Back! With a little Blood and Chrome...

Sorry for the absurdly long absence - March will do that to you. Many a glimpse of awe emerged from last weekend's Wondercon, and this is one of the real gems. Being a massive Battlestar Galactica fan, I somehow could just never get into Caprica. But a glimpse of the new prequel series, Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome, from producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick, has got my flight deck scrambling. Set during the military mayhem of the famed first Cylon war, we should be spending time with young William Adama and Saul Tigh as they duke it out with the first generation of tiffed toasters. Blood and Chrome looks awesome - though it's unclear if it will make the light of day before 2013 - Check this out and bring it on...

The passing of a visionary - Ralph McQuarrie

There may be no other man more responsible for influencing the look and feel of the Star Wars universe - and so many others - than visionary concept artist Ralph McQuarrie, who passed away this weekend after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. Star Wars, Close Encounters, the original Battlestar Galactica, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. - McQuarrie took his experience as an illustrator for Boeing and his work animating the moon landings for CBS to give far-flung fantasy a realistic and technologically believable edge. He was hired by George Lucas to illustrate the Star Wars screenplay to a very skeptical 20th Century Fox. So little was changed from McQuarrie's visualizations to the final product. He gave us so many icons, including Darth Vader, Boba Fett and droids R2 and C-3PO. Gaze with wonder at the vision of a master. He was one in a billion.

A real company man - a TED talk from the future...

Get ready for the best viral promotion you've maybe ever seen. You know "The Company" in the Aliens movies? Weyalnd-Yutani? Responsible for all that "crew expendable" stuff. Well as part of a promotion for his Alien neo-prequel, Prometheus, Ridley Scott (and his son Luke) have given us a futuristic TED Talk with actor Guy Pearce as company visionary Peter Weyland - a kind of hyper ambitious Steve Jobs - giving us a window on his plans for the future. Pearce is off the charts! This may be the best three minutes of film you see for quite a while - not a spoiler, but it gives me chills to see Ridley looking at the future through his Alien/Blade Runner lens again -VOLUME REQUIRED... if this doesn't make you foam at the mouth for Prometheus, then I don't know what!

Seattlestar Galactica!

Time was running out, so we hopped into the family Raptor and headed north to Seattle to see the highly anticipated Battlestar Galactica exhibit at the Experience Music Project. With only a couple of weekends left, it was time to roll the hard six...

I'd been wanting to see this amazing collection for months, as they had two full-size vipers, a cylon raider, costumes and more props and memorabilia than you can shake your fist at. It was one of those shows you've looked forward to for so long that you're convinced it will either underwhelm or that something's going to happen to keep you from getting there. I'm thrilled to say that neither situation transpired, as the Galactica exhibition frakking kicks ass!!! I was a little saddened to hear that Paul Allen's Science Fiction Museum installation is no longer a permanent fixture at EMP. However, I suspect his enthusiastic hand is still fairly well involved, as not only was there the BSG exhibit, but across the hall a massive Avatar exhibit as well! Best of all, photography was allowed (just don't use your flash or you'll be vaporized). So come along with me through the blood and chrome that is Battlestar Galactica, The Exhibition - photos are hugely embiggenable, so click and enjoy the details...

Let's start with a video to set the mood - this baby is life-size:

Mark II Viper

Get the message?

Mark VII Viper

The original 1970's Galactica - massive shooting model...

Look at that hanger pod!

You gotta love an interactive exhibit. I thought airport security was rough...

Gaius Baltar's labcoat!

Kara "Starbuck" Thrace's dogtags...

Can you believe it? Colonel Tigh's flask and eyepatch!

Helmet from the original seventies show...

Helmet from the the new series...

Sweet Lords of Kobol! The Arrow of Apollo!

Starbuck's painting - the Eye of Jupiter

A few more shots of ol' Red Eye...

Excellent roadmap!

"This is Galactica Actual - give me a Sitp-rep!"

Apollo's cockpit

What? Apollo's hung-over? I'll take her up, Sir...

As if that wasn't mind-blowing enough, like I said - there's Avatar goodies to explore!

Welcome to Pandora!

Some native plants that want to eat your eyes fore jujubes

Neytiri character bust

Drumroll... the full-size AMP SUIT!!!

The "Amplified Mobility Platform" is over 13 feet tall...

Amp Suit feet...

So nice that my wife is getting me one for next Christmas!

See what I mean? Nothing underwhelming there!

After that much sci-fi fun, I was like a happy little kid...

Snore Fair...I mean, Toy Fair...

That's the problem with big expectations, there's so much potential for a letdown. So far, the images out of Toy Fair 2012 have been a little yawn-inducing. There's some nice glimpses of the Movie Masters line for Dark Knight Rises...

A look at The Lizard from The Amazing Spider-Man...

A glimpse of the highly anticipated Lego Lord of the Rings assortment...

...even Marvel Universe seems a bit tepid...

Maybe there are more goodies due to reveal themselves in the next couple of days, but so far, it's been a bit of a yawn - Hasbro is putting everything into The Avengers, and that's great, but most of these figures we've seen already - how many iterations of Iron Man can one guy handle?

Getting the feeling that a lot of the year's best swag is being held out for San Diego Comic Con this summer. Somebody, please prove me wrong...! I'm ready for a little whiplash!

Welcome back, Daryl! We've missed you!

Talk about a Valentine's treat! Mark it well - The Walking Dead returns from its mid-winter hiatus this Sunday!  Absolutely cannot wait!!!                                                                                         

Toy Fair approaching! Keep heart medication at the ready!

Watch this space over the next few days for any big reveals from Toy Fair 2012 in New York. The annual explosion of new images runs from February 12th - 15th - things should start leaking as early as Saturday. Can't wait? Well, here's a peek at Dark Knight Rises' Bane and Katniss from The Hunger Games. Expect plenty of Avengers and Star Wars news.

My personal hopes are for anything related to Prometheus, Skyfall and The Hobbit, but it may be too early for those - we'll see, so stay tuned...