Soul Spec Layzner

蒼き流星SPTレイズナー, Aoki Ryūsei SPT Layzner produced by Sunrise Animation 1985.

Bandai Soul Spec XS-02 SPT-LZ00X / E-SPT-LZ00X-B Layzner / New Layzner.

Another of my favourite anime series is Blue Comet Super Power Tracer Layzner. Produced and written by Ryosuke Takahashi, Layzner was a complex character study telling the story of an alien invasion by the Gurados, humanoids from the Udoria system. At the centre of the show was the main character; Albatro Null Eiji Asuka (known better as Eiji).

Eiji was a half human half alien hybrid born from the union of a missing Japanese astronaut and a Gradosian woman torn between his loyalties to his own race and his morality to protect the people of Earth.

The figure itself is of solid construction consisting of a die cast skeletal design that you add armour onto. The armour given can be used to construct either the regular Layzner as seen in the television series or the New Layzner that was showcased in both the infamous final episode and the concluding OVA.

What separated Layzner from the rest of the robot fare of its day was the heavy themes of nihilism that existed in each episode. Instead of simple episodes that end in a clear victory, the series (in the first season) often featured no win situations in which victory was only achieved with undesirable consequences and/or loss of life not surprising since the story was penned by Ryosuke Takahashi whose credits include the equally nihilistic series Votoms.

Layzner Box art.
The basic Layzner figure sans armour.	Rear view.
Cockpit details.	Layzner regular version.

The figure is a mixture with the base being die cast and the add ons as plastic.

There is also a stand that is included with the figure which contains electronics sounds that can be played by pressing a series of buttons  (AAA batteries not included), and is voiced by seiyuu Hara, Eriko;

These are the samples that you get:
01. READY!
02. Information message
03. Alarm message
04. Alarm message: SPT approaching in high speed from range 3
05. Alarm message: 3 SPTs' entering range 1!
06. Target lock-on
07. Target down
08. Incoming fire!
09. Hit on leg!
10. Alarm message: engage can't be avoided, counterattack is necessary
11. Retreat now!
12. Information message: remaining energy 0.43 GG
13. Switching target is necessary
14. Hit on chest, damage rate 0.35

The Green Slime- Intergalactic Mucous was Never More Fun

The Green Slime: 1968 (ガンマー第3号 宇宙大作戦, Ganmā Daisan Gō: Uchū Daisakusen, aka Gamma 3: Operation Outer Space) Directed by Kinji Fukasaku (Battle Royale) and starring Robert Horton, Lucianna Paluzzi and Richard Jaeckel.

Special effects performed by Nihon Special Effects, Inc., Toei Chemistry Co., Inc.

Ah yes, The Green Slime This folks is a Japanese monster movie with no signs of any Asian actors to be found... and I love it.

All round eyes!!!

I've just received a copy of it on DVD online and have anticipated watching this film since I was a kid. Granted the film came out in the same year as Stanley Kubrik's 2001: a space odyssey, and lacks the same production values, but that's irrelevant because it lacks the cerebral intent of serious sci-fi and just goes for the fun.

So what's so great about this film? First of all the alien menace itself. The Green Slime are indigenous creatures from the asteroid Flora and survive as moldy pieces of green, undulating jello. Flora is on a collision course with Earth and naturally must be destroyed.

Robert Horton as Commander Jack Rankin is chosen to annihilate the impending menace with a team of demolition experts and several tons of nuclear explosives.

The land of Jello Mould.

When their home turf is blown up one of the creatures survives as a small glob of goo hitching a ride on an astronauts spacesuit. The creature then absorbs the energy exposed in the decon chamber and starts to grow at an alarming rate, self replicating and soon manages to over-run the space station the heroes are on.

All round eye!!!

These guys are just about the coolest bunch of monsters ever to hit the screen. Slimy green cyclopean creatures which have the power to self replicate and disperse electrical discharge on their intended victims.

As a result it's up to Commanders Jack Rankin and Vince Elliot to find a way to dispose of the alien menace before they find a way of conquering the station and all the personnel on board.

All in all The Green Slime is a fun creature feature, filled with old world model prop work, lovely Italian actresses, cool rubber suit monsters and good old fashioned guerrilla style film making.

COME GET SOME!!!!

And who can forget that groovy Richard Delvey theme song?

But don't take my word for it just watch this and you'll be hooked as well.

Open the door you'll find the secret, To find the answer is to keep it, You'll believe it when you find Something screaming 'cross your mind Green sliiiiime What can it be, what is the reason, Is this the end of all that breathes, and Is it something in your head? Will you believe it when you're dead? Green sliiiiime, green sliiiiime, green sliiiiime What can it be, what is the reason, Is this the end to all that we've done? Is it something in your head? Will you believe it when you're dead? Green sliiiiime, green sliiiiime, green sliiiiime

The Ωmega Man: That Which was Legend

The Ωmega Man (1971) Directed by Boris Sagal. Starring Charlton Heston, Anthony Zerbe and Rosiland Cash. Based on the Richard Matheson's novel I am Legend.

Robert Neville: Doctor, colonel, scientist... mutant killer!!!

When I first was introduced to The Omega Man I was but a young lad just coming off my first brush with movie legend Charlton Heston whom I was familiar from The Planet of the Apes franchise. Let's face it Chuck was cool. He was the super uberhuman who parted the Red Sea, faced down an army of apes, rode Roman chariots to victory and warned us that Soylent Green was made from people.

The Omega Man, (Directed by Boris Sagal, Father of Katey Sagal AKA Peg Bundy) serves as one of my all time favourite post apocalyptic films. The tone of the opening sets up the entire film as we see Heston's character Robert Neville casually cruising up and down the abandoned streets of downtown L.A. all the while listening to the theme of A Summer Place. As he stops to turn the corner he lays a barrage of bullets into a nearby building that clearly has a dark figure moving in it. Most likely a mutated human being, a scavenger... or perhaps a Jehovah's witness.

Based loosely on the Richard Matheson's novel I am Legend the movie is the second film adaptation of this work. The first was titled The Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price and is also a favourite of mine. Then of course there's the Will Smith version... and the less said about that one the better.

The plot revolves around the destruction of the civilized world thanks to chemical warfare instigated by a conflict between the Russians and the Chinese. Colonel Robert Neville (our hero) develops an experimental vaccine to the poisonous bacilli but only has enough to test it on himself, making him effectively the last non-mutated human being on Earth. And if anyone has to represent humanity then who better than Moses the guy who fought a thousand apes?

Their house is a museum,
when people come to see 'em,
they really are a screee-am,
they are The Family...

 Neville lives in a lavish L.A. penthouse. During the day, he roams through the vacant city picking up supplies, confiscating cars from withdrawn dealerships and occasionally killing the odd goon who happens to cross his path. (Neville also takes in some cinema watching a private screening of the movie Woodstock, clearly showing that the world ended in 1973). At night, he fends off a horde of savage book burning mutants who call themselves The Family.

 Anthony Zerbe plays the Leader of The Family named Matthias, formerly Johnathan Matthias, News anchor turned cult leader. Once just a man looking to clean up the city from all the dead, suddenly a mutated soul with a mission to bury and burn all things progressive and technologically conceived.

Anthony Zerbe as Mattias.

 Matthias and Neville make perfect foils as two juxtapositioned ideals facing off against each other. Neville harbours all that humanity was, in art science and progress. All this stored in his apartment protected by floodlights, surveillance equipment, guns and cars. Matthias on the other hand feels that all these things are aberrant representations of a dead society that has destroyed itself and must be erased. It's seems rather symbolic that science is considered evil by the group that cannot see in the light, while the man who cannot see in the dark tries to find a cure to prevent further destruction from these medieval Luddites.

The one thing that I love about this movie is the way that Neville is portrayed. Heston shows him as a lone man in a tower with all the comforts technology and firearms can provide, a man who reigns death on the lowly grubs who dare disturb his peace. Often I envisioned my life as something like this. Oh the dream...

As a kid I loved the idea of just taking what I wanted and not worrying about how to pay for it, going around hunting mutated creeps and making them meet their maker, getting the girl and having a life free of the drudgeries of work and taxes. Of course in real life if such a thing did happen and I found myself in that situation I'd probably volunteer to save the family some trouble and set myself on fire after my last bullet had left the chamber... and probably not hitting anything or anyone...

Still one can dream.

Random Thoughts

This week, Micronauts AND Star Wars, because... why not. Actually both came out in the same year and the Stormtrooper looks a lot like Force Commander don't you think?

More random

I'm Back & Climbing Stairs

Wow I haven't written since 2012 and sooo much has passed since that time... well the good news is that I've managed to collect a whole slew of new stuff and participated in some great charity work.

The one that I'm most proud of is the volunteer work I've done for the United Way by actively joining in their annual stairclimb dressed as a Stormtrooper. Yes I said dressed as a Stormtrooper. The goal of which is to climb 472 steps without slipping and falling down a flight of stairs while encased in a suit of armour.

What can I say? Mobility and vision are limited, the restriction is uncomfortable, the armour is not designed for stairs and you sweat like crazy... and I love it!!!

I'm now in my third year of doing this with other Star Wars costumers and our group has been gathering a lot of attention. I do envy the scouts now as they have it a LOT easier and can move more freely, but then someone's gotta represent. Long live the stormies!!!

London Rogues Sci Fi Fantasy Six

Managed to finally get some time off of work to attend a Science Fiction Con close to my neck of the woods. In the two days I was there I managed to display both my stormtrooper and my Cobra Commander outfits. Needles to say I was a big hit with the crowds and the pictures didn't stop.

Along the way I met some other incredible cosplayers as well as some great people who helped out a LOT. Kudos to all who attended and I hope to make it again next year... with possibly some new surprises along the way...

Here are some of the pics:

Photos courtesy of the London Rogues.

The Cobra Commander CQBR Project

Just working on another addition to my Cobra commander costume, this time I'm putting together a CQBR (Close Quarter Battle Receiver). This particular rifle was developed specifically for urban warfare. The CQBR is an attempt to combine the hitting power of an assault rifle with the compactness of a sub machine gun.

I managed to find the remains of this rifle in the bargain bin of my local Mil-surplus store and through a little perseverance, paint and parts hunting have come up with something that's not too bad and that old CC himself has given his nod of approval.

The rifle as I found it.	Didn't look like much at the time.
A stock I found in the parts bin.
A little bit of paint can work wonders.	Starting to show some promise.
Fully painted with stock & magazine added.
Added a scope.	And a tactical light.
The finished product.

And the final result:

COBRA!