The 21 Greatest Medicom Kubrick Figures

By Chris Cummins in Daily Lists
Tuesday, Feb. 9 2010 @ 8:05AM
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The Medicom Toy Company is based in Japan, but given their amazing output over the years you'd be forgiven if you thought that their corporate headquarters were in Awesomeville or on Shithouse Bonkers Toy Island. Medicom's most significant releases are Kubricks, terminally cute block figures that appear to be the offspring of Legos, sunshine and puppy dog smiles. Having licensed every property from Sesame Street to Planet of the Apes, the company continues to release highly collectible Kubricks that are available through your favorite comic store and online toy dealer.

The toys take their brand name from Stanley Kubrick, and the fact that there has yet to be any Kubricks based on the director's films is an example of the wonderful frustrations that they inspire. The problem with the damn things is that they often come in those irritating so-called "blind boxes," so you never really know exactly which one you are buying unless you go through the hassle of trying to rip the suckers open in the store. Another issue is that Medicom is apparently run by cruel geniuses who create chase Kubrick figures that are terrific and therefore impossible to find. Equal parts public service and dick move, this Daily List celebrates the 21 greatest Kubrick figures released thus far. You may not know these exist, but good luck living without them once you do. Be warned though, these toys tend to be as costly as they are cool.

7 Reasons We Never Stopped Watching Heroes

By Jill Pantozzi in Daily Lists, TV
Monday, Feb. 8 2010 @ 8:01AM
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"Sometimes, I think the writers of Heroes were out of coffee when they wrote a scene. 'Write anything man. We've gotta make a beans run!'" -- @cathyccaughan

"Heroes is still on? Really? Seriously?" -- @TheKimSchneider

"Oh my god. I'm literally shaking with rage at how stupid Heroes was tonight." -- @ToplessRobot

These are just a few of the anti-Heroes sentiments that can be found on Twitter each time a new episode of NBC's once acclaimed superhero show airs. It hasn't always been this way -- NBC literally handed us a comic book on TV four years ago, and nerds and critics alike rejoiced. But after that one wonderful season, Heroes has squandered all of its nerdy good will with three seasons of some of the worst writing on television, combining boredom, one-dimensional characters, and total inconsistency in new but generally unwatchable ways. And yet, no matter how much it sucks, we keep watching the damn show. Alas, much like Heroes' "mysteries," the reasons why aren't really that mysterious. Now, with the last episode of season 4 -- and possibly the series finale as well -- airing tonight, here are seven.

The 5 Coolest and 5 Stupidest Superhero Weaknesses

By Matt Wilson in Comics, Daily Lists
Friday, Feb. 5 2010 @ 7:56AM
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Today's list was suggested by Quixotico, one of the winners of the TR Daily List Suggestion Contest!

To you commenters who are already cracking your typing fingers, yeah, we know that the overwhelming majority of superheroes have more than one weakness. Most of them are human, just like you and me, and are vulnerable any number of things, from cancer to stabbings to being ironically smothered by your supposedly amorous RealDoll. So before we go any further, I'll just say this for you: "You forgot Spider-Man's greatest weakness: Bullets!" We know. We're not interested. We're talking about unusual superhero weaknesss in this list -- the ones that are actually cool, and make the heroes more interesting, or are so stupid and/or nonsensical as to at least be entertaining. So let's take a look at those superheroes who really do have some well-known greatest weaknesses -- some of which make sense, others.... not so much.

10 Incredibly Unnecessary Horror Movie Sequels

By Ethan Kaye in Daily Lists, Movies
Thursday, Feb. 4 2010 @ 8:01AM
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There's a difference between a necessary sequel and an unnecessary sequel. Ghostbusters 2 needed to happen. Same with The Dark Knight, same with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, same with The Matrix: Reloaded (although in that case, we didn't know what we were asking for). When a movie leaves the audience wanting more, we're psyched when they deliver.

 On the other hand, Leprechaun Back 2 the Hood didn't need to happen. Neither did Jason X, King Kong Lives, nor The Birds 2: Land's End. They could have been done in one, but no, someone decided to whore those sequels until every last dollar was made. So, for your enjoyment and edification, here's 10 of the least necessary sequels to horror films that were ever made.

The 10 Most Essential Cookbooks in the Nerd Kitchen

By Caleb Goellner in Daily Lists, Miscellaneous
Wednesday, Feb. 3 2010 @ 8:01AM
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The needs of the body are relatively simple, but the most delicious caveat for sustaining life is probably food. Air, water and shelter just don't hit the spot quite the same way. But just because it's essential doesn't mean it has to be boring. Why eat the same thing that people from this planet/reality/timeline indulge in?

Nerds might as well spice up their life with interesting edibles found throughout their favorite fictional universes. Fortunately, publishers have been willing to feed nerdom's need for the grub that makes so many made up characters' lives worth living -- and make a quick buck off desperate, hungry nerds who are willing to eat just about anything, as long as it has a silly name based on their beloved nerd property. It's true that not every recipe can be replicated with existing Earth ingredients, technology or even magic, but approximations can suspend even the stomach's disbelief. Take a look at the ten cookbooks that can help sustain nerds of every skill level, and potentially even give them +1 cooking in the kitchen.

Lost's 5 Greatest Season Openings and 5 Wildest Ending Cliffhangers (So Far)

By Kevin Guhl in Daily Lists, Toys
Tuesday, Feb. 2 2010 @ 8:15AM
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The final season of Lost begins tonight. Will all the mysteries raised during the hit ABC show's run be answered? Probably not. Will we even like the answers we get? That's even less likely. But we'll be watching every minute of every episode, because Lost's wonderful, frustrating storytelling has had us hooked from the first polar bear.

A big part of that storytelling is that Lost ends every season with a cliffhanger so maddeningly suspenseful that fans both love the writers and want to slay them. But just as importantly, after leaving viewers hanging for the better part of a year, the writers of Lost know how to top themselves, and create opening scenes for each new season with twists no one sees coming, and which set up Lost's story in a whole new way.

Every season opening and closing of Lost has been top notch, but some have been more effective than others. As we prepare for the last season to begin tonight, we're going to flashback and rank all of Lost's season cliffhangers and intros... so far. We have a hunch tonight's beginning -- not to mention this final season's finale -- will be pretty darned good too.
Tags: Lost

10 Great Nerd Toys for Developing Young Nerd Minds

By Teague Bohlen in Daily Lists, Toys
Monday, Feb. 1 2010 @ 8:03AM
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Today's list was suggested by Gruntforglory, one of the winners of the TR Daily List Suggestion Contest!

With apologies to Whitney Houston, children aren't out future -- nerd children are our future: teach them well, and just get out of the way. But how to ensure that a child proceeds down the righteous path of the geek? Like any complex process, it starts early -- with the toys.

There are some obvious candidates in this area. The tried and true: Star Wars action figures and vehicles, anything Masters of the Universe, Transformers and G.I. Joe, Barbie DC heroines, or whatever the modern equivalent of the D&D Basic Set might be this month. But almost all of those are for kids aged 5 and older. If you want to make a true nerd, you've got to start earlier than that -- and any parent interested in their child's nerd potential should pay serious attention. Here, then, are some very good ways to begin investing in any child's future nerd quotient as soon as they pop out of the womb.

The 5 Best and Worst Straight-to-DVD Comic Book Movies

By T.J. Dietsch in Cartoons, Comics, DVDs, Daily Lists
Friday, Jan. 29 2010 @ 8:07AM
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Just like we live in a golden age of comic book movie, we live in a golden age of straight-to-DVD comic book movies. Sure, they're not all stupendous, but live-action films like Iron Man and The Dark Knight should be enough to convince you that theater-going comic fans have it better than ever before. Likewise, comic fans that like to stay home are equally blessed, because Marvel, DC, and even Dark Horse are making animated features starring their best superheroes, and, for the most part, doing them well. Sure, everyone has their own favorites that everyone else hates, but we've learned to take the good with the bad when it comes to adaptations of our beloved characters into moving pictures.

Unfortunately, for every terrible live-action comic book movie that manages to get to theaters, there at are least three animated DVD feature movies that seem like they were thrown together by a group of writers with the vaguest of super hero magnetic poetry kits, and they need pointing out as well. Here's a list of the five best and worst to ever cross our home entertainment thresholds.

The 9 Weirdest Collectible Card Game Inspirations Ever

By Adrian Beiting in Daily Lists, Miscellaneous
Thursday, Jan. 28 2010 @ 8:03AM
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Since Richard Garfield's brainchild Magic: The Gathering first popularized the concept of the collectible card game in 1993, Wizards of the Coast has transformed a once niche concept into a powerful money printing machine so efficient that the company even gets away with charging Magic players real-world prices for digital online representations of the cards they need to play. Naturally, for the same reason that the film Transmorphers hit shelves at a suspiciously similar time to when Transformers was released in theaters, the world has since been exposed to many a copycat and wannabe card game. More specifically, the act of basing a CCG (or TCG -- we're going to refer to them as CCGs for consistency's sake) on a brand or concept that was already established and successful became common practice.

Of course, not every property out there is a great inspiration for a card game, and while a scant few have thrived thanks to their inherent nerdiness and deep universes for game designers to draw content from, others were head scratchers from the beginning and defy all reasonable explanation. Therefore we've compiled this list to celebrate these conundrums of card commercialism: of all the things that collectible card games have been inspired by, these are the 9 weirdest.

The 20 Nerd Commandments

By Rob Bricken in Daily Lists, Nerdery
Wednesday, Jan. 27 2010 @ 8:02AM
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Last Friday, I asked you all to suggest some Nerd Laws for the TR contest. There were three things I didn't anticipate: 1) that I would get 400+ entries, the most for a TR contest in quite some time; 2) that because I posted a pic of Mel Brooks as Moses from History of the World Part I that pretty must everyone would type in "thee's" and "thou's," 10 Commandments-style; and 3) that the entries would be quite so awesome. I know I say the entries are awesome every week, but this is the only time that I decided they were quite so wonderful that they had to become their own Daily List.

Seriously, I think we've created a set of laws that every nerd should genuinely live by. We've made a code of conduct, people, for nerds everywhere. I wish I could print out copies and hand them to every nerd in the nation, they're that good. So please, don't just enjoy today's Daily List, take it to heart. I want to start with three laws I amalgamated from many comments and commenters. Their inner truth was undeniable:

1) Thou must experience as many nerdy properties as possible throughout your youth (nerdy parents must assist with this). By the age of 20, you must have chosen at least two sides of the following: Star Wars or Star Trek, Kirk or Picard, Marvel or DC, Mac or PC, Trukk or Munkey, Baker or Tennant, and Joel or Mike. If these topics come up, you must argue your choice past all reasonableness.

2) Thou must always recognize your first exposure to a nerdy property was the best possible incarnation of that property. Likewise, thou must always find new incarnations, sequels, spin-offs, rip-offs, and media inspired these properties to be crappier than your prized original.

3) Thou must revere the Nerd Girl, because she is as rare as the diamond and just as valuable. Thou shouldst not stark her just because she's the only girl in your nerd circle, and if/when she turns down your advances, you will not spurn her because that's just shitty. And Nerd Girls, thou must be careful, for thy power is great -- and can be used for both good and ill.

The other 17 Nerd Commandments are after the jump. Don't read them for me... but for the sake of your nerd soul.