Titans Terrors and Toys

Adam West and Burt Ward fans, rejoice: West and Ward--along with Julie Newmar--will be reprising their respective roles as Batman, Robin and Catwoman in the upcoming animated movie, Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders animated movie. This movie will be released digitally on October 11 and on Blu-ray and DVD on November 1. Many of DC's theatrical and home video releases from this year, which include Batman v. Superman , Suicide Squad , and an animated adaptation of Batman: The Killing Joke , have tilted toward darker, more violent fare. In contrast, Return of the Caped Crusaders goes back to the lighter, campier mood of the live-action Batman series from 1966, which is a breath of fresh air for superhero fans who appreciate the more absurd and outlandish aspects of the fantasy worlds that these characters occupy. Not much is known about the plot of this movie, other than that it features the voice talents of three original '66 Batman cast members and will involve Ba...

I can't speak for what kids are collecting these days, but adult collectors of Japanese robot toys must be having the time of their lives. The higher-end Transformers collectibles of recent years have not only spawned successful lines of third party items but they also inspired revivals of other Japanese robot toy lines from the '80s, lines such as Machine Robo and Voltron. The latest reboot is Takara Tomy's Diaclone toy line, the line that produced many of the toys that Hasbro would later re-brand as Transformers toys in the United States. Click below for more information and pictures of the cool new releases from this long-dormant line of robot toys.

It may be 2016, but the '80s are still alive and well over at Netflix. Netflix's latest popular series, Stranger Things , is an eight episode sci-fi thriller that is set in the mid-80s and pays tribute to many of the sci-fi thrillers of the '80s. Fans will immediately recognize similarities in the series' aesthetics, plot devices and themes to the popular works of John Carpenter, Stephen King and Steven Spielberg from that era, although Stranger Things manages to put its own compelling spin on them so that it becomes more than just a derivative knock off of superior movies and TV shows from another decade. One aspect of Stranger Things that will stand out to people like me who grew up during the '80s is a set of geeky, Dungeons and Dragons -playing preteen characters spend the series looking for their best friend, who has been abducted by a strange, plant-like creature. I've noticed that critics and viewers specifically mention '80s movies such as E...

Even though video game graphics inch closer and closer to flawless photorealism, game developers still produce titles that faithfully follow the look and feel of 8-bit and 16-bit games from this medium's early years (e.g., Retro City Rampage , the Bit.Trip series, etc.). While I'm glad to see that the industry and its fans still appreciate older forms of video gaming, I've noticed one particular style is usually missing from most retro-themed game titles: early vector graphics, the kind that were seen in classic games from the early '80s such as Battlezone and Tempest and on the short-lived home console Vectrex . These were the first attempts by video game programmers to expand into polygon graphics, with items such as vehicles, buildings and other shapes depicted in bright, neon-colored lines against a black backdrop. Polygon-based graphics became much more detailed in the years since, but the original minimalist vector style had a particular charm to it that o...

Never underestimate the power of nostalgia, especially among horror toy collectors. For the 10th wave in its 7-inch Alien figure line, NECA is releasing three figures based on designs that originally appeared in Kenner's Aliens toy line during the '90s. The three designs are the Queen Facehugger, the Gorilla Alien, and the Mantis Alien. Click below to read more about these designs and how NECA has once again taken something old and (for the most part) make it feel brand new.