figure

Do you still have your original "Star Wars" action figures? Mine are tucked away in storage, but looking at Rob Burden's artwork makes me want to dig them out.

The San Francisco artist is so obsessed with his old "Star Wars" figures that he does 10-foot-tall oil paintings of them, like "The Birth of a Jedi," above. The works don't portray the characters from the series, but the actual action figures themselves.

Now he's taking his passion to new heights on Kickstarter with a $24,000 campaign to produce two enormous 10x14-foot "Star Wars" canvases. … Read more

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This week on Crave, we take a look at Tim-e, an iPhone dock that wakes you up in the most annoying ways possible. We salute Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield on making space travel cool again, and demonstrate Petswitch, which lets you put your face on your cat's visage. … Read more

Sillof is rather famous for his custom action figures. In the past, he's done steampunk Star Wars, noir Star Wars, Wild West Star Wars, and many more.

His latest collection is a commissioned custom range for comedian and actor Patton Oswalt. Called "Faster, Empire! Strike! Strike!" it combines "Star Wars" with Russ Meyer's cult exploitation film "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!"

With gender-reversed characters like Darla Vade (pictured below) and R2-D2 represented as a drinks trolley (the Rest/Relaxation Drinks Dispenser), it's a masterpiece of work, even by Sillof's standards. … Read more

Happening now, in a galaxy in which you are in... It is a period of online commerce. Action figures, arising from an auction, will be won by a top bidder in a first victory against the Galactic eBaypire.

You may have some "Star Wars" action figures left over from childhood. You may even have a bookshelf full of figures. You probably don't have 1,950 of them, but eBay seller ranchoobiwan does. You can buy them if you're brave enough to jump into the auction fray.

The loose figures range from vintage collectibles from 1978 all the way through toys manufactured in 2011. Most still have their original accessories. Money raised from the sale will go to support Rancho Obi-Wan, a nonprofit museum dedicated to "Star Wars" memorabilia.… Read more

Who knew action figures could be so expressive? The trailer for a fan-made Batman film called "Batman: Dark Knightfall" uses toys to create a dark battle between Gotham's forces of good and the Joker's evil minions.

Everything from the lighting to the music to the movement of the figures is full of moody, broody atmosphere. What makes this unusual stop-motion project work is the super-realistic action figures. The 12-inch figures made by Hot Toys turn the trailer into a creepy romp through the Uncanny Valley.… Read more

-Facebook quietly adds creepy "Find Friends Nearby" feature.

-Apple no longer claims immunity from viruses on its Web store.

-New site "weknowhatyouredoing.com" tracks Twitter and posts incriminating patterns.

-Hot Toys' Joker action figure is serious...ly amazing.

-No one watches TV, Nielsen, and you know it.… Read more

Take a look at this eccentric array of action figure lamps by U.K. firm Evil Robot Designs. They feature painted pint-size superstars from geeky films, video games, and comic books.

Each of the six lamps in the collection has an ear-catching name like Alien Nation and Forbidden Planet. It would take paragraphs to list all the characters integrated into the 2-foot fixtures, but some notables (not mentioned in the photo captions) include Mysterio; Green Goblin; evil xenomorphs from the "Alien" movie series; He-Man; Bunnygirl "Suzumiya Haruhi"; and many more. … Read more

Advances in 3D printing hold great promise for the creation of drugs, medical implants, prosthetics, and now superhero action figure versions of ourselves.

The $125 Personalized Superhero Action Figure available from Firebox is several big steps up from doodling a superhero version of yourself on the inside of your Trapper pocket folder.

It's pretty simple to turn yourself into a mini-me full of rippling muscles and superhuman strength. Take two pictures of yourself, one from the front and one from the side. Send them in to Firebox. Wait for the 3D-printed version of your head and your choice of action figure to arrive.… Read more

Figure (99 cents) lets you create a song with three tracks -- drums, bass, and synth lead -- through a series of taps on a beautifully designed touch interface. The easiest way to get started familiarizing yourself with Figure is simply by touching record, then holding drum sounds to lay down your first beat.

Once you're satisfied with your beat, touch the red Bass tab at the top to add a bass track. You'll see three circles at the top with Rhythm on the left (number of bass notes per eight bars) and Range in the middle (this adjusts what part of the scale your notes will come from). On the right side of the interface you'll see a circle divided up into pie pieces illustrating the steps of the scale -- the actual notes you are playing. Figure automatically makes sure you're in tune, only using notes from the same key. Once you've filled out the loop, let go and listen to your drum and bass lines.… Read more