News/Updates 

Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous new year!

Counting down the final days of 2009, I can say this year has been quite a ride - for myself and for the hobby, toy, automotive, and entertainment worlds as well.

The biggest news in the entertainment world this year was, of course, the death of Michael Jackson. But other personalities, including Ricardo Montalban, Frank Springer (comic artist), Dom DeLuise, David Carradine, Farrah Fawcett, Patrick Swayze, Henry Gibson, Vic Mizzy, Dan O'Bannon, and Brittany Murphy, passed on as well.

Not all was sad news on the entertainment front, though: sci-fi and car enthusiasts had one of the best years ever, with Watchmen, Fast and Furious, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Star Trek, Terminator: Salvation, 9, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra, District 9, Zombieland, and Avatar all hitting theaters. Even if you hated some of them, there was such a wide range of movies that you were sure to find something to enjoy this year. TV and movie car collectors also had a pretty good year, ranging from the high-end Watchmen line from DC Direct, to the figures from TF:RotF, to Hallmark's Keepsake Ornaments (which included cars and figures from Forbidden Planet, Ghostbusters, The Simpsons, Christmas Vacation, and The Wizard of Oz).

In automotive news, the unprecedented bailout of Chrysler and GM had several repercussions. Several marques ended up on the chopping block as GM announced plans to end or sell the Hummer, Pontiac, Saab, and Saturn brands. GM also cut back in other areas, such as dropping the convertible and Z/28 options from their new Camaro (which finally hit dealers this spring after making their debut nearly two years earlier in Transformers). The bad news wasn't limited to North America: Toyota announced their first operating loss since 1938, and they, Honda, and BMW withdrew from Formula 1 racing. Not all of the news was bad, though: motorsports history was made in late November as Jimmie Johnson and his team won their fourth consecutive points championship.

The economy also produced some shake-ups in the toy world: Toys R Us acquired FAO Schwarz back in May, not even six months after the last K*B store closed. On the plus side, manufacturers have had to step up their game to remain viable and as such we saw some truly excellent work in lines such as Hasbro's Transformers (which celebrated their 25^th year in '09), NECA's Terminator 2, and Mattel's Avatar.

Hobby-wise, there were quite a few ups and downs as well. We lost Chris Louden (modeler), Mario Besana (Bburago diecasts), and Donald Kaufman (K*B Toys), but gained a celebrity guest of sorts when John Schneider created a series of customized 1/18 "post-jump" General Lees under the name "Bo's Jumpyard."

Elsewhere, Round2 continued with their releases of some classic kits (including several Dukes of Hazzard kits and semi truck kits) as well as the promise of the long-awaited Aurora '66 Batmobile reissue and an all-new 1/25 tooling of the car. Revell had some great releases both new (like their '57 Chevy "Black Widow" and Kenworth W900) and reissued (like their '64 Chevy Stepside and Rommel's Rod), while other companies stepped up with some cool kits like Aoshima's Super Pursuit Mode KITT and Moebius'Lost in Space robot.

The 1/24 scale diecast world continued to grow as well, with M2 releasing their much-anticipated Mustang Mach 1, Jada releasing their Battle Machines line (inspired by last year's Death Race), and Johnny Lightning continuing their line of some of the most acclaimed vehicles on the market. We also saw some non-diecast 1/24 offerings from other companies, including DC Direct's Watchmen Owl Ship and Hot Wheels'Battle Force 5 lineup.

For me, 2009 marked my first trip to the New York Toy Fair, where I was able to report on many of the then-upcoming products for the year. I also returned to the New York Comic-Con, where I was able to talk to PvP's Scott Kurtz (and get his thoughts on my future project of building Brent's Mini Cooper) and Neal Adams. My talk with Adams gave me the final directions I needed to complete my 1970 Batmobile, the only Batmobile I actually finished this year.

Thanks to a series of several bodywork-intensive projects in 2008 and the beginning of 2009, I needed to take a break from the filling and sanding. The upshot of this was that I had one of my best years ever as far as number of projects completed, including the Supernatural Impala, the Sharky's Machine Dodge, the Wheels of Terror Charger, the Taarzan the Wonder Car Civic CRX, the Automan Countach, the Alone in the Dark Touareg, the Dead Pool R/C Corvette, the Beverly Hillbillies truck, the 1955 The Fast and the Furious Jaguar, Dilbert's Carbicle, Charlie's Mercedes from 2½ Men, Vin Diesel's RX-7 and the Civic trio from The Fast and the Furious, Kate's Jaguar from Misfile, Val's Jaguar from V.I.P., Kurt Russell's Caddy from 3000 Miles to Graceland, Traveller, The Car, Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Skids, and Ecto-1. I also worked on a few non-vehicle 1/24 projects, including Zeke (from the webcomic Ctrl-Alt-Del), WALL·E, The Stig (from the BBC's Top Gear), and Robby the Robot. The Mediabots also gained a new member when I finished off Autobot Bypass, and a head swap finally made my McFarlane T-800 look the way he's supposed to.

Elsewhere on the site, I added several new features for both new and experienced modelers, including a downloads page, a scale model advertisement archive, a hobby safety guide, revised tipspages, and a parent's guide to modeling (with thanks to Dr. toy for her feedback on this). I signed the site up at Twitter and Facebook, so people can stay up-to-date on my current projects and get special photos from my builds and collections. I also received some new Guest Gallery entries from modelers Matt D, Jason, Mr. Monte Carlo Man, and Farmboy. Last but not least, I was able to team up with Joe Johnson of Hollywood-Diecast.com for the first ever Bandit Awards, celebrating the automotive achievements of the previous year.

There have been lots of ups and downs these last 12 months, and I'm looking forward to seeing what 2010 has in store for us all!

I've updated the photos of The Stig.

Architect Mark Burginger, witnessed a slow-down in his work load due to the slump in the housing construction market. So along with his job search he also spent time developing a construction toy for children.

Tune in on Friday, January 29th (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network and see Qubits® Toy Company pitch a new toy idea to the panel of multi-millionaires on "SHARK TANK."

Qubits®, is a dynamic new entry into the multi-million dollar construction toy industry. It is gaining popularity with school teachers, retailers and of course - children all across the USA. A simple plastic toy that can be built-up using a unique patented modular geometry. It quickly captures the imagination of children who might have visions of becoming architects, engineers, scientist or even nanotech designers.

After a year of successful sales, Mark has now landed the chance to pitch his company/invention to the ruthless investors, also known as sharks, at "Shark Tank," the popular reality show that, in these trying economic times, gives budding entrepreneurs a chance to make their dreams come true and become successful business people.

Armed with the Qubits® toy, Mark must try to convince five tough, multimillionaire tycoons to part with their own hard-earned cash and give him the funding he needs to jumpstart his business idea.

The Sharks of "Shark Tank," lifted themselves up by their bootstraps to make their own entrepreneurial dreams come true and turned their ideas into empires. The five Sharks of this dynamic panel are real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran, "infomercial" industry pioneer Kevin Harrington, technology innovator Robert Herjavec, fashion icon Daymond John and financial expert Kevin O'Leary.

The Qubits® Construction Toy can seen at www.Qubits.com

For more information on “Shark Tank,” visit http://abc.go.com/shows/shark-tank/

I found out about Robby back in the summer, when the folks at Hallmark released their list of upcoming Keepsake Ornaments. I was really hoping that he'd be in scale with the other robots in my collection, and so I kept an eye on the stores until he showed up. Although he was not the exact 1/24 scale I was hoping for, he was pretty close. Now that Christmas has passed and Hallmark stores have their 2009 inventory marked 50% off, I picked one up in my travels today. A few minor upgrades, and I now have a pretty decent Robby in my collection.

On a side note, I have to admit that I really like the light and sound gimmick here. The voice is loud and clear, the lights are nicely done, and the only "tell" is a discreet button on Robby's left side.

As a companion piece to my recently-completed Ecto-1, my parents got me the Hallmark Ectomobile Christmas ornament:



Now it looks like I may have one more car to add to the case, as Hot Wheels just released photos of their upcoming Ecto-1 diecast, scheduled for release next month as part of their 2010 First Editions series:

What is probably the last major build of 2009, the first Ectomobile is now complete! Photos and a full writeup on my construction of Polar Lights' kit is available here.

Life has been a bit busier than usual these last few weeks, so this is a bit later than last year, but the 2009 Holiday Auction is now live! I went with a set of cult classics, including the 1969 Dodge Charger from Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry, the 1958 Chevrolet Corvette from Hot Rods to Hell, the 1950 Mercury from Cobra, the Lamborghini Countach Kit Car from Rumble in the Bronx, the Cadillac Escalade from Zombieland, and the 1974 Dodge Charger from Wheels of Terror:



A full description of the cars will be posted here shortly. If you or someone you know might be interested in the set, the listing is available here.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - (December 15, 2009) - "Dr. Toy's Best Picks Children's Products 2009" awards list announced today is now available to parents, teachers and others in the online magazine, Dr. Toy's Guide www.drtoy.com.

"Dr. Toy's Best Picks Children's Products" Awards Program 2009 was developed by noted play and child development authority, Stevanne Auerbach, Ph.D. (a.k.a. Dr. Toy) as a service to consumers who desire to purchase safe, affordable, educationally oriented, stimulating new toys and products for children.

"As a childhood specialist for over 40 years," says Dr. Toy, Director of the Institute for Childhood Resources, founded in San Francisco in 1975, "I have seen the continuous, essential need for more year-round resources for consumers to identify and choose the most appropriate, safe and engaging learning and developmental products for all children."

Dr. Toy reports that in the years the innovative on-line magazine, Dr.Toy's Guide has been available "thousands of visitors daily from around the world have easily accessed information." The site was the first on-line resource to evaluate toys and children's products.

The report, "Dr. Toy's 100 Best Picks Children's Products for 2009", is being released according to Dr. Toy to "encourage parents and teachers to focus on the value of play as essential to the learning process."

She adds, "Smart play products selected from excellent companies across the U.S.A., Canada and other countries provide children with exciting new developmentally appropriate tools to help them do better in school, and also provide more constructive activities after school."

Dr. Auerbach believes "parents and grandparents need help to gain a head start locating new, diversified products that children will enjoy while increasing skills, enhance instruction and expand imagination." The products balanced among large and small companies, range from low to high tech for "hours of active, creative, educational, and stimulating fun."

"Children learn best through play," says Dr. Auerbach, "and these smart new toys and products encourage children to maximize their potentials."

"This is a good time to 'take stock' and do an inventory of what your child is playing with, what is not used and what they need next in their development." adds Dr. Toy." Dr. Toy's Guide offers excellent ideas for choosing new products for use in learning, after school play and the holidays ahead."

"Dr. Toy's Best Picks " were carefully chosen from among thousands that she has reviewed at toy fairs, catalogs, and through many other sources, and by using extensive criteria she has developed over many years. Among the criteria used are: safety, age-appropriateness, design, durability, lasting play value, cultural and ethnic diversity, good transition from home to school, educational value, learning skills, creativity, improvement in the understanding of the community and the world, good value for price, and, naturally, fun.

Dr. Toy selects special categories including: Ten Best Toys, Best Active Products, Audio/Video Tapes/CDs/DVDs, Creative Products, Educational Products, Games, Socially Responsible Products, CD-ROM's/High Tech Products.

Winning products are manufactured by new, small and large companies from around the world including: b. dazzle, bluedominoes, Better Indeed, Carson-Dellosa, CelebriDucks, Chicco, Circle Out Games, Corolle Dolls, Creativity for Kids, Discovery Post, Educational Insights, Educational Publications, Edupress, Elmer's Products, Express Yourself Baby!, Fisher-Price, FloraCraft, Flying Pig, FoxMindGames, GameWhys, Gamewright, Hallmark, Haydenburri Lane, I Can Do That! Games, Juice Box Heroes, K'NEX, KIDdesigns, Kubit2me, Leap Frog, Learning Journey, Learning Materials Workshop, Little Tikes, Master Communications, MEGA Brands, Mentor Interactive, MGA Entertainment, myWallaby, Patch Products, Plasticant-Mobilo, Playroom Entertainment, Pressman Toys, Publications International, Puzzled, RandomLine, Rock 'N Learn, Roylco, Science WizTM, ScreenLife, SepToys, Shidonni, Smith & Tinker, Smithsonian Folkways, Song Wizard Records, Sunya® Math Games, Tailten Games & Puzzles, Tame Tiger, TechnoSource, Think Fun, Uncle Skunkle, University Games, Vermont Teddy Tear, Vivid Imaginations®, Wild Republic, Your Baby Can, Zillio, Zoobies and many others.

Dr. Toy's annual report includes company customer service numbers, web site URL, age range, price, and full description of each product and more. The award-winning, on-line magazine, Dr. Toy's Guide, features full color photos of each product, links to companies to learn more, interviews with and articles by Dr. Toy, plus hundreds of currently available "Best Classic" and "Best Vacation" products. At this time over 4,000 products are included plus links direct to companies, toy stores online, toy history, "Ask Dr. Toy" feature, parent resources and much more.

Dr. Auerbach is the only Ph.D. evaluating toys and children's products with extensive training, background and over 40 years of experience evaluating, writing and speaking about toys and children's products. Dr. Auerbach is trained in education, child psychology, child development, and special education. She is a parent educator, consultant, parent and grandparent.

Obtain an easy access free copy of "Dr. Toy's Best Picks Children's Products 2009" at Dr. Toys Guide

At 10,000 articles, the Transformers Wiki (tfwiki.net) has reached an amazing milestone. Thanks to the hard work of its contributors, TFwiki.net has become the most complete and comprehensive Transformers resource on the Internet, spanning all corners of Hasbro's multiverse surrounding Optimus Prime, Megatron, and their warring robot brethren.

The Transformers Wiki began in 2006 as a very small project hosted by Wikia, and it made worldwide news on September 15, 2008, when the Transformers Wiki left Wikia for its own hosting. Since then, the Transformers Wiki has thrived beyond all expectations, exploding from 6000 legitimate content pages to its present number. Users are charmed by its accessibility, humor, and breadth of information - all without being obscured by ugly placement of advertising. From "Airazor" to "Zarak," TFwiki.net as a Transformers resource simply has no equal.

The ten thousandth article was "Ming-Li," the female racer from the Transformers Animated episode, "Velocity." The article was written by TFwiki.net user Jim Sorenson, who appropriately enough was the one who gave Ming-Li her name in the official Animated handbook, the AllSpark Almanac. She was named after his real-life wife.

Back in February, I posted photos of the Watchmen Owl Ship prototype at DC Direct's booth at the New York Comic-Con. My copy (#335/500) just arrived over the weekend, and overall it looks like very little was changed from the prototype:


A full review of the ship is availabe here.

No, not the ones from Cars...although I wouldn't be surprised if the trio of black Civics from The Fast and the Furious inspired the crew at Pixar. No, this was the earlier group of tuners causing trouble on the highway. I rebuilt my original Honda and added two more, making the full set as it appeared in the movie.