Home Video Exclusives

[JohnIan101]

Past Tense


This week we puff our last blunt in "Weeds"...



"Weeds: Season Eight - The Final Season" was released on home video on February 12th, 2013.

It streeted against "Skyfall", "Robot & Frank" and "The Perks Of Being A Wallflower".

This originally came with a cardboard slipcover which mirrored the case's wraparound. Came with two small inserts. An episode index, but it lists no air dates. And an ad for Lionsgate's BeFit YouTube channel (YouTube.com/BeFit).

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Target offered the sole exclusive, a bonus disc. Sold for $24.99 and was also available for Blu-Ray, same price.

Came inside the three disc case (no CD envelope). I say this since some new series season sets come in a case which has a small spindle inside ("Pan Am: The Complete Series"; ended up buying a three disc case from Big Lots! - a movie collection, forgot which), instead of a normal three disc holders.

Bonus disc has a run time of 23:19 minutes. No problem getting my copy.



The store had several copies. I picked up one and took it to the register, along with the weekly ad from Best Buy. I wanted to price match, the competitor had S8 for $19.99. The lady originally said no; saying it was only for the basic/regular edition, not their exclusive. I pointed out that they only carried the exclusive. Someone went to media area to check, indeed, that's it. Common sense prevailed - price matched it. Very sway.

As mention in the Past Tense for "Weeds: Season Two". I've only seen seasons one through three. I still haven't gotten around to watch the others - I will, eventually.

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Tangent.

Back to the 1979 Disney, PG rated sci-fi feature - "The Black Hole". A lost opportunity for fans and their kids, last decade.

You can read more about the movie and potential deeper meanings in the Past Tense entry for "Battlestar Galactica: Season 2.5" (clicky clicky).



What you see above is the remote contol V.I.N.Cent (Vital Information Necessary Centralized) toy - not produced. It was more than a foot tall.

Pretty much only exist in the company's catalog for retail stores.

The RC bot was planned to come out in 1980. Two working prototypes were created at a cost of hundred thousand, the stepping stone for other RC large toys using the same principles. One remote for both prototypes. When "Bob Project" was scraped; one was tossed in the dumpster along with the remote. *shakes head*

A solitary V.I.N.Cent exist today because one of the men who worked on the project saved it - took it home. Things learned...

A) Those side arm - claws have a spring in it to hold paper items; they slide out (not motorized).

B) Both front arms and lasers extend and retract on command.

C) The feet base had wheels in them for movement.

D) The head spinned.

Did my best; the bot used 3 "D" batteries to run. But can't read or find online how many or what kind of batteries were used in the remote. Sorry.

Why canceled? Turns out - the retail price would've been far too high for the average consumer. So the item was pulled. While doing the research, found a softcore porn connection. Indeed!

V.I.N.Cent was pictured in a 1979 pre-Christmas issue of Playboy magazine; would that be the mag from October '79? Magazines are two months head of their release month; March issue comes out in January and so on. It was intended as high end toy with a price tag of $79.99. Remember - at this point in time America was still going through a hard recession; mid 1970s there was an nationwide energy crisis. Money, disposable money was in short supply.

Looked at an inflation online calculator; adjusted for 2019 - would've cost $248.65. How many people in 1980 could afford that? On a child's toy?

Mego Corporation (1954 - 1983; bankruptcy) was going to produce various toys for the film; action figures and playsets. "The Black Hole" was a massive licensing failure for the Mego.

What limited toys got released almost didn't happen; pretty much only action figures (same amount of articulation as those small "G.I. Joe"). Never owned them. But do remember seeing them at TG&Y; kinda, but not quite - the Wal-Mart of their day, Woolworth held that title. And the larger Ken doll sized figures of the humans, not the robots.



Anyhow, they were having company problems at the time, only a few were made. Above image from the same catalog. There were playsets announced for those smaller figs, but didn't happen either.

Point?

Early 2000s...

The movie droid could've been a near life sized, entertainment center.

Take a good look at that RC toy and consider this...

Open the top of its head (on hinge, not pull out) - expose the DVD player, monitor is the screen in the chest. Buttons for volume and DVD functions also on the chest (below screen) and could also be done by the included remote control. The screen would be a bit bigger than the movie character for obvious reasons, but not too big to take away from the sci-fi icon. The line of lights under the screen could also flick on and off to the volume, like an audio analyzer. Feature can be turned off and on.

Player would also do CDs and MP3 CD-Rs.

There are hidden stereo speakers below the arms. The robot's rear would have audio output for external speakers if you want. And video/audio input to use it like a regular TV.

This could have minor motion on the face, looking left to right (vise versa) - have it activated by on-screen volume, like a car crash or high pitch noise. V.I.N.Cent startled, even have (randomly) eyes light up. Mode can be turned off by a switch on the back.

The uppers part of the chest would also have a digital turner, AM/FM radio. Screen would show the station numbers, tuning and perhaps a wireframe wavelength of audio for visuals; can be turned off by mode button next to the tuner. On the edge of the collar (as it were) would have ten radio presets for (each) tuner.

Unlike the above radio control toy, the feet do not move - those round stabilizer on each ball. Let me make this clear - this would be intended for a desk, not the living room. Be it a child's desk or an adult's home work station.

Could very well be a switch on the back (on/off) to have V.I.N.Cent say various dialog (voiced by Roddy McDowall) from the movie (random) from pushing the front button "enter'.

And do more than just DVDs and CDs. There could be a small, sliding door on the front top frame for a hidden USB port. There you can plug in a memory stick to play MP3s and MP4s videos.

It would be damn sway. Not sure, would there be room to animated the claws (hands)? Perhaps. This way, you could use V.I.N.Cent to hold a paper note. The same with the laser guns (next to the claws) - could be done by the remote. Push a button and they extended out, lights up (blinks) with the correct color with sound effect from the movie.

*pew pew pew*

When turned Off - the head (face) drops inside the body, like the movie with a power down sound effect. And a power up sound when turned On...

The side arms would not extend. Just the mock door on the sides. Going back to the front arms. Can imagine them recessing, like the movie and having those spring slide door close on it. Yeah, I think it's possible.

Pretty sure this could be made using a 3D printer, a fan made - custom leisure hub for fanboys and their kids.

Holy crap, on eBay; vintage V.I.N.Cent figure (seen above) are going for $324.95 and $665.00 for the Italian version! Same thing, blister pack text in Italian.



Above is a cutaway from the '79 Japanese movie program (written in Katakana). Can't read, but it is cool looking.

News surfaced this month; coming in January 2020, new action figures. This is one of them, a two pack of bots. This is V.I.N.Cent and Old B.O.B.; the figs come with a base that features a diorama - the interior of the USS Cygnus. This will retail for $28.99. Yes, there is a market for this franchise today.

Other figs in "Disney Classic Series" include Maximilian by itself with multiple interchangeable parts for $28.99. I think it may be to scale with the above bots. Lastly is vinyl figures, super-deformed of Maximilian and V.I.N.Cent for $19.99. It's cute.

There you go. Indeed. See you here on September 5th, 2019 for a month long coverage on steelbooks.

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Update 02/08/20

Goofing online, found the TV commerical for that RC V.I.N.Cent toy. Did not know this ad existed. Go to YouTube, type in "Mego Black Hole Vincent Commercial" in search. Or if you know how, "1Kd8_Xxv6Iw". Uploaded on December 6th, 2006 by Brick Mantooth.

[JohnIan101]

Best Buy - August 27th, 2019


Godzilla: King Of The Monsters
Exclusive steelbook; 4k BD/BD/DC combo $34.99
Exclusive 3D presentation; BD/DVD/DC combo $29.99

The Secret Lives Of Pets 2
Exclusive steelbook; 4k BD/BD/DC combo $32.99

Rocketman
Exclusive steelbook; 4k BD/BD/DC combo $32.99

The Goonies
Exclusive steelbook; BD/DC combo $14.99

Beetlejuice
Exclusive steelbook; BD/DC combo $14.99

The Exorcist
Exclusive steelbook; BD/DC combo $14.99

Friday The 13th (1980)
Exclusive steelbook; BD/DC combo $14.99

Cat's Eye
Exclusive steelbook; BD/DC combo $14.99

Salem's Lot (1979)
Exclusive steelbook; BD/DC combo $14.99

Avengers: Endgame (available now)
Exclusive steelbook; 4k BD/BD/DC combo $34.99

Avengers 4 - Movie Collection (available now)
Exculusive steelbook; 4k BD/BD/DC combo $149.99