns, both hips are sperately ball-jointed, and there's two points at each knee. The ankles are articulated with ball joints as well, but forward motion is somewhat limited due to the chunky shoes and fairly think lower legs. While it's obviously an easier thing to articulate a robot figure than a human, as hiding the artivculation points isn't necessary, this figure is a fine example of doing it right. She's a perfect 10.

Accessories: 8
Japanese-based toys often feature removable hands, and Noble Gundam is no exception. She comes with a total of 5 (why 5?) including her default fists. The other three are two open hands--or possibly karate-chop hands--and one clenched right hand in to which either of the ribbons can fit. The two gymnastics ribbons or "beam ribbons" are pink and translucent, and both short and long versions (in a spiral pattern that fits around the figure) are included. There's also a replacement upper back for the figure showing her rocket thrusters out, and replacement "hair" for her berzerk mode. Finally, and perhaps most impressively, there's a little tank with a crane of some sort on it. It really looks like it should be articulated, but it isn't, although the crane pops off. All told, an impressive number of accessories, and all fairly good, but nothing with a high "wow" factor.

Packaging: +0
Standard bubble packaging on cardboard backing board. Does the job.

Overall score: 8
Wonderful articulation and solid accessories, not to mention a high wierdness factor, save this from being just another robot action figure. Recommended to fans of the series, or collectors of odd Japanese stuff.

Availability:
Should be easy to find in the USA. As of this review, K B Toys had quite a few of them. They're also on Amazon.

Gumby on the Highway in Virginia

When Madeline and I were driving in Virginia this weekend, we passed a hiker walking along the side of the road. He had a huge green backpack which stood taller than his head, and his back (with the pack) was facing toward us as we approached.

No big deal, right? Well, Madeline points out that when she first saw him, she thought it was Gumby walking on the side of the road. Not a guy in a Gumby outfit, but a real, live, seven-foot-tall Gumby. On Route 15. That girl never ceases to amaze me.

Pocket Kitten Book Review

I bought a board book today called Pocket Kitten (ISBN 0859539059), by Michael Twinn and illustrated by Pam Adams. It's very cute, and the little kitten in the story, Lucky, looks a lot like one of Madeline's cats named Tigger. I enjoyed it so much that I wrote an Amazon.com review, which I figured I'd share with all the Starblinders who read my blog. Here we go...

It's a short and simple book, with each page describing a kitten named Lucky and the things he does, such as climbing and seeing in the dark. The art is beautiful, with a perfect balance between cuteness and realism, and with enough detail to avoid being boring, yet not so much to confuse the youngest readers. The book itself is shaped like a kitten as well. Potential buyers should note that there are two editions of this available, a small "Pocket Kitten" version about the size of a Post-It note, and a larger version. This review is based on the pocket version, though I suspect the two are much the same. Pocket Kitten is a wonderful addition to the bookshelf of any child young enough to enjoy board books, or anyone of any age who appreciates cute kitten art.

Dream Journal

Another rather strange dream. In the dream, Madeline and I were planning to get married on a Sunday, and it was the Saturday night before it. The problem was, we apparently had no idea how to go about planning a wedding, and we were at the video store, trying to see if there were any tapes we could rent on the subject. I don't think there were, and I couldn't imagine how it would help us with the event being maybe 16 hours away. I guess we managed to send out invitations at least, because we had guests from all over the world, mostly my friends. Right before I woke up (alarm clock) I remember that we had found a video game called Final Fantasy IIXD in a strange red Super-Nintendo-style box. It doesn't really exist in the real world, but maybe it was supposed to be an updated version of Final Fantasy II?

I hope the ceremony went well.