He's back, and this time, he's out for blood!
Even though this column was on a semester break, the geek in me wasn't. And to prove it, I'm going to rattle off some of the things that I got for Christmas.
Master Replicas Luke Skywalker F/X Lightsaber
This was my big gift. These are available pretty much everywhere. I have seen them in Best Buy, Borders, Toys 'R' Us, Suncoast and GameStop, so I'm hoping maybe someone here knows what I'm talking about.
Basically, this is the closest any one of us will ever come to owning an actual working lightsaber. The hilt is made of a heavy metal, not cheap plastic like we've had to put up with for years.
The blade itself telescopes and glows extremely bright. And as you swing it, it makes those classic "whooshing" noises that we used to have to recreate with our own vocal chords.
This is not a toy by any means (and with a $100 retail price tag, I doubt many kids are getting one). This has become the must-own collectible for any Star Wars fan, casual (most of you) or completely obsessed (me).
Thundercats and Masters of the Universe DVDs
There's no better way to relive your childhood than by owning countless hours of two of the greatest '80s cartoons ever on DVD.
I have been watching the Thundercats DVDs as much as possible over the break, and I have only gotten through three full discs of the 12 that make up the two volumes of Season One.
And while I haven't started with Masters of the Universe yet, I did watch the He-Man and She-Ra Christmas special. It has raised a lot of questions about the continuity of the entire Masters of the Universe storyline, but I guess I shouldn't worry about continuity issues when I see a muscular guy with a robotic elephant head using his snout to hang the star atop the Christmas tree.
Chronicles of Narnia boxed set
Everybody was banking on "King Kong" being the big box office draw this holiday season. I knew in the back of my mind that if "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" was good, it was going to rake in A LOT of money.
And, sure enough, it has. I want to make sure I read the other books in the series before they get made into movies.
By the way, "Prince Caspian" is supposed to be the next movie, and while it's at least a few years off, I would advise reading that one before any of the others.
Fantastic Four Thing Feet
If you have been in the toy section of any store over the past six months, you've probably seen these.
In fact, right now Target should have these deeply discounted to under $5 (and maybe you can snag a pair of the matching Thing Fists, too).
And yes, they're meant for kids, but the band that wraps around the foot can even fit over my size 11 shoes. I wish they had something this cool when I was a kid!
So there you go, a small sampling of a typical geek Christmas for me, in print for the entire campus body to read.