Ten Things To Make 2013 Exciting

Happy New Year!  If you’re not sure about the new year yet, here’s ten things that will make 2013 an awesome year.

10. Back To The Future Legos!

The 2013 winner for Lego’s design contest is a kit featuring the DeLorean from Back To The Future.  It’s up in the air exactly what will be included in the set (sets?) but I think the famous time-traveling car and Doc and Marty minifigs are a safe bet… This will be one rad Lego set regardless, made all the better that 10% of the proceeds will be donated to the Fox Foundation charity.  How cool is that??

9. Man Of Steel sets up Justice League 

I have no idea what to expect from Zack Snyder’s Man Of Steel, but the most intriguing part of the Superman reboot is that it will supposedly set us up to jump into Justice League.  Warner is taking a very different approach to their team movie than Marvel Studios did with The Avengers, and I’m curious to see exactly how it will pay off for the second cinematic super-team.

8. Archer Season Four!

The funniest show on television returns with an all-new season this January on FX.  It’s been over nine months since we last saw narcissistic super spy Sterling Archer and his ISIS cohorts, and the brilliant promos hyping the new season have me itching like smackhound Woodhouse, jonesing for more undercover adventures.

7. Mattel brings us Watchmen

Despite some close calls, we’ve never seen comics-accurate figures based on Watchmen, but that’s all about to change, as Mattel launches the Matty Collector exclusive Club Black Freighter in early 2013.  The subscription series will deliver all six modern Watchmen– Rorschach, Dr. Manhattan, Nite Owl, Silk Spectre, The Comedian and Ozymandias– and based on what we’ve seen so far, these will be the Watchmen fans have been waiting nearly three decades to own.

6. Star Wars news! 

OK, so Episode VII isn’t scheduled to hit theaters until 2015, but that means we have two years of pre-production, wild rumor mills, speculation and confirmation as we approach the release date.  Silly as it may sound, my fondest memories of the prequels were following all the pre-release coverage, as rumors surfaced and were summarily squashed down… OR confirmed.  I recall many nights pouring over the latest leaked artwork and designs, and debating on forums of whether Christopher Lee or Jet Li would make a better Sith Lord…. We know how the prequels ended up turning out, so that’s tempering a little excitement for the new movies for me, but still– the Disney-helmed sequel really does feel like “a new hope.”

5. Iron-Man Legends!

I’m totally excited for Iron-Man 3, which will see The Mandarin’s debut in the Marvel cinematic universe, under the capable watch of director Shane Black.  But what’s really geeking me out are Hasbro’s Iron-Man Legends, two sets of three figures which include parts for an all-new, amazing looking Iron Monger Build-A-Figure!  These waves will be in addition to Marvel Legends, and as any collector should know… the only thing better than Marvel Legends, is MORE Marvel Legends!

4. G.I. Joe Retaliation finally hits theaters!

The new GI Joe movie was shoved out of its Summer 2012 release rather gracelessly, leading many of us to believe it wasn’t good enough to deliver.  Despite this vote of little confidence, the cast is super-fun and all the trailers we’ve seen so far make it look like a badass, entertaining thrill ride.  I’m a Joe die-hard, so I’m sticking with it regardless… but it’s my hope that they ended up crafting a movie awesome enough to live up to its great trailers.  We’ll find out for sure next March.

3. Arrested Development is back!

The best TV show of the last decade is coming back, thanks to Netflix!  The streaming service will release a 13-episode miniseries which catches us up on the Bluth family and their activities since the end of the the cult classic Fox show in 2006.  With all 13 episodes being released simultaneously, I forsee a solid day of Arrested Development in the very near future… leading up to the movie coming after the Netflix series!  There’s no solid date yet, but Netflix is running a totally fun viral promo for it, by peppering some AD-themed movie and TV show listings into their streaming catalog… if you’re a subscriber, you should go look for them!

2. NECA’s Aliens toy line!

There is no toy line I am more excited for than the new Aliens series by NECA.  Not only are we getting a hyper-articulated all new Alien drone from James Cameron’s classic sequel, NECA will finally bring fans a pair of fully posable, insanely detailed Colonial Marines.  This April, both Hicks and Hudson will see release, packed with enough gear to withstand any bug hunt, with variants of each figure on the horizon, as well!

1. Pacific Rim hits theaters

There’s no movie I’m more stoked to see next year than Guillermo Del Toro’s giant robots versus giant monster opus, Pacific Rim.  The robots we’ve seen thus far look incredible, classic and iconic, and the first trailer is absolutely fantastic.  GDT has pulled off some incredible cinematic feats in the past, but he’s never had a sandbox this big– or expensive– to play with before… I have little doubt that a year from now, I’l still be singing the praises of this movie.

Each year is always full of a myriad of surprises, and with Toy Fair and Comic Con already looming on the horizon I’m sure 2013 will be no exception– but this is the stuff we already know about, and it’s not even January 1st!!

Happy New Year from all of us at Kastor’s Korner… Be sure to keep checking back all year long for coverage on the topics above, and everything else that gets your geek blood pumping.  Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you next year!