Needless Things Podcast 267 – Phantom Music – The Cassette Era

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-vs8vk-b2f653

On this episode of the Needless Things Podcast your host Dave talks about the history of music in his life. This will be an ongoing series, with each installment focusing on a specific era or medium of music.

In the first part of the Phantom Music series Dave talks about the beginnings of his passion for music. Family road trips with oldies soundtracks and records of Michael Jackson and the Muppets laid the foundation for a lifelong love of music. MTV and the proliferation of cassette tapes changed not only how people listened to music, but where and when.
Listen in as Dave reflects on his first decade of being a music fan – the cassette era!
Be sure to join the Needless Things Podcast Facebook Group and get in on the conversation for this week’s episode! Let us know what you think!
Featuring “Psycho Beach Party” by The KBK

“Procrastibate” by LeSexoflex.com

Interstitial music provided by The Mystery Men?

You can follow Phantom Troublemaker on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for all the best pop culture news!

Toy Review – King Kong of Skull Island from Mezco

One of my earliest movie memories is of my mom tracking down pairs of 3D glasses for a special television broadcast of the 1933 King Kong. My guess is that this would have been around 1981, right after we moved to Georgia, but I can’t find anything about it online. The closest thing I saw is a 3D broadcast of Revenge of the Creature in 1982.

At the time this was a huge deal. Video stores and VHS rentals weren’t a thing yet and obviously it predated streaming and on demand, so everyone was sort of watching the same things and it was much easier to make something seem like an event. Our neighbor actually had sort of a mini party for people to go over there and watch.

I mostly remember waiting for King Kong to show up. If he wasn’t on screen, I was bored.

Since then I’ve seen lots of other movies about the giant ape, from the 1976 remake to King Kong vs. Godzilla to Peter Jackson’s 2005 remake. And, of course, 2017’s Kong: Skull Island. In general I like King Kong movies, but I don’t think I’d rank him in my personal top five movie monsters. He’s cool, but he’s still just a really big gorilla.

Licensing being what it is, today’s figure is not based on any of those movies. Or any movie at all.

This Mezco release is licensed through the estate of Merian C. Cooper, who created King Kong and directed and produced the 1933 film. There’s a very complicated story about how RKO got the rights to the movie Kong and cut Cooper out of the picture. Suffice it to say that this is, in my opinion, the most legit Kong license out there. You can check out the website here.

So if you’re wondering why this isn’t based on Legendary Pictures’ Kong or even the original movie Kong, it’s because Mezco went straight to the source.

I bought it because it’s a badass-looking giant ape toy. Was it worth monkeying around with? Read on and find out!

WCW Action Figures from Mattel

5/28/2019 – Updated to include Ultimate Edition Ultimate Warrior and Dusty Rhodes w/WCW ring.

5/22/2019 – This post has been updated to reflect the inclusion of Mattel’s basic WWE line and a few additions to the figure list, as well as alphabetizing the whole thing.

This post is basically just for wrestling figure nerds.

Home Again – May’s Blu-Ray Releases

Welcome to Home Again, where each and every Tuesday I’ll be running down some of the best genre releases coming to home media.

All info is from the excellent Blu-ray.com. This isn’t every genre release, just the ones I find interesting. For the full list, follow that link.

Needless Things Podcast 266 – The Joy of Joe Live from Dragon Con 2018

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-fdrkb-b219ba

Recorded LIVE at Dragon Con 2018 for the American Sci-Fi Classics Track!

Listen in as some of the contributors to The Joy of Joe – a book celebrating GI Joe fandom – share their memories of America’s movable fighting man with a capacity live audience at the greatest con around! Featured panelists include Jim Beard, James Palmer, Award-Winning Bobby Nash, Michael D. French, Andrew E.C. Gaska, and of course our own Dave West.
Be sure to join the Needless Things Podcast Facebook Group and get in on the conversation for this week’s episode! Let us know what you think!

“Procrastibate” by LeSexoflex.com

Interstitial music provided by The Mystery Men?

You can follow Phantom Troublemaker on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for all the best pop culture news!

Game of Thrones – The Final Episodes

By now we’ve all seen plenty of anger directed at the last season of Game of Thrones. I’m not into that petition bullshit, and I don’t want to spread more anger out into the internet than is already there. People are truly mad about the wrong things lately if you want my opinion. I thought it might be more fun to take a look back to the start of the season, and check out the predictions I made of who would live, and who would die. I got some pretty big ones wrong. I still don’t know what I was thinking with Varys. I’ll also provide a bit of commentary about their fates. Because I’m just not me if I’m not making comments about shit. If you want to revisit the full season 8 episode 1 review you can do so. Otherwise I’ll just give you the list of characters I called with thoughts and results below.

MomoCon 2019 – What to Do

I love MomoCon.

Most of the guests and programming aren’t necessarily geared towards my interests. The average attendee age is probably young enough to be my child. I know very few people who go, so there’s not exactly a ton of folks to hang out with.

The energy at MomoCon, however, is like nothing I’ve ever experienced.

You guys know I’m a Dragon Con guy. But that’s a whole different beast. The energy at MomoCon is vital and positive in a completely unique way. The array of gamers, cosplayers, anime fans, and genre enthusiasts of every stripe all exude this powerful force of goodwill. There’s a sense of love and hope in the air that is energizing and wonderful.

You guys – people are dancing everywhere. It’s great.

Home Again – May’s Blu-Ray Releases

Welcome to Home Again, where each and every Tuesday I’ll be running down some of the best genre releases coming to home media.

All info is from the excellent Blu-ray.com. This isn’t every genre release, just the ones I find interesting. For the full list, follow that link.

MomoCon 2019 – Who to See

MomoCon is Atlanta’s other huge convention. And it’s growing at a rapid rate. If I had to describe it in a few words I’d say it’s the Robin to Dragon Con’s Batman. It has a lot of the same traits, but it’s younger and more energetic and if I’m being honest probably a bit smarter (this is Tim Drake Robin).

Needless Things Podcast 265 – Live from Brownton Abbey

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-as9ze-b17b56

Dave talks to Mr. Beau Brown about (performance) life, (masters of) the universe, and everything (including a Target trip and spiteful toy buying)! Plus – hear about Dave’s shameful and guilty Dragon Con secret!

Check out the Atlanta Fringe Festival where Beau and Dave, along with Beau’s fellow Sci-Fi Janitor Matt Nitchie will be performing the final fifth of The Princess Bride using puppetry and live action tomfoolery!
Here’s the Facebook event – get your tickets now!
Be sure to join the Needless Things Podcast Facebook Group and get in on the conversation for this week’s episode! Let us know what you think!

“Procrastibate” by LeSexoflex.com

Interstitial music provided by The Mystery Men?

You can follow Phantom Troublemaker on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for all the best pop culture news!