Retrofied Weekly Rewind - 4/19/24
All the retro news you can fit in your face. Enjoy these retro links!
It’s Friday! And you know what that means…yes, making it look like you’re busy for 8 hours until it’s 5:00. And what better way to pass the time than with Retrofied's Weekly Rewind, our roundup of nostalgia-inspired news, announcements, and just plain rad stuff we want to share.
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What you may have missed from Retrofied
Haaaaaave you seen the new site? It’s pretty awesome (if we do say so ourselves), and it’s quickly amassing a collection of brand-new content like this:
In From Here to Eternia, contributor Justin Broderway takes us on a journey that starts with his childhood love of Masters of the Universe and ends with the most expensive He-Man playset ever sold at retail.
Right here on the ol’ Substack,
revived a Retrofied classic. But the real question is, should it have stayed dead? Yikes.Books & Magazines
Buy…or die! The official novelization of the 1986 cult classic Chopping Mall was announced this week for release on November 19, 2024. Preorder now directly from Encyclopocalypse Publications.
Do you know your Skeksis from your UrRu? Then this newly restored version of the original three-issue comic adaptation of Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal from BOOM! Studios is going to very much be something you’ll want to check out.
Skybound Entertainment (and Image Comics, under the vagaries of IP ownership) has been killing it with their nostalgia- (and blood-) soaked Energon Universe comics. This week’s Cobra Commander #4 is no exception. You’ll never believe which classic character(s?) bites the bullet!
Want that Retrofied goodness in the palm of your hand? Retrofied back issues are still available! Who says print is dead?
Movies & TV
The official trailer for Transformers One answers the question no one asked: “What if we did a Year One origin story for Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee, and Arcee, mixed in some Guardians of the Galaxy vibes, and then, y’know, just didn’t make it funny?”
“Dead or alive, I’m coming back after three days” Den of Geek has a fantastic essay on how Robocop is actually about Jesus.
Attaaaaack of the Killer…Klowns from Outer Space! That’s right, coulrophobia week continues here on Retrofied as the B-grade horror classic is getting a special edition Steelbook Blu-Ray 4K later this year to celebrate its 35th anniversary.
Looking to enjoy Robert DeNiro’s mohawk phase in the highest resolution possible? Taxi Driver is also getting a Steelbook 4K reissue for its 40th anniversary (geez, we’re old).
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin was an insanely well-received “final act” comic for TMNT. It is now, of course, getting a movie.
Lower Decks is legitimately the most fun you can have in the Star Trek universe. So I’m very interested to see what co-creator Mike McMahan does with the “My buddy down the street owned a Sega Master System and would only let me play 2P if I promised to let him get all the points” game Golden Axe.
An extremely specious source close to a beloved original film claims that a sequel is in production…no matter how ill advised that would be.
IndieWire published a phenomenal oral history of Shaun of the Dead (which is also 20 years old, Jesus wept).
Space Ghost: Coast to Coast turned 30 this week (sob) and that means we got treated to a repub of this lovely article from Libby Cudmore about how this Hanna-Barbera oddity meant so much more than any of us realized.
Looking for something that isn’t attached to a multi-decades-old IP and still evokes old-timey feels? Then Hundreds of Beavers is exactly what you’re looking for.
Video Games
Does the ending of the Fallout series on Amazon Prime change an essential piece of lore for the storied franchise?
You want more turtles? YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TURTLES. Or maybe you can in this TMNT roguelike launching on the Nintendo Switch later this year.
Maybe forgotten Atari properties are more your thing. In that case, Yars’ Revenge is getting the anime-inspired, Metroidvania-style prequel that no one asked for in the form of Yars Rising.
Random Retro
Proving that no property is too obscure to make toys from, we got announcements for Wave 2(!) of crowdfunded figures from The Prisoner as well as Nacelle’s new IP: C.O.W. Boys of Moo Mesa. Yes, really.
You’ve got to see this Toys’R’Us, lovingly re-created for the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic.
Thanks for checking out our weekly rewind. Don’t forget to check out our website for more deep-dives, personal essays, and oral histories. New articles post there every Monday, and we’ll be back in your inbox every Friday for another REWIND!
i wish i could get the magazine