Funko Friday: Daredevil

December 18, 2015 / The No Seatbelt Blog / Leave a comment

This week on Funko Friday, I introduce one of the newest additions to my collection of Pop! vinyl dolls, Daredevil! I picked up this Hot Topic-exclusive the other day at the mall, and I can’t say enough how impressed I am with the store’s ever-increasing selection of these great collectibles. Their enormous wall of Funko’s signature line of toys is the sole reason I would ever set foot in one of their stores these days, lest I be blinded by obnoxious pastels splattered all over everything. Continue reading →

Funko Friday: Spider-Man

December 11, 2015 / The No Seatbelt Blog / Leave a comment

Funko Friday is back at The No Seatbelt Blog, casting a spotlight on one of my favorite superheroes of all-time, Spider-man! I have always loved Spidey (and have had to put aside my abiding hatred for actual spiders), and since Marvel has brought him to the big-screen over the past decade, that love has only grown. When geeky, science-obsessed teen Peter Parker gets bitten by a radioactive spider, he is blessed with superhuman strength and the desire to rid New York City of crime. Continue reading →

Funko Friday: The Boondock Saints

November 20, 2015 / The No Seatbelt Blog / 2 Comments

When I was in college, my roommate Dave said to me something to the effect of “you’re probably not going to like this movie.” Nonetheless, we sat and watched The Boondock Saints, and I was blown away by it. This low-budget independent film revolves around Connor and Murphy MacManus, two deeply religious Irish brothers living in South Boston, who after a violent run-in with the Russian mob, grow tired of the incessant crime they see around them, and take it upon themselves to start taking out the trash in the city they call home. Continue reading →

Funko Friday: Glenn

November 13, 2015 / The No Seatbelt Blog / Leave a comment

“Hey you. Dumbass. Yeah, you in the tank. Are you cozy in there?” said Glenn Rhee over a radio to a bewildered Rick Grimes in the very first episode of The Walking Dead. You see, Rick had just awoken from a coma in the middle of the zombie apocalypse, and Glenn made him feel welcome before they even met face-to-face. Continue reading →

Funko Friday: Stay Puft Marshmallow Man

November 6, 2015 / The No Seatbelt Blog / Leave a comment

“It’s the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man,” said Ghostbuster Ray Stanz, in a statement that was both matter-of-fact and loaded with dismay, after he inadvertently conjured up the embodiment of one of his favorite childhood mascots. Towards the end of the classic comedy, the Ghostbusters were asked to choose the form of “the destructor”, which would descend upon New York City to destroy them, along with the rest of the world. While the other three cleared their heads, poor Ray had a fleeting thought about a childhood memory, and it immediately came back to life. Continue reading →

Funko Friday: The Joker

October 23, 2015 / The No Seatbelt Blog / Leave a comment

“Some men just want to watch the world burn,” said the great Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth in The Dark Knight. That morbid desire was certainly true of The Joker in that incredible film, and the character’s portrayal by Heath Ledger made you believe that without a shred of doubt. Ledger’s performance as Batman’s nemesis was unexpectedly scary, and is to this day, at least in my book, incomparable. As a self-proclaimed “agent of chaos,” he wanted to bring Gotham City to its knees, if for no other reason than the fact that he could. Everyone knows that the scariest motive for a villain to have for the death and destruction they wreak is no real motive at all, and that concept makes movies such as The Dark Knight so much more fun. Continue reading →

Funko Friday: The Rocketeer

October 16, 2015October 15, 2015 / The No Seatbelt Blog / Leave a comment

This week on Funko Friday, I honor one of my favorite Pop! dolls modeled after the title character from one of my favorite movies when I was a kid, The Rocketeer! The 1991 Disney classic features Billy Campbell as Cliff, an up-and-coming pilot who gets his hands on a prototype of a jetpack after being shot down in his plane and uses it to battle the Nazis in 1930’s Hollywood. All in a day’s work for Cliff, as he goes head-to-head with Neville Sinclair, a famous actor who is in league with the German baddies (played by Timothy Dalton, who is always a great villain), and tries to save his girlfriend and aspiring actress Jenny Blake (the lovely Jennifer Connelly) who often gets caught in the crossfire. Continue reading →

Funko Friday: Prison Yard Rick Grimes

October 9, 2015 / The No Seatbelt Blog / Leave a comment

In honor of the upcoming return of The Walking Dead, this week’s edition of Funko Friday presents the Prison Yard Rick Grimes Pop! doll! Everybody who has watched the show from the beginning remembers when Rick and the crew were just about to stumble upon the prison, as the fearless leader ushered in “the Ricktatorship” with his “this is not a democracy anymore” speech. From there, he grew his hair out, became a farmer, and completely lost his shit and started hallucinating and seeing his dead wife (man, she was annoying when she was alive). It was a weird time for Rick on the show, as he quickly descended from awesomeness (see: Ricktatorship) to a quivering, emotional pile of goo incapable of leading anyone. Continue reading →

Funko Friday: TMNT Raphael

October 2, 2015 / The No Seatbelt Blog / Leave a comment

The newest edition of Funko Friday delves into one of my favorite properties as a kid, and still today, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The foursome of mutated, crime-fighting turtles has stood the test of time, having been depicted in comic books, several cartoon series, two movie franchises (one of which is still in the works), and tons of great action figures. The four baby turtles were accidentally mutated by an ooze, raised and taught the ways of the ninja by a mutated rat in the sewers, developed an uncompromising love of pizza, and battled the Foot Clan, the Shredder and many other villains on the streets of New York. Continue reading →

Funko Friday: Silent Bob

September 25, 2015September 25, 2015 / The No Seatbelt Blog / Leave a comment

This week’s edition of Funko Friday will honor the fictional local hero known as Silent Bob. Played with stoic charm by Red Bank-native Kevin Smith, whose 1994 black-and-white classic Clerks, along with its ensuing cinematic universe that took New Jersey by storm, Silent Bob is a lovable, chain-smoking, drug-dealing character who says nothing for the majority of each of the films in which he stars, until he finally opens his mouth to say something that crucially impacts the story. He plays a counterbalance to his hetero-life-mate Jay (Jay Mewes), who is a delightfully crude and misogynistic idiot who never shuts up. Continue reading →