Top Hat Sasquatch

We love us some Gravity Falls around here and have been dying to see the hilarious cartoon return with new episodes. Thankfully, episode 13, titled ‘Boss Mabel’, ended the hiatus last Friday and new episodes will keep coming.

It took me a few days to finally catch Boss Mabel, and after rewatching every Gravity Falls episode a bzillion times I was worried the new episode wouldn’t live up to my expectations. Luckily, it’s just as great as all the others.

In Boss Mabel, Mabel challenges Grunkle Stan that she would be a better boss of the Mystery Shack. She encourages Stan to go on a vacation so she can try out her business ideas. Dipper loves the idea because he wants a chance to get some actual mysterious creatures as exhibits, and Soos wants to try out his Questiony The Question Mark mascot idea.

Stan goes away with hopes of getting on a game show, and mabel puts on a shoulder-padded business suit and prepares to rake in profits. Hilarity ensues.
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I spend a lot of time wondering if something I use to love has held up to the test of time; if I would still watch, read, or play it. Sometimes you remember something as being awesome (Land Before Time movies?) but when you revisit it again it makes you want to gouge your eyes out. On the other hand, sometimes you check out something from your youth and it turns out that you love it even more now. That’s the idea behind our new series Retro Rewind.

I’ve been on a bit of a retro gaming kick lately and have been trying to remember what games I played a lot as a kid. I wasn’t able to buy a lot of games when I was younger, but I rented them all the time. There are a few games I remember renting a ton of times, and Chase HQ II for Sega Genesis is definitely on that list.

It seems like an obvious game nowadays, but back in the 90s, chasing down cars and ramming them into submission wasn’t a cliche yet. It’s surprising I’m a decent driver after a childhood filled with playing tons of games involving violence and driving.

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Another day, another awesome LEGO creation by Orion Pax. A while back I posted his amazing TMNT Party Wagon, and now he’s touched on another of my favorite pop culture icons, Ghostbusters.

Orion has created the Ghostbusters firehouse headquarters in the style of the LEGO modular buildings, and he’s done a crazy-good job of it. It’s beautiful from the outside alone, but once you take a look at the level of detail in the interiors you realize how great it really is.

That’s just nuts. Head over to his site to see even more of his amazing 3-story Ghostbusters HQ (complete with Ecto 1). This guy’s LEGO powers seem a little unnatural. I love how he uses all the new pieces like the wood panels and food and makes them look better than anything LEGO has even come out with.

They need to hire this guy and get him designing sets.

Via Brothers Brick

The Top Hat Sasquatch team reads a lot of blog posts every day, and some slip through the crack or just don’t warrant their own post. That’s where Missing Links comes in. Every few days we collect the best links we’ve come across and pass them on to you.

Five Reasons Why Hasbro’s “Star Wars Black” Will Fail
Excellent write-up about the new Star Wars 6' line and why they will (probably) fail.

BIGFOOT TOYS OF THE 1970s! | TheFwoosh.com
I approve of this post.

Adventure Time: The Complete First & Second Season Blu-rays
Awesome, you don't see new cartoons get Blu-ray releases very often. I would actually buy these to upgrade the episodes on my media center. Why only the first two season though?

SG Nerf: Nerf Rebelle!
This is kind of silly. I have tons of nieces with bigger Nerf gun arsenals than me, and none of their guns are pink with feather designs.

Man Cookie Cutter (Action) – CopperGifts.com
It may say ‘Man’ cookie cutter, but they’re not fooling anyone. It’s a Bigfoot cookie cutter. What can I say, I’m on a bigfoot kick this week.

The next Laika movie will be The Boxtrolls, co-directed by Graham Annable
You had me at "The next Laika movie"

If there’s one thing that always goes hand in hand with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toys, it’s really weird Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toys. The 80s and 90s saw tons of wacky TMNT figures based on everything from Star Trek, farming, sports, and literally everything in between. When the new Nickelodeon TMNT show and toys were gearing up, I knew we’d get wacky figures eventually, but I didn’t think it would happen so fast.

We’ve barely just now been able to find a steady supply of regular-type TMNT figures on shelves, and suddenly Playmates has them dressed up as Ghostbusters. They may be called Mutagen Ooze Turtles, but come one, they’re Ghostbuster Turtles, and I think that’s why I like them so much. They’re actually pretty horrible action figures. There’s barely any articulation at all.

But Ghostbusters! I’m sure Playmates was going for a more generic hazmat/Ooze-proof suit concept, but it screams Ghostbusters to me. So, until we get actual licensed Ghostbuster Turtles (why didn’t that happen in the 80s?), I’ll have to get by with Ooze Launchin’ Leo, Ooze Tossin’ Raphael, Ooze Scoopin’ Donnie, and Ooze Chuckin’ Mikey.

You’re supposed to fill their little flipper things with ooze from those awesome Ooze Canisters, but that sounds messy so I haven’t tried it yet. This first wave of wacky TMNT figures in the new line has made me realize where I’m going to draw the line on collecting with the new Playmates toys.

If the figures hit me in my nostalgia feels, I’ll probably get them. If they’re wacky enough that I can’t not get them, I’ll get them. If they’re just weird and out of scale with the rest of the figures like the Flingers, I’m not going to bother. I’m sure Playmates is insanely interested in a dorky twenty-something blogger’s reasons for buying or not buying their children’s toys, by the way.

Now, how wacky do you think the new TMNT line is going to get? Let’s think of some examples. You know we’ll get sports and music-related Turtles sooner or later, but what else? The Turtles as US Presidents? Boring Office Workers? Zombies?