Loot Crate Highlight of the Month - Darth Vader Vinyl Bobble-Head

About a month ago, I decided to give Loot Crate a try. For those not familiar with the program, here's the idea: for a nominal fee, you get a box packed with items intended to appeal to geek and gaming culture. The items that will be in the box are not revealed in advance, so there's admittedly a risk involved that you might not get anything that particularly appeals to you. The upside is that there is an opportunity for a little bit of Christmas once a month when the package arrives, and since you know that the items are geared toward geeky interests, if those interests apply to you (and if they don't, why are you reading a nominally Transformers-themed blog?), there's a pretty good chance that you can get some really cool stuff.

Special Reminders of Value

It seems like the legacy of Mister Rogers has been on a lot of people's minds lately. I feel like most of the few posts I've been able to finish since the beginning of the new year have mentioned him, and usually that's been in response to something I've seen elsewhere on the web. Today would have been Mister Rogers' 85th birthday, and a number of websites have posted their own homages to Fred Rogers and his work. Here are just a couple.

The Many Regenerations of Montreat College

Folks who know me well already know that I'm a fan of Doctor Who. For those unfamiliar with the show, which is reaching its 50th anniversary later this year, the main character ("the Doctor") is a time traveling alien. To paraphrase one of my college professors, it is intuitively obvious to even the most casual observer that a show cannot survive for so long with a single main character played by a single actor. Part of the secret of Doctor Who's longevity lies in the fact that the Doctor can "regenerate" after an actor has played the role long enough and wants to move on, allowing the character to continue on with a new actor in the role. To date, there have been eleven (canonical) actors playing the role of the Doctor.

Reactions to the 2013 BotCon Box Set

So, now we know (cue "and knowing is half the battle" response).

Over the past few weeks, fans have been treated to previews of the toys that will be featured in this year's BotCon box set, based off of the old Machine Wars line.

Long-time followers of BotCon will, of course, already know that these five toys won't be the only exclusive toys to come out of BotCon 2013. These are simply the ones that we can order in advance (actually, there will one more toy you can order in advance if you want to this year. For the first time ever, the toy that will be made in the Customizing Class will be available to everyone in an unpainted, but assembled, form. But we won't know what that toy looks like until the convention itself. And, of course, there's also the attendee-only exclusive...). Even so, these revelations have caused plenty of reaction so far on the online boards, and not all of it has been positive.