Toys 'R' Us 2: She-Hulk

"Is there any reason we shouldn't go into Toys 'R' Us?"

Karli T.

First, this looks unexpectedly realistic.  Second, wouldn't this mask just be ridiculously large for a child?

- Sid

Toys 'R' Us 1: Shouldn't they be in gigantic blister packs?

"Aren’t you a little short for a stormtrooper?"

Princess Leia Organa, Star Wars IV: A New Hope 

In the wake of postings about my co-worker's 12-pack of original Star Wars toys, I was a bit disappointed not to find a rack of current Star Wars action figures at Toys 'R' Us.  But look at the alternative!  Did anyone else know that these were a thing?

These First Order Stormtroopers stand four feet tall, cost $149.99, have more articulation than the original 3 3/4 inch Empire Stormtrooper figures, and produce sound effects and lines from The Force Awakens if you press a button on their chest. I would loved to have owned one of these when I was ten - and I was a little tempted by them right now.*

On the other hand, it's hard to imagine storing twelve of these in a box in the attic and forgetting that you own them for 40 years.

- Sid

*  Apparently the word is out that $150 is my top limit for ridiculous SF geek toy purchasing.

"I'm in it for the money."

Luke Skywalker: Rich, powerful. Listen, if you were to rescue her, the reward would be...
Han Solo: What?
Luke Skywalker: Well, more wealth than you can imagine!
Han Solo: I don't know, I can imagine quite a bit.

Star Wars IV, A New Hope.

My coworker Damon brought in his collection of vintage 12-back Star Wars toys today, and it's definitely the original twelve, and it's obviously the vinyl cape Jawa.  Far more interestingly, and more difficult to ascertain from a closed package, the Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker figures look as though they have a two-part telescoping lightsaber rather than a one-part.*

Darth Vader and Obi-Wan toys with the two-part lightsaber are incredibly rare, and it would probably boost the value of the collection to nearly six figures, which sounds ridiculous (and probably is, considering that we're talking about children's toys made out of molded plastic sandwiched between two cents of four-colour printed cardboard and one cent's worth of styrene.

At that point, I told Damon that I was out.  I'm an interested geek with good Google™ skills, but that's it - I have no solid knowledge about these toys. It's definitely time for him to seek out someone with the resources and knowledge to accurately assess the value of his collection, and hopefully give him some guidance in selling it. There's a major collectible/antique fair of some sort here in Vancouver next month, and he'll be attending in hopes of getting further information, if not an actual buyer.

Good luck, Damon - and may the Force be with you.

- Sid

* My girlfriend Karli quite logically asked me how you ascertain whether or not it's a one or two part lightsaber without opening the packaging and destroying the MIB value of the toys.  According to the Internet, the instructions on the back of the card for extending the lightsaber are different for the one and two-part versions - which, again, leads me to think that these may be the two-part versions.

Toys in the Attic.

A co-worker named Damon came to me today with what I only describe as a challenging question. Apparently he inherited a collection of Star Wars toys from the original movie, in their original blister packs, and he was curious about their potential value.  He'd done some research online which suggested that they might be worth a substantial amount of cash, and was hoping that I might be able to help him confirm that research, and perhaps offer some advice on how to sell them.

Collecting vintage toys and action figures is one of those areas of obsessive geekhood that can completely consume someone's life - and very probably their bank accounts, in some cases.  I’ve made a few forays into the shallows, as it were, with Major Matt Mason and my Buck Rogers disintegrator pistol, but Star Wars toys are very deep water indeed.

In 1978, Kenner released twelve 3 3/4-inch Star Wars action figures in standard blister packs with a cardback that showed all twelve figures from the initial release: Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia Organa, Artoo-Detoo, Chewbacca, See-Threepio, Darth Vader, a Stormtrooper, Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi, Han Solo, a Jawa, a member of the Sand People, and the Death Squad Commander.

As time went on and more toys were released, the 12-back became a 20-back in order to include the new characters that had been introduced. Then a 21, a 31, a 32, and so on, culminating in a 92-back* in 1985. It’s generally considered that there are 111 distinct variations of the Kenner figures, ignoring minor variations in colour and so forth from different production runs.

However, some of the small variations in production can make a large difference in the value of a collectable toy. The Jawa featured in first run of figures had a vinyl cape, but Kenner felt that it made the toy feel cheap, given that it was a smaller toy than the others, and replaced it with a fabric cloak.  Due to the relative rarity of the original vinyl-caped figure, they're worth more on the market - a vinyl cape Jawa in its blister pack is generally valued at about $4,000 USD, and they have sold for as much as $18,000 USD**.

Damon's little collection is made up of the original 12-pack, including the vinyl cape Jawa, so he's obviously a bit excited about that particular sale price. However, the sad truth of any sort of collectible item is that there often a substantial difference between what a dealer will sell it for, and what they will pay you for it.

Based on online sources, if Damon's set is in reasonably good shape, it would probably be valued at between $14,000 and $18,000 USD, but that's not the same as selling them for that much.  Obviously, it would be to his advantage to bypass any sort of middleman and go directly to potential buyers, but what is the best way to do that?  eBay?  Some other form of auction?  Even eBay takes a cut, as would an auction house, but the benefit is that the transaction is protected on both ends.  How would someone go about doing a completely independent sale and feel confident that it was a safe transaction? 

But there's a more subtle question.  If we assume that the toys are worth $18,000 now, what would they be worth in another 20 years?  Toys are probably more subject to the ebb and flow of trend and fashion than most vintage items - today's treasure may well become tomorrow's trash, and as much as I'd like to think that Star Wars toys would continue to appreciate in price, there's no way of knowing that for sure.

As Damon quite accurately put it, “It’s like owning a bottle of fine wine - do I hold onto it in hopes that it becomes more valuable, or should I sell it before it turns to vinegar?”

- Sid

* In the interests of complete accuracy, there was a 93-back intended for distribution outside of the United States, which included the “Yak Face” figure from Return of the Jedi. Some sources say that the 93-back actually was made available in some American outlets - regardless, the figure is considered to be a very collectable rarity.

** Because of this, there are actually fake vinyl cape Jawas constructed from the fabric Jawa plus a cut-down version of Obi-Wan Kenobi's cloak. There are also "restoration" repro blister packs available on eBay. Caveat emptor.

Mea culpa.

I will never understand why the Internet seems to take away the basic humanity of most people, and allows — no, enables — them to say things that they’d never say to another person face to face.

- Wil Wheaton, Just A Geek

I'm sorry to say that I owe Wil Wheaton an apology.

To be fair, I think that a lot of people owe Wil Wheaton an apology, and probably a lot of them owe him a much larger apology than I do, but that in no way excuses me from offering mine.

Even before his departure from Star Trek: The Next Generation, Wil Wheaton had become somewhat of a punching bag for the fan community.  People were unimpressed by the direction that the character of Wesley Crusher had gone in, and in spite of the fact that he was only working with the material created for him by the writers, he became the focal point for the fan community's resentment regarding the situation.

When he left The Next Generation in 1994, he continued to be a target of criticism, paradoxically for his decision to leave - and probably by the same people who hated his work on the show.  At that point in time, Wheaton fell off the map for me, to be honest.  I heard various bits and pieces of news that suggested he had left the world of acting and had shifted his interest to computers, but I really didn't pay attention.

However, I've just finished reading Just A Geek, his well-written and deeply personal autobiographical description of those years following his departure from the show - his struggle to find work, his frustration, anger and disappointment at his lack of success, and the difficult process of reinventing himself as a writer, both online and in published form.

One of the things he discusses is the feelings of failure from not having an income, and having to resort to the sad irony of selling bits and pieces of personalized Star Trek memorabilia in order to pay his bills.

Unfortunately, I wrote a post in 2012 that discussed the loss of The Next Generation from television, and speculated as to the possibility of a Next Next Generation starring the various child actors - now adults - from the show, with "Wil Wheaton as the infamous Wesley Crusher" and a link to one of the less fortunate exchanges between Wesley, his mother, and Captain Picard.*

The posting then went on to hope that Wil Wheaton wasn't behind on his mortgage payments, which might well provide the impetus for just such a series.

So, Wil*, I'm very sorry - I feel that I was kicking you when you were down, or at least making fun of a time in your life when money was a serious issue for you. By way of explanation if not defense, I wasn't aware of the details of your situation, but that's no excuse for bad behaviour.

I've edited my original post so that the phrasing has nothing to do with your financial situation, and I've changed the link so that it takes readers to your scene from Nemesis that was cut from the movie - which shows you in a far more flattering light as a performer. 

And again, my sincere apologies.  There's a lot of people left to go, but at least it's a start.

 - Sid

* Which I won't quote here.

** Or Mr. Wheaton, whatever you go by with apologetic strangers.  Having a public persona tends to create a sort of artificial intimacy, but under the circumstances it may be inappropriate.

Gnomic Statements XV.

Well, at least this time he gets to drive.

- Sid

P.S. Seriously, though - a "Time Master"?  This is genre typecasting writ very large indeed.

"There has been an awakening. Have you felt it?"

The Force Awakens has reached a global box office close to 1.9 billion dollars after a month in movie theatres, and the critical response has been glowing in its praise for the seventh movie in the Star Wars series.  I've seen it twice now (a third trip may be in the offing, I'm a movie wing man for several people) and I have to say that it's a spectacular film, with flawless effects, good performances and excellent cinematography, which does its best to balance between the old and the new - and, for the most part, succeeds, without falling prey to the errors of the prequels.

(Because I'm fully aware that there are still people queuing up at the theatres for tickets to Episode 7, I'll do my best to keep my comments spoiler-free - for a given value of the term "spoiler".  I won't give away any of the big plot twists, but if you haven't seen it yet and you want a completely virgin mind when the Lucasfilm™ logo appears on the screen, stop reading now.)

Although I appreciated and liked The Force Awakens, I can't quite bring myself to say that I enjoyed it - for me, it was a somber first act from a larger story, with moments of personal emotion that outweighed the larger scenes of triumphant success.  Some questions were answered,  but many more were left unresolved, as you might well expect from the first film in a planned trilogy.*

 

To a surprising extent, the plot of The Force Awakens echoes the plot of A New Hope: a droid holds important information that everyone wants, it ends up on a desert planet in the possession of a young local who turns out to have an astonishing connection with the Force, a daring rescue is staged to release a captive from a gigantic enemy base equipped with a planet-killer weapon before they can reveal their secrets under interrogation by a helmed, black-clad villain, and said enemy base needs to be destroyed by a ridiculously small fighter squadron before it can eliminate their headquarters.  (There are a couple of other similarities that I can't go into here, see above re: spoilers.)

Regardless of these strong similarities in overall plot, The Force Awakens has a completely different tone than A New Hope. If I had to sum up the overall theme of The Force Awakens in one word, that word would be "regret".  Almost every major character is motivated by remorse in one form or another, which gives the film an unexpectedly solemn feeling. I re-watched A New Hope** before seeing The Force Awakens, and it felt completely carefree by comparison.

In addition to its more dramatic tone, The Force Awakens came across as somewhat incomplete.  There's certainly a lot of action and resolution, but it also felt very much like one-third of a trilogy, a 136 minute dramatis personae in order to provide an introduction to the players, both new and old, who will appear in the next two films.

Almost everyone that we saw in the first trilogy makes an appearance*** to a greater or lesser degree, but the new characters are the focus of the action: ace pilot Poe Dameron, ex-Stormtrooper Finn, abandoned desert waif and potential Force adept Rey, and the villainous, traitorous Kylo Ren, who is hoping to literally don the mantle of Darth Vader.

The dynamic between the new trio of protagonists isn't as defined as the one between Luke, Leia and Han in the first trilogy, and it's actually very close to just being a partner act between Finn and Rey, whose relationship could easily develop into either a friendship or a romance.

However, let's take a broader view.  If the writers really want to break new ground in this trilogy, let's not rule out the possibility of Finn and Poe building on their initial connection to create a love story - I think that science fiction cinema is long overdue for its own version of Brokeback Mountain.

- Sid

* It's a shame that George Lucas hadn't signed a three-movie deal for Star Wars before production began.  If he'd written all three scripts at once he might well have avoided some of the more egregious contradictions from A New Hope, such as the incestuous love triangle between Han, Leia and Luke, or Obi-Wan's explanation of how Luke's father was killed by Darth Vader. 

** Sigh...I watched the blu-ray edition, which contains far too many tweaks and adjustments to the original material.  I should have gone with my bootleg download of the original cut...

*** With the exception of Lando Calrissian - hopefully the 78-year old Billy Dee Williams will stay in good health until his planned cameo in the next film.

"Surprise..."

 

Now you could study Shakespeare and be quite elite
And you can charm the critics and have nothin' to eat
Just slip on a banana peel
The world's at your feet
Make 'em laugh
Make 'em laugh
Make 'em laugh

Donald O'Connor, Singin' in the Rain.

I honestly though that I'd misheard the category when it was announced that Matt Damon had won Best Actor, Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy at the 2016 Golden Globes™ for his performance in The Martian - which went on to win Best Picture, Musical or Comedy.

Wait, what?

Although my girlfriend Karli shared my confusion at this unexpected turn of events, at least she was able to shed some light on how it could have happened.  Apparently if a nominee does not expect to win, they are allowed to compete in a different category, provided that they can convince the Hollywood Foreign Press Association that they qualify in said alternative category. 

The decision not to go head-to-head with Leonardo DiCaprio and The Revenant was probably a wise one, but in all honesty, I have to say that I cannot remember Matt Damon singing even a single note in The Martian.

- Sid

Geekmas 2015: Epilogue

With the belated arrival of my Secret Santa gift this week at work, I'm finally able to wrap up* the 2015 holiday season with a look at the geek-appropriate gifts that I received.

Topping the list of seasonal gifts would have to be the trio of custom art pieces created for me by Karli, my significant other.  Karli is a talented and creative artist in her spare time, and wanted to give me something unique for our first Christmas together.  Accordingly, she purchased a well-worn copy of a 50's young adult adventure-fantasy novel entitled The Sky Pirates, and used a few select pages as canvases for suitably whimsical illustrations. 

Karli also presented me with a 75th Anniversary edition of The Hobbit in hard cover.  It's a marvelous little treasure featuring Tolkien's illustrations, along with his original wraparound dustcover design, printed for the first time to match his artwork - originally the sun and the dragon were not reproduced in red due to printing costs.  All in all, a wonderful set of presents - thanks very much, my love!

There's been a cascade effect from my friend Colin's present: Fallout 4, the latest and greatest game from Bethesda.  In order to run this state-of-the-art open-world role-playing software, it was necessary to upgrade my copy of Windows 10 to a 64-bit version, and double the RAM on my PC platform.  Fortunately, I received almost exactly the right amount of Amazon** gift cards from Karli's relatives to cover the cost of the RAM, with the balance of the money going to one of the items from my Geekmas shopping list - Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice in trade paperback.

As I've said before, I do love a good time travel story, and this Christmas my friend Chris added to my collection with The Time Traveller's Almanac, a collection of classic time travel stories. Some of them are well know favourites, like Ray Bradbury's A Sound of Thunder or Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore's Vintage Season, whereas others break new ground for me.

And my belated Secret Santa gift?  A TARDIS teapot - certainly a great addition to my collection of Doctor Who items, and it goes very nicely with the mug that Santa gave me in 2013, but it did make it obvious that Santa didn't see my request for episodes over merchandise.  Hmmm...perhaps next year I'll just send him a letter, Santa is probably still using the old school approach to gift requests.

- Sid

* No pun intended.

** To my mild surprise, the Amazon.ca third party vendor that I found offered a very competitive price on memory chips.  That being said, I'm hoping that I didn't order the wrong ones, there are an awful lot of variables in terms of speed and configuration - we'll know for sure when they arrive early next week.  I also gather that there may be some issues in terms of configuration, based on various comments on the process that I've read.  Wish me luck.

Resolution.

  

The new year is traditionally a time for resolutions, mandates for change - and hopefully improvement.  Generally I haven't bothered with this sort of thing - admittedly, I'm using the new year as an excuse to lose a little weight, but it's more based on just waiting out the dietary excesses of the holidays than anything else.

However, I have become increasingly aware of an area where I do need to improve, and I've decided to address this in one of my rare New Year's resolutions.

My problem?  I've become a lazy geek.

In years gone by I was a far more dedicated fan, although perhaps a less discerning one - it can take some time to learn how to separate the wheat from the chaff.  But for the last few years, I've been slowing down - not going out to movies as much, watching less TV,  buying fewer books, and perhaps not revisiting my existing collection to the degree that I should.

Admittedly, 2015 saw a major change in my life in the form of a new relationship and a wonderful live-in partner, and I don't think that all of my decisions to miss movies were bad ones - I'm not certain that I need to particularly regret missing Chappie, Jupiter Ascending, Tomorrowland, The Fantastic Four or Pixels.  (Particularly the last two.)  And I did manage to see Ex Machina, Fury Road, Age of Ultron, Terminator Genisys*, Ant-Man, Jurassic World, The Martian and The Force Awakens.

 

However, there's been a lot of well-received TV** programming from the last couple of years that I've skipped entirely, such as Daredevil***, Orphan Black***, Agents of Shield, Agent Carter***, Arrow, The Flash, The Man in the High Castle and Gotham - not to mention almost entirely avoiding Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead. (In my defense for those last two, I'm fairly familiar with the source material, and I think that I felt that watching TV versions would just be redundant.)  In fact, if it weren't for Doctor Who and The Big Bang Theory, I really wouldn't be watching any TV at all.

Overall, I've been relying far too much on second-hand information and other people's reviews of things rather than forming my own opinions, and spending a little bit too much time looking at YouTube™ videos and funny cat pictures instead of reading.

So it's my hope that in 2016 I'll be able to catch up on some of the opportunities that I've let slide over the last couple of years - not to mention finding the time to report as appropriate via blog postings.  Wish me luck - and a happy New Year to all!  Once again, half way out of the dark...

- Sid

* Okay, on a flight to Japan rather than a theatre.

** For the sake of simplicity, we'll consider Netflix™ to be the moral equivalent of a television broadcasting network.

*** Okay, one episode.