The PopCulteer
July 13, 2018

It’s one of those weeks where The PopCulteer snuck up on me, and caught me without a topic.

So today, we’re going to revisit some of our recent posts.

More MEGO News

Just a couple of days ago, I told you more about the revival of The MEGO Toy Corporation.  Since then a few more details about what they’ll be offering have leaked out, and some things that might not have been accurate have also leaked out.

SyFyWire reported three more licenses that MEGO is supposedly doing, and they seemed plausible and commercial, however, Paul Clarke-AKA “Dr. MEGO–and second-in-command at the reborn company disputed the report, so it’s either inaccurate or premature. Either way we won’t repeat it here.

We will repeat that Joe Namath will be in attendance at The San Diego International Comic Con next week at the MEGO booth, signing the limited edition show-exclusive 14” figure of himself. Namath was the first licensed figure that MEGO took on, back in the day, so his presence brings everything full circle.

Other tidbits that have come out are that the I Dream of Jeannie figures will be a two-pack of Jeannie and Major Nelson, that will retail for $29.99, and that the package for the Lt. Sulu figure shows that other figures in the Star Trek line will include The Gorn and The Romulan Commander. Also, the first wave of 20 figures will go on sale at Target stores on July 29, with a second wave coming in October. Each figure will be numbered and limited to 10,000 pieces. Until the middle of 2019, MEGO figures will be sold exclusively at Target stores and Target.com.

It’s expected that figures from Cheers will be out in the second wave this fall.

We’ll have more info on MEGO, as well as other cool news coming out of San Diego next week.

How Do You Make A Boondoggle Worse? Add Fireworks.

Last year I complained to high heaven about the colossal waste of taxpayer money that is the new Shawnee Sports Complex. I have not yet seen anything to change my mind about this reckless project, but they had their opening ceremony this week, and they found a way to make it even worse.

They had fireworks.

Just last week I was doing my version of “Old man bitching about fireworks,” but that was about the idiots who set them off individually. As part of the opening ceremony of the Shawnee Sports Complex they had a professional fireworks display, complete with loud rockets and booming explosions. It seemed like it went on for more than half an hour.

I’m a bit more than a mile away, and it shook my house.

I sure as hell hope that they never intend to set off fireworks there again. Charleston’s East End is already held hostage by the weekly barrage of fireworks at Power Park (why the hell is this even allowed?). I don’t want to see this careless disregard of other people’s peace and quiet spread across the county. These fireworks went off directly over a residential area, where people have young children, elderly relatives and pets, all of whom are adversely affected by loud fireworks, especially right in the middle of the work week.

I can only surmise, that fireworks are part of a plan to drive out the predmoninantly black and elderly citizens of Institute and West Dunbar who live right across the street from the Sports Complex, so that they can buy up the land cheap and sell it to developers. It was shaking my house more than a mile away. I can only imagine how miserable it must have been for the poor people living virtually next door. Let’s hope they don’t get the chance to completely destroy a neighborhood before the Sports Complex in Hurricane, half an hour away, takes away all the potential tournaments that Shawnee is supposed to attract.

US Floyd

On a more positive note, I can’t stop raving about how great US Floyd was at the Clay Center last Saturday. Ten amazing musicians meticulously re-created the music of Pink Floyd for a large and appreciative crowd at Charleston’s classiest venue, and it was simply spectacular. I could go on and on about them, or I could just link back to my review from last Sunday.

It’s great to see the band back on track after a health-induced hiatus, and I look forward to seeing them again soon.

Marx Videos Are Coming

I have two videos in the pipeline from last month’s Marx Toy Convention in Wheeling. Things have been rather hectic around Stately Radio Free Charleston Manor for the last several weeks, and I’m way behind on sorting through images and video from my recent trips.

If all goes well this weekend, I will have two Marx videos ready Sunday evening, and then I will write about the rest of my recent travels next week. I promise this time…really! I also have some great new Marx-style limited editions to tell you about, so keep PopCult in your hearts, minds and bookmarks.

And with that, we wrap up this week’s PopCulteer so that we can get to work on this stuff. Thanks for your continued support of PopCult, and check back every day for fresh content. And don’t forget to listen to all the fine programs on our internet radio station, The AIR.