Reversioning Retro

[Thunder Is Coming: with a red 'fro]
Written by GL

Everyone knows by now that the 2007 Transformers movie destroyed everything we know about traditional movie-making and rekindled our love for all things with retro classic articulation. On top of all that, that new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles CG rendered show can also be cited as contributing to this nostalgic pop culture wave. So what's next in the line-up for fans of the 'back-in-the-day' era?

Well, a good hint is that heading image shown above. Warner Bros (that has the property rights to the ThunderCats) has a script singled out, written by a fella named Paul Socopy, to be co-produced by Spring Creek Productions (the same production company that did Blood Diamonds and Analyze This). The confirmed word on the street is that Lion-O and this cat bunch will not be life-action, but in CG instead. That's good and bad, I guess.

[Mark Gordon: awesome smile]

Next up on the movie news is Voltron. Producer Mark Gordon (known for work on The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Saving Private Ryan and Grey's Anatomy) has been announced for this should-be-cool movie adaptation of massive metal lions. The script is out - written by Justin Marks.

[Joel Silver: awesome stare]

Justin Marks is also the creative mind in charge of another big favourite: He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe. The script is in the works for this one. Warner Bros and Joel Silver (who directed every Matrix movie ever made and V For Vendetta and the coming-soon Wonder Woman movie) are sitting down with action figure makers, Mattel, to discuss acquiring rights for the movie. The film is said to be live-action with a plot line that does not totally follow He-Man's original origins tale - He-Man is a soldier who stumbles upon a kingdom called Eternia, that is under siege by a bad-boy called Skeletor.

[Lorenzo Di Bonaventura: awesome last name]

Last in the hot development news is G. I. Joe in movie form. Producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura (famous for bringing Transformers to the big screen, and his the scheduled producer for Transformers 2) is teaming up with Paramount to create a script for this retro action cartoon. Action Man is rumored to make an appearance in this script. 'Really?' you say? Yea. Action Man is not cool.

Alright, super-friends, that's as far as the movie updates go on your favorite retro shows. Keep your ears to the ground and let me know if you hear anything.

Stop, Look, Go

[Rhino: you best get out the way]
Written by GL

If you never owned anything M.A.S.K., or if you don't know even a single thing about this acronym M.A.S.K., you best leave this web-page now, dig a hole for yourself somewhere in the vicinity of Subok, and bury yourself in shame. Now that those fellas are out of the way, let's continue with the show.

[M.A.S.K. : Darth Vader's cousins]

M.A.S.K. was not just any show, and the toy line manufactured to compliment the show was not just any old toy line - it was a revolution in toys. Which brings me to one of the best M.A.S.K. vehicles ever made for the purposes of childhood fun and boyish imagination. I'm talking about the very well-named Rhino.

The Rhino basically looks like a purple-carrot juice colored Peterbilt cab mack-truck, except for one simple difference - it totally rocks monkey's underpants. The Rhino was a semi-tractor that acted as the team's command center and mobile defense platform. Let's just say, it was a bad mamma-jamma.

[The Vehicles: never fear road-blocks ever again]

The Rhino appeared in the very first manufactured series of M.A.S.K. toys in 1985 - this was the series that featured most of the original characters and vehicles. The Rhino was packed with two featured characters (perhaps two of the coolest M.A.S.K. members); a Matt Trakker variant, with a non-Spectrum mask called Ultra-Flash, and Bruce Sato, the token Asian with the awesome power of Lifter (which, being Asian, he would pronounce 'lif-toh').

[Original Box: I had this baby and I let her go; shame!]

Surprisingly, Alex Sector, the on-board scientist of the Rhino, is not featured in the box but comes packed with the Boulder command center instead.

Of course, being the mobile defense center for the M.A.S.K. team, the Rhino came with enough features to be almost like a modern day Castle Greyskull on wheels (see previous post). Rhino had anti-gravity cannons quite similar to the ones used in Bruce Sato's mask. It also had a button release battering ram in front, a detachable little car that could come out of the back, a computer/control room that could perfectly fit those 3" inch figures, and a spring-loaded missile launcher that looked like it could have blown a hole through a kitten. Check out the scans below of the toy's instruction manual if you don't believe me.

[Instructions: this thing tells you how to do stuff]

The Rhino is real close to being one of the best toy vehicles ever made, from its sheer likeness to the actual cartoon representation, to its playability with the M.A.S.K. action figures, to it's simple design ingenuity. It's too bad that I was just a dumb kid who took awesome toys like this for granted, or else I would have stashed away my Rhino so well. Now I'm just dumb and take things for granted.

Off Limits

[Castle Greyskull: where everybody knows your name]
Written by GL

If you happen to be stuck in a fairly endless and wondrous world called Eternia, I recommend you steer clear of Castle Greyskull. It doesn't appear to be one of the more exhilarating tourist hot-spots of that world; it's dry and dark, there's no furniture, no wi-fi and barely any company to speak of (save the super-hot, eagle-headed Sorceress). Even the King and Queen of Eternia don't seem to want to do any form of surprise inspection of the place. But Castle Greyskull does make one heck of an awesome play-set.

[The Sorceress Of Greyskull: super hot like Stifler's mom]

Part of the original 1980s series of He-Man, Greyskull is a legendary and mythical location situated in a barren wilderness. It serves as the base of operations for the Masters of the Universe and home to The Sorceress. Its origins were unknown except for the fact that it was constructed to protect an unspecified source of power from those who would misuse it.

As a location it has a limited number of internal scenes including a war room and an armory (although the place is most commonly viewed from the outside).

The castle is surrounded by a large moat-like pit, although it is more likely to say that the castle is perched on an isolated cliff. The pit is said to be bottomless (in one episode He-Man states that it actually leads to the center of Eternia).

There are a number of magical doors inside the castle that serve as portals to various locations in Eternia, including Snake Mountain, home of the dastardly Skeletor.

[The Greyskull Computer Room: not too shaddy, needs a woman's touch]

Castle Greyskull might probably be the most radical looking playset in the universe. It could a stage prop at a Slipknot concert, or a find addition to any Bruneian rock garden. Let's not discount the fact that the set had its share of gimmicks; a tower gun, a main throne chair, a training room, an elevator, trap door, draw bridge, weapons room, even a computer prop. A computer prop? That's right, a computer room.

[Original Promo: monkey awesome]

Those of you wanting to learn more, or reminisce more, about the inner workings of this totally awesome playset can head over to X-Entertainment. There you'll find an in-depth look at your favorite, all-time, classic Castle Greyskull and it's features. Don't say I never did nothing for you:

X-Entertainment: Unlock The Secrets Of Castle Greyskull

The original playset was released in 1981 to 1982, along with the first debut wave of the toy line. It was also the only He-Man playset to be released of that line (Snake Mountain and all the others came later)

Although Castle Grayskull was made as a playset for both the 1980s and 2002 Masters of the Universe toy lines, the 1980s version was, by far, the coolest. The price was generally within reach of the parents' budget range - seeing as so many kids had one. The castle was also user-friendly, possessing many settings and functions suitable for the 5" action figures it was built to compliment, as well as being small enough to be put away at the end of a play session, unlike some other toys.

[The Playset: disposable and well-cast]

I loved this playset will all my heart; the design was unique and the mechanics of it were well thought out - the idiot toy manufacturers of today have lost all that flair the industry had in the 80s. That's probably the biggest shame of the action figure industry today. Happy sharing, super friends.

KITT Get Down

[Knight Rider Opening: da-duh, da-duh, dadauh-daduh-daduh]
Written by GL

My good friend's, Kal-El's, post really below me away. I never had the KITT and Knight Rider toys, and now I'm beginning to feel a little bit of shame. I guess you can't always have everything out on the market; and after all, I was just a penniless, ignorant child.

In any case, to compliment Kal-El's awesome post, I've embedded for all you avid 80s watchdogs the opening theme to Knight Rider to observe in your own pleasure time.

I have heard people say many, many things about this intro; such as 'it's probably the best opening theme song for any show' or 'hey, wasn't this was the sample in a Busta Rhymes song?' and stuff like that. Whatever your opinion may be, I am pretty sure that you dig this intro. And I'm also pretty sure you dig KITT. And David's hair and leather pants.

Always wear your seat belts, mun paham bisai.

Poll Results: Which Character Should Have Appeared In The 2007 Transformers Movie

Written by GL

Thanks to all those fans who voted. It seems the results are pretty clear cut: Soundwave is the top favorite of characters who should have made an appearance in this month's block-buster movie.

Perhaps it may have something to do with the fact that Soundwave was one of the original characters to appear in the very first episode of the Generation I series, that and plus the fact that there's a great, great chance that those other fellas listed on the poll may be set to appear in the future-coming Transformers sequels as well. And, we can always hope.

Keep it real, robot fans, and keep those votes coming

Ride Into The Knight

[Knight Rider soars on your TV shows in the 80’s]
Written by Kal-El

We great respect of Retro theme this blog has present it self, GL and Myself have come to an agreement that we’ll post this entry due to what it did represented us, Our memories. I think we all still remember Knight Rider, all the years they still have managed to maintain their intellectual preservation as to their very own and well known talking car, KITT or better known as the Knight Industry Two Thousand. With the 4 season shows being over all these years, the shows are still being shown all over cable networks. It’s most popular duoin the 80's Michael Knight and KITT, both are private investigators working for the Foundation of Law & Government, led by Devon Miles and assisted by two awesome mechanics specialist Bonnie and April. I bet every kid at my age that time was imagining talking with their own cars; well at least I did with my dad’s old car. Just thought it be cool to have the car talking back to you.

[KITT’s a Pontiac Trans-Am]

KITT’s sleek exterior body shell is made out of a special molecular shell bond, His a body taken from a famous 80’s sports car, a Pontiac Trans – Am. Quite often KITT gets on Michael’s nerve but who could be impress with a car that doesn’t have an attitude. KITT’s bullet proof, capable of High speed going 200mph on normal mode, then also has a special mode call Super Pursuit Mode, where aerodynamic body parts of KITT will pop up to add more driving capabilities at high speed, allowing KITT and Michael Knight to maneuver while performing a high speed chase, able to do a Ski-Mode, Eject able seats, sliding on only one side of the car and get this, The car is able to turbo boost, it jumps!! The driving of Michael Knight in the series shows was abrasive yet also defensive driving, sliding from one corner to another, even manages to nearly destroy KITT with a head on collision with another bigger car at one point. It was awesome!!

[Knight Rider actual toyline in the 80's]

I remember going to an old shop in Kampung Sumbiling in Bandar Seri Begawan (Yup, that old) as the picture shown above, “I Had this!”, I remember back in 1984 when they sold these items back before they even start producing remote controlled cars for it. If I'm not mistaken it was only sold for about B$12 back then. It comes with a Turbo boost that enables KITT to launch at an amazing kick off start. I’m sure we have also own some of the Stickers and Album set of the Knight Rider, but also Michael Knight himself. He makes an awesome collection with KITT as well. Wish I still had them all. Thanks for moving the house, that’s how I lost it all.

[Knight Rider Remote Control Car was the “IN” thing in the 80’s]

But the most amazing part of the whole Knight Rider Series is the Remote control car that they made. The remote control car even had the front red light of KITT and the front head lights will turn up when needed. So you can imagine how much fun it was playing the remote car, sneaking pass my bedtime, with the lights off in my room, playing the Knight Rider Remote car. Too bad it doesn’t talk.

[Joyride 1:18 car scale die cast of KITT]

At this time of age, what’s left of KITT is that they have made him into a Die-cast 1:18 scale car model manufactured by Joyride. This would make an excellent collection for those who fancy car models. Although I still wouldn't mind owning again the old remote controlled car like the one I used to own. I miss my KITT.

[ Stars of 1982’s Knight Rider: David Hasselhoff and KITT]

In my conclusion, I’d like this opportunity to thank and wish David Hasselhoff a Happy Birthday as it is his 55th birthday today (by coincidence) and KITT, voice by Daniel Williams (not in credits) for all the memories when I was a kid. The show totally rock, I hope there planning on making a movie out of it, with today’s new technology of magic in Movie making, I’m sure that the guys at Hollywood would be able to make an amazing comeback for KITT, after all it is the new millennium, but keep the Pontiac Trans-am and the red light on its front grill, It’s a classic.

Autobots Soldier : Ultra Magnus

[ Ultra Magnus : Mighty Fine Soldier ]
Written by Kal-El

A commander could want no finer a soldier than Ultra Magnus. Despite his incredible fighting skills, courage and unmatched talent for improvisation on the battlefield, Ultra Magnus is most comfortable when carrying out orders, and is naturally uncomfortable if the mantle of leadership should ever find itself placed upon him.

In Ultra Magnus's mind, he is a follower, not a commander, and his reluctance to change that will see to it that he expends all options before accepting the idea that he is required to lead. And when that time comes about, there is no question that he is resolute, fair and courageous, ever-ready to sacrifice himself for the greater good of his companions and mission, and unyielding in preparation for protection of those under his command.

[Robot Mode: Ultra Magnus stands tall]

Although not interested in overall command, Ultra Magnus was the City Commander for Autobot City in Transformers The Movie, and his toy also featured him in the role of City Commander (a title also held by his original opposite number, the Decepticon leader Galvatron), which indicates that he at least is willing to accept a leadership role in a smaller capacity rather than as supreme commander, a role filled by both Optimus Prime and later Rodimus Prime.

[Takes Autobots Hot-Rod and Cup for a ride]

Ultra Magnus is armed with missile launchers capable of hitting a target 30 miles away, and transforms into a car carrier able to transport his fellow Autobot troops. Ultra Magnus' toy consists of a smaller robot, identical to Optimus Prime but with a mostly white colouration, which acts as the cab of the car carrier and combines with the trailer to form the familiar Ultra Magnus as depicted in the cartoon and comics. The white "inner robot" would not appear in official fiction until the publication of the Dreamwave comics.

[Ultra Magnus : Hasbro , 1986]

Although i never had this action figure, i sure had wished i had him, biggest mistake was not to buy it when i vividly still remember seeing it in front of my eyes, back 20 years ago in the old Hua Ho in Kg. Lambak (which is now replaced by Milimewah). If only we had all the money back when we were young, and of course the attitude to keep your toys in mint condish. Teach your kids to preserve their toys, they might have a value when they grow up (Check out GL's post on Ultra Magnus being sold at Big Bad Toys).