I miss the Stargate television shows! I tuned in or programmed my VCR to tape every week the new episodes of Stargate SG1, Stargate Atlantis and Battlestar Galactica that were broadcast on the Sci-Fi Fridays cable tv lineup. If you are a fan of these shows like I am, Master Replicas has some impressive die-cast models featuring spaceships from these science fiction franchises available on their website. I actually have one of their Colonial Viper replicas on display in my home office to show off my fanship of Battlestar Galactica.
I was GEEKED to discover that Master Replicas is also selling Stargate themed diecast replica models. In fact, they are taking preorders now for a 2025 release that should excite Stargate fans... the Puddle Jumper! The Puddle Jumpers were Ancient ships that flew through the Stargates to different locations in the Pegasus Galaxy. In the Stargate Atlantis tv show, these spaceships were the primary mode of transportation used by the SG team in their adventures.
Master Replicas based its model on the original VFX files used on the show, making it incredibly accurate. The model itself measures just under 6” (15 cm) long. This version of the Puddle Jumper shows the ship with the engine pods out.
Other Stargate Atlantis and SG-1 models available from Master Replicas include the Daedalus, the Goa’uld mothership and Death Glider, the Pegasus, the F-302, and two Stargates. The Puddle Jumper will cost $64.99 and is expected to ship in April.
I'm a big fan of the Battlestar Galactica television series, so couldn't resist picking up a diecast version of my favorite spaceship from these sci-fi shows, the Colonial Viper Mark II, to display on a shelf in my home office. Created by Eaglemoss Collections, who also have produced a fantastic line of Star Trek spaceship replicas, a number of diecast starcraft duplicating those seen in Battlestar Galactica shows (1978 & 2004) will soon be available from Sideshow Collectibles. These diecast replicas where crafted utilizing CGI models designed by the modern Galactica VFX team. This level of cooperation from the television show producers has allowed for the creation of faithfully produced screen accurate detail in these great scale models.
I bought this Battlestar Galactica Mark II from my local comic book shop over the summer. It was the only one they had received from their toy distributor allocation of Eaglemoss products. So it is nice to learn that these Battlestar Galactica replicas will soon be more accessible through Sideshow Collectibles.
This isn't a small matchbox sized toy as the Viper Mark II can fill almost half a shelf in a display cabinet. It measures 10.6 inches long and has some heft to go along with its size being made from diecast metal and high-quality ABS materials. The model is hand painted to emphasis details and add the look of some wear and tear in being used to fight Cylon Raiders.
The Viper Mark II is inspired by the one flown by Kara Thrace (call sign Starbuck) in the 2004 television series. It features her callsign by the cockpit and tail number near the engines. The diecast on the ship's body also has wear and tear effects from Starbuck's close calls in combat. Mechanical details are visible within the nose cone in front and engines to the rear with machine guns protruding from the wings. I think it looks really sharp!
Also along with the model comes a 16-page collector's magazine. It includes concept art, design sketches, vehicle diagrams and screen shots of the Viper Mark II in action during episodes of Battle Star Galactica. Plus there is an interview with Ronald D. Moore who developed the 2004 television series. It is full of interesting information and imagery to flip through.
This Viper Mark II appeared in almost every episode of the second Battlestar Galactica television series. Launched from massive Battlestar ships, the Viper Mark II was instrumental in the First Cylon War. Although they were eventually replaced with newer models, a squadron of the space superiority fighters remained on board the Battlestar Galactica and was re-activated to defend the Galactica during its four-year journey to Earth that takes place in the 2004 television series.
Being able to have your own officially licensed Viper Mark II is sure to delight any Battlestar Galactica fan. I'm glad I got my hands on one! It looks great in my office and yes sometime I take it out to play with it. I'm not afraid to let my geek side show!
The following Battlestar Galactica models will be available from Sideshow Collectibles:
This is not a sponsored post, but if you purchase one of the awesome products featured above, this dad blogger will earn a small commission from the retailer at no additional charge to you. Thank you for your support of ageekdaddy.com
Dynamite Comics is taking the Battlestar Galactica franchise steampunk in an upcoming 4 issue mini-series that is starting in August. Steampunk is a genre of science fiction that has gained a tremendous amount of popularity over the last decade, this year's FREE COMIC BOOK DAY event included a Star Wars steampunk edition in its offerings for example, which features steam-powered machinery in an alternative history where technology didn't advance beyond that of the 19th century British Victorian/American "Wild West" time period in stories. Other themes also include post-apocalyptic Earth where our technology has regressed back to steam power or fantasy alien worlds where steampunk is their current culture and technology level. The mini-series will be titled "Steampunk Battlestar Galactica 1880."
This Battlestar Galactica mini-series removes the space faring element from the story and retells it with similar characters and elements taking place in a fantasy steampunk world. Here's the new story:
After Professor Baltar's clockwork Cylonics destroy the Colonial Empire, Arch Duke Adama learns that his son Apollo is missing! It is up to Lady Athena to travel to the Sky Pirate world of the Rising Star and ask for help from the only hope she has - the disgraced Captain Starbuck and his humanoid / Daggit copilot Muffit.
Check out a sample of some of the artwork from Steampunk Battlestar Galactica 1880:
From the artwork and story description this looks to be a fun spinoff of the original Battlestar Galactica television show. It should be really interesting to see how all the costumes and tech are steampunked in this comic book. You can already see in the previews that they have giant and regular sized clock-work cylons and flying sailing ships battling it out. I'm looking forward to picking up a copy of the first issue when it comes out in a few weeks and seeing all of the imaginative steampunk twists they take off of this classic science fiction space drama.
For years SciFi Friday was a fixture in my life as I always made an effort to watch or tape (wow talking about VCRs just sounds so out dated now) Ronald Moore's BATTLESTAR GALACTICA series on the SciFi Channel (now SyFy Channel). The show started with a three-hour miniseries in 2003 and was than picked up for a four season run wrapping up in 2009. The premise is that humans had fought a previous war with their robotic servants, known as Cylons, who had rebelled against them. The war ended with a truce where the robots were exiled to their own area of space and the humans kept control of their home planets known as the "Twelve Colonies." The show, which is based on Glen Larson's 1978 television series of the same name, begins with the Cylons breaking their truce with a devastating ambush that wipes out most of the humans except for a ragtag fleet of survivors led by their last warship, the Battlestar Galactica, under the control of Commander William Adama, that flees the carnage and looks for the original home of their ancestors, Earth.
Since BattleStar Galactica concluded its run on the SyFy Channel many of us fans had been hoping for a sequel television series that would bring back the excitement of the futuristic robotic villains and sleek starfighters that put the show on TIME MAGAZINE'S "100 Best TV Shows of ALL-TIME" list. Well guess what folks, BattleStar Galactica is coming back to the SyFy Channel ... not as a sequel but rather as a prequel. The SyFy Channel will broadcast a pilot it developed, Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome, as a two-hour movie on Sunday, February 10, 2013 @ 9 pm E.T.
According to the SyFy Channel:
Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome (a prequel to the critically acclaimed hit series, Battlestar Galactica) takes place in the midst of the First Cylon war. As the battle between humans and their creation, the sentient robotic Cylons, rages across the 12 colonial worlds, a young, talented fighter pilot, William Adama (Luke Pasqualino), finds himself assigned to one of the most powerful battlestars in the Colonial fleet: the Galactica. Full of ambition and in pursuit of the intense action that the Cylon war promises, Adama quickly finds himself at odds with his co-pilot, the battle-weary officer Coker (Ben Cotton). With only 47 days left in his tour of duty, Coker desires an end to battle just as much as Adama craves the start of it. Though they clash at first, the two men forge an unlikely bond when a routine escort mission with an enigmatic passenger (Lili Bordan) turns dangerous and becomes a pivotal one for the desperate fleet.
Can't wait until February 10th to catch Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome on the SyFy Channel well guess what you are in luck because the pilot has also been posted on youtube as ten mini-episodes!
Episode 1: Ensign William Adama finds himself assigned to the newest Battlestar in the colonial fleet
Episode 2: William Adama's rookie mission aboard the Galactica quickly turns lethal as his small crew pilots their Raptor through Cylon territory
Episodes 3&4: Adama, Coker, and Dr. Kelly battle enemy Raiders and make a shocking discovery deep in Cylon space
Episodes 5&6: Adama dogfights Raiders while the Battlestar Osiris tries to hold off a Cylon Basestar.
Episodes 7&8: Adama, Coker, and Becca take shelter on a snow planet, but they aren't alone as Cylons attack their defenses.
Episodes 9&10: Secrets are revealed!
Unfortunately, as of now it looks as if the two-hour pilot may be the end of the line for Blood & Chrome and there won't be an ongoing tv or web series following it ... but you never know if the rating are good enough on February 10 who knows if it might get picked up for a series or they could make another straight to DVD movie like they did with Battlestar Galactica: Razor. So if you want to see more Battlestar Galactica on TV it wouldn't hurt to tune in to the SyFy Channel broadcast!
In addition to Blood & Chrome being broadcast on cable and via the Internet, an unrated version of the film will also be sold on DVD & Bluray starting on February 19, 2013. You can pre-order the video at the SyFy online store or Amazon.com.
I really enjoyed watching the web-series of Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome. It has some great space battles and close-up portrayals of Cylons that any science fiction aficionado will appreciate. The best part for me though was how the story delved into the transformation of Cylons from their creation in the short-lived tv drama Caprica (which was more soap opera than space opera) to the battle machines and organic human duplicates they transform into in the 2003 mini-series and the following TV seasons. Seeing the Cylons experimenting to create cyborg monsters was a stunning insight and story arc. Than seeing Cylon Centuarians that look like in-between models of the ones we are familiar with from classic 1978 show and the ones from the rebooted television series was exciting. I was really geeked though to be given a glimpse of one the first Cylon/Human duplicate that was not perfect but rather a first try of attempting to evolve from a sentient machine to an organic-based life form. I really felt that Blood & Chrome did a better job of going into the transformation of Cylons in the Battlestar Galactica tv show than the series itself had done itself with its goofy story line of survivors from another timeline joining with them to promote their evolution.
While the special effects were tremendous, the only down side of the film was its over reliance on green screens. There are a lot of flashes and light effects that distract from the sequences on the screen. I believe these are meant to enhance the illusion of there being real things before your eyes because otherwise it would be more obvious that so much of the scenery is computer generated. The original sets from Battlestar Galactica were dismantled and essentially the whole world of Blood & Chrome is portrayed via actors in front of green screens. While this isn't a fatal flaw, the film would have been nicer if some more funds had been invested in set designs and modeling. I also didn't like the co-pilot Coker character who I felt was just a little too whiny for a military guy.
All in all though I though Blood & Chrome was GREAT and would really like to see it expanded on in the future whether that be through a cable television series, web-broadcasts, DVDs, or maybe even video games.
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