NUBIAN KNIGHTS NETWORK: Sunday, January 10, 2010

QUOTATIONS OF "BLACK"

"Whenever I use BLACK it relates to some history of Africans in that particular place. It’s the idea of the color BLACK as a metaphor, or as a representation of African-Americans. It’s the notion of BLACK- BLACKNESS - and all its other meanings in relation to the history of race..."

- Fred Wilson

"Most of my fortitude to continue doing the work comes from the moral outrage I feel about the injustices that Black people endure disproportionately daily."

- N. Abdul-Wakil

"In the end, what matters is not skin shade but pan-African consciousness. Loving your complexion, your nose, lips, hair length and texture, no matter what the politics or trends decide, and simply be. That's the problem with us (African folks). We're still learning how to love ourselves. So used to glorifying others and putting others first..."

- Dredlocks Tree

Sunday, January 10, 2010

The Rocketeer (Real Action Hero) Figure (Version 2.5)
Based on The Rocketeer (1991) Film

Hey!!

I'm a happy camper because I received The Rocketeer (version 2.5) figure from BigBadToyStore.com He's very qool and has many points of articulation. He's manufactured by Medicom Toy. This is the third version released over the course of several years: version 1.0, version 2.0 and now version 2.5. I was previously looking at acquiring one of the older versions, but either I couldn't find a dealer to buy the figure from or it was just ridiculously priced like $300.00 or more.

So, just sharing of little bit of my hobbies here.

The 12" Rocketeer Figure (Pictured Right)
Is my Latest Collectible.
The Rocketeer Bust (Pictured Left)
Is Another Collectible
I've Had For Less Than A Year!
LOVE THEM BOTH!

I actually got into figures because of my former partner who collected a lot of figures himself. I had taken him to Toy Toyko (121 2nd Avenue between St. Mark's Place & East 7th Street in lower Manhattan), a store in New York City which specializes in all kinds of Japanese imported toys. It was there that he coincidentally saw some Tokyo Tribe 3 figures and got me into these Japanese characters of African descent who had a hip-hop flava to them (dress wear with jeans and boots), and I thought that was qool. And they stood 12" tall like this Rocketeer figure. The Tokyo Tribe figures are also made by Medicom Toy, too.

My particular focus is on toy figures of African descent. This Rocketeer figure is one of the VERY FEW times I've gone outside that scope. He just has a qool ol' skool outfit and gun and so he makes the cut narrowly into the toy shrine!

This Was The Official Poster Art
Used In Promotions In Train Stations And Such
In The Summer Of 1991

The old style poster art confused a lot of people because they thought it was an animated film which it wasn't. The poster art was emulating or mimicking the pulp comic book art styles from back in the days (1930s/1940s).

At the time it was Disney's most expensive film they produced (I think $60 Million) and had top flight visual effects by George Lucas' ILM (Industrial Light and Magic). The film never caught on with people (the poster art as explained above was part of the marketing confusion) and bombed at the box office. So obviously no sequel.

But for some reason The Rocketeer character stayed in my mind and apparently a lot of other people's minds all these years because there are 3 versions of this figure, the bust that I have and there are other toy properties being issued as well here in 2010. So that's amazing for a film that was made almost 20 years ago!!

Yep! This Film Starred Some Qool Folks! It Had
Bill Campbell, Jennifer Connelly, Alan Arkin, Timothy Dalton,
Paul Sorvino and Terry O'Quinn (From "LOST")