Saturday, January 28, 2012

Coming Soon! KISS Retro Style Action Figures!

This is cool news. I still have my Mego Gene Simmons figure from the 70s. Never had the other guys though. Hopefully I can at least get the new 8 inch figures.
Figures Toy Company to Release Retro 8 and 12 inch KISS Action Figures

Tampa, Fl- January 27, 2012 - Finally!! "You Want It You Got It" "The Hottest Band in the World" "KISS"

KISS Collectors, Rock Fans get ready. Figures Toy Company is about to introduce KISS action figures, reminiscent of the action figures first released in 1977-1978 by the Mego Toy Company. These figures will have rooted hair, cloth clothing, 16 points of articulation and for the first time will be available in 8 inch as well as a re-release of the 12 inch.


CFO Anthony Balasco states, "I never understood why 8 inch KISS action figures were not produced back in the 1970's when The Mego Toy Company had already released the 12 inch versions. Our first release will have the retro look from the 1970's, but future releases will cover all time periods in KISS's 40 year musical career from 1972 to 2012". Look for special exclusives and limited edition releases. Collectors will be able to find these at toy stores, comic shops, music stores and on-line retailers starting in March 2012.

The deal was brokered by Live Nation Merchandise, KISS's Global licensing agent.



Thursday, January 26, 2012

Robert Hegyes, R.I.P.

From ABC News --

Robert “Bobby” Hegyes, best known for playing Juan Epstein on “Welcome Back Kotter,” died in his Metuchen, N.J. home today.

He was 60.

Hegyes’ brother told New Jersey’s Star-Ledger that Hegyes, who also starred on “Cagney and Lacey,” had suffered a heart attack a few years ago and was in poor health.

Police responded to a call for assistance at his home this morning.

They found Hegyes suffering from chest pains; he was taken to a hospital in Edison, N. J., but by the time he reached the emergency room, he went into full cardiac arrest and died, a hospital spokesman told the paper.

Hegyes wrote in a note on his website that he modeled the character of the scheming half-Jewish, half-Puerto Rican Epstein on Chico Marx, noting that all the Marx Brothers were both “intellectuals” and “juvenile delinquents,” adding, “I could definitely relate.”

He continued to act after that show and “Cagney and Lacey,” appearing on “NewsRadio,” “Diagnosis Murder” and “The Drew Carey Show.”

He also appeared in the movie Bob Roberts opposite Tim Robbins, taught acting and wrote screenplays. He, along with almost all the original cast members of Welcome Back Kotter, reunited last year at the TV Land Awards to mark the show’s 35th anniversary.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Marvel: Dangerous Divas Trading Cards

These cards came out in March 2011, but I didn't get a box of them until right before Christmas. And now, close to the end of January, I've finally sorted them out. I'm kinda slow. lol

Here's the description from the Rittenhouse Archives website --

MARVEL: DANGEROUS DIVAS TRADING CARDS are coming in March 2011, with at least one color sketch card in every box. This all-new series, limited to 8,000 sequentially-numbered boxes, will feature some of the sexiest and most dominant women in the Marvel Universe!

More than 100 artists will bring their talents to Marvel: Dangerous Divas sketch cards.

Rounding out the chase cards are several exciting sets including:

• 72-Card parallel set (1:3 packs)
• 12 Women of Marvel (1:8 packs)
• 9 Sultry Seductresses (1:12 packs)
• 9 Embrace (1:24 packs)
They are nice looking cards and feature some great characters. My only problem with the set is that the backs of the cards are all puzzle-backs. I don't mind puzzle-backs, but I would have preferred one card of each character with biographical info on it.

Here's the limited SketchaFEX Sketch Card I got in my box --
Scarlet Witch by Raimundo Nonato
It's an OK sketch, but she looks kind of cross-eyed. And the bottom of the card is damaged. It looks like the artist might have taped it down and damaged it when he removed the tape.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Wonder Woman vs. KISS

WOW! I just don't know what to say about this. It's kinda cool and disturbing at the same time. Found this at Dangerous Minds. Here's what they had to say about it --

Lynda Carter’s rock and roll fantasy from her 1980 TV special Encore.

I find this an almost perfect collision of pop culture iconography that could have only existed in the era of spandex, platform shoes, disco balls and hairspray - twixt the end of the punkish 70s and the dawning of the gloriously absurd 80s.


Gone In '11

It's about time I finished putting this list together! It seems to get later and later each year. This is the 6th year I've done a "Gone In" post featuring some of the notable deaths from the previous year. This list comes from Who's Alive and Who's Dead. Visit the website here. Or join the Yahoo! group here. My posts from past years can be viewed here.
January 2 - Anne Francis, actress ("Forbidden Planet"), 80
January 2 - Pete Postlethwaite, actor ("The Usual Suspects"), 64
January 4 - Gerry Rafferty, pop musician ("Right Down the Line"), 63
January 11 - David Nelson, actor ("The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet"), 74
January 14 - Susannah York, actress ("They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"), 72
January 17 - Don Kirshner, recording artist & songwriter's manager (The Monkees), 76
January 18 - Sargent Shriver, political figure (1972 Democratic vice-presidential nominee), 95
January 21 - Tony Geiss, TV writer ("Sesame Street"), 86
January 23 - Jack LaLanne, fitness guru, 96
January 27 - Charlie Callas, comedian, 83
January 31 - John Barry, film music composer ("Goldfinger"), 77
February 4 - Tura Satana, actress ("Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!"), 76
February 6 - Gary Moore, rock guitarist (Thin Lizzie), 58
February 11 - Betty Garrett, actress (Edna Babish in "Laverne and Shirley"), 91
February 11 - Chuck Tanner, major-league manager (Pittsburgh Pirates), 82
February 12 - Kenneth Mars, actor ("Young Frankenstein"), 75
February 12 - Bridgett Rollins, model ("Playboy"), 54
February 14 - David F. Friedman, horror film producer ("Blood Feast"), 87
February 14 - John Strauss, composer ("Car 54, Where Are You?" theme), 90
February 16 - Len Lesser, actor (Uncle Leo on "Seinfeld"), 88
February 21 - Dwayne McDuffie, comic book writer (Milestone Media), 49
February 22 - Nicholas Courtney, actor (The Brigadier on "Doctor Who"), 81
February 27 - Duke Snider, major leaguer (Brooklyn Dodgers), 84
February 28 - Jane Russell, actress ("The Outlaw") and Playtex bra spokewsoman, 89
March 4 - Johnny Preston, pop singer ("Running Bear"), 71
March 6 - Jean Bartel, Miss America 1943, 87
March 8 - Mike Starr, heavy metal bassist (Alice in Chains), 44
March 11 - Hugh Martin Jr., songwriter ("Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"), 96
March 17 - Michal Gough, actor ("Batman"), 94
March 17 - Ferlin Husky, country singer ("Gone"), 85
March 18 - Warren Christopher, U.S. secretary of state (1993-97), 85
March 23 - Elizabeth Taylor, actress ("Cleopatra"), 79
March 26 - Geraldine Ferraro, U.S. vice-presidential nominee (D, 1984), 75
April 9 - Sidney Lumet, film director ("Network"), 86
April 11 - Angela Scoular, actress ("On Her Majesty's Secret Service"), poisoned (apparent suicide), 65
April 13 - Hunter Bryce, porn actress, 30
April 14 - Trevor Bannister, actor (Mr. Lucas on "Are You Being Served?"), 76
April 14 - Jon Cedar, actor (Corporal Langenscheidt on "Hogan's Heroes"), 80
April 16 - Sol Saks, TV writer ("Bewitched"), 100
April 19 - Elisabeth Sladen, actress (Sarah Jane Smith on "Doctor Who"), 63
April 20 - Madelyn Pugh Davis, TV writer ("I Love Lucy"), 90
April 17 - Michael Sarrazin, actor ("They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"), 70
April 25 - Poly Styrene, r.n. Marian Elliott-Said, punk singer (X-Ray Spex), 53
April 27 - Marian Mercer, actress (Nancy Beebe on "It's a Living"), 75
April 27 - Yvette Vickers, model (Playboy) and actress ("Attack of the 50 Foot Woman"), 82
April 29 - William Campbell, actor ("Dementia 13"), 87
April 29 - David Mason, trumpeter (The Beatles' "Penny Lane"), 85
May 2 - Osama bin Laden, militant Islamic leader, 54
May 3 - Jackie Cooper, actor (Jackie in "Our Gang"), 88
May 4 - Sada Thompson, actress (Kate Lawrence on "Family"), 83
May 5 - Dana Wynter, actress (1956 "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"), 79
May 7 - Seve Ballesteros, pro golfer, 54
May 9 - Dolores Fuller, actress ("Glen or Glenda"), 88
May 10 - Mia Amber Davis, model/actress (Road Trip), 36
May 10 - Norma Zimmer, singer (champagne lady on "The Lawrence Welk Show"), 87
May 15 - Barbara Stuart, actress ("Bachelor Party"), 81
May 16 - Edward Hardwicke, actor (Watson in "The Return of Sherlock Holmes"), 78
May 18 - Leonard Kastle, writer-director ("The Honeymoon Killers"), 82
May 19 - Harmon Killebrew, Hall of Fame baseball player (Minnesota Twins), 74
May 20 - "Macho Man" Randy Savage, pro wrestler, 58
May 21 - Bill Rechin, cartoonist ("Crock"), 80
May 22 - Suzanne Mizzi, pin-up model, 43
May 25 - Lillian Adams, actress ("Bruce Almighty"), 89
May 27 - Jeff Conaway, actor (Bobby Wheeler on "Taxi"), 60
May 30 - Clarice Taylor, actress (Grandmother Huxtable on "The Cosby Show"), 93
June 3 - James Arness, actor (Marshal Dillon on "Gunsmoke"), 88
June 3 - Jack Kevorkian, assisted suicide practicioner, 83
June 4 - Lawrence Eagleburger, U.S. secretary of state (1992-93), 80
June 4 - Lilian Jackson Braun, author ("The Cat Who"), 97
June 7 - Leonard Stern, TV writer ("Get Smart"), 88
June 8 - Alan Rubin, trumpet player (The Blues Brothers), 68
June 12 - Carl Gardner, pop vocalist (The Coasters), 83
June 12 - Laura Ziskin, film producer ("Spider-Man"), 61
June 18 - Clarence Clemons, saxophonist (Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band), 69
June 19 - Don Diamond, actor (Crazy Cat on "F Troop"), 90
June 20 - Ryan Dunn, daredevil ("Jackass"), 34
June 23 - Gene Colan, comic book artist ("Tomb of Dracula"), 84
June 23 - Peter Falk, actor (Lieutenant Columbo on "Columbo"), 83
June 23 - Fred Steiner, TV and film composer ("Perry Mason" theme), 88
June 25 - Margaret Tyzack, actress (Miss Seymour in "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles"), 79
July 7 - Dick Williams, baseball manager (Oakland A's), 82
July 8 - Betty Ford, U.S. first lady, 93
July 8 - Roberts Blossom, actor ("Home Alone"), 87
July 12 - Sherwood Schwartz, TV producer ("Gilligan's Island"), 94
July 15 - Googie Withers, actress ("Dead of Night"), 94
July 18 - Edson Stroll, actor (Virgil Edwards on "McHale's Navy"), 82
July 22 - Elliot Handler, toymaker (Mattel), 95
July 23 - Amy Winehouse, jazz/soul singer ("Rehab"), 27
July 23 - Chip Mayer, actor (Vance Duke on "The Dukes of Hazzard"), 57
July 24 - Jane White, actress (Josephine Gregory on "Amen"), 88
August 2 - William Sleator, children's author ("Interstellar Pig"), 66
August 3 - Annette Charles, actress ("Grease"), 63
August 3 - Bubba Smith, NFL football player and actor ("Police Academy"), 66
August 11 - Jani Lane, rock singer (Warrant), 47
August 22 - Nick Ashford, pop/R&B songwriter ("Ain't No Mountain High Enough"), 69
August 22 - Jerry Leiber, pop songwriter ("Kansas City"), 78
August 27 - Eve Brent, actress ("Tarzan and the Trappers"), 82
September 5 - Charles S. Dubin, TV director ("M*A*S*H"), 92
September 6 - Al Hall, TV producer ("The Bozo Show"), 82
September 8 - Mary Fickett, actress (Ruth Martin on "All My Children"), 83
September 10 - Cliff Robertson, actor ("PT 109"), 88
September 11 - Andy Whitfield, actor ("Spartacus: Blood and Sand"), 39
September 13 - Richard Hamilton, artist (Beatles' white album art), 89
September 15 - Frances Bay, actress ("Happy Gilmore"), 92
September 16 - Tom Wilson, cartoonist ("Ziggy"), 80
September 18 - Jack Adler, comic book artist (DC Comics), 93
September 19 - Mary Jane Miller, children's author ("Me and My Name"), 75
September 20 - Robert Whitaker, photographer (Beatles "butcher" album cover), 71
September 22 - Jonathan Cecil, actor (Hastings in "Agatha Christie's Poirot"), 72
September 23 - Charles Hickson, alleged UFO abductee, 80
October 1 - Jim Troesh, actor (Scotty Wilson on "Highway to Heaven") and screenwriter, 54
October 5 - Steve Jobs, computer designer (Apple), 56
October 5 - Charles Napier, actor (Rambo: First Blood Part II), 75
October 5 - Billy Naylor, actor ("Our Gang"), 95
October 8 - Al Davis, AFL and NFL football executive (Oakland Raiders), 82
October 8 - Mikey Welsh, rock bassist (Weezer), 40
October 8 - Roger Williams, pop pianist ("Born Free"), 86
October 8 - David Hess, actor ("The Last House on the Left") and songwriter ("Speedy Gonzalez"), 69
October 12 - Patricia Breslin Modell, actress (Meg Baldwin on "General Hospital"), 80
October 13 - Barbara Kent, actress ("No Man's Law"), 103
October 20 - Barry Feinstein, rock photographer (George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" cover), 80
October 20 - Muammar Gaddafi, Libyan dictator, 69
October 24 - Florence Parry Heide, children's author ("The Shrinking of Treehorn"), 92
October 25 - Wyatt Knight, actor ("Porky's"), 56
November 2 - Sid Melton, actor (Alf on "Green Acres"), 94
November 2 - Leonard Stone, actor ("Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory"), 87
November 3 - Cory Smoot, aka Flattus Maximus, heavy metal guitarist, 34
November 4 - Cynthia Myers, model (Playboy) and actress ("Beyond the Valley of the Dolls"), 61
November 5 - Andy Rooney, TV news commentator ("60 Minutes"), 92
November 6 - Margaret Field, aka Maggie Mahoney, actress ("The Man from Planet X"), 89
November 7 - Joe Frazier, pro boxer, 67
November 7 - Andrea True, porn actress and disco singer ("More, More, More"), 68
November 8 - Bil Keane, cartoonist ("Family Circus"), 89
November 14 - Lee Pockriss, songwriter ("Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini"), 87
November 19 - Gary Garcia, pop musician ("Pac-Man Fever"), 63
November 19 - John Neville, actor ("The Adventures of Baron Munchausen"), 86
November 21 - Anne McCaffrey, fantasy writer ("Dragonriders of Pern"), 85
November 25 - Judy Lewis, actress (Barbara Vining on "General Hospital"), 76
November 27 - Ken Russell, film director ("Tommy"), 84
December 1 - Bill McKinney, actor ("Deliverance"), 80
December 1 - Alan Sues, actor ("Laugh-In"), 85
December 7 - Harry Morgan, actor (Officer Bill Gannon on "Dragnet"), 96
December 7 - Jerry Robinson, comic book artist (Batman), 89
December 11 - Susan Gordon, actress ("The Five Pennies"), of cancer, 62
December 14 - Joe Simon, comic book writer (Captain America), 98
December 15 - Eduardo Barreto, comic book artist (Superman), 57
December 15 - Christopher Hitchens, writer ("Vanity Fair"), 62
December 16 - Dan Frazer, actor (Capt. Frank McNeil on "Kojak"), 90
December 17 - Kim Jong-Il, North Korean dictator (1994-2011), 69
December 18 - Vaclav Havel, Czech president (1989-2003), 75
December 21 - Hyman "Hy" Roth, illustrator (Playboy), 74
December 22 - William Duell, actor ("One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"), 88

Wednesday, January 04, 2012

Monday, January 02, 2012

Steven Tyler, Alice Cooper, Weird Al - Come Together

Really cool video! This is a lineup I didn't know I wanted to see. They should tour together, I'd see that concert.