Roundup - Monday January 31st

While I fail again to keep the Trekathalon updated, please enjoy The Visible Gamera and Foes, courtesy of Pink Tentacle.  I could lose an hour or two to that site.

Trekathlon resumes tomorrow.  Have a few toy reviews to post as well, and a new sploot of items for ebay.

Thanks for reading!
-Seth

Trekathalon TOS: 1-21 The Return of the Archons.

Landru inside  *Bomm ba da dun bumm*

An powerful force is making the inhabitants of the Bonanza backlot Beta III happy-zombies, but also insane with rage.  The Prime directive shows up, gets broken immediately, and paves the way for a bazillion plot devices to come.

Kirk saves the day talking a computer to death, and ability which most of my coworkers share, and that he will use several more times.  Despite it all, an enjoyable episode.

One thing that really confused me: I thought the Betans were human-descendants of the Archon crash survivors.  But then they started talking about thousands of years before the crash, and I realized the Betans were supposed to be aliens.  This made me appreciate TNG's habit of using cheap makeup (nose ridge, ear bumps, spots, etc) as shorthand for 'alien'.  I know it gets slagged, but a nose bump or two would have helped me keep things straight.

We never find out what happened to the Archon.

Trekathalon TOS: 1-20 Court Marshall

I would wear that, really.

Kirk gets accused of negligence, and faces off with a bugnuts-crazy crew member.  Everything is wrapped up in voice-overred clips, the episode must have been running long.

I want the suit that Kirk's lawyer (Elisha Cook) wears.  Actually the costuming is great overall in this episode, I like the early standard of different Starfleet Posts having different insignias.

Elisha Cook is very much a 'hey it's that guy' for anyone who watched to much TV during the last couple decades.  Wait, which decade is it?  Oh, ok, last couple decades before the turn of the millennium.

Trekathalon TOS: 1-19 Tomorrow is Yesterday

Corn Detasseling.

Time travel shenanigans on then present-day earth!  Not the strongest of the many, many, time-travel Trek episodes.  Seems someone got a note that said 'lighten things up,' from the network execs:  this episode goes from serious to goofy so many times I got whiplash.  Majel Barrett doing a silly/sultry computer voice was fine, but I was less enthused with the accidentally kidnapped guard (Hal Lynch) mugging for the camera.

However I did get a kick out of the F-104 stock footage.  Fortunately, there was no refueling.

Trekathalon TOS: 1-18 Arena

It's a trap!

Takes a little while for the 'Arena' part of this episode to get going, doesn't it?  I had completely forgotten the intrigue and action with the destroyed federation base, and the pursuit of the Gorn.  I really enjoyed that part, but then this episode's namesake kicks in, and it starts to drag.

There's Ted Cassidy again as the Gorn commander.  Remeber how I thought he looked cool and menacing in What Little Girls are Made Of? He's the opposite here, stomping around awkwardly like Frankenstein's monster.  The Gorn suit must have been hell.

The scene where Kirk pushes a conveniently placed rock onto the Gorn (pictured), had me in stitches.  It's a "meep meep" away from a Wile E. Coyote bit.  Shatner is also turning into his parody here.  The much lampooned delivery really starting to come out in his soliloquies as he wanders the desert.  Bonus: Godlike alien Deus ex machina.

Oh and is that Bronson Canyon?

How not to use Monster Kolor

Grrr! Arrgh!

I've been diving into custom toy painting recently.  While my usual water-based acrylics have served fine on most projects, custom toys are usually PVC or vinyl, and present some challenges.   Monster Kolor is a line of paint specifically formulated for plastic, and custom toy painting.  When used correctly, they produce amazing results. Specifically formulated to go straight from bottle to airbrush, they provide fantastic coverage, vibrant colors, and excellent durability.

One hangup: I don't own an airbrush.

Full review of Monster Kolor, and Mini Eyezon (pictured), after the jump.

Trekathalon TOS: 1-17 The Squire of Gothos

"Would you like to buy a leather mug?"

The enterprise trips over another godlike alien.  This time it's Trelane (Name a 70's TV drama, William Campbell was a guest star), and he likes Renaissance Festivals.
Yup, another plot that pales in comparison to later reinventions, done better.  Notably,  John de Lancie's Q, in The Next Generation, (similar to William Campbell, name a show, de Lancie's probably guest-starred).

Trelane and his family were retconned into Q's at some point, everyone is Q!

And since we're talking about Next Generation, seems like TOS' female guest stars were all bombshells (this week it's Venita Wolf), while TNG's all sort of looked like Moms.  Changing social mores? Casting?  Brutal ugliness of TNG's costuming?  Discuss.

Also, it's parentheses day (apparently)!