LOST: Seasons 1 thru 5 Trading Cards

On January 27, 2010, Rittenhouse Archives released their first trading card set dedicated to ABC's smash hit TV series LOST. LOST: Seasons 1 thru 5 has an 108-Card Base Set, featuring 1 card for each episode from all 5 seasons of LOST, plus lenticular LOST In Motion cards and other exciting bonus cards!

I got a box of them today from my local comic book shop (Kenmore Komics & Games). I cleaned out my comic collection when I moved recently and traded a bunch of them for the cards.

Here's a rundown on the cards available from a box of 24 packs:

108 Base Cards
25 LOST Stars ArtiFex Cards (1:6 packs)
9 LOST In Motion Lenticular Cards (1:12 packs)
6 The Oceanic Six Cards (1:24 packs)
34 Autograph Cards (1:8 packs)
4 FlashForward Cards

The autographs include:

Andrea Roth as Harper Stanhope
Titus Welliver as Man in Black
Yunjin Kim as Sun-Hwa Kwon Very Limited
Tania Raymonde as Alex Rousseau
Terry O'Quinn as John Locke
Sam Anderson as Bernard Nadler
Malcolm David Kelley as Walt Lloyd Limited
Francois Chau as Dr. Pierre Chang Limited
William Sanderson as Oldham
Andrew Divoff as Mikhail
Patrick Fischler as Phil
Sung Hi Lee as Tricia Tanaka
Tom Connolly as Young Charles Widmore
Anne Bedian as Amira
Monica Dean as Gabriela
Billy Ray Gallion as Randy Nations
Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond David Hume Limited
Eric Lange as Stuart Radzinsky
William Mapother as Ethan Rom Limited
Mark Pellegrino as Jacob
Mira Furlan as Danielle Rousseau Limited
Sonya Walger as Penny Widmore
Alan Dale as Charles Widmore
Michael Emerson as Benjamin Linus Very Limited
Jon Gries as Roger Linus Limited
Ken Leung as Miles Straume Very Limited
John Terry as Dr. Christian Shephard Limited
Evan Handler as Dave
Nestor Carbonell as Richard Alpert Limited
Michelle Rodriguez as Ana Lucia Cortez Very Limited
Doug Hutchison as Horace Goodspeed
Alice Evans as Eloise Hawking
Ian Somerhalder as Boone Carlyle Limited
Kiele Sanchez as Nikki Fernandez Limited

Here's what I got:

Box #1074
Base Set + 12 singles
ArtiFex: A9, A13, A18, A23
In Motion: L3, L4
Oceanic 6: S4
Flash Forward: all 4 of 4
Michelle Rodriguez as Ana Lucia Cortez
Sung Hi Lee as Tricia Tanaka
Billy Ray Gallion as Randy Nations

The cards look wonderful and I'm really excited about getting a Very Limited Michelle Rodriguez autograph. I can't wait for the new season to start!

Zelda Rubinstein, R.I.P.

Zelda Rubinstein, the diminutive character actress with the childlike voice who was best known as the psychic called in to rid a suburban home of demonic forces in the 1982 horror movie "Poltergeist," has died. She was 76.

Rubinstein, who also appeared as the mother figure in a high-profile mid-1980s public awareness campaign in Los Angeles aimed at stopping the spread of AIDS, died Wednesday of natural causes at Barlow Respiratory Hospital in Los Angeles, said Eric Stevens, her agent.

Rubinstein was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center about two months ago after suffering a mild heart attack, Stevens said. "She had ongoing health issues and unfortunately they finally overtook her," he said.

A medical lab technician before launching her acting career in her 40s, the 4-foot-3 Rubinstein made her film debut as one of the little people in the 1981 Chevy Chase comedy "Under the Rainbow."

Among her other credits are the movies "Frances," ”Sixteen Candles," ”Teen Witch," ”Anguish" and "Southland Tales" and the TV series "Picket Fences" on which she was a regular.

But Rubinstein made her biggest impact as Tangina in director Tobe Hooper’s "Poltergeist," co-written by Steven Spielberg, who also served as a producer.

"Do y’all mind hanging back? You’re jamming my frequencies," Rubinstein’s Tangina says as she tours the house after the young daughter has been sucked into a blinding white light in her bedroom closet and disappeared.

The role was written specifically for a little person.

"I thought it would be neat to show that someone’s size had nothing to do with her psychic powers," Spielberg told the Los Angeles Times in 1982. "Good things can come in small packages, and that’s certainly true of Zelda."

Read the full story at BostonHerald.com.

The Empire Strikes Back Virtual Sticker Generator

I read about this on the Official Star Wars Blog. It's a virtual sticker generator using the vintage Topps Empire Strikes Back stickers. I clicked the generate button until I got all of the letter outlines the same color.

The Mighty Marvel Superheroes' Cookbook (1977)

Here's some recipes from The Mighty Marvel Superheroes' Cookbook (1977). If you're really hungry, I highly recommend the Hulk's Spaghetti and Meat Balls.

(click on pictures to enlarge)

Planet Hulk On DVD and Blu-ray

From Marvel.com --

A WHOLE NEW WORLD OF HURT!


He was a monster, impossible to control, too dangerous to ignore.


So Earth’s mightiest heroes exiled him into outer space.


But now the Incredible Hulk crash lands on the distant planet Sakaar, ruled by the tyrannical Red King. Sold into slavery, Hulk becomes the planet’s mightiest gladiator—but his new masters get more than they bargained for when he forges a bond of brotherhood with his fellow fighters: crafty insectoid Miek, ruthless rock-man Korg, ex-shadow pirest Hiroim, and the noble-born rebel Elloe.


Unlike Earth, the desperate people of Sakaar believe a monster is just what they need. But will the Hulk be the one to save their world… or destroy it?

On February 2, one of Marvel's most epic sagas of all-time lands in stores on DVD and Blu-ray Disc as "Planet Hulk" makes its incredible animated debut. However, this Thursday, January 14, the gamma-irradiated excitement hits a new level when The Paley Center for Media plays host on two coasts to the exclusive first screenings of the film, along with panels featuring comic and animation talent, as well as limited edition giveaways and creator signings.

Co-sponsored by New York Comic Con and Newsarama.com in association with Marvel Animation and Lionsgate Home Entertainment, the screenings will begin at 6:30 PM local time in New York City and Los Angeles respectively with panel discussions and signings following immediately after at 8:30 PM.

World Wrestling Entertainment's Matt Striker, color commentator of Friday Night Smackdown, will moderate a panel featuring Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada, Hulk editor Mark Paniccia, President of Marvel Animation Eric Rollman, and INCREDIBLE HULK writer Greg Pak, the architect behind the original "Planet Hulk" comic book storyline.

In Los Angeles, Blair Butler, host of the Fresh Ink segment on G4's "Attack of the Show" as well as the writer and producer of the "Slasher School" animated shorts, will welcome Emmy Award-nominated and Eisner Award-winning HULK writer Jeph Loeb, "Planet Hulk" screenwriter Greg Johnson, Supervising Director Frank Paur, Supervising Producer Josh Fine and the voice of the Hulk himself, Rick D. Wasserman, to discuss the film and comics.

Fans should also keep their eyes on Newsarama.com and NewYorkComicCon.com for further announcements, exclusive clips from the upcoming film, inside interviews with the panelists and more. Also, check out Marvel.com's hub page!

My Wikipedia Band

I saw this over at Caffinated Joe and thought it would be fun. I even made an album cover!

Your Wikipedia Band

1. Go to the Wikipedia home page and click random article. That is your band’s name.
2. Click random article again; that is your album name.
3. Click random article 15 more times; those are the tracks on your album.



Band: Jock Espie
Album: Precisionist

1. Peruvian Football Federation
2. Ernst-Felix Krüder
3. Jalmar Castrén
4. Austrailian Stock Car Auto Racing
5. Longirostromeryx
6. Irish Phone Tapping Scandal (1983)
7. Totton & Eling F.C.
8. Kallocain
9. Andrzej Łapicki
10. Poestenkill (CDP), New York
11. Katuic Languages
12. Sendo P600
13. Somonauk Township, DeKalb County, Illinois
14. Mountains of the Moon
15. So Long

How cool is that last track?

Star Blazers

Star Blazers was one of my favorite cartoons when I was young. It was the American version of the Japanese anime series Space Battleship Yamato and was first broadcast in the United States in 1979.

Here's the original English intro --

Let's all sing along!

We're off to outer space
We're leaving Mother Earth
To save the human race
Our Star Blazers

Searching for a distant star
Heading off to Iscandar
Leaving all we love behind
Who knows what danger we'll find?

We must be strong and brave
Our home we've got to save
If we don't in just one year
Mother Earth will disappear

Fighting with the Gamilons
We won't stop until we've won
Then we'll return and when we arrive
The Earth will survive
With our Star Blazers

In December 2010 a live action version of the cartoon will be released in Japan. I hope it's eventually dubbed or subtitled for English audiences.

Here's the (awesome) teaser trailer --

Art Clokey, R.I.P.

From Time.com --

Animator Art Clokey, whose bendable creation Gumby became a pop culture phenomenon through decades of toys, revivals and satires, died Friday. He was 88.

Clokey, who suffered from repeated bladder infections, died in his sleep at his home in Los Osos on California's Central Coast, son Joseph told the Los Angeles Times.

Gumby grew out of a student project Clokey produced at the University of Southern California in the early 1950s called "Gumbasia."

That led to his making shorts featuring Gumby and his horse friend Pokey for the "Howdy Doody Show" and several series through the years.

He said he based Gumby's swooping head on the cowlick hairdo of his father, who died in a car accident when Clokey was nine. And Clokey's wife suggested he give Gumby the body of a gingerbread man.

Clokey said that though Gumby eventually became one of the most familiar toys of all time, he was at first resistant to roll out the bendable doll.

"I didn't allow merchandising for seven years after it was on the air," Clokey told San Luis Obispo Tribune in 2002, "because I was very idealistic, and I didn't want parents to think we were trying to exploit their children."

Clokey also created the moralizing and often satirized claymation duo "Davey and Goliath."

The Lutheran Church hired Clokey to make the "Davey and Goliath" shorts, and Clokey used the money to help bring a Gumby series back to television in the 1960s.

Eddie Murphy brought a surge in Gumby's popularity in the 1980s with his send-up of the character on "Saturday Night Live" as a cigar-smoking show business primadonna.

Clokey said he enjoyed Murphy's profane Gumby.

"Gumby can laugh at himself," Clokey told the Tribune.

Murphy's Gumby brought new toy sales and eventually led to a new syndicated series starting in 1988.

It was only then that Clokey started seeing serious financial returns on his creation.

"It took 40 years," he said.

Gone In '09

As I've done in past years, here's a partial list of famous people who left us in 2009. This list comes from Who's Alive and Who's Dead. Visit the website here. Or join the Yahoo! group here. It wasn't a very good year to be famous. We lost a lot of big stars. May they rest in peace.

Previous lists --

Gone In '06
Gone In '07
Gone In '08

January 3 - Pat Hingle, actor (Commisioner Gordon in "Batman"), 84
January 6 - Cheryl Holdridge, TV performer ("The Mickey Mouse Club"), 64
January 8 - Jon Hager, country musician (The Hager Twins), 67
January 12 - Russ Conway, actor (Fenton Hardy in "The Hardy Boys"), 95
January 13 - Patrick McGoohan, actor ("The Prisoner"), 80
January 14 - Ricardo Montalban, actor ("Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan"), 88
January 17 - Susanna Foster, actress ("Phantom of the Opera"), 84
January 18 - Bob May, actor (Robot in "Lost In Space"),69
January 20 - Dante "Gluefingers" Lavelli, NFL football player (Cleveland Browns), 85
January 27 - John Updike, novelist ("Rabbit Is Rich"), 76
January 28 - Billy Powell, rock keyboardist (Lynyrd Skynryd), 56
January 30 - Ingemar Johansson, heavyweight boxer, 76
January 31 - Clint Ritchie, actor (Clint Buchanan on "One Life to Live"), 70
February 4 - Lux Interior, punk singer (The Cramps), 60
February 6 - James Whitmore, actor ("The Shawshank Redemption"), 87
February 6 - Phil Carey, actor (Asa Buchanan on "One Life to Live"), 83
February 6 - Shirley Jean Rickert, actress ("Our Gang"), 82
February 7 - Molly Bee, country singer ("I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"), 69
February 21 - Robert Quarry, actor ("Count Yorga, Vampire"), 83
February 28 - "Uncle Al" Lewis, children's TV host (Cincinnati, OH), 84
March 3 - Sydney Chaplin, stage actor ("Funny Girl"), 82. He was the son of actor Charlie Chaplin
March 7 - Jimmy Boyd, child singer ("I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"),70
March 8 - Hank Locklin, country singer ("Please Help Me, I'm Falling"), 91
March 13 - Betsy Blair, actress ("Marty"), 85. She was actor/dancer Gene Kelly's first wife
March 14 - Millard Kaufman, screenwriter (Mister Magoo), 92
March 15 - Ron Silver, actor("Reversal of Fortune"), 62
March 18 - Natasha Richardson, actress ("The Handmaid's Tale"), 45. She was the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave and wife of actor Liam Neeson
March 24 - George Kell, major leaguer (Detroit Tigers), 86
March 25 - Dan Seals, pop singer (England Dan and John Ford Coley), 61
March 28 - Maurice Jarre, film soundtrack composer ("Dr. Zhivago"), 84
March 29 - Andy Hallett, actor (Lorne on "Angel"), 33
April 7 - Dave Arneson, invented Dungeons & Dragons, 61
April 7 - Jack Wrangler, porn actor, 62
April 12 - Marilyn Chambers, porn actress ("Behind the Green Door"), 57
April 13 - Harry Kalas, baseball announcer (Philadelphia Phillies), 73
April 22 - Ken Annakin, film director ("Swiss Family Robinson"), 94
April 25 - Beatrice Arthur, actress (Dorothy on "The Golden Girls"), 86
April 27 - Vern Gosdin, country singer ("Chiseled in Stone"), 74
May 1 - Danny Gans, Las Vegas entertainer, 52
May 2 - Jack Kemp, U.S. Congressman (R-NY) and pro football player (Buffalo Bills), 73
May 4 - Dom DeLuise, actor ("The Cannonball Run"), 75
May 6 - Donald "Ean" Evans, rock bassist (Lynyrd Skynyrd), 48
May 7 - Mickey Carroll, actor ("The Wizard of Oz"), 89
May 15 - Wayman Tisdale, NBA basketball player (Indiana Pacers) and jazz bassist, 44
May 18 - Wayne Allwine, voice actor (Mickey Mouse), 62
May 18 - Carol "Cookie" Cole, actress (Ellie on "Sanford and Son"), 64. She was the sister of Natalie Cole and the adopted daughter of Nat "King" Cole
May 20 - Lucy Gordon, actress ("Spider Man 3"), 29
May 21 - Joan Stanton, radio actress (Lois Lane on "Superman"), 94
May 28 - Mort Abrahams, film and TV producer ("The Man from U.N.C.L.E."),93
June 3 - David Carradine, actor (Caine on "Kung Fu"), 72
June 3 - Koko Taylor, blues singer ("Wang Dang Doodle"), 80
June 4 - Dorothy Taylor, actress (Laurel & Hardy pictures), 96
June 5 - Richard Jacobs, baseball executive (Cleveland Indians), 83
June 6 - Pio Sagapolutele, NFL football player (New England Patriots),39
June 10 - Dave Simons, comic artist (Spider-Man), 54
June 23 - Ed McMahon, TV announcer & pitchman ("The Tonight Show"), 86
June 25 - Farrah Fawcett, actress (Jill Munroe on "Charlie's Angels"), 62
June 25 - Michael Jackson, pop singer ("Thriller"), 50
June 27 - Gale Storm, actress (Margie Albright on "My Little Margie), 87
June 28 - Billy Mays, TV pitchman (OxiClean), 50
June 28 - Fred Travalena, comedian & impersonator, 66
July 1 - Karl Malden, actor (Detective Stone on "The Streets of San Francisco"), 97
July 1 - Mollie Sugden, actress (Mrs. Slocombe on "Are You Being Served?"), 86
July 4 - Steve McNair, NFL football player (Tennessee Titans), 36
July 6 - Robert S. MacNamara, U.S. Secretary of Defense (1961-68), 93
July 13 - Brenda Joyce, actress ("Tarzan and the Amazons"), 92
July 14 - Dallas McKennon, actor (Cincinnatus on "Daniel Boone"), 89
July 16 - Gordon Waller, pop singer (Peter and Gordon), 64
July 17 - Walter Cronkite, TV news anchor (CBS), 92
July 21 - Heinz Edelmann, artist ("Yellow Submarine"), 75
July 21 - Les Lye, actor ("You Can't Do That On Television"), 84
July 23 - "Dirty" Danny McBride, guitarist (Sha Na Na), about 64
August 1 - Corazon Aquino, Philippines president (1986-92), 76
August 6 - Willy DeVille, punk singer (Mink DeVille), 58
August 6 - John Hughes, filmmaker ("Uncle Buck"), 59
August 9 - John Quade, actor ("Every Which Way But Loose"), 71
August 11 - Eunice Kennedy Shriver, advocate for the mentally disabled, 88. She was the sister of Sen. Edward Kennedy and wife of political figure Sargent Shriver
August 12 - Ruth Ford, actress ("Across the Pacific"), 98
August 13 - Les Paul, guitarist and guitar designer, 94
August 15 - Virginia Davis, actress ("Alice's Day at Sea"), 90
August 18 - Robert Novak, political columnist/commentator ("Crossfire"), 78
August 25 - Ted Kennedy, U.S. Senator (D-MA, 1963-2009), 77
August 26 - Dominick Dunne, writer ("Vanity Fair"), 83
August 26 - Ellie Greenwich, pop songwriter ("Chapel of Love"), 68
August 28 - Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein, radio broadcaster, 36
September 8 - Army Archerd, entertainment columnist ("Variety"), 87
September 11 - Larry Gelbart, screenwriter & director ("M*A*S*H"), 81
September 14 - Henry Gibson, actor ("Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In"), 73
September 14 - Patrick Swayze, actor/dancer ("Ghost"), 57
September 16 - Mary Travers, folk singer (Peter, Paul and Mary), 72
September 17 - Dick Hoover, professional bowler, 79

September 17 - Dick Durock, actor ("Swamp Thing"), 72
September 19 - Arthur Ferrante, pianist, 88
September 27 - William Safire, political columnist (New York Times), 79
October 13 - Al Martino, crooner ("Here In My Heart"), 82
October 13 - William Wayne Justice, U.S. judge (Texas), 89
October 14 - "Captain" Lou Albano, pro wrestler (featured in a Cyndi Lauper music video), 76
October 16 - George Tuska, comic artist ("Iron Man"), 93
October 17 - Vic Mizzy, TV theme songwriter ("Addams Family"), 93
October 19 - Joseph Wiseman, actor ("Dr. No"), 91
October 22 - Soupy Sales, entertainer, 83
October 23 - Lou Jacobi, actor ("Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex"), 95
October 30 - Claude Levi-Strauss, anthropologist ("The Savage Mind"), 100
November 3 - Carl Ballantine, actor (Lester Gruber on "McHale's Navy"), 92
November 10 - David Lloyd, TV comedy writer ("The Mary Tyler Moore Show"), 75. He was the father of "Frasier" writer Christopher Lloyd and was unrelated to "Taxi" and "Back to the Future" actor Christopher Lloyd
November 15 - Ken Ober, TV host ("Remote Control"), 52
November 16 - Edward Woodward, actor (Robert McCall in "The Equalizer"), 79
November 23 - Robert Degen, songwriter ("Hokey Pokey"), 104
November 27 - Al Alberts, crooner (The Four Aces) and Philadelphia TV host, 87
November 27 - Irving "Bud" Tripp, comic book artist ("Little Lulu"), 88
December 3 - Liam Clancy, Irish folk singer (Clancy Brothers), 74
December 3 - Richard Todd, actor ("The Longest Day"), 90
December 7 - Mark Ritts, actor (Lester on "Beakman's World"), 63
December 9 - Gene Barry, actor ("Bat Masterson"), 90
December 15 - Oral Roberts, Pentecostal evangelist, 91
December 16 - Roy E. Disney, entertainment executive (The Walt Disney Co.). He was the nephew of Walt Disney
December 17 - Alaina Reed Hall, actress (Olivia on "Sesame Street"), 63
December 17 - Jennifer Jones, actress ("Love is a Many-Splendored Thing"), 90
December 17 - Dan O'Bannon, screenwriter ("Alien"), 63
December 18 - Connie Hines, actress (Carol Post on "Mister Ed"), 79
December 20 - Brittany Murphy, actress ("Clueless"), 32
December 20 - Arnold Stang, actor ("It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World"), 91
December 25 - Vic Chesnutt, singer/songwriter, 45
December 26 - Knut Haugland, explorer (Kon-Tiki), 92
December 27 - Erik Gates, rocketry expert ("Mythbusters"), 47
December 29 - Steve Williams, aka "Dr. Death", pro wrestler, 49