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Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Back to the Eighties - Episode 42

Where Glenn and Andy discuss your top 5 Christmas toys from years gone by, report on all the news that's fit to talk about, and answer your questions.

Warning: contains Noseybonk.


Listen to episode 42 HERE!

The Random Fandom - Episode 14: Nothing Short of Ruggedly Handsome


Tuesday, December 28, 2010

[REVIEW] "All the Cool Stuff" Presents Jungle Ironhide

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Season's Greetings from The Nerdsphere!

Chiwassu~ This is your Webmaster speaking, here to wish you and your kin the very best of the season on behalf of all of us here at The Nerdsphere Network.


MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Friday, December 24, 2010

[PODCAST] Many Different Things: Tron Legacy Roundtable



GREETINGS PROGRAMS! Join Jazz Santi, Moon, CybertronAx, Barricade64 & Hulkster as they talk about one of the most highly anticipated sequels of all time...

Kapow! Toys Presents... G.I Joe 25th Anniversary Snow Serpent

The Random Fandom - This Saint Nic's Holiday Special


Sit back and enjoy some stories and music of the holiday season. There's a little something for everyone in this special and I hope y'all have a great time listening to it as I had recording it. Thanks to all of you listeners out there for your love and support for this podcast. Much love to my wonderful co-host Slick, for without her, this would have never had happened. HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE! Luvs, hugs and peace on earth!


“Christmas Time (is Here Again)” by The Beatles
“Jingle Bells” by Béla Fleck & The Flecktones
“The Real Santa Claus” by Marianna Mayer
“Winter” by Rhythm or the Season
“Mr. Coldmiser/Mr. Heatmiser” by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
“The Christmas Almanack” by Gerard and Patricia Del Re
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring by Osmond and Holt
“Dreidel” by Erran Baron Cohen
“Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins” by Eric A. Kimmel
“Riu Chiu” by The Monkees
“Bright Christmas” by Andrew Clements
“Agnus Dei” by SLCC Chamber Singers
“Gloria” by SLCC Chamber Singers
“Singabahambayo” by SLCC Chamber Singers
“Trepak” by Bowfire
“The Little Match Girl” by Hans Christian Andersen
“And Winter Came” by Enya
“Little Drummer Boy” by Ringo Starr

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Logan Blaze: FIRE WALKER!

Nerdsphere forum member and "Shhh! We're Watching a Movie!" Co-Host Logan Blaze has requested for us to sponsor him in a special firewalk for charity. Logan with be walking barefoot across hot coals, and he wants your moolah to make it worthwhile!

PLEASE CHECK OUT THE WEBSITE HERE AND MAKE A DONATION!

The Random Fandom - Episode 13: The Doctor and the Death Rumors







The boss is with us so we need to behave. Yeah right!?! Welcome Matt aka Time Lord to the show. This week we get extra chatty even though the news has some slim pickings.

Who Shall Play Roland?
Eric Bana as Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Smith vs.Walberg in Vegas Fight

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Kapow! Toys Presents... Reveal the Shield Legend Optimus Prime

Back to the Eighties - Episode 41

After a hiatus for a week (sadly unavoidable), Glenn is back with Darkageis and Slick for another look at our favourite 80's franchises! There's a spotlight of the 'Dungeons & Dragons' cartoon, all the news that's fit to report, and a chance to hear some different people answer your questions!

Also, a very Merry Christmas to you all!


Listen to episode 41 HERE!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Kapow! Toys Presents... Reveal the Shield Grapple

All The Cool Stuff Presents...WFC Starscream

Monday, December 20, 2010

Kapow! Toys Presents... G.I Joe 25th Anniversary Python Patrol Officer

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Kapow! Toys Presents... Reveal the Shield Megatron

The Old Oilhouse - Quick, Change The Channel EP 07: Jingle All The Way


With Christmas getting closer, what better way to get in the spirit than to get drunk with a Reindeer? Or you could put that Cookie down? Howsabout you just listen to three guys talk their way through a great terrible film?

Listen to it HERE

The Nerdsphere Network: Now on Twitter!


We've launched the latest step in our mult-platform evolution and have branched out onto Twitter! All our blogspot entries will be synched with this account so that no matter where you are, you'll find us! (except under your bed. That'll be....wrong). Our account is "@TheNerdsphere" and can be found on Twitter HERE!

[DVD REVIEW] Prince Valiant DVD Review

The Legend of Prince Valiant
(Review written by JiiDee)


The Show
Words cannot begin to describe how much I love this show. Oh let me count the ways.
This is one of the few shows that I am aware of that has an actual ending! Imagine that.

It is superior in every sense of the word. Excellent story, tight continuity, in truth it is a single continuous story with little side stories which culminate in a most singular, awesome finale.
The characters are all well fleshed out and all have their own stories which wind and eventually weave back into the main plot which drives all the players towards the tense climatic conclusion!

Care for a little political intrigue? patricide? civil war? love triangles, betrayal, jealousy, murder and all round adventure? Then this show is for you. Over the course of the show you'll watch Valiant and his friends rise from obscure peasantry to the dizzying heights of Camelot itself. Action and Adventure abounds.

One thing I love in particular is that due to the outstanding writing and the strength of the voice actors performances, the characters on screen FEEL like they're real people, which gives trials and tribulations they go through a real weight to them. This really comes into it's own as we draw closer to the finish line, when plots and plans start to reach their fruition and the time for the final show down approaches. The sense of tension is quite real.
As is the subtle and convincing love triangle that forms between our 3 main characters. Valiant, Rowanne and Arn. Fear not though as this is not some contrived plot convenience designed to inject some soap opera tension into what is already a packed story. Nor is it something that suddenly arises for a few episodes then disappears, but rather a thread that begins about 1/4 of the way through the series then slowly matures off and on until it has it's ultimate pay off in the final 1/4 of the show..nearly bringing the trio and by proxy Camelot itself to ruin!
I shall say no more as the story is so good that you deserve to discover it for yourself.

The cast itself is just awesome. Normally seeing big names in a cartoon would be a sign that the budget has been blown on hiring stars rather than on what's important. I.E the story and animation. I am glad to report that this is most definitely not the case.


The Soundtrack
We've not even covered the soundtrack yet..dear lord the soundtrack. Go do a search for the opening on the internet and you'll see what I'm talking about. "Where the Truth Lies" from Exchange is a singular piece of music that is just as epic as the show itself...which by the way you can ALSO buy
OK it's a bit expensive now but my point is, since when do you see a cartoon get it's soundtrack released on CD? hmm? almost never. That's when. (curse you Thundercats *shakes fist*)

Gush Mode Dis-Engage


The DVDs
The animation is pretty good for the most part. There were only a couple of episodes where I felt that things were noticeably off model, but considering the quality of the voice acting and the characterisation I can easily forgive it.

On to the set itself. This being a BCI release the quality of the audio and video is about as good as it could possibly get for a show of this era. The only place where this set falls down is in the physicals.
The discs themselves are double sided flipper discs, which is something that always irks me as it's so difficult to try and keep finger prints off of the suckers.

This release came out near the end of BCIs life so releases from this time tend to suffer from understandable cost cutting exercises. I can get over it though because were it not for the flipper discs design it would have taken 4 volumes to release rather than 2, and I suspect that had they went for a 4 volume release it would never have seen the light of day.

Another place where there is noticeable cheapness is in the case itself. The case is constructed of this hard, brittle plastic and my volume 1 set has actually broken in 2 places already..one of which was in transit!
The other downside to this hard plastic is that the hub that the discs mount on is SO TIGHT that you fear that you're going to snap the discs before it actually releases them, and considering that this particular release is now Out of Print and you're trying to pry out double sided disc.. you'll need to be taking your brave pills before trying to extricate the discs for viewing.

Having said that these sets come with a very nice insert that gives you a good summary of each episode in the set, plus some really pretty artwork. On that subject the set itself has some really cool cover art courtesy of the talents of MVCreations' Emiliano Santalucia & Val Staples with David Levine. Although it doesn't make the set, inserts like this are becoming few and far between so to have it included (especially in this late BCI release) is appreciated.

I would most definitely recommend this set; but I would also urge you to decant your discs into some blank DVD cases to save from the inevitable snapping and crying that would ensue from repeated removal of the discs from that rock hard plastic hub.

There has been a re-release of both volume 1 and 2 from budget busters Mill Creek Entertainment, and as you'd expect it goes for budget prices.
If you consider yourself a collector I would try and get the BCI release if you can, if for no other reason than the Mill Creek release has as many episodes as possible crammed onto the discs so you know that the video quality is going to suffer.
At present I don't own that set so I cannot vouch for its quality, but I plan to just purely so I can use it as watching fodder to save my more precious BCI set. HOWEVER...at this exact moment both of the BCI sets are going for RIDICULOUSLY cheap...and I DO mean CHEAP AS CHIPS! Volume 1 and Volume 2

If you're more of a casual fan who just wants to see the show without much concern for extras or the superior video quality afforded by the BCI release, then you might be better going with the Mill Creek release...BUT considering how cheap the BCI sets are right now you'd be a FOOL not to pick them up!
However since these are Out of Print sets they will eventually go and start fetching collector prices like the rest of BCIs Out of Print series...I'm looking at you Masters of the Universe.

BCI Release - 4/5 Stars. Only losing a star for the Double sided discs and the terrifyingly hard plastic cases.

(Editors Note: Timey did a....ambitious cover to the full theme for you to rock out to. Please DON'T let him put you off the series!)


Please you your feedback to this review by visiting the forum thread HERE

You can buy the Legend of Prince Valiant DVD boxset on Amazon HERE

[NEWS] She-Ra: Princess of Power Guidebook to be released in 2011


James Eatock, co-writer of the "Unofficial Cartoon Guide to He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" has revealed via Twitter that a similar "She-Ra" guide will be released in 2011. The Book, co-written alongside Alex Hawkey, will cover the entire run of the She-Ra cartoon series, it's characters and story.

Also coming out next year will be "The Art of the Filmation Storyboard: Volume One" a compendium of storyboards from the 1980's MOTU cartoon series.

You can check out James' website "Cerealgeek HERE

And you can check out the "CerealGeek" Facebook Grouppage by going HERE

As well as Jame's own Twitter page HERE

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Kapow! Toys Presents... Perfect Effect Ninja

KingGrimmy takes a look at the Perfect Effect Ninja (Or Rosanna!) She's here to save the world, dont'cha know?!

[REVIEW] "All the Cool Stuff" Presents Generations Cliffjumper

Dave / smsno1 shows off his Cliffjumper in a way only he can!


Check out the "All the Cool Stuff" website HERE

Check out the Facebook group page HERE

Or go and post feedback about what you see on our forum thread HERE

[PODCAST] Shhh! We're Watching a DVD Commentary! Episode 2 - Army of Darkness



Well we're back again to make your ears bleed. This month it the turn of the Army of Darkness to be ripped to bits by me, paul and stu.

remember to tell what you think, what you'd like us to do next or maybe even join us.

Check us out on the forum HERE

Friday, December 17, 2010

Kapow! Toys Presents... Perfect Effect Kingbat

Thursday, December 16, 2010

[OBITUARY] Blake Edwards (1922 - 2010)


The Movie director Blake Edwards has died, he was 88 years old. As well as directing "Breakfast at Tiffanys" and "10", Edwards is mostly known for the "Pink Panther" series of movies (His last movie was "The Son of the Pink Panther" in 1993). Edwards was, up until his death, married to the stage and screen actress Julie Andrews, and was the son of silent movie director J Gordon Edwards.

Blake Edwards wiki entry can be found HERE

On behalf of the Nerdsphere, I would like to send out my respects and condolences to the friends and family of Blake Edwards at this time.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Many Different Things: Deep Space Nine



Join Captain O'Sullivan, Commander Millman and Cadet Anderson as they talk about the characters and storylines of the Bajoran mining station Terok Nor, otherwise known as Deep Space Nine.

The Random Fandom - Episode 12: Giggity!...That's What She Said

Even with two guests, it's still an all female show. Welcome for their first ever podcast Cami and London! This week we have a gas talking about one of the craziest families on TV - Family Guy!

Three Stooges Looking for Amatures
Too Much of Snow White Can’t Be a Good Thing
Golden Globe Nominees
Ryan is Available!
Creepy Christmas Traditions

Devon Sawa Lands Second Horror Gig, 'Sibling'
Derek Mears as a Zombie in 'Pirates of the CaribbeanLucy Lawless to Star in “Spartacus” Prequel
Jillian Michaels is Leaving Biggest Loser
Russell Brand to be on British Reboot Series
“Big Bang” is the Biggest Hit in the Great White NorthAretha Franklin Has Cancer
iTunes Top Downloads for 2010
Australia to Name Lane After Bon Scott
The Big Four Tour
Michael Schenker, Herman Rarebell, Pete Way and Michael Voss Join Forces In New BandThink Yourself Thin
A Real Da Vinci Code 

Topic of the Week – Family Guy
Song of the Week"Chain of Fools" by Aretha Franklin


Monday, December 13, 2010

The Old Oilhouse - Lock-In EP 36: Xmas Special with TF Prime Roundtable



Here is the Xmas Special... And it is special. We spend the first hour of the 20 min intro talking nonsense, then delve into TF Prime and G.I. Joe: Renegades. Guest starring our favorite Love Drug...DHD!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

[NEWS] Masters of the Universe & Bravestarr to be re-released on DVD

"Mill Creek Entertainment" is to start releasing two of Filmation's TV shows, "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" and "Bravestarr on both Complete Season and Volume editions.

These releases, once part of BCI's output before the company closed, will now re-released on a cheaper scale.

Expect the release on Region One DVD sometime in February 2011. No announcement regarding a Region 2 / Worldwide distribution has been made as yet.

Check out the news article HERE

Review Showcases for this week...

Here we are again with another three reviews, selected in a search on YouTube for your entertainment.

First off, "Paulypaulypoopoo" looks at the "Defenders of the Earth" action figures in the "Retro Review"


Then, "YummyPixels" takes us through the S.H.Figuarts Piccolo in the "Rising Sun Review"


Finally, the "ActionFigureExpert" looks at the G.I. Joe: Pursuit of Cobra "Doom Cycle" in the "Modern Day Review"


Enjoy!

[DVD REVIEW] POLE POSITION

JiiDee has started writing full reviews to various television shows. He has allowed us to post them up on here for you all to check out. I will warn you, Jii has a brutally honest opinion of the subject matter, but it is none of the less a very interesting read, and I find reviews like this a lot easier to swallow than pre-checked "OK to use" versions that you may find in some online shopping sites. But don't take my word for it, take a read!

- Time Lord

"Since I've been watching an ungodly amount of 80s toons of late, I've found myself reviewing them in my own head, so I could I'd put digital pen to cyberspace paper and share my thoughts on both the shows themselves and the DVD sets that are available to purchase.

First up.. Pole Position!
"

- JiiDee


The DVDs

I think it's fair to say that the Pole Position DVD Set...is the most amateurish hack job I've ever seen.

Now don't get me wrong..Pole Position was never the greatest of shows and I never expected it to high quality..but dear god in heaven I could do a better job than this and I've never authored a DVD in my life.
The Cover art...well..the characters depicted don't look even remotely like their on screen counterparts, and the Logo doesn't even approximate the Logo for the show..the colours aren't even remotely accurate!
The back is a little better as you get some screens shots from some of the episodes, but what you DON'T get is any kind of technical details! Not even an episode count, or Region information, Ratings.. etc..
OK I wasn't expecting a list of special features because...well..there are none, but then again I wasn't expecting any.
The episode selection function doesn't work properly. While you can select any episode you want, it does not return to the main menu after it finishes..it just continues onto the next episode regardless! Considering that this is one of the THE most basic of DVD functions it boggles my mind that they couldn't even get THAT right.
But you best get used to that cover art as you're going to see it a lot. I.E. on the face of every single one of the discs, and the menu screen for each disc.
Speaking of which the menu screen it utterly barren..there isn't even any overlaying audio or music clips on the menu screen. Not even the shows title theme! (Which is arguably the best thing about the whole show)
To say this set was thrown together would be an understatement.

Now having said all of that, at the end of the day you're getting the entirety of Pole Position on DVD. It's not exactly the most popular or successful of 80s cartoons . The very fact that this set even exists is actually pretty amazing, and lets be fair, you're not buying this set for pretty covers or special features.

The audio and video quality are on spec. It's the best visual representation of Pole Position that you are likely to ever find.


The Show

As a show itself, it is comparable to other shows of its time; that is to say..not very good, but if you're considering buying this set then you shouldn't be under any illusions as to the quality of the story telling..
To be fair it was actually better than I had originally anticipated, but then again I was expecting it to be absolutely dire so that may not be a fair assessment.
I'd say that as long as you keep in mind what time period it is from and that it's no Mysterious Cities of Gold, or Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers, then you can find a way to enjoy Pole Position, even if its entirely because of its retro 80s kick. I will say that the driving and stunt scenes always looked good and were well scripted, but consider that the cars/driving aspect is the main gimmick for the show you would EXPECT this to be the case.
I mean its basically a cartoon version of Knight Rider with a brother and sister team...almost..Team Knight Riderish one could say...*shudder*

So if for some bizarre reason you are an avid Pole Position fan..well who are you and what kind of paint chips have you been eating? But jokes aside you can't say no to a bit of 80s cheese and considering that I picked this up for a decent price I can't complain TOO MUCH..even though I just did...

I'd say pick this set up if you've already picked up all of the better shows that are out there already, or if you have fond memories of it from your childhood. Just don't kid yourself as to what you're buying.
Its cheap enough and if nothing else you can torture your friends by making them sit down to watch the sucker.

The set gets 2 stars purely because by rights it should never have existed in the first place.

Pole Position can be purchased HERE

And you can send feedback to JiiDee by posting on the thread HERE

Thursday, December 09, 2010

[RETRO REVIEW] Manta Force "Manta Ship"

Long-standing forum member DestructionSnakepit / Pred has put out a two-part review exploring the awesome 80's toyline known as Manta Force! (Well,awesome in my opinion, anyway).



Whilst we're on the subject, last summer, myself and the ever-encouragable JiiDee tried to help our good friend Ralph / Stardub (or "The Doctor") try and come to terms with the existence of the wee little men....(with special cameos from HotrodG1, Dom and Dinotron!)


Oh, and to show off the awesomeness that is Manta Force, here's a commercial!


Ralph...the wee men exist...as do Moomins ;)

[RETRO REVIEW] Star Wars RA-7

Wheelbreaker41 looks at the 30th Anniversary "Fan's Choice" toy, protocol droid RA-7.

[REVIEW] The Whotenanny:: Showcase of a Time Lord: The Third Doctor

This week, Dreadwind talks to us about "Prince Charming" himself, the fallen to earth Third Doctor.

Kapow! Toys Presents (and installs) Head Robots Hothead

Transformers: Dark of the Moon Trailer

The first trailer for Transformers 3 a.k.a. Dark of the Moon has been uploaded on the Apple Trailers website.

However, if you're one of those having problems downloading the trailer you can watch it via the embedded YouTube video below.


You can also post your thoughts on the trailer in this thread on our forum.

Wednesday, December 08, 2010

[REVIEW] All The Cool Stuff Presents: Transformers Generations SKULLGRIN

This time, Dave takes a look at Generations Skullgrin and his moldsake, Lord Straxus....sorry, I meant Darkmount.


Check out the "All the Cool Stuff" website HERE

And please leave some feedback on our forum thread HERE

The Random Fandom - Episode 11: Stephen's Singing Sirens



Gotta love a tune here and there! Slick and Nic have a great time reporting on the happening of the world of entertainment as well as discuss the most famous author in the world, Stephen King. Plus, you get to hear the gals belt out a melody or two during the show. We'd like to thank the members of "The Old Oilhouse" for the little spoof of the show as well. We love you guys!








Featured Soundtracks
Sherlock Holmes by Hans Zimmer
Donny Darko by Michael Andrews



Featured Song of the Week
"Let It Go" by Nurse Sherri
From Death by Salt

Back to the Eighties - Episode 40

Episode 40 brings us your top 5 G.I. Joe vehicles, the news from our favourite 80's toy franchises, our thoughts on Transformers Prime and G.I. Joe Renegades, and your questions to Glenn and Jeremy. It's also coming closer to Christmas, so stay tuned for our first Christmas movie commentary, coming later in the week!


Listen to Episode 40 HERE!

Monday, December 06, 2010

[REVIEW] "All the Cool Stuff" Presents Generations Thunderwing

(Wow, three Thunderwing reviews in several days. Dude must be popular!)

[PODCAST] "The Trials of a Time Lord" Episode 3 is LIVE!



This week, Timey talks about being snowed in, Death Game Park, Goukager, movies he rented and answers your questions!

Sunday, December 05, 2010

Review Showcases for this week

We're back with another three reviews picked at random from the Tubes of You.

First off, in our "Modern Day" selection, Jazz Santi takes a look at new Transformers Generations Thunderwing


Then, in our Retro Review, formbx257 takes a look at the vintage 1985 G.I. Joe Armadillo tank.


Then finally in our Rising Sun review, Baltmatrix takes a look at "Samurai Sentai Shinkenger" (Next year's "Power Rangers Samurai" series) Disc-shooting Lantern Zord, DaiGoYou

Friday, December 03, 2010

[REPOST] Back to the 80's: An Interview with Larry Kenney!

Where Jeremy and Glenn talk with the legendary Larry Kenney. We'd like to thank Larry for giving his time to us out of his busy schedule.

This is an earlier interview, conducted by us back in July 2010. Enjoy!


Listen to the interview HERE!

Kapow! Toys Presents... Generations Thunderwing

Thursday, December 02, 2010

[REVIEW] The Whotenanny: Showcase of a Time Lord - The 2nd Doctor

This week's Doctor Who Showcase looks at the littlest Hobo himself, the Second Doctor!

The Random Fandom Special Report: Give Dusty a Home for the Holidays



Please give all you can to give Dusty a home for the holidays.
Make your donation here
Reece's Rainbow

Wednesday, December 01, 2010

The Underrated Mortal Kompation


Hey Ho TF Fans!

We've got a funky little comp going..... With the prize being a signed picture of G1 Underrated Robot...Scrounge! Kris Carter was good enough to send us a signed pic, so click the link below and you could win this wonderful little prize.

Many Thanks Kris!

CLICK HERE

The Random Fandom - Episode 10: Bring Em' Back!



* Is Peter Jackson Racist?
* Billy Bob Blames Video Games
* Bale Out for Any Other Batman
* Dan Aykroyd Responds to 'Ghostbusters 3' Casting Rumors
* Baby Monitor Catches Horror in Noomi Rapace Starrer 'Babycall'
* 'Zombieland 2' Hoping to Recapture Cameo Magic?
MEMORIALS
* Irvin Kershner
* Ingrid Pitt
* Leslie Nielsen

* Barbara Walter’s Special of the Most Fascinating People
* Oscar Hosts Announced
* ‘Ugly Betty’ Star Kills Mom with Samurai Sword


Featured Soundtrack Scores

'Avatar' by James Horner
and
'Alien Resurrection' by John Frizzell


Featured Song
'Sigourney Weaver'
by Edie Sedgwick
from the album
Her Love Is Real...But She Is Not

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