This is too cool.

I'm not (usually) one to brag, but this is just too awesome not to share.

I'm the subject of a very flattering interview by UK author Jude Calvert-Toulmin.
(Jude's site has some adult-oriented bits to it, so click with awareness. The interview itself is for all audiences.)

Score!

I had to mail out some Mini-Mizer orders, so I had to brave the holiday shopper afternoon traffic. As such, I "accidentally" stopped at Toys R Us while out, on the off chance they might have stocked tomorrows items early.

They had - but the shelves were bare.

Luckily, I spotted some of the "good stuff" in Overstock, and thanks to some helpfully tall fellow customers, we all soon had goodies to buy.

Of note, I picked up

• Indiana Jones: 7620 Motorcycle Chase
• Indiana Jones: 7621 Indiana Jones and the Lost Tomb (The best of the current offerings, IMHO)
• Spongebob: 3830 Bikini Bottom Express
• Racers: 8150 and 8151 (Glow in the Dark)
  
• Star Wars: 7669 Anakin's Jedi Starfighter (Just for the hair. Had to have the hair.)
• A couple of Bionicle Sets. (8692, 8693, 8949) to get me up to the $100 mark to use my $10 off coupon. Shut up. They look cool.

I'm going to have a lot of reviewing to do in the next couple of weeks. Anything you'd like to see me talk about first?

Toys R Us 2008 Preview

I know I still owe you guys reviews of the 2008 Exo-Force and Racers sets I picked up a couple of weeks back, but I thought those of you in the US might want to know that another wave of goodies is due to hit the shelves tomorrow. Check out this screen-cap from their on-line copy of tomorrow's sale advertisement:



Those are the new Star Was, Indiana Jones, and Sponge Bob sets. I know where a chunk of my LEGO budget is getting blown tomorrow...I hope I can still find that $10 off a $100 purchase coupon they mailed me...

2008 Mars Mission sets

Toys R Us always seems to have a few new sets out for Black Friday (the shopping day after Thanksgiving in the US). By "new sets" I mean "sets slated for a 2008 release date" and "not available at the Target across the street."

This year was no exception - I counted four new kits. All of them were expansions of existing lines; two were Exo-Force, two were Mars Mission. I was tempted to pick up all four, but I was on a budget and I decided on a half-price Arkham Assylum set over the Exo-Force kits. I did bring home the Mars Missions, though.

Set 7648: MT-21 Mobile Mining Unit


This first set was $12.99 - I'd expect to see it at other retailers for $9.99 after the holidays. (TRU seems to always have an in-store 10-20% markup on the Cool/Exclusive sets compared to even on-line prices) Not too bad for 130 pieces, a couple of which were new to me.

The set consists of a Mining Unit (Labeled MT-21 on the box, but MT-51 on the sticker sheet), a mobile drill, a wee mini-bot and the obligatory alien figure with jet-pack. That jet pack must be a pain to use, as it attaches by jamming the connection rod entirely through the chest of the alien mini.

Set 7647: MX-41 Switch Fighter


The Switch Fighter cost $20.99 - at 235 parts a slightly better per-piece deal than the Mining Unit. It comes with a small alien fighter craft and a larger human vehicle. The hook is that the bigger vehicle "transforms" between Jet and Tank modes.

It's not a bad switch - the merits of using the same part for both wheels and jets can be debated - the two modes both look like they could be "primary" model for a non-transforming kit. I'm less happy with the Jet mode as the cockpit does not lock in the "extended" mode - it tends to slosh around while swooshing. It's a fairly minor quibble, though.

Here's a shot of the jet-mode...


Sadly, neither kit made me as happy as the item I found at Target the following day:

For under a buck, this little car brought a bucket of holiday cheer.

But I'm just geeky like that.

Episode 259

Read the comic here.

More geek trivia for you. No need to thank me when this one comes up in Trivial Pursuit. And it will.

I love IMDB.com - where else can you learn that the same woman who played Alice the maid in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was also the Space Marine Pvt. Vasquez in Aliens?