Dick Giordano
Saturday, March 27. 2010
Dick Giordano
July 20, 1932 - March 27, 2010
Dan DiNicola
Octobr 31, 1941 - March 25, 2010
Dan DiNicola
Thursday, March 25. 2010Dan DiNicola
Octobr 31, 1941 - March 25, 2010
Robert Culp
Thursday, March 25. 2010
Robert Culp
August 16, 1930 - March 24, 2010
New Product Bulletin: 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS Highway Patrol at National Motor Museum Mint
Wednesday, March 24. 2010
- 1:24 Scale
- Wide Rubber Tires
- 8 1/2 Inches Long
- Opening Hood
- Opening Doors
- Detailed Interior
- Police Paint Scheme w/ Classic Camaro Striping
- Available at www.Motormint.com
Repo Men Review
Monday, March 22. 2010
Repo Men was almost a really good movie. The general "main character sees the evil of his ways" is not new, but a good telling can easily overcome a dated plot. And it started out quite good: Jude Law was able to carry off his role with little effort, and was great to watch. Scenes such as his nearly bored recitation of procedure, his struggle to balance his job and his family, and the repossession of a musician's heart worked perfectly. Unfortunately, these scenes were replaced with a series of cartoonish over-the-top pieces and, despite a solid ending, the movie never quite recovered.
1/64 Diecasts for Sale
Saturday, March 20. 2010
It's that time once again: I am selling off a few of my non-1/24 TV & movie cars
, this time a bunch of cars from The Fast & the Furious, the Monkeemobile, the original Bluesmobile, The Back to the Future DeLorean, and Felicity Shagwell's Corvette from Austin Powers 2 (with a potential bonus Shaguar). All but the Shaguar are mint in their respective blister cards, and have been kept safely since their original purchase.
If you may be interested in any of them, the listings can all be found here
, this time a bunch of cars from The Fast & the Furious, the Monkeemobile, the original Bluesmobile, The Back to the Future DeLorean, and Felicity Shagwell's Corvette from Austin Powers 2 (with a potential bonus Shaguar). All but the Shaguar are mint in their respective blister cards, and have been kept safely since their original purchase.If you may be interested in any of them, the listings can all be found here
New Product Bulletin: New Release from Round2Models.Com
Friday, March 19. 2010
First Impressions
Thursday, March 18. 2010
My wife and I have a running gag about a certain restaurant that we won't go to. It's been around for years, always has a steady stream of customers, and generally gets good reviews. But we don't go there, simply because when we tried it out, once, nearly fifteen years ago, the food was lousy. To this day we joke about the "fish wine" that was served there.
It's not that we're generally hypercritical: as of this writing, my thirteen-year-old daily driver has over 287,000 miles on it and I have no plans to retire it (repair, yes; retire, no). Our five-year-old digital camera is at the shop again, but unless repairs are prohibitively expensive we'll have it fixed and continue to use it as long as possible. Tim Allen has a lifelong free pass for as many kids movies as he wants to make, thanks to Galaxy Quest.
The reason why we're so willing to overlook the faults of all of these things, but not the Fish Wine place, is because we had good impressions of them at the beginning. The car became "ours" after the first test drive: it performed nicely, was comfortable, and could be purchased for an excellent price. The camera was ready to use out of the box, interfaced with my computer flawlessly, and had some really cool features like an intelligent built-in macro setting, decent video capabilities, and expandability that is usually unheard of in a point-and-shoot cameras (things like a standard tripod mount, standard lens adapters, RAW file format option, etc.). And Galaxy Quest remains one of the two greatest Star Trek movies ever made.
The importance of first impressions has been drilled into us in everything from formal schooling to deodorant commercials, but it's surprising how many times we forget the concept. Take model building: it is generally delicate work that requires attention, patience, and the ability to observe and reason. Ideally, you want to work in a relaxed environment with good lighting, plenty of space, and few distractions. Yet there are still people who go into it under the worst of conditions, and as a result never pick up a kit again.
Keep this in mind if you're thinking about trying a model for the first time. If you're going shopping during the Christmas rush, you'll be crowded and hot and sweaty and never find a kit you're happy with. If you are trying to work on it while you'd rather be outside on the first warm day of spring, you'll be bored and distracted and nothing will come out right. If you buy the cheapest kit available you will get frustrated with the poor parts fit. If you choose the most expensive kit available you will get frustrated with the high number of too-delicate parts.
If, on the other hand, you find a decently-priced kit online or in a hobby store while you're killing some time, you'll have time to do some comparison shopping. Try to work on it when you have some free time, maybe during a rainy day when you didn't have anything else to do. Don't try to get it done all at once, but stop when you feel tired, bored, or hungry and come back to it later.
This holds true if you're introducing someone else to the hobby, too. You can give someone a kit as a gift, but don't be offended if they won't work on it right away. Give them time, offer to help, but don't force the issue. If they do decide to give it a try, let them work at their own pace. Don't hover over them and take over parts of the build because they're "doing it wrong." Let their skills develop naturally, and be there to offer assistance if one part or another is too difficult and they ask for help. Be sure to watch for signs of boredom or frustration, and offer to take a break and come back to the build later.
When the model is finished (either your own or a new modeler's), it will likely be imperfect. Parts may be somewhat misassembled, all four wheels may not touch the table, or the paint may have a fingerprint in it. Don't take any of these problems to mean that it is a bad effort, though! Instead, focus on the positive aspect (which is true regardless of what it looks like): it was something that was started, worked on, and is now finished. How often in your everyday life do you get to see real, tangible results for your labor? Revel in the satisfaction that something now exists that did not exist before, because you made it. Encourage new builders the same way: don't let them get bogged down in perceived faults, but commend them on the effort they put in.
If a first experience building a model is unpleasant, it's unlikely that the task will be tried again. But if the build is a relaxed, happy experience, it will be easier to work through the inevitable paint runs, glue drips, and lost parts in the future. After all, this is a hobby - have fun with it! Even if there are bad days in the future, a good first impression will make sure that you can weather them easily and not have to suffer with fish wine.
It's not that we're generally hypercritical: as of this writing, my thirteen-year-old daily driver has over 287,000 miles on it and I have no plans to retire it (repair, yes; retire, no). Our five-year-old digital camera is at the shop again, but unless repairs are prohibitively expensive we'll have it fixed and continue to use it as long as possible. Tim Allen has a lifelong free pass for as many kids movies as he wants to make, thanks to Galaxy Quest.
The reason why we're so willing to overlook the faults of all of these things, but not the Fish Wine place, is because we had good impressions of them at the beginning. The car became "ours" after the first test drive: it performed nicely, was comfortable, and could be purchased for an excellent price. The camera was ready to use out of the box, interfaced with my computer flawlessly, and had some really cool features like an intelligent built-in macro setting, decent video capabilities, and expandability that is usually unheard of in a point-and-shoot cameras (things like a standard tripod mount, standard lens adapters, RAW file format option, etc.). And Galaxy Quest remains one of the two greatest Star Trek movies ever made.
The importance of first impressions has been drilled into us in everything from formal schooling to deodorant commercials, but it's surprising how many times we forget the concept. Take model building: it is generally delicate work that requires attention, patience, and the ability to observe and reason. Ideally, you want to work in a relaxed environment with good lighting, plenty of space, and few distractions. Yet there are still people who go into it under the worst of conditions, and as a result never pick up a kit again.
Keep this in mind if you're thinking about trying a model for the first time. If you're going shopping during the Christmas rush, you'll be crowded and hot and sweaty and never find a kit you're happy with. If you are trying to work on it while you'd rather be outside on the first warm day of spring, you'll be bored and distracted and nothing will come out right. If you buy the cheapest kit available you will get frustrated with the poor parts fit. If you choose the most expensive kit available you will get frustrated with the high number of too-delicate parts.
If, on the other hand, you find a decently-priced kit online or in a hobby store while you're killing some time, you'll have time to do some comparison shopping. Try to work on it when you have some free time, maybe during a rainy day when you didn't have anything else to do. Don't try to get it done all at once, but stop when you feel tired, bored, or hungry and come back to it later.
This holds true if you're introducing someone else to the hobby, too. You can give someone a kit as a gift, but don't be offended if they won't work on it right away. Give them time, offer to help, but don't force the issue. If they do decide to give it a try, let them work at their own pace. Don't hover over them and take over parts of the build because they're "doing it wrong." Let their skills develop naturally, and be there to offer assistance if one part or another is too difficult and they ask for help. Be sure to watch for signs of boredom or frustration, and offer to take a break and come back to the build later.
When the model is finished (either your own or a new modeler's), it will likely be imperfect. Parts may be somewhat misassembled, all four wheels may not touch the table, or the paint may have a fingerprint in it. Don't take any of these problems to mean that it is a bad effort, though! Instead, focus on the positive aspect (which is true regardless of what it looks like): it was something that was started, worked on, and is now finished. How often in your everyday life do you get to see real, tangible results for your labor? Revel in the satisfaction that something now exists that did not exist before, because you made it. Encourage new builders the same way: don't let them get bogged down in perceived faults, but commend them on the effort they put in.
If a first experience building a model is unpleasant, it's unlikely that the task will be tried again. But if the build is a relaxed, happy experience, it will be easier to work through the inevitable paint runs, glue drips, and lost parts in the future. After all, this is a hobby - have fun with it! Even if there are bad days in the future, a good first impression will make sure that you can weather them easily and not have to suffer with fish wine.
New Product Bulletin: New Release from Round2Models.Com
Friday, March 12. 2010
2010 Bandit Award Winners
Sunday, March 7. 2010
WINNER: Fast & Furious
Other nominees: Crank 2: High Voltage - Taken - Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - Zombieland
Best Movie Chase/Race Scene of 2009
WINNER: Final Chase through Tunnels (Fast & Furious)
Other nominees: Corvette Stingray v. Police Hoverbike (Star Trek) - Chase through Construction Site (Taken) - MotoTerminators Chase (Terminator Salvation) - Motorcycle v. Military (X-Men Origins: Wolverine)
Best Movie Car of 2009 (Stock/Slightly Modified)
WINNER (TIE): 2010 Chevrolet Camaro (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen)
Other nominees: 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS (Fast & Furious) - 1972 Ford Gran Torino GT (Fast & Furious) - 1984 Buick Grand National (Fast & Furious) - 1969 Mercedes-Benz 280 SE Convertible (The Hangover) - 1965 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray (Star Trek) - 1963 Chevrolet C-10 (Twilight: New Moon) - 2003 Cadillac Escalade (Zombieland)
Best Movie Car of 2009 (Custom/Heavily Modified)
WINNER: 1970 Dodge Charger (Fast & Furious)
Other nominees: 1975 Cadillac Fleetwood Eldorado (Black Dynamite) - 2006 Toyota Hilux (District 9) - MotoTerminator (Terminator Salvation) - 1997 Peterbilt 379 (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) - 2009 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Concept (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen)
Best Actor in 2009
WINNER: Liam Neeson (Taken)
Other nominees: Vin Diesel (Fast & Furious) - Paul Walker (Fast & Furious) - Chris Pine (Star Trek) - Zachary Quinto (Star Trek) - Christian Bale (Terminator Salvation) - Shia LeBeouf (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) - Megan Fox (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) - Hugh Jackman (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) - Woody Harrelson (Zombieland)
Best TV Car of 2009
WINNER: 2008 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 KR (Knight Rider)
Other nominees: 2006 Toyota Prius II (Curb Your Enthusiasm) - 1965 Lincoln Continental (Entourage) - 1971 Chevrolet Chevelle (Life on Mars) - Toyota Echo (Psych) - 1967 Chevrolet Impala (Supernatural) - 1992 Ford Taurus SHO (The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien)
New Product Bulletin: New Release from Round2Models.Com
Friday, March 5. 2010
A-Team Complete Series DVD Will Be Shaped as the A-Team Van
Wednesday, March 3. 2010
From TVSquad.com. Thanks to tarzan1941 for the heads up:Did you ever want to own the 'A-Team' van but the missus wouldn't let you blow Junior's college fund on a GMC van, the fancy paint job or the ton of golden neck jewelry? This may be the closest you'll ever get.
Universal Home Entertainment will release the entire series run on DVD on June 8th, just a few days before the big screen remake from director Joe Carnahan hits the screens.
Read More...