1990 Laser Viper (v1) Series Nine From The File Card: Bio: Laser weapons are only effective at relatively short ranges because of the amount of energy lost through atmospheric dissipation. Therefore, a LASER-VIPER’s primary function on the battlefield is “target illumination” for H.E.A.T. VIPERS and AERO-VIPERS. The Laser-Viper places his beam on the target, then squeezes off a heat-seeking, anti-tank missile or guided bomb that “rides” the beam to destroy the target. “Don’t underestimate the Laser-Vipers. You might get the […]
1985 Torch (v1) Series Four Torch is a figure I didn’t have as a child. I found him in a Flea Market for $5. From The File Card: File Name: Tom Winken Birthplace: Botany Bay, New South Wales, Australia Bio: Subject was remanded to Borstal* at age fourteen. Escaped and went to sea in the Merchant Marine where he learned the use of the cutting torch. Later rode with the Melbourne Maulers M.C.** Torch is an illiterate, unrepentant thug whose […]
1991 Sci-Fi (v2) Series Ten This second version of Sci-Fi (v2) was released in 1991 and discontinued in 1992. A pretty decent update of an unusual figure from the 1986 line, this version of the former Laser Trooper turned “Directed Energy Expert” is dressed in midnight black with a high tech loadout. It is hinted in his file card that he is a bit obsessed with his work. From The File Card: File Name: Fine, Seymour P. SN. 793-2919-8F29* Primary […]
Between Two Fires April 26, 2026 Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman stayed with me longer than I expected. It’s an odyssey in the truest sense. Part horror, part something that almost leans into science fiction—not in machinery or futurism, but in scale. The setting is bleak in a way that doesn’t feel exaggerated. A medieval landscape hollowed out by plague, haunted by demons, and stripped of any real sense of safety. It’s not just that the world is dangerous—it […]
You with the Sad Eyes April 17, 2026 Christina Applegate’s You with the Sad Eyes is a memoir that splits itself between vulnerability and frustration, honesty and repetition. It’s a book that, at times, feels like a raw confession—and at others, like a loop the author hasn’t quite stepped out of. A large portion of the narrative is devoted to her experience in an abusive relationship. Applegate writes candidly about trying, over and over again, to fix a man she […]
Not a Speck of Light April 12, 2026 Most of the stories in the collection “Not a Spec of Light“, by Laird Barron are, frankly, boring. There are a couple of standouts. “Don’t Make Me Assume My Ultimate Form” was the one that held my attention—the conversation between the Danny Doll and the character with the brain tumor had a strange, unsettling edge that actually worked. “An American Remake of a Japanese Ghost Story” is probably the most clever piece […]
The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell April 12, 2026 The second book I got from Brian Stevenson, after the collection of stories A Collapse of Horses. I was really hoping for more stories in the same vein as A Collapse of Horses (hoping really for another story to blow me away like the story “Click” from this collection.) Unfortunately, this was not the case. I could say this particular collection is weaker than Horses. The strongest story in the collection […]
Revolutionary history at the Schuyler House, rebuilt in just 29 days after British troops burned it to the ground in 1777.
My first hike of the season took me to the powerful Dionondahowa Falls. Walking through the woods before the spring growth takes over has a stark, beautiful clarity to it, even if the bare branches made…
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