Fast forward 30+ years and vinyl is now no longer the norm and artists charge a premium for it.

However vinyl does offer a number of advantages over other media.

The physical media itself is big enough that it can be used as a canvas of sorts which gives artists and designers some pace to play with. And of course they’ve also got the sleeve to play. There are options.

The Godfather was released in 1972. It has won many many awards and is considered to be one of the most iconic films in the history of cinema with a dedicated display in the Academy museum in Los Angeles.

So it’s no wonder that a special vinyl release of the original soundtrack is going to attract attention in some quarters. La La Records are releasing two limited edition versions – the tuxedo version and the cannoli cream and moe green version.

They look gorgeous!

Just beautiful

Here’s the official spiel:

La-La Land Records, Paramount Pictures and Geffen Records proudly present a remastered and expanded Limited Edition 2XLP vinyl release of acclaimed composer Nino Rota’s (8 1/2, LA DOLCE VITA, WAR AND PEACE) original motion picture score to the 1972 Academy Award-winning masterpiece THE GODFATHER starring Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and Diane Keaton, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
Pressed on 180 gram colored vinyl, THE GODFATHER is a 2XLP 33 rpm album that will be available in two striking variants – “Tuxedo Black and White” and “Cannoli Cream and Moe Green”! This deluxe release is the first time the remastered and expanded presentation of Rota’s masterwork is available on LP.
Like the film itself, Rota’s iconic score has woven itself deeply into the fabric of our culture. The music is a dramatic and emotional wonder – deeply soulful and romantic, yet tragic and teaming with pathos. The score’s waltz and love theme have both joined the pantheon of the most universally recognizable movie themes in history.
Produced by Dan Goldwasser and Neil S. Bulk, mixed by Chris Malone and mastered by Doug Schwartz from studio vault elements, this 2XLP release has been approved by Francis Ford Coppola and American Zoetrope. The program features the film’s score presentation mastered in high resolution along with additional and alternate cues, including two tracks by Carmine Coppola. The booklet insert contains liner notes by writer Tim Greiving and the album’s sharp art design is by Dan Goldwasser.
Limited to only 1500 units (750 units of each variant), this simply put, is a classic soundtrack LP release “you can’t refuse!”

You can order them here.

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This hanging bat makes for a cool addition to a garden or front porch:

More details here.

I’m not sure if they’ll ship to Europe or not, but as silly Halloween decorations go it’s right up there.

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Airfix are running a photography competition with the theme of “aviation”.

You can enter up to 5 photos via the competition website here

The competition is open to everyone aged 18 or older and the first prize is quite generous:

• Up to £250 to spend on the Airfix website.
• The Airfix Aviation Photo Award Trophy.
• Publication on the homepage, Award, and Airfix Club Members’ website pages.
• An article by Michael Clegg, author of Aerodrome and Workbench.
• Posting on official brand social media accounts with mentions.

Full details on the site here. Entries close on September 30th 2022.

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Got plenty of patience and good with building Lego?

And, are you a Star Wars fan?

If so this model might be the one for you.

It’s big, it’s detailed, it’s got lots of parts and it’s not cheap!

But oh boy is it cool:

You can order it directly from Lego here – it’ll set you back a cool €800!

What do you get?

• Nearly 7 thousand pieces
• 9 minifigures
• Fully assembled it’s pretty big and stands H: 25″ (62cm) W: 10″ (24cm) D: 28″ (69cm)
• it’s big enough to hold 40 minifigures and 4 speeder bikes

I can imagine that a lot of Lego and Star Wars fans are trying to justify the expense of buying this one.

My choice is easy – I don’t have the space for it!

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The Godfather was first released in 1972. The film, based on the novel by Mario Puzo, would go on to win multiple Oscars and become one of the iconic films of the 20th century.

Paramount are bringing it back to the big screen over the next couple of months with screenings of all three films at various times in select cinemas.

They’re also doing a special edition release of yet another restoration of the film on blu-ray. It looks like a very lavish boxset but it’s also at a fairly lavish price point! Of course this time round the film will be available in 4k. Whether it’ll really benefit from that treatment or not is debatable – it’s not exactly a bright and vivid film to begin with. There’s an interesting piece on this here.

Of the three films most people agree that the first is the best, though I’ve always found the second one to be more interesting in some ways.

The Godfather isn’t available to stream for free on any of the main services at the moment, so you’ll have to fork out to either rent or buy it. It’s a great film though, so worth adding to your collection.

The post The Godfather was Released 50 Years ago appeared first on Techie Toys.

Most models of bombers are either 1:72 or 1:48 scale. Anything bigger than that starts to become both unwieldy and expensive.

That doesn’t mean that kits of planes in 1:32 1:24 and other scales don’t exist. They do, but they’re just not as common.

Border Model are releasing a 1:32 scale model and it is an absolute beast.

Not only is it big – and boy is it big – but it’s also highly detailed, which should result in some interesting assemblies. If it’s got a fully detailed cockpit do you really want to close it up and not display it?

So what’s the kit like?

Here’s an unboxing video:

Of course a kit of that size and detail does not come cheap. Assuming you can find anyone stocking it (or offering pre-orders) it’ll run you to around €600 or more.

I’d keep an eye out for online sites in Poland or the Czech Republic selling the kit, as there won’t be any import duties to pay if you order from them.

The level of detail though!

(And no, I will not be buying it. I couldn’t do it justice)

The post Insanely Detailed Model of Lancaster Bomber appeared first on Techie Toys.

But what about fairly high end cookware?

I wouldn’t have expected a brand like Le Creuset to go down the Harry Potter route, though maybe it’s not that much of a surprise at all. Even if you were a teen when the first books (or films) came out you’d now be an adult. I guess I’m having difficulty wrapping my brain around who the target market is for some of these items.

Do they look cool? Yes. The Harry Potter style is lovely already and when you combine it with the Le Creuset cookware it really does look wonderful. But I have my doubts. Why? Well who pays €400 for a saucepan with Harry Potter branding? Like I know people do, but I just wonder how many people do.

Anyway maybe I’m just being a tad conservative and maybe lots of people have lots of new Le Creuset pots and pans. Personally I love Le Creuset stuff, but most of what I have came from eBay or Etsy!

So what are Le Creuset offering?

• Harry Potter Signature Round Dutch Oven
• Quidditch Signature Round Dutch Oven
• Lord Voldemort Rectangle Covered Casserole
• Deathly Hallows Spoon Rest
• Hogwarts Houses Dessert Plate Set
• Hedwig Pie Bird
• Magical Locations Mug Set
• Hogwarts Express Kettle
• Hogwarts Houses Potholder
• Spellcasting Spatula Set

They do look lovely, but I am a little confused by the Lord Voldermont themed casserole. Yes it does look nice, but why would you want a Lord Voldermont themed anything?

In Ireland they’ll all be available directly from Le Creuset as well as several other retailers.

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Combine the two and you can get both something super cool, but also rather expensive:

The recent release from Lego is aptly called “Hogwarts Icons – Collectors’ Edition”.

So what do you get?

Essentially you get all the elements from the Harry Potter universe encapsulated in a single model, which is incredibly detailed and intricate.

The centrepiece is Hedwig, Harry Potter’s faithful owl and he’s surrounded by an impressive collection of iconic elements from the book and film series such as Harry’s wand and glasses, a chocolate frog, a potions tray including five potion bottles and ingredients, as well as Tom Riddle’s diary, the Golden Snitch and a school scarf which is customisable to match any Hogwarts House.

If your interest is piqued you can find full details and order via the official Lego site here.

At time of writing the set is retailing for €249.99

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However there are a lot of really skilled modellers out there who are doing some really impressive work. While many of them do share photos and videos of their work there aren’t that many who have managed to get the video side of it just right. This guy seems to have mastered it:

The amount of detail in a 1/24 scale kit is pretty good, but between the various aftermarket additions and the skilled painting etc., this build is taken to a new level. The stop motion with the very slick presentation kept me interested, unlike a lot of the videos I’ve stumbled across!

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While it probably wouldn’t use that much material to print smaller versions as bookends the supersized versions could be both tricky to print, as well as a bit on the expensive side. Or if you’re lazy you could buy bookends already made up by somebody else. Personally I’d be tempted to get the bigger versions if they were readily available, though they aren’t at the moment as far as I know.

If you want to try there’s 3D printing files available from a number of places including here.

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