Cardboard Hobbit Feet FTW

Ladies and gentlemen, the best Halloween costume I saw of 2009. While they may not win big in the the Topical or Original categories, there is a lot of good going on here. The hobbit/right wraith height differential, the gender swap, the props (they had killer backpacks as well), and more than anything else, the FEET! That is genuine cardboard with hair glued on. This is DIY craftmanship at it's best. Awesome.

A few more photos of notable nerd costumes, after the jump...

Is it sad that I immediately recognized this as a Shy Guy and not just a spooky ghost?

Star Fleet uniforms are easy to come by, but you have to admire the dedication the accuracy displayed when it comes to hairstyles/facial hair grooming. There is no mistaking these guys for generic redshirts.

Given my unique relationship with Anakin Skywalker, seeing his doppleganger walking around in the flesh was a little terrifying, especially with little kids running around all over the place.

Q: How Can We Make Old Star Trek As Awesome As New Star Trek? A: LENS FLARES

I'm sorry, but when people stop making hilarious and insightful videos mocking the current crop of Spring Thrillrides, we will stop posting them.



So hip and edgy! And now it's guaranteed to never look dated.

Check back tomorrow for some original content, I swear.

Final Answer on the Most Controversial Nerd Debate: Trek vs. Wars!

Ok, technically I promised "no more youtube videos"... so I think I'm still holding true to that promise... besides... WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND COULD SKIP SOMETHING LIKE THIS?!?

Anyway, here's what the Galactic Empire thinks about J.J. Abram's Star Trek relaunch. And let's be honest, this is what we've all been thinking this whole time...

Shoot Some Kirk Classic Into Your Bloodstream

On this, the eve of the Star Trek reboot...why not take a moment to reflect on what Star Trek Classic was all about. It wasn't about CG effects, blood pounding action, or digitally rendered lens flares. It was about the space BETWEEN moments. You know what I'm talking about.



Quite hypnotic.

10 Things I Liked About Star Trek, and 5 Things I Didn't

I got a sneak peek of Star Trek last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. There are many things about the movie that I will praise Abrams and the cast and crew for, but I will voice a couple of my (hopefully not overly fan-boy sounding) complaints. I'm going to try and avoid any MAJOR SPOILERS but if you want to go into the movie completely without expectations (or with the expectations you have now) I guess you should read another one of our WONDERFUL articles. I should also mention that I'm not a trekie. I'm not a huge fan of TOS. I like DS9 and TNG, but I'm by no means a big fan who's going to know and or complain that Kirk has always had an issue with holding a phaser in his left hand as made abundantly clear in S1Ep8, so I won't be giving a detailed breakdown of everything they did right or wrong, just what I liked and didn't. So here we go:




1. The visuals and fx were great. Up on a big screen the fx look wonderful and the shooting is frenetic without being dizzying. For the most part, the set design, specifically the Enterprise/Starfleet ships was well done. The bridge and ship has been updated without feeling like it was only done to showcase a big budget. Much of the set felt like what the sets would have looked like if Roddenberry had created the original series with today's set design and special effects. Less redesign and more "better looking, more functional, or updated equipment and sets." The ships have a lot of work, but many other sets stay simple; things might be in the future but that doesn't mean every room has to have a giant computer and flashy cgi. Additionally, the sound was great. There is some of that old "sound in space" issue, but it's countered with a nice couple nods to the fact that in reality there isn't any sound. Overall, the sound really pulled me in, though the sound system at the theater was also excellent. Sound design over all was well done and while I could have done with a couple less over-the-top impact sfx with some of the punches and kicks, the sound worked well with the visuals making an exciting and yet not over-the-top/unbelievable environment.

2. I really appreciated the pacing of the film. That said, it does get everybody from childhood to the ship quite fast, but let's be honest, JJ wasn't out to make a movie for Trekkie know-it-alls to drool over, he gets to the action, because that's really where we get to see the characters do their thing. The film moves along with lots of action and tension, but there are a few breaths and emotional moments that give you a chance to relax.

3. The opening. Man what a sequence. They really jump right into the action and I was frankly sucked in. I didn't come into the film expecting much, it didn't look that great in the trailers I had seen. But in the first couple minutes I was hooked.


[Minor Spoiler Warning]




4. The villain. Nero, (Eric Bana) was frankly a well-conceived villain. He wasn't insane, he didn't want to control the world or become rich or powerful, and he didn't have a maniacal laugh. He's a very upset miner who took his crew and went out to kill the man that he (and frankly his whole crew probably) blamed for an enormous loss. His master plan is only hatched after 25 years of built-up anger waiting for the guy he hates to show up, and his master plot is almost entirely a plan of happenstance. I don't want to give too much away about the plot, but things culminate in him having an evil plan, originally he just sets out for revenge. He's not overly dramatic or diabolical. He's direct and to the point, he's got a mission and if you get in his way, he's just going to blow you up and move on. Sure his revenge scheme goes maybe a TAD bit far, but given the circumstances, you can really see how he got there. He's not a professional bad guy, but he's what you expect a really pissed off average guy with access to a lot of firepower might act.


[Minor Spoiler Warning]



5. The time travel involved in the film. Often (but not always) I think time travel is either convoluted or just a silly plot device, used to make a story possible. In this case, it's neither. While it does provide leeway with some of the origin stories in the film, it doesn't seem written just for the sake of allowing changes in canon. It's believable (as believable as time travel can be) and basically an accident. Nor is does it feel like a way for them to write in an unnecessary cameo. In fact, the use of it in the film is overall quite tragic, as every event that unfolds from the point of the initial travel is a diversion from what could have been (and in fact what was or may have been in TOS canon). It also traps the villain in a time where the tragedy he's experienced hasn't yet taken place, but he's most likely unable to stop it.

6. JJ and the writers had a number of nods to ST:TOS. From certain tricorder and phaser designs, to characters and random ST trivia. Captain Pike heads the Enterprise as it goes out on it's inaugural mission, a character some fans may know as the original captain of the Enterprise from the TOS pilot. Aliens you may recognize, though you'll have to look hard to find the tribble, and lots of Vulcan culture. The necessary lines are all there, and there's some nice little character background pieces, like McCoy's nickname.



7. The humor. The movie was actually pretty funny at times, but steered well clear of getting at all campy. I find that remakes have a tendency to make fun of the quirks or issues originals had, and end up making stupid groaner jokes. Kirk doesn't get his shirt torn or fight a lizard man, but there is a green skinned lady and some red shirt fun. The jokes are well timed and don't break the flow of the movie, something I was concerned about going in. Even when someone is facing a life threatening situation there's still time for a joke without ruining the moment (see the chase on Delta Vega).



8. The acting. Man I know maybe this should have come earlier, but everyone was quite good. I was expecting goofy or poorly attempted impersonations of the original actors (see: Brandon Routh in Superman). The main cast was really good, and we got to see them all as early unrefined versions of the characters that they eventually grow into. There are some just okay performances by some of the supporting cast, but the crew and Nero do a very good job.

9. The Score. Not much I'm going to say here, but the music worked really well. Obviously we weren't going to get a straight remake of the original theme, but I still got the sense that the music belonged in a Star Trek picture.

10. The make-up of and operation of Starfleet. I felt like they really tried to stay true to the TOS world of Starfleet. There's enough aliens to remind you that they're a part of the framework of earth, Starfleet, and the Federation, but not so many that you get the feeling that they wanted to go back and "correct" the lack of non-humans. Starfleet is based on Earth and it's going to have a majority human membership for that reason. It's enough like the military without being overwhelmingly bootcamp. It's really a peacekeeping force that's there to assist and protect the Federation, but TOS seems a little more rough and tumble than TNG or DS9.

Five things I didn't like:

1. Why are all the Vulcans British? Why is that? Is that supposed to make them sound smart and emotionless just like actual English people or something? It just comes off like when a film set in Germany has actors with British accents because "all European accents sound British."

2. Sulu's samurai ninja skillz. Seriously, Sulu was a great character because he was specifically not an asian stereotype. Well, have no fear, JJ Abrams is going to give him a space katana and have him karate chop around the screen, regardless of the fact that he states that he only has training in fencing (which could include kendo, but wouldn't include flying kicks). It's just blowing off an important aspect of a character to show some cool fight sequence. I know it's not a huge deal, but that's Sulu's largest portion of the movie, and they pushed him back into an asian stereotype.

3. Lens Flares. Seriously JJ Abrams there were like 400 lens flares in this movie. He makes the bridge seem like there's spotlights shooting from all of the surfaces. It starts to get distracting after a while, when a flare fills up the entire visual for a second or so as the camera moves. It's not necessary and it's added in for...some reason that I don't understand. THINGS ARE SO FUCKING BRIGHT IN THE FUTURE!

4. Transporters. I'll be honest, it's not a big deal, but I was not a fan of the way the transporter beams looked. It looked more like getting resurrected by a bunch of tiny fairies swirling around you as opposed to a matter transporter that copies all of the atoms in your body and then reassembles them at another location. Don't get me wrong, the sfx looked nice, but it didn't really feel like a transporter from the series, or what I would think of when transporting matter at all. It had a very anime-esque quality to it. More Dragonball Z than ST.

5. The crazy ass decisions that get made to move the plot along. Frankly it didn't happen very often, but there were a couple of times I raised an eyebrow, such as all of the cadets from Starfleet being sent out on ships when they hadn't finished their training. Sure I guess armies might fast track recruits in a time of war, and the main young crew members seem pretty proficient, but those were the stars. Think about how many cadet crew members were screwing up their orders because they hadn't had the final in Practical Dilithium Crystal Engine Mechanics yet. There's also a decision young Spock makes that seems, frankly, a little over the top. Ships have a brig for a reason you know. No need to throw someone into a potentially life-threatening situation just because you think they're a douche. Talk about being ruled by your emotion, there's nothing logical about that.

So those were my thoughts. I'd definitely recommend seeing the movie. I saw it for free, but knowing what I know now, I would pay to see it. And really, you'll probably have less continuity/canon issues with it than you will with Wolverine you big nerds.

Bonus: They did a prequel comic for the movie. Go check it for some nice backstory for the villain et al.

The Future is Coming: Ion Engines!

Just when you start to think that space nerds are good for nothin' besides predicting our doom, they go and do something cool like this: they invented the Ion Engine! That's right! The envy of the Romulans! The workhorse of the Empire! (what, you didn't know that TIE stood for Twin-ION-Engine?!? n00b) On April 6th, NASA switched on the ion propulsion engine of their Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Explorer (or the much cuter GOCE!) and reports that it's operating normally! The ion engine is perfect for keeping this cute little guy hanging in low orbit so it can do its science thing. We here at G'Nerd are less about the science, and more about the fiction-so I won't pretend to truly understand what's going on here-but long story short, GOCE is floating in low orbit using nothing more than solar power to keep it up there. That sucker is gliding at an impressive 20 milliNewtons of thrust-that's an acceleration of less than the width of a human hair per second squared.... wait, what? Hurm... rocket car pancake this is not. But all amazing science miracles have to start somewhere. I'm sure the first lightsaber was really just a warm swiss army knife.

Photos: Toy Fair 2009

2009 marked Geekanerd's first trip to the American International Toy Fair, held at the Javits Center in Manhattan. Toy Fair is a magical place where men and women in suits walk down endless hallways of brightly colored toys, with nary a child in sight - no one under eighteen is even allowed in the door. Hardcore.

Plenty of new toys were on display, including original painted prototypes of Mezco's upcoming line of 2-inch LittleBigPlanet figures. Good. Grief. The cuteness, it burns!

More Sackboy, plus Star Wars, Tim Burton, Simpsons, Qee, Watchmen, Umbrella Academy, and oh so much more, after the jump...


*Featuring color commentary in italics by Gnerd contributor, Sarah B....

Sackboy as an little angry cowboy. Again, this is an original painted sculpt, but it would be awesome if the vinyl figures can capture this much personality.

Sarah B: He looks mean.

Again, amazing paint job.

You ARE a PIRATE!


Plastic Sackboy key chains, including a Sackgirl. Girl Sackboy? Yeah. I don't think that one with the tongue sticking out really captures what this game is about.

You can pick which Sackboy you want on your keys. In late '09.

Lots of Hellboy stuff this year, including these figures by Mezco's Mez-itz line. I know this looks like a Web 2.0 photo shop job with the shadow and everything, but it's totally real. Nice paint job on the gun.

I'm not a fan of Count Dooku nor am I fan of the Clone Wars series in general, but this is a beautiful sculpt. Whoever lit this display should be promoted.

Ana's photo makes it look like Count Dooku is playing Don Corleone in a Godfather remake.

I have no particular affinity for Freddy Krueger, but I can safely say this piece by Gentle Giant was the best looking toy (sorry, Animaquette) I saw all day. The cartoony designs really capture the tension and energy of the scene - and bonus points for making the girl cute without going crazy with proportions, as toy makers tend to do. There's a wonderful sense of motion in this figure - from the girl's perky position ("Did I hear something?" she seems to say...), to the carefully balanced way Freddy is rearing back for the strike. And look, she's even got a little Jason plushie, and is wearing a Camp Crystal Lake t-shirt! $150? Sure, why not?

This looks scary and awful! Who would want this on their desk? I'm not buying vacation properties from a guy with this in his office, I tell you what.

A new line of Simpsons PVC toys. The even mildly observant fan will note these are all from the episode that shows how Homer and Marge got together; we've got Prom Homer, teenage Patty, streaking Barney, and middle aged-Abe. Barney is not anatomically correct, in case you can't tell, or intentionally averted your eyes.

This naked Barney really captivated me. So yellow.

These Uglydoll blind assortment figurines were also on display at Comic Con, but here they are again. I got to play with them this time, they've got a great sturdy feel, and the waist articulation is a really nice touch. I like how Wedgehead is best displayed upside down.

Ugly dolls made an appearance. naturally. They're like, we're here y'all.

A few Uglies got their own displays, for some reason, although it looks like Trunko is crashing the party. For those of you are love Ox as much as I do, please note that his description on the sign is SLIGHTLY different that the one that comes on his name tag.

OX is my favorite ugly doll.

Ice Bat busted out of the display case to take a coffee break.

He's got to limit his caffeine intake. It looks like he's dosing really high at this point. I've been there.


Oh my God! Real life Slurm! You probably want to buy this - well it's by Boston America Corp, but that website site seems to cater to retailers...but whatever, if you buy like, ten cases, I'm sure they'll negotiate.

We're now entering the Star Wars Science section, a new property by Uncle Milton toys. They've created all sorts of Star Wars-related science fair fare, including this old standard, the model Volcano. But wait- it's Obi Wan and Anakin! The volcano is Mustafar! You put a little orange dye in with that baking soda, and you're in for a seriously good time.

Why couldn't Anakin have just gotten control over himself?

Here's what I actually came to the Toy Fair to see....The Force Trainer. You may have already see video of this thing in action, but basically this toy teaches you how to move things with your mind. I'm serious. No, I'm serious. I did it. I have the Force. I'll be leaving to train as soon as I find a Jedi Master accepting students (tips@geekanerdblog.com, if you know someone).

That got levitated by Ana.

This is the official logo of Star Wars Science....but what is it? It looks a little like the Galactic Republic logo crossed with the Rebel Insignia, but with a star in the middle. Can anyone help me out?

These toys have really fantastic product design, in a distinctly Old Republic style. Apparently the Uncle Milton company designs everything, and Lucasfilm only gives approval and input. I wish I had spoken to a designer while I was there, but honestly I was a little shaken after learning I was Force sensitive.

Several toys are designed to be put together by kids so they learn about the inner workings of machines, in this case, Darth Vader's robot arm. Not this is not life sized, but about the size of a young kid's arm, perhaps the better to stick through your shirt. You can actually move the arm with controls on the shoulder side, and pick up and release objects. Excellent detail work.

The PR rep said that kids would build this themselves so as to learn about science. Did Darth Vader have to build his arm himself? Probably not because Palpatine probably had a storm trooper get him one from the store. So in conclu, kids will be more fierce than James Earl Half-arm, in a sense, if they put this together themselves.

Nightmare Before Christmas has turned out to be the little property that just won't die. This has to be the cutest rendering of Oogie Boogie I've ever seen.

This ghost appears happy to have shuffled off.

A life-sized replica of Kirk's chair, with tribble. There are buttons on the side, but they don't do anything. Could they have figured out how to mash a universal remote on there?

A guy next to us asked to sit in this chair. The Diamond rep said no, you have to buy it. The guy said, how much. The rep said 2200 dollars. The guy said, this would be a nice office chair. Then he said, but it would repel all women. The rep was like, yeah. The guy was like, this would be a magical women-repelling chair. The rep was like, but if you had enough money to buy it, you probably wouldn't have a problem with women. I was thinking, you guys are squares. But truefax, you could probably get a decently made-up trophy type chick if you had enough dinero to drop 2200 on a Star Trek captain's chair. But would she really understand you? Would she really care if you were doing fine or feeling sad, cause maybe you or Ice Bat spilled coffee on your Star Trek chair and the stain won't come out?

Excellent Umbrella Academy figures from Dark Horse that I "figure" will be flying off the shelves upon their release in May 09. The Umbrella Academy is the best new series of the last few years, and these designs by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba look absolutely perfect off the page.

Detail on Space Boy's head sculpt...

...and Krakken as well. That's a scary looking little knife.

CHUBSTER! Are Chubbys the new Mighty Muggs? I'll leave that to you, the consumer. Wait, $59.99? For serious?

All those shame-eaten donuts.

The Leia line of Chubbys...kind of funny they put her Boushh costume in there, as opposed to, oh, I don't know, WHITE DRESS AND CINNABON HAIR? Actually, having the Thermal Detonator in there is pretty awesome, so it's all good. These are by Gentle Giant via Diamond Direct, and are

Didn't need to see cutified, ovular slave Leia, didn't.

Can you stand any more of these? Look that at X-Wing Pilot...could it be...Porkins? I like to think so. Eh, I'm pretty sure it's actually Wedge. These toy designers have no sense of humor.

These are kinda cute though.

Just when I thought I would never have anything to do with Guitar Hero again, McFarlane Toys comes out with these adorable Rock Band avatar toys. Look at Izzy Sparks! His beautiful locks kind of look like a melted soft-serve. But that's okay; If the actual CG avatars looked like this and not half-baked polygonal warcrimes, I might take a break from Rock Band and get back to basics.

This photo doesn't do these sculpts justice, but I think you get the idea. These are the original models for the PVC line

These looked great in real life.

Everyone at Geekanerd loves Giant Microbes. Especially the dangerous ones. But these little guys don't look dangerous at all. They just want to make a baby, is that so wrong? They're in love!

The sperm's like I GOT A JOB TO DO. The egg's like, me? Ok.

Anthrax! Now that's what I'm talking about - dangerous! If I put this in an envelope and mailed it to someone, would I go to jail?

These microbes are really cute. The anthrax has sorry eyes.

This is just a 2-D mock-up of an upcoming keychain from Applehead factory. It's a TOFU ZOMBIE in case you can't tell, "cuted up" from his original, more terrifying toy design. I like it.

Great looking floor mat for the Watchmen movie...the first of many apparently kid-oriented pieces of Watchmen merchandise from Neca.

That Under The Hood book is without a doubt the best piece of Watchmen merchadise I've ever seen. Fantastic 60s cover design, and look how the corners are "aged" - this is genius. When I first saw it, I said aloud, "IS THIS REAL?". It's just a blank notebook inside but still - someone in the Neca design department must have some serious geek cred to come up with a toy based on such an obscure reference.

In the middle there, in plastic, are LiveStrong-style bracelets with the names of the different watchmen. For preteens? Also there's a lighter.

These lunchboxes are presumably for hipsters, and not actual grade schoolers. Because surely no responsible parent would let their child each lunch of of something adorned by the image of a hateful, reactionary, violently psychotic vigilante. And no Batman jokes, please, Rorschach is a totally different kind of crazy.

Dr. Manhattan doesn't eat lunch though, right? He looks sad here cause he can't relate to your need to eat a sandwich or taco every day at noon..

I love Qee toys, and I really love it when people imagine the anatomy of cartoon characters. Here's a cross-section of the iconic Qee Bear.

Also a detailed skeleton. Notice: no neck.

Some adorable Qee sculpts. They're available now, so go get em.

Cute eggs.

Nice looking custom Baby Qee, titled Splatter Bear. Toy2R is a great company, they had a pop-up shop in Brooklyn not to long ago...really sweet gift bags.

And because every convention at the Javits Center has to have a stormtrooper.....bang.

This storm trooper had his convention badge stuck to his back. Kind of slightly messed up the effect.

For more photos, high res versions, and more detail shots, check out our Flickr Set.