Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Phil Theobald

@whimsicalphil.bsky.social

1.1K followers 250 following 2.1K posts

Player One Podcast co-host. Formerly Nintendo Power, EGM, et al. Currently at Pokémon. Ace mercenary pilot and intergalactic wise guy. Opinions are my own, etc.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Phil Theobald @whimsicalphil.bsky.social · 10h

To be fair, it's a VERY good breakfast cereal.

1 1

Phil Theobald @whimsicalphil.bsky.social · 10h

It's neat!

Phil Theobald @whimsicalphil.bsky.social · 10h

"That thing"... how dare you.

And yes, some of the Mister Rogers' Neighborhood sets were from the show Fred did when he spent a few years in Canada.

1 1

Phil Theobald @whimsicalphil.bsky.social · 11h

Got the Divoom Pixoo 64 hung up. The USB cable is a bit unsightly, but a necessary evil, I suppose. Still, this dumb thing is great.

2 3 12

Phil Theobald @whimsicalphil.bsky.social · 12h

Cripes. There is a non-zero chance I would immediately start crying if I saw this thing in person.

Ainsley S @americanbeetles.bsky.social · 12h

I keep trying to explain to him how ICONIC and HISTORIC the castle is and he couldn’t possibly be less impressed

An uninterested teen in front of the honest to god castle of King Friday the XIII at Fred Rogers Studio, WQED Pittsburgh

1 14

Phil Theobald @whimsicalphil.bsky.social · 17h

I saw them at Target the other day.

Phil Theobald @whimsicalphil.bsky.social · 18h

Holy crap... I am losing it at the new Samurai Optimus Prime figure.

Hasbro's newly announced Transformers Timelines Samurai Optimus Prime figure in its robot mode. It looks like Optimus Prime, but his standard helmet looks like a samurai helmet, he had large, gray plated armor on his arms, and he's brandishing a naginata. There are large, gray wheels attached to the outside of his knees.

Hasbro's newly announced Transformers Timelines Samurai Optimus Prime figure in its alt mode. He turns into a red ox pulling a red and gray cart. It is amazing and hilarious.

3 5 26

Phil Theobald @whimsicalphil.bsky.social · 1d

a little girl in a white dress is looking at the camera

Alt: Animated GIF of the "Why don't we have both?" meme.

media.tenor.com

1 1

Phil Theobald @whimsicalphil.bsky.social · 1d

It's a Divoom Pixoo-64 digital frame. It's... pretty neat.

Phil Theobald @whimsicalphil.bsky.social · 1d

Enjoy.

www.amazon.com/dp/B09H3YWPCH

Divoom Pixoo-64 - WiFi Pixel Cloud Digital Frame with APP Control,64 X 64 LED Panel Display Frame for Gaming Room Decoration/Social Media Fans Counter

Amazon.com : Divoom Pixoo-64 - WiFi Pixel Cloud Digital Frame with APP Control,64 X 64 LED Panel Display Frame for Gaming Room Decoration/Social Media Fans Counter : Electronics

www.amazon.com

1 3

Phil Theobald @whimsicalphil.bsky.social · 1d

Leave me browsing around online late at night, and I'm gonna occasionally end up buying something stupid.

7 14 58

Phil Theobald @whimsicalphil.bsky.social · 2d

I wasn't even, like, into Play-Doh or anything at the time. I just couldn't resist those colors! And sadly, no... my teaching job didn't require a tie, so these have been hiding away in storage for some time.

Phil Theobald @whimsicalphil.bsky.social · 2d

The billiards tie, by the way, is what I wore in my senior picture.

Phil Theobald @whimsicalphil.bsky.social · 2d

A title I continue to hold to this day!

Phil Theobald @whimsicalphil.bsky.social · 2d

The Pokémon tie was probably acquired post-Babbage's. I THINK @superpac.bsky.social may have picked that up for me during a trip to Japan back when Pokémon Centers were a new thing.

1 6

Phil Theobald @whimsicalphil.bsky.social · 2d

While going through some boxes, I stumbled across my collection of novelty neck ties that I wore while working at Babbage's back in the '90s. Here were some of my favorites:

A collection of four novelty neck ties:

- King Kong atop the Empire State Building from the original 1933 film. Biplanes swarm around him.
- Batman from Batman: The Animated Series swings on his grappling hook over the streets of Gotham City.
- Snoopy and Woodstock sit atop Snoopy's doghouse at night. Stars are shining, and the moon glows overhead. They are eating pizza.
- Aladdin and Jasmine ride on Magic Carpet over Agrabah. Genie has emerged from his lamp, which is sitting on the carpet.

A collection of four novelty neck ties:

- Small Pikachu and Pichu are repeated on a light purple background. Repeated in the background are Unown spelling out the word "Pokémon."
- The background is filled with Peanuts comic strips. Multiple Snoopy heads (in Snoopy's "Joe Cool" persona) are in the foreground.
- Artwork inspired by The Beatles' song Yellow Submarine. The background is mostly black with waves of purple, red, and blue. Multiple stylized yellow submarines float across the tie.
- The Three Stooges... black background covered with grayscale confetti. Curly, Moe, and Larry's heads run down the length of the tie.

4 2 26

Phil Theobald @whimsicalphil.bsky.social · 6d

And yes, yes, I know... "Um, actually, Kirby IS an eldritch horror..." Very good. Take it to TV Tropes.

Phil Theobald @whimsicalphil.bsky.social · 6d

I know "cute 'n' cuddly Kirby ends up battling an eldritch horror" has been a longtime staple of the series, but nobody told me that the climax of Kirby and the Forgotten Land just turns into a Bayonetta level.

1 10

Phil Theobald @whimsicalphil.bsky.social · 8d

Get ready for a lot of angry YouTube videos ranting about how the spies' noses are cone-shaped, not their hats.

Unless... are these party hats? Are they wearing conical party hats over their noses? Because that would work.

1 11

Phil Theobald @whimsicalphil.bsky.social · 8d

I want a repaint of this figure as Jazz.

Phil Theobald @whimsicalphil.bsky.social · 8d

To celebrate Peanuts' 75th anniversary, here's a wonderful panel of Violet finding out what happens when you push Chuck too far.

A panel from an old Peanuts strip. Charlie Brown is in the background with an angry look on his face. He's thrown a clod of dirt that has struck Violet, who is in the foreground, in the back of the head.

Violet is staggering, her eyes are wide, and her tongue is sticking out of her mouth. Stars radiate from the point of impact, and a large "POW!" emphasizes the hit.

In the complete strip (Sunday, June 14, 1953), we learn that this was actually an unprovoked attack on Violet... Charlie Brown was just being a jerk. Violet gets even by hitting Chuck in the head with an ice cream cone that she had intended to share with him.

1 3 12

Phil Theobald @whimsicalphil.bsky.social · 8d

Just give me the toys, dangit.

Character model from Fortnite of a LEGO Minifigure version of Rumi from KPop Demon Hunters.

Character model from Fortnite of a LEGO Minifigure version of Zoey from KPop Demon Hunters.

Character model from Fortnite of a LEGO Minifigure version of Mira from KPop Demon Hunters.

5 64

Phil Theobald @whimsicalphil.bsky.social · 9d

I had a bottle of it, and that was enough for me.

Phil Theobald @whimsicalphil.bsky.social · 10d

I'm assuming you saw this too:

bsky.app/profile/theb...

Brian Emory @thebrianemory.com · 10d

these are not serious people

www.whitehouse.gov/government-s...

the top of the website has a big red banner that reads: "DEMOCRAT SHUTDOWN: DEMOCRATS IN THEIR OWN WORDS"

it then says: "Democrats Have Shut Down the Government" with a little timer counting up from midnight eastern october 1st

in the middle is the giant countdown clock which reads "00 00 00"

under that in big letters: "Democrats Have Shutdown the Government"

Phil Theobald @whimsicalphil.bsky.social · 10d

They are! I know LEGO has been talking about switching to paper bags for a while, but this is the first set I've gotten that actually uses all paper bags (minus the plastic bag with all the bendy hose/rope pieces).