zombie

It's no secret that Lego bricks have become the go-to medium for many geeks who want to build detailed replicas of characters, vehicles and environments from their favorite fantasy and sci-fi franchises. However, few geeks use Lego to build replicas of franchise toys that were planned by toy companies but never made it past the prototype stage. On the other hand, there's BaronSat (a.k.a. Eric Duron), who designs Lego kits for franchises that are both licensed and not licensed by Lego. For Star Wars, he has already provided instructions for Lego-scale replicas of toys that were made by Kenner during the original trilogy, toys such as the Imperial Troop Transporter , the Imperial Attack Base , and the Death Star World sets from Kenner's short-lived Micro Collection line. His latest kit is based on the unreleased part of the Death Star World: the Emperor's Throne Room from Return of the Jedi . The story behind this toy is that after Kenner released its initial wave of Mi...

None of the recent hype for Batman vs. Superman made me want to go to the movie theater, but it did convince me to finally pick up a copy of TT Games' Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham video game for the Wii U. What can I say? I was in the mood for some superhero fun, and Lego Batman 3 is vastly more fun than the irritable, bloated and grumpy BvS . As the number in the title suggests, Lego Batman 3 follows two previous games in the series. The first game was strictly a stand-alone Lego Batman game, and the second game introduced Lego Superman during the game and the rest of the Lego Justice League in its conclusion. This third entry begins with Batman and the Justice League, and the game expands from there to all sorts of characters and locations within the DC universe. So how does the third entry fare as a video game? In a nutshell, Lego Batman 3 has both too much--and not enough--Batman. Read on for my complete review. If you've been following Lego superhero games like I have...

For what may very well be the most anticipated live-action superhero crossover movie ever, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice is shaping up to be quite a disaster. Even though it will probably make boatloads of money, critics and fans alike have so far been trashing BvS for its nonsensical plot, thin characterization, and pretentious mood. While I hate to say I told you so , I didn't have much faith in this project from the get-go. When it was first announced, it looked like the Warner Bros. executives wanted to take the Batman and Superman fight from the fourth issue of Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns comic book miniseries and shoehorn it into a semi-sequel to Man of Steel . That's exactly what happened--a fragmented, under-developed idea has now blossomed into a fragmented, under-developed movie, so I'm going to pass on this one. Besides, there's only one good outcome for something called "Batman v. Superman": Batman gets to keep the Wayne fa...

Because of my video gaming geekery, I've been monitoring the recent releases of the "toys-to-life" market of video games--particularly Disney Infinity and Lego Dimensions --to see what this new format can contribute to the video gaming experience. While it looks like fun to be able to play with characters from various franchises, I'm not sure if this format provides anything so unique or original to justify purchasing a video game that requires even more purchases to get the full value out of the game. This is especially true for Lego, which already has many video games available with brick-based game play that don't require any additional components at all. However, one of the latest installments for Lego Dimensions looks extremely promising--at least for veteran gamers such as myself. It's called "Midway Arcade", and it is based on classic arcade games that were released by Midway during the '80s. According to what I've read, the Midway ...

A 725 Erector set. Between the number of licenses it has acquired over the years and its expansion into other mediums such as video games, TV shows and movies, Lego is frequently identified as the go-to construction toy for building things both simple and complex. Because of Lego's dominance, it's easy to forget the many, many other construction toys that have appeared throughout the last few decades. These toys, such as Lincoln Logs and Tinkertoys, took different approaches to the concept of creative play, proving that interlocking plastic bricks aren't the only way for kids to make something fun. This post is about my experience (and lack of experience) with one of the more sophisticated construction toys, the Erector sets. Erector sets were originally produced by the A.C. Gilbert Company and designed to emulate the tools and materials used in mechanical construction. While they may lack the name recognition of Lego, Erector sets have been providing hours of sturdy, nuts-...